The present invention provides a tire balance measuring device capable of minimizing the influence exerted on a measured value due to an inclination of a lock shaft even when the lock shaft (fitted shaft) is inclined in a random direction at an angle created by a gap corresponding to a fitting allowance every time a tire is supplied with gas. The tire balance measuring device of this invention comprises a sensor for measuring the inclination of the lock shaft, and a computing unit for computing an amount of change in a unbalance of the tire from an output value received from the sensor after the tire is supplied with gas, and correcting a result of measuring a balance of the tire using the computed amount of change in the unbalance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tire balance measuring device for measuring a balance of a tire.
2. Description of the Related Art
As devices for measuring a balance of a tire, there has been known a tire balance measuring device having a structure to rotate a tire inserted between two rims that are arranged one above the other. In the thus-structured tire balance measuring device, an upper rim should be completely separated from a lower rim when the tire is attached or detached, to prevent the upper rim from becoming detached due to the pressure of air supplied to the tire at the time of measurement of the balance. To achieve this in the tire balance measuring device, a lock shaft to which the upper rim is attached is inserted to a predetermined level into a fitting hole formed in a spindle to which the lower rim is attached, and fixed to the spindle through engagement therewith (refer to, for example, Japan Patent No. 3904319).
In the devices as described above, a predetermined fitting allowance is provided between the lock shaft and the fitting hole in the spindle to facilitate insertion and withdrawal of the lock shaft into/from the spindle. When the tire is inflated by supplying air into the tire at the time of measurement of the balance, the lock shaft is inclined relative to the fitting hole in the spindle due to the presence of a gap corresponding to the fitting allowance, with the result that the upper rim is accordingly inclined relative to the lower rim. The above-described devices suffer from a problem in that measured values of the balance have an error introduced by an occurrence of the inclination. In addition, because the lock shaft can be inclined in a completely random direction every time the tire is supplied with air, it is difficult to correct for variations in the measured values depending on a direction of the inclination.
To address the problem, Japan Patent No. 3133465 discloses a tire balance measuring device in which three or more contact portions are protrudingly formed on an outer circumferential surface of a fitted shaft (the lock shaft). This Japan Patent further describes that the above-described structure can function to limit the direction in which the fitted shaft is inclined relative to the fitting hole, which makes it possible to make a correction to the measured value.
However, even with the structure described in Japan Patent No. 3133465, the upper rim can not be limited sufficiently for preventing irregular inclination that occurs due to the presence of the fitting allowance between the fitted shaft and the fitting hole. It is assumed, for example, that the tire balance measuring device of the above-described structure includes three contact portions on the outer circumferential surface of the fitted shaft. In this case, the direction in which the fitted shaft can be inclined is toward any midpoint position between the adjacent contact portions, which means that there are three possible directions of inclination of the fitted shaft in total. In which of the three directions the fitted shaft will be inclined when the tire is supplied with air remains unknown until air is actually introduced into the tire.
The present invention, which was made in view of the aforesaid present circumstances, therefore aims to provide a tire balance measuring device in which even when the fitted shaft (a lock shaft) could be inclined in a random direction at an angle created by the gap corresponding to the fitting allowance every time the tire is supplied with air, an influence exerted due to the inclination on the measured value can be minimized.


A photogenerating pigment has the formula: ##STR1## wherein A is the residual structure of an aromatic amine, p is an integer 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. depending on the amine structure, m is an integer 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 and X may be selected from the group including but not limited to F, Cl, Br, NO.sub.2, CN, OH, NH.sub.2, OCH.sub.3, OCH.sub.2 CH.sub.3, CF.sub.3, alkyl and aromatic groups.

Electrostatographic imaging systems involve the formation and development of electrostatic latent images. In some such imaging systems, a photoconductive insulating layer is imaged by uniformly electrostatically charging its surface, followed by exposing the surface to a pattern of activating electromagnetic radiation such as light, thereby selectively dissipating the charge in the illuminated areas to cause a latent electrostatic image to be formed in the non-illuminated areas.
This latent electrostatic image can be developed with developer compositions containing toner particles, followed by transferring the developed image to a suitable substrate such as paper.
Many photoconductive members are known. For example, photoconductive insulating materials can be deposited on conductive substrates. They often contain a thin barrier layer of a charge blocking material such as aluminum oxide between the substrate and the photoconductive composition. The barrier layer is primarily for the purpose of preventing charge injection from the substrate into the photoconductive layer subsequent to charging, as injection could adversely affect the electrical properties of a photoconductive member.
Examples of photoconductive members include those comprised of a homogeneous layer of inorganic or organic photoconductive compositions, composite layered devices containing photoconductive substances dispersed in other materials, and the like. An example of one type of composite photoconductive layer is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,121,006, which discloses finely divided particles of a photoconductive inorganic compound dispersed in an electrically insulating organic resin binder. In one form, the photoconductive composition involved is comprised of a paper backing containing a coating thereon of a binder layer comprised of particles of zinc oxide uniformly dispersed therein. Useful binder materials disclosed include those which are incapable of transporting for any significant distance injected charge carriers generated by the photoconductive particles. The photoconductive particles must be in substantially contiguous particle to particle contact throughout the layer for the purpose of permitting charge dissipation for a cyclic operation. Thus, about 50 percent by volume of photoconductive particles is usually necessary in order to obtain sufficient photoconductor particle to particle contact for rapid discharge. These high photoconductive particle concentrations can destroy the physical continuity of the resin particles, thus significantly reducing the mechanical strength of the binder layer.
Illustrative examples of specific binder materials disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,121,006 include, for example, polystyrene resins, silicone resins, acrylic and methacrylic ester polymers, polymerized ester derivatives of acrylic and alpha-acrylic acids, chlorinated rubber, vinyl polymers and copolymers, and cellulose esters.
In devices employing photoconductive binder structures which include inactive electrically insulating resin such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,121,006, conductivity or charge transport is accomplished through high loadings of the photoconductive pigment and allowing particle-to-particles contact of the photoconductive particles. In the case of photoconductive particles dispersed in a photoconductive matrix, such as illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 3,121,007, photoconductivity occurs through the generation and transport of charge carriers in both the photoconductive matrix and the photoconductive pigment particles.
Known photoconductive compositions include amorphous selenium, halogen doped amorphous selenium substances, amorphous selenium alloys, including selenium arsenic, selenium tellurium, selenium arsenic antimony, halogen doped selenium alloys, wherein the halogen may be chlorine, iodine, or fluorine, cadmium sulfide, and the like. Generally, these photoconductive materials are deposited on suitable conductive substrates in xerographic imaging systems.
Imaging members wherein the charge generating and charge transport functions are accomplished by discrete contiguous layers are also known, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,990. Photoresponsive materials containing a hole injecting layer overcoated with a hole transport layer, followed by an overcoating of a photogenerating layer, and a top coating of an insulating organic resin, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,612. Examples of such photogenerating layers include trigonal selenium and phthalocyanines, while examples of such transport layers include certain aryl diamines. The disclosures of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,265,990 and 4,251,612 are hereby totally incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,574,181 discloses disazo compounds useful as coloring agents. These compounds include halogen substituents on the central aromatic groups.
Composite electrophotographic photosensitive materials containing various azo compounds are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,618,672, wherein diazo compounds particularly suitable for use in the charge generating layer of a layered electrophotographic photoconductor are illustrated.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,540,651 discloses an electrophotographic photosensitive member with high sensitivity which is capable of forming consistently good images. The member is comprised of a carrier generating layer and a carrier transporting layer on an electroconductive support. The carrier generating layer contains a diazo compound, and the carrier transporting layer contains a styryl compound and/or an amine derivative, a hydrazone compound or a carbazole derivative. Many diazo compounds used comprise a 2-hydroxy-3-naphthanilide coupler.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,271 discloses a photosensitive composition comprising azo compounds which can be applied to electrophotographic photoconductive materials. The azo compounds are comprised of a carboxamide with a polycyclo ring substituent containing a hydroxyl group bonded to the same ring as a chalcogen. The photosensitive composition is said to have an extremely high photosensitivity, and excellent chargeability.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,442 discloses a diazo compound for use as a charge generating material in a photosensitive layer of an electrophotographic element. The diazo compound has the general formula ##STR2## wherein Y represents a substituted or non-substituted cyclic hydrocarbon or a substituted or non-substituted heterocycle; R represents hydrogen, or a substituted or non-substituted phenyl group; and Z represents a substituted or non-substituted heterocycle fused with a phenyl nucleus.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,341,701 and 4,469,515 disclose a process for the synthesis of monoazo or diazo pigments. The method involves the combination of a coupling component and a diazonium and/or tetrazonium salt of an aromatic or heterocyclic amine. The resultant products of the combination are used to prepare the corresponding monoazo or diazo pigment. The products prepared in this fashion exhibit increased coloring strength, improved transparency and flow properties, and a higher degree of dispersibility.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,797,337 discloses photoconductive imaging members comprising a supporting substrate, a hole transport layer, and a photogenerating layer comprising disazo compounds selected from the group consisting of: ##STR3## wherein X is selected from the group consisting of: ##STR4## wherein Y is selected from the group consisting of: ##STR5## The photoconductive imaging members possess high cyclic stability, high photosensitivity, good dark development potential, low dark decay values and excellent panchromaticity. They are non-toxic and may be made inexpensively, which renders them disposable.

Couplers for photogenerating azo pigments


An air conveyor segment for conveying articles along a conveyor path includes a main air duct extending the length of the segment and a wall dividing the air duct into upper and lower air ducts. The wall includes an opening that extends the length of the main air duct. A valve assembly includes a valve member attached to the wall that opens and closed the wall opening to regulate the speed of articles being conveyed along the conveyor segment.

Air conveyors utilize air discharge pressurized air from a flow duct. The air is directed against a container, such as a newly manufactured plastic bottle, to move the bottle along a path. The bottle itself is typically suspended between a pair of guides that support a neck ring formed on the bottle. The guides locate the top of the bottle inside a "U"-shaped channel. The legs of the channel include openings that discharge air directed against the bottle tops. The guides enable the bottles being pushed by the airflow to slide along the guides and move along a conveyor path.
A fan or blower supplying pressurized air to the conveyor duct controls the speed at which the bottles move along the guides. A variable-frequency drive acting on the blower motor controls the pressure and velocity of the air supplied from the blower (the motor is typically a 3 HP electric motor). Increasing motor speed increases conveyor speed, and decreasing motor speed decreases conveyor speed.
At times it is desirable to stop the movement of bottles along the conveyor path. Bottles upstream of the stopped bottles, however, may continue moving and impact against the stopped bottles, denting or otherwise permanently deforming the bottles. Such deformed bottles may be visually unacceptable and may affect downstream process and filling operations. Furthermore, severe damage may even "lock" the bottle to the guide rails and prevent upstream bottles from resuming movement until the locked bottle is removed.
To reduce impact damage, conveyor airflow is limited to reduce bottle speed and match bottle speed with the physical characteristics and material properties of the bottle. Some bottles however, such as paper-thin water bottles or high-density containers having little intrinsic strength, are prone to denting using conventional air conveyors.
Trenel et al. Patent Application Publication 20020192038 discloses an air conveyor in which the conveyor air duct is divided by a wall into upper and lower duct compartments. The upper duct compartment receives pressurized air from the blower. The lower duct compartment provides the pressurized air to the channel for discharge against the bottles.
An opening in the wall near an end of the duct fluidly communicates the upper duct compartment with the lower duct compartment. A flat plate acts as a valving member that opens and closed the opening. When the opening is closed, the lower duct compartment is isolated from the upper duct compartment, stopping the flow of air through the channel and stopping the flow of bottles.
Use of a plate to close an opening near an end of the duct does not allow fine control of air flow. The plate when away from the opening itself acts to subdivide the upper duct compartment, with the result that the plate may impart unwanted turbulence to the airflow. Being near an end of the duct, the control of airflow at the other end of the duct is not optimum.
Rediess et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,094 discloses an air conveyor in which a cap can be selectively raised or lowered over the channel to provide high-speed or low-speed airflow. When the cap is raised, airflow into the channel is unobstructed and the air discharges from the channel at relatively high speed. When the cap is lowered, the cap partially obstructs the channel openings, reducing airflow to relatively low-speed airflow.
Modifying the Rediess et al. air conveyor to shut off airflow is expensive since the cap would need to fit closely over the channel. Using different channels for different bottles or containers would require changing caps, adding additional expense.
Thus there is a need for an air conveyor that can better regulate airflow for controlling the speed of articles being conveyed by the air conveyer.


The magnetic ice cube works without a freezer or a refrigerator, and can be stored for indefinite periods at room temperature without losing its cooling potential. The cooling element of the magnetic ice cube consists of an air evacuated sealed heat exchange chamber containing water. The water will boil at low temperature and absorb heat from its environment, if the vapor generated by the boiling water is removed. This is accomplished by a desiccant placed in a separate chamber. The vapor passes through a tube, into the chamber containing the desiccant which removes the vapor. The top portion of the tube is placed in the desiccant chamber, is flexible, and communicates with its environment through a hole in a rubber lined inside magnet. During storage of the device, a force of attraction between the inside magnet and an outside surface magnet causes the inside magnet to press against a rubber layer lining the top inside surface of the desiccant chamber. This blocks the hole in the magnet and closes the communication between the chambers. The cooling process is initiated by turning the outside magnet upside-down. This changes the attractive force between the magnets to a repulsive force. This pushes the inside magnet away from the surface rubber layer and opens the communication between the chambers. Surface extensions from the walls of the desiccant chambers limit the travel of the inside magnet away from the outside magnet.

The invention relates to self cooling and self heating containers, and in particular to self-heating and self heating sorption containers which operate without valves which perforate the surfaces of the device. Previous inventions relating to sorption self cooling and self heating containers have been described by the present author in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,250,720, 4,736,599, 4,928,495, 5,079,932 and 5,168,708. Essentially, the self cooling and self heating containers consists of a chamber containing water, the boiling point of which has been lowered by an air vacuum in the chamber. The chamber communicates through a pipe with another chamber containing a desiccant. As the water boils it cools itself and absorbs heat from a food or a beverage which is preferred to be consumed at low temperatures. The vapor generated by the low boiling point water is removed by the desiccant. The vapor sorbed by the desiccant heats the desiccant. The desiccant then delivers heat to a food or a beverage which is preferred to be consumed at high temperatures. By closing the communication between the water and desiccant chambers the self cooling and self heating device can be stored indefinitely without losing its temperature changing potential. The cooling or heating action is initiated by opening of the communication between the water and the desiccant chambers. Thus, a reversible closing of the communication between the water and the desiccant chamber is essential for the storage and operation of the device. This has been previously achieved by valve means which open and close the pipe between the chambers.
The air vacuum which is required to lower the boiling point of the water, must often be maintained through out months or even years of the shelf life of the food or beverage. To prevent an air leak into the system through the valve an air tight and leak proof valve is essential. Standard valves which are manipulated through means which have perforated the wall of the temperature changer present a continuous leak hazard and are not suited for such strict and long term vacuum requirements. Commercially available vacuum valves are too expensive for use in commonly used beverage containers. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,708 I have described a pliable outside surface, such as a bellows, as means to open and close the communication between the water and desiccant chambers without perforating the surfaces of the chambers. In recent U.S. patent applications I have described magnetic means to open and close the communication between the chambers while maintaining the integrity of the chambers surfaces. The magnetic force between two bodies varies inversely as the square of distance between the bodies. The magnetic force is therefore largely decreased with even relatively small distances between a magnet and a magnet responsive object. In recent U.S. patent applications I have described magnet responsive stoppers present inside an air evacuated containers responding to a magnet on the outside surface of the container. A disadvantage of magnetic stopper mechanism is the fact that the stopper must travel a relatively long distance towards and away from the outside magnet in order to close and open the communication between the chambers. The main objective of the present invention is to provide a self cooling container with a closing and opening mechanism which would minimize the distance of travel between the magnet and its magnet responsive object.
An additional disadvantage of a stopper mechanism is the fact the stopper must be fitted tightly into its opening to provide a leak proof seal. This requires a relatively large force not only to push the stopper into its opening but also to pull the stopper from its opening. This force often exceeds the magnetic forces provided by small low cost magnets. Another objective is to provide a magnet responsive closing and opening mechanism which require relatively little force to effectively open and close.


A method and a device for operating an electronic data-distribution control unit for a media access to a medium for the transmission of data, data being transmitted from a first physical interface for a first port in the data-distribution control unit to a second physical interface for a second port in the data-distribution control unit via a first media-independent interface between a media access control in the data-distribution control unit and the first physical interface and via a second media-independent interface between the media access control and the second physical interface, a case of a fault in the media access control being detected if a communication between the media access control and a monitoring logic in the data-distribution control unit fails, the monitoring logic, in the case of a fault, configuring the first physical interface and the second physical interface to transmit data via a third media-independent interface between the first physical interface and the second physical interface, without the media access control.

In such a data-distribution control unit, the access to physical interfaces for transmitting data via a medium in operation is usually controlled by a media access control. In the Ethernet, a physical interface in the Ethernet physical layer is denoted by PHY. The media access control in the Ethernet media access control layer is denoted by MAC.
The PHY and MAC are semiconductor components which are disposed separately from each other in the data-distribution control unit. If the MAC fails because of a fault, the data-distribution control unit is no longer able to distribute data via the MAC, since the access to the PHY can no longer be controlled by the MAC. The transmission of data by the data-distribution control unit is then interrupted.
The object of the present invention is to enable a more reliable transmission of data, or data transmission in case of a fault.

Electronic data-distribution control unit and method for operating such a control unit


The baculovirus homologous region (hr1) sequence has been disclosed as a transcriptional enhancer of foreign gene expression. An additional copy of the hr1 element contained within a recombinant baculovirus has been demonstrated to be capable of further enhancing expression of foreign genes placed under the transcriptional control of a promoter such as the baculovirus polyhedrin and/or Drosophila hsp70 promoter. The recombinant baculovirus is stable for up to 30 passages. This invention can be employed to generate recombinant expression vector plasmids and recombinant baculoviruses that can be used to produce increased levels of recombinant protein products of therapeutic, biomedical or basic science research interest.

The baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) has gained acceptance as the system of choice for the expression of foreign genes of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic origin (V. A. Luckow & M. D. Summers, Biotechnology, Vol. 6, 47-55, 1988). This expression system is one of the easiest and safest eukaryotic systems for recombinant protein production. A number of genes of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic origin have been expressed using this system. BEVS primarily utilizes the Autographa californica multiple nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcMNPV), the prototype baculovirus which infects Lepidopteran insects. On the basis of their temporal activation profile in the infected insect host, baculovirus genes are classified as early, late and very late (D. R. O'Reilly, et al., In: Baculovirus Expression Vectors: A Laboratory Manual, New York: W H Freeman and Co, 1992). For the purpose of foreign gene expression, promoters that drive the transcription of late and very late genes are most commonly used. These include the late cor promoter and the very late p10 and polyhedrin gene promoters.
The polyhedrin promoter, utilized extensively in BEVS is temporally regulated and hyperactive (V. S. Luckow & M. D. Summers, Biotechnology, Vol. 6, 47-55, 1988: M. D. Summers, Curr. Commun. in Molec. Biol., Cold Spring Harbor Press. Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. 1987; M. D. Summers & G. E. Smith, TAES Bulletin No. 1555, 1988; Smith and Summers, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,745,051 and 4,040,367; M. D. Summers et al. 5,169,784; Webb & Summers, vol. 2, Technique--A Journal of Methods in Cell and Molec. Biology, 173-188, 1990).
There are eight interspersed homologous regions (hrs) that vary in size from 30 to 800 bp distributed in the double-stranded, covalently closed baculovirus DNA genome (M. A. Cochran & P. Faulkner, Vol. 45, J. Virology, 961-970,1983; Kool, et al. Vol. 74, J. General Virology, 2661-2668, 1993; S.M. Rodems & P. D. lriesen, Vol. 69, J. Virology, 5365-5378, 1995). These are designated as hrl, hrla, hr2, hr3, hr4a, hr4b, hr4c and hr5. The sequence homology between these regions is due to the presence of conserved 30 bp palindromic repeats (L. A. Guarino et al. Vol. 60, J. Virology, 224-229, 1986; L. A. Guarino & M. D. Summers. Vol. 60, J. Virology 215-223, 1986; A. Liu et al. Vol. 67, J. General Virology, 2565-2570, 1986). The homologous region sequences are capable of functioning as origins of replication (ori) (M. Pearson, et al. Vol. 257, Science, 1382-1384, 1992; M. Kool et al. Vol. 192, Virology, 94-101, 1993; M. Kool et al. Vol. 198, Virology, 680-689, 1994; C.H. Ahrens, et al. Baculovirus DNA replication, DePamphilis, M. (ed.) In: DNA replication in eukaryotes, 1995; M. Kool, et al. Vol. 76, J. General Virology, 2103-2118, 1995; D. J. Leisy & G. F. Rohrmann, Vol. 196, Virology, 722-730, 1993) as well as enhancers of some viral genes (S. M. Rodems & P. D. Friesen, Vol. 69, J. Virology, 5365-5378, 1995; L. A. Guarino, et al. Vol. 60, J. Virology, 224-229, 1986; L. A. Guarino & M. D. Summers, Vol. 60, J. Virology, 215-223, 1986; D. D. Carson et al. Vol. 65, J. Virology, 945-951, 1991; A. Lu & E. B. Carstens, Vol. 195, Virology, 710-718, 1993; M. S. Nissen, & P. D. Friesen, Vol. 63, J. Virology, 493-503, 1989; S. M. Rodems & P. D. Friesen, Vol. 67, J. Virology, 5776-5785, 1993; L. A. Guarino & W. Dong, vol 65, J. Virology, 3676-3680, 1991; L. A. Guarino, & W. Dong, Vol. 200, Virology, 328-335, 1994). The hr5, in particular, has been demonstrated to function as an enhancer of the delayed early 39K gene (S. M. Rodems & P. D. Friesen. Vol. 69, J. Virology, 5365-5378, 1995). The applicants previously demonstrated that the hr1 homologous region sequence, located about 3.7 kb upstream to the polyhedrin promoter in the wild type AcMNPV genome, enhances transcription from the polyhedrin promoter in a position- and orientation-independent manner in transient expression assays (S. Habib et al. Vol. 15, DNA Cell Biology, 737-747, 1996). Enhancement of expression was demonstrated to be a direct result of enhanced transcription from the promoter and was independent of the ori function of hr1.
The property of viral enhancers has not been exploited in the baculovirus expression vector system. Specifically, hr1 has not been exploited in baculovirus expression plasmids or baculovirus expression vectors for enhanced foreign gene expression in insect cells.
It is an object of this invention to produce expression vector plasmids that can be used to construct viral expression vectors or that can be used to tra isfect cells to enhance the expression of foreign genes in insect cells.
It is an object of this invention to produce a baculovirus expression vector to enhance the expression of foreign genes in insect cells.
It is a further object of this invention to construct a recombinant baculovirus expression plasmid that can be used to construct a baculovirus expression vector which can be used to increase the yield of the desired protein product or protein products.
It is another object of this invention to construct a recombinant baculovirus enhancer of foreign gene expression driven by the baculovirus polyhedrin promoter.
It is yet another object of the invention to construct a recombinant baculovirus enhancer of foreign gene expression driven by the Drosophila hsp 70 promoter.
A still further object of the invention is to construct a recombinant baculovirus expression vector comprising hrl as a transcriptional enhancer of foreign gene expression driven by the baculovirus polyhedrin gene promoter.
Yet another object of this invention is an approach for the construction of a recombinant baculovirus expression vector comprising hrl as a transcriptional enhancer of foreign gene expression driven by the Drosophila hsp 70 promoter.
Still another object of this invention is an approach for the construction of a recombinant baculovirus expression vector comprising hrl as a transcriptional enhancer of the expression of one or more foreign genes driven by the baculovirus polyhedrin gene promoter and/or Drosophila hsp 70 promoter.
Yet another object of this invention is an approach for the construction of a recombinant baculovirus expression vector comprising two hr1 sequences as transcriptional enhancers of the expression of one or more foreign genes under the control of multiple promoters such as two polyhedrin promoters, two Drosophila hsp 70 promoters or a polyhedrin promoter and a Drosphila hsp 70 promoter.

Method for enhancing foreign gene expression in baculovirus expression vector system


A method, circuit and system for altering the power consumption in communication links. A type of noise and an amount of jitter in a signal transmitted across a communication link is measured. Upon determining the contribution of the measured noise to the measured jitter in the signal, the measured noise is classified based on such contribution and the intensity of the measured jitter. The power consumption in a component(s) of the communication link may be adjusted based on the classification of the measured noise. For example, if the measured noise is classified as being a low amount of noise, then the power consumption of the component(s) may be reduced such as by lowering the voltage of the power supply and/or reducing the complexity of the circuitry. By reducing the power consumption when the communication link is not subject to the worst-case condition, a savings in power consumption may be made.

As electronic and computer technology continues to evolve, communication of information among different devices, either situated near by or at a distance becomes increasingly important. It is now more desirable than ever to provide high speed communications among different chips on a circuit board, different circuit boards in a system and different systems with each other. It is also desirable to provide high speed communications in intensive data consuming systems using graphical or video information, multiple input-output channels, local area networks, etc.
Data may be transmitted between different devices in a communication system through a "data link". The component that generates and transmits a signal through the data link may be referred to as a "transmitter"; whereas, the component that receives the signal over the data link and extracts information from the signal may be referred to as a "receiver." Typically, data is transmitted in parallel whenever possible in order to increase bandwidth. However, due to cost, weight, interference (noise) and electrical loading considerations, parallel transmission is not feasible in many systems. In order to simplify the communications problem, data may be transmitted serially. By transmitting data serially, less hardware is required for the actual communications link between the different devices.
The transmitted serial data signal in the data link may have timing uncertainties, commonly referred to as "jitter", as a result of what is referred to as "noise." Noise may refer to a disturbance, especially a random and persistent disturbance, that obscures or reduces the clarity of a signal. "Jitter" may refer to the delay between the expected transition of the data signal and the actual transition. That is, "jitter" may refer to an offset of time as to when the serial data signal transitions from a high to a low state or from a low to a high state. When there is more noise in a signal there may result a greater amount of jitter thereby making it more difficult to extract the data from the signal.
Typically, in a digital communication system, data is transmitted by the transmitter without the clock signal for efficiency purposes. The clock signal may be recovered by the receiver by using a circuit commonly referred to as a clock and data recovery circuit. The clock and data recovery circuit may derive the clock signal from the received digital data.
Typically, signal generation circuits (circuits that generate a data signal) in a transmitter and clock and data recovery circuits in a receiver are designed for worst-case conditions, such as being able to handle a maximum amount of noise in the communication system. As stated above, when there is more noise in a signal, the more difficult to extract the data from the signal. This may result in designing transmitter and receiver circuits with complex configurations in order to handle the worst-case conditions. However, in many cases, the transmitted signal may contain less than the maximum amount of noise (worst-case condition), thereby unnecessarily using such complex configurations to generate the signal and/or receive and extract information from the signal. Hence, an excessive amount of power may be unnecessarily used. If the use of such unnecessary power could be reduced or if a less complex configuration could be used when the communication link is not subject to the worst-case condition, then a savings in power consumption may be made.
Therefore, there is a need in the art to reduce the power consumption in communication links (referring to the transmitters and receivers) when the communication links are not subject to the worst-case condition for noise.

Altering power consumption in communication links based on measured noise

International Business Machines Corporation


A process to regenerate wet flue gas scrubber purge liquid into NaOH caustic suitable for make-up caustic for the scrubber is disclosed. Further, sulfur is removed from waste effluent in the form of gypsum with the process described herein. Lime is added to the spent, sodium sulfate-containing purge liquid to result in the formation of gypsum and sodium hydroxide.

a. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to wet flue gas scrubbers, and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for regenerating flue gas scrubber purge solution into NaOH caustic while removing sulfur containing waste from the plant effluent.
b. Background
Responding to environmental regulations, many oil refiners are currently operating or installing wet flue gas scrubbers to remove SO2 and/or particulates from various waste gas streams. Scrubbers can be used on various refinery processes including coke calciners, Phillips SZorb process, and Fluidized Catalytic Crackers (FCC). Most notably wet flue gas scrubbers (FGS) are used on the regenerator stack of a FCC to remove SO2 and particulates from the combustion gas before expelling it to the atmosphere. To efficiently remove the SO2, caustic soda (or "caustic", NaOH) must be added to the circulating aqueous solution to control pH in the neutral to slightly basic range. Some portion of the circulating solution must be purged to maintain SO2 removal and control solids content of the solution.
The purge stream is generally further treated in a purge treatment unit (PTU) to remove solids and reduce the chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the solution. After this stage of treatment the liquid effluent is discharged through a waste water treatment plant out the process plant effluent discharge usually into a body of water. The predominate salt in the PTU effluent is sodium sulfate (NaSO4), currently considered benign in salt water effluent zones but of more concern in fresh water or brackish effluent zones. Legal action has been taken against refiners in Illinois and Delaware to mitigate salt in or anticipated to be in refinery effluent due to a FGS operation.
Make-up caustic for the FGS is purchased and shipped into the refinery by truck or railcar. Regenerating the purge from a FGS would greatly reduce caustic purchases. Most caustic is manufactured by an electrolysis separation of NaCl, an electricity intensive process. Recycling caustic will save electricity and benefit the environment versus manufacturing fresh caustic for FGS operations.
Paramount Limited's (India) Double Alkali system uses lime to partially regenerate a caustic-based scrubber purge so that it can be recirculated to the scrubber. However, this process requires a very large purge that would be problematic when dealing with a PTU to remove suspended solids such as from an FCC scrubber. In the double alkali system, calcium sulfite is a produced solid along with calcium sulfate (gypsum) reducing the value of the recovered solid and making settling and filtering more difficult.
Lime or limestone is commonly used in power plants to remove SO2 from flue gas. Direct lime scrubbers are difficult to operate since lime is not very soluble in water and must be circulated in the scrubber as a slurry unlike the easier to operate caustic FGS. Like the process in this invention, the sulfur is removed by a lime scrubber as CaSO4 or gypsum. The gypsum from power plant scrubbers is increasingly being sold into the synthetic gypsum market and used for wall board or portland cement manufacturing. It is anticipated that gypsum made by applying the present invention will be suitable for use as synthetic gypsum.

Method and apparatus for regeneration of flue gas scrubber caustic solutions


A portable clean molding apparatus for receipt of molded articles ejected from a mold machine. The apparatus includes a receiving chamber having a first interior space and a selectively openable first door, a secondary chamber joined to the receiving chamber and having a second interior space and a selectively openable second door, and an air filtration cover unit installed over the receiving and secondary chambers so as to provide a low-particulate, positive airflow into the first and second interior spaces. The apparatus further includes at least one vent communicating with the second interior space so as to allow the airflow to exit the secondary chamber and at least one chute communicating with the first interior space so as to allow the airflow to exit the receiving chamber, the chute being located adjacent to the mold machine for the transfer of molded articles to the receiving chamber.

1. Field of the Invention
An aspect of this invention relates generally to clean environments, and more particularly to portable clean environments employed in the field of molding.
2. Description of Related Art
In the molding field, it is often desirable to mold parts in a low particulate count environment. This is particularly true for medical and optical molded parts, for example. Typically, such low particulate count molding is accomplished by locating the entire mold machine within a clean environment, such as a class 100,000 clean room. However, it is generally costly to maintain such a clean room, much less a lower particulate count permanent environment on the order of class 100, and the molder is often also then limited to the particular mold machine that is installed within the clean room, creating potential problems in production scheduling and in the event of machine downtime.
To address some of these concerns common to locating a mold machine in a permanent clean room, temporary clean rooms and other portable clean environments have been developed in the art. These temporary and portable clean environments are also relatively expensive to operate and/or are generally not capable of maintaining a low particulate count environment on the order of class 100 independent of a larger clean room within which they are designed to operate.
The following art defines the present state of this field:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,480 to Yagi et al. is directed to a manufacturing apparatus equipped with product transfer means arranged along the flow of products and provided with an air cleaning device. A partition panel is provided on the downstream side of the clean air blow-off vent of the air cleaning device so as to form a clean air passageway and prevent dust from penetrating into the passageway, so that goods are manufactured and transferred in the cleaned air passageway.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,634 to Maus et al. is directed to an injection molding process that creates a micro-cleanroom environment inside a mold cavity which can stay closed to airborne contaminants while ejecting and transferring the molded part out. The molded part is formed and solidified at a parting-line plane within the mold cavity, then is carried rearward on the movable mold insert to a second plane where it is stripped off and transferred out through a discharge aperture which is open when the mold cavity is in the second plane but closed off when in the first plane. The aperture faces substantially downward to prevent entry by upwelling thermal air currents. External supplied filtered gas can provide positive pressure through vents within the moldset's internal space. This maximizes mold and part cleanliness while speeding up "mold-open" cycle and may eliminate HEPA filters/enclosures and robots. Optical disks, lenses, food packaging and medical parts are suggested uses.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,139,459 to Takahashi et al. is directed to a clean transfer method capable of safely transferring a semiconductor or the like to various apparatuses for treating the semiconductor while keeping the environment clean. In the method, the semiconductor is transferred between a vacuum clean box arranged in a clean room and kept at the degree of vacuum of 1 Torr or less and a vacuum chamber arranged in a maintenance room while transfer ports of the vacuum clean box and vacuum chamber are kept air-tightly connected to each other. The vacuum clean box is movably arranged.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,560 to Krone-Schmidt et al. is directed to an apparatus for controlling the environment of an enclosed space. The apparatus includes a workspace compartment within a gas-tight chamber, a mechanism for circulating dehumidified gas in true laminar flow through the workspace compartment, and a highly efficient filtering component for removing contaminants from the gas.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,401,212 to Marvell et al. is directed to an environmental control system including a modular isolation chamber. Together with associated atmospheric regulatory equipment, the connectable modular chambers provide a smaller, cost-effective alternative to the traditional clean rooms utilized for fabricating or processing semiconductors and other products. Because the work pieces and processing or other machinery are isolated from the remainder of the rooms in which they are located, decontamination of much of each room is not required. Use of the portable, modular chambers of the present invention also permits increased control over particulate contaminates smaller than heretofore satisfactorily regulated and individualized regulation of differing processing environments within a single room.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,793 to Mori et al. is directed to chamber units are sequentially coupled with each other to thereby provide a volume of clean space, and whereby different environments can be maintained in the different chamber units. An air blowhole or door is provided at an opening section of each chamber unit. Moreover, a space section can be defined at the coupling part of the chamber units, and a suction pump and a suction hose can be provided in the space section, so as to prevent the environments of the different chambers from influencing one another.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,475 to Sikes et al. is directed to an improved machine for performing a manufacturing process on a workpiece. The machine includes a cabinet defining an interior workspace for performing the manufacturing process. The workpiece is placed in the workspace by an operator. The cabinet is coupled with a gas source for receiving a flow of gas from the gas source. The improvement comprises a first aperture in the cabinet providing access to an interior chamber within the cabinet. The interior chamber has an interior surface and an open end aligned with the first aperture for storing a work-in-process unit. The interior chamber is accessible to the operator for transferring the work-in-process unit between the interior chamber and the workspace. The improvement further comprises a second aperture in the interior surface of the interior chamber, the second aperture admitting the flow of gas from the gas source to establish a laminar flow of the gas in the chamber intermediate the first aperture and the second aperture.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,687,542, 5,953,884 and 6,145,277 to Lawecki et al. are directed to an apparatus and method for manufacturing articles, such as syringe barrels, substantially free from contaminants. The apparatus is an enclosure defining at least a class 100 and MCB-3 environment, and includes a molding isolation module and a packaging isolation module. Any contaminants that may exist within the enclosure are removed by the use of horizontal and vertical laminar airflows directed into air filter units. Further, the molding temperature may be selected such that it renders the fabricated articles substantially free from contaminants. The molding isolation module and packaging isolation module keep the fabricated articles substantially free from contaminants from the time the articles are molded to the time the articles are placed in sealed containers for shipment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,726 to Kinkead et al. is directed to a scheme for defining, inside a processing facility, a storage environment that is substantially free of a targeted molecular contaminant and in which one or more substrates are to be stored for a period of time before or after a substrate processing step; the scheme including: an air blower for providing a flow of air within a storage environment defined inside a processing facility; a substrate support for holding one or more substrates inside the storage environment; and a molecular air filter having an input face positioned to receive air from the blower and having an output face for providing a flow of filtered air inside the storage environment, the molecular air filter being constructed and arranged to remove an airborne molecular contaminant from air flowing into the storage environment to achieve a concentration level of the molecular contaminant inside the storage environment suitable for storing one or more substrates therein for a sit time corresponding to the time before a subsequent substrate processing step; wherein the storage environment is substantially free of the targeted airborne molecular contaminant. Schemes for defining substrate storage environments for semiconductor device fabrication processes are also disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,399 to Szatmary is directed to an apparatus for providing a clean working environment including an isolation booth, a worker booth, and an access device arranged to enable a worker in the worker booth to handle material in an isolation chamber formed in the isolation booth. A pressure generator is positioned to communicate with the isolation chamber to generate an air pressure therein that is less than the air pressure of an air curtain passing through the worker booth so that air is drawn from the air curtain in the worker booth into the isolation chamber through any air leak opening that develops in and around the access device so as to block outflow of air in the isolation chamber to the worker booth through the air leak opening.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,010,400 to Krainiak et al. is directed to an isolation work station comprising an enclosure and an air circulation system and high efficiency air filter for generating a downwardly directed laminar air flow through the enclosure. Periodic sterilization of the enclosure may be accomplished by adding a sterilant, such as vaporized hydrogen peroxide, to the airstream, and the filter is impregnated with a catalyst for degrading the vaporized hydrogen peroxide during the purge cycle and wherein the airstream is circulated at a relatively low speed so as to increase the residence time in the filter.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,238,283 to Matsuyama et al. is directed to a work conveying and transferring apparatus having a trolley having a casing defining a hermetically sealed space, and a support portion provided on the trolley for placing at least one container containing a cassette carrying works. A container opening device is provided on the trolley to open the container placed on the support portion, and a cassette transferring device is provided for transferring the cassette from the trolley to a treating apparatus, with the container placed on the support portion opened. The support portion is provided in the sealed space, and works can be double sealed by the sealed space and the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,623,538 to Thakur et al. is directed to a compact, portable, lightweight, low power consuming, convenient, versatile and sterile laminar airflow device, useful in obtaining a workspace substantially devoid of airborne particulate contaminants, said device having a body divided into upper and lower chambers; the upper chamber housing one or more pre-filtration members, a motor driving a fan, and one or more filters located below the motor; and the lower chamber provided with a slidable front panel, a removable platform located at the lower portion of the chamber and a perforated plane placed on the removable platform.
The prior art described above teaches a manufacturing apparatus with an air cleaning device, an injection molding process operating without opening the mold to airborne contaminants, a clean transfer method and system therefor, an environment control apparatus, an environmental control system, a coupling-type clean space apparatus, a work-in-process storage pod, an isolation module for molding and packaging articles substantially free from contaminants, storing substrates between process steps within a processing facility, an isolation chamber air curtain apparatus, an isolation workstation, a double-sealed work conveying and transferring apparatus and container inspecting method, and a sterile laminar airflow device, but does not teach a portable clean molding apparatus and method providing for the receipt of parts molded in a mold machine, manipulating such parts in a low particulate count environment, and passing the manipulated parts out of the portable clean molding apparatus without compromising its low particulate count environment, and wherein the portable clean molding apparatus and the mold machine are both not located in a clean room. Aspects of the present invention fulfill these needs and provide further related advantages as described in the following summary.

Portable clean molding apparatus and method of use


A method for estimating the maximum tire/road surface coefficient of friction for a vehicle that includes actively inducing a small amount of acceleration or deceleration to the front wheels or the rear wheels of the vehicle and inducing a corresponding and opposite amount of acceleration or deceleration to the other of the front wheels or the rear wheels of the vehicle so that the acceleration and deceleration cancel each other and the perceived speed of the vehicle does not change. The tire/road surface coefficient of friction and a wheel-slip ratio can be used to determine a road surface condition.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a method for estimating the maximum tire/road surface coefficient of friction for a vehicle and, more particularly, to a method for estimating the maximum tire/road surface coefficient of friction for a vehicle that includes inducing an acceleration in the front wheels or the real wheels of the vehicle and inducing a deceleration in the other of the front wheels or the rear wheels of the vehicle so that the acceleration and deceleration cancel and the perceived speed of the vehicle does not change.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
The performance of various vehicle control systems, such as collision avoidance systems, adaptive cruise control systems, automated lane-keeping systems, automated braking systems (ABS), traction control systems (TCS), stability control systems, etc., can be greatly improved by providing a reliable estimate of the maximum tire/road surface coefficient of friction. For example, the gains and the commanded values of the vehicle control system can be made adaptive to the maximum tire/road surface coefficient of friction to increase the performance of the system.
The wheel-slip of a vehicle wheel during acceleration is defined as the difference in wheel speed between a driven wheel and a non-driven wheel. The wheel-slip ratio is the ratio of the difference between the speeds of the driven wheel and the non-driven wheel to the speed of the driven wheel. It can be shown that the slope of the wheel-slip ratio road surface coefficient of friction curves for small slip ratios (in the linear region) is almost the same for all road surfaces.
It is typically difficult to classify the road surface condition when the wheel-slip ratio is in the linear operating region. As the wheel-slip ratio increases, the slope for the different road surface conditions starts to decrease and become different. However, once the vehicle is in the non-linear operating region, it may be too late for the control system to utilize the wheel slip information and adapt to the current road surface conditions. Therefore, it is desirable to estimate the maximum tire/road surface coefficient of friction before the wheel-slip ratio reaches the value that corresponds to the maximum coefficient of friction. By estimating the slope of the curve at higher wheel-slip ratios, it is possible to classify the road surfaces as, for example, icy, snowy, wet or dry.
United States Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0061061, assigned to the assignee of this application and herein incorporated by reference, discloses a method for classifying a road surface condition by estimating the maximum tire/road surface coefficient of friction for a vehicle that includes actively inducing an acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle. The induced acceleration/deceleration allows the speed of the wheels to be measured so that the tire/road surface coefficient of friction and the driven wheel-slip ratio can be calculated. The tire/road surface coefficient of friction and the wheel-slip ratio are then used to determine the slope of the wheel slip/coefficient of friction curve to classify the road surface condition.
Although the method of the '061 application is effective for classifying the road surface condition by determining the maximum tire/road surface coefficient of friction and the wheel-slip ratio, the acceleration or deceleration that is induced on the vehicle can be felt by the vehicle operator.

Real-time identification of maximum tire-road friction coefficient by induced wheels acceleration/deceleration


A first set of variables is introduced into a data transaction scoring system. The first set of variables having a maturity level less than a second set of variables previously matured on the data transaction scoring system. The maturity level corresponding to an amount of exposure to the data transaction scoring system. The amount of exposure affecting a degree of precision for the data transaction scoring system. The first set of variables are introduced by expanding a data transaction profile for the data transaction scoring system including second set of variables to further include the first set of variables. Initial values are assigned for the first set of variables based on a statistical model. After such an assignment, scoring of data transactions using the expanded data transaction profile prior to maturing the data transaction system using the first set of variables can be initiated. Related apparatus, systems, techniques, and articles are also described.

The performance of data transaction scoring systems can often be improved by increasing the number of data feeds (i.e., data variables) that are provided to such systems. However, increasing the number of variables in a data scoring system can result in imprecise scores until there is a sufficient amount of exposure using such new variables. Depending on the size of data being characterized by the scoring system, the amount of time to conduct proper exposure using the new variables can be lengthy (which in turn can make such training costly). Moreover, unnecessary processing resources can be consumed while maturing the scoring system with the newly introduced variables.

Rapidly maturing expanded data transaction profiles


An organic light emitting diode (OLED) display including: a display unit including pixels; and a power supply unit including: an output terminal; a reference terminal having an insulated output; and a bias circuit generating a first power source voltage from a received input voltage and supplying a second power source voltage to the reference terminal wherein the first power source voltage and the second power source voltage are voltages driving the plurality of pixels, wherein the bias circuit supplies the second power source voltage to the reference terminal and the plurality of pixels and is referenced to a ground voltage, and wherein a current flowing to the pixels flows to the reference terminal. In the OLED display, one power supply may be used as a power supply powering electroluminescence (EL), and thereby a cost of the OLED display may be reduced and a power efficiency may be improved.

1. Field
Aspects of the present invention relate to an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display and a power supply of the same. More particularly, aspects of the present invention relate to a power supply powering electroluminescence (EL) and an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, various flat panel displays having a reduced weight and volume have been developed. Types of the flat panel display include a liquid crystal display (LCD), a field emission display, a plasma display panel (PDP), and an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display. Among the flat panel displays, the OLED display displays an image by using light generated by an OLED by recombination of electrons and holes. The OLED display has gained attention because it has a rapid response speed, has low power consumption, has luminous efficiency, and luminance and a viewing angle which are excellent.
A type of OLED display is classified as a passive matrix OLED (PMOLED) and an active matrix OLED (AMOLED) according to a driving method of the OLED. Among the types, in views of resolution, contrast, and operational speed, the AMOLED that is selectively turned on with respect to every unit pixel is mainly used.
As a power source of the AMOLED, various power sources such as a power source powering EL and a power source powering computation, or logic and powering a system are required. Among them, a capacity of the power source powering the EL is largest. Particularly, the EL power source of a large capacity to generate light energy is required in a television (TV) having the AMOLED of a large size.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an EL power supply according to a conventional organic light emitting diode (OLED) display. Referring to FIG. 1, an EL power supply of the conventional OLED display includes a +ELVDD power source circuit 10 and a −ELVSS power source circuit 20. The +ELVDD power source circuit 10 generates a +ELVDD voltage of the ELVDD power supply supplied to a pixel PX of the OLED display. The −ELVSS power source circuit 20 generates a −ELVSS voltage of the ELVSS power supply supplied to the pixel PX of the OLED display.
A DC power source of the external power supply is applied as an input voltages +Vin of both the +ELVDD power source circuit 10 and the −ELVSS power source circuit 20. A current flowing to the input voltage +Vin of the +ELVDD power source circuit 10 and the −ELVSS power source circuit 20 passes through the +ELVDD power source circuit 10 and the −ELVSS power source circuit 20 and the +ELVDD power source circuit 10 and the −ELVSS power source circuit 20 are grounded.
The +ELVDD power source circuit 10 generates the +ELVDD voltage, which is referenced to the ground (GND) voltage, from the current flowing in the input voltage +Vin. The −ELVSS power source circuit 20 generates the −ELVSS voltage, which is referenced to the ground (GND) voltage, from the current flowing in the input voltage +Vin. The +ELVDD power source circuit 10 and the −ELVSS power source circuit 20 respectively generate the +ELVDD voltage and the −ELVSS voltage by using a transformer.
The +ELVDD voltage and the −ELVSS voltage, respectively generated in the +ELVDD power source circuit 10 and the −ELVSS power source circuit 20, are used to illuminate the pixels PX included in the OLED display. However, the −ELVSS power source circuit 20 has low converting efficiency compared with the +ELVDD power source circuit 10, and a cost of the OLED display is increased to additionally use the +ELVDD power source circuit 10 and the −ELVSS power source circuit 20.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Organic light emitting display and power supply for the same


A computing device is programmed to receive data collected from communications of a user. The computer identifies portions of the collected data including a keyword selected from a list of media content elements or lists of keywords associated with each of the media content elements. The computer associates each portion with a media content element. The computer further determines a score for each media content element based on at least one of the number of references, words included in the portion of collected referring to the media content element, and the voice quality of the portion of collected data referring to the media content element. Based on the scores, the computer assigns media content elements to the user. The computer recommends media content items to the user based at least in part on the media content elements assigned to the user.

Users of media content are faced with difficulties in selecting from a variety of items of media content that may be available for consumption, e.g., programming that may include movies, television shows, documentaries, etc. For example, present media content delivery devices (e.g., set-top boxes and the like), could be improved with respect to the ability to determine elements of a media content item such as acting, directing, cinematography, etc. that are valued by a user.

Providing media content based on media element preferences


A system updates the z-values corresponding to pixels of a computer graphics screen. An integral part of the system comprises a controller/memory module which employs preliminary determinations as to whether or not a z-value has been previously stored for a pixel, multiple comparators, and partial read and write operations to achieve a significantly higher memory bandwidth. The bandwidth can be further increased by configuring a plurality of such modules in a parallel architecture.

Contemporary computer graphics devices are widely used to display images of objects based on computer supplied data that represent these objects. In such devices, the screen is subdivided into a large number of pixels, where each pixel can be associated with an (x,y) coordinate pair of an xy-plane corresponding to the screen. In order to draw objects that shadow each other (i.e., a situation in which one object appears in front of and therefore blocks the view of part of another object), a z-axis is also defined, pointing into the plane of the screen. Each pixel is associated with a z-value that indicates the depth of the object to be drawn at that pixel location. The z-value for each pixel, represented for example by a 24 bit binary number, is stored in a z-buffer memory location. Hence, associated with each pixel are two quantities: the color, which may be gray-scale intensity in the case of monochromatic images, and the depth, or z-value, of the object to be drawn at that pixel location.
Typically, the displayed image evolves, or changes with time, either with the entire image being replaced by another image so that a sequence of images is displayed or with only certain pixels changing. As an example, suppose that an object is to be added to an existing image, where parts of this new object are to be drawn such that they appear behind other existing objects. Each of the pixel locations corresponding to the portion of the screen spanned by the new object undergoes the following: First, the z-value which corresponds to the image existing on the screen (i.e., the old z-value) is read from the z-buffer memory. This old z-value is then compared with the z-value corresponding to the object to be drawn (i.e., the new z-value). If the new z-value is less than the old z-value, so that the object to be drawn is in front of the existing image at the pixel location in question, then the new z-value is written to the z-buffer memory, thereby replacing the old z-value. In addition, the new color value is drawn on the screen at that pixel location. If, on the other hand, the new z-value is greater than the old z-value, so that the new object is behind the existing image at that pixel location, then the old z-value remains in memory and the new z-value is discarded. The new color value is not drawn on the screen. Finally, if the two z-values are equal, then the new color value may or may not be drawn on the screen depending on some predetermined convention. Hence, in general a three-step process is carried out in updating a pixel location: reading the z-buffer memory, comparing the old and new z-values, and possibly writing the new value to the memory.
Naturally, in graphics applications the desired effect is achieved only if the updating operation is carried out at high speed. Defining the bandwidth of a memory device as the number of bits per unit time that can be processed by the memory, it is desirable to have as high a bandwidth as possible.

High memory bandwidth system for updating z-buffer values


Six record areas for predetermined data that has been encoded and digitally modulated are formed in a data record area on a disc. The record areas have different offset compensation amounts. The offset compensation amounts allow all offset amounts that may take place in an error correction code encoder to be compensated. Thus, regardless of the offset amount generated by the error correction code encoder, encoded and modulated data that has been generated by the conventional EFM modulating system and recorded in one of the record areas securely causes DSV to deviate. Each of the record areas is set to a sufficient length that allows the effect of which DSV deviates to be recognized.

Since optical discs such as Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) discs and Compact Disc Read Only Memory (CD-ROM) discs are easy to handle and their production cost is relatively low, they have been widely used as recording mediums that store data. Moreover, in recent years, Compact Disc Recordable (CD-R) discs that allow data to be written once and Compact Disc Rewritable (CD-RW) discs that allow data to be rerecorded have come out. Data can be easily recorded on such discs. Thus, optical discs based on the CD standard such as CD-DA discs, CD-ROM discs, CD-R discs, and CD-RW discs have become the mainstream of data recording mediums. Furthermore, in recent years, technologies for compressing audio data in accordance with the MPEG1 Audio Layer-3 (MP3) system and the Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding (ATRAC) system and recording the compressed data on a CD-ROM disc, a CD-R disc, a CD-RW disc, or the like has been used.
However, as CD-R discs and CD-RW discs have come out, data recorded on a CD can be easily copied to such discs. Thus, there is a problem about copyright protection. As a result, when content data is recorded on a disc such as a CD disc, it is necessary to take countermeasures for protecting content data against copyright infringers.
FIG. 15 schematically shows a process of a copy operation. A reproducing unit designated by reference numeral 41 reproduces content data from an original disc for example a CD 42. Reference numeral 43 represents an optical pickup. Reference numeral 44 represents a reproduction signal process portion. Reproduction data reproduced by the reproducing unit 41 is supplied to a recording process portion 52 of a recording unit 51. An optical pickup 53 records the reproduction data to an optical disc for example a CD-R 54. The content data recorded on the CD 42 is recorded to the CD-R 54. In such a manner, with the reproducing unit 41 and the recording unit 51, a copy disc of the CD 42, which is an original disc, can be easily produced.
When a CD is used, as shown in FIG. 16, in the reproducing process portion 44, a sync detecting portion 46 detects a frame sync from a reproduction signal received from an input terminal 45. An EFM demodulator 47 demodulates the reproduction signal in accordance with the Eight to Fourteen Modulation (EFM) system and supplies the EFM-demodulated reproduction data to a Cross Interleave Reed-Solomon Code (CIRC) decoder 48. The CIRC decoder 48 corrects errors of the EFM-demodulated reproduction data. In the EFM system, each symbol (eight data bits) is converted into 14 channel bits. Three merging bits are added between two sequences of 14 channels bits. A sub code decoder 49 decodes a sub code from the reproduction data and obtains a reproduction sub code.
FIG. 17 shows an outlined structure of the recording process portion 52. Data to be recorded is supplied from an input terminal 55 to a CIRC encoder 56. The CIRC encoder 56 encodes the data in accordance with the CIRC system. In addition, a sub code is supplied from an input terminal 57 to a sub code encoder 58. The sub code encoder 58 converts the sub code in a sub code format. An output of the CIRC encoder 56 and an output of the sub code encoder 58 are supplied to a multiplexer 60. In addition, a frame sync is supplied from an input terminal 59 to the multiplexer 60. The multiplexer 60 arranges the input data of the three types in a predetermined sequence. An output of the multiplexer 60 is supplied to an EFM modulator 61. The EFM modulator 61 performs an EFM modulating process for the multiplexed data.
As one method for protecting content data recorded on a CD disc, it is determined whether or not a disc is an original disc or a copy disc on which data of an original disc has been copied. When a disc is an original disc, its content data can be permitted to be copied to another disc. In contrast, when a disc is a copy disc, its content data can be prohibited form being further copied to another disc.
To determine whether a disc is an original disc or a copy disc, a method for inserting a defect into a master disc upon production thereof, detecting the defect from a disc upon reproduction of an original disc, and determines whether the disc is an original disc or a copy disc with the defect has been proposed. However, in this method, such a defect is contained in an original disc. In addition, depending on the type of a defect that is contained in a disc, the defect may be directly copied to a CD-R disc.
The applicant of the present invention has filed a patent application of an invention about a data recording medium, a data recording method, and an apparatus that allow a disc to be determined whether it is an original disc or a copy disc without need to intentionally insert a defect in the original disc so as to prevent content data of an original disc from being copied (as Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-105278).
According to the invention of the prior patent application, a copy protection is performed using Digital Sum Variation (DSV). In other words, by recording predetermined data to an original disc, although its content data can be normally reproduced, since the predetermine data causes the DSV to deviate, content data cannot be normally reproduced from a copy disc such as a CD-R disc to which the content data has been copied from the original data.
When data is recorded on a disc, a plurality of symbols, for example, 24 symbols are encoded with an error correction code. A plurality of parities, for example, four parities are added to the data. Likewise, the predetermined data that causes the DSV to deviate is encoded with an error correction code and the parities are added thereto. The data to which the parities have been added causes the DSV to deviate.
In a conventional error correction code encoder, the phases of 24 symbol to be encoded are not specially designated. When the 24 symbols of the predetermined data having a particular phase (offset is 0) are encoded with an error correction code, the encoded data causes the DSV to deviate. However, when the phase of the predetermined data deviates and the offset thereof is not 0, the generated parities may be different from those generated when the offset is 0. As a result, the data that has been encoded with the error correction code may not cause the DSV to deviate.

Data recording medium, data recording method, and device


A putter head wherein a depth of a center of gravity, ZGR, is a value greater than half of a head width W, namely, ZGR≧W/2, and that a moment of inertia, IY, about the center of gravity is such that IY≧4000 g·cm2.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a putter head for golf.
2. Description of the Related Art
In putting, the path of a club head in a putting stroke is important, and the orientation of the face surface at the time of impact as well as the position of an impact point (a point of contact between the face surface and the ball at the time of impact) are very important. Putting is hitting a ball by aiming at a small cup on a green, which has complicated inclinations, and if there is any error in the ball hitting direction or the hitting speed, the ball misses the small cup. This is because the trajectory of the ball rolling on the green subtly changes depending on the initial speed of the ball and the hitting direction and further on the green speed, the inclination, and the like. Accordingly, to obtain an excellent result inputting, it is necessary to control the hitting direction and the hitting speed very accurately. For this purpose, it becomes necessary to stabilize the path of the head during the stroke and to very accurately control the orientation of the face surface and the position of the impact point at the time of impact.
To attain the above-described object, a putter head came to be proposed in which three kinds of moment of inertia in the putter head are appropriately set by giving consideration to the characteristic features of the head behavior based on the characteristics of the putting stroke, thereby making it possible to stabilize the path of the head and stabilize the orientation of the face surface and the position of the impact point at the time of impact. In this putter head, it is assumed that the moment of inertia of a first axis that passes through the center of gravity of the head and is parallel to the face surface and a horizontal plane is M1. Also, it is assumed that the moment of inertia of the head about a second axis that is a vertical axis passing though the center of gravity of the head is M2. Further, it is assumed that the moment of inertia of the head about a third axis that passes through the center of gravity of the head and is orthogonal to the first axis and to the second axis is M3. A weight balance is set such that a relationship of M2>M3>M1 is satisfied, and that a value of (M3−M1) is not less than 50 g·cm2 and not more than 1500 g·cm2 (refer to JP-A-2005-124806 (page 6, FIG. 1)).


A washing arm and a dishwasher having the washing nozzle are provided. The washing arm includes a first arm capable of rotating by wash liquid flowing therethrough, and a second arm rotating with respect to the first arm through wash liquid supplied from the first arm.

The present disclosure relates to a washing arm for spraying wash liquid and a dishwasher with the washing arm.
In general, a dishwasher is an appliance that sprays wash liquid at high pressure to wash food residue from surfaces of dishes.
Specifically, a dishwasher includes a tub forming a wash compartment, and a sump installed at the lower surface of the tub to hold wash liquid.
Through the pumping action of a wash pump installed within the sump, wash liquid flows to washing nozzles/arms. The wash liquid that flows to the washing nozzles/arms is sprayed at high pressure through spray holes formed in the nozzles/arms. The wash liquid that is sprayed at high pressure collides against surfaces of dishes, removing food deposits and other impurities from the dishes onto the floor of the tub.
A dishwasher thus sprays wash liquid from the washing nozzles/arms to remove food deposits from dishes, and rotates the washing arms in clockwise/counterclockwise directions horizontally to more effectively perform washing of the dishes.
However, in a typical dishwasher, even when a washing arm is rotated, there are areas within the tub that wash liquid does not directly contact, so that dishes are not thoroughly washed.

Washing arm and dishwasher having the same


A nicotine pouched product is disclosed, the nicotine pouched product having a pouch composition and a pouch membrane enclosing the pouch composition, the pouch composition including at least one water-insoluble fiber, water in an amount of at least 15% by weight of the composition, and nicotine, wherein the pouch membrane comprises further nicotine in an amount of at least 15% by weight of a total content of nicotine in the pouched product.

Delivery of nicotine by smoking has many well-known drawbacks, in particular health related problems, such as inclusion of carcinogenic substances.
However, tobacco substitutes also suffer from disadvantages, such as inadequate relief of cravings for the user.
It is an object of one embodiment of the present invention to provide a nicotine containing pouch, e.g. as a tobacco substitute, which may solve the above problems.
A further challenge in the prior art is that the desired release of nicotine should be attractive to the user of the pouch from a user perspective.
Yet at further challenge in relation to the prior art may be that pouches as delivery vehicle for nicotine may be somewhat costly and thereby impose restrictions on the way pouches are designed in order to keep manufacturing costs in check.


An energy absorbing system is provided. The system comprises a fitting having a crack inducing surface extending radially outward in relation to an axis. An energy absorbing structural element formed by a hollow body extends along the axis and has a first end adapted to interact with the crack inducing surface of the fitting so as to radially spread the hollow body. Cracks are formed in the hollow body in response to forces applied in a direction substantially parallel to the axis which forces push the crack inducing surface against the first end. The hollow body may have layers of reinforcing flat material embedded in a matrix material and may comprise a single winding of the flat material about the axis. A number of layers of the flat material in the hollow body may be different in different areas.

The invention relates to a process for the production of structural elements absorbing energy with defined characteristics, these elements being produced as shaped members (also referred to herein as "hollow bodies") from a matrix material and a reinforcing material embedded therein.
Shaped members of this type are known, for example, from DE-B 37 44 349.
The use of such shaped members as structural elements is likewise known, for example, in EP-A-0 130 009 or DE-A-196 27 061.
Proceeding on the basis of the known solutions, the object underlying the invention is to provide a process for the production of an energy-absorbing structural element, with which an energy absorption with defined characteristics may be realized in a simple manner.

Energy absorbing systems and processes, and processes for the production of energy absorbing structural elements

Duetsches Zentrum fuer Luft-und Raumfahrt e.V.


A liquid crystal display (LCD) device and a method of manufacturing the same that can improve the picture quality are provided. A liquid crystal display device includes: a first substrate; a black matrix formed in a matrix configuration on the first substrate; a compensation layer disposed above the black matrix and including a plurality of compensation patterns separated a predetermined region from each other where the compensation layer has been removed; and a column spacer disposed in a region including at least the predetermined region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly, to a liquid crystal display device including a compensation layer formed on an inner surface of a substrate and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
With the development of modern information and communication technologies, liquid crystal display (LCD) devices having high brightness, large-sized screens, low power consumption and low price are in demand.
The LCD device includes first and second substrates having first and second electrodes, respectively that are attached such that the first electrode faces the second electrode, and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the first and second substrates. The LCD device displays an image using light transmittance that is changed when liquid crystal molecules are moved by an electric field generated by applying a voltage between the first and second electrodes.
Because the liquid crystal is optically an anisotropic material having an ordinary refractive index and an extra-ordinary refractive index, it has characteristics where the light path and birefringence vary depending on an incident angle of light. When the light emitted from a backlight is linearly polarized through a lower polarizing film of a liquid crystal panel and then passes through the liquid crystal having the optical anisotropy in a direction (case I) perpendicular to the liquid crystal cell and at a predetermined angle (case II) with respect to the liquid crystal cell, retardation values in cases I and II are different, and thus a phase difference is generated. As a result, the characteristics of light passing through the liquid crystal in the cases I and II are different according to the viewing angle.
Therefore, the related art LCD device has a low visibility due to a variation of contrast ratio and gray scale inversion, that are characteristics determining how clearly an image is seen.
The above problem can be overcome by compensating the optical phase difference generated in the liquid crystal cell, thereby enhancing the viewing angle. Therefore, a compensation film that can compensate for the optical phase difference is attached on a substrate to enhance the viewing angle.
However, when the compensation film is attached on the substrate, foreign particles may adhere to the compensation film. Also, the attached compensation film limits reducing the thickness of the liquid crystal panel. To solve these problems, there has been research into a compensation layer for compensating the optical phase difference formed on an inner surface of the substrate to thereby prevent foreign particles from adhering and decreasing the thickness of the liquid crystal panel.
The compensation layer is formed on the entire inner surface of the substrate, and a column spacer for maintaining a cell gap between two substrates is formed on the compensation layer. Because the compensation layer is formed of a weak material with a weak restoring force, any pressure applied to the LCD device causes the column spacer to compress the compensation layer. Thereafter, when the pressure is released, the compensation layer does not return to its original state and thickness due to its weak restoring force. Therefore, the cell gap between two substrates decreases, which may result in a blemish.
Also, because the compensation layer is formed on the entire inner surface of the substrate, a seal pattern disposed along edges of the LCD device is formed on the compensation layer. However, because an adhesive force between the compensation layer and the seal pattern is very weak, a defect, such as a seal pattern burst may occur.

Liquid crystal display device and method of manufacturing the same


In a level shifting circuit, by supplying current to a gate resistor, a bias is applied to a gate of a transistor. Further, current corresponding to the current which flowed through the gate resistor flows through a first current path of a current mirror circuit, and the current mirror circuit functions to supply current corresponding to the current which flowed through the gate resistor to a source of the transistor. Therefore, current corresponding to the current which flowed through the gate resistor is supplied to an output resistor and it is possible to output a voltage in response to a voltage drop related to the supplied current. Therefore, level shifting can be performed to an input signal for outputting.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an output circuit, which is applicable, for example, to a technique for shifting signal levels.
2. Description of the Background Art
A circuit for shifting signal levels, commonly called as level shifting circuit or inverse level shifting circuit, is discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 05-316755, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-032102, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-026714 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-147243. Especially, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 05-316755 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-032102 introduce a technique utilizing a mirror circuit.


An FI/AT/MGECU, in a cylinders deactivation operating state during cruise control where the vehicle speed follows a predetermined target speed, regulates renewal on an addition side of a power plant required torque final value TQPPRQF, and in a case where a flag value of a torque hold flag F_CCKTQS showing to hold the power plant required torque final value TQPPRQF to a predetermined torque value related to a cylinder deactivation upper limit torque TQACS is a “1” (YES side in step S33), when the vehicle speed VP is decreased less than a value obtained by subtracting from a set vehicle speed VC which is the target vehicle speed during cruise control, a predetermined vehicle speed #ΔV (for example, #ΔV=3 km/h or the like) (YES side in step S35), the internal-combustion engine E is switched from a cylinders deactivation operation to an all cylinders operation. The fuel consumption efficiency is thus improved while keeping occupants in the vehicle from feeling discomfort with respect to travelling behavior.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle which is mounted in a hybrid vehicle propulsion driven by jointly using an internal-combustion engine and a motor, and wherein the driving force from at least one of the internal-combustion engine and the motor is transmitted to the driving wheels.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-192315, filed Jul. 4, 2003, and No. 2003-403211, filed Dec. 2, 2003, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, for example, in a hybrid vehicle which comprises an internal-combustion engine and a motor as a power source and which transmits the driving force from at least one of the internal-combustion engine and the motor to the driving wheels for traveling, a control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle has been well known which sets an engine torque required by the internal-combustion engine and a motor torque required by the motor according to the operating state of the vehicle.
In such a control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle, for example a control apparatus comprising a constant speed drive unit which drives a vehicle to travel so that the speed of the vehicle (vehicle speed) detected by a vehicle speed sensor follows a target vehicle speed which is a target value of the vehicle speed, has been known. Regarding this constant speed drive unit, the arrangement is such that, if a speed difference is generated between the vehicle speed detected and the target speed, a torque output from the internal-combustion engine and the motor is increased or decreased so as to counteract this speed difference (for example, Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication No. Hei 9-207622).
Incidentally, in a hybrid vehicle according to an example of the above conventional technique, for example, in the case where this comprises a variable cylinder internal-combustion engine capable of switching between an all cylinders operation which operates all cylinders and a partial cylinders deactivation operation which operates with some cylinders deactivated (cylinders deactivation operation) as an internal-combustion engine having high fuel consumption efficiency, and this is set in order to switch the all cylinders operation and the cylinders deactivation operation according to the operating state of the vehicle, then in a state where the vehicle is driven to travel so that the detected vehicle speed becomes the target vehicle speed, by simply increasing and decreasing only the torque from the internal-combustion engine and the motor so as to counteract the speed difference between the detected vehicle speed and the target vehicle speed, there is a likelihood that hunting which frequently switches between the all cylinders operation and the cylinders deactivation operation, occurs so that occupants in the vehicle may feel discomfort with respect to travelling behavior.
Moreover, in the control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle comprising such a variable cylinder internal-combustion engine, it is desired to improve the fuel consumption efficiency by enlarging the region which continues the cylinders deactivation operation with respect to, for example an amount of a vehicle state such as the accelerator pedal opening or the vehicle speed.


Embodiments may relate to a semiconductor package that includes a routing trace coupled with a substrate. The routing trace may be linear on a side of the routing trace between the substrate and a top of the routing trace. The semiconductor package may further include a power trace coupled with the substrate. The power trace may be concave on a side of the power trace between the substrate and a top of the power trace. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.

Semiconductor packages may include a plurality of metal traces. Generally, the traces may include traces designated for the routing of power (referred to herein as "power traces") and traces designated for the routing of signals (referred to herein as "routing traces"). In various embodiments, it may be desirable for the power traces to have a relatively large cross sectional area in the direction of current transfer. This relatively large cross sectional area may provide a reduced direct current resistance (RDC), which may allow current to travel through the power trace with increased efficiency. The increased efficiency may have benefits such as enabling a longer battery life, requiring less power, etc.