A dock leveling system adapted to be disposed in a pit is disclosed. A hinge member with a hinge pin receiving area and a hinge pin disposed in the hinge member defines a center of rotation. A deck that is rotatable about the hinge pin includes a curved portion with a constant radius and a center of curvature substantially similar to the center of the hinge pin. The curved portion defines an elevation that remains constant as the deck rotates about the hinge pin.

Dock levelers are often used to compensate for a height difference that can exist between a loading surface of a loading dock and the bed of a truck parked at the dock. A dock leveler system typically is mounted in a pit cut into the loading dock and includes a deck that is hinged at its back end to raise or lower the distal front end to generally match the height of the truck bed. A gap generally exists between the truck bed and the loading dock when the truck has backed up and is ready to be loaded or unloaded. An extension plate or lip can be pivotally coupled to the front end of the deck to bridge the gap. The deck and extended lip provide a path for a forklift truck or the like to travel from the loading dock onto the truck bed, thus facilitating loading or unloading of the truck.
If the bed of the truck is substantially at the same height as the floor of the loading dock, the deck elevation remains near a cross-traffic position. If the bed of the truck is higher than the loading dock floor, the deck can be rotated upward into an above dock position. It the bed of the truck is lower than the loading dock floor, the deck can be rotated into a below dock position. The deck can be used within a truck service range which is generally defined as a ±10% grade (or ±6° angularity).
As can be seen in FIG. 1, a typical dock leveling system 10 is shown in a stored position in a loading dock 12 of a building. In the stored position, also known as the cross-traffic position, the dock leveling system 10 is flush with the surrounding loading dock floor 13. The dock leveling system 10 is disposed in a pit 14 cut into the loading dock 12 and includes a deck 16 and a frame structure 18. The dock leveling system 10 defines a path indicated by arrows 20 that a forklift travels from the loading dock 12 into a truck to be loaded or unloaded. The deck 16 has a front end 22 and a back end 24, and the back end 24 defines a back edge 26 that extends the width of the deck 16. The deck 16 is strengthened by a plurality of stringers 28 that are approximately parallel to each other and run lengthwise from the front end 22 of the deck 16 to the back end 24. Extending downward from the back end 24 of the deck 16 are a plurality of extension members 30, each of which include a receiving hole 32. A deck 16 typically includes at least two pairs of extension members 30.
A lip 34 is connected to the front end 22 of the deck 16 by a lip hinge 36. The lip 34 is rotatable from a pendant position shown in FIG. 1 in which the lip 34 hangs downward, to an extended position in which the lip 34 extends substantially coplanar to the deck 16 and is able span the gap between the loading dock 12 and the bed of a truck to be unloaded.
The frame structure 18 includes a plurality of vertical uprights 38 upon each of which are disposed hinge members 40. The number of vertical uprights 38 generally corresponds to the number of pairs of extension members 30. Each hinge member 40 includes a hinge pin 42 disposed therethrough. Each hinge pin 42 also extends through a respective receiving hole 32 of one of the plurality of extension members 30, thereby rotatably connecting the deck 16 to the frame structure 18.
An upper member 41 is disposed on the hinge members 40. The upper member 41 can be a piece of angle iron and extend the entire width of the dock loading system 10. The upper member 41 includes a leading edge 43 opposite the back edge 26 of the deck 16.
Referring now to FIG. 2, the deck 16 is shown in the below-dock position. In this position, the deck 16 has been rotated about the hinge pins 42 so that the front end 22 of the deck 16 is lower than the back end 24. It is necessary to place the deck 16 in this position when the bed of a truck to be loaded or unloaded is lower than the floor of the loading dock 12.
As can be seen in FIG. 2, the back edge 26 of the back end 24 of the deck 16 extends rearwardly of the center of the hinge pins 42. Thus, when the front end 22 of the deck 16 is lowered, the back end 24 of the deck 16 is raised up a distance D1, thereby exposing the back edge 26 and creating an above dock floor projection 44 in the path 20 of a forklift traveling from the dock floor to the bed of a truck. Traveling over the projection 44 can be an annoyance to the driver of the forklift due to the amount of times the driver must enter and depart the truck in loading. The projection 44 can also cause damage to the wheels of the forklift. Furthermore, if a user is wheeling a hand truck into and out of the truck bed, the projection 44 can be difficult to overcome and cause jostling of the boxes being moved. In other situations, operators may be sliding skids along the ground into the truck. If an operator slides a skid into the exposed back edge 26, the skid cannot ride over the projection 44, and the skid can get damaged. This repeated impact can lead to damage of the rear hinge 40 of the dock leveling system 10.
Referring now to FIG. 3, the deck 16 is depicted in the above-dock position. In this example, the deck 16 can accommodate a truck that has a bed that is higher than the floor 13 of the loading dock 12. The deck 16 must then be rotated about the hinge pins 42 such that the front end 22 of the deck 16 is raised above the level of the bed of the truck. In this example, a hydraulic cylinder 46 is shown that can aid in the lifting and/or lowering of the deck 16.
Again, because the back edge 26 of the deck 16 extends rearwardly of the center of the hinge pins 42, when the front end 22 of the deck 16 is rotated upward, the back edge 26 is rotated down a distance D2, thus exposing the leading edge 43 of the upper member 41 of frame structure 18 and creating an above-deck projection 50 in the path 20 of the forklift. Again, when forklifts or skids exit towards the loading dock 12, they impact the exposed leading edge 43 of the upper member 41, possibly causing damage to the forklift wheels or the skids.
Assuming that there is no projection when the dock leveling system 10 is in the stored position, the prior art has attempted to reduce the projection 44 in the below dock position by changing the position of hinge members 40. If the hinge members 40 are lowered, the distance D1 will be lessened, and the projection 44 will be minimized. However, this will only exacerbate the projection 50 when the deck 16 is in the above-dock position. Because the hinge members 40 are lowered, when the deck 16 is in the above-dock position the distance D2 will be increased by the amount the hinge members 40 are lowered. The converse is also true in that if the hinge members 40 are raised, the projection 50 will be minimized in the above-dock position, but the projection 44 will be increased in the below dock position. Either approach does not produce a satisfactory solution.
For certain repairs to this type of dock leveler 10, the deck 16 can be rotated upward so that a technician can enter the pit 14 under the deck 16 and remove each of the individual hinge pins 42 from the extension members 30. In this manner, the deck 16 can be removed from the frame structure 18 to provide greater accessibility if required.
Another type of known dock leveling system, known as a Edge-of-Dock Leveler, or EOD, is depicted as structure 60 in FIG. 4. The EOD 60, described fully in U.S. Pat. No. 4,257,137, is fastened adjacent a loading dock 62 to the outside wall 64 of a building 66. The EOD 60 includes a mounting plate 68 fastened to the outside wall 64. The mounting plate 68 is connected to a deck 70 by a first piano hinge 72. In the piano hinge 72, as is known, a series of short tubes 74 extend from the top of the mounting plate 68 and are interengaged with a complementary series of short tubes 76 extending from the deck 70. The interengaged short tubes 74, 76 define a hollow tube that extends the width of the EOD 60. A rod (not shown) extends through the interengaged short tubes 74, 76 the width of the EOD 60 to define the first piano hinge 72. A lip plate 78 is connected to the deck 70 by a second piano hinge 80.
Extending outward from the building 66 on either side of the EOD 60 is a pair of bumper blocks 82. The bumper blocks 82 protect the building 66 from a truck that is backing up to the loading dock 62. The deck 70 and lip plate 78 are sized such that when the truck backs against the bumper blocks 82, the lip plate 78 can extend out into the bed of the truck.
In this situation, the first piano hinge 72 does not create a projection in the path of a forklift when the forklift is traveling into or out of the truck. However, due to the piano hinge construction and the bumper blocks 82 being placed on either side of the first piano hinge 72, the rod inside the first piano hinge 72 cannot be removed. Accordingly, the deck 70 cannot easily be removed to perform certain repairs or replacement.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide a dock leveling system that does not create a projection in the path of a forklift, and further provides an easily removable deck for repair or replacement purposes.
While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrative embodiments thereof have been shown in the drawings and will be described below in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the disclosure to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and the equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.


A signal processing channel and method are described for processing digital sample values corresponding to an incoming analog signal representative of coded binary data. An eight-sample look-ahead algorithm is used to precompute the values of functional expressions for a baseline check and for a peak-position check. These precomputed values are compared against appropriate thresholds to provide respective binary decision outputs which, with state values corresponding to the current state, are used to determine state values for the next state, which become the current state values for the next iteration of the clock cycle. During each of a series of successive clock cycles, one successive bit of coded binary data corresponding to said current sample value is decoded, and at the next clock cycle, the computed next state becomes the new current state. Sensitivity to missing or extra-bit errors is minimized and full advantage of a (1,7) run-length-limited code constraint is achieved. A phase check is not necessary.

The present invention describes an improvement to and extension of the channel signal processing method and means described in copending application U.S. Ser. No. 07/270,895, filed Nov. 14, 1988 and in the improvement thereto as described in copending application U.S. Ser. No. 07/470,020, filed Jan. 25, 1990.
The first cited copending application describes a five-sample look-ahead algorithm for processing sample values in a (1,7) coded partial response channel, when the pulse shapes are ideal; i.e., when the read response to the positive and negative magnetic transitions are the pulses with the sample values . . . ,0,2,4,2,0, . . . and . . . ,0,-2,-4,-2,0, . . . , respectively. It also shows how to adjust the test thresholds of the algorithm in order to accommodate variations in the pulse shape. The thresholds may be optimized empirically in response to the boundary crossings in actual test data. Alternatively, the thresholds can be expressed as a function of the sample values . . . ,0,.alpha..sub.1,.beta..sub.1,.gamma..sub.1,0, . . . and . . . ,0,-.alpha..sub.2,-.beta..sub.2,-.gamma..sub.2, 0, . . . in the positive and negative readback pulses.
A five-sample look-ahead algorithm was used for processing channel sample values y.sub.0,y.sub.1,y.sub.2,y.sub.3,y.sub.4 to decode the current sample value y.sub.0. This algorithm works well when all error modes are caused by similar noise circumstances. However, in specific applications, such as magnetic tape and optical recording, when the readback pulse is substantially reduced in amplitude during a media defect or distorted towards being too wide, the available distance is reduced for specific pairs of sequences of sample values. This increases the risk of peak shift errors, and the reliability performance of the decoder, in such case, is predominantly determined by the lower margin of error associated with these, sequences.
The second above-cited prior application describes an enhancement to the processing method just described. It involves precomputing a peak-position check including expressions using up to six-sample values y.sub.0 -y.sub.5 ahead of the then current sample value y.sub.0. Use of this six- (instead of five) sample look-ahead algorithm provides increased signal detection reliability and increased tolerance to readback pulse distortion by substantially reducing the exposure due to peak shift patterns. However, when these peak shift errors are removed, the primary concern shifts to patterns which are more sensitive to missing or extra bit errors, particularly in the presence of defects and nonlinearities.
A phase check is required in both of the above-cited signal processing methods in order to limit the propagation of detection errors.
There is a need for a signal processing method wherein this sensitivity to missing or extra bit errors can be minimized and wherein full advantage of a (1,7) run-length-limited code constraint can be achieved and the phase check can be eliminated.

Eight-sample look-ahead for coded signal processing channels

International Business Machines Corporation


A method for identifying barley with good brewing properties using the thermostability of the barley xcex2-amylase as an indicator. The thermostability of the barley xcex2-amylase significantly affects the degree of the apparent attenuation limit. A method for determining the enzyme activity of a extract solution from one barley seed, an indirect method by an isoelectric point, and an indirect identifying method by DNA polymorphisms of the region containing the xcex2-amylase structural gene have been developed as a method for determining the type of thermostability for a barley xcex2-amylase. The selection method is not affected by environmental or climatic conditions.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for identifying a barley variety using the thermostability of xcex2-amylase encoded by the barley as an indicator. The invention also relates to a method for identifying a barley for brewing using this thermostability of the xcex2-amylase as an indicator. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method of breeding method of a barley variety and a barley variety bred according to this breeding method, using the barley variety identified by the method of the present invention.
2. Description of the Background Art
Malting barley is conventionally bred using a traditional mating technique, for the most part comprising the following two steps. In the first step, individuals having different genotype are mated together and subsequently a selection is conducted from many resultant progeny lines based on desirable cultivation properties such as agricultural properties, adaptability to an environment, and resistance to disease, and a selected line is genetically fixed by growing. This step takes in the neighborhood of 5-6 years. After this long first step, in the second step, a malt analysis of many lines selected and grown in the first step is made, and only good barley lines are selected according to the result of the analysis of their brewing property. The selected barley lines are bred for malting barley.
In conventional barley breeding, however, survey and selection of brewing properties cannot be conducted during the first step. Therefore, a selection and breeding of agronomic character must be performed from grand scale mated progeny lines and then followed by genetic fixation. Moreover, the existence of a good barley line with favorable brewing properties is not guaranteed.
The breeding of a desirable line using this method largely depends on whether an individual breeder can identify a barley having a good brewing property using his experience and observations. Therefore, the breeding of a malting barley having the desired brewing properties must rely on the experience of a brilliant breeder.
Furthermore, the brewing property used as an indicator for selecting a good line in the conventional method largely depends on environmental and climatic conditions. Therefore, the evaluation of characteristics associated with brewing properties must be conducted over the course of several years.
As described above, the conventional method for breeding malting barley with improved brewing properties requires an experienced and skilled barley breeder. Further, even a highly skilled barley breeder requires a long breeding time and tremendous effort to identify malting barley having good brewing properties.
On the other hand, in the past, studies on biochemical differences of xcex2-amylase among barley varieties have been conducted, based on the knowledge that xcex2-amylase is a very important enzyme as a carbohydrase in the brewing of beer. These studies have indicated that there are differences in a gene region coding for xcex2-amylase among barley varieties (Tsuchiya et al. 1995, proceedings of EBC, 109-116). Further, it has been reported that barley varieties can be classified into two types by the isoelectric focusing pattern of xcex2- amylase (Eglinton et al. 1996, Proceedings of V IOC and VII IBGS, 8-10).
However, no relationship between the biological/biochemical properties of xcex2-amylase and the beer brewing property among barley varieties has been found.
As a result of considerable research effort, the inventors have found that there is a relationship between the biological property of xcex2-amylase and the beer brewing property among barley varieties. Using these findings, they have developed a method for identifying varieties that is not affected by natural environment such as climate and the brewing property can be evaluated early after the initiation of breeding.
As described above, the inventors have made numerous research efforts toward the method for identifying a character of interest, by which the breeding period and amount of labor in the breeding of barley is reduced. As a result of this, they have found that there are differences in the degree of a thermostability of xcex2-amylase enzyme activity among barley varieties, and that these differences in thermostability significantly influence the beer brewing property. Further, the research has revealed that the varieties can be identified by differences in thermostability of xcex2-amylase among barley varieties. According to these findings, the inventors have discovered a method for identifying and breeding barley varieties having a good brewing property, or suitability for brewing, using the thermostability of xcex2-amylase as an indicator.
Therefore, the inventive method for identifying barley varieties is characterized by identifying barley varieties, based on the thermostability of xcex2-amylase which the barley varieties encode. Therefore, barley varieties have different thermostability of xcex2-amylase respectively, and it is possible to identify varieties conveniently, based on this thermostability.
The term xe2x80x9cthermostabilityxe2x80x9d as described herein may be expressed as the term xe2x80x9cheat resistancexe2x80x9d which is used to indicate the remaining enzyme activity after heating. Specifically, the thermostability of xcex2-amylase can be expressed, based on the remaining enzyme activity after the heat treatment of, for example 57.5xc2x0 C. for 30 minutes. The treatment conditions are not limited to this temperature and time only but includes any temperature and heating time. Therefore, all such methods are included in the present invention, wherein the thermostability is determined by the remaining enzyme activity after heating and the varieties are identified, based on this thermostability.
Also, as described above, the inventors have discovered that the thermostability of xcex2- amylase significantly influences the brewing property, and have developed a method for identifying a more suitable barley variety for brewing. Therefore, the inventive method for identifying a barley variety allows the selection of a barley variety having a good brewing property by selecting a variety with a greater thermostability of xcex2-amylase.
For example, a suitable variety for brewing is a barley which retains 20% or more, preferably 30% or more, more preferably 40% or more, of the activity of non-heated xcex2- amylase after heating sample such as an extract solution of barley at the above 57.5xc2x0 C. for 30 minutes. This temperature, however, is illustrative only, and the thermostability also can be determined at other than this temperature, and the determination of the thermostability by different temperature and treatment time is included in the present invention.
As described above, unlike the conventional method depending on the experience of a breeder, the present invention makes it possible to objectively identify a variety with a preferable brewing property, based on a physical property of the thermostability of xcex2-amylase of a barley in breeding. This makes it possible to simply and certainly select a barley variety with a preferable brewing property.
Further, the inventors have found that there is a correlation between the thermostability of xcex2-amylase and the isoelectric point value of xcex2-amylase and have also found that the gene coding for xcex2-amylase (the xcex2-amylase gene) has polymorphisms among varieties and that there is a correlation between these polymorphisms and xcex2-amylase. Therefore, these findings allow indirect measurement based on isoelectric points or gene sequences rather than direct measurement of the thermostability of xcex2-amylase which each barley variety possesses. In recent years, advancements in biotechnology have caused the development and improvement of various analytical apparatus and the like, and, by utilizing these, simple measurement based on the isoelectric points or gene sequences, rather than direct measurement of the thermostability, is possible. This in turn makes it possible to more easily identify and select a barley variety with a good brewing property. Of course, these methods for indirectly measuring the thermostability may be employed alone, while it is possible to more effectively identify a desired variety, by combining these methods.
The determination of the above-described thermostability may be conducted using an enzyme solution or nucleic acid solution collected from each barley variety. More particularly, when determining the thermostability after heating, or when determining the isoelectric point, the enzyme solution collected from seeds or the like of each barley variety can be used. These seeds for obtaining the enzyme solution can be used in any growth stage, but fully ripe seeds are preferably used. Further, when determining polymorphisms of xcex2- amylase, the nucleic acid solution collected from tissues and cells of, for example, green leaves of each barley variety can be utilized. Any growth stage of tissues and cells can be used herein, regardless of their growth stage. Therefore, by obtaining the enzyme solution or nucleic acid solution from an early growth stage of barley, it is possible to dramatically shorten the time required to judge as compared to a conventional method, and it is possible to rapidly identify a variety with a brewing property. This allows not only an advantage with respect to time-saving but also reduces of the cost of examination associated with the conventional method.
Further, a barley variety having the desired thermostability of xcex2-amylase, or a barley variety with a good brewing property or greater suitability for brewing can be bred according to the present invention. As a result of this, it is possible to maintain, improve, or develop the quality of a beer product by utilizing the barley variety bred herein for manufacturing beer.
Moreover, it is possible to provide a better brewed product by using the barley variety having such good brewing property for manufacturing the brewed product.
A more complete appreciation of the present invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the following drawings.

Method for identifying a barley variety and a barley having a brewing property


When a first server node fails in a cluster system, a client node device transmits failure detection information to a second server node device. Upon receipt of the failure detection information, the second server node device transmits a survival confirmation request to the first server node device. When receiving no survival confirmation response from the first server node device, the second server node device determines that the first server node device has failed and starts the switching control of a server node device which performs a service process. Upon receipt of failure detection information, the second server node device starts switching control when further receiving failure detection information from another client node device.

In a conventional cluster system composed of a plurality of service servers, generally a node failure detection method by a heart beat signal is adopted. In this method a heart beat packet is transmitted from each service server to other service servers via a dedicated interconnect LAN (local area network) and when no response packet is received from a specific service server for a certain time, the failure of the service server is detected.
However, the node failure detection method by a heart beat signal has the following problems.
(1) Misdetection
In a cluster system, even when a service process itself is normally performed, sometimes a heart beat signal is not normally transmitted/received due to the partial failure of an operating system (OS) and the like. In this case, the failure of a system state not directly related to a service is detected and even in a state where the service process can be actually continued, node switching occurs.
(2) Detection Time
The node failure detection method by a heart beat signal requires fairly much detection time. Then, if a timer is set short in order to shorten the detection time, the misdetection of (1) is promoted. Therefore, there is a high risk that unnecessary node switching occurs.
The following Patent document 1 relates to a cluster system for determining whether a process can be continued by using a service processor for monitoring failure occurrence in a node and Patent document 2 relates to a cluster system in which a management server collectively manages node information by an agent mounted on each node communicating with the management server.    Patent document 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No: 09-034852    Patent document 2: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No: 2004-334534

Cluster system and node switching method


A polarization independent optical phase modulator comprises first and second substrates. A reflector is disposed between the first and second substrates and a quarterwave plate is disposed between the reflector and the first substrate. A polarization dependent electrooptic layer is disposed between the quarterwave plate and the first substrate. The quarterwave plate has an optic axis which is aligned at 45 degrees to the polarization whose phase is modulated by the electrooptic layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a polarisation independent optical phase modulator. Such a modulator may be used to provide adaptive phase modulation to allow active manipulation of light, for instance for applications such as interferometry, deflection such as beam steering, imaging such as forming a Fresnel lens, and analogue modulation of diffracted light, for instance to provide a diffraction-based projection display.
2. Description of the Related Art
Eschler et al, "Liquid Crystal Light Valves for Schlieren Optical Projection", Displays, Volume 16, page 35, 1995 discloses a polarisation independent optical phase modulator comprising an electrooptic modulator, a retarder or static waveplate, and a mirror. The use of such a modulator in a diffraction-based projection system is also disclosed. The electrooptic modulator comprises a nematic liquid crystal device acting as a phase modulator. The nematic liquid crystal is untwisted and has antiparallel alignment so that, when an electric field is applied across the liquid crystal layer, the molecules tilt in a plane perpendicular to the layer so as to vary the retardation of light passing through the layer.
The waveplate is a static quarterwave plate whose optic axis is aligned at 45 degrees to the alignment direction of the nematic liquid crystal. The quarterwave plate is disposed between the electrooptic modulator and the mirror.
Operation of the phase modulator is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings. The reflective light path has been shown "unfolded" about fold plane FP so as to illustrate the operation more clearly. An arrow 1 illustrates the direction of light propagation through the device. A single arbitrary polarisation state of an unpolarised light beam is represented by orthogonally polarised components 2 and 3 having a phase difference .phi. between them. The light passes through the electrooptic modulator shown at 4 and the vertically polarised component 2 is delayed by 2.pi..DELTA.nd/.lambda. relative to the horizontally polarised component, where .DELTA.n is the birefringence of the electrooptic material of the modulator 4, d is the thickness of the modulator 4, and .lambda. is the wavelength of the light.
The mirror and quarterwave plate act as a static halfwave plate 5 whose optic axis is aligned at 45 degrees to the alignment direction of the modulator 4. The polarisations of the components 2 and 3 are therefore "reflected" about the optic axis as a result of passage through the halfwave plate formed by the quarterwave plate and the reflector. The light then passes again through the electrooptic modulator shown at 6, where the vertically polarised component 3 has its phase delayed by 2.pi..DELTA.nd/.lambda.. Thus, the components 2 and 3 both experience the same phase delay and remain orthogonal, but are reflected about the axis of the waveplate. Thus, although the electrooptic modulator provides polarisation dependent phase modulation, the change in polarisation produced by the halfwave plate 5 causes both polarisation components to experience the same phase modulation. The device therefore acts as a polarisation independent optical phase modulator. In particular, unpolarised incident light can always be resolved into a linear sum of polarisation states, each described by two orthogonally polarised beams. As described above, the device phase modulates any arbitrary polarisation state independently of what that state is so that the device modulates all states by the same amount. Therefore it will operate on unpolarised light.
In this known phase modulator, the electrooptic modulator, the quarterwave plate, and the reflector are embodied as separate optical elements. The device is arranged as a plurality of individually controllable picture elements (pixels) so as to provide spatial phase modulation, for instance resulting in a diffractive optical device whose diffraction properties are controllable. However, because of the effects of parallax between the separate optical elements, relatively large pixels are required in order to permit a usable range of incident angles. This problem of the known device is illustrated in FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings. Where the phase modulator is used with an optical system 7, for instance forming part of a projection display, the orthogonal polarisation components are imaged into different planes. The polarisation component 2 is optically modulated by the electrooptic modulator at the position 4 whereas the component 3 is modulated at the position 6. The images of the two orthogonal polarisations are therefore formed in the distinct image planes shown at 8 and 9.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,912,369 discloses a reflective liquid crystal display having a liquid crystal cell, a quarterwave plate, and a reflector. The liquid crystal cell, the wave plate and the reflector are provided as separate elements, with the wave plate and reflector being disposed outside the liquid crystal cell.
A spatial light modulator using ferroelectric liquid crystal technology is disclosed in a paper entitled "Diffractive Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Shutters for Unpolarised Light" by M. J. O'Callaghan and M. A. Handschy, Optics Letters, Volume 16 No. 10, May 1995, pages 770 to 772. The spatial light modulator disclosed in this paper is switchable between a first state in which it transmits incident light and a second state in which it acts as a phase diffraction grating.
Another spatial light modulator is disclosed in a paper entitled "Improved Transmission in a Two-Level, Phase Only, Spatial Light Modulator" by M. A. A. Neal and E. G. S. Page, Electron. Lett. 30 (5) pages 465-466 1994. This paper discloses a spatial light modulator which is switchable between a transmissive mode and a diffractive mode in which alternate strips of the modulator rotate unpolarised light by plus and minus 45 degrees and an associated halfwave retarder further rotates all the polarisation components of the light so as to provide phase-only modulation.
FIGS. 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings show a reflection-mode diffractive spatial light modulator (SLM) of the type disclosed in GB 9611993.8 (publication No. 2 313 920). The SLM comprises a rectangular array of rectangular or substantially rectangular picture elements, only one of which is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The SLM comprises upper and lower glass substrates 11 and 12. The upper substrate 11 is coated with a transparent conducting layer of indium tin oxide (ITO) which is etched to form elongate interdigitated electrodes 13. The electrodes 13 are covered with an alignment layer 14 for a ferroelectric liquid crystal material.
A combined mirror and electrode 15 is formed on the glass substrate 12 and a static quarterwave plate 16 is formed on the silver mirror and electrode 15. The thickness of the plate 16 is controlled so that it acts as a quarterwave plate for a predetermined bandwidth in the visible spectrum, for instance centred about 633 nanometers.
A further alignment layer 17 is formed on the quarterwave plate 16. The substrates 11 and 12 are then spaced apart and stuck together so as to form a cell which is filled with the ferroelectric liquid crystal material to form a layer 18. The spacing provides a layer of ferroelectric liquid crystal material which provides a halfwave of retardation so that the liquid crystal layer acts as a halfwave retarder whose optic axis is switchable as described hereinafter.
For each pixel, the electrode 15 acts as a common electrode which is connectable to a reference voltage line, for instance supplying zero volts, for strobing data to be displayed at the pixel. Alternate ones of the elongate electrodes 13 are connected together to form first and second sets of parallel interdigitated electrodes which are connected to receive suitable data signals. Each pixel is switchable between a reflective state and a diffractive state as described hereinafter.
FIG. 5 of the accompanying drawings illustrates diagrammatically the operation of adjacent strips of the pixel shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 when the pixel is in the diffractive mode. The optical path through each pixel is folded by reflection at the mirror 15 but, for the sake of clarity, the path is shown unfolded in FIG. 5. The SLM acts on unpolarised light, which may be split into components of orthogonal polarisations for the sake of describing operation of the SLM. One of the component polarisations is shown at 20 in FIG. 5 and is at an angle -.phi. with respect to a predetermined direction 21.
Voltages which are symmetrical with respect to the reference voltage on the electrode 15 are applied to the first and second sets of alternating interdigitated electrodes 13a and 13b. Thus, ferroelectric liquid crystal material strips 18a and 18b disposed between the electrodes 13a and 13b and the electrode 15 have optic axes aligned at angles of -.theta. and +.theta., respectively, with respect to the direction 21, where .theta. is preferably approximately equal to 22.5 degrees.
Each strip 18a of ferroelectric liquid crystal material acts as a halfwave retarder so that the polarisation of the light component leaving the strip 18a is at an angle of .phi.-2.theta. with respect to the direction 21. The light component then passes through the static quarterwave plate 16, is reflected by the mirror 15, and again passes through the static quarterwave plate 16, so that the combination of the quarterwave plate 16 and the mirror 15 acts as a halfwave retarder whose optic axis is parallel to the direction 21. The polarisation direction of light leaving the quarterwave plate 16 and travelling towards the ferroelectric liquid crystal material is "reflected" about the optic axis of the quarterwave plate and thus forms an angle 2.theta.-.phi. with respect to the direction 21. The light component then again passes through the strip 18a of ferroelectric liquid crystal material so that the output polarisation as shown at 24 is at an angle of .phi.-4.theta. with respect to the direction 21. Thus, for each input component of arbitrary polarisation direction -.phi., the optical path through the SLM via each of the strips 18a of ferroelectric liquid crystal material is such that the polarisation direction is rotated by -4.theta.. This optical path therefore rotates the polarisation of unpolarised light by -4.theta., which is substantially equal to -90 degrees.
Each strip 18b of ferroelectric liquid crystal material acts as a halfwave retarder and rotates the polarisation direction to .phi.+2.theta.. The fixed halfwave retarder formed by the combination of the quarterwave plate 16 and the mirror 15 rotates the direction of polarisation of the light component so that it makes an angle of -2.theta.-.phi. with respect to the direction 21. The final passage through the strip 18b rotates the polarisation direction to .phi.+4.theta. as shown at 25. Light of the orthogonal polarisation has its polarisation rotated in the same way. Thus, unpolarised light passing through the strips 18b has its polarisation rotated by +4.theta., which is substantially equal to +90 degrees.
Light reflected through each of the strips 18b is out of phase by 180 degrees with respect to light passing through each of the strips 18a when the electrodes 13b and 13a are connected to receive data signals of opposite polarity. In this state, the pixel acts as a phase-only diffraction grating and the pixel operates in the diffractive mode. Because of the bistable characteristics of ferroelectric liquid crystals, it is necessary only to supply the data signals in order to switch the strips 18a and 18b to the different modes illustrated in FIG. 5.
In order for the pixel to operate in the reflective mode, it is necessary to switch either or both sets of strips 18a and 18b so that their optic axes are parallel. Unpolarised light incident on the pixel is then substantially unaffected by the ferroelectric liquid crystal material and the quarterwave plate 16 and is subjected to specular reflection by the mirror and electrode 15. Each pixel is therefore switchable between a transmissive mode, in which light is specularly reflected or "diffracted" into the zeroth diffraction order, and a diffractive mode, in which light incident on the pixel is diffracted into the non-zero diffraction orders.
Such a diffractive SLM can be used with unpolarised light and provides increased optical modulation efficiency compared with SLMs which require polarised light.
FIG. 6 of the accompanying drawings illustrates a projection display using an SLM 30 of the type shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The SLM 30 is illuminated by an unpolarised light source 31 via a mirror 32. A projection optical system 33 projects an image displayed by the SLM 30 onto a screen 34.
Light from the light source 31 is reflected by the mirror 32 so as to be incident normally on the SLM 30. Each pixel which is in the reflective mode reflects the incident light normally back to the mirror 32 so that the reflected light is not projected by the system 33. Thus, a "dark" pixel is imaged on the screen 34 by the system 33. Each pixel in the diffractive mode deflects the incident light into the non-zero diffraction orders, mainly into the positive and negative first orders as illustrated by light rays 35 and 36. The light from each such pixel is thus imaged to a "bright" pixel on the screen 34.

Polarization independent optical phase modulator


A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor layer (2) and a dielectric stack (3) on the semiconductor layer. A plurality of etchant openings (24-1,2 . . . ) are formed through the dielectric stack (3) for passage of etchant for etching a plurality of overlapping sub-cavities (4-1,2 . . . ), respectively. The etchant is introduced through the etchant openings to etch a composite cavity (4) in the semiconductor layer by simultaneously etching the plurality of overlapping sub-cavities into the semiconductor layer.

The present invention relates generally to structures and methods for strengthening/supporting dielectric membranes which extend over the over cavities in integrated circuit devices, and more particularly to use of various sizes, shapes, and relative locations of etchant openings in the dielectric membranes through which to introduce etchant for etching the cavities.
This invention is closely related to the assignee's pending application "INFRARED SENSOR STRUCTURE AND METHOD" by Walter B. Meinel and Kalin V. Lazarov, Ser. No. 12/380,316, filed Feb. 26, 2009, and incorporated herein by reference.
Integrated semiconductor sensors can make use of SiO2 membrane structures which extend from, or "overhang" from, a silicon base or the like, for example, to cover a cavity etched into the silicon base. Such membrane structures tend to be fragile and therefore susceptible to damage during assembly operations which occur after formation of the membrane structures. For example, to achieve maximum sensitivity, the cavity openings covered by the SiO2 membrane in the infrared sensors described in the above mentioned Meinel et al. application should be as large as possible, but unfortunately this causes. the SiO2 membrane to be more fragile.
The closest prior art is believed to include the article "Investigation Of Thermopile Using CMOS Compatible Process and Front-Side Si Bulk Etching" by Chen-Hsun-Du and Chengkuo Lee, Proceedings of SPIE Vol. 4176 (2000), pp. 168-178, incorporated herein by reference. Infrared thermopile sensor physics and measurement of IR radiation using thermopiles are described in detail in this reference. Prior Art FIG. 1 herein shows the CMOS-processing-compatible IR sensor integrated circuit chip in FIG. 1 of the foregoing article. "Prior Art" FIG. 1 herein is similar to drawing, and Prior FIG. 1B herein shows the top perspective view of the same IR sensor integrated circuit chip illustrated in FIG. 2 of the foregoing article.
Referring to Prior Art FIG. 1A herein, the IR sensor chip includes a silicon substrate 2 having a CMOS-processing-compatible dielectric (SiO2) stack 3 thereon including a number of distinct sub-layers. A N-type polysilicon (polycrystalline silicon) trace 11 and an aluminum trace M1 in dielectric stack 3 form a first "thermopile junction" where one end of the polysilicon trace and one end of the aluminum trace are connected. Additional oxide layers and additional metal traces also may be included in dielectric stack 3. An oxide passivation layer 12A is formed on top of dielectric stack 3, and a nitride passivation layer 12B is formed on oxide passivation layer 12A. A number of silicon etchant openings 24 extend through nitride passivation layer 12 and dielectric stack 3 to the top surface of silicon substrate 2 and are used to etch a cavity 4 in silicon substrate 2 underneath the portion of dielectric stack 3 in which the thermopile is formed, to thermally isolate it from silicon substrate 2.
Prior Art FIG. 1A is taken along section line 1A-1A of Prior Art FIG. 1B, which is essentially similar to FIG. 2 of the above mentioned Du and Lee reference. Cavity 4 is etched underneath SiO2 stack 3 by means of silicon etchant introduced through the various etchant openings 24, which are relatively large and irregular. FIG. 1B shows various metal-polysilicon strips MP1 each of which includes an aluminum strip M1 and a polysilicon strip 11 which makes electrical contact to the aluminum strip M1 as shown in FIG. 1B. The metal strips M1 run parallel to the polysilicon strips 11 and, except for the electrical contact between them as shown in FIG. 1A, are separated from polysilicon strips 11 by a sublayer of SiO2 stack 3. Although not shown in FIG. 1A, the dielectric material directly above metal strips M1 actually has corresponding steps which are indicated by reference numerals MP2 in FIG. 1B. The relatively large etchant openings 24 and their various angular shapes cause the "floating" membrane consisting of the various metal-polysilicon strips MP1 and the central section 3A of SiO2 stack 3 supported by metal-polysilicon strips MP1 to be very fragile. Such fragility ordinarily results in an unacceptably large number of device failures during subsequent wafer fabrication, subsequent packaging, and ultimate utilization of the IR sensor of FIGS. 1A and 1B.
A second thermopile junction (not shown) is also formed in dielectric stack 3 directly over a silicon substrate 2 and is not thermally isolated from silicon substrate 2 and therefore is at the same temperature as silicon substrate 2. The first and second thermopile junctions are connected in series and form a single "thermopile". The various silicon etchant openings 24 are formed in regions in which there are no polysilicon or aluminum traces, as shown in the dark areas in FIG. 2 of the Du and Lee article.
Incoming IR radiation indicated by arrows 5 in Prior Art FIG. 1 impinges on the "front side" or "active surface" of the IR sensor chip. (The "back side" of the chip is the bottom surface of silicon substrate 2 as it appears in Prior Art FIG. 1.) The incoming IR radiation 5 causes the temperature of the thermopile junction supported on the "floating" portion of dielectric membrane 3 located directly above cavity 4 to be greater than the temperature of the second thermopile junction (not shown) in dielectric membrane 3 which is not insulated by cavity 4.
When performing silicon etching by introducing silicon etchant through openings in a dielectric layer of a semiconductor device wherein the etching undercuts the dielectric layer to provide a cavity underneath the dielectric layer, the resulting undercut dielectric membrane is very fragile and can be damaged during further processing of the semiconductor device. It also is desirable to be able to prevent dirt or fluids from entering into the cavity through openings. During subsequent wafer processing, a jet of water typically is directed onto the wafer surface to clean it during wafer sawing operations. This causes high stress in the SiO2 membrane over the etched cavity. The high stress may exceed the SiO2 membrane strength, and cavitation which occurs during the wafer sawing may further amplify the stresses therein. Cracks may propagate from high stress points in the SiO2 membrane across portions thereof supporting conductors and/or other circuit elements fabricated within the SiO2 membrane. Such cracks may result in integrated circuit device failure or unreliable device operation.
Furthermore, the performance of circuit elements fabricated within the dielectric membrane depends on having only air, which has a very low dielectric constant, underneath the dielectric membrane.
It would be highly desirable to provide integrated circuit devices which include fragile dielectric membranes that extend over cavities and which are more economical and more robust than those known in the prior art.
It is well-known that the upper limit of the operating frequency of an integrated circuit is often determined by the amount of parasitic capacitance associated with circuit elements such as resistors and/or capacitors and/or inductors therein. It would be very beneficial to be able to substantially lower such parasitic capacitance.
It would be highly desirable to provide integrated circuit devices which include fragile "cantilevered" dielectric membranes and which are more economical and more robust than those known in the prior art. It also would be highly desirable to provide robust integrated circuits that are operable at higher RF frequencies than previously have been economically achievable.
There is an unmet need for integrated circuit devices which include fragile "cantilevered" dielectric membranes and which are more robust than those known in the prior art.
There also is an unmet need for an IR radiation sensor which includes a fragile "cantilevered" dielectric membrane and which is more robust than those known in the prior art.
There also is an unmet need for a CMOS-processing-compatible IR radiation sensor chip which is substantially more robust than those of the prior art.
There also is an unmet need for an improved method of fabricating an IR radiation sensor.
There also is an unmet need for a robust, economical integrated circuit that is operable at higher RF frequencies than have been previously achievable for similar integrated circuits.
There also is an unmet need for a way of providing a circuit component having reduced parasitic capacitance in an integrated circuit.
There also is an unmet need for a way of providing a resistor and/or a capacitor and/or an inductor having reduced parasitic capacitance in an integrated circuit.

Etching cavity structures in silicon under dielectric membrane


There is provided a new technology that will allow the formulation of pharmaceutically active organic acid products at relatively high pH during storage. This affords the advantages of avoiding formulation with the acid form of the product, yet when the product is used, the pH will be reduced via a chemical reaction, thus forming the organic acid which is the active form of the product. A by-product of the reaction is a significant increase in temperature, thus adding to the efficacy of the organic acid.

Organic acids are widely used in personal care products to treat a number of skin conditions. Examples include, salicylic acid for treatment of acne vulgaris, lactic or glycolic acid for treatment of dry skin, and undecylenic acid for athlete's foot. However, use of these acids in their acidic form often presents specific problems with product stability, interaction with packaging materials, fragrance interactions, solubility issues, off-odor issues, etc.

Low pH pharmacologically active products and methods for the production thereof


A digital decision feedback equalizer utilizes a finite impulse response (FIR) filter and an infinite impulse response (IIR) filter in parallel in the feedback path. The FIR filter compensates for the rapidly changing region of the channel impulse response immediately following the cursor while the IIR filter compensates for the gradually decaying tail of the impulse response of the channel. Modifications of a sequential identification algorithm are used to adapt the filter sections. In particular, in one modification, the inputs to both the poles and zeros sections of the IIR filter are prefiltered by an all-pole filter, where the poles of this filter are the current pole estimates. In another modification, the order of the zeros section of the IIR filter and the all-pole filter are reversed, and the zeros section is adapted using the least mean squares algorithm. A recursive least squares algorithm with exponential fading can be used to adapt the poles and/or zeros section of the IIR filter.

Decision feedback equalizers have been used to recover digital signals after transmission over narrow band channels. If the intersymbol interference caused by such a channel is represented by its impulse response, this impulse response includes a positive maxima, called the "cursor" and representing the preferred data signal, and an extended region extending on both sides of the maxima. Precursor intersymbol interference signals (preceding the cursor) are typically canceled by an in-line filter in the received signal path while the post cursor intersymbol interference is canceled by an adaptive feedback filter. It has been proposed in the copending application of the present applicants, Ser. No. 392,773, filed Aug. 11, 1989, now matured into U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,194, issued Jul. 9, 1991, and assigned to applicants' assignee, to break the post-cursor region of the impulse response into two contiguous regions, a rapidly varying region compensated by a finite impulse response (FIR) and a slowly changing tail region compensated by an infinite impulse response (IIR), or pole-zero filter. The FIR filter includes a moderate number of taps since the intersymbol interference due to the rapidly varying region is limited. The IIR filter, although canceling a much longer region, has only a few taps because the tail of the impulse response is accurately modeled by a two-pole filter section. Both the FIR filter and the IIR filter are adapted using the equation error algorithm. It is to be noted that the equation error minimized in the abovenoted patent application is not the true performance criterion. The configuration described therein trades residual intersymbol interference, caused by a biased channel estimate, for noise enhancement, caused by a longer prefilter.
J. J. Shynk in "Adaptive IIR Filtering," IEEE ASSP Magazine, Vol. 6, No. 2, pages 4-21, April 1989, and C. R. Johnson, in "Adaptive IIR Filtering: Current Results and Open Issues," IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, Vol. IT-30, No. 2, pages 237-250, March 1984, have described the use a gradient algorithm to adapt IIR filters in other applications. Unfortunately, in this algorithm, the coefficients of the filters are strongly interdependent, resulting in very slow convergence.
It has also been proposed to use an identification algorithm for adapting infinite impulse response filters in another context by K. Steiglitz and L. McBride in "A Technique for the Identification of Linear Systems," IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, Vol. AC-10, pages 461-464, October, 1965. Unfortunately, this algorithm is designed for use with stored blocks of data and is not useful for serial sequential data as is found in subscriber loop data transmission. Moreover, this algorithm is computationally expensive.
A sequential version of the identification algorithm of the Steiglitz and McBride article is proposed by H. Fan and W. K. Jenkins in "A New Adaptive IIR Filter," IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems, Vol. CAS-33, No. 10, pages 939-947, October, 1986. Unfortunately this sequential identification algorithm converges no more quickly than the gradient algorithm described above.

Wideband digital equalizers for subscriber loops


The present invention provides a firearm bullet button magazine release tool assembly with a tool tip and a stabilizing base. The tool tip is configured to activate a firearm magazine release assembly thereby releasing a detachable magazine. The stabilizing base increases stability, and secures the tool tip to the magazine body. The magazine release assembly also includes a threaded rod to provide mechanical stiffness to the tool tip, and is coupled to a magazine body or a magazine attachment. The tool tip can be rounded and tapered to aid insertion into and withdrawal from the magazine release assembly of the firearm. The magazine release assembly can also include a buffer to provide flexibility for absorbing impact forces without permanent damage.

The present invention relates to systems and methods for releasing detachable magazines from firearms without have to carry and use an extra tool.
Different types of firearms and firearm accessories have increased steadily over time in both functionality and flexibility, and today, there is a wide variety of firearms and accessories available. Innovation in the firearms industry is also driven by legislative trends, as firearm owners are required to respond by limiting the functionality of their firearms and/or accessories.
In recent times, Federal and/or State laws have limited features of semi-automatic firearms and/or also the capacity of firearm magazines. For example, in some jurisdictions, the use of detachable magazines with semi-automatic rifles is strictly regulated. To comply, the magazine release mechanism of these semi-automatic rifles has to be modified to work only with a tool such as the bullet tip of a rifle cartridge. One common solution for semi-automatic AR-15 variants is to install a bullet button magazine release to prevent the user from being able to release a magazine by solely using a finger.
Unfortunately, having to carry and use a separate tool, e.g., a rifle cartridge, for loading and reloading slows down the process significantly and also introduces unnecessary complexity to the process. In addition, using the bullet tip of a rifle cartridge repeatedly as a magazine release tool is likely to adversely affect the functionality and/or accuracy of the cartridge.
It is therefore apparent that an urgent need exists for user-friendly tools for releasing magazines from semi-automatic rifles, preferably without a need for carrying around extra tools. These improved magazine release tools should enable users to quickly and effectively release magazines from rifles without lugging around extra tools or risk damage to rifle cartridges.

Systems and methods for releasing detachable firearm magazines


A firearm cartridge has a case configured with a relatively straight-walled portion and a shoulder portion for housing a quantity of propellant. The case further includes a neck for retaining a bullet. The straight-walled portion defines a base cavity having an interior base diameter. The interior base diameter is approximately twice or more the neck diameter. The diameter ratios of the base and neck optimize combustion efficiency to reduce heat and acceleration losses. The cartridge body cavity is sized and configured to contain a sufficient quantity of propellant such that igniting the propellant causes formation of a propellant plug having a diameter that is approximately the diameter of the bullet, and wherein the propellant plug shears free from unburned propellant that is disposed adjacent the relatively straight-walled body portion.

The invention is directed to cartridges and corresponding chambers for use with firearms of various sizes, and preferably with rifles and long guns having a barrel length greater than about 18 inches.
Firearm technology has advanced from the early muzzleloader wherein black powder and projectiles where separately loaded into the muzzle of a firearm barrel. Modern firearms use a cartridge which includes a case, housing a propellant, a primer, and a projectile. Cartridges have greatly reduced the frequency of misfires that were commonly experienced with case-less ammunition. For rifle and handgun ammunition the case is typically but not necessarily metallic, such as brass, aluminum or steel. A case may or may not utilize a shoulder disposed below a case neck. The case neck retains a projectile. Configured with a shoulder, the case body may have a larger interior diameter than the projectile. For shotgun ammunition, the case is typically paper or plastic with a metal head and is called a shell. The primer is the ignition component which is affixed to the case in a manner to be in communication with the propellant through a flash hole. The primer includes pyrotechnic material such as metallic fulminate or lead styphnate and may be located within the center base of the case or on a rim. Larger cartridges may utilize a "spit tube" extending along the centerline of the case as an ignition aid.
The rear portion of a firearm barrel includes a chamber which is designed to receive the cartridge. The firearm includes a firing mechanism that drives a firing pin or an electrical charge to ignite the pyrotechnic material in the primer. A combustion process is initiated within the cartridge when the primer ignites. Hot high-pressure gases and particulates are produced by ignition of the primer pyrotechnic. The gases exit through a flash hole or holes into the case, which contains the propellant and trapped air. The propellant is typically a combustible powder having various configurations of granules or grains. The propellant and entrained air not ignited by the primer-blast is compressed into a solid mass having the characteristics of a very viscous fluid having excellent compressive strength but little shear strength.
Firearm cartridges are divided into two basic types, straight-walled and bottlenecked, which are distinct in shape and function. Straight-walled cases are so named because they have a cylindrical or slightly tapered shape with an inside diameter equal to or slightly greater than the projectile diameter. Bottlenecked or shouldered cases are so named because they taper from a base to a frusto-conical shoulder and neck which holds the projectile.
The straight-walled and bottlenecked cartridge shapes have distinctly different combustion characteristics and efficiencies. In the straight-walled case, propellant that was not initially ignited by the primer, burns from the aft, or flash hole, end forward with most of the propellant following the projectile into the barrel bore. The propellant along the case wall, although sheared away from the case wall by projectile movement, may not ignite because the case wall has up to 400 times the thermal conductivity of the propellant. This has the effect of cooling and quenching ignition at the case wall in addition to causing significant heat loss to the cartridge case and gun chamber.
Acceleration losses are high and powder burn rates must be very fast to minimize such losses. Any propellant not consumed before the projectile leaves the muzzle will be expelled and cannot contribute to projectile acceleration. Heat losses caused by burning propellant in the barrel are very high.
The bottlenecked or shouldered case is somewhat more efficient. As propellant is ignited at the primer flash hole or holes, a shock wave moves through the propellant that compresses and heats the propellant. The shock wave is partially reflected off the case shoulder toward a central interior portion of the case. As pressure behind the shock wave begins to move the projectile, the propellant plug approximately the diameter of the projectile is sheared away from the body of the charge. Ignition along the resulting shear surface is rapid because only an infinitesimal gas path out of the shear layer exists causing a rapid pressure and temperature buildup. The portion of the propellant plug which is exposed to the case neck can only burn from the aft end forward due to the quenching effect of the case neck and later the barrel bore.
Burning rates for propellants used in the bottleneck case must be slower because of the additional burning surface of the propellant plug and exposed propellant shear surface. In the region where unignited powder exists, exposure of the case wall to combustion gas occurs when the propellant is consumed. As this material burns forward from the base and through from the interior surface, more of the case is exposed to direct heating, therefore, heat loss increases. Thus, heat and acceleration losses are lower with the bottleneck case but are still excessive. Ballistic calculations utilize empirically derived coefficients drawn from the vivacity curve, such as progressivity, regressivity, and progressivity-regressivity rollover coefficients to define the pressure in a cartridge as a function of time or bullet movement. However, the burning surfaces of the propellant are not quantitatively defined.
In firearm manufacturing, it is desirable to increase the propulsion of the projectile for improved velocity range and accuracy. Projectile velocity and propulsive efficiency have been increased through the use of high energy smokeless powders. Other improvements have resulted from increased case capacity, improved primer design, and better metallurgy for cases and firearms with higher operating pressures. The shape of the case has also been altered, as discussed above, to create the bottlenecked case that increases case capacity to reduce heat and acceleration losses. Improvements thus far have relied upon empirically derived coefficients that do not accurately model pressure over time. Thus, such improvements fail to provide an optimal configuration.
In improving a cartridge several design parameters must be considered within the framework of the combustion process described above. One parameter is to minimize heat losses to the cartridge case, projectile base, and gun barrel. This may be done by protecting cartridge surfaces from combustion heat where possible. Heat losses may also be minimized by reducing the interior surface area of the case as much as possible for the required propellant volume. Another parameter is to maximize the pressure-time integral of propellant combustion within pressure limitations of the firearm design. A further parameter is to complete as much combustion as possible within the cartridge case to minimize heat loss and damage to the firearm barrel. Yet another parameter is to minimize mass and acceleration of uncombusted propellant to conserve combustion energy.
Thus, it would be an advancement in the art to improve the propulsive efficiency of a cartridge. It would be an advancement in the art to increase bullet velocity for a given amount of propulsive medium, such as gun powder. It would also be an advancement in the art to be able to calculate pressure as a function of time directly from propellant burn rates and surface areas without resorting to empirically derived coefficients. Such a cartridge and case-less gun chamber design is disclosed herein.


A window includes at least one multiple pane unit (1, 2) mounted in an opening for sliding movement between an open position and a closed position. The multiple pane unit (1, 2) includes at least two panes (34, 38) in spaced disposition, and has a seal (30) disposed there between to form a sealed chamber between the two panes. At least one of the panes (38) extends beyond the seal (30). In an alternative aspect of the invention, there may be two such multiple pane units (1, 2) in a sliding or other type of window. In the closed positions of the window, portions of the seal (30) of the multiple pane units are aligned and one of the multiple pane units (1) has at least one of its panes (38) extending beyond the seal (30).

1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to windows and in particular to windows with multiple pane units having two or more spaced panes. For example, a multiple pane unit having two spaced panes is commonly referred to as a double glazed unit. In particular, although not exclusively, the invention may be applied to the type of window known as a "double hung" window. Additionally, the invention may be applied to horizontal sliding windows. The invention is also not limited to windows in the conventional sense but may be used in any glazed opening such as a glazed opening in a door panel for instance.
2. The Relevant Technology
FIGS. 1 to 4 illustrate a cross section through known form of a double hung window with top 50 and bottom 52 double glazed units. It can be seen that the double glazed units possess a peripheral seal 54 between each of the two panes of glass and additionally, each double glazed unit has a top and bottom rail 56 of an extruded aluminium section. It will be appreciated that in the closed position of the window as shown in FIG. 4, the aligned top and bottom rails 56 will present an obvious visual barrier and will somewhat detract from the view through the window.
FIGS. 5 and 6 also illustrate another form of sashless window having horizontal sliding glass panels 58, 60. FIGS. 5 and 6 only illustrate a single glass panel. However, it will be appreciated that this form of window may be adapted for double glazed units, in which case the visual impediment presented by extruded aluminium rails extending vertically in the centre of the window will be present.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a window which addresses the foregoing disadvantages or at least provides the public with a useful choice of available products.


The present application provides a method and apparatus for evaluating the health state of a distribution transformer, and a medium and a program. In an embodiment, the method for evaluating the health state of a distribution transformer includes: extracting features from electric power parameters of a plurality of distribution transformers; clustering the plurality of distribution transformers into M subsets based on the extracted features, M being a natural number greater than 1 and less than a number of the distribution transformers; and respectively executing processing for each of the M subsets. In an embodiment, the processing includes determining a cluster center of the subset as a reference transformer for the subset; calculating the similarity between each of the distribution transformers in the subset and the reference transformer therein; and sorting the distribution transformers in the subset according to the calculated similarity.

The health of a distribution transformer can be understood as being high in reliability and low in electric power loss. However, it is difficult to give a clear definition of how to evaluate the health state of a distribution transformer.
At present, the evaluation of transformer health mainly focuses on the state monitoring and maintenance of a high voltage transformer and the evaluation of device reliability, and a plurality of transformer state evaluation methods have been proposed. However, these methods are all based on fault or event data, or internal monitoring data of a transformer, and these methods are based on a single device.

Method, apparatus and device for evaluating the state of a distribution transformer, and a medium and a program


A wireless LAN comprises an access point with a data communicator for data communicated over different channels, each using a respective wireless technology, and at least one mobile communications device with a data communicator for data communicated over the channels and using the wireless technologies. A first of the channels uses a wireless technology operating at a first frequency bandwidth, and a second of the channels uses a different wireless technology operating at a second, non-overlapping frequency bandwidth. The wireless technology used for the downlink channel operates at a higher data rate than the wireless technology used for the uplink channel. The controller controls data communications over the downlink channel and the uplink channel to maximise the downlink data communication QoS.

This invention relates to a wireless LAN, and in particular to a method of, and apparatus for, increasing the quality of service (QoS) in a wireless LAN.
A wireless LAN can use any one of a number of known wireless technologies, such as 802.11a, 802.11b, Hiperlan/2, Bluetooth or Home RF. Known wireless LANs operate using the same wireless technology for both the downlink (access point to mobile communications device) and for the uplink (mobile communications device to access point). In order to avoid interference, the downlink and uplink channels cannot be in operation at the same time. This is disadvantageous, particularly where the wireless LAN includes a large number of mobile communications devices, as it restricts the bandwidth that can be provided in the downlink channel, and hence the QoS of the LAN.
The choice of technology used depends on a number of parameters. Where, however, QoS is an important factor, it is usual to use 802.11a. Hiperlan/2 would be the preferred choice of wireless technology, but this technology is currently unavailable. Some of these different technologies operate at 5 GHz (e.g 802.11a) and some operate at 2.4 GHz (e.g 802.11b), and each operates at a different data rate.
An aim of the invention is to increase the QoS of a wireless LAN.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


The present disclosure provides an imaging portion for a time-of-flight device, which has:    at least one photo-detection element;    at least one overflow gate for the at least one photo-detection element;    at least one transfer gate configured to receive at least one transfer signal;    at least one transfer gate switch configured to couple or to decouple the at least one overflow gate and the at least one transfer gate in response to at least one transfer gate switch signal.

Generally, time-of-flight (ToF) devices are known, for example for imaging or creating depth maps of a scene, such as an object, a person, or the like. It can be distinguished between direct ToF (dToF) or indirect ToF (iToF) by measuring a distance either by measuring the run-time of emitted and reflected light (dToF) or by measuring one or more phase-shifts of emitted and reflected light (iToF).
In this process, charges are generated and measured by a photo-detection process in a photo-detection sensor of the time-of-flight device, which are dumped by modulating one or a plurality of, for example, transistor gates during an acquisition process, such as overflow gates.
Although there exist techniques for dumping charges in ToF devices, it is generally desirable to provide an imaging portion for a time-of-flight device, a time-of-flight device and a method.

Imaging portion, time-of-flight device and method

Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation


It is an object of the present invention to provide a hollow fiber membrane module which maximizes the efficiency of removing scale-like contaminants generated at the water treatment using hollow fiber membranes, and a method of manufacturing the same. The hollow fiber membrane module includes hollow fiber membranes for making water treatment due to the pressure difference, and a collector fixing the hollow fiber membranes in bundle. A treated-water tube is extended to the inside of the collector, and communicated with the inner passage of the hollow fiber membranes to deliver the water treated through the hollow fiber membranes. A diffuser is installed at the collector to diffuse bubbles to the hollow fiber membranes. An air tube is extended to the collector, and connected to the diffuser to feed air. Dividers are installed over the collector to partition the hollow fiber membranes into a plurality of bundles.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to membranes for making water treatment, and in particular, to a hollow fiber membrane module with enhanced cleaning efficiency and a method of manufacturing the same.
(b) Description of Related Art
Generally, the usage of membranes in treating purified water, sewage and waste water has been increasingly made since 1960s.
However, the conventional usage of membranes concerns higher degree treatment where the primarily treated water is re-treated using a separate membrane process to thereby obtain high quality treated water.
In order to obtain high quality treated water, an additional equipment should be provided to the existent facility, and hence, much cost should be consumed in installing, operating and maintaining it.
In this situation, a membrane bio reactor (MBR) has been significantly developed with the beginning of an experiment where hollow fiber membranes are directly dipped in a reactor to treat water, disclosed in an article with a title of "Direct Solid-Liquid Separation Using Hollow Fiber Membrane in an Activated Sludge Aeration Tank" by Kazuo Yamamoto et al. in 1989.
The MBR process involves a high concentration activated sludge of MLSS 8000-15000 ppm, compared to the conventional activated sludge process, and is operated to treat the sewage within a short period of time, thereby reducing the space required for the sewage treatment.
Furthermore, even with the presence of abnormalities such as shock loading, bulking and foaming which are mainly made with the activated sludge process using microorganisms with the poor precipitation of the activated sludge, treated water can be obtained in a stable manner.
However, the most serious problem with the MBR process is the phenomenon of membrane fouling. As the driving force of the membrane is largely due to the pressure difference, the activated sludge and other membrane contaminating materials within the reactor are accumulated at the membranes to thereby reduce the effective membrane surface area and decrease the amount of treated water.
In order to reduce the membrane fouling or contaminating phenomenon, the membrane materials have been studied by many researchers, and the techniques of physically inducing cross-flow on the surface of the membrane have been investigated.
The studies about the membrane materials have been made in the direction of reforming the surface of the membrane using surfactant or plasma. The physically-oriented process is conducted to exert a physical effect based on air, particularly, a cross flow on the membrane surface, and to sweep away the sludge cake accumulated on the membrane surface, or prevent the accumulation of the sludge cake.
In order to minimize the membrane contamination, various attempts have been made in the following ways.
In the case of the module of the Mitsubishi rayon company or the Zenon company, the treated water collectors are placed at both sides of the hollow fiber membranes, and the water treated through the membranes is collected at the both-sided collectors, followed by transferring it to a treatment water bath using a pump.
In case the treated water collectors are placed at both ends of the hollow fiber membranes, the both ends of the hollow fiber membranes are bound while limiting the movement of the hollow fiber membranes due to the air. Consequently, it is limited to obtain the desired membrane contamination reduction effect using the cross flow due to the air or the physical vibration due to the air.
Furthermore, as the two types of modules both involve two locations initially influenced by the pressure reduction (where the highest pressure difference is made), the accumulation of contaminants at those locations cannot be prevented.
With the module of the Zenon company, the air fed from the bottom goes up while elevating the activated sludge. The elevated activated sludge does not completely pass through the collector placed at the top of the module while being not fluently flown, and is stopped by the top collector so that it is again accumulated on the surface of the membranes due to the pressure difference at that location.
The membrane contamination (particularly due to the sludge cake) continuously propagates to the region where the pressure difference is relatively great, that is, the contamination degree is less, and as a result, the hollow fiber membranes are wholly contaminated. This phenomenon makes the cycle of the maintenance cleaning speedy, and as a result, the lifespan of the hollow fiber membranes is reduced.
Meanwhile, the article published by T. Ahmed et al. in 1992 with a title of "Use of Sealed-end Hollow Fibers for Bubbleless Membrane Aeration: experimental studies" discloses a module where the treated water collector is provided only at the one-sided front end of the hollow fiber membranes, although the usage thereof is different from that of the above module.
The Japanese Patent Application No. JP11128692 applied by the Toray company, the Japanese Patent Application No. JP10202270 applied by the Kuraray, the Korean Patent Publication No. 2001-112874 or the Korean Patent Publication No. 2002-39383 discloses a module similar to the above module.
However, the above structure also involves predictable problems. For instance, with the hollow fiber membrane module of the Toray company, only the bottom end of the hollow fiber membranes is fixed to the collector, and the hollow fiber membrane within the module is liable to be fallen. In operation, different air flows are abnormally made so that the hollow fiber membranes are tangled with each other. The physical stress is concentrated on the tangled portions of the hollow fiber membranes so that the hollow fiber membranes are cut at the tangled portions thereof, or at the interface thereof with the fixative.
The falling of the membranes within the module is not nearly made in the settling tank, but may be easily made when the hollow fiber membrane module is picked up from the aeration tank.
Furthermore, when the hollow fiber membranes within the module are tangled and broken, the balance of the diffuser is not maintained in a stable manner, and the water pressure applied to the diffuser is differentiated. The amount of air is small where the water pressure is high, and large where the water pressure is low so that the fluid flow from the latter to the former is made, and the hollow fiber membranes are directed along the flow, and tangled with each other.
Furthermore, when the hollow fiber membrane module is inclined in any one side, the locations of the module contacting the air flow are differentiated so that the fluid flow with a predetermined pattern is not induced. With the different fluid flows, a reverse flow is made within the module so that the hollow fiber membranes are tangled with each other. The tangled portions of the hollow fiber membranes continuously receive the physical stress of the fluid flows so that they are cut, or the whole stress is applied to the interface between the fixative and the hollow fiber membranes so that the hollow fiber membranes are cut at that interface.
The problematic falling of the hollow fiber membranes is easily made as the size of the hollow fiber membrane module becomes enlarged. As the conventional modules are not enlarged, many modules should be used to realize high capacity. Accordingly, the economical burden becomes increased to make, operate and maintain the relevant facilities.
Meanwhile, in order to manufacture a hollow fiber membrane module, the respective hollow fiber membranes should be made as a unit, and for this purpose, the hollow fiber membranes should be fixed to each other by interposing a thermoplastic or thermosetting material between the outer circumferences thereof.
It is most important to prevent the fixative from intruding the inner bore of the hollow fiber membrane and clogging it, and to prevent the generation of minute pores between the hollow fiber membrane and the fixative, through which the contaminants are input.
In this connection, the one-sided inner bore of the hollow fiber membrane is first fired or blocked by using another material, and after the hollow fiber membrane is completely fixed using a fixative, cut by a predetermined height, followed by recovering the inner bore thereof. In order to cut the bottom end portion of the hollow fiber membrane, a band saw, a sharp knife, a hydraulic cutter or a laser may be used.
With the conventional structure, the secondary wastes of the fixative and the hollow fiber membrane pieces after the cutting cannot be recycled, and induce economical loss. Furthermore, with the usage of a band saw, the pieces of the fixative broken due to the band saw clog the inner bore of the hollow fiber membrane, thereby inducing the pressure loss. In case a knife or a hydraulic cutter is used while requiring high pressure or power, the fixative is liable to be detached from the mold so that the contaminants are flown into the treated water.
The above problems are more frequently made as the module becomes enlarged. The laser technique is advantageous in enlarging the module, but the facility cost related thereto is high.
Meanwhile, the most important problem with the conventional techniques concerns the packing density of the hollow fiber membrane module.
The packing density of the module depends upon how many hollow fiber membranes can be packed within the module at a unit area. With the conventional submerged type hollow fiber membrane module, the packing density thereof is at best 10-25%, and hence, many modules should be used to treat the waste water, incurring economical loss.
The fixative for fixing the hollow fiber membranes to the mold has a relatively high viscosity, and as it is solidified, the viscosity thereof becomes increased while making it difficult for the fixative to intrude the gap between the hollow fiber membranes. Consequently, many hollow fiber membranes cannot be incorporated within a mold.
Furthermore, in case the module is formed without arbitrarily spacing the hollow fiber membranes from each other, even if the packing density becomes lowered, some of the hollow fiber membranes may be densely grouped while making it difficult for the fixative to intrude between the hollow fiber membranes.
In order to solve the problematic intrusion of the fixative, with the Zenon company, as disclosed in US006294039B1 or US006042677A, hollow fiber membranes are arranged and attached on a tape such that the distances between the hollow fiber membrane neighbors are constantly maintained, or the same effect is made using an adhesive.
However, with the conventional structure for making the fixative easily intrude the gap between the hollow fiber membranes, as the hollow fiber membranes are arbitrarily spaced apart from each other, it cannot be expected to achieve high packing density.
Furthermore, US Patent No. 20010037967A1 and US Patent No. 20020153299A1 disclose a method of using two different materials in forming a hollow fiber membrane module. In the former case where a liquid-phased filler is used as a temporary fixative, the liquid filler rides along the hollow fiber membranes due to the capillary phenomenon, and fills the space for a permanent fixative so that the permanent fixative cannot intrude between the hollow fiber membranes.
In the latter case where the temporary fixative is based on solid particulate powder, the powdered fixative should thoroughly intrude the inner bore of the hollow fiber membranes as well as the gap between the hollow fiber membranes.
However, with the conventional technique, it is difficult to fill the solid-phased temporary fixative between the hollow fiber membranes by a predetermined height. In case the temporary fixative has a relatively large size, the space therefor becomes widened so that the permanent fixative may intrude and clog the inner bore of the hollow fiber membranes. In case a water-insoluble temporary fixative is used, it is difficult to completely recover the temporary fixative. In such a case, the temporary fixative is flown to the treated water, thereby deteriorating the quality thereof.

Hollow fiber membrane module and method for making thereof


An active ray curable composition, including an epoxy compound which is represented by Formula (A) and an oxetane compound,

Previously, curable compositions, cured by active energy rays such as ultraviolet rays and electron rays or by heat, have been applied in practice for various applications of such as paint for plastic, paper, woodwork and inorganic materials; adhesives, printing ink, printed circuit boards and electrical insulation. In recent years, desired have been further improvements of weather-proofing and adhesion, of printing ink, paint and adhesives among them. Further, there is an ultraviolet ray curable inkjet ink which cures by ultraviolet rays as inkjet ink employing these active ray curable compositions. An inkjet recording method employing the ultraviolet curable ink has become noted these recent years with respect to relatively low odor, rapid drying and the capability of recording on a recording medium exhibiting no ink absorbability, and disclosed is such an ultraviolet curable inkjet ink (for example, please refer to patent documents 1 and 2). In this application, inkjet ink is required to have a low viscosity and to form a stronger and more flexible layer. Provision of plasticity by addition of a plastisizer in inkjet ink is disclosed (for example, please refer to patent document 3). However, these plasticizers are for fusing type ink and there is no description for ultraviolet curable inkjet ink.
Further, when utilizing such ink, a problem is that the curing sensitivity tending to vary depending on the type of recording materials and printing environment.
Since ink utilizing a radical polymerizing compound exhibits an oxygen inhibition effect, curing is inhibited and is especially caused when an ink liquid drop quantity is low. Further, ink utilizing a cationic polymerizing compound (for example, refer to patent documents 4-7) exhibits no oxygen inhibition effect, however, it is easily affected by water content (humidity) at the molecular level.    Patent document 1: JP-A 6-200204 (hereinafter, JP-A refers to Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication)    Patent document 2: Japanese Translated PCT Patent Publication 2000-504778    Patent-document 3: JP-A 8-3493    Patent document 4: JP-A 2001-220526    Patent document 5: JP-A 2002-188025    Patent document 6: JP-A 2002-317139    Patent document 7: JP-A 2003-55449

Active ray curable composition, active ray curable ink, image forming method and inkjet recording apparatus utilizing the same

Abstract: The active ray curable compound exhibiting a viscosity of 1 to 500 mPa·s at 25° C.:


A system for more optimally providing a service, such as a communications service, in an institutional setting by use of smart context-aware approaches. The system comprises an environmental context processing engine configured to transform sensed data indicative of activity relevant to provision of said service into data indicative of an environmental context in which said activity is deemed to have occurred; a situational context processing engine configured to transform the data indicative of the environmental context into data indicative of a situational context in which said activity is deemed to have occurred; and a decision making engine configured to apply data indicative of an institutional context to the data indicative of the situational context in order to determine an action to be taken in accordance with provision of said service.

An institutional setting, such as a healthcare facility, may have a very complex structure. Typically, a large amount of physical and human resources are relied upon to provide a wide variety of services, including clinical as well as non-clinical services, both routine and emergency.
To address the evolving needs of the healthcare facility, various customized systems have been implemented over the years to deliver services on an individual basis. However, this service-specific approach comes at a high cost of installation and maintenance. In addition, as greater numbers of service-specific systems are installed alongside and on top of one another, the distribution and usage of physical and human resources in the healthcare facility becomes sub-optimal, to the point where it may well fall below mission-critical standards. Some of the issues include a multiplicity of differing infrastructures, differing and non-coordinated Human-Machine interfaces, both at the user level and at the IT-management level, lack of integration between systems and inability to move information between disparate systems. This situation is undesirable and, should it occur, may negatively taint a clinician's experience as well as the usability of the technology and lead the clinician to reject rather than embrace future technological advancement, despite its lifesaving potential.
Thus, there is a need in the industry to develop a system that enables the provision of a wide range of services in an institutional setting such as a healthcare facility without the drawbacks of conventional service-specific solutions.

Methods and systems for use in the provision of services in an institutional setting such as a healthcare facility


A secondary battery having a feature in which a positive electrode, a negative electrode and electrolyte are provided; the negative electrode includes a negative electrode active material layer which is alloying at least at a portion of a boundary face with a negative electrode current collector; an approximately tabular electrode body structure is formed by a constitution in which a laminated body of the lamellar positive electrode and the lamellar negative electrode is wound or folded; and in the approximately tabular electrode body structure, relation of B≦1.5A is satisfied when length in a perpendicular direction with respect to a bended portion of the laminated body is made to be A and length in a parallel direction with respect to the bended portion of the laminated body is made to be B.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a secondary battery using a negative electrode in which an alloy is used for a negative electrode active material thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, high-capacity fabrication of a lithium ion secondary battery which is a power supply has been desired along with high-performance and multifunction fabrication of a mobile communication apparatus.
However, a lithium ion secondary battery used at the present day uses lithium cobalt oxide as positive electrode active material and graphite as negative electrode active material, and the lithium secondary battery according to these materials is used based on a capacity which is already near the theoretical capacity, so that it has become in a situation that a still higher capacity fabrication thereof is extremely difficult.
For this reason, in recent years, investigation of a high capacity negative electrode which uses silicon (Si), tin (Sn) or the like as the negative electrode active material has been carried out actively. However, when these electrodes repeat charge and discharge, the current collection ability thereof decreases, because the active materials repeat expansion and contraction drastically and are smashed and atomized. Also, decomposition of the electrolyte is accelerated along with increase of surface area of the negative electrode in which deterioration of cycle characteristic is drastic.
Consequently, apart from a method in the past which coats slurry including granulous binder or the like, there has been reviewed a method for forming negative electrode active material for the negative electrode current collector by using vapor method, liquid phase method, sintering method, spraying method or the like (for example, see Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3). According to this method, it is possible to repress atomization as compared with the coating type electrode in the past and at the same time, it is possible to integrate the negative electrode current collector and the negative electrode active material layer, so that electron conductivity in the negative electrode becomes extremely favorable and high-performance fabrication is expected in point of capacity and also in point of cycle life.
However, even in the negative electrode in which the current collector and the active material layer are integrated in this manner, peeling of the current collector and the active material layer arising from expansion or contraction of the active material layer occurs, so that it was difficult to obtain an adequate characteristic. Consequently, for example, there was proposed a method in which components of the negative electrode current collector are diffused in the negative electrode active material layer, adhesiveness of the negative electrode current collector and the negative electrode active material layer is heighten and at the same time, expansion and contraction in the diffusion region is repressed (for example, see Patent Document 4). Also, there was proposed a method in which impurity is added in the negative electrode active material layer and inclination structure is employed by changing the impurity concentration in the thickness direction (for example, see Patent Document 5).
[Patent Document 1] Japanese unexamined publication No. H8-50922
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent No. 2948205
[Patent Document 3] Japanese unexamined publication No. H11-135115
[Patent Document 4] Pamphlet of PCT unexamined publication No. WO01/029912
[Patent Document 5] Pamphlet of PCT unexamined publication No. WO01/031721