An internal combustion engine system uses a blended fuel of gasoline and ethanol, operates with high efficiency, and can inhibit nitrogen oxide and the like from being discharged. The internal combustion engine system includes: a fuel tank 3 that accommodates a blended fuel having an octane number of 80 to 100, which has been prepared by blending gasoline having the octane number of 30 to 85 and ethanol into a weight ratio between 9:1 and 6:4; A separating device for adding water to the blended fuel to separate the blended fuel into the gasoline and an ethanol-water mixture liquid; A reforming device for reforming one part of the ethanol-water mixture liquid to produce a mixture liquid of diethyl ether and water; and fuel injectors which independently inject each of the gasoline, the ethanol-water mixture liquid and the mixture liquid of diethyl ether and water.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an internal combustion engine system which uses a blended fuel of gasoline and ethanol, and can switch back and forth between spark ignition combustion and homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, in order to improve fuel efficiency and reduce the emission of an internal combustion engine, a compression ignition internal combustion engine represented by a homogeneous charge compression ignition internal combustion engine has been studied. However, the above described homogeneous charge compression ignition internal combustion engine has a problem that the engine has a narrow stably-operatable region, because the engine easily causes knocking when a high load is required, and easily causes misfire when a low load is required.
In order to solve the above described problem, a homogeneous charge compression ignition internal combustion engine has been conventionally known which is an internal combustion engine using gasoline, and can switch back and forth between spark ignition combustion and homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion (cf. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-130006 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-152919, for instance).
The above described homogeneous charge compression ignition internal combustion engine usually conducts the above described homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion, and conducts the above described spark ignition combustion only when a requested load is higher than usual or lower than usual. The above described spark ignition combustion has an advantage of being capable of forcefully igniting fuel with a spark at the optimal timing, but has a disadvantage of greatly decreasing thermal efficiency when using a single fuel, because of needing to delay ignition timing to later timing than the optimal timing for avoiding knocking when a high load is required.
On the other hand, it has been known to use a blended fuel of gasoline and ethanol as a fuel for an internal combustion engine. It has been known that the above described blended fuel can provide a so-called carbon neutral effect because the blended fuel uses ethanol obtained by fermenting and distilling plants, for instance, farm products such as sugarcane and corn. The above described carbon neutral effect means that the combustion of ethanol obtained from plants does not theoretically increase the amount of emitted carbon dioxide after all, because the plant of a raw material in itself has already absorbed carbon dioxide, and even when the ethanol obtained from the plant is combusted, it emits carbon dioxide in an equal amount to what the plant has already absorbed.
Accordingly, a blended fuel of gasoline and ethanol can reduce an amount of emitted carbon dioxide and contribute to the prevention of global warming, by being used for automotive fuel.
However, the above described blended fuel has a problem that the blended fuel cannot sufficiently develop the above described carbon neutral effect, because even though the ethanol uses plants, the ethanol also makes fossil fuel consumed in the production process and the distribution process. The above described blended fuel has also a problem of needing a higher cost than general gasoline fuel and making the movable distance of the automobile shorter than that of an automobile using the general gasoline fuel, when both automobiles have the same capacity of the fuel tank, because the ethanol has a heating value per unit volume in an amount of only a little over 60% of the general gasoline fuel.
As for a method of using the above described blended fuel, a technology has been already known which includes adding water to the blended fuel to separate the blended fuel into gasoline and ethanol, and using gasoline and ethanol each independently (cf. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-96155). However, the technology is a method of separating ethanol from the above described blended fuel, further reforming the separated ethanol into gas consisting of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, and using the reformed gas, and accordingly does not sufficiently use the blended fuel efficiently.
For this reason, the internal combustion engine is demanded which can efficiently use a blended fuel of gasoline and ethanol.


Method for allowing a user of a mobile terminal device having predetermined computational resources to remotely develop and operate upgraded content delivery applications. A client-side application and a corresponding remote application are installed on the terminal device and on a server connected to the terminal device. The remote application dynamically splits the tasks to be performed by the content delivery application between the client-side application and remote application, according to its computational resources and processes, in real-time, the content and its associated logic and input data to be delivered to the terminal device. The processed content is then transmitted to the terminal device over the data network and the content is rendered by the client-side application. The client-side application responds to inputs from the user and/or to messages from the server or further connected devices.

Many modern mobile applications involve content provisioning, such as browsing, gaming, financial applications, music, ring tones and other multi media applications. On-Line applications such as browsing and Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) based applications that require data exchange with a data network allow the mobile devices to access the data required for further processing by the device. Mobile applications are normally developed with adaptation to the properties of a specific terminal device of a group of devices with similar computational capabilities, such as memory, processors, operating system, display size and graphical resolution, as well as the base set of application programming interfaces for resource-constrained terminal devices, such as Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) that when coupled with a profile such as the Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP), provide a Java platform for developing applications to run on devices with limited memory, processing power, and graphical capabilities. Current solutions for developers of such applications focus mainly in upgrading the developing tools for each terminal device.
The differences between the properties of different terminal devices entail design problems, since any attempt to make adaptations of an application to be compatible with several types of terminal devices restricts the capabilities of that application to comply with the terminal device which is the most resource-constrained. On the other hand, individual adaptation (also known as "porting", which is the process of adapting software to make it usable in a different environment) is costly and cumbersome, particularly when many new models are frequently added to the market. In addition, the development of applications for mobile terminal devices requires specific knowledge of the design tools, the limitations of each device and expensive testing verification processes, which are carried out on each device.
Another problem is related to the process required to add new applications and to upgrade or fix bugs in existing applications, which includes downloading the new applications or upgrading files into the device.
U.S. 2006/235925 (Rossotto et al.) discloses a multimedia service content provision method that uses wireless communication network, and involves interpreting received packets at client terminal, so as to obtain interactive presentation of multimedia service content, based on the service logic. According to this method, delivery packets that convey both the multimedia service contents and corresponding service logic are generated. The multimedia contents can thus be presented interactively at the terminal while new services can be designed on the server side and made available to the user terminals without modifications being required on the terminal side. However, this method uses a predetermined logic, which doesn't react in real-time to the state of the application and to the capabilities of the terminal device. More over, the proposed method still requires adaptation of the client-side application to each terminal device. In addition, Rossotto does not allow several users to interact with each another and influence, in real-time, the executed application at the terminal device of each other, as well as the content displayed to each one of them (e.g., interactions between employees of the same organization or users that participate in a common game).
Other existing platforms allow a user of a mobile device to develop mobile software over another platform (over .NET, for example) and then to adapt the client-side software to be able to be executed on that mobile device. However, this adaptation is done offline, thus still requiring the development, dispatch and installation of new client-side software for each update, fix operation or whenever a new application is added. In addition, developers who provide development tools that are added to the client-side application code generally increase the resources required from the terminal device, and are even sometimes useless for several models of devices with lower capabilities.
All the methods described above have not yet provided satisfactory solutions to the problem of providing design tools of mobile applications that do not require adaptation of the client-side application to each terminal device, and that react in real-time to the state of the application and to the capabilities of the terminal device.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and system for providing design tools of mobile applications that do not require adaptation of the client-side application to each terminal device.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and system for providing tools for execution, dispatch and platform installation of mobile applications that do not require adaptation of the client-side application to each terminal device.
It is another object of the present invention to provide design tools of mobile applications that react in real-time to the state of the application and to the capabilities of the terminal device.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide design tools of mobile applications that effectively exploits the capabilities of the terminal device.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide design tools that allow maximization of the device capabilities, and developing and executing applications that are beyond the inherent device capabilities.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide design tools of mobile applications that can be easily implemented and simplify their verification process.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide design tools of applications that can be easily developed and implemented across platforms such as mobile devices and TV's.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

Method and system for operating applications for remote terminal devices


An improved body element for use in a modular prosthetic stem component of the sort comprising a body element and at least one other element, wherein the body element and the at least one other element are joined together by at least one modular connection, wherein the improved body element comprises an anterior wall and a posterior wall, at least one of the anterior wall and the posterior wall converging toward the other on the medial side of the body element and diverging away from the other on the lateral side of the body element, whereby the body element approximates a general wedge shape.

Joint replacement surgery seeks to replace portions of a joint with prosthetic components so as to provide long-lasting function and pain-free mobility.
For example, in the case of a prosthetic total hip joint, the head of the femur is replaced with a prosthetic femoral stem component, and the socket of the acetebulum is replaced by a prosthetic acetabular cup component, whereby to provide a prosthetic total hip joint.
In the case of a prosthetic total knee joint, the top of the tibia is replaced by a prosthetic tibial component, and the bottom of the femur is replaced by a prosthetic femoral component, whereby to provide a prosthetic total knee joint.
Still other prosthetic total joints, and their constituent components, are well known in the art.
The present invention is directed to orthopedic prostheses for restoring the hip joint and, more particularly, to improved prosthetic femoral stem components.
Prosthetic femoral stem components typically comprise a proximal section for seating in the proximal section of the resected femur and presenting a ball for seating in the acetabular socket, and a distal section for seating in the femur's medullary canal so as to extend along the shaft of the femur.
It is, of course, important that the prosthetic femoral stem component make a proper fit with the surrounding bone. To this end, prosthetic femoral stem components are typically offered in a range of different sizes in an effort to accommodate variations in patient anatomy. However, despite this, it has been found that it can be difficult to provide the correct prosthetic femoral stem component for patients. This is due to the wide variation in patient anatomies and the practical limitations of hospital inventory. By way of example, where a femoral component is selected having a proximal section appropriately sized for the proximal section of the resected femur, the distal section of the prosthesis may not be appropriately sized for proper seating in the distal section of the femur. This can present serious problems for the patient, including problems relating to joint stability and pain.
On account of the foregoing, there has been substantial interest in forming prosthetic femoral stem components out of a plurality of separate elements, wherein each of the elements may be independently selected so as to most closely approximate patient anatomy, and wherein the separate elements may be assembled to one another in the operating room, using modular connections, so as to provide the best possible prosthetic femoral stem component for the patient.
Modular prosthetic femoral stem components are offered in a variety of configurations.
By way of example, a so-called "two part" modular prosthetic femoral stem component may comprise a body element and a combined neck-and-stem element. More specifically, the body element includes a central aperture through which the combined neck-and-stem element extends. The body element is selected so that its outer surface is appropriately sized for proper seating in the proximal section of a resected femur. The combined neck-and-stem element is selected so that when it is mounted to the body element and deployed within the femur, a ball located at the proximal end of the combined neck-and-stem element will be properly seated in the hip joint's corresponding acetabular cup while the distal end of the combined neck-and-stem element will be properly seated within the medullary canal of the femur. The body element and the combined neck-and-stem element are adapted to be secured to one another in the operating room, using modular connections, so as to form the complete modular prosthetic femoral stem component. Such modular connections are well known in the art.
Other types of "two part" modular prosthetic femoral stem components are also well known in the art.
By way of further example, a so-called "three part" modular prosthetic femoral stem component may comprise a body element, a neck element and a stem element. More specifically, the body element includes a central aperture into which portions of the neck element and the stem element extend. The body element is selected so that its outer surface is appropriately sized for proper seating in the proximal section of a resected femur. The neck element is selected so that when it is mounted to the remainder of the modular prosthetic femoral stem component and deployed within the femur, a ball located at the proximal end of the neck element will be properly seated in the hip joint's corresponding acetabular cup. The stem element is selected so that its outer surface is appropriately sized for proper seating within the medullary canal of the femur. The body element, the neck element and the stem element are adapted to be secured to one another in the operating room, using modular connections, so as to form the complete modular prosthetic femoral stem component. Again, such modular connections are well known in the art.
Other types of "three part" modular prosthetic femoral stem components are also well known in the art.
Thus it will be seen that the modular prosthetic femoral stem component generally comprises: (1) a motion structure that reproduces the motion of the original, natural joint; and (2) a load structure that transmits the loads caused by that motion (e.g., walking) to the remaining bone of the resected femur. The motion structure generally comprises the neck (and ball) portion of the modular prosthetic femoral stem component. The load structure generally comprises two portions: a body portion for the transmission of axial and torsional loads to the remaining bone of the resected femur, and a stem portion to assist the body portion in resisting bending loads placed upon the body portion. In this context, the body portion is the aforementioned body element of the aforementioned "two part" modular prosthetic femoral stem component and the aforementioned body element of the aforementioned "three part" modular prosthetic femoral stem component.
The goal of the body element of a modular prosthetic femoral stem component is to transmit loads to the remaining bone of the resected femur in the same regions that the bone originally carried those loads. At the ends of the bone, this is indicated by the areas of greatest cortical bone thickness or cancellous bone density. Bone grows in response to mechanical stress. Where bone is needed to resist load, it forms; where it is not needed to resist load, it is resorbed. This principle is known as Wolff's Law. The loads generated by joint motion are preferentially carried by the bone at the end nearest the joint. If a prosthesis bypasses this region in favor of loading the more central section of the bone, resorption at the end of the bone will result. This can eventually lead to fracture of the bone or loosening of the prosthesis.
Thus, in order to transfer loads to the correct region of the bone, and to transfer the loads uniformly in that region, the body element of the prosthesis should, ideally, closely but not exactly approximate the inner contour of the hard cortical bone. More particularly, it has been found that it is preferable to leave a small amount of compacted cancellous bone between the body element of the prosthesis and the cortical bone. This is because the cancellous bone is significantly more metabolically active than the cortical bone and, as such, able to more quickly establish bone ingrowth with the prosthesis and remodel so as to carry the load. The body element should also fill the inner canal of the bone to a large extent so as to help resist torsional loads placed upon it.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Modular prosthetic component with improved body shape


A method and apparatus for managing a stack used for a tree traversal (TRV) may include a processing unit that may manage a short stack for a tree TRV, and a storage unit that may store data of the short stack. The processing unit may perform a restart of the tree TRV from an intermediate node of a tree to fill the short stack when the short stack is empty.

1. Field
The following description relates to a method and apparatus for managing a stack, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for managing a stack used for a tree traversal (TRV).
2. Description of the Related Art
Three dimensional (3D) rendering may refer to an image processing procedure that synthesizes data of a 3D object into an image visible from a view point of a camera provided.
A rendering scheme may include a rasterization scheme and a ray tracing scheme. The rasterization scheme may generate an image by projecting a 3D object onto a screen. The ray tracing scheme may generate an image by tracing a path of incident light along a ray transmitted toward a respective pixel of the image from the view point of the camera.
The ray tracing scheme may be advantageous in that a high quality image may be generated based on a physical property of light, such as reflection, refraction, transmission, and the like. However, the ray tracing scheme may face a difficulty in processing rendering at a high speed because a substantial amount of calculation is used for the ray tracing.
One factor used to determine a performance of the ray tracing may include a traversal (TRV) of an acceleration structure (AS) and an intersection test (IST) between ray-primitives. The TRV of the AS and the IST between the ray-primitives may be performed tens of times with respect to a plurality of rays.
The AS may be a partitioning AS. The AS may be a data structure in which scene objects to be rendered are represented through being partitioned spatially. A material structure, such as a grid, a k-dimensional (k-d) tree, a bounding volume hierarchy (BVH), and the like, may be used as the AS.
Processing the ray tracing with respect to a signal ray may not be dependent on processing the ray tracing with respect to another ray. Accordingly, ray traversing hardware of a multiple instruction multiple data (MIMD) architecture may process multiple ray TRVs in parallel. When a ray TRV is processed by an acceleration of hardware, a pipeline architecture and a multi-core structure may enhance a performance of the ray TRV.
When a number of rays being processed simultaneously increases, a number of registers to be maintained for the ray tracing may increase. Also, a storage space for managing a stack used for the ray tracing may occupy a large portion of storage space in the ray traversing hardware.

Method and apparatus for stack management

Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, Yonsei University


A metallic component including NiCr and having a skin depth δ of greater than or equal to 1.0 μm in a frequency range from 20-40 GHz, as calculated by:

The automotive industry is moving toward connected vehicles, which requires more and more sensors to be incorporated into vehicles. As examples, communication technologies are being incorporated into vehicles for safety applications, such as blind spot warnings, do not pass warnings, forward collision warnings, and dynamic cruise control. This increase in sensors has also increased the amount of data being transmitted, which requires more computation and data transmission rates on the vehicles. As an example, data transmission rates as high as 750 megabytes per second (Mb/sec) may be required.
In view of the increased connectedness of vehicles, the number of sensors incorporated into vehicles as well as the size of the sensors incorporated into vehicles is increasing. Because the physical design of a vehicle often requires significant effort and because it can be a driving force for sales of a vehicle, it is often times undesirable to have sensors that are visible upon viewing the exterior of the vehicle, as these sensors can have a negative impact on the design. Therefore, it is often the case that sensors are positioned within (e.g., either under a panel of the vehicle, or having a panel formed around the sensor) the body of a vehicle. In such a design, a layer of paint will also cover the sensor to further obscure its presence.

Nickel-chromium particles and multilayer structures comprising nickel chromium core layers

Abstract: δ  =                              2                                                              ρ                                      (                          2                                                                                π                                                                                f                        )                                          (                                          μ                0                                                          μ                r                                      )                                ≈          503                                                                    ρ                                          μ                r                                          f                                      .

Abstract: In this equation, δ is skin depth in meters (m); ρ is resistivity in ohm meter (∩·m); f is frequency of an electromagnetic radiation in hertz (Hz); μ0 is permeability; and μr is relative permeability of the NiCr metallic material. The metallic component may be a discrete metallic particle or a layer in a multilayer thin film.

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.


An improved multiple grating spectrograph is provided comprising a grating changer for mounting gratings, and rotatable about an axis substantially perpendicular to grating lines such that changing from one grating to another preserves the wavelength-selecting angle of incidence of electromagnetic radiation. The grating changer preferably includes a grating holder, and an actuator for moving the holder about the axis.

In conventional spectrographs, a single diffraction grating is positioned in the path of the incident electromagnetic radiation. When a different grating is desired, the spectrograph must be at least partially dissembled, the original grating removed and the new grating installed. This is extremely disadvantageous, both in terms of time and inconvenience, but also because of the potential for loss of accuracy due to accidental manipulation of spectrometer elements during the change of gratings.
Multiple diffraction grating spectrographs are known in the prior art, e.g., Spex Industries, Inc. of Edison, N.J. offers "M Series" spectrometers with a dual-grating turret in which gratings are alternately selected by rotating the turret about an axis parallel to the grating line direction.
However, a disadvantage of this design is that changing from one diffraction grating to another requires rotating the grating holder in a direction which changes the angle between incident electromagnetic radiation and the plane of the diffraction grating in a direction perpendicular to the grating lines. This angle is critical to selection of a particular wavelength band for examination by the spectrograph and may need to be reset each time the diffraction grating is changed, making data collection inefficient and tedious.
What is desired, therefore, is a multiple diffraction grating spectrograph which permits changing of the grating without unnecessarily affecting the critical wavelength selecting angle between incident electromagnetic radiation and the plane of the grating.

Multi-grating spectrograph and method of changing gratings


To provide a spindle motor control method adapted to an optical disk recording and reproducing apparatus capable of recording a signal onto a disk using a laser applied from an optical pick-up, a reference signal originated from a disk (1) and a reference signal necessary for signal recording are synchronized to each other when resuming signal recording once suspended. The synchronization is established without using a phase error component. Once synchronization is established, a phase error component is added to a servo signal of the spindle motor (2). A gain for a phase error component is begun gradually increasing after a phase error component is begun being added to a servo signal. An upper limit value of the gain of a phase error component to be added is determined depending on the location of a part on the disk (1) at which to resume the once suspended signal recording.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disk recording and reproducing apparatus recording a signal onto a disk using a laser from an optical pick-up, and reproducing a signal recorded on the disk using a laser.
2. Description of the Related Art
Disk players which read a signal from a disk using an optical pick-up are popular. In particular, optical disk recording and reproducing apparatuses capable of signal recording using a laser from an optical pick-up, as well as signal reproducing, have recently been introduced to the consumer market. Optical disk recording and reproducing apparatuses capable of signal recording onto a disk while controlling the disk to rotate at a high linear velocity, such as twice, four, six, eight, ten, and twelve times as fast as a standard linear velocity, are also being developed.
An optical disk recording and reproducing apparatus records signal onto a disk in response to a record command from a host device or a computer device. During this recording, a signal to be recorded onto a disk, or a recording signal, is temporarily stored in a buffer RAM and read therefrom to be recorded, so that the signal is recorded onto the disk.
In normal signal recording operation, writing of signals from the computer device into a buffer RAM, reading of signals from the buffer RAM, and recording of signals onto the disk are all carried out in accordance with the amount of signals to be recorded and signal recording condition. However, even though the signal recording onto the disk is carried out at a higher linear velocity during such normal signal recording operation, signal writing into the buffer RAM may not be carried out at a sufficiently high speed commensurate with that signal recording onto the disk. This may cause shortage of recording signals, and an interruption of signal recording onto the disk. This phenomena, generally referred to as buffer under-run, may be considered an error and may result in a critical error disabling signal reproduction from the disk.
In order to address these problems, techniques are suggested including one in which signal recording onto the disk is suspended upon occurrence of buffer under-run phenomena, and thereafter resumed when signals of a predetermined or more amount have been stored in the buffer RAM.
According to this technique, when the recording of suspended signal is resumed, a signal recorded onto the disk before the suspension is read from the disk, and another signal is recorded onto the disk so as to continue from that signal. For accurate resuming of once suspended signal recording, a reference signal derived from the disk and that for use in signal recording must be accurately synchronized to each other. This method is referred to as synchronization. A synchronization process is applied so as to synchronize a reference signal originated from the disk and that for use in recording a signal read from the buffer RAM. This process is achieved through forced control of the timing of the phase of the respective reference signals.
After the reference signals are synchronized to each other, a phase error component is added to a servo signal for control of the rotation of the spindle motor. Specifically, referring to FIG. 1, a gain is increased to a predetermined value at time T, or some time after the synchronization establishment, whereby a phase error component is added to a servo signal. The addition of a phase error component, however, may cause a problem including abrupt acceleration or deceleration of the spindle motor during a period before the spindle motor gets to normal servo operation. This hinders accurate resumption of once suspended signal recording.
In an optical disk recording and reproducing apparatus in which the disk is controlled to rotate at a constant linear velocity for signal recording, the disk actually rotates faster when a signal is to be recorded onto a part on the disk closer to the disk center rather than a part farther from the disk center. Conventionally, however, despite this difference in the disk rotation speed, a gain for addition of a phase error component to a servo signal is maintained constant wherever part on the disk a signal is to be recorded. This makes it impossible to achieve optimum speed control.
The present invention has been conceived to overcome the above problems and aims to provide a spindle motor control method adapted to an optical disk recording and reproducing apparatus which can solve the above problems.
According to the present invention, there is provided a spindle motor control method adapted to an optical disk recording and reproducing apparatus which reads a signal having been recorded onto a disk before the recording was suspended, and records another signal so as to continue from that signal read. In this spindle motor control method, a reference signal reproduced from the disk and that for use in signal recording are made synchronized to each other without utilizing a phase error component when resuming signal recording. Once synchronization is established, a phase error component is added to a servo signal of the spindle motor. With this arrangement, the rotation of the spindle motor can be accurately controlled when resuming the signal recording.
For addition of a phase error component, the gain of a phase error component is gradually increased while a phase error component is added to a servo signal. In this way, sharp acceleration or deceleration of the spindle motor can be prevented, so that continuity of signals being recorded onto the disk between before and after the resuming of the signal recording can be improved.
In particular, continuous increase of the gain enables gradual addition of a phase error component to a servo signal. This in turn enables controlling the spindle motor to rotate smoothly. Alternatively, stepwise increase of the gain can facilitate digital control of the gain.
The final level for a phase error component to reach as a result of gradual increase of its gain can be determined according to the location of a part on the disk at which to resume signal recording, making it is possible to control the rotation of the spindle motor irrespective of the location of a part on the disk at which to resume signal recording, specifically, whether the part is close to or far from the disk center.
The final level for a phase error component to reach as a result of gradual increase of its gain can also be determined according to the disk rotation speed, making it is possible to control the rotation of the spindle motor regardless of a recording speed even when an optical disk recording and reproducing apparatus capable of multiple speed recording is employed.

Spindle motor control method of optical disk recording and reproducing apparatus


A wireless communication apparatus including: a specific external communication section configured to communicate with a specific external communication device through a wireless communication while successively changing a communication frequency band that is a frequency band in which a communication is performed; and a communication condition recognizing section configured to recognize a communication condition in each of a plurality of frequency ranges each having a predetermined range width, wherein the specific external communication section determines, on the basis of the recognized communication condition in each of the plurality of frequency ranges, a set number of a plurality of communication planned frequency bands in each of which the specific external communication section is planned to communicate with the specific external communication device, by allocating to a part of the plurality of frequency ranges, and wherein the specific external communication section communicates, in the determined communication planned frequency bands, with the specific external communication device while successively changing the communication frequency band.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless communication apparatus configured to communicate with a specific external communication device while successively changing a communication frequency band or a channel.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a technology for connecting a wireless LAN device, there is conventionally known an IEEE 802.11 standard, a Bluetooth (registered trademark) standard, and so on.
The wireless LAN device and a digital cordless phone use the same 2.4 GHz frequency band. Thus, where the wireless LAN device and the digital cordless phone are used in the same area at the same time, a radio interference unfortunately occurs therebetween, resulting in an unsatisfactory communication.
Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-198867) and Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-198868) disclose techniques for reducing the possibility of the occurrence of the radio interference where the wireless LAN device and the digital cordless phone are used in the same area at the same time. In the techniques, a bit error rate (BER), an electric field intensity, and the like in each of frequency ranges (i.e., channels) are measured and recognized before communication, so as to reduce the possibility of the occurrence of the radio interference by not using frequency ranges in each of which the radio interference is likely to occur.

Wireless communication apparatus that successively change communication frequency band


A fuel selector valve (100) in communication with at least first and second fuel tanks and an engine is provided. The fuel selector valve (100) includes a drive system (106), and a fuel draw valve (102) coupled to the drive system (106). The fuel draw valve (102) includes a first fuel tank draw port (108) adapted to be coupled to the first fuel tank, a second fuel tank draw port (110) adapted to be coupled to the second fuel tank, and an engine draw port (112) adapted to be coupled to the engine. The fuel selector valve (100) further includes a first closure element (120) operably coupled to the drive system (106). The first closure element (120) is selectively displaceable between a first position, wherein the first closure element (120) sealingly engages the first fuel tank draw port (108), and a second position, wherein the first closure element (120) sealingly engages the second fuel tank draw port (110).

Class 8 vehicles often include a fuel storage arrangement that utilizes multiple fuel tanks. Such an arrangement requires the use of a fuel selector valve to draw fuel from one or two tanks and return fuel to the tanks or an auxiliary tank. Although current fuel selector valves are effective, they are not without their problems. As a non-limiting example, current fuel selector valves include both a fuel draw valve portion and a fuel return valve portion, even though some engines require only the fuel draw valve portion. This leads to an increase in cost for the end user, as well as a waste of resources for the manufacturer.
Moreover, many fuel selector valves fail to sufficiently control the flow of fuel between the fuel selector valve and the fuel tanks, thereby leading to inefficiencies. For instance, many fuel selector valves allow unwanted siphoning due to vehicle attitude. Moreover, the design of the fuel selector valve often causes valve components to wear over time, leading to leakage and failure.
The present application depicts at least one embodiment of a low cost, reliable, efficient fuel selector valve.


The invention provides a method of preparing an aqueous dispersion of polymer encapsulated particulate material, the method comprising:    providing a dispersion of the particulate material in a continuous aqueous phase, the dispersion comprising RAFT agent as a stabiliser for the particulate material; and    polymerising ethylenically unsaturated monomer under the control of the RAFT agent to form polymer at the surface of the dispersed particulate material, thereby providing the aqueous dispersion of polymer encapsulated particulate material;    wherein polymerisation of the ethylenically unsaturated monomer comprises:            (a) polymerising a monomer composition that includes ionisable ethylenically unsaturated monomer so as to form a base responsive water swellable RAFT polymer layer that encapsulates the particulate material; and        (b) polymerising a monomer composition that includes non-ionisable ethylenically unsaturated monomer so as to form an extensible, water and base permeable RAFT polymer layer that encapsulates the base responsive water swellable RAFT polymer layer.

Water swellable polymer particles are in general known and have numerous applications. Such particles may be used as a thickening agent for aqueous media, for example as a thickening agent in aqueous coating compositions.
Water swellable polymer particles can also be used as precursors in the formation of polymer particles comprising an internal void(s). Such particles are often referred to in the art as "vesiculated polymer particles", and these too can be employed in a diverse array of applications.
For example, vesiculated polymer particles can be employed as opacifiers in coating compositions such as paints. Opacifiers are important components of paints, having the primary function of scattering light incident on an applied paint film. How well a paint film is able to visually obliterate a surface over which it is applied is referred to as its opacity. Titanium dioxide pigment is traditionally used as the main opacifier in paint formulations and it, together with the polymeric binder of the formulation, are the two main contributors to paint formulation cost. In the formulation of low sheen and flat paints, mineral extender pigments such as calcite, clay or talc are often incorporated in paint formulations to reduce specula reflection down to the desired level.
With the aim of reducing cost, mineral extenders may be added to a paint formulation at such a level that there is insufficient polymeric binder to bind (space fill) all the pigment present. The term "critical pigment concentration" (CPVC) is often used to describe the point where complete space filling can no longer occur. The addition of mineral extender beyond the CPVC can therefore lead to the formation of air voids in the paint film as drying occurs. These voids scatter light in their own right and contribute to paint film opacity thereby allowing an opportunity to reduce the level of titanium dioxide and still achieve acceptable opacity or coverage. The accompanying formula cost saving, however, is at the expense of other paint film properties such as scrub resistance and stain resistance. In the case of stain resistance, the problem is that of stains penetrating into the voids in the film (film porosity).
Vesiculated polymer particles have been used in paint formulations to great effect by providing voids of air in paint films without the disadvantage of film porosity. In addition to providing means to reduce the amount of titanium dioxide required in paint, the use of vesiculated polymer particles can also have the benefit of reducing the amount of polymeric binder solids required to form a well integrated paint film.
Vesiculated polymer particles are often prepared in the form of an aqueous dispersion using suspension and emulsion polymerisation techniques. When in the form of an aqueous dispersion, the voids of the particles are typically filled with water. When such a dispersion is dried, for example as part of a paint formulation applied as a film, the voids of the particles should become filled with air and thus enhance the opacifying properties of the particles.
One approach to preparing vesiculated polymer particles involves first preparing water swellable polymer particles having a core of water swellable polymer and an outer shell or sheath of water permeable and typically non-swellable polymer. The polymer particles are then swollen with water such that the core polymer expands in volume and the shell accommodates this expansion in volume by in essence stretching. The swollen polymer particles can then be dehydrated such that the volume occupied by the swollen core polymer is reduced (i.e. deswells) without a significant reduction in the volume of the stretched shell polymer to thereby afford an internal void within the particle.
Methods used to prepare vesiculated polymer particles in this way are often complex. A particular challenge in preparing the water swellable precursor polymer particles has been to gain sufficient control over the polymerisation process to consistently afford polymer particles having uniform morphology.
Attempts have been made to use conventional free radical polymerisation processes to form water swellable polymer particles that may be used to prepare vesiculated polymer particles. However, such processes are prone to forming polymer particles having a non-uniform shell encapsulating the core water swellable polymer, which can in turn result in rupture of the shell as the core polymer swells thereby resulting in the formation of defective vesiculated polymer particles.
For the efficiency and reliability of products comprising water swellable polymer particles or vesiculated polymer particles formed therefrom, it is generally desirable that the particles are produced with a substantially uniform structure relatively controlled in reproducible manner.
Accordingly, there remains scope for improving on the prior art techniques for preparing water swellable polymer particles that are suitable for use in preparing vesiculated polymer particles, or at the very least to provide an alternative method for preparing such particles. It would also be advantageous to provide water swellable polymer particles with further functionality.

Water swellable polymer materials comprising particulate core and water swellable R.A.F.T polymer shell


It is difficult to effectively manage an electronic calendar that is shared by a group of people such as family members. This is achieved by enabling users to send messages to an electronic calendar apparatus. The messages are received and stored at the apparatus and may be viewed by a user such as a mother of a family. A graphical user interface at the calendar apparatus provides a calendar and a message receiver region. A user is able to edit the calendar using information from the messages and in some examples may move or copy message indicators into the calendar from the message receiver region. In some examples, the calendar may only be edited by user input received directly at the calendar apparatus rather than from a remote location. The calendar apparatus may be provided in a protective housing to enable the apparatus to be used in a domestic kitchen.

Scheduling and remembering appointments for a group of people such as constitute a family can be difficult. Co-ordination of activities of different individuals is a complex task that entails planning, rescheduling, cross-referring and then replanning as well as delicate skills of diplomacy. As a consequence 'family calendaring', to coin a verb, has a number of particular properties. First, it is mainly carried out by one family member, most often the mother. This person has the difficult and delicate task of representing the doings of numerous other members of the family so as to make those doings visible to all whilst being responsible for this task herself, alone. Second, and relatedly, where calendars are located, and further, where most of the interaction with them is undertaken, tends to be in one particular place. This place is not merely contingent on where a family resides, but is selected because the location is one that ensures maximum visibility of the calendar to all those affected by it. Furthermore, the location is chosen so that when changes are made, by the mother for example, the acts of making these changes are more likely to be seen by those affected. Finally, the location is chosen so as to ensure that the calendar is juxtaposed to other material artefacts, letters, notices, scribbled notes, etc, that are at various times relevant. As a consequence, most family calendars are paper-based, and displayed or hung in family kitchens.
Family calendars, then, have particular properties, related to what they are used for, who they are used by and where they are located. This creates various deficiencies and problems. Most obviously, family calendars are difficult to access from the many locations that different family members may find themselves during the day. For example, if a child of the family is at a sports session with their mother and finds out important information about a change of time for the next session, that child or their mother is unable to immediately add that information to the calendar. By the time they reach home the new time for the next session may well be forgotten. Some families use multiple paper and digital calendars to avoid this problem but this leads to problems in synchronizing information between those calendars. Further, the need to cross reference items on a family calendar to other materials—notes, letters, as mentioned—means that understanding the implications of a new calendar event when remote for the main calendar is not always possible or ideal. Finally, the act of making such changes may be less visible to those affected if those individuals are not the ones making the changes.
Various attempts have been made to help ease these and other difficulties. Web-based digital family calendars are available, for example, whereby family members are able to access and edit a shared calendar using a web-browser from different locations, such as at the office, in the home and at school. But these have their own set of problems. First, nearly all such calendars require qwerty keyboard data entry and WIMP interface devices; in other words they assume that wherever family members might be, and irrespective of what family members might be doing, they will have access to the appropriate input devices. As the example of a child and his mother attending a sports session above indicates, this cannot be guaranteed. Indeed, this is precisely the main problem of such web-based solutions: they presume uniformity of input.
This is not the only problem these web-based systems suffer from. A further one, also made clear in the sports event example, is that they suffer from the fact that remote decision making is often based on deficient levels of information, much of that which is relevant to the calendar being displayed alongside it in the home setting. This information, often but not always paper-based, is not visible remotely.
A further problem with remote calendaring systems is related to the need to ensure that when changes are made those changes are made visible to those effected.
If these are problems that web-based systems have when considered from the remote users point of view, they also provide difficulties locally, at home. If remote users find qwerty-wimp interface devices difficult to access, then it is also the case that such devices are inappropriate in the primary domain, such as in a kitchen. Here, users may find it undesirable to use a keyboard and mouse, having foodstuffs on their fingers; kitchens may also be unsuitable places for keyboards and mouse anyway with flecks of flour, bread, and greasy material likely to suffuse and render inoperative keyboards and mouse.
Some attempts have been made to deal with these various problems. The most successful to date have entailed the use of stylus-based tablets with bespoke calendaring applications that allow remote viewing and editing.
Nevertheless, the difficulty of providing an ideal solution to the family calendaring problem and, in particular, problems such as related to mode of interaction remotely and distinguishing it from that possible locally, are not completely solved by these solutions. A number of additional solutions have been offered, and these focus in particular on the problem of the remote mode of interaction. The most common entail web-based access to calendars over mobile phones, whereby data entry is enabled through the use of 'one-handed' input techniques. These combine data entry on non-qwerty keyboards with soft button data entry (i.e. buttons that change function dependent upon task) and navigation through predefined screens enabled by interaction with what might be described as the mobile phone analogue to the PC mouse, namely the 'navi-key'. Despite their functionality, these designs universally suffer from very poor usability, however. Users find them complex and slow; they also find errors easy to make and corrections difficult to impose. The result is that most users avoid trying to access and interact with their calendars in this way.
It is known to use a tablet personal computer (PC) in place of a family paper wall-calendar. In this way a digital family calendar is provided which is inkable in that family members are able to edit it using electronic ink. Using a graphical user interface, a calendar display is presented on the tablet PC. With a tablet PC stylus a user is able to hand-write in electronic ink on the calendar to make, delete or edit entries. Multiple client computers may be arranged to provide the calendar display using a remote server to synchronize the calendars. It is also known to make this type of calendar accessible via a web-browser to enable family members to view and edit the calendar from different locations via the Internet. A tracking component is provided with the calendar to track changes and present a change history to enable family members to tell what changes have been made by other members.

Electronic calendar with message receiver


Aqueous ink jet ink compositions can be used for ink jet printing colored or invisible images on receiver elements. These compositions contain a polymeric agent comprising core-shell polymeric particles. The core of the particles comprises a hydrophobic polymer having an acid number less than 10. The shell of the particles comprises a hydrophilic polymer having an acid number of at least 70. The weight ratio of the core to the shell is at least 50:50 and up to and including 90:10. Such compositions can be used in various ink jet printing systems including drop on demand and continuous ink jet printing systems.

Ink jet printing is a non-impact method for producing printed images by the deposition of ink drops in a pixel-by-pixel manner to an image-recording receiver element in response to digital signals.
There are various methods that can be utilized to control the deposition of ink drops on the receiver element to yield the desired ink jet printed image. Ink jet printing systems are generally of two types: drop-on-demand (DOD) printing systems and continuous ink jet (CIJ) printing systems. For DOD printing systems, individual drops are projected as needed onto the receiver element. Common methods of controlling the ejection of ink drops in DOD printing include thermal bubble formations (thermal inkjet or TIJ) and piezoelectric transducers. The direction of the stream of droplets is controlled electronically in causing the droplets to print the desired image or information on the substrate surface without requiring contact between the printing device and the surface to which the ink is applied. Ink jet printers have found broad applications across markets ranging from desktop document and photographic-quality imaging, to short run printing and industrial labeling. Objects, comprising substrates to which ink jet printing is well suited include but are not limited to, containers for consumer products, currency, draft checks, envelopes, letterhead, identification cards, lottery tickets, bank cards, identification strips, labels, and other well known materials.
Drop-on-demand printing systems are widely used in home or consumer ink jet printers and slower commercial printers, both of which have been available for several decades. As the name implies, this type of ink jet printing uses a print head that ejects drops of ink only when signaled to do so by a digital controller.
CIJ printing systems generally comprise two main components, a fluid system (including an ink reservoir) and one or more print heads. Ink can be pumped through a supply line from the ink reservoir to a manifold that distributes the ink to a plurality of orifices, typically arranged in linear array(s), under sufficient pressure to cause ink streams to issue from the orifices of the print head(s). Stimulations can be applied to the print head(s) to cause those ink streams to form streams of uniformly sized and spaced drop, which are deflected in a suitable manner, into printing or non-printing paths. Non-printing drops are returned to the ink reservoir using a drop catcher and a return line. Thus, in contrast to DOD printing systems, CIJ printing systems involves use of a continuous stream of ink drops that are separated to discriminate between printing drops and non-printing drops. This discrimination can be accomplished by electrostatically charging the drops and passing the charged drops through an electric field. Charged drops are deflected by a charge field and can be caught and returned to the reservoir of ink. Uncharged drops are printed on a substrate or receiver material. Some useful CIJ printing apparatus and print head fabrication are described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 6,588,888 (Jeanmaire et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,943,037 (Anagnostopoulos et al.).
More recent innovations in CIJ printing systems include the use of silicon print head nozzles with heaters built into them. These print head nozzles respond to an electronic signal and change the physical characteristics of drops being ejected. Heated drops "catch up" in velocity with non-heated drops in the emission space. Multiple drops can combine to form a "printed drop" that is printed onto the substrate or receiver material. Single drops can be caught by an air stream and returned to the ink reservoir for use a future use.
Commercially available CIJ inks are mostly aqueous dye-based inks that exhibit a number of problems. In such dye-based inks, no particles are observable under the microscope. Although there have been many recent advances in the art of dye-based ink jet inks, such inks still suffer from deficiencies such as low optical densities on coated glossy paper and poor light-fastness. When water is used as the carrier, such inks also generally suffer from poor water fastness and poor smear resistance.
Colored pigment-based inks have been proposed as a means of addressing limitations of dye based inks. In pigment-based inks, the colorant exists as discrete particles. Pigment dispersions known in the art include self-dispersing pigment dispersions, dispersant stabilized pigment dispersions and encapsulated pigment dispersions. For non-self-dispersive pigments, the pigment particles are usually treated with addenda known as dispersants or stabilizers that serve to keep the pigment particles from agglomerating or settling out. Useful pigment-based inks for CIJ printing systems are described for example in U.S. Patent Application Publications 2010/0304028 (Sowinski et al.) and 2011/0122180 (Cook et al.).
In general, such pigment-based inks can comprise a wide variety of colored pigments that can be chosen depending upon the specific application and performance requirements for the printing system and desired printing results. For example, such pigments can include but are not limited to, carbon black or other black pigments, red pigments, green pigments, blue pigments, orange pigments, violet pigments, magenta pigments, yellow pigments, and cyan pigments. The printed images using such pigment-based inks are generally desired to have a visual density of at least 0.5.
Colorless or invisible aqueous ink jet printer ink compositions containing various fluorescing pigments, and optionally colored non-fluorescing pigments, are described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,349,211 (Cai et al.) and in copending and commonly assigned U.S. Ser. No. 13/769,504 (filed Feb. 18, 2013 by Cook).
Ink jet printer ink compositions containing colorants or invisible components can be classified as either pigment-based, in which the colorant or invisible components exist a pigment particles suspended in the composition, or as dye-based in which the colorant or invisible component exists as a fully solvated dye species comprising one or more dye molecules.
A pigment is generally more desirable because it is more resistant to fading than a dye. However, pigments have a number of drawbacks. Pigments must be physically milled to produce particles of desired small size to provide sufficient colloidal stability to the particles. If the pigments particles are too large, resulting light scattering can have a detrimental effect on optical density and gloss in the resulting printed image.
A second drawback of pigmented ink compositions is their durability after printing on the receiver elements, especially under conditions where abrasive forces have been applied to the printed images. Furthermore, the printed images on the receiver elements are susceptible to defects at short time intervals, from immediately after printing to several minutes while the ink jet printer ink compositions are drying. In addition, the durability of the dried printed images is also subject to environmental factors such as temperature and humidity that, under certain circumstances, can degrade image durability.
To solve these various problems, pigmented aqueous ink jet ink compositions have been formulated with various polymers, dispersants, and other addenda to provide durable images that can withstand post printing physical abuse and environmental conditions. For example, such compositions have been formulated with various acrylic polymers, polyurethane, or mixtures thereof as described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 8,187,371 (Brust et al.). The described polyurethanes have an acid number of from 60 to about 130. Similar compositions are described in U.S. Patent Application Publication 2008/0207811 (Brust et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 8,192,008 (Brust et al.). Polyurethane/urea polymers are described as additives in U.S. Patent Application Publications 2009/0169748 (House et al.), 2009/0169749 (Brust et al.), and 2012/0050380 (Falkner et al).
While the noted aqueous ink jet ink compositions provide improvements in ink jet printed images, when the polyurethane has a high acid number, it can absorb too much moisture in high humidity environments. Yet, if the acid number is too low, ink jetting becomes poor such that it is non-uniform and unacceptable at high jetting speeds.
Thus, there is a need for a polymeric additive for aqueous ink jet ink compositions that have the desired durability once ink jet printed onto various receiver elements, but which also are ink jettable in a uniform and high speed manner.

Aqueous ink jet ink compositions and uses


A polypropylene film comprising 70-90 wt. % polymer (a), 2-10 wt. % polymer (b), 2-10 wt. % polymer (c) and 3-20 wt. % polymer (d) and having a haze of 8-30% (wherein the polymer (a) is a block copolymer prepared by producing a polymer part (component a1) by polymerizing in a first step monomers composed mainly of propylene in the absence of an inert solvent and producing an ethylene/propylene copolymer part (component a2) in a second step by polymerization subsequently carried out in a gas phase; the polymer (b) is an ethylene-based polymer having a density of 0.91-0.97 g/cm3 and a melt flow rate of 5-30 g/10 min; the polymer (c) is an ethylene/α-olefin random copolymer having a density of 0.86-0.90 g/cm3 and a melt flow rate of 0.3-5 g/10 min; and the polymer (d) comprises two or more propylene-based polymers different in molecular weight from each other).

As a conventional sealant film for retort package in which retort sterilization is carried out at a high temperature of 120° C. to 135° C., a non-oriented film (hereinafter, also referred to as "CPP") the main ingredient of which is propylene/ethylene block copolymer has been used. It has been used mainly as a packaging bag after laminating it with an ethylene terephthalate oriented film (hereinafter, also referred to as "PET"), a nylon oriented film (hereinafter, also referred to as "ON") and an aluminum foil (hereinafter, also referred to as "Al foil"), thereby making a laminated material having a structure of PET/ON/Al foil/CPP, PET/Al foil/ON/CPP or PET/Al foil/CPP. In any of these retort bags, in order to preserve foods, which are contained substances, at room temperature for a long term, gas barrier properties (such as oxygen barrier property and water vapor barrier property) and a shading property together with a thermal resistance sufficient enough for bearing a high temperature at the time of sterilization have been required, and therefore, an Al foil has been used.
However, in a retort bag using an Al foil, there are defects that metal foreign matters entrapped into foods cannot be examined after charging the foods, that it cannot be cooked in a microwave oven, and that foods contained in the bag cannot be seen. Recently retort bags free from an Al foil have been desired, and barrier films, such as a film made by depositing silica onto PET or ON or a film made by coating an acrylic barrier agent, have been developed. Properties required for sealant films to be laminated with such metal-free barrier films include a content visibility, concretely, a transparency represented by haze value (a degree of scattering of transmitted light) and a see-through property. It is also important that a phenomenon in which a white trace remains at a portion having been bent or having received an impact (so-called, white crease by folding).
Conventional sealant films for retort package are laminated with opaque Al foil and therefore importance has not been attached to their transparency. They therefore were developed mainly aiming at improvement in low-temperature impact resistance, heat sealability and blocking resistance, etc. There therefore is no sealant film good in transparency and capable of being used satisfactorily as a usual retort packaging bag. For example, JP-A-2000-186159 and JP-A-2003-96251 disclose sealant films for retort food packaging excellent in low-temperature impact resistance, heat sealability and blocking resistance. The films in JP-A-2000-186159, however, have a haze value (: haze) of 45% or more, and the film of Example 1 of JP-A-2003-96251 has a haze value of 53%. Thus, both are poor in transparency. While a film good in transparency having a haze of 20% is disclosed in Comparative Example 2 of JP-A-2003-96251, the blocking resistance of the film is not good, and it cannot be used as a sealant film for retort package.
It could be advantageous to provide a polypropylene film which is good in transparency and see-through property and is free from the problem of white crease by folding, and which is suitable for use in ordinary retort applications as a packaging bag or a sealant for packaging bags, and has all of low-temperature impact resistance, heat sealability and blocking resistance, and a laminated material thereof.

Polypropylene film and laminated material thereof


An integrated circuit has a semiconductor die with a substrate and at least first and second bond pads. An internal circuit is fabricated on the semiconductor die and connected to the first bond pad. An electrostatic discharge protection circuit including cascaded bipolar transistors is connected in series with a field effect transistor between the first and second bond pads. In another version, an output buffer of the integrated circuit is divided into sections. An electrostatic discharge protection circuit is triggerable in response to a voltage in the substrate. Resistive connections are provided from the sections of the output buffer to one of the bond pads. The output buffer is operative upon an electrostatic discharge event to inject sufficient charge into the substrate to produce the voltage to trigger the electrostatic discharge protection circuit. Other circuits, devices, systems and methods are also disclosed.

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuitry is an essential part of modern integrated circuits. Extremely small delicate device structures are very sensitive to the high voltages which may be generated by contact with the electrostatic charge developed by the human body. During installation of integrated circuits into products, these electrostatic discharges may destroy integrated circuits (ICs) and thus require expensive and tedious repairs on fully manufactured devices which could have been avoided by providing a mechanism for dissipation of the electrostatic discharge to which the IC may be subjected. This problem is particularly acute in complementary metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (CMOS) type integrated circuits. In high density CMOS devices, an extremely high voltage may be developed by electrostatic discharge which easily destroys the very thin gate oxides and very short channel devices of the integrated circuit.
To protect against these overvoltage conditions it has been proposed that a silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) structure compatible with CMOS processing be utilized. One such structure is shown in coassigned application Ser. No. 213,499, filed Jun. 27, 1988. Other SCR structures are shown in coassigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,896,243 and 4,939,616.
ESD protection for MOS output buffers has typically relied on a parasitic lateral bipolar transistor of the MOS devices. When the voltage reaches the breakdown voltage of the devices, the lateral transistors should turn on and clamp the pad voltage at a sufficiently low voltage to protect the output buffer. The devices typically have a snap-back characteristic during breakdown. The parasitic transistor triggers at a high voltage and snaps-back to a lower voltage to clamp the pad voltage. However, a portion of the MOS device can trigger and snap-back to a lower voltage and conduct all of the current. When this happens, this part can be destroyed before the voltage rises high enough to trigger the rest of the device. This is especially a problem for devices with low resistance substrates, since the substrate is the base of the parasitic lateral transistors and the base is difficult to forward bias if it is low resistance. Low resistance substrates are desirably used on CMOS circuits to prevent latchup of parasitic SCRs in normal operation, however. This conflicts with the use of SCRs for ESD protection.
Because of the importance of ESD protection, it is desirable to improve and provide alternative ESD protection circuits. Desirable improvements include those which are particularly adaptable for CMOS circuits with low resistance substrates.

Method of forming an electrostatic discharge protection circuit


An image forming apparatus includes a first image carrying belt, a second image carrying belt, a first transfer unit, a second transfer unit, a fixing unit, and a controller. Each of the first and second image carrying belt carries a toner image on their respective surface. The first and second transfer unit transfer the toner image from the respective first and second image carrying belt to a first and second face of a recording medium, respectively. The fixing unit receives the recording medium directly from the second image carrying belt and fixes the toner image on the respective first and second face of the recording medium. The controller variably controls a transport speed of the second image carrying belt depending on types of the recording medium when the second image carrying belt transports the recording medium from the second transfer unit to the fixing unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure generally relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copier, facsimile, and printer, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus, which can produce images on a recording medium with a one-path system.
2. Discussion of the Background
In general, an image forming apparatus can use methods such as a switch-back system and one-path system to produce images on both faces of a recording medium such as a transfer sheet.
In case of the switch-back system, the recording medium is passed through a transfer unit and then a fixing unit to record an image on one face of the recording medium, and then the recording medium is transported to a sheet inverting route to invert faces of the recording medium. Then, the recording medium is switch-backed to the transfer unit and the fixing unit to record an image on the other face of the recording medium.
In case of the one-path system, a double-side transfer mechanism transfers images to both faces of the recording medium and then the recording medium is passed through a fixing unit. Therefore, images can be recorded on both faces of the recording medium without switch-backing the recording medium.
Accordingly, the one-path system can avoid the following aspects associated with the switch-back system; a cost increase due to providing a switch-back mechanism; a longer time for image forming due to the switch-back process; a sheet jamming which might occur by switch-backing the recording medium curled by heating of a fixing unit, as examples.
However, in the one-path system, a disturbance may occur on images when transporting a recording medium from the double-side transfer mechanism to the fixing unit.
In general, a sheet transporting unit is provided between the double-side transfer mechanism and fixing unit in an image forming apparatus employing the one-path system to transport the recording medium having unfixed images on its both faces. When such a recording medium is transported from the double-side transfer mechanism to the fixing unit in the one-path system, the recording medium may be scratched by components of the sheet transporting unit because one face of the recording medium having un-fixed toner image contacts such component. With such a scratching, the un-fixed toner image on the recording medium may be disturbed.
If a toner image is transferred only to one face of the recording medium (e.g., transfer sheet), a disturbance of an un-fixed toner image can be prevented by contacting a face of the recording medium having no toner image to the component of the sheet transporting unit. Such a configuration can be designed by modifying a design layout in an image forming apparatus.
However, if toner images are transferred to both faces of the recording medium (e.g., transfer sheet), one face of the recording medium having toner image contacts the component of the sheet transporting unit, thereby a disturbance on images may occur when transporting the recording medium from the double-side transfer mechanism to the fixing unit.
In one related art, a spur, having a plurality of projections on its peripheral circumference, is provided between a double-side transfer mechanism and a fixing unit in an image forming apparatus, wherein the double-side transfer mechanism can transfer toner images to both faces a recording medium (e.g., transfer sheet), and the spur can be rotated by a driving unit.
With such a configuration, the recording medium (e.g., transfer sheet) can be guided (i.e., transported) from the double-side transfer mechanism to the fixing unit in the image forming apparatus.
The spur can support the recording medium by projections from the underside of the recording medium. With a rotation of the spur, the recording medium can be guided (i.e., transported) from the double-side transfer mechanism to the fixing unit with being supported by the spur from the underside face of the recording medium. However, the spur has projections that stick the recording medium. Thereby, un-fixed toner images on the recording medium may be disturbed, particularly if the projections of the spur have a sharp profile.
In another related image forming apparatus, a recording medium is transported from a double-side transfer mechanism to a fixing unit by interposing a transport belt between the double-side transfer mechanism and the fixing unit, wherein the double-side transfer mechanism transfers toner images to both faces of the recording medium.
Such a transport belt can be an endless type belt, which is extended by a plurality of rollers. The transport belt receives the recording medium from an intermediate transfer belt of the double-side transfer mechanism, and guides (i.e., transports) the recording medium toward the fixing unit. Specifically, a front edge of the recording medium is guided (i.e., transported) to the fixing unit by the transport belt.
In such an image forming apparatus, the transport belt and the intermediate transfer belt of the double-side transfer mechanism can be driven with a same speed, thereby the recording medium can be guided (i.e., transported) from the intermediate transfer belt to the transport belt with a same speed, by which scratching of image on the recording medium can be suppressed when the recording medium is transported from the intermediate transfer belt to the transport belt.
With such a configuration, disturbance of un-fixed toner image on the recording medium can be suppressed.
However, even in such an image forming apparatus, a counteraction may occur between the intermediate transfer belt and the transport belt when the recording medium is received by the transport belt from the intermediate transfer belt.
Although the intermediate transfer belt and transport belt can be driven at a same speed, the intermediate transfer belt and transport belt have a gap therebetween, and thereby the recording medium may receive some counteraction force when the transport belt receives the recording medium from the intermediate transfer belt.
With such counteraction force at the gap, the recording medium may be scratched by the transport belt, thereby disturbance may occur on un-fixed toner images on the recording medium.
In case of an image forming apparatus for printing a color image with higher speed on both faces of the recording medium, such disturbance of un-fixed toner images on the recording medium may occur to a greater degree.
In such an image forming apparatus for printing color image with higher speed, two tandem configurations are provided for a double-side transfer mechanism to produce an image on both faces of a recording medium. Specifically, one tandem configuration includes a first intermediate transfer belt and a first group of photosensitive members (e.g., four photosensitive members) to form toner images on the first intermediate transfer belt and then on one face of the recording medium. The other tandem configuration includes a second intermediate transfer belt and a second group of photosensitive members (e.g., four photosensitive members) to form toner images on the second intermediate transfer belt and then on another face of the recording medium.
Four photosensitive members in each of the first and second group of photosensitive members are used to form yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) toner images. Such four photosensitive members serving as image carrying members are arranged in a parallel manner (i.e., tandem manner). Such a configuration can be used to produce a toner image on each face of the recording medium.
The Y, M, C, and K toner image formed on the photosensitive members of the first group are super-imposingly transferred to the first intermediate transfer belt, and then transferred to one face of the recording medium to produce a full-color toner image on one face of the recording medium. Similarly, the Y, M, C, and K toner image formed on the photosensitive members of the second group are super-imposingly transferred to the second intermediate transfer belt, and then transferred to the other face of the recording medium to produce a full-color toner image on the other face of the recording medium.
In such an image forming apparatus used for printing color image with higher speed, a full-color toner image can be transferred to both faces the recording medium while transporting the recording medium with higher speed.
However, because of such higher speed for transporting the recording medium, the recording medium may receive a relatively greater counteraction when the recording medium is transported from the intermediate transfer belt to the transport belt.
With such counteraction, the recording medium may be scratched by the transport belt, or sheet jamming may occur between the intermediate transfer belt and the transport belt.

Image forming apparatus for higher speed printing


Phase shift masks include axially spaced apart first and second radiation blocking layer patterns and a phase shifting layer pattern between the first and second radiation blocking layer patterns, on a phase shift mask substrate. The first and second axially spaced part radiation blocking layers can define narrow areas of the phase shifting layers so that patterns having fine linewidths and improved resolution can be formed on integrated circuits. Phase shifting masks can be fabricated by forming a first radiation blocking layer pattern on a phase shift mask, blanket forming a phase shifting layer and a second radiation blocking layer, patterning the second radiation blocking layer and patterning the phase shifting layer.

As integration densities of integrated circuit devices continue to increase, it may become increasingly difficult to fabricate fine linewidths using conventional photomasks. Photomasks are conventionally used to expose photoresists according to a predetermined pattern. The photoresist is used to pattern an underlying layer such as a semiconductor substrate, or a conductive or insulating layer. Conventional photomasks may be limited in defining fine linewidths for highly integrated devices. Accordingly, phase shift masks are being used as an alternative for increasing integration density.
In contrast with a conventional transparent photomask, the phase shift mask operates on the principle that radiation such as light having different phases can interfere. For example, if radiation such as light from a light source passes through adjacent slits, the light emerging from the slits has different phases that can mutually interfere. When the value of the phase difference satisfies a predetermined criteria, mutual destructive interference can occur between the light. A photomask using this interference principle is generally referred to as a "phase shift mask".
Phase shift masks can therefore offer increased resolution and improved depth of focus compared to conventional photomasks. Thus, very fine patterns can be formed compared to conventional photomasks. Phase shift masks are especially useful in forming repeated line-space patterns where phase shifts of 180.degree. between adjacent apertures can produce cancellation of light.
A major type of phase shift mask currently being used is referred to as a "Levenson" mask. The Levenson phase shift mask is described in a publication entitled "Optical/Laser Microlithography VIII", SPIE Proceedings, Volume 2440, Feb. 22-24, 1995, pp. 34-36, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,829, issued Oct. 25, 1994 to Garafalo et al., entitled "Phase-Shifting Lithographic Masks With Improved Resolution", the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. There are generally two fabrication methods for Levenson phase shift masks. The first involves etching of a substrate and the second forms a phase shifting layer on a substrate.
In the first method, a photomask substrate such as a quartz substrate is etched in a predetermined pattern. Thus, phase differences are generated based on the principle that incident light which passes through the etched and unetched portions of the photomask substrate will have different path lengths and therefore will have different phases.
In phase shift masks which are fabricated by forming a phase shifting layer on a substrate, a spin-on-glass (SOG) layer is generally coated on a photomask substrate and then patterned, thereby exposing predetermined portions of the substrate. This type of phase shift mask is also referred to as an SOG-coated phase shift mask. Phase differences are created by radiation passing through the portion of the substrate which includes the patterned SOG coating relative to the exposed portions of the substrate.
Although phase shift masks which include phase shifting layer patterns can form finer linewidths than conventional masks, there continues to be a need for forming ever-finer linewidths due to the ever-increasing integration density of microelectronic devices.
Referring now to FIGS. 1A-1C, a method for fabricating a conventional SOG-coated phase shift mask will now be described so as to illustrate problems which are encountered with conventional phase shift masks. In particular, as shown in FIG. 1A, a radiation blocking layer pattern 15 is formed on a phase shift mask substrate 10. The radiation blocking layer pattern 15 defines a predetermined portion h of the phase shift mask substrate. The radiation blocking layer pattern may be formed by blanket depositing a radiation blocking layer such as chrome (Cr) on the substrate 10. A photoresist pattern is then formed to expose a predetermined portion of the radiation blocking layer by coating a photoresist on the radiation blocking layer and patterning the coated photoresist. The radiation blocking layer is then patterned by removing a predetermined portion thereof using the photoresist pattern as an etch mask. Then, the photoresist remaining on the radiation blocking layer 15 is removed.
Referring now to FIG. 1B, a phase shifting layer 20 is formed on the substrate 10 including on the radiation blocking film pattern 15 and on the substrate between the radiation blocking film pattern 15.
As shown in FIG. 1C, a phase shifting layer pattern 20a is formed from the phase shifting layer 20, to thereby define the substrate into phase shifting layer-coated areas and phase shift layer-free exposed areas. Phase shifting layer 20 may be patterned by coating a photoresist on the phase shifting layer 20, patterning the photoresist, patterning the phase shifting layer 20 using the patterned photoresist as a mask and then removing the remaining photoresist from phase shifting layer pattern 20a.
Although phase shift masks as described in connection with FIGS. 1A-1C can provide improved photomasks relative to conventional photomasks, it may be desirable to form even finer patterns for integrated circuits than can be formed with the above-described phase shift masks.

Phase shift masks including first and second radiation blocking layer patterns, and methods of fabricating and using the same


A system for sensing the load on a load supporting beam of a vehicle. The system comprises an elongate sensor beam and means for releasably securing a pair of opposite end sections of the sensor beam to a load supporting beam of a vehicle. The sensor beam is secured to the load supporting beam so that a longitudinal axis of the load sensor beam is aligned with a longitudinal axis of the load supporting beam. A plurality of strain gauges are attached to a central section of the load sensor beam. The strain gauges are connected so that each of them can transmit an output signal processor.

The present invention relates to load measuring systems, and more particularly, to a system which employs strain gauges on truck axles to measure the load carried by the truck.
In order to maximize profits, drivers of trucks hauling loads on weight regulated highways try to load their trucks so that they are carrying as much as legally permissible. If a truck is overloaded, the driver runs the risk of being fined. The reason that such fines are imposed is that overloaded trucks are a safety hazard and damage the highways.
In order to enable drivers to weigh the loads on their trucks at remote locations without using large platform scales, on-board vehicle weighing systems have been developed. U.S. Pat. No. 3,854,540 of Helmstrom, Jr. discloses a weighing system including strain gauges and transducers for measuring the weight carried by the fifth wheel of a tractor trailer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,020,911 of English, et al. disclose another arrangement of two compression sensitive strain gauges and two tension sensitive strain gauges connected in a Wheatstone bridge circuit on the beam of a truck chassis or trailer chassis. U.S. Pat. No. 4,042,049 of Reichow, et al. discloses a load measuring system for a tandem-wheel tractor truck in which deflections of the load equalizing beams and a front axle are sensed by a load cell transducer mounted on each beam and on the axle. A load indicator provides a visual indication of front and rear wheel axle loading with respect to a preset maximum load point. U.S. Pat. No. 4,102,031 of Reichow, et al is based on a division of the same application that resulted in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,042,049. It claims the method of installing a transducer on a structural member. A spacer is detachably secured to a pair of mounting pads and the pads are welded to the structural member. The spacer is then detached and the transducer is attached to the pads. U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,754 of Hagedorn, et al. discloses a load measuring system for leaf spring suspensions. Four spaced apart strain gauges are mounted on the upper surface of the spring beneath the axle clamp, equi-distant from the center of the spring.
Prior on-board load measuring systems for trucks have located the strain gage sensors in the high stress areas of the load beam cap in order to produce the highest output from the sensors. This can lead to premature failure of the beam. Furthermore, installation of the strain gage sensors is tedious and they cannot be readily repaired or replaced. As shown in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,102,031 of Reichow, et al, it has been conventional to bolt the sensors to metal mounting pads which are welded to the beam cap. The heat transfer coefficient of the pads has been significantly different than that of the load beam which has contributed to inaccuracy in the measured weight. Also, prior on-board vehicle load measuring systems have generally required field calibration utilizing known weight changes.


A process is provided for drawing low-boiling volatile components, such as 2-methylbutane, 2,3-dimethylbutane and pentane, out of fuel in a fuel tank of a passenger car or utility vehicle by applying a vacuum to the fuel tank by means of a diaphragm pump; suctioning off the low-boiling volatile components and condensing the low-boiling volatile components under a pressure that is greater than 1.0 bar. The low-boiling volatile components may be stored in a storage tank and used as engine fuel during cold start of the engine or used as a reducing agent for nitrogen oxides in the exhaust gas from the engine.

The invention relates to a process and apparatus for the fractionation of engine fuel on board a motor vehicle.
In motor vehicles having an internal-combustion engine, specific fractions of commercially available engine fuel are required for special uses. It is known, for example, that in vehicles with Otto engines the use of low-boiling fuel fractions in the cold-start phase lowers the hydrocarbon emissions.
It is an object of the invention to provide a process for separating a low-boiling fuel fraction from an engine fuel on board a motor vehicle, which requires only a small space and is lightweight. Furthermore, the required low-boiling fuel fraction must be available as early as at the start of the vehicle.
This object is achieved by the process according the invention, in which the fractionation of the fuel takes place by means of a gas delivery pump by vacuum evaporation with a subsequent pressure condensation. The process can be carried out at ambient temperatures, so that no additional feeding or removal of heat is required.
The separated low-boiling fuel fraction is particularly suitable for use as engine fuel which lowers the hydrocarbon emissions during the cold start phase of the engine.
Furthermore, the separated low-boiling fuel fraction can be utilized as a reducing agent for nitrogen oxides removal catalysts in the lean engine exhaust gas.
The fractionation of the fuel can take place from the fuel supply tank of the motor vehicle or from an additionally existing intermediate tank. In the latter case, the higher-boiling fraction remaining after the separation can be used as engine fuel in engine operating phases suitable for this purpose.
Because of the above-mentioned advantages, the process according to the invention is suitable for use in all mobile systems, such as passenger cars and utility vehicles.
The equipment-related expenditures for carrying out the process are low. Moreover, complex components, such as evaporators, are not required, so that the space and the weight can be kept low.
Lowest-boiling compounds, such as butane, which can be condensed during distillation only with very substantial cooling (<0.degree. C.), can be obtained by the process according to the invention at comparatively low expenditures.
Another important advantage of the process according to the invention lies in the fact that, because of the electric power available in the motor vehicle, the desired fuel fraction can be provided for the operation of the gas delivery pump immediately at the start of the engine. Thus, a supply tank for this fuel fraction is not necessary.
By constantly suctioning-off the gas phase from the fuel tank, evaporation losses are largely avoided. As a result, the hydrocarbon emissions from the fuel tank are lowered and the efficiency of the motor vehicle is increased.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Process for drawing volatile components out of fuel in a tank


A method of controlling and monitoring operation of a device is disclosed. The method includes communicating an authorization code via a management source to a processor having a memory. The processor is configured for regulating operation of the device, and is operatively connected to a keyless start arrangement configured to activate the device. The method additionally includes receiving the authorization code by the processor and storing the authorization code within the controller memory. Furthermore, the method includes entering an access code via a selective input, receiving the access code by the processor, and authorizing operation of the device if the access code matches the authorization code.

In private, as well as commercial sectors, there exists a well known need to use for a limited time, without actually purchasing, certain equipment. Such a need is typically serviced by companies that purchase the sought equipment with the intent to rent or charter such equipment to various users.
Representative equipment may include passenger vehicles, as well as earthmoving and construction equipment. In certain instances, a user of the rented equipment is required to pick-up and drop-off the equipment at a prescribed location. In certain other instances, the rental company may deliver the rented equipment to its customer's or user's job site, and collect/remove the equipment at some point after the authorized use is finished.
In a case of rental of larger construction equipment, such as excavators and loaders, the rental company often delivers the equipment a day or two prior to actual use by the customer, and may also remove the equipment a few days after the customer use is complete. Commonly, within the intervening timeframe, between the end of use and actual removal, the rental company has no direct control of the equipment. As a result, the rented equipment may be available for exploitation beyond the duration of authorized use, and, if the equipment registers additional operating hours, disputes between the renter and the owner may arise.

Method and a system for controlling and monitoring operation of a device