Disclosed are methods, systems, and computer-readable medium to perform operations including: generating, using a source wavelet and a current velocity model, modeled seismic data of the subterranean formation; applying a pre-condition to a seismic data residual calculated using the modeled seismic data and acquired seismic data from the subterranean formation; generating a velocity update using the source wavelet and the pre-conditioned seismic data residual; updating, using the velocity update, the current velocity model to generate an updated velocity model; determining that the current velocity model satisfies a predetermined condition; and responsively determining that the updated velocity model is the velocity model of the subterranean formation.

Seismic images are used to represent underground layers of rocks or a subsurface of a formation. These images are generally generated by sending probing elastic waves into the subsurface and measuring wave echoes that reflect different properties of the subsurface. One example property generated using seismic waves is a velocity model of the subsurface. Traditionally, velocity models have been built using a ray-tomography method. However, as the complexity of the subsurface increases, a more accurate method of velocity model building is needed.


An approach is provided for presenting soft reminders (e.g., reminders for notes with no triggering criteria). A reminder manager receives an input, from a user, for specifying a note. The note is not associated with triggering criteria. In response to the request, the reminder manager retrieves contextual information from a device associated with the user, and causes, at least in part, presentation of a reminder of the note based, at least in part, on the contextual information.

Service providers and device manufacturers are continually challenged to deliver value and convenience to consumers by, for example, providing compelling network services and advancing the underlying technologies. One area of interest has been the development of services and technologies for personal information management (e.g., calendaring, task management, goal planning, and the like). In particular, service providers and device manufacturers face significant technical challenges in adapting such personal information management services for organizing and planning the personal and social lives of users where events, goals, and plans are fluid, dynamic, and nebulous.

Method and apparatus for providing soft reminders


The invention is directed to biologically active lipophilic compositions comprising a biologically active covalently attached to, or encapsulated within, a lipid. Preferably, a biologically active agent is both covalently attached to a lipid and encapsulated within a lipid composition. Preferred lipid components include triglycerides and fatty acids. The resulting composition is preferably adapted for oral administration.

The small intestine is the primary site for the absorption of drugs administered orally. The most important element in the small intestine controlling absorption is the brush border membrane. It consists of a phospholipid bilayer into which polysaccharides and proteins are incorporated. This membrane creates absorption barriers to many polar drugs. A successful approach in the pharmaceutical industry has been to synthesize prodrugs with increasing membrane permeability by esterifying the charge functionalities. For example, the prodrug of 6-azauridine for the treatment of psoriasis and neoplastic disease is acetylated to form 2′,3′,5′-triacetyl-6-azauridine in order to enhance bioavailability (Bloch, A., "The Design of Biologically Active Nucleoside", Drug Design, Vol. IV, Chapter 8, Ariens, E J (Ed.), Academic Press, New York, 1973) (see also, Sinkula, AA, "Application of the Prodrug Approach to Antibiotics", Pro-drug as Novel Drug Delivery Systems, pp116–153, Higuchi, T. and Stella, V. (Eds.), ACS Symposium Series 14, American Cancer Society, Washington DC, 1975; Yalkowski, S H and Morozowich, W., Drug Design, Vol. 9, pp 121, Ariens, E J (Ed.), Academic Press, New York, 1980).
Pharmacokinetics measures the fate of drugs at the time of ingestion until elimination from the body. Bioavailability of a drug following an oral dosing is determined by its pharmacokinetics. At least three factors dictate the efficacy of a drug: 1) the degree of drug absorption through the GI tract; 2) the ease with which it becomes inactivated by the biotransformation mechanisms of the liver and 3) the rate of elimination from the body. The pharmaceutical industry usually focuses on drug formulation to increase drug efficacy by increasing drug absorption. Hence, in recent years, there has been an explosion of drug encapsulation technology. The basic premise of drug encapsulation is to improve drug delivery, lessen toxicity and improve efficacy.
The use of liposome technology as a drug delivery system has been a particularly active area of research. These lipid vesicles are generally neutral or zwitterionic lipids arranged into bilayers that entrap one (unilamellar) or more (multilamellar) spaces. In conventional liposomes, it is often difficult to entrap a high concentration of a drug. Further, in long-term storage, a drug entrapped within liposomes may leak. The cost of pharmaceutical grade phospholipids used in liposomes is also cost prohibitive. Thus, it is preferably for use in injectable formulations rather than for oral formulation (see M. Ostro, "Liposomes", Marcel Dekker, New York, 1983).
There remains a need in the art for cost-effective methods of improving drug efficacy and bioavailability and lessening drug toxicity.


An engine controller 21 discriminates defective conveyance of a sheet material 2 on the basis of information regarding the presence or absence of the sheet material 2 which is outputted from a TOP sensor 7 and an ejection sensor 17 (S202), discriminates to which one of a plurality of types of defective conveyance the defective conveyance relates, and transmits information regarding the defective conveyance to an image controller 23. If the information regarding the defective conveyance received from the engine controller 21 is information showing the occurrence of a feed delay jam, the image controller 23 transmits a jam clear command to cancel the feed delay jam to the engine controller 21.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
In an image forming apparatus which forms an image onto a sheet material, when the sheet material fed from a paper feed cassette or the like is conveyed in the image forming apparatus, there is a case where defective conveyance due to a paper jam, a slip of the sheet material, or the like (hereinafter, called a jam) occurs. When the jam occurs, since an image is not normally formed onto the sheet material, the operation of the image forming apparatus is stopped.
To restart the operation of the image forming apparatus in which the jam has occurred, it is necessary to remove the sheet material which becomes a cause of the jam and is staying in the image forming apparatus. However, to clear such a jam state, it is necessary for the user to open a cover provided for the image forming apparatus, remove the jammed sheet material, and thereafter, close the cover in a state where the sheet material does not stay in the image forming apparatus (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H02-182645). That is, since the cover provided for the image forming apparatus has been closed, it is regarded that the jammed sheet material in the image forming apparatus has been removed, and the operation of the image forming apparatus is restarted.
However, there is a case where it is not always necessary for the user to open the cover and remove paper in dependence on a type of jam.
For example, in the case where a paper feed roller to feed the sheet materials one by one from the paper feed cassette slips and cannot normally feed the sheet material and an abnormal state where the sheet material does not reach a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the sheet material after the elapse of a predetermined time from the start of the paper feed by the paper feed roller occurs (hereinafter, such an abnormal state is referred to as a feed delay jam), or the like, although the sheet material can be conveyed and ejected to the outside of the image forming apparatus even if the user does not bother to open and close the cover of the image forming apparatus, it is necessary for the user to bother to open and close the cover in order to clear the jam state.


A reverse fed single pole miniature ground fault circuit breaker includes a housing, a line termination on the lower portion of the housing, and a load termination on the upper portion of the housing. Separable contacts are disposed between the line termination and the load termination. A handle and operating mechanism form a manual mechanism for manually operating the separable contacts. The handle has an upper position in which the separable contacts are closed and a lower position in which the separable contacts are open. A ground fault circuit interruption trip circuit opens the separable contacts in response to predetermined ground fault current conditions and is powered through those separable contacts. In this manner, when a power source is electrically interconnected with the line termination on the lower portion of the housing, when the handle is in the upper position, and when there is none of the predetermined ground fault current conditions, the ground fault circuit interruption trip circuit receives power through the separable contacts.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to circuit breakers and, more particularly, to ground fault circuit breakers.
2. Background Information
Ground fault circuit breakers are generally old and well known in the art. Examples of ground fault circuit breakers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,260,676; and 5,293,522. Ground fault circuit breakers are used to protect people and electrical circuitry from damage due to an overcurrent condition, such as an overload condition, a relatively high level short circuit, or ground fault condition.
In small circuit breakers, commonly referred to as miniature circuit breakers, used for residential and light industrial applications, overcurrent protection is typically provided by a thermal-magnetic trip device. This trip device includes a bimetal which is heated and bends in response to a persistent overload condition. The bimetal, in turn, unlatches a spring powered operating mechanism which opens the separable contacts of the circuit breaker to interrupt current flow in the protected power system.
In one circuit breaker, the thermal characteristic responds, for example, to 30 A being drawn in a 15 A circuit. On the other hand, an armature, which is attracted by the sizable magnetic forces generated in a magnetic core by a short circuit also unlatches, or trips, the operating mechanism. As an example, the magnetic type actuation occurs when the hot line conductor becomes directly connected with ground or neutral, thereby bypassing the load.
In many applications, a miniature circuit breaker may provide ground fault protection. Typically, an electronic circuit detects leakage of current to ground and generates a ground fault trip signal. This trip signal energizes a trip solenoid, which unlatches the operating mechanism, often through deflection of the armature of the thermal-magnetic trip device.
Ground fault circuit breakers include both Class A (e.g., ground fault current of about 5 mA for people protection) and equipment protective devices (e.g., ground fault current of about 30 mA).
A common type of ground fault detection circuit is the dormant oscillator detector including first and second sensor coils. The line and neutral conductors of the protected circuit pass through the first sensor coil. The output of this coil is applied through a coupling capacitor to an operational amplifier followed by a window comparator having two reference values. A line-to-ground fault causes the magnitude of the amplified signal to exceed the magnitude of the reference values and, thus, generates a trip signal. At least the neutral conductor of the protected circuit passes through the second sensor coil. A neutral-to-ground fault couples the two detector coils which causes the amplifier to oscillate, thereby resulting in the generation of the trip signal. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,260,676; and 5,293,522, which are incorporated herein by reference.
Often, conventional circuit breakers are positioned to provide up and down movement of the circuit breaker handle as shown in FIG. 1. Normally, the line terminal is located at the top portion and the load terminal is located at the bottom portion of the circuit breaker.
Typically, local codes require that equipment provided by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) be configured such that the "ON" position of the circuit breaker handle is in the up direction and the "OFF" position of the circuit breaker handle is in the down direction. In that instance, for circuit breakers which do not provide ground fault protection, the line terminal is located at the top and the load terminal is located at the bottom of the circuit breaker.
Often, OEMs choose to wire their equipment from the bottom of the circuit breaker such that the non-ground fault protection circuit breaker provides a "line" terminal (actually its intended load terminal) and a "load" terminal (actually its intended line terminal) which are located at the bottom portion and top portion, respectively, of the breaker. This is easily accomplished by "reverse feeding" the non-ground fault circuit breaker from its intended load terminals as is shown in FIG. 2.
In conventional ground fault circuit breakers, the ground fault detection circuit is powered from the load side of the circuit breaker such that the ground fault detection circuit is not powered after the circuit breaker has detected a ground fault and, thus, has tripped. In this manner, the circuit breaker separable contacts are employed as a cut-off switch to remove power to the ground fault detection circuit and, thus, protect such detection circuit.
In the event that ground fault protection is to be retrofitted into an existing OEM product in which a non-ground fault circuit breaker had previously been "reverse fed" (see FIG. 2), the OEM must redirect the wiring (e.g., within the OEM product as shown in FIG. 3, or by providing an external enclosure for the ground fault circuit breaker). Accordingly, there is room for improvement.


A printing apparatus and a method for protecting information in a printing apparatus capable of performing a normal operation by restoring valid information even if abnormality occurs in a part of information stored in a non-volatile memory, are provided. This apparatus is equipped with electrically programmable and erasable first and second memory means. This apparatus writes predetermined first information, which the printing apparatus should store, and first check data capable of determining integrity of the first information into the first memory means, writes second information constituted by at least a part of the first information and second check data capable of determining integrity of the second information into the second memory means, reads out the first information and the first check data so as to determine the integrity of the first information, reads out the second information and the second check data so as to determine the integrity of the first information, and rewrites the first information stored in the first memory means and/or the second information stored in the second memory means in accordance with the determination result of the integrity of the first and second information.

The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and a method for protecting information in the printing apparatus and, more particularly, to a printing apparatus having a non-volatile memory and a method for protecting information in the printing apparatus.
In a conventional printing apparatus, operation modes for defining its operations, adjustment values for use of a printing apparatus in an optimal state, and printing apparatus maintenance information are occasionally written in a non-volatile memory. These pieces of information are read out, as needed, to perform print and maintenance operations. As a non-volatile memory, an electrically programmable and erasable memory such as an EEPROM is used because it is easy to handle.
When such a non-volatile memory is powered off during a data write operation, the contents of the write data are not ensured and become indefinite data.
A conventional printing apparatus does not presume power-off during data write access to a non-volatile memory. For this reason, even if abnormal data is read out, since it cannot be determined as abnormal, an operation based on the abnormal readout data might be executed, thus undesirably resulting in an operation error.

Printing apparatus and method for protecting information in printing apparatus


A method for determining the number of printed pages remaining in a toner cartridge for an electrophotographic image forming device. A toner cartridge and electrophotographic image forming device for storing and/or performing aspects of the method is also provided.

Electrophotographic image forming devices ("EP devices"), such as photocopiers, laser printers, and facsimile machines, may employ the use of a removable toner cartridge assembly containing a fixed supply of toner. As pages become printed, this toner supply decreases. At some point the toner supply becomes so depleted that the quality of the printed pages deteriorates and the cartridge must be replaced. Often times, the onset of the low toner supply comes suddenly. This may present a suboptimal situation for a user who does not have a replacement cartridge at hand. Namely, the user will not be able to resume printing high-quality printed pages until he or she obtains a replacement cartridge. This may result in a period of downtime when the printer is substantially unusable.
Additionally, manufacturers desire methods for estimating the number of printed pages remaining on a given toner cartridge. For instance, when establishing a default supply yield or yield range for a given model of cartridge during testing, manufacturers require accurate methods for estimating the total number of printed pages remaining on a toner cartridge.
To address these issues, several methods have been contemplated for estimating the total number of printed pages that can be produced with a toner cartridge or are remaining on a given toner cartridge. One method simply counts the pages printed and compares this amount to a predetermined value. If the number of pages printed exceeds the predetermined value, a message may be generated informing a user to replace the toner cartridge. Instead of using a predetermined value, other methods compare the number of pages printed with a fixed, estimated amount of toner used per page. Unfortunately, these methods cannot adapt for the specific type of printing being conducted by the user. For instance, a user that prints mostly text documents may use less toner than a user printing complex graphical images. Accordingly, these static methods often produce spurious results that provide incorrect information on the remaining life of a toner cartridge. Also, these methods rely on an actual page count of the number of pages printed, which may also contribute to suboptimal results.
Accordingly, the need exists for a method for determining the number of printed pages remaining in a removable toner cartridge for an EP device. The method would not depend on the actual number of pages printed, but would take into account other variables, including the amount of toner used per individual page. Also, the need exists for a toner cartridge and/or EP device capable of storing and/or performing such a method.

Methods and apparatuses for determining the number of printed pages remaining in a toner cartridge


There is provided a retarder control device which is simple in constitution and can reliably apply braking. An engine rotational speed detector detects an engine rotational speed, gear step detection means detects a gear step of a transmission, an accelerator operation detector detects the operated state of an accelerator, and a retarder controller previously stores automatic braking amount determination data representing the relation between the engine rotational speed and the automatic braking amount of a retarder corresponding to each gear step of the transmission and controls the retarder according to the automatic braking amount of the retarder calculated from the automatic braking amount determination data based on the detected engine rotational speed and gear step of the transmission when the accelerator is judged to be off from the detected operated state of the accelerator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a retarder control device and control method.
2. Description of the Related Art
A vehicle such as a dump truck is equipped with an auxiliary braking device for braking so as to prevent a vehicle speed from being excessive when a vehicle goes down a long slope. There is known an auxiliary braking device, being called an exhaust brake, that throttles an exhaust throttle valve provided in an exhaust pipe to increase exhaust resistance when an exhaust gas is exhausted from an engine, thereby obtaining a braking force (for instance, see Patent Document 1).
There is also known an auxiliary braking device called a retarder. This transmits an instruction to a braking device or a retarder braking device provided separately from the braking device and controls a vehicle speed to be constant (for instance, see Patent Document 2).
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-176692
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 10-264804


The invention relates to an admixture for a cementitious composition comprising microfibrillar cellulose and/or a derivative thereof. The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing said admixture and to the use of the microfibrillar cellulose and/or a derivative thereof in the concrete admixture. The invention further relates to a cementitious composition comprising said admixture and methods of manufacture and use thereof.

Concrete is a construction material made of a mixture of cement, sand, stone, and water. Concrete solidifies and hardens after mixing with water and placement due to a chemical process known as hydration. The water reacts with the cement, which bonds the other components together, eventually creating a stone-like material. Concrete is used to make pavements, architectural structures, foundations, motorways/roads, bridges/overpasses, parking structures, brick/block walls and footings for gates, fences and poles.
In concrete technology an important field of interest is self compacting concrete (SCC), which flows and compacts itself due to gravity. Consequently, no external vibration or other compaction is needed. Hardened concrete will function as normal concrete in the structure. It is possible to produce very high performance concrete as self compacting concretes. Because compacting work is not needed, noise level during construction is lowered remarkable and one working phase is eliminated.
A problem with the SCC is the segregation and the sensitivity of the concrete to variations on raw materials. Due to extensive problems with low and normal strength SCC the use of SCC in low to normal strength concretes is not as wide as it could be. Segregation usually results in concrete with unacceptable properties. Segregation can be either water or aggregate segregation. In water segregation the water phase is separating when the cement particles are settling with time. Aggregate segregation occurs faster when aggregates are settling in the paste phase. Paste is the mixture of water, cement, other fine powders and admixtures. Small variations in raw material composition or moisture content can change SCC behavior dramatically. This lack of robustness in performance is also a hindrance for SCC use.
Accordingly there is a need for improved self-compacting concrete materials. Furthermore, there is a need to increase thixotrophy and particle suspendity in the wet state in standard concrete formulations.
Injection grouts are intended to be used with the pressure grouting technique. Requirements for these materials are among others high fluidity, low segregation and bleeding. In injection grouts very high fluidity is needed. In all applications strength requirements are not very high. That is why the water-cement ratio is in many applications very high. This leads to segregation problems and the penetration of grout is not sufficient.
There have been some attempts to solve the aforementioned problems with viscosity enhancing agents, for example with water soluble polysaccharides, such as welan gum or cellulose derivates. Patent applications GB 2 378 946 and WO 03/018505 disclose preparation of an admixture for cementitious compositions, wherein polysaccharide and/or nanosilica are used as viscosity modifying agents. Patent application US 2003/159391 relates to a lightweight concrete mixture, wherein soluble cellulose derivatives are used as viscosity enhancing agents. The use of e.g. welan gum as stabilizing admixture is widely known in the concrete industry.
Previously, cellulose fibers have been used in concrete materials to improve mechanical properties of materials: for example in US patent application 2005/112981 where cellulose fibers have been used to improve strength properties of dry specimens. Also, cellulose nanowhiskers have been studied as re-enforcement material in concrete, for example in a publication by Kuthcarlapati et al. (Metals Materials and Processes 20(3):307-314, 2008). In addition, the major aim in the publications mentioned above has been to improve mechanical properties of dry specimens i.e. not to influence on wet formulations. Also, in the above mentioned patent applications and publications, the used amount of cellulose fibers has been high.

Material to be used as a concrete additive


A polishing apparatus has a polishing section (302) configured to polish a substrate and a measurement section (307) configured to measure a thickness of a film formed on the substrate. The polishing apparatus also has an interface (310) configured to input a desired thickness of a film formed on a substrate to be polished and a storage device (308a) configured to store polishing rate data on at least one past substrate therein. The polishing apparatus includes an arithmetic unit (308b) operable to calculate a polishing rate and an optimal polishing time based on the polishing rate data and the desired thickness by using a weighted average method which weights the polishing rate data on a lately polished substrate.

In recent years, semiconductor devices have become more integrated, and structures of semiconductor elements have become more complicated. Further, the number of layers in multilayer interconnects used for a logical system has increased. Accordingly, irregularities on a surface of a semiconductor device are increased, so that step heights on the surface of the semiconductor device tend to be large. This is because, in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, a thin film is formed on a semiconductor device, then micromachining processes, such as patterning or forming holes, are performed on the semiconductor device, and these processes are repeated to form subsequent thin films on the semiconductor device.
When the number of irregularities is increased on a surface of a semiconductor device, the following problems arise. When a thin film is formed on a semiconductor device, the thickness of the film formed at portions having a step is relatively small. Further, an open circuit may be caused by disconnection of interconnects, or a short circuit may be caused by insufficient insulation between interconnect layers. As a result, good products cannot be obtained, and the yield tends to be lowered. Further, even if a semiconductor device initially works normally, reliability of the semiconductor device is lowered after long-term use. At the time of exposure in a lithography process, if the irradiation surface has irregularities, then a lens unit in an exposure system is locally unfocused. Therefore, if the irregularities of the surface of the semiconductor device are increased, then it becomes problematically difficult to form a fine pattern itself on the semiconductor device.
Thus, in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, it becomes increasingly important to planarize a surface of the semiconductor device. The most important one of the planarizing technologies is chemical mechanical polishing (CMP). In the chemical mechanical polishing, with use of a polishing apparatus, while a polishing liquid containing abrasive particles such as silica (SiO2) therein is supplied onto a polishing surface such as a polishing pad, a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer is brought into sliding contact with the polishing surface, so that the substrate is polished.
This type of polishing apparatus includes a polishing table having a polishing surface formed by a polishing pad, and a substrate holding device, which is referred to as a top ring or a carrier head, for holding a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer. When a semiconductor wafer is polished with such a polishing apparatus, the semiconductor wafer is held and pressed against the polishing table under a predetermined pressure by the substrate holding device. At that time, the polishing table and the substrate holding device are moved relative to each other to bring the semiconductor wafer into sliding contact with the polishing surface, so that the surface of the semiconductor wafer is polished to a flat mirror finish.
In the polishing apparatus, assuming that a polishing rate is constant, the amount of polishing is in proportion to a polishing time (processing time) during which a polishing process is performed. Accordingly, the following method is employed to determine a polishing time. First, the film thickness of one substrate is measured before a polishing process. Then, the substrate is polished for a predetermined period of time by a polishing apparatus. The film thickness of the semiconductor substrate is measured after the polishing process. Then, a polishing rate is calculated based on the reduced film thickness and the period of time of the polishing process. Subsequently, an optimal polishing time for subsequent substrates is calculated based on the calculated polishing rate and a desired film thickness. Thus, subsequent substrates are polished for the calculated optimal polishing time.
Since the polishing rate has variations, the calculated polishing rate may be adaptable to only the polished substrate. In such a case, if the polishing rate thus calculated is simply used for the purpose of calculation of an optimal polishing time for subsequent substrates, then the film thickness of the subsequent substrates may considerably deviate from a desired value after polishing processes. Accordingly, it has been proposed to store data on the amount of polishing and polishing times for polished substrates in a storage device, calculate an average polishing rate based on the data in the storage device, and perform a subsequent polishing process for a period calculated based on the average polishing rate. With this method of calculating an average polishing rate based on the past data, it is possible to save troublesome measurements of polishing rates for each lot of substrates and reduce variations of measurements.
However, in the polishing apparatus, a polishing rate largely depends upon surface conditions of a polishing pad, conditions of a pad conditioner for conditioning a surface of the polishing pad, a composition and temperature of a polishing liquid, a temperature and pressure of a deposition process, a non-uniformity of properties of films due to variations of materials, and variations in polishing temperature. Thus, a polishing rate is not necessarily maintained stable at an average polishing rate.
As described above, in recent years, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) has been employed to planarize irregularities of a surface which are produced during formation of an insulating film or an interconnect metal film in a process for manufacturing semiconductor devices on a semiconductor substrate. In CMP, a substrate to be polished is pressed against a polishing pad formed of a non-woven fabric. The substrate and the polishing pad are moved relative to each other so as to bring the substrate and the polishing pad into sliding contact with each other while abrasive particles are supplied between the substrate and the polishing pad. Thus, the substrate is polished. Concentric grooves or checked grooves formed in a surface of the polishing pad can effectively supply a sufficient amount of abrasive particles to a central portion of the substrate.
A polishing pad having a two-layer structure in which a relatively hard polyurethane foam layer is attached to a relatively soft non-woven fabric is effective in reducing an influence due to nanotopology, i.e., swell of a surface of a substrate. A polishing pad having a two-layer layer structure, such as IC-1000/SUBA400 manufactured by Rodel Inc., is well known. In order to remove polishing wastes attached to a surface of the polishing pad during CMP, pad conditioning is conducted to remove a portion of the surface of the polishing pad with a diamond disk. As a result of the pad conditioning, a depth of the grooves formed in the surface of the polishing pad and a ratio of a soft layer and a hard layer change with time according to abrasion of the polishing pad, thereby exerting a great influence on the polishing process.
With a conventional polishing method, in order to monitor changes of a polishing rate and a within wafer uniformity of polishing according to a change of the polishing pad with time, a quality control (QC) substrate (substrate having a film all over a surface thereof) is polished each time a predetermined number of product substrates, on which semiconductor devices are formed, are polished. A polishing rate is defined as a thickness of a film removed per unit time when a film formed on a substrate is polished under a predetermined pressure (e.g. 1.5 psi). Processing time for product substrates to be subsequently polished is adjusted based on the polishing results of the QC substrate mostly by an operator. Specifically, the operator manually calculates an optimal polishing time based on the polishing results of the QC substrate. Further, it has heretofore been attempted to provide a film thickness measurement device in a polishing apparatus to optimize a processing time based on the measurement results. With this method, a certain period of time is required to perform a feedback control, so that several substrates may be polished without optimization of the processing time.

Polishing apparatus and polishing method


An encoded data transfer device (1) includes a JPEG compressing section (14) that converts image data to encoded data, a data buffer (15) that stores the encoded data from the JPEG compressing section (14), a stored data amount detecting section (19) that detects the stored data amount of the encoded data stored in the data buffer (15) reaching a predetermined amount DC, a data transfer section (16) that transfers the encoded data stored in the data buffer (15) to the outside in response to a result of the stored data amount detecting section (19), and a transfer data amount detecting section (27) that detects the predetermined amount DC of the encoded data being transferred from the data transferring section (16). In the data buffer (15), transfer from the JPEG compressing section (14) is inhibited in response to a result of the stored data amount detecting section (19), and transfer from the JPEG compressing section (14) is started in response to a transfer data amount detecting section (27).

1. Field of the Invention
It is related to a device that encodes and transfers data, and more particularly, it relates to a device that encodes and transfers image data in JPEG format.
2. Description of Related Art
When transferring image data outputted from a CCD sensor or a CMOS image sensor to the outside, in order to reduce the amount of transfer data so as to lower the transfer rate, a method for transferring the image data after converting this to encoded data has been employed. As an example of such a device, shown in FIG. 4 is an encoded data transfer device 100 that transfers image data to the outside after encoding.
The encoded data transfer device 100 includes a CCD 101 that takes in an image, a YCbCr converting section 102 that converts image data outputted from the CCD 101 into a YCbCr format, a line buffer 103 that buffers the image data converted into a YCbCr format, a JPEG compressing section 104 that encodes the image data stored in the line buffer 103 in JPEG format, a data buffer 105 that stores the encoded data, and a data transfer section 106 that transfers the stored encoded data to the outside. Moreover, the encoded data transfer device 100 has a horizontal synchronizing signal generating section 107 and a vertical synchronizing signal generating section 108 that respectively output a horizontal synchronizing signal HSYNC and a vertical synchronizing signal VSYNC outputted together with data when transferring the same to the outside.
In the encoded data transfer device 100, image data is encoded in JPEG format every eight lines, and eight lines of compressed data are outputted to the outside. FIG. 5 shows a timing chart of the encoded data transfer device 100. After an elapse of a blank period TFB since a horizontal synchronizing signal HSYNC, output data ODATA being in encoded data units of eight lines of image data is outputted. Since the output data ODATA has been encoded in JPEG format every eight lines, in comparison with when transferring eight lines of image data without compression, the amount of transfer data can be reduced, and moreover, the transfer rate can be lowered.
In the encoded data transfer device 100, the data amount of output data ODATA changes depending on the condition of image data. For example, since data after encoding is reduced with plane image data, the amount of output data ODATA is reduced, and since data after encoding is increased with complicated image data inversely, the data amount of output data ODATA is increased. In addition, because the horizontal synchronizing signal HSYNC has been outputted at fixed intervals, a period TBB (back blank period) until the next synchronizing signal HSYNC is outputted after output of the output data ODATA is completed changes depending on the data amount of the output data ODATA.
However, when encoding and transferring image data to the outside, if this is carried out in units of a predetermined number of lines of the image data, the data amount of encoded data is not fixed in the transfer data amount at each time of transfer, control of an external importer is complicated, and moreover, this causes an increase in the circuit scale of the external importer device, which is a problem.

Encoded data transfer device and encoded data transferring method


A method to manufacture optics and optical subsystems. In one aspect, a method to manufacture an optical-element in accordance with the present disclosure comprise the steps of: Printing at least a part of a mold with an additive manufacturing printer. Optically figuring the mold to the specifications of the desired optical-element. Printing a nanocomposite-ink into the mold. Selectively, curing the nanocomposite-ink. Repeating at least the steps of deposition of the nanocomposite-ink and selective curing, until the mold is sufficiently filled and cured. Optionally, releasing the optical-element from the mold.

A variety of manufacturing techniques exist for manufacturing optics. Traditional techniques, still widely in use today, involve grinding and polishing of optics with abrasive particles. Glass blanks are created via grinding, molding, or machining glass to roughly obtain the same shape, slightly greater in size, of the desired final optic. The blank or multiple blanks are mounted to a top or bottom polishing block, the polishing blocks shaped matching the desired optic shape. The blocks are typically mechanized with the bottom block typically rotating and the top-block moving across the bottom-block with an actuated arm. Slurry comprising of abrasive particles and water is continually added. As the lens goes through several stages of polishing, the grit size is reduced, until the resultant shape and surface finish is obtained. Unless a single optic is blocked, this technique is generally limited to planar, convex, and concave surfaces on circularly symmetric optic.
Other known techniques, which allow more complex surfaces and shapes include diamond-disc shaping, CNC machining with single-point diamond shaping, glass molding, polymer molding and magneto rheological figuring (MRF). This application relates to another approach.

Method for manufacturing an optical element


The invention concerns a scalable version of an audio encoder based on lattice quantization of companded audio data, wherein the scalability is achieved using bitplane encoding. In methods and apparatus of the invention, a time-domain to discrete-frequency-domain transformation is performed on an audio signal, creating a plurality of frequency domain coefficients. The frequency domain coefficients are organized subband-wise; scaled; companded; and vector quantized using a lattice quantization method, creating scaled, companded and vector quantized coefficient vectors for each subband. Side information comprising an exponent of the scaling factor and the maximum norm of the quantized vector are generated for each subband. The side information is used to calculate the relative importance of the subbands. The subband frequency domain coefficients are then bitplane encoded in order of subband importance, creating an embedded, scalable bitstream from which the encoded audio information can be recovered at finely scalable bit rates. Decoders operating in accordance with the invention decode the scalable bitstream generally by performing the inverse of the encoding operations at a selected bitrate.

Lossy compressed audio formats have been known for over a decade, and audio devices capable of playing back content encoded in lossy compressed audio formats have been available for over half a decade. Lossy compressed audio formats overcame limitations associated with computers and networks as audio playback environments. In particular, with the advent of optical disks for program storage and distribution, it became apparent that audio playback capability based on compact disks could easily be added to desktop computers.
Those using optical disk drives incorporated in desktop computers as audio playback devices quickly realized the limitations of the hardware. Early optical disk drives were expensive, and whenever an optical disk needed to be read or written for productivity purposes, it required that an audio disk (if in use) to be removed from the optical disk drive. In order to overcome this limitation, it was realized that audio content could be stored on a hard drive. No longer would it be necessary to interrupt audio playback while performing productivity operations that required use of an optical drive. However, those familiar with the situation realized that current hard drives were not practical as media for storing audio encoded at the bit rate reflected in the compact disk format.
Conventional compact disks encoding audio information typically store anywhere from 300 to 700 mbytes of information. Hard drives available in the mid- to late-1990s were simply of too-limited capacity to store significant amounts of audio information encoded in the compact disk format, especially when those interested in doing so realized that a desktop computer could be used as a "jukebox". In order to overcome this limitation, it became apparent that new encoding formats needed to be developed that would result in a significant decrease in file sizes.
The MP3 format was developed to accomplish this. During development of the MP3 encoding format, it was realized that in a passage of music, certain elements occurring in close proximity time-wise to other elements would mask those other elements from a human listener. Once this phenomenon of human hearing was recognized, those seeking greater compression of audio information realized that lossy encoding formats could be adopted. Such lossy formats would save file space by not encoding information associated with content that was effectively masked to human listeners. Resulting lossy formats, like the MP3 standard, achieve a many-fold or more decrease in file size while maintaining reasonable audio quality.
The situation has changed, though, with the advent of terabyte hard drives and wide-band wired and wireless communications networks. Particularly with respect to desktop computers, it is no longer necessary to employ lossy audio encoding formats since a large-capacity hard drive can easily accommodate all of a user's compact disks with room left over, even if the user's disk collection extends to hundreds of compact disks. Thus, lossless encoding capability has been added to well-known music management and playback software packages.
A frequent complaint heard concerning on-line music stores is that music content is available only in lossy, low bit-rate formats. In view of the fact that many users have access to wideband network connections, those users demand access to higher-quality encoding formats, up to and including lossless encoding formats. Alternatively, users may not always desire higher-quality music associated with high bitrates. For instance, portable music players typically have much-smaller hard drives when compared to desktop computers. In such instances, it becomes necessary to transcode a music collection encoded at a high bit rate to a low bitrate if the music collection is to "fit" on the hard drive of the portable music player.
In addition, transmission of high-quality audio content occurs in some situations over a package-switched network that does not provide perfect quality of service. In such situations, it can be expected that packets encoding audio information will be dropped. In other content distribution situations, users may have playback devices with varying capability, or users may desire varying levels of audio fidelity. In such situations, it would be impractical to provide each user with bitstreams of audio content at the user's desired bit rate.
To accommodate these varying playback environments, scalable methods of encoding audio information have been developed. Such methods encode information at high bit rates, but permit the audio information to be decoded at lower bit rates. For example, audio content encoded in a lossless format can be decoded in lossy formats at varying rates like 128 kbit/s; 96 kbit/s; 64 kbit/s or 32 kbit/s. Such an approach is highly efficient. Although large-capacity hard drives have become available, it would still be economically inefficient to store multiple copies of an audio file at different bit rates. Instead, it is far more efficient to encode an audio file in an encoding format that supports fine-grain bitrate scalability, enabling, e.g., the transmission of a single bitstream that may be decoded ay many varying rates.
Concurrently with these developments, the search for more efficient codecs for encoding audio information continues. Once such encoding method creates compressed audio data using companding and vector quantization of frequency domain coefficients representing the audio data. This method has proved advantageous in comparison to other encoding methods.
In view of the advantages of compression methods using companding and vector quantization, those skilled in the art seek to expand the usefulness of these methods by combining them with scalable encoding methods.

Methods and apparatus for implementing embedded scalable encoding and decoding of companded and vector quantized audio data


A tube insert installing tool includes first and second tube gripping portions, a tube insert supporting portion and a user actuation portion. The first and second tube gripping portions are configured to engage an end part of a tube. The tube insert supporting portion is configured to support a tube insert. The user actuation portion is operatively coupled to the first and second tube gripping portions to move the first and second tube gripping portions between an open release orientation and a tube gripping orientation. The user actuation portion includes an insert pressing part configured and arranged to push the tube insert into the end part of the tube during subsequent movement of the user actuation portion in a single movement of the user actuation portion from the open release orientation to a final tube insertion orientation.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a tube insert installing tool. More specifically, the present invention relates to tube insert installing tool that simultaneously grips a tube and installs an insert into the tube.
2. Background Information
Hydraulic tubes are well known for use in braking systems in vehicles and bicycles. Such tubes are typically light and flexible but require the installation of special fittings or inserts on their respective ends for proper installation and usage. Tools for installing inserts typically include two separate mechanisms, such as a gripping mechanism and a pressing mechanism. The gripping mechanism clamps or grips the tube and the other mechanism flares the end or presses an insert into the tube.
A problem with such tools is that the gripping mechanism and the pressing mechanism are separately operated requiring several operational steps. Operating such tools can be cumbersome and time consuming.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved tool that simplifies the tube insert installing process. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.


An improved fabricated hardwood flooring product providing the advantage of a thick wood wear layer similar to a traditional ¾ inch solid wood floor with the dimensional stability characteristics of engineered wood floor products.

The solid hybrid wood flooring system comprises a thick top layer of solid wood glued to a bottom layer of specially designed and modified solid wood. The top layer of an embodiment can be of any wood species and is approximately ¼ inch thick. This top layer thickness allows the end user to re-sand or re-finish the wood multiple times during the life of the wood floor, like solid wood flooring. The modified wood bottom layer comprises many small pieces of solid wood, glued together to make the layer. The grain of the wood comprising top layer and bottom layer are in parallel planar orientation, respectively.
When subjected to moisture, the top layer and each small piece of wood of the bottom layer will react and move in different directions, structurally pulling each other similar to the reaction of movements of the plywood layering of engineered wood floors, resulting in a dimensionally stable piece of solid wood flooring. The present invention can be installed by any traditional flooring methods, namely stapling, nailing, gluing, and floating.
The following Patents or Patent Publications are believed to be representative of the art: U.S. Pat. No. 6,162,312, issued Dec. 19, 2000; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0152701, published Oct. 24, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,878,228, issued Apr. 12, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 5,736,227, issued Apr. 7, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,924, issued Apr. 14, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 5,736,218, issued Apr. 7, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,806, issued May 23, 1989; U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,582, issued Aug. 20, 1991; U.S. Pat. No. 5,543,193, issued Aug. 6, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,898, issued May 5, 1992; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0268571, published Dec. 8, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 6,695,944, issued Feb. 24, 2004; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004/0074190, published Apr. 22, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. Des. 355,494, issued Feb. 14, 1995; and UK Patent Application Ser. No. GB 2,212,761, published Feb. 8, 1989.


Disclosed is a printing process which comprises (a) incorporating into a printing apparatus capable of generating ink jet images a carbonless paper set comprising a first sheet, a second sheet, and optional intermediate sheets situated between the first sheet and second sheet, wherein the first sheet comprises paper coated on one surface with a color former and the second sheet comprises paper coated on one surface with a color developer, and wherein, when the carbonless paper set is assembled, the surface of the first sheet coated with the color former is in contact with the surface of a sheet coated with the color developer and the surface of the second sheet coated with the color developer is in contact with the surface of a sheet coated with the color former; (b) incorporating into the printing apparatus an ink jet ink comprising water, an organic component, and a desensitizing agent capable of interacting either (i) with the color former so that the color former's subsequent ability to interact with the color developer is reduced, or (ii) with the color developer so that the color developer's subsequent ability to interact with the color former is reduced; and (c) causing droplets of the ink containing the desensitizing agent to be ejected in an imagewise pattern onto either (i) at least one surface of one sheet coated with the color former, or (ii) at least one surface of one sheet coated with the color developer.

The present invention is directed to ink jet printing processes on carbonless paper. More specifically, the present invention is directed to processes for selectively desensitizing areas of carbonless paper by the application of a desensitizing agent via an ink jet printing process. One embodiment of the present invention is directed to a printing process which comprises (a) incorporating into a printing apparatus capable of generating ink jet images a carbonless paper set comprising a first sheet, a second sheet, and optional intermediate sheets situated between the first sheet and second sheet, wherein the first sheet comprises paper coated on one surface with a color former and the second sheet comprises paper coated on one surface with a color developer, and wherein, when the carbonless paper set is assembled, the surface of the first sheet coated with the color former is in contact with the surface of a sheet coated with the color developer and the surface of the second sheet coated with the color developer is in contact with the surface of a sheet coated with the color former; (b) incorporating into the printing apparatus an ink jet ink comprising water, an organic component, and a desensitizing agent capable of interacting either (i) with the color former so that the color former's subsequent ability to interact with the color developer is reduced, or (ii) with the color developer so that the color developer's subsequent ability to interact with the color former is reduced; and (c) causing droplets of the ink containing the desensitizing agent to be ejected in an imagewise pattern onto either (i) at least one surface of one sheet coated with the color former, or (ii) at least one surface of one sheet coated with the color developer.
Carbonless paper sets generally are stacks of at least two sheets of paper wherein the application of pressure in imagewise fashion on the top sheet, typically by handwriting or typing, results in formation of a corresponding image on the underlying sheets, so that copies are formed as the image is generated on the top sheet. Carbonless paper sets typically comprise a top sheet of paper, on the bottom surface of which is coated a first composition, and a bottom sheet, on the top surface of which is coated a second composition. The first and second compositions are in contact with each other when the top and bottom sheets are placed in stack formation, and generally are of a nature such that application of pressure to the top sheet of the stack at a specified location causes interaction between the first and second compositions that results in the formation of a colored area on the bottom sheet at the location at which pressure was applied. Intermediate sheets can be located between the top and bottom sheets, wherein each intermediate sheet is coated on its top surface with the second composition and on its bottom surface with the first composition; application of pressure to the top sheet then results in the formation of a colored area at the location at which pressure was applied on each of the intermediate sheets and on the bottom sheet.
An example of a carbonless paper set is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,843,383, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference. This patent discloses a recording sheet comprising a support having thereon a layer of color developer capable of reacting with a substantially colorless color former to form colored images. The paper set generally comprises a top sheet coated with microcapsules containing a color former solution, a bottom sheet coated with a color developer material in a binder, and, in some instances, middle sheets coated on one side with the color developer and on the other side with the color former microcapsules. Alternatively, the color former microcapsules and the color developer can be applied to the same surface of a paper. The color developer comprises a clay into which is incorporated at least one aromatic carboxylic acid or alkali metal salt thereof, and, optionally, acidic resins or inorganic pigments such as metal oxides, metal hydroxides, or metal carbonates. Suitable clays include acidic clay, active clay, attapulgite, zeolite, bentonite, kaolin, silicic acid, synthetic silicic acid, aluminum silicate, zinc silicate, colloidal silicic acid, and the like. The clay and the aromatic carboxylic acid or alkali metal salt thereof are formed into a coating solution which is then applied to paper. The color former is dissolved in a solvent and encapsulated in microcapsules, or is dissolved in a solvent and mixed with a binder. Contacting a sheet coated with microcapsules containing the color former under pressure with a sheet coated with the color developer results in formation of a color image. Other patents disclosing carbonless paper of this type include U.S. Pat. No. 2,712,507 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,730,456, the disclosures of which are totally incorporated herein by reference. Alternatively, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,730,457, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, the color former microcapsules and the color developer of a carbonless paper can be applied to the same surface of a paper sheet. Other configurations of color former, color developer, and a pressure-releasable liquid solvent are possible, including, for example, those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,935, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference. Additional patents disclosing carbonless papers and materials suitable for carbonless paper applications include U.S. Pat. No. 2,417,897, U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,935, U.S. Pat. No. 3,681,390, U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,820, U.S. Pat. No. 4,675,706, U.S. Pat. No. 3,481,759, U.S. Pat. No. 4,334,015, U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,582, U.S. Pat. No. 4,334,015, U.S. Pat. No. 2,800,457, U.S. Pat. No. 2,800,458, U.S. Pat. No. 3,418,250, U.S. Pat. No. 3,516,941, U.S. Pat. No. 4,630,079, U.S. Pat. No. 3,244,550, U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,935, U.S. Pat. No. 3,732,120, U.S. Pat. No. 3,843,383, U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,070, U.S. Pat. No. 3,481,759, U.S. Pat. No. 3,809,668, U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,767, U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,406, U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,364, U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,981, U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,976, U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,125, U.S. Pat. No. 4,772,532, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,710,570, the disclosures of each of which are totally incorporated herein by reference.
Frequently carbonless paper sets are printed as forms, wherein a large number of sets are printed with standard text or other material, leaving blank areas for individualized information to be filled in by, for example, impact typewriting or handwriting. Typically, carbonless pre-printed forms are generated by techniques such as offset printing. Offset printing and other large scale printing processes, however, require complex and expensive equipment which is not generally found in an office or small business environment. Thus, one desiring forms printed on carbonless paper generally must order them from a professional printer, thus generating added costs and inconvenience, particularly when only a relatively small number of the pre-printed forms are needed. The ability to generate pre-printed carbonless forms on standard office equipment thus can be desirable, particularly when small quantities of forms are desired.
In some instances, it may be desirable to desensitize selected areas of selected sheets of carbonless paper so that not all of the information written on a finished carbonless paper set (by, for example, handwriting or impact printing) appears on all of the carbonless copies. For example, in a multi-part invoice or receipt, some of the information recorded on some of the copies retained by the issuing company may be proprietary, and thus should not appear on the copies which are given to the customer. Previously, it has been possible to "block" or desensitize selected parts of forms printed by offset methods by printing those parts with a desensitizing ink during the offset printing of the carbonless sheets. This desensitizing offset ink reacts with the color developer to form a colorless product. When the carbonless paper set is subsequently subjected to handwriting or impact printing, microcapsules containing color former are broken in an imagewise pattern and the color former solution transfers to the color developer coating and reacts with the developer to form a colored image. In the desensitized areas, however, the color developer has already reacted with the desensitizing ink to form a colorless compound, and no color forming reaction can occur in these areas to form a carbonless image.
Known desensitizing processes, however, require the use of offset printing techniques. Thus, the desensitizing of selected areas of carbonless forms is not easily done in an office setting with common office or small business equipment. Accordingly, a process which would enable both printing and selective desensitization of carbonless papers in an office environment would be highly desirable.
Ink jet printing systems generally are of two types: continuous stream and drop-on-demand. In continuous stream ink jet systems, ink is emitted in a continuous stream under pressure through at least one orifice or nozzle. The stream is perturbed, causing it to break up into droplets at a fixed distance from the orifice. At the break-up point, the droplets are charged in accordance with digital data signals and passed through an electrostatic field which adjusts the trajectory of each droplet in order to direct it to a gutter for recirculation or a specific location on a recording medium. In drop-on-demand systems, a droplet is expelled from an orifice directly to a position on a recording medium in accordance with digital data signals. A droplet is not formed or expelled unless it is to be placed on the recording medium.
Since drop-on-demand systems require no ink recovery, charging, or deflection, the system is much simpler than the continuous stream type. There are two types of drop-on-demand ink jet systems. One type of drop-on-demand system has as its major components an ink filled channel or passageway having a nozzle on one end and a piezoelectric transducer near the other end to produce pressure pulses. The other type of drop-on-demand system is known as thermal ink jet, or bubble jet, and produces high velocity droplets and allows very close spacing of nozzles. The major components of this type of drop-on-demand system are an ink filled channel having a nozzle on one end and a heat generating resistor near the nozzle. Printing signals representing digital information originate an electric current pulse in a resistive layer within each ink passageway near the orifice or nozzle, causing the ink in the immediate vicinity to evaporate almost instantaneously and create a bubble. The ink at the orifice is forced out as a propelled droplet as the bubble expands. When the hydrodynamic motion of the ink stops, the process is ready to start all over again. With the introduction of a droplet ejection system based upon thermally generated bubbles, commonly referred to as the "bubble jet" system, the drop-on-demand ink jet printers provide simpler, lower cost devices than their continuous stream counterparts, and yet have substantially the same high speed printing capability.
The operating sequence of the bubble jet system begins with a current pulse through the resistive layer in the ink filled channel, the resistive layer being in close proximity to the orifice or nozzle for that channel. Heat is transferred from the resistor to the ink. The ink becomes superheated far above its normal boiling point, and for water based ink, finally reaches the critical temperature for bubble formation or nucleation of around 280.degree. C. Once nucleated, the bubble or water vapor thermally isolates the ink from the heater and no further heat can be applied to the ink. This bubble expands until all the heat stored in the ink in excess of the normal boiling point diffuses away or is used to convert liquid to vapor, which removes heat due to heat of vaporization. The expansion of the bubble forces a droplet of ink out of the nozzle, and once the excess heat is removed, the bubble collapses on the resistor. At this point, the resistor is no longer being heated because the current pulse has passed and, concurrently with the bubble collapse, the droplet is propelled at a high rate of speed in a direction towards a recording medium. The resistive layer encounters a severe cavitational force by the collapse of the bubble, which tends to erode it. Subsequently, the ink channel refills by capillary action. This entire bubble formation and collapse sequence occurs in about 10 microseconds. The channel can be refired after 100 to 500 microseconds minimum dwell time to enable the channel to be refilled and to enable the dynamic refilling factors to become somewhat dampened. Thermal ink jet processes are well known and are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,777, U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,824, U.S. Pat. No. 4,410,899, U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,224, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,532,530, the disclosures of each of which are totally incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,777,780 (Cormack et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a method of deactivating portions of record material sensitized with minute particles of inorganic adsorbent electron acceptor materials which cause the formation of color in an electron donor aromatic double bond color-reactant compound adsorbed thereon, by reason of an electron donor-acceptor color reaction which converts the compound to a more highly polarized conjugated form, giving it a distinctive color, including the step of applying to selected areas of the sensitized record material, before any of the organic color-reactant is applied, highly polar, non-volatile non-color-forming adsorbate material sufficient to occupy the normally available adsorbent sites on the particles of such areas. This reference discloses the desensitizing of electron acceptor color developer coatings with cationic quaternary ammonium salts, higher aliphatic or aryl amine acetates, high molecular weight primary amines and primary diamines such as dodecyl amine or dodecyl diamine, or substituted oxazolines.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,809,668 (Yarian) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,852,094 (Yarian), the disclosures of each of which are totally incorporated herein by reference, disclose desensitizing agents which, when combined with a suitable solvent, can be used to desensitize carbonless papers of the DTO/metal type wherein the DTO (Dithiooxamide) compound is encapsulated and is released for chemical interaction with a coreactant metal salt by rupture of the capsules. The preferred desensitizing agents are partial esters of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, which partial esters are soluble in suitable organic media and form stable, substantially colorless complexes with, for example, nickel salts. Various homologs and analogs of these partial ester derivatives are also operative in the invention, as are certain less preferred compounds, i.e., certain diamines, oximes, and vic.-dimercaptans. The preferred desensitizing agents are also useful for desensitizing carbonless papers of the leuco dye/acidic clay type.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,556 (Taylor et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a document finisher which includes a printing station for printing on the binding of a book. The printing station in one embodiment prints on the binder tape before the book is bound. In a second embodiment, the printer prints on the binding after the book is bound. The printing stations are space efficient and designed to be easily incorporated with preexisting stations in document finishers. Ink jet printers and impact-type printer may be utilized.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,675 (Breton et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses fast drying ink compositions containing a colorant, a dye, water and a cosolvent. Some of the ink compositions dry in less than about 1 second and have a viscosity of between about 1.6 and about 2.5 centipoise and a specified surface tension. Some of the ink compositions contain specified cosolvents, preferably a mixture of diethylene glycol monobutyl ether and glycerol.
British Patent Application 2,030,932, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a copying paper having a color developing acidic material layer for developing color when contacted with a colorless dye which can be sufficiently desensitized on a portion which is not desired to be given an image by printing on the portion a desensitizing ink composition. The ink comprises a poly(oxypropylene)glycol or triol, a copolymer thereof with polyoxyethylene, an aliphatic alcohol or a phenol adduct thereof, or a carboxylic acid ester thereof, a pigment and a vehicle therefor according to dry lithography.
Japanese Patent Publication 91-71882, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a desensitizing agent for pressure-sensitive copying which is an aminostyrene polymer graft polymerized at the amino group by ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, or styrene oxide.
German Patent 2,727,194, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a desensitizer for carbonless copy paper which are hardenable by UV radiation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,286,286 entitled "Colorless Fast-Drying Ink Compositions for Printing Concealed Images Detectable by Fluorescence," with the named inventors Francoise M. Winnik, Anthony R. Davidson, and Marcel P. Breton, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an ink composition consisting essentially of water, diethylene glycol-monobutyl ether, glycerol, an optional cyclohexyl pyrrolidinone component, a dye selected from the group consisting of dyes containing dansyl chromophores and dyes containing porphyrin chromophores, an optional biocide, and an optional polyalkylene oxide/bisphenol-A additive.
Copending application U.S. Ser. No. 07/616,971, filed Nov. 21, 1990, entitled "Carbonless Paper for Ink Jet Printing," with the named inventors John F. Oliver, Richard E. Sandborn, and David J. Sanders, now abandoned, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a process for generating images which comprises incorporating into an ink jet printing apparatus a carbonless paper set which comprises a first sheet comprising a support containing a color developer capable of reacting with a color former to produce a color image, said color developer comprising high surface area silica particles, and a second sheet comprising a support coated with the color former, forming an image on the first sheet by causing ink to be expelled in droplets on a surface containing the color developer, and forming an image on the second sheet by causing ink to be expelled in droplets onto the surface opposite to that coated with the color former.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,212,040, entitled "Carbonless Paper for Electrostatic Imaging Processes," with the named inventors David J. Sanders, John F. Oliver, and Marcel P. Breton, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a process which comprises incorporating into an electrostatic imaging apparatus a recording sheet comprising a support on one surface of which are situated microcapsules which comprise a shell and a core containing a color former and an oil, said microcapsules being strengthened with a polymer capable of degrading upon exposure to actinic radiation; generating an electrostatic latent image on an imaging member in the apparatus; developing the latent image with a developer; transferring the developed image to the recording sheet; and, subsequent to transfer, exposing the recording sheet to actinic radiation at a wavelength at which the polymer will degrade, thereby rendering the microcapsules subject to rupture upon application of pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,475, entitled "Self-Cleaning Carbonless Paper," with the named inventors John F. Oliver and David J. Sanders, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a carbonless paper set having at least two sheets, wherein a first sheet comprises paper coated on one surface with a color former and a second sheet comprises paper coated on one surface with a color developer, and wherein at least one of the sheets contains an oleophilic pigment filler material on the surface of the sheet opposite to that coated with the color former or color developer. Also disclosed is a process for generating images which comprises generating an electrostatic latent image on an imaging member in an imaging apparatus, developing the latent image with toner particles of one polarity, contacting the developed image on the imaging member with the first sheet of the carbonless paper set disclosed herein, applying an electric charge of a polarity opposite to that of the toner particles to the surface of the first sheet opposite the surface in contact with the imaging member, thereby transferring the developed image to the first sheet, generating an electrostatic latent image on the imaging member in the imaging apparatus, developing the latent image with toner particles of one polarity, contacting the developed image on the imaging member with the second sheet of the carbonless paper set disclosed herein, applying an electric charge of a polarity opposite to that of the toner particles to the surface of the second sheet opposite the surface in contact with the imaging member, thereby transferring the developed image to the second sheet, and optionally permanently affixing the transferred images to the first and second sheets.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,350, entitled "Xerographic/Thermal Ink Jet Combined Printing," with the named inventors Thomas N. Taylor, LeRoy A. Baldwin, and Otto R. Dole, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a printer which combines the technologies of xerographic and thermal ink jet printing into a unit capable of high resolution text and color graphics. The printer is capable of forming a composite image, including a xerographic printing portion and a thermal ink jet (TIJ) printing portion, by printing the xerographic portion using known xerographic techniques and the thermal ink jet portion by a thermal ink jet printing array associated with the printer. The portions may be printed in any order, and may be dried by a drying station after printing of each portion or after both portions have been printed. At least one thermal ink jet printing array can serve as an annotator which is capable of printing additional information onto a copy, such as company letterhead, special instructions, addresses, or the like.
Accordingly, while known materials and processes are suitable for their intended purposes, a need remains for processes for desensitizing selected areas of selected carbonless paper sheets. In addition, a need remains for processes for desensitizing selected areas of selected carbonless paper sheets which can be carried out with equipment commonly found in office and small business environments. Further, there is a need for processes for both printing and selectively desensitizing carbonless paper sheets which can be carried out with equipment commonly found in office and small business environments. Additionally, a need exists for processes for rapidly printing and selectively desensitizing carbonless paper sheets by methods such as electrophotography, electrography, ionography, ink jet printing, or the like. There is also a need for processes for both printing and desensitizing carbonless paper sheets which can be carried out in an apparatus which enables printing of images via an electrophotographic, electrographic, ionographic, or ink jet processes and annotation of the images via an ink jet printing process.

Ink jet printing process for desensitizing carbonless paper


Provided are a cell balance device with high cell balance performance and high cell balance speed and requiring no high voltage process, and a battery system including the cell balance devices. The cell balance device includes: three terminals to be connected to secondary batteries; one terminal to be connected to a voltage hold device; three switches provided between the three terminals and the one terminal; and a receiving terminal and a transmitting terminal for a synchronization signal. Alternatively, the cell balance device includes: four terminals to be connected to secondary batteries; two terminals to be connected to a voltage hold device; six switches provided between the four terminals and the two terminals; and a receiving terminal and a transmitting terminal for a synchronization signal. The battery system includes: a plurality of secondary batteries; a plurality of voltage hold devices; a plurality of cell balance devices; and a clock generation circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cell balance device for achieving a cell balance of secondary batteries connected in series and a battery system including the cell balance devices, and more particularly, to a cell balance device capable of improving speed for achieving a cell balance with an inexpensive configuration and a battery system including the cell balance devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 7 illustrates a circuit diagram of a conventional cell balance adjusting circuit. A cell balance device including the conventional cell balance adjusting circuit is provided with an assembled battery portion, in which a plurality of secondary battery cells (hereinafter, referred to as cells) 401 to 406 as basic components are connected in series, and switches 411 to 462 each having one contact connected to a node between the cells. The other contact of each of the switches 411, 421, 431, 441, 451, and 461 is connected to one electrode of a capacitor 407 which is a voltage hold device. The other contact of each of the switches 412, 422, 432, 442, 452, and 462 than the one contact on the cell side is connected to the other electrode of the voltage hold device 407. A load circuit or a charging circuit 408 is connected across the assembled battery.
Open/close signals for the respective switches are connected so that the switch 411 and the switch 412 may operate simultaneously. Signals are similarly connected so that the switch 421 and the switch 422, the switch 431 and the switch 432, the switch 441 and the switch 442, the switch 451 and the switch 452, and the switch 461 and the switch 462 may be open/closed simultaneously each as a switch of a set of corresponding two switches. The switch open/close signals sequentially turn ON/OFF the connections in the order of ON/OFF of the switch 411 and the switch 412, ON/OFF of the switch 421 and the switch 422, ON/OFF of the switch 431 and the switch 432, ON/OFF of the switch 441 and the switch 442, ON/OFF of the switch 451 and the switch 452, and ON/OFF of the switch 461 and the switch 462. Such open/close signals that continuously perform repetitive switch open/close operations by returning to the first ON/OFF operation of the switch 411 and the switch 412 after finishing turning ON/OFF the switch 461 and the switch 462 are connected to control portions of the respective switches.
Next, an operation is described. The switches are scanned sequentially in one direction so as to be switched over while forming parallel connections between the series-connected adjacent cells and the voltage hold device 407, to thereby form parallel connections sequentially between all the series-connected cells and the voltage hold device 407. After completion of the formation of parallel connections with all control target cells in the assembled battery, the same switching operation is repeatedly performed from the first cell, thereby adjusting a cell balance.
The switches 411 and 412 are configured to receive signals for simultaneous open/close operation, and the switch 421 and the switch 422 are also configured to be open/closed simultaneously. The same is applied to the other switches, and the simultaneous open/close operation is performed in each combination of the switch 431 and the switch 432, the switch 441 and the switch 442, the switch 451 and the switch 452, and the switch 461 and the switch 462. After the open/close operations are advanced from the switch 411 and the switch 412 and then open/close of the switch 461 and the switch 462 is completed, open/close of the switch 411 and the switch 412 is started again to repeat those operations sequentially. In the case where all the cells maintain a balanced state in which the cell voltage are equal to one another, no electric charges are exchanged between the voltage hold device 407 and the cells. The individual cell states are not affected at all by the open/close operations of the respective switches. In the case where a balance is lost among the cells, such balance adjusting function is exhibited.
In the conventional technology, however, only one voltage hold device (capacitor) is provided for the number of cells to be balanced, thus causing a problem that the battery system has low balance performance (low balance speed). In addition, when the number of secondary batteries to be connected to the cell balance device increases, a higher voltage is applied to the cell balance device, and the cell balance device therefore needs to be manufactured through high voltage process, thus causing another problem of increased cost.


A display method is provided which can let a player continue a game without fatigue or boredom. In the display method, a moving image Gt1 is projection displayed on a predetermined area in the game portion of a game machine from the rear thereof, and a still image Gb1 is projection displayed on the game portion 21a outside the predetermined area from the rear thereof. The projection displays are presented in such a way that the size of the predetermined area for displaying the moving image Gt1, the position of the predetermined area and the number of such predetermined areas are set as parameters, and at least one of the parameters is altered at a predetermined time during the display of the moving image Gt1 and the still image Gb1.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a display method in which an image is projection displayed by a rear projection method, a display apparatus for a game machine, and a game machine.
2. Related Art
One type of game machine known as a pachinko machine (Japanese upright pinball game) is disclosed in JP-UM-A-7-24381 and is capable of projecting an image onto a translucent optical-image display portion (2) of a front panel (1) using a rear-projector (4). In the pachinko machine, the projector emits a light image (projection light), and a projection lens (5) interposed between the projector and the front panel enlarges the projection light emitted by the projector. Thus, the projection light is projected on the translucent optical-light image display portion of the front panel, and the image is projects on the translucent optical-light image display portion. In this case, in the pachinko machine, features such as the directions of the projector and the projection lens are adjusted beforehand, whereby the display position and display size of the image to be projection displayed are fixedly set.
Conventional pachinko machines have some improvements as follows. The position and size of the image to be projection displayed are fixedly set in this pachinko machine beforehand, and the image of identical size is displayed at the identical position throughout a game. In this case, in displaying, for example, a moving image in which numerals are scrolled to display lottery states, the display size of the image is set large in order that a game player may visually recognize the lottery states and a lottery result without fail. Therefore, the player is rather fatigued as the motion of the image lies in the player's visual field at all times. On the other hand, in a case where the display size of the image is set small, image contents to be displayed are restricted, and the image becomes monotonous, so that the player is easily bored. It is thus advisable to take steps to enable the player to continue the game without fatigue or boredom.
The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and has as one object to provide a display method, a display apparatus for a game machine, and a game machine which can let a player continue a game without fatigue or boredom.

Display method, display apparatus for game machine, and game machine


Exemplary techniques for model curation are described. In a described embodiment, a method comprises generating a manifest of a plurality of files corresponding to a design model; utilizing a revision control system to determine whether the generated manifest has changed relative to a previous version of the manifest; and if the generated manifest has changed, obtaining copies of the plurality of files to validate stability of the design model and curating the design model.

Curation is generally utilized when designing integrated circuits (ICs). Often, various engineering teams work on different blocks of an IC design simultaneously. Each block may be represented in various computer files. To build a full model of the IC, a curation process is utilized to pull together a desired version of each of these blocks that are under design by the various design teams.
Generally, curation efforts are time-consuming, in part, because they often involve manual intervention by an operator. Also, on the same project, different curation methodologies may be utilized by different teams within that one project. These methodologies can often be incompatible, and maintaining these different curation efforts across a project is inefficient. Furthermore, with distributed and separate curation tools, it is difficult to make global curation changes across an entire project.

Model curation for integrated circuit designs

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


The reaction product of. A) a linking compound of formula I EQU R.sup.1 (X).sub.3 (I). wherein each X group is a halogen or one X group is a halogen and two X groups with 2 carbon atoms from the R.sup.1 group and an oxygen atom form an epoxy group, and R.sup.1 is an alkanetriyl group containing from 3 to 10 carbon atoms; PA1 wherein R.sup.2 is an aliphatic group containing from 4 to 36 carbon atoms, n is a number of from 1 to 200, and each OA group is independently an ethyleneoxy, 1,2-propyleneoxy, or 1,2-butyleneoxy group; and PA1 wherein OA is as defined above, and m is a number of from 1 to 500;. B) a compound of formula II EQU R.sup.2 (OA).sub.n --OH (II). C) a compound of formula III EQU H--(OA).sub.m --OH (III). processes for its preparation; and methods for its use as a thickener in aqueous compositions.

Thickeners for aqueous systems are often required to obtain the rheological properties needed for various applications. Such aqueous-based systems include latex paints, printing inks, protective coatings for paper and metal, and the like. Known thickeners include natural polymers such as casein and alginates, and synthetic mateials such as certain cellulose derivatives, acrylic polymers, and polyurethane polymers.

Cross-linked reaction products of alkoxylated alcohols and alkylene glycols


A process and apparatus for separating and concentrating breathing-grade oxygen, that is therapeutically equivalent to 100% pure oxygen, from ambient air is provided. The oxygen concentrating process employed in the method of the invention is implemented in a housing having a main chamber. A solid anion conducting membrane is situated in the main chamber so as to divide the chamber into separate first and second reaction chambers. Electrocatalytically active cathodic and anodic electrodes are situated on the respective opposed surfaces of the membrane. A direct current source is coupled between the cathodic and anodic electrodes such that when ambient air is provided to the cathodic electrode, therapeutically pure and moist oxygen is produced at the anodic electrode by electrolytic action of hydroxyl ions passing through the solid membrane. The oxygen concentrator advantageously operates at room temperature making it well suited for production of therapeutic oxygen especially for applications where portable oxygen source is required.

This invention relates in general to techniques for separating a selected gas from a mixture of gases and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for separating oxygen from other gases by employing electrolytic systems.
Electrolytic systems such as fuel cells and electrolyzers are known. Fuel cells typically include cathode and anode electrodes situated in, and separated by, an electrolyte. The electrolyte may be either solid or liquid. In contrast to batteries which actually store electrical energy in a chemical form, fuel cells are structures in which the reactants and the reactant products are continuously supplied and removed to produce electricity. More specifically, a fuel and an oxidant are continuously supplied to the fuel cell so as to react and thereby directly produce an electrical potential between the cathode and anode electrodes. Thus, a fuel cell is generally regarded as being an energy converter whereas a battery is considered to be an energy source.
Electrolyzers, like fuel cells, also employ cathode and anode electrodes situated in an electrolyte. However, in an electrolyzer a source of DC current is supplied between these electrodes such that the electrolyte is separated or decomposed into its component ions via electrolytic action.
Devices which electrolytically concentrate gases are related in general principle to the fuel cell and the electrolyzer technologies discussed above. Fuel cells or electrolyzers are generally classified according to the type of electrolyte which they use to sustain electrolytic conduction between the cathode and anode thereof. Thus, we have either acidic or alkaline fuel cells or electrolyzers depending on the particular electrolyte employed. These acidic or alkaline types of fuel cells or electrolyzers employ negative and/or positive charge ion conducting electrolytes through which charged ions (anions or cations) are transported. Electrolytic systems most often used in the past contained electrolytes that were aqueous or molten salt solutions. Examples of such systems include alkaline (KOH or NaOH) electrolyzers and fuel cells, molten carbonate electrolyzers and phosphoric acid fuel cells. Modern electrolyzers and fuel cells contain solid state electrolytes fabricated from organic compounds such as NAFION (perfluorinated sulfonate ionomer) which is manufactured by DuPont or are fabricated from inorganic compounds such as zirconium oxide.
Electrolytic gas concentrator devices, such as oxygen concentrators, are known in the prior art and typically include a cathode and anode electrode situated in an electrolyte, in a manner somewhat similar to the fuel cell and electrolyzer structures discussed above. In such oxygen concentrators, a source of DC voltage is typically coupled between these electrodes. These oxygen concentrators are known to employ either liquid or solid electrolytes. The nature of the selected electrolyte between the cathode and anode electrodes is such that gases other than oxygen cannot be transferred electrolytically through the electrolyte. Thus, the gas obtained at the anode is substantially pure oxygen whereas the gas obtained at the cathode is a nitrogen rich sample of air. Electrolytic oxygen concentrators capable of producing medical grade oxygen for patient use are very desirable; however, the processes and structures discussed above have a number of deficiencies which make them generally inappropriate for this application. For example, electrolytic oxygen concentrators which employ solid oxide electrolytes typically require very expensive, all solid state fabrication and employ rare earth elements. Additionally, these concentrators often operate at relatively high temperatures to assure adequate ion conductivity in the solid electrolyte. Moreover, alkaline oxygen concentrator systems are susceptible to carbonation by carbon dioxide in the ambient air. Additionally, such alkaline concentrator systems are also susceptible to contamination of the output oxygen by the hazardous alkali vapor emitted from the caustic electrolyte. Elaborate components are often required to provide electrolyte recirculation in these concentrators as well as to provide heat exchange and filtration.
For all these reasons, prior electrolytic oxygen concentrators have been very complex and generally inappropriate for low cost home and ambulatory patient oxygen use.

Apparatus and method for separating oxygen from air