The invention relates to the field of modular analytical systems. The invention enables the topology of a modular analytical system to be determined without requiring additional complicated measures such as a system reset. The method/system is also adapted to industry standards such that CAN-busses can be used.

The present invention is directed to modular analytical systems and, more particularly, to a method and system for determining the topology of a modular analytical system.
Instrument systems which comprise a plurality of modules are frequently used for tailor-made analytical systems which are adapted to one particular field of application. Some of the areas of applications which require a tailor-made profile of requirements are for example in the field of medicine and diagnostics. Highly specialized analyzers are often used in these fields which have to meet very high specifications. As a result of the specific performance features of the analyzers, it is often not possible for one analyzer alone to cope with the large number of requirements for an analytical system. Furthermore, additional devices are often necessary apart from the analyzers which are used to process and output data.
If a modular analytical system is for example used to analyse various clinical pictures, different parameters have to be determined depending on the clinical picture resulting in different requirements for the analytical system due to the field of application. Moreover, the manufacture of specific instruments that are used in such analytical systems is complicated and expensive and, hence, one aims to utilize the instruments to the highest possible extent. As a result, an analyzer has to be designed to be used for several systems and the number and type of analytical instruments varies in a modular analytical system. Hence, it is desirable to be able in each case to easily optimize an analytical system for a field of application and assemble it from several analyzers. Thus, for example, analyzers that are not required for standard analyses can be added or removed from the analytical system as required. Hence, the flexible use of an analyzer in a system not only enables a tailor-made solution with regard to the respective field of application but also an improved utilization of instruments. This ensures that highly specialized analytical systems can be provided in a cost-optimized manner. In addition, a central control of the analytical system can avoid additional costs since, for example, elements of the user interface (screens, loudspeakers, printers, etc.) no longer have to be provided for each individual analyzer. For this a central control makes the contact between the elements and the respective module.
Several methods and systems are described in the prior art to simplify the handling of modular analytical systems for the user. They often provide methods utilizing a central control unit which allow a determination of the arrangement of the individual modules relative to the central control unit as already described. Thus, the user does not have to carry out the otherwise necessary action of visually ordering the modules and their connection with the central unit and entering this relative arrangement into the system. Especially in the case of analytical systems in which modules are frequently exchanged and are operated by different users, a visual ordering of the relative arrangement of the modules and the respective input into the control unit would be a complicated and time-consuming process. The requirements that a modern modular analytical system has to meet of being easy and flexible to handle, would be significantly impeded by a visual procedure.
A method for determining the relative arrangement of modules is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,460. This document discloses a system in which several modules are connected in series such that in each case the output of a module is connected to the input of the next module. The output of the last module is connected to a serial input of a central controller. The system has a common clock and a common reset line for all modules. A system reset and subsequent central clock-pulsing enables a specific reading and writing of the serial busses at exact times. In this process the first module generates a data packet when the system resets and gives itself an address (0). This data packet is now passed in phase from the first to the last module and finally to the central controller during which each module increases the packet contents by a data packet (+1) and gives it the corresponding address. As a result, the central controller receives information on the number and sequence of the modules in the overall system. The data packet corresponding to a respective address can also be used to transmit other data to the central controller which for example include a type name of the module. Hence, a display of the sequence of modules can simplify the identification of the modules for example by means of the type name and thus simplify an allocation by the user. A major disadvantage of this method is that each address allocation can only take place by resetting the entire system. Furthermore, the system is required in each case to have a line for a system reset and a clock line. Another serious disadvantage is that the system relies on a very particular clock cycling of its serial bus. Thus, with regard to an OSI layer model which is elucidated in the following it makes provisions about a bit transfer layer of its protocol. This imposes serious constraints on the freedom of the user to use industry standard protocols since, in particular, industry standardized busses are incompatible with such a method. A widespread industrial serial bus is for example the CAN bus. These special serial busses contain small data packets and are thus particularly robust compared to conventional serial busses. In these busses information is transferred at the protocol level of the OSI layer model. However, no address can be freely selected at this level. Hence, the method cannot be used for modules that are equipped with CAN busses as a standard.
Another method for determining topologies is described in International Patent Application No. WO 02/04675. This method is similar to the already described method since a data packet with address information is passed from module to module via a serial bus. The required synchronization is achieved by a separate control line. This gives rise to the already described disadvantages of the prior art since the method is incompatible with industry standards in order to achieve a specification of the protocol. Furthermore, an additional line is necessary in this case.

Method and system for determining the topology of a modular analysis system


In an electronic watermark embedding technique, even when image data compression such as MPEG2 compression is conducted for image data of an image including a watermark while keeping deterioration of picture quality within an allowed range, the electronic watermark is kept retained. A watermark embedding operation and an MPEG2 encoding operation as well as a watermark detecting operation are cooperatively executed. Specifically, in the WM embedding operation, information regarding an operation state of an MPEG2 encoder, particularly, information regarding an amount of data is received. According to the received information of data, parameters such as the total amount of the watermark to be embedded, strength thereof, and an embedding position thereof are controlled.

The present invention relates to an electronic watermark embedding apparatus to embed watermark data in image data, an image data format conversion device having an electronic watermark embedding function, and a method of embedding an electronic watermark, and in particular, to an image data processing apparatus having a function to execute an electronic watermark embedding operation in combination with a moving picture coding experts group (MPEG) 2 image format conversion.
A technique to embed particular data in various data such as video or image data, audio or voice data, and text data is called, for example, "steganography", "watermark technique", or "electronic watermark technique". Heretofore, in the field of this technique, study and research have been conducted to embed related identifier information or a comment in the image data, audio data, and/or text data.
The technique has been recently applied to a field in which data to protect a copyright of such information is embedded in original data to be protected so as to thereby prevent illegal operations, for example, illegal production of copies of the data. Such techniques are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,748,763 issued to Rhoads on May 5, 1998 and entitled "Image Steganography System Featuring Perceptually Adaptive and Globally Scalable Signal Embedding".
When the original data is processed, for example, filtered and/or compressed and quality of the data is deteriorated, the data embedded in the original data cannot function to prevent the illegal operations. To overcome this difficulty, the data embedding method is devised so that the embedded data is still valid even after the original data is processed as above.
The original data is restricted in various levels according to the copyright. For example, the data can be freely copied, the copy of the data is prohibited, or the data can be copied only once. In such a situation, it is also possible to embed, in the original data, data associated with the restriction level. The copy operation is controlled by detecting the embedded data.

Electronic watermark embedding apparatus and method and a format conversion device having a watermark embedding function


The present invention provides an improved alumina sintered body on which a heater electrode is printed and which is sintered simultaneously with the heater electrode at temperatures lower than the optimum value 1,520.degree. C. The alumina sintered body includes high purity of alumina and 2 through 18% by weight partially stabilized zirconia, which further contains 2 through 6 mole percent solid solution of an oxide or oxides selected from Y.sub.2 O.sub.3, Sc.sub.2 O.sub.3, and lanthanum series metal oxides. The high purity of alumina may contain 0.1% by weight alkaline metals and/or alkaline earth metals and 1.0% by weight SiO.sub.2 at most. In the alumina sintered body of the invention, segregation and migration of impurities and chipping are effectively prevented and hence the durability of the sintered body is highly improved. Use of the alumina sintered body of the invention as a heater base makes the durability of a heater much longer.

The present invention relates to an alumina sintered body on which a heater electrode is printed so as to form a ceramic heater or sensor element heater.
An alumina sintered body generally contains low-sodium aluminate as a main material and a sintering assistant or grain growth-inhibitor for lowering the sintering temperature. Exemplary sintering assistants include Na.sub.2 O.sub.SiO.sub.2 -MgO glass components and oxides which easily form vitreous structures when being sintered such as MgO, CaO, K.sub.2 O, and B.sub.2 O.sub.3. When the oxide or oxides are added to low-sodium aluminate, vitreous structures with a low melting point are formed in the alumina sintered body, which results in lowering the sintering temperature.
Addition of an IIIa metal oxide such as Y.sub.2 O.sub.3 to low-sodium aluminate also lowers the sintering temperature of the alumina sintered body, and addition of MgO or ZrO.sub.2 inhibits grain growth in the alumina sintered body. An oxide or oxides like Y.sub.2 O.sub.3, MgO, and ZrO.sub.2 may thus be added to low-sodium aluminate so as to sufficiently lower the sintering temperature.
Some problems arise when an alumina sintered body containing low-sodium aluminate and the above oxide or oxides is used as a heater base, however. When a heater including an alumina sintered body as a heater base is used at a high temperature and a high voltage of direct current, alkaline metals and alkaline earth metals existing in the alumina as impurities migrate to the negative terminal side and are segregated as compounds with low melting points, which results in lifting of the surface of the heater base. This can cause cracks on the heater base or breaking of heater wires.
More specifically, in a heater including a heater base of an alumina sintered body containing SiO.sub.2, the following are observed: destruction of a grain boundary in the heater base due to sublimation of SiO.sub.2, occurrence of chipping on the heater base, and lowering of strength of the heater base as SiO.sub.2 forms vitreous structures with a low melting point when the heater is used at a high temperature. One of the primary reasons for these phenomena is that SiO.sub.2 and Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 combine to form mullite, which decomposes, melts, and separates into two phases, i.e., a silica phase and an alumina phase at high temperatures.
Migration of alkaline metals and alkaline earth metals may be prevented by using high purity Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 for the heater base. Use of high purity of Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, however, raises the sintering temperature to approximately 1,560.degree. C. When sintering is executed at such high temperatures, grain growth takes place in a heater electrode including Pt, or only a relatively rough sintered body is obtained, which results in shortening the durability of the heater. Thus, use of high purity alumina is not a fundamental solution since it raises the sintering temperature to be much higher than the optimum sintering temperature, i.e., 1,520.degree. C. The optimum sintering temperature, 1,520.degree. C., is determined by considering the fact that grain growth of Pt or other elements takes place in the heater electrode at a temperature higher than 1,550.degree. C.
Wherefore, the object of the invention is thus to provide an alumina sintered body which has long durability and is sintered at 1,520.degree. C. or a lower temperature.
Other objects and benefits of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description which follows hereinafter when taken in conjunction with the drawing figures which accompany it.


A method and apparatus are provided for driving a plasma display panel. This may include detecting an average picture level of a picture to be transmitted from an input device to a mapping device and to be displayed on the plasma display panel. This may also include mapping a number and an arrangement of sub-fields with respect to each pixel data based on the detected average picture level and determining a total discharge frequency and a discharge frequency by sub-fields based on the detected average picture level.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a plasma display panel, and more particularly to a method and an apparatus of driving a plasma display panel that is adaptive for not only consuming uniform power, but also making pictures switched continuously.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a PDP driving apparatus displays a picture on the PDP by controlling the number and an arrangement of sub-fields. As the number of the sub-fields decreases, a sustain period, i.e., the number of sustains, increases to display a bright picture, i.e., a picture with high brightness, on the PDP. However, there is contour noise seriously generated in a moving picture that is displayed by a method of a few sub-fields, so as to deteriorate a picture quality. On the other hand, if the number of the sub-fields increases, the contour noise appearing in the moving picture is reduced remarkably to improve the picture quality, but the brightness of the picture displayed on the PDP decreases. This is because the sustain period, i.e., the number of sustains, is reduced due to the increase of a reset period and an address period as much as the increase of the number of the sub-fields.
Further, in the PDP driving apparatus, power dissipated for a discharge increases as a screen area of the PDP increases. Due to this, it might be possible that the PDP driving apparatus dissipate more than a threshold power of its own. In order to solve this problem, there has been a method that an area is divided into three or four stages through trial and error to reduce the number of the sustains appropriately, so that a power consumption is made to be within a range of a threshold or less. However, in such a area division method, the number of the sustains is not continuously changed like a staircase. That is, the number of the sustains is discontinuously changed in the area division method. There appears a noise in a form of flicker on the screen at the moment when the number of the sustains is changed discontinuously.
As a result, in the conventional PDP driving apparatus, it is inevitable that the power consumption may not only swerve from the threshold power range, but there may be also a discontinuous switching of the picture caused by the discontinuity of the number of the sustains.

Method and apparatus of driving plasma display panel


A novel rigid, nonporous shell for use with a spiral wound membrane filtration element that allows a controlled bypass flow between the outside of the element and the inside of an enclosing pressure housing while maintaining structural mechanical properties and tight tolerances on the outside diameter of the element allowing easy installation and removal of the cartridge.

Membrane elements have long been regarded as efficient devices for separating components of fluid mixtures using, for example, ultrafiltration, microfiltration, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis processes. In a typical implementation, a pressurized fluid mixture is brought into contact with a membrane surface. Because of a difference in chemical potential and due to varying mass transport rates through the membrane, only some parts of a fluid mixture can pass through the membrane and a separation into constituent components is achieved.
In a typical spiral wound filtration cartridge, membrane sheets are wound around a centrally positioned porous tube. The fluid mixture, or feed, enters at one end of the cylindrical cartridge and travels through feed spacers positioned parallel to and between the membrane sheets. Separation occurs at the membrane-fluid interface; part of the fluid, called the permeate, passes through the membrane layer while the rest of the mixture remains on the opposite side of the membrane as more highly concentrated feed. The permeate stream travels in an inwardly spiraling radial direction until it passes through the walls of the central tube for recovery from one or both ends of the central tube. (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,235,723, 3,367,504, 3,504,796, 3,493,496, and 3,417,870.)
These spiral wound filtration cartridges are typically placed in a fiberglass or stainless steel pressure housing that provides mechanical strength to withstand the high feed pressures required for operation. It is undesirable for feed to flow uncontrolled through the annular space between the cartridge and the pressure housing because such uncontrolled bypass flow reduces the volume of feed fluid that is forced through the filtration element. This has two negative results: First, it reduces the volume of feed fluid that can be filtered on any one use of the filtration device. Second, the decreased feed flow reduces the hydrodynamic turbulence within the membrane filter and thus decreases the salt rejection efficiency. One method for preventing such bypass flow is to use brine seals to seal the outside of the cartridge to the inside of the pressure housing. However, an area of stagnant water can form in the annular space behind these brine seals and bacteria may grow in this stagnant water. Bacterial growth is unacceptable in sterile applications, such as applications involving food or medicine, in which these filters are sometimes used.
It has been proposed to provide a controlled bypass flow of feed within the annular space to prevent this bacterial growth. U.S. Pat. No. 4,301,013 discloses the use of a tight fitting open mesh within the annular space to control the bypass flow. It has also been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,548,714 to wrap the cartridge with a leaf of feed spacer to provide for controlled fluid flow around the cartridge. U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,372 discloses a seamless porous rigid sleeve around the cartridge which separates the cartridge from the housing and provides a small, controlled bypass flow. All of these proposals require devices which must be manufactured within precise tolerances to provide a tight fit within the housing. Precise tolerances are difficult to produce with the materials and designs suggested in these patents. Extra-precision in manufacture is required to produce a user-friendly interchangeable cartridge. Further, none of the proposals provides mechanical support for the cartridge, which could be useful due to the high differential pressure which can develop within the pressure housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,128,037 describes a rigid shell surrounding the filtration cartridge that is sealed from the housing with a brine seal and which allows a small amount of impeded bypass flow through small holes or passageways. This design utilizes a brine seal and a relatively large annular space which are both potential stagnant areas that encourage bacterial growth.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a filtration cartridge construction which allows a controlled feed bypass, close tolerances to the inner diameter of the pressure housing, mechanical rigidity to withstand the differential pressure forces, and a sanitary design that eliminates the brine seal and all stagnant areas.

Sanitary rigid shell spiral wound element


In an in-vehicle illumination device including: a room lamp section provided with a first light source section and a light guide plate, a map lamp section provided with a second light source section and a lens, a first switch for use by the room lamp section, and a second switch for use by the map lamp section, a light source configuring the first light source section and a light source configuring the second light source section are mounted on any same heat sink member. In the resulting in-vehicle illumination device, measures are taken against heat generation, and the reduction of size and weight is achieved. The design quality of the illumination device can be also improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an in-vehicle illumination device and, more specifically, to an improved illumination device serving both as a room lamp and a map lamp.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a vehicle, a roof section is provided with an illumination device for illuminating the inside of the vehicle during the night, for example. For use as such an illumination device, commercially available is the one incorporated not only with a room lamp but also a map lamp, which is used for illumination of limited range of area. There is also an illumination device offering indirect lighting with the high rendering effect. An example includes Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent No. 3959917). Also commercially available is an illumination device integrally provided with a mirror (vanity mirror).
FIGS. 11A to 11C each show an exemplary illumination device with a light source being an LED (Light-Emitting Diode) lamp. FIG. 11A is a front view of an illumination device 100, FIG. 11B is a cross sectional view of the illumination device 100 cut along a line A-A, and FIG. 11C is another cross sectional view of the illumination device 100 cut along a line B-B. In such an illumination device 100, a light from an LED lamp 101 is guided into a light guide plate 102. The light is then emitted from a front surface 103 of the light guide plate 102 so that the inside of a vehicle is illuminated thereby (room lamp illumination). On the other hand, a light from an LED lamp 104 is converged by a lens 105 so that the resulting light illuminates any limited portion of area, i.e., like spotlight (map lamp illumination).
Patent Documents 1 to 3 each describe an exemplary improved technology for the in-vehicle illumination device. Patent Document 1 describes a technology for achieving improvement in terms of design with a provision of function of indirect lighting. Patent Document 2 (JP-A-2006-7856) and Patent Document 3 (JP-A-2006-232092) each describe a technology for achieving improvement of easy visual recognition of switches.


Provided are a novel derivative of 5-carbamoyl adamantan-2-yl amide of Formula (I),

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to derivatives of 5-carbamoyl-adamantan-2-yl amide, pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, and uses of the 5-carbamoyl-adamantan-2-yl amide derivatives and/or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof for inhibiting the activity of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11b-HSD1) and/or for preventing and/or treating of various diseases mediated by 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Glucocorticoid (cortisol in humans, corticosterone in mice and rats), a type of adrenocorticosteroid, plays critical roles of regulating a range of metabolism and homeostasis, getting involved in a stress-related reaction, and the like. Such actions of glucocorticoid are performed via bonding the active glucocorticoid with a glucocorticoid receptor (GR). Interconversion between the active 11-hydroxy glucocorticoid (cortisol in humans) and the inactive 11-keto glucocorticoid (cortisone in humans) is catalyzed by the endoenzyme, 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11b-HSD), which is present in two isoforms. 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11b-HSD1) takes a part in turning an inactive 11-keto metabolite into an active 11-hydroxy metabolite, while 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 plays a role of switching the active form to the inactive form. The active 11-hydroxy glucocorticoid engages in regulating phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), which is a major enzyme for gluconeogenesis through the bonding with the intracellular glucocorticoid receptor.
Gluconeogenesis is a process of glucose synthesis process that takes place in the liver, and it involves the actions of major enzymes such as phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) promoting the conversion of oxaloacetate into phosphoenolpyruvate and glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) facilitating hydrolysis of glucose-6-phophate to provide free glucose. In this regard, the rate-controlling step determining the rate of gluconeogenesis is the conversion of oxaloacetate into phosphoenolpyruvate, which is promoted by the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase.
In particular, fasting brings about up-regulation of both phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and glucose-6-phosphatase, resulting in an increased rate of gluconeogenesis and thereby the blood glucose level is also getting higher. Accordingly, inhibiting the activity of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11b-HSD1) may regulate the concentration of the active 11-hydroxy glucocorticoid, control phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, and decrease the blood glucose level, and thereby it can be a useful approach for treating diabetes.
Besides the foregoing biochemical reviews, some small-scale clinical researches for humans or transformed mice have evidenced the potential for treating diabetes via the inhibition of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1.
An experiment conducted with using transformed mice has revealed that modulating the activity of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 may bring forth beneficial effects of treating diabetes and metabolic syndrome. For example, in case of knockout mice lacking a gene of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1, fasting led to no increase in the amount of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and glucose-6-phophatase and they did not develop hyperglycemia associated with stress or obesity, as well (See, Kotolevtsev Y. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 1997, 94, 14924). In addition, the knockout mice lacking a gene of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 showed an improvement on a lipid profile and insulin sensitivity and was found to have a glucose tolerance function (See, Morton et al., J. Biol. Chem. 2001, 276, 41293). A research was further conducted regarding mice with the over-expressed gene of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1. The mouse with the over-expressed gene of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 showed an increased concentration of corticosterone and an enhanced activity of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 in adipose tissue. It also induces phenotypes of abdominal obesity and syndrome-X. In particular, when being fed on a high fat diet, the mouse showed a considerably increased level of obesity, and it also had a high level of blood glucose and insulin even when being fed on a low fat diet. Moreover, they exhibited impaired glucose tolerance and insulin resistance (See, Masuzaki et al., Science 2001, 294, 2166).
In addition, a small-scale clinical trial for carbenoxolone, a non-selective inhibitor of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1, confirmed that 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 may have an effect of treating diabetes. There was a research discovering that carbenoxolone increases systemic insulin sensitivity through a decrease in a liver glucose production (See, Walker Et al., J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 1995, 80, 3155). In another research, diabetic patients being administered with carbenoxolone were found to have a decreased level of glucose production even when they were administered with glucagon, and they also showed a decreased level of glycogen decomposition. However, such phenomenon was not observed in a healthy person, though (See, Andrews et al. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 2003, 22, 285). Such results indicated that regulating the activity of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 may have an effect of treating diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
Besides, recent research has showed that the inhibition of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 enables amelioration of hypertension (See, Masuzaki et al., J. Clin. Invest. 2003, 12, 83; Rauz et al., QJM 2003, 96, 481).
With taking all these reports into account, one may draw a conclusion that the inhibition of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 will be able to present safe and effective approaches for treating symptoms of various diseases such as diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and the like.

5-carbamoyl-adamantan-2-yl amide derivatives, pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof and preparation process thereof

Abstract: or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and a pharmaceutical use thereof for inhibiting the activity of 11β-hydroxystreroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11b-HSD1) or for preventing and/or treating various diseases mediated by 11β-hydroxystreroid dehydrogenase type 1.


An improved structure yarn cylinder that is an improvement of “Yarn Cylinder with Trench” (Taiwan P/N 201810) accomplished by extending the circumferential length of the trench, disposing numerous teeth at differing angular orientations along the two lateral walls of the trench and, furthermore, arraying the teeth in a crisscross formation on the two lateral walls to thereby effectively increase yarn snagging capacity and facilitate ease of securing.

1) Field of the Invention
The invention herein relates to yarn spools and bobbins, specifically an improved structure yarn cylinder that further enhances the utility of the yarn cylinder in "Yarn Cylinder with Trench" (Taiwan P/N 201810).
2) Description of the Prior Art
The patent "Yarn Cylinder with Trench" (Taiwan P/N 201810), as indicated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a first generation yarn cylinder structure innovated by the applicant of the invention herein, is of one-piece plastic construction and since plastic is moldable, a trench 1 of an appropriate depth and width is formed around the circumferential surface of the cylinder and, furthermore, enmeshable full-distance or half-distance teeth 10 or hemihedral teeth capable of contacting another surface are disposed inside the trench 1, thereby enabling the trench 1 to snag the yarn, or the pairs of enmeshed teeth 10 or the teeth 10 contacting another surface firmly secure the yarn such that when the yarn is wound around it, this ensures the prevention of yarn loosening and slippage. As a result, the said structure has been positively evaluated and acclaimed by the industry and, furthermore, highly recommended by respected manufacturers. However, the original invention is still far from perfect and in the spirit of constant improvement, the yarn cylinder structure was enhanced to provide for further progressiveness and utility through additional refinement, which is the primary objective of the present invention.


An agitator cover for cans of colors positionable on shaker machines, wherein the cover mounts at its base a peripheral flexible joint (11) which, upon closure of the agitator cover on the can (5), is applied on the external peripheral edge (13, 13') of the ring-shaped rim (7, 7') defining the opening of the can (5). The joint (11) include a ring-shaped anterior body part (17) which is attached to the base of the cover and upon closure under pressure is applied in a sealing manner on the peripheral edge (13, 13') of the can, and a flexible internal ring-shaped lip (19) which is integrally connected with the anterior body part (17) and extending coaxially with the body part (17), and upon closure is applied onto the internal edge (15, 15') of the ring-shaped opening rim (7, 7') of the can.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns agitator covers for cans of colors fitting paint shaker machines, and, in particular, an agitator cover of the type comprising at its base a peripheral flexible closure joint, intended to be applied tightly, with sealing, to the corresponding upper opening edge of cans of color, which can be adapted to the diverse existing cans of colors and with improvement of the closure on their rim.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
It is known that cans of colors have an upper peripheral opening rim in cooperating in closure with the closure cover of the can and thus the sectional profile of the rim is variable from the classic U shape to the shape of an inverted v.
The known agitator covers of the flexible closure joint type on the underlying can do not permit application upon closure on the crimping listel of the peripheral upper edge of the opening rim of the can.
However, this application on the crimping listel of the edge of the opening rim of the can cannot prevent the entry of the paint into the cavity of the rim, for example, during the inclination of the container during the maneuver of pouring the paint by means of the cover, nor the contamination resulting from the formation of amalgams upon drying of the paint contained in the can.

Agitator cover for cans of colors on paint shaker machines


Described are pressure fuses or pressure breakers which regulate the pressure downstream from the device. When the fluid pressure exceeds the trip pressure, the pressure fuse or breaker will trip and protect other components downstream of the fuse or breaker. Also described are methods of regulating pressure downstream from a fluid source using such fuses or breakers.

Water filtration units and other components in fluid systems may be susceptible to damage when exposed to high fluid pressures. Even when users are aware of the pressure requirements of these components, this is not a guarantee against exposure to these high pressures from surges in fluid pressure or from misuse.
In order to protect against high pressures, design requirements for plastic pressure vessels have become more stringent. One current trend is to utilize thicker walled engineering plastic with higher safety factors. However, using these more durable materials increases the cost of the components and systems incorporating these components.
Therefore, there is a need for devices and methods to regulate pressure in fluid systems.


A steam generator having two vaporization chambers filled with molten metal salts for sequential flash evaporation of preheated atomized water through multiple vaporization tubes in said respective chambers. The molten metal salts are heated by secondary solar thermal input from lens assemblies and primary heat input from U-shaped hot air heating tubes within said vaporization chambers supplied by gas fired tube burners. Steam vapor generated by initial vaporization chamber is re-circulated to the secondary chamber outputting super heated steam. The molten metal vaporization chambers are encased in a single pressure vessel with re-circulation of condensate and multiple heat exchangers within.

1. Technical Field
This device relates to steam generators that are used to generate super healed steam for the production of electricity and the like. Conventional steam generators as found in nuclear installations, for example, utilize an outer pressure vessel with tubular pipes inside defining intake and discharge of a primary heat transfer fluid.
2. Description of Prior Art
Prior art devices of this type have relied on a variety of different design configurations using tube heat exchangers through which flow molten metal salts within a pressure vessel. Water supplied within the vessel chamber is heated and vaporized with output passage steam through a vertically positioned output. Other general configurations use multiple inner chambers to isolate and direct water flow around and about tubular bundles through which high temperature heat transfer material is circulated from a variety of heat sources, see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,097,630, 3,545,412, 3,888,212, 3,812,825, 4,375,908 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,788.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,097,630 and 3,545,412 steam generators are shown wherein molten metal salts are circulated through tube bundles within a pressure chamber generating saturated and super heated steam.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,888,212 and 3,812,825 use circulation of a heating material (liquid metal sodium) over multiple tubular bundles and coils through which water is supplied within a pressure vessel.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,375,908 U-tubes are positioned within a vessel divided by vertical separation into cold lines and hot lines respectively. A heating medium is circulated about the U-tube bundles extending from the cold line to the hot line through which water to be vaporized is pumped.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,788 defines a steam generator wherein a tube bundle within a pressure vessel is supplied with a heat carrier. Water is circulated about the bundle with the generated steam passing through multiple centrifuge separators to an outlet at the top of the vessel.


A residential circuit breaker electromagnetic trip unit facilitates the assembly of the trip unit components by use of a pair of braid connectors for connection between the trip unit magnet and the circuit breaker contact arm. The trip unit bimetal is directly welded to the trip unit magnet and the braid connectors for reduction in material and labor costs. The contact arm and the magnet are shaped to present a parallel path connection between the contact arm and the magnet for close fit tolerance. The front surface of the magnet is configured to prevent magnetic adhesion between the magnet and the trip unit armature under intense short circuit overcurrent conditions.

Residential circuit breakers are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,513,268 entitled "Automated Q-Line Circuit Breaker". The circuit breaker includes a thermal-magnetic trip unit that interrupts the circuit current upon occasion of so-called "instantaneous", "short time" and "long time" overcurrent conditions. The thermal response of the trip unit is provided by means of an extended bimetal, which is part of the circuit breaker internal current-carrying components, and is separate from the magnet that provides the trip unit magnetic response. The bimetal, in a sense, forms the primary winding of a current transformer with the magnet acting as the transformer core. A separately arranged armature unit responds to the magnetic flux generated by the magnet upon the occurrence of intense overcurrent faults to release the circuit breaker operating mechanism and thereby interrupt the circuit current.
Upon occurrence of severe overcurrent conditions, the close contact between the armature and the magnet induces a strong temporary magnetic holding flux within the armature which could prevent the armature from releasing from the magnet once the overcurrent fault has cleared.
The braid conductor that is welded to the bimetal must be carefully positioned during the assembly of the trip unit components to insure that the braid does not interfere with the movement of the armature during operation of the trip unit upon occurrence of an overcurrent condition of all magnitudes and the diameter of the braid must be sized to deter overheating and embattlement of the braid material.
The present invention improves over the performance of the state-of-the art circuit breaker described above by a reduction of the size of the trip unit components to insure cost savings as well as to control the inertia of the movable trip unit components. Further advantages are found in the shaping of the magnet as well as the movable contact arm to reduce material and labor costs while, at the same time, enhancing the overall trip unit response.

Residential circuit breaker having an enhanced thermal-magnetic trip unit


A lighting unit for a vehicle includes a light emitting diode unit, a plate-shaped radiating board having an upper surface to which the light emitting diode unit is directly fixed, and a feeding connector connected electrically to the light emitting diode unit at the end of the radiating board and having an input portion for a power to be supplied to the light emitting diode unit below the radiating board. The feeding connector is provided on the end of the radiating board and there may further be provided a wiring extended from the light emitting diode unit toward the end of the radiating board over the upper surface of the radiating board and connected to the feeding connector at the end.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a lighting unit. More particularly, the invention relates to a lighting unit using a semiconductor light emitting unit as a light source.
2. Background Art
In a lighting unit for a vehicle, for example, a headlamp for a vehicle, it is necessary to form a light distribution pattern with high precision in respect of a safety. The light distribution pattern is formed by an optical system using a reflecting mirror or a lens, for example (see JP-A-6-89601 Publication (Pages 3 to 7, FIGS. 1 to 14)). In recent years, it has been investigated to utilize a semiconductor light emitting unit for a light source of a headlamp for a vehicle.
In the case in which a semiconductor light emitting unit is used as the light source of a lighting unit, it is necessary to satisfy a light amount level required for the lighting unit by maximizing the light emission of the semiconductor light emitting unit. Accordingly, there is a related art problem in that it is necessary to eliminate a factor for intercepting a light emitted from the semiconductor light emitting unit, and furthermore, to prevent luminance from being reduced by heat.
Moreover, the semiconductor light emitting unit is small-sized. For this reason, a light emitting region is narrower than that in a conventional light source. Therefore, there is a related art problem in that it is necessary to maintain a relative position with an optical system with higher precision than that in the conventional art to form a light distribution pattern with high precision.


The PN junctions of a transistor are biased for operation in the active mode but an initial flow of current reverses the bias of the base-emitter junction causing the transistor to conduct a resonant current with a voltage less than the forward junction voltage of said base-emitter.

The present invention relates a transistor operating mode and, more specifically, to operation of a transistor in a resonant mode which is communicable with minimal loss to an attached device.
A junction transistor is a three layer sandwich of semiconductor material. The outer layers of the sandwich, respectively, the base and the emitter comprise a first type semiconductor material either a P-type or N-type material. Each outer layer is in contact with a central layer, the base, which comprises the second type of semiconductor material. The interface of the collector and the base forms a first PN junction, the collector-base junction, and the interface between the emitter and base forms a second PN junction, the base emitter junction. Transistors are typically used to switch and/or amplify electronic signals. The flow of a relatively large current between the collector and the emitter of the transistor can be controlled by application of a small voltage or current to the transistor's base.
By varying the bias, the voltage across the respective collector-base and base-emitter junctions, transistors can be operated in one or more of a plurality of commonly known modes When an NPN transistor is operated in the active mode, enabling a flow of current between the collector and the emitter, the collector-base junction is reverse biased, that is, the electrical potential at the collector is higher than the potential at the base, and the base-emitter junction is forward biased, that is, the electrical potential at the base exceeds the potential at the emitter by the junction forward voltage of a silicon PN junction. On the other hand, if the differential in electrical potential across the base-emitter junction is or becomes less than the junction forward voltage, the base-emitter junction is said to be reverse biased and the transistor is in the cut-off or OFF mode. The flow of current between the collector and the emitter ceases. A sufficiently great reverse bias of the base-emitter junction can produce an avalanche breakdown of the transistor producing large currents and, potentially, damaging the device. Another mode of operation, the saturation mode, is the collector voltage decreases until the collector-base junction becomes forward biased and the current in the junction cannot further increase.
The inventor discovered a previously unknown and beneficial mode of transistor operation that enables a current to be conducted with extremely low loss to an attached device and causes the attached to device to perform in unexpected and useful ways.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Resonant operating mode for a transistor


An electrical connector assembly includes an electrical connector with an insulative housing and a pick-up cap assembled to the electrical connector. The insulative housing defines a substantially rectangular cavity in middle thereof and a number of contacts received in the cavity. The pick-up cap includes a main portion with a planar top surface and a plurality of spring arms extending from opposite edges of the main portion for engaging with the electrical connector. Each spring arm has a locking portion for engaging with the main portion if excessive deformation of the spring arm is encountered.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector assembly which comprises an electrical connector and a pick-up cap, which is mounted onto the electrical connector for providing a planar top surface to be engaged by a vacuum suction device, whereby the electrical connector assembly can be placing onto a circuit substance such as a printed circuit board (PCB) on which the connector is mounted.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 7,530,822 issued to Liao on May 12, 2009 discloses an electrical connector assembly with a pick-up cap mounted to an insulative housing of the electrical connector assembly. The pick-up cap includes a body portion having four edges. Each edge of the body portion has a pair of latching sections extending horizontally along corresponding edge thereof and then extending downwardly. The insulative housing defines four pairs of recesses to engage with the latching sections. When the pick-up cap is assembled to the insulative housing by an operator, the latching sections of the pick-up cap move outwardly and slide downwardly into the recesses of the insulative housing. The operator sometimes may make mistake, such as exerting an excessive force to the pick-up cap, during assembling the pick-up cap to the insulative housing. That results in deflection or damage of the latching sections.
Therefore, it is need to find a new electrical connector assembly having an improved pick-up cap to overcome the problems mentioned above.

Electrical connector assembly with pick-up cap


The present invention provides an image forming apparatus comprising an image forming unit configured to form an image on an image carrier, a transfer unit configured to transfer the image formed on the image carrier onto a transfer medium, a voltage applying unit configured to apply a voltage to the transfer unit, a current detection unit configured to detect a current that flows through the transfer unit when the voltage applying unit applies the voltage, and a control unit configured to control the voltage applying unit based on a detection result of the current detection unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic method, and a control method. The present invention is suitable for an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, printer, facsimile apparatus, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Along with prevalence of image forming apparatuses such as laser printers and the like, such image forming apparatuses are increasingly required to attain higher image quality and to reduce cost. An image forming apparatus includes a primary charger for uniformly charging a photosensitive member, a primary transfer unit for transferring a toner image formed on the photosensitive member onto an intermediate transfer belt, and a secondary transfer unit for transferring the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt on a print sheet.
As components of the primary and secondary transfer units, in recent years, a transfer member of a contact transfer type (contact transfer member) represented by a transfer roller becomes mainstream. The contact transfer member can realize a size reduction of a power supply capacity and a reduction of the generation amount of discharge products (ozone and the like) compared to a corona charger of a non-contact type and the like. The transfer roller includes, for example, a shaft, and an elastic layer of a middle resistance, which is formed around the shaft, and is brought into pressure contact with the intermediate transfer belt or print sheet at a predetermined pressure to form a transfer part (transfer nip). While a toner image is passing through the transfer part (i.e., during an interval from when the toner image reaches the transfer part until it leaves there), a transfer bias applying unit applies a predetermined transfer bias (transfer voltage) to the shaft of the transfer roller. Note that since the characteristic of the transfer roller changes due to an environmental change, temporal change, and the like, the transfer bias to be applied to the transfer roller (shaft) needs to be appropriately controlled in accordance with the characteristic of the transfer roller.
Hence, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-95581 has proposed an image forming apparatus which controls a transfer bias to be applied to the transfer roller in accordance with the characteristic of the transfer roller. Such image forming apparatus controls to set a current which flows through the transfer roller to assume a predetermined value at a timing at which a non-image-forming area is located on the transfer part (constant current control), and also controls the transfer bias on an image-forming area based on a voltage applied at this time (constant voltage control). Note that this non-image-forming area includes areas, on which no image is formed, on the front side of the leading edge of an image for one page and on the rear side of the trailing edge of that image on the photosensitive member or intermediate transfer belt. Also, another image forming apparatus has been proposed. In this apparatus, impedances of the transfer roller are computed by applying a plurality of different voltages while one non-image-forming area is located on the transfer part, a voltage, at which a current that flows through the transfer roller assumes a predetermined value, is computed, and that voltage is used as the transfer bias for an image-forming area.
On the other hand, as the primary charger, a charging member of a contact charging type represented by a charging roller becomes mainstream. The charging roller is brought into contact with the surface of the photosensitive member to apply a charging bias (e.g., a charging voltage generated by superposing an AC voltage on a DC voltage), thereby charging the surface of the photosensitive member. In this case, by setting the AC voltage to be equal to or higher than a discharge start voltage, an effect of uniforming charges on the photosensitive member is provided, thus uniformly charging the photosensitive member.
However, when a DC voltage and AC voltages are superposed and applied to the photosensitive member, since the discharging amount to the photosensitive member increases compared to a case in which only a DC voltage is applied to the photosensitive member, degradation (scraping, etc.) of the photosensitive member is promoted, and an image blur or the like due to discharge products occurs in a high-temperature, high-humidity environment. Therefore, an AC voltage to be superposed on a DC voltage needs to be minimized to suppress discharging. However, the relationship between the voltage to be applied to the charging roller and the discharging amount is not always constant, and the discharging amount changes due to an environmental change, temporal change of the photosensitive member, and the like.
To solve this problem, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-201920 has proposed an image forming apparatus which suppresses an increase/decrease in discharging amount due to an environmental change, temporal change, and the like by controlling a charging bias to be applied to the charging roller. This image forming apparatus computes the impedances of the charging roller and discharging amounts by applying a plurality of different AC voltages for a non-discharging area and discharging area prior to image formation. During image formation, the apparatus applies an AC voltage of one value of the non-discharging area on a non-image-forming area, and determines a charging bias based on a current that flows through the charging roller at that time, and the impedances of the charging roller and discharging amounts computed before image formation.
However, an image forming apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-95581 executes constant current control of a circuit that generates a transfer bias while a non-image-forming area is located on a transfer part, and executes constant voltage control while an image-forming area is located on the transfer part. For this reason, this apparatus must include both a constant current control circuit and constant voltage control circuit. Therefore, the cost of the image forming apparatus increases.
As described above, upon computing the impedance of the transfer roller, since one non-image-forming area is located on the transfer part for a very short period of time, a transfer bias applying circuit that can change voltage values to be applied to the transfer roller at high speed is required. Therefore, the image forming apparatus needs to equip a high-voltage power supply with quick response, resulting in an increase in cost of the image forming apparatus.
On the other hand, since the image forming apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-201920 determines a voltage to be applied on the image-forming area based on the impedance of the charging roller and discharging amount, which are predicted by applying the AC voltage of only one value on the non-image-forming area, it is very difficult to control the charging bias with high precision.

Image forming apparatus and control method


A computer control system is described that monitors the functionality of an emission control device that is capable of storing NOx and oxygen during lean conditions, and releasing/reducing the stored oxygen and NOx during rich operating conditions. The computer uses a readable storage medium having stored data representing instructions executable by a computer. The instructions utilize a ratio between a lean operating time and a rich operating time to determine whether the catalyst has degraded.

NOx emission control devices, for example catalysts containing a precious metal and elements such as barium, cesium, and lanthanum, can be used to reduce NOx emissions for lean burn engines, such as direct injection spark ignition engine. These devices store NOx produced during the engine lean operation. Since these devices have a finite NOx storage capacity, it has to be regenerated every once in a while in order to sustain long periods of lean operation. This regeneration can be accomplished with rich engine operation during which the device releases and converts the stored NOx.
These emission control devices can be exposed to environments with high temperature from the engine exhaust gas and also from the exotherm introduced by chemical reactions, such as reduction of stored oxidants. The high temperature exposure over time can reduce oxidant (e.g., O2 and NOx) storage capacity. In addition to temperature effects, sulfur in the engine exhaust gas can form sulfates on the storage sites, thereby reducing the storage capacity. Both the exhaust emissions and the fuel consumption increase as the storage capacity decreases.
One approach to monitoring the effectiveness of an exhaust emission control device used during lean operation to reduce NOx emissions monitors the rich purging time of rich cycles. Such a device is described in JP 08-232644.
The inventors herein have recognized a disadvantage with approaches that simply consider the rich purging time, or only consider the lean NOx storage time of an emission control device. Specifically, simply monitoring the rich purging time results in large deviation of measurement results depending how much NOx was stored in the device, thereby requiring complex algorithms and significant model calibration efforts. Similarly, only monitoring the lean storage time does not take into account variations in NOx releasing/reduction reactions that can change as the catalyst ages.

Computer readable storage medium with instructions for monitoring catalytic device


A process for the continuous dip-coating of a metal strip (1) in a tank (11) containing a liquid metal bath (12), in which process the metal strip (1) is made to run continuously through a duct (13), the lower part of which is immersed in the liquid metal bath (12), in order to define with the surface of the bath a liquid seal (14). In the region where the strip (1) leaves the liquid metal bath (12), the liquid metal is isolated from the surface of the bath in an isolating enclosure (20), the metal oxide particles and intermetallic compound particles are recovered by the liquid metal flowing from this region into the enclosure (20), and the particles are extracted from this enclosure (20). Also, a plant for implementing the process.

The present invention relates to a process and a plant for the continuous hot dip-coating of a metal strip, especially a steel strip.
In many industrial applications, steel sheet is used which is coated with a protective layer, for example for corrosion protection, and usually coated with a zinc layer.
This type of sheet is used in various industries to produce all kinds of parts, in particular visual parts.
To obtain this kind of sheet, continuous dip-coating plants are used in which a steel strip is immersed in a bath of molten metal, for example zinc, which may contain other chemical elements, such as aluminium and iron, and possible addition elements such as, for example, lead, antimony, etc. The temperature of the bath depends on the nature of the metal, and in the case of zinc the temperature of the bath is around 460° C.
In the particular case of hot galvanising, as the steel strip runs through the molten zinc bath, an Fe—Zn—Al intermetallic alloy with a thickness of a few tens of nanometres forms on the surface of the said strip.
The corrosion resistance of the parts thus coated is provided by the zinc, the thickness of which is controlled usually by air wiping. The adhesion of the zinc to the metal strip is provided by the layer of the aforementioned intermetallic alloy.
Before the steel strip passes through the molten metal bath, this steel strip firstly runs through an annealing furnace in a reducing atmosphere where the purpose is to recrystallise it after the substantial work hardening resulting from the cold-rolling operation and to prepare its surface chemical state so as to favour the chemical reactions necessary for the actual dip-coating operation. The steel strip is heated to about 650 to 900° C. depending on the grade, for the time needed for recrytallisation and surface preparation. It is then cooled to a temperature close to that of the bath of molten metal by means of heat exchangers.
After it has passed through the annealing furnace, the steel strip runs through a duct, also called a "snout", containing an atmosphere which protects the steel, and is immersed in the bath of molten metal.
The lower part of the duct is immersed in the bath of metal in order to define, with the surface of the said bath and inside this duct, a liquid seal through which the steel sheet passes as it runs through the said duct.
The steel strip is deflected by a roller immersed in the zinc bath. It emerges from this metal bath and then passes through wiping means used to regulate the thickness of the liquid metal coating on this steel strip.
At the moment when the strip is extracted from the bath, it passes through the surface of the zinc bath, which is covered with zinc oxide and with dross coming from the steel strip dissolution reaction.
To prevent the particles from being entrained by the strip, the surface of the bath, accessible by the operators, is periodically cleaned in such a way that the strip does not entrain particles.
However, this manual cleaning procedure does not permanently guarantee the cleanliness of the surface of the bath and the absence of particles periodically rising from the bath to the point where the steel strip is extracted.
Thus, the coated steel strip has visual defects which are magnified or revealed during the zinc wiping operation.
This is because the foreign particles are retained by the air wiping jets before the said particles are ejected or broken up, thus creating streaks of lesser thickness in the liquid zinc having a length ranging from a few millimeters to a few centimeters.
One solution for avoiding these drawbacks consists in cleaning the surface of the liquid seal by pumping off the zinc oxides and dross coming from the bath.
These pumping operations allow the surface of the liquid seal to be cleaned only very locally at the point of pumping and their effectiveness and range of action are very low, which does not guarantee that in particular the region where the steel strip leaves the liquid zinc bath is completely cleaned.

Method and installation for dip coating of a metal strip, in particular of a steel strip


A filter comprising an off-chip capacitor is described. The off-chip capacitor may be coupled to a circuit bonding pad. The output terminal of an amplifier may be coupled to the circuit bonding pad by a plurality of conductors insulated from one another over at least a portion between the output terminal and the circuit bonding pad.

1. Field
The subject matter disclosed herein relates to data communication systems. In particular, embodiments disclosed herein relate to processing data received from an optical transmission medium.
2. Information
Optical communication networks have been implemented to enable increased data rates in links providing point to point communication. For example, optical communication links are typically implemented in Synchronous Optical Network/Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SONET/SDH) and 10 Gigabit Ethernet systems. At a receiving end of such an optical communication link, a photodiode may generate a current in response an optical signal received from an optical transmission medium (e.g., fiber optical cabling). A transimpedance amplifier (TIA) typically converts the current generated by the photodiode into a voltage signal that is then processed. For example, the voltage signal may be processed by clock and data recovery circuitry to recover data transmitted in the optical signal.
A TIA typically comprises a feedback circuit to remove a DC component of an input signal. A low pass filter (LPF) typically receives an output signal from the TIA to isolate the DC component. A DC removal circuit may then remove all or a portion of the DC component from the input signal based upon the DC component isolated from the output signal.
An LPF in an electronic device typically comprises an off-chip capacitor that may be coupled to one or more circuit elements in the electronic device by an external circuit bonding pad. When coupled to the one or more circuit bonding pads, the capacitor may be coupled to the one or more circuit elements through one or more conductive portions formed in the electronic device (e.g., as part of a circuit layout for a semiconductor device). At high frequency operation, the conductive portions may introduce a parasitic impedance resulting from a parasitic resistance and/or a parasitic inductance.
The parasitic resistance of a conductive portion may be reduced by, for example, increasing the cross-sectional area or width of the conductive portion (i.e., with reference to the direction of current between the off-chip capacitor and circuit elements in the electronic device). For a given conductive material (e.g., copper) increasing the cross-sectional area or width may lower the parasitic resistance proportionally. Decreases in parasitic inductance may also result from increasing the cross-sectional area or width. However, at a given operating frequency and conductor cross-sectional area or width, saturation may prevent significant further decreases in parasitic inductance from further increases in cross-sectional area or width.


The machine for manufacturing a tire carcass half-reinforcement from a sie filament wrapped around a bead wire which includes: bead wire holders operated by actuating cylinders, allowing said bead wire to be held in a predetermined position; a ring which has half as many hooks as there will be arches of carcass filament contained in the tire that is to be manufactured, the ring being held a predetermined distance away from said bead wire; a reel of filament which is moved in the central space of the bead wire, wrapped around it, the path crossing the plane of the ring and passing radially inside it; and a mechanism for hooking the filament onto each of the hooks.

The present invention relates to tires. More particularly, it relates to the arrangement of reinforcing filaments in the beads, and more generally, deals with producing the carcass.
Tire carcass reinforcements usually consist of one or more plies, currently usually radial plies, wrapped around one or more bead wires arranged in the beads. The beads constitute the means that allow the tire to be fixed to the wheel rim. The fact that the carcass reinforcements consist of plies means that these need to be produced by calendering them cut at the desired angle (90.degree. to the direction of the filaments for a radial carcass) into pieces of the desired length, these pieces then being joined together by welding parallel to the filaments. All these operations constitute separate preparatory steps in the actual assembly of the tire. The existence of these preparatory early steps makes managing work flow through manufacturing shops more complicated.
It has previously been proposed that tire carcasses be produced from a single filament. The difficulty in this case lies in designing carcasses which are durable enough to fulfill their function of being a structure that reinforces the tire and which, by the path taken by the carcass filament, are as easy as possible to produce in a mechanized way.
As an illustration, the proposals contained in patents U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,295 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,308,432 may be mentioned. However, mechanizing the movements of a laying member that carries out the first of these proposals is not simple. Furthermore, having knots or crossing filaments in the bead of the tire is not recommended because the tension of the filaments in this region is considerable. As regards the second proposal, it has the drawback of transferring the reel from one line to the other on each side of the tire. Furthermore, given the bulk of the reel and of its movement means, it is not possible either in the first proposal or in the second for the last carcass-reinforcing arches to be laid with said reel continuing the same movement. The problem is that at the end of laying, the mechanism comes up against the first arches laid well before the last ones have been laid, this point being reached all the earlier, the bulkier the reel.
Now, in practice, a red of this kind is quite bulky. It is therefore difficult to make it accelerate a great many times, because of its weight and its inertia, and it is difficult to make it run around the bead wire because the space available is small, especially if the tire is manufactured on a former which more or less corresponds to its future internal volume, this being especially true if the bead wire is close to the end-position it will occupy in the finished tire.

Manufacture of carcass reinforcement for a tire using two carcass half-reinforcements

Compagnie Generale des Etablissements Michelin - Michelin & Cie


A heat exchanger for a solid-oxide fuel cell assembly. A plurality of parallel tubes conveys fuel cell stack exhaust gas from a first manifold means to a second manifold means. The tubes are highly corrugated to increase the wall area and decrease the wall thickness. The tubes are disposed in a jacket through which is passed incoming air to be heated. The tubes may be linear between two manifolds, or they may be curved such that the first and second manifold functions are accommodated within a single component.

Fuel cells combining hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity are well known. A known class of fuel cells includes a solid oxide electrolyte layer through which oxygen anions migrate; such fuel cells are referred to in the art as "solid-oxide" fuel cells (SOFCs).
In some applications, for example, as an auxiliary power unit (APU) for an automotive vehicle, an SOFC is preferably fueled by "reformate" gas, which is the effluent from a catalytic gasoline oxidizing reformer. Reformate typically includes amounts of carbon monoxide (CO) as fuel in addition to molecular hydrogen. The reforming operation and the fuel cell operation may be considered as first and second oxidative steps of the liquid hydrocarbon, resulting ultimately in water and carbon dioxide. Both reactions are exothermic, and both are preferably carried out at relatively high temperatures, for example, in the range of 700° C. to 100° C.
Air enters an SOFC fuel cell at ambient temperature and desirably is preheated before being sent to the fuel cell stacks. A convenient and economical way to heat the air is by abstracting heat via a heat exchanger from the fuel cell exhaust which exits the fuel cell combustor at about 950° C. In the prior art, a typical heat exchanger employed for this purpose is of a well known plate-and-frame design wherein a plurality of heat-exchange modules is assembled as a stack. A plurality of alternating hot and cold gas flow spaces are separated by heat transfer plates. A typical prior art heat exchanger for use in an SOFC may comprise more than 100 individual plates and frames and can require more than 200 feet of brazing to seal the edges of all the modules, and is thus complicated and expensive to fabricate.
What is needed is an efficient heat exchanger for an SOFC wherein the number of components and fabrication costs are significantly reduced.
It is a principal object of the present invention to reduce the cost and complexity of an SOFC heat exchanger.

Heat exchanger for heating of fuel cell combustion air


An embroidery machine includes an outer ring, an inner ring, a pair of screw mounts, a lever, a nut, and an adjusting screw. The outer ring includes a dividing portion. The inner ring and the outer ring holds a workpiece therebetween. The screw mounts are disposed at the dividing portion to oppose each other. The lever is disposed at one of the screw mounts and rotatable about a rotation axis. The nut is slidably held in the lever at a position eccentric from the rotation axis. The adjusting screw is mounted across the screw mounts and threadedly engaged with the nut. A shortest distance between a first surface of the one of the screw mounts and the nut is defined as a specific distance. The specific distance when the lever is at a second position is longer than the specific distance when the lever is at a first position.

In a known embroidery hook, an outer ring is tightened against an inner ring. The known embroidery hoop includes the outer ring, the inner ring, a pair of screw mounts, an adjusting screw, an operation shaft, and a coupling mechanism. The pair of screw mounts are disposed at a dividing portion which divides a portion of the outer ring. The adjusting screw is mounted across the pair of screw mounts to adjust a gap between the pair of screw mounts. A user operates the operation shaft to pivot the adjusting screw. The coupling mechanism transmits a pivot torque of the operation shaft to the adjusting screw. When the adjusting screw is pivoted by the user using the operation shaft, the gap between the pair of screw mounts decreases. In the embroidery hoop, the outer ring is tightened against the inner ring while clamping a fabric therebetween.


A permutation lock, in particular for suitcases or the like, having a plurality of number disks (12) which can be turned by rotation into the combination opening position and an operating handle upon the opening displacement of which the combination set is changed. In order to obtain a simple solution which is advantageous in use, each number disk (12) has associated with it a cam (45) which turns the number disk into a given basic position other than the combination upon displacement of the operating handle (35).

The present invention relates to a permutation lock.
A permutation lock is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,633,388, in which, after setting the pre-established combination, a door equipped with the permutation lock can be opened. During the displacement for the opening, a slide is carried along, protruding spring projections of which come against the periphery of the number disks which have been previously released for rotation, the slide turning them thereby changing the combination set. A change in the combination is also effected upon an oppositely directed displacement of the slide. This embodiment has the disadvantage that the number disks are as a rule always turned by the same amount. When this principle is employed, it is entirely possible to discover a given part of the combination by turning the number disks back.

Permutation lock, in particular for trunks pieces of furniture or the like


Disclosed are a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor and a method of forming the same. The CMOS image sensor comprises a semiconductor substrate having a photodiode region and a transistor region. An optical path is formed between a micro lens on the photodiode region and a photodiode formed on the semiconductor substrate. The optical path comprises an inner lens formed between an intermetal insulation layer on the photodiode region and a transparent optical region formed on the inner lens. The transparent optical region generally has a different refractive index from the inner lens.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensor and a method for manufacturing the same. More particularly, the invention relates to a CMOS sensor having an inner lens located in a planarized insulation layer thereof and a method of manufacturing the same.
A claim of priority is made to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2004-0072819 filed on Sep. 11, 2004, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
2. Description of the Related Art
Complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors are commonly used in various digital imaging applications such as digital cameras and the like. A typical CMOS image sensor includes a light sensing block receiving incident light and a logic block converting the incident light into electrical signals.
CMOS image sensors provide various advantages over competing digital imaging technologies. For example, CMOS image sensors are relatively power efficient and they are readily integrated with other devices on a single chip.
In recent years, CMOS image sensor technology has improved in a number of ways. For example, the optical sensitivity of CMOS image sensors has been improved by increasing a fill factor thereof. Fill factor is a ratio representing the relative amount of a CMOS image sensor occupied by the light sensing block. The fill factor is generally limited by the amount of space on the sensor occupied by the logic block. Hence, the fill factor can be increased by reducing the size of the logic block.
Although the typical size of the logic block in CMOS image sensors has decreased over the years, the corresponding increase in optical sensitivity has been somewhat limited by a corresponding increase in the resolution of the CMOS image sensors. In other words, although the logic blocks have become smaller, modern devices now incorporate more of the logic blocks. As a result, additional measures are needed to improve the optical sensitivity of the CMOS image sensors.
One way to improve the optical sensitivity of a CMOS image sensor includes placing a micro lens on the light sensing block to concentrate incident light thereon. One problem with the micro lens, however, is that its effectiveness is limited by properties of an optical path between the micro lens and the light sensing block.
Various devices and methods have been introduced to improve the concentration of incident light on the light sensing block through the micro lens. Many of these techniques have focused on modifying the optical path between the micro lens and a photodiode in the image sensing block. For example, a dual lens structure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,796,154 and a semiconductor array imaging device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,171,885. Unfortunately, the above mentioned conventional devices require complicated and expensive fabrication processes.
In order to overcome at least these problems, new CMOS image sensors providing improved optical sensitivity and associated methods of manufacture are needed.

CMOS image sensor and method of manufacturing same


In the current state of the art there are a number of operable devices 11, 12, 13 known that have an operating panel 14 through which a user of the device 11, 12, 13 can produce and/or change-existing operating states, Because of the fact that manual operation is often very complex and can also result in the distraction of the user in situations that require the full the attention of a user to be directed elsewhere, the invention increases the ease of operation and simultaneously reduces the amount of attention required to be paid to the devices 11, 12, 13. The invention uses a decision unit 15 that blocks or releases certain operating states of the operable device 11, 12, 13 based on the data received. The invention can be implemented, for example, so that a mobile telephone 11 installed in a vehicle 10 does not “transfer” any telephone calls or suppresses the making of telephone calls from within the vehicle 10 when the vehicle 10 is moving faster than a certain speed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention contributes to the safe and/or convenient use of operable devices in or under conditions that require the full the attention of a user to be directed elsewhere.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are numerous operable devices known in the current state of the art that provide an operating panel through which a user of the device can produce and/or change existing operating states. Examples of such types of devices are telephones or stereos. These devices are characterized in that at least one button or knob must be operated to produce and/or change operating states, This may be acceptable when the user can direct his or her full attention to the operable device. However, it is often the case that the user cannot or will not direct any of his or her attention to the operable device due to other events or conditions. For example, if a telephone or car stereo is installed in a vehicle, it is not acceptable from a safety standpoint that the driver, while operating the vehicle, nevertheless makes a telephone call or changes a cassette.
The aspect of convenience as well as the safety aspect has been neglected in many operable devices. For example, if in a vehicle that is equipped with a permanently installed telephone, a user must enter the appropriate data when he wants calls to be forwarded. This is often deemed to be tedious and the user therefore refrains from doing this. Refraining from doing this does not have any consequences other than that the user cannot be reached. This is not the case, however, when a user accidentally uses his or her mobile telephone or laptop computer at a location where the use of such devices is prohibited for safety reasons.
It is also not acceptable for all incoming calls to a mobile telephone to be transferred to the user. This may be desirable in most cases, but in some cases may lead to problems when private calls are "transferred" to the user during a business call, for example.
Even if the problems presented in this context only relate to telephones and car stereos, it should be noted for the sake of completeness that these problems are also present in other operable devices. For example, adjusting the temperature of an air conditioning system or setting up a navigation system while driving is just as dangerous as operating a car phone.

Device used in a vehicle which is controlled by vehicular operation to avoid dangerous vehicular operation


In order to improve print image quality, attribute information is generated for each pixel of a bitmap image generated according to a drawing command, and the bitmap image and attribute information are written in a memory. However, when this is done, data amount to be written in the memory increases, and the rasterize processing speed lowers. Hence, a display list is generated by interpreting PDL data, a bitmap image and attribute information of each pixel are rasterized based on the display list, and the bitmap image and attribute information are written in the memory. In this case, a black attribute is written in attribute information of an object filled with black, and the color value of that object is not written in the bitmap image.

In recent years, image processing apparatuses such as laser beam printers and the like which use an electrophotography method are popularly used as output apparatuses of computers. These image processing apparatuses comprise a function of executing print processing by converting a drawing command received from a host computer into image data.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a general image processing apparatus. Processing for converting a drawing command received from a host computer into image data, and printing the converted data on a sheet surface will be described below using FIG. 1.
An application 201 which runs on a host computer 200 is used to create, e.g., a page layout document, wordprocessor document, graphic document, and the like. A printer driver 202 generates a drawing command based on digital document data created by the application. The drawing command generated by the printer driver 202 is described using a printer description language called a page description language (PDL), which is used to create page image data. The drawing command normally includes text, graphic, image drawing instructions and the like.
The drawing command generated by the printer driver 202 is transferred to an image processing apparatus 203 via a network or the like.
Upon reception of the drawing command from the host computer 200, the image processing apparatus 203 interprets the drawing command by a PDL interpreter 204. Based on the interpretation result, a display list generator 205 generates a display list 212 which can be processed by a rasterize processor 206. The rasterize processor 206 generates a bitmap image 210 by rasterizing the display list 212, and stores the generated bitmap image in a data storage unit 207.
An image processor 208 converts the bitmap image 210 stored in the data storage unit 207 into an image format that can be output to an image output unit 209 by applying image processing such as color conversion processing, pseudo-halftone processing, and the like to the bitmap image 210.
Assume that input data to the image output unit 209 are CMYK image data corresponding to four color materials of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K), and the bitmap image 210 generated by the rasterize processor 206 is RGB image data. In this case, the image processor 208 converts RGB image data stored in the data storage unit 207 into CMYK image data using a lookup table (LUT) or the like. Normally, the image output unit 209 can output only a low-tone (2-, 4-, 16-tone levels, or the like) image in many cases. Therefore, in order to allow the image output unit 209 which can output only a small number of tone levels to attain stable halftone expression, the image processor 208 executes pseudo-halftone processing.
The image processor 208 also applies smoothing processing to an edge portion of an image to obtain a more preferable image.
The image output unit 209 receives image data generated in a predetermined image format, and executes output processing. In this way, an image expressed by the drawing command output from the host computer 200 is printed on a sheet surface.
In order to improve print image quality in the aforementioned image data generation process, attribute information is often appended to pixels of the bitmap image 210 generated according to the drawing command. For example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-259819.
That is, the rasterize processor 206 generates attribute information 211 indicating the types of image characteristics of image regions to which respective pixels belong simultaneously with generation of the bitmap image 210, and stores the generated information in the data storage unit 207.
The attribute information indicates the region attributes of pixels when image regions are classified according to their image characteristics. The attribute information includes a text attribute which indicates a pixel included in text data or an image region having that image characteristic. Also, the attribute information includes an image attribute which indicates a pixel included in bitmap data or an image region having that image characteristic. Furthermore, the attribute information includes a graphics attribute which indicates a pixel included in draw data or an image region having that image characteristic, and the like. That is, by appending the attribute information 211 to each pixel of the bitmap image 210, the image processor 208 can execute image processing suited to the image characteristics of respective image regions for respective pixels.
For example, LUTs used upon color conversion from RGB image data to CMYK image data are switched between the image attribute and text attribute. Screen processing is applied using different matrices for respective region attributes, and a low LPI screen that gives priority to tone characteristics is applied to a photo image of the image attribute. Also, a high LPI screen that gives priority to a resolution can be applied to characters of the text attribute and lines of the graphics attribute.
In this manner, since the rasterize processor 206 generates the attribute information 211 based on raster objects, image processing can be switched for respective objects included in the drawing command.
FIGS. 2A to 2C are views for explaining generation of the bitmap image 210 and attribute information 211 in more detail. FIG. 2A shows an image formation result, and a character "A" 302 (color is RGB=(0, 0, 0)) of the text attribute is formed on a rectangle 301 (color is RGB=(255, 0, 0)) of the graphics attribute.
FIG. 2B is an enlarged view of a part 303 of the rasterization result (bitmap image 210) of the character 302. The bitmap image 210 is made up of a pixel array shown in FIG. 2B having 8-bit R, G, and B data (a total of 24) bits) per pixel.
FIG. 2C shows attribute information 211 of pixels shown in FIG. 2B, and the attribute information 211 of each pixel is given by 2 bits in this example. Note that the bitwidth of the attribute information changes depending on the number of attributes to be handled. A table 304 which indicates the relationship between attribute information and region attributes is separately prepared. That is, the attribute information 211 is made up of a pixel sequence shown in FIG. 2C having 2 bits per pixel.
The rasterize processor 206 writes, as attribute information, "3" indicating the graphics attribute in each pixel of RGB=(255, 0, 0) shown in FIG. 2B, and "2" indicating the text attribute in each pixel of RGB (0, 0, 0) shown in FIG. 2B.
However, the aforementioned technique must store the attribute information 211 corresponding to respective pixels in the data storage unit 207 in addition to the bitmap image 210 generated according to the drawing command so as to improve the print image quality. As a result, the data volume to be read out from and written in the data storage unit 207 unwantedly increases.
As for simple black, the result after color conversion and halftoning is black irrespective of attributes. In other words, no difference is generated depending on attribute information (no attribute information is required). For a simple black image, not only attribute information is not necessary, but also multi-values (e.g., 8 bits or 16 bits) need not be assigned to one pixel of the bitmap image 210 and such image can be expressed by binary data (1 bit). When the aforementioned technique is applied to black or an image including a larger black part than other colors such as a simple black image, the image forming speed decreases due to wasteful read and write accesses to the data storage unit 207.

Image processing apparatus and method for generating bitmap data and attribute information from a raster data


A curved gaseous particle detector includes a stack of two layers that are curved and maintained together by a frame formed of two spars defining a plane. The two spars are connected together by at least two curved bars outside of the plane and the frame being placed between the two layers of the stack.

Detectors D for locating particles are known, such as that illustrated in FIG. 1 comprising a gas enclosure 1 that is filled with an appropriate gaseous mixture, such a detector D enabling the amplification of electrons by an avalanche process. Such a detector is particularly disclosed by the document FR2786024. In this particular case, the particles are photons.
The gaseous mixture contained in the enclosure 1 may remain confined in the enclosure 1 or circulate through a purifier (not illustrated) through pipes 2.
This enclosure 1 is closed in a sealed manner by a window 3 transparent to the photons 4 to be detected. The detector D also comprises an electrically insulating plate 5 of very good flatness, on which is formed the active part of the detector D, in particular elementary anodes 6 which may be parallel metal tracks or metal elements that may be referred to as "pixels" and which form a two-dimensional network on the electrically insulating plate 5. The set of tracks constitutes the anode 7 of the detector D. The tracks are earthed and are connected to suitable electronic means 8 provided for amplifying then processing the electrical signals coming from these tracks.
Moreover, this active part comprises, facing the window 3, a cathode 9 constituted of a metal sheet pierced with holes 10, said sheet thereby forming a grid. The anode 7 and the grid 9 are maintained parallel to each other by means of electrically insulating spacers 11 that rest on the anode 7.
Polarisation means 12 are moreover provided to take the grid 9 (in other words the cathode) to a highly negative voltage compared to the anode 7 (this voltage depending on the gaseous mixture used). The anode 7, which is thus taken to a high potential compared to the cathode 9, constitutes with the latter a detector with parallel electrodes capable of amplifying electrons by an avalanche process that develops between these electrodes. In the example represented, the high voltage is chosen to create in the space A comprised between the anode 7 and the cathode 9, or amplification space, an electric field EA of which the intensity is greater than or equal to 50 kV/cm.
In the case of the detection of non-ionising particles such as photons, it is necessary to add a conversion layer 13 to convert the non-ionising particles into ionising particles.
This type of particle detector nevertheless has drawbacks. In fact, when it is desirable to obtain a curved structure, it is necessary to join up end to end a plurality of flat structures so as to obtain a curved surface. This particularity does not make it possible in any case to obtain a compact or even light detector.

COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES


A knob has a plurality of settings that configure a graphics pipeline. A first setting is associated with a first state of the graphics pipeline. The first setting is associated with the first state based on a measure of performance of the graphics pipeline while configured according to the first setting. The graphics pipeline is configured according to the first setting in response to the first state of the graphics pipeline matching a current state of the graphics pipeline. The graphics pipeline processes graphics according to the first setting. In some cases, the first setting is associated with the first state of the graphics pipeline by dithering or toggling the knob between the settings once per frame for a predetermined number of frames. The first setting achieves better performance than other ones of the plurality of settings during the predetermined number of frames.

Graphics processing units (GPUs) include numerous compute units for executing instructions concurrently or in parallel. In some cases, a GPU implements a graphics pipeline to render two-dimensional (2D) images from a three-dimensional (3D) representation of a scene. A conventional graphics pipeline for processing 3D graphics is formed of a sequence of fixed-function hardware block arrangements supported by programmable shaders that execute on the compute units in the GPU. These arrangements are usually specified by a graphics application programming interface (API) processing order such as specified in specifications of Microsoft DX 11/12 or Khronos Group OpenGL/Vulkan APIs. GPU hardware provides numerous "knobs" that are configured in different settings to optimize performance of the GPU for different types of applications. A knob is implemented in hardware using registers, memory elements, switches, or other structures that represent modifiable values of the knob. For example, one knob implemented in a GPU is a register that is used to turn a primitive batch binner on or off by setting a value of a bit in the register to "1" or "0," respectively. For another example, a range of values of a knob can be represented by values of a plurality of bits of a register. The set of knobs in a GPU are typically adjusted manually based on the results of profiling applications that are considered a high priority at the time a product including the GPU is released. For example, settings for the knobs can be manually adjusted based on the results of profiling recently released, best-selling games. In some cases, configuring the knobs includes defining white lists or blacklists for some applications or states/modes inside the applications. The settings are rarely changed after the initial configuration of the knobs in the GPU, at least in part because changing the knobs can cause regressions.

Automatic configuration of knobs to optimize performance of a graphics pipeline