An apparatus and method for matching impedance of an antenna by using Standing Wave Ratio (SWR) information is provided. While the impedance of the impedance matching unit is controlled, a region of a Smith chart in which initial total impedance of the impedance matching unit and the antenna is located by using an SWR calculated by an SWR operation unit, and the impedance of the impedance matching unit is controlled according to the determined region, thus correctly matching the impedance of the antenna.

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for matching impedance using Standing Wave Ratio (SWR) information.
In general, various communication devices, such as mobile communication terminals, have antennas through which signals of a predetermined frequency are received and transmitted.
As for the antennas, the impedance thereof needs to be correctly made so as to achieve optimum transmission and reception radiation performance.
Therefore, a related art communication device includes an impedance matching unit using a capacitor, an inductor and the like. The antenna impedance matching is made to an optimum level by controlling the impedance of the impedance matching unit.
The impedance matching of the antenna is made in the state where the antenna is located in a free space, and the impedance matching conditions of the antenna are varied according to changes in surroundings.
Particularly, to use a mobile communication terminal, a user holds a terminal body in his hand and brings a speaker close to a speaker, or uses an earphone while placing the mobile communication terminal in a pocket, a bag or the like.
As a user uses a mobile communication terminal by holding the terminal body in his hand and bringing it close to the ear, or uses it with the body placed in a packet, a bag or the like, the impedance matching conditions of the antenna are varied, thus impairing the transmission and reception radiation performance of the antenna, the impedance of which has matched in a free space.
Therefore, communication devices automatically control antenna impedance when the impedance matching conditions of antennas are changed, such that the antennas achieve optimum transmission and reception radiation performance.
To allow an antenna to maintain its optimum transmission and reception radiation performance, impedance changes of the antenna need to be detected.
To this end, the communication devices include a directional coupler, and detect reflected power and forward power output from the directional coupler.
Also, the impedance of the antenna is matched by changing the impedance of the impedance matching unit according to the magnitude of the detected reflected power and forward power to become a standing wave ratio (SWR).
However, the above impedance matching of the antenna is associated with finding the point where the SWR is at the minimum level within a local area, rather than finding the point within the entire area where the impedance of the antenna can be varied.
Also, there are instances where it is impossible to control the SWR to be equal to or lower than a predetermined value.

Apparatus and method for matching impedance using standing wave ratio information


A beverage dispenser includes an outer housing having a water bath tank therein and a refrigeration retaining component area therein positioned directly adjacent and next to the water bath tank. A refrigeration chassis provides for retention and carrying of a refrigeration system including a compressor, a condenser and powered cooling fan and an evaporator. The chassis and refrigeration components form a U-shape wherein one "leg" thereof consists of a rectangular sheet metal frame for retaining the compressor and condenser and the other leg consists of the evaporator. The bridge or end portion of the U-shape consists of a horizontal top plate portion of the chassis and the fluid connection between the evaporator and the condenser. The evaporator is suspended from the horizontal top plate. The U-shape of the chassis and refrigeration components facilitates a method of manufacture. In particular, a carbonator, syrup cooling coils and a water cooling coil are first positioned in the water bath tank at an end thereof adjacent the end of the housing on which a plurality of beverage dispensing valves are secured. The assembled chassis with refrigeration components secured thereto is then lifted and lowered into the dispenser housing wherein the evaporator is placed into the water bath tank along an end thereof opposite from the carbonator and cooling coils, and where the compressor and condenser are placed into the refrigeration component retaining area.

Electrically cooled beverage dispensing machines are well known in the art and include the standard refrigeration apparatus of a compressor, condenser and evaporator. Such dispensers will also include a water bath in which the evaporator resides, and on which ice is formed. Heat exchange beverage cooling coils extend through the water bath for cooling the beverage constituents therein as they travel from sources thereof to beverage dispensing valves. There exists a constant desire to arrange these various components in ways that will provide for the most efficient use of space, that will provide for fast heat exchange and that will facilitate low cost construction.


A silicon carbide MOSFET includes first and second source regions respectively disposed in the first and second well regions. Each of the first and second source regions extends up to a top surface of the substrate. First and second channel regions of the respective first and second well regions laterally separate the first and second source regions from a JFET region by a channel length. The first and second channel regions extend up to the top surface. The first and second channel regions are each arranged in a wave-shaped pattern at the top surface of the substrate. The wave-shaped pattern extends in first and second lateral directions. In an on-state, current flows laterally from the first and second source regions to the JFET region, and then in a vertical direction down through an extended drain region to the drain region.

High-voltage, field-effect transistors, also known as power transistors or power semiconductor devices, are well known in the semiconductor arts. Most often, a high-voltage power transistor comprises a vertical transistor device structure that includes an extended drain or drift region that supports the applied high-voltage when the device is in the "off" state. Power transistors of this type are commonly used in power conversion applications such as AC/DC converters for offline power supplies, motor controls, and so on. These power transistor devices can be switched at high voltages and achieve a high blocking voltage in the "off" state while minimizing the resistance to current flow between the drain and source, often referred to as the specific on-resistance (Ron), in the "on" state.
Power MOSFETs are commonly based on silicon and other wide bandgap semiconductor materials, such as silicon carbide. Silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs are advantageously utilized in certain electronic devices due to their superior physical properties over silicon-based devices of the same device area. For example, SiC MOSFETs are known to exhibit higher blocking voltage, lower Ron, and higher thermal conductivity as compared to silicon MOSFETs. A double-implanted metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (DMOSFET) may be formed in a SiC substrate.
Many power MOSFETs employ a device structure that includes an extended drain region that supports or blocks the applied high-voltage (e.g., hundreds of volts or more) when the device is in the "off" state. In a conventional vertical power MOSFET device structure, an epitaxial layer of semiconductor material forms an extended drain or drift region for current flow in the on-state. A gate structure is typically formed near the top of the substrate. Application of an appropriate voltage potential to the gate causes a conductive channel to be formed in a body region such that current may flow through the channel and then vertically downward through semiconductor material, i.e., from a top surface of the substrate where the source region is disposed, down to the bottom of the substrate where the drain region is located.
The specific on-resistance (Ron) in a vertical power MOSFET is a combination of the channel resistance, JFET resistance, drift region resistance and substrate resistance. The channel resistance is a function of semiconductor material, channel width, channel length, operating conditions (e.g., drain current and voltage), carrier mobility and cell pitch. For optimal performance in the on-state, it is desirable to minimize Ron. In a SiC power transistor device channel resistance is relatively high and carrier mobility is relatively low. However, drift region resistance is a direct function of blocking voltage. Consequently, channel resistance dominates Ron at voltages less than about 1200 volts. Past approaches to reducing the on-resistance of SiC power MOSFETs have typically required complicated processing steps including trenches, new technologies, or trade-offs with respect to other device performance parameters, e.g., breakdown voltage. Additionally, attempts to lower Ron by reducing the length of the channel region have been largely unsuccessful as it adds leakage that lowers the blocking voltage of the device.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding components throughout the several views of the drawings. Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments presented.

Silicon carbide planar MOSFET with wave-shaped channel regions


Embodiments of methods and apparatuses for recognizing a speech are provided. An implementation can include: determining an identity of a target user inputting the speech input signal; extracting a common expression set of the target user from a stored common expression database, the common expression set including a plurality of common expressions; extracting an acoustic feature of the speech input signal and input the same into an acoustic model to obtain an acoustic model score; judging whether a content of the speech input signal is a common expression of the target user based on the acoustic model score of the speech input signal and acoustic model scores of the common expressions in the stored common expression set of the target user; and if yes, decoding the acoustic feature of the speech input signal using a language model constructed based on common expressions, to obtain a speech recognition result.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a new technical science on research and development of theories, methodologies, technologies and application systems for simulating and extending human intelligence. Artificial intelligence is a branch of computer science, attempts to understand the essence of intelligence and produce a new intelligent machine that may make a response in a manner similar to human intelligence. The research in this field includes robots, speech recognition, image recognition, natural expression processing, expert systems, etc. Speech recognition technology is an important orientation in the field of computer science and artificial intelligence.
Speech recognition usually involves converting speech signals into texts after the front end processing, acoustic model, language model and decoder. During the recognition, it is necessary to search in a library containing a large size of dictionary data, which requires a large amount of calculation and takes a lot of time.

Method and apparatus for recognizing speech

Beijing Baidu Netcom Science and Technology Co., Ltd.


The present disclosure relates generally to the authentication of contactless payments attempted by a device having embedded contactless payment functionality. In particular, the disclosure is directed to systems and methods that utilize authentication schemes that already exist on a device in which the contactless payment functionality is embedded. One example of such authentication schemes is the use of password protection to lock or unlock the device in which the contactless payment functionality is embedded. Using the password protection functionality may provide varying levels of authentication protection based on the desires of the user. A number of exemplary uses of such a method and apparatus are disclosed herein.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for providing increased security for users of electronic equipment, such as, for example, mobile wireless communications devices, that include embedded circuits for enabling use with contactless payment systems. In particular, the disclosure is directed to methods and apparatus for providing authentication capability for devices that include contactless payment functionality.
2. Related Art
Contactless payment systems are gaining widespread acceptance by retailers and are becoming increasingly popular among consumers. In contactless payment systems, also known as "Tap-and-Go" or "Pay and Wave" payment systems, consumers use a payment card or other device that is equipped with an integrated chip and antenna that securely communicates consumer account information via a radio frequency communication link to a retailer's payment terminal. The payment terminal then connects to an appropriate financial network or other back-end processing system via, for example, a communication network, to authorize the transaction. Once authorized, the consumer completes the transaction. This scheme of contactless payment accomplishes a transaction in a fraction of the time required by cash, traditional credit cards or debit card transactions, which require a card to be swiped through a reader.
Contactless payment devices typically include a chip and antenna. The chip includes, for example, consumer account information. When the chip is brought into close enough proximity to a suitable reader, the antenna will be activated and will transmit the consumer account information residing on the chip to the reader. Of course, to avoid errors and ensure that the reader is communicating with the correct device, the proximity of the contactless payment device to the reader required to activate the antenna is typically on the order of a very few inches at most.
The chip and antenna of known contactless payment systems may be incorporated into any of a number of form factors that are convenient for consumers. For example, these chips and antenna have been embedded into key fobs, contactless smart cards, and even cellular telephones. In the future, these chips and antenna may be incorporated into any of a variety of forms due to their small size. Because mobile wireless communications devices, such as, for example, cellular telephones, personal digital assistants, mobile e-mail devices, and the like, are being carried by more and more consumers, inclusion of the contactless payment system chips and antenna in these devices is becoming increasingly common.
However, such contactless payment systems suffer from a serious disadvantage that may result in unauthorized use of the device and significant loss of money or credit. For example, if a contactless payment device is lost, there is no quick and reliable way to avoid unauthorized use of the contactless payment device before the issuer of the account associated with the device is contacted by the user and the system cancels use of that particular device. In particular, there is no known solution for ensuring that the user of the contactless payment device is authorized to make payment using the contactless payment device. Of course, one solution may be to have the user enter a personal identification number or other like code at the point of sale to ensure that the user is authorized to make payment using the contactless device. This may be accomplished, for example, via a keypad associated with a contactless payment device reader. However, this solution may be somewhat at odds with the advantages associated with the use of such contactless payment systems in which speed and ease of use are paramount. Entering identifying information would slow the transaction speed down, and would not result in any more convenience than that associated with swiping a conventional credit or debit card to read its magnetic stripe.
Therefore, what is needed is a transparent way to authenticate a user of a contactless payment device that maintains the speed and convenience of contactless payment, while maintaining an acceptable level of security to ensure that unauthorized use of the device is restricted.

Method and apparatus for contactless payment authentication


Methods and system are described for multi-parametric, non-invasive, and real-time assessment of blood perfusion and oxygenation in the fetal brain during labor and delivery of a fetus through a vaginal birth canal of a maternal pelvis, and include positioning a probe device in the maternal pelvis during active labor, transmitting and receiving a plurality of ultrasound (US) and photoacoustic (PA) signals between the probe device and fetal brain, displaying in real-time on an US machine communicatively coupled to the probe device one or more images of venous and arterial blood flow of respective blood vessels in the fetal brain, measuring oxygen saturation of the respective venous and arterial blood vessels based on data from the one or more images, and estimating the oxygen measurement in the fetal brain during active labor based on the measured oxygen saturation.

Intrapartum hypoxia, or fetal hypoxia, may occur during delivery of the fetus, causing the fetus to be deprived of an adequate supply of oxygen. Intrapartum hypoxia results in a diminished availability of oxygen to body tissues despite adequate perfusion of the tissue by blood. Such a condition may also result in brain damage to the fetus, including short and/or long term neurological complications. Further, such a condition may be life threatening unless prompt actions are taken to restore well-oxygenated blood to the fetus. For example, a fetus suspected of having intrapartum hypoxia may be delivered by an emergency caesarian section rather than through a vaginal birth delivery method. Many cesarean sections are performed, however, without clear documentation of the fetal status. Moreover, a process of clinical evaluation during labor to order such an emergency cesarean, for example, tends to be performed blindly and based on individual clinician experience.
A fetus will be exposed to transient periods of hypoxia during labor, such as during or after uterine contractions, which most fetuses are able to tolerate due to a placental capacity to act as a reservoir of oxygenated blood and to fetal hemoglobin that is able to transport more oxygen than adult blood to the fetus. However, a fetus may have a placental reservoir that is unable to compensate for the hypoxia and the fetus is exposed to uncompensated hypoxia leading to a risk of short and/or long term neurological complications.
A status of a fetus during labor to detect intrapartum hypoxia may be evaluated by continuous monitoring of a fetal heart rate of the fetus (i.e., fetal heart rate monitoring (FHRM)). A fetus seriously affected by intrapartum hypoxia may show changes in the heart rate, though most fetuses mild or moderate explore to intrapartum hypoxia will not be identified through such heart rate monitoring. Another method to monitor for intrapartum hypoxia includes estimating changes in fetal blood gases during labor by collecting fetal scalp blood using a small blade to create a cut in the fetal scalp in an invasive manner. The pH in superficial blood is then able to be directly estimated, though pH values tend to remain stable despite a prolonged exposure to hypoxia. Yet another method to monitor for intrapartum hypoxia includes use of near infra-red spectroscopy (NIRS) to monitor for oxygen changes in the fetal scalp blood during labor. However, despite a strong correlation between NIRS and dioxygen (O2) blood levels, issues may arise through technical and practical restrictions such as a requirement for correct placement and maintenance of a sensor used with NIRS.
However, none of the conventional methods to assess the oxygen levels of a fetus during labor are reliable in estimating changes in oxygen saturation in the fetal blood during labor. Further, the conventional methods are not able to identify early hypoxic changes in the fetus.
Accordingly, alternative systems and methods to monitor a fetus during delivery to assess a metabolic rate of oxygen of the fetus are desired.

Ultrasound and photoacoustic systems and methods for fetal brain assessment during delivery


A calendar watch is arranged to allow time-setting to be carried out without this operation altering the state of the calendar mechanism at the passage to midnight. This mechanism, which is of the instantaneous date type, includes a large lever (2) loaded by a spring and wound by a spiral shaped cam (11) and a click (20) released at midnight by a flexible finger (12) of a 24-hour wheel (10). The mechanism prevents any transmission of movement from the 24 hour wheel to the date wheel set, when they are set in the active position by the winding stem (33) pulled out into the time-setting position of the watch. A pivoting isolator (30), which, in its active position, abuts against the click (20) prevents the click from releasing the lever (2).

The present invention concerns a watch having time-setting means and a calendar mechanism comprising a lever loaded by a spring and released once a day from a 24 hour wheel, which is driven by the watch movement to complete one revolution per day, the effect of the release of the lever being to move a date wheel set, for example including a star wheel, forward one step in the calendar mechanism.
The invention applies in particular, but not exclusively, to a so-called instantaneous date watch, wherein the calendar mechanism comprises a spiral shaped cam, secured to the 24 hour wheel and acting on the lever to wind it progressively during one day against the lever spring, a click provided with a return spring tending to set it in a stop position in which the click restrains the lever in the wound position against the lever spring, and a release finger arranged on the 24 hour wheel to act at a determined time on the click such that the latter releases the lever. This type of calendar mechanism arrangement has the advantage of moving the date wheel set forward instantaneously, for example each day around midnight owing to the action of the 24 hour wheel, so that the date and day indicators give correct indications before and after midnight. Such mechanisms are well known and the reader can find a description thereof in Swiss Patent No. 1018 for example.
In conventional calendar watches, when one moves the hands manually in order to set the time of the watch, for example because it has stopped, the 24 hour wheel can pass through its midnight position and activate the calendar mechanism by incrementing the date and the day of the week, and where necessary the moon phase indicator. The user does not always wish to perform this action, which can be inconvenient, in particular because of its cascade effect in a perpetual calendar mechanism, and in certain cases, he would prefer to adjust the date separately by means of the usual manual correctors, each acting on one of the calendar indicators.

Calendar watch provided with locking means


A die for producing flat sections, in particular a flat-sheet die for extrusion of ceramic green films, has a slot-shaped die outlet which opens in an outlet orifice. The height of the slot-shaped die outlet narrows beginning in the immediate vicinity of the outlet orifice and continuing to the outlet orifice. The die outlet is preferably formed by a first lip and a second lip situated opposite the first, having a constant first distance in at least some areas outside the immediate vicinity of the outlet orifice, and having at the outlet orifice a second smaller distance in comparison with the first distance, the first distance between the lips decreasing linearly to the second distance in the area of the immediate vicinity of the outlet orifice.

An extrusion system having a flat-sheet die exhibiting a die design known from plastics technology is generally used for extrusion of polymer-bonded ceramic flat sections, i.e., films and green films. As shown in FIG. 1, such dies have an inlet, a distributor channel including a throttle field and a die outlet, i.e., a die relief having a variable gap height, i.e., a flex-lip, using which the thickness of the extruded flat sections is adjustable.
However, extrusion of ceramic sections in particular differs fundamentally from extrusion of plastics in two regards. First, the viscosity (i.e., the intrinsic viscosity in the case of intrinsically viscous substances, in which the viscosity depends on the shear rate) of extruded ceramic pastes is greater than that of plastics, and furthermore, a ceramic paste generally has a flow limit. In addition, in extrusion of flat ceramic sections, the fact that subsequent processing steps such as removal of binders or sintering may be very sensitive in their response to stresses frozen into the extruded flat sections should be taken into account.
FIG. 2 illustrates the flow velocity profile of a ceramic paste extruded through a conventional flat-sheet die in the outlet of the die for various viscosities of the extruded ceramic pastes, showing that the rate of flow is zero at the edges of the die and it is maximum at the center. The viscosity or intrinsic viscosity of the extruded ceramic paste is characterized by the flow exponent, which is defined by:{dot over (γ)}=Φτmwhere {dot over (γ)} is the gradient of the flow velocity, i.e., the shear rate in the extruded paste, Φ is the fluidity and τ is the shear stress. Accordingly, the following equation holds for the viscosity, i.e., intrinsic viscosity η of the ceramic paste:
  η  =            Φ              -                  1          m                                                  γ          .                          (                                    1              m                        -            1                    )                    .
FIG. 2 shows that shear rate {dot over (γ)} is zero at the center point of the die outlet and is maximum at the edge. The shear rate at the edge of the die is {dot over (γ)}w. Shear rate {dot over (γ)}w at the wall is calculated as follows at a given volume throughput {dot over (V)}:
            γ      .        w    =      2              (              m        +        2            )                          V        .                              H          2                        B            where m again denotes the flow exponent of the extruded paste and is thus a measure of the intrinsic viscosity of this paste, and H denotes the height of the flat-sheet die at the site in question and B is its width.
FIG. 2 shows in particular that, when there is a flow limit, i.e., a high flow exponent m, shearing of the extruded material occurs almost exclusively in the edge area of the die. In the case of extruded polymer-bonded ceramic pastes, this shearing produces an orientation of the binder molecules added to these pastes, which may result in considerable after-shrinkage of the extruded flat sections in the case of a downstream add-on processing used on the extruded flat sections, e.g., imprinting by screen printing or lamination. Since the degree of molecular orientation established in the extruded flat sections is not constant over the thickness of this film due to the differences in shear rates, such a post-shrinkage, i.e., relaxation which is associated with a macroscopic change in shape, cannot usually take place completely. Thus, in the past there have always been residual internal stresses, which are manifested as unwanted changes in geometry (shrinkage) in subsequent printing steps or lamination steps. In addition, delamination similar to puff pastry also frequently occurs near the film surfaces during a subsequent sintering.

Die, especially for extruding green ceramic foils


An optical scanner includes a light source which emits a light beam, a reflection mirror which has a reflection surface, a first axis parallel to a main-scanning direction, and a second axis along the reflection surface and perpendicular to the first axis, and an optical element which adjusts a position of a scanning line in a sub-scanning direction, the optical element having a beam-incidence surface, a third axis parallel to the main-scanning direction on the beam-incidence surface, and a fourth axis perpendicular to the third axis and along a beam-incidence direction. A first adjustment unit is provided to rotate the reflection mirror around the second axis in order to attain uniformity of a scanning speed. A second adjustment unit is provided to rotate the optical element around the fourth axis in order to correct an inclination of the scanning line to a desired position of the scanning line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical scanner which irradiates a light beam to a scanned surface of an image support to form an electrostatic latent image on the image support surface, and an optical-path adjustment method which is used for the optical scanner, and an image forming apparatus which includes the optical scanner provided therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
The electrophotographic image forming apparatuses, such as copiers, printers, facsimiles, plotters, etc. are known. Each of these image forming apparatuses is provided with an optical scanner which irradiates a light beam to a scanned surface of an image support to form the electrostatic latent image on the image support surface.
These image forming apparatuses may be classified into four major types which follow.
(1) The monochrome image forming apparatus in which the light beam which is emitted by a light source is irradiated to an image support (for example, a photoconductive drum) to form an electrostatic latent image on the image support surface, the latent image formed on the image support is converted into the visible image by the developer (for example, the toner of black), the visible image is transferred to a recording material (for example, paper) by using a transferring unit, and after the transferring the image is fixed to the recording material by using a fixing unit.
(2) The color image forming apparatus in which the light beam which is emitted by a light source is irradiated to an image support (for example, a photoconductive drum) to form an electrostatic latent image on the image support surface, the latent image formed on the image support is converted into the visible images by two or more developers of different colors (for example, the toners of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black), the visible images of the different colors are combined by using a primary transferring unit, the multi-color image after the primary transferring is transferred to a recording material (for example, paper) by using a secondary transferring unit, and after the secondary transferring the multi-color image is fixed to the recording material by using a fixing unit.
(3) The color image forming apparatus in which the light beams which are emitted by plural light sources are irradiated to plural image supports (for example, photoconductive drums) to form electrostatic latent images on the image support surfaces, the latent images formed on the image supports are converted into the visible images by two or more developers of different colors (for example, the toners of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black), the visible images of the different colors are combined and transferred to a recording material (for example, paper) by transporting the recording material to the respective transfer units of the image supports by means of a transfer conveyance belt, and after the transferring the multi-color image is fixed to the recording material by using a fixing unit.
(4) The color image forming apparatus in which the light beams which are emitted by plural light sources are irradiated to plural image supports (for example, photoconductive drums) to form electrostatic latent images on the image support surfaces, the latent images formed on the image supports are converted into the visible images by two or more developers of different colors (for example, the toners of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black), the visible images of the different colors are combined by using a primary transferring unit, the multi-color image after the primary transferring is transferred to a recording material (for example, paper) by transporting the recording material to the respective transfer units of the image supports by means of a transfer conveyance belt and a secondary transferring unit, and after the secondary transferring the multi-color image is fixed to the recording material by using a fixing unit.
In the optical scanner provided for the optical writing in each of the image forming apparatuses, the following deviating conditions may take place:                A. The resist deviation in the sub-scanning direction (or the counterpart) (FIG. 13A)        B. The scanning line inclination in the sub-scanning direction (or the counterpart) (FIG. 13B)        C. The scanning line bending in the sub-scanning direction (or the counterpart) (FIG. 13C)        D. The resist deviation in the main scanning direction (or the counterpart) (FIG. 13D)        E. The scale-factor deviation in the main scanning direction (or the counterpart) (FIG. 13E)        F. The non-uniformity of the scanning speed in the main scanning direction (or the counterpart) (FIG. 13F)
The main scanning direction is the direction in which the optical scanner performs the optical writing to the image support, and the sub-scanning direction is the direction in which the recording material is moved. Hereinafter, it is supposed that the sub-scanning direction is substantially perpendicular to the main scanning direction.
Although the optical writing direction and the movement direction of the recording material are at right angles mechanically, the recording material is moved in the sub-scanning direction while it is scanned in the main scanning direction. Strictly speaking, the image in the main scanning direction and the image in the sub-scanning direction are not perpendicular to each other.
Moreover, the intermediate position on the optical path prior to entering the recording material does not correspond to the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction. Hereinafter, the direction that corresponds to the main scanning at the position of the optical writing on the optical path is called the main scanning correspondence direction, and the direction that corresponds to the sub-scanning at the position of the optical writing on the optical path is called the sub-scanning correspondence direction.
The resist deviation in the sub-scanning direction of the item A above is a shifting of the scanning line from the ideal scanning line in parallel with the sub-scanning direction as shown in FIG. 13A. This phenomenon arises due to changes of the sub-scanning-direction performance of the optical elements and the geometric precision of each optical element, caused by thermal expansion of each optical element.
The scanning line inclination in the sub-scanning direction of the item B above is an inclination of the scanning line from the ideal scanning line in the sub-scanning direction as shown in FIG. 13B. This phenomenon arises due to changes of the sub-scanning-direction performance of the optical elements and the geometric precision of each optical element.
The scanning line bending in the sub-scanning direction of the item C above is a bending of the scanning line to the ideal scanning line in the sub-scanning direction as shown in FIG. 13C. This phenomenon arises due to changes of the sub-scanning-direction performance of the optical elements, the geometric precision of each optical element, and the deformation of each optical element.
The resist deviation in the main scanning direction of the item D above is a shifting of the scanning start position between respective scanning lines as shown in FIG. 13D. This phenomenon arises due to a small variation of the laser diode wavelength during the multi-beam scanning, the difference of the field inclination of the multiple surfaces of the polygon mirror, the difference of the quantity of light in several modes of image formation, etc.
The scale-factor deviation in the main scanning direction of the item E above is a phenomenon in which the lengthes of the scanning lines differ in the main scanning direction from the ideal length as shown in FIG. 13E. This phenomenon arises due to changes of the sub-scanning-direction performance of the optical elements and the geometry precision of each optical element, caused by thermal expansion of each optical element. Moreover, it is generated by a small variation of the laser diode wavelength in the multi-beam scanning or the like.
The non-uniformity of the scanning speed in the main scanning direction of the item F above is a phenomenon in which the optical writing of the light beam is not suitably performed at the ideal scanning position because the scanning speed in the main scanning direction varies microscopically. This phenomenon arises due to changes of the main-scanning-direction performance of the optical elements and the geometry precision of each optical element, caused by thermal expansion of each optical element.
In order to obviate the sub-scanning-direction resist deviation of the item A above, the correction of the position relation of the optical scanner and the paper end is performed by adjusting the emission start timing of the light source with respect to the sub-scanning direction. There is no necessity for high precision adjustment of the optical scanner. It is adequate that the optical scanner adjustment is performed in a range that does not cause interference with the main part component members by heat deformation etc.
However, the color image forming apparatuses of the types (3) and (4) above need the detection units for setting the scanning start timing of the optical scanners of the respective colors. These detection units detect the light beam or the pixel position.
To obviate the scanning-line inclination in the sub-scanning direction of the item B above, the necessary scanning line inclination characteristics are obtained with the precision of the optical scanner component parts in the image forming apparatus which does not need the positional precision so much as in the monochrome image forming apparatus of the type (1) above.
Moreover, in the image forming apparatus which needs the comparatively high position precision, parallelism adjustment is carried out in the attachment portions with the optical scanner, and the inclination characteristics of the reproduced image are obtained.
In the case of the optical scanner provided in the image forming apparatus of the types (3) and (4) above, inclination adjustment of the optical scanner and parallelism adjustment with the optical scanner are carried out according to the scanning inclination adjustment mechanism which changes the position of the reflection mirror around the axis that is perpendicular to the main scanning direction and at right angles to the reflection surface of the mirror.
To obviate the scanning line bending in the sub-scanning direction of the item C above, the necessary scanning line bending characteristics are obtained with the precision of the optical scanner component parts in the image forming apparatus which does not need the positional precision so much as in the image forming apparatuses of the types (1) and (2) with the single optical path.
In the case of the optical scanner provided in the image forming apparatus which needs the comparatively high positional precision, for example, the types (3) and (4) with the multiple optical paths, the central part of the optical element with the function to correct the position of the scanning line in the sub-scanning direction is deformed, and thereby the scanning line bending in the sub-scanning direction is adjusted.
To obviate the resist deviation in the main scanning direction of the item D above, fundamentally, the optical detection unit including the photodiodes is provided in the optical scanner or the main part of the optical scanner at the location that is outside the image formation area. The scanning start position of the main scanning direction is determined by forming image information by the optical scanning based on the time which indicates the passing of the light beam detected by the optical detection unit.
To obviate the deviation of the scanning start position due to variations of the field inclinations of the plural surfaces of the polygon mirror, the component part precision is raised to a level which does not appear in the reproduced image.
Moreover, to obviate the difference of the quantity of light in the several image formation modes and the small variation of LD wavelength by the multi-beam scanning, the scanning start timing is controlled according to the quantity of light in each image formation mode.
To obviate the scale-factor deviation in the main scanning direction of the item E above, the necessary scale-factor characteristics are obtained with the precision including the thermal expansion of the optical scanner component parts in the image forming apparatus which does not need the positional precision so much as in the monochrome image forming apparatus of the type (1).
Moreover, in the image forming apparatus which needs the comparatively high positional precision, two separate optical detection units including the photodiodes are provided in the optical scanner or the main part of the optical scanner at the scanner start and end locations that are outside the image formation area. The scale factor is calculated based on the ratios of the times, the passing of the light beam is detected by the two optical detection units, to the reference time, the drawing frequency is changed according to the calculation result so as to accord with the reference time, so that the adjustment of the scale factor in the main scanning direction is carried out.
Moreover, in the color image forming apparatus of the types (3) and (4), the deviation of the scale factor between the respective optical paths directly causes the picture degradation such as the color deviation. When the optical element with the function to correct the position of the scanning line in the main scanning direction is made of a resin material with which the index of refraction of the optical element significantly changes by temperature, the two optical detection units mentioned above are indispensably needed.
To obviate the non-uniformity of the scanning speed in the main scanning direction of the item F above, the necessary scanning-speed uniformity is obtained with the precision including the thermal expansion of the optical scanner component parts in the image forming apparatus which does not need the positional precision so much as in the monochrome image forming apparatus of the type (1).
Moreover, in the color image forming apparatus which does not need the absolute position precision as that of the type (2), the same optical path is used for each color, and there is no difference of scanning-speed uniformity. Therefore the countermeasure that is essentially the same as in the image forming apparatus of the type (1) is taken.
Moreover, in the high precision plotter which needs the absolute position precision as in the types (1) and (2), and in the color image forming apparatus of the types (3) and (4), the different optical paths in the optical scanner are used for the respective colors. The drawing frequency is changed and adjusted within the time of the main scanning in such image forming apparatuses.
It is difficult to obtain the continuous change microscopically, and the undesired line image may be produced by the dot pitch irregularity in the main scanning direction.
When the optical element with the function to correct the position of the scanning line in the main scanning direction is made of a resin material with which the index of refraction of the optical element significantly changes by temperature, the scanning-speed uniformity of the main scanning direction is determined by the distribution of temperature within the optical element. In order to obviate the non-uniformity of the scanning speed in the main scanning direction, it is necessary to have many drawing cycle patterns with the optical scanner.
Thus, the adjustment techniques to obviate the positional deviations of the items A to E above are mostly established as described above. On the other hand, when the resin optical element is used in the optical scanner, it is necessary to carry out the adjustment for obviating the scanning-speed non-uniformity of the item F above with high precision, in order to avoid the picture degradation. However, in the current circumstances, the method for adjusting the scanning-speed non-uniformity with adequately high precision is not established yet, and it is difficult to avoid the picture degradation for the case of the optical scanner in which the resin optical element is used.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Optical scanner, optical-path adjustment method, and image forming apparatus


A method and apparatus for determining standardized environmental attributes is disclosed, including a method and apparatus for generating and quantifying standardized carbon emission reduction credits. General data and site-specific data, if available, are input into a suitable model to determine the approximate change in the environmental attribute as a result of a human-caused change. An uncertainty analysis is conducted on the results to quantify and normalize the environmental attribute. Standardized environmental attributes may be compiled for trade and other standardized environmental attributes are placed in reserve.

The development of a vibrant economy requires a safe and healthy food supply, sustainable land use, clean water, and pure air, among other things. Producers, such as farmers and ranchers offset their production costs with income derived from products such as grain, hay and meat. State and Federal regulations provide essentially no penalties for non-point sources of pollution, with the exception of indirect disincentives such as SodBuster or SwampBuster farm bill provisions. Environmental incentives for participants in conservation programs, e.g., EQIP, CRP, CSP, may not be sufficient to outweigh market driven production incentives. Therefore, the costs for sub-optimal land use are transferred to the public in the form of remediation costs, while the value of benefits realized by society for optimal land use does not reach the producer.
A major barrier to the development of agro-environmental service markets is the dearth of biophysical linkages between management practices, measurable impacts on soil, air, and water quality and environmental regulations. The invention described herein is able to connect basic science research on biogeochemical systems, with ecological models, economic models and relevant legal analysis to translate that research into market-driven management strategies that not only maximize production but also produce commodities that embody attributes of value to society.
An example of environmental attributes of the present invention is Carbon Emission Reduction Credits. An accelerating rate of change in the amounts of trace gases in the earth's atmosphere has the potential to modify the earth's energy balance, which may result in a variety of consequences. These trace gases are often referred to as greenhouse gases and include carbon dioxide. Although there is disagreement concerning the potential threats or benefits of this change, there is widespread agreement in the global community that it is prudent to enact policies to attempt to slow down the rate of change. At the same time, research is underway to predict the consequences of increasing greenhouse gas concentrations and to develop the technology to economically limit those increases. All current protocols have established emission reduction targets that define a specific base year, e.g., 1990, and specify reductions as a fractional percentage of emission rates from those of the base year.
The increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is a global issue. For example, carbon dioxide emitted from a power plant into the atmosphere has a lifetime of approximately 100 years and may be distributed globally. As a result, at least for the issue of atmospheric greenhouse gases, the geographic location where the greenhouse gases are removed from the atmosphere is less important than the fact that they are removed. For other types of EBCs, the specific location of the emission reduction may be important. For example, the reduction of the transport of sediment in a watershed that has many man-made water impoundments, such as dams, may be of more value than the reduction of sediment transport into an unregulated and uncontrolled watershed.
One of the key provisions of many national strategies to limit the rate of growth in the amounts of atmospheric greenhouse gases is the concept of emissions trading. Emissions trading is a process whereby specific target emission rates of certain greenhouse gases are set for specific industries. A member of the industry who achieves measured emissions below the target rates may trade the difference on the open market to another who exceeds, or forecasts that it will exceed, its own emission targets. An entity responsible for measured emissions above its target rates may be subject to fines or other sanctions. The objective is to reduce the overall emission of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, even if the emissions of one particular source are not decreased, or indeed are increased. In the last decade, the effectiveness of this market-based emissions reduction approach as applied to criteria air pollutants in the US has been demonstrated. Fledgling attempts to develop similar systems for water pollution trades and for other remediation issues are in progress, however they have been hindered by several key factors addressed by the methods and apparatus described herein.
The unit of measure of tradable carbon emissions that has been generally accepted is commonly known as the Carbon Emission Reduction Credit, or CERC, which is equivalent to one metric ton of carbon dioxide gas (or other greenhouse gas equivalent) that is not emitted into the earth's atmosphere (emission reduction) or one metric ton of carbon dioxide that is removed from the atmosphere (emission offset) due to a human-caused change. That is, a CERC can be generated for human activities that have occurred since a base year, e.g., 1990, that have resulted in a reduction of business-as-usual emissions of greenhouse gases.
For example, CERCs can be generated through energy efficiency gains of fossil fuel technology, substitution of biofuels for fossil fuels, or removal of greenhouse gases from industrial gas streams. CERCs also can be generated by sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide into land or water, e.g., by reforesting land or through implementation of agricultural practices that increase the storage of organic matter in the soil. Additionally CERCs can be generated by capturing methane emitted from sewage lagoons and burning it into carbon dioxide since one ton of methane is equivalent to approximately 22 tons of carbon dioxide with respect to its global warming potential. Additional CERCs would be generated if the methane was used as a substitute for fossil fuels. Other EBCs can be generated through the modification of business as usual management practices. For example, a producer can switch from pesticide intensive management to "organic farming" practices and therefore potentially earn water quality based EBCS.
A market is emerging for trading CERCs, EBCs and other green tags. One type of CERC trading involves an industrial consortium, where each industrial entity determines a rough estimate of the number of CERCs generated by its activity or needed from others due to its activity. If an individual entity has generated CERCs by changing its business-as-usual activity, e.g., by reducing the amounts of greenhouse gases emitted, it can trade the CERCs to others in the consortium.
There also have been entities involved specifically in CERC trading based on increasing the storage of carbon in soil. For example, in 1999 a consortium of Canadian power companies hired an insurance company to contractually obligate a group of Iowa farmers to twenty years of no-till farming. Based on general data, a broker for the power companies assumed that this land management practice would result in sufficient sequestration of carbon into the soil to generate CERCs. The power companies also purchased an insurance policy for protection against the possibility that no CERCs, or insufficient CERCs, would be generated by this arrangement. This trade was designed by the consortium of power companies to minimize the price that the farmers were paid. The difficulty and uncertainty of predicting these CERCs, obtaining indemnification or insurance, and banding together a sufficiently large number of farmers to generate a pool of potential CERCs large enough to overcome substantial baseline transactional costs and uncertainty whether the CERCs generated would meet current, pending or future regulatory requirements operated to drive up the costs incurred by the potential CERC purchasers, drive down the price paid to the producers and generally make it difficult to establish and engage in a market for CERCs by not efficiently maximizing incentives to producers and by not efficiently minimizing risks to purchasers.
Existing natural resource-based methods to trade CERCs generally share a number of shortcomings. Typically, the contracts specify certain land management practices, but do not require a certain number of CERCs to be generated. The estimated CERC values are highly variable and minimized due to uncertainties caused by using general regional data to try to estimate CERCs and by high transactional costs. Without a reasonably accurate method of quantifying CERCs generated, it is difficult for all to place a fair value on the trade. Also, trades generally have been designed and instigated by a potential CERC purchaser, or an entity representing one, and not by the CERC producer, such as a farmer or landowner. Further, each trade must be individually designed by the CERC purchaser to be consistent with current and anticipated legislative requirements and to maximize the likelihood that CERCs will be generated. Competition is also limited by the requirement of projects large enough to achieve economies of scale. For this reason, there has begun to emerge aggregators who attempt to produce CERCs by traveling from producer to producer with the object of having each producer sign a contract in which they agree to transfer ownership of CERCs to the aggregator, implement a specified management practice for a specified time period over a specified number of acres in exchange for a specified price. The aggregator who then makes general estimates of potential carbon sequestration, develops a project-specific verification protocol, and packages the CERCs into a "project". The project is then marketed to purchasers through a broker who must convince clients that the project criteria and indemnification are sufficient to meet the standards of the specific country in which they are applied. In many Kyoto countries, a project approval board is designated and must pass judgment on each individual project. As a consequence, the price paid to CERC producers is driven down thereby decreasing incentives to engage in practices that result in carbon sequestration and therefore the market for trading CERCs is limited.
In the absence of a globally accepted process to generate, quantify and standardize CERCs, especially CERCs generated or projected to be generated by carbon sequestration in land or plants, the market for such CERCs remains relatively primitive, inefficient and uncertain.
The existing attempts to identify and trade CERCs suffer from difficulties in quantifying accrued and projected CERCs, high administrative costs in quantifying and indemnifying accrued and projected CERCs, and the lack of a market for individuals and individual entities to effectively engage in CERC trades. These problems particularly restrict the ability of an individual landowner, or groups of landowners, to efficiently generate, quantify, standardize, market and trade CERCs.
As such, a need exists for an improved method of generating, quantifying and standardizing CERCs, particularly so that a relatively smaller producer of CERCs, such as an individual landowner or groups of landowners, may be able to reliably and efficiently participate in a market for CERCs by generating and quantifying standardized CERCs by a method capable of adapting to meet a broad range of regulatory specifications.
More generally, a need exists for an improved method of generating, quantifying and standardizing other environmental attributes to generate environmental benefit credits (EBCs), in addition to CERCS, again, particularly so that a relatively smaller producer of environmental attributes may be able to reliably and efficiently participate in a market for such standardized environmental attributes. In addition, there is a need for systems that are specific so that they are performance based rather than only methods-based.

Method and apparatus for generating standardized environmental benefit credits

South Dakota School of Mines and Technology


This invention is a combustion process having a series of stages in which the fuel is stepwise combusted using specific catalysts and catalytic structures and, optionally, a final homogeneous combustion zone. The choice of catalysts and the use of specific structures, including those employing integral heat exchange, results in a catalyst support which is stable due to its comparatively low temperature and yet the product combustion gas is at a temperature suitable for use in a gas turbine, furnace, boiler, or the like, but has low NO.sub.x content.

With the advent of modern antipollution laws in the United States and around the world, significant and new methods of minimizing various pollutants are being investigated. The burning of fuel, be the fuel wood, coal, oils, or natural gas, likely causes a majority of the pollution problems in existence today. Certain pollutants such as SO.sub.2, which are created as the result of the presence of a contaminant in the fuel source, may be removed either by treating the fuel to remove the contaminant or by treating the exhaust gas eventually produced to remove the resulting pollutant. Pollutants such as carbon monoxide, which are created as the result of incomplete combustion, may be removed by post-combustion oxidation or by improving the combustion process. The other principal pollutant, NO.sub.x (an equilibrium mixture mostly of NO, but also containing very minor amounts of NO.sub.2), may be dealt with either by controlling the combustion process to minimize its production or by later removal. Removal of NO.sub.x once produced once it is a difficult task because of its relative stability and its low concentration in most exhaust gases. One ingenious solution used in automobiles is the use of carbon monoxide chemically to reduce NO.sub.x to nitrogen while oxidizing the carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. However, the need to react two pollutants alsospeaks to a conclusion that the initial combustion reaction was inefficient.
It must be observed that unlike the situation with sulfur pollutants where the sulfur contaminant may be removed from the fuel, removal of nitrogen from the air fed to the combustion process is clearly an impractical solution. Unlike the situation with carbon monoxide, improvement of the combustion reaction would likely increase the level of NO.sub.x produced due to the higher temperatures then involved.
Nevertheless, the challenge to reduce combustion NO.sub.x remains and several different methods have been suggested. The process chosen must not substantially conflict with the goal for which the combustion gas was created, i.e., the recovery of its heat value in a turbine, boiler, or furnace.
Many recognize that a fruitful way of controlling NO.sub.x production is to limit the localized and bulk temperatures in the combustion zone to something less than 1800.degree. C. See, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,989 to Furuya et al. at column 1, lines 52-59 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,088,435 to Hindin et al. at column 12.
There are a number of ways to control the temperature, such as by dilution with excess air, controlled oxidation using one or more catalysts, or staged combustion using variously lean or rich fuel mixtures. Combinations of these methods are also known.
One widely attempted method is the use of multistage catalytic combustors. Most of these processes utilize multi-section catalysts with metal oxide or ceramic catalyst carriers. Typical of such disclosures are:
__________________________________________________________________________ Country Document 1st Stage 2nd Stage 3rd __________________________________________________________________________ Stage Japan Kokai 60-205129 Pt-group/Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 & SiO.sub.2 La/SiO.sub.2.Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 Japan Kokai 60-147243 La & Pd & Pt/Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 ferrite/Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 Japan Kokai 60-66022 Pd & Pt/ZrO.sub.2 Ni/ZrO.sub.2 Japan Kokai 60-60424 Pd/- CaO & Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 & NiO & w/noble metal Japan Kokai 60-51545 Pd/* Pt/* LaCoO.sub.3 /* Japan Kokai 60-51543 Pd/* Pt/* Japan Kokai 60-51544 Pd/* Pt/* base metal oxide/* Japan Kokai 60-54736 Pd/* Pt or Pt--Rh or Ni base metal oxide or LaCO.sub.3 /* Japan Kokai 60-202235 MoO.sub.4 /- CoO.sub.3 & ZrO.sub.2 & noble metal Japan Kokai 60-200021 Pd & Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 /+* Pd & Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 /** Pt/** Japan Kokai 60-147243 noble metal/heat resistant carrier ferrite/heat resistant carrier Japan Kokai 60-60424 La or Nd/Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 0.5% SiO.sub.2 Pd or Pt/NiO & Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 & CaO 0.5% SiO Japan Kokai 60-14938 Pd/? Pt/? Japan Kokai 60-14939 Pd & Pt/refractory ? ? Japan Kokai 60-252409 Pd & Pt/*** Pd & Ni/*** Pd & Pt/*** Japan Kokai 60-080419 Pd & Pt Pd, Pt & NiO Pt or Pt & Pd Japan Kokai 60-080420 Pd & Pt & NiO Pt Pt & Pd Japan Kokai 60-080848 Pt & Pd Pd & Pt & NiO Pt or Pt & Pd Japan Kokai 60-080849 Pd, Pt, NiO/? Pd & Pt (or NiO)/? Pt or Pd & __________________________________________________________________________ Pt/? *alumina or zirconia on mullite or cordierite **Ce in first layer; one or more of Zr, Sr, Ba in second layer; at least one of La and Nd in third layer. ***monolithic support stabilized with lanthanide or alkaline earth metal oxide Note: the catalysts in this Table are characterized as "a"/"b" where "a" is the active metal and "b" is the carrier
The use of such ceramic or metal oxide supports is clearly well-known. The structures formed do not readily melt or oxidize as would a metallic support. A ceramic support carefully designed for use in a particular temperature range can provide adequate service in that temperature range. Nevertheless, many such materials can undergo phase changes or react with other components of the catalyst system at temperatures above 1100.degree. C., e.g., the gamma alumina phase changes to the alpha alumina form in that region. In addition, such ceramic substrates are olefin fragile, subject to cracking and failure as a result of vibration, mechanical shock, or thermal shock. Thermal shock is a particular problem in catalytic combustors used in gas turbines. During startup and shutdown, large temperature gradients can develop in the catalyst leading to high mechanical stresses that result in cracking and fracture.
Typical of the efforts to improve the high temperature stability of the metal oxide or ceramic catalyst supports are the inclusion of an alkaline earth metal or lanthanide or additional metals into the support, often in combination with other physical treatment steps:
______________________________________ Country Document Assignee or Inventor ______________________________________ Japan Kokai 61-209044 (Babcock-Hitachi KK) Japan Kokai 61-216734 (Babcock-Hitachi KK) Japan Kokai 62-071535 (Babcock-Hitachi KK) Japan Kokai 62-001454 (Babcock-Hitachi KK) Japan Kokai 62-045343 (Babcock-Hitachi KK) Japan Kokai 62-289237 (Babcock-Hitachi KK) Japan Kokai 62-221445 (Babcock-Hitachi KK) U.S. U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,797 (Kato et al.) U.S. U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,559 (Pliknki et al.) U.S. U.S. Pat. No. 3,870,455 (Hindin et al.) U.S. U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,872 (Kato et al.) Great Britain 1,528,455 Cairns et al. ______________________________________
However, even with the inclusion of such high temperature stability improvements, ceramics are fragile materials. Japanese Kokai 60-053724 teaches the use of a ceramic columnar catalyst with holes in the column walls to promote equal distribution of fuel gas and temperature amongst the columns lest cracks appear.
High temperatures (above 1100.degree. C.) are also detrimental to the catalytic layer resulting in surface area loss, vaporization of metal catalysts, and reaction of catalytic components with the ceramic catalyst components to form less active or inactive substances.
Of the numerous catalysts disclosed in the combustion literature may be found the platinum group metals: platinum, palladium, ruthenium, iridium, and rhodium; sometimes alone, sometimes in mixtures with other members of the group, sometimes with non-platinum group promoters or co-catalysts.
In addition to the strictly catalytic combustion processes, certain processes use a final step in which remaining combustibles are homogeneously oxidized prior to recovering the heat from the gas.
A number of the three stage catalyst combination systems discussed above also have post-combustion steps. For instance, a series of Japanese Kokai assigned to Nippon Shokubai Kagaku ("NSK") (62-080419, 62-080420, 63-080847, 63-080848, and 63-080549) disclose three stages of catalytic combustion followed by a secondary combustion step. As was noted above, the catalysts used in these processes are quite different from the catalysts used in the inventive process. Additionally, these Kokai suggest that in the use of a post-combustion step, the resulting gas temperature is said to reach only "750.degree. C. to 1100.degree. C.". In clear contrast, the inventive process when using the post catalyst homogeneous combustion step may be seen to reach substantially higher adiabatic combustion temperatures.
Other combustion catalyst/post-catalyst homogeneous combustion processes are known. European Patent Application 0,198,948 (also issued to NSK) shows a two or three stage catalytic process followed by a post-combustion step. The temperature of the post-combusted gas was said to reach 1300.degree. C. with an outlet temperature from the catalyst (approximately the bulk gas phase temperature) of 900.degree. C. The catalyst structures disclosed in the NSK Kokai are not, however, protected from the deleterious effects of the combustion taking place within the catalytic zones and consequently the supports will deteriorate.
The patent to Furuya et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,989) discloses a single stage catalyst with injection of additional fuel followed by post-catalyst combustion. In this case, the low fuel/air ratio mixture feed to the catalyst limits the catalyst substrate temperature to 900.degree. C. or 1000.degree. C. To obtain higher gas temperatures required for certain processes such as gas turbines, additional fuel is injected after the catalyst and this fuel is burned homogeneously in the post catalyst region. This process is complicated and requires additional fuel injection devices in the hot gas stream exiting the catalyst. The inventive device described in our invention does not require fuel injection after the catalyst; all of the fuel is added at the catalyst inlet.
An aspect in the practice of our inventive process is the use of integral heat exchange structures--preferably metal and in at least in the latter catalytic stage or stages of the oxidation. Generically, the concept is to position a catalyst layer on one surface of a wall in the catalytic structure which is opposite a surface having no catalyst. Both sides are in contact with the flowing fuel-gas mixture. On one side reactive heat is produced; on the other side that reactive heat is transferred to the flowing gas.
Structures having an integral heat exchange feature are shown in Japanese Kokai 59-136,140 and 61-259,013. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,824 to Young et al. shows a single stage catalytic combustor unit using a monolithic catalyst with catalysts on selected passage walls. In addition to a number of other differences, the structures are disclosed to be used in isolation and not in conjunction with other catalyst stages. Additionally, the staged use of the structure with different catalytic metals is not shown in the publications.
None of the processes shown in this discussion show a combination catalyst system in which the catalyst supports are metallic, in which the catalysts are specifically varied to utilize their particular benefits, in which integral heat exchange is selectively applied to control catalyst substrate temperature, and particularly, in which high gas temperatures are achieved while maintaining low NO.sub.x production and low catalyst (and support) temperatures.

Multistage process for combusting fuel mixtures


There is provided a method for the production of improved biocidal compositions which comprise at least one 3-isothiazolinone of the general formula ##STR1## Y is a hydrogen atom or an unsubstituted alkyl radical having 1 to 18 carbon atoms, a cylo alkyl radical having 5 to 8 carbon atoms, an aralkyl radical having 7 to 11 carbon atoms or an aryl radical having 6 to 10 carbon atoms and R and R' are in each case a hydrogen atom or halogen atom or a C.sub.1 to C.sub.4 -alkyl radical, or, when taken together, R and R' contain an alkylene group to form a hydrocarbon ring, the 3-isothiazolinone being produced in known manner and then stabilized by the addition of a nitrate. The method is characterized by the fact that the mixture obtained upon the production of the 3-isothiazolinone is subjected to an additional stabilization after the addition of the nitrate by storing it at a pH of 0.2 to 2.0 and a temperature of at most 40.degree. C. for a period of at least 2 days and then again neutralized to a higher pH in the range of 2.5 to 3.5.

Biocides are an indispensable part of numerous chemical mixtures of substances and of materials in everyday use both in the industrial and the non-industrial area. The biocides prevent that said mixtures of substances and materials spoil due to the action of microorganisms and thereby become useless. At the same time, they thus also protect the health of the consumer.
Biocides are necessary for the preservation of, for instance, cleaning agents, scouring agents, detergents, polishing agents, coating agents, adhesives, plasters, paper, cardboard, textiles, leather, drilling fluids, metal-working fluids, latex emulsions, plastics, fuels and water in cooling circuits. The intended effect of the biocides imparts the substrates to which it has been admixed, a substantially longer life, both in the closed container during storage and transportation and during the use of the substrates.
3-isothiazolinones are important biocidally active substances which incorporate the most important properties of a modern biocide. Mention must be made especially of the very wide spectrum of activity against bacteria, mold fungi, yeasts and algae and of the easy degradability in the environment. Depending on the substituents in the isothiazolinone molecule, the isothiazolinones differ in their reactivity and thus also in their action and/or they differ with respect to their solubility.
The production of 3-isothiazolinones is known and can take place in various manners. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,849,430, two general methods or processes are disclosed for the preparation of 3-isothiazolinones. In accordance with the first alternative, a dithiodiamide is converted to the corresponding 3-isothiazolinone by cyclization with a halogen agent. There is thus produced, for instance, from 3,3'-dithio-N,N'-dimethyldipropionamide by reaction with sulfuryl-chloride a mixture of 5-chloro-2-methyl-3-isothiazolinone and 2-methyl-3-isothiazolinone. In accordance with the second alternative, a mercaptoamide is used instead of the dithiodiamide. In this case, one obtains, for instance by reacting N-methyl-3-mercaptopropionamide with elementary chlorine, also a mixture of the two above-mentioned 3-isothiazolinones.
For many applications, it is necessary to formulate the 3-isothiazolinone in solutions. As solvent, there is preferably employed water, but polar organic solvents, such as alcohols, are also used for this purpose. Some of these 3-isothiazolinone solutions can exhibit chemical decomposition of the 3-isothiazolinones already during their storage, i.e. prior to their intended use, which results in a reduction of the biocidal action.
In accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 3,870,795, this disadvantage can be counteracted by adding metal nitrates or metal nitrites for the chemical stabilization of the 3-isothiazolinones in formulations. It was found, however, that this type of stabilization is not sufficient in the case of some 3-isothiazolinones which are particularly susceptible to decomposition. It is, namely, possible that there occur precipitations and losses of active ingredients which can greatly impair the use of the solutions. This can be reduced by subjecting such nitrate-stabilized 3-isothiazolinone solutions to an additional stabilization. In accordance with EP-B-95907, this takes place, in the case of a mixture of 5-chloro-2-methyl-3-isothiazolinone and 2-methyl-3-isothiazolinone, by heat treatment for four hours at 95.degree. C. In connection with the beneficial effect of heat treatment at 95.degree. C. mention is also made of U.S. Pat. No. 5,068,338 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,827.
It has, however, been found that this heat treatment also leads to disadvantages.
On the one hand, the relatively high temperature upon the heat treatment of the 3-isothiazolinone solution has the effect that certain impurities, which were produced as by-products upon the production of the isothiazolinone and are still present in the solution, are nitrosated by the nitrate added as stabilizer to form nitrosamines. The latter, however, are carcinogenic substances which must be avoided under all circumstances. Said by-products occur primarily upon the production of the isothiazolinone from the corresponding dithiodiamide. In addition, however, the relatively high temperature of the heat treatment results in the partial decomposition of the valuable 3-isothiazolinone, regardless of which process is used, leading to the formation of colored impurities and subsequent loss of active ingredient. Thus, the quality of the 3-isothiazolinone product produced is substantially impaired.


A display system that is adapted to provide control blow-by. The display system includes a projector that is operable to project light through a lens. The system also includes a first polarizer positioned proximate to the lens receiving and first polarizing the projected light. The display system further includes a projection screen assembly that includes a transparent projection screen and a second polarizer. The projected light first strikes the transparent projection screen causing a projected image to be displayed. The second polarizer is adapted to second polarize the projected light to provide cross-polarization and reduce blow-by in the display system. The first and second polarizers are configured with first and second axes of polarization, and the first and second polarizers are arranged in the display system with the first axis of polarization substantially orthogonal to the second axis of polarization to provide full cross-polarization of the projected light.

1. Field of the Description
The present invention relates, in general, to display systems and devices for providing unique imagery and effects, and, more particularly, to displays (or display assemblies/systems) and display methods that are adapted to provide the illusion of a transparent interface or monitor or even a non-existent interface screen (e.g., imagery appears to be provided in mid-air).
2. Relevant Background
There are numerous settings where it is desirable to create a unique visual display. For example, theme or amusement parks may include rides or walk-through attractions where guests (or "viewers") are entertained by a unique visual effect or illusion. For example, recently a number of science fiction movies have been released in which convention physical computer monitors are replaced by computer interfaces or "screens" that are provided in space or mid-air in front of the computer or communication device user. In many other cases, the monitor or screen is shown to be a sheet of material that is transparent to the viewer such that displayed imagery is translucent and a viewer can see objects behind the monitor or screen.
To date, it has proven difficult to design and provide a transparent interface screen or monitor that does not have limitations that ruin or give away the trick or technology behind the display system. For example, a display system may be provided in a space in which viewers can walk on either side or even on all sides of a selected location for a display screen or transparent interface device. In such cases, it is desirable to provide imagery on the display screen or interface without allowing the observers to readily spot the projector or other components that are used to generate imagery.
In some recent displays or entertainment applications, there was a need for displaying characters, information, or other content/imagery so as to imitate the films or interfaces in popular films. The designers attempted to use clear glass, scrims, and holofilm glass as projection surfaces, and a projector was operated to selectively project images onto theses surfaces. While providing useful projection surfaces on one side, these materials or components were not useful for providing a transparent projection screen that can be viewed from two or more sides and not just from the side that is projected upon by the projector.
The large annoyance or "tell" with such projection screens is that the projector shoots light onto their surfaces and all or a majority of the light passes through the projection screen as well as generating a visible image. This is undesirable because it creates "blow-by" or "blow-through" on the other or opposite side. When a scrim is used, for example, the viewer sees the projected imagery on the projector-side of the scrim but also on the floor or wall behind the scrim. As a result, this display system is not useful in a queue or attraction line because the projected light will go right through the display screen and hit the viewers on the back side of the scrim in the face, which will undesirably reveal how the effect is being generated.
There remains a need for improved visual display techniques and systems for providing a transparent display screen or at least the illusion of one. Preferably, such display systems and methods would be adapted to limit, or even eliminate, blow-by so as to better disguise how the effect is being generated. Also, it would be desirable for the display techniques and systems to be relatively inexpensive to implement and to be suited for placement near large crowds (e.g., be non-fragile when bumped and contacted or touched by viewers).

Display system with a transparent projection surface with reduced blow-by


In a heat exchange system such as an absorption refrigerator, a heat exchange element is disposed in at least one of a heat exchanger, a condenser, an evaporator, an absorber and a low-temperature regenerator. The heat exchange element has a bellows-fin formed into a wave-like shape by consecutively bending a thin plate, and sealing plate sealingly attached onto ends of the bellows-fin, for defining adjacent two chambers alternately in the heat exchanger or the like. The heating fluid and the fluid to be heated are heat-exchanged to each other through the thin plate of the bellows-fin defining respective chambers, so that contact area is increased to thereby extremely improve the heat exchange efficiency. Further, the heat exchange element can be manufactured with ease, to thereby decrease the production cost.

The present invention relates to a heat exchange system, and more particularly to a absorption refrigerator whose heat exchange element or device can be manufactured with the cost reduced.
In order to improve the heat exchange efficiency, a conventional heat exchange element or device for a absorption refrigerator is formed with fins 41 shown in FIG. 4 so that the heat-applying fluid such as the concentration solution flows inside the fins 41 whereas the fluid to be heated flows outside the fins 41, both flowing perpendicularly relative to the sheet of FIG. 4. The adjacent fins 41 are connected with each other at their crest portions 44 and bottom portions 45 by TIG welding.
However, in the heat exchange element for the absorption refrigerator, the design of the fins 41 is restricted in view of the manufacturing considerations, so that sufficient heat exchange efficiency cannot be obtained. Further, since the adjacent fins 41 are connected with each other at their crest portions 44 and bottom portions 45 by TIG welding, it is difficult to assemble the fins 41 and the cost is increased for the welding process, so that the entire cost for manufacturing the heat element is unavoidably increased.


A mass spectroscopy device constituted by a first reflector which is partially transparent and partially reflective, a transparent body, and a second reflector which is reflective. The first reflector and the second reflector are arranged on opposite sides of the transparent body so as to form an optical resonator in such a manner that when a specimen containing an analyte subject to mass spectroscopy is arranged in contact with a surface of the first reflector, and the surface is irradiated with measurement light, optical resonance occurs in the optical resonator, and intensifies an electric field on the surface, and the intensified electric field desorbs the analyte from the surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mass spectroscopy device for use in a process of performing mass spectroscopy of a material to be analyzed (analyte) which is contained in a specimen arranged in contact with the mass spectroscopy device by irradiating the specimen with light so as to desorb the analyte from a surface of the mass spectroscopy device. The present invention also relates to a mass spectroscopy system having the above mass spectroscopy device. The present invention further relates to a microstructure which uses optical resonance in an optical resonator.
2. Description of the Related Art
The mass spectroscopy is used for identifying materials. In a known technique of performing mass spectroscopy of an analyte which is contained in a specimen, the specimen is arranged in contact with a mass spectroscopy device, and irradiated with measurement light (i.e., light applied to the mass spectroscopy device for measurement) so as to desorb the analyte from a surface of the mass spectroscopy device for the mass spectroscopy. Then, the desorbed analyte is identified by detecting the mass of particles constituting the desorbed analyte, for example, by the time-of-flight mass spectroscopy (TOF-MS). In the TOF-MS, the particles constituting the desorbed analyte are accelerated so that the particles fly over a predetermined distance, and the time of the flight (in which the mass of the particles are reflected) is detected.
In the above technique of mass spectroscopy, the desorption of the particles of the analyte are realized by ionization of the analyte. However, in the case where the analyte is a material which is hard to evaporate (e.g., a biological material or the like), or a high-molecular-weight material such as a synthesized macromolecule, it is difficult to desorb the analyte. Therefore, various techniques enabling mass spectroscopy of the hard-to-evaporate materials and the high-molecular-weight materials have been studied. Nevertheless, the types and the molecular weight of the materials of which the mass spectroscopy can be performed are still limited.
The field-desorption mass spectroscopy (FD-MS), the fast-atom-bombardment mass spectroscopy (FAB-MS), the matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI), and the like are currently known as techniques of mass spectroscopy for the hard-to-evaporate materials and the high-molecular-weight materials. Among others, the MALDI technique is known as a technique of mass spectroscopy which chemically affects the specimen to a relatively small degree, and enables measurement of analytes which have molecular weight exceeding ten thousand.
In the MALDI technique, a specimen is prepared by mixing an analyte in a matrix of sinapinic acid, glycerin, or the like, and is then irradiated with laser light so that the matrix absorbs the energy of the laser light and evaporates together with the analyte, and the analyte is ionized by proton transfer between the matrix and the analyte. Although, currently, use of the MALDI-TOF mass spectroscopy is widely spreading in the fields of biological materials and synthesized macromolecules, techniques for enabling more precise analysis in the MALDI-TOF mass spectroscopy have been studied, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9(1997)-320515.
In the MALDI-TOF mass spectroscopy, the matrix, as well as the analyte, is ionized, so that the matrix material also fly, is detected, and produces noise. Therefore, the sensitivity in the mass spectroscopy is likely to be lowered by the noise.
In addition, although the MALDI-TOF technique can be used in mass spectroscopy of the biological materials and synthesized macromolecules, high-energy laser light is necessary. Since the high-energy laser-light source is currently expensive, the use of the MALDI-TOF technique increases the equipment cost and therefore increases the measurement cost.

Mass spectroscopy device and mass spectroscopy system


An interlock system for a circuit-interrupting device. The circuit-interrupting device includes a gearbox, a load-breaker in series with a visible disconnect, and an assembly driving the visible disconnect between an open state and a closed state. The interlock system includes a cam and a bias-driven follower. The cam is coupled to a shaft and is driven by the shaft between a first cam state when the load-breaker is in an open state and a second cam state when the load-breaker is in a closed state. The bias-driven follower has a first follower state when the cam is in the first cam state and has a second follower state when the cam is in the second cam state. In the second follower state, the bias-driven follower blocks movement of at least one component of the assembly. The cam and the bias-driver follower are positioned inside the gearbox.

Circuit-interrupting devices (i.e., switches) include load-breakers, such as vacuum interrupters, that are used to control the flow of electricity through the switch. For example, vacuum interrupters typically include a stationary contact, a moveable contact, and a mechanism for moving the movable contact. To open the electrical circuit defined by the switch, the movable contact is separated from the stationary contact.


A pad conditioner may include a surface having a first region including a portion having relatively irregular shaped and friable polishing particles, and a second region including a portion having relatively regular shaped and tough polishing particles. The relatively regular shaped and tough polishing particles may be provided on the edge portion of the surface and the relatively irregular shaped and friable polishing particles may be provided on the center portion of the surface.

1. Field of the Invention
Example embodiments of the present invention relate to a pad conditioner for a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) apparatus, and more particularly, to a pad conditioner that may improve performance of a polishing pad for a CMP polishing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
The manufacture of a semiconductor wafer may involve a CMP process. The CMP process may cause a scratch and/or some other defect in the wafer. For example, the CMP process may involve polishing a wafer using a polishing pad. Stress and/or impact may be applied to surfaces of the wafer and/or the polishing pad during the CMP process.
In a conventional CMP process, a wafer may be polished with a polishing pad and slurry may be supplied to the wafer. The slurry, by-products of the polishing, and/or a variety of foreign substances may be deposited on the surface of the polishing pad. Such deposits may cause degradation in a polishing rate, for example. Accordingly, a pad conditioner may be implemented to reduce a degradation in polishing performance. By way of example only, the pad conditioner may include particles of diamond and/or artificial diamond.
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a conventional pad conditioner 10.
Referring to FIG. 1, the pad conditioner 10 may have a surface supporting a polishing particle layer 12. The polishing particle layer 12 may include polishing particles adhered to the pad conditioner 10. The polishing particles may be artificial diamond particles, for example. The polishing particle layer 12 may be a mixture of various types of artificial diamond particles, as shown in Table 1 below.
Sample 1 (%)Sample 2 (%)Erect Type15.118.9Recumbent Type37.534.0Partially-Crushed Type32.832.7Irregular Type11.811.2Two-Particle Type2.83.2Total100.0100.0
Scratches and/or other defects generated during the CMP process may be caused by various factors, such as particles contained in the slurry, foreign substances, material characteristics and/or surface state of the polishing pad, and/or the artificial diamond particles being crushed and/or becoming detached from the pad conditioner. For example, the artificial diamond particles that may be crushed and/or detached from the pad conditioner may become interposed between the surfaces of the wafer and the polishing pad, possibly causing scratches and/or defects in the wafer.
As compared to the recumbent, the partially-crushed and the two-particle types of artificial diamond particles, the erect and the irregular types of artificial diamond particles may provide superior conditioning performance. However, the partially-crushed and the irregular types of artificial diamond particles may be more susceptible to being crushed, and the two-particle type of artificial diamond particles may be more susceptible to becoming detached from the pad conditioner. As can be appreciated from Table 1, the types of particles that may provide inferior conditioning performance (e.g., the recumbent, the partially-crushed and the two-particle types) and/or possibly cause wafer defects (e.g., the partially-crushed, the irregular and the two-particle types) may constitute a substantial portion of the particles in the polishing particle layer 12.
Various attempts have been implemented to improve the pad conditioner and associated polishing characteristics. In one example, a pad conditioner may include a first polishing particle layer having relatively small diamond particles fixed thereto and a second polishing particle layer having relatively large diamond particles fixed thereto. The first and the second polishing particle layers may form concentric circles. In another example, a pad conditioner may include a stepped surface having an upper portion and a lower portion. The same-sized artificial diamond particles may be adhered to the upper and the lower portions.

Pad conditioner for chemical mechanical polishing apparatus


A register having a security function is provided. The register includes: a write security unit and a storage unit. The write security unit outputs a first control signal to control whether a write operation is permissible, in response to a write signal, an address signal, and a write permission signal. The storage unit writes and stores input data, in response to the first control signal. The write permission signal is received from an external source and indicates whether to protect the written data.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a register, and more particularly, to a register which protects data and maintains security, and to a computer system including the register.
2. Discussion of Related Art
With advances in density and reliability of memory, storage device users have gained confidence in storing personal and vital data in them. Data security prevents stored data from being accessed by unauthorized parties. Data protection protects stored data that needs to be maintained from being deleted.
Conventional memory storage devices do not always restrict data reading and protect written data. For example, a separate protection circuit may be included in a conventional memory device to protect previously stored data. However, the stored data can then be arbitrarily accessed. Further, the addition of a separate protection circuit increases the entire area of the memory storage device.
Thus, there is a need for a register which maintains security and protection of data without including a separate protection circuit.

Register having security function and computer system including the same


Protective facilities in microphone inputs of a hearing device should be able to be exchanged in a more user-friendly manner. For this purpose, provision is made for a cover fixture for at least one microphone input of a hearing device with an essentially acoustically permeable protective facility to protect the at least one microphone input against solid particles. The cover fixture can be fixed to the surface of the hearing device in a friction-fitted or form-fitted manner. The cover fixture can however also be designed in one piece with the upper shell of the hearing device.

Hearing aid equipment and in particular behind-the-ear hearing devices and in-the-ear hearing devices are naturally compromised by contamination. The microphones or microphone inputs, if applicable, are primarily affected by the possible contaminations.
Contamination of the microphones of hearing devices generally leads to device failures, which frequently results in very expensive repairs.

Cover fixture for at least one microphone input of a hearing device