A cooking appliance includes an insulated cooking chamber positioned within a cabinet and an air plenum defined between the cabinet and the insulated cooking chamber. A fan assembly includes a first fan and a second fan positioned adjacent each other and having a void region immediately downstream of their outlets. The fan housings may be positioned in direct contact with each other such that the flows of cooling air exiting each fan interact with each other to reduce or eliminate expansion losses. Alternatively, the fan housings may be separated by a small airgap to reduce expansion losses while entraining additional cooling air.

Oven range appliances generally include a cabinet and an insulated cooking chamber disposed therein for receipt of food items for cooking. Heating elements are positioned within the cooking chamber to provide heat to food items located therein. The heating elements can include a bake heating element positioned at a bottom of the cooking chamber, a broil heating element positioned at a top of the cooking chamber, and/or a convection heating assembly. Oven range appliances also frequently include a cooktops having multiple burner assemblies, such as electrical resistance coils, gas burners, or induction heating assemblies.
During operation of such oven appliances, the operation of the heating elements and burner assemblies may generate large amounts of thermal energy within and around the appliance. Oven appliances thus require features for managing the thermal energy generated by the various heating elements and burners. For example, conventional oven appliances define an air plenum between the cabinet and the insulated cooking chamber which houses the appliance controller, heating element junctions, and other electronics that require cooling. In addition, side panels and other surfaces of oven appliances often require significant cooling to meet regulatory standards.
Therefore, conventional oven appliances include cooling systems for managing the flow of heated air and regulating component temperatures. For example, a fan may be positioned within the oven appliance to continuously remove heated air within the air plenum and replenish it with cooler ambient air, thereby cooling the oven electronics and the cabinet housing them. Large fans may be desirable to increase the air flow rate, but are typically costly and take up much of the limited space within the cabinet. Using multiple smaller fans may solve cost and space issues, but may result in poor system efficiency due to expansion losses associated with the discharge of cooling air from multiple outlets.
Accordingly, an oven appliance that provides features for improved thermal management would be useful. More particularly, a compact fan assembly for an oven appliance that efficiently urges cooling air within the cabinet would be especially beneficial.

Fan assembly for an induction cooking appliance


Systems and methods may provide for using one or more generic classifiers to generate self-training data based on a first plurality of events associated with a device, and training a personal classifier based on the self-training data. Additionally, the one or more generic classifiers and the personal classifier may be used to generate validation data based on a second plurality of events associated with the device. In one example, the personal classifier is substituted for the one or more generic classifiers if the validation data indicates that the personal classifier satisfies a confidence condition relative to the one or more generic classifiers.

A main source of complexity and/or difficulty in performing event categorization tasks (e.g., physical activity recognition, gesture recognition, etc.) may result from large variations among sample data belonging to the same category. Such data variations may be due to individual differences (e.g., different people walk differently) and/or sensing variations (e.g., phone in the hand versus phone in the pocket of the same person detecting different signal patterns for the same walking activity).

Using a generic classifier to train a personalized classifier for wearable devices


The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing and painting characters press formed on license plates and to a tubular thermal-transfer film for carrying out said method which comprises: a step of press forming identifying characters (2) on an aluminum plate (1) with a reflective film (3), including a perimetral edge (4) or not, by means of using a hand- or motor-operated press forming machine or device; and a step of thermal stamping for painting the press formed characters (2) by means of thermal-transfer ink impregnated in a thermal-transfer film with a thermal stamping machine (6) which in turn comprises: introducing the plate (1) in a tubular thermal-transfer film (5), closing the open end or ends (5d) of said tubular film (5), introducing the assembly (5, 1) in the thermal stamping machine (6), and removing the finished plate (1) from inside the tubular film (5).

As is known, one of the most common methods applied for manufacturing license plates comprises at least one step of press forming the identifying characters on the reflective aluminum plate which is a starting material, often times with a perimetral edge being press formed at the same time, where all this can be carried out with any of the hand- or motor operated machines or devices with press forming dies existing on the market, and at least another step of thermal stamping in which the upper part of the embossment obtained in the previous step of press forming said characters, and where applicable the perimetral edge, is painted by means of the application of thermal-transfer ink impregnated in a film which is placed on the already press formed plate, through a thermal stamping machine which applies pressure and heat in a controlled manner to said assembly of press formed plate and film with ink.
The problem of this method lies in the difficulty of said thermal stamping step as it requires fitting the film with thermal-transfer ink on the press formed plate given that, up until now, said film has exactly the same measurement as the plate to enable readily moving same into the groove between the rollers of the stamping machine, because a wider film may get caught and become wrinkled, deteriorating printing quality, and furthermore a film that juts out on the perimeter thereof may be stained with ink from said rollers, whereby constant cleaning is necessary. Furthermore, if it has a smaller dimension, parts of the embossment would logically be left unpainted, resulting subsequently in a defective plate.
Accordingly, the current method for manufacturing plates of this type requires, in addition to a skillful operator to perfectly align the film with thermal-transfer ink on the press formed plate, putting in the time required for carrying out said alignment properly without the ink deteriorating due to the friction generated in repeated attempts which moreover entail an expenditure in discarded material.
An example of the prior art can be found in document ES 2645194 A1 relating to a method for manufacturing license plates and belonging to the present applicant.
The objective of the present invention is therefore to provide a method which, through the use of a tubular film instead of the film having the same dimension as that of the plate, allows eliminating said difficulty in the thermal stamping step and placing the film with thermal-transfer ink on the press formed plate in a manner that is much quicker and simpler which furthermore assures proper placement on the first attempt in all cases, preventing material wastage.
Moreover and as a reference to the current state of the art, it must be pointed out that at least as far as the applicant is aware, there is no other method for manufacturing license plates or any tubular thermal-transfer film for carrying out said method, or any other invention of similar application having technical, structural, and constitutive features similar or identical to the features of the invention herein claimed.

Method for manufacturing and painting characters press formed on license plates and tubular thermal transfer film for carrying out said method


A linear amplifier provides an output signal that is proportional to an input signal. A differential voltage control unit tracks the output signal voltage and controls the outputs of two pulse width modulators which drive a linear amplifier. The differential voltage control unit controls the output of the positive pulse width modulator to a fixed predetermined value in accordance with at least one of the input or output signals. The positive and negative pulse width modulators are driven by a positive and negative high voltage direct current power supplies respectively.

Amplifier systems capable of providing variable output power may include linear amplifiers. An amplifier system which uses conventional linear amplification may produce a highly stable low distortion power output. The low distortion output can make linear amplifiers particularly useful in amplifier system applications that require high accuracy such as, for example, very precise linear motors used in semiconductor photolithography stages.
FIG. 1 shows an amplifier system 101 which includes a conventional linear amplifier 103 which supplies an output signal 113, which may be proportional to an input signal 115, to a variable load (not shown). A positive DC power source 105 and a negative DC power source 107 drive the linear amplifier 103. A control system (not shown) may typically be used to make feedforward adjustments to vary the output signal 113. The variable output signal 113 of amplifier system 101 may be used as a power supply to drive a variable load.
The energy efficiency of amplifier system 101 may be inversely proportional to the differential voltage between the output signal 113 and amplifier power sources 105 and 107. When the linear amplifier 103 is operating at a low differential voltage, the amplifier system 101 may be operating efficiently and much of the energy from power sources 105 and 107 may be converted into output signal 113. Conversely, under high differential voltage operation, the amplifier system 101 may operate inefficiently and a substantial portion of the energy from power sources 105 and 107 may be converted into heat rather than output signal 113.
The power sources 105 and 109 typically supply the linear amplifier 103 with fixed voltage power and the amplifier system 101 output voltage may typically vary proportionally to the output signal 113. When the output signal 113 is high powered, the output voltage may also be high. Conversely, when the output signal 113 is low powered the output voltage may be low. Thus, the amplifier system 101 efficiency may vary with the output power. A higher power output signal 113 may result in low differential voltage and improved efficiency. A low power output signal 113 may result in a high differential voltage and decreased efficiency.
Under variable power operation the voltage of output signal 113 may vary significantly. When amplifier system 101 is operating at the maximum output power, maximum efficiency may be utilized. However, under variable power operation, the output signal 113 voltage may typically not be at the maximum level and amplifier system 101 may generally not be operating at maximum efficiency. Although linear amplifier 103 may be suitable for driving high accuracy applications, under variable loads amplifier system 101 with linear amplifier 103 may not be energy efficient.
The aforementioned problems associated with amplifier systems using conventional linear amplification under variable output load conditions may result in severe operational inefficiency and heat generation. In applications that require precise temperature control, heat dissipation can pose a significant design concern. Amplifier systems using conventional linear amplification may require a complicated enclosure to dissipate the excess heat generated when operating at a high differential voltage. Enclosures capable of dissipating the excess heat may require large capacity cooling mechanisms or other environmental controls, adding complexity and costs to the amplifier system.
As those skilled in the art will appreciate, amplifier systems using pulse width modulated ("PWM") amplification can produce a wide range of output power with more energy efficiency than amplifier systems using conventional linear amplification. Because amplifier systems using PWM amplification have higher energy efficiency under variable output power operation, they may be less expensive to operate than amplifier systems using conventional linear amplification. Further, because amplifier systems using PWM amplification may generate little heat energy, less elaborate cooling systems may be required and the amplifier system may be less expensive to build.
FIG. 2 shows a power supply 201 which includes a conventional PWM amplifier 203 which supplies an output signal 213 to a variable load (not shown), which may be proportional to an input signal 215. A positive DC power source 205 and a negative DC power source 207 may be used to drive the PWM amplifier 203. A control system (not shown) may typically be used to make feed forward adjustments to the output signal 213. The variable output signal 213 of PWM amplifier 203 may be used as a power supply to drive a variable load.
Although amplifier systems which use PWM amplification may produce the same power output as amplifier systems which use linear amplification, PWM amplification may lack the performance characteristics required for some applications. More specifically, an amplifier system using conventional PWM amplification may produce output power which includes a high frequency noise. Amplifier systems using PWM amplification may thus not be suitable for photolithography motor drives and other high performance applications which may require noise free power.
Hence, there is a need for an amplifier system which has the PWM amplification characteristic of high operating efficiency across a wide output power range and the linear amplification characteristic of low noise for compatibility with high performance applications.

Method and apparatus for improving power transfer efficiency of an amplifier system


A computer-implemented method for augmenting SAT-based BMC to handle embedded memory designs without explicitly modeling memory bits. As is known, verifying designs having large embedded memories is typically handled by abstracting out (over-approximating) the memories. Such abstraction is not useful for finding real bugs. SAT-based BMC, as of now, is incapable of handling designs with explicit memory modeling due to enormously increased search space complexity. Advantageously, our method does not require analyzing the designs and also guarantees not to generate false negatives.

Formal verification techniques such as symbolic model checking (SMC)—that use binary decision diagrams (BDDs)—offer the potential of exhaustive coverage and the ability to detect subtle bugs unlike traditional techniques such as simulation. These techniques that use BDDs however, are known to suffer from a state explosion problem and consequently fail for circuits having a large number of flip-flops/state variables.
Boolean Satisfiability (SAT) solvers have exhibited numerous attributes that make them attractive complements to BDDs. In particular, their performance is less sensitive to size and they typically do not suffer from the state explosion problem noted before. As a result, the development of routines that perform bounded model checking (BMC) utilizing SAT methodologies has been the subject of much research.
Unlike symbolic model checking, BMC focuses on finding bugs of bounded length, and successively increases the boundaries in search of longer traces. Given a design and a correctness property, BMC generates a Boolean formula, such that the formula is true if and only if there exists a witness/counterexample of length k. This Boolean formula is then checked by a backend SAT solver. Advantageously, and due in part to recent advances made to SAT solvers, SAT-based BMC can handle much larger designs and analyze them faster then ever before.
By way of example, Burch and Dill, in a paper entitled "Automatic Verification of Pipelined Microprocessor Control" which appeared in Proceedings of the sixth International Conference on Computer-Aided Verification, volume 818, D. L. Dill, Ed.: Springer-Verlag, 1994, pp. 68-80, introduced symbolic representation of memory arrays in their logic of equality with un-interpreted functions. Their abstract interpretation of memory uses interpreted read and write operations. These interpreted functions are used to represent the memory symbolically by creating nested if-then-else (ITE) structure to record the history of writes to the memory.
In an effort to model an entire circuit with control and data memory, Velev et al., in an article entitled "Efficient Modeling of Memory Arrays in Symbolic Simulation", that appeared in Computer Aided Verification, O. Grumberg, Ed., pp. 399-399 in 1987, introduced a behavioral model that allows the number of symbolic variables used to be proportional to the number of memory accesses rather than to the size of the memory. This model replaces the memory and it interacts with the rest of the circuit through a software interface. Similar to that shown by Burch and Dill, the Velev et al. read and write operations are defined in such a way that the forwarding property of the memory semantics (i.e., data read from a memory location is the same as the recent data written at the same location) is satisfied. Unfortunately however, BDDs used to represent the Boolean expressions tend to "blowup" for processors with branch or load/store instruction(s) and good BDD ordering is not possible due to dependencies of address on the data and vice-versa.
In an article entitled "Processor Verification Using Efficient Reductions for the Logic of Uninterpreted Functions to Propositional Logic", that appeared in ACM Transactions on Computational Logic (TOCL) on pp. 93-134, Vol., 2, No. 1, in January 2001, R. E. Bryant, S. German, and M. N. Velev discovered that for processors in which writes are not reordered relative to each other or to reads, it is sufficient to represent data memory as a generic state machine, changing state in some arbitrary way for each write operation, and returning some arbitrary value dependent on the state and address for each read operation. Such an abstraction is sound, but it does not capture all the properties of a memory.
Subsequently, Velev (see, M. N. Velev, "Automatic Abstraction of Memories in the Formal Verification of Superscalar Microprocessors, " Proceeding of Tools and Algorithms for the Construction and Analysis of Systems, 2001, pp. 252-267), automated the process of abstraction of data memory by applying a system of conservative transformation rules and generating hybrid memory model(s) where forwarding semantics of memory is satisfied only for some levels of forwarding.
More recently, Bryant et al., in an articled entitled "Modeling and Verifying Systems using a Logic of Counter Arithmetic with Lambda Expressions and Uninterpreted Functions", that appeared in Computer-Aided Verification in 2002, proposed logic to model infinite-state systems and unbounded memory in a system named UCLID. According to this article, memory is modeled as a function expression whose body can change with time step(s). Similar to that shown by Burch and Dill, the memory is represented symbolically by creating nested if-then-else (ITE) structure to record the history of writes to the memory. In this restricted Counter arithmetic with Lambda Expressions and Uninterpreted Functions (CLU) logic, one can use BMC to verify safety properties.
Despite these advances however, SAT-based BMC is still unable to handle designs involving large embedded memories and therefore, more thorough, efficient, and expedient approaches are required. Such enhancements to SAT-based BMC would represent a significant advance in the art and is therefore the object of the present invention.
Additionally, and according to a Semiconductor Industry Association roadmap prediction, embedded memories will comprise more than 70% of the System on a Chip (SoC) devices by 2005. These embedded memories on SoC support diverse code and data requirements arising from an ever increasing demand for data throughput in applications ranging from cellular phones, smart cards and digital cameras.
Efforts to verify on-chip memory arrays using Symbolic Trajectory Evaluation are fraught with difficulty as embedded memories dramatically increase both design and verification complexity due to an exponential increase in the state space with each additional memory bit. In particular, this state explosion adversely affects the practical application of formal verification techniques like model checking for functional verification of such large embedded memory systems.
To tame the verification complexity, several memory abstraction techniques, i.e., removing the memories partially or completely from the designs are often used in the industry. However, such techniques often produce spurious outcomes, adversely affecting overall verification efforts. In many refinement-based techniques, starting from a small abstract model of the concrete design, spurious counter-examples on the abstract model are used to refine the model iteratively. In practice, several iterations are needed before a property can be proved correct or a real counter-example can be found. Note that after every iterative refinement step, the model size increases, making it increasingly difficult to verify.
In contrast, abstraction-based approaches use proof-based abstraction (PBA) techniques on a concrete design. As shown by the inventors in a paper entitled "Iterative Abstraction using SAT-based BMC with Proof Analysis", which appeared in the Proceedings of International Conference on Computer Aided Design in 2003, iterative abstraction can be used to apply such techniques on progressively more abstract models, thereby leading to significant reduction in model size. However, since these approaches use the concrete model to start with, it may not be feasible to apply them on designs with large memories. In general, both these refinement and abstraction based approaches are not geared towards exploiting the memory semantics.

Efficient modeling of embedded memories in bounded memory checking


A method and apparatus for attic fan power controller with remote control have been disclosed. In one version a solar array and/or a power line source provides energy for a fan determined by a control box which also interfaces with a remote control.

Fans are used to move air and for many situations provide some degree of assistance in cooling humans or structures. A source of power that is becoming more favored is solar. However, due to the limited power provided by solar, traditional attic fans may not be able to run when needed, for example, in cloudy conditions, or at night. This presents a problem.
Additionally, an attic fan may run when not needed. This presents a problem.

Method and apparatus for attic fan power controller with remote control


A communication system is provided for increasing communication range between at least two radio communication devices without increasing the output power of transmitted radio signals from the devices, and without increasing the antenna gain of the received signals. Each radio device includes an oscillator for generating a carrier reference signal, and an SATPS receiver which receives at least one standard timing reference signal from at least one SATPS satellite. The received standard timing reference signal is used to continuously adjust the timing and synchronization of the oscillator to improve the accuracy of the carrier frequency signal. The improved accuracy in the carrier frequency signal may then be used to reduce the bandwidth of the modulated carrier frequency signals generated by the radio device to thereby increase the effective communication range and sensitivity of the device.

The present invention relates generally to the field of wireless data communication networks and, in particular, to an improved, low power wireless radio system linked to a GPS receiver for increasing effective communication range without increasing output power of the transmitted signals.
Low power wireless data communications networks are used in a number of environments in which it is either impractical to run cabling for the local area network to fixed terminal sites, or where there is a need for mobile terminals that are in communication with the network. Examples of the former include rail yards, and other operations spread over a large area. In the latter category falls a common use of such systems, normally warehouses for stocking goods for shipment or accepting parts to be used in a manufacturing process. A typical system includes multiple base stations inter-connected by cabling to a network controller that processes the data received over the network and controls the transmission of data back to remote terminals through the base stations. A typical arrangement is one in which the network controller communicates with the host via serial data links employing twisted pair cabling.
The base stations communicate via wireless radio frequency link with a plurality of remote terminals that are typically either hand held or mounted on a vehicle such as a fork lift, cart or truck. Typical terminals include keyboards and displays and some are equipped with scanning bar code readers. The networks may be used as part of any underlying system for operation of the facility in which they are used, such as assistance in taking inventory, filling orders, directing employees as to the placement of inbound products in the warehouse space and the like. Information from the remote terminals is normally entered via key pad or bar code reader. It may indicate that an assigned task has been completed, that problems have been encountered such as the absence of sufficient goods of a particular type to fill a particular order, and so forth.
Any application that the user wishes to implement, that can be handled by the host computer, can be implemented by using the wireless data communications network. For example, the host computer can determine minimum length paths for filling particular orders and transmit to a remote terminal located on a transportation device in a warehouse the sequence in which items should be selected for filling a particular order. The systems are also very useful in environments in which just in time parts inventory systems are implemented for prioritizing movement of materials from a receiving dock to locations in a warehouse or manufacturing facility at which they are needed.
Another application where it is desirable to use mobile terminals that are in communication with a centralized computer network is in the area of geodetic surveying. Modern techniques for performing geodetic surveying typically include mobile geodetic survey stations which utilize GPS or other satellite positioning signals (SATPS) for determining precise coordinates of ground locations on the earth's surface. However, in many instances, the GPS receivers utilized by the geodetic survey stations are not able to provide precise coordinate positions of sufficient accuracy.
For this reason, in order to improve the measurable accuracy of the GPS coordinates at a particular ground location, the geodetic survey station at the ground location communicates by wireless radio transmission with a base reference station having precisely known coordinates. The information transmitted by the base station is used by the remote survey station to correct for coordinate measurement error inherent in the mobile GPS receiver. In this way, by combining the GPS positional information from the GPS receiver with the correctional information transmitted by the base reference station, precise coordinates of the ground location at the mobile survey station may be quickly and accurately determined. Additionally, if desirable, the base reference station may upload information transmitted from the mobile station for use in developing a resource or GIS map of the surveyed area.
Largely by regulatory constraint in the United States of America, wireless, mobile communication systems are typically operated at a low power level since the authorized radio transmissions for such applications are in shared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum under the regulatory scheme implemented by the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Since 1985, the FCC has approved the use of low power non-license Business Radio Systems regulated under Sub-part D of Part 15 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Three bands are authorized for such use: 902 through 928 MHz, 2400 through 2483.5 MHz, and 5725 through 5850 MHz. According to 47 CFR Section 15.247, for example, there are a number of constraints on the operations of such systems including a maximum radiated power of 1 watt, and a limitation on spectrum spreading techniques to direct sequencing and frequency hopping. A copy of 47 CFR Section 15.247 is provided as Appendix A of this application.
In view of the above cited regulatory constraints and common sense, it is desirable for the radio frequency networks described above to utilize low radiated power. Warehouse facilities are often concentrated in the same geographic area and a high level of radiated power increases the probability of intersystem interference. For the devices that operate in the shared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, there is also a need to minimize the radiated power to avoid interference with other devices operating on the same frequencies. Additionally, a system that is designed for relatively high power output would require high radiated power from its roaming terminals, which are typically battery operated. This situation would lead to requirements for larger, heavier batteries or shorter battery life.
One advantage of operating a radio device in compliance with the FCC regulations is that the user is not required to obtain an FCC license in order to operate such radio devices. For example, radio devices operating at 902 MHz and broadcasting at a maximum radiated power of 1 watt do not require an FCC licensed user for operation. However, the same radio device operating at a radiated power of over 1 watt requires a FCC licensed user to operate the radio. Thus, radio devices using a maximum radiated power of 1 watt are made accessible to virtually an unlimited number of users. Unfortunately, by limiting the maximum radiated power of the radio device to 1 watt, the effective communication range of that radio device is also limited since the power of the output signal is directly proportional to the communication range of the radio device.
In applications such as geodetic surveying, however, large areas of land are typically required to be surveyed, encompassing tens or even hundreds of square miles. It is therefore desirable for each of the radio devices at each of the respective remote survey stations to be able to extend its effective communicating range within the wireless network as far as possible while simultaneously complying with FCC regulations such as those described above.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a wireless radio communication network including at least one radio device which can be operated by any user (without requiring an FCC license), and which provides for an extended range of communication over that of similar-type conventional radio devices. A further object of the present invention is to provide the wireless radio communication device having improved sensitivity and accuracy for facilitating transmission and/or reception of modulated carrier frequency signals.

Adjusting the timing and synchronization of a radio's oscillator with a signal from an SATPS satellite


The king of a partial image designated on the display screen is determined and desired processing is effected at high speeds. For this purpose, the region designated on the displayed image and the attribute or identity data of that region are stored corresponding to each other. The attribute or identity of the partial image corresponding to the region is retrieved by using the attribute or identity data. The region of the partial image having a predetermined attribute inclusive of the retrieved attribute is picked up, and a predetermined operation is effected on the image data in the region that is picked up.

The present invention relates to an image displaying method and an apparatus therefor. More specifically, the invention relates to an image displaying method and apparatus adapted for processing the retrieval and the designation input at high speeds in order to enhance the response characteristics in a system which executes the retrieval and the designation input using as interfaces the images such as document, image file, storage, retrieval, work station, and the like.
In the conventional image displaying apparatus, in general, the contents of a frame buffer memory corresponding to the coordinates of the display are read out, and the pixel data that are read out are subjected to analog conversion and are displayed on a cathode-ray tube (CRT) or the like. In this case, there have been known frame buffers of the type which stores the brightnesses of pixels and color data only, and of the type which designates limited colors that are called color pallets. There are further available frame buffers of the type which displays characters in a superimposed manner by adding attribute data in addition to the image data. In these frame buffers, however, the pixel data are used simply for designating the shade and color but are not used for representing the meaning of the image that is displayed, i.e., they are not used for representing the meaning such as to 37 mountain" or "river" when the data pertains to the scenery.
Literature related to the above-mentioned image displaying apparatus includes, for example, Nikkei Electronics, "Three-Dimensional Color Graphic Display Apparatus based upon Advanced Shading Technology", Apr. 7, 1986, p.p. 170-194, Nikkei Electronics, "Display Function of Work Station Reinforced with Dual Port Memory and Gate Array", Jun. 30, 1986, p.p. 225-252, Nikkei Electronics, "Color Bit Map Display equipped with Frame Buffer which is accessible like a Main Storage", May 20, 1985, p.p. 258-281.
According to the above prior art, the image displaying apparatus simply displays images or character patterns but does not display the meaning of the image. Therefore, even if the image displayed on the image displaying apparatus is subjected to the pointing, the data obtained therefrom are simply related to brightness and color. So far, therefore, the processing apparatus has been equipped with a table for making the coordinates pointed to correspond to the image, in order to determine what it is that is pointed to based on the comparison. When the image is a natural scene, however, it is almost impossible to render the decision. Even in-the case of computer graphics, a lot of processing is required to render the decision when the figure is complex. Even when it is determined what it is, it is necessary to rewrite the image data in the frame buffer memory in order to effect some processing such as highlight (partially brighten) for the pointed to portions only, requiring extended periods of time for processing and transfer, and making it difficult to accomplish high response performance.


A cache memory device comprises a secondary tag RAM that partially constitutes a secondary cache memory and employs a set associative scheme having a plurality of ways, and a secondary cache access controller that, when the number of ways in the secondary tag RAM is changed, allocates tags to respective entries so that the total number of entries constituting the secondary tag RAM and the total number of entries after the number of ways is changed are constant.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cache memory device having an n-way set-associative cache memory and to a memory allocation method. More particularly, the invention relates to a cache memory device and a memory allocation method capable of uniquely specifying a way in which an error occurs and changing the number of ways without degrading performance of the device.
2) Description of the Related Art
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional cache memory device. The cache memory device shown in FIG. 7 comprises a multiple cache memory (a primary cache memory 12 and a secondary cache memory 14) to compensate for a difference in speed between a central processing unit (CPU) 10 and a main memory 15.
The CPU 10 accesses the primary cache memory 12, the secondary cache memory 14, or the main memory 15 to read/write data.
The main memory 15 has such characteristics that the main memory 15 has a large capacity and an access time is longer than that of the primary cache memory 12 and the secondary cache memory 14. The main memory 15 stores all data used in the CPU 10.
The primary cache memory 12 and the secondary cache memory 14 are, for example, static random access memories (SRAMs), and have such characteristics that an access time is shorter than that of the main memory 15.
The primary cache memory 12 has such a characteristic that the primary cache memory 12 has an access time shorter than that of the secondary cache memory 14. More specifically, of the primary cache memory 12, the secondary cache memory 14, and the main memory 15, the primary cache memory 12 has the shortest access time, the secondary cache memory 14 has the second shortest access time, and the main memory 15 has the longest access time.
In addition, in consideration of a storage capacity, the main memory 15 has the largest storage capacity, the secondary cache memory 14 has the second largest storage capacity, and the primary cache memory 12 has the smallest storage capacity.
In this case, data transfer between the CPU and the cache memory (main memory) is performed in units of lines. Some schemes that correlate data on the main memory with the lines in the cache memory are known.
As a typical scheme, there is a set associative scheme. This scheme divides a main memory and a cache memory into a plurality of sets (sets of lines: which are called ways), and allows data on the main memory to be placed only on a predetermined line in the respective ways.
The set associative scheme is referred to as a direct mapping scheme (or a one-way set associative scheme) when a cache memory is handled as one way, and is referred to as an n-way set associative scheme when N ways are used.
FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the correspondence between the main memory 15 and the secondary cache memory 14 with respect to the direct mapping scheme. In FIG. 8, 5-bit addresses and data are (data 0 to 4, . . . ) are stored in the main memory 15 so that each of the addresses is paired with each of the data.
The secondary cache memory 14, as shown in FIG. 7, comprises a secondary tag RAM 14a and a secondary data RAM 14b. In the secondary cache memory 14, the lower two bits of each address stored in the main memory 15 are stored as an index in an "index".
The upper three bits of each address stored in the main memory 15 are stored as a tag in a "tag". These "index" and "tag" are stored in the secondary tag RAM 14a (see FIG. 7).
On the other hand, data stored in the main memory 15 are stored in "data". The "data" is stored in the secondary data RAM 14b.
In contrast to this, FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the n-way set associative scheme in the secondary cache memory 14. In FIG. 9, the secondary cache memory 14 is divided into n WAYs and managed, and the WAYs of the secondary tag RAM 14a (see FIG. 7) and the WAYs of the secondary data RAM 14b have one-to-one correspondence.
In FIG. 9, in the same manner as that in FIG. 8, the upper three bits of each address stored in the main memory 15 are stored as a tag in the "tag" of the secondary cache memory 14. These "index" and "tag" are stored in the secondary tag RAM 14a (see FIG. 7).
On the other hand, data stored in the main memory 15 are stored in the "data". The "data" is stored in the secondary data RAM 14b. In the following description, it is assumed that the secondary cache memory 14 is an n-way (4-way) set associative cache memory.
Returning to FIG. 7, the primary cache memory 12 stores some of the data stored in the main memory 15, and is a an n-way set associative memory. This primary cache memory 12 comprises a primary tag RAM 12a and a primary data RAM 12b.
In a conventional cache memory device, each of a primary cache access controller 11 and a secondary cache access controller 13 has a function of correcting error data into correct data by using tag management data 20 shown in FIG. 10.
The tag management data 20 is stored in the primary tag RAM 12a or the secondary tag RAM 14a, and comprises a tag 21, a tag 22, and an error checking code (ECC) 23.
The tag 21 corresponds to a WAY m. The tag 22 corresponds to a WAY n different from the WAY m of the tag 21.
The ECC 23 is redundant data added to the tag 21 and the tag 22. The ECC 23 is an error correction code used to correct error data into correct data when an error occurs in any one of the tag 21 and the tag 22.
In the conventional cache memory device, there is a case, for example, where the secondary cache memory 14 of the 4-way set associative scheme shown in FIG. 11A may be changed into a secondary cache memory of a 2-way set associative scheme, i.e., the number of ways may be changed with a change in design or a change in specification.
In this case, as shown in FIG. 11B, the following changing method is employed. That is, the functions of WAY 2 and WAY 4 are stopped (e.g., tags and data are deleted), and only WAY 0 and WAY 1 are functioned.
As described above, the conventional cache memory device uses the tag management data 20 that shares one ECC 23 for the tag 21 (WAY m) and the tag 22 (WAY n) of different ways, as shown in FIG. 10. Therefore, when an error has occurred, it is understood only that the error has occurred in either one of the WAY m and the WAY n. Therefore, the way in which the error has occurred cannot be uniquely specified.
Further, in the conventional cache memory device, as shown in FIG. 11B, the functions of WAY 2 and WAY 4 are simply stopped to update the number of ways. Therefore, the cache capacity of the secondary cache memory 14 becomes half, and the performance is degraded.

Cache memory device and memory allocation method


A rotatable optical device housing and mounting platform is disclosed. The optical device housing includes a bezel, front housing and rear housing. The optical device housing can include a number of lighting devices, including light-emitting diodes (LEDs), high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps, halogen lights, incandescent lights, or imaging devices, such as cameras, while utilizing the same bezel, front housing and rear housing. The depicted device can include a vertical tilt, which is adjustable either manually or electronically. A slip ring system provides continuous 360 rotation ability, with controllable and adjustable speed settings. Alternatively, a stop can be used instead of the slip ring, wherein the stop serves as a point of reversal of the unit's rotation. The unit contains an optional home position, allowing a user to select a point in the horizontal rotation to which the unit will return at the touch of a button.

Rotatable lights, pan and tilt assemblies, and mounting systems are known in the art. Existing systems are limited, however, to single-use applications. Stated differently, each housing could only accommodate a single device, such as a light or camera. Interchangeability of these devices is not possible in prior art systems. Further, continuous horizontal rotation is not provided, nor does a user have the ability to select the speed at which horizontal rotation occurs. Units which provide vertical tilt and rotation do not allow manual manipulation to adjust the vertical angle or rotate the unit without causing potential harm to the unit and its drive systems.
The foregoing example of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.

Rotatable optical device housing and mounting platform


Numerous enhancements to metro Ethernet network (MEN) services include an enhancement of the overall MEN Quality of Service (QoS) architecture, an enhancement to classification at the provider edge, the use of Ethernet QoS classes, enhancements to policing and marking at ingress provider edge equipment, the provision of traffic management functions at egress provider edge equipment, the use of multiple Ethernet virtual connections (EVCs) and Aggregate EVCs, an enhancement to QoS across an external network-network interface and an enhancement to treatment of Ethernet service frames in a core network.

A provider of data communications services typically provides a customer access to a large data communication network. This access is provided at "edge equipment" that connects a customer network to the large data communication network. As such, service providers have a broad range of customers with a broad range of needs, the service providers prefer to charge for their services in a manner consistent with which the services are being used. Such an arrangement also benefits the customer. To this end, a Service Level Agreement (SLA) is typically negotiated between customer and service provider. An SLA is a contract between the customer and service provider specifying agreed-to service level commitments. A Service Level Specification is a technical specification of the service being offered by the service provider to the customer.
To provide predetermined levels of service to a given customer, a service provider may consider monitoring and controlling the traffic from the given customer. Such monitoring and controlling is often referred to as "traffic management".
Traditionally, Ethernet networks have had no traffic management capabilities. The Ethernet standard, known as IEEE 802.3, specifies the use of a PAUSE frame that allows a client to request a pause in transmission from a terminal attached to a given port. However, the PAUSE frame may only be employed on per port basis and may only be employed with respect to directly attached devices, which are not necessarily the originators of the traffic requiring management.
Recently, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has introduced a user priority indication capability that enables the definition of up to eight service classes, also known as Classes of Service (CoS). A set of Ethernet frames that have the same user priority indication may receive the same level of performance within the service provider's network, where level of performance is usually measured in terms of frame loss ratio, frame delay and frame delay variation.
A standard known as IEEE 802.1Q defines an architecture for a general purpose Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) that may be implemented within a customer network and describes a four-byte extension to Ethernet service frame headers known as an IEEE 802.1Q tag. This tag includes a number of fields, including a 12-bit VLAN-ID field and a three-bit "user priority" field used to signal compliant devices. These three bits (normally referred to as the "p-bits") provide for eight possible values, which match those used in the known IEEE 802.1p user priority field. The p-bits and VLAN-ID may be used in an IEEE 802.1Q tag to provide an identity of a CoS and, therefore, may be said to represent a VLAN CoS ID.
To allow the deployment of Ethernet to carrier networks, the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) has recently been active in specifying traffic management capabilities for a metro Ethernet network (MEN). See MEF Technical Specification "Ethernet Service Model, Phase 1" available from www.metroethernetforum.org and hereby incorporated herein by reference. The work includes specifying Ethernet traffic parameters and traffic conditioning (policing) algorithms and actions. The MEF traffic parameters include: committed information rate (CIR), excess information rate (EIR), committed burst size (CBS), excess burst size (EBS). The traffic conditioning algorithms and actions relate to how Ethernet service frames are handled when they are found to comply with the traffic measurement parameters and when they are found not to comply with the traffic measurement parameters.
A single Ethernet VLAN has a capability to support the transmission of Ethernet service frames requiring different classes of service (up to eight). This capability differentiates Ethernet VLANs from connections defined by other technologies such as Frame Relay (FR) or Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM).
The MEF has defined basic traffic management at the User-Network Interface (UNI). The UNI may be defined as the physical demarcation point between the responsibility of a service provider and the responsibility of a subscriber. The service provider may provide one or more connections, each known as an Ethernet Virtual Connection (EVC), through the MEN. An EVC may be considered an instance of an association of two or more UNIs. Notably, it is known that a given UNI can support more than one EVC through the use of a Service Multiplexing capability.
As specified in "Ethernet Service Model, Phase 1" an Ethernet service frame is defined as any Ethernet frame transmitted across a UNI.
As provided for by an MEF definition of traffic management over a point-to-point EVC, provider edge equipment (PE) in a MEN receives, over a first UNI, an Ethernet service frame from customer edge equipment (CE) in a customer network. The provider and customer edge equipment may be switches, routers, switch/routers, or similar devices performing Ethernet transport/switching functions. The PE then identifies the EVC to which the service frame belongs (i.e., the PE determines an "EVC-ID") and sends the service frame to the PE in the MEN that is connected to a customer network via a second UNI, which is associated with the first UNI in the EVC. Identification of the EVC is defined as involving determining a VLAN identifier (VLAN-ID) from the IEEE 802.1Q tag on the service frame. A map may then be consulted to determine the identity of an EVC corresponding to the determined VLAN-ID. The sending of the Ethernet service frame to the PE connected to the UNI that is associated with the first UNI in the EVC may be accomplished in many ways, as the MEN may be implemented using a protocol of the choice of the provider. Popular choices for MEN protocol include Ethernet, ATM, Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS), FR, Internet Protocol (IP) and Synchronous Optical Network/Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SONET/SDH).
To further coordinate MEF traffic management, the MEF has defined a term "Class of Service Identifier", or CoS-ID, for information derivable from an Ethernet service frame that allows the identification of a required Class of Service treatment of the Ethernet service frame. Continuing the example presented hereinbefore, the MEF has described the derivation of the CoS-ID from the EVC-ID alone or from the EVC-ID in combination with the p-bits from the user priority field of the IEEE 802.1Q tag.
The MEF recommends determining a CoS to associate with a received Ethernet service frame based, at least in part, on the VLAN CoS-ID. In particular, the VLAN CoS-ID may be used to determine CoS aspects such as a Bandwidth Profile and forwarding treatment. A Bandwidth Profile may used to specify the traffic measurement parameters (e.g., CIR, CBS, EIR, EBS) that may be used for traffic policing and resource reservation.
In reviewing the MEF definitions, it may be considered that, although the basic traffic management techniques are useful, several enhancements may be implemented to improve the experience of both the customer and the provider.


A system for loading plural cannulae with a substance that is to be injected into living tissue. This invention provides an efficient means of providing plural substance-filled cannulae for surgical procedures, such as vertebral augmentations. The system includes a mixing and delivery system, including a manifold. The manifold includes a housing with a plurality of channels that route the flow of the mixed substance from a single central channel to multiple sub-channels for the simultaneous filling of attached cannulae. The manifold also includes valves that regulate the flow of the substance out of the manifold. The open/closed states of these valves are inherently set as a function of the presence/absence of cannulae. A cartridge/plate releasably holds the multiple cannulae to the manifold. The release of the cartridge/plate results in the simultaneous release of the substance-filled cannulae from the manifold.

Bone cement mixing and delivery systems are well known for mixing separate components of bone cement together to form a uniform bone cement mixture and then delivering that mixture to a target site. Typically, such systems employ a mixer having a handle for manually mixing the components. Once mixed, the mixture is then transferred to a delivery device such as a syringe or cannula. A cement cannula is a type of syringe with a large length to diameter ratio. This ratio provides a user with a large mechanical advantage and good tactile feedback. Physicians fill cannulae with bone cement. These cannulae are filled prior to delivering said cement to the target site of a body.
The syringe or cannula is used to inject the bone cement mixture into the target site. The target site may be an anatomical site such as a vertebral body or the target site may be in or near an implant. Examples of target sites include medullary canals for total hip arthroplasty procedures, vertebral bodies for vertebroplasty or kyphoplasty procedures, and other sites in which bone cement is required.
Often, bone cements used in these procedures have working times of 20 minutes or less before the cement begins to harden. Once the cement starts to harden, it is difficult, if not impossible, for the practitioner to continue to use the cement. Current systems require a great deal of user interaction in set-up, including mixing the bone cement components and manually transferring the cement to the delivery device. This allows for only a small amount of working time. Current delivery devices are available, as previously mentioned, in the form of a syringe or cannula, and each delivery device must be filled with bone cement before use.
There are a number of different medical procedures wherein prior to the start of the procedure, it is useful to have a number of cannulae prefilled with cement. One such procedure is a vertebral augmentation procedure, which includes kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty, where cannulae are preloaded with cement. Each cement filled cannula is, one at a time, placed in an access cannula. A plunger forces the cement into the target bone. In a vertebral augmentation procedure, it may be necessary to inject the cement from multiple cannulae into the patient. Accordingly often, prior to the start of most procedures, at least four cannulae are preloaded with cement.
A number of bone cement mixing and transfer systems allow cannulae to be filled only one at a time. In the event multiple cannulae prefilled with cement are required for a procedure, the person responsible for filling the cannulae must work quickly to pre-fill the cannulae in order not to delay the surgical procedure.
In the prior art, currently there exists a delivery system which provides for the filling of bone cement within multiple syringes. In this system, multiple syringes are sequentially spaced apart and are attached perpendicularly to a distal end of a delivery device. Each syringe is equipped with a valve. Once cement has filled the entire reservoir of a first syringe, the user turns the valve into the "OFF" position. Once in the "OFF" position, cement can no longer flow to the syringe. The cement is then able to fill a next syringe in the sequence. Once all syringes are filled, one at a time, syringes are then removed from the mixer.
While the above system offers some benefits over a single fill cement mixing and delivery system, it is not without its own disadvantages. The system does not simultaneously fill the syringes. The user is required to set the on/off states of the individual valves. Having to set these valves can add to the time it takes to fill the cannulae. Moreover, having to set these valves introduces the possibility of human error into the cannula filling process.

Manifold for filling plural cannulae, the manifold including a quick release mechanism for simultaneously holding and releasing the cannulae to/from the manifold


Mixed polarization state monitoring is presented. One method may include selecting a set of total dose values, and for each total dose value: exposing a location on a photoresist using illumination having an x-polarization value with an x-exposure dose ratio value of the total dose value, exposing the location on the photoresist using illumination having a y-polarization value with a y-exposure dose ratio value of the total dose value, and repeating the x-polarization value exposing and the y-polarization value exposing to achieve a range of mixed polarization states and a plurality of dose ratio values that range over extremes for the x-polarization exposure and the y-polarization exposure, each repeating occurring at a different location on the photoresist; and monitoring which mixed polarization states causes a change in an image printed at the different locations in the photoresist.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates generally to integrated circuit (IC) chip fabrication, and more particularly, to photolithography illumination polarization monitoring.
2. Background Art
Current photolithographic scanners used in IC chip fabrication provide engineered illumination polarization states in order to provide enhanced imaging performance and process latitude. Knowledge of the polarization state of the illumination is important in order to provide the enhanced imaging performance. Although on-board metrology is being developed by scanner vendors, no commercially available method currently exists to independently monitor and/or measure these polarization states.

International Business Machines Corporation


An electronic display apparatus includes a substrate, pixels and light sensing parts. The substrate includes a display region and a peripheral region adjacent the display region, and the substrate includes a plurality of gate lines extended in a first direction and a plurality of data lines extended in a second direction that is substantially perpendicular to the first direction. The pixels defined by each of the data and gate lines are formed in the display region to display an image. The light sensing part is formed in the peripheral region, and the light sensing part senses an intensity of an ambient light. The light sensing part that senses an intensity of an ambient light is formed on the array substrate, so that a luminance of the display apparatus may be adjusted in accordance with the intensity of the ambient light.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display apparatus, and more particularly to a display apparatus having photo sensor formed on a substrate on which pixel arrays are formed.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the information society at the present time, electronic display apparatuses are more important as information transmission media and various electronic display apparatuses are widely applied for industrial apparatus or home appliances. Such electronic display apparatuses continue to advance to have new appropriate functions for various demands of the information society.
In general, electronic display apparatuses display and transmit various pieces of information to users who utilize such information. That is, the electronic display apparatuses convert electronic information signals outputted from an electronic apparatus into light information signals recognized by users' vision.
The electronic display apparatuses are generally divided into emissive display apparatuses and non-emissive display apparatuses. The emissive display apparatuses display light information signals through emitting lights, and the non-emissive display apparatus displays the light information signals through reflection, a scattering or an interference. The emissive display apparatuses include a cathode ray tube (CRT), a plasma display panel apparatus (PDP), a light emitting diode (LED) and an electroluminescent display apparatus (ELD). The emissive display apparatuses are called as active display apparatuses. Also, the non-emissive display apparatuses, called as passive display apparatuses, include a liquid crystal display apparatus (LCD), an electrochemical display apparatus (ECD) and an electrophoretic image display apparatus (EPID).
As a technology of semiconductor has been developed, the demand for new electronic display apparatuses has been greatly increased, such as a flat panel display apparatus which has excellent characteristics, for example, a thin thickness, a light weight, a low driving voltage and a low power consumption. The flat panel display apparatuses can be manufactured using the rapidly improving semiconductor technology.
In the flat panel apparatuses, liquid crystal display apparatuses (LCD) have been widely utilized for various electronic apparatuses because the liquid crystal display apparatuses are thin, and have low power dissipation and high display qualities approximately identical to those of the cathode ray tube. Also, the liquid crystal display apparatus can operate under a low driving voltage and can be easily manufactured.
The liquid crystal display apparatuses are generally includes a transmissive type, a reflection type and transmissive and reflective type liquid crystal display apparatuses. The transmissive type liquid crystal display apparatus displays information by using an ambient light source. The reflection type liquid crystal display apparatus displays information by using ambient light. The transmissive and reflective type liquid crystal display apparatus displays information by using ambient light source in a dark place, and displays information by using ambient light in a bright place.
The electroluminescent display apparatus includes an organic electrodluminescent display apparatus and an inorganic electroluminescent display apparatus. The organic electroluminescent display apparatus has merits such as low power consumption, wide viewing angle, high-speed response, high contrast ratio, etc., so that researches on the organic electroluminescent display apparatus have been performed.
In the organic electroluminescent display apparatus, a cathode provides a light emitting part with electrons, and an anode provides the light emitting part with holes, so that the electrons combine with the holes to form excitons. The exitons drop to a ground state, so that a light is generated.
The organic electroluminescent display apparatus includes a passive matrix type display apparatus and active matrix type display apparatus. The active matrix type organic electroluminescent display apparatus has a plurality of organic electroluminescent devices. The organic electroluminescent devices corresponding to pixels are driven independently to display an image.
However, the organic electroluminescent display apparatus is one of the emissive display apparatuses, so that the organic electroluminescent display apparatus may not be formed in a reflective type. Thus, when an environmental light is bright, a visibility is deteriorated.
Further, the transmissive and reflective type liquid crystal display apparatus has a limit to display a high quality image because the transmissive and reflective type liquid crystal display apparatus may not determine an intensity of the environmental light by itself.


A wiring harness holding device for holding a wiring harness laid between a stationary structure and a movable structure slidably provided to the stationary structure, includes a movable side holding portion that holds one portion of the wiring harness on the movable structure, and a stationary side holding portion that holds another portion of the wiring harness on the stationary structure. The movable side holding portion holds the wiring harness so that the wiring harness derived from the movable side holding portion towards the stationary side holding portion swivels around the movable side holding portion in association with the sliding movement of the movable structure.

The present invention relates to a wiring harness holding device for a wiring harness which is laid out in such a manner as to extend between a stationary structure such as a vehicle body of a motor vehicle and a movable structure such as a sliding seat or sliding door which slides relative to the vehicle body and more particularly to a wiring harness holding device for absorbing an excess length of the wiring harness which is produced in association with the sliding of the movable structure.
Among automotive components, sliding seats and sliding doors are components which slide largely relative to the vehicle body. When attempting to install electric equipment at the sliding seat or sliding door, a wiring harness needs to be laid out in such a manner as to extend between the electric equipment and the vehicle body, and when this is actually carried out, there has been caused a difficulty in accommodating the wiring harness.
For example, since a sliding seat used on a currently popular minivan slides largely, an excess length is generated in a wiring harness 6 in association with the sliding movement of the sliding seat 5 as shown in FIG. 14, being likely to cause a problem that the occupant is caught at his or her leg by the wiring harness 6 which is loosened due to the excess length so produced.
To cope with this problem, there has been proposed a wiring harness holding device for enabling the extension and contraction of a wiring harness laid out between a sliding seat and a vehicle body according to the sliding movement of the sliding seat (for example, refer to JP-A-10-112922).
A wiring harness holding device disclosed in JP-A-10-112922 includes, as shown in FIG. 15, a protector 1 which is provided in parallel with a sliding direction of the sliding seat along a longitudinal direction thereof, a stationary side connector 2 which is provided at a front end of the protector 1 and a slider 3 which is brought into engagement and connection with the protector 1 and the sliding seat, respectively, in such a manner as to slide in the longitudinal direction of the protector 1.
A wiring harness 4 is accommodated within the protector 1 while being folded back substantially into a U-shape and is connected to the stationary side connector 2 at one end and to the slider 3 at the other end thereof. The wiring harness 4 extends and contracts within the protector 1 in association with the sliding of the slider 3 while moving the folded back portion back and forth along the sliding direction of the slider 3, whereby an excess length of the wiring harness 4 is absorbed which is produced in association with the sliding of the slider 3.
In the wiring harness holding device disclosed in JP-A-10-112922, the stationary side connector 2 and the slider 3 are aligned in the sliding direction of the slider 3, and the wiring harness 4 extending from the stationary side connector 2 is firstly allowed to so extend to the rear of the slider 3 and is then folded back in a substantially U-shaped fashion so as to be connected to the slider 3 from the rear thereof. In other words, for it to be caused to exit from the slider 3 towards the stationary side connector 2, the wiring harness 4 is firstly caused to extend to the rear of the slider 3.
Then, in order to avoid a damage at the folded back portion of the wiring harness 4 due to bending, an excess length L is secured at the rear of the slider 3 for keeping the radius of curvature at the folded back portion to a permissible value or greater in such a state that the wiring harness 4 is extended to its maximum length as shown in FIG. 16.
It appears that this causes a disadvantage in reducing the size of the wiring harness holding device. Namely, in a wiring harness of a large diameter such as one in which a general electric wire (an earth wire) needing a current capacity is provided in parallel, the permissible radius of curvature tends to be increased, and since the excess length L also needs to be set large in association with the increase in the radius of curvature, this construction tends to be a disadvantage in making the wiring harness holding device smaller in its size. In addition, the excess length is designed to meet the sliding stroke of the sliding seat and the radius of curvature of the wiring harness exclusively for each model, and this causes a problem that this wiring harness holding device is inferior with respect to general-purpose properties.


An array antenna apparatus includes a dielectric substrate, a feeder element, a parasitic element, and a directivity control unit. The feeder element and the parasitic element have an equal length. The feeder element and the parasitic element are arranged such that they intersect with each other at a substantially central portion of the parasitic element and a feeder unit of the feeder element and such that the parasitic elements are arranged symmetrically around the feeder element. An interval between the feeder element and the parasitic element is not larger than half wavelength of a radio wave. The parasitic element has a varactor diode serving as a variable capacitance element loaded. The directivity control unit supplies a control voltage to the varactor diode, and switches directivity of the array antenna apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an array antenna apparatus allowing electrical switching of directivity.
2. Description of the Background Art
A conventional array antenna apparatus has a two-dimensional structure shown in FIG. 11, for example (see "Basic Theory on 2-element Espar Antennas from Reactance Diversity Viewpoint", Ohira, Iigusa and Taromaru, Technical Report of IEICE, AP2002-93, pp. 13–18). A conventional array antenna apparatus 100 includes a dielectric substrate 110, a feeder element 111 arranged on one main surface of dielectric substrate 110, and parasitic elements 112, 113.
Dielectric substrate 110 has a substantially rectangular two-dimensional shape, and feeder element 111 and parasitic elements 112, 113 are arranged in parallel to one side of the rectangle.
More specifically, parasitic elements 112 and 113 are arranged symmetrically around feeder element 111. Intervals d between feeder element 111 and parasitic element 112 and between feeder element 111 and parasitic element 113 are set to λ/4 or λ/10, when a radio wave transmitted/received by array antenna apparatus 100 has a wavelength of λ.
Parasitic elements 112, 113 have varactor diodes 114, 115 serving as variable capacitance elements loaded, respectively. By controlling a voltage supplied to varactor diodes 114, 115, array antenna apparatus 100 has its directivity switched, while maintaining impedance matching. More specifically, when voltages supplied to varactor diodes 114, 115 are denoted as V1 and V2 respectively that can be set to Va, Vb respectively, voltages V1 and V2 are switched between [V1=Va, V2=Vb] and [V1=Vb, V2=Va]. Then, reactance values −Xa, −Xb loaded to parasitic elements 112, 113 respectively are switched, so that array antenna apparatus 100 has its directivity switched, while maintaining impedance matching.
FIG. 12 illustrates a directivity gain pattern in a plane provided with an antenna, that is, in a φ plane, when interval d is set to λ/4, while FIG. 13 illustrates a directivity gain pattern in the φ plane when interval d is set to λ/10. When interval d is set to λ/4 and when a set of reactance values −Xa, −Xb is set to [−Xa=−455Ω, −Xb=−37Ω], array antenna apparatus 100 shows a directivity gain pattern PT1, and attains high gain in a direction where φ=270°. Meanwhile, when a set of reactance values −Xa, −Xb is set to [−Xa=−37Ω, −Xb=−455Ω], array antenna apparatus 100 shows a directivity gain pattern PT2, and attains high gain in a direction where φ=90°.
When interval d is set to λ/10 and when a set of reactance values −Xa, −Xb is set to [−Xa=−455Ω, −Xb=−37Ω], array antenna apparatus 100 shows a directivity gain pattern PT3, and attains high gain in a direction where φ=270°. Meanwhile, when a set of reactance values −Xa, −Xb is set to [−Xa=−37Ω, −Xb=−455Ω], array antenna apparatus 100 shows a directivity gain pattern PT4, and attains high gain in a direction where φ=90°.
Therefore, whether interval d is set to λ/4 or λ/10, setting of a set of reactance values −Xa, −Xb is switched between [−Xa=−455Ω, −Xb=−37Ω] and [−Xa=−37Ω, −Xb=−455Ω], so that array antenna apparatus has its directivity switched between a direction of 90° and a direction of 270°. The direction of 90° and the direction of 270° correspond to a direction DR1 in FIG. 11.

Array antenna apparatus capable of switching direction attaining low gain

Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International


A turbomachine includes a plurality of rotating blades adjacent to a plurality of stationary vanes attached to a stationary casing. Stationary vanes are spaced apart circumferentially with equal spacing around an inner perimeter of the casing. Optionally, stationary vanes are offset radially and/or circumferentially. Stationary vanes may alternate with leading and/or trailing edges at different distances from the rotating blades. In one embodiment, stationary vanes have tapered leading and/or trailing edge angles to homogenize flow and reduce stator wake excitation, flow excitation, and acoustic excitation due to interaction with spinning modes of acoustic pressure pulsations at rotating blade passing frequency. Tapered trailing edges are arranged such that they are inclined at mutually opposing angles to reduce rotor blade and/or disk excitation by: a) homogenizing the successive wakes within the flow stream, and b) reducing the effect of vortices shed-off the stationary vanes on acoustic modes of the gas within the casing.

Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates, generally, to turbomachines and, more particularly, to a stationary vane arrangement for a turbomachine adapted for reducing rotor blade and/or disk excitation by homogenizing the gas flow stream, both for flow and acoustic pulsations, as well as reducing the effect of vortices shed-off the stationary vanes.
Description of the Related Art
Turbomachines, such as centrifugal flow compressors, axial flow compressors, and turbines may be utilized in various industries. Centrifugal flow compressors and turbines, in particular, have a widespread use in power stations, jet engine applications, gas turbines, and automotive applications. Centrifugal flow compressors and turbines are also commonly used in large-scale industrial applications, such as air separation plants and hot gas expanders used in the oil refinery industry. Centrifugal compressors are further used in large-scale industrial applications, such as refineries and chemical plants.
With reference to FIG. 1, a multi-stage, centrifugal-flow turbomachine 10 is illustrated in accordance with a conventional design. In some applications, a single stage may be utilized. Such turbomachine 10 generally includes a shaft 20 rotatably supported within a housing 30 by a pair of bearings 40. Turbomachine 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes a plurality of stages to progressively increase the fluid pressure of the working fluid. Each stage is successively arranged along the longitudinal axis of turbomachine 10 and all stages may or may not have similar components operating on a same principle.
With continuing reference to FIG. 1, an impeller 50 includes a plurality of rotating blades 60 circumferentially arranged and attached to an impeller hub 70 which is in turn attached to shaft 20. Blades 60 may be optionally attached to a cover disk 65. A plurality of impellers 50 may be spaced apart in multiple stages along the axial length of shaft 20. Rotating blades 60 are fixedly coupled to impeller hub 70 such that rotating blades 60 along with impeller hub 70 rotate with the rotation of shaft 20. Rotating blades 60 rotate downstream of a plurality of stationary vanes or stators 80 attached to a stationary tubular casing. The working fluid, such as a gas mixture, enters and exits turbomachine 10 in the axial direction of shaft 20. Energy from the working fluid causes a relative motion of rotating blades 60 with respect to stators 80. In a centrifugal compressor, the cross-sectional area between rotating blades 60 within impeller 50 decreases from an inlet end to a discharge end, such that the working fluid is compressed as it passes across impeller 50.
Referring to FIG. 2, working fluid, such as a gas mixture, moves from an inlet end 90 to an outlet end 100 of turbomachine 10. A row of stators 80 provided at inlet end 90 channels the working fluid into a row of rotating blades 60 provided at outlet end 100 of turbomachine 10. Stators 80 extend within the casing for channeling the working fluid to rotating blades 60. Stators 80 are spaced apart circumferentially with equal spacing between individual struts around the perimeter of the casing. A diffuser 110 is provided at the outlet of rotating blades 60 for homogenizing the fluid flow coming off rotating blades 60. Diffuser 110 optionally has a plurality of diffuser vanes 120 extending within a casing. Diffuser blades 120 are spaced apart circumferentially with equal spacing between individual diffuser blades 120 around the perimeter of the diffuser casing. In a multi-stage turbomachine 10, a plurality of return channel vanes 125 are provided at outlet end 100 of turbomachine 10 for channeling the working fluid to rotating blades 60 of the next successive stage. In such embodiment, the return channel vanes 125 provide the function of stators 80 from the first stage of turbomachine 10. The last impeller in a multi-stage turbomachine typically only has a diffuser, which may be provided with or without the diffuser vanes. The last diffuser channels the flow of working fluid to a discharge casing (volute) having an exit flange for connecting to the discharge pipe. In a single-stage embodiment, turbomachine 10 includes stators 80 at inlet end 90 and diffuser 110 at outlet end 100.
With reference to FIG. 3, a schematic view of a plurality of stators 80 is illustrated. Each stator 80 has a pair of opposing longitudinal surfaces 130a, 130b oriented substantially parallel to each other. Stators 80 are desirably oriented at a same angle with respect to a longitudinal axis of turbomachine 10. Each stator 80 has a trailing edge 140 provided at its downstream end and a leading edge 150 provided at its upstream end. Trailing edge 140 of each stator 80 is shaped identically to trailing edge 140 of an adjacent stator 80. For example, trailing edges 140 may have a pointed profile ending in a rounded point. Similarly, leading edges 150 of each stator 80 may have shapes that corresponds to trailing edges 140. Leading edges 150 of each diffuser blade 120 (not shown) are desirably formed identical to trailing edges 140. For example, similar to trailing edges 140 of stator 80, leading edges of diffuser blades 120 may have a pointed profile ending in a rounded point.
An important concern in designing turbomachines is controlling the vibration of the rotating blades and the hub throughout the operating range of the turbomachine. Rotating blades and disks in turbomachinery are excited into resonant vibrations by a) upstream stator strut and/or vane wakes and potential flow interaction with downstream struts and vanes, b) other inhomogeneities in the flow stream formed by non-uniform circumferential pressure distribution, c) acoustic pulsations either at rotating blade passing frequency and/or d) vortex shedding from stationary vanes, in turn causing coincident acoustic resonance of the gas within the casing. For example, Tyler/Sofrin modes may occur due to sound waves at blade passing frequency reflecting off vanes giving spinning modes. (Ref. Tyler, J. M., and Sofrin, T. G., 1962, "Axial Flow Compressor Noise Studies", SAE Transactions, Vol. 70, pp. 309-332.) The acoustic pulsations reflect differently off of the stator struts set back further from the impeller and reduce the effective amplitude of the spinning modes. For example, in an impeller having 15 rotating blades and 20 stator struts, there is a 5-diameter spinning mode. If the 5-diameter structural mode is equal to 20 times the rotating speed, the blade excitation can be lowered by setting half of the stator struts downstream about one-half an acoustic wave length, as wave reflections would result in phase cancellation.
These excitations cause cyclic stress, resulting in potential high cycle fatigue and failure in impellers either at rotating blades, the hub, or the cover. The impeller components can be excited to a large amplitude when a blade modal frequency corresponds to shaft rotational frequency multiplied by the harmonic number of the flow inhomogeneity seen by blades. Typically, the number of resonances with amplitude large enough to cause high cycle fatigue is limited. Since the damage rate from fatigue occurs only if infinite endurance strength of the material is breached, a modest reduction in the vibration amplitude often will eliminate high cycle fatigue as the limiting factor for blade and disk life.
One current practice to overcome these problems is to avoid operation at the resonant frequency by changing the speed rapidly when a resonance is encountered, thereby minimizing the number of fatigue cycles that a blade accumulates during operation. If the number of vibration cycles is minimized, then blade failure is controlled by mechanisms other than downstream wakes, acoustic pulsations, flow inhomogenities, or vortex shedding. However, this practice places undesirable limits on operation of turbomachinery.
Another current approach is to reduce the spatial variations in the flow field by directly injecting air into low-velocity wakes behind obstructions (Rao, N. M., Feng, J., Burdisso, R. A, and Ng, W. F., "Active Flow Control to Reduce Fan Blade Vibration and Noise", 5.sup.th AIAA/CEAS Aeroacoustic Conference, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, May 10-12, 1999). This approach requires the use of either air from the compressor or from an additional external air source in relatively large quantities. Use of compressor air has a detrimental impact on performance. The addition of a separate air supply adds weight and requires power. Both methods have detrimental impacts on performance. Also, wake filling does not address modal excitation due to bow waves from downstream flow obstructions.
Within the prior art, a number of approaches have been proposed for reducing vibration amplitude of rotating blades and/or providing noise abatement. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0274826 to Kuhnel et al. discloses a diffuser for a compressor impeller. FIG. 1 of the Kuhnel et al. publication discloses a diffuser structure that includes guide blades that are each formed of two component blades. The first component blade has an inlet edge and the second component blade has an inlet edge stepped back from another inlet edge. FIG. 2 shows another embodiment wherein a third component blade is provided between component blades. The stepped inlet edges are provided for noise abatement.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,189,059 to Barton et al. discloses a compressor with an inlet shroud situated about an impeller. The shroud, as shown in FIG. 2, includes a plurality of spaced apart vanes or struts with strut tips. As shown in FIG. 6, the struts are configured to vary in thickness between a first end and the strut tip. This variation in thickness is implemented as a linear taper between the strut first ends and the strut tips to increase the natural frequencies of the struts.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,439,838 to Crall et al. describes the use of variable circumferential spacing of the vanes in an axial flow turbomachine to achieve reduced vibratory excitation.
Clark, J., "Design Strategies to Mitigate Unsteady Forcing (Preprint)", AFRL-RZ-WP-TP-2008-2112 discusses the state of the art used for reduction of excitation to rotating blades including the use of a different number of stationary vanes in the upper and lower two halves of a machine having a horizontally split arrangement.
However, none of the prior art designs are directed to a stationary vane arrangement adapted for reducing rotor blade excitation by dehomogenizing the successive wakes within the flow stream and reducing the effect of vortices shed-off the vanes, in addition to reducing acoustic pressure pulsations and direct pressure loads on the rotating blades.

Turbomachinery stationary vane arrangement for disk and blade excitation reduction and phase cancellation


An optical lens assembly includes a first lens element having a planar object-side surface and a first fitting structure disposed on a peripheral portion of an image-side surface. A second lens element has a second fitting structure disposed on a peripheral portion of an object-side surface. The first and second lens elements are engaged with each other using the first and second fitting structures. The first lens element is made of a sapphire glass or other material having a refractive index greater than 1.6.

The present disclosure relates to optical lens systems, and more particularly to an optical lens assembly having a first lens element made of a sapphire glass and an electronic device including the optical lens assembly.
Optical imaging systems are commonly incorporated in personal electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablet computers, and the like. The optical imaging systems include an image sensor responsive to incident light and lens elements to direct and focus light onto the image sensor so as to form an image of an object external to the device in which the optical imaging system is incorporated. Such optical imaging systems can include multiple lens elements, and a lens barrel can be provided to hold the lens elements in alignment with each other along an optical axis. In the construction of electronic optical imaging systems, it is desirable to be able to focus incoming light received from an object onto an imaging sensor, such as a charge coupled device (CCD) or a CMOS image sensor.
Emphasis on compactness of design is especially important to resolving issues such as the thickness of the optical imaging assembly in wearable and portable electronic devices.


There is provided a novel pyrrole-imidazole polyamide compound for alkylating the specific base sequence of DNA, the polyamide compound being capable of being synthesized through fewer reaction steps than known hybrid molecules and having a combination of a high reactivity in DNA alkylation and the ability to recognize a sequence. Furthermore, there is provided an alkylating agent and a molecule serving as a drug, the alkylating agent and the molecule containing the polyamide compound.

Now that the elucidation of the gene arrangement of humans has been substantially completed, many researchers have focused on a molecule having the ability to specifically bind to a particular base sequence. Non-Patent Document 1 and the like show that Dervan et al. found that an antiparallel oriented "N-methylpyrrole"-"N-methylimidazole" polyamide (hereinafter, N-methylpyrrole being simply referred to as "pyrrole" or "Py"; and N-methylimidazole being simply referred to as "imidazole" or "Im") base-sequence-specifically binds to the minor groove of DNA. Furthermore, general rules that Py-Im recognizes a C-G base pair, Im-Py recognizes a G-C base pair, and Py-Py recognizes an A-T base pair or a T-A base pair have been derived.
Various hairpin polyamides and cyclic polyamides have been synthesized by introducing a covalent bond into Py-Im in order to prevent the loss of entropy due to binding and to achieve stronger binding and the ability to recognize a sequence. A β-linker (—NHCH2CH2CO—) and a γ-linker (—NHCH2CH2CH2CO—) are typically known. It has been described that a hairpin polyamide containing the γ-linker (—NHCH2CH2CH2CO—) particularly has excellent binding ability and recognition ability. In addition, the structure of a complex between the hairpin polyamide containing the γ-linker and DNA has been determined (see Non-Patent Document 2). β-β recognizes an A-T base pair or a T-A base pair. Similarly, the γ-linker recognizes an A-T base pair or a T-A base pair. The γ-linker has a γ-turn structure represented by the trifurcate portion of a bent hairpin model.
These molecules each have an association constant and specificity comparable to a transcription factor and the like. However, the regulation of gene expression is performed by inhibiting binding of the transcription factor. Thus, base sequences that can be targeted is significantly limited (for example, see Non-Patent Document 3).
The inventors have developed a hybrid molecule of a Py-Im polyamide bound to a segment A (Du) serving as an alkylating moiety of duocarmycin A, which is an antibiotic, and filed an application (for example, Patent Document 1). The hybrid molecule selectively alkylated one site of a DNA fragment of 450 base pairs on the basis of the sequence recognition ability of the Py-Im polyamide (for example, see Non-Patent Document 4). However, completion of the reaction requires several days. Furthermore, the reaction efficiency was as low as several percent.
In contrast, the inventors found that ImPyLDu86 containing a vinyl linker (L) disposed between a functional group (hereinafter, referred to as an "alkylating moiety") for alkylating DNA and the Py-Im polyamide dimerizes and selectively reacts with both chains at sites thereof located 5 base pairs apart in a 5′-YG(A/T)CR-3′ sequence (wherein Y represents a pyrimidine base; and R represents a purine base) at a low concentration to cause alkylation with an efficiency as high as 70%. That is, the inventors found considerable improvement in reactivity and efficiency by introducing the linker moiety (for example, see Non-Patent Document 5).
Patent Document 1: International Publication No. WO00/15641
Non-Patent Document 1: J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1997, 119, 7636
Non-Patent Document 2: J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1997, 119, 7909
Non-Patent Document 3: J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 4856
Non-Patent Document 4: J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1999, 121, 4961
Non-Patent Document 5: J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 1602

Indole derivative for alkylating specific base sequence of DNA and alkylating agent and drug containing the derivative

Abstract: An indole derivative is represented by general formula (1):

Abstract: wherein R1 represents a functional group for alkylating DNA; R2 represents a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, or an acyl group; and X represents a divalent group having one constitutional unit or having two or more constitutional units which may be the same or different, the constitutional unit being represented by the following formula:

Abstract: (wherein m is an integer of 0 to 10), wherein among the constitutional units, a terminal constitutional unit adjacent to R2 may be a constitutional unit represented by the following formula:

Abstract: (wherein k is an integer of 0 to 10).


The drying apparatus includes a conveying belt and a heating unit. The heating unit includes a blower fan, a rectifying member, a heater, and a reflecting plate. The rectifying member is arranged on the downstream side of the blower fan in the blowing direction of the blower fan and includes one or more first through holes. The heater is arranged on the downstream side of the rectifying member in the blowing direction to radiate infrared rays in all directions. The reflecting plate is arranged between the rectifying member and the heater, includes one or more second through holes, and reflects the infrared rays radiated from the heater to the side of the conveying belt. The one or more first through holes are formed in a portion other than a portion where the infrared rays passing through the one or more second through holes of the reflecting plate are radiated.

The present disclosure relates to a drying apparatus for drying a recording medium having an image formed thereon while conveying the recording medium, and an image forming system including the drying apparatus.
An image forming system including an inkjet type image forming apparatus is provided with a drying apparatus for drying an image formed on a recording medium such as paper. In a typical drying apparatus, a fan is provided on the back surface of the casing, and air taken in by the fan is blown from the side of the recording medium conveyed by the conveying unit.
However, when the air is blown from the side of the recording medium as in the case of the typical drying apparatus, the recording medium tends to float, and there is a possibility that a conveyance failure of the recording medium occurs.
An infrared heater may also be used in another typical drying apparatus. In order to efficiently dry the ink, it is effective to evaporate the moisture of the ink by blowing the air from the fan in addition to the infrared rays. Further, it is preferable to blow the air from above the recording medium to prevent the recording medium from floating when the recording medium is conveyed. Considering the above-description, the heater must be located downstream of the fan in the blowing direction of the fan.
When the infrared heater is arranged in this way, the infrared rays are also radiated from the infrared heater to the fan. Then, the parts of the fan may be heated and damaged.

Drying apparatus and image forming system


A wind deflector noise reduction system is provided. The wind deflector noise reduction system particularly reduces or eliminates wind throb in a moving vehicle having a rear side window in an open position. The system includes a panel attached to the B-pillar of a motor vehicle and operable to move between a closed position and an open position. When the panel is in the open position, wind is deflected from entering the moving vehicle. An actuator associated with the panel and operable to move the panel between the closed and the open position can be energized by a controller. The controller can be activated by the user of the motor vehicle and/or by a sensor that detects the position of the rear side window.

Most if not all motor vehicles experience acoustic noise when traveling down a road or highway with one or more of the windows in an open position. The acoustic noise can be classified as aerodynamic noise caused by temporal fluctuations of air flow around the body of the moving vehicle. One type of acoustic noise is called wind throb, which is a low frequency noise (approximately 10-50 hertz) that can occur within a motor vehicle compartment when a sunroof or side window is in an open position and the vehicle is in motion. If a sunroof is open and causing wind throb, a small device called a wind deflector can prevent the wind throb and make such phenomenon seldom noticeable. However, when driving with a side window open, occupants of a vehicle can experience wind throb when traveling at certain speeds and the use of a wind deflector has heretofore proven to be undesirable. Therefore, there is a need for an improved wind deflector noise reduction system for reducing wind noise in a motor vehicle.

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.