A large “hit range in offense” is applied to a player character 41 on an offense side, and a small “hit range in defense” is applied to player characters 42 and 43 on a defense side. When a ball is free, a “normal hit range” is applied to each player character. As mentioned above, the three hit ranges having different sizes are provided and the applied hit ranges are switched depending on situations. Thus, as compared with a case in which the size of the hit range is constant, pass of the ball is easily successful. Therefore, a beginner, who is strange to a video game machine, can easily pass the ball when the player character in an opponent team steals the ball, and organized offense can be easily performed.

Many people enjoy sport video games for simulating various ball sports in home video game machines and arcade video game machines. Sport video games for simulating soccer and futsal which is like a small-scaled soccer, become popular. A variety of arcade video game machines, home video game machines, and home video game software, for enjoying the soccer or futsal video games, are widespread to markets. In accordance with the improvement in performance of video game machines, realities of expressions and motions of a player character displayed on a screen are exceedingly improved.
Further, in recent years, two similar video game machines are connected via a communication line (a cable line or a radio line) and a plurality of gamers are separated into two teams. For example, the gamers who play the video game on one video game machine belong to one team, the gamers who play the video game on the other video game machine belong to the other team, and the two teams can meet in a video game. Differently from video game machines in which plays a match against only a CPU, in the above-mentioned video game machines, a plurality of gamers are separated into two teams and the gamers in one team play a match against the gamers in the other team. Consequently, in the above-mentioned latter video game machines, the gamers can enjoy the video game in a manner different from that of the former video game machines.
The video game of the ball sport for playing a match between two teams, such as futsal or soccer is most excited because, primarily, when a player character in one team steals a ball from a player character in the other team, organized play can be enjoyed, for example, pass of the ball is successful or shoot of the passed ball is successful. However, the ball sport has a trend in that the player characters in the one team gather around the player character in the other team, which keeps the ball. Therefore, if the player character in the other team, which keeps the ball, tries to pass the ball to the player character in the same team, the pass of the ball is hardly successful and organized offense is difficult in some cases. In particular, in the case of a beginner, in the one team, who is strange to the operation of the video game machine, if he tries to pass the ball, the ball is promptly stolen by the player character in the other team and the ball moves back and forth between the two teams. Thus, the original enjoyment of the ball sport cannot be enjoyed in many cases.
When the gamer fails to operate the ball and the player character fails to catch the passed ball, the player character goes for the ball in a field by the gamer operation. In this case, when the gamer is strange to the operation of the player character, it takes unnecessary time to go for the ball. For this case, the player cannot enjoy the game though during the game, and this time substantially corresponds to a loss time of the game. Also, when the ball which is not successfully passed by the player character is out of the field, time for restarting the game through a set play such as kick-in or throw-in substantially corresponds to a loss time of the game.
The above time becomes unnecessary time in the case of a game which is played for limited time. Preferably, a ratio of the loss time is reduced in the overall play time of the game.
The present invention is devised based on the above-described background of the art. In other words, it is a first object of the present invention to provide a sport video game machine for simulating a ball sport, in which a gamer can easily execute an organized play and the unnecessary time during the game is reduced as much as possible so that the game can be further enjoyed.
Moreover, the futsal and soccer include plays such as sliding tackle by which a player in one team forcedly steals a ball from a player, in the other team, which keeps the ball. If this play is successful, there is a chance to change the game situation after the time point. To make the play successful, a high-level technique is required to execute the play at the best timing while the guard of the other team is attacked by the one team. Thus, it is difficult that the above play is virtually realized on the video game machine and the gamer can enjoy the feeling (reality) similar to the play in an actual play.
The present invention is devised based on the above-described background of the art. In other words, it is a second object of the present invention to enable a gamer to sufficiently enjoy the reality when a player character in one team forcedly steals a ball from a player character in the other team, which keeps the ball, in the case of the sliding tackle in futsal and so on.

Sport video game machine and play control method of sport video game


The present invention is directed to a zoom lens used for image pick-up optical system of digital still camera, or video camera, and is composed, in order from the object side, of a first group GR1 including a reflection member for bending or folding the optical axis and having negative refractive power, a second group GR2 having negative refractive power, a third group GR3 having positive refractive power, and a fourth group GR4 having positive refractive power, wherein a light quantity adjustment member ST1 for adjusting light quantity is fixed during zooming operation.

In recent years, image pick-up apparatuses using solid-state image pick-up device such as digital still camera, etc. are being popularized. With popularization of such digital still camera, realization of higher picture quality is required. Particularly, in digital still camera having a large number of pixels, etc., photographing (imaging) lenses excellent in image formation performance, particularly zoom lenses, which comply with solid-state image pick-up device having a large number of pixels are required. Further, there also exists demands for miniaturization, and particularly zoom lenses in which realization of thin structure in the camera depth direction is attained are required.
For example, as a zoom lens which is compact and is excellent in image formation performance, there conventionally exists a three group zoom lens consisting of a negative first lens group, a positive second lens group and a positive third lens group in order from the object side as described in the Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2002-350726 publication. In the optical system disclosed in this publication, length of the optical system lens total thickness is limit as thickness in the camera depth direction at the time of sinking barrel so that it cannot be said that miniaturization in the camera depth direction is sufficient.
On the other hand, there is known a zoom lens in which prism is inserted between lenses to thereby bend or fold the optical system so that miniaturization in the optical axis direction has been further promoted. For example, as described in the Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 1996-248318 publication, the optical axis is bent or folded by using prism within four group zoom lens optical system consisting of a positive first lens group, a negative second lens group, a positive third lens group and a positive fourth lens group in order from the object side to thereby realize miniaturization in the optical axis direction. In the optical system described in this publication, front (optical) gem (front lens element) and reflection member are large so that miniaturization is not sufficient.

Zoom lens and imaging device using zoom lens


A semiconductor device includes a lateral double diffused metal oxide semiconductor (LDMOS) , a junction field effect transistor (JFET) and an inner circuit. The lateral double diffused metal oxide semiconductor includes a first source, a common drain and a first gate. The junction field effect transistor includes a second source, the common drain and a second gate. The second source is electrically connected to the first gate. The inner circuit is electrically connected to the first source.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device of lateral double diffused metal oxide semiconductor (LDMOS) and a method for operating the same. In particular, the present invention relates to a semiconductor device of lateral double diffused metal oxide semiconductor (LDMOS) integrated with a junction field effect transistor (JFET) and a method for operating the same. Such semiconductor device may selectively turn on and turn off in accordance with a predetermined design.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the coming of the mobile communication era, all kinds of wireless communication devices, such as mobile phones, global positioning systems (GPS), or cell phone base stations, are growing rapidly in recent years, A high voltage device such as the lateral double diffused metal oxide semiconductor (LDMOS) are often designed to be the control circuit of the radio frequency (900 MHz-2.4 GHz) because it not only has high operating bandwidth but also has higher break down voltage and higher output power due to element design and manufacturing process, so it is widely used in the power amplifier of all kinds of wireless communicating systems.
FIG. 1 illustrates a cross section view of a conventional lateral double diffused metal oxide semiconductor. The lateral double diffused metal oxide semiconductor 110 has a gate 111, a source 112, and a drain 113. When the threshold voltage of the lateral double diffused metal oxide semiconductor needs adjusting, another reticle is needed and an ion implantation should be carried out to implant different dopant. It is well known that either amending an old reticle or constructing a new reticle all cost a lot of money. Accordingly, this additional reticle is a heavy cost burden to the manufacturer of the lateral double diffused metal oxide semiconductor.
Second, because the lateral double diffused metal oxide semiconductor is a semiconductor device of depletion mode, the concentration of the dopant in the substrate need controlling to adjust the threshold voltage of the lateral double diffused metal oxide semiconductor. That is, the concentration of the dopant in the region 1 needs adjusting to adjust the threshold voltage of the lateral double diffused metal oxide semiconductor 110. However, if the threshold voltage should be higher, the concentration of the dopant should be higher, too. Obviously, the higher the concentration of the dopant, the lower the electrical resistance of the substrate so the region 1 is always conductive.
Since the region 1 is always conductive, it leaves the lateral double diffused metal oxide semiconductor always on (a turn-on state), too and makes the lateral double diffused metal oxide semiconductor hard turn off. Therefore, the dilemma is to have a higher threshold voltage and to turn off the lateral double diffused metal oxide semiconductor easily at the same time. Accordingly, a novel lateral double diffused metal oxide semiconductor is needed. On one hand, there is no need of additional reticle or of increase of dopant concentration to adjust the threshold voltage. On the other hand, the lateral double diffused metal oxide semiconductor may selectively turn on and turn off to be an easily-controlled semiconductor device.

Semiconductor device and method for operating the same


The optical switch comprises a substrate, a planar waveguide circuit, an index-matching liquid, a working fluid and a displacing device. The planar waveguide circuit is supported by the substrate. The planar waveguide circuit and the substrate collectively define a trench that includes a first trench region and a second trench region adjacent the first trench region. The second trench region has a width greater than the first trench region. The planar waveguide circuit includes a first waveguide and a second waveguide. The waveguides intersect at the first trench region and are positioned such that light traversing the first waveguide enters the second waveguide when an index-matching material is present in the first trench region, and is otherwise reflected by said the first trench region. The index-matching liquid is located in at least part of the first trench region. The working fluid is located in the second trench region. The displacing device is coupled to the second trench region, and is for displacing part of the working fluid into the first trench region to interpose the index-matching liquid between the waveguides.

The invention relates to optical switches, and more particularly, to an improved cross-point switching element.
Optical fibers provide significantly higher data rates than electronic paths. However, effective utilization of the greater bandwidth inherent in optical signal paths requires optical cross-connect switches. In a typical telecommunications environment, signals are switched between optical fibers using an electrical cross-connect switch. The optical signals are first converted to electrical signals. After the electrical signals have been switched, the signals are again converted back to optical signals that are transmitted via the optical fibers. To achieve high throughput, the electrical cross-connect switches utilize highly parallel, and highly costly, switching arrangements. However, even with such parallel architectures, the cross-connect switches remain a bottleneck.
A number of optical cross-connect switches have been proposed; however, none of these has successfully filled the need for an inexpensive, reliable, optical cross-connect switch. One class of optical cross-connect switches depends on wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) to perform the switching. However, this type of system requires the optical signals being switched to have different wavelengths. In systems where the light signals are all at the same wavelength, this type of system requires the signals to be converted to the desired wavelength, switched, and then be re-converted to the original wavelength. This conversion process complicates the system and increases the cost.
A second type of optical cross-connect switch utilizes total internal reflection (TIR) switching elements. A TIR element consists of a waveguide with a switchable boundary. Light strikes the boundary at an angle. In the first state, the boundary separates two regions having substantially different indices of refraction. In this state the light is reflected off of the boundary and thus changes direction. In the second state, the two regions separated by the boundary have the same index of refraction and the light continues in a straight line through the boundary. The magnitude of the change of direction depends on the difference in the index of refraction of the two regions. To obtain a large change in direction, the region behind the boundary must be switchable between an index of refraction equal to that of the waveguide and an index of refraction that differs markedly from that of the waveguide.
One class of prior art TIR elements that provide a large change in index of refraction operates by mechanically changing the material behind the boundary. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,204,921, Kanai et al. describes an optical cross-connect based on an array of crosspoints in a waveguide. A groove at each crosspoint, may be switched xe2x80x9conxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9coff,xe2x80x9d depending upon whether the groove is filled with an index-matching oil. The index-matching oil has a refractive index close to that of the waveguides. An optical signal transmitted through a waveguide is transmitted through the crosspoint when the groove is filled with the matching oil, but the signal changes its direction at the crosspoint through total internal reflection when the groove is empty. To change the cross-point switching arrangement, grooves must be filled or emptied. In the system taught in this patent, a xe2x80x9crobotxe2x80x9d fills and empties the grooves. This type of switch is too slow for many applications of interest.
A faster version of this type of TIR element is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,462, which is hereby incorporated by reference. The TIR element disclosed in this patent utilizes thermal activation to displace liquid from a gap at the intersection of a first optical waveguide and a second optical waveguide. In this type of TIR element, a trench is cut through a waveguide. The trench is filled with an index-matching liquid. A bubble is generated at the cross-point by heating the index-matching liquid with a localized heater. The bubble must be removed from the cross-point to switch the cross-point from the reflecting to the transmitting state and thus change the direction of the output optical signal.
If the bubble contains noncondensable gases, such as air, it takes too long (minutes) to collapse when the heater is turned off. This is not acceptable for applications that require a fast cycle time. Such a gas bubble can be removed from the cross-point by applying a force to the bubble to move it to one side. However, moving the entire bubble is slow and requires substantial power. In addition, creating a new bubble to replace the bubble removed from the cross-point consumes additional power.
What is needed, therefore, is an optical cross-point switch that can be switched rapidly and with less power than prior art cross-point switches.
The invention provides an optical switch that comprises a substrate, a planar waveguide circuit, an index-matching liquid, a working fluid and a displacing device. The planar waveguide circuit is supported by the substrate. The planar waveguide circuit and the substrate collectively define a trench that includes a first trench region and a second trench region adjacent the first trench region. The second trench region has a width greater than the first trench region. The planar waveguide circuit includes a first waveguide and a second waveguide. The waveguides intersect at the first trench region and are positioned such that light traversing the first waveguide enters the second waveguide when an index-matching material is present in the first trench region, and is otherwise reflected by said the first trench region. The index-matching liquid is located in at least part of the first trench region. The working fluid is located in the second trench region. The displacing device is coupled to the second trench region, and is for displacing part of the working fluid into the first trench region to interpose the index-matching liquid between the waveguides.
The index-matching liquid may additionally be located in the second trench region and may additionally serve as the working fluid.
The planar waveguide circuit may additionally include a third waveguide having an end terminating at the trench and positioned such that light traversing the first waveguide enters the third waveguide when no index-matching medium is present in the first trench region.
The trench may additionally include a third trench region adjacent the first trench region and remote from the second trench region. The third trench region has a width greater than the first trench region. The working fluid is additionally located in the third trench region. The working fluid and the index-matching liquid partially fill the first trench region so that a bubble of a low refractive index material additionally exists in the trench region. The displacing device is additionally coupled to the third trench region. The displacing device is for displacing part of the working fluid from the second trench region to interpose the index-matching liquid between the waveguides and is additionally for displacing part of said working fluid from the third trench region to interpose the bubble between the waveguides.
The index-matching liquid may additionally be located in the second trench region and the third trench region and may additionally serve as the working fluid.
The optical switch may additionally comprise constrictions disposed along the length of the first trench region at locations corresponding to the location of a surface of the bubble when the index-matching liquid is interposed between the waveguides and when the bubble is interposed between the waveguides.
The optical switch may additionally comprise a balance channel interconnecting the second trench region and the third trench region and having a substantially greater hydraulic resistance than the first trench region.

Total internal reflection optical switch


A metallic hollow polygonal column having a smooth outer surface is immersed into a molten slag and immediately pulled up. The contact plane of the slag adhered on the outer surface of the hollow polygonal column is used as the analytical plane. The method of the hollow column has a thickness of 3 mm or greater.

The present invention relates to a method for preparing an analytical sample of the slag which generate in the refining process of metals and to an apparatus for preparing the same. In particular, the present invention relates to a method for preparing a slag sample from slags that are generated in the refining process of steel, which is subjected to an on-line rapid analysis using fluorescent X-ray spectroscopy, and to a sampler for use in the same.
In the case of refining a metal such as in the smelting process of steel, it is important to control the. composition of the slag so that a metal having the targeted composition can be obtained. Accordingly, it is preferred to properly control the refining process based on the results obtained by performing slag analysis during the smelting process. Furthermore, in a process of effectively reusing the ash resulting from a combustion furnace for disposing wastes, it is also desired .to control the slag composition.
For the slag analysis, generally used method is glass bead fluorescent X-ray analysis, because this method enables the analysis of a plurality of elements simultaneously and at a high precision. More specifically, this method comprises preparing a homogeneous glass-like sample by crushing the slag and fusing the size-reduced slag using a flux, for instance, sodium borate, at an amount about 10 times as large as that of the slag, and then subjecting the sample to fluorescent X-ray analysis. This method is characterized in that it is less influenced by the coexisting elements and that, a high analytical precision is achievable; however, this method suffers disadvantages as such that the sample preparation requires operations such as crushing, weighing, and fusing, and that the total analytical procedure generally requires a time duration of 30 minutes or longer.
In the light of such circumstances, the briquette method is sometimes employed as a simplified analytical method. As compared with the glass bead method, the time necessary for carrying out this method can be shortened because the operations of weighing and fusing can be eliminated; still, however, the method still consumes for at least 25 to 30 minutes because the vessel for use in crushing requires pre-washing using the crushed sample. Furthermore, even if the aforementioned glass bead method or the briquette method should be assembled as an automated system, it is still difficult to shorten the analytical time to 20 minutes or shorter, and hence, at present, the analytical results obtained on the slag cannot be immediately reflected to the refining operation.
As a means for overcoming the problems above, in JP-A-Hei9-166589 (the term xe2x80x9cJP-Axe2x80x9d as referred herein signifies xe2x80x9can unexamined published Japanese patent applicationxe2x80x9d) is disclosed a method comprising directly subjecting the sampled slag to fluorescent X-ray analysis. This method comprises inserting a sampler having a large flat surface into the molten slag layer to thereby allow the slag to adhere on the flat surface, pulling up the sampler from the slag layer, stripping off the solidified slag, and subjecting the plane of the slag which was not brought into contact with the sampler to the fluorescent X-ray analysis.
However, in the method above, it is found that the contact plane of the slag with the sampler undergoes cooling at a different cooling rate as compared with that of the plane which was not brought into contact with the sampler. Thus, segregation in composition of the slag occurs within the non-contact plane, i.e., the plane that was cooled at a rate slower than that in the contact plane. Accordingly, in the aforementioned methods, the analytical plane, which was the last to be solidified, exhibits a greatly differed composition as compared with the average composition of the slag, and hence fails to give the accurate average slag composition. Furthermore, in a refining process of steel, for instance, it is not always possible to obtain a flat analytical plane, because the viscosity of the slag fluctuates depending on the type of the steel or on the operational stage. This also is an advantageous which leads to an inferior analytical precision.
On the other hand, in JP-A-Hei10-170411 is disclosed a technique comprising inserting a columnar sample 20 mm or longer in side and having at least one flat plane 10 mm or larger in diameter into a slag layer, rapidly pulling up the sampler, stripping off the solidified slag, and subjecting the plane there of in contact with the sampler to fluorescent X-ray analysis.
In a practical refining process, however, it is not possible to surely sample a vigorously fluctuating slag by using the sampler above having such small sides each about 20 mm in length. Accordingly, in a practical process, a sampler increased in size is used, for instance, a sampler at least 50 mm in length, 50 mm in width, and 500 mm in height, is employed. In this case, the sampler becomes as heavy as to weight 10 kg or more; that is, the sampling operation by hand is no longer a simple method. That is, the operatability and practical advantages in the operation site become greatly impaired.
In the light of the circumstances above, an object of the present invention is to overcome the problems of the conventional technology, and to provide a method of sample preparation for use in the smelting process of fused metal such as steel, which enables a rapid and accurate analysis of slag, and which is capable of providing on-line instructions during the refining operation based on the analyzed results. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a sampler which can be easily handled for use in the method.
According to the present invention, there is provided a method of preparing a slag sample for use in fluorescent X-ray analysis, which comprises immersing a metallic hollow polygonal column having smooth outer surface into a molten slag and immediately pulling it up, and then using the contact plane of the slag adhered on the outer surface of the hollow polygonal column as the analytical plane. In the method of preparing the slag sample for use in fluorescent X-ray analysis above, it is preferred to use a slag sampler for fluorescent X-ray analysis below as the hollow polygonal column.
More specifically, the present invention provides as the sampler for use in the fluorescent X-ray analysis, a hollow polygonal column comprising a smooth outer surface, provided that the member constituting the hollow polygonal column is a metal having a thickness of 3 mm or greater.
In the sampler for fluorescent X-ray analysis above, the outer surface of said hollow polygonal column is preferably coated with a releasing agent, and said hollow polygonal column is preferably a hollow tetragonal column.
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross section showing an example of a slag sampling apparatus according to the present invention.

Method of preparing slag sample for X-ray fluorescence analysis and sampler for use in the same


An apparatus for controlling generation of power to be generated by a generator driven by an engine mounted on a vehicle equipped with an electrical load operative on the power from the generator, the generator including a field winding to which current is supplied on the power, and a duty cycle of the current being increased to maintain the power of the generator, the apparatus comprising duty cycle limit means for limiting an increasing rate of the duty cycle in response to an increase in an amount of the load when the engine is in an idle state; rotation frequency detecting means for detecting the rotation frequency of the engine; and limit value deciding means for deciding a limit value for the increasing rate of the duty cycle to a greater value than a limit value corresponding to the idle state, when the rotation frequency detecting means detects a decrease in the rotation frequency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for controlling power generation for a vehicle mounted on an automobile, truck, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
A power generation controller for a vehicle detects the voltage at a control terminal (i.e., an output terminal or the positive terminal of a battery) and compares the detected voltage with a reference value. When the voltage at the control terminal is higher than the reference value, the power generation controller turns OFF a transistor that controls the ON/OFF state of the field current. On the other hand, when the voltage is lower than the reference value, the power generation controller turns the transistor ON. As a result, the power generation controller controls the duty cycle of the field winding and controls the voltage at the control terminal to maintain the voltage at a constant value.
When an electrical load is electrically connected, electric current of an amount corresponding to the connected electrical load is drawn from the battery. The amount by which the voltage drops as a result of the electric current being drawn is mitigated such that the voltage at the control terminal is maintained by increasing the duty cycle of the field winding and increasing the amount of generated power. The control is performed instantly. Therefore, the voltage drop at the control terminal is minimal, and the voltage is maintained at an almost constant value. However, at this time, the power generation torque (driving torque) increases because the field current of the power generator suddenly increases. As a result, engine rotation frequency decreases. Particularly in an idling rotation range, the engine may stall as a result of the decrease in the engine rotation frequency. To prevent the engine from stalling, a following method is known as a conventional technology, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 05-300669. In this method, the rate at which the duty cycle of the field winding increases is restricted when the field current increases, thereby suppressing a sudden increase in the power generation torque of the power generator. This method suppresses power generation by the power generator. Therefore, torque variations can be suppressed. However, while this function is performed, the amount of generated power becomes insufficient and output voltage from the power generator drops.
When the rotation frequency decreases while the output current from the power generator is constant, the field current is increased to maintain output current. Whether the rate at which the field current increases is suppressed when the rotation frequency decreases, as shown in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 05-300669, is decided by whether the amount of increasing the field current to be required is greater than a limit value of the rate at which the field current increases. In other words, when the degree of decrease in the rotation frequency is large, the amount of increase in the field current required to offset the decrease in the rotation frequency becomes large. Under these circumstances, it is likely that the increase in field current will exceed the threshold. It is therefore likely that suppression of the rate of increase will be triggered.

Apparatus for controlling power generation for vehicle


A solar collector with external reflector. A solar collector includes a glass housing having a heat pipe disposed within the housing and a light reflector disposed external to the housing.

It was recognized more than 20 years ago, that combining selective absorbers, vacuum insulation and nonimaging concentration (using Compound Parabolic Concentrator, or "CPC", type optics as shown in FIG. 9A-9C) enabled stationary mid-temperature collectors to have a useful operating range approaching 300 degrees Celsius". Following the early proof-of-concept experiments, a commercial collector was developed in the last 5-years with good performance up to 250 degrees Celsius. These configurations integrated all the optics within the vacuum envelope. For this reason we refer to them as ICPC's (integrated CPC's). Their cost of manufacture is presently too high for widespread applications. On the other hand, the advent of very low-cost evacuated tubes allows us now to consider these as candidates for low-cost mid-temperature applications. One can combine various of these features to use such low-cost tubes (intended as stand-alone low-temperature collectors for providing domestic hot water) as receivers and now combined with external nonimaging reflectors. Since these glass tubes were originally intended for low-temperature (domestic hot water) use, their use at higher temperatures raised issues such as providing for efficient heat transfer to a working fluid, and assuring against thermal-induced tube breakage.
A solar collector which is efficient at temperatures in the 125 to 150 degree Celsius above ambient range would therefore be of great utility for many high-value applications. For example, operating temperatures for solar cooling in conjunction with double-effect chillers are in this range. At the same time the collector component would need to be low-cost, have minimal operation and maintenance cost and long life. The external reflector form of a CPC has the potential for satisfying these criteria. The vacuum receiver has intrinsically long-life, being protected from the environment. The impressive commercial development of vacuum solar collectors in China over the last decade and more demonstrates that these can be manufactured and sold at low-cost. To give an example; in the year 2000 the all-glass dewar type solar tube made in China was available at an OEM cost of $3 US. Since the volume of manufacturing has been rising, prices are not increasing. It is significant to observe that a wide-angle CPC reflector will "unwrap" the cylindrical solar tube to an aperture of approximately 0.2 square meters. Therefore the vacuum component contributes $15 per square meter to the cost. The heat extraction device which may be a manifold likely adds a similar amount. The nonimaging reflector can be estimated at $20 per square meter, which is dominated by the material cost for a high quality aluminum mirror. An installed cost of approximately $100 per square meter would be a reasonable goal. The availability of an efficient mid-temperature solar collector for $100 per square meter would have a broad vista of applications.

Solar collectors with evacuated receiver and nonimaging external reflectors


A rotary mower has a cutting blade and, spaced above it, a fan blade mounted to be rotated on the same axis of rotation as the cutting blade. It has at least one nozzle fixed with respect to the fan and cutting blades, and positioned to spray liquid in a direction substantially parallel to the planes of rotation of the cutting and fan blades, and between those planes of rotation. The nozzle is positioned behind a member with a slot in it, the nozzle projecting spray through the slot and being shielded by the member from damage.

Not Applicable.
The challenge of applying herbicide, fertilizers, insecticides or the like at the same time as grass, weeds, or crops are mowed with a rotary motor, such as a Bush Hog, has been addressed in numerous patents. One of the latest, U.S. Pat. No. 5,237,803, sets out the general background.
One of the difficulties with prior art devices has been the atomization of the liquid, which leads to dispersion of the fluid in the form of vapor.
One of the objects of this invention is to provide a mower-applicator in which the particle size of the liquid being applied is readily controlled as is the area of its application.
Other objects will become apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the following description and accompanying drawing.
In accordance with one embodiment of this invention, generally stated, in a mower and liquid applicator having a housing with a top wall and a depending side wall, a cutter blade mounted to be rotated on a vertical central axis to define a plane of rotation, a baffle wall extends from an under surface of the housing top wall, spaced inboard from the housing side wall and extending downwardly from the housing top wall to a place above the cutter blade and inboard of outer ends of the cutter blade. A fan blade is mounted to be rotated on an axis coincident with the axis of rotation of the cutter blade, spaced inboard of and within the compass of the baffle wall and spaced to define a plane of rotation above the plane of rotation of the cutter blade. At least one spray nozzle is fixed with respect to the housing and baffle and blades, and is positioned to project a spray of liquid between the planes of rotation of the cutter blade and the fan blade. The spray nozzle is operatively connected to a conduit between the nozzle and a source of liquid.
In another embodiment, spray nozzles in side mowers of a batwing type mower are positioned in boxes mounted above the top walls of the outboard mower housings, and project spray downwardly through slots in the top wall, the spray nozzles themselves being shielded by the top wall against damage from stones and the like hurled by the cutting blades. In the center mower of the batwing, spray nozzles are mounted in a bracket spaced outwardly from a heavy curtain plate welded along the leading edge of the mower housing, through which spray is projected by the nozzles in a direction generally parallel to the ground, the nozzles being shielded by the curtain plate.
In the drawings, FIG. 1 is a top plan view of one illustrative embodiment of mower applicator of this invention;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2xe2x80x942 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of a second embodiment of the device, with a source of liquid shown somewhat diagramatically;
FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4xe2x80x944 of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a second embodiment of mower-applicator of this invention;
FIG. 6 is a sectional view in side elevation, taken along the line 6xe2x80x946 of FIG. 5, showing a top wall of a mower housing with spray boxes mounted on it;
FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 7xe2x80x947 of FIG. 5;
FIG. 8 is a view in front elevation in the direction shown by the line 8xe2x80x948 in FIG. 5;
FIG. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 9xe2x80x949 of FIG. 5; and
FIG. 10 is a top plan view of this embodiment, with spray boxes removed, showing spray-admitting slots in the housing top wall.


An interactive, menu-driven interface to a cellular site information database is disclosed. The user may enter a form name such as channel, cell, trkgrp, trkmem, etc. into a form selection screen. The user may enter the operation desired to be performed on the form such as review, delete, insert, update, etc. to choose which form to view. After the user has entered the form name and the operation desired into the interface, the entered form is displayed to the user. A query, such as a SQL query, is issued to populate the fields of the form displayed on the interface with data from the database. The user may select one or more of the fields in the form and make revisions, addition, edits, etc. The user may then select the action command such as insert, review, update or delete. Commands, such as SQL commands, are generated to perform the action desired by the user on the database.

With the increasing popularity of cellular phone communications, managing the data associated with calls to and from cellular phones has become increasingly complex. For example, one type of data that is managed is cell face transfer data. Cellular phone systems typically include a cell face (or antenna) mounted on an antenna tower receiving calls from cell phones. A cell face receives calls within an associated geographic coverage area called a cell. An antenna tower can have multiple cell faces oriented at different angles to handle calls originating from multiple directions around the antenna tower. A process is employed in order to choose a cell face that handles the call from each cell phone. The process of selecting and switching among cell faces involves the use of data that designates available cell faces. A neighbor list in the database specifies the neighboring cell faces to which the current call may be handed off to. Before handing a call to a neighboring cell face, signal strengths from all the neighboring cell faces are measured and the cell face with the strongest signal strength is designated for hand-off. For example, as a mobile call moves away from one cell face, the neighbor list is accessed to select another cell face that is closer to the call so that the call can be handed off to the closer cell face.
The neighbor list data and numerous other types of data (such as cell data, channel data, trunk group and member data, device data, etc.) may be stored in a database of a cellular network, such as one manufactured by Ericsson. Sometimes, this data is stored in different forms in the database. Making changes to data in one of these forms may be complex. For example, typically an operating system in the cellular network is used to access a command handler application. The command handler application accepts line commands and performs updates and revisions to the database based on these line commands.
One problem with these line commands is that they are not intuitive to a user because a user must be familiar with specific line commands in order to enter the correct line commands and make the proper updates and revisions. Another problem is that there is no interactive interface to make the changes to the data. Instead, the user must enter line commands.

Interactive, menu-driven interface to database

BellSouth Intellectual Property Corporation


A monitoring system for detecting failures, or impending failures, in subsystems of a fly-by-wire primary flight control system of an aircraft. The system monitor a critical variable of at least two controllers acting in concert, in real time. Differences between the critical variables are calculated and, after filtering to remove insignificant variations, structural fatigue damage is estimated based on significant detected variations. Depending upon the relative severity of the estimated fatigue damage, the aircraft's primary flight control computer is programmed to shut down the malfunctioning subsystem, display a message indicating need for repair, or take other appropriate action.

The most typical flight control system used in current aircraft relies upon direct mechanical linkages between the pilot's control devices and aircraft flight control surfaces. Thus, when a pilot manipulates controls such as the rudder pedals, various levers, and the control column, mechanical linkages transmit movement of the controls to aircraft flight control surfaces, such as rudders, ailerons, flaperons, and elevators, to move these surfaces appropriately in response. This system provides several advantages. Not only is the system relatively simple with predictable failure modes and effects, but it provides direct control of the aircraft control surfaces. The system is also reliable, since aircraft manufacturers and operators have had long experience with mechanical flight control systems.
There has now been developed an aircraft flight control system that is not reliant on direct mechanical linkages but uses electronic controllers that receive and transmit electrical signals to control devices, such as hydraulic actuators, that in turn control the movement of aircraft flight control surfaces. This type of system, known as a "fly-by-wire" system, provides significant advantages over the direct mechanically linked flight systems. The use of highly reliable electronic signals generated in response to pilot manipulation of flight deck controls or autopilot commands, instead of mechanical linkages, provides the possibility of improved overall system reliability and performance. Also, the system is easier to maintain.
The fly-by-wire aircraft control system, however, imposes new system monitoring requirements. In general, when a mode of failure of a subsystem is predictable, then a monitor can be developed to sense and signal the failure of the subsystem, when it fails according to the predicted mode. There are, however, certain subsystems for which the failure modes are neither readily predictable nor are symptoms of failure easily detectable. Also, in certain circumstances, monitoring the effects of a failure on a flight control surface may require a very sensitive sensing device, which may lead to false warnings (i.e., an indication of failure when there is none) sometimes necessitating an unnecessary shutdown of the subsystem. For example, if an elevator were monitored by sensing motion of the elevator surface, then setting the sensor to detect only wide variations in movement may not permit detection of smaller movements that may nevertheless result from an actuator malfunction. On the other hand, if the sensor is set for high sensitivity to detect small movements, then the sensor may falsely report failure, when the small movements detected are not symptomatic of a failure, leading to unnecessary system shutdown. Such shutdowns are not only expensive, in terms of unnecessary aircraft downtime for repairs, but may also somewhat decrease flight safety margin by decreasing the redundancy of control systems of the aircraft.
There exists a need for a system for detecting failures in subsystems of fly-by-wire primary flight control systems, especially those subsystems that are not readily monitored because all their failure modes are not readily predictable and may not be easily detected by conventional monitors. Further, the monitoring system should desirably be readily integrated with existing equipment of the primary flight control system and the aircraft's primary flight control computer and should not be susceptible to a high frequency of false positive failure reports.

Monitoring systems for detecting failures in fly-by-wire aircraft flight control systems


An optical touch device includes an indication plane, two image sensing units and a processing unit. The two image sensing units are disposed at two corners of the indication plane diagonal to each other, respectively, and the two corners define a diagonal line connected therebetween. The processing unit is electrically connected to the two image sensing units. When two touch points are performed on the indication plane, the processing unit determines whether the two touch points are located at opposite sides of the diagonal line, respectively, according to images sensed by the two image sensing units. Once the two touch points are located at opposite sides of the diagonal line, respectively, the processing unit calculates and outputs coordinates of the two touch points immediately according to the images sensed by the two image sensing units.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an optical touch device and a touch sensing method and, more particularly, to an optical touch device having two image sensing units disposed at two corners of an indication plane diagonal to each other, respectively, and a touch sensing method adapted to the optical touch device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Since consumer electronic products have become more and more lighter, thinner, shorter, and smaller, there is no space on these products for containing a conventional input device, such as mouse, keyboard, etc. With development of touch technology, in various kinds of consumer electronic products (e.g. display device, all-in-one device, mobile phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), etc.), a touch device has become a main tool for data input. Compared with other touch designs, such as a resistive touch design, a capacitive touch design, an ultrasonic touch design, or a projective touch design, an optical touch design has lower cost and is easier to use, especially for large-size touch display.
A conventional optical touch device senses a touch point indicated by a touch object (e.g. finger or stylus) on an indication plane by two image sensing modules arranged separately using a light-shielding manner or a light-reflecting manner. When the image sensing modules sense the touch object, a processing unit of the optical touch device can calculate the touch point indicated by the touch object accordingly.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a light-reflecting type optical touch device 1 of the prior art, and FIG. 2 is a light-shielding type optical touch device 1′ of the prior art. As shown in FIG. 1, the optical touch device 1 comprises an indication plane 10, two image sensing units 12, a processing unit 14 and two light emitting units 16. The processing unit 14 is electrically connected to the two image sensing units 12. The two image sensing units 12 are disposed at two opposite corners of the same side of the indication plane 10. The two light emitting units 16 are disposed adjacent to the two image sensing units 12, respectively. As shown in FIG. 2, the main difference between the optical touch device 1′ and the aforesaid optical touch device 1 is that the optical touch device 1′ replaces the light emitting units 16 adjacent to the image sensing units 12 by a plurality of light emitting units 16 (e.g. light emitting frames) disposed around the indication plane 10.
When the optical touch device 1 or the optical touch device 1′ is used for sensing one single touch point performed by one single finger, the position of the touch point can be calculated by a triangulation method easily. However, once there are multiple touch points performed by two or more than two fingers, it is complicated for the processing unit 14 to identify and calculate positions of the touch points and this could result in mis-identification and interference. Ghost points are one problem for example. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, when two touch objects (e.g. two fingers) touches the indication plane 10 simultaneously, two touch points RP1, RP2 and two ghost points GP1, GP2 will be generated by images captured by the two image sensing units 12. At this time, the processing unit 14 will calculate coordinates of the two touch points RP1, RP2 and coordinates of the two ghost points GP1, GP2 according to the images sensed by the two image sensing units 12. Afterward, the processing unit 14 identifies the two touch points RP1, RP2 as real touch points by some characteristics and conditions and then outputs the coordinates of the two touch points RP1, RP2 after identification. The appearance of ghost points GP1, GP2 will increase complication and difficulty in identifying touch points and algorithm thereof so that the probability of mis-identification will increase in the optical touch device when sensing two or more than two touch points.

Optical touch device and touch sensing method


A headrest for a vehicle seat includes: a support surface for the head of an occupant; at least one lateral edge extending along an edge of the support surface; and a sound diffusion system arranged in a cavity in the edge and including a speaker configured to emit sound waves in front of the support surface and at least one passive radiator configured to emit low frequency sound waves in front of the support surface.

The vehicle is, in particular, a motor vehicle. However, the invention also applies to an air, rail, or sea vehicle.
In particular, the invention relates to the diffusion of sounds to an occupant of the seat, such as music, audible warnings or a telephone call. For this purpose, it is known to place a loudspeaker in the headrest of the seat in order to broadcast these sounds.
However, the structure of the headrests does not allow for a large cavity to provide good quality sound, especially due to the limited space available and design constraints.
In particular, the loudspeakers are not capable of properly diffusing sound in the low frequencies, especially below 200 Hz.
In order to allow this sound diffusion in the low frequencies, it is known to have a tube-shaped vent called a "Bass-Reflex" tube in the cavity that also receives the loudspeaker.
However, the sound produced is not entirely satisfactory, especially due to sound distortion.

Headrest for a vehicle seat and associated seat


A test and measurement system is disclosed that includes an input for receiving a digital bus conducting a plurality of digital values, a display, and a memory. The memory stores hit frequencies for the digital values, and stores data indicating the digital values. The test and measurement system also includes at least one processor coupled to the display and the memory. The processor causes the display to depict the digital values and hit frequencies of the digital values by depicting persistence of the digital values over time and by depicting decay of the digital values over time.

Test and measurement systems are designed to receive signals, sample the signals, and display the results. Certain test and measurement systems are equipped to depict signal changes over time. For example, a test and measurement system may measure a signal over many signal cycles and overlay sampled data on the display. A heat map may be used to depict the signal portions. A heat map is a graphical representation of data where individual values are depicted by color according to the value's occurrence frequency. For example, a heat map may employ a color, such as yellow, to indicate that a signal traverses a certain portion of the display repeatedly, while employing a different color, such as red, to indicate that the signal traverses a different portion of the display less frequently. A signal may change over time. Persist features may allow the test and measurement system to maintain signal values over time, while removing data when such data becomes stale. For example, a commonly occurring signal value may initially be depicted with a high occurrence frequency color. When the signal value occurs less often, the color may be changed to indicate a drop in occurrence frequency. When the signal value ceases to occur, the test and measurement system may cease to depict the value. By employing heat maps and persist systems, a user can determine how a signal changed over time. Heat maps and persist systems, while useful for depicting changing analog signals, are not amenable for displaying discrete and/or digital signals. Further, heat maps and persist systems may not be amenable for use in conjunction digital buses, such as parallel buses, conducting multiple values simultaneously.
Aspects of the invention address these and other issues.

Oscilloscope persistence for digital bus signals


A system is employed for defining a position (location) of a receiving element inside an area surrounded by a wire loop, along the perimeter (a perimeter wire loop), of a work area or other bounded area. In particular, the system can determine whether the receiver is inside or outside the loop, and evaluate its distance from the perimeter wire.

Autonomous machines and devices, such as autonomous robots, have been designed for performing various industrial and domestic functions. These domestic functions include lawn mowing, vacuum cleaning, floor sweeping and maintenance. By extending robots to these domestic functions, the person or user employing these robots has increased free or leisure time, as they do not have to expend the time required to perform the aforementioned tasks manually.
Many of these robots and autonomous machines, such as robotic lawnmowers, are designed to cut grass and other vegetation when they are within a bounded area. The bounded area may be formed by a wire or the like, typically placed underground or on the ground, or other marker, to confine the robot to the bounded area.

System and method for determining the location of a machine


The present invention provides systems and methods for selectively applying electrical energy to a target location within a patient's body, particularly including tissue in the spine. The present invention applies high frequency (RF) electrical energy to one or more electrode terminals in the presence of electrically conductive fluid to contract collagen fibers within the tissue structures. In one aspect of the invention, a system and method is provided for removing a vertebral disc in preparation for implanting a prosthetic disc or removing a portion of the vertebral disc such as the nucleus pulposus in preparation for placing a prosthetic nucleus within the annulus of the disc. The present invention also teaches shrinking residual tissue in preparation for placing the implants.

The present invention relates generally to the field of electrosurgery, and more particularly to surgical devices and methods which employ high frequency electrical energy to treat tissue in regions of the spine. The present invention is particularly suited for the removal and/or treatment of vertebral discs and/or portions of the vertebral disc such as the nucleus pulposus, the annulus fibrosis, or the vertebral endplates.
The major causes of persistent, often disabling, back pain are disruption of the disc annulus, chronic inflammation of the disc (e.g., herniation), or relative instability of the vertebral bodies surrounding a given disc, such as the instability that often occurs due to a degenerative disease. Spinal discs mainly function to cushion and tether the vertebrae, providing flexibility and stability to the patient's spine. Spinal discs comprise a central hydrostatic cushion, the nucleus pulposus, surrounded by a multi-layered ligament, the annulus fibrosis. As discs degenerate, they lose their water content and height, bring vertebrae closer together. This results in a weakening of the shock absorption properties of the disc and a narrowing of the nerve openings in the sides of the spine which may pinch nerves. This disc degeneration can eventually cause back and leg pain. Weakness in the annulus from degenerative discs or disc injury can allow fragments of nucleus pulposis from within the disc space to migrate into the spinal canal. There, displaced nucleus or protrusion of annulus fibrosis, e.g., herniation, may impinge on spinal nerves. The mere proximity of the nucleus pulposis or a damaged annulus to a nerve can cause direct pressure against the nerve, resulting in numbness and weakness of leg muscles.
Until recently, spinal discectomy and fusion procedures resulted in major operations and traumatic dissection of muscle and bone removal or bone fusion. To overcome the disadvantages of traditional traumatic spine surgery, minimally invasive spine surgery was developed. Minimal invasiveness can be characterized by limiting damage to healthy tissue while removing selected tissue, or can be decribed by minizing trauma during access to the targeted tissue. In endoscopic spinal procedures, the spinal canal is not violated and therefore epidural bleeding with ensuring scarring is minimized or completely avoided. In addition, the risk of instability from ligament and bone removal is generally lower in endoscopic procedures than with open discectomy. Further, more rapid rehabilitation facilitates faster recovery and return to work.
Minimally invasive techniques for the treatment of spinal diseases or disorders include chemonucleolysis, laser techniques and mechanical techniques. These procedures generally require the surgeon to form a passage or operating corridor from the external surface of the patient to the spinal disc(s) for passage of surgical instruments, implants and the like. Typically, the formation of this operating corridor requires the removal of soft tissue, muscle or other types of tissue depending on the procedure (i.e., laparascopic, thoracoscopic, arthroscopic, back, etc.). This tissue is usually removed with mechanical instruments, such as pituitary rongeurs, curettes, graspers, cutters, drills, microdebriders and the like. Unfortunately, these mechanical instruments greatly lengthen and increase the complexity of the procedure. In addition, these instruments sever blood vessels within this tissue, usually causing profuse bleeding that obstructs the surgeon's view of the target site.
Once the operating corridor is established, the nerve root is retracted and a portion or all of the disc is removed with mechanical instruments, such as a pituitary rongeur. In addition to the above problems with mechanical instruments, there are serious concerns because these instruments are not precise, and it is often difficult, during the procedure, to differentiate between the target disc tissue, and other structures within the spine, such as bone, cartilage, ligaments, nerves and non-target tissue. Thus, the surgeon must be extremely careful to minimize damage to the cartilage and bone within the spine, and to avoid damaging nerves, such as the spinal nerves and the dura mater surrounding the spinal cord.
Lasers were initially considered ideal for spine surgery because lasers ablate or vaporize tissue with heat, which also acts to cauterize and seal the small blood vessels in the tissue. Unfortunately, lasers are both expensive and somewhat tedious to use in these procedures. Another disadvantage with lasers is the difficulty in judging the depth of tissue ablation. Since the surgeon generally points and shoots the laser without contacting the tissue, he or she does not receive any tactile feedback to judge how deeply the laser is cutting. Because healthy tissue, bones, ligaments and spinal nerves often lie within close proximity of the spinal disc, it is essential to maintain a minimum depth of tissue damage, which cannot always be ensured with a laser.
Monopolar radiofrequency devices have been used in limited roles in spine surgery, such as to cauterize severed vessels to improve visualization. These monopolar devices, however, suffer from the disadvantage that the electric current will flow through undefined paths in the patient's body, thereby increasing the risk of unwanted electrical stimulation to portions of the patient's body. In addition, since the defined path through the patient's body has a relatively high impedance (because of the large distance or resistivity of the patient's body), large voltage differences must typically be applied between the return and active electrodes in order to generate a current suitable for ablation or cutting of the target tissue. This current, however, may inadvertently flow along body paths having less impedance than the defined electrical path, which will substantially increase the current flowing through these paths, possibly causing damage to or destroying surrounding tissue or neighboring peripheral nerves.
Often, inflammation attributable to vertebral discs can be treated successfully by either non-surgical means, such as rest, therapeutic exercise, oral antiinflammatory medications or epidural injection of corticosteroids or by surgical means which treat the vertebral disc (whether open or minimally invasive.)
In some cases, the disc tissue is irreparably damaged, thereby necessitating removal of a portion of the disc or the entire disc to eliminate the source of inflammation and pressure. Or, the annulus of the disc may be intact but a lack of vertebral disc height may cause complications. In severe cases, one or more vertebral discs must be excised and any adjacent vertebral bodies are then mechanically stabilized, via surgery, following excision of the disc to avoid recurrence of the disabling back pain. One approach to stabilizing the vertebrae, termed spinal fusion, is to insert an interbody graft or implant into the space vacated by the degenerative disc. In this procedure, a small amount of bone may be grafted from other portions of the body, such as the hip, and packed into the implants. This allows the bone to grow through and around the implant, fusing the vertebral bodies and alleviating the pain. Alternatively, a disc prosthesis may replace the vertebral disc. In some cases, a portion of the vertebral disc, such as the annulus fibrosis, may be removed and replaced with an implant/prosthesis.
In cases where an implant/prosthesis is used, it may be desirable to remove the pre-existing vertebral tissue. For example, migration of the implant subsequent to its implantation is undesirable. Removal of any undesired vertebral tissue, so that there is adequate contact between the bone of the vertebral body and the implant, may minimize migration of the implant.
Currently, mechanical means, as discussed above, is commonly employed to remove degenerated vertebral disc tissue. For example, removal of the majority of the disc, or the disc portion being removed (e.g., the nucleus), occurs via graspers or rongeurs. After a substantial portion of the tissue is excised the remaining tissue (e.g., the tissue adjacent to the vertebral endplates) may be scraped. Yet, such procedures may take an undesirably long period of time to remove an optimum amount of tissue. Furthermore, as individuals age the disc loses its water content and become relatively stiffer. Use of mechanical means to remove a degenerated disc may result in a significant amount of remaining fibers or wisp-like tissue. Such tissue by-product may be difficult or impossible to remove via mechanical means.
Yet another drawback with mechanical removal of degenerated disc tissue is that the cortical endplates on the vertebral bodies is easy to damage. In some cases, it may be desirable, or necessary to retain the cortical endplates. Use of mechanical means to remove tissue attached to the cortical endplates may cause unintended damage to that endplate.
As discussed above, conventional means to remove vertebral tissue (e.g., mechanical, chemical, laser, conventional electrosurgical) pose significant drawbacks to efficient removal of disc tissue in preparation for implant and/or prosthetic replacement of all or a portion of the vertebral disc.


An adjustable profile plate assembly for use with an air make-up system. According to an exemplary embodiment, the adjustable profile plate assembly includes a slidable profile plate, a scissor-type linkage mechanism attached to the profile plate, and an actuator attached to the linkage mechanism for driving the profile plate back and forth in a widthwise direction B. The adjustable profile plate assembly may use a feedback control loop that uses one or more operational parameters, such as the operational state of fans that draw air into the system, in order to control the actuator.

Typically, air make-up systems condition outdoor air for distribution to a working area in order to replenish gases that are exhausted out of the working area. In essence, air make-up systems may help replace exhausted or otherwise unsuitable gases with fresh air. These types of systems are oftentimes used in working areas that emit gas that is unsuitable for inhalation; examples of such working areas may include sections of manufacturing plants, laboratories, and commercial kitchens. Air make-up systems commonly include a heating element for heating the outdoor air, and can include one or more profile plates to help direct the outdoor air.
One example of an air make-up system is a direct-fired air make-up system, which typically includes a gas burner as the heating element and profile plates bolted down near the gas burner. Traditionally, these profile plates were unadjustable and were not able to adjustably manipulate the airflow across the gas burner.

Adjustable profile plate assembly for use with an air make-up system


In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for conditionally sharing an object with one or more entities. These mechanisms and methods for conditionally sharing an object with one or more entities can enable enhanced data sharing, simplified data security, etc.

The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior on merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.
Conventional systems commonly allow for data sharing between entities of a system. For example, a record may be created by an entity of the system, and that entity may decide to share the record with another entity of the system. Unfortunately, techniques for sharing data between entities of a system have been associated with various limitations.
Just by way of example, traditional methods of sharing data between system entities may only allow the creator of the data to dictate which additional entities may access the data. In another example, only entities located at a higher level in a hierarchy than the creator of a record may be able to access the record. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide techniques that improve the sharing of data between entities of a system.

System, method and computer program product for conditionally sharing an object with one or more entities


According to various aspects, exemplary embodiments are disclosed of solar thermal collectors, solar heating systems, and thin plate heat exchangers and absorbers. The thin plate heat exchangers and absorbers may be used for solar applications and/or non-solar applications. In an exemplary embodiment, a solar thermal collector generally includes a first layer comprising polymer and configured to allow sunlight to pass therethrough. A second layer comprises polymer and is configured to absorb thermal energy from sunlight. The second layer includes edges heat sealed to edges of the first layer. A permeable core is disposed between the first and second layers. In operation, a heat transfer fluid may flow through the permeable core and directly contact the second layer, whereby thermal energy is transferrable from the permeable core and the second layer to the heat transfer fluid.

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Hot water is used in various ways within households. Domestically, water is commonly heated within tanks via natural gas water heaters. Typical domestic uses of hot water include cooking, bathing, cleaning (e.g., laundry, dishwashing, etc.). Heated water is often used in swimming pools and hot tubs too.

Solar thermal collectors and thin plate heat exchangers for solar applications


Exercising integral management of storage apparatuses even when SANs are integrated or when the scale of a SAN expands. In response to an operation request from a management terminal, an integrated management computer collects the management information for storage apparatuses from management computers; selects, based on the collected management information, one or more management computers, to which the task of performing the requested operation is to be assigned; provides the selected management computer(s) with the ability to manage the storage apparatuses which are the management target for the management computer(s); collects pieces of process information from the management computer(s) with the management ability; and integrates and manages the collected pieces of process information.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a technique for managing a plurality of storage apparatuses connected to one another via a network, and particularly relates to a technique for managing storage apparatuses in an environment where the number of storage apparatuses and the number of storage areas—management targets—increase.
2. Description of Related Art
With the increase in demand for efficient data management in computer systems, networks called storage area networks (SANs) have become widespread. With a SAN, storage apparatuses and host computers are connected to each other via equipment such as a switch; and the host computers on a network use the storage areas provided by these storage apparatuses. This system involves a series of management operations: creating storage areas the host computers require in appropriate storage apparatuses; and making settings so that the storage areas can be accessed by their allocated destination host computers. Because complicated management is required when performing management operations separately for each storage apparatus, developments have been made for a technique where, as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-63063, one management computer is provided in a SAN so that it centrally manages the storage apparatuses and decreases the management load.
With conventional storage apparatus management methods, even after a plurality of SANs managed by separate management computers are integrated into one SAN, the respective management computers still remain isolated, so they cannot perform management operations suitable for the post-integration SAN structure, such as the allocation of a storage area in a storage apparatus that belonged to one SAN to a host computer that belonged to another SAN. Also, although the amount of management information dramatically increases with the increase in the number of management target storage apparatuses and storage areas, with the conventional storage apparatus management methods, the amount of manageable management information is limited by the volume of resources or the sizes of memories in the management computer.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to execute integral management for storage apparatuses even when communication networks are integrated or when the scale of a communication network expands.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for integrated management computer setting access rights, calculates requested storage capacity of multiple logical storage apparatus for migration


A tomographic reconstruction method and system incorporating Bayesian estimation techniques to inspect and classify regions of imaged objects, especially objects of the type typically found in linear, areal, or 3-dimensional arrays. The method and system requires a highly constrained model M that incorporates prior information about the object or objects to be imaged, a set of prior probabilities P(M) of possible instances of the object; a forward map that calculates the probability density P(D|M), and a set of projections D of the object. Using Bayesian estimation, the posterior probability p(M|D) is calculated and an estimated model MEST of the imaged object is generated. Classification of the imaged object into one of a plurality of classifications may be performed based on the estimated model MEST, the posterior probability p(M|D) or MAP function, or calculated expectation values of features of interest of the object.

The present invention relates generally to automated imaging inspection techniques, and more particularly to automated inspection of arrays of identical objects using highly constrained tomography and Bayesian estimation.
Tomographic reconstruction from projections provides cross-sectional and 3-dimensional information, and is utilized in many fields including medical imaging, security screening, and automated inspection of manufactured goods. In manufacturing electronic assemblies, for example, solder joints or other interconnects are often not accessible for electrical testing or optical inspection. As a result, imaging using penetrating radiation, e.g. X-rays, is often used for automated inspection of such joints. Tomographic or 3-dimensional methods are required for two reasons. First, modern printed circuit assemblies (PCAs) are typically double-sided, and, in addition, may possess multiple internal layers. As a result, joints or components frequently obscure other joints in transmission radiographs, preventing easy interpretation. Second, many joint types are themselves 3-dimensional in nature, making it difficult or impossible to distinguish good joints from bad joints in transmission radiographs. In addition to their 3-dimensional nature, these joint types are typically deployed in dense arrays (linear, areal, or even 3-dimensional) with large numbers of similar joints in close proximity.
Tomographic methods which have been applied to automated X-ray inspection of solder joints include laminography, tomosynthesis, and various forms of cone beam or fan beam computed tomography (CT). CT methods include filtered backprojection (also known as convolution backprojection) as well as other transform methods, iterative methods including conjugate gradients, and specialized variations of these techniques. Unfortunately, such conventional methods typically perform poorly when applied to arrays of 3-dimensional solder joints, leading to sever artifacts in the reconstructed images that impede interpretation and automatic classification. Among the cause of such artifacts are poor signal to noise ratio (SNR), limited projection angles, lack of linearity, and X-ray scattering.
Solder joints typically contain lead, tin, or both, and are highly attenuating for X-rays. Each joint in an array can be up to several millimeters thick, attenuating more than 99% of the incoming X-ray photons, and resulting in a very low SNR in regions of greatest interest. Additionally, angles at which projection data may be collected are severely limited by nearby joints which are similarly highly attenuating. Equatorial projections are not available, for example, since each ray would typically pass through a large number of joints. Axial projections with acceptable SNR may also be difficult or impossible to obtain at reasonable doses (e.g., for CGAs or similar joints which are longest in the axial direction). As a result, projections are often available only for a limited range of angles approximately 30°–60° off the axial direction. The well-known Radon inversion theorem (See A. Louis and F. Natterer, "Mathematical Problems of Computerized Tomography", Proc. IEEE 71:379–389 (1983)) guarantees that an object can be reconstructed from noiseless projections from all possible angles. When projections from a limited range of angles are available, or are corrupted by noise, exact reconstruction is not possible in the absence of additional information.
High attenuation combined with the use of a polychromatic source also leads to difficulties with reconstruction. Transmission tomography generally assumes exponential attenuation, l/l0=e−λX, where l0 and l are the original and attenuated intensities, respectively, λ is a linear attenuation coefficient, and X is the distance traveled through the object. Under these assumptions, taking logarithms leads to a linear system: −log(l) =−log(l0)+λX. X-ray sources used for solder joint inspection are broad-band, often emitting X-rays ranging in energy from 10 keV up to 160 keV or more. The attenuation coefficient, λ, is not constant over this range, and instead must be treated as a function of energy, with various materials having characteristic spectra. This poses two closely related difficulties for standard methods of tomographic reconstruction. First, the system equations cannot be readily linearized, violating the assumptions underlying all common tomographic methods. Second, as the beam passes further into the sample, the effective spectrum changes as radiation at some energies is preferentially absorbed or scattered. Typically, lower energies and energies near absorption edges are attenuated more strongly, resulting in so-called "beam hardening". The net result is that identical absorbers at different locations can produce different attenuation, again violating the assumptions underlying tomography.
In addition, all classical methods of tomography, both transmission and emission, are predicated on straight-line propagation from source to detector, forming projections of the object under test. A significant minority of X-rays, however, is deflected during propagation through a sample. Both elastic and inelastic scattering occur, resulting in changes in direction (or equivalently, absorption followed by emission in a different direction), with or without an associated change of energy. Inelastic scattering, for example, is prominent in low-Z materials such as the glass-epoxy composites typically used as substrates for printed circuit assemblies. While the fraction of incoming photons undergoing inelastic scattering is typically small, they can nonetheless represent a large percentage of the detected X-rays in dark regions, as when a low-Z material such as a PCB substrate is adjacent to a highly attenuating material such as a solder joint. Scattering is particularly troublesome when area array sensors are used, since collimation is typically not practical. Heuristic corrections for scatter and beam hardening have been proposed, and can reduce, but not eliminate artifacts resulting from these mechanisms (e.g., see B. Ohnesorge, T. Flohr, K. Klingenbeck-Regn, "Efficient Object Scatter Correction Algorithm For Third and Fourth Generation CT Scanners", Eur. Radiol. 9, 563–569 (1999)).
In principle, Bayesian reconstruction methods can surmount these difficulties. As a brief overview of the principles of the Bayesian tomography, let D represent a set of measured projection data, and let M represent a model of the object under consideration. Typically, M consists of a set of parameters describing the object(s) of interest. The goal is to assign values to the parameters of M that accurately reflect the objects being inspected from the noisy and potentially incomplete data, D. In maximum likelihood (ML) estimation, the estimated model MML is taken to be the value of M which maximizes the likelihood, P(D|M), of observing D, assuming M is correct. Equivalently, and more commonly, the log-likelihood can be maximized. Under appropriate assumptions, each of the classical tomography methods is equivalent to a form of maximum likelihood estimation.
In contrast, Bayesian estimation incorporates additional a priori or prior information, p(M), about the model M, summarizing all objective and subjective information about how likely alternative models are thought to be in the absence of measured data, D. The posterior probability, p(M|D), for any particular model (i.e., the probability that a given model M is correct having observed data set D) can be calculated using Bayes' rule, p(M|D)=p(D|M)p(M)/p(D), where p(D)=∫p(D|M)p(M) serves as a normalization constant.
In the simplest form of Bayesian analysis, so-called maximum "a posteriori" or MAP estimation, the estimated model MMAP is taken to be the value of M which maximizes p(D|M)p(M). The normalizing factor, p(D), is not required, since it is not a function of M. MAP estimation generalizes maximum likelihood by incorporation of prior information, and this has been shown effective in reducing artifacts in tomographic reconstruction. (See S. Geman and D. McClure, "Bayesian Image Analysis: An Application to Single Photon Emission Tomography", Proc. Statist. Comput. Sect. Amer. Stat. Soc. Washington, D.C., paragraph. 12–18 (1985); T. Hebert and R. Leah, "A Generalized EM Algorithm for 3-D Bayesian Reconstruction From Poisson Data Using Gibbs Priors", IEEE Trans. on Medical Imaging 8:194–202 (1989); P. J. Green, "Bayesian Reconstruction From Emission Tomography Data Using A Modified EM Algorithm", IEEE Trans. on Medical Imaging 9:84–93 (1990); K. Sauer and C. A. Bouman, "A Local Update Strategy For Iterative Reconstruction From Projections", IEEE Trans. On Signal Processing 41:534–548 (1993); and K. Hanson and G. Wecksung, "Bayesian Approach to Limited-angle Reconstruction in Computed Tomography", J. Optimal. Sci. Am. 73:1501–1509 (1983), each of which is incorporated herein by reference for all that it teaches). Iterative methods to increase posterior probability, p(M|D), are typically used, sometimes using a filtered backprojection reconstruction as a starting estimate. MAP methods are also available for discrete tomography, where one or more model parameters (e.g., the attenuation coefficient in a particular region) are to be chosen from among a finite and typically small number of choices.
Considerable effort has been devoted to developing methods that converge rapidly, some requiring differentiable likelihoods and others which do not. Multi-resolution analysis has been shown to speed convergence and solution quality in some cases. (See T. Freese, C. Bouman, and K. Sauer, "Multiscale Bayesian Methods for Discrete Tomography", Discrete Tomography: Foundations, Algorithms, and Applications, edited by G. Herman and A. Kuba, Birkhauser Boston, Cambridge, Mass., pp. 237–261 (1999), incorporated herein by reference for all that it teaches). In multi-resolution analysis, prior information has typically been incorporated via a potential function or Markov random field penalizing neighboring pixel values which are thought to be unlikely (e.g., a sharp difference not lying along well defined edges).
Both ML and MAP estimation result in a single model for the reconstructed object, namely that model which maximizes, respectively, the likelihood or the posterior probability. This can be appropriate and effective when the corresponding function (likelihood or posterior probability) is symmetrical or sharply peaked at the maximum. It can, however, be very misleading with distributions that do not satisfy these assumptions. (See C. Fox and G. Nicholls, "Exact MAP States and Expectations from Perfect Sampling: Grieg, Porteous, and Scheult Revisited", in Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering, edited by A. Djafari, AIP Conference Proceedings, 568:252–263 (2001), incorporated herein by reference for all that it teaches).
Full Bayesian inference, as opposed to MAP estimation, avoids this problem by treating the posterior probability, p(M|D), as a distribution over all possible models. Quantities of interest, such as parameter values or utility functions, are estimated by taking expectations over the posterior probability. In rare cases, the posterior probability and associated expectations may be computed analytically. More typically, numerical approximation is required. Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods represent the current state-of-the-art for approximating such expectations. Discrete and continuous parameters may be freely mixed, and differentiable likelihood is not required. As in the case of MAP estimation, multi-resolution analysis may be applied in conjunction with MCMC methods to improve convergence.
Full Bayesian analysis incorporating calculations of expectations (e.g., using MCMC) is computationally demanding compared to MAP estimation, which in turn is often slower and more demanding than conventional tomography. A key factor in successful implementation of full Bayesian tomography is therefore careful choice of a framework in which prior knowledge can be naturally and effectively represented, and in which MCMC approximation converges rapidly.
In order to illustrate some of the limitations and difficulties when attempting to use conventional model representations with Bayesian tomography, consider a specific example from the field printed circuit inspection. FIG. 1 shows a stylized cross-section through an ideal ball grid array (BGA) joint 10 connecting a printed circuit board (PCB) pad 3 of a printed circuit board (PCB) 1 to an integrated circuit (IC) pad 7 of integrated circuit (IC) 2. As shown, BGA joint 10 includes a ball 5 soldered to the PCB pad 3 with solder fillet 4 and soldered to the IC pad 7 with solder fillet 6.
In addition to normal joints, several types of defective joints can occur. FIGS. 2 and 3 respectively show a cross-section of a defective BGA joint where the PCB interface solder fillet 4 and IC interface solder fillet 6 are missing. Another defect that can occur is insufficient solder at fillet 4 (as shown in FIG. 4) or 6 (not shown), which is especially problematic when the ball 5 is of the non-collapsible type. Further, excessive solder can result in a short between one or more neighboring joints.
The simplest representation for reconstruction of a 3-dimensional region is a uniform voxelation. A BGA joint 10, for example, might be divided into 15×15×15 cubical voxels of uniform size, as illustrated in FIG. 5. In the simplest, and most conventional use of such a representation, fitting the model, M, for a single BGA joint involves assigning a value of the so-called CT number, λX, at each of the 3,375 voxels. Such a voxel-based model is an example of what is typically called a low-level representation. Voxel based models are extremely general and capable of representing virtually any object. Bayesian tomography generally requires computing the likelihood that projection images, D, could result from a given model, M. This computation is straightforward when a voxel-based model is used. Simple, deterministic ray-tracing can be used to predict the projections that would result in the absence of noise. Noise of known distribution may then be added, completing the calculation of the likelihood.
Despite these advantages, voxel-based, and other low-level representations are often poorly suited for Bayesian tomography. The number of parameters to be fitted is large, and may exceed the number of measurements, particularly when the number of projections is limited, as in X-ray PCA inspection. The resulting system of equations is typically ill-conditioned and often inconsistent, leading to slow convergence and artifacts in the fitted model. Local maxima are also common, since the system equations are not truly linear. Additionally, constraints and prior knowledge can be difficult or impossible to express in such a representation. Local information, e.g. smoothing or other regularization, can be easily incorporated, but global information is problematic. BGA balls are approximately spherical with diameters falling predominantly in a narrow range, for example, and the spacing between joints is known in advance. Unfortunately, expressing this information in a low-level representation is difficult and inefficient.
As described above, Bayesian reconstruction can minimize the effects of limited or poor data by incorporating prior information. Additionally, a detailed forward map accurately reflecting image formation and noise statistics replaces the often inappropriate and numerically unstable inverse map used by conventional methods. Nonetheless, Bayesian methods have found limited use to date in tomographic reconstruction, particularly in realtime automated industrial imaging inspection applications where the inspection and analysis operations must keep up with the rate of the particular manufacturing line, for example in electronic assembly manufacturing and/or testing lines. This is due both to the need to understand and model the relevant processes in considerable detail, including relevant prior knowledge, and to the high computational demands of Bayesian inference. Further, representation of prior knowledge and constraints is often difficult in conventional voxel-based representations.
It would therefore be desirable to have a computationally tractable framework for practical exploitation of the benefits of Bayesian reconstruction in industrial imaging that incorporates prior knowledge in a clear, concise, and natural fashion, and which is computationally efficient and robust. It would also be desirable that such framework allow realtime inspection, analysis, and classification in an automated industrial imaging inspection environment, especially one where the object(s) to be inspected consist of dense arrays of similar objects.

Highly constrained tomography for automated inspection of area arrays


Systems for controlling the frequency of the output signal of a controllable oscillator in a frequency synthesizer are provided. One such system comprises a controllable oscillator and a frequency control circuit. The controllable oscillator is configured to generate an output signal that has a predefined frequency. The controllable oscillator is also configured with a plurality of operational states that are controlled by the frequency control circuit. Each operational state of the controllable oscillator defines a distinct frequency for the output signal of the controllable oscillator. The frequency control circuit receives the output signal of the controllable oscillator and determines the distinct frequency for the output signal that best approximates the predefined frequency. The frequency control circuit may also provide a control signal to the controllable oscillator that is configured to change the controllable oscillator to the operational state corresponding to the distinct frequency that best approximates the predefined frequency.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is generally related to frequency synthesizers, and more particularly, is related to systems and methods for controlling the frequency and amplitude of an oscillator.
2. Related Art
Frequency synthesizers are regularly employed in communication transceivers used in numerous types of communication systems and communication technologies, such as, radio frequency communication systems. Typically, such frequency synthesizers use a phase-locked loop to precisely control the frequency of the output signal of a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO). The frequency synthesizer typically consists of a VCO, a low pass filter, and a phase-locked loop. The VCO generates an output signal having a particular frequency. A phase detector in the phase-locked loop receives the output signal and compares the output signal to a reference frequency. Based on the comparison of the output signal to the reference frequency, the phase-locked loop generates a control signal that is provided to the low pass filter and then to the VCO. The control signal is typically received by a variable capacitor, referred to as varactor, in the VCO. The control signal tunes the variable capacitor, thereby changing the frequency of the output signal of the VCO.
Generally, such frequency synthesizers are effective where the range of the frequency of the output signal is limited. However, in situations where the frequency of the output signal of the VCO needs to be varied over a broad frequency range, such frequency synthesizers are very problematic. For example, where frequency synthesizers are used in wireless broadband and wire-line broadband communication systems, or in multi-band devices and multi-mode devices, the limited tuning range of the varactors prevents effective tuning of the VCO and, therefore, effective channel selection. The limited tuning range of the varactors may also be problematic in situations where large fabrication process variations, temperature variations, or other variations require the output of the controllable oscillator to be varied over a broad frequency range. Additionally, varactors with a wide-tuning range are also problematic due to the fact that they are extremely sensitive to noise and interference on the control lines from the phase-locked loop. Furthermore, the non-linear characteristics of wide-tuning varactors are problematic in the design of the loop filter in the frequency synthesizer. Thus, there is a need in the industry to address these deficiencies and inadequacies.

System for controlling the frequency of an oscillator