A compact read/write head having a biased giant magnetoresistive sensor. Permanent magnet films are placed adjacent to the giant magnetoresistive sensor operating in the current-perpendicular-to the-plane (Cpp) mode and spaced with respect to the sensor by conducting films. These permanent magnet films provide a magnetic bias. The bias field is substantial and fairly uniform across sensor height. Biasing of the giant magnetoresistive sensor provides distinguishable response to the rising and falling edges of a recorded pulse on an adjacent recording medium, improves the linearity of the response, and helps to reduce noise. This read/write head is much simpler to fabricate and pattern and provides an enhanced uniformity of the bias field throughout the sensor.

Magnetoresistive (MR) read sensors are used in magnetic disk and tape systems to read signals in the form of changes in magnetic flux. Typically, MR read sensors are rectangular multi-layered structures in which thin film layers are deposited on a substrate.
Presently known thin film magnetic heads, known as merged heads, include an inductive write element for recording signals and a magnetoresistive (MR) sensor for reading the recorded signals. Write operations are carried out inductively using a pair of magnetic write poles which form a magnetic path and define a transducing nonmagnetic gap in the pole tip region. The transducing gap is positioned close to the surface of an adjacent recording medium such as a rotating magnetic disk. An electrical coil formed between the poles causes flux flow in the magnetic path of the poles in response to a current in the coil that is representative of signal information to be recorded.
Read operations are carried out by the MR sensor which is spaced from a pair of magnetic shields. The MR sensor changes resistance in response to changes in magnetic flux on the adjacent magnetic medium. A sensing electric current passed through the MR sensor senses the resistance of the MR sensor, which changes in proportion to changes in the magnetic flux.
Conventionally, the MR sensor is electrically isolated from the pair of magnetic shields. A separate set of conductors are provided on one surface of the MR sensor to pass a reference current through the MR sensor in a current-in-the-plane (CIP) mode. However, the CIP mode can create problems such as shorting due to electromigration. Also, a CIP mode MR sensor can be relatively large in size and expensive to mass produce because of its complex construction.
More recently, a compact MR head has been developed in which the magnetic write poles serve also as the shields for the MR sensor and further as a means for conducting the MR sense current. The structure and method of forming such a compact MR head is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,446,613 "Magnetic Head Assembly With MR Sensors" by Robert E Rottmayer, issued Aug. 29, 1995, which is incorporated herein by reference.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,446,613, a thin film magnetic head incorporates an inductive write portion including two pole/shield layers and a read portion including a giant magnetoresistive (GMR) sensor. The pole/shield layers are relatively thick and serve as conductive leads which can carry high current with minimal heating and low current density. The GMR sensor defines data track width and thus minimizes off-track reading of data.
Another prior art reference is U.S. Pat. No. 5,576,914, entitled "Compact Read/Write Head Having Biased GMR Element" by Robert Rottmayer et al. issued on Nov. 19, 1996, which is incorporated herein by reference. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,576,914, a compact read/write head is provided having a magnetically biased GMR sensor which provides reduced noise in the read signal and improves the linearity and gain of flux sensing. Biasing of the GMR sensor provides distinguishable response to the rising and falling edges of a recorded pulse on an adjacent magnetic recording medium. Biasing also improves the linearity of the response and helps to reduce noise. The GMR sensor is magnetically biased such that the major domains of alternate GMR layers define a scissor-type configuration when no excitation field is supplied by an adjacent recording medium.
When an excitation field is supplied by the adjacent record medium, it rotates the scissors configuration from a crossed (90.degree.) state towards either a closed (0.degree.) state or an anti-parallel (180.degree.) state, depending on the polarity of the excitation field. The resultant change in cosine (and resistance of the GMR sensor which is a function of cosine) is therefore from zero to a positive one (cosine 90.degree.=+1.0) or to a negative one (cosine 180.degree.=-1.0). The resultant change in resistance of the GMR sensor therefore indicates the polarity of change of the excitation field. A disadvantage of this approach is that the structure is complex and therefore difficult to manufacture.
It is therefore desirable to provide a method and apparatus to bias a GMR current flowing perpendicular through the major plane (Cpp) head using a method that is simple to manufacture and provides an essentially uniform field throughout the sensor.

Read/write head having a GMR sensor biased by permanent magnets located between the GMR and the pole shields


An intelligent solution for monitoring, assigning, and accounting fueling operations. An automated dispatch fueling system comprises a fuel management server populated with airport profile and dispatcher configurations. Utilizing information stored in the database and received from external systems, the automated dispatch fueling system can automatically assign and monitor fueling operations.

The assignment, completion, and accounting of fueling operations for the aviation industry typically relies on a manually intensive paper-based system. Fueling resources, such as aircraft hydrant vehicles and fueling tanks, are typically affixed with mechanical meters. Utilizing these meters, a fueling agent (i.e., the person responsible for physically delivering fuel to an aircraft) records on a paper receipt the fueling resource's fuel totals before and after fueling an aircraft. Copies of this receipt are then hand carried to the pilot of the aircraft and to fuel accountants who manually calculate the total volume of fuel pumped into the aircraft. Eventually, fuel accountants manually key in the day's fuel information into an accounting database.
This conventional technology leads to numerous problems. The act of manually stamping paper tickets and passing hard copies to a number of different individuals is a time consuming and inefficient process. Further, lost tickets occur frequently in conventional paper-based systems, leading to lost inventory and inefficient record keeping.
Varec's® FuelsManager® Aviation 7.0 describes improvements to the conventional paper-based system described above. Specifically, among other things, the FuelsManager® Aviation 7.0 system supports electronic fuel ticketing, real-time dispatch operations, fuel accounting databases, and airline flight information systems in an integrated manner that eliminates paper-based transactions and accounting. Utilizing the FuelsManager® Aviation 7.0 system, a fueling operations dispatcher (hereinafter "dispatcher") can monitor aircraft fueling needs and assign fueling operations to available fueling agents. The fueling agents, in turn, can receive these requests from the dispatcher, gather the required fueling resources, and proceed to complete the assigned fueling operations (e.g., fuel the aircraft).
While the Fuelsmanager® Aviation 7.0 system provides significant improvements over conventional fueling transaction technologies, it requires the use of a human dispatcher to manually monitor a dispatch workstation and assign fueling operations as needs arise. Therefore, the efficiency and performance of the systems and methods is limited by the capabilities of the human dispatcher. Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for an advanced system for increasing the efficiency and cost-savings of monitoring and dispatching fueling requests in the aviation industry.

Method for the automated dispatch of fueling operations


An organic light-emitting display apparatus includes a thin film transistor (TFT) including an active layer, a gate electrode, source and drain electrodes, a first insulating layer between the active layer and the gate electrode, and a second insulating layer between the gate electrode and the source and drain electrodes, a capacitor including a first electrode on a same layer as the active layer and a second electrode on a same layer as the gate electrode, a first contact layer of a same material as the second electrode, a second contact layer on the first contact layer, the second contact layer being of a same material as the gate electrode, a pixel electrode that contacts an edge of the first contact layer and is on an opening in the second insulating layer, an organic emission layer on the pixel electrode, and a counter electrode on the organic emission layer.

1. Field
One or more embodiments relate to an organic light-emitting display apparatus and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
An organic light-emitting display apparatus is a self-emitting type display apparatus that includes a hole injection electrode, electron injection electrode, and an organic emission layer formed between the hole and electron injection electrodes, wherein light is emitted by holes injected from the hole injection electrode and electrons injected from the electron injection electrode reuniting and dissipating in the organic emission layer. With characteristics such as low power consumption, high brightness, and high response rates, the organic light-emitting display apparatus has drawn attention as a next generation display apparatus.

Organic light-emitting display apparatus and manufacturing method thereof


A multiphoton photorefractive holographic recording material includes an electro-optic host material doped with at least one lanthanide.

A photorefractive recording or storage medium or material functions by means of a photorefractive effect in the material. Typically information is recorded or stored in such a medium, using this photorefractive effect, in the form of a hologram. As such, photorefractive recording or storage media may be referred to as holographic storage media. The hologram is generated by incident electro-magnetic radiation, for example visible or infrared radiation, typically laser radiation, of a particular wavelength or frequency.
The photorefractive effect is based on a sequence of steps that include photoionization of localized trapping centers in the material by the incident radiation, and charge transport of resulting free carriers through the material by drift and diffusion. The trapping centers may originate from intrinsic defects or dopant impurities in the material. The free carriers are re-trapped so as to produce a space-charge electric field pattern along with a corresponding refractive index modulation that arises via an electro-optic effect. A detailed account of this photorefractive effect is provided in Photorefractive Materials and Their Applications I, (Springer-Verlag, 1989), ch. 1. Conventionally, the photorefractive effect utilizes single-photon or single-wavelength excitation of the material to achieve photoionization of the charge trapping centers.
For storage applications, promising single-photon photorefractive materials are based on a class of materials known as ferroelectric oxides. These materials are metal oxide host materials including intrinsic defects or, preferably dopants. Some of the earliest ferroelectric oxide materials include nominally undoped lithium niobate (LiNbO.sub.3); iron-doped (Fe-doped) or manganese-doped (Mn-doped) LiNbO.sub.3 ; Fe-doped lithium tantalate (LiTaO.sub.3); iridium-doped (Ir-doped) or uranium-doped (U-doped) LiNbO.sub.3 ; and Fe-doped or silicon-doped (Si-doped) LiNbO.sub.3 or LiTaO.sub.3. These materials are described respectively in U.S. Pat. No. 3,544,189, U.S. Pat. No. 3,915,549, U.S. Pat. No. 3,997,350, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,052,119. More recently, other single-photon recording materials such as cerium doped (Ce-doped) strontium barium niobate Sr.sub.x Ba.sub.1-x Nb.sub.2 O.sub.6 and undoped or rhodium-doped (Rh-doped) barium titanate (BaTiO.sub.3) have been developed.
Typically, holographically stored information is read from the holographic storage medium using radiation of the same wavelength as that used to record the information. In a single-photon photorefractive recording medium this will usually result in erasure of the recorded hologram during readout, unless some type of fixing process, such as thermal ionic fixing, is employed following recording. This is a significant disadvantage of single-photon holographic recording media. In addition, most of the ferroelectric oxide photorefractive materials are not sensitive in the near infrared.
For holographic storage applications, the above discussed disadvantages of single photon recording media may be overcome by using media which take advantage of a multiphoton photorefractive effect. Multiphoton absorption or excitation is a well-known process in which two or more photons of the same or different energies (wavelength or frequency) are absorbed by a material, thereby placing the material in a higher energy configuration. With regard to multiphoton photorefractive recording, the photons involved in the multiphoton excitation step are ideally of at least two different wavelengths.
In general, depending on the properties of the host/dopant combination providing the multiphoton absorbing material, the higher energy states of a dopant may or may not be strongly coupled to a particular host in such a way that charge transfer can occur between the dopant and the host. However, the photorefractive effect, whether arising from a single-photon or multiphoton absorption process, requires a charge transfer to take place during recording and erasure; the charge transfer is also referred to as photoionization. This means that at least one dopant species must act as a charge trapping center for electrons or holes. A portion of the trapping centers are filled while the remainder are empty. Holographic recording and erasure then occur through light-induced charge redistribution among the trapping centers during photoexcitation.
Early efforts to pursue holographic recording applications based on the two-photon photorefractive effect were hindered by a lack of a suitably efficient recording material, i.e., host/dopant combination. Initial work by von der Linde et al. (Appl. Phys. Lett. 25, p. 155, 1974) centered on LiNbO.sub.3 doped with transition metal ions Fe.sup.3+, Fe.sup.2+, and Cu.sup.2+. Experimental results, using very high peak intensity picosecond pulses in the range of 1.times.10.sup.8 to 5.times.10.sup.8 Watts/cm.sup.2 (W/cm.sup.2), indicated that the dopants had little or no effect on observed two-photon absorption and corresponding hologram formation. The high-intensity two-photon recording process was attributed to an intrinsic, but otherwise unspecified, property of the LiNbO.sub.3 host crystal itself. Intrinsic multiphoton absorption and electron excitation from the "homogeneous host material rather than from a dopant" is also taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,061. Two-step photorefractive recording at relatively high intensity, for example about 10.sup.9 W/cm.sup.2 has also been demonstrated in Fe-doped LiTaO.sub.3 (H. Vormann and E. Kratzig, Solid State Commun. 49, p. 843, 1984).
From an applications point of view, the utility of multiphoton holographic recording increases dramatically as the optical intensity requirements decrease, for the simple reason that low-intensity lasers are more readily available, less expensive, and generally more compact than high-intensity laser systems.
Two-photon recording at reduced intensity has been demonstrated in chromium-doped Cr.sup.3+ -doped lithium niobate LiNbO.sub.3 and LiTaO.sub.3 (D. von der Linde et al., J. Appl. Phys. 47, p. 217, 1976). However, the Cr.sup.3+ -doped material was found to have a dark storage time of only about 20 hours, which is not considered useful for most storage applications.
It is believed that less-than-ideal results in multiphoton recording experiments discussed above are due in large part to relatively short lifetimes of intermediate excited states of dopant ions, for example, less than about five-hundred nanoseconds (500 ns) for Cr.sup.3+ -doped LiNbO.sub.3. It is believed that substantially improved multiphoton recording is to be expected with doping schemes that provide longer-lived intermediate excited states.

Multiphoton photorefractive holographic recording media


A composition comprising an ethylene/CO interpolymer, formed from a high pressure, free-radical polymerization, and wherein the ethylene/CO interpolymer has the following properties: a) a CO content from “greater than 0” weight percent to less than, or equal to, 10 weight percent CO (carbon monoxide), based on the weight of the interpolymer; and b) a melting point, Tm, in ° C. that meets the following relationship: Tm (° C.)≤601.4*(Density in g/cc)−452.5(° C.).

Companies that extrusion coat a variety of polymers, including low density polyethylene (LDPE), onto paper and paperboard continually have problems obtaining good "fiber tear" adhesion, which is the amount of adhesion required to have adhesion between the polymer and the paper greater than the adhesion of the paper fibers to themselves. When the polymer is pulled from a paper substrate, if fiber tear occurs, this adhesion is considered acceptable. If the polymer is pulled from the paper without fibers (without fiber tear), this is considered unacceptable adhesion. Improved adhesion is also desired in the extrusion lamination process, which is used to manufacture multilayer substrates. Ethylene-based polymers used for coatings and films are disclosed in the following references: International Publication Nos. WO2014/105608, WO2011/071843, WO1991/18944, WO2007/110127, WO1997/45465, WO2012/057975, WO2012/084787; U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,523,015, 6,407,191, 5,178,960, 3,860,538, 4,714,741, 6,558,809, 4,962,164, 3,676,401; GB 1448062; EP 0230143B1; U.S. Publication Nos. 2017/0114163, 2017/0107315, 2008/0242809, and Ward et al., Ethylene-Carbon Monoxide Extrudable Adhesive Copolymers for Polyvinylidene Chloride, June 1988 Tappi Journal, pp. 140-144; Scott et al., Degradable Polymers, Principles and Applications, Chapter 8: Ethylene-carbon monoxide copolymers, pp. 156-168, Chapman and Hall (1995).
It is a well-known that, when running extrusion coating lines, at higher and higher line speeds, with conventional polymers, unacceptable fiber tear adhesion results. This adhesion is related to the oxidation of the molten polymer as it exits the extrusion die, and before it comes in contact with the paper (or the time in the air gap). At higher line speeds, the molten polymer curtain has less time to oxidize, which can reduce adhesion. There is a need for new ethylene-based polymers that can be used in high speed extrusion coating lines, and which have good melt strength and adhesion to paper substrates, and which can be used at lower melt temperatures, and/or at higher line speeds of the paper substrate. These needs have been met by the following invention.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Ethylene/CO interpolymers and processes to make the same


For measuring the disturbance level of a base station that has at least one frequency hopping receiver and a way of measuring the signal level of signals received by the receiver, a free traffic channel is allocated. The allocated channel is caused to hop sequentially through all the frequency channels that the base station uses for reception, while signal levels of received signals are measured, and the results are transmitted to an operator. The base station also is provided with a site test and measurement unit, which is used for comparably measuring and reporting results in regard to frequency channels that the base station uses for transmission.

The present invention relates to a method for measuring the disturbance level of a base station environment, which base station comprises at least one receiver utilizing frequency hopping, and means for measuring the signal level of signals received by the receiver. The invention further relates to a cellular communication system comprising a mobile switching centre, a base station controller and base stations, whereby the system comprises a base station with at least one receiver utilizing frequency hopping, and means for measuring the levels of the signals received by the receiver.
The present invention relates to spectral analysis carried out in the base station environment, the object of the analysis being to detect and locate the factors disturbing the system. In a prior art solution for measuring the disturbance level in a base station environment of a cellular communication system, a separate spectrum analyzer is taken to the base station site whenever problems occur. The spectrum analyzer is then used for monitoring possible disturbances by measuring the signal levels of the received signals on all the frequency channels used by the base station. In cases where the disturbance that disturbs the operation of a base station is sporadic (a fast data link, for example), it has even been necessary to wait for its occurrence.
The solution described above for measuring the disturbance level is very slow and expensive, as it requires, in addition to a separate measuring device, active participation by the service personnel during the measurements, as well as for the handling and transportation of the spectrum analyzer.

Method for measuring the noise level of a base station environment


A contrivance, if a WDM signal state changes, is to improve an optical transmission quality by compensating gain flatness. A first excitation control unit sets a first optical pumping light source unit to emit excitation power needed to get the same amplifying operating level of a first amplifying medium as at the time of a maximum wavelength count when allocating wavelengths after a change in wavelength count at an equal interval in a wavelength range. A wavelength allocation bias estimation unit compares a present monitor value of optical power after outputting of a gain equalizer 13 with wavelength equi-allocation power associated with the recognized wavelength count, and thus estimates a wavelength allocation bias occurred as a concomitant of the change in the wavelength count. A primary gradient calculation unit obtains a primary gradient quantity defines as a gain deviation from the wavelength allocation bias. A second excitation control unit sets, in a second optical pumping light source unit, the excitation power needed to cancel the primary gradient quantity. An attenuation quantity control unit controls a variable optical attenuator to fix a gain by compensating an amount of change in the sum of gains.

The present invention relates an optical amplifying device, and more particularly to an optical amplifying device for amplifying a WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplex) optical signal.
Over the recent years, with developments of the Internet technologies, there has been a great leap in demands for information services, and a larger capacity and a more flexible network configuration are required of an optical transmission system in a backbone system.
There is WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplex) as a most effective transmission technology that responds to such a system demand. The WDM is defined as a transmission method of multiplexing fluxes of light having different wavelengths and simultaneously transmitting a plurality of signals via a single optical fiber, and its commercialization is now underway as centralized in North America.
On the other hand, an EDFA (Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier) is given as a key component for actualizing the WDM system. The EDFA is an optical amplifier capable of amplifying batchwise the wavelength-division-multiplexed optical signals by utilizing a wide gain band, wherein an Erbium (Er3+) doped fiber (EDF: Erbium-Doped Fiber) is used as a medium for amplification (the EDFA is capable of the wavelength-division-multiplexing amplification that is on the order of approximately 88 waves in, e.g., C-band).
An optical repeater for the WDM transmission generally takes a configuration in which the EDFAs are connected at multi-stages. Further, the EDFA has a gain wavelength characteristic. Therefore, it is of importance to flatten the gain wavelength characteristic within the signal band by equalizing the gains in a way that controls a sum of gains of the EDFAs at the respective stages into a fixed value in order to reduce both a scatter of peak power of each wavelength after the WDM transmission and S/N (Signal-to-Noise) deterioration.
FIG. 16 is a view showing a control image of the gain equalization. A gain wavelength characteristic (the same loss wavelength characteristic as) opposed to EDF gain wavelength dependency, is necessary for flattening the gain of an EDFA 101. Accordingly, the gain is flattened by providing a gain equalizer 102 having the same loss wavelength characteristic as the EDF gain wavelength dependency.
Further, FIG. 20 is an explanatory view in the case of controlling the gain equalization by the multi-staged EDFAs. For flattening the wavelength characteristic of a sum of gains of an EDF 111 and of an EDF 112, the gain is flattened by providing the gain equalizer 102 having a loss characteristic opposed to the gain wavelength dependency of the sum of the EDF gains.
On the other hand, if an optical input level, etc. of the optical repeater fluctuates with the result that the sum of gains of the multi-staged EDFs deviates from a fixed value, the flatness is not kept, and a tilt (gradient) occurs. This leads to decreases in transmission distance and in transmission band.
FIG. 17 is a view showing a result of measuring the fluctuation in the gain wavelength characteristic. Supposing that the 2-staged EDFs are installed in one single optical repeater, let A be a gain of one EDF and B a gain of the other EDF, and the axis of ordinates indicates the gain wavelength characteristic fluctuation (dB), while the axis of abscissa indicates the wavelength (nm).
An input signal to the optical repeater has, for instance, 8 waves equally allocated in signal wavelength bands 1575 nm through 1610 nm, and total power is changed between −14 dBm and −6 dBm (a dynamic range is 8 dB), wherein an amount of change is measured from the gain wavelength characteristic at −10 dBm.
In the case of controlling so that a sum of gains becomes a fixed value, i.e., A+B=k (fixed) at −10 dBm, the flatness is kept. In other cases where the gain tilt (gradient) is not compensated, however, when the input signal power to the optical repeater changes from −14 dBm to −6 dBm, it is understood that the gradient of the gain wavelength characteristic changes to "positive" from "negative".
The occurrence of such a gain gradient induces deterioration of the transmission quality. Accordingly, the deterioration of the gain flatness has hitherto been compensated by performing the gain fixing control in a way that provides a variable optical attenuator (VOA) between the stages of the EDFs.
FIG. 18 is a diagram showing level diagrams of the optical amplification. Shown are optical levels of sections d1 through d3 in such a case that a VOA 114 is provided between the EDF 111 and the EDF 112 (an illustration of an optical pumping light source is omitted), and the optical signal is inputted from a left end of the EDF 111. Further, the level diagram when in a state 1 is depicted by a bold line, the level diagram when in a state 2 is drawn by a dotted line, and a level-overlapped portion is indicated by a fine solid line.
Supposing that A is the gain of the EDF 111 and B is the gain of the EDF 112, a desired amplifier gain G0 (a gain of the optical output) with no tilt shall be obtained when an attenuation quantity (a VOA set value) of the VOA 114 is v1 in the state 1. Thereafter, if the optical input level decreases from the state 1 down to the state 2, it is necessary to establish A+B=the fixed value in order not to cause the tilt in the desired amplifier gain G0. Hence, the relation "A+B=the fixed value" is kept as it is, and an amount of level fluctuation is adjusted by setting the VOA set value of the VOA 114 to v2 (the attenuation quantity is decreased), thereby obtaining the same amplifier gain G0 as in the state 1.
A conventional gain control using the VOA is that the deterioration of the gain flatness is compensated by providing a plurality of VOAs for every wavelength so as to fix the output level of the optical signal demultiplexed by a demultiplexer (e.g., Patent Document 1).
Further, as shown in FIG. 21, there is proposed a device contrived to obtain a fixed gain by applying gain fixing control at an input and an output of the EDFA (e.g., Patent Document 2). Moreover, as shown in FIG. 22, a method of applying the gain fixing control at each stage of the EDF (e.g., Patent Document 3).
Patent Document 1
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No.2000-004062 (Paragraph No. [0020]–[0022], FIG. 1)
Patent Document 2
International Publication W001/005005 (pp. 11–12, FIG. 1)
Patent Document 3
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No.8-248455 (Paragraph No. [0031]–[0032], FIG. 1)


A method for adjusting a resonance frequency of a qubit in a quantum mechanical device includes providing a substrate having a frontside and a backside, the frontside having at least one qubit formed thereon, the at least one qubit comprising capacitor pads; and removing substrate material from the backside of the substrate at an area opposite the at least one qubit to alter a capacitance around the at least one qubit so as to adjust a resonance frequency of the at least one qubit.

The currently claimed embodiments of the present invention relate to superconducting quantum mechanical devices, and more specifically, to a method for adjusting a resonance frequency of a qubit in a quantum mechanical device and a quantum mechanical device having one or more frequency adjusted qubits.
In superconducting quantum computing systems the frequencies of operation of individual qubits within the computing circuitry are controlled or set for proper operation. Unfortunately, Josephson junction (JJ) resistance in superconducting qubits can be difficult to precisely control. Therefore, there is a detrimental amount of variability in qubit JJ resistance that manifests itself as variability in the resonance frequency of operation in individual qubits. The resonance frequency of a qubit depends on impedance of the device, i.e., on both capacitance and resistance of the device. Methods have been developed to adjust qubit frequency after chip fabrication through the modification of the JJ resistance. However, the accuracy of predicting what modifications are needed to properly align or set qubit frequency is not sufficient to consistently avoid all possible frequency collisions in larger systems, for example. As a result, detrimental frequency collisions still occur in superconducting qubit systems after chips have been packaged and/or flip chip bump bonded for use.
Therefore, providing a method to modify Qubit frequency of operation after chips have been flip chip bonded can lead to a significant advantage in the deployment of larger quantum computing systems, since the parameters of operation can be brought into fine-tuned performance after packaging is achieved. Conventionally, qubit performance specifications have been modified via front side etching. However, front side etching is not desirable because (i) it significantly perturbs the qubit where electromagnetic (e.g., microwave or radiofrequency) field strengths are very strong, (ii) the front side etching cannot be performed once a chip is flip chip bump bonded without de-bonding the chip to do further processing, and (iii) the bump bonding process itself could have an influence on final qubit performance metrics.

Superconducting qubit capacitance and frequency of operation tuning

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


The present disclosure offers an improvement in papermaking methods and products, by providing a tissue sheet and a method to obtain a tissue sheet, with improved absorbency at a given basis weight. Thus, by way of example, the present disclosure provides a single ply tissue sheet having a basis weight greater than about 50 gsm and a specific vertical absorbent capacity greater than about 6.0 g/g.

In the development and manufacture of paper products, particularly paper towels for the consumer market, it is a continual objective to improve the absorbent characteristics of the product. For cleaning up some spills, the consumer needs high absorbent capacity. For some uses, consumers want a fast rate of absorbency. For other uses, a combination of high absorbent capacity and fast absorbent rate is desired. At the same time, constraints on achieving this objective include the need to maintain or reduce costs in order to provide the consumer with the highest possible value, which in part means minimizing the amount of fiber in the product.


A positive active material for lithium secondary batteries, includes a composite oxide including an oxide which is represented by the composite formula LixMnaNibCocO2 and has an α-NaFeO2 structure, and an impurity phase including Li2MnO3. The values a, b, and c are within such a range that in a ternary phase diagram showing the relationship among these, (a, b, c) is present on the perimeter of or inside the quadrilateral ABCD defined by point A (0.5, 0.5, 0), point B (0.55, 0.45, 0), point C (0.55, 0.15, 0.30), and point D (0.15, 0.15, 0.7) as vertexes, and 0.95<x/(a+b+c)<1.35.

Nonaqueous-electrolyte batteries represented by lithium secondary batteries are extensively used as power sources for small portable terminals, mobile communication apparatus, and the like because these batteries have a high operating voltage and a high energy density. The positive active materials for lithium secondary batteries are required to stably retain their crystal structure even when subjected to repetitions of lithium insertion/extraction and to have a large reversible electrochemical capacity.
Presently, an Li—Co composite oxide having an α-NaFeO2 structure (hereinafter the composite oxide is referred to as LiCoO2) is mainly used as a positive active material for lithium secondary batteries. LiCoO2 is capable of stable insertion/extraction of lithium ions at an operating potential as high as 4 V and stably retains its crystal structure even in repetitions of lithium ion insertion/extraction. LiCoO2 hence shows a high energy density and simultaneously attains high charge/discharge cycle performance.
However, since cobalt, which is a constituent element for LiCoO2, is a scare element and expensive, many investigations have been made on the use of an Li—Ni composite oxide (hereinafter referred to as LiNiO2) as a substitute for LiCoO2. LiNiO2 has an α-NaFeO2 structure like LiCoO2 and has almost the same operating potential width as LiCoO2. LiNiO2 is hence expected to attain high electrochemical performance. In non-patent document 1, the relationship between lithium extraction amount and crystal lattice is investigated by X-ray powder diffractometry. It has been reported therein that even when lithium is extracted from a positive electrode in charge/discharge at a depth of up to 200 mAh/g, the layer-to-layer spacing is stably maintained. However, there has been a problem that repetitions of charge/discharge at such a depth result in an abrupt decrease in discharge capacity.
Techniques for eliminating that problem are being extensively investigated which comprise displacing part of the nickel sites in an LiNiO2 structure by an element of a different kind. For example, patent document 1 discloses a technique in which part of the nickel sites are displaced by an element such as cobalt or aluminum in an amount of substantially about 20% at the most to thereby improve charge/discharge performance and thermal stability. However, the composite oxide obtained by this technique is still insufficient in charge/discharge cycle performance and thermal stability as compared with LiCoO2, although slight improvements in charge/discharge cycle performance and thermal stability are attained.
Furthermore, many investigations have been made on the use of an Li—Mn—Ni composite oxide obtained by displacing part of the nickel sites by manganese and an Li—Mn—Ni—Co composite oxide obtained by displacing part of the nickel sites by manganese and cobalt.
Techniques concerning the Li—Mn—Ni composite oxide are reported, for example, in patent documents 2 to 4. However, investigations made by the present inventors revealed that use of any of these techniques poses a problem that not only the electrochemical capacity at an operating voltage of around 4 V is considerably lower than that attained with LiNiO2, but also charge/discharge cycle performance and high-rate discharge performance also are insufficient.
With respect to techniques concerning the Li—Mn—Ni—Co composite oxide, there is a report in, e.g., patent documents 5 to 12 that the composite oxide shows a higher energy density than the Li—Mn—Ni composite oxide. The Li—Mn—Ni—Co composite oxides described in these reports have a composition in which the proportions of cobalt and manganese in the 6b sites each are low and nickel is the main component. The term 6b sites as used herein means a Wyckoff position.
On the other hand, a technique for producing an Li—Mn—Ni—Co composite oxide using a precursor in which the proportions of manganese and cobalt in the 6b sites are high and the two components have been mixed with each other extremely evenly was recently reported in non-patent document 2 and non-patent document 3. There is a statement therein to the effect that in the LiCo1/3Ni1/3Mn1/3O2 reported therein, the manganese, nickel, and cobalt occupying the 6b sites are regularly arranged to thereby form a superlattice and this brings about a stable crystal structure. Because of this, lithium can be extracted without causing a phase change even at high voltages. It has also been found that this composite oxide further has excellent thermal stability probably because oxygen repulsion between c-axes after lithium elimination is relieved. It has further been found that although manganese is contained in the crystal lattice, lithium secondary batteries produced with this composite oxide are almost free from the phenomenon in which manganese dissolves in the electrolyte as in the case of using a spinel manganese material. The nonoccurrence of the phenomenon is thought to imply that the manganese ligand field is free from a Jahn-Teller distortion because the manganese has a valence of 4. Consequently, the composite oxide is advantageous in that adverse influences on battery performances, including the problem that the negative electrode comes to have increased resistance due to the manganese dissolution phenomenon, are diminished.
However, investigations made by the present inventors revealed that the problem of the decrease in discharge capacity with many repetitions of charge/discharge cycling still remains unsolved even with any of those techniques. There has been a desire for a technique for further improving charge/discharge cycle performance.
(Non-Patent Document 1)
T. Ohzuku, A. Ueda, and M. Nagayama, J. Electrochem. Soc., (U.S.A.), 1993, Vol.140, No.7, pp.1862-1870
(Non-Patent Document 2)
Y. Koyama, I. Tanaka. H. Adachi, Y. Makimura, N. Yabuuchi, and T. Ohzuku, Dai 42-kai Denchi Tôronkai Yokô-shû, (Japan), 2001, pp.50-51
(Non-Patent Document 3)
Y. Makimura, N. Yabuuchi, and T. Ohzuku, and Y. Koyama, Dai 42-kai Denchi Tôronkai Yokô-shû, (Japan), 2001, pp.52-53
(Non-Patent Document 4)
C. S. Jhonson, S. D. Korte, J. T. Vaughey, M. M. Thacherey, T. E. Vofinger, Y. Shao-Horn, and S. A. Hackney, J. Power Sources, (Holland), 1999, Vol.81-82, pp.491-495
(Non-Patent Document 5)
K. Numata, C. Sasaki, and S. Yamanaka, Chemistry Letters, (Japan), 1997, pp.725-726
(Patent Document 1)
JP-A-9-231973
(Patent Document 2)
Japanese Patent No. 3,008,793
(Patent Document 3)
Japanese Patent No. 3,047,693
(Patent Document 4)
Japanese Patent No. 3,064,655
(Patent Document 5)
JP-A-2000-260480
(Patent Document 6)
JP-A-2000-260479
(Patent Document 7)
JP-A-2000-268878
(Patent Document 8)
JP-A-2000-353525
(Patent Document 9)
JP-A-10-255846
(Patent Document 10)
JP-A-8-37007
(Patent Document 11)
JP-A-2000-58068
(Patent Document 12)
JP-A-2000-277151
(Patent Document 13)
JP-A-11-317224
(Patent Document 14)
JP-A-2000-3706
(Patent Document 15)
JP-A-11-312519
(Patent Document 16)
JP-A-11-307093
The invention has been achieved in view of the problems described above. An object thereof is to provide a positive active material for lithium secondary batteries which is capable of giving a lithium secondary battery having a high energy density and excellent charge/discharge cycle performance. Another object thereof is to provide a lithium secondary battery having a high energy density and excellent charge/discharge cycle performance.

Positive electrode active material for lithium secondary cell and lithium secondary cell


In an adaptation (4, 5, 6, 7) of differences in injected quantities within high operating ranges, the differences are based on an injection parameter and are determined by regulating an irregular operation in an operating point within the lower operating ranges. The injection parameter which determines the differences in injected quantities in the lower operating point is set on a value different from the normal operating value in this point. The dynamics of the operating point varying with the corresponding parametric value of injection is limited during adaptation (4, 5, 6, 7).

A method of this type is already known from DE 197 00 711 A1.
In a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine, a systematic error in the injection of fuel into the combustion chambers arises as a result of variances, in particular in the mechanical properties of the injection device, for example of the injectors in diesel engines with a common-rail injection system. Due to manufacturing tolerances of the said components and differing degrees of wear (ageing effects), differing quantities of fuel are fed for combustion in the individual cylinders in identical injection periods and under otherwise identical boundary conditions. The differing quantities of fuel lead to a differing output of power by the individual cylinders which, as well as increasing the irregularity in the running of the engine, also leads to an increase in the quantity of harmful exhaust-gas components.
It is known for the irregularity in the running of an internal combustion engine to be analyzed in order to draw conclusions therefrom as to the quantity of fuel injected in the various combustion chambers. For this purpose, for example the angular acceleration of the crankshaft is measured with an engine-speed sensor, said angular acceleration depending on the quantity of fuel injected in each case. Thus a large quantity of fuel injected in the combustion cycle concerned causes a correspondingly large angular acceleration of the crankshaft, whereas a small quantity of fuel injected results in only a correspondingly reduced angular acceleration. This irregularity in the running of the engine is countered in known internal combustion engines by adjusting the quantities of fuel injected in the individual combustion chambers in relation to one another through appropriate activation of the various injectors. In this process, the control signals for the various injectors are altered until such time as all the cylinders make the same contribution to the torque, which indicates that a uniform quantity of fuel is being injected in the various combustion chambers.
This known regulation of irregularities in the running of the engine for synchronizing cylinders in terms of the quantities of fuel injected is restricted in application to low load levels under stationary operating conditions, for example idling. Braking or accelerating, as typically occur in higher operating ranges, could be interpreted incorrectly by the speed sensor on the crankshaft as a difference in the quantity of fuel injected.
The restriction to a low operating point for determining differences in quantities of fuel injected is, however, problematical, since these vary with at least one of the injection parameters, e.g. injection pressure and injection period. The differences in quantities of fuel injected that are determined at a low operating point cannot therefore be used for synchronizing over the whole operating range, e.g. as global correction factors for an activation parameter of the injectors, but have to be adapted to the injection parameters applicable at higher operating points. However, due to the aforementioned requirement for stationary operating conditions for regulating irregularities in the running of the engine, this is not possible without further action.
In the above-mentioned DE 197 00 711 A1, in which correction factors for individual cylinders are applied to the injection period in order to synchronize the cylinders in terms of the quantity of fuel injected, it is proposed that the correction factors determined at a low operating point be adapted by an adaptation factor f(p,t), which is dependent on the injection parameters of pressure and injection period, for higher operating ranges. The values of this adaptation factor are to be stored in an engine characteristics map and taken therefrom for adaptation of the correction factors during operation. While the known method prevents adaptation when the operating conditions are not stationary, it does so only with the aid of a predetermined engine characteristics map whose values cannot optimally match the dependency conditions of the differences in the quantity of fuel injected which exist in reality and which change over the service life of the vehicle.

Method for synchronizing cylinders in terms of quantities of fuel injected in an internal combustion engine


An adjustable wrench includes an elongated member including a first handle end and a second end. The second end includes a fixed jaw and an engaging section formed thereon. The fixed jaw has a first clamping section. A movable jaw has a second clamping section formed on a first end thereof and a second end pivotally connected to the engaging section of the elongated member. An adjusting device is mounted between the second end of the elongated member and the movable jaw to urge the movable jaw to pivot relative to the fixed jaw. A fine adjusting device is provided for actuating the adjusting device to urge the second clamping section of the movable jaw to move slightly away from the first clamping section of the fixed jaw. An elastic device is provided for retaining the adjusting device in position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adjustable wrench having fine adjustment for clamping fasteners.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wire variety of wrenches, spanners, and pliers have heretofore been provided, and examples of which are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,762,244 and 3,916,735 both to Evans; U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,322 to Mikic et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,344 to Nammoto; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,345 to Ciccotelli. Nevertheless, the jaws of the tools disclosed in these patents cannot provide an adequate clamping the fasteners between the jaws. Applicant's U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/900,444 filed on Jul. 25, 1997 discloses an improved wrench which is aimed to solve the above problem. Nevertheless, the user still has to calculate the distance for clamping the fastener in order to speedily tighten or loosen the fastener. The present invention is intended to provide an improved design in this regard.


A drum pedal includes a unit body, a pedal, a chain belt, a shaft, a beater, and a tension coil spring. The tension coil spring has a lower end coupled through a bolt, an adjusting nut, and a locking nut to a bracket fixed to a column. The tension coil spring pivots together with the bolt and the adjusting and locking nuts relative to the bracket. A pivot fulcrum of the tension coil spring is provided on the lower surface of the bracket contacting the adjusting nut.

This invention relates to a pedal device used for playing of a drum such as a bass drum.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-017805, a pedal device of this kind includes a base plate, a pedal, a chain, a rotary shaft, a beater, a tension coil spring, and others. Columns in a pair extend upward from the front end of the base plate. The rotary shaft is rotationally supported on the respective upper ends of the columns in a pair. The beater and a wheel are attached to the center of the rotary shaft. The pedal is rotationally attached to the rear end of the base plate. One end of the chain is coupled to the rotary shaft while being wound around the wheel. The opposite end of the chain is coupled to a free end of the pedal. The upper end of the tension coil spring is coupled through a coupling ring to a crank arm attached to an end portion of the rotary shaft. The lower end of the tension coil spring is coupled to the upper end of the bolt that adjusts the tension of the tension coil spring. The bolt is fixed to a bracket projecting from one of the columns with an upper nut and a lower nut in a pair. When the pedal is depressed against the biasing force of the tension coil spring, the beater is rotated by the chain, the wheel, and the rotary shaft to beat a bass drum. When the pedal is released from the depression, the biasing force of the tension coil spring makes the beater and the pedal return to their initial positions.
As shown in FIG. 10, when a player operates a pedal to rotate a beater 100 back and forth, a tension coil spring 101 pivots back and forth about the lower end of the tension coil spring 101, which is a fulcrum coupled to a bolt 102. At this time, if the tension coil spring 101 swings back and forth, if the pivot angle A101 of the tension coil spring 101 is increased, the force P of a horizontal component acting on a swinging fulcrum F101 is also increased. This makes the entire pedal device swing back and forth easily together with the pivot motion of the tension coil spring 101, thereby reducing the operability of the pedal. The large backward and forward swinging motion of the tension coil spring 101 also increases the force of friction between the lower end of the tension coil spring 101 and the bolt 102. This increase in the force of friction between the tension coil spring 101 and the bolt 102 reduces smooth movement of the pedal and further reduces the operability of the pedal.


A retractable external vehicle electric system includes a cord holder to be mounted inside a car's engine compartment, including a two-piece case, a spool rotatably disposed within the case for retractably holding a first electric cord, a reel shaft securing together the case and serving as the axis about which the spool rotates, a spring wrapped about the shaft for automatically retracting the first electric cord once it is pulled away from the spool, structure for connecting two electric cords together, and an automatic, temperature responsive switch for allowing electricity to flow from the first electric cord to a second electric cord when a car's engine compartment has an ambient temperature less than a predetermined temperature set within the switch, so that when electricity is permitted to flow to the second electric cord, it is capable of functioning as an electrical outlet.

The present invention relates to external electric supplies for vehicles and more particularly to retractable electric cord holder devices configured to be mounted inside a car's engine compartment, or on other mobile equipment to facilitate heating and other purposes.
It is often desirable to have a convenient means of supplying electricity in conjunction with one's automobile, recreational vehicle, or any other type of mobile equipment. This is especially true of diesel-powered automobiles which need to be warmed up once the weather cools down. In order to warm up these engines, one end of a 120 volt extension cord is plugged into the nearest electrical outlet and the other end is plugged into the engine heater. Since it is not convenient to have an extension cord at hand, attempts have been made to configure an electric cord holder which would adapt to one's car.
Examples of these attempts include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,056,698 issued Oct. 15, 1991, to Bernie Kozakevich; and 5,255,767 issued Oct. 26, 1993, to Wade K. D. Norwood. However, these attempts are not designed specifically to facilitate an engine heater and do not provide for automatic rewinding of the extension cord once the user is through. Furthermore, these attempt to not provide an automatic means for allowing electricity to flow into the extension cord once the ambient temperature within the engine compartment decreases to a predetermined range.
Even though not directly related to supplying 120 volt or other such line voltage source of electricity to a vehicle, these references do disclose a retractable booster cables device which is mounted inside a car's engine department. An example of this is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,904,205 issued Feb. 27, 1996, to Mark D. Rice. However, Rice discloses a unique coupling system for the booster cables in conjunction with concentric conductive rings where in the entire device functions in order to safely recharge a nearby battery. Rice does not disclose or suggest a plastic spool which retractably holds a 120 volt electric cord which automatically serves to provide electricity once the ambient temperature reaches below a certain range and does not address facilitating an engine compartment heater.
Similar to the Rice patent is U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,833 issued Mar. 31, 1987, to Czubemat et al. However, Czubernat et al. discloses a manually retractable set of booster cables which is not mounted inside a car's engine department, but rather is designed to be a portable device. Other examples of references which related to the field of batteries and battery recharging include German Patent No. 24 44 807 issued Apr. 1, 1976, to Robert Bosch GmbH and French Patent Publication No. 2 633 786, relative to the inventor George Leblanc, published Jan. 5, 1990.
References which address portable cord holders include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,282,954 issued Aug. 11, 1981, to John O. Hill; 4,322,045 issued Mar. 30, 1982, to Roger J. Tellier; and 4,467,979 issued Aug. 28, 1984, to Rudolph A Koehler. However, each of these patents does not suggest a mounted cord holder in which the electric cord is automatically retracted into the holder once the user is through unplugging the electric cord from a nearby electrical outlet and do not address the needs which result from facilitation of an engine compartment heater application.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, describe the instant invention. Thus a retractable electric cord holder device solving the aforementioned problems is desired.


Herein disclosed is a method of rescuing gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor (GnRHR) mutants with IN3 or a mimetic thereof. IN3 significantly rescues 11 missense mutations as assessed by radioligand binding and by IP production. Such rescue occurred despite widely disparate loci along the receptor. In addition, many altered GnRH receptors (terminally truncated, internal deletions, or lacking the ability to form bridges to form tertiary structure) were rescued with IN3.

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) plays a central role in neural regulation of reproductive function. This decapeptide is produced by specialized neurons found in the mediobasal hypothalamus, the axons of which project to the median eminence. From there, GnRH enters the portal circulation and binds to a specific receptor on pituitary gonadotropes, stimulating the synthesis and release of the gonadotropins LH and FSH. Sequence analysis of the GnRH receptor (GnRHR) is consistent with the seven transmembrane domain motif, characteristic of the G protein-coupled receptors superfamily (Ulloa-Aguirre and Conn. G protein-coupled receptors and the G protein family. In: Handbook of Physiology-Endocrinology. Section 7 Cellular Endocrinology Conn PM, ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 87-124, 1998). Human GnRHR (hGnRHR) is coupled to the Gq/11 system; after GnRH binding, the activated GnRHR-Gq/11 protein complex activates the membrane-associated enzyme phospholipase Cp, leading to inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP) production and the release of intracellular calcium (Kaiser et al., Endocr. Rev. 18:46-70, 1997).
Some forms of congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH) result from mutational defects in the synthesis or action of GnRH itself. HH presents as a wide clinical spectrum, characterized by delayed sexual development and by inappropriately low or apulsatile gonadotropin and sex steroid levels, in the absence of anatomical or functional abnormalities of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis. This disorder is genetically heterogeneous and may be sporadic or familial (X-linked or autosomal).
To date, 14 mutations of the GnRHR have been described which are associated with HH. One is a truncation mutant, eight are compound heterozygotes (de Roux et al., N. Engl. J. Med. 337:1597-1602, 1997; Layman et al., Nature Genetics 18:14-15, 1998; Caron et al., J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 84:990-6, 1999; de Roux et al., J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 84:567-72, 1999; Kottler et al., J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 85:3002-8, 2000; Beranova et al., J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 86:1580-8, 2001; Pralong et al., J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 84: 3811-6, 1999; Costa et al., J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 86:2680-6, 2001), and five are compound homozygotes (Pralong et al., J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 84: 3811-6, 1999; Soderlund et al., Clin. Endocrinol. (Oxf) 54:493-8, 2001; Pitteloud. et al., J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 86:2470-5, 2001). These mutations are widely distributed across the entire sequence of the GnRHR (see FIG. 1). Expression in heterologous cell systems that express each naturally-occurring GnRHR mutant separately show that some mutants are totally non-functional (E90K, A129D, R139H, S168R, C200Y, S217R, L266R, C279Y, and L314X) while others retain a modest degree of function (N10K, T32I, Q106R, R262Q, and Y284C). It was believed that these mutations interfere with ligand binding or preclude interaction with effector proteins.
Mutant E90K has been 'rescued' by deleting K191 (which, when present, decreases expression of hGnRHR at the plasma membrane) or by adding a C-terminal sequence (Maya-Nudez et al., J. Clinical Endocrinol. Metab. 87:2144-9, 2002). In addition, previous approaches to correct defective receptors include genetic approaches, such as increased receptor expression to produce larger numbers of receptors (Cheng et al., Am. J. Physiol. 268:L615-24, 1995), and the use of non-specific protein stabilizing agents to stabilize extant molecules rendered incompetent by genetic defects, such as polyols and sugars (Back et al. Biochemistry 18:5291-6, 1979; Brown et al., J. Clin. Invest. 99:1432-44, 1997; Brown et al., Cell Stress Chaperones 1:117-24, 1996). However, rescue by these genetic approaches is not therapeutically significant because such a method is not presently practical for in vivo use. Therefore, there is a need for a method to rescue mutant GnRHR molecules which can be used therapeutically in vivo.

Rescue of gonadotropin releasing hormone receptor mutants


An array substrate, a display panel, and a display device are provided. The array substrate includes a substrate, a semiconductor layer, a gate insulation layer, a gate layer, an interlayer insulation layer, and data lines, wherein the semiconductor layer is directly below the data lines.

As a requirement for pixel density in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panels increases, a size of the pixel is gradually reduced, such that design space in the pixel is compressed. Hence, in the limited space, realizing rational designs of array substrates has become an important consideration.
Currently, optimization of manufacturing processes is an important consideration. By shortening a width of metal lines and a distance between the metal lines, more space meets designing requirements for the array substrates. However, the optimization of the manufacturing processes is affected by equipment capacities and panel yield, so a degree of the optimization is limited.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an array substrate of a display device in conventional technology. A semiconductor layer 10 is located at the bottom. A gate layer 20 is disposed on the semiconductor layer and is perpendicular to the semiconductor layer 10. Data lines 30 are disposed at the top and include longitudinal data lines and transverse data lines, and wherein a linear direction of the longitudinal data lines is parallel to a linear direction of the semiconductor laver, and a linear direction of the transverse data lines is perpendicular to the linear direction of the semiconductor layer. The semiconductor layer 10 and the data lines 30 are not configured in the same vertical plane, such that the space occupied by the pixels is relatively large, which not adapts to the current requirements for the high pixel density.
Therefore, the optimization in design, which allows to improve space utilization of the pixel, has become an important consideration.

Array substrate, display panel, and display device with semiconductor layer directly below data lines

SHENZHEN CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS SEMICONDUCTOR DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


The volume of outgoing electronic messages from a given entity may be restricted by preventing the messages, such as spam, from being sent. Messages may be restricted, for example, by serializing outgoing messages using a mutual-exclusion locking technique or by using a ticket-based system. Serialization may occur, for example, at a web level in web-based implementations. In one system, a limited-use ticket is generated that allows an entity to send one or more electronic messages, and the ticket is provided to the entity. A request is received from the entity to send an electronic message, and the request is associated with the ticket and the electronic message. After receiving the request, a determination is made as to whether the ticket is valid and, if the ticket is determined to be valid, the electronic message is approved for sending.

Some electronic messages tend to increase communication and facilitate a number of beneficial and desirable goals. However, other electronic messages are not desired by the recipients and, accordingly, unnecessarily consume both the time of the recipients and the resources of computer networks. The undesired electronic messages are frequently referred to as "spam."

Restricting the volume of outbound electronic messages originated by a single entity


Cyclo agents useful in forming antibody-metal conjugates useful for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. New compounds and processes of forming these compounds are disclosed including 4-haloacetamido-trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexyl polyaminocarboxylate and 4-isothiocyanato-trans-1,2-diamino cyclohexane-N,N,N',N'-tetra acetic acid.

This present invention relates to the synthesis and evaluation of cyclohexyl chelating agents where the complexation of radiometals occurs on one side of the cyclohexane ring and the other side of the ring contains a moiety which allows the chelating agent to be attached to proteins such as antibodies. By the proper choice of radiometal and antibody these antibody-metal conjugates can be used for diagnostic imaging or therapy.
The use of radiometals to label proteins and antibodies provides a wealth of choices of half-life and emissions for various applications (diagnosis and therapy). In addition, radiometal labeling avoids the deleterious oxidation effects experienced in direct iodination reactions. Labeling with metals can also overcome problems of in-vivo deiodination by tumor and normal tissues, particularly when using rapidly internalized antibodies.
Radiometals can generally be attached to antibodies by the use of a "bifunctional chelate" which is first covalently attached to the antibody to form an antibody-chelate conjugate and then bound to the radiometal. The early work in this field used diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) and its derivatives. This compound has a backbone consisting of three nitrogens separated by two ethylene bridges. The two terminal amine groups each contain two carboxymethyl groups while the internal amine contains one carboxymethyl group. DTPA is generally conjugated to antibodies via its bicyclic anhydride (DTPADA) which forms a covalent amide bond between an antibody amine and one of the carboxylic acid groups of DTPA [Hnatowich, et al. Science 220, 613 (1983)]. This method while convenient has drawbacks. For example, with indium-111 this procedure yields high liver retention and slow body clearance [Goodwin, J. Nucl. Med. 28, 1358 (1987)], as well as a substantial amount of crosslinked antibody (two antibodies linked together by a DTPA bridge). This crosslinking can reduce the immunoreactivity of the antibody, increase liver retention, and decrease tumor uptake.
The introduction of benzyl groups onto the backbone of EDTA and DTPA has been shown to increase the serum stability of .sup.111 In-benzyl EDTA and -benzyl DTPA chelates and antibody conjugates and to decrease the retention of indium in the liver of nude tumor mice [Cole, et al. Nucl. Med. Biol. 13, 363 (1980)]. Unfortunately, this reduction in the retention of indium in the liver has not been observed in patients using these chelating agents [Hnatowich, Seminars in Nucl. Med. 20, 80 (1990)]. With yttrium-88 benzyl-DTPA conjugates were more stable thereby giving higher tumor uptake and lower bone retention than the benzyl-EDTA or cyclic DTPA conjugates [Roselli, et al. J. Nucl. Med. 24, 932 (1989)]in nude tumor mice. The above benzyl-EDTA and benzyl-DTPA ligands where attached to antibodies via 4-isothiocyanato benzyl or a 4-bromoacetamido-benzyl group thereby freeing all five carboxylates for metal complexation. Chelating agents which contain a cyclic backbone are also useful for attaching radiometals to antibodies. For example, the use of macrocyclic polyaminocarboxylates such as the bromoacetamido derivatives of 6-(p-aminobenzyl)- 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane-N,N',N",N'"-tetraacetic acid [Moi et al., Anal. Biochem 148, 249 (1985)]or 2-(p-aminobenzyl)-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-N,N',N",N'"-tetraacetic acid [Moi et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 110, 6266 (1988)]have both produced stable copper conjugates while the latter produced stable yttrium conjugates [Deshpande et al., J. Nucl. Med. 31, 473 (1990). The isothiocyanato derivative of the latter compound prepared by a different route has produced stable bismuth conjugates [Gansow and Kumar, U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,985 (1990)].
Trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid (CDTA) is a strong general purpose chelating agents for complexing metals. Its thermodynamic stability constants are generally 1-3 orders of magnitude greater than ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) [Martell and Smith, Critical Stability Constants, Vol. 1., Plenum Press, NY, 1974]. CDTA has been used to remove heavy metals from the body [Kroll et al., Nature 180, 919 (1957)]. To attach CDTA to proteins such as antibodies, CDTA has been converted to its monoanhydride (CDTAMA) [Mease and Svivastava, U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,571 (1991)]. Since CDTAMA is monofunctionalized it does not produce any crosslinked antibodies. .sup.111 In, .sup.57 Co, and .sup.97 Ru labeled immunoconjugates prepared using CDTAMA have shown promising biodistributions in mice. Higher denticity chelating agents containing the cyclohexane ring such as N,N'-(2-aminoethyl)-trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane-N,N',N",N",N'",N'"-hexaac etic acid (CTTHA) have been prepared and conjugated to antibodies by converting two of the acid groups to activated N-hydroxy succinimide esters [Mease et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,663 (1992)]. In the above cyclohexyl chelating agents, all attachments to the antibody have been through one of the carboxylate groups. This eliminates one coordination group from the ligand and this loss may become critical when trying to complex metals which prefer high coordination numbers. The disclosure of Johnson D.K. (European Patent Application 88101776.8 (1988)) presents a method of attaching a p-nitrobenzyl group to the carbon alpha to one of the carboxyl groups of CDTA to produce N-(carboxymethyl)-N-(trans-2-(bis(carboxymethyl)amino)cyclohexyl))(4-nitro phenyl)alanine. Although not presented in that European application, for this particular compound the ##STR1##
4-nitro group can be reduced to a primary amine and converted to an isothiocyanato group for immunoconjugation. While a reasonable method, this approach is only general for the production of polyaminocarboxylate ligands and the juxtaposition of the benzyl cyclohexyl groups may sterically inhibit metal complexation.
In order to move the conjugating moiety to the other side of the cyclohexane ring, Stavrianopoulos (U.S. Pat. No. 4,707,440 (1987)) has prepared the bromohydrin compound 1 ##STR2## 1.times.=-Br 2.times.=-SCH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 C(O)NHNH.sub.2
3.times.=-SC.sub.6 H.sub.6 NH.sub.2
This was converted to 5-hydroxy-CDTA-4-B-thioproprionic acid hydrazide 2. This was conjugated to BSA using 1M HCl and 1M NaNO.sub.2. Also the 4-aminophenyl derivative 3 was prepared and conjugated to BSA by the formation of a very reactive diazonium salt. While demonstrating the ability of attaching CDTA to a protein on the back side of CDTA the methods described are not convenient and may not be applicable to sensitive antibodies.
4-amino CDTA is describe briefly in the disclosure of Engelhardt et al. (European Patent Application #106112.2). No details of this preparation which starts with 1-hydroxy-3,4-dinitro benzene are given. Also no stereochemistry is given on the reduction product 4-hydroxy-1,2-diaminocyclohexane or subsequent intermediates including 4-amino CDTA. The diamines must be in the trans-diequatorial position for effective metal complexation.

Synthesis of 4-substituted-trans-1, 2-diaminocyclohexyl polyaminocarboxylate metal chelating agents for the preparation of stable radiometal antibody immunoconjugates for therapy and spect and pet imaging


An energy regulation method for a fuel cell energy supply system including a plurality of fuel cell power generation modules, a plurality of power conversion modules, and a communication control module connected to the plurality of power conversion modules includes: calculating a parameter average value based on an energy state parameter of the fuel cell power generation module; calculating a compensation factor depending on the energy state parameter and the parameter average value; calculating a control parameter reference value of each of the power conversion modules based on a droop algorithm, and multiplying the control parameter reference value by the corresponding compensation factor to obtain a control parameter set value of the power conversion module; and regulating the corresponding fuel cell power generation modules depending on the control parameter set value.

The fuel cell energy supply system is the important direction of future energy development due to its advantages of high efficiency, large power density, modularization and long life. For example, conventional SOFCs (Solid Oxide Fuel Cells) can achieve comprehensive efficiency in a range of 80% to 90%.
However, the current fuel cells have the problems such as low output voltage, large fluctuation of the DC voltage, and poor adaptability to the low-frequency ripple, so it requires a DC/DC converter for front-end boost and voltage regulation control. However, during operation of the large power fuel cell energy supply system, the DC/DC converter mainly controls a DC bus voltage, and is poor in current control and regulation of the fuel cells.
On one hand, in order to allow respective fuel cell module in the fuel cell energy supply system to evenly share the output power, generally the DC/DC converter utilizes centralized communication, droop control, and the like. However, the centralized communication has disadvantages such as slow response speed and low reliability, while in droop control, accuracy of the bus voltage and balance degree of current among respective fuel cell modules generally need to be compromised. In order to have a higher accuracy of the bus voltage, there is still imbalance of current among respective fuel cell modules.
On the other hand, due to factors such as manufacturing processes, service life and health conditions, there are also difference of power generation efficiencies, difference of output voltages, and difference of electric stack temperatures among multiple fuel cell modules, and it is necessary to effectively utilize characteristic parameters of the fuel cells to optimize operation of the fuel cell energy supply system.
Therefore, it becomes an important technical problem to optimize distribution of output power of multiple fuel cells while controlling the bus voltage/output current.

Fuel cell energy supply system and energy regulation method based on same


A method and an apparatus for welding with a laser beam. A shielding gas mixture of nitrogen and helium is used and the proportions of the component gases are modified depending on the laser beam's power or power density. Plasma formation in the shield gas is minimized by increasing the proportion of helium as the laser beam's power or power density increases.

The present invention relates to a laser beam welding process using a gas mixture consisting of nitrogen and helium in proportions that are adjusted or adapted according to the power or power density of the laser device used.
In industry, it is known to use a laser beam to cut or weld one or more metal workpieces. In this regard, the following documents may be cited: DE-A-2 713 904, DE-A-4 034 745, JP-A-01048692, JP-A-56122690, WO 97/34730, JP-A-01005692, DE-A-4 123 716, JP-A-02030389, U.S. Pat. No. 4,871,897, JP-A-230389, JP-A-62104693, JP-A-15692, JP-A-15693, JP-A-15694, JP-A-220681, JP-A-220682, JP-A-220683, WO-A-88/01553, WO-A-98/14302, DE-A-3 619 513 and DE-A-3 934 920.
Laser welding is a very high-performance welding process as it makes it possible to obtain, at high speeds, very great penetration depths compared with other more conventional processes, such as plasma welding, MIG (Metal Inert Gas) welding or TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas) welding.
This is explained by the high power densities involved when focusing the laser beam by one or more mirrors or lenses in the joint plane of the workpieces to be welded, for example power densities that may exceed 106 W/cm2.
These high power densities cause considerable vaporization at the surface of the workpieces which, expanding to the outside, induces progressive cratering of the weld pool and results in the formation of a narrow and deep vapor capillary called a "keyhole" in the thickness of the plates, that is to say in the joint plane.
This capillary allows the energy of the laser beam to be directly deposited depthwise in the plate, as opposed to the more conventional welding processes in which the energy deposition is localized on the surface.
This capillary is formed from a metal vapor/metal vapor plasma mixture, the particular feature of which is that it absorbs the laser beam and therefore traps the energy within the actual capillary.
One of the problems with laser welding is the formation of a shielding gas plasma.
This is because this metal vapor plasma, by seeding the shielding gas with free electrons, may induce the appearance of a shielding gas plasma, which is prejudicial to the welding operation.
The incident laser beam may therefore be greatly, or even totally, absorbed and therefore may lead to a substantial reduction in the penetration depth, or even in a loss of coupling between the beam and the material and therefore a momentary interruption in the welding process.
The power density threshold at which the plasma appears depends on the ionization potential of the shielding gas used and is inversely proportional to the square of the wavelength of the laser beam.
Thus, it is very difficult to weld under pure argon with a CO2-type laser, whereas this operation may be carried out with very much less of a problem with a YAG-type laser.
In general, in CO2 laser welding, helium is used as shielding gas, this being a gas with a high ionization potential and making it possible to prevent the appearance of the shielding gas plasma, and to do so irrespective of the laser beam power employed.
However, helium has the drawback of being an expensive gas and many laser users prefer to use other gases or gas mixtures that are less expensive than helium but which would nevertheless limit the appearance of the shielding gas plasma and therefore obtain welding results similar to those obtained with helium, but at a lower cost.
Thus, gas mixtures are commercially available that contain argon and helium, for example the gas mixture containing 30% helium by volume and the rest being argon, sold under the name LASAL™ 2045 by L'Air Liquide™, which make it possible to achieve substantially the same results as helium, for CO2 laser power levels below 5 kW and provided that the power densities generated are not too high, that is to say above about 2000 kW/cm2.
However, the problem that arises with this type of Ar/He mixture is that it is no longer suitable for higher laser power densities, since the threshold at which the shielding gas plasma is created is then exceeded.
It is an object of the present invention therefore to solve this problem by proposing an improved laser welding process that can employ lasers with a power exceeding 15 to 20 kW and to do so, with no or minimal shielding gas plasma formation, irrespective of the power or power density chosen.

Method and installation for laser welding with a N

L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme a Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude


A concrete section of an offshore platform substructure comprises a concrete body with a central opening and at least one guidepost hole extending through a height of the concrete body, wherein a width of the concrete body is greater than the height. An offshore platform substructure comprises a base portion resting on the ocean floor, and a plurality of concrete support sections stacked one on top of another on the base portion. A method of assembling an offshore platform with a concrete substructure comprises locating a guidepost in the ocean floor at a well site, towing a plurality of concrete sections to the well site, sequentially engaging each of the plurality of concrete sections with the guidepost, and sequentially sinking each of the plurality of concrete sections, thereby forming a stack of concrete sections on the ocean floor.

Offshore platforms support hydrocarbon drilling and production operations in the ocean. Regardless of the platform type, steel is the industry standard material used to construct both the substructure resting on the ocean floor and the topsides supported by the substructure and extending above the waterline to house personnel and equipment. For countries with limited capacity to fabricate steel, the requisite quantity of steel for the massive offshore platform substructures may be unavailable locally, and obtaining steel from other sources may be economically infeasible. In addition, conventional offshore platform substructures, which are custom designed and constructed in accordance with specific design criteria, such as water depth, wave and tide conditions, and ocean floor characteristics, for example, require long project lead times. Moreover, the heavy equipment necessary to install such steel substructures may not be accessible in remote countries. Therefore, a need exists for a readily available, versatile, easy to install, and economical alternative material to steel for offshore platform construction.


A computer enclousure includes a chassis (10) and a drive bracket (20). The chassis has a pair of side plates (14a, 14b). Each side plate has a pivot (144). A pair of washers (54) is respectively attached to the side plates of the chassis. Each washer has an arcuate guiding slot (547) concentric with the pivot. The guiding slot has indented edges with a series of retaining recesses (549) defined. A pair of pivot arms (52, 62) is attached to the drive bracket for pivotably engaging with the pivot. Each pivot arm has a sliding rod (529) for sliding along the at least one indented edge of the guiding slot. When the drive bracket is rotated about the pivots of the chassis, the drive bracket can be retained at different angles with respect to the chassis with the sliding rods retained by the different retaining recesses.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer enclosure, and particularly to a computer enclosure incorporating a drive bracket.
2. Description of the Related Art
The trend toward miniaturization in the computer industry requires fully exploiting the internal space of a computer. This requires components in the computer to be compactly arranged in a confined space inside the computer enclosure. Typically, components such as data storage devices are attached to the computer enclosure with screws. During attachment, each component must be supported by hand. This process is complicated and time-consuming. Furthermore, this type of mounting technique dose not usually allow for installation or replacement of serviceable components located below the data storage device. Thus new technique are being developed in an endeavor to simplify the installation process.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,388,876 B1 discloses a drive bracket pivotably attached to a computer enclosure. The computer enclosure includes a housing and a drive bracket. The housing has a pair of opposite side panels. Each side panel defines a guiding slot and a retaining recess. The drive bracket has a base from which a pair of side walls extends. Each side wall has an external guiding pivot rotatably received in a corresponding guiding slot, to allow the drive bracket to rotate with respect to the housing between a first position and a second position. In the first position, ample access to an interior space of the housing is available. In the second position, the drive bracket is fully and securely installed within the housing. However, the drive bracket can be retained only at the first and second positions.
Therefore, there is a need for a computer enclosure with a pivotable drive bracket which can be retained at any position desired.

Computer enclosure incorporating pivotable drive bracket

Hong Fu Jin Precision IND (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.


A container sensing system for controlling the heating in a microwave oven of a container carrying control information which may be read by an optical reading device. The optical reading device includes a light transmitter and a light receiver for sensing a reflectance of a sensor. The sensor includes a first and second region. The first region is provided for establishing a start and non-start condition while the second region is provided for reading temperature information. To avoid the surface reflected portion of incident light to gain an accurate reading, the axes of transmission and reception are offset in the same angular direction to a perpendicular of a sensor surface wherein the transmitter directs an inclined reading light beam onto a region of the sensor and the receiver receives the scattered light therefrom depending on the reflection properties of the sensor region.

JP 609 4244-A2 discloses a microwave oven and a specifically designed cooking vessel, which has been provided with thermo-colour fields arranged around a periphery of the round vessel. A reflection type light sensor is provided for detecting a change of colour of said thermo-colour. By means of this feedback information a heating operation of a beverage or foodstuff in said container may be controlled.
GB 20 52 731-A discloses in general terms a set-up of a temperature responsive device in which light from a light source is directed towards a sensor of which the reflective characteristics changes with temperature. Reflected light from the sensor and received by a receiver provides information about such changes by temperature.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,041 discloses an automated food vending system comprising a microwave oven provided with a code reader for reading a bar code printed on a package.
Navy Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol.10, no.1, Sep. 1, 1984, Arlington, Va. USA, pages 75-79,XP002006334 T. R. Odgen "Liquid Crystal Temperature Measurement Device" discloses a measurement apparatus for detecting the temperature of surfaces coated with thermographic liquid crystals, which can operate in water.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,933,525 discloses a microwaveable container provided with a plurality of liquid crystal film display devices which change colour in response to a preset temperature.
A general problem when using optical sensing/reading devices of the actual type is to establish a sustainable security in reading. Mainly this may be referred to the fact that the information carrying differences in the received reflected light may be small and therefore difficult to detect. Possibly this may be solved by the use of a more complicated light receiver including means for a deeper analysis of the spectrum of the received light, changing when the thermo sensitive surface changes colour at a temperature increase, for example. However, this further complication and increased costs therefore are highly undesirable in a consumer type equipment like a microwave oven. Another, related problem is that an accurate positioning of the cooking vessel or container, more specifically the sensor or sensors thereof, is required in relation to the light source and light receiver in order to obtain the symmetrical arrangements disclosed in said references, i.e. transmitting a light beam of a given angular off-set in relation to a perpendicular of the sensor surface and receiving a reflected beam of the same but opposite angular off-set.
In order to maintain the reflective characteristic of the sensor surface it is generally necessary to provide the sensor surface with a transparent cover layer or coating. In case the thermo-colour has been realized by means of a liquid crystal, such a transparent cover is a pure necessity. The use of this cover has the consequence that the amount of light in the surface reflected light beam will substantially not change with changes of the underlying thermo-colour. This problem is specifically focused in case of disposable type containers or packages regularly having a coating of this type. Moreover, use of packages or containers of this type further aggravates said sensor positioning problem, because the container wall and thereby the sensor carrying surface may bulge, thereby disturbing the reception of a symmetrically reflected reading beam.
Another problem in case of disposable containers is that non-approved packages may wrongly be interpreted as approved ones, which may lead to an unintended start of the heating progress with consequent risks for the user. Still another user risk may occur if a user inadvertently places an empty approved-type container in the oven. Within seconds this may lead to development of smoke and open fire.
These problems have neither been discussed in the referenced prior art, nor solved thereby.

Container sensing system and microwave oven using the same


A commodity sales data processing apparatus comprises a stationary type docking station provided with a printer and a portable information terminal which is freely mounted on or separated from the docking station. The information terminal accepts the input of the data related to the sales of a commodity and processes the accepted data. Further, if a print job is designated, the information terminal, when mounted on the docking station, prints printing data using the printer of the docking station or stores the printing data when not mounted on the docking station. Moreover, the stored printing data is printed using the printer of the docking station when the information terminal is mounted on the docking station.

It is known a commodity sales data processing apparatus, such as a POS (Point Of Sales) terminal, which reads the data of the commodity brought to a checkout counter by a customer and processes the reading data as commodity sales data.
The POS terminal which is a stationary type one is arranged at the checkout counter of a store.
On the other hand, a portable information terminal, such as a tablet type information terminal, the display screen of which is capable of being touched by a user with fingers to input information, is significantly popularized and reduced in price.
When used as a POS terminal, such an information terminal is frequently required to print data.
In a case where a print job is needed, a shop clerk goes to the management room in a store to connect the information terminal with a printer arranged in the management room to print data. When the printer in the management room is connected with a communication network, the shop clerk sends the printing data of the information terminal to the printer via the communication network and then prints the data using the printer.
The work to connect an information terminal with a printer each time is a burden for the shop clerk, and also reduces work efficiency.
In a case where a print job is performed via a communication network, there is no need to connect an information terminal to a printer. On the other hand, it is necessary to set a condition for the selection of a printer from a plurality of printers, which is also a burden for the shop clerk. If the printed data is important, the content on a printed paper may be leaked to a third party during the period when the shop clerk goes to the place where the printer is arranged. It also occasionally happens that the shop clerk forgets that the print job is completed, left the printed paper placed on the printer.

Commodity sales data processing apparatus and control method


An optical transmission system of the present invention includes input ports to which laser beams are respectively input, condensing, input optical elements, input reflectors corresponding one-to-one to the input optical elements each, output reflectors, output optical elements, and output ports. Assume that maximum one and minimum one of optical distances between the input optical elements and the output optical elements are DL and DS, respectively. Then, the beam waist position Q of the laser beam output from the input optical element closest to the input port satisfies a relation:0.9(DL+DS)/4≦Q≦1.1(DL+DS)/4.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical transmission system that causes a light beam to propagate through a space and more particularly to an optical transmission system of the type needing high signal quality.
2. Description of the Background Art
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 6-75176 discloses a microdynamic optical switch including an input port implemented by a single optical fiber, a mirror for steering a light beam, a piezoelectric actuator for moving the mirror, and an output port implemented by n optical fibers. The input port and output port are inclined by 90° relative to each other. A light beam output from the input port is incident to the output port via the mirror, which is inclined by 45° relative to an optical path assigned to the light beam. The distance between the input port and the output port is greater than 50 μm if optics includes a collimator lens or 50 μm or below if otherwise. The distance of 50 μm or below is, according to the above document, necessary for achieving a small insertion loss. Also, the document describes that the collimator lens collimates the light beam to thereby reduce the divergence of the light beam, realizing a small insertion loss even if the distance is greater than 50 μm.
However, the piezoelectric actuator taught in the above document and having a micromechanical structure cannot drive the mirror by more than a certain distance, limiting the number of input ports and output ports available. Further, the distance between the input port and the mirror and therefore the beam radius differs in dependence on the output port. This means that signal quality is dependent on the output port.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-10029 proposes an optical switch including an input port and an output port implemented by optical fibers, a plurality of lenses, a plurality of movable mirrors, and a fixed mirror. This document describes that the movable mirrors so operate as to minimize an optical loss. Such an optical switch, however, needs the movable mirrors and requires them to move over a broad range while increasing a distance between the input port and the output port. The increase in the distance between the input port and the output port causes the distance between the input port and the mirrors to vary independence on the output port, also causing signal quality to vary in dependence on the output port.
Technologies relating to the present invention are also disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 11-2769, 11-90665, 11-95154 and 2001-174724 and Japanese Patent No. 3,040,812.


A temperature compensation method for a microprocessor based electro-pneumatic converter device including an initial calibration sequence, a compensation sequence, and an operation sequence. Linearization of an electro-pneumatic positioner including the steps of adjusting the positioner feedback linkage until a predetermined reference position is attained, reading a position feedback value and determining the required feedback linearization value to achieve a linear relationship between the output/input. A calibration method and a configuration method independent of calibration for a microprocessor based electro-pneumatic converter device including an initial calibration sequence, a configuration sequence, and an operation sequence.

Electro-pneumatic converters, such as current to pressure transducers are in common use as field instruments mounted in pipeline systems for controlling the process fluid. Accordingly, these devices are installed in potentially hazardous explosive environments as well as a variety of temperature conditions. Such devices generally receive a variable electrical input signal (i.e. a variable current input signal of between 4-20 mA or a variable voltage input signal of between 1-5 V) and eventually provide a variable pressure output to an actuator for a fluid control valve or other similar control device.
There are presently existing current to pressure transducers which employ various temperature compensation circuits which typically use the temperature effect on certain circuit components to counteract the temperature effects on other circuit components. While this form of temperature compensation may be sufficient in a limited number of circumstances, it is not sufficient in the majority of applications because the compensation required is a complex function of the temperature. Accordingly, it has been desired to provide temperature compensation of all functions of an electro-pneumatic device, such as a current to pressure transducer or positioner.
In addition, such electro-pneumatic devices require calibration which entails making manual mechanical adjustments to linkages or potentiometers or some combination thereof, typically on the "bench", before installation of the units, to attain a degree of static accuracy. Normally, for instance, there is a linearly moving valve actuator arm and a non-linearly moving position sensing device (a rotating potentiometer, for instance) which are joined by a positioner feedback linkage. When mounting these units in the field, any slight misalignment between the benchset and the field mounting will reduce the linearity and therefore the accuracy of the device in operation.
Furthermore, to initially calibrate or to recalibrate such electro-pneumatic devices, it is required that covers and protective elements of the device be removed to allow access to the adjusting components. This can be inconvenient, particularly in the case of explosion proof installations that require a major effort to obtain permission from the plant supervisor so that the explosion proof seals and joints can be violated while making the necessary adjustments. Another potentially damaging aspect is that every time the device needs recalibrating, the internal components will be exposed for a period of time to the plant environment in which the device is located. This can lead to degradation of the components and eventual reduction in the reliability of the device.
Accordingly, it is desired to provide an improved microprocessor based electro-pneumatic device which can be adapted for calibration purposes. It is further desired to enable remote calibration of the microprocessor based electro-pneumatic device so that no mechanical adjustments or intrusions to the inside of the instrument need to be made for recalibration. It is also desired to provide an easier more flexible method of initially calibrating the device or to accommodate a wider range of process control applications to which the device might be utilized.
Another desire is to provide an improved microprocessor based electro-pneumatic device which can be used to compensate for potential non-linearities introduced when the device is being field mounted.
It is another desire to provide an electro-pneumatic device which may be calibrated with greater accuracy and wherein no inaccuracy is added to the linearization process such as presently occurs in prior art linearization procedures