Described are new cable designs for indoor installations wherein the cable comprises a dual-layer optical fiber buffer encasement of acrylate resin. The buffer encasement has an acrylate compliant inner layer that protects the fiber and minimizes stress transfer to the fiber; and a hard, tough acrylate outer layer that provides crush resistance. The dual-layer optical fiber buffer encasement is wrapped with reinforcing yarn and encased in an outer protective jacket.

(Parts of this Background May or May not Constitute Prior Art.) Conventional optical fiber cables for indoor use typically provide a convenient termination for standard single-fiber connectors, such as ST, SC or LC connectors, often using tight buffered optical fiber with an outer diameter of 900 microns. However, multifiber connectors are becoming increasingly popular in order to save space and installation labor. These connectors use multi-fiber "MT" ferrules. 12-fiber multifiber connectors with a "MT" type ferrule can be used for connection of twelve 250 micron fibers in the same space normally needed for 2 traditional SC connections, or 3 traditional LC connections. Commercially available multifiber connectors include MTP® connectors from US Conec (www.usconec.com), and MPO connectors from Furukawa America (http://www.furukawaamerica.com/resource/MPO 0305.pdf) or Tyco Electronics (www.tycoelectronics.com).
These types of multifiber connectors are designed to work with flat optical ribbons. However, use of flat ribbons in cable may lead to undesirable cable performance in the field, e.g., difficult cable handling and routing in the field. Flat cables are prone to twisting and kinking. If, on the other hand, a flat ribbon is placed in a round cable, the cable must be fairly large and bulky in order to fit the flat ribbon within a robust round structure. For example, a 12-fiber ribbon, made using 250 micron fibers, is typically 3.1 mm wide; placing jacketing and reinforcement over that ribbon leads to a round cable in excess of 5 mm in diameter: an undesirably large cable.
To address these problems with ribbon cable, some providers of multifiber connectors offer compact, round, indoor optical cables using unribboned, colored, loose, 250 micron fiber. Colored 250 micron fiber resembles the type of fiber often used in outside plant cables. The individual 250 micron fibers can be packed very tightly into a profile that is substantially round, thus allowing packaging those fibers in a small round cable.
Commercial examples of this sort of cable include the "Premise MicroCore" cable, by AFL Telecommunications                (http://www.afltele.com/resource%20center/specifications/fiberopticcable/pdfs/Subunitized_Premise_MicroCore.pdf)and Corning "MIC250" cables. The AFL 12-fiber cable is 4.5 mm in diameter; the Corning cable is 4.4 mm in diameter. Both of these cables can be used as subunits for higher fiber count cables; the AFL design may have as many as 72 fibers, while the Corning design is offered with 24 fibers.
However, multifiber connectors that use MT ferrules are designed to accept flat ribbons, so special accommodations are made for round, loose fiber cables with multifiber connectors. For example, the loose fiber may be 'ribbonized' prior to use with MT-type multifiber ferrules. Commercial kits for ribbonization are available from, for example, US Conec. In factory ribbonization, the individual fibers may be broken out from the end of the small, round cable, and formed into a short 'ribbon' using either a UV-cured resin or engineered adhesive tapes. After the fibers are ribbonized, they may be terminated with the multifiber connector. This approach requires extra time in connectorization, but provides a terminated multifiber jumper with reduced size and improved handling for field installation.
However, the round cable designs just described have several drawbacks:                1. Poor fiber management. The colored, 250 micron fibers are loosely laid inside the cable with aramid yarn reinforcement. When the cable jacket is opened, the fibers are randomly organized, and randomly mixed with strands of aramid yarn. In the ribbonizing process, the operator cuts or folds back the aramid yarn to expose the fiber, then picks out the fibers in the order required for ribbonizing. This is a tedious process. In addition, the fibers are free to twist, and change locations, when the cable is stretched, bent, etc.        2. Poor fiber protection. The fibers are prone to being damaged during the ribbonizing process. In these cable designs there is little mechanical protection for the fibers when the cable is opened, and the operator must take extreme care to ensure no fibers are damaged when the aramid yarn is removed and the fibers are ordered one-by-one for ribbonizing.        3. Poor crush protection. The hollow core and bare-fiber structure of these cables means that crushing loads may be translated directly to the fibers. When crushed, the fibers may be pressed one against another. Moreover, the organization of the fibers relative to each other can be rearranged. These effects may result in high point attenuation and/or broken fibers, and limits the suitability of these cables for many indoor applications. While these cables may be adequate for frame-to-frame interconnect applications, where they are installed in a relatively benign environment, they may not be sufficiently robust for installation in overhead or under-floor ladder racks, or raceways for room-to-room connections.


A rotor of an alternator which is composed of a Lundell type core has a wire wound spirally around the rotor. The wire binds the claw poles at equal intervals from the tip to the base of each claw pole, thereby restricting the radial expansion of the claw poles due to centrifugal forces. The wire is made of a non-magnetic material, and is received in grooves formed on the outer circumferential surface collectively formed by the claw poles.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rotary electric machine having a Lundell type pole core which is composed of a plurality of claw poles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Usually, an alternator for a vehicle has a Lundell type pole core which is composed of a plurality of claw poles. When the alternator is operated at a high speed, the centrifugal force is applied to the claw poles, and the tip of the claw poles may expand in the radial direction if the rotation speed of the alternator rotor becomes very high. This may cause the magnetic noises also.
In order to prevent the expansion of the claw poles, JP-A-59-226645 and JP-U-56-102983 propose a dumper ring fixed to the inside radial surface of the claw poles. JP-U-56-101185 proposes a ring having a trapezoidal cross-section inserted in a groove formed on the outer periphery of the claw poles. The groove has the same trapezoidal cross section. JP-A-4-165950 discloses a rotor which has claw poles covered by a cylindrical stainless member. JP-A-6-78479 discloses a pair of fans having ring members engaging the tip of the claw poles. JP-A-7-312854 discloses non-magnetic protection plates which are inserted between the claw poles and welded to side walls of the claw poles.
However, JP-A-59-226645 and JP-U-56-102983 can not suppress magnetic noises sufficiently because the dumper ring is fixed to the inside surface of the claw poles. The outer periphery of the pole core disclosed in JP-U-56-101185 needs a considerably large groove which has a trapezoidal cross-section. In this structure, the tip portion of the claw poles is not fixed, thereby allowing expansion. The stainless cylindrical member disclosed in JP-A-4-165950 increases the air gap between the stator and the pole core, thereby reducing the output power thereof. The fan disclosed in JP-A-6-78479 becomes complicated and difficult to manufacture. The protection plates of JP-A-7-312854 necessitate many welding steps.

Rotary electric machine having lundell type pole core


An anesthesia system with an anesthetic evaporator can be operated even in case of a defect, particularly in case of a power outage. The anesthetic evaporator (10) and a valve arranged upstream of the anesthetic evaporator (10) are provided, whereby the gas flow through the valve (8) is conveyed completely or partially through the anesthetic evaporator (10) or a bypass line (9) past the anesthetic evaporator (10) in case of operation in accordance with the regulations, while the gas flow takes place only through the anesthetic evaporator (10) in case of a defect.

An anesthesia system with a breathing gas source, an anesthetic evaporator and a breathing system with circulation of the breathing air has become known from DE 41 11 138 A1. The breathing gas reaches the breathing system from a compressed gas source via a dispensing valve, a flow meter and the anesthetic evaporator and is fed to the patient by means of a breathing gas pump. The anesthetic evaporator operates according to the bypass principle, which is based on branching off a partial gas flow from the gas flow at the input of the anesthetic evaporator, enriching this partial gas flow in an evaporator chamber for liquid anesthetic with saturated anesthetic vapor and then adding it back to the gas flow at the output of the anesthetic evaporator. The portion of anesthetic vapor in the gas flow can be changed manually by means of an adjustment part on the anesthetic evaporator.
The prior-art anesthesia system is designed for mainly manual operation.
An anesthetic dispensing system, in which breathing gas is conveyed by means of a switching valve in fast switching sequence either through an evaporator chamber provided with saturated anesthetic vapor or via a bypass line past the evaporator chamber, has become known from EP 146 220 B2 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,657,710). The concentration of the anesthetic in the breathing gas can be changed by means of predetermining suitable control signals for the switching valve in relation to pulse width and to frequency. Sensors that detect the corresponding physical parameters are necessary for the correction of deviations in concentration that occur due to changes in temperature and pressure, so that correction factors for the concentration delivery can be calculated in a calculating and control unit.
A large number of sensors and an electric power supply are necessary for the operation of the prior-art anesthetic dispensing system.

Anesthesia system with a anesthetic evaporator


A dual-LO mixer is disclosed. The dual-LO mixer receives an input signal, a first reference signal of a first reference frequency, and a second reference signal of a second reference frequency, and performs a frequency translation to convert the input signal into an output signal, wherein the frequency difference between the input signal and the output signal is a sum or a difference of the first reference frequency and the second reference frequency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mixer circuit and its application to radio system, in particular to mixer performing two-step frequency translation and radio system employing such mixer.
2. Description of Related Art
In a radio receiver, a receiving mixer receives two input signals, i.e. a RF (radio frequency) signal and a LO (local oscillator) signal, and generates an output signal, i.e. an IF (intermediate frequency) signal, whose frequency is a difference between a frequency of the RF signal and a frequency of the LO signal. Conversely, in a radio transmitter, a transmitting mixer receives two input signals, i.e. an IF signal and a LO signal, and generates an output signal, i.e. a RF signal, whose frequency is a sum of a frequency of the IF signal and a frequency of the LO signal. In either case, a mixer performs a frequency translation but at the same time also introduces noise and distortion to the desired output signal (the IF signal in a receiving mixer or the RF signal in a transmitting signal). Two types of mixers are commonly used in a radio system: active mixer and passive mixer. An active mixer, which needs a constant bias, can provide a gain to the desired output signal but usually is noisy and has poor linearity. On the other hand, a passive mixer, which does not need a constant bias, causes a loss to the desired output signal but usually is less noisy and has good linearity.
A tuner is an apparatus used to select a particular channel of a narrow-band RF signal amongst a wide-band RF signal comprising a plurality of channels. A tuner needs to utilize a combination of various amplifiers, filters, and mixers to perform the desired channel selection. Rotzoll disclosed a highly integrated TV tuner in U.S. Pat. No. 5,737,035, as illustrated in FIG. 1. In tuner 100 of FIG. 1, a wide-band RF signal is received from an antenna, then filtered by a pre-filter 110, then amplified by a LNA (low-noise amplifier) 120, then converted to a first IF signal by a first mixer 130 using a first LO signal LO1, then converted to a second IF signal by a second mixer 140 using a second LO signal LO2, and then filtered by a BPF (band-pass filter) 150, resulting in a narrow band signal to be further processed by a subsequent demodulator. The performance of tuner 100 is highly limited, due to using two mixers 130 and 140, which either introduces significant noise and distortion (for using an active mixer) or loss (for using a passive mixer) to the desired narrow-band output signal.
What is needed is a method for reducing the noise and distortion or loss caused by using two mixers while still achieving the desired frequency translation.


A hand lever device is disclosed which allows movable members such as a main lever to be retained appropriately in case members even in a time when a case is dismounted or separated from a handle. In the hand lever device, the case has a ternary structure composed of one side case member (21), an intermediate case member (22) and the other side case member (23). The case (20) is dismounted from the handle (7) by detaching the other case member (23) from the one side case member (21) and the intermediate case member (22). The main lever (30) for drawing a cable (17) connected to a driven member (CV) is retained between the one side case member (21) and the intermediate case member (22) even in a time when said case (20) is dismounted or separated from the handle (7).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hand lever device for operating a driven member, such as a throttle valve, of an internal combustion engine via a cable. In particular, the hand lever device is preferably mounted on a working machine, such as a hedge trimmer or brush cutter, in the vicinity of a hand grip so that it is easy and convenient to operate such a throttle valve or the like via a throttle cable or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For example, in a working machine such as a hedge trimmer and brush cutter which comprises an operative portion including a cutting blade or the like driven by an internal combustion engine, a hand lever device is provided for controlling the degree of opening of a throttle valve of the internal combustion engine. Such a hand lever is mounted in the vicinity of a grip of a U-shaped handle, a bar handle or the like of the working machine so as to provide manual control of the output force of the internal combustion engine.
The hand lever device is generally provided with a throttle trigger (throttle lever) operated by operator's fingers with the throttle lever being pivotally operated to thereby control the degree of opening of the throttle valve via a throttle cable. In general, the throttle valve is always biased toward the direction of minimum valve opening that allows the engine to idle. Accordingly, the throttle valve is normally kept at the idle opening position and, when the throttle cable is drawn in a predetermined amount to eliminate play, it begins to open from the opening position for idling (slow running) of the engine toward an opening position for operation (higher speed running) of the engine.
Such known hand lever devices for controlling throttle valve settings include an automatic return to an idle setting type and an immobilizable type. In the former type, when such a throttle lever is released from a pivotally operated position, the lever is automatically returned to its original idle position setting, thereby moving the throttle valve to its idle setting. In the latter type, when fingers are released from a throttle lever, the throttle lever is held immobilized at a desired pivotally operated position (see Japanese Examined Utility Model Publication No.19944/1982, etc.).
In the auto-return type, when fingers are released from the throttle lever, the engine is automatically returned to idling condition. Consequently, when the auto-return type is used in a working machine, where the output force of the engine is transmitted to an operative portion including a cutting blade via a centrifugal clutch, the centrifugal clutch is brought into a condition for disconnection to cut off the transmission of the driving force to the operative portion. Accordingly, the operation of the machinery can immediately be stopped by returning the throttle valve to the opening degree for idle running if an accident occurs, thereby advantageously attaining improved safety. On the other hand, the throttle valve must be held continuously by fingers at a desired pivotally operated position to achieve desired operation of the machinery. This causes problems in that this type is awkward with respect to intermediate opening degrees, the fingers are susceptible to fatigue, and the speed of the engine is likely to be unstable.
In general, it is desired from the viewpoint of operational convenience that a lever which is pivotally operated by fingers, for example, a throttle lever be alternatively shifted between two positions, i.e., a released position and a set position (pressed position) without being suspended at any intermediate position. Accordingly, it is preferred in terms of operability that the lever be set in the same pivotally operated position (set position) regardless of whether an intermediately open condition (partially open condition) or the fully open condition (W.O.T.) of a throttle valve is intended.
On the other hand, the immobilizable type is capable of solving the above problems associated with the auto-return to idle running opening degree type. The immobilizable type advantageously holds the throttle lever at a desired pivotally operated position without the throttle lever being held by the operator's fingers. This enables easy cutting operation because fingers are liberated from holding it. However, since additional operation is required to release the throttle lever from the immobilized position, it is impossible to immediately stop the machinery even if an accident occurs. Accordingly, there is a problem that, in terms of safety, the immobilizable type is inferior to the auto-return to idle running opening degree type.
Further, in either type, when the throttle lever which has once been released to suspend operation is returned to the previous opening degree to resume the operation (as is often the case with a working machine such as a brush cutter), the pivotally operated position of the throttle lever must be readjusted. In view of such cumbersome operation, there is still room for improvement in operability.
To solve the problems in the conventional hand lever devices, the present assignee have previously proposed, for example, a hand lever device comprising a main lever and a sub-lever which are pivotally operated, wherein the sub-lever is adapted to draw a cable connected to a driven member via a cable turnaround member such as a pulley, and the cable turnaround member is moved by the main lever (as disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application No.303262/1996).
According to such a hand lever device, advantages can be obtained that a throttle valve as a driven member can be adjusted appropriately in its opening degree via a cable and kept at a desired opening degree and yet immediately returned to the minimum opening degree (the opening degree for idle running) to ensure high safety, and that fatigue of fingers can be diminished, and that the throttle valve can be brought to the opening degree at which it had stood before it was returned to the minimum opening degree without necessity of readjustment.
In the proposed hand lever device, however, draw amount of the throttle cable directly corresponds to the amount of the pivotal movement of the main lever. Accordingly, the main lever must be pivotally operated in a relatively large amount in order to draw the throttle cable in a necessary amount. For obtaining a required amount of pivotal movement of the main lever, it is required to provide a relatively large space for pivotal operation of the main lever between a grip of the handle and the main lever. As a result, the hand lever device is not satisfactory in size and weight and also in terms of operability.
To solve the above problem, the present assignee proposed a hand lever device having the following structure as a basic embodiment of the present invention. The proposed hand lever device comprises:
a case to be mounted on a handle,
a main lever pivotally supported by the case for drawing a cable connected to a driven member via a cable turnaround member,
a draw amount magnifying mechanism interposed between the main lever and the cable in the case for magnifying amount of pivotal movement of the main lever to draw the cable in a magnified amount, and
a position adjusting mechanism for moving the cable turnaround member toward the cable drawing direction and holding the cable turnaround member at a desired position.
Incidentally, conventional hand lever devices generally have a case of a binary structure (composed of right and left case members) for supporting/containing movable members such as a main lever, as described, for example, in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No.106098/1995. The right and left case members which constitute the case are put together with a handle held therebetween and they are tightened with bolts or the like to mount the hand lever device on the handle.
In such a conventional hand lever device having a case of a binary structure, however, since movable members such as a main lever are supported/contained between the right and left case members constituting the case, it is difficult to appropriately retain the movable members such as the main lever in (one of) the case members in a time when the right and left case members are separated, i.e., a time when the case is dismounted or separated from the handle, for example, in a time before mounting of the hand lever device on the handle, or in a time of maintenance. Accordingly, mounting of the hand lever device on the handle and maintenance are cumbersome.
Further, since such a conventional hand lever device is mounted on a handle only by putting right and left case members constituting a case together and tightening them with bolts or the like, there is a problem that the case as a whole is likely to rotate or longitudinally move relative to the handle. Such rotation or movement of the case relative to the handle results not only in impairment of operability but also in delicate shift of a front end of the cable. Accordingly, draw amount of the cable is not necessarily constant with respect to given amounts of pivotal movements of a main lever and a sub-lever. Consequently, opening degree of a throttle valve or the like cannot be controlled precisely.


The present invention relates to thermally, stable oil-in-water emulsions comprising an oil comprising a polyunsaturated fatty acid, water, an emulsifier, and a water-soluble stabilizer, and processes for preparing the thermally stable oil-in-water emulsions. The thermally stable oil-in-water emulsions remain flowable at a temperature of −40° C., and are free from a variation in particle size after 9 months in storage at a temperature of −40° C. to −15° C.

Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to freezable oil-in-water emulsions comprising an oil comprising one or more polyunsaturated fatty acids, and processes for preparing the freezable oil-in-water emulsions.
Background
Polyunsaturated fatty acids ("PUFAs," including long-chain PUFAs "LC-PUFAs") have been shown to enhance cognitive function and maintain cardiovascular health, among other benefits. In particular, omega-3 PUFAs are important dietary components for preventing arteriosclerosis and coronary heart disease, for alleviating inflammatory conditions, and for retarding the growth of tumor cells, and omega-6 PUFAs are important as both structural lipids, and as precursors for, e.g., prostaglandins and leukotrienes. PUFAs are an important element of a healthy diet, but because PUFAs are not synthesized by humans in vivo, these compounds must be ingested. For example, the oils of many plants and animals (e.g., fish, walnuts, lingonberries, hemp, algae and the seeds and/or leaves of several plants such as flax, chia, perilla and purslane) are rich in PUFAs. Many people also choose to ingest PUFAs through dietary supplements and/or PUFA-enhanced food products. As a result, consumer demand for products that containing PUFAs has recently increased, and a wide range of products now contain PUFAs.
Oil-in-water emulsions have been used as a vehicle for PUFAs, both as a precursor for preparing comestibles, and in particular, as a component in formulated beverages, foods, nutraceuticals, and pharmaceuticals. However, PUFAs present in an emulsion can become unstable and degrade (e.g., via oxidation and/or photolytic degradation), and therefore, maintaining the physical and chemical stability of PUFAs in an emulsion is critical. Freezing a PUFA-containing oil-in-water emulsion is an attractive means for reducing the oxidative potential of PUFAs during shipment and/or storage. Unfortunately, freezing can lead to de-emulsification, and require extended periods of time for thawing prior to use.
What is needed is an oil-in-water emulsion that remains flowable and is resistant to de-emulsification and changes in particle size at sub-freezing temperatures (i.e., temperatures less than 0° C.). Furthermore, what is needed is a freezable oil-in-water emulsion that is resistant to oxidative degradation of a PUFA contained therein.

Thermally stable oil-in-water emulsions containing an oil that contains polyunsaturated fatty acids


A preferred varistor body 2 has a structure of alternately laminated internal electrode layer 12 and varistor layer 14. The varistor layer 14 has a composition containing ZnO as the main component, and Co, Pr, and Zr as the auxiliary components. An analysis of the varistor body 2 in the depth direction from the surface thereof satisfies the formula (1) and (2):0.4×Z1/Z0+0.5≦P1/P0≦0.4×Z1/Z0+0.9  (1)1<Z1/Z0<2.2  (2)where, Z0 is the Zr content at a reference depth where the Zr content becomes almost constant, Z1 is the Zr content at a level of 2 μm at the surface side above the reference depth, P0 is the Pr content at the reference depth, and P1 is the Pr content at a level of 2 μm at the surface side above the reference depth.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a varistor body and a varistor having the same.
2. Related Background Art
Varistor is an element showing a voltage nonlinear characteristic which keeps insulation property with high resistance up to a certain voltage, and dramatically becomes a low resistance above that certain voltage to allow current to flow therethrough, (hereinafter referred to as the "varistor characteristic"). Utilizing the characteristic, the varistor is used as an element for protecting a circuit of electronics device in case of generation of abnormal voltage (surge), and the like. In recent years, the varistor has become miniature scale, and is expected to be used as an inexpensive surge-protection element in digital cameras, cell phones, and the like substituting for existing Zener diode.
Known varistors include a laminated type varistor having a structure of a varistor body prepared by laminating alternately a varistor layer providing the varistor characteristic and an internal electrode layer, and an external electrode which is attached to outside of the varistor body and is connected to the internal electrode layer. Other than that type, there is known an array type varistor having a structure of combining pluralities of above elements.
The varistors having above structures are often fixed and connected to printed circuit board and the like by soldering the external electrode. Ordinary external electrodes are, however, likely fused and dispersed into the solder, which likely induces connection failure. To cope with the drawback, conventional external electrodes are prepared with a substrate electrode and a plating layer of Ni and the like formed on the surface thereof, thus improving the heat resistance. From the point of production cost and other variables, the formation of that type of plating layer is generally done by electroplating.
Since, however, the varistor body (varistor layer) has above-described semiconductor characteristic, the insulation resistance is inherently not so large. Consequently, on applying electroplating, there are conventionally often occurred the formation of plating with running-over portion thereof from the range to form the substrate electrode, (that kind of phenomenon is hereinafter referred to as the "plating extension"), and the adhesion of plating to positions other than the substrate electrode, (that kind of phenomenon is hereinafter referred to as the "plating adhesion"). Those phenomena of plating extension and plating adhesion are not welcomed because they have become significant causes of short-circuit between external electrodes along with the recent movement of miniaturization of varistor.
To avoid the problem, there is a known countermeasure which covers the surface of varistor body, other than the external electrode, with an insulation coating layer such as glass coat. That type of countermeasure, however, requires forming the glass coat film at precise dimensions, which raises other problems such as complex production process and increased production cost.
Another countermeasure to attain good electroplating is disclosed as a method of diffusing Li or Na into a region in the vicinity of surface of the varistor body, (refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-246017). The method brings the region in the vicinity of the surface of varistor body to high resistance, thus suppressing the plating formation on other part than the substrate electrode.


Subterranean hydrocarbon reservoirs are analyzed by characterizing the relative presence and character of microfractures in rock samples from the reservoirs. Core samples are saturated with a suspension of magnetite particles of known concentration. The samples are then subjected to an applied magnetic field of known strength. The anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility, or AMS, of the samples is then observed, providing a measure of grain orientation in the samples. The characteristics of the microfractures in the samples are thus available to characterize the reservoirs, and in particular the contribution of the microfractures to the porosity and permeability of formations in the reservoirs.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention herein relates to evaluation of performance and petrophysics of subterranean naturally-fractured hydrocarbon reservoirs.
2. Description of the Related Art
In evaluating subsurface reservoirs of interest for the presence and production of hydrocarbons, two types reservoirs are commonly encountered. The first and more often encountered type of subsurface hydrocarbon reservoir is what has become known as a conventional or non-fractured reservoir. The formation rock has an inherent porosity and permeability because of its lithological and textural composition, with connected "conventional reservoir" pores, and hydrocarbon fluids can therefore accumulate in the rock. The other type of reservoir is what is known as a microfractured reservoir, in which porosity and/or permeability is not inherent from the time of rock deposition. The two types of reservoirs are different types of reservoirs with different pore space types, requiring different techniques for characterization.
Microfractured reservoirs are dependent on the presence of fractures in the formation rocks for their porosity and permeability. Pore space in microfractured reservoir formation rock is in effect controlled by, and formed as a result of, the presence of connected microfractures. Microfractures are different from connected, conventional reservoir pores in terms of their nature, origin and their impact on reservoir performance. Microfractures are cracks that occur in the rocks due to deformation under natural earth stresses. They are distinctive in having planar or semi-planar shapes, and with clearly defined orientation.
In evaluating actual or projected performance of certain hydrocarbon reservoirs, particularly in rock formations of low porosity and permeability known as tight gas reservoirs, the presence of microfractures in formation rock has played an important role. Microfractures in rock formations are typically very small, on the order of ten microns to a millimeter scale. Accordingly, microfractures cannot, so far as is known, be readily characterized by visual methods using core samples. Further, microfractures are below the resolution levels of borehole images.
It has been conventional to characterize the presence of microfractures in core samples using either optical or electron microscopy techniques on thin sections taken from the core samples. Results obtained from these methods gave only rough assessments, and that often inaccurate ones, of the fracture-related physical characteristics of the formation rocks of interest. These techniques were also very time consuming and expensive. Further, they did not permit precise or direct assessment of the microfractures' contribution to rock petrophysics.

Method to characterize microfractured hydrocarbon reservoirs by artificially induced anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility


A data compression system 200, method, and apparatus 214 employs an encoder 210 optimized to decorrelate and make independent from the original signal 202, the quantization noise produced during signal compression. The proposed system 200, method, and apparatus 214 supports high degrees of signal compression, which in turn leads to lower computational complexity and improved performance. Because the quantization noise produced during signal compression is made independent from and non-orthogonal (i.e., uncorrelated) to the original signal 202, enhanced filtering is achievable, which in turn leads to improvements in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the decoder 220.

With the advent of technologies and services related to teleconferencing and digital image storage, considerable progress has been made in the field of image processing. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, image processing typically relates to systems, devices, and methodologies for generating image signal data, compressing the image signal data for storage and/or transmission, and thereafter reconstructing the original image from the compressed image signal data. Critical to any highly efficient, cost effective image processing system is the methodology used for achieving compression.
As is known in the art, image compression refers to the steps performed to map an original image into a bit stream suitable for communication over a channel or storage in a suitable medium. Methodologies capable of minimizing the amount of information necessary to represent and recover an original image are desirable in order to lower computational complexity and cost. In addition to cost, methodologies capable of providing high quality image reproduction with minimal delay are likewise desirable.
Due to the enormous growth potential of businesses relying on these techniques, considerable work and effort has been conducted in this area. Despite these efforts, there still remains a need for an improved image processing method, system, and apparatus that operates to reduce the noise generated during image signal compression (quantization noise), improve the achievable signal to noise ratio (quality) during image reconstruction, while avoiding the lengthy delays typically associated with prior art approaches.

Data compression system, method, and apparatus


A ranging method, executed in a ranging device, comprising steps of: among a plurality of parameter sets under a specific constraint, selecting one parameter set which minimizes a statistical value of a rising time of a received wireless signal; obtaining a trip time of the received wireless signal, wherein the received wireless signal is a wireless signal from an object; and estimating a distance between the object and the ranging device according to a corrected trip time, wherein the statistical value of the rising time of the received wireless signal corrects the trip time of the received wireless signal to generate the corrected trip time.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a ranging method, in particular, to a ranging method and device considering the statistical value (for example, the standard deviation, i.e. time spread, while considering the noise is the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) of the rising time of the received wireless ranging signal due to the noise, and to a location method and device using the ranging method or device.
2. Description of Related Art
The ranging method or device is used to estimate a distance between an object and a ranging device by using a wireless ranging signal. One currently marketed ranging device can detect the signal strength decay of the received wireless ranging signal to estimate the distance between the object and the ranging device, since the wireless ranging signal is attenuated along with the distance ideally. However, the signal strength decay is actually further in response to the channel response, such that this ranging device must obtain the channel response. Since a channel estimator may be required to obtain the channel response, the ranging device for detecting the signal strength decay of the received wireless ranging signal has large cost. Furthermore, if the channel is fast changed (i.e. not a static channel), the estimated distance between the object and the ranging device may have large difference to the actual distance between the object and the ranging device.
Furthermore, strength of received signal can be reasonable reduced by which the objects absorb the electromagnetic wave (EMW) propagated from the transmitter to the receiver. If such object (or objects) are obstructing first Fresnel zone, then level of received signal (radio signal strength, RSSI) is reasonably reduced. Objects which can heavily absorb EMW are thick concrete walls (especially when concrete wall is wet), layers of coal (in coal mines), water, and the similar ones.
As consequence, the distance estimation based on free space propagation model is loaded by big error, wherein the value of the error increases with additional attenuation, reflection, diffusion, diffraction and similar physical effects caused by surrounding objects (these effects are depending on their nature, dimensions, electrical properties, and so on).
Another currently marketed ranging device can calculate or count the trip time of the received wireless ranging signal to estimate the distance between the object and the ranging device, wherein the trip time comprises the rising time of the received wireless ranging signal since the trip time is the time difference between the rising time of the received wireless ranging signal and the rising time of the emitted wireless ranging signal, i.e. the trip time is also called delay time. However, since the channel inevitably has the noise, the rising time of the received wireless ranging signal is spread, i.e. the rising time of the received wireless ranging signal is lengthened. Thus, the estimated distance between the object and the ranging device may be shorter than the actual distance between the object and the ranging device.
Moreover, the location device may use the ranging device, wherein the ranging device is used to estimate the distances between the objects and the ranging device, and the location device can determined the location of the location device according to the estimated distances. Or alternatively, the distances between the object and the ranging devices are estimated by the ranging devices, and the location device can determine the location of the object according to the estimated distances. However, the higher the ranging accuracy of the ranging device is, the higher the location accuracy of the location device is. Thus, a ranging device with a precise accuracy is needed.

Ranging method, ranging device, location device and location method


Disclosed herein are a test apparatus of a fluidic sample, which tests the fluidic sample, and a control method thereof. The test apparatus of the fluidic sample includes a housing, an installing member in which a cartridge receiving a fluid is inserted, a pressing member which is disposed in the housing to press the cartridge and perform an inspection of the fluid, a driving unit of which at least a part is coupled to the pressing member so as to movably drive the pressing member, and a sensing unit of which at least a part is opposite to the driving unit so as to sense a position of the driving unit. According to the present invention, since the sensing unit can recognize the position of the driving unit, the pressing member can apply uniform pressure to the cartridge.

1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a test apparatus of a fluidic sample, which tests the fluidic sample, and a control method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
A test apparatus of a fluidic sample and a control method thereof are used in various fields such as environment monitoring, food inspection, and medical diagnosis. Formerly, in order to perform a test according to predetermined protocols, skilled experimenters should manually carry out various processes such as multiple reagent injections, mixing, isolating and transferring, reaction, and centrifugation, and these processes cause errors in inspection results.
In order to solve the problem, there has been developed a compact and automated apparatus which can rapidly analyze a test material.
A characteristic reaction of a test material and a specific material may be used in order to detect the test material contained in a fluidic sample. And optical data is measured by using an optical sensor, and then a concentration of the test material is obtained from a measured optical data size or a change amount thereof.
In the inspection of a fluidic sample, a cartridge receiving the fluidic sample is pressed by a pressing member, and the fluidic sample is transferred and inspected. At this time, the pressure applied to the cartridge may be changed time after time. When the applied pressure is excessive, the fluidic sample or a reagent for the inspection may leak to the outside of the cartridge. When the applied pressure is insufficient, the fluidic sample may not be transferred to an inspecting part in which the reagent is received.

Test apparatus of fluidic sample and control method thereof


Various voltage regulators and/or voltage regulation systems are disclosed. For example, a voltage regulation system that includes a source follower output is disclosed. The source follower output includes a transistor where the source of the transistor provides a baseline voltage to a regulated voltage output node. The voltage regulation system further includes a body damping circuit and a low speed feedback circuit. The body damping circuit is electrically coupled to the body of the transistor, and is operable to provide a rapid opposition to any voltage disturbance at the regulated voltage output node. The low speed feedback circuit is electrically coupled to the gate of the transistor, and is operable to return the regulated voltage output node to the baseline voltage.

The present invention is related to voltage regulation, and more particularly to systems and methods for improving transient response in a voltage regulator.
Many electronic devices such as, for example, hard disk drives, cellular telephones and notebook computers include a number of semiconductor circuits powered by one or more supply voltages. These supply voltages are often generated by voltage regulators that may in some cases be integrated with the particular semiconductor circuits. The voltage regulators may provide a regulated voltage output that is derived from either battery power or some other power supply.
FIG. 1 shows an exemplary voltage regulator 100 with a number of transistors 132, 138, 142, 148, 152, 158, 162, 168, 172, 178, 182, 188, 192, 198 that are powered between voltage potential VDD 104 and VSS 102. In particular, transistor 132 is an NMOS source follower with a capacitor 125 that couples the gate of transistor 132 to VSS 102. Voltage regulator 100 provides a voltage output 120 to a load 130 that is electrically coupled between the source of transistor 132 and VSS 102. In operation, a voltage reference 110 is applied to the gate of transistor 178, and voltage output 120 tracks voltage reference 110. Capacitor 125 operates to oppose any sudden changes in the voltage at the source of transistor 132 (i.e., voltage output 120). Where the value of capacitor 125 is too small, it is possible for voltage output 120 to ring or oscillate upon any sudden change of either voltage reference 110 or load 130. To avoid the possibility of such oscillation, a relatively large value for capacitor 125 is chosen (e.g., at least two times the value of the Cgs of transistor 132) to hold the gate of transistor 132 steady. This large value for capacitor 125 limits the initial voltage disturbance at voltage output 120, however, the return to a baseline output value is relatively slow as it relies on the transconductance of transistors 172, 178. This transconductance is typically small compared to the gm of transistor 132 for low power operation.
FIG. 1b is a graphical representation 101 of voltage regulator 100 in operation. As shown, voltage regulator 100 is capable of tracking relatively quick changes in voltage reference 110 or load 130 as indicated by operational periods 111, 121, 131. However, the recovery period required to return to a baseline output value is relatively slow as indicated by operational periods 113, 123, 133. Such a slow recovery period may limit the overall switching frequency of a circuit regulated by voltage regulator 100. Such a low frequency may be particularly limiting in storage applications.
Hence, for at least the aforementioned reasons, there exists a need in the art for advanced systems and methods for improving response time in voltage regulators.

Linear voltage regulator with improved large transient response


An electronic apparatus and a display backlight control method are provided. The electronic apparatus includes a display, a processing unit, a read-only memory and a backlight controller. The read-only memory stores a basic input output system (BIOS) and a setting table. The setting table includes a plurality of backlight setting values corresponding to each of the displays. When the processing unit executes the BIOS, the processing unit identifies an identifier corresponding to the display connected to the electronic apparatus, so as to obtain the backlight setting values corresponding to the display according to the identifier and the setting table. Then the processing unit provides the backlight setting values to the backlight controller, and the backlight controller controls the backlight power of the display according to the backlight setting values.

Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a backlight control technique and more particularly, to an electronic apparatus whose setting can be digitalized and a display backlight control method.
Description of Related Art
With development of display technologies, liquid crystal displays (LCDs) have become the mainstream of displays. An LCD panel does not have self-luminance characteristics, and thus, a backlight module is commonly disposed thereunder to provide a light source required by the LCD panel.
Due to the need of the backlight by the display panel, it is a common application to use light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as the backlight for the display panel. Meanwhile, a system circuit of an electronic apparatus also has to be disposed with a power circuit for driving the LED backlight, so as to provide a power supply to enable a backlight module of the display panel. Electrical characteristics, such as the number of LED strings, a current flowing through each LED string or a voltage of each LED string corresponding to the LED backlight module are determined according to the internal structure of the display panel. Thus, as for electronic apparatus, e.g., an all-in-one PC (AIO PC), the design of the backlight power circuit layout is determined by the display panel.
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an electronic apparatus. An electronic apparatus 100 may adjust backlight settings of a display 130 by using a bill of materials (BOM) 150. For descriptive convenience, only one display 130 is illustrated herein for description. A processor 110 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU) and/or a platform controller hub (PCH)) of the electronic apparatus 100 may transmit image data to the display 130 for playback through a low voltage differential signaling (LVDS) transmitter 120. As for the setting of backlight power of the display 130, the external circuit may be adjusted through the BOM 150 for a backlight driving integrated circuit (IC) 140, such that backlight setting values required by the corresponding display 130 are adjusted.
However, in a scenario where the electronic apparatus 100 needs two or more displays 130 whose electrical characteristics are not exactly the same, the BOM 150 has to be adjusted and re-designed according to electrical characteristics of the backlight required by each display 130. In other words, if the electronic apparatus 100 is expected to support the connection with various displays 130, while the electrical characteristics of each display 130 are not the same, the design of the BOM 150 becomes more complicated, which causes affection to audit and review processes of the BOM 150 or prolongs the production process of the electronic apparatus during manufacturing. Therefore, how to simplify the design with respect to the flow of setting the backlight module becomes an important subject.
Besides adjusting the electronic apparatus 100 to correspond to different displays 130 by using the BOM 150, the use of the BOM 150 may also be simplified by means of digital setting. With reference to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an electronic apparatus. In an electronic apparatus 200, a display controller 220 (e.g., a scalar IC, an embedded controller (EC) or a micro controller unit (MCU)) may receive image data transmitted by the processor 210, convert a signal format of the image data and transmit the image data to a display 230 for playback. Additionally, the display controller 220 may store backlight setting corresponding to the display 230 are stored in a firmware form, such that the display controller 220 may read the backlight settings corresponding to the display 230 after learning the display 230 currently connected to the electronic apparatus 200 and write the backlight settings corresponding to the display 230 into a backlight driving IC 240 by means of, for example, digital communication, such as through an inter integrated circuit (I2C), such that the backlight driving IC 240 may drive the backlight of the display 230 according to the settings.
Nevertheless, as mentioned above, the digital control method illustrated in FIG. 2 relies on the display controller 220 accessing the backlight settings. For the sake of manufacturing cost and system requirements of the electronic apparatus, the display controller 220 cannot be generally configured in each electronic apparatus, and thus, the digital control method cannot be applied in a wide range.

Electronic apparatus and display backlight control method


A system and method for load control of a wind turbine is disclosed. The method includes: selecting a plurality of wind turbine components for load monitoring; defining a load envelope for each of the selected components and storing the load envelopes in a controller, the load envelopes defining a maximum acceptable load capacity for the respective component that may be at or near the component's design capability; directly or indirectly monitoring loads on the selected components and generating corresponding load signals that are communicated to the controller; with the controller, determining if the loads acting on each of the selected components are within the component's respective load envelope; and the controller initiating corrective action in the event that the load acting on any one of the selected components exceeds the component's load envelope.

Wind power is considered one of the cleanest, most environmentally friendly energy sources presently available, and wind turbines have gained increased attention in this regard. A modern wind turbine typically includes a tower, a nacelle, a rotor, a generator, and a gearbox. The rotor typically includes a rotatable hub and one or more rotor blades. The rotor blades capture kinetic energy from wind using known airfoil principles and transmit the kinetic energy through rotational energy to turn a shaft coupling the rotor blades to a gearbox, or if a gearbox is not used, directly to the generator. The generator then converts the mechanical energy to electrical energy that may be deployed to a utility grid.
A wind turbine and its components must be designed to withstand various loads experienced during operation. The term "component" or "components" when discussed herein in reference to a wind turbine is defined as any wind turbine feature, including, but not limited to, the tower, nacelle, rotor, generator, gearbox, hub, shaft, rotor blade, pitch bearing or drive, yaw bearing or drive, generator frame, bedplate, foundation, or any portion of the wind turbine that may experience a load.
Wind turbine components are typically designed based on simulations representing several events that might occur during the life of the wind turbine, including, but not limited to, wind speed, wind gusts, turbulence intensity, or any other event which causes a load to act on the wind turbine or its components. These events may vary at different wind farm sites; therefore, a safety factor is typically included with the design loads of individual wind turbine components to ensure that catastrophic failures are minimized during an extreme event or random loading condition. Such safety factors, however, generally provide an excess design margin, causing individual wind turbine components to be over-designed. At any given time during the life of the wind turbine, the components are not operating at their design envelopes and there is extra component design margin left, resulting in the components performing below their maximum load capacity during their lifetime.
Many modern wind turbines utilize real-time or asymmetric load control (ALC) systems to control and enhance wind turbine component operation. For example, real-time and/or ALC systems use proximity sensors or strain gages (or combinations of both) to constantly monitor loads at the hub center, and to keep these hub center loads within setpoint limits through blade pitching. These ALC loads are not, however, directly linked to the limiting design loads of the individual components. The setpoint load limits are generally selected to incorporate the safety load factors discussed above to mitigate unforeseen events. With conventional ALC load control methodologies and systems, the wind turbine generator is being under-utilized.
Accordingly, an improved system and method for load control of a wind turbine that utilizes the inherent increased capacity of the various wind turbine components to increase overall performance and output over the life of the wind turbine would be desired in the art.

System and method for real-time load control of a wind turbine


A three chambered hose cleaning and drying head which attaches to the back of a cleaning vehicle. The cleaning head allows hoses to pass through each of the three respective chambers. As a hose passes through the first of these chambers it is sprayed with an encircling high pressure stream of the cleaning fluid which effectively removes all dirt and debris from its surface. This chamber subsequently vacuums away the dirt debris and much of the excess cleaning fluid. The other two chambers are vacuum chambers which remove the fluid from the hose and transfer it back to the cleaning system in order to dry the clean hose. This system can easily be used each time the hose is loaded on the truck or any time as desired. Therefore, the hose stays clean and dry regardless of the condition in which the cleaner is being used.

The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for cleaning and drying hoses and more specifically to an apparatus for use on truck mounted carpet cleaners for cleaning and drying the hoses.
In the United States today, the majority of businesses, offices, homes and apartments employ carpeting as the main floor covering. Most business owners and homeowners have neither the time, nor the equipment to clean their carpets on their own, thus, commercial carpet cleaning businesses have been established to provide such a service. While some smaller carpets can be removed from the dwelling for the purpose of cleaning, many have been permanently installed, making removal for cleaning impossible. Thus, it is necessary for the cleaning equipment to be brought into the house.
The cleaning process is generally accomplished by use of a high power truck mounted carpet cleaning system. Typically, a van is used to house and transport the cleaning equipment. A long hose carrying cleaning solution and heated water under pressure runs from the vehicle to the area of the house which needs to be cleaned, allowing these solutions to be applied to the carpet. The dirty solution and water is then pulled out of the carpet and returned to a holding tank in the vehicle via a second vacuum hose.
While this system provides an effective, cost-efficient method of cleaning carpets, that cannot be removed from the dwelling, an inherent problem in this system is the fact that the hoses must travel from the vehicle outside the house to the area in the house where the carpet is located. The hoses must run along the ground inside and outside of the house and frequently become covered with dirt and other debris which is subsequently dragged into the area being cleaned, dirtying other carpets in the process. This process is amplified when the hoses become wet, making dirt cling more readily and occasionally covering the hose with mud.
From the above description it can be seen that it becomes important to provide an effective means for keeping the hoses on carpet cleaning systems clean and dry. Several hose or tube cleaning devices have been tried.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,861 (issued to Bokat) shows a tube-like apparatus encasing brushes through which a hose or cable is passed. Water is introduced such that it flows both in the same direction as the hose being pulled through the chamber (co-current flow) and in the opposite direction as the hose (countercurrent flow). In this manner, the water and brushes clean the hose, but this apparatus does not provide a method for drying the hose as it leaves the chamber. Additionally, while the water flows in two directions in order to clean the hoses, it is not pressurized and does not provide the maximum cleaning potential.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,415 (issued to Wallace) shows an apparatus through which cleaning hoses are passed as they are being wound onto a hose storage spool in the cleaning vehicle. Pressurized jets spray water onto the hoses, cleaning them, and waste water is drained into a waste pan and removed. However, this configuration, like the previously described patent, does not provide a method for drying the hoses completely, allowing for accumulation of dirt and mud on the hoses, especially if they are used again before they have a chance to dry.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,734,950 (issued to Schenke et al.) shows a cleaning apparatus employing an array of helically disposed brushes which clean the outer surfaces of hoses while cleaning solvent is circulated through the housing of the apparatus. A wiper ring, at the outlet of the housing through which the hoses pass, provides a means for removing moisture from the surface of the hose. While this apparatus provides a means for cleaning and drying hoses, it uses a cleaning solution rather than pressurized water, unnecessarily creating harmful fumes and environmentally unsafe waste. Additionally, the apparatus is large and bulky and does not lend itself to easy use in situations where portable cleaning equipment is used.
From the foregoing discussion, it can be seen that it would be highly desirable to provide an effective means for removing dirt and debris from carpet cleaning hoses especially the vacuum hose. Additionally, it would be highly desirable to provide a method for cleaning these hoses which also dries the hoses to prevent the clean hoses from attracting additional dirt and debris after the cleaning process. Further, it is desirable to provide a means which is portable and can be used in the cleaning vehicles which transport equipment to a variety of locations.


An acoustic driver assembly for use with any of a variety of cavitation chamber configurations, including spherical and cylindrical chambers as well as chambers that include at least one flat coupling surface, is provided. The acoustic driver assembly includes at least one transducer, a head mass and a tail mass. The end surface of the head mass is shaped so that only a ring of contact is made between the outer perimeter of the head mass of the driver assembly and the cavitation chamber to which the driver is attached. The area of the contact ring is controlled by shaping its surface.

Sonoluminescence is a well-known phenomena discovered in the 1930's in which light is generated when a liquid is cavitated. Although a variety of techniques for cavitating the liquid are known (e.g., spark discharge, laser pulse, flowing the liquid through a Venturi tube), one of the most common techniques is through the application of high intensity sound waves.
In essence, the cavitation process consists of three stages; bubble formation, growth and subsequent collapse. The bubble or bubbles cavitated during this process absorb the applied energy, for example sound energy, and then release the energy in the form of light emission during an extremely brief period of time. The intensity of the generated light depends on a variety of factors including the physical properties of the liquid (e.g., density, surface tension, vapor pressure, chemical structure, temperature, hydrostatic pressure, etc.) and the applied energy (e.g., sound wave amplitude, sound wave frequency, etc.).
Although it is generally recognized that during the collapse of a cavitating bubble extremely high temperature plasmas are developed, leading to the observed sonoluminescence effect, many aspects of the phenomena have not yet been characterized. As such, the phenomena is at the heart of a considerable amount of research as scientists attempt to not only completely characterize the phenomena (e.g., effects of pressure on the cavitating medium), but also its many applications (e.g., sonochemistry, chemical detoxification, ultrasonic cleaning, etc.).
Although acoustic drivers are commonly used to drive the cavitation process, there is little information about methods of coupling the acoustic energy to the cavitation chamber. For example, in an article entitled Ambient Pressure Effect on Single-Bubble Sonoluminescence by Dan et al. published in vol. 83, no. 9 of Physical Review Letters, the authors describe their study of the effects of ambient pressure on bubble dynamics and single bubble sonoluminescence. Although the authors describe their experimental apparatus in some detail, they only disclose that a piezoelectric transducer was used at the fundamental frequency of the chamber, not how the transducer couples its energy into the chamber.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,796 discloses a cavitation chamber that is generally cylindrical although the inventors note that other shapes, such as spherical, can also be used. As disclosed, the chamber is comprised of a refractory metal such as tungsten, titanium, molybdenum, rhenium or some alloy thereof and the cavitation medium is a liquid metal such as lithium or an alloy thereof. Surrounding the cavitation chamber is a housing which is purportedly used as a neutron and tritium shield. Projecting through both the outer housing and the cavitation chamber walls are a number of acoustic horns, each of the acoustic horns being coupled to a transducer which supplies the mechanical energy to the associated horn. The specification only discloses that the horns, through the use of flanges, are secured to the chamber/housing walls in such a way as to provide a seal and that the transducers are mounted to the outer ends of the horns.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,658,534 discloses a sonochemical apparatus consisting of a stainless steel tube about which ultrasonic transducers are affixed. The patent provides considerable detail as to the method of coupling the transducers to the tube. In particular, the patent discloses a transducer fixed to a cylindrical half-wavelength coupler by a stud, the coupler being clamped within a stainless steel collar welded to the outside of the sonochemical tube. The collars allow circulation of oil through the collar and an external heat exchanger. The abutting faces of the coupler and the transducer assembly are smooth and flat. The energy produced by the transducer passes through the coupler into the oil and then from the oil into the wall of the sonochemical tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,173 discloses a sonoluminescence system that uses a transparent spherical flask. The spherical flask is not described in detail, although the specification discloses that flasks of Pyrex®, Kontes®, and glass were used with sizes ranging from 10 milliliters to 5 liters. The drivers as well as a microphone piezoelectric were simply epoxied to the exterior surface of the chamber.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,858,104 discloses a shock wave chamber partially filled with a liquid. The remaining portion of the chamber is filled with gas which can be pressurized by a connected pressure source. Acoustic transducers are used to position an object within the chamber while another transducer delivers a compressional acoustic shock wave into the liquid. A flexible membrane separating the liquid from the gas reflects the compressional shock wave as a dilation wave focused on the location of the object about which a bubble is formed. The patent simply discloses that the transducers are mounted in the chamber walls without stating how the transducers are to be mounted.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,994,818 discloses a transducer assembly for use with tubular resonator cavity rather than a cavitation chamber. The assembly includes a piezoelectric transducer coupled to a cylindrical shaped transducer block. The transducer block is coupled via a central threaded bolt to a wave guide which, in turn, is coupled to the tubular resonator cavity. The transducer, transducer block, wave guide and resonator cavity are co-axial along a common central longitudinal axis. The outer surface of the end of the wave guide and the inner surface of the end of the resonator cavity are each threaded, thus allowing the wave guide to be threadably and rigidly coupled to the resonator cavity.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,361,747 discloses an acoustic cavitation reactor in which the reactor chamber is comprised of a flexible tube. The liquid to be treated circulates through the tube. Electroacoustic transducers are radially and uniformly distributed around the tube, each of the electroacoustic transducers having a prismatic bar shape. A film of lubricant is interposed between the transducer heads and the wall of the tube to help couple the acoustic energy into the tube.
PCT Application No. US00/32092 discloses several driver assembly configurations for use with a solid cavitation reactor. The disclosed reactor system is comprised of a solid spherical reactor with multiple integral extensions surrounded by a high pressure enclosure. Individual driver assemblies are coupled to each of the reactor's integral extensions, the coupling means sealed to the reactor's enclosure in order to maintain the high pressure characteristics of the enclosure.

Acoustic driver assembly with recessed head mass contact surface


The invention disclosed herein is directed to a fire retardant head-of-wall assembly configured to seal a linear head-of-wall construction joint or gap when exposed to a heat source such as a building fire. The inventive fire retardant head-of-wall assembly comprises a header track having an elongated intumescent strip affixed lengthwise on at least one of the outer sidewall surfaces of the header track. When exposed to a heat source such as a building fire, the intumescent strip is able to expand so as to at least partially fill the head-of-wall construction joint or gap; and in so doing, retard or prevent the spread of smoke and fire. The inventive fire retardant head-of-wall assembly has been certified as complaint with respect to Underwriters Laboratories, Inc.'s standards set forth in its Tests for Fire Resistance of Building Joint Systems—UL 2079.

Metal framing assemblies used to construct commercial and residential buildings are common in the building construction arts. These metal framing assemblies are generally constructed from a plurality of metal framing members including studs, joist, trusses, and other metal posts and beams formed from sheet metal and frequently fabricated to have the same general cross-sectional dimensions as standard wood members used for similar purposes. Metal framing members are typically constructed by roll-forming 12 to 24 gauge galvanized sheet steel. Although many cross-sectional shapes are available, the primary shapes used in building construction are C-shaped studs and U-shaped tracks.
In the building construction trade, a head-of-wall joint (also sometimes referred to as a top-of-wall joint) refers to the linear junction or interface existing between a top section of a framing/wallboard wall assembly and the ceiling (where the ceiling may be a next-level floor or corrugated pan roof deck, for example). Head-of-wall joints often present a serious challenge in terms of reducing or preventing the spread of smoke and fire during a building fire. In this regard and in common practice, a wall to ceiling connection of many newly constructed buildings consists essentially of an inverted U-shaped elongated steel channel (or track) configured to receive steel studs between the legs of the shaped channel. A wallboard is generally attached to at least one side of the studs. The studs and wallboard are in many instances spaced apart from the ceiling a short gap distance in order to allow for ceiling deflections caused by seismic activity or moving overhead loads. Channel and stud assemblies that allow for ceiling deflections are commonly referred to as dynamic head-of-wall systems. Exemplary steel stud wall constructions may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,854,096 and 4,805,364 both to Smolik, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,203 to Paquette. Exemplary dynamic head-of-wall systems having steel stud wall constructions may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,760 to Brady, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,748,705 to Orszulak et al.
In order to contain the spread of smoke and fire, a fire resistant material such as, for example, mineral wool is often times stuffed into the gaps between the ceiling and wallboard (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,788 to Herren). For example, mineral wool is often stuffed between a steel header track (e.g., an elongated U-shaped channel) and a corrugated steel roof deck (used in many types of steel and concrete building constructions); a fire resistant and generally elastomeric spray coating is then applied onto the exposed mineral wool to thereby form a fire resistant joint seal (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,240,905 to Stahl)). In certain situations where the ceiling to wallboard gap is relatively small, a fire resistant and elastomeric caulk is commonly applied so as to fill any small gaps. In still another approach and as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,471,805 and 5,755,066 both to Becker, a slidable noncombustible secondary wall member is fastened to an especially configured steel header track and immediately adjacent to the wallboard. In this configuration, the secondary wall member provides a fire barrier that is able to accommodate ceiling deflections. All of these approaches, however, are relatively labor intensive and thus expensive.
Intumescent materials have long been used to seal certain types of construction gaps such as, for example, conduit through-holes. In this regard, intumescent and fire barrier materials (often referred to as firestop materials or fire retardant materials) have been used to reduce or eliminate the passage of smoke and fire through openings between walls and floors and the openings caused by through-penetrations (i.e., an opening in a floor or wall which passes all the way through from one room to another) in buildings, such as the voids left by burning or melting cable insulation caused by a fire in a modern office building. Characteristics of fire barrier materials suitable for typical commercial fire protection use include flexibility prior to exposure to heat, the ability to insulate and/or expand, and the ability to harden in place upon exposure to fire (i.e., to char sufficiently to deter the passage of heat, smoke, flames, and/or gases). Although many such materials are available, the industry has long sought better and more effective uses of these materials and novel approaches for better fire protection, especially in the context of dynamic head-of-wall construction joints and gaps.
Thus, and although construction joints and gaps are generally sealed in some manner (e.g., mineral wool and/or elastomeric coatings; see also, U.S. Patent Application No. 2006/0137293 to Klein), there are relatively few products and methods available that effectively and efficiently seal head-of-wall construction joints and gaps (to thereby significantly enhance the ability of such joints and gaps to withstand smoke and fire penetration). In particular, there are very few products and methods available that address the needs for adequate fire protection and sealing of dynamic head-of-wall systems associated with steel stud wall constructions. Thus, there is still a need in the art for new and improved fireblock systems and fire retarding devices, including related wall assemblies and methods. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides for further related advantages.

Head-of-wall fireblock systems and related wall assemblies


An optical disk control device comprises a playback signal detection unit for detecting data recorded on a disk by irradiating the disk with a converged light beam; a signal switching unit for successively selecting plural data signals obtained by the playback signal detection unit, and performing time-division-multiplexing on the selected signals; an A/D conversion unit for converting an analog signal which has been time-division-multiplexed by the signal switching unit, into a digital signal; an A/D conversion command unit for generating an A/D conversion command of the A/D conversion unit; a serial transfer unit for serial-transferring the command signal generated by the A/D conversion command unit; a serial reception unit for receiving the signal from the serial transfer unit, and controlling the signal selection operation of the signal switching unit on the basis of the received signal; and an arithmetic unit for generating an optical disk drive controlling signal by performing arithmetic processing on the digital signal outputted from the A/D control unit. Therefore, the number of signal lines required for connection between the playback signal detection unit and the A/D conversion unit can be significantly reduced.

Conventionally, there is an optical disk drive which irradiates an optical disk rotating at a predetermined rpm with a light beam emitted from a light source such as a semiconductor laser or the like to reproduce a signal recorded on the optical disk. Hereinafter, an optical disk drive according to a first prior art will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.
In FIG. 8, a disk 100 is fixed to a rotation axis 102 of a motor 101, and rotates at a predetermined rpm.
The disk 100 has spiral tracks on which pits and projections are formed, and data are recorded on the tracks, i.e., the pits and projections. The track pitch is 0.74 micrometer (hereinafter referred to as "μm"), and the width of each pit and projection is about 0.6 μm.
A laser 109 as a light source, a coupling lens 108, a polarization beam splitter 110, a ¼ wavelength plate 107, a total reflection mirror 105, a photodetector 113, a detection lens 111, a cylindrical lens 112, and an actuator 104 are fixed onto a carrier 115 of an optical pickup, and the carrier 115 is driven by a motor 114 in the direction of the radius of the disk 100.
A laser driving circuit 175 drives the laser 109 according to a command from a DSP 140. The laser 109 is fixed onto the carrier 115. A light beam 106 emitted from the laser 109 is converted into a parallel light beam by the coupling lens 108, travels through the polarization beam splitter 110 and the ¼ wavelength plate 107, is reflected at the total reflection mirror 105, and is focused on an information surface of the disk 100 by a convergence lens 103.
The light beam reflected at the information surface of the disk 100 travels through the convergence lens 103, and is reflected at the total reflection mirror 105. The reflected light beam travels through the ¼ wavelength plate 107, the polarization beam splitter 110, the detection lens 111, and the cylindrical lens 112, and enters into the photodetector 113 comprising four photoreceptive parts.
The convergence lens 103 is fixed to a movable part of the actuator 104. The actuator 104 is composed of a focusing coil, a tracking coil, a focusing permanent magnet, and a tracking permanent magnet.
When a voltage is applied to the focusing coil (not shown) of the actuator 104 by using a power amplifier 152, a current flows in the coil, and the coil receives a magnetic power from the focusing permanent magnet (not shown), whereby the convergence lens 103 moves in the direction perpendicular to the information surface of the disk 100 (vertical direction in FIG. 8). The convergence lens 103 is controlled so that the focal point of the light beam 106 is always positioned (focused) on the information surface of the disk 100, on the basis of a focusing error signal indicating a deviation of the focal point of the light beam from the information surface of the disk.
Further, when a voltage is applied to the tracking coil (not shown) using a power amplifier 145, a current flows in the coil, and the coil receives a magnetic power from the tracking permanent magnet (not shown), whereby the convergence lens 103 moves in the direction of the radius of the disk 100, i.e., across the tracks on the disk 100 (horizontal direction in FIG. 8).
The photodetector 113 is composed of four photoreceptive elements. The reflected light beam from the disk is incident on the photodetector 113. In the photodetector 113, the incident light beam is converted into currents by the four photoreceptive elements, and the currents are sent to I/V converters 116, 117, 118, and 119. Each of the I/V converters 116, 117, 118, and 119 converts the inputted current into a voltage according to the current level.
Each of adders 120, 121, 123, 124, and 130 performs addition of input signals, and outputs the sum. Each of subtracters (hereinafter also referred to as differential circuits) 122 and 125 performs subtraction of input signals, and outputs the difference.
To be specific, the adder 124 adds the outputs of the I/V converters 116 and 117, the adder 123 adds the outputs of the I/V converters 118 and 119, the adder 120 adds the outputs of the I/V converters 116 and 119, the adder 121 adds the outputs of the I/V converters 117 and 118, and the adder 130 adds the outputs of the adders 124 and 123. The subtracter 125 subtracts the output of the adder 123 from the output of the adder 124. The subtracter 122 subtracts the output of the adder 121 from the output of the adder 120.
The output from the subtracter 122 is a focusing error signal which indicates a deviation of the focal point of the light beam applied to the disk, from the information surface of the disk 100. The focusing error signal is transferred to an analog-to-digital converter (hereinafter referred to as an A/D converter) 149, and processed through a phase compensation circuit 150, a digital-to-analog converter (hereinafter referred to as an D/A converter) 151, and a power amplifier 152, whereby a current flows in the focusing coil of the actuator 104.
The A/D converter 149 converts an analog signal into a digital signal. Further, the D/A converter 151 converts a digital signal into an analog signal.
The phase compensation circuit 150 is a digital filter, and performs phase compensation on the focusing servo system to stabilize the servo loop. In this way, the convergence lens 103 is driven according to the focusing error signal, and the focal point of the light beam is always positioned (focused) on the information surface of the disk.
The optical system shown in FIG. 8 constitutes a method of detecting a tracking error signal (hereinafter referred to as a TE signal), which is generally called a push-pull method. Accordingly, the output from the subtracter 125 becomes a TE signal which indicates a deviation of a spot of the light beam applied to the optical disk from a track on the disk 100. Hereinafter, the output from the subtracter 125 is referred to as a first TE signal. The first TE signal is transferred to a switch 155, and processed through an A/D converter 143, an adder 142, a phase compensation circuit 144, a D/A converter 170, and the power amplifier 145, whereby a current flows in the tracking coil of the actuator 104.
The phase compensation circuit 144 is a digital filter, and performs phase compensation on the tracking servo system to stabilize the servo loop. Accordingly, the convergence lens 103 is driven according to the first TE signal, whereby the spot of the light beam always follows the tracks.
Further, the TE signal is transferred to a power amplifier 129 through a low-pass filter 146, a D/A converter 147, and an adder 148. Since the carrier motor 114 is driven by the power amplifier 129, the carrier motor 114 is controlled according to the low-frequency component of the TE signal. That is, in the tracking servo system, tracking is carried out by the actuator 104 for a response of high frequency, and tracking is carried out by the carrier motor 114 for a response of low frequency.
Next, the adder 130 adds the outputs of the adders 123 and 124. That is, the output from the adder 130 is the total amount of light received by the photodetector 113. Hereinafter, the output signal from the adder 130 is referred to as a total reflected light amount signal. The output from the adder 130 is transferred to an address reproduction circuit 131. The address reproduction circuit 131 reproduces a sector address, and sends it to a digital signal processor (hereinafter referred to as a DSP) 140. Further, the address reproduction circuit 131 outputs a signal synchronized with the address to a gate generation circuit 132.
The gate generation circuit 132 outputs, to a switch 133, a gate signal which becomes high level in VFO1 and VFO2 areas of the address section. Hereinafter, signals in the VFO1 area and the VFO2 area are referred to as a VFO1 signal and a VFO2 signal, respectively. Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the gate generation circuit 132 generates a sampling signal for sampling and holding the VFO1 signal and the VFO2 signal which are extracted by the gate signal that becomes high in the VFO1 and VFO2 areas of the address section, respectively. The sampling signal generated in the gate generation circuit 132 is outputted toward a sample hold circuit (hereinafter referred to as an S/H circuit) 136 for sampling the VFO1 signal in the address section, and it is also outputted toward an S/H circuit 137 for sampling the VFO2 signal in the address section.
The switch 133, an HPF 172, a full wave rectifier 134, an LPF 135, S/H circuits 136 and 137, and a subtracter 138 constitute a circuit for detecting a second TE signal. The output from the subtracter 138 is the second TE signal.
The second TE signal is transferred through a switch 153, converted into a digital signal in an A/D converter 152, and transferred to the adder 142.
Next, the operation of the DSP 140 when the tracking servo is operated will be described.
In the initial state, the DSP 140 closes the switch 155 while the switch 153 is open, thereby operating the tracking servo. Therefore, the convergence lens 104 is driven on the basis of the first TE signal.
The address reproduction circuit 131 reads an address at a position irradiated with a beam spot, on the basis of the output from the adder 130, i.e., the total reflected light amount signal, and sends an address signal to the DSP 140. The DSP 140 identifies a zone on the optical disk on the basis of the address. Then, the DSP 140 sends a command to a motor control circuit 171 so that the rpm of the disk 100 reaches an rpm according to the zone. When the rpm of the disk 100 reaches the predetermined rpm, the address reproduction circuit 131 sends a signal synchronized with the address, to the gate generation circuit 132.
The gate generation circuit 132 generates an address signal, a VFO1 signal, and a VFO2 signal, and outputs these signals as control signals to the switch 133, the sample hold circuit 136, and the sample hold circuit 137, whereby a second TE generation circuit 200 outputs a second TE signal from the output of the subtracter 138.
Next, the DSP 140 corrects the target position of the tracking servo system which is operating on the basis of the first TE signal. That is, in the adder 142, the second TE signal is added to the tracking servo system based on the first TE signal, thereby adding an offset to the tracking servo system. Since plural tracks are formed in a spiral on the disk, and the track pitch is 0.74 μm. A recording film comprising a phase changing material or the like is formed on the information surface of the disk. When recording data on the disk, the reflectivity of the recording film is changed by changing the intensity of the light beam according to the data while performing tracking servo so that the light beam is always focused on the track. When reproducing data from the disk, the reflected light beam from the optical disk is received by the photodetector while performing tracking servo so that the light beam is always focused on the track, and the output from the photodetector is processed to reproduce the data.
The amount of deviation of the light beam from the track, which is required for tracking servo, is also detected from the reflected light from the disk. Hereinafter, a description will be given of a tracking error detection method which is generally called a push-pull method.
The push-pull method is also called a far field method. In this method, a light beam which is reflected and diffracted at a guide groove on the disk is applied to two photoreceptive elements of a two-part photodetector, which are arranged symmetrically with respect to the center of track, and a difference of the outputs from the photoreceptive elements is taken out as a TE signal. As shown in FIG. 10(b), when the spot of the light beam is aligned with the center of the projection or pit of the groove, a symmetrical distribution of reflected and diffracted light is obtained. However, in other cases (FIGS. 10(a) and 10(c)), the light intensity becomes asymmetrical. FIG. 11 shows a difference in outputs from the two-part photodetector when the spot of the light beam travels across the tracks. The TE signal becomes 0 in the center of the pit or projection. Tracking servo is carried out as follows. The tracking actuator is driven through the phase compensation circuit and the driving circuit according to the TE signal, and the spot on the disk is driven in the direction perpendicular to the tracks to follow the target track.
Next, a description will be given of an optical disk drive according to a second prior art, with reference to FIG. 12.
Since the fundamental control operations such as focusing servo and tracking servo are identical to those described for the first prior art, repeated description is not necessary.
A digital control circuit for an optical disk drive is divided into an analog signal processing integrated circuit and a digital signal processing integrated circuit in many cases. Hereinafter, an integrated circuit is referred to as an IC.
In FIG. 12, IC1 denotes an analog signal processing IC, and IC3 denotes a digital signal processing IC.
The analog signal processing IC IC1 is supplied with signals, which are obtained by I/V converting the light beam reflected at the disk and incident on the photodetector 113, by the I/V converters 116, 117, 118, and 119.
Each of adders 120, 121, 123, 124, and 130 performs addition of input signals, and outputs the sum. Each of subtracters (differential circuits) 122, 125, and 126 performs subtraction of input signals, and outputs the difference.
The output from the subtracter 122 is outputted from the analog signal processing IC IC1 as a focusing error signal which indicates a deviation of the focal point of the light beam applied to the disk, from the information surface of the disk. Further, the output from the subtracter 125 is a first TE signal based on the push-pull method for making the spot on the disk follow the target track. The first TE signal based on the push-pull method is inputted to a switch 154, together with a TE signal based on the phase difference method, which is generated by a phase difference detection circuit 160. The switch 154 selects either the first TE signal based on the push-pull method or the TE signal based on the phase difference method, and outputs the selected signal as an output of the analog signal processing IC.
The total reflected light amount signal outputted from the adder 130 is supplied to a tilt detection circuit 161, a second TE generation circuit 162, and an RF amplitude detection circuit 163 in the analog signal processing IC IC1, and further, it bypasses the analog signal processing IC IC1 to be supplied to the digital signal processing IC IC3.
The tilt detection circuit 161 detects an angle formed between the disk and the light beam applied to the disk, and outputs the result of the detection to the digital signal processing IC IC3. The second TE signal generation circuit 162 corrects the target value of the first TE signal as described above, and outputs the result of the correction to the digital signal processing IC IC3. The RF amplitude detection circuit 163 detects the amplitude of a reproduced RF signal obtained from the total reflected light amount. The RF amplitude detection circuit 163 is used for detection as to whether a recording area on the disk has already been recorded or not, and detection of the RF signal amplitude. A switch 165 selects either the output from the RF amplitude detection circuit 163 or a wobble amplitude signal outputted from a wobble signal detection circuit 164, and outputs the selected signal to the digital signal processing IC IC3.
A wobble signal appears in the TE signal when the tracking servo follows a single track, because the tracks (pits and projections) formed on the disk wind at a high frequency. Since the wobble signal has a frequency ten times or more as high as the band frequency required for tracking servo, a broad-band subtracter is needed, and the subtracter 126 corresponds to the broad-band subtracter. In order to detect the amplitude of the wobble signal, the wobble signal which is included in the broad-band TE signal outputted from the subtracter 126 is inputted to the wobble signal detection circuit 164.
Further, the actuator (104 in FIG. 8) is provided with a position detector in the tracking direction. This position detector is used for suppressing a vibration of the actuator in the tracking direction when only the carrier is moved with the tracking servo being turned off, during search for the target track. A signal outputted from the position detector is amplified in a position detection circuit 166 and, further, it is differentiated in the position detection circuit 166. A switch 167 selects either the amplified signal or the differentiated signal, and outputs the selected signal to the digital signal processing IC IC3.
On the other hand, in the digital signal processing IC IC3, all of the output signals from the analog signal processing IC IC1 are inputted to a switch 168. The switch 168 successively selects the output signals according to A/D conversion commands from the DSP 140, and the selected signals are converted into digital signals by an A/D converter 169. The respective signals captured as digital signals are subjected to processing such as phase compensation by the DSP 140, and converted into analog signals by D/A converters 151, 170, and 147. These analog signals drive the actuator or the like through a power amplifier (not shown).
By the way, optical disk drives in recent years are constructed such that a single drive can deal with plural kinds of disks. For example, a DVD-RAM/ROM disk recording/playback device is adaptable to DVD-R recording, a DVD-ROM disk playback device is adaptable to CD-R/RW recording, and so on. In this case, an IC adapted to a disk to be newly handled is added to an IC adapted to a fundamental disk.
Hereinafter, an optical disk drive according to a third prior art, which is adaptable to plural kinds of disks, will be described with reference to FIG. 13.
Since the fundamental servo operations such as focusing servo and tracking servo are identical to those described for the first prior art, repeated description is not necessary.
In FIG. 13, IC1 is an analog signal processing IC adaptable to a fundamental disk such as a DVD-RAM/ROM or the like, IC2 is an analog signal processing IC which is added to deal with a new disk such as a DVD-R or the like, and IC3 is a digital signal processing IC adaptable to both of the fundamental disk and the new disk.
In this third prior art, as in the second prior art, the reflected signal from the disk, which is supplied from the photoreceptive element, is processed by a processing circuit 180, whereby various kinds of signals are outputted. Likewise, the reflected signal is supplied from a photoreceptive element which is provided for the new disk, and processed by a processing circuit 181, whereby various kinds of signals are outputted. The digital signal processing IC IC2 selects, by a switch 156, either the signals outputted from the analog signal processing IC IC1 or the signals outputted from the analog signal processing IC IC2 by using the switch 156, thereby deciding, for each disk to deal with, that the disk should be controlling by the outputs from the analog signal processing IC IC1 or the outputs from the analog signal processing IC IC2.
As described above, when a single optical disk drive is adapted to plural kinds of disks, the circuit components are increased, and the number of signal lines connecting the respective ICs is increased, whereby the number of pins of each IC is increased, resulting in disadvantages in cost and reliability.
As described above, since the recent optical disk drive is required to deal with plural kinds of disks, the circuit components are increased, and usually, an IC adapted to an additional disk is added to a fundamental IC structure. Accordingly, the number of connection lines tends to increase over the existing connection lines, and the above-mentioned problems are not fundamentally resolved unless the individual ICs corresponding to the respective disks are integrated into one.
Furthermore, when an additional IC structure is added to the fundamental IC structure, the number of connection lines between the ICs is increased, whereby the number of pins of each IC is increased, resulting in disadvantages in cost and reliability.

Optical disk control device for time-division-multiplexing and A/D conversion

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.