A method for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using a radial cone k-space trajectory is provided. The radial cone k-space trajectory is defined by the application of a radial magnetic field gradient and one or more oscillating magnetic field gradients. The amplitude of the radial magnetic field gradient increases with time before decreasing with time. While the amplitude of the radial magnetic field gradient is decreasing, the one or more oscillating magnetic field gradients are applied. As a result, the radial cone k-space trajectory is one that is oriented along an axis and that extends outward from an origin along a substantially radial trajectory before extending outward from the origin while circumscribing a conical volume having a radius that increases nonlinearly with distance from the origin.

The field of the invention is systems and methods for magnetic resonance imaging ("MRI"). More particularly, the invention relates to systems and methods for MRI using a radial cones trajectory to sample k-space.
MRI uses the nuclear magnetic resonance phenomenon to produce images. When a substance such as human tissue is subjected to a uniform magnetic field, such as the so-called main magnetic field, B0, of an MRI system, the individual magnetic moments of the nuclei in the tissue attempt to align with this B0 field, but precess about it in random order at their characteristic Larmor frequency, ω. If the substance, or tissue, is subjected to a so-called excitation electromagnetic field, B1, that is in the plane transverse to the B0 field and that has a frequency near the Larmor frequency, the net aligned magnetic moment, referred to as longitudinal magnetization, may be rotated, or "tipped," into the transverse plane to produce a net transverse magnetic moment, referred to as transverse magnetization. A signal is emitted by the excited nuclei or "spins," after the excitation field, B1, is terminated, and this signal may be received and processed to form an image.
When utilizing these "MR" signals to produce images, magnetic field gradients (Gx, Gy, and Gz) are employed for spatial encoding. Typically, the region to be imaged is scanned by a sequence of measurement cycles in which these gradients vary according to the particular localization method being used. The resulting set of received MR signals are digitized and processed to reconstruct the image using one of many well known reconstruction techniques.
The measurement cycle used to acquire each MR signal is performed under the direction of a pulse sequence produced by a pulse sequencer. Clinically available MRI systems store a library of such pulse sequences, which can be prescribed to meet the needs of many different clinical applications. Research MRI systems include a library of clinically-proven pulse sequences, and also enable the development of new pulse sequences.
The MR signals acquired with an MRI system are signal samples of the subject of the examination in Fourier space, or what is often referred to in the art as "k-space." Each MR measurement cycle, or pulse sequence, typically samples a portion of k-space along a sampling trajectory characteristic of that pulse sequence. Most pulse sequences sample k-space in a raster scan-like pattern sometimes referred to as a "spin-warp," "Fourier," "rectilinear," or "Cartesian" scan. The spin-warp scan technique employs a variable amplitude phase encoding magnetic field gradient pulse prior to the acquisition of MR spin-echo signals to phase encode spatial information in the direction of this gradient. In a two-dimensional implementation ("2DFT"), for example, spatial information is encoded in one direction by applying a phase encoding gradient, Gy, along that direction, and then an MR signal is acquired in the presence of a readout magnetic field gradient, Gx, in a direction orthogonal to the phase encoding direction. The readout gradient present during the MR signal acquisition encodes spatial information in the orthogonal direction. In a typical 2DFT pulse sequence, the magnitude of the phase encoding gradient pulse, Gy, is incremented, ΔGy, in the sequence of measurement cycles, or "views," that are acquired during the scan to produce a set of k-space MR data, from which an entire image can be reconstructed.
There are many other k-space sampling patterns used by MRI systems. These include "radial," or "projection reconstruction," scans in which k-space is sampled as a set of radial sampling trajectories extending outward from the center of k-space, or extending from one quadrant of k-space through the center of k-space to an opposing quadrant of k-space. The pulse sequences utilized for a radial scan are typically characterized by the lack of a phase encoding gradient and the presence of a readout gradient that changes direction from one repetition of the pulse sequence to the next. There are also many k-space sampling methods that are closely related to the radial scan and that sample along a curved k-space sampling trajectory, such as a spiral trajectory, rather than a straight line radial trajectory.
Three-dimensional ultra-short echo time ("UTE") imaging holds the potential both to visualize rapidly decaying nuclear species that would not otherwise be visible and to dramatically improve sampling efficiency. Unfortunately, achieving both of these benefits in a single scan is quite challenging. Short T2 imaging is generally performed with three-dimensional radial sampling schemes because of their robustness to signal decay. While partially compensated by compatibility with compressed sensing ("CS"), these sampling schemes are four times less efficient than Cartesian acquisitions. As a corollary, three-dimensional UTE with twisting trajectories are highly efficient with long readouts. Examples of such trajectories include cones, described by P. Irarrazabal and D. G. Nishimura in "Fast Three Dimensional Magnetic Resonance Imaging," Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2005; 33(5):656-662; and Fermat looped, orthogonally encoded trajectories ("FLORET"), described by J. G. Pipe, et al., in "A new design and rationale for 3D orthogonally oversampled k-space trajectories," Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2011; 66(5):1303-1311. However, these sampling schemes suffer from structured artifacts in the presence of off-resonance, data inconsistencies, or undersampling.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a method for magnetic resonance imaging that is amenable to three-dimensional UTE imaging. In particular, it would be desirable to provide a method for three-dimensional UTE imaging in which an efficient sampling scheme that is robust to image artifacts is utilized.

Method for magnetic resonance imaging using radial cones k-space trajectories


Systems and methods for audio signal processing are disclosed, where a discrete number of simple digital filters are generated for particular portions of an audio frequency range. Studies have shown that certain frequency ranges are particularly important for human ears' location-discriminating capability, while other ranges are generally ignored. Head-Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs) are examples response functions that characterize how ears perceive sound positioned at different locations. By selecting one or more “location-critical” portions of such response functions, one can construct simple filters that can be used to simulate hearing where location-discriminating capability is substantially maintained. Because the filters can be simple, they can be implemented in devices having limited computing power and resources to provide location-discrimination responses that form the basis for many desirable audio effects.

1. Field
The present disclosure generally relates to audio signal processing, and more particularly, to systems and methods for filtering location-critical portions of audible frequency range to simulate three-dimensional listening effects.
2. Description of the Related Art
Sound signals can be processed to provide enhanced listening effects. For example, various processing techniques can make a sound source be perceived as being positioned or moving relative to a listener. Such techniques allow the listener to enjoy a simulated three-dimensional listening experience even when using speakers having limited configuration and performance.
However, many sound perception enhancing techniques are complicated, and often require substantial computing power and resources. Thus, use of these techniques are impractical or impossible when applied to many electronic devices having limited computing power and resources. Much of the portable devices such as cell phones, PDAs, MP3 players, and the like, generally fall under this category.

Systems and methods for audio processing


A squelch circuit (200) having an input is provided including a programmable high pass filter (206) for filtering the input signal to produce a filtered signal. The filtered signal is rectified via a differential rectifier (201) to produce a rectified signal. The squelch circuit (200) also includes a threshold comparator (323) coupled to the differential rectifier (201) for sensing when the rectified signal exceeds a squelch threshold.

Modern radio receivers are typically equipped with a squelch circuit to disable the receiver's audio amplifier after the radio frequency carrier is no longer being received by the radio. The squelch circuit prevents noise from being heard at the receiver's speaker during normal radio operation. The basic purpose of a noise squelch circuit is to detect the change in the discriminator output noise as the received carrier strength changes. As the RF carrier strength increases, the discriminator noise decreases. Because the higher frequency noise falls or "quiets" more rapidly than low or mid-range noise and provides faster response time, it is used in most noise squelch circuits to determine the squelch decision (whether to squelch or unsquelch the receiver).
Typically, part of a radio's squelch circuit includes a: noise amplifier stage; pre-emphasis filter stage; limiter stage; a high pass filter stage; noise squelch rectifier stage; DC amplifier stage; and finally a comparator stage for comparing the received signal with the preset squelch level in the radio which is normally set by the radio user.
In FIG. 1 a prior art high pass filter 102 and squelch rectifier circuit 104 such as those used in prior art squelch circuits is shown. In it's typical mode of operation an output signal will reach the output terminal (OUT) of circuit 100 only when the input signal at the input terminal (IN) reaches a level where it can activate the normally "off biased" transistor. Several problems associated with a rectifier and high pass filter combination as shown in circuit 100 include: the compensation for temperature variations; compensation for component variation due to process variation; and the problem of having to vary the components depending on the bandwidth of operation of the radio utilizing circuit 100. Full wave rectifiers using the same bias off scheme are also available, but they share the same problems. However, two of the advantages of such rectifiers are excellent threshold squelch sensitivity and fast transient response for good channel scan performance. Various other half and full-wave rectifier designs exist employing feedback principles which eliminate some of the problems of off-biased rectifiers but which invariably suffer poorer threshold or transient performance or create new problems of their own. A need therefore exists for a squelch rectifier circuit which can overcome the problems associated with the prior art circuits.


A bipolar rechargeable battery comprises a vessel with an insulated liner and an interior region for bulk storage of a gas which serves as an electrode active material. A plurality of cells are nested within the vessel, each including a metallic bipolar plate having a circular base and an integral insulated hydrophobic upstanding side wall of truncated conical shape diverging with increased distance from the base. The essential novelty of the present batteries resides in the application of a hydrophobic insulating coating of a chlorotrifluoro olefin polymer, preferably a copolymer of ethylene and chlorotrifluoro ethylene, over the interior and exterior surfaces of the conical side wall of each bipolar plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improved bipolar cells and gas depolarized rechargeable batteries, such as nickel hydrogen and zinc oxygen, containing such cells, and to methods for producing such batteries.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
A requirement of bipolar batteries is the need for an electrolyte seal between individual cells to prevent short circuits. This requirement is complicated in batteries with a gas phase active material since communication between each cell and a common gas storage space must be provided. Thus both a liquid seal and a gas vent are required.
An additional problem with these batteries is that means must be found to prevent gas phase water transfer between cells either as water vapor or as a result of parasitic reactions which generate oxygen in the case of a nickel hydrogen battery or hydrogen in the case of a zinc oxygen battery. If the parasitic gases are transported to the bulk vapor space then they may preferentially recombine with the depolarizing gas in those cells closest to the gas space. For example, O.sub.2 generated during nickel electrode overcharge in a nickel hydrogen cell may react with hydrogen within the cell or be transported out of the cell and react in the gas storage vessel or in another electrode. O.sub.2 lost from the cell may be converted to H.sub.2 O in other cells or other parts of the battery. This leads to "dry out" and failure of the cell from which O.sub.2 is lost.
Bipolar cells and rechargeable batteries containing same are disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. application for patent, Ser. No. 08/626,992 filed Apr. 3, 1996, titled, "Bipolar Design for a Gas Depolarized Battery". A plurality of cells are suitably mounted within a pressure vessel, specifically within a central cylinder in a nested relationship. Each cell contains a metered predetermined quantity of electrolyte and includes a metallic bipolar cup having a base and an integral upstanding side wall encompassing the base. The upstanding side wall preferably is of truncated conical shape diverging with increased distance from the base, although other shapes may be utilized including the side wall being substantially coplanar with the base. An insulating material covers the upstanding side wall.
The metallic bipolar cup may be fabricated from a variety of materials including nickel, aluminum plated with nickel, stainless steel, metallic coated graphite composite and titanium. The side wall coating of insulating material is a hydrophobic fluorocarbon polymer such as TEFLON.RTM. (polytetrafluoroethylene).
The hydrophobic insulating coating plays a critical role in achieving optimum battery performance and life. This coating must be resistant to separation or delamination from the inside and outside walls of the metallic cup when exposed to the highly alkaline electrolyte solution and the severe electrochemical and thermal environment typical of the interior of a bipolar battery, particularly during operation in gravity-free outer space. This is essential in order to prevent electrolyte sharing between adjacent battery cells and to isolate or insulate adjacent cells electrically.
While TEFLON.RTM. represented a preferred hydrophobic insulating coating material, it delaminates from the walls of the cup after a relatively short period of time upon exposure to the strong alkaline electrolyte solution and severe electrochemical and thermal environment within the bipolar battery. Even when a primer coating is applied to the metal cup, prior to the application of the TEFLON.RTM. coating, the electrolyte attacks the interface of the metal and the primer and lifts the coating off.
Attempts to improve the bonding of the TEFLON.RTM. coating to the opposed surfaces of the annular outer cup wall by perforating the wall and heat-bonding opposed layers of the TEFLON.RTM. through the perforations were unsuccessful. The TEFLON.RTM. bonded tightly to itself, through the perforations, but did not bond to the metal in other areas. Also, a difference in the coefficient of expansion between the metal and the TEFLON.RTM. layer causes the TEFLON.RTM. layer to shrink tightly against the outer cup wall and to shrink away from the inner cup wall, causing distortion of the shape of the cup and leakage of the electrolyte.
It is the objective of the present invention to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages and limitations of the prior art by providing a hydrophobic insulation coating which has excellent affinity and retention properties for the metallic cell cups or dishes used in a bipolar battery. Such a coating must adhere to the metallic dish even after extended periods of exposure to the highly alkaline electrolyte and the severe electrochemical and thermal environment typical of that inside a spacecraft battery, without the need for a primer coating or perforations.

Cells and gas depolarized batteries and method for producing same


Charged-particle-beam projection-exposure apparatus are disclosed for transferring patterns from a mask to a sensitized substrate. By measuring the height and tilt of regions of the sensitized substrate relative to the location of the projected image of the mask before the regions are exposed to the charged particle beam, the charged-particle-beam optical system and the wafer tilt and position can be corrected, maintaining a high-quality image of the mask on the sensitized substrate. Measuring the height and tilt of a region of the sensitized substrate before exposure of that region begins has several advantages. The measurements permit adjustments so that high-resolution images of the mask are transferred to the sensitized substrate even if wafer height and tilt vary rapidly. In addition, because the measurements of tilt and height occur away from the exposure region, height and tilt measuring devices do not restrict the placement or size of charged-particle-beam optical elements.

Charged-particle-beam lithography systems have been developed for transferring patterns from masks to sensitized substrates. Such systems permit the rapid transfer of-high-resolution patterns to the sensitized substrate and are important in the manufacture of electronic devices, particularly integrated circuits.
Conventional charged-particle-beam lithography systems are static transfer systems that transfer the pattern of a single die (a die is equivalent to one integrated circuit) or of multiple dies in a single transfer (exposure) step. These conventional systems face several difficulties. First, the pattern mask for a static transfer system is difficult to fabricate. Second, the control of aberrations in the charged-particle-beam optical system (termed generally the "optical system" herein) across an optical field as large as one or more dies requires complex optical elements.
To overcome the difficulties summarized above, charged-particle-beam lithography systems have been developed in which the pattern on the mask is divided into multiple smaller regions termed "subfields." Such systems transfer the pattern on the mask subfield-by-subfield. In such a "subfield-by-subfield" lithography system, the mask is divided into a plurality of smaller regions. The patterns in the smaller regions are then transferred one at a time to the sensitized substrate. The transfer of the patterns in these smaller regions is less demanding on the optical system so that optical aberrations are reduced and high-resolution patterns are more readily transferred to the sensitized substrate. Because the mask is divided into smaller regions, mask fabrication is simpler.
Subfield-by-subfield pattern-transfer systems are commonly used in the manufacture of integrated circuits. With such systems, the sensitized substrate is generally a semiconductor wafer that is coated with a thin layer of resist, the "resist" being a material sensitive to the charged particle beam. In the subfield-by-subfield transfer method, the mask and the wafer are moved continuously and synchronously together in a fixed direction (hereinafter "scan direction") by their respective mounting stages. The mask pattern to be transferred is divided into a series of field bands extending in a direction perpendicular to the scan direction. During scanning, as each field band approaches the optical axis of the optical system, the patterns within the field band are transferred to the wafer. By exposing regions of the wafer near the optical axis to the charged particle beam, optical aberrations are reduced.
The height of the wafer surface generally varies across the wafer surface. Not only are there variations in wafer thickness but also there may be particles between the wafer and its mounting stage, causing the wafer to deform when held in the stage. If these height variations are not corrected, the surface of the wafer being exposed by the charged particle beam may be beyond the depth of focus of the optical system, causing blurring in the image of the projected patterns. The wafer may also be tilted with respect to the optical system; this tilt may appear as an optical-system defocus that varies across the wafer surface.
According to one conventional method for overcoming wafer-height variations, deformations, and tilt, the height of the wafer is measured at a measurement point on or near the region in which the wafer is being exposed to the charged particle beam. The result of this measurement is then used either to electrically correct the focus of the optical system or to move the wafer with a mechanical height adjustment to the wafer mounting stage.
In conventional systems, the wafer height is measured at a point on the wafer within or near the exposure region of the lithographic system. Because the wafer is moving continuously in the scan direction, the measurement point moves before the focus corrections are made. If T.sub.A and T.sub.B are the times required to measure the wafer height and subsequently correct the optical system focus respectively, and if the scanning speed of the wafer is V.sub.W, the wafer will move a distance (T.sub.A +T.sub.B).multidot.V.sub.W in the time required to measure and correct focus errors. As a result, conventional systems are generally unable to maintain focus if there are rapid changes in wafer height and large focus errors are possible. This causes a loss of resolution in the transferred patterns in wafer regions with rapid changes in wafer height.

Charged-particle-beam projection-exposure apparatus with focus and tilt adjustments


A vehicle bumper and a method for making a vehicle bumper formed of first and second members. Each of the first and second members are formed of substantially similar first and second U-shaped members positioned such that the respective sidewalls of the first and second U-shaped members are positioned adjacent one another. The bumper including a plurality of apertures therein formed by cutouts extending inward from the peripheral edge of each of the first and second U-shaped members.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a bumper for a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
Motor vehicles typically use a bumper system at the front and rear end thereof. The bumper system typically includes a bumper beam that extends across the front and rear end of the vehicle. The respective bumper beams are typically attached to either a pair of rails or the vehicle frame. Many bumper systems include an energy absorption member that extends across and is secured to the bumper beam. In some cases, the bumper system includes a facia or cover located over the bumper beam.
The motor vehicle industry has established certain standards and must adhere to certain government regulations concerning low-speed vehicle impact. Further, vehicle bumpers are typically made of a low-weight, high-strength steel to maintain structural integrity and provide a bumper beam that can withstand impact at speeds of up to 5 mph without sustaining damage while at the same time maintaining a low weight to minimize overall vehicle weight. Accordingly, the bumpers typically have a high strength to weight ratio and are formed of a material that can be relatively easy to manufacture.
Prior art vehicle bumpers are typically manufactured using a roll forming process. Roll forming is a continuous metal forming process that takes sheet, strip or coiled stock and bends or forms it into a shape having an essentially identical cross-section by feeding the material between successive pairs of rollers that increasingly shape the material until the material reaches a desired cross-section. Accordingly, the respective roll forming tool limits the shape or cross-section of the workpiece such that it does not vary along its longitudinal axis. In some cases several roll formed parts are joined together to form a box-shaped member that forms the bumper. While roll forming is a particularly attractive manufacturing method for mass producing bumper beams using high-strength materials, roll forming limits the shape and configuration of the bumper. In addition using roll forming to make a complex bumper configuration or cross-section is often cost prohibitive.

Vehicle bumper and method of making same


A scalable encoding device prevents sound quality deterioration of a decoded signal, reduces the encoding rate, and reduces the circuit size. The scalable encoding device includes a first layer encoder for generating a monaural signal by using a plurality of channel signals (L channel signal and R channel signal) constituting a stereo signal and encoding the monaural signal to generate a sound source parameter. The scalable encoding device also includes a second layer encoder for generating a first conversion signal by using the channel signal and the monaural signal, generating a synthesis signal by using the sound source parameter and the first conversion signal, and generating a second conversion coefficient index by using the synthesis signal and the first conversion signal.

Like a call made using a mobile telephone, with speech communication in a mobile communication system, currently, communication using a monaural scheme (monaural communication) is mainstream. However, hereafter, like a fourth generation mobile communication system, if the transmission rate becomes a still higher bit rate, it is possible to ensure a bandwidth for transmitting a plurality of channels, so that it is expected that communication using a stereo scheme (stereo communication) will be also spread in speech communication.
For example, when the current situation is considered where the number of users increases who enjoy stereo music by recording music in a mobile audio player provided with a HDD (hard disc) and attaching earphones or headphones for stereo to the player, in the future, it is predicted that mobile telephones and music players will be linked together and a life style will be prevalent where speech communication is carried out using a stereo scheme utilizing equipment such as earphones and headphones for stereo. Further, in an environment such as video conference that has recently become widespread, in order to enable conversations having high-fidelity, it is predicted that stereo communication is performed.
On the other hand, in a mobile communication system and wired communication system, in order to reduce load of the system, it is typical to achieve a low bit rate of transmission information by encoding speech signals to be transmitted in advance. As a result, recently, a technique for coding stereo speech signals attracts attention. For example, there is a coding technique for increasing the coding efficiency for encoding predictive residual signals to which weight of CELP coding for stereo speech signals is assigned, using cross-channel prediction (refer to non-patent document 1).
Further, even if stereo communication becomes widespread, it is predicted that monaural communication will be still carried out. This is because monaural communication is performed at a low bit rate, and therefore it is expected that communication costs will decrease. Further, the circuit scale of mobile telephones supporting only monaural communication is small, and therefore such mobile telephones are inexpensive. Users that do not desire high-quality speech communication may therefore purchase mobile telephones supporting only monaural communication. As a result, in one communication system, there may be a mixture of mobile telephones supporting stereo communication and mobile telephones supporting monaural communication. It is therefore necessary for the communication system to support both stereo communication and monaural communication. Further, in a mobile communication system, communication data is exchanged using radio signals, and therefore there are cases where part of the communication data may be lost according to a channel environment. It is therefore extremely useful for mobile telephones to have a function capable of restoring original communication data from the remaining received data even if part of the communication data is lost.
As a function of supporting both stereo communication and monaural communication, and capable of restoring original communication data from the remaining received data even if part of the communication data is lost, there is scalable coding consisting of a stereo signal and a monaural signal. An example of the scalable encoding apparatus having this function is as disclosed, for example, in non-patent document 2.
Non-Patent Document 1: Ramprashad, S. A., "Stereophonic CELP coding using cross channel prediction", Proc. IEEE Workshop on Speech Coding, Pages: 136-138 (17-20 Sep. 2000)
Non-Patent Document 2: ISO/IEC 14496-3:1999 (B.14 Scalable AAC with core coder)

Scalable encoding device and scalable encoding method


A universal driving and setting tool is used to drive and set an anchor, such as a concrete anchor, having an anchor sleeve and an anchor slug positioned within a bore formed in the anchor sleeve. The driving and setting tool includes an attachment that fits over standard drill bits used in a hammer drill for drilling a hole in a substrate, such as concrete, in which the anchor is set. The attachment engages an end of the drill bit and can fit over drill bits having different lengths and having shanks of different shapes. The driving and setting tool also includes a reversible adapter that is positioned in the attachment in either a first or second position. In a first position, an anchor sleeve hammering portion on the reversible adapter faces outwardly to hammer the anchor sleeve into the hole within the substrate. In the second position, an anchor slug hammering portion extends outwardly to hammer the anchor slug within the anchor sleeve, thereby securing the anchor sleeve against the hole in the substrate and setting the anchor.

Anchoring devices, such as concrete anchors 10, FIG. 1, are well known in the art for securing structural members to a substrate 12. A conventional concrete anchor 10 includes an anchor sleeve 14 having a bore 16 with an internal threaded portion 18 and a frusto-conical portion 20. An anchor slug 22 is positioned within the bore 16 of the anchor sleeve 14, for setting the anchor.
In use, the anchor sleeve 14 is positioned within a hole 24 formed in the substrate 12, for example by drilling. Typically, the anchor sleeve 14 must be hammered into the hole 24 until a top rim 26 of the anchor sleeve 14 is generally flush with the surface of the substrate 12. Next, the anchor slug 22 must be driven into the frusto-conical portion 20 of the bore 16 to expand the anchor sleeve 14 outwardly, thereby securing the anchor sleeve 14 within the hole 24 in the substrate 12. Structural members can then be secured to the anchor device 10 by engaging the threaded portion 18 of the anchor sleeve 14.
This process of driving and setting the anchor device 10 typically involves using a number of different types of tools. For example, a hammer drill with a drill bit is used to drill the hole 24. A hammer must then be used to hammer the anchor sleeve 14 into the hole 24. Finally, a hammer is used with a manual driving tool to set the anchor 10 by driving the anchor slug 22 into the anchor sleeve 14. Alternatively, the drill bit can be replaced with one or more different hammering tools used in the hammer drill. Using multiple tools or replacing the drill bit with one or more hammering tools is time consuming and tedious. Setting anchor devices using these existing tools and methods can also be hazardous, for example, when the user is standing on a ladder to install the anchor device in a location that is difficult to reach. Also, the existing hammering tools are difficult to properly align with the anchor sleeve 14 and can cause damage to the anchor sleeve 14 at the top rim 26 when hammering the sleeve 14 into the hole 24.
One type of attachment used for a rotary hammer tool is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,795. The attachment disclosed in this patent, however, is used to drive the anchor slug 22 into the anchor sleeve 14 but cannot be used to first hammer the anchor sleeve 14 into the hole 24 without damaging the anchor sleeve 14. The attachment disclosed in this patent is also secured to the drill bit at the shank of the bit and cannot be used with bits from different manufacturers that have different shaped shanks or with bits having various lengths.
Accordingly, a need exists for a universal driving and setting tool that drives and sets anchor devices, such as concrete anchors, without having to use a number of different tools. A need also exists for a universal driving and setting tool that can be used with various types and lengths of drill bits on a hammer drill.

Universal driving and setting tool and method of using same

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A composite thermoset polymer matrix structure having a plurality of homogeneously bonded thermoset polymer layers and a method of forming the same is disclosed. Each of the layers is formed from either a pure thermoset polymer resin or a composition of any of a variety of thermoset polymer resins and any of a variety of agents or combination of agents heterogeneously dispersed and suspended within the thermoset polymer resin. In this manner, each layer exhibits a distinct desirable functional property or characteristic depending upon an intended application. The agents are selected from a group of additives including but not limited to anti-microbial agents, anti-fungal agents, anti-viral agents, anti-thrombotic agents, friction reducing agents; radiopaque agents, and electrically conductive or resistive agents. The composite thermoset polymer matrix structure may be formed into any size or any shape, object, or structure.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates broadly to polymer matrix compositions. More particularly, this invention relates to a thermoset polymer matrix having multiple layers, each formed from any of a variety of thermoset polymer resins and having any of a variety of functional agents suspended within the resin.
2. State of the Art
Polymer resin technology and methods of forming structures using thermoset resins are well known in the prior art. Thermoset polymer materials and equipment are commonly used in the medical industry as well as in other industries. Embedding or coating such structures with anti-microbial agents is also known in the industry. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,817,325 of Sawan et al. discloses contact killing anti-microbial articles, devices and formulations whose contact killing properties can be applied to the surface of an object or are contained within an article which is intended to contact biological tissues. The antimicrobial layer is either applied secondarily to the article or device or cast into the article or device as the article or device is formed. Sawan teaches that the anti-microbial material is an organic polycationic polymer matrix such as a biguanide polymer having bound or complexed thereto a surface-accessible anti-microbial metallic material (biocide). The polymer matrix must be capable of reversibly binding or complexing with the biocide and also be capable of subtly infusing the biocide into the cell membrane of the microorganism. According to Sawan, it is preferable that the organic material be capable of dissolving into or adhering to the microorganism""s cell membrane.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,478,563 to Erami discloses an antibacterial and anti-fungal composition formed from a polyacetal base resin and antibacterial and/or anti-fungal agents melt-blended or directly added to the polyacetal base resin such that resin and agents completely combine to form a homogeneous resin mixture; i.e., a mixture in which the agents are soluble and dissolve into the resin.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,827,524 to Hagiwara et al. discloses a porous crystalline anti-microbial polymer composition which is coated on a silica gel substrate, heated, and then sintered to form, or which may then be mixed with a polymer to provide the polymer structure with antimicrobial properties. The polymer structure is thereby uniformly provided throughout its thickness, with the antimicrobial polymer composition. As such, the antimicrobial composition, which is relatively expensive, is even provided in central portions of the structure, where it cannot act against microbial agents.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a composite thermoset structure having a plurality of thermoset polymer matrix layers.
It is another object of the invention to provide a composite thermoset polymer matrix having one or more agents heterogeneously suspended therein, where the polymer matrix can then be utilized in a structure.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide composite thermoset polymer matrix structures having a plurality of polymer matrix layers homogeneously bonded together, where each layer is formed from a composition of any of a variety of thermoset polymer resins and any of a variety of agents or combination of agents heterogeneously dispersed within the thermoset polymer resin such that each layer exhibits a distinct desirable functional property or characteristic.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a composite thermoset polymer structure having a plurality of homogeneously bonded thermoset polymer matrix layers with each layer exhibiting any of a variety of distinct desirable properties including but not limited to anti-microbial properties, anti-fungal properties, anti-viral properties, anti-thrombotic properties, friction reducing properties, radiopacity properties, and thermo-electrical resistance or conductive properties.
Another object of the invention is to provide a great variety of composite thermoset polymer matrix structures including tubes, sheets, wire coatings, and tapes which have any of a variety of desirable properties included within a polymer matrix structure.
In accord with these objects, which will be discussed in detail below, a composite thermoset polymer matrix structure has a plurality of homogeneously bonded thermoset polymer layers; i.e., each layer is bonded to the other such that the plurality of layers mechanically functions as a single layer. Such homogeneous bonding is a combination of adhesion, cross-linking, and hydrogen bonding. Each of the layers is formed from either a pure thermoset polymer resin or a composition of any of a variety of thermoset polymer resins and any of a variety of agents or combination of agents heterogeneously dispersed and suspended within the thermoset polymer resin. In this manner, each layer exhibits a distinct desirable functional property or characteristic depending upon an intended application. Various structures such as a polymer tape, wire coating, sheet and tube are provided. In forming the structures, each layer of the structure is preferably formed from a plurality (typically numerous) sublayers, all of the same composition.
It will be appreciated that the composite thermoset polymer matrix structure may be formed into any size or any shape, object, or structure. It will further be appreciated that the arrangement and composition of the homogeneously bonded composite thermoset polymer matrix layers may be varied depending upon the desirable qualities, properties, or characteristics required by the intended application.
The thermoset polymer resin used to form the composite thermoset polymer matrix layers of the present invention may be selected from any of a plurality of thermoset polymer resins which have homogeneous bonding characteristics including but not limited to polyimide, polyurethane, polyester, polyamide-imide, and polyamide. According to the preferred embodiment the thermoset polymer resin used to form the matrix is polyimide.
According to one aspect of the invention, the agents dispersed and suspended in each layer of the polymer matrix are selected from a group of additives including but not limited to anti-microbial agents, anti-fungal agents, anti-viral agents, anti-thrombotic agents, friction reducing agents, radiopaque agents, and electrically conductive or resistive agents. Any of a variety of anti-microbial agents may be added to the thermoset polymer resin, but silver ion producing agents carried in a zeolite carrier are preferred. Likewise, any of a variety of anti-fungal agents, anti-viral agents, anti-thrombotic agents, etc. can be utilized. While the radiopaque agents, and the electrically conductive agents, may be added to any layer within the matrix structure, it is preferable that the anti-microbial agents, the anti-fungal agents, the anti-viral agents, the anti-thrombotic agents, and the friction reducing agents be added to an exposed surface layer of the matrix.
According to another aspect of the invention, the agents suspended in the matrix remain in powder form, have a particulate size (diameter) of up to 5 microns, and constitute up to thirty percent by weight of the finished solid plastic material.
A method of forming the composite thermoset polymer matrix is also provided. The method of forming a solid plastic structure from a thermosetting polymer resin or resin suspension generally includes applying a liquid polymer resin to an object or forming a layer coated on a mandrel, and heating the polymer resin until it cures to form a first layer. If multiple sublayers of the same resin are desired, the process is repeated. Once a first thermoset polymer resin layer is cured, additional thermoset polymer resin layers may be applied to it using the same technique detailed above.
According to the invention, at least one of the layers is provided with an agent additive heterogeneously suspended within the resin. This is accomplished by mixing any of a variety of liquid thermoset polymer resins with any of a variety of agents or combination of agents in a powdered particulate form until the powdered particulate is evenly dispersed throughout the liquid resin. Once evenly dispersed, a true heterogenous thermoset polymer mixture is formed. A true heterogenous mixture means that the powdered particulate added is merely suspended and encased within the liquid resin; i.e. no chemical bonding or polymerization between the powdered particulate and the resin occurs.
A composite thermoset polymer matrix sheet is formed by pouring a first layer of the liquid thermoset polymer resin (with or without additives) into the form of a flat sheet, heat curing the first layer, and then applying additional composite thermoset polymer resin suspension layers with one or more additives to the first layer as described above.
A composite thermoset polymer matrix wire coating is formed by coating a metal substrate, preferably a copper wire, with the liquid thermoset polymer resin and then heat curing the thermoset polymer resin as described above. Any number of layers with different additives may be applied to the metal substrate, one atop another, until a desired matrix thickness is achieved. A composite thermoset polymer matrix tube is produced by removing the metal substrate from within the composite thermoset polymer matrix layers after the desired matrix thickness is achieved.
The thermoset polymer matrix structures described above have numerous possible applications within a variety of technologies and industries including the medical technology industry, research and development technologies, the oil and gas industry, aviation and space exploration, and electrical design industries.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the detailed description taken in conjunction with the provided figures.

Multilayer thermoset polymer matrix and structures made therefrom

Phelps Dodge High Performance Conductors of SC and GA, Inc.


A back plate for use with a backlight module, a backlight module using the same, and the manufacturing method thereof are provided. The back plate includes a plate body and a side wall. The side wall extends out from the edge of the plate body and includes a wall body and a bending part, wherein the thickness of the wall body is less or equal to 0.12 mm. The bending part is formed by bending a plurality of bending sheets outward from the top of the wall body, wherein the thickness of each bending sheet is less or equal to 0.12 mm. The backlight module includes the back plate and a light source module, wherein the light source module is disposed on the plate body and adjacent to the inner side of the side wall.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a back plate for use with a backlight module, a backlight module using the same, and the manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, the demand of LCD displays increases rapidly due to their thin thickness, light weight, high portability, and low radiation with respect to CRT displays. Backlight modules are one of the key components for LCD display panels. With the progress of LCD display manufacturing technique, backlight modules tend to be thinner, higher brightness, and less cost. Developing better backlight modules to make LCD displays with greater competitiveness is a future work trend.
As shown in FIG. 1A, a conventional backlight module includes a metallic back plate 50, a frame 70, a light source module 20, and optical films 30. The metallic back plate 50 is disposed at the bottom of the backlight module. The frame 70 is disposed on the metallic back plate 50 for fixing the light source module 20 and the optical films 30. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or light tubes are commonly used as the light source module 20, wherein LEDs are more preferred as the product is advancing to lighter, thinner, and smaller. The optical films may include light guide plate, light enhance film, or other optical films in order to adjust the light outputted by the light source module 20 to attain the design requirement.
Specifications of backlight modules need to be modified in accordance with the size requirement of the final products. More particularly, the thickness of the metallic back plate is decreasing due to the consideration of appearance design and the minimization of product. However, the structure strength of the metallic back plate is also reduced with the decreasing thickness.

Back plate for use with a backlight module, a backlight module using the same, and the manufacturing method thereof


The invention proposes an inlet valve assembly integrated in apparatus for dispensing a fluid contained in a tank, the valve assembly serving to isolate said tank at least during a dispensing stage during which said fluid is dispensed, said valve assembly comprising a valve member (2) having a contact zone coming into sealed contact with a substantially frustoconical valve seat (16) at least during said dispensing stage, the contact zone of the valve member (2) being part of a substantially frustoconical surface (210), said inlet valve assembly being characterized in that the solid angle of the surface (210) is greater than that defined by the valve seat (16) so that the contact zone is at least initially defined by a circle when the valve member is at rest, and in that the frustoconical surface (210) is formed by a substantially flexible wall, so that the initially circular contact zone extends to form a truncated cone by resilient deformation during the dispensing stage.

The present invention relates to an inlet valve assembly that can be integrated in apparatus for dispensing a fluid or a semi-fluid. In general, this type of valve assembly is inserted in a pump body, at the bottom thereof, for performing the function of inlet valve so as to isolate the pump chamber from the tank containing the fluid to be dispensed during the dispensing stage. However, the valve assembly of the invention may also be used as an outlet valve.
A very widely used type of inlet valve assembly uses a metal ball as the dynamic member of the valve, which member comes into sealed contact with a valve seat that is generally an integral part of the pump body under the effect of the pressure exerted on the fluid in the pump chamber. The ball is held in a small space by a valve holder which is in general inserted by force into the bottom of the pump body. The valve holder is provided with a passage that causes the above-mentioned small space to communicate with the pump chamber proper. The ball can be displaced freely within the small space without it being possible for it to close off the communicating passage. It is only during the dispensing stages, i.e. while the fluid is being put under pressure, that the ball is pressed against it seat.
Although widely used in all sorts of dispensing apparatus even other than pumps, such a ball suffers from certain drawbacks.
From the point of view of physics, the ball is made of a material having a high density, namely steel. The weight of the ball is thus relatively large. With respect to its dynamic behavior, when the dispensing apparatus is used upside-down, i.e. with the valve seat uppermost, the ball does not respond immediately to the effect of the pressure, but rather it takes a certain amount of time to reach its place against the valve seat. The pressure must be high enough to overcome the weight of the ball. The difficulty encountered by the ball in moving upwards against its seat is further increased by the fact that its shape is advantageous from the hydraulics point of view. The surface quality of the metal ball and its shape offer very little resistance to the fluid.
Furthermore, from the ecological point of view, the ball constitutes a metal element that prevents the dispensing apparatus in which it is integrated from being recycled, unless it is disassembled first. The current trend is for metal elements not to be included in products that are made of a majority of plastic, as is the case for a pump.
Moreover, while they are being transported or assembled, such balls collide, which damages their surfaces, thereby giving rise to sealing defects.
From the economics point of view, such a ball is a costly part because it is made of steel and it must be exactly spherical. It has also been observed that many such balls are lost during transport or handling because of their spherical shape that is difficult to grasp.
There are other types of inlet valve that do not use balls as dynamic members. For example, some types of dispensing apparatus incorporate a valve in the form of an elastomer washer which is captively mounted in a small space. When the pressure increases in the dispensing chamber of the apparatus, the washer is pressed in sealed manner against the inlet orifice. The sealed contact is achieved merely by the washer being applied axially against the inlet orifice. Thus, to obtain good sealing, it is necessary for the pressure exerted on the washer to be large enough.
In most prior art inlet valves, a valve member (ball, washer, etc.) is confined to a small volume by a valve holder. In all cases, the valve member is not coupled to any other part, and it can float in the volume with which it is associated.
Document WO 95/01226 defines a valve whose valve member has a frustoconical section coming into contact with a frustoconical valve seat. Sealing contact is obtained over an area that is frustoconical because the valve member and the seat define the same solid angle.


An image forming apparatus which can efficiently perform image forming processing to a recording medium and achieve improvement in production efficiency. In the image forming apparatus in which the recording medium is loaded onto a stage member at a loading position, the image is formed in the recording medium while the stage member passes through an image forming unit, and the recording medium in which the image has been formed is unloaded from the stage member at an unloading position, two stage members are provided. The image forming apparatus includes upper and lower circulating means in which one of the two stage members is moved below the image forming unit from the unloading position to the loading position while the other stage member passes through the image forming unit with the recording medium loaded thereon.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as an exposure apparatus in which a lithography area in a recording medium such as a printed wiring board is exposed with a light beam modulated according to image information to form an image.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the conventional laser exposure apparatus which is used as an image forming apparatus for forming a wiring pattern in the printed wiring board, the printed wiring board which becomes a subject of image exposure is loaded on a conveying stage member, and alignment marks provided at four corners of the printed wiring board are picked up with a CCD camera at a predetermined reading position while the stage member is moved in a sub-scanning direction at a predetermined speed. Then, alignment processing is executed with respect to image information by performing coordinate transformation of a subject area of lithography in a lithography coordinate system in accordance with a position of the printed wiring board obtained by the image pickup.
At a predetermined exposure position, a laser beam is modulated on the basis of the image information and deflected in a main scanning direction by a polygon mirror. Then, exposure processing is performed on the basis of the image information in such a manner that a photosensitive coating film formed on the printed wiring board is scanned and exposed with the laser beam, namely, an image (latent image) corresponding to a wiring pattern is formed in a predetermined area (lithography area) in the printed wiring board. The printed wiring board in which the image is formed is unloaded from a stage member, and the stage member from which the printed wiring board has been removed returns (horizontally moves) to an initial position and is transferred to the next process in which the next printed wiring board is exposed (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2000-338432).
However, in the laser exposure apparatus adopting the above-described method, the exposure processing is not performed to the printed wiring board while an unloaded process of unloading the exposed printed wiring board from the stage member, a returning process in which the stage member returns to the initial position, a loading process of loading the unexposed printed wiring board on the stage member, and a moving process of moving the stage member to a reading position are sequentially performed. Namely, the exposure processing with respect to the printed wiring board is intermittently performed by time set aside for the above-described processes, so that production efficiency is not good. Therefore, improvement in the production efficiency has become a problem.


A transmission scheme serially propagates time slot data to a plurality of TSI modules with time slot data contained in one TSI frame being serially transmitted from module to module in a daisy-chain technique. A dedicated outbound transmission bus transmits the frame of data from one module to a dedicated inbound transmission bus of another module. The outbound and inbound data buses are connected by separate buses on a backplane which is coupled to each of the TSI modules. Preferably, the TSI modules do not transmit selected ones of the stored data to end destinations until the last TSI module has received the frame of data so that all modules can begin the transmission in time synchronization. Maximum transfer data rates can be achieved since undesired transmission line characteristics or disruptions are minimized by the use of dedicated input and output transfer buses between the modules. Additional modules can be added without disrupting the transmission data rate between existing modules, thereby permitting a growable TSI facility without adversely impacting the data transmission rate between modules.

This invention relates to time slot interchangers which are used in communication systems employing time division multiplex (TDM) switching techniques. A time slot interchanger (TSI) receives and temporarily stores information contained in time slots in a TDM system so that the information received in one time slot can be subsequently retransmitted during another time slot. Thus, a TSI functions as a switch that routes communications between one party or path associated with a first time slot and another party or path associated with a second time slot.
Although control of a TSI can be implemented in hardware or software, the software implementations offer substantial flexibility as compared with a hardware implementation. In a typical software implementation, random access memory (RAM) stores received information contained in a first time slot at a predetermined address. The RAM location containing this information is subsequently accessed and the information transmitted during another time slot. Each received time slot is associated with a separate RAM address location. Information in an output time slot is obtained by reading the information stored at the RAM address corresponding to an input time slot associated with the output time slot. Encoded digital signals, such as created by pulse code modulation (PCM) techniques, may be utilized to carry the information.
A common application of a TSI is in a telephone switching system where it may cooperate with a space switching module to provide electronically switchable channels for connecting call originating subscribers with called subscribers. A predetermined number of time slots comprise a frame which is utilized for timing and synchronization purposes. A TSI must be capable of handling at least the number of time slots which may be concurrently utilized.
A large telephone switching system places a substantial burden on a TSI utilized in the system. The number of time slots that can be concurrently handled by a TSI limits the maximum number of subscribers which can be handled by the switching facility. For example, a switching facility with a maximum capacity of 15,000 calls would require a corresponding TSI capable of handling 30,000 concurrent time slot assignments since one outbound channel and one inbound channel are required to support each duplex conversation. In order to minimize delays through the switching system, it is desirable to operate a TSI at very high clock speeds. However, the transmission of signals at high clock speeds places demands on the transmission lines or data buses utilized to carry the time slot data to and from a TSI. For large switching systems, physical constraints make it difficult, if not impossible, to construct the TSI function on a single, reasonably sized, printed circuit board or module. The use of separate modules to implement a TSI further aggravates the transmission difficulties encountered at high clock speeds.
Prior art TSI facilities capable of handling a large number of time slots have been constructed as separate modules with input and output slot information communicated to each module in parallel over either a single bus or separate input and output buses. While such implementations have generally been successful, increased capacity demands and the resulting desire for higher clock speeds and faster data transmission capabilities present problems. It is difficult to minimize the undesirable transmission problems, such as transmission line reflections, when parallel bus connections are utilized for high speed data transmission, especially when the number of modules served by the parallel bus can change. In a growable system, adding or removing TSI modules causes a parallel bus to experience a change in impedance. As the number of modules connected to a bus increase, the capacitive load presented by the modules increase making the bus more difficult to drive. In order to provide for resynchronization of the data distributed by a parallel bus, a large number of wide elastic storage devices may be required. Thus, there exists a need for an improved TSI which minimizes these difficulties.


A nonlinear preemphasis-deemphasis system of simplified circuit configuration formed of nonlinear preemphasis and deemphasis circuits. The preemphasis circuit comprises a nonlinear signal increase circuit for increasing the amplitude of an input signal component whose frequency is higher than a predetermined frequency in accordance with the frequency of that signal component, until the signal component reaches a predetermined threshold level. The output of the signal increase circuit is added to the input signal, and the summed signal is supplied to a nonlinear signal decrease circuit having an operating characteristic inverse to that of the nonlinear signal increase circuit. Another adder adds the output of the signal decrease circuit to the input signal. The nonlinear deemphasis circuit is connected to the nonlinear preemphasis circuit via a signal transfer device and comprises a second nonlinear signal decrease circuit having an operating characteristic inverse to that of the nonlinear signal increase circuit for decreasing the amplitude of a received signal component whose frequency is higher than the predetermined frequency, the amplitude decrease being a function of the frequency of the received signal component, until the received signal component reaches a predetermined threshold level. A subtracter subtracts the output of the signal decrease circuit from the received signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a preemphasis circuit and a complementary deemphasis circuit for use in a recording/playback apparatus such as a video or audio tape recorder, or in communication equipment.
In recording apparatus as well as in communication equipment, preemphasis is executed on the recording or transmitting side and deemphasis on the playback or receiving side to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio. If, in a preemphasis circuit, which increases the amplitude of a signal component whose frequency is higher than a predetermined frequency, a circuit with a limiter is used, the preemphasis circuit is termed a nonlinear preemphasizer and the signal amplitude to be increased is limited to a predetermined threshold level. The present invention more particularly relates to a system comprising such a nonlinear preemphasis circuit and a complementary nonlinear deemphasis circuit for improving the distortion characteristic normally attributed to nonlinearity.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a conventional system consisting of a nonlinear preemphasis circuit and a nonlinear deemphasis circuit. In a video tape recorder as an example, a recording section la includes a high-pass filter 52, a limiter 54, a signal increaser (also referred to as a coefficient multiplier) 56 and an adder 58. The high-pass filter 52 passes frequencies above a predetermined high frequency component of an input signal S.sub.s, and the limiter 54 limits the amplitude of the signal component passed through the high-pass filter 52 to a predetermined threshold level, as graphically shown in FIG. 10. The signal increaser 56 serves to increase the output signal level of the limiter 54 in accordance with the frequency of that signal. Such nonlinear preemphasis circuit 50 prevents, via the limiter 54, further amplification of the output of the high-pass filter 52 beyond the predetermined threshold level. The signal component whose frequency is higher than the predetermined frequency and whose level has been increased by signal increaser 56 is supplied to the adder 58 whereat it is added to the input signal S.sub.s. The summed signal thus obtained is supplied as a recording signal to a recording/playback section 2a, where the signal is recorded on a magnetic tape and subsequently read out therefrom to be reproduced in a playback section 3 a. In this example, the recording/playback section 2a comprises a recording head, a magnetic tape, a playback head and an amplifier.
The playback section 3a includes a nonlinear deemphasis circuit 70 which comprises a subtracter 78, a high-pass filter 72, a limiter 74 and a coefficient multiplier 76 which operate to decrease the amplitude of a signal component in a manner that is complementary to the increase obtained in the recording section 1a. The deemphasis circuit 70 is an inverted version of the nonlinear preemphasis circuit 50.
The circuits in the playback section 3a of FIG. 8 are arranged in a negative feedback loop and exhibit very good deemphasis characteristics. However, due to the negative feedback circuit configuration, high stability is not achievable over a wide frequency range. Furthermore, this circuit configuration is not readily suited to be implemented in an IC configuration.
FIG. 9 shows an improvement of the nonlinear deemphasis circuit of FIG. 8. To solve the problem attributed to the negative feedback circuit configuration in the example of FIG. 8, a nonlinear deemphasis circuit 80 is comprised of a high-pass filter 82, a limiter 84 and a coefficient multiplier 86 which are connected in feedforward configuration to an adder 88. The nonlinear deemphasis circuit formed of high-pass filter 82, limiter 84 and coefficient multiplier 86 is designed to have an operating characteristic that is the inverse to that of the nonlinear preemphasis circuit 50.
The nonlinear deemphasis circuit 80 of FIG. 9 has a flat frequency characteristic with small distortion in the lower frequency range where the amplitude of the preemphasized/deemphasized signal is not limited by the limiters 54 and 84 (this is referred to as the linear area of operation of the preemphasis or deemphasis circuit). However, distortion occurs in the nonlinear area where the signal amplitude is widely limited by the limiters.
FIG. 11 shows the configuration of another nonlinear deemphasis circuit that is intended to solve the above problem of distortion in the nonlinear area of operation. The nonlinear deemphasis circuit 90 in FIG. 11 consists of a parallel connection of two nonlinear deemphasis circuits 90a and 90b which operate on mutually different frequency components. In this example, a signal component in one frequency band passes through a high-pass filter 91 and a low-pass filter 93 in the first deemphasis circuit 90a and then its amplitude is decreased by a coefficient multiplier 94. A signal component in another frequency band passes through a high-pass filter 95 and a low-pass filter 97 in the second deemphasis circuit 90b and then its amplitude is decreased by a coefficient multiplier 98. The two amplitude-decreased signal components in these mutually different frequency bands are combined in an adder 68.
The nonlinear deemphasis circuit 90 shown in FIG. 11 has a feedforward configuration and thus exhibits improved distortion characteristics. However, its circuit configuration is undesirably complicated.


This invention relates to a measurement device, for optically measuring a property of a measurement object, the measurement device comprising a main resonator having a first and a second reflecting end defining a cavity having an effective optical cavity length, an optical gain element for generating light travelling along an optical beam path between the first and second reflecting ends, and a dispersive focusing resonator element which is positioned along the optical beam path between the optical gain element and the second reflecting end, whereby the measurement object is arranged to be at least partly positioned within the optical beam path of the main resonator, and whereby the measurement device further comprises a detection means for detecting a characteristic of light emitted from the main resonator, the value of the detected characteristic being a measure of a property of the measurement object.

There are many measurement devices for optically measuring a property of a measurement object available on the market today. For example measurement devices using laser are used in various applications such as chemical analysis, spectroscopy, optical disc readers, and metrology.
One such measurement device for measuring small distances and other physical parameters which are capable of altering an optical path length is described in GB 1038140. The device comprises a He—Ne laser, an external reflector which is aligned with the laser, and a photo detector. The reflector is movable so that the phase of the reflected light returned into the laser may be adjusted in relation to the light emitted from the laser, whereby the generation of laser light is intensified or counteracted, respectively. The generation is detected by the photo detector, whereby the reading of the photo detector is periodical having the period λ/2. Thus, the movements of the external reflector, i.e. the change in optical length between the laser and the reflector, may be determined from the readings of the photo detector.
However, a problem with the measurement device disclosed in GB 1038140, as well as with other known measurement devices, is that it due to the construction is sensitive to misalignments, especially misalignment of the external reflector, and at the same time quite expensive to manufacture and difficult to control. Moreover, the reading in GB 1038140 is periodical, i.e. non-monotone, whereby it is not possible to directly obtain an absolute measurement of for example the distance.

Measurement device for optical measurement of a property of a measurement object


A method implemented by a computer system is provided. The method includes receiving one or more event state indicators corresponding to an event state of a content stream, the content stream comprising digital streaming content of a live event. The method also includes determining a state change of the event state based at least in part on one or more confidence level values of the one or more event state indicators. The method also includes ascertaining a risk quotient of the state change, based at least in part on a state change type of the state change, and, based at least in part on the risk quotient, implementing the state change at least in part by storing the state change in a data store in communication with the computer system.

Streaming content of a live event differs from streaming of pre-recorded content in that viewers may prefer to watch the live event in real-time. While latency may introduce a delay between the occurrence of events and their presentation via a digital content stream, real-time viewing indicates presentation in a manner by which the content may not be advanced forward in time, because the data has not yet been provided to the streaming platform. In light of viewer preference for watching live events in real time, it is important to provide accurate information about the state of a live event. Incorrect event state information may lead to viewers missing live events or attending a live stream at the wrong time.

Techniques for moderating state changes of live event streams


A developing treatment apparatus has a spin chuck for supporting a semiconductor wafer on which a photoresist to be developed is formed by suction and rotating it at least two rotating speeds including a low speed and a high speed, a washing liquid supplying nozzle for supplying pure water onto the surface the photoresist, and a developer supplying nozzle for supplying a developer on the same surface. While the semiconductor wafer is supported on the spin chuck by suction and rotated at a low speed, pure water is supplied from the tip of the washing liquid supplying nozzle. Rotating the spin chuck is stopped and supplying the pure water is stopped to form a pure water film having a thickness of several mm on the surface of the photoresist by surface tension, after which for several seconds a developer is sprayed in a mist form from the tip of the developer supplying nozzle and simultaneously the spin chuck is rotated at a high speed to scatter off the pure water on the photoresist gradually, thereby replacing the pure water film on the photoresist with the developer. Subsequently, the spin chuck is rotated at a low speed while the developer is sprayed in a mist form on the surface of the photoresist, thereby stretching and straining the developer, in a liquid form, on the surface of the photoresist and developing the photoresist.

The present invention relates to a developing treatment apparatus used in the process for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and a method for the developing treatment, in particular to an apparatus and a method applied to treatment for developing a photoresist which is formed on a semiconductor wafer and has a circuit pattern exposed to light, in a photolithography process.
As is well known, for the process for manufacturing a semiconductor device, a photolithography process is one important technique for forming various circuit patterns in a semiconductor wafer. The photolithography process is in general carried out in the following manner. Namely, a photoresist is coated onto a semiconductor wafer, and then this photoresist is exposed to light by the use of a lithographic apparatus which is referred to as a stepper to transcribe a circuit pattern. Subsequently, the photoresist is developed by an alkaline aqueous solution to obtain a resist pattern corresponding to the transcribed circuit pattern.
The above-mentioned the developing treatment apparatus and the process for the developing treatment, at first a semiconductor wafer to be treated is supported onto a spin chuck by vacuum suction. A photoresist is coated onto the main surface of this wafer and exposed to light by a stepper so that a circuit pattern is transcribed. An alkaline aqueous solution is then supplied from a developer supplying nozzle to the upper surface of the wafer and under the condition that the alkaline aqueous solution is strained and stretched on the surface by surface tension, development is carried out with this wafer being stopped or rotated at a low speed. After that, pure water is supplied from a washing liquid supplying nozzle onto the surface of the wafer to wash it. At the last step, the pure water is scattered off by rotating the wafer at a high speed to dry the surface of the wafer. Thus, a series of the development treatment is finished.
In the prior developing treatment apparatus and the process for the developing treatment as described above, however, the alkaline aqueous solution is jetted out from the developer supplying nozzle disposed to oppose the upper portion of the semiconductor wafer so as to supply the developer to the upper surface of the wafer. Therefore, when much difference in time when the developer starts to be supplied is caused depending on the position at which the pattern is disposed on the surface of the wafer or when scattering of the flowing speed of the developer jetted out from the nozzle occurs, uniform developing treatment cannot be carried out so that a measurement error is liable to be caused in the resist pattern.
Because the surface of the photoresist formed on the semiconductor wafer is highly hydrophobic, the surface is liable to repel the developer at the initial stage of jetting out the developer from the developer supplying nozzle so that turbulent flow of the developer is generated on the surface of the resist and bubbles are produced. The bubbles produced at the interface between the photoresist and the developer are a main cause of bad development and consequently the yield rate of the resist pattern is lowered.
As described above, in the prior developing treatment apparatus and the method for the developing treatment, there remains a problem that it is difficult to supply the developer uniformly on the surface of the photoresist and a measurement error easily occurs in the formed resist pattern. There also remains a problem that bubbles are produced on the surface of the photoresist and consequently the yield rate of the resist pattern is decreased.

Developing treatment apparatus used in the process for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and method for the developing treatment


A measurement circuit includes a phase detection circuit and delay circuitry. The phase detection circuit compares a first signal to a second signal to generate a first phase difference when the delay circuitry generates the second signal based on the first signal. The phase detection circuit compares the first signal to the second signal to generate a second phase difference when the delay circuitry generates the second signal based on a third signal provided to a signal network. The measurement circuit determines a delay of the signal network based on the first and second phase differences.

Many communication standards require high accuracy for the transmission of information from one device to another device. For example, the Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) 5.0 standard has a round trip delay accuracy requirement for transmitting information between a radio base station and a remote radio unit of about 16 nanoseconds, excluding the round trip group delay on the transmission medium. High accuracy transmission of time information is used by many applications. As an example, the IEEE 1588 standards have accuracy requirements for transmitting time information from one device to another device in the range of 1 millisecond to sub-nanosecond.


In a surface potential measuring apparatus for measuring a potential configuration by moving a photosensitive body of an image forming apparatus of electrophotographic type and at least one potential sensor relative to each other and by generating dielectric current in the potential sensor due to change in potential on a surface of the photosensitive body and by analyzing the dielectric current, a width of a detecting portion of the potential sensor is smaller than a width of the change in potential to be measured, and a sectional shape of the detecting portion in a plane perpendicular to the surface of the photosensitive body and parallel to the relative movement direction does not include any edge.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for measuring surface potential of a photosensitive body of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus and a method for effecting control on the basis of a measured result.
2. Related Background Art
Present electrophotographic image forming apparatus have widely been used not only as copying machines but also as printers as output means of computers or word processors which have recently been requested remarkably. There are various use conditions. For example, various image stabilizing means such as a means for preventing fluctuation of density of an output image caused by change in an environmental condition have been adopted. Particularly, in such printers, since not only normal office use but also personal use have been increased, low cost and maintenance free have been requested greatly.
Image quality of the output image from the electrophotographic system greatly depends upon sharpness or clearness in various electrophotographic processes, i.e., clearness of writing information, clearness of an electrostatic latent image formed on a surface of a photosensitive body, clearness of a color fine particle (referred to as "toner" hereinafter) image formed on the surface of the photosensitive body, clearness of the toner image after transferred to a transfer sheet and clearness of the image after the toner is fixed. Thus, in order to obtain a higher quality image, the clearness of various processes must be enhanced.
FIG. 72 is a schematic view of a known electrophotographic apparatus. In order to control an electrostatic latent image, methods for controlling a charging process or an exposure process on the basis of a result obtained by measuring potential of a surface of a photosensitive body within a macroscopic range.
A structure of the electrophotographic apparatus will now be described. The reference numeral 601 denotes a potential sensor; 602 denotes a support; and 603 denotes a photosensitive drum. The photosensitive drum 603 includes a conductive substrate 604, and a surface on which potential is varied. A surface 605 of the photosensitive drum 603 is charged by a charger 606, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the drum by illuminating light from an image signal applying means 607 onto the drum. Distribution of the potential on the surface 605 of the photosensitive drum 603 is measured by the potential sensor 601. The electrostatic latent image is developed by a developing device 608 to form a toner image which is in turn transferred, by a transfer charger 610a, onto a transfer sheet conveyed from a transfer sheet supplying system 609 through a pair of resist rollers 614. After the transferring, the transfer sheet is separated from the drum by a separation charger 610b, and the separated transfer sheet is sent, through a transfer sheet conveying system 611, to a fixing device 615, where the toner image is fixed to the transfer sheet. Thereafter, the transfer sheet is discharged out of the electrophotographic apparatus. On the other hand, after the transferring, residual toner remaining on the surface 605 of the photosensitive drum 603 is scraped by a cleaning blade 616 of a cleaning unit 612. The remaining electrostatic latent image is erased by an electricity removing light source 613. In this way, a cycle of the processes is completed.
Now, the measurement of the potential of the surface of the photosensitive body using the potential sensor in the above-mentioned electrophotographic apparatus will be explained. First of all, in a condition that the light is not illuminated, the charging process is controlled to set the potential Vdark of the surface of the photosensitive body in a dark condition to a predetermined value. In this way, a reference charging condition at this point, i.e., a value of current or voltage to be applied is determined. Then, the photosensitive body is illuminated with a single light amount or plural light amounts, so that surface potential values of the photosensitive body are measured in the respective conditions.
From a relation between the exposure light amounts and the surface potential values of the photosensitive body so obtained, the reference light amount at this point is selected so that the surface potential V1 of the photosensitive body in the exposure becomes the predetermined value. Such potential measurement and potential control are performed upon rise-up of the electrophotographic apparatus and on demand. With this arrangement, the potential values Vdark and V1 are kept constant to prevent fluctuation of image density, thereby providing a stable image.
On the other hand, also in the printers, since output of not only characters but also photograph has been increased, higher image quality such as reproductively of fine dots or thin lines, as well as stability of electrophotography have been required more and more.
In order to achieve high image quality, it is required to control the electrostatic latent image on a small area of the surface of the photosensitive body. To do so, it is very important to know the fine shape of the electrostatic latent image.
However, since the electrostatic latent image cannot be observed directly and the dark portion of the latent image is maintained in the same condition only for a very short time, an observing means for judging whether the clearness of the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive body is considerably limited. Thus, in the prior art, the following methods were utilized:
(1) method for visualizing the latent image in some manner; or
(2) method for making the electrostatic latent image quantitative during the electrophotographic process by using a potential measuring means.
As the above method (1), for example, a method in which the latent image is developed by using toner as the visualizing means and the image is evaluated to guess the electrostatic latent image before development has widely been used. However, in this method, a mechanism for measuring and analyzing the image after the development is required. Further, this method is not proper from the view point of increase in cost of the apparatus and poor reproductively, since dispersion in evaluation becomes great when the image is evaluated by the operator of the electrophotographic apparatus. In addition, this method is not preferably from the view point of environment, since a transfer material (copy sheet) and toner are required for evaluation.
As the above method (2), several methods for electrically evaluating the surface potential of the photosensitive body have been reported. For example, Japanese Patent Application (Laid Open) No. 5-508708 discloses a method for measuring evenness of the surface potential by using a detecting electrode. In this method, a potential sensor is arranged in the vicinity of a surface to be measured and dielectric current due to change in potential on the surface to be measured is generated on the potential sensor by effecting a relative movement between the sensor and the surface to be measured, and the evenness of the surface potential is measured by analyzing the result. The potential sensor has an edge, and it is characterized that the change in potential of the surface to be measured is detected by the edge of the detecting electrode.
Further, another example is disclosed in an electrophotographic institution magazine, volume 30, No. 2and No. 4 (1991). In this example, a means for preventing discharge by applying bias or for preventing discharge by suing gas (SF.sub.6) having high discharge start pressure is used and a potential sensor is arranged closely spaced apart form a surface to be measured by a distance of about 30 .mu.m and dielectric current due to change in potential on the surface to be measured is generated on the potential sensor by effecting a relative movement between the sensor and the surface to be measured, and change in gradient of potential of a latent image at an edge portion is measured by analyzing the result. It is characterized that the detection is effected by suing the potential sensor of several tens of .mu.m or less and the measurement gap of several tens of .mu.m or less.
In present electrophotography, particularly, digital electrophotography, the main resolving power is generally 600 dpi to 1200 dpi. It is required that the latent image potential so generated (referred to as "digital latent image potential" hereinafter), particularly, high image quality such as reproductively of fine dots and/or thin lines is maintained very stably against fluctuation of environment, thereby providing a sharp image stably.
As is in the above-mentioned conventional examples, in order to obtain the high quality image, it is required that configuration of the digital latent image potential formed by laser exposure having spot diameter smaller than several tens of .mu.m or an LED array, particularly, gradient of change in potential at a boundary between the non-exposed portion and the exposed portion of the digital electrostatic latent image (referred to as "sharpness of latent image" hereinafter), and, the potential difference between the non-exposed portion and the exposed portion, i.e., electrical depth of the latent image (referred to as "depth of latent image" hereinafter) are controlled and the image forming means is controlled in accordance with the depth and sharpness of the latent image.
To this end, similarly, a method for detecting distribution of potential of the latent image requires to detect the distribution of the potential of the digital latent image within a small range with a high resolving power, with the result that the control arrangement becomes complicated.
Further, for example, regarding a phenomenon "(high humidity) image flow" in which the image tends to become dim when the apparatus is sued under a high humidity environment, countermeasure is effected by frictionally polishing the photosensitive body in case of a photosensitive body made of relatively soft material such as OPC and by providing a mechanism for adjusting the photosensitive body to a predetermined temperature in case of a photosensitive body made of high hard material such as a-Si group. However, it is difficult to improve the service life of the apparatus and to make the apparatus compact, and detection and control of the latent image with high accuracy are required, with the result that the potential control requires a long time and is not efficient.
Further, in the above-mentioned method for macroscopically controlling the contrast, microscopically, the depth and the sharpness of the latent image may be varied in accordance with the environment or other factors. For example, as well as occurrence of the above-mentioned high humidity image flow, if the exposure amount is too great, since the latent image is expanded, the reproductively of the fine dots may not be ensured or the image may become dim (image flow).
In addition, in order to control the potential of the digital latent image which is changed in the width of several tens of .mu.m, the resolving power of the detecting means must be improved up to several tens of .mu.m. The resolving power can be improved to some extent by decreasing an area of the detecting portion of the potential sensor. However, as the area of the detecting portion is decreased, output of the detection signal is also reduced, thereby reducing S/N ratio.
On the other hand, in order to increase the output of the detection signal, a distance between the sensor and the drum must be approached up to several tens of .mu.m and a relative speed between the sensor and the drum must be increased. However, in the conventional sensors having the edge portion, discharge may be generated or measured potential distribution may be distorted. Further, when a discharge preventing means for preventing the discharge by using gas (SF.sub.6) having high discharge start voltage is provided, the apparatus itself becomes more complicated, and, if the relative speed between the sensor and the photosensitive drum is increased, leakage of gas will affect a bad influence upon the charging process.
Under such present circumstances wherein digitization has been progressed, in order to measure the change in the surface potential with the high resolving power of the order of several tens of .mu.m, it has been requested to provide a technique in which the resolving power is enhanced while maintaining the S/N ratio. The measuring method can preferably be effected simply and easily, and the control is effected on the basis of the measured result to obtain the high quality image stably. In particular, in the presently used compact electrophotographic apparatuses such as printers, it is effective to provide a system capable of extending service interval.

Potential measuring apparatus and potential measuring method


A positive electrode active material and a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery containing a lithium-containing composite metal oxide having a composition represented by: Li1+yM1−y−zM1zPO4 where M is at least one of Co and Ni, and M1 is at least one of Mg, Zr and Al, the molar ration y is larger than 0 and smaller than 0.5, and the molar ration z is larger than 0 and not larger than 0.5 is provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a positive electrode active material and to a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery equipped with a positive electrode containing the positive electrode active material.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a portable information terminal has been developed and being propagated rapidly. With propagation of the portable information terminal, a research and development of a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery used as a power source of the portable information terminal is being carried out vigorously so as to put the secondary battery to the practical use. Known is a lithium ion secondary battery, which is an example of the nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery, comprising a positive electrode, a negative electrode, a separator arranged between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, and a liquid nonaqueous electrolyte impregnated in the separator. The lithium ion secondary battery, which has been put to the practical use, has a discharge voltage of about 4V.
On the other hand, the development of a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery exhibiting a discharge voltage higher than 4V has already been started. A nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery comprising LiCOPO4 or LiNiPO4 as the positive electrode active material is known to exhibit a high discharge voltage of about 5V.
The theoretical discharge capacity, which is obtained when a lithium ion is inserted into and extracted from the active material, is about 170 mAh/g in each of LiCOPO4 and LiNiPO4. However, the discharge capacity that is actually obtained is about half the theoretical discharge capacity noted above. In addition, each of LiCOPO4 and LiNiPO4 is defective in that the diffusion rate of the lithium ions within the crystal is low, with the result that, if the charge-discharge is carried out with a high current density, it is impossible to obtain a large discharge capacity.

Positive electrode active material containing a lithium-containing composite metal oxide and nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery


A method and an apparatus for processing audio data that controls pressure of a played sound to improve a quality of audio are provided. The method for processing audio in a mobile terminal includes: receiving the audio from a microphone; calculating by a controller a sound pressure level of the received audio; determining a sound pressure state of the received audio based on the calculated sound pressure level; and controlling an input gain of the audio based on the determination result.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for processing audio in a mobile terminal. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for processing audio in a mobile terminal that controls recording and playback in the mobile terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, with the significant development of information and communication technology and a semiconductor technology, the supply and use of all types of portable terminals have rapidly increased. In particular, recent portable terminals have developed to a convergence stage for use in portable terminals including traditionally separate fields. For example, the mobile terminal preferably includes a camera, a speaker, a microphone, and a broadcasting/receiving module such that recording, audio playback, and video playback may be performed. Further, the mobile terminal includes a process and the means for processing audio such that such recording and playback may be controlled.
However, the known process and apparatus in the related art for processing audio of the related art does not provide a function controlling the recording according to a surrounding environment. However, the related art provides a function allowing a user to control magnitude, namely, volume of a played voice. In general, a microphone of a mobile terminal has limits on controlling the performance when recording.
When various sounds are recorded in a situation using one microphone (i.e., a single microphone), it is difficult to control a strength of input sound, namely, sound pressure level (unit thereof is typically measured in decibels (dB)), and too high a level may cause distortion of the audio to be stored in the mobile terminal. The sound pressure level may be expressed, for example as a ratio of a level of sound pressure input to the microphone to an allowed maximum sound pressure. In other words, if the sound pressure input is equal to or greater than the maximum sound pressure allowed (i.e. a maximum pressure that can be received by the microphone without causing at least some distortion in the mobile terminal when the sound is recorded and/or the audio is played), distortion occurs due to saturation of sound pressure. In the case of distortion occurring, a tearing sound may be caused that is grating on ears when the audio is output. Furthermore, conventional methods and apparatus for processing audio do not provide a function of controlling display of the sound pressure status level of audio being played and/or recorded, so that a user cannot easily recognize a level of distortion of the audio being played and/or recorded. Typically, the user listens to the output voice and subjectively recognizes a sound pressure state.

Method and apparatus for processing audio in mobile terminal

Samsung-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do