In a thyristor control device which converts a first AC voltage to a DC voltage and converts the DC voltage to a second AC voltage to be supplied to a synchronous motor, a DC voltage detector is configured to detect the DC voltage, and is provided with an AC voltage detector configured to detect the second AC voltage and an arithmetic circuit configured to determine the DC voltage on the basis of the second AC voltage detected by the AC voltage detector. As a result, there is no need to separately provide a DV voltage detector, which makes it possible to make the device compact in size and cheap in price.

A thyristor starter includes a converter configured to convert a first three-phase AC power to a DC power, a DC reactor configured to smooth a direct current, and an inverter configured to convert the DC power supplied from the converter via the DC reactor to a second three-phase AC power which is supplied to a synchronous motor. The thyristor starter further includes an AC voltage detector configured to detect a first three-phase AC voltage input to the converter and a second three-phase AC voltage output from the inverter, and a control circuit configured to control the converter and the inverter on the basis of a detection result from the AC voltage detector. By controlling the second three-phase AC power, it is possible to start the synchronous motor from a stopped state and make it rotate at a predetermined rotating speed (for example, see Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-61380 (PTD 1)).

DC voltage detector and power converter using the same

TOSHIBA MITSUBISHI-ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION


A tool for cleaning the bolt and bolt carrier of a firearm and a method using the tool are disclosed. The tool is preferably made from a single piece of rectangular metal having a longitudinal channel cut in one end to define first and second legs. The first leg is sized to fit within the bore a bolt. The channel is of a width to place an edge of the second leg adjacent the surface of the bolt. Rotating the tool in relation to the bolt scrapes an edge of the second leg against the surface of the bolt thereby removing carbon residue from the surface of the bolt.

The present invention relates generally to tools for cleaning firearms. More specifically, the invention relates to a tool for removing carbon residue from various parts of a firearm. Particularly, the invention relates to a tool for removing carbon residue from the bolt and bolt carrier of a firearm.
Firearms function due to the combustion of gunpowder. When gunpowder ignites it creates tremendous gas pressures that drive a projectile (or projectiles in the case of a shotgun) through and out the barrel of a gun at high rates of speed. The violent combustion of gunpowder and the expansion of gasses also causes carbonaceous residues to settle on various parts of the operating mechanisms of the firearm. The bolt and bolt carriers of automatic and semi-automatic weapons that utilize captured gas (such as the AR-15 rifle) are particularly susceptible to carbonaceous buildup. This buildup can hinder smooth movement of the bolt and cause jams that render the firearm inoperative.
In military and law enforcement situations, an inoperative firearm is not only useless, but a detriment to others. Soldiers and police officers with inoperative weapons can not aid their team members and must be protected. Thus, there is great emphasis placed on weapon maintenance.
There are several known devices for cleaning carbonaceous residue from bolts and bolt carriers. A listing of such devices and a description of a representative device are found in US Patent Application Publication 2010/0186769 to Jaquish et al., which is incorporated herein by reference. Unfortunately, these devices are not well suited for packing in the field.
Field maintenance of weapons can be burdensome because soldiers must carry tools with them. Modern soldiers now regularly carry fieldpacks weighing anywhere between 60-80 pounds. In addition, soldiers have a limited number of storage areas on their person and in their packs. Any innovation that can meet a soldier's maintenance needs while easing their packing burden, even by a few ounces, would be a significant improvement over known devices.

Tool for cleaning firearms and method of use


A power-on detector supplied with a power supply voltage from an external source and detects a variation of the power supply voltage. The operating method of the power-on detector comprises calculating the slope of the rise of power supply voltage from a first voltage to a second voltage higher than the first voltage; and calculating the expected time for the power supply voltage to reach a target voltage level, based on the calculated slope.

The present invention relates to a power-on detector and a memory device including the power-on detector.
A semiconductor memory device is a data storage apparatus configured to store data and read out the stored data when it is desired. Memory devices may be classified into volatile memory devices and a non-volatile memory devices.
A volatile memory device loses stored data upon power-off. Random Access Memory (RAM) devices such as SRAM, DRAM, SDRAM, are typical volatile memory devices. A non-volatile memory device retains stored data even at power-off. Read Only Memory (ROM) devices such as ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices, such as PRAM, MRAM, RRAM, FRAM, and the like are so-called non-volatile memory devices. Flash memory devices may be classified into NOR types and NAND types.
In general, a memory device is powered by an external power (voltage) source. At power-on, there power supply voltage provided from the external source may be gradually increased. The memory device may perform an initialization operation in response to a variation of the power supply voltage. After the power-on, elements of the memory device may perform read and write operations. Thus, at the power-on, a voltage level of the externally applied power supply voltage has to reach a voltage level sufficient to perform read and write operations without errors due to a voltage level of the externally applied power supply voltage.
The externally applied power supply voltage may be unstable at power-on. For example, the externally applied power supply voltage may include ripples. Though a stable voltage level of the externally applied power supply voltage is lower than a first voltage, a conventional power-on detector may judge the externally applied power supply voltage as stable as soon as it reaches a first predetermine voltage. Further, though a stable voltage level of the externally applied power supply voltage is lower than the first predetermined voltage, due to abnormal operation, a conventional power-on detector may prematurely judge the externally applied power supply voltage as stable as soon as it reaches a first voltage.

Power-on detector, operating method of power-on detector and memory device including the same


Management of a Cache is provided by differentiating data base on attributes associated with the data and reducing storage bottlenecks. The Cache differentiates and manages data using a state machine with a plurality of states. The Cache may use data patterns and statistics to retain frequently used data in the cache longer. The Cache uses content or attributes to differentiate and retain data longer. Further, the Cache may provide status and statistics to a data flow manager that determines which data to cache and which data to pipe directly through, or to switch cache policies dynamically, thus avoiding some of the cache overhead. The Cache may also place clean and dirty data in separate states to enable more efficient Cache mirroring and flush.

The size of mass storage continues to grow at a phenomenal rate. At the same time, the data that is stored on mass storage devices also continues to grow. Many applications are designed to take advantage of this expanded storage and often install files that would have consumed hard drives of only a few years ago. Data centers also have found ways to use the increased storage capacity. Databases on the order of terabytes are common while databases of much larger sizes are also increasing in number. Efficiently and cost effectively differentiating and managing data according to value to the business has become a challenge for enterprises.
The speed improvement of computer microprocessor and memory has been exponential, roughly tracking the Moore's law—doubling every 18 months. Similarly, the growth of network bandwidth between storage devices and CPUs has relatively kept the same pace. Quickly moving large amounts of data between storage devices and applications continues to remain a challenge for both personal and enterprise applications.
Hard disk manufacturers have responded by developing faster hard drives and larger hard drive caches. However, due to the nature of electro-mechanical mechanisms and very limited amount of disk cache relative to the hard disk capacity, the hard drive's performance has only improved linearly. The performance gap between fast CPUs and slow hard drives has and continues to grow, making storing or retrieving data or code from a hard drive one of the most significant bottlenecks to increased system performance. Various forms of caching have been used that speed up the transfer of data and code to both local and remote storage. Traditional least recently used (LRU) cache replacement algorithms have some benefits, but are ineffective and inefficient in dealing with some common application data patterns, such as a large stream of sequential data (e.g., a large video stream, or simply loading a large database). In part, this is because the large stream of sequential data can "flood the cache" or invalidate and push out hot data previously residing in the cache. Segmented cache techniques have attempted to address this problem but still have many shortcomings such as overhead incurred by caching data this is only used once, latency when a host issues a request that causes a cache miss when the cache is full, and flushing problems.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Techniques are described for generating a custom voice for a virtual agent. In one implementations, a method includes receiving information identifying a customer contacting a call center. The method includes selecting a voice for a virtual agent based on information about the customer. The method also includes assigning the voice to the virtual agent during communications with the customer.

A traditional call center is a centralized office used for receiving or transmitting a large volume of requests by telephone. An inbound call center is operated by a company to administer incoming product support or information inquiries from consumers.
Today, agent-assisted automation is a type of call center technology that automates elements of what the call center agent does with his/her desktop tools and says to customer's during the call using pre-recorded audio.

United Services Automobile Association (USAA)


Provided is a hydraulic damper with a position dependent valve assembly (3) to prevent abrupt stop of a piston at the end of the compression stroke. The position dependent valve assembly (3) comprises a supporting member (31) partitioning damper (2) internal tube (22) and provided with an axial opening (312), an axial member (32) disposed slidably within said axial opening (312) of said supporting member (31), a rigid body (33) fixed on said axial member (32), a compression stroke disc assembly (35) and a rebound stroke disc assembly (34) fixed on said axial member (32).

Hydraulic suspension dampers typically comprise a tube filled with working liquid, inside of which a slidable piston is placed. The piston is attached to a piston rod led outside the damper through a piston rod guide, and has a form of a piston assembly comprising rebound and compression valves, which control the flow of working liquid passing through the piston during the rebound and the compression stroke of the damper. Some dampers also comprise a base (bottom) assembly with separate rebound and compression valves controlling the flow of working liquid passing in and out of the additional compensation chamber.
Typically, damping force generated by a damper is related to the speed of the piston and motor vehicle suspensions are designed in order to provide unobstructed displacement of the piston up and down within a tube with respect to some neutral position defined for some nominal load of a motor vehicle in rest.
Unfortunately, this neutral position of a piston varies during daily vehicle exploitation. In case of overloaded vehicle, this neutral position of a damper shall obviously be shifted down the compression chamber of a tube, while in case of an empty vehicle it shall obviously be shifted up the rebound chamber of a tube. In both cases this shift of a neutral position may lead to a situation in which displacement of a piston will exceed its assumed stroke limits leading to a suspension closure or jounce bumper engagement, which in turn affects safety, comfort, durability and noise issues. On the other hand, even for a nominally loaded vehicle, displacement of a piston may also exceed its assumed stroke limits, for example while driving on a rough road or during a road bump.
In order to prevent the contact of a piston at the end of compression stroke with elements at the end of a damper compression chamber, compression stops or bumpers are commonly used. Such stops are mounted to a piston or a base valve and aim to block the flow of working liquid to the compensation chamber thus stopping a stroke of a piston. Such compression stops however do not assure appropriate energy dissipation and their action is unrelated to the speed of a piston in a moment of engaging the stop. Therefore their characteristics do not provide proper comfort to passengers of a vehicle, not to mention passengers' safety.
U.S. Patent Application US 2010/0059321 discloses a position sensitive damper having a second damping piston assembly slidably mounted in the tube, independently from the main piston, and biased to a neutral position. The second damping piston assembly has a damping flow path and a bypass flow path which is normally kept in an open state. When an abnormally strong shock occurs, the displacement of the main piston exceeds its normal displacement span and its obstructing portion is placed into obstruction with the bypass flow path, thereby forcing the working liquid through the damping flow path of the second damping piston assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,629 discloses a double-tube vibration damper where the piston acts on an abutment spring when arriving at a predetermined position during compression stroke. The abutment spring acts on a control member. The control member, such as a floating disc, cooperates with a compression passage to reduce the cross-sectional area of the compression passage in response to the piston starting to act onto the abutment spring. In this way a hydraulic abutment function is obtained during compression stroke of the piston. The control member is biased by a return spring towards the abutment spring. The abutment spring acts with its end remote from the control member onto a friction ring, which friction ring is frictionally guided by the inner face of the cylinder. The biasing action of the return spring is larger than the force necessary for moving the friction ring along the inner face of the cylinder.
It has been the object of the present invention to provide a damper that would prevent abrupt stop of a piston at the end of the compression stroke, featuring a simple and economical construction with only a few elements, which would provide versatile tuning options. Yet another object of the present invention has been to provide a damper with a position dependent valve assembly that would not require substantial modification of the remaining elements of a damper and might be employed as an add-on device in dampers already manufactured.

Hydraulic suspension damper with a position dependent damping assembly


A system for locating a diver is provided. The system includes a diver module for association with a diver that is capable of producing both an audible frequency signal to assist in locating the diver while submerged, and a radio frequency signal to assist in locating the diver when surfaced. In addition, the diver module includes a switch to enable the initiation of an active mode of the diver module. The diver module may also include a receiver visual display to indicate the direction to another diver module or to a boat module. The location signal boat module provides a boat operator with an indication of the direction from which a location signal is being received.

Scuba diving is a unique and enjoyable recreational experience. It is estimated that, every day, over 75,000 persons participate in the sport at thousands of diving resorts and operations worldwide.
Operationally, one aspect of the uniqueness of diving is that underwater communication is extremely limited and communication between divers and the surface is almost non-existent. The diving industry has developed several techniques to facilitate underwater communication—hand signals, writing on a slate, tapping on one's tank, and electronic communication devices. The first three require a close proximity for the communicating divers and, in the case of electronic means, are prohibitively expensive for all but commercial divers.
Limited visibility exacerbates communication difficulty. The "best" recreational ocean diving sites around the world have 150 feet of underwater visibility with a few locations having occasional periods of 200 feet. Most, however, have 60 feet or less. With few exceptions, visibility at inland sites drops below 20 feet. Considering that ocean currents in many dive areas may have a velocity of one to two knots, a diver in perfect visibility conditions can drift out of sight in less than 60 seconds.
Visibility is further reduced by underwater topography which may include coral or rock formations. Lastly, diving operators at most recreational dive sites offer a "night-diving"experience. Obviously, this limits communication even further and complicates the divemaster's supervisory responsibilities.
Major scuba-diving-certifying organizations have attempted to mitigate these risks by establishing smart and, fortunately, well-accepted rules: always dive with and stay close to a "buddy"; evaluate conditions carefully and seek orientation with a local dive shop before diving; plan the dive carefully, follow the plan once underwater, surface when one becomes separated from the group; etc. The fact remains, though, that the communication options available to the average recreational diver when in distress or when separated from the group are extremely limited. In contrast with a comparable land-based activity, backpacking, a lone hiker has the option of carrying an emergency satellite beacon should he become injured or miss-oriented. Divers have no such long-range option. At best, some recreational divers carry only a simple whistle or inflatable tube for use at the surface.


A method and apparatus for controlling the level efficiently, and rate of removal of water from an oil or gas well using a progressive cavity pump operated by a rotating drive shaft extending downwardly from ground level to the pump comprises a sensor that detects the downward force on the shaft produced by the dynamic operation of the pump; and a control mechanism responsive to the output from the sensor that correlates the downward force on the pump with liquid depth in the casing and controls pump speed in order to achieve a desired rate of liquid removal from the casing and a desired ultimate depth level of liquid in the casing above the pump. A novel fluid pressure sensing mechanism mounted on the shaft at ground level permits the shaft to rotate while providing an accurate reading of the downward force on the shaft. Computerized controls receive the pressure signals from the sensing mechanism and control the rate of operation of the pump motor in order to achieve a desired rate of pump operation to efficiently produce a desired rate of pump down and a desired liquid depth in the casing. Preferably, all of these elements are installed and maintained above ground.

In conventional natural gas and oil wells, the natural gas and/or oil product (or both) is retrieved from pockets that may be as much as 1500 feet or more below the surface of the ground. The product is often present with water under pressure in certain materials such as shale. A conventional practice for removing the gas and oil is to sink a well having a hollow outer casing and a hollow inner tube, with the outer casing being perforated in the area where the product pocket is located. The liquid oil and/or water, (sometimes containing gas) infiltrates the perforated casing and the liquid is withdrawn from the well through the tube or pump located in the tube.
The process of removing gas with a well of this nature is to let the gas and liquid seep into the outer casing through the perforated openings in the casing. When the liquid enters the casing, the gas separates from the liquid and rises off of the top of the liquid, where the gas is drawn off for use from the top of the outer casing. The infiltration of liquid into the casing proceeds until the liquid reaches its own level in the outer casing, at which time no further liquid and entrained gas will enter the outer casing. It is thus necessary to continuously pump the liquid from the outer casing in order to make room for new gas containing liquid in the casing. This pump fitted to the inner tube at the bottom of the well draws liquid from the bottom of the outer casing and delivers the waiter upwardly through the inner tube where it exits the inner tube at ground level through a liquid outlet.
The pump can be the same for both a liquid only and for a well that includes liquid and gas. The pump is a submerged pump that is actuated by a pump rod that extends upwardly to a drive mechanism located above ground level. One type of pump is a rotary pump which operates by rotating the pump rod. A so called progressive cavity pump (sometimes called a PC pump) is an industry standard rotary pump used for dewatering oil and gas wells that produce large volumes of water.
Certain problems are encountered when the rate of "pumping down" or removing liquid from the well is not proportional with the rate at which liquid enters the well. First, if the liquid is removed too slowly, the liquid will rise above the perforations in the casing and will restrict or even stop gas removal. On the other hand, if too much liquid is removed or liquid is removed at too fast a rate, other problems can occur. Removal of liquid at too fast a rate does not give gas sufficient time to separate from the liquid. This causes the pump to pump substantial volumes of gas as well as liquid up through the tube. Pumping gas requires more pump force and reduces the efficiency of the pump, causing the pump to overheat and possibly damaging or destroying the pump. In addition, pumping gas through the tube liquid outlet is undesirable. Another problem occurs if the pump in effect pumps all of the liquid out of the outer casing, allowing the pump to run dry. This is particularly disastrous with a PC pump, which has rubber components which will burn up almost immediately if a pump is permitted to run dry. Replacement of a PC pump at a depth of 1500 feet is a very expensive proposition.
A number of devices have been used for measuring liquid depth in a well casing or controlling pump shut off after the pump runs dry. These devices, however, have had drawbacks. At the present time there is no reliable way to continuously and accurately measure and control the depth of the liquid in the outer casing while maintaining optimum pump efficiently, in order to make sure that a progressive cavity pump operates at the most efficient speed and does not run dry.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved method and apparatus for detecting the level of liquid in a well casing and controlling both the depth of liquid in the well casing and the rate of liquid removal or pump down in the well casing in order to maximize pump efficiency and gas separation from the liquid.
For purposes of this application, the liquid in the pump casing can be water or oil or a combination of both. The water can be saltwater or fresh water. The liquid can include gas or can be substantially gas-free. The liquid could include other liquids in addition to or instead of water, such as oil.

Control apparatus and method for controlling the rate of liquid removal from a gas or oil well with a progressive cavity pump


Impure tetra(dihydrocarbylamino)phosphonium halide is contacted with a liquid cyclic ether to dissolve the phosphonium halide and leave at least a portion of the impurities comprising at least quaternary ammonium halide or an amidophosphoxide remaining in the solid state. The solids and the liquid phase are separated from each other, an anhydrous non-solvent for the tetra(dihydrocarbylamino)phosphonium halide is mixed with the separated liquid phase to precipitate the tetra(dihydrocarbylamino)phosphonium halide, which is then separated from the liquid phase. The so-treated tetra(dihydrocarbylamino)phosphonium halide is more efficient as a catalyst for halogen exchange reactions than the original untreated tetra(dihydrocarbylamino)phosphonium halide.

Halogen exchange reactions for fluorinating haloaromatic compounds using alkali metal fluorides have been extensively studied heretofore. Typically they involve the reaction of a chloroaromatic compound with potassium fluoride, rubidium fluoride or cesium fluoride by heating the reactants to extremely high temperatures (above about 400.degree. C.) in the absence of an ancillary diluent or solvent, or by conducting the reaction at temperatures of around 200-230.degree. C. in an aprotic solvent such as sulfolane. It has also been reported that organic fluorine compounds such as pentafluorobenzonitrile, tetrafluorophthalonitriles and pentafluoropyridine can be formed by reacting a corresponding chloro- or bromo-substituted compound with alkali metal halide such as potassium fluoride in benzonitrile as solvent at 190.degree. C. to 400.degree. C. in a sealed autoclave under autogenous pressure. Use of catalysts in some exchange reactions has also been studied. Such catalysts have included quaternary ammonium salts, metal carbonyls, crown ethers and cryptates.
In most cases, the halogen exchange reaction is sluggish and tends to form product mixtures in which yields of polyfluorinated aromatics are relatively low, especially if the haloaromatic compound used is a polyhaloaromatic compound free from activating functionality such as nitro or carbonyl. For example, with hexachlorobenzene and potassium fluoride, typical product mixtures contain a mixture of co-products including hexafluorobenzene together with various chlorofluorobenzenes.
In now commonly-owned application Ser. No. 08/754,338 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,824,827, filed Nov. 22, 1996, Igor Bildinov et al. describe a significant improvement in halogen exchange technology, namely that aminophosphonium compounds such as one or more tetra(dihydrocarbylamino)phosphonium halides are effective catalysts for halogen exchange reactions. Significant improvements in yields of desired products were achieved by conducting the reaction with a suitably-stirred mixture of reactants and catalyst in the form of finely divided solids.
Tetra(dihydrocarbylamino)phosphonium halides, which are relatively uncommon materials, can be prepared using the method described by Koidan, Marchenko, Kudryavtsev, and Pinchuk, Zh. Obshch. Khim., 1982, 52, 2001, an English language translation of which is available from Plenum Publishing Corporation. Another procedure which has been used for preparing tetra(diethylamino)phosphonium bromide involves the following three steps (where Et represents an ethyl group):
1) PCl.sub.3 +6 HNEt.sub.2 +CCl.sub.4 .fwdarw.(Et.sub.2 N).sub.3 P.sup..sym. --CCl.sub.3 Cl.sup..crclbar. PA0 2) (Et.sub.2 N).sub.3 P.sup..sym. --CCl.sub.3 Cl.sup..crclbar. +NH.sub.3 .fwdarw.(Et.sub.2 N).sub.3 P.dbd.NH.HCl+CHCl.sub.3 PA0 3) (Et.sub.2 N).sub.3 P.dbd.NH.HCl+2 NaOH+2 EtBr.fwdarw.(Et.sub.2 N).sub.4 P.sup..sym. Br.sup..crclbar. +NaCl+NaBr+H.sub.2 O
In this procedure, carbon tetrachloride and phosphorus trichloride are charged to the reactor followed by the slow addition of diethylamine at low temperature (30.degree. C. maximum). This results in the formation of dichloromethylene phosphoroamidite intermediate. Ammonia (gas) is then charged to the reactor resulting in the formation of an imino hydrochloride phosphoroamidite intermediate. Following a period of stirring, the reactor contents are filtered, and the filtrate is concentrated by evaporation under vacuum. The concentrated filtrate is then treated with sodium hydroxide solution and ethyl bromide, forming the product. This is extracted with dichloromethane and the extract solution is dried with calcium chloride and the dichloromethane is removed by evaporation. The semi-solid residue is triturated with ether to give the product as a crystalline solid.
Despite the above advances in the art, it would be extremely desirable and economically advantageous if a way could be found to still further increase the efficiency of halogen exchange reactions performed using tetra(dihydrocarbylamino)phosphonium halide catalysts. It is this need to which the present invention is addressed.


A hot water system for connection to a water supply and a local hot water usage system, comprising a plurality of series-connected reserve tanks and demand tanks for receiving water from the water supply, heating the received water to a desired temperature within the reserve and demand tanks, and supplying the heated water to the local hot water usage system as it is demanded. A controlling device is provided for sequencing the operation of the reserve and demand tanks relative to peak power consumption hours and off-peak hours. Specifically, each of the tanks is provided with one or more thermostats which are selectively enabled or disabled by the controlling device at predetermined times. The one or more thermostats are, in turn, connected to one or more heating coils or maintenance coils. The reserve tanks and demand tanks may be operated under control of the controlling device in any of three modes, as follows: maintenance mode, enable mode, and disable mode. In maintenance mode, the water is maintained at a desired temperature either via enabling a thermostat which is connected to a low-power maintenance coil and disabling the heating coil thermostats, or via cycling power through the heating coil thermostats if no maintenance coil is provided. In enable mode, the heating coil thermostats are enabled so that the water temperature may be increased in a tank via activation of the heating coils under thermostat control, and if a maintenance coil is provided then the maintenance coil thermostat is disabled. In disable mode, the heating coil thermostats, and associated heating coils, are disabled to minimize power consumption. If the tank is provided with a maintenance coil, then the maintenance coil thermostat and associated maintenance coil are also disabled when the tank is operating in disable mode.

Prior art systems are known for storing and heating water in a plurality of storage tanks. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,749 (Cifaldi) teaches a multi-stage high efficiency gas fired water heater which includes a lower storage tank and upper recovery tank. Cold water is provided through an inlet into the recovery tank and heated water is removed via an outlet from the storage tank. Hot water from the top tank is supplied to the bottom tank via a conduit, and the top tank is, in turn, filled with cold water. The recovery and storage tanks are interconnected to transfer heated water from the recovery tank to the storage tank. Both tanks are heated to a maximum temperature during off-peak hours and the heated water is used during peak power consumption hours.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,728 (Fracaro) discloses three vertically stacked tanks. The upper tank has an incoming cold water inlet for directing incoming cold water toward the bottom of the tank. After the water is pre-warmed in the upper tank, the pre-warmed water passes out of the upper tank into the bottom of the intermediate tank. After further pre-warming in the intermediate tank, the water exits the intermediate tank and is directed toward the bottom of the lower tank. After reaching its hottest temperature in the lower tank, the hot water in the lower tank exits through the top of that tank.
Prior art systems are also known for enabling and disabling hot water heating coils in order to conserve energy consumption during peak power consumption hours. For example, published PCT international patent application number WO/PCT/US82/00756 (Vapor Corporation) discloses master and slave tanks which are disposed side-by-side and are controlled by a temperature controller and energized during "off-peak" hours by conventional controls to heat the storage fluid in both tanks to a high temperature.
It is well known that the peak power consumption hours occur on weekdays between, for example, 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., in many industrialized areas of the world, although the peak power consumption hours may vary from one location to another. Research indicates that one of the most significant contributors to peak power consumption is the well-known domestic hot water heater. Specifically, hot water consumption is maximized during the morning peak power consumption hours as a result of showers, washing etc., and in the evening peak power consumption hours through use of dish washing machines, laundry, etc.
Thermostat-controlled heating coils are often utilized to maintain the water temperature in a storage tank at a suitable level, and, once the temperature falls below that level, one or more heating coils are activated by the thermostats to increase the temperature to the present thermostat value, irrespective of the time of day.
It is known in the prior art to use timers and microprocessors for disabling thermostat-controlled hot water heaters at specific times. However, it in believed that such systems have only been used to enable or disable all of the thermostats at the same time, and not according to any predetermined sequencing of operation.
Since hydroelectric, nuclear and other electric power is generated at a continuous rate, there is considerable interest among federal-, provincial- and/or state-owned utilities to reduce power consumption during the peak power consumption hours and to defer the power consumption to off-peak hours.
There is no teaching or suggestion in the prior art systems of any means to separately heat multiple hot water tanks at different times during the off-peak hours. The systems of Cifaldi and Fracaro utilize structure which contemplates only heating both tanks simultaneously, albelt to different temperatures. Likewise, the PCT international application of Vapor Corporation teaches the use of two independent temperature controllers associated with two separate water heating tanks which are said to be energized during off-peak hours. However, there is no suggestion of enabling the two heaters for independent operation during off-peak hours for use in a hot water storage and delivery system. Such operation would not be consistent with the provision of lending energy to the water-based central heating system disclosed in the Vapor Corporation application.
Other general interest prior art is known, as follows:
European patent application number EP 0 104 362, French patent application number 2,486,212; British Patent No. 1,429,317; French patent application 2,507,749; DE 330478; U.K. patent application number GB 2,225,097; Canadian patent number 1,210,426; British patent number 218,796; British patent number 251,465; British patent number 580,061, U.S. Pat. No. 2,814,279, British patent number 1,358,996.


The present invention provides a porous particle loaded with a larger amount of biological substance. A rod-shaped particle according to the present invention includes a plurality of mesopores that crosses the major axis of the rod-shaped particle and that is loaded with the biological substance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for immobilizing a biological substance to stabilize the biological substance. More particularly, the present invention relates to a particle having a mesopore loaded with a biological substance. The particle can be used in a biosensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
An enzyme is known to have a three-dimensional protein structure that is liable to change by heat or in a certain environment and lose its inherent function. Various methods have been investigated to treat an enzyme or a protein in a stable manner. In one of the methods, an enzyme or a protein is supported by a solid surface. For example, an immobilized enzyme is put into practical use.
For example, an enzyme is immobilized on silica prepared by a sol-gel method, fused quartz, a porous inorganic substance, or a porous organic polymer material. In a recent proposition, an enzyme is immobilized on a mesoporous material prepared using a detergent micelle as a template, particularly mesoporous silica. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2000-139459 and 2002-95471 describe such a technique.
However, known techniques for immobilizing an enzyme to mesoporous silica have several problems. Specifically, mesoporous silica, such as MCM-41 or SBA-15 disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-139459 or 2002-95471, has a small pore size reserved only for a small protein. Furthermore, mesoporous silica, such as SBA-15, has tubular pores that are longitudinally oriented in a rod-shaped particle. Thus, the tubular pores have a large aspect ratio (the ratio of the depth to the diameter of a pore). A protein or substrate molecule therefore poorly diffuses into the pores. In addition, the openings on the surface are small in number. Hence, such mesoporous silica accommodates only a smaller amount of protein.

Particle having mesopore loaded with biological substance, sensor including the same, and method for detecting specimen


Disclosed herein is a head-mounted apparatus, including: an optical sensor having a contact face for contacting with the head of a user; a supporting unit disposed around the optical sensor and configured to contact with the head of the user; and a sensor supporting mechanism configured to support the optical sensor so as to permit a movement of the optical sensor in a contact direction that is a direction perpendicular to the contact face.

The technology discussed herein relates to a head-mounted apparatus.
In related art, development of an apparatus for detecting biological information such as an electroencephalogram or a blood flow amount has been and is being underway. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2013-146371 discloses a sensor that uses light to detect a blood flow. Some of such sensors for detecting biological information are used in a state in which they contact closely with the skin of a subject.
Further, a head-mounted apparatus that is mounted on the head of a user is known. For example, PCT Patent Publication No. WO2015/137165 discloses a head-mounted display for appreciating a video or for a like purpose. The head-mounted display receives video data generated by a video generation apparatus such as a game apparatus or an audio-visual apparatus and displays the received video data on a display apparatus disposed in front of the user's eyes.


A skeleton posture determining method and apparatus, and a computer readable storage medium belong to the field of human body posture recognition, where the method includes obtaining a first skeleton posture including location information of a plurality of joints, determining a description parameter of at least one target joint of the joints, obtaining, through screening, a correct joint from the at least one target joint based on the description parameter, and performing fitting based on location information of the correct joint to obtain a second skeleton posture, where the second skeleton posture includes location information of at least one joint, and the at least one target joint is in a one-to-one correspondence with the at least one joint. Hence, the method, the apparatus, and the computer readable storage medium can improve recognition accuracy of a human body posture.

Accurately recognizing a human body motion by an electronic device is a premise of successful interaction between the electronic device and a user. For example, for a service-oriented robot, accurately recognizing a motion that a user is dining is a premise for the robot to clear a dining table for the user. A human body motion usually includes a series of human body postures. Therefore, accurately recognizing a human body posture plays an important role in recognizing the human body motion.
In a related technology, an electronic device may photograph a human body motion to obtain a human body motion video, and then may abstract a human body posture image included in each video frame of the motion video to obtain a human body skeleton posture. The skeleton posture includes location information of a plurality of joints, and a human body posture can be recognized by recognizing the skeleton posture.
In a process of implementing this application, the inventor finds that the other approaches may have at least the following problem.
In actual application, abstraction of the human body posture image may be interfered with by a plurality of factors, for example, by clothes worn by a user in the human body posture image or by a shelter. Due to interference by the plurality of factors, location information of a plurality of joints that is reflected by a skeleton posture obtained by abstracting a human body posture image may include location information of some erroneous joints, and a recognition error may be caused by recognizing a human body posture using such skeleton postures. As a result, human body posture recognition accuracy is affected.

Skeleton posture determining method and apparatus, and computer readable storage medium


A solar control coating is applied to a first glass pane interior surface and a low-E coating is applied to a second glass pane exterior surface. A safety film is applied over the coating on the interior surface of the first glass pane. The second glass pane has a low-E coating facing the interior of a room. A safety film is applied to the reverse side of the glass. The two glass panes are separated by a spacer and structural silicone is backfilled from each outboard end of the spacer to the coated inside surfaces of the first and second glass panes to form a two-glass pane composite.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to making insulated glass units used in residential, architectural and vehicle applications. More specifically, it refers to the manufacture of insulated glass (IG) units having coatings applied exhibiting solar control, low-E, and impact resistant properties.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Insulated glass windows or door units have been known for many years to reduce the heat transfer between the interior house and the environment. To further improve the insulating properties, the art taught making solar control coated and low-emissivity (low-E) coated glass or film.
Solar control is a term describing the property of regulating the amount of solar heat energy, which is allowed to pass through a glass article into an enclosed space such as a building or an automobile interior. Low emissivity is a term describing the property of an article's surface wherein the absorption and emission of mid-range infrared radiation is suppressed, making the surface a mid-range infrared reflector and thereby reducing heat flux through the article by attenuating the radiant component of heat transfer to and from the low emissivity surface. By suppressing solar heat gain, building and automobile interiors are kept cooler, allowing a reduction in air conditioning requirements and costs. Efficient low emissivity coatings improve comfort during both summer and winter by increasing the thermal insulating performance of a window.
Two typical coating methods to make solar control and low-E coatings are "in-line" and "off-line" coatings. The in-line method uses a chemical deposition method involving doping with different chemicals to make an infrared absorbing layer and low-E layer as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,750,265, 5,897,957, and 6,218,018. The off-line method uses sputtering deposition to make both coatings.
Impact resistant glass is described in detail in the Florida Building Code. Basically, it specifies a testing protocol for a window glass to withstand up to nine pounds of force from a 2×4 board shot at the glass up to 50 feet/second. Withstanding both shots with one in the center and one in the corner without penetration, is considered as a pass.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,799,745 and 5,071,206 describe a multi-layered sputtering polyethyleneterephthalate (PET) window film construction, which gives both solar control and low-E properties. The coating-contains silver metal layers and indium-tin oxide layers in an alternate construction. The film has a high visible light transmission, above 70%, and a low visible light reflection, about 8%. The total solar heat rejection is about 56%. The color of the coating is light green. It has a very good solar control and low-E performances. However, corrosion is a major concern. To make an IG unit, it needs edge deletion and filling with inert gas in the IG unit to prevent the coating from corroding. The multi-layered coating has to be exposed within the IG unit to achieve both low-E and solar control functions. As a result, the manufacturing process becomes expensive.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,332,888 and 6,558,800 disclose a multi-layered sputtering window glass construction (off-line method), which also achieves both solar control and low-E properties. The former patent contains a silver metal layer sandwiched by zinc oxide layers and the latter contains a silver metal layer sandwiched by nickel chrome and silica nitrite layers. Similar to sputtered PET film, they also face corrosion, chemical resistant and scratch resistant concerns.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,546,692 assigned to Film Technologies International, Inc. discloses a method of laminating a safety film on the inside surfaces in an IG unit to build an impact resistant window. The safety feature is very important for window glass to withstand hurricane, earthquake, and terrorism. However, the low-E property would be destroyed or significantly weakened once a safety film is laminated over the low-E coating surface.
Besides solar control, low-E, and impact resistance, other desirable properties include an economic process, durability, maintenance, light transmission, visibility, color, clarity and reflection. These are important features during a window manufacturing process.
To meet the Government (Department of Energy) Energy Star Qualification Criteria for Windows, Doors and Skylights and Florida Building Code for impact resistant windows, a new window/door design is required for the window/door industry.

Method of manufacturing an impact resistant and insulated glass unit composite with solar control and low-E coatings


Method and system for reflecting a change of a copy VOL caused by VOL replica means upon a standby party. In a living and standby party computer system for operating original volumes and copy volumes by using volume replica, after having executed a volume replica, the living party informs the standby party that a copy volume is changed and the standby party reflects changed copy volume information upon the self-party. Through this, even after a fault occurs in the living party and party switchover is done, the standby party can access the copy volume on the basis of the information reflected upon the standby party to continue a process.

In present-day society, computer systems have been indispensable for providing the active basis supporting our life. Such a computer system as above is required to continue service for 24 hours without stopping. Available as one of these computer systems is an on-line system employed in banks and the like which handles database business affairs as a key or core process. The database business affairs are updated frequently and are therefore permitted of no complete or thorough stoppage. But, on the other hand, there is a demand for creating backups in expectation of protection of data to be handled.
In the database, data to be handled are stored in volumes (hereinafter abbreviated as VOL's) representing memory areas or storages areas precedently set in a disk device so constructed as to include a storage medium such as a magnetic disk and the data are processed. The VOL is a unit of the memory area and is sometimes called by the name of partition. The VOL is identified with a physical VOL identifier (PVID) and the computer system recognizes the VOL by acquiring VOL information through the use of the PVID. The PVID and VOL information are acquired by a disk management program and saved in a disk management information buffer on an operating system (OS). It will be appreciated that a variety of PVID's are available and in an OS called AIX (registered trademark of IBM Inc.), for instance, the PVID is handled in the form of hexadecimal data such as "005247772d2f36b". An application such as database and the OS accesses (reads and writes) a VOL recognized on the basis of information in the buffer. Let us consider an instance where, for example, an application program accesses a file. In this case, on the basis of a physical device name corresponding to the file to be accessed (hereinafter also termed a physical name and as an example of concreted data, "hdisk0" is used in, for example, the OS called AIX (registered trademark of IBM Inc.), identification information (physical address such as LUN) in a disk device of a physical memory medium identified (from the OS) by that physical device name is designated and a request for access to the disk device is transmitted. At that time, verification is carried out as to whether a PVID stored in a given area of the memory medium to be accessed coincides with a PVID stored in the aforementioned disk management information buffer. If the result of verification shows non-coincidence between the PVID's, this result is handled as an access error.
As will be seen from the above, a technique of realizing a replication of VOL without causing the database to stop thoroughly is important. The prevention of complete stoppage intends to attain recovery of a system within a short period of time in the range of not causing troubles in business affairs even in the event that the system becomes faulty so that system users may be prevented from recognizing that the system stands stopped. To this end, a technique disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,401,178 (corresponding to JP-A-2002-41368) is known according to which replica of data in a disk is executed in a disk device and this technique is applied to VOL's to provide a technique called VOL replica. The VOL replica includes two means for pair construction and pair division directed to paired VOL's of original VOL representing a data replication source and copy VOL representing a data replication target. The pair construction is means for fast creating a copy VOL representing a replica of an original VOL by making coincident (synchronized) all data pieces including PVID's of original/copy VOL's and VOL information. Accordingly, in a status of pair construction, the PVID's of the original/copy VOL's are coincident with each other, thereby providing a function of enabling the host computer system to recognize the original/copy VOL's impersonating a sole VOL. On the other hand, the pair division is means for cancelling the synchronization of the original/copy VOL's and rewriting the PVID of the copy VOL of the paired VOL's taking the pair construction into a PVID different from that of the original VOL. This provides a function of dividing the paired VOL's recognized as a sole VOL by the host computer system during pair construction and enabling the system to recognize the original and copy VOL's as different VOL's. These two means provide a function of creating a replica of the original VOL at a high speed and permitting the computer system to operate a replicated copy VOL.
On the other hand, a computer system required to have high reliability of recovery within short period of time is so constructed as to include an active computer or a active computer for executing processes and a standby computer for taking over a process in the event that a fault occurs in the active computer. A cluster program for managing the active and standby computers provides a procedure for handing the process to the standby computer at the time that the fault occurring in the active computer is detected. For handing over the process, data used in the application and OS must be handed over. For example, in the aforementioned database system, it becomes necessary that information concerning a VOL in which data to be handled is stored be handed over.

Method, apparatus, and computer readable medium for managing multiple system


A pre-heater assembly for pre-heating a fluid, in particular in a fluid separation apparatus, wherein the pre-heater assembly comprises a capillary having a lumen and being configured for conducting the fluid, and a thermal coupling body contacting at least part of the capillary, having a value of thermal conductivity in a range between 8 W/(m K) and 100 W/(m K) and being arrangable so that heat generated by a heat source is supplied to the capillary via at least part of the thermal coupling body.

In liquid chromatography, a fluid (such as a mixture between a fluidic sample and a mobile phase) may be pumped through conduits and a column comprising a material (stationary phase) which is capable of separating different components of the fluidic sample. Such a material, so-called beads which may comprise silica gel, may be filled into a column which may be connected to other elements (like a sampling unit, a flow cell, containers including sample and/or buffers) by conduits.
For operating a fluid separation apparatus, the fluid can be pre-heated by a pre-heater assembly located downstream of an injector for injecting the fluidic sample in the mobile phase and upstream of the column.
GB 2432800 discloses a chromatographic system and method which include a passive pre-heater assembly. A fluid mixture is supplied from an injector to the preheater assembly and then to a chromatographic column having an active heating source. The pre-heater assembly includes a convoluted tube with first and second ends and a fluid passage extending centrally therebetween, first and second end fittings attached respectively to the first and second ends of the convoluted tube, and a thermally conductive film attached to an outer surface of the convoluted tube. The first end fitting is adapted for fluidly connecting the first end of the convoluted tube to the injector and the second end fitting is adapted for fluidly connecting the second end of the convoluted tube to the chromatographic column. The thermally conductive film conveys heat from an active heating source of a chromatographic column to the convoluted tube when the pre-heater assembly is positioned adjacent to the active heating source. The central fluid passage in the convoluted tube has a series of bends which function to create a secondary fluid flow field that is substantially orthogonal to a primary flow field established when fluid is traversing the fluid passage in the tube.
However, when fluid is pre-heated in a conventional pre-heater assembly of a fluid separation apparatus, the heat transfer to the fluid is in many cases not satisfactory.

Pre-heater assembly with moderately thermally conductive capillary surrounding


A simple crime prevention alarm device for the windows of dwelling houses or the like. The alarm device can be simply and easily attached to and placed on various kinds of objects, such as windows or the like, to prevent crime. The manufacturing cost and the attachment cost are reduced, and further provide a simple alarm device which can be used as an urgent call means. A simple crime prevention alarm device for windows according to this invention comprises a casing, and the casing houses therein a reel for taking up a string, a coil spring for giving a force of taking up the string around the reel, a switching-on projection means operation switch when the reel is rotated by the pulling-out of the string or the pulling-in of the string due to the coil spring, an alarm operation switch adapted to be turned on when the switching-on projection means has kicked the switch by the pulling-out of the string or the pulling-in of the string due to the coil spring, an alarm sound generating device which is operated by the alarm operation switch, and a battery which serves to give power to the alarm sound generating device. The string is provided at a free end thereof with a fixing means which can be secured to a window frame, while the casing comprises an attachment means for attaching the casing itself.

Today, crime prevention systems for dwelling houses have spread, and as crime prevention systems for dwelling houses crime prevention sensors for windows are used, which detect a person who intrudes from a window into a room. As a conventional crime prevention sensor for windows, there is an opening and closing detection type sensor comprising in combination a magnet, and a reed switch, which operates due to the access and alienation of the magnet. This sensor operates in such a manner that, when an intruder opens a window, the reed switch operates to generate a signal of detection (See for e.g. JP2003-281636A). Furthermore, there is an arm-end disengagement detection type in which an arm is rotatably held at one end thereof on one of the window frames or the like and is provided at the other end thereof with a reed switch, which is made to detachably engage a holder secured to the other of the window frames. This sensor operates in such a manner that when a part of an intruder's body comes into contact with the arm, the other end of the arm is disengaged from the holder, and a state of operation of the reed switch varies to thereby generate a signal of detection (See for e.g. JP07-114675A).
Since the sensor systems of these conventional techniques involved large-scale equipment, complicated in the operations of attaching to the windows, and required a lot of time and expense in the attaching and placing operations, a device has been desired which can be simply and easily placed by an armature, besides which, is inexpensive.
At present, a number of simple alarm devices, which are generally on the market, are ones which are directly attached to doors or windows, and which operate to detect sound or vibration to thereby generate a signal. However, in such devices, catching information of sound by noise and of vibration by wind, and issuing a false signal come into question. Moreover, since, in horizontally sliding doors, the gap between the doors is narrow, a thin device is required, and devising with respect to the above-mentioned question is necessary.
Furthermore, a device issuing an alarm sound has recently been used as an urgent call means by elderly men or women in elder care or by a sick person in a hospital.
An object of this invention is to provide a simple crime prevention alarm device for dwelling houses or the like, which can be simply and easily attached to and placed on the required area of a crime prevention object, a window or the like, and which allows the manufacturing cost and the attachment cost to be reduced. A further object is to provide a simple alarm device which can be used as an urgent call means.


An apparatus and method for inspecting a surface of a sample, particularly but not limited to a semiconductor device, using an electron beam is presented. The technique is called Secondary Electron Emission Microscopy (SEEM), and has significant advantages over both Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Low Energy Electron Microscopy (LEEM) techniques. In particular, the SEEM technique utilizes a beam of relatively high-energy primary electrons having a beam width appropriate for parallel, multi-pixel imaging. The electron energy is near a charge-stable condition to achieve faster imaging than was previously attainable with SEM, and charge neutrality unattainable with LEEM.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and a method for using electron beams to microscopically inspect the surface of an object, and more particularly to inspect layers in a semiconductor device.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
A variety of methods have been used to examine microscopic surface structures of semiconductors. These have important applications in the field of semiconductor chip fabrication, where microscopic defects at a surface layer make the difference between a good or bad chip. Holes or vias in an intermediate insulating layer often provide a physical conduit for an electrical connection between two outer conducting layers. If one of these holes or vias becomes clogged, it will be impossible to establish this electrical connection and the whole chip may fail. Examination of the microscopic defects in the surface of the semiconductor layers is necessary to ensure quality control of the chips.
Electron beams have several advantages over other mechanisms to examine samples. Light beams have an inherent resolution limit of about 100 nm-200 nm, but electron beams can investigate feature sizes as small as a few nanometers. Electron beams are manipulated fairly easily with electrostatic and electromagnetic elements, and are easier to produce and manipulate than x-rays.
Electron beams in semiconductor defect inspection do not produce as many false positives as optical beams. Optical beams are sensitive to problems of color noise and grain structures whereas electron beams are not. Oxide trenches and polysilicon lines are especially prone to false positives with optical beams due to grain structure.
A variety of approaches involving electron beams have been utilized for examining surface structure. In low-voltage scanning electron microscopy (SEM), a narrow beam of primary electrons is raster-scanned across the surface a of sample. Primary electrons in the scanning beam cause the sample surface to emit secondary electrons. Because the primary electrons in the beam of scanning electron microscopy are near a particular known electron energy (called `E.sub.2 `), there is no corresponding charge build-up problem in SEM, and the surface of the sample remains neutral. However, raster scanning a surface with scanning electron microscopy is slow because each pixel on the surface is collected sequentially. Moreover, a complex and expensive electron beam steering system is needed to control the beam pattern.
Another approach is called Photo-Electron Emission Microscopy (PEM or PEEM), in which photons are directed at the surface of a sample to be studied, and by the photoelectric effect, electrons are emitted from the surface. On an insulating surface, the emission of these electrons, however, produces a net positive charge on the sample surface since there is a net flux of electrons from the surface. The sample continues to charge positively until there are no emitted electrons, or electrical breakdown occurs. This charge build-up problem limits the utility of PEEM for imaging insulators.
Another method of examining surfaces with electron beams is known as Low Energy Electron Microscopy (LEEM), in which a relatively wide beam of low-energy electrons is directed to be incident upon the surface of the sample, and electrons reflected from the sample are detected. However, LEEM suffers from a similar charge build-up problem since electrons are directed at the sample surface, but not all of the electrons are energetic enough to leave the surface. In LEEM, negatively-charged electrons accumulate on the surface, which repels further electrons from striking the sample, resulting in distortions and shadowing of the surface.
Several prior art publications have discussed a variety of approaches using electron beams in microscopy, but none have determined how to do so with parallel imaging at the same time the charge build-up problem is eliminated. One of these approaches is described by Lee H. Veneklasen in "The Continuing Development of Low-Energy Electron Microscopy for Characterizing Surfaces," Review of Scientific Instruments, 63(12), December 1992, pages 5513 to 5532. Veneklasen notes generally that the LEEM electron potential difference between the source and sample can be adjusted between zero and a few keV, but he does not recognize the charging problem or propose a solution to it. Habliston et al., in "Photoelectron Imaging of Cells: Photoconductivity Extends the Range of Applicability," Biophysical Journal, Volume 69, October 1995, pages 1615 to 1624, describe a method of reducing sample charging in photoelectron imaging with ultraviolet light.
Thus, there remains a need for a method utilizing electrons beams to investigate sample surfaces that eliminates the charge build-up problem and increases the speed of examining large sample surfaces.

Apparatus and method for secondary electron emission microscope


In one embodiment of the present invention, a method includes observing disk requests for a drive associated with a memory device; and mapping the memory device based on observing the disk requests.

Block-alterable memories, such as flash memories or polymer ferroelectric random access memories (PFRAMs), are used in many different applications. Flash memory is a high-speed electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) in which erasing and programming (i.e., writing) is performed on blocks of data. One use of a flash memory or a PFRAM is as a cache media, such as a disk cache for a disk device such as a disk drive, to act as a temporary storage area for frequently accessed data. The media's access characteristic for each data request cycle (read or write) is an initial latency before all the data in the block or wordline is available from the media. Each wordline contains the physical amount of data that can be transferred per memory cycle and can contain several kilobytes (KB) of data.
Disk drives can only uniquely address 512 byte blocks of data at a time, commonly called a disk sector; accordingly, a disk cache typically maintains the same addressing granularity. Thus multiple addressable 'disk sectors' are stored on each wordline of a cache along with some cache metadata. File systems typically request multiple disk sectors per each input/output (I/O) request, as multiple disk sectors are addressed as one file system cluster, normally in even sector increments, to minimize overhead in disk organization. Unfortunately, the first file system cluster does not start at sector zero on the disk drive but at an arbitrary sector offset. Thus additional cache wordlines are accessed if the mapping of disk to cache address does not naturally align to operating system (OS) file system clusters. Thus a need exists to reduce the number of wordline accesses per disk request or other memory request.


The insertion and removal of an image forming unit, inserted into the storage bay of the enclosure of electronic equipment so that it can be removed, is made easy, and the clearance of paper jams and maintenance operations, etc., are facilitated. An outer case is fitted inside the storage bay, for accommodating hard disk drives, etc., of the electronic equipment (e.g., a computer), and an image forming unit is inserted into this outer case so that it can be removed. Slides for supporting the main case, so that it can slide backward and forward are provided at the bottom of the outer case. In the image forming process, a latent image is formed on the microcapsule sheet by dot-wise exposure with LEDs, after which pressure development takes place, whereupon a color image is formed on the microcapsule sheet.

The present invention is related to an image forming device, and more particularly to an image forming device that can be inserted into the predetermined storage bay of the enclosure of electronic equipment.
In the enclosure of electronic equipment, such as computers for example, one or a plurality of storage bays (storage spaces) for storing external devices such as CD-ROM drives, hard disk drives, etc., is provided, and the external devices can be accommodated therein according to need. Further, external devices such as CD-ROM drives and hard disk drives, etc., stored in the storage bays, can be used, once the signal and power cables connected to the computer are respectively connected to a pair of parallel ports provided at the rear end of the external devices via connectors, after having removed the rear panel fixed to the rear of the storage bays by machine screws or some other means.
On the other hand, various image forming devices, connected to electronic equipment via cables and connectors, for printing on a recording medium based on image data output from the electronic equipment have been put into practical use. Further, it is also possible to constitute the before-mentioned image forming device so that it can be used and inserted into the storage bay of the electronic equipment in the same way as the above-mentioned external devices such as CD-ROM drives and hard disk drives.
Then, an image forming device, made so as to fit into the before-mentioned storage bays, can be used, when inserted into the storage bay in the same way as the before-mentioned external devices such as CD-ROM drives and hard disk drives, once the signal and power cables connected to the computer are respectively connected to a pair of parallel ports provided at the rear end of the image forming device via connectors, after having removed the before-mentioned rear panel of the storage bay.
Further, in order to insert an image forming device into the storage bay, a constitution for both feeding and discharging the recording media at the front of the image forming device needs to be adopted, which means that a sheet feeder tray for accommodating a plurality of recording media has to be mounted to the front of the image forming device.
With conventional image forming devices, the cover of the image forming device is opened to perform maintenance operations or clear paper jams. For the before-mentioned image forming device, used while inserted into a storage bay, this means that frequent removal from and insertion into the storage bay is necessary for maintenance operations or clearance of paper jams.
However, the before-mentioned storage bays are not made so as to permit smooth insertion and removal of external devices, because external devices such as CD-ROM drives and hard disk drives, once inserted into the storage bay, are hardly ever removed. I.e. , image forming devices cannot be smoothly inserted into or removed from storage bays for maintenance operations or clearance of paper jams.
Further, when frequently inserting an image forming device into and removing it from a storage bay, as described above, the above-mentioned connectors and parallel ports have to be connected and disconnected each time, therefore, the insertion of the image forming device into and its removal from the storage bay becomes extremely troublesome.
Moreover, with an image forming device inserted into a storage bay, regarding the feeding of the recording media and the discharging of the printed recording media at the front of the image forming device, as described above, the sheet feeder tray being mounted to the front of the main case protrudes far beyond the front of the storage bay and is likely to get very much in the way. And since a constitution for transporting the recording media in a U-turn or forward and backward needs to be adopted, the problem arises that the structure of the sheet transport mechanism, and other systems, becomes complicated, and the manufacturing costs increase significantly.


An method and apparatus for designing a high-frequency circuit perform replacing component items by component equivalent circuits in which corresponding component items have frequency characteristics, calculating evaluation data items for the replaced component equivalent circuits, while changing frequency, by a polynomial-frequency-function expression, obtaining the frequency characteristics of the component items, and evaluating circuit characteristics. When the result of evaluation indicates that the targeted circuit characteristics cannot be obtained, at least one of the component equivalent circuits in the circuit model is replaced by another component equivalent circuit corresponding to a component item having different electrical characteristics. The expression is used to calculate again evaluation data for evaluating the replaced component equivalent circuit, and circuit characteristics are evaluated again by using frequency characteristics based on the calculated evaluation data items.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method and apparatus for designing a high-frequency circuit, and a display method for use in designing a high-frequency circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, it is common to use computer simulations to design electronic circuits and to evaluate circuit characteristics. However, this has a problem in that, when common component characteristic data items for use in designing high-frequency circuits, such as an image parameter (F parameter), an impedance parameter (Z parameter), an admittance parameter (y parameter), and a hybrid parameter (h parameter), are used, a designed high-frequency circuit cannot have the targeted circuit characteristics. Accordingly, recently, in order to eliminate the above problem, scattering parameters (S parameters) that represent the elements of a scattering matrix (S matrix) representing relationships between incident waves and reflected waves are used as component characteristic data items to design a high-frequency circuit and to evaluate circuit characteristics.
The S parameters have an advantage in that the use of the S parameters enables highly accurate evaluation of circuit characteristics because the S parameters are obtained by using a network analyzer to actually measure the frequency characteristics of component items. For circuit design and evaluation of circuit characteristics, S-parameter data tables for component items, provided by component manufacturers, must be prepared.
Since the S-parameter data tables provided by the component manufacturers basically bear magnitude and angles (phase) for measured frequencies, accurate evaluation of circuit characteristics cannot be performed for frequencies which are not described in the tables. Specifically, by using an S-parameter data table having magnitude and angles in units of 0.5 GHz, such as 0.5 GHz, 1.0 GHz, 1.5 GHz, 2.0 GHz, and 2.5 GHz, accurate evaluation of circuit characteristics cannot be performed for a frequency between two measured frequencies, such as 0.9 GHz, 1.2 GHz, and 2.3 GHz.

Method and apparatus for designing high-frequency circuit, and display method for use in designing high-frequency circuit


A process for comparing two digital images is described. The process includes comparing texture moment data for the two images to provide a similarity index, combining the similarity index with other data to provide a similarity value and determining that the two images match when the similarity value exceeds a first threshold value.

People have engaged in production of images representative of subjects deemed memorable by their perceivers for millenia, using a variety of progressively less labor intensive techniques and resulting in renditions capable of increasingly more detailed depictions of the subjects. As a result of the reduction in labor intensity, larger numbers of renditions tend to be produced for any given subject of interest to the perceiver.
With film photographic or paper imaging techniques, a relatively small number of images result from any one session in which such images are produced. Accordingly, sorting techniques relying on manual effort are sufficient for most purposes to identify similar images from a collection of images.
However, in some situations, comparisons of images to identify those having similarity to a given exemplary image or set of query characteristics can require intense or prolonged effort when performed using manual techniques. Examples of such comparisons include sorting of fingerprint and photograph images spanning a relatively large geopolitical area or a relatively large population to find a match to a specific image or set of characteristics.
Development of digital techniques for storing and comparing data can facilitate sorting of a large collection of data, for example by use of keywords to sort textual databases, to find matches to specific characteristics or datasets. However, this technology has also led to evolution of increasingly large databases, exacerbating the difficulties involved in selection or matching of bodies of data to locate those having specific characteristics.
One approach to sorting images to find those exemplifying particular characteristics involves associating each image with one or more keywords and then storing the keywords in a database together with at least information identifying the image associated with the keywords. Sorting of textual databases or groups to select examples associated with a particular Hollerith string, key word or keywords or textual content can yield matches having desired characteristics but this approach also has limitations.
Image sorting tasks include need to be able to account for differences in scale or perspective, rotation, translation, inclusion of a desired set of information within a larger body of data and other aspects not generally involved in textual data searching tasks. As a result, techniques have been developed to extract content-based information from digital images and to employ the content-based information in order to be able to search for specific characteristics, which may be exemplified by a sample image.
Typically, bodies of data representing images are constructed by indexing each image to generate a feature vector capturing some key properties of the image and then storing the resultant feature vector in a database or feature-base. A sample feature vector or "query" vector, which may result from indexing a sample image, is then compared to the stored feature vectors to identify those stored feature vectors most likely to correspond to images similar to a desired image. The feature vectors may be augmented using one or more keywords, as described above, to provide capability for low-level feature matching using the feature vectors coupled with matching of a limited amount of higher-level data in the form of keywords.
Feature-vector based image recognition algorithms need to meet conflicting criteria. A difference, such as a normalized scalar corresponding to subtraction of the sample or query feature vector and one of the stored feature vectors, should be large if and only if the images are not "similar". The feature vectors should lend themselves to rapid formulation from an image. Smaller size of the feature vectors themselves can increase computational "efficiency" and decrease need for data storage capacity. Such efficiency may be manifested by facilitating rapid manipulation of the feature vectors. As a result, the types of feature vectors most frequently employed to date are based on relatively low-level features, in part to restrict the size of the resultant feature vectors and data bodies, and thus such feature vectors capture only some aspects of the image content.
Unfortunately, low-level information, such as that employed by such digital image search algorithms presently available, often does not provide a good match to human perceptions of the images. As a result, matching procedures based on these kinds of low-level data often do not provide satisfactory results. They may result, for example, in a relatively large number of false positives, particularly with large databases, or they may not manifest robust matching in view of appearance changes between images of a common subject (e.g., modified viewpoints from which otherwise similar images are generated). Additionally, some of the image sorting techniques developed to date require considerable user sophistication in order to employ them and to interpret the results.
The development of digital photography and increasingly user-friendly digital cameras and scanners capable of digitizing images permits a larger portion of the public to participate in digital image manipulation. Wider availability and distribution of increasingly powerful microprocessors facilitates sorting of digital images by automated apparatus, such as by a personal computer, even by persons having little or no formal training in computer techniques.
An exemplary product providing, among other things, a capability for sorting of digital images, is known as the "Adobe Photoshop Album", available at www.adobe.com/products/photoshopalbum/main.html from Adobe Systems Incorporated, 345 Park Avenue, San Jose, Calif. A review of this product, entitled Adobe Photoshop Album Review, is available at www.dpreview.com/reviews/products/adobephotoshopalbum/page2.
The sorting performed by this product is based on a color similarity search across a given body of images using one or more user-provided sample images employed to form a query. However, color similarity is only one limited measure of match between images. Simple examples where color similarity would be expected to fail include comparison of a colored image to a sepia image or a gray scale image of highly similar subject matter.
Much research has been devoted to rendering digital photography user-friendly and to enable those having relatively little training or sophistication to provide and manipulate high quality images. However, improved automatic image sorting and matching continues to be desirable, particularly for photographic instruments intended to foster broad market acceptance across a user base reflecting different degrees of user sophistication.

Integrated solution to digital image similarity searching


An improved modular, radially-compliant, redundantly-sealing journal-type bearing assembly comprising two bearing elements retained in a housing and positively loaded in opposing directions by a compression spring disposed therebetween. A shaft to be supported and sealed against leakage by the bearing, such as a valve pintle shaft, is disposed in an axial bore in each of the bearing elements, which bores are fitted as closely to the diameter of the shaft as is possible without causing the shaft to bind in the bores. Each of the radial bearing faces opposite the spring forms a seal with a corresponding internal surface of the housing, defining thereby a redundant sealing system. The bearings are radially compliant within the housing by a predetermined small distance to allow the shaft to be operatively self-centered, such as by an attached valve head mating into a valve seat. The improved bearing assembly may be pre-assembled offline to facilitate its incorporation into an apparatus, for example, a fuel cell valve, and may also be retrofitted into existing apparatus, for example, an exhaust gas recirculation valve.

The present invention relates to bearings for supporting a shaft in sliding and/or rotary motion; more particularly, to a journal bearing for supporting a reciprocable pintle in a pintle-type valve; and most particularly to a modular bearing assembly wherein two independent bearings are each radially compliant and also form redundant axial seals against leakage of a fluid, especially a gas, through the assembly.
Linear and rotary actuators are commonly employed in various automotive, chemical, and general industrial applications for regulating gas flow and other similar functions. Many newer applications have very stringent requirements with respect to shaft leakage past a journal bearing. Some of these applications, such as fuel cells, are intolerant of any shaft leakage because the managed medium, such as hydrogen, is highly volatile and explosive. Control valves in such applications require substantially perfect axial alignment of the metering orifice and the valve shaft or pintle to close completely and reliably. Such alignment is difficult if not impossible to achieve in known control valves, especially in valves which must operate satisfactorily over a wide range of temperatures and pressures, with attendant thermally and torsionally induced dimensional changes in valve components.
The resultant misalignment inherent in known gas management valves not only makes it difficult to meet the valve leakage requirement but also diminishes valve performance by introducing significant parasitic frictional forces that are the direct result of component misalignment. To account for these frictional forces, actuators commonly are oversized, the result being devices which may be bulkier, heavier, and costlier than required for the gas management function alone. In automotive applications, for example, such oversized actuators can add to the weight of a vehicle, incurring permanent cost in reduced fuel efficiency and increased brake wear. Excess vehicle weight may increase to the point at which a given vehicle must be reclassified to a heavier, bigger class, incurring additional insurance cost and government imposed penalties.
What is needed is a modular assembly of a bearing which is readily pre-assembled offline, in which the bearing is radially compliant and may be self-aligned by the pintle, and in which the bearing also functions as a shaft seal.
The present invention is directed to an improved modular journal-type bearing assembly comprising two bearing elements retained in a housing and positively loaded in opposing axial directions by a compression spring disposed therebetween. An operative shaft to be both supported and sealed against leakage by the bearing, for example, a valve pintle shaft, is disposed in an axial bore in each of the bearing elements, the bores preferably being as closely fitted to the diameter of the shaft as is possible without causing the shaft to bind in the bores. Each of the radial bearing faces opposite the spring forms a seal with a corresponding radial surface of the housing, defining thereby a redundant sealing system. The bearings are free to move radially within the housing by a predetermined small distance to allow the shaft to be operatively self-centered, such as by an attached valve head mating into a valve seat. The improved bearing assembly may be pre-assembled offline to facilitate its incorporation into an apparatus, for example, a pintle valve, and may also be retrofitted into existing bearing installations.

Modular, compliant, sealing bearing assembly


A vehicle control device 40 of a vehicle 200 provided with a cooling circuit 20 using a circulating cooling liquid to cool motors 112, 114 for driving a vehicle or a PCU 118 and a refrigerant circuit 30 discharging heat of the circulating refrigerant for air-conditioning a passenger compartment to the cooling liquid of the cooling circuit 20 and driven by jointly using the outputs of the motors 112, 114 and the output of an engine 12, which control device comprising a cooling mode switching part 42 switching a cooling mode from a normal control mode to a cooling priority control mode cooling the passenger compartment with priority when a predetermined condition stands and a vehicle control part 43 making the outputs of the motors 112, 114 decrease and making the output of the engine 12 increase when the normal control mode is switched to the cooling priority control mode.

In the past, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-173747 disclosed a composite type heat exchanger exchanging heat between a refrigerant for air-conditioning use and cooling water for water cooling use cooling strong electrical equipment through a water cooling condenser and discharging exhaust heat at the time of cooling to a low temperature cooling water circuit.


A continuous-casting mold has walls resting on an oscillating lifting platform and is provided with a stirrer which incorporates a magnetic circuit. The stirrer has a yoke which at least partially surrounds the walls of the mold and which has at least two cores facing opposite sides of the mold. In order to prevent the magnetic force of the stirrer from deforming the walls of the mold, the lifting platform, which sets the walls of the mold into oscillation, is designed as the yoke and each core is located on a bracket projecting out of the lifting platform.

The invention relates to a continuous casting mold having mold side walls supported on an oscillating lifting table and having a stirrer comprising a magnetic circuit with a yoke at least partly surrounding the mold side walls and the yoke has at least two cores that are directed against mold side walls which are arranged opposite each other.
In continuous casting, the melt is caused to flow into the continuous casting mold from a tundish either directly or through a casting tube. Due to its kinetic energy, the pouring stream exiting from the tundish or exiting from the casting tube, respectively, penetrates deeply into the liquid core of the strand forming in the continuous casting mold. In this process, entrainment of slag particles, casting powder or other impurities may occur, which entrainment leads to inclusions in the strand if these impurities penetrate very far inside, since separation or flowing upward of the slag etc. to the meniscus of the strand can hardly occur any longer.
To enable control of the flow behavior of the pouring stream inside the continuous casting mold, particularly to prevent the pouring stream from penetrating too far into the liquid core of the strand, it is known to provide a stirrer directly at the continuous casting mold, which stirrer or creates causes a magnetic field that slows down the velocity of the pouring stream and, in addition, advantageously divides the pouring stream. The operation of such a stirrer is comparable to that of an electromagnetic brake.
Continuous casting molds with electromagnetic stirrers of the initially described kind are known for example from EP-B -0 265 796, EP-A - 0 401 504, EP-B - 0 286 935 and WO 92/12814. In accordance with the prior art, the yokes, which constitute a considerable mass, are arranged stationarily to avoid loading the oscillation drives for the mold side walls with these masses. Mostly, the iron cores likewise have been stationarily arranged, in order to avoid loading the oscillation drives with these masses as well. The yoke that has to be additionally provided at the continuous casting mold not only causes substantial structural expenditures (in that additional neon in the very confined space of the continuous casting mold room has to be made for this yoke), but also renders mold construction more expensive due to the additional expenditures incurred for the material.
To enable perfect oscillation of the mold side walls relative to the stationarily arranged stirrer, an air gap is provided between each of the cores of the stirrer and the mold side walls. As a consequence, considerable magnetic forces arise during the operation of the stirrer, which act on the mold side walls and cause a deformation of the mold side walls in the direction toward the core or the yoke. With continuous casting molds for casting a strand having a slab cross section, the molds are constructed as plate molds having broad side walls and narrow side walls clamped between the broad side walls. The narrow side walls either will be clamped only to an unsatisfactory degree by the broad side walls which are acted upon by the magnetic forces, or the forces acting from the stirrer will have to be compensated for by the clamping forces. In the latter case, excessive clamping forces exist between the broad and n arrow side walls when the stirrer is de-engized or put out of action.
It is internally known to rigidly arrange the iron core in the broad side walls of a mold provided for casting a strand having a slab cross section, and the yoke in this case is arranged at a certain distance from the iron cores which are integrated into the broad side walls of the continuous casting mold. Here too, deformations result during the operation of the stirrer, due to the air gap between yoke and core and due to the forces drawing the broad side walls toward the yoke.
A further disadvantage of this construction has to be seen in that for each mold there has to be provided a separate stirrer, which also has to be exchanged whenever the mold side walls are exchanged (for instance in order to change the strand format, etc.).
A continuous casting mold of the initially described kind in which the lifting table that imparts an oscillating movement to the mold side walls is constructed as a yoke, is known from WO-A -94/16844. However, this document does not disclose how the cores are arranged.

Continuous casting mold with a stirrer incorporating a magnetic circuit


A sensor switch located in a patient cable adapts an incompatible sensor to a monitor in a pulse oximetry system. The sensor switch is particularly suited to adapting sensors to a monitor that utilizes an open-circuit detector to determine a no-sensor condition. A compatible sensor short-circuits the inputs to the open-circuit detector to indicate sensor presence. An incompatible sensor has such no short-circuit feature and fails to work on such a monitor. An incompatible sensor attached to a sensor connector at one end of the patient cable, however, actuates the sensor switch. The sensor switch, in turn, short-circuits the open-circuit detector inputs when the monitor is attached to a monitor connector at the opposite end of the patient cable. Thus, the sensor switch simulates the presence of a compatible sensor to the monitor.

Oximetry is the measurement of the oxygen status of blood. Early detection of low blood oxygen is critical in the medical field, for example in critical care and surgical applications, because an insufficient supply of oxygen can result in brain damage and death in a matter of minutes. Pulse oximetry is a widely accepted noninvasive procedure for measuring the oxygen saturation level of arterial blood, an indicator of oxygen supply. A pulse oximetry system consists of a sensor attached to a patient, a monitor, and a cable connecting the sensor and monitor.
Conventionally, a pulse oximetry sensor has both red and infrared LED emitters and a photodiode detector. The sensor is typically attached to an adult patient's finger or an infant patient's foot. For a finger, the sensor is configured so that the emitters project light through the fingernail and into the blood vessels and capillaries underneath. The photodiode is positioned at the fingertip opposite the fingernail so as to detect the LED emitted light as it emerges from the finger tissues.
The pulse oximetry monitor determines oxygen saturation by computing the differential absorption by arterial blood of the two wavelengths emitted by the sensor. The monitor alternately activates the sensor LED emitters and reads the resulting current generated by the photodiode detector. This current is proportional to the intensity of the detected light. The monitor calculates a ratio of detected red and infrared intensities, and an arterial oxygen saturation value is empirically determined based on the ratio obtained. The monitor contains circuitry for controlling the sensor, processing sensor signals and displaying a patient's oxygen saturation, heart rate and plethysmographic waveform. A pulse oximetry monitor is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,272 assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
The patient cable provides conductors between a first connector at one end, which mates to the sensor, and a second connector at the other end, which mates to the monitor. The conductors relay the emitter drive currents from the monitor to the sensor emitters and the photodiode detector signals from the sensor to the monitor.
The patient cable conductors may also relay information to the monitor regarding sensor status. For example, FIG. 1 shows a prior art pulse oximetry system 100 that detects whether a sensor 110 is connected to a monitor 170, either directly or through a patient cable 140. The sensor has a conductor pair 120 (shown dashed) that corresponds to pinouts on a sensor connector 130. The monitor 170 also has a conductor pair 180 (shown dashed) that corresponds to pinouts on a monitor connector 190. The patient cable 140 mates with the sensor 110 at one end via a first connector 150 and the monitor 170 at the other end via a second connector 160, so that the sensor conductor pair 120 becomes electrically connected to the monitor conductor pair 180. A short-circuit conductor 122 connects the sensor conductor pair 120 together at the sensor 110. An open circuit detector 172 within the monitor 170 senses the conductance across the monitor conductor pair 180. When the sensor 110 is plugged into the patient cable 140, the sensor conductor pair 120 is connected to the monitor conductor pair 180, and the conductance measured by the open-circuit detector indicates the presence of the short-circuit conductor 122. When the sensor 110 is unplugged from the patient cable 140, the sensor conductor pair 120 is disconnected from the monitor conductor pair 180, and the conductance measured by the open-circuit detector 172 indicates an open-circuit. Hence, the combination of the short-circuit conductor 122 and the monitor open-circuit detector 172 functions to detect a no-sensor condition. This is a useful indicator for the monitor signal processor, which can distinguish between a sensor malfunction and a no-sensor condition, providing a display to the user accordingly.