A molded one-piece golf club organizer structure and organizing assembly includes a molded one-piece framework and a golf bag top collar. The framework includes first and second divider members extending in intersecting relationships with one another so as to form compartments between the divider members for receiving shafts of golf clubs placed in the carrying bag. The top collar includes an annular body encircling the framework. Connector tabs are integrally fixed on opposite ends of the first and second divider members. The annular body has a plurality of apertures defined therethrough in spaced apart relation to one another. Each aperture receives a respective one of the connector tabs for securing the framework to the top collar such that the annular body is retained in a wrapped relation about the framework. Each first divider member has a height greater than the height of each second divider member. The assembly further includes first and second covering strips folded and applied over the first and second divider members such that they completely cover the first and second divider members of the framework.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to arranging golf clubs in carrying bags and, more particularly, is concerned with a molded one-piece golf club organizer structure and organizing assembly comprised of the molded one-piece golf club organizer structure and a golf bag top collar encircling and attached to the organizer structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Golf clubs are often carried in a sleeve-like bag designed for that purpose. A basic prior art golf club carrying bag has a tubular sidewall open at an upper end and closed at a lower end by a bottom end wall. An interior of the bag defines a cavity in which the golf clubs are stored vertically with their handgrip ends down so that heads of the clubs extend above the open upper end of the bag.
As is well-known, golf clubs generally differ from one another in terms of lengths of their shafts, shapes and sizes of their heads, and angles at which their golf ball striking surfaces extend relative to a horizontal plane. Golfers select one of the clubs to use for any given stroke depending on the particular placement of the ball whether in the rough or on the tee, fairway or green and the distance of the ball from the hole. As a result, many golfers prefer to maintain their clubs in their bag in some organized fashion so that they can quickly locate and replace the one club they have selected to use for the particular stroke at hand.
The basic design of the prior art golf bag does not provide a means to organize the clubs in the bag. As the bag is moved and jostled about during a round of play, the clubs will bump each other and move around in the bag relative to one another and will be disorganized causing the golfer to constantly search for the selected club. The bumping of the clubs against one another may also result in wear on the handgrip surfaces and dings and nicks on the club heads. In an effort to address these problems with the basic prior art bag, a variety of prior art approaches to bag design for better arranging and organizing golf clubs in the bags have occurred over the years.
In one prior art approach, individual divider members are arranged and connected to one another and to a top collar of the golf bag to provide an organizer structure across the open top end of the bag. In one example of this approach exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,531 to Beretta, the bag at the open upper end is provided with a front-to-back extending rigid central bar and a pair of front-to-back spaced apart rigid cross bars. The opposite ends of the bars extend through and are secured to the top collar of the bag. In another example of this approach exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 1,798,638 to Stone et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,484 to Henning and U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,112 to Kim, divider panels of cloth or plastic sheets in various patterns are arranged across and attached to and extend downward from the top collar of the bag to form multiple separate compartments. In another prior art approach exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 4,596,328 to Solheim and U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,278 to Gretz, an organizer structure is provided in the form of a one-piece injection molded top cap which fits on the open top end of the tubular body of the golf bag. The one-piece top cap has a continuous outer ring-shaped member integrally connected with the integrally connected inner divider members to form compartments with one another and with the outer side wall. The Solheim patent also discloses alternative organizer structures wherein the inner divider members are provided as a separately molded insert which fit into and are secured to a separately molded outer ring-shaped member. The insert is secured to the outer ring-shaped member by a plurality of rivets which connect ends of the divider members of the insert to spaced portions of the outer ring-shaped member or by a strap which is threaded through the hollow interiors of the divider members and through openings in the outer ring-shaped member and whose opposite ends are then connected together by a fastener buckle located on the exterior of the outer ring-shaped member.
The above-described approaches have many drawbacks in terms of the complexity of their designs that would appear to result in unacceptably low reliability and high costs in their manufacture and assembling, not to mention that most fall short of maintaining the golf clubs in a desirable organized arrangement. Thus, a need exists for a more optimum solution which overcomes these drawbacks without introducing any new problems in their place.

Molded one-piece golf club organizer structure and organizing assembly using same


A method of producing an embedded recycled container sheet includes: (a) providing a plurality of empty recycled plastic containers; (b) flattening the plurality of empty recycled plastic containers to reduce their width by at least 80%; (c) providing a base substrate of plastic; (d) placing the plurality of flattened, empty recycled plastic containers on the base substrate; and, (e) applying a molten top layer of plastic on the plurality of flattened, empty recycled plastic containers and on the base substrate, and cooling the molten top layer, so as to embed the plurality of empty recycled plastic containers between the top layer and the base substrate. A method of producing product from the resulting sheet involves creating the product using a processing step selected from the group consisting of molding, casting, cutting, machining, and combinations of these.

a. Field of Invention
The invention relates generally to a method of producing composite recycled bottle (also referred to as containers herein) sheets from recycled plastic containers embedded in plastics. The substrate plastics are clear to opaque on at least one side for displaying the recycled containers therethrough. The recycled plastic bottles are sterilized and prepared prior to the embedding process. They may be sliced. e.g., vertically, and are rendered flat by any available technique, such as partial melt, steam compression or other method. When heated, the heating is such that the bottles are slightly melted to deform and fused so that original characteristics of the bottles remain visible, if somewhat obscurely, such as color, design, labels, and shape. The prepared containers (In this context, "containers" means whole or cut, but still identifiable containers) are the placed in a molten or tacky substrate and are then top-coated with a top layer to create the finished product. The sheets may then used to create products that display the individual deformed bottles in a recognizable manner.
b. Description of Related Art
The following patents are representative of the field pertaining to the present invention:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,779 to Yamamoto et al. describes a plastic material with a paint film in coarse-crushed, and a film decomposition agent, e.g. a heterocyclic compound such as imidazolek, a triazine compound such as benoguanamine, a phenylendiamine compound such as N-phenyl-N-isopropyl-p-phenylene diamine, is added to the coarse-crushed material. The mixture is then heated and kneaded to dissolve the paint film and uniformly spread the particles of the paint film in the plastic material. The physical properties and surface quality of the plastic material are substantially the same as those of the original material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,797 to Kim describes s novel matrix containing nephrite jade power as a main component. By using the matrix, a variety of goods in the field of medical goods, utensil goods, agricultural goods, industrial goods, fishery goods, traffic goods, transportation goods, equipment for sports, electronic instruments, precision instruments, pr the like ca be prepared. The goods made of the matrix can show excellent effects of treating pathological symptoms (headache, numb feeling, indigestion, insomnia, pr the like), removing impurities (such as heavy metals), improving the quality of water, promoting the growth of plants by virtue of the inherent properties of nephrite jade.
United States Patent Publication US 2008/0020221 A1 describes systems and methods of generating a recycled output. The recycled output may include a fabric produced by fusing reclaimed plastic bags. The reclaimed plastic bags are fused together using a material manufacturing system. The system is typically configured to heat the plastic bags to a temperature wherein the plastic bags fuse together but do not completely melt. Some embodiments include the addition of different types of plastic or non-plastic materials to the recycled output. Also disclosed are systems and methods of controlling temperature and patterns within the recycled output.
United States Patent Publication US 2008/0145580 A1 discloses a recycled insulation material which includes plastic and/or rubber shredded or chopped up into individual pieces having random or semi-random sizes or semi-random air-pockets in between many of the individual pieces. The shredded or chopped up plastic and/or rubber pieces in combination with the air-pockets are configured to operate as an insulation filler for a variety of different panes, forms, pipes, conduits or any other item that requires insulation.
United States Patent Publication US 2008/0241455 A1 relates to an encapsulated member made with open molds for forming the exterior surface of the encapsulated member, wherein the encapsulation is accomplished with at least an outer skin configuration of a plastic, metal, ceramic or other moldable material for encapsulating pre-forms, reinforcements, sheeted materials, metallic pre-forms and other core materials that can be protected from the outer elements and manufacturing considerations. FIG. 3c shows an encapsulating reinforced member located within an open mold having skins thereon, and being filled with formable material.
Notwithstanding the prior art, the present invention is neither taught nor rendered obvious thereby.

Method of producing an embedded recycled container sheet


The invention provides a catalyst for the production of hydrogen by steam reforming. The catalyst is a porous catalyst which is based on at least aluminum oxide and preferably magnesium oxide, and further comprises boron and nickel. The porous catalyst comprises pores having an average pore size in the range of 0.1-50 nm. The activity of the catalyst may be further enhanced by addition of a noble metal such as Rh, Ru, Pd, Ir or Pt. The catalyst can be broadly used in hydrogen production processes, and is especially suitable for reforming using a membrane which is selective for a predetermined reaction product. Such process can be operated at relatively low temperatures of about 450-700° C.

The use of nickel catalysts in steam reforming of hydrocarbons is known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 6,416,731, for instance, describes a process for catalytic steam reforming of a carbonaceous feedstock with improved resistance to sulphur poisoning and sintering characterized by contacting the feedstock with a nickel catalyst supported on magnesium aluminium spinel, MgO.xAl2O3, wherein the spinel support has a specific surface area Asp[m2/g] higher than 400*exp(−Tc/400° C.) obtained by calcination at a temperature Tc [° C.].
WO2008/049266 describes a process for the conversion of hydrocarbons to hydrogen and one or more oxides of carbon, comprising contacting the hydrocarbon with steam and/or oxygen in the presence of a spinel-phase crystalline catalyst comprising a catalytically active metal. It also describes a method for making a catalyst suitable for the conversion of hydrocarbons to hydrogen and one or more oxides of carbon comprising adding a precipitant to a solution or suspension of a refractory oxide or precursor thereof and a catalyst metal-containing compound to form a precipitate which is calcined in an oxygen-containing atmosphere to produce a crystalline phase with a high dispersion of catalyst metal. There is further described a crystalline catalyst comprising the elements nickel, magnesium, aluminium and a lanthanide element, in which the crystalline phase is a spinel phase.
The catalytic conditions for (oxidative) steam reforming in combination with a membrane and/or a sorbent separator may substantially deviate from usual conditions in industrial hydrogen and/or syngas production (without such separator). When applying separation-enhanced processes, wherein the endothermal reaction may be promoted by separation of an endothermal reaction product, the general working temperature is lower than the usual conditions in industrial hydrogen and/or syngas production. This generates a desire to provide alternative catalysts that may be thermally activated at lower temperatures. Often, the stability of the catalyst in hydrogen-lean and hydrocarbon-rich conditions may favour the formation of carbon-rich deposits (e.g. graphite, graphene, soot and the likes) that may act as catalyst poison. Also this generates a desire to provide alternative catalysts that are more stable under such conditions.
In general, the catalyst for steam reforming of hydrocarbons to provide hydrogen and/or syngas on an industrial scale is preferably nickel (Ni) based. In some of the present applications, however, nickel appeared to be unstable and/or not reactive enough. Alternatively, noble metals may be applied, but those are more expensive, which may be less desired.

Stichting Energieonderzoek Centrum Nederland


A testing device applies a load controlled bending moment which is constant along a length of an elongated member. The testing device also includes a drive system which rotates the elongated member while the bending load is applied to rapidly find defects which may only appear at a particular rotational position to determine whether the bending stiffness is uniform about the entire diameter of the elongated member.

The present invention relates to a structural testing device, and more particularly to a load controlled bending moment testing device which applies a constant moment along an elongated member.
Conventional structural testing is often performed with a three-point or four-point testing device as illustrated in FIG. 1A. Performing such structural tests on elongated members may be complicated as the elongated member tends to buckle at the discrete location of load application. In the case of thin hollow-walled shaft members, the concentrated shear loads (FIG. 1B) from such point bending testing may also cause local damage while generally under predicting the actual strength of the shaft.
Additionally, conventional point testing does not apply a constant bending moment along the entire length of the elongated member. Should the testing be structured as proof testing to eliminate flawed members, such testing may not eliminate all flawed members since a length ramped portion in FIG. 1C of the elongated member may not be subjected to the desired proof bending stress (FIG. 1C).
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a structural testing device which determines nominal strength of an elongated member through application of a constant moment along the length of the elongated member without application of concentrated shear loads directly to the member.

Constant moment testing device for elongated members


A plasma display apparatus, in which a sustain output device (transistor) with a voltage rating in accordance with the sustain voltage can be used even when a voltage greater than the sustain voltage is applied to a sustain electrode in the reset period and the address period, has been disclosed, wherein, an X or a Y drive circuit, to which a voltage greater than the sustain voltage is applied, comprises a first switch provided between a second sustain drive transistor and the supply source of a second voltage, and the voltage is supplied to the sustain drive transistor in the state in which the first switch is open.

The present invention relates to a plasma display apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improvement of a drive circuit that applies a voltage pulse to an electrode at which a sustain discharge is caused to occur.
The plasma display apparatus has been put to practical use as a flat display and is a thin display apparatus of a high intensity. FIG. 1 is a diagram that shows the general structure of a conventional three-electrode AC-driven plasma display apparatus. As shown schematically, the plasma display apparatus comprises a plasma display panel (PDP) 1 composed of two substrates, between which a discharge gas is sealed, each substrate having plural X electrodes (X1, X2, X3, . . . , Xn) and Y electrodes (Y1, Y2, Y3, . . . , Yn) arranged adjacently, plural address electrodes (A1, A2, A3, . . . , Am) arranged in the intersecting direction thereto, and fluorescent materials arranged at intersecting parts, an address driver 2 that applies pulses such as an address pulse to the address electrode, an X common driver 3 that applies pulses such as a sustain discharge pulse to the X electrode, a scan driver 4 that applies pulses such as a scan pulse sequentially to the Y electrode, a Y common driver 5 that applies pulses such as a sustain discharge pulse to be applied to the Y electrode to the scan driver 4, and a control circuit 6 that controls each section, and the control circuit 6 further comprises a display data control section 7 that includes a frame memory and a drive control circuit 8 composed of a scan driver control section 9 and a common driver control section 10. As the plasma display apparatus is widely known, a more detailed description of the entire apparatus is omitted here and only the X common driver 3 and the Y common driver 5 that relate to the present invention are further described. The X common driver, the scan driver, and the Y common driver of the plasma display apparatus have been disclosed, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 9-68946 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2000-194316.
FIG. 2 is a diagram that shows an example of the structure of the X common driver, the scan driver, and the Y common driver, which have been disclosed as described above. Plural X electrodes are connected commonly and driven by the X common driver 3. The X common driver 3 comprises output devices (transistors) Q8, Q9, Q10, and Q11, which are provided between the common X electrode terminal and a voltage source +Vs1, between that and −Vs2, between that and +Vx, and between that and −Vwx, respectively. By turning on any one of the transistors, the corresponding voltage is supplied to the common X electrode terminal. The scan driver 4 is composed of individual driver provided for each Y electrode and each individual driver comprises transistors Q1 and Q2, and diodes D1 and D2 provided in parallel thereto. Each of one end of transistors Q1 and Q2, and diodes D1 and D2 of each individual driver is connected to each Y electrode and each of the other end is connected commonly to the Y common driver 5. The Y common driver 5 comprises transistors Q3, Q4, Q5, Q6, and Q7, which are provided between the line from the scan driver 4 and the voltage source +Vs1, between that and −Vs2, between that and +Vwy, between that and +Vy, and between that and a ground (GND), respectively, and the transistors Q3, Q5, and Q7 are connected to the transistor Q1 and the diode D1, and the transistors Q4 35 and Q6, to the transistor Q2 and the diode D2.
In the reset period, Q5 and Q11 are turned on while the other transistors are turned off, and +Vwy is applied to the Y electrode and −Vwx is applied to the X electrode to generate an entire write and erase pulse that puts the display cells on the panel 1 into a uniform state. At this time, the voltage +Vwy is applied to the Y electrode via Q5 and D1. In the address period, Q6, Q7, and Q10 are turned on while the other transistors are turned off, and +Vx is applied to the X electrode, the voltage +Vy, to the terminal of Q2, and GND is applied to the terminal of Q1. With this state, an scan pulse that turns Q1 on and Q2 off is applied sequentially to individual drivers. At this time, in individual drives to which a scan pulse is not applied, Q1 is turned off and Q2 is turned on, therefore, GND is applied to the Y electrode, to which the scan pulse has been applied, via Q1, +Vy is applied to the other Y electrodes via Q2, and an address discharge is caused to occur between the address electrode to which a positive data voltage is applied and the Y electrode to which the scan pulse has been applied. In this way, each cell in the panel is put into a state according to the display data.
In the sustain discharge period, while Q1, Q2, Q5–Q7, Q10, and Q11 are being kept off, Q3 and Q9, and Q4 and Q8 are alternately turned on. These transistors are called the sustain transistors here. In this way, +Vs1 and −Vs2 are alternately applied to the Y electrode and the X electrode and a sustain discharge is caused to occur for display in the cell in which an address discharge has been caused to occur in the address period. At this time, if Q3 is turned on, +Vs1 is applied to the Y electrode via D1, and if Q4 is turned on, −Vs2 is applied to the Y electrode via D2. In other words, the voltage Vs1+Vs2 is alternately applied to the X electrode and the Y electrode with a reversed polarity in the sustain discharge period. This voltage is called the sustain voltage here.
The example described above is only one of various examples, and there are various modifications as to which kind of voltage is applied in the reset period, the address period, and the sustain discharge period, and there are also various modifications of the scan driver 4, the Y common driver 5, and the X common driver 6.
The scan pulse needs to be applied sequentially to each Y electrode, therefore, Q1 and Q2 that relate to the application of the scan pulse are required to be capable of high-speed operations. Moreover, since the number of times a sustain discharge is caused to occur affects the display intensity and as many sustain discharges as possible need to be caused to occur in a fixed period, the sustain transistors Q3, Q4, Q8, and Q9, which relate to the application of the sustain discharge pulse, are also required to be capable of high-speed operations. On the other hand, in the plasma display apparatus, it is necessary to apply a high voltage to each electrode in order to cause a discharge to occur, therefore, the transistors are required to have a high withstand voltage to resist a great voltage. A transistor, which has a high withstand voltage but has a relatively low operating speed, or a transistor, which has a high operating speed but has a relatively low withstand voltage, can be manufactured at a low cost, but that which has not only a high withstand voltage but also a high operating speed is costly.
Among the transistors in FIG. 2, the operating speed of Q6, Q7, Q10, and Q11 can be relatively low because they do not directly relate to the application of the scan pulse and the sustain discharge pulse, which requires a high-speed operation. Although a high-speed operation is required for Q1 and Q2, the withstand voltage thereof can be relatively small, because D1 and D2 are provided in parallel thereto, the voltages to be applied are +Vy and GND, and the difference in voltage therebetween is relatively small.
Contrary to this, the sustain transistors Q3, Q4, Q8, and Q9 need to be capable of high-speed operations and a high voltage is applied thereto as well. As shown in FIG. 2, in the X common driver 3, the X electrode connected commonly is connected to +Vs1, −Vs2, +Vx, and −Vwx via Q8, Q9, Q10, and Q11, respectively, and when Q8 is on, +Vs1 is applied to the common X electrode therefore the voltage Vs1+Vs2 (sustain voltage) is applied across Q9, and when Q10 is on, +Vx is applied to the common X electrode therefore the voltage Vx+Vs2 is applied across Q9. Similarly, Vs1+Vs2 or Vs1+Vwx is applied across Q8. Therefore, if Vs1>Vx and Vs2>Vwx, the transistors Q8 and Q9 are required only to have a withstand voltage of Vs1+Vs2 or greater, that is, the sustain voltage. If Vx>Vs1, Q9 needs to have a withstand voltage of Vx+Vs2 or greater, and if Vwx>Vs2, Q8 needs to have a withstand voltage of Vs1+Vwx or greater. As described above, the transistors Q8 and Q9 need to have a withstand voltage of the sustain voltage or greater because a sustain discharge is applied thereto, and if Vx>Vs1 or Vwx>Vs2, a greater withstand voltage is required.
In the Y common driver 5, the anode of the diode D1 is connected to +Vs1, +vwy, and GND via Q3, Q5, and Q7, respectively, and the cathode of the diode D2 is connected to −Vs2 and +Vy via Q4 and Q6, respectively. When Q3 is on, +Vs1 is applied to each Y electrode, and the voltage is further applied to the terminal of Q4 via D2, therefore, the voltage Vs1+Vs2 (sustain voltage) is applied across Q4 as a result. Similarly, when Q5 is on, the voltage Vwy+Vs2 is applied across Q4, and when Q4 is on, Vs1+Vs2 is applied across Q3. When Q6 is on, the voltage Vy+Vs2 is applied across Q4. Therefore, the transistors Q3 and Q4 are required to have a withstand voltage equal to or greater than the sustain voltage because the sustain discharge pulse is applied thereto, and Q3 is required to have a greater withstand voltage if Vwy>Vs1 or Vy>Vs1.
Generally, when the voltage rating of the sustain output device (transistor) is high, the saturation voltage of the device is also high and, in order to lower the saturation voltage, measures such as to drive plural devices in parallel and to use a device the chip size and the size of which are large will be required, resulting in a problem that the cost is raised accordingly.


A shovel performing a work by being operated by a driver includes a lower running body, an upper turning body mounted on the lower running body and a control device that controls an operation of a hydraulic actuator in response to an operation applied to an operation lever. A cabin is provided in the upper turning body. An attaching part is provided in the cabin and is capable of attaching a multifunctional portable information terminal having a display and input function, a wireless communication function and a voice recognition function. The attaching part includes a connecting part connected to the multifunctional portable information terminal. The control device performs data communication with the multifunctional portable information terminal through the connecting part, and supplies electric power from an electric accumulation part of the shovel to the multifunctional portable information terminal through the connecting part.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a shovel connectable with an information terminal.
2. Description of Related Art
It has been suggested to manage an operation of a shovel by a managing device using a computer. Specifically, it is suggested to provide a monitor device including an input device and a display device in a driver's cab of a shovel in order to allow a driver to input a work condition and display information indicating an operating condition or operating situation to the driver.
If a known monitor device is provided in the vicinity of a driver's seat, the monitor device may be an obstacle for a view of the driver seating on the driver's seat because the monitor device is large. A large glass window is provided in front of the driver's seat in the driver's cab of the shovel so that the drive can see a position to perform a work. The driver seating on the driver's seat operates the shovel by operating an operation device while watching ahead of the driver's cab through the glass window.
Because the operation device and other devices are provided in the vicinity of the driver's seat, there is a limited space for arranging the monitor device. As a location of arranging the monitor device which allows the driver to view the monitor device while seeing ahead of the driver's cab, a location close to a front frame of the driver's cab is suitable. With the monitor device arranged at this position, the driver who is watching ahead of the driver's cab can see the display device of the monitor device by slightly shifting one's visual line and also can easily operate the input device of the monitor device by merely extending one's arm.
However, the size of the known monitor device is determined without considering an influence given to the driver's view. Thus, even if the monitor device is placed in the vicinity of the front frame of the driver's cab, the monitor device may be an obstacle for the driver's view. Additionally, if an expensive monitor device is installed as an exclusive component part to all shovels, a cost of each shovel is raised.
Thus, it is desirable to develop a shovel that can provide the same input and display function as the known monitor device without installing an exclusive monitor device to the shovel.

Shovel connectable with an information terminal

SUMITOMO(S.H.I.) CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY CO., LTD.


In an activation state of a sensor device, when voltage on the connection points between the sensor device and the sensor control circuit becomes a preset abnormal value, electric cut off is made between the sensor control circuit and the connection point. Then, the delivery of power to the heater is ceased to lower the temperature of the cells to a below of an activation temperature, thereby increasing the internal resistance of the cell. Thereafter, the sensor control circuit supplies to the sensor device a current in a degree not to damage the sensor device, to detect voltages on the connection points at that time. By comparing between the voltages on the respective connection points detected, a content and location of abnormality occurred is identified for the sensor device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for diagnosing an abnormality of a gas-concentration measuring apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, in combustion control of internal combustion engines including gasoline engines, there is known a combustion control scheme that the delivery of fuel, in amount, is placed under feedback control responsively to a concentration of a predetermined portion of the exhaust gas by controlling the air/fuel ratio of a mixture gas of the air and fuel to be delivered to the internal combustion engine, in order to reduce the CO, NOx and HC in the exhaust gas.
As a gas sensor for use in control of such air/fuel ratio, there are known an oxygen sensor arranged with cells having electrodes on both surfaces of a solid electrolyte based on zirconia or the like in a manner one electrode being exposed to a sample gas and the other electrode to the air so that the sample gas can be measured its gas concentration by a potential difference caused between the sample gas and the air, a full-range air/fuel ratio sensor (also termed a UEGO sensor) arranged with two cells having electrodes on the both surface of a solid electrolyte in a manner sandwiching a measurement chamber so that the sample gas can be detected its oxygen concentration over from a rich to lean range by introducing the sample gas into the measurement chamber through a diffusion resistance member, and a NOx sensor arranged to measure a gas content of NOx by additionally providing another cell.
Furthermore, the recent automobile uses a gas-concentration measuring apparatus adapted to automatically diagnose, and inform the driver of, an abnormality of a sensor and sensor controller during combustion control of the engine using a gas sensor as in the foregoing (so-called on-board self-diagnosis).
In those gas-concentration measuring apparatuses, it is a practice to keep and activate the cell (state that temperature is raised to an extent that oxygen ions are fully conductive through the solid electrolyte) at a predetermined temperature (approximately 800° C.) by providing a heater on the cell, in order to make operative the gas sensor cells regardless of exhaust gas temperature. As a method for diagnosing an abnormality of such a gas-concentration measuring apparatus, there is known an abnormality diagnosing method that is to diagnose a short or disconnection abnormality in the state the cell is activated (see JP-A-11-107830).
In the meanwhile, in the foregoing abnormality diagnosing method, abnormality diagnosis is in a state the cell is kept at a predetermined temperature by the heater (in other words, in a cell-activated state). Thus, there is a problem that, where abnormality diagnosis is made based on the voltage across the cell at a relevant time by passing an abnormality-diagnosing current to the cell, there are possible cases a voltage, required for abnormality diagnosis, is not to be outputted onto the respective ends of the cell.
Namely, in the cell-activated state, the cell has an internal resistance of nearly zero. For example, in the event one of the cell electrodes is shorted to the ground (also referred to as GND), the potential difference across the cell becomes nearly zero. This results in a problem that it could not be known which one of the cell electrodes is shorted to GND.
In order to avoid the problem, it can be considered to increase the abnormality-diagnosing current flowing through the cell in the cell-activated state. This however necessitates a current source having a great capacity, which incurs cost increase. Meanwhile, there is another problem that flowing a large current through the cell results in an accelerated deterioration of the cell.

Method and apparatus for diagnosing an abnormality of a gas-concentration measuring apparatus


A hybrid-type storage system having both SAN and NAS interfaces can be implemented by simple hardware capable of carrying out a SAN function independently of a NAS function and a NAS load. To be more specific, a controller of the storage system comprises a NAS controller for accepting an I/O command issued for a file unit and a SAN controller for accepting an I/O command issued for a block unit. The NAS controller converts an I/O command issued for a file unit into an I/O command issued for a block unit, and transfers the I/O command issued for a block unit to the SAN controller. The SAN controller makes an access to data stored in a disk apparatus in accordance with an I/O command received from the SAN or from the NAS controller as a command issued for a block unit. The NAS and SAN controllers are capable of operating independently of each other.

The present invention relates to a storage system having a plurality of interfaces. More specifically, the present invention relates to a hybrid-type storage system allowing accesses to data to be made by both a SAN (Storage Area Network)-interface command and a NAS (Network Attached Storage)-interface command.
In recent years, accompanying the growth of the application field of the information system and the progress of the distribution of processing of a computer system, the number of hosts controlled at one site increases substantially. With the number of such hosts increasing, a problem of an increased cost of managing storage systems is raised. In particular, if storage systems of distributed hosts are managed individually, the capacity required by each storage system as a capacity necessary for carrying out operations is difficult to estimate in advance. Thus, if there is a need to increase the capacity, it is necessary to newly install an additional storage system for each individual host. In consequence, the management cost increases.
As technologies for solving the above problem, SAN and NAS techniques are used. It is an object of both the technologies to consolidate storage systems owned individually by distributed hosts. Due to different characteristics of the technologies, however, they are applied to different fields.
The SAN technology is a technology for connecting a plurality of storage systems and a plurality of hosts to each other by using a network dedicated for communications between the hosts and the storage systems in order to implement I/O operations having a high speed and a small latency. In accordance with the SAN technology, an I/O operation between a host and a storage system is carried out in block units. A block is a fixed-length data management unit identified by an address. A block is obtained as a result of dividing the capacity of a storage system into smaller portions each having a predetermined size corresponding to the fixed length. A database is a representative of applications for which the I/O operation carried out in block units is suitable. By consolidating a plurality of database volumes into a single storage system so as to allow their management to be executed in a uniform manner, the management cost of the computer system can be reduced. In addition, the SAN technology provides a dedicated network having high reliability and allows communications to be carried out with a high degree of efficiency. Thus, the SAN technology can also be used as a technique providing an effective communication path for transmitting data in volume units. The transmission of data in volume units is carried out to copy a volume to a remote storage system for the purpose of making a backup for the volume and for the purpose of providing a countermeasure to against accidents on the volume.
On the other hand, the NAS technology is a technique providing a storage system having a file-server function for rendering file services to a plurality of hosts existing in a LAN (Local Area Network). I/O operations between the storage system provided by the NAS technology and the hosts are carried out in file units. In general, a file is identified by using an identifier, which is a character string. A file is a data management unit having a variable length. A representative of applications for which I/O operations carried out in file units are suitable is an application of allowing a plurality of hosts to share a file. By adopting the NAS technology, it is possible to implement a system allowing a plurality of web servers to share a service of the same content and a system allowing a plurality of office PCs to share a text.
As is obvious from the above description, the SAN and the NAS technologies are mutually complementary. These technologies have led to formation of an idea of further reducing the management cost by integration of storage systems conforming to the SAN with the NAS technologies into a single storage system. In accordance with technologies disclosed in non-patent reference 1 and patent reference 1, which are described below, by providing a control program of a storage system as a control program allowing control of both the SAN and the NAS storage systems to be executed, a storage system conforming to both the SAN and the NAS technologies can be implemented. A storage system applying these technologies has SAN and NAS interfaces and allows a storage capacity thereof to be apportioned to the SAN and the NAS interfaces with a high degree of freedom.
It is to be noted that aforementioned patent reference 1 is Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2003-162439. On the other hand, non-patent reference 1 cited above is a reference authored by Stephen Daniel with a title of "Converging SAN and NAS Storage—A Comparison of Unified and Gateway Solutions," Network Appliance Inc., White Paper, October 2002.

Storage system having a plurality of interfaces


A highly miniaturized electronic data acquisition system includes MEMS sensors that can be embedded onto moving device without affecting the static/dynamic motion characteristics of the device. The basic inertial magnetic motion capture (IMMCAP) module consists of a 3D printed circuit board having MEMS sensors configured to provide a tri-axial accelerometer; a tri-axial gyroscope, and a tri-axial magnetometer all in communication with analog to digital converters to convert the analog motion data to digital data for determining classic inertial measurement and change in spatial orientation (rho, theta, phi) and linear translation (x, y, z) relative to a fixed external coordinate system as well as the initial spatial orientation relative to the know relationship of the earth magnetic and gravitational fields. The data stream from the IMMCAP modules will allow the reconstruction of the time series of the 6 degrees of freedom for each rigid axis associated with each independent IMMCAP module.

During recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the development of sophisticated devices capable of sensing the 6 degrees of freedom motion of a single or multiple axes rigid body in 3 dimensional space. The devices which have been developed to sense these motion components have, in the past, been rather bulky, high power, and expensive. For instance, in order to sense angular and linear motion, both gyroscopes and accelerometers have typically been used in tandem to provide the motion information necessary for most applications. However, these devices have been disfavored because of their bulk, high power requirements, and high cost.
There have been improvements in recent devices which require less power, are more precise, and slightly less bulky than prior devices. These more modern motion sensing devices, however, are still rather bulky and as a result, are often difficult to integrate into the device which is to be measured. This is particularly problematic when there is a desire to measure the motion of a small, lightweight device, such as a piece of sports equipment where the addition of bulky hardware would change the nature of the movement or use of the device.
One of the earliest attempts at a miniaturized motion sensing device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,276 which issued in January of 1988 to Laughlin for an invention entitled "Angular motion sensor." The '276 patent discloses a solid electrode in the core of an angular motion sensor has a body of conductive fluid confined therein within an annular flux gap between axially spaced magnets. An arrangement of slots in the walls of the electrode modifies the current, induced in the fluid by inertial displacement, into a circumferential component, which is inductively coupled to an output winding from which an output signal is obtained.
Attempts to decrease the physical size of motion sensing components continued as presented in U.S. Pat. No. 5,831,162 which issued in November of 1998 to Sparks for an invention entitled "Silicon micromachined motion sensor and method of making" discloses a method for making and vacuum packaging a silicon micromachined motion sensor, such as a gyroscope, at the chip level. The method involves micromachining a trench-isolated sensing element in a sensing chip, and then attaching a circuit chip to enclose the sensing element. Solder bumps serve to attach the circuit chip to the sensing chip, form a hermetic seal to enable vacuum-packaging of the sensor, and electrically interconnect the sensing chip with the circuit chip. Conductive runners formed on the enclosed surface of the circuit chip serve to electrically interconnect the sensing element with its associated sensing structures.
The recent development of lightweight angular and linear motion sensors involving MEMS components has led to innovations such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,504,385 which issued in January of 2003 to Hartwell for an invention entitled "Three-axis motion sensor." The '385 patent discloses a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) motion sensor for detecting movement in three dimensions of a semiconductor wafer structure.
The MEMS device has top, middle, and bottom layers, with a movable portion, or "mover," attached to the middle layer by a flexure that allows the mover to move in three dimensions relative to the layers. The mover has mover electrodes that create a capacitance with counter electrodes positioned on an adjacent layer. The capacitance changes as the mover moves. A capacitance detector receives signals from the electrodes and detects movement of the mover based on the change in capacitances. The MEMS device processes the detected capacitances to determine the nature of the movement of the mover. The mover and counter electrodes comprise x-y electrodes for detecting movement in an x-y plane parallel to the middle layer and z electrodes for detecting movement in a direction orthogonal to the x-y plane.
While the device of the '385 patent is capable of providing measured signals corresponding to three axes of freedom, it nevertheless does not provide rate information for overall motion of the device.
Continued development of MEMS sensors includes a sensor as presented in U.S. Pat. No. 6,513,380 which issued in February of 2003 to Reeds for an invention entitled "MEMS sensor with single central anchor and motion-limiting connection geometry."
The '380 patent discloses a MEMS sensor including a sense element and a single anchor that supports the sense element arranged in a central hub-like fashion that reduces the effects of thermal stress. Usually, two or more anchors are required to suitably constrain the sense element's motion. The anchor disclosed in the '380 patent, however, supports the sense element with connection elements having a connection geometry that substantially limits the motion of the sense element to a single-degree-of-freedom.
The incorporation of MEMS sensors into motion capture devices provides for a much lighter solution than typical motion sensors. However, the device of the '380 patent fails to account for the directional signals typically provided by a gyroscope in other sensors, and thus, is not useful as a complete motion sensor component. Further, the method of attachment of the various MEMS components does not provide a robust sensor capable of incorporation into items being measured.
An alternative solution to motion sensing is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 6,552,531 which issued in April of 2003 to Fey for an invention entitled "Method and circuit for processing signals for a motion sensor." The '531 patent discloses a method and a circuit arrangement for processing signals for an active motion sensor which generates at least one first sequence of input pulses that contain motion information. By at least one integrating filter circuit, each input pulse of a pulse train is integrated, and an associated output pulse is generated during a period in which the integrated signal is in excess of a predeterminable second threshold value after a predeterminable first threshold value has been exceeded so that the output pulse has a time delay with respect to the input pulse. As a result, noises of a duration which is shorter than the delay time are effectively suppressed.
The methods for minimizing noise and improving the quality of the motion captured signal taught in the '531 patent make this device impractical for motion capture applications involving higher rates of change. This is particularly so given the delays which are necessarily implemented into the sensing circuitry to improve its noise tolerance, and thus make this device unresponsive for providing motion information for rapidly moving items.
A more recent solution that has been proposed for measuring motion is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 6,584,846 which issued in July of 2003 to Wesselak for an invention entitled "Magnetic motion sensor." The '846 patent discloses a magnetic motion sensor, having a mobile magnet that generates an essentially homogeneous magnetic field with a magnetic-field direction, and having a coupling element which is stationary within the magnetic field, and wherein a motion-dependent physical quantity is induced in the coupling element when the magnet moves perpendicular to the magnetic-field direction, and the induced quantity is measured and output by a sampling element.
While the device disclosed in the '846 patent may generate a motion-based signal that is measurable, it is woefully susceptible to external magnetic fields. As a result, this device is not particularly useful in applications where the magnetic field may vary over time, or may vary between uses.
Most recently, United States Patent Application No. 20040211258 was published in October of 2004 by Geen for an invention entitled "Six degree-of-freedom micro-machined multi-sensor." The '258 application discloses a six degree-of-freedom micro-machined multi-sensor that provides 3-axes of acceleration sensing, and 3-axes of angular rate sensing, in a single multi-sensor device. The six degree-of-freedom multi-sensor device includes a first multi-sensor substructure providing 2-axes of acceleration sensing and 1-axis of angular rate sensing, and a second multi-sensor substructure providing a third axis of acceleration sensing, and second and third axes of angular rate sensing. The first and second multi-sensor substructures are implemented on respective substrates within the six degree-of-freedom multi-sensor device.
In light of the above, there is a need to provide a motion sensing apparatus and system that is capable of sensing the spatial 6 degrees of freedom and which is relatively small, lightweight, low power suitable for portable applications, and relatively cost competitive.

Single/multiple axes six degrees of freedom (6 DOF) inertial motion capture system with initial orientation determination capability

Magneto Inertial Sensing Technology, Inc.


A system and method are provided for enabling additional capacity or features on telecommunication nodes without requiring replacement of hardware. Service providers purchase hardware which is fully capable of providing a full suite of features and providing a large bandwidth capacity. However, depending on the amount of payment by the service provider, not all of the features or the bandwidth capacity is enabled. If the service provider wishes to increase the number of features or the capacity of a node, the additional features or capacity are enabled using software after payment to the vendor. This allows service providers to enter the market at an initially relatively low expense. Additional features and capacity can be purchased and enabled using software as demand grows, without having to purchase replacement hardware.

Telecommunication service providers face growing demands from customers, both in regard to capacity and features offered. This is especially true for start up companies, who anticipate much growth in demand. One method of dealing with growth of demand is to anticipate the growth by purchasing vendor equipment having bandwidth capacity and features which are not yet needed or which the service provider will not yet offer. As demand increases, the telecommunication nodes will already have the extra features and excess capacity to accommodate the growth in demand.
When providing special event services (such as video-on-demand or special internet engagements) or variable bit rate service (such as for packet processed voice or video, or email services), the capacity required by a telecommunication node is not constant. Service providers address this issue by estimating usage demand using traffic engineering analysis. The goal is to maximize usage of available capacity in order to minimize operational costs for the services offered.
However, this requires that a service provider invest much money in equipment that will not be used to full capacity for a long time. This is expensive for the service provider. The expense may be so great that a business considering entering the telecommunications business may not do so due to the large initial capital expense, thereby depriving equipment vendors of potential business.
A service provider may avoid a large initial capital expense by purchasing vendor equipment having only as much bandwidth capacity and features as will initially be offered to customers. As demand grows, equipment can be replaced by purchasing new hardware having greater capacity and features. However this is also expensive, both in terms of purchasing equipment and in terms of configuring the new equipment. It may also be difficult to switch traffic to the new equipment in a hitless manner. Upgrading equipment to versions offering greater capacity or additional features also requires equipment vendors to manufacture and support a range of telecommunications equipment. Replacement of equipment, even if only of line cards, requires a technician to visit the telecommunication node. This often requires the equipment vendor to provide a technician to visit a service provider's site in order to replace the equipment.
A method of allowing service providers to upgrade capacity and features on telecommunication nodes without requiring replacement of hardware would allow equipment vendors to offer relatively inexpensive telecommunication equipment to service providers who did not need a full capacity or feature-supported system. It would also allow service providers to expand service relatively inexpensively.

Pay-per-use communication node capabilities


Present invention provides a control device for hybrid vehicle which can ensure acceleration performance while suppressing second clutch engagement shock at engine start. The control device has second clutch (CL2) which is interposed between motor/generator (MG) and driving wheels (rear-left and right wheels RL, RR) and whose transmission torque capacity is variable, a second clutch slip amount controlling section (400b) performing full engagement operation that shifts second clutch (CL2) from slip state to full engagement state at a time when lock-up condition of the second clutch (CL2) is satisfied (S107) in the slip state of the second clutch (CL2). The second clutch slip amount controlling section (400b) first increases transmission torque capacity of second clutch (CL2) at first increase gradient (R1) (S109) and subsequently increases the transmission torque capacity of the second clutch (CL2) at second increase gradient (R2) that is gentler than the first increase gradient (R1) (S111).

There has been known a hybrid vehicle having a first clutch that is capable of varying a transmission torque capacity between an engine as a drive source and a motor/generator and a second clutch that is capable of varying a transmission torque capacity between the motor/generator and a driving wheel side (for instance, Patent Document 1).
In this related art technique, at a time of execution of an engine start control explained below, after the second clutch is brought into a slip state, a control that shifts the second clutch to a full engagement state is performed.
That is, when executing the engine start control, first the second clutch is brought into the slip state and also a driving torque of the motor/generator is increased, then by engaging the first clutch, the engine is started. After that, when an engine rotation speed is increased, after the first clutch is engaged, the second clutch is controlled from the slip state toward the full engagement state.


The wavelength converter comprises (1) an optical multiplexer for multiplexing an amplitude-modulated first light and reference light, which is continuous light having a wavelength different from the wavelength of the first light, (2) an optical fiber for propagating the multiplexed light therethrough to generate a third light by a non-linear optical phenomenon, and (3) an optical filter having a pass wavelength range set such that a pulse time width of the third light is 20% or more narrower than a pulse time width of the first light after the third light has passed through the optical filter, or (3′) an optical filter having a pass wavelength range set such that a cross point of an eye pattern of the third light is lower than a cross point of an eye pattern of the first light after the third light has passed through the optical filter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wavelength conversion method and a wavelength converter for outputting light having a wavelength different from that of an input light.
2. Related Background Art
A wavelength converter used in an optical communication network converts input signal light into signal light having a wavelength different from the wavelength of, but carrying the same information as, the input signal light, and outputs the converted signal light (e.g., PCT Laid-Open Pamphlet WO 99/10770, PCT Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-514322, and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-296630). In a known wavelength converter, temporally amplitude-modulated input signal light and continuous light having larger power than the input signal light are multiplexed and propagated through an optical fiber so that output signal light having a wavelength different from the wavelength of the input signal light is generated by a non-linear optical phenomenon caused with such propagation, and is output.
In the known wavelength converter, continuous light is employed as pump light to cause the non-linear optical phenomenon in an optical fiber, and the larger the power of the continuous light, the better. However, since the continuous light has a narrow spectral line width of wavelength and has a low Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) threshold, the Brillouin scattering is more apt to occur, and the continuous light has a limit in power capable of being input to the optical fiber. As a result, there is also a limit in the power of output signal light obtained by the wavelength conversion.
For avoiding the occurrence of Brillouin scattering, there are known methods such as phase-modulating or dithering of the continuous light which is the pump light. However, solution by such methods needs a large-sized wavelength converter and results in increase of cost.

Method of wavelength conversion and wavelength converter


A device for detecting low magnitude electrical currents includes a generally toroidally-shaped member made of magnetic material that provides an air gap, and a magneto-resistive device in the form of a bridge located in the air gap for sensing a current flowing through a conductor that passes through the member. In order to reduce damage due to overcurrents, the member has a portion of reduced cross-sectional area to cause saturation of the member. The device can be used in an earth leakage current detector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the detection of electrical currents and more particularly to a device for detecting low magnitude electrical currents.
2. The Prior Art
There are a number of situations where it is necessary to detect electrical currents so that they can be monitored, and there have been a number of different proposals put forward for achieving this. In the field of residual current devices, it is customary to detect an imbalance in current flow through live and neutral conductors by passing the conductors through a toroid of magnetic material and having a sensing winding around part of the toroid. This arrangement is such that if there is an earth leakage fault, there is an imbalance between the current flowing in the live conductor with respect of the current flowing in the neutral conductor, and this imbalance results in a current being induced into the sensing winding. This winding is then connected to suitable circuitry for indicating the presence of the fault condition.
Residual current devices have become more and more popular and there is consequently a continuing need to be able to manufacture such devices in as efficient and cost effective a manner as possible. Attention has therefore been directed to the need for a sensor coil to be wound on a toroid as this is a relatively expensive operation.
European Patent Application EP-A-0242560 describes an arrangement for non-contact measurement of the electric current in a conductor, and relates to a device having a magnetic core surrounding the conductor. In a gap in the magnetic core is a gap in which is positioned a magnetic field sensor. The aim of this prior invention is to increase the measuring sensitivity of the device, and this is achieved preferably by utilising a magnetic core whose cross-sectional area becomes greater with increasing distance from the gap.
It is known from the article "Stromsensor als Mikrosystem" (Elektronik, vol. 42 No. 5 October 1993. Munchen, DE; pages 42-44, XP 000396422; Ruhl et al) that different types of devices may be placed in the air gap of a toroidailly-shaped member in order to sense currents.

Device having a shaped, magnetic toroidal member and a magnetoresistive sensor for detecting low magnitude electrical currents


A package substrate includes: a dielectric layer having two opposite surfaces; a wiring layer embedded in the dielectric layer and exposed from the two opposite surfaces of the dielectric layer, wherein the wiring layer has solder pads, conductive pads and circuit wires electrically connecting the solder pads and the conductive pads; and a first insulating protection layer disposed on one of the two opposite surfaces of the dielectric layer to cover the dielectric layer and the wiring layer and having a plurality of openings for exposing the conductive pads, respectively. The package substrate, by directly using the dielectric layer as a base, provides a package substrate having reduced thickness and lower fabrication costs compared to the prior art.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to package substrates and fabrication methods thereof, and more particularly, to a package substrate with a single wiring layer and a fabrication method thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Lead frame package substrates have long been used due to their low fabrication cost and high reliability. In particular, lead frame package substrates are cost-competitive for semiconductor chips with low I/O counts.
In some cases, package substrates for simple electronic products only need a single wiring layer.
FIGS. 1A to 1G are cross-sectional views showing a package substrate having a single wiring layer and a fabrication method thereof.
Referring to FIG. 1A, a carrier board 10 is provided, which has two opposite surfaces each having a copper layer 11 disposed thereon.
Referring to FIG. 1B, a resist layer 12 is formed on one of the copper layers 11 and a plurality of openings 120 is formed in the resist layer 12 to expose portions of the copper layer 11.
Referring to FIG. 1C, the exposed portions of the copper layer 11 are removed so as to form a wiring layer 111 on the carrier board 10.
Referring to FIG. 1D, the resist layer 12 is removed.
Referring to FIG. 1E, a plurality of through holes 100 is formed in the carrier board 10 by a laser, each penetrating to the wiring layer 111 at one end thereof.
Referring to FIG. 1F, a first insulating protection layer 13 is formed on one surface of the carrier board 10 with the wiring layer 111, and a plurality of openings 130 is formed in the first insulating protection layer 13 for exposing portions of the wiring layer 111; and a second insulating protection layer 14 is formed on the other surface of the carrier board 10 and a plurality of openings 140 is formed in the second insulating protection layer 14 to expose the through holes 100.
Referring to FIG. 1G, a surface-processing layer 15 is formed on the exposed surface of the wiring layer 111 so as for mounting of solder balls (not shown).
Since the package substrate comprises the carrier board for supporting the wiring layer, the package substrate has a thickness of about 130 μm, which is close to the thickness of a package substrate with double wiring layers, thereby adversely affecting the miniaturization of electronic products.
Therefore, it is desired to provide a package substrate and a fabrication method that overcomes the above-described drawback.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Package substrate and fabrication method thereof


The zoom lens includes, in order from an object side to an image side, a first lens unit having a positive refractive power, a second lens unit having a negative refractive power, a third lens unit having a positive refractive power, a fourth lens unit having a positive refractive power, and a fifth lens unit having a negative refractive power. During zooming, the second lens unit is not moved and the first, third and fifth lens units are moved. A distance between the first and second lens units at a telephoto end is larger than that at a wide-angle end, a distance between the second and third lens units at the telephoto end is smaller than that at the wide-angle end. A condition of 0.7<f3/f4<1.5 is satisfied where f3 represents a focal length of the third lens unit, and f4 represents a focal length of the fourth lens unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a zoom lens and an image pickup apparatus provided with the zoom lens, and particularly to an image pickup apparatus provided with a solid-state image sensor, such as a video camera, a digital still camera, a broadcasting camera and a monitoring camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an image capturing optical system used for image pickup apparatuses such as digital single-lens reflex cameras, a compact zoom lens is required which also has a high zoom ratio and a high optical performance in its entire zoom range and is capable of performing a high speed autofocus.
The digital single-lens reflex camera is desired to perform capturing of not only still images but also moving images, and it is necessary for autofocus in moving image capturing to repetitively perform focusing operations, each being performed in still image capturing.
In a focusing operation by a contrast detection method, an in-focus direction is detected by reciprocating a focus lens unit with a high speed in an optical axis direction, which is called "wobbling". After the wobbling, a signal component in a specific frequency band is detected from an output signal of an image sensor, an optimal, position of the focus lens unit at which an in-focus state is obtained is calculated, then the focus lens unit is moved to the optimal position, and thereby focusing is completed.
In order not to cause a use to have an odd feeling during the wobbling, it is necessary to drive the focus lens unit at a high speed if the focus lens unit has a heavy weight, an actuator such as a motor to drive the focus lens unit at a high speed become large in size, and a maximum diameter of a lens barrel increases, so that a lens apparatus including them becomes large in size.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-39215, U.S. Pat. No. 8,049,968 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0026602 disclose zoom lenses each performing wobbling of a compact and lightweight lens unit disposed on the image side further than an aperture stop in focusing.
The zoom lenses disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-39215 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,049,968 each include, in order from the object side to the image side, first, second, third, fourth and fifth lens units having positive, negative, positive, positive and negative refractive powers; the fifth lens unit is moved during the focusing.
The zoom lens disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0026602 includes, in the order from the object side to the image side, first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth lens units having positive, negative, positive, positive, negative and positive refractive powers; part of the fifth lens unit is moved during the focusing.
In order to achieve an entirely compact zoom lens having a high, zoom ratio and being capable of performing focusing at a high speed, it is important to appropriately set its zoom type, refractive powers of respective lens units included therein and its lens configuration.


Disclosed herein is an optical detection method and optical detection apparatus, the apparatus including: a light irradiation section configured to irradiate a laser beam upon one of fine particles which are successively fed in a flow path; and a light detection section configured to detect fluorescent light and/or scattered light generated from any of the fine particles upon which the laser beam is irradiated; the method including the steps of: irradiating a laser beam upon one of fine particles which are successively fed in a flow path; and detecting fluorescent light and/or scattered light generated from the fine particle; wherein the laser beam being formed as a pulse laser beam whose pulse intensity is modulated such that one laser beam or two or more laser beams having different wavelengths are irradiated by a plural number of times upon one fine particle with the intensity varied.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an optical detection method and an optical detection apparatus for individually identifying fine particles such as cells or micro beads. More specifically, the present invention relates to an optical detection method and an optical detection apparatus wherein the type of a fine particle is identified from fluorescent light or scattered light generated from the fine particle when a laser beam of a particular wavelength is irradiated upon the fine particle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, where it is intended to identify a living body-related small particle such as a cell, a microorganism or a ribosome, an optical detection method which uses a flow cytometry or flow cytometer is used as disclosed, for example, in Hiromitsu NAKAUCHI, "Cellular Engineering Separate Volume, Experiment Protocol Series, Master Flow cytometry", Shujunsha Co. Ltd., the second edition, Aug. 31, 2006 (hereinafter referred to as Non-Patent Document 1). The flow cytometry is a method of irradiating a laser beam of a particular wavelength on one of fine particles which are successively fed in a row in a flow path and detecting fluorescent light or scattered light generated from the fine particle to discriminate a plurality of fine particles one by one.
In particular, in the flow cell, a laminar flow is formed from sample liquid which includes fine particles of an object of detection and sheath liquid which flows around the sample liquid. Further, a very small pressure difference is applied between the sample liquid and the sheath liquid to arrange a plurality of fine particles included in the sample liquid into a row. If, in this state, a laser beam is irradiated upon the flow cell, then the fine particles pass one by one crossing the laser beam. At this time, fluorescent light and/or scattered light excited by the laser light and generated from each fine particle is detected using an electro-optical detector.
Then, the detected light is converted into an electric signal and into a numerical value to carry out statistic analysis thereby to decide the type, size, structure and so forth of each fine particle. It is to be noted that, if each of fine particles of an object of detection is qualified with a plurality of fluorescent dyes, then even if an optical filter is used to separate the detected light for individual wavelength bands, fluorescent light from a fluorescent dye which is not a target fluorescent dye sometimes leaks into a detector different from the detector for the target fluorescent dye. Therefore, in a detection method in related art, in order to obtain only data from object fluorescent light, fluorescent light correction of subtracting an overlap of fluorescent light is usually carried out.
Further, with the flow cytometry, since the type, size, structure and so forth of fine particles can be identified individually and a plurality of parameters can be analyzed simultaneously, even where sample liquid includes a plurality of kinds of fine particles, only necessary fine particles can be dispensed rapidly and with certainty.
Also a flow cytometer which guides, in order to make it possible to detect a plurality of fluorescent lights generated from a fine particle qualified with a plurality of fluorescent dyes, laser beams of wavelengths different from each other along the same incoming light path so as to be irradiated upon the fine particle has been proposed in the past. A flow cytometer of the type is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-046947 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1). FIG. 12 schematically shows a configuration of the flow cytometer in related art disclosed in Patent Document 1. Referring to FIG. 12, the flow cytometer 101 includes a flow system 102 for arraying cells qualified with fluorescent dyes into one array in the flow cell, and an optical system 103 for irradiating a plurality of laser beams of different wavelengths from each other upon the cells to detect detection object light such as scattered light and fluorescent light. The flow cytometer 101 further includes a signal processing apparatus 104 for controlling and processing an electric signal relating to the scattered light and the fluorescent light outputted from the optical system 103.
In the related-art flow cytometer 101, a plurality of laser beams having different wavelengths from each other are irradiated in a predetermined period and in different phases from each other from light sources 106a, 106b and 106c. The laser beams are guided to the same incoming light path and condensed on a cell 105 by a light guide member 107. Consequently, even where a plurality of laser beams are irradiated upon a cell labeled with a plurality of fluorescent dyes, one incoming light path can be used. Therefore, a plurality of fluorescent lights emitted from a cell can be detected without setting delay time.
Further, also a method has been proposed wherein, in order to dispense live cells which can be utilized for regenerative medicine, interplanting and so forth, object cells are separated and dispensed without carrying out fluorescent labeling wherein a probe such as an antibody to which a fluorescent dye is coupled is used. The method is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-304867 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 2). In the method disclosed in Patent Document 2, forwardly scattered light and backwardly scattered light emitted from a cell are detected, and detection values of the cell are displayed as position information on a two-dimensional screen to identify the size and the structure of the cell.

Optical detection method and optical detection apparatus for a fine particle


A protective case for handheld devices with improved protection characteristics, durability, convenience of use, and functionalities without compromising aesthetics. The protective case includes a “glove” or “skin” piece of a softer material that substantially covers and grips the entire back of the electronic device, by wrapping over the edge of the electronic device (without obscuring the display/touch screen on the front of the device). One or more separate complementary frame pieces, braces and the like made of a hard material are attached over the glove piece, extending over a substantial area of the glove piece, thereby creating a robust interlocking hybrid structure. Openings are provided in the protective case to allow for user interaction with the device, including access to the interfaces (e.g., screens, buttons, sockets, etc.) provided on the device.

For modern personal electronic devices, the trend is to adopt a thin housing profile and a large display screen (e.g., touch sensitive user interface). An example of a popular handheld device is the Apple iPhone. Other devices include without limitation MP3 players, etc. Such devices contain sensitive and/or delicate electronics. The devices are subject to physical abuse and risks of damages from handling of the devices, especially given the portable nature of the devices (e.g., dropping of the devices, or otherwise subjecting the devices to physical shocks, dents and scratches).
Handheld devices typically are built with a housing that can withstand certain level of physical abuse. However, in an effort to improve aesthetics, the housings are typically designed to have finishes that look appealing, but often at the compromise of structural integrity. A nicely finished housing is more prone to damages, and even slight blemishes would be more noticeable on a highly finished housing. For example, the iPhone housing is finished with a highly polished metal back panel. Any dent and/or scratch on the finished panel would be highly noticeable.
Auxiliary cases have been designed to wrap around handheld devices to provide an additional level of protection. However heretofore, protective cases increase significant overall bulk and weight, and could mar or damage the delicate finish of the devices. The existing cases are also not as convenient to use, and the durability and protective coverage of the cases are more to be desired. Existing protective cases do not strike a well balance between protection, functionalities and aesthetics. For example, there exists an all-silicon soft case that wraps the entire device housing except the screen. However, such case is not aesthetically appealing. Aesthetically appealing cases typically offer less protection. Further, modern handheld devices require user interactions with the devices via various interfaces (e.g., screens, buttons, sockets, etc.), the access to which could be hindered by the structure of existing protective cases.
It is therefore desirable to have a protective case with improved protection characteristics, durability, convenience of use, and functionalities without compromising aesthetics.

Protective case having a hybrid structure for portable handheld electronic devices


A method is provided which utilizes a threading service to offer enhanced features for a document management system including an email system. Various enhanced email features may be provided through one or more of the following components: a delete module, a reply module, a profile module, and a search module. The delete module enables a user to delete a selected message, a set of related messages, or the whole set except for the selected message. The reply module enables a user to send a reply message to all addresses associated and involved with an entire set of related messages. The profile module enables a dynamic interest profile to contain all relevant information from an outgoing message and a set of messages related to the outgoing message. The search module enables search results to include documents which match the user's query as well as documents related to the documents which match the user's query.

Conventional email systems include a "Reply to All" command. As is well known, this command addresses a new email message to all the recipients of some particular email message. However, among a set of related messages, some changes may have been made to the list of recipients. For example, a person may have been added to the list or inadvertently deleted from the list. This may cause one or more of the messages to include only a subset of the list of recipients that are associated with and/or involved in an entire set of related messages. Because the conventional "Reply to All" command only utilizes the addresses of the recipients in the particular message, the new message may not be addressed to all the recipients germane to the set of related messages.
What is needed is a mechanism that enables a user to create a reply message that may be sent to all addresses associated with and involved in an set of related messages.

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention is directed to a method and an arrangement for the plasma-based generation of intensive short-wavelength radiation, particularly EUV radiation. The object of the invention, to find a novel possibility for plasma-based generation of intensive soft x-radiation, particularly EUV radiation, which permits efficient energy conversion in the desired spectral band with high repetition frequency (several kHz) of the plasma excitation, minimized emission of debris and low erosion of the nozzle of the target generator, is met according to the invention in that an additional energy beam is directed on the target flow spatially in advance of its interaction with the high-energy beam, the target flow being acted upon by this additional energy beam with substantially weaker energy pulses compared to the high-energy beam in order to divide the target flow into a first portion and at least one second portion, wherein the target flow is excited at an interaction point within the second portion by the high-energy beam for generating a hot, radiating plasma, and the second portion is decoupled from the first portion and therefore from the target generator in such a way that a hydrodynamic disturbance generated in the second portion by the pulse of the high-energy beam is transmitted into the first portion only negligibly.

a) Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a method and an arrangement for plasma-based generation of intensive short-wavelength radiation in which a target flow comprising defined portions which is made available in a reproducible manner interacts with a pulsed energy beam for exciting radiation-emitting plasma. The invention is particularly suitable for the generation of soft x-radiation, preferably EUV radiation, for the exposure of very small structures in semiconductor lithography.
b) Description of the Related Art
In the prior art relating to energy beam pumped plasma-based radiation sources, mass-limited targets for plasma generation have become increasingly accepted because they minimize unwanted particle emission (debris) compared to other types of targets. A mass-limited target is wherein the particle number in the focus of an energy beam is limited to the order of magnitude of the ions used for generating radiation. In this connection, EP 0 186 491 B1 describes the excitation of individual droplets, i.e., exactly one droplet is impinged upon per energy pulse. The droplet size is of the same order of magnitude as the laser focus. When a pulsed energy beam is directed on a series of individual droplets, it is necessary to synchronize both events with one another with respect to space and time. However, the generation of droplets in a vacuum chamber depends upon the characteristics of the target material and is not possible for every target material. For example, xenon cannot be used to generate individual droplets under the process conditions of EUV lithography.
Further, targets in the form of clusters (U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,092), gas puffs (H. Fiedorowicz, SPIE Proceedings, Vol. 4688, 619) or aerosols (WO 01/30122) have been described for plasma generation. However, the average density of such targets in the focus volume is substantially less than in liquid targets or solid targets because the target comprises microscopic particles or is in gaseous form. Further, the target divergence is generally so great (opening angle of several degrees) that the average target density decreases rapidly with increasing distance from the nozzle. Therefore, the energy beam can be coupled in efficiently only in the immediate vicinity of the nozzle, which leads to a high thermal loading of the nozzle and inevitably results in nozzle erosion.
While arrangements with a continuous target jet (liquid or frozen jet) such as is described in WO97/40650, for example, allow a relatively large working distance from the nozzle, they are susceptible to shock waves. This means that the radiation-generating energy pulse that is coupled in causes hydrodynamic disturbances extending relatively far along the jet axis and the characteristics of the continuing jet for optimal plasma generation and radiation generation are impaired. These disturbances prevent a high pulse repetition frequency because it is necessary to wait for the disturbances to die down before the next pulse.
Further, the prior art includes plasma-based radiation sources with optimized energy conversion in a determined spectral range. For example, it is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,058,486 to use a defined pre-pulse prior in time to a main excitation pulse generating the radiating plasma in order to increase the efficiency of the energy conversion of the excitation radiation into emitted radiation of the plasma in the EUV range.

Method and arrangement for the plasma-based generation of intensive short-wavelength radiation


There is provided a semiconductor device including a semiconductor circuit formed by semiconductor elements having an LDD structure which has high reproducibility, improves the stability of TFTs and provides high productivity and a method for manufacturing the same.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure of a semiconductor device having a semiconductor circuit comprised of semiconductor elements such as insulated gate transistors and a method for manufacturing the same. More particularly, the invention relates to a structure of a semiconductor device having a semiconductor circuit comprised of semiconductor elements having an LDD structure formed of organic resin and a method for manufacturing the same. Semiconductor devices according to the invention include not only elements such as thin film transistors (TFTs) and MOS transistors but also displays having a semiconductor circuit and electro-optical devices such as image sensors formed by such insulated gate transistors. In addition, semiconductor devices according to the invention include electronic equipments loaded with such displays and electro-optical devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
TFTs have been conventionally used as switching elements of active matrix liquid crystal displays (hereinafter abbreviated to read "AMLCD"). The market is currently dominated by products having circuits formed by TFTs utilizing an amorphous silicon film as an active layer. Particularly, a widely used TFT structure is the reverse staggered structure, which allows simple manufacturing steps.
However, the accelerating trend toward AMLCDs with higher performance in recent years has resulted in more severe requirements on the operational performance (especially, operating speed) of TFTs. It has therefore become difficult to provide elements having sufficient performance utilizing TFTs comprising amorphous silicon films because of their operating speed.
Under such circumstances, TFTs utilizing polycrystalline silicon films (polysilicon films) have come into focus in place of amorphous silicon films, which has significantly accelerated the development of TFTs utilizing a polycrystalline silicon film as an active layer. Presently, some products have already been introduced.
Many reports have already been made on structures of reverse staggered TFTs utilizing a polycrystalline silicon film as an active layer. However, conventional reverse staggered structures have had various problems.
First, since an active layer as a whole employed in such structures is as very thin as about 50 nm, impact ionization occurs at the junction between a channel formation region and a drain region, which results in significant deteriorating phenomena such as the implantation of hot carriers. This necessitates the formation of an LDD region (light doped drain region).
It is expected that at least eight masks are required (for processes up to the formation of source and drain electrodes) to form such an LDD region in a conventional reverse staggered TFT structure.
As described above, in a conventional reverse staggered TFT structure, an LDD region must be formed in a horizontal plane on both sides or one side of a channel formation region, which makes it very difficult to form LDD regions with reproducibility.
It is an object of the invention to provide a technique for manufacturing semiconductor devices with high mass-productivity, reliability and reproducibility through very simple manufacturing steps.

Semiconductor device having semiconductor circuit formed by semiconductor elements and method for manufacturing the same

Abstract: In order to achieve the object, the design of a second mask is appropriately determined in accordance with requirements associated with the circuit configuration to make it possible to form a desired LDD region on both sides or one side of the channel formation region of a TFT.

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.