A combustor for a turbine engine includes an outer liner having a row of circumferentially distributed outer combustion air holes and an inner liner circumscribed by the outer liner and having a row of circumferentially distributed inner combustion air holes. The inner and outer liners each include at least a major air hole having a first hole size, an intermediate air hole having a second hole size, and a minor air hole having a third hole size. The first, second, and third hole sizes are all different from each other.

This disclosure relates to a combustor for a gas turbine engine and, more particularly, to a hole pattern formed in inner and outer combustor liners.
Gas turbine engines, such as those used to power modern commercial and military aircraft, include a compressor for pressurizing a supply of air, a combustor for burning a hydrocarbon fuel in the presence of the pressurized air, and a turbine for extracting energy from the resultant combustion gases. The combustor generally includes radially spaced apart inner and outer liners that define an annular combustion chamber therebetween. Arrays of circumferentially distributed combustion air holes penetrate multiple axial locations along each liner to radially admit the pressurized air into the combustion chamber. A plurality of circumferentially distributed fuel injectors project into the forward end of the combustion chamber to supply the fuel for mixing with the pressurized air.
Combustion of the hydrocarbon fuel in the presence of pressurized air is know to produce a number of pollutants including nitrogen oxide (NOX) emissions that are subjected to stringent controls by regulatory authorities, and thus are sought to be minimized as much as possible.
At least one known strategy for minimizing NOX emissions is referred to as rich burn, quick quench, lean burn (RQL) combustion. The RQL strategy recognizes that the conditions for NOX formation are most favorable at elevated combustion flame temperatures, such as when a fuel-air ratio is at or near stoichiometric, for example. A combustor configured for RQL combustion includes three serially arranged combustion zones: a rich burn zone at the forward end of the combustor, a quench or dilution zone axially aft of the rich burn zone, and a lean burn zone axially aft of the quench zone.
During engine operation, a portion of the pressurized air discharged from the compressor enters the rich burn zone of the combustion chamber. Concurrently, the fuel injectors introduce a stoichiometrically excessive quantity of fuel into the rich burn zone. Although the resulting stoichiometrically fuel rich fuel-air mixture is ignited and burned to partially release the energy content of the fuel NOX formation may still occur.
The fuel rich combustion products then enter the quench zone where jets of pressurized air radially enter through combustion air holes from the compressor enter to the quench zone of the combustion chamber. The pressurized air mixes with the combustion products to support further combustion of the fuel with air by progressively deriching the fuel rich combustion products as they flow axially through the quench zone and mix with the air. Initially, the fuel-air ratio of the combustion products changes from fuel rich to stoichiometric, causing an attendant rise in the combustion flame temperature. Since the quantity of NOX produced in a given time interval is known to increase exponentially with flame temperature, substantial quantities of NOX may be produced during the initial quench process. As the quenching continues, the fuel-air ratio of the combustion products changes from stoichiometric to fuel lean, causing an attendant reduction in the flame temperature. However, until the mixture is diluted to a fuel-air ratio substantially lower than stoichiometric, the flame temperature remains high enough to generate considerable quantities of NOX.
Finally, the deriched combustion products from the quench zone flow axially into the lean burn zone. Additional pressurized air in this zone supports ongoing combustion to release energy from the fuel. The additional pressurized air in this zone also regulates the peak temperature and spatial temperature profile of the combustion products in attempts to reduce turbine exposure to excessive temperatures and excessive temperature gradients.
One known example pattern of combustion air holes in the inner and outer liners includes a series of holes that have two different sizes, i.e. a major hole and a minor hole. The pattern includes a major hole diameter and a minor hole diameter that alternate with each other. A minor hole on one of the inner and outer liners is radially aligned in a major hole of the other of the inner outer liners. This alternating pattern continues about a circumference of each of the inner and outer liners. While this pattern has been effective in reducing NOX emissions, still greater improvement is desired as environmental regulations become increasingly more strict with regard to such emissions.


In an arrangement and method for entering postage the contents of a franking image into a postage meter machine, the franking image is initially incompletely pre-installed. The franking imprint data for a selection are ordered at least according to mail carrier and/or countries in a data bank of the manufacturer and can be allocated to the serial number of the machine. The postage meter machine serial number is entered in a step separate therefrom. As needed, data can be loaded or selected with a specific, country-specific and/or carrier-specific chip card in order to finally configure the postage meter machine.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a method and to an arrangement for entering the contents of the franking imprint into a postage meter machine of the type equipped with a chip card read unit and an appertaining control unit in order to simplify the country-specific or carrier-specific configuration of the postage meter machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Modern postage meter machines such as, for example, the thermal transfer postage meter machine disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,746,234 utilize electronic digital printer devices. It is thus fundamentally possible to generate arbitrary franking imprints. These usually contain a customer-specific advertising slogan imprint, a machine-specific and location-specific municipal postmark and a mail carrier-specific value imprint. It is know to produce customized logos for a customer-specific advertising slogan imprint in an EPROM for installation into the postage meter machine, for example of the type T1000, manufactured by Francotyp-Postalia AG & Co. This T1000 is built in various country versions that differ from one another in terms of hardware due to the extremely different approval regulations of the various national postal authorities. It is required in country-specific fashion for postage meter machines to permanently install the franking imprint with the postal symbol (value stamp) or, respectively electronically store the form of the imprint in postage meter machines having electronic printers. In the manufacture of the T1000, the postage meter machines, for example, are initialized country-specifically or machine-specifically before they are assembled, for example with a further EPROM insertion.
It is been disclosed (in European Application 88 429, and 99 110) to store the machine-specific machine serial number in a non-volatile memory (EEPROM). Such a setting in known systems is likewise implemented during the manufacture. A reentry into such a configuration program is thereby prevented by an inhibit bit.
The program disclosed in European Application 111 316 is stored in the program memory of the postage meter machine and contains firmware branch points. The data bits stored in an external memory (NVM) allow the program to be permanently reconfigured on the basis of a conditional branch. A version disclosed in European Application 111 317 contains a firmware variable program stored in the program memory of the postage meter machine. The data bits stored in an external memory (NVM) allow the program to be reconfigured. After this EEPROM handling, a sealing of the postage meter machine usually follows, so that replacement of the EEPROM is not a simple to task.
As an alternative solution, U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,573 discloses programming the serial number of the postal device by a data center. In European Application 131 967, a configuring of the postage meter machine ensues via a keyboard externally connectable to the postage meter machine. The configuration event is only possible once. The outlay required in the configuring is disadvantageous.
When the postage meter machine contains a postage computer, then weight information are entered by a scale, and the postage meter machine calculates the postage value for the value imprint. For such a system, European Application 566 225 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,077) discloses a method for data input into a postage meter machine that employs chip cards or a cellular communication network in order to enter rate changes. These also include specific configuration chip cards that, however, are intended for the user. Such chip cards, which contain a number of non-volatile memories or memory areas that can be separately accessed, and a microprocessor, are relatively expensive. The user inserts them individually into a single chip card read unit in succession in order to serially transmit data representing various types of information into the postage meter machine. The data stored in the postage meter machine can then be accessed during operation thereof. The necessity of storing all data in the postage meter machine from the outset is thus eliminated, since at least some of the data can be subsequently transmitted as needed. All data that could be requested by one of the postage meter machines, however, must be pre-processed by the data center regardless of whether the data are used or communicated later. The high outlay is disadvantageous, particularly in the image processing associated with the service of producing franking images for many different mail carriers. This either leads to delays that can cause high telephone costs for the customer given a communication by modem, or requires the data processing capacity of the data center would be greatly expanded. Such an outlay on the part of the data center is not justified when only a few users have access to such services and, thus, the economic feasibility is not assured. For example, the Deutsche Post AG already allows different graphic designs for the image of the post horn in the value imprint and these are in use. The large amount of data to be stored then also requires an expensive chip card and appertaining, expensive chip card reader unit. The subsequent installation of a modem would then also require expensive hardware and software modifications. For some geographical areas, for example for countries of the European Union, the different currencies will be eliminated in future and be replaced by the Euro. Postage meter machines such as the T1000-EURO®JetMail® of Francotyp-Postalia AG & Co. can be used in the transition phase as well as after the conversion to the Euro. No monetary values in the postage meter machine are lost. A part of the value imprint could therefore be designed uniformly in future, and only differences in the graphic design remaining due to the different mail carrier companies. Universal franking devices that are also suitable for private carriers (UPS, Federal Express, etc.) are of interest in the future.

Method and arrangement for entering contents of a franking imprint into a postage meter machine


The present invention discloses a parallax-barrier comprising a Liquid-Crystal layer (LC layer) including pixels arranged in cell type matrix structure to form a barrier of horizontal or vertical direction according to a predetermined control method, a controller for controlling said pixels of said LC layer in order to form a barrier pattern of horizontal or vertical direction pattern, by turning said pixels on or off selectively according to said control method, a lower layer formed between said LC layer and a predetermined display module in order to dispose said LC layer and said controller at a position off from said display module by a predetermined distance, an upper layer formed on the top of said LC layer in order to dispose said LC layer and said controller, and a polarizer formed on the top of said upper layer, and visualizing said barrier according to said barrier pattern which is formed on said LC layer by controlling polarization angle of the light, wherein said light being emitted from said display module and passing through said lower layer, said LC layer and said upper layer. Thus, stereoscopic images that are rotated in the horizontal/vertical direction can be displayed using said parallax-barrier and said stereoscopic image display apparatus comprising said parallax-barrier.

Information communication technology has been improved to the extent that it is possible for digital terminals to process text messages, voices and images with very high speed to service multimedia contents with two-dimensional images and voices. Information communication technology is further expected to be developed to a three-dimensional stereoscopic information communication service which is capable of providing multimedia services with stereoscopic and real impact.
Generally, stereoscopic images with three dimensional effects are possible based on the theory of stereo-eyesight by both eyes. An important factor for a three dimensional effect is the difference in optical angles of a person's two eyes, due to a distance of 65 mm therebetween, i.e., a parallax of the eyes. That is, each of the eyes respectively sees two different two-dimensional images, and when said two images are transferred via retina to the brain, the brain combines said transferred two images and reproduces the original three-dimensional image with sense of depth and sense of reality. This is generally referred to stereography.
A stereoscopic image display apparatus is classified into two generic types based on whether a user should wear a specific pair of glasses or not: a glasses-type of stereoscopic image display apparatus (stereoscopic image display apparatus) and a non-glasses-type of stereoscopic image display apparatus (auto-stereoscopic image display apparatus).
The stereoscopic image display apparatus gives a watcher inconvenience of wearing special glasses, while the auto-stereoscopic image display apparatus allows a watcher to enjoy three-dimensional images only by directly watching the screen even without wearing said glasses, and thereby the auto-stereoscopic image display apparatus solves problems with the stereoscopic image display apparatus. Therefore, there are many studies on the auto-stereoscopic image display apparatus going on nowadays. The auto-stereoscopic image display apparatus again can be classified into two generic types: apparatus by the lenticular method and apparatus by the parallax-barrier method.
As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, operation of the stereoscopic image display apparatus by the conventional parallax-barrier method are explained as follows. The stereoscopic image display apparatus by the conventional parallax-barrier method comprises a display module (10), wherein the left image (L) and the right image (R) respectively corresponding to the left eye and the right eye face towards the vertical direction (Y-Y′ direction in FIG. 2) and are disposed alternately in the horizontal direction (X-X′ direction in FIG. 2); and a blocking film in the form of a bar which is called a barrier (20), disposed at the front end and facing towards the vertical direction. This kind of stereoscopic image display apparatus has a system wherein said display module (10) and barrier (20) are disposed so as that the light for the left image (L) goes only into the left eye, and the light for the right image (R) goes only into the right eye, and thereby the divided two left and right images (L, R) are separately observed to give the stereoscopic sense.

Cell type parallax-barrier and stereoscopic image display apparatus using the same


When time division gradation display is carried out by setting a display state of an electro-optic element capable of R-gradation display A times in one frame period, the present invention determines the weights of the bit data to be such as 20:21:22:23−1: . . . , in which a conventional ratio regulation of 20:21:22:23: . . . i.e., 1:2:4:8: . . . is changed by at least one part at or later the third bit so as to satisfy the relation of B<RA where B expresses the number of display gradations. With this arrangement, it is possible to realize the time division gradation display with a desirable number of scanning lines and the desirable bit weight ratio, without significantly changing the actually-recognized image. On this account, the range of the electro-optic device, capable of setting each stage of outputs in the frame period to be a desirable value, can be enlarged with respect to a matrix display device using the time division gradation display.

In a display device using ferroelectric liquid crystal or plasma display as the electro-optic element, the obtained luminance condition of the display device often varies due to variation of condition such as a manufacturing condition of each electro-optic element, even though the supplied voltage or pulse width is identical. Particularly, in a matrix-type display device whose pixels are adjacently aligned, the variation of the luminance condition greatly affects the display quality. For this reason, in a display device using a driving method of setting one display state in one frame period, there is a difficulty to obtain a required display quality in such electro-optic elements.
In view of the foregoing problem, a conventional matrix-type display device using such electro-optic elements is arranged to perform time division gradation display, which carries out switching of display state of an electro-optic element capable of finite R-gradation display, so that the display state changes more than once in one frame period and therefore realizes a desired B-gradation (B>R) display. For example, here, an extreme example of the time division gradation display is referred for ease of understanding. According to the example, one frame period is equally divided by two, and electro-optic elements (R=2) capable of 2-gradation display are independently controlled their lighting in the first half period and the second half period, so as to realize 3-gradation display (this provides light quantity levels of 0, 1, 2, i.e., B=3). Further, since this time division gradation display does not decrease fineness of the display, it is effective to realize multi-gradation display.
FIG. 16 is a drawing showing a driving method disclosed in a patent document 1 (EPA0261901A2: published on Mar. 30, 1988), which is a typical conventional technology for realizing such a time division gradation display. The configuration of the patent document 1 adopts ferroelectric liquid crystal as an electro-optic element, and the respective electro-optic elements carry out 2-gradation display (R=2), and further, each of the display state is switched 4 times in one frame period so as to realize 16-gradation display (B=16). The example of FIG. 16 assumes a matrix-type display device in which 15 scanning lines (G1 through G15) are controlled together as one group. Hereinafter, 4 bits data displayed in each electro-optic element will be respectively referred to as first bit data, second bit data, third bit data, and fourth bit data, in order-of lighter to heavier in the weight of data.
The horizontal axis of the figure denotes time, and (1) denotes total time of selection time, having a minimum unit, and 60 selection times make up one frame period. (2) denotes the time, which is obtained by dividing the one frame period into control units, and one frame period includes 15 unit times. Further, (3) denotes occupied time of each bit data in the unit time, i.e., timing slots for practically outputting each bit data to a data line. The occupied time is made up of 4 slots (1 through 4). Further, (4) through (18), which denote the data displayed in the respective scanning lines G1 through G15, and a number "1" is shown when the first bit data is displayed, a number "2" is shown when the second bit data is displayed, a number "3" is shown when the third bit data is displayed, and a number "4" is shown when the fourth bit data is displayed, as the data firstly displayed in the display period of each data.
Accordingly, in the scanning line G1, for example, operation of 1 frame is carried out in such a manner that: the scanning line G1 is firstly selected the first occupied time of the first unit time, and the first bit data is displayed during the first selection time through the fifth selection time, then the G1 is secondly selected in the second occupied time of the second unit time, and the second bit data is displayed during the sixth selection time through the fourteenth selection time, then the G1 is thirdly selected in the third occupied time of the fourth unit time, and the third bit data is displayed during the fifteenth selection time through the thirty first selection time, and further, the G1 is lastly selected in the fourth occupied time of the eighth unit time, and the fourth data is displayed during the thirty second selection time through the sixty fourth selection time.
However, in this configuration of the patent document 1, respective weights of the first through fourth bits are 1:2:4:8 in the unit time; and are 5:9:17:29 in the selection time, which shows some errors especially in lower bits. Thus, there arises a problem of inadequate accuracy. Further, the number of the scanning lines is always required to be Σ2K−1 (k=0, 1, 2) in each group so as to realize this arrangement.
In this point of view, another patent document (patent document 2; U.S. Pat. No. 5,969,713: issued on Oct. 19, 1999) will be explained as an example for solving the foregoing problem. FIG. 17 is a drawing showing a driving method described in Example 1 of the patent document 2. In this configuration of the patent document 2, each electro-optic element is made up of two partial pixels having area ratio of 1:2, and the respective electro-optic elements carry out 2-gradation display so as to realize 4-gradation display (R=4), and further, each of the display state is switched 3 times in one frame period so as to realize 64-gradation display. The example of FIG. 17 assumes a matrix-type display device in which scanning lines G1 through G7 are controlled as one group.
The horizontal axis of the figure denotes time, and (1) denotes total time of selection time (a minimum unit), and 21 selection times make up one frame period. (2) denotes unit time, which is decided by dividing the one frame period into control units, and one frame period includes 7 unit times. Further, (3) denotes occupied time of each bit data in the unit time. The occupied time is made up of 3 slots (1 through 3). Further, (4) through (10), which denote the data displayed in the respective scanning lines G1 through G7.
Accordingly, in the scanning line G1, for example, operation of 1 frame is carried out in such a manner that: the scanning line G1 is firstly selected in the first occupied time of the first unit time, and the first bit data is displayed only in the first selection time since the G1 is secondly selected in the second occupied time of the first unit time; and then the second bit data is displayed during the second selection time through the fifth selection time since the G1 is thirdly selected in the third occupied time of the second unit time, and the third bit data is displayed in the sixth selection time through the twenty first selection time.
In terms of the selection time, this manner realizes gradation display in which the display term ratio of 1:4:16 with respect to each bit is accurately consistent with the weight of the bit.
Further, FIG. 18 is a drawing showing a driving method described in Example 2 of the patent document 2. In this configuration, each electro-optic element carries out two gradations display (R=2), and each of the display state is switched 3 times in one frame period. The example of FIG. 18 assumes a matrix-type display device in which scanning lines G1 through G8 are controlled as one group.
The horizontal axis of the figure denotes time, and (1) denotes the total time, and 24 selection times make up one frame period. (2) denotes the unit time, and one frame period includes 8 unit times. Further, (3) denotes the occupied time, which is made up of 3 slots (1 through 3). Further, (4) through (11), which denote the data displayed via the respective scanning lines G1 through G8.
Accordingly, in the scanning line G1, for example, operation of 1 frame is carried out in such a manner that: the scanning line G1 is firstly selected in the first occupied time of the first unit time, and the first bit data is displayed in the first selection time through the third selection time, then the G1 is secondly selected in the second occupied time of the second unit time, and the second bit data is displayed in the fifth selection time through the tenth selection time, then the G1 is thirdly selected in the third occupied time of the fourth unit time, and the third bit data is displayed in the twelfth selection time through the twenty third selection time. Further, blank data denoted by "B" is written in an occupied time before the occupied time where each bit data is set, apart from data condition of the data line, so as to carry out initialization by deleting all data of electro-optic elements which have been displayed.
As a result, the difference between (a) 24 selection times (8 scanning lines×3 numbers of bit) making up one frame period and (b) total display period of the first through third bit data, i.e., 21 selection times (=3+6+12) is provided as a blanking period, during which a non-display state occurs.
In terms of the selection time, this manner realizes gradation display in which the display term ratio 3:6:12=1:2:4=20:21:22 of each bit is accurately consistent with the weight of the bit.
Furthermore, gradation display of 1:2:4:8 is disclosed in other examples of the patent document 2, and they also describe an arrangement in which each period from the initialization by the blank data "B" to a display of the next bit data is increased to be 2 selection times or more, or, the period varies depending on the respective bits, so as to carry out group control for an arbitrary number of signal line other than multiples of 8. As thus described, by using the driving method disclosed in the patent document 2, it is possible to obtain a display term ratio proportional to the weight of each bit.
However, even though each gradation level in one frame period may be set to be a target one, the configuration of the patent document 2 has a problem of limitation of the number of scanning lines, or the arrangement of electro-optic elements.
More specifically, in the configuration disclosed in Example 1 of the patent document 2, when a gradation number displayable in one pixel is set to be R=4, the weight of each bit will be such as the foregoing ratio of 1:4:16 (1:R:R2), and therefore (the number of scanning lines×the number of bits) has to be a multiple of 21 (=1+4+16). In this point of view, since the other examples, i.e., the Example 2 and later examples adopt blank scanning, it is not required to limit (the number of scanning lines)×(the number of bits/ΣRn (summation of Rn (R: weight ratio)) to be an integer. However, those examples have a different limit of requirement of initialization scanning, which has to be carried out apart from the scanning for writing display data.
Here, the patent document 2 deals with a case of using ferroelectric liquid crystal as an electro-optic element, and therefore there are no difficulties to set the blank scanning. However, in the case of using other types of liquid crystal, such as TN (Twisted Nematic) liquid crystal, or in the case of using organic EL (Electro Luminescence), the arrangement requiring the blank scanning cannot be adopted. This gives rise to a problem.
To be more specific, in the ferroelectric liquid crystal, the liquid crystal is driven by a simple matrix driving and the blank display (initialization) can be realized by applying a voltage of negative polarity to a scanning line. Thus, it is possible to simultaneously select a scanning line for writing bit data for display, and a scanning line for the initialization. For example, in FIG. 18, in the first occupied time of the first unit time, the scanning line G1 is selected for the writing of data and therefore supplied with a voltage of positive polarity, and the scanning line G8 is selected for the initialization and therefore supplied with the voltage of negative polarity. In this manner, the blank scanning can easily be set without increasing the selection time.
On the other hand, in the case of using such as TN liquid crystal or organic EL, the initialization cannot be carried out in an asynchronous state only by changing the voltage applied to a scanning line. Thus, the TN liquid crystal or the organic EL requires an initialization TFT (Thin Film Transistor) for each electro-optic element, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Tokukai 2000-221942, or in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Tokukai 2001-242827, so as to carry out initialization scanning apart from the scanning for the writing of bit data for display. FIGS. 19 and 20 show this arrangement.
FIG. 19 shows an example of using liquid crystal other than the ferroelectric liquid crystal, as an electro-optic element. In this example, each bit data is outputted to a source line Sj, and supplied to an electro-optic element LCD via a gate TFT 1, which is selected by a gate line Gi. Then, the potential of the electro-optic element LCD is initialized to be the potential of an initialization line Dj via an initialization TFT 2, which is selected by an select line Ei.
Further, FIG. 20 shows an example of using organic EL, as an electro-optic element. In this example, each bit data is outputted to a source line Sj, and supplied to a capacitor C via a gate TFT 1, which is selected by a gate line Gi. The source-drain resistance of a driving TFT 3 is changed due to the potential of the capacitor C, and the current flowing from a power source line Pj to an optical element LED is set. Then, as with the arrangement of FIG. 19, the potential of the capacitor C is initialized to be the potential of the power source line Pj via an initialization TFT 2, which is selected by an select line Ei.
As described above, the application of the second driving method of the patent document 2 to an active matrix display device arises a problem that the initialization TFT 2, the select line Ej, and the initialization line Dj should be separately provided. In a liquid crystal display device having this arrangement, the aperture ratio is reduced, which causes a decrease of luminance efficiency particularly in a liquid crystal panel using a backlight. Further, in an organic EL display device having the foregoing arrangement, the luminance area is reduced, and therefore greater luminance is required for obtaining a target luminance for the entire panel, thus shortening the life of the elements.

Driving device for electro-optic device, display device using the driving device, driving method thereof, and weight determination method thereof


Various methods and systems are provided for controlling a supply of medical gas to a gas delivery system, such as an anesthesia machine, via a medical gas delivery module. In one example, a method includes supplying a medical gas from a pipeline gas supply source to a gas delivery system via a first conduit, measuring a quality of the medical gas in the first conduit, comparing the measured quality to an allowable range, switching to an alternative gas supply source for supplying the medical gas to the gas delivery system and communicating a pipeline gas supply fault in response to the measured quality being outside of the allowable range, and continuing supplying the medical gas to the gas delivery system from the pipeline gas supply source in response to the measured quality being inside of the allowable range.

Healthcare facilities, such as hospitals, include medical gas pipelines that deliver different types of medical gases (e.g., oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide) to various locations throughout the facility. For example, the medical gas pipelines may supply the medical gases from source equipment (e.g., gas tanks, pumps, compressors, dryers, receivers, and manifolds) at a centralized location to gas delivery systems at a patient care location via a network of pipes and service outlets. The gas delivery system may in turn provide medical gas to a patient, such as to provide anesthesia (e.g., when the gas delivery system is configured as an anesthesia machine) and/or to assist in respiration (e.g., when the gas delivery system is configured as a ventilator).

Methods and systems for a medical gas delivery module


The present disclosure discloses a method, device and node apparatus for blockchain permission control. The method comprises: receiving target information sent by a node apparatus; acquiring an account address of a configured account of the node apparatus; acquiring, according to the account address, from a predetermined block stored with the account address and an account permission corresponding to the account address, the account permission corresponding to the account address; and processing the target information according to the account permission accordingly. In the present disclosure, node apparatuses are configured with corresponding accounts, and performing permission control on the accounts can restrict permissions of different node apparatuses so as to ensure security and privacy of blockchain data.

A blockchain is a decentralized distributed database system in which all nodes in a blockchain network participate and maintain. It is composed of a series of data blocks generated on the basis of cryptography, and each data block is a block in the blockchain. According to the sequence of generation time, the blocks are linked together orderly to from a data chain, which is vividly called the blockchain. The blockchain has its own unique protocols for block generation, transaction generation and verification, and has security features such as unchangeability, unforgeability, and full traceability.
A blockchain network is based on a P2P network, and each P2P network node participating in transaction, block storage, verification, and forwarding is a node in the blockchain network. Blockchain data is completely public to each node, and a node can freely check information of any transaction in any block.
Thus, for the blockchain in the related art, as the addition of a node to the chain is not restricted, and data on the chain is completely open, it is suitable for some public and non-privacy information storage, but not suitable for information storage where data on the blockchain has privacy, and cannot achieve limitation on a blockchain operation of an account.

Block chain permission control method, device, and node apparatus


Provided is a water-based patch that contains ketoprofen as an active ingredient, provides high transdermal absorbability of the ketoprofen, and has high safety and high storage stability. The water-based patch contains the ketoprofen, an amine, and polyethylene glycol. In the water-based patch, the added amount of the ketoprofen in a paste is 0.1 to 5% by weight, the added amount of the amine in the paste is 0.5 to 10% by weight, and the added amount of the polyethylene glycol in the paste is 5 to 30% by weight. Particularly, in the water-based patch, diisopropanolamine is used as the amine.

Water-based patches containing, as an active ingredient, ketoprofen that has an anti-inflammatory activity are well known. However, ketoprofen has low water-solubility. Therefore, when a water-based patch contains ketoprofen, a specific solubilizer such as crotamiton, a fatty acid, a fatty acid ester, an essential oil, a polyhydric alcohol, or a surfactant is often used as a solubilizer for the poorly soluble drug (Patent Documents 1 and 2). However, to produce such a patch, some contrivance must be adopted in its production method. Therefore, this production method has a fundamental drawback of low working efficiency during production.
Specifically, many of such specific solubilizers used to solubilize ketoprofen are generally lipophilic solvents. Therefore, such a solvent must be carefully added when a water-based patch is produced. Otherwise, an unfavorable influence may be exerted on the properties of the patch, for example, insolubilization of a water-soluble polymer compound or separation of the lipophilic solvent.
Commonly used water-based patches often contain a polyhydric alcohol such as glycerin at a high concentration. However, when the drug added is ketoprofen that has a carboxylic acid group, an esterification reaction proceeds between the ketoprofen and a solubilizer having a hydroxyl group such as a polyhydric alcohol (for example, glycerin), a lower alcohol, or menthol even at relatively low temperature with a weak acid such as an organic acid or polyacrylic acid, which is a base component of the water-based patch and serves as a catalyst. This results in a problem of low storage stability.
To solve this problem, it is proposed that stabilization of ketoprofen having a carboxylic acid group in its molecule is achieved by dispersing a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory analgesic containing the ketoprofen in glycerin and glycol having 3 to 30 carbon atoms (Patent Document 3).
However, even in the patch described in this Patent Document, the glycerin used as the base of the water-based patch is an essential ingredient, and therefore it is feared that long-term storage stability will deteriorate due to an esterification reaction. Generally, if a drug is dispersed in a patch, its storage stability is improved, but the drug in the dispersed state results in a reduction in its transdermal absorbability. Therefore, there is a demand for a water-based patch that provides both high storage stability and high transdermal absorbability.
The solubility of ketoprofen in many of patch bases contained in commonly used oil-based patches is high. In addition, many of fatty acid esters, essential oils, crotamiton, etc. used as solubilizers for ketoprofen generally have high compatibility with ketoprofen.
Therefore, an oil-based patch containing ketoprofen provides high transdermal absorbability, and the properties of such an oil-based patch can be maintained without adding a polyhydric alcohol thereto, so that high stability of ketoprofen can be achieved.
Because of the above-described reason, a large number of inventions have been made on oil-based patches containing ketoprofen (Patent Documents 4 and 5), and a large number of products of such oil-based patches have been distributed in the actual pharmaceutical market. However, one problem of the oil-based patches is stimulation to the skin, and it is an object to provide safer products.

Ketoprofen-containing aqueous adhesive skin patch


A surge tank comprises a liquid inlet portion designed to dissipate the energy of coolant flowing into the surge tank. Desirably, fluid is delivered into a pool of liquid in an initial chamber rather than into an air gap above a pool of liquid such that the pool of liquid assists in dissipating energy of the entering coolant. Coolant from the last of a series of initial chambers desirably exits in a manner that reduces the distance air bubbles must rise to separate from the coolant. Also, when coolant flows from one initial chamber to at least one other initial chamber, desirably the direction of flow of at least a major volume of the coolant is changed, such as by locating an outlet passage from one chamber at a lower portion thereof and the passage from a subsequent chamber at an upper portion thereof. Passageways between the various chambers may be of a progressively increasing total cross-sectional area to assist in reducing the velocity of fluid flow from one chamber to the next. Also, in desirable embodiments, substantially laminar coolant flow is achieved prior to passage of coolant from an exiting chamber into a primary coolant receiving section of the surge tank.

With reference to FIG. 1, a schematic diagram of a simplified example of a vehicle having a surge tank for de-aerating coolant is illustrated. In FIG. 1, the vehicle 10 comprises an engine 12 and a radiator 14 through which coolant is circulated, at least at selected times, to cool the coolant for use in removing heat from the engine. Other components may also be cooled by the coolant such as a transmission 16 and an exhaust gas recirculation cooler (e.g., EGR cooler) not shown in this figure. The coolant may also be used to provide energy to or remove energy from an HVAC (heating ventilation and air conditioning) system of the vehicle. One specific example of a vehicle is a truck, such as a heavy duty or medium duty truck used in long hauling operations or a truck tractor used for such purposes. Land vehicles are particularly desirable applications in which such surge tanks would be used. In FIG. 1, segments of the coolant recirculation conduits are indicated by the numbers 18, 20 and 22. In the example of FIG. 1, aerated coolant from the engine passes via a conduit 24 to an inlet to a surge tank 26. In addition, aerated coolant passes through a conduit 28 from radiator 14 to an inlet to the surge tank 26, which may separate from or in common with the inlet that receives aerated fluid from conduit 24. Air is removed from the coolant as it passes through the surge tank 26. The de-aerated coolant is returned to the engine via a conduit 30 in FIG. 1.
There are a number of reasons for de-aerating coolant. For example, poor de-aeration of coolant can result in cavitation of an engine water pump, pitting of engine liners, engine overheating, cab HVAC system failures, EGR cooler erosion, and other drawbacks. Modern truck engines have relatively high fluid flow rates to a surge tank, such as in excess of four gallons per minute. As a result, it becomes more difficult to de-aerate the coolant. In addition, high fluid flow rates into a surge tank can result in fracturing air bubbles into microbubbles (e.g., pin sized bubbles) which are even more difficult to remove from the coolant.
It is known to make surge tanks out of plastic for weight and cost saving purposes. However, because of the high temperatures often reached by coolant, plastic can tend to soften when used. As a result, plastic surge tanks are typically provided with reinforcing baffles. However, high coolant flow rates into surge tanks with baffles increases the foaming (formation of small bubbles) when the entering liquid impacts the baffles. Also, because extremely small bubbles entrained in fluid are difficult to separate, bubbles formed from fracturing larger bubbles are more easily carried through a surge tank, resulting in poorer de-aeration of the coolant. To reduce the possibility of small foam formed bubbles entering the fluid and being carried through a surge tank, some engine manufacturers have issued specifications directing that fluid inlets to surge tanks be positioned above the level of fluid in the surge tank so that foam can escape into an air gap above the fluid level.
Other advantages of plastic surge tanks comprise the ability to make the surge tanks transparent or translucent for better visual inspection of fluid levels within the surge tanks, lower cost per piece and the fact that plastic can be molded readily into odd shapes.
A need exists for improved surge tank designs and related methods.


A method for calibrating a scanner that allows the scan to start quickly.

Scanners typically use a CCD to transform an image into digital information. CCD's typically have sensitivity variations between the different cells or pixels in the CCD array. These non-uniformity's are typically corrected by doing a calibration scan before each user scan. Calibration scans typically correct for two types of non-uniformity, dark current and photo response non-uniformity. Dark current is the leakage current occurring in the CCD even when no light is hitting the CCD. Photo response non-uniformity is the variation in sensitivity between pixels to a constant amount of light hitting the CCD. Typically these problems are corrected by doing two scans, one with the light off, and one with the light on using a reference target of a known brightness. A calibration scan is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,293 "Method and apparatus for providing sensor compensation" which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Currently these calibration scans take time, typically between 1 to 5 seconds. The total time is dependent on a number of factors. Some of the factors are: if the scanner light is turned off for dark noise calibration, how far the scan head must move to reach the calibration target, and how long the lamp takes to reach scanning intensity. In the past the calibration time was a small percentage of the total scan time. However with the increased speed of input/output channels, computers, and scanners, calibration scan times are becoming a larger percentage of the total scan time.
Today, some scanners turn off the scanner light at the end of each scan and other scanners leave the scan light on for extended periods of time. The trade off is the amount of energy used vs. the time it takes to turn on the light and reach a stable scanning intensity. The scanners that leave their lights on typically start scanning quicker than scanners that have to turn on their light first before they can scan. Typically the scanners that leave their light on use the same stored dark current calibration for each scan.
Currently scanners typically either do a calibration scan before each user scan or do one calibration scan at power-up and reuse this saved calibration scan. The scanners that do a calibration scan before each user scan, typically take longer to start the user scan than the scanners that just do one calibration scan at power-up. However, the saved calibration scan may not be as accurate as the calibration scan done before each user scan. This is because the lamp intensity profile can change over time and the temperature of the CCD can change over time. The calibration scan typically is used to correct lamp profiles as well as photo response non-uniformity and changes in the temperature of the CCD affect the amount of dark current.
Therefore there is a need for a calibration method that is accurate and still allows quick scan starts.

Calibration method for quick scanning starts

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


The present invention relates to an optical film exhibiting excellent optical properties such as low gloss value and reflectance, and an appropriate level of haze properties, and to an image display device including the same. The optical film comprises: a light-transmitting substrate film; an antiglare layer including a binder containing a (meth)acrylate-based crosslinked polymer, and organic fine particles of a micron (μm) scale dispersed on the binder and inorganic fine particles of a nanometer (nm) scale dispersed on the binder; and a low refractive index layer which is formed on the antiglare layer and includes a binder resin containing a (co)polymer of a photopolymerizable compound, and hollow silica particles dispersed in the binder resin, wherein the organic and inorganic fine particles exhibit a predetermined particle size distribution, refractive index difference, and content range.

In an image display device such as an organic light emitting diode (OELD) or a liquid crystal display (LCD), it is required to prevent a decrease in contrast due to a reflection of external light or a reflection of an image, and a deterioration of the visibility. For this purpose, in order to reduce a reflection of an image and a reflection of light by using scattering of light or optical interference, an optical laminated film such as an antireflection film is formed on the surface of the image display device.
For example, in a liquid crystal display or the like, an optical laminated film including an antiglare layer has been generally formed. Such an antiglare layer mainly includes a binder and fine particles contained in the binder, and these fine particles are usually formed so that a part thereof protrudes on the surface of the binder. That is, the antiglare layer allows the fine particles protruding on the surface of the binder to control light scattering/light reflection, thereby suppressing deterioration of the visibility of the image display device.
However, in the case of previously known antiglare layers and optical films, the gloss value of the surface is often high and it is difficult to suppress the reflection of external light. Consequently, it is impossible to sufficiently suppress a decrease in the contrast/visibility of the image display device or the like. In addition, in the previous antiglare layers and optical films, it is difficult to properly control the surface irregularities and thus, a defective glitter due to the irregularities may often occur, and further scattering or reflection of external light could not be properly controlled. This also was a cause of deteriorating the optical properties such as the haze property or the gloss value of the previous antiglare layers and optical films.
Finally, conventional antiglare layers and the optical films have disadvantages in that the optical properties such as haze properties, reflectance or gloss value are not sufficient and the contrast/visibility of the image display device are not sufficiently improved. As a result, there is a continuing need to further improve the optical properties of the antiglare layers and optical films.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Optical film and image display device including same


A method and apparatus to establish a class of a universal interface device, and more particularly, a method and apparatus to receive classes supported by the universal interface device and to establish a class among the received classes supported by the universal interface device as the class of the universal interface device in a system in which a universal interface host and the universal interface device are connected via a universal interface. The method of establishing the class of the universal interface device includes receiving the classes supported by the universal interface device, establishing a class selected among the received classes of the universal interface device as the class of the universal interface device, and recognizing the established class as the class of the universal interface device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to a method and apparatus to establish a class of a universal interface device, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus to receive classes supported by the universal interface device and to establish a class among the received classes supported by the universal interface device as a class of the universal interface device in a system in which a universal interface host and the universal interface device are connected via a universal interface.
2. Description of the Related Art
The standard specification of a universal serial bus (USB) classifies a USB device as a storage medium, a printing medium, a human interface medium, a communication medium, etc. A USB class describes a group of USB devices with common functions or attributes. Devices having a USB host function support various classes of USB devices. Devices having a USB device function are also developed to support various classes of USB devices.
FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate conventional systems in which a digital still camera 100 and an image printing device 300 are connected via a USB. The digital still camera 100 supports both a still image class (SIC) and a mass storage class (MSC). A user obtains a predetermined image using the digital still camera 100 and stores the obtained image in a predetermined storage unit (not illustrated) of the digital still camera 100. As illustrated in FIG. 1A, the digital still camera 100 is connected via a host computer 200 to the image printing device 300. In order to print an image file stored in the digital still camera 100 connected via a host computer 200 to the image printing device 300, the user must change a USB class of the digital still camera 100 into the MSC and connect the digital still camera 100 and the host computer 200. As illustrated in FIG. 1B, in order to print the image file stored in the digital still camera 100 using just the image printing device 300, the user must disconnect the digital still camera 100 from the host computer 200, change the USB class of the digital still camera 100 into the SIC, and connect the digital still camera 100 directly to the image printing device 300.
herefore, the user must change the USB class of the digital still camera 100 into the MSC or the SIC according to whether the digital still camera 100 is connected to the host computer 200 or the image printing device 300, respectively. When the USB class of the digital still camera 100 is erroneously established, it is inconvenient that the user must disconnect the digital still camera 100 from the host computer 200 or the image printing device 300, correct the USB class of the digital still camera 100, and reconnect the digital still camera 100 to the host computer 200 or the image printing device 300.

Method and apparatus to establish class of USB device


A wireless-linked remote ecological environment monitoring system is proposed, which is characterized by the use of a sensor network such as WSN (wireless sensor network) installed at the remote site for collecting ecological data, and the use of a public wireless communication system such as GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) for transferring all the collected ecological data to a back-end host server unit where the ecological data are compiled into webpages for posting on a website. This feature allows the research/management personnel to browse the ecological data simply by linking a network workstation via a network system such as the Internet to the website, without having to travel to the remote site and collect ecological data by human labor.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to ecological environment monitoring technology, and more particularly, to a wireless-linked remote ecological environment monitoring system which is based on a network system and a wireless communication system for monitoring the ecological environment of a remotely-located site, such as a farmland or a garden.
2. Description of Related Art
In agricultural research and management, it is an important task to monitor the ecological environment of a farmland used to cultivate crops such as fruits, rice, and vegetables. The main purpose is to collect a set of ecological data that are considered as vital factors that would significantly affect the cultivation and growth of crops on the farmland. These ecological data include, for example, number of clustered pests (such as fruit flies) per unit area, temperature, humidity, sunlight intensity, and wind speed, to name a few. Research personnel can analyze these ecological data for effective management of the farmland to achieve optimized crop production.
Traditionally, the collection of ecological data from farmlands is carried out by human labor work. For example, the number of pests per unit area is collected by firstly using a net to capture a group of pests within a certain area, and then visually counting the total number of pests being captured in the net, and finally using statistical methods to estimate the total number of pests within the entire area. All these works are carried out by human labor. For collection of climate-related ecological data (temperature, humidity, sunlight intensity, wind speed, etc.), this task is traditionally carried out by installing temperature sensors, humidity sensors, sunlight intensity sensors, wind speed sensors on the farmland; and the sensed data are visually inspected and manually recorded by the research/management personnel. The collected ecological data are then analyzed and compiled by the research personnel into written reports. These written reports are then used as references for management of the farmland to achieve optimized crop production. For example, if the number of pests per unit area is considered to be overly large, pest-killing or expelling means should be provided; if temperature/humidity is too high, conditioning means should be installed; and if the wind speed is too high, wind-shielding means should be installed.
One apparent drawback to the labor-based work for ecological data collection is that it is quite tedious, laborious, and time-consuming for the research/management personnel to carry out. Moreover, if the farmland is located at a remote site, such as a distant mountain or rural place, the research/management personnel might have to spend lots of time and cost in the travel to the farmland.

Wireless-linked remote ecological environment monitoring system


A photomask blank includes a hard mask having an excellent etch selectivity with respect to an opaque layer. The photomask blank includes a light-transmissive substrate, an opaque chromium layer disposed on the light-transmissive substrate, and a hard mask layer disposed on the opaque chromium layer. The hard mask layer is of a conductive material having an etch selectivity of at least 3:1 with respect to the opaque chromium layer against an etch gas mixture including chlorine gas and oxygen gas. Also, a resist layer is disposed on the hard mask layer. Alternatively, a phase shift layer can be interposed between the light-transmissive substrate and the opaque chromium layer. Preferably, the hard mask layer is formed of Mo or MoSi. First, the resist layer is patterned, and the hard mask is etched using the patterned resist as an etch mask. Then the chromium layer is etched using the patterned hard mask as an etch mask.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photomask. More particularly, the present invention relates to a mask blank and to a method of fabricating a photomask from the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Photomasks are used to form fine patterns, which define a semiconductor circuit, in substrates and wafers of silicon or gallium arsenide (GaAs). The photomasks bear image patterns which are transcribed onto the substrate using an exposure process, and may be categorized as binary masks and phase shift masks (PSM). Each of these types of photomasks are manufactured from photomask blanks on which the image patterns have yet to have been formed.
A conventional binary photomask includes a transparent quartz substrate and an opaque pattern formed thereon. The opaque pattern is formed of a chromium layer and corresponds to the pattern of a semiconductor circuit to be formed on a substrate or wafer. Also, a chromium oxide layer is formed on the chromium layer as an anti-reflective layer (ARL). On the other hand, a conventional PSM includes a quartz substrate, a chromium layer disposed thereon, and phase shift material interposed between the quartz substrate and chromium layer. The phase shift material provides a phase shift effect in the PSM that allows for a higher resolution than the binary mask while using a conventional light source.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a photomask blank for use in manufacturing a conventional binary photomask. Referring to this figure, an opaque layer 16 and a photoresist layer 18 are sequentially formed on a light-transmissive substrate 12. The light-transmissive substrate 12 is a quartz substrate, and the opaque layer 16 is a layer of chromium.
FIGS. 2 through 4 illustrate a method of fabricating a photomask from the photomask blank shown in FIG. 1.
Referring first to FIG. 2, a photoresist pattern 18a is formed by etching the photoresist layer 18. More specifically, the photoresist layer 18 is etched by scanning an electron beam or a laser beam across the photomask blank in a raster fashion. The portions of the photoresist material exposed to the electron beam or the laser beam correspond to the circuit to be formed, and selected portions of the exposed layer of the photoresist layer 18 are removed by conventional methods.
Referring to FIG. 3, the opaque layer 16 is plasma dry etched using the photoresist pattern 18a as an etch mask to form an opaque layer pattern 16a. In general, the chromium layer and chromium oxide layer formed thereon are etched using a gaseous mixture of chlorine (Cl2) and oxygen (O2).
Referring to FIG. 4, the manufacturing of the photomask is completed by removing the photoresist pattern (18a) from the structure shown in FIG. 3.
The critical dimension (CD) of lines and spaces of the opaque layer pattern (16a) is measured. In this case, the measured CD refers to an average value of the CDs measured at several locations of the photomask. The average CD is compared to a predetermined target value. The photomask is considered to be acceptable when the average CD corresponds to or only deviates a small amount from the target value.
Also, nowadays, the design rule of the integrated circuits (ICs) of semiconductor devices is becoming smaller and smaller to meet the demand for more highly integrated semiconductor devices. A high degree of uniformity is required of the CDs of a photomask if the photomask is to be capable of being used to manufacture such highly integrated semiconductor devices. The range of the CDs (the minimum measured CD subtracted from the maximum measured CD) or the standard deviation of the measured group of CDs of a photomask is taken as a measure of the uniformity of the CDs.
In the conventional method of fabricating a photomask, Cl2 and O2 gases are used to etch the chromium layer and the chromium oxide layer, and the chromium layer and the chromium oxide layer generate CrO2xCl2x as a by-product. Note, the chromium layer and the chromium oxide layer cannot be etched using only Cl2 gas or only O2 gas. In addition, Cl2 gas and O2 gas readily react with carbon, which is a component of the photoresist. As a result, the photoresist layer is also etched in a reaction that produces CO or CCl4. Also, when the chromium layer is etched using Cl2 gas and O2 gas, the etch selectivity between the chromium layer and the photoresist layer is less than about 2:1. Therefore, a thick photoresist layer should be used so that the selected portion of the chromium layer is etched away before the photoresist layer is etched away. However, a thick photoresist layer makes it difficult to control the loading effect and to effect a global uniformity, which are important aspects in the fabricating of a photomask. In addition, it is difficult to improve on making the actual (measured) CD correspond to the design CD because a thin photoresist layer cannot be used. In other words, the process margin is limited.
A hard mask pattern, instead of a photoresist pattern, has been proposed as an etching mask to improve the CD uniformity. Methods of using such a hard mask pattern are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,472,107 and US Patent Publication No. 2003/0013023. These disclosures teach a layer of silicon as being most preferable for use as a hard mask. In addition, the disclosures mention that Ti, TiW, W, TiN, Si3N4, SiO2, or spin on glass (SOG) may also be used as the material of the hard mask.
However, Si, Ti, and W, and compounds thereof also readily react with Cl2 gas and O2 gas to produce SiCl4, TiCl4, WCl5, or WOCl4. That is, the etch selectivity between these hard mask materials and a chromium layer is very low. In addition, Si3N4, SiO2, and SOG are non-conductive. Therefore, charges are not discharged from these materials when they are scanned with an electron beam. Accordingly, distortions occur in mask patterns made from Si3N4, SiO2, or SOG. Furthermore, these materials are easily oxidized, are easily dissolved by an acid, an alkali, or a cleaning solution such as H2O or H2O2, and have poor etch selectivity in an etching process using Cl2 gas or O2 gas. By-products of the reaction between these materials and the etch gas have a boiling point that is below that of chromium. The layer exposed under the hard mask is damaged when the material of the hard mask is removed after the etching process. Additionally, these hard mask materials do not tolerate an organic stripper solution. Accordingly, the above-mentioned materials cannot serve satisfactorily as a hard mask in a process of etching a chromium and/or chromium oxide layer.

Photomask blank and method of fabricating a photomask from the same


A method for managing the operation of an apparatus for the reaction of gas phase partial oxidation of an unsaturated hydrocarbon with a molecular oxygen-containing gas for the purpose of omitting wasteful emergency stop of the operation and ensuring execution of necessary emergency measure and a method for producing (meth) acrylic acid by utilizing the method mentioned above are provided. The operation of the apparatus is brought to emergency stop exclusively when thee values of concentrations of various gases obtained by calculation from the flow rates of the gases being introduced at the inlet port of the reactor and the measured values obtained by analysis with gas analyzing instruments both deviate from the ranges of the present values.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for managing the operation of an apparatus for the reaction of gas phase partial oxidation of an unsaturated hydrocarbon with a molecular oxygen-containing gas and to a method for the production of (meth)acrylic acid. More particularly, it relates to a method for managing the operation of an apparatus for the reaction of gas phase oxidation such as for the production of acrylic acid or acrolein by the gas phase partial oxidation of propylene with a molecular oxygen-containing gas, the production of methacrylic acid or methacrolein by the gas phase partial oxidation of isobutylene, and the production of ethylene oxide by the gas phase partial oxidation of ethylene and a method for the production of (meth)acrylic acid.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since such oxidizable raw materials as propylene, isobutylene, and ethylene are generally formed an explosive mixture by being mixed with molecular oxygen, the flow rate of such a raw material and the flow rate of a molecular oxygen-containing gas are so set that the composition of the raw material gas may normally avoid entering the inflammable area.
The management of the composition of a raw material gas, therefore, is executed by controlling the flow rate of each of the gases at a set value. Since this method of management possibly suffers the composition of the gas to fall within the inflammable area when such a measuring instrument as a flow meter encounters abnormality, it requires the composition of the gas to be detected by a proper method.
As a way of detecting the composition of a raw material gas, the analysis by means of various online analyzing instruments generally prevails. In the case of the conventional device for the reaction of gas phase oxidation, when the value of the composition of a raw material gas measured by the analysis deviates from the preset range, this device is at once brought to emergency stop automatically as by a process control device, for example. Conceivably, the preset values of various flow rates may be automatically controlled by the indications on analyzing instruments (refer to the official gazette of JP-A-2001-122805, the official gazette of JP-A-2001-114706, and the official gazette of JP-A-2001-120984, for example).
In the case of such a device, however, even when the value of the composition of a raw material gas actually measured happens to represent a deviation from the range of preset value, it is not necessarily improbable that this deviation originates in an erroneous operation of the device. The stop of the operation of the device in response to this deviation inevitably jeopardizes the economy of the operation itself.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a novel method for managing the operation of an apparatus for the reaction of gas phase oxidation.
Another object of this invention is to provide a novel method for managing the operation of an apparatus for the reaction of gas phase oxidation which excels in safety and economy.

Method for managing operation of gas phase reaction apparatus


An offset history table is implemented and maintained in a BLUETOOTH device and is used to pre-seed an expected frequency offset of a received signal from another BLUETOOTH device. The disclosed offset history table includes one entry for each piconet device in a particular piconet, each entry including a best guess of the relevant piconet device's frequency offset with respect to the receiving BLUETOOTH device. Using a frequency offset history table and a pre-seeded frequency offset corresponding to an expected frequency offset based on the offset value maintained in the frequency offset history table, the performance of a BLUETOOTH device can be increased in a steady state piconet scenario.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to piconet wireless networks. More particularly, it relates to frequency offset compensation between piconet devices such as BLUETOOTH™ conforming wireless piconet devices.
2. Background of Related Art
Piconets, or small wireless networks, are being formed by more and more devices in many homes and offices. In particular, a popular piconet standard is commonly referred to as a BLUETOOTH piconet. Piconet technology in general, and BLUETOOTH technology in particular, provides peer-to-peer communications over short distances.
The wireless frequency of piconets may be 2.4 GHz as per BLUETOOTH standards, and/or typically have a 20 to 100 foot range. The piconet RF transmitter may operate in common frequencies which do not necessarily require a license from the regulating government authorities, e.g., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States. Alternatively, the wireless communication can be accomplished with infrared (IR) transmitters and receivers, but this is less preferable because of the directional and visual problems often associated with IR systems.
A plurality of piconet networks may be interconnected through a scatternet connection, in accordance with BLUETOOTH protocols. BLUETOOTH network technology may be utilized to implement a wireless piconet network connection (including scatternet). The BLUETOOTH standard for wireless piconet networks is well known, and is available from many sources, e.g., from the web site www.bluetooth.com.
According to the BLUETOOTH specification, BLUETOOTH systems typically operate in a range of 2400 to 2483.5 MHz, with multiple RF channels. For instance, in the US, 79 RF channels are defined as f=2402+k MHz, k=0, . . . , 78. This corresponds to 1 MHz channel spacing, with a lower guard band (e.g., 2 MHz) and an upper guard band (e.g., 3.5 MHz).
FIG. 4 depicts a piconet including a master BLUETOOTH device M1, and three slave BLUETOOTH devices S1-S3. As depicted in FIG. 4, communications from each of the slave BLUETOOTH devices S1-S3 carries its own frequency offset possibilities.
For instance, according to BLUETOOTH standards, the transmitted initial center frequency accuracy must be +/−75 kHz from a channel center frequency fc. The initial frequency accuracy is defined as being the frequency accuracy before any information is transmitted. The frequency drift requirement is not included in the +/−75 kHz. In a one slot packet, the maximum frequency drift in a packet is +/−25 kHz.
The channel is represented by a pseudo-random hopping sequence hopping through the 79 or 23 RF channels. The hopping sequence is unique for the piconet and is determined by the BLUETOOTH device address of the master; the phase in the hopping sequence is determined by the BLUETOOTH clock of the master. The channel is divided into time slots where each slot corresponds to an RF hop frequency. Consecutive hops correspond to different RF hop frequencies. The nominal hop rate is 1600 hops/s. All BLUETOOTH units participating in the piconet are time- and hop-synchronized to the channel.
The channel is divided into time slots, each 625 uS in length. The time slots are numbered according to the BLUETOOTH clock of the piconet master. The slot numbering ranges from 0 to 227−1 and is cyclic with a cycle length of 227.
In the time slots, master and slave can transmit packets.
A time division duplex (TDD) scheme is used where master and slave alternatively transmit. The master starts its transmission in even-numbered time slots only, and the slave starts its transmission in odd-numbered time slots only. The packet start is aligned with the slot start. Packets transmitted by the master or the slave may extend over up to five time slots.
The RF hop frequency remains fixed for the duration of a packet. For a single packet, the RF hop frequency to be used is derived from the current BLUETOOTH clock value. For a multi-slot packet, the RF hop frequency used for the entire packet is derived from the BLUETOOTH clock value in the first slot of the packet. The RF hop frequency in the first slot after a multi-slot packet uses the frequency as determined by the current BLUETOOTH clock value.
If a packet occupies more than one time slot, the hop frequency applied is the hop frequency as applied in the time slot where the packet transmission was started.
Data on the piconet channel is conveyed in packets. FIG. 5A shows the general packet format 500 as described in the BLUETOOTH specification.
In particular, as shown in FIG. 5A, each standard BLUETOOTH packet 500 includes an access code 502, a header 504, and a payload 506. The access code 502 and header 504 are of fixed size: 72 bits and 54 bits, respectively. The payload 506 can range from zero to a maximum of 2745 bits. Different packet types have been defined. Packets may consist of a shortened access code 502 only, of the access code 502 and header 504, or of the access code 502, header 504, and payload 506.
Each standard packet 500 starts with an access code 502. If a packet header 504 follows, the access code 502 is 72 bits long. Otherwise, the access code 502 is 68 bits long. This access code 502 is used for synchronization, DC offset compensation and identification. The access code 502 identifies all packets 500 exchanged on the channel of the piconet: all packets sent in the same piconet are preceded by the same channel access code.
In the receiver of the BLUETOOTH device, a sliding correlator correlates against the access code 502 and triggers when a threshold is exceeded. This trigger signal is used to determine the receive timing.
FIG. 5B shows in more detail the access code 502 of the standard packet 500 shown in FIG. 5A.
In particular, as shown in FIG. 5B, the access code 502 of the standard packet 500 includes a preamble 510, a sync word 512, and possibly a trailer 514.
The preamble 510 is a fixed zero-one pattern of 4 symbols used to facilitate DC compensation. The sequence is either 1010 or 0101, depending on whether the LSB of the following sync word is 1 or 0, respectively.
The sync word 512 is a 64-bit code word derived from a 24 bit address lower address part (LAP).
Thus, the BLUETOOTH specification allows for up to +/−75 kHz of initial frequency offset for a transmitter at the start of a burst. If one assumes that both transmitter and receiver have the same tolerance, then this would imply that up to +/−150 kHz offset may exist between a transmitter of a first wireless piconet device and a receiver of another wireless piconet device at the beginning of any given packet. Furthermore, since from a master's perspective consecutive slot packets coming from different slaves have no relationship to each other in terms of frequency offset, they too could be as much as 150 kHz different. This is a fairly significant offset considering that the minimum FSK tone deviation is only 115 kHz.
BLUETOOTH devices typically require a receiver in any given BLUETOOTH device to perform a frequency offset correction during the preamble of each and every packet. However, this requirement poses a challenge because there are only five (5) bits of preamble 10101 used to train the receiver before the sync word needs to be demodulated and recognized.
Prior attempts have focused on increasing the speed with which frequency offset is computed during the five (5) bit preamble. However, increased speeds typically require more powerful (and expensive) processors, and generally increase power draw requirements.
There is a need for an improved apparatus and technique for compensating for frequency offsets as between piconet devices in a quick and efficient manner.


A thermal transfer recording medium includes a sheet-like base member and a hot-melt ink layer containing a colorant and a hot-melt material. The hot-melt ink layer contains a hot-melt material having a melting point Tm of 70.degree. to 90.degree. C., a complex elastic modulus of 10.sup.6 Pa to 10.sup.7 Pa at 100.degree. C., and a pour point Tp of 150.degree. C. or more, the hot-melt ink layer is in an amorphous or microcrystalline state and satisfies condition I/I.sub.0 .ltoreq.0.9 where I is the diffraction peak intensity in a range of 21.3.degree. to 21.5.degree. originated from an ethylene-based crystal and measured by an x-ray diffraction method, and I0 is the halo intensity in a range of 16.degree. to 17.degree. originated from an amorphous part, or the hot-melt ink layer contains a low-melting point crystalline material having a specific acid value and a specific saponification value and 15 to 30 wt % of a specific copolymer resin whose ethylene content is 65 to 80 wt % and a melt index of 60 or less.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermal transfer recording medium for transferring a hot-melt recording medium to a transfer medium by using a thermal head.
2. Description of the Related Art
A method of transferring a thermal transfer recording medium against a transfer medium on a thermal head at a predetermined pressure to melt a hot-melt colorant layer (ink layer) of the thermal transfer recording medium with thermal energy applied from the thermal head and to transfer the colorant layer to the transfer medium has been conventionally employed to transfer the thermal transfer recording medium to the transfer medium. During this transfer, most of the hot-melt colorant layer on the thermal transfer recording medium is transferred to the transfer medium. In order to perform recording using a thermal transfer recording medium, a thermal transfer recording medium having an area equal to or larger than a recording area is required. For this reason, a recording method using a thermal transfer recording medium is more expensive than an electrophotographic method and an ink-jet method.
In order to reduce the recording cost, a multi-time thermal transfer recording medium which can be used a plurality of times has been developed. An example of such a multi-time thermal transfer recording medium is described in Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 54-68253. In this example, a micro porous layer is formed using a resin, and a thermal ink is impregnated in the pores of the porous layer, thereby forming a thermal transfer recording medium. In this thermal transfer recording medium, the thermal ink is transferred from the pores to a transfer medium due to a permeation phenomenon. However, it takes a long period of time to melt the thermal ink with heat and cause it to permeation through the pores. The printing speed is low due to the above phenomenon, and the exudation amount of the thermal ink is also limited. As a result, it is difficult to obtain a transfer image having a high density. A proposal similar to the above prior art is made in Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 55-105579, but the same problem as described above is also posed.
Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 56-89984 discloses a multi-time thermal transfer recording medium in which an organic pigment (e.g., carbon black), a fine powder of a metal or metal oxide (e.g., aluminum or aluminum oxide), or any other inorganic pigment is added as a filler in a solid ink layer of the recording medium. A solid ink layer in the thermal transfer recording medium has a porous layer formed by the filler blended in the recording medium and a solid ink impregnated in the pores of the porous layer. The solid ink can be obtained by dissolving or dispersing a colorant such as a dye or pigment in a low-melting resin. When heat is applied to this recording medium, the solid ink is melted and exudes from the porous layer, and the exuded ink is transferred to a transfer medium. However, even this recording medium is not suitable for high-speed transfer due to the same reason as that of the micro porous layer made of the resin. In addition, it is difficult to obtain a transfer image having a high density. When a filler such as carbon black which can be is used as a colorant is used, the filler tends to be partially transferred together with a solid ink, and a color of transfer image tends to be turbidity in color recording.
Along with the recent developments of information equipments, a high-speed, compact, high-precision printer serving as an information output device has been developed. However, the multi-time thermal transfer recording medium cannot cope with high-speed printing due to poor heat response. The resultant image has poor printing quality and a low density.
A problem unique to the multi-time thermal transfer recording medium is degradation of the surface of the thermal transfer recording medium used a plurality of times, and the degraded part of medium may stain the entire surface of the transfer medium brought into tight contact therewith for image transfer. This stain tends to become conspicuous when the thermal response of the thermal transfer recording medium is increased to perform high-speed recording. When a recording equipment becomes more compact, the temperature inside the equipment during the operation is increased to stain the transfer medium more. When the equipment is heated to a high temperature as described above, problems unique to heat are posed. One problem is a reverse transfer phenomenon, i.e., an incomplete transfer phenomenon in which even if a hot-melt layer of the thermal transfer recording medium is melted and transferred to the transfer medium, it returns to the thermal transfer recording medium without being transferred to the transfer medium. Another problem is an incomplete traveling phenomenon of the thermal transfer recording medium with respect to the transfer medium, which is caused such that the hot-melt layer serves as an adhesive layer to adhere the thermal transfer recording medium to the transfer medium.
There is another method to reduce the recording cost without using the same thermal transfer recording medium a plurality of times. According to this method, the feed speeds of the thermal transfer recording medium and the transfer medium are not set in the proportion of 1:1. The feed speed of the thermal transfer recording medium is lower than that of the transfer medium (n time speed) to reduce the recording cost. This printing is called n-time speed printing.
Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 60-178088 discloses a thermal transfer recording medium characterized in that an overcoating layer containing a resin and a wax as major constituents is formed on a hot-melt ink layer. When such an overcoating layer is formed, a rubbed stain caused by a pressure acting on the thermal transfer recording medium and the transfer medium and a difference between the feed speeds of the thermal transfer recording medium and the transfer medium can be prevented. However, the n-time speed printing has a low absolute speed of the thermal transfer recording medium with respect to a thermal head. For this reason, an excessive melting phenomenon of the thermal transfer recording medium by heat accumulated in the thermal head tends to occur. A rubbed stain caused by melting of the ink upon printing and a tailing stain caused by the high viscosity of the melted ink material tend to occur.
Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 2-204092 discloses a thermal transfer recording medium and a thermal transfer recording method using a thermal transfer ink constituted by a hot-melt binder consisting of an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer and a wax and a colorant disposed in this binder to define a shear strength of the thermal transfer ink at room temperature (25.degree. C.), thereby preventing a tailing stain. However, the shear strength representing the mechanical strength of the material at room temperature is not strongly associated with the tailing stain caused by the high viscosity of the molten material in view of physical properties. For this reason, there is no n-time speed thermal transfer recording medium which produces a high-density image, is suitable for high-speed transfer, and can satisfactorily solve the conventional problems described above.


Provided is a fuel pump module for supplying diesel fuel. The fuel pump module in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention is configured to include a flange assembly fixed to an inlet of a fuel tank and a reservoir body assembly disposed in the fuel tank, wherein the reservoir body assembly includes: a filter that removes foreign objects included in the diesel fuel; a fuel pump that forcibly circulates the diesel fuel passing through the filter to a diesel engine; and a pump connection return passage that supplies fuel toward a diesel engine through a supply line of fuel but supplies the diesel fuel that is returned without being consumed by the diesel engine between the filter and the fuel pump to supply the fuel to the fuel pump without passing through the filter.

Engines mounted in various vehicles are divided into a gasoline engine, a diesel engine, and an LPG engine according to use fuel.
Further, the vehicle includes a fuel tank for supplying fuel to an engine and a fuel pump module for forcibly supplying the fuel in the fuel tank to an engine.
Generally, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the fuel pump module is configured to include a flange assembly 10, a reservoir body assembly 20, a guide rod 25 connecting the flange assembly 10 with the reservoir body assembly 20, a spring 26 disposed at outside of the guide rod 25, a filter 28 for removing foreign objects included the fuel, and a fuel pump 27 for forced circulation.
This structure can be confirmed through Korean Utility Model Application No. 20-1997-0016877 (Utility Model Registration No. 20-0160774), or the like.
In most cases, the flange assembly 10 is fixed to an inlet part of the fuel tank and the reservoir body assembly 20 is disposed at a bottom of the tank.
In addition, the guide rod 25, which connects the flange assembly with the reservoir body assembly while guiding a motion of the spring, is formed to be slid inwardly of the reservoir body assembly.
In addition, the spring 26 is disposed at the outside of the guide rod 25 and is disposed between the flange assembly and the reservoir body assembly so that the reservoir body assembly is disposed at the bottom of the fuel tank at all times.
The diesel engine, which is an engine that uses the diesel fuel such as diesel oil to generate an output, cannot smoothly supply fuel in a low-temperature region below zero even though the vehicle has the above-mentioned fuel pump module for forcibly supplying the fuel.
That is, the diesel fuel such as diesel oil, or the like, becomes clotted and crystallized in a paraffin form even in the low-temperature region (usually, a temperature region below zero), or the like, and thus, cannot be easily supplied through the fuel pump module. Therefore, starting performance of the diesel engine may be poor in the low-temperature region below zero and a driving of the engine may not be smoothly performed.

Fuel pump module for supplying diesel fuel


A communications apparatus connected to a network, such as the Internet or a LAN, includes an input system for inputting image data, a transmitter that transmits the image data via e-mail, a receiver that receives a reply related to the transmission, and a communication control memory. The communications control memory stores a transmit result indicating whether the transmitting device has completed the transmission and a delivery result indicating whether a destination side apparatus has received the transmission. Both the results are stored along with their correspondence to each other. A communication method utilizing this communications apparatus is also provided. The apparatus and the method allow users to confirm completion of transmission and delivery to a destination with ease and without fail by storing a notice of completing the transmission as well as information about a return mail into the communication control memory in the apparatus on the transmitter side.

The present invention relates to the subject matter contained in Japanese Patent Application No. 11-094677, filed on Apr. 1, 1999, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communications apparatus such as a facsimile machine which utilizes the Internet or a LAN (local area network), and a communication method employing this apparatus. The present invention particularly relates to a communications apparatus which allows users to confirm a delivery result, and a method for confirming the delivery result.
2. Background and Material Information
A conventional communications apparatus, e.g., a facsimile machine, indicates xe2x80x9cdata transmittingxe2x80x9d on its display panel during a transmission, and when it completes the transmission, this display disappears. Users determine that the data has been successfully transmitted when the display disappears, or when the machine does not print a xe2x80x9cnon-deliveryxe2x80x9d message within a certain period after the transmission.
On the other hand, a facsimile machine linked to the Internet is unable to confirm whether the data has been transmitted correctly and users must assume the data has been successfully transmitted when the transmission is completed. In this respect, facsimiles sent via the Internet are different from facsimiles sent via the PSTN (public switched telephone network). The users thus ask the destination (i.e., recipient) to send a return mail (i.e., e-mail) from the destination-side facsimile machine linked to the Internet to confirm receipt of the data. The users print out the return mail upon receipt to confirm the acknowledgment.
FIG. 1 depicts an output format that acknowledges the data transmission by a conventional facsimile machine linked to the Internet. As shown in FIG. 1, users can acknowledge facsimile transceiving by xe2x80x9cOKxe2x80x9d (as examples No. 22 and 26 show) and confirm a relay transmission by xe2x80x9cR-OKxe2x80x9d (as examples No. 14 and 24 show). However, during LAN communications, although receipt of e-mail is acknowledged by xe2x80x9cOKxe2x80x9d (as example No. 13 shows), transmission of e-mail does not have any means for acknowledgment, as seen in example No. 15 which indicates xe2x80x9c- -xe2x80x9d. Thus, data has been transmitted without an acknowledgment. An output format as shown in FIG. 2 is thus returned from the destination-side facsimile machine linked to the Internet, and the format is printed to confirm the acknowledgment.
The conventional facsimile machine discussed above requires a printout every time a facsimile is transmitted through the LAN, and this printout can be mingled with other receipt data. The confirmation of acknowledgment is thus cumbersome work, and if this printout is discarded, it is difficult to confirm the acknowledgment.
The present invention addresses the problems discussed above, and aims to provide a communications apparatus and method that allow users to confirm completion of a transmission as well as an acknowledgment of the communication through the Internet or a LAN.
In order to achieve this objective, in a communication through the Internet or the LAN, the present invention stores notices of data transmission and data of return mails in a communication control memory provided in a communications apparatus on the transmitter side. The data transmission can thus be confirmed and acknowledged by monitoring the stored data.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a communications apparatus includes an input system that inputs image data, and a transmitter that transmits the image data input by the input system through e-mail. The apparatus also includes a receiver that receives a reply corresponding to the transmission sent by the transmitter, and a storage or memory. The memory stores a transmit result indicating whether the transmission was successfully completed and a delivery result received by the receiver. Both the results are stored in correlation with each other. According to another aspect of the present invention, the apparatus may also include a facsimile transceiver that transmits and receives image data. In another embodiment, the transmitter and the receiver are coupled to a network line, for example the Internet.
The memory may include a table memory that stores the transmit result, which indicates that the e-mail has been successfully transmitted, and a delivery result indicating that the e-mail has been successfully delivered to a destination. Both the results are stored in correlation with each other. The memory may also store certain information independently. Such information includes the delivery result, which indicates that the e-mail has been delivered, time-out information indicating that the e-mail failed to be delivered within a predetermined period, and a waiting status indicating that the apparatus is awaiting the delivery result.
According to another embodiment, when the transmitted e-mail is an error mail, an error code is noticed as the delivery result to the apparatus. According to another embodiment, a transmission time is recorded in the memory.
According to another embodiment, the apparatus also includes a facsimile transceiver. Further, the memory stores the transmit result and the delivery result of the e-mail as well as a transmit result and a receipt result of a facsimile communication. The transmit result and the receipt result of the facsimile communication are recorded in a transmit result column and a delivery result column, respectively, of a table memory in the memory. The apparatus may also include a display that displays information stored in the memory on either a screen or a printed form.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a communications apparatus includes an input system that inputs image data, and a production system that produces a mail header. The apparatus also includes a memory that stores the image data and the mail header, and a mail transmitter that transmits the image data and the mail header stored in the memory through a network line. The apparatus also includes a first memory that stores a transmit result in the memory, a second memory that analyzes a mail header of a return mail from a destination and stores an analysis result in the memory, and an output system that outputs the transmit result and the analysis result from the memory.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a communications apparatus utilizing a network line includes a transmitter that transmits image data via e-mail, a receiver that receives a return mail corresponding to the transmitted e-mail, and a memory. The memory stores header information from the transmitted mail, a notice of transmission completion, and header information from the return mail.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a communication method includes inputting image data, and transmitting the image data together with mail header information as an e-mail via a network line. The method also includes storing a reply e-mail corresponding to the transmitted e-mail, and analyzing and storing a mail header from the reply e-mail received from a destination.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a communication method includes inputting an image to be transmitted as image data, and transmitting the image data together with mail header information as an e-mail via a network line. The method also includes storing a transmission result of the transmitted e-mail in a memory, analyzing and storing a mail header from a return e-mail received from a destination in the memory, and outputting the transmission result and return mail information from the memory.

Communications apparatus and communication method

Matsushita Graphic Communication Systems, Inc.