The disclosure relates to a carbon-based electrode material that has been graphitized to hold ions in the electrode of a battery and more particularly include carbide or carbide and nitride surfaces that protect the graphite core. The preferred batteries include metal ion such as lithium ion batteries where the carbon-based electrode is the anode although the carbon-based electrode may also serve in dual ion batteries where both electrodes may comprise the graphitized carbon-based electrodes. The electrodes are more amorphous than conventional graphite electrodes and include a carbide or nitride containing surface treatment.

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries have been extensively adopted in many portable systems and devices such as cell phones, tablets, computers, handheld portable tools and new devices that are being developed relying on the power and weight advantages of lithium ion batteries. The advantages are light weight, high voltage, high electrochemical equivalence and good conductivity. The broad uses and acceptance of lithium ion batteries has come through many advances and developments. One area of development for lithium-ion batteries has been focused on the anode or negative electrode of lithium-ion batteries where much has been accomplished.
The key considerations for anodes for lithium ion batteries, especially for portable devices is high volume and weight specific capacity and long battery life over many multiple charge and discharge cycles. In prior work, anode materials were produced with initial coulombic efficiency approaching 95% with long life through coated and graphitized carbon precursor materials. This is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,323,120 to Mao et al. where petroleum coke is ground to a preferred size, subjected to a solvent coating process, having the coating oxidatively stabilized at an elevated temperature and then the whole particle carbonized and graphitized at even higher temperature in an inert environment. The particles formed highly graphitic structures with a protective coating on the surface that protected the underlying graphite sheets from the electrolyte of the battery. The protective coating protects the edges of graphite sheets which are believed to be catalytically active for the electrolytes in batteries. The electrolytes thereby decompose the graphite sheets during the charging cycle and thereby quickly and drastically reduce the efficiency and storage capacity for lithium ions in the anode. The coating created on anode particles comprised a layer of poorly graphitizable material that when graphitized with the rest of the particle formed a more stable graphite with respect to catalytic decomposition from the electrolyte, but not suitable for itself intercalating lithium ions. But lithium ions are able to easily pass through the coating and intercalate into the more organized graphite sheets. Indeed, this is very good material with good properties and good cycle life. However, its production requires the use of substantial volumes of solvent along with multiple successive separate heat treatments in different atmospheres, all of which add up to be expensive. But, for high value uses where high specific capacity is needed in a compact space and minimal weight are important, this anode is currently most advantageous.
The most important parameters of graphite negative electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries are the initial coulombic efficiency and specific capacity. It has been well known that highly crystalline graphite powders have high specific capacity and very poor initial coulombic efficiency and are not usable as negative electrode material for lithium-ion batteries. Through many years of extensive research and development, sophisticated processes have been developed to mitigate the problems related to specific capacity and the initial coulombic efficiency; the major solutions concentrate on high temperature graphitization and coating the particles with poorly graphitizable carbon before graphitization to provide protection from the electrolyte for the underlying graphite sheets in the particles. Because the mean average particle size of graphite negative electrode materials is smaller than 30 microns and individual particles must be uniformly coated with poorly graphitizable carbon, graphite negative electrode materials are currently manufactured through complicated processing steps. As a result, the production cost is high and for some coating processes, product yield is low.
With all materials, higher performance at lower cost are continuous drivers and any progress in either performance or cost would be very desirable.

Electrode particles suitable for batteries


A paintball marker using a lightweight bolt design suing a composite bolt structure with a light weight body and precision sear release edge adapted for consistent sear over the life of the marker. The composite bolt structure also has a spring retention end with a sear access slot and sear retraction ramp for guiding the sear to the precision release edge.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of paintball markers. In particular, the present invention relates specifically to paintball markers using gas provided by a gas canister. Known art may be found in U.S. Class 124 Mechanical Guns and Projectors: Subclass 53 Having Cut-Off, Subclass 63 Provided by Movement of User-Actuated, Projector-Mounted Pressure Member, Subclass 73 By Valve Means; Class 141 Fluent Material Handling, with Receiver or Receiver Contacting Means: Subclass 290 With Flue or Vent Externally Returning to Supply as well as in other classes and subclasses.
2. Description of the Known Art
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, gas cartridges have been used to supply gas to paintball markers. Patents and Applications disclosing information regarding various canister or marker configurations include U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/0131834, issued to Rice on Jul. 17, 2003; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/0178018, issued to Cherry on Sep. 25, 2003; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004/0144012, issued to Adams on Jul. 29, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 1,743,576, issued to Smith on Jul. 14, 1927; U.S. Pat. No. 3,494,344, issued to Vadas on Feb. 10, 1970; U.S. Pat. No. 4,362,145, issued to Stelcher on Dec. 7, 1982; U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,609, issued to Tippmann on Apr. 11, 1989; U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,456, issued to Perrone on Jun. 3, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,422, issued to Ferris on Nov. 24, 1998; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,494,194, issued to Shipachev on Dec. 17, 2002. Each of these patents and publications are hereby expressly incorporated by reference in their entirety.
This prior art shows the desire to use a gas cartridge because a filled cartridge may be shipped within the department of transportation guidelines. However, the prior art fails to teach the limitations imposed by these cartridges and how to overcome these limitations. Thus, it may be seen that these prior art patents are very limited in their teaching and utilization, and an improved marker is needed to overcome these limitations.


A phase change memory device includes a semiconductor substrate having bar-shaped active regions which extend in a first direction; base regions and emitter regions alternately formed in each active region; lower electrodes formed over the emitter regions to connect to the respective emitter regions; a phase change layer and an upper electrode stacked on each of the lower electrodes; sub bit lines formed over the upper electrodes to come into contact with the corresponding upper electrodes; word lines arranged over the sub bit lines to come into contact with the base regions; and a main bit line formed over the word line to come into contact with the sub bit lines. The phase change memory device is able to prevent a change in the composition of the phase change layer and additionally is able to widen the sensing margin of a bit line.

The present invention relates to a phase change memory device, and more particularly, to a phase change memory device using a pnp-BJT which prevents the composition of a phase change layer from being changed and widens the sensing margin of a bit line.
In general, memory devices are largely divided into a volatile RAM (random access memory), which loses inputted information when power is interrupted, and a non-volatile ROM (read-only memory), which can continuously maintain the stored state of inputted information even when power is interrupted. Examples of volatile RAM include, DRAM (dynamic RAM) and SRAM (static RAM), and an example of non-volatile ROM is flash memory such as an EEPROM (electrically erasable and programmable ROM).
DRAM is well known in the art as an excellent memory device; however, the DRAM must have high charge storing capacity requiring the surface area of an electrode to be increased, causing difficulties to accomplish a high level of integration. Further, in flash memory two gates are stacked on each other, and therefore the required operation voltage is high compared to the source voltage. As a result, a separate booster circuit is needed to form the voltage necessary for write and delete operations making it difficult to accomplish a high level of integration.
In order to solve the above problem, efforts in research have been directed towards developing a novel memory device with a simple configuration that is capable of a high level of integration while still retaining the characteristics of a non-volatile memory device. As a result of these efforts, a phase change memory device has recently been disclosed in the art.
In the phase change memory device a phase change occurs in a phase change layer interposed between a lower electrode and an upper electrode. The phase change is from a crystalline state to an amorphous state, and the phase change is due to the flow of current between the lower electrode and the upper electrode. The information stored in a cell is recognized by comparing the resistance of the present state to the medium of the difference between the resistance of the crystalline state and the resistance of the amorphous state.
In the phase change memory device, a CMOS transistor or a PNP-bipolar junction transistor (hereinafter, referred to as a "pnp-BJT") can be used as a switching element. A phase change memory device with a pnp-BJT has a smaller cell size compared to a phase change memory device with a CMOS transistor. Additionally, since the pnp-BJT has excellent current driving capability, the pnp-BJT can realize a phase change memory device with a high programming current.
A phase change memory device using the pnp-BJT as a switching element has been disclosed in a paper entitled "A 90 nm Phase Change Memory Technology for Stand-Alone Non-Volatile Memory Application" at VLSI 2006.
The phase change memory device adopts a vertical pnp-BJT. In the phase change memory device an emitter region, a base region and a collector region are formed using an ion implantation process. The phase change memory device is formed with a phase change layer and an upper electrode on the emitter region, a bit line that comes into contact with the upper electrode, and a word line that comes into contact with the base region.
However, in the above conventional phase change memory device (which adopts the pnp-BJT as a switching element), since the bit line comes into direct contact with the upper electrode, the upper electrode must be formed so that the upper electrode is thick. When etching an upper electrode material and a phase change material, the etching time is extended due to the increased thickness of the upper electrode. As a result, etch loss is caused in the edge portions of the phase change layer. Due to the etch loss, the composition of the phase change layer will likely change. Accordingly, in the above conventional phase change memory device (with the pnp-BJT), the characteristics of the phase change memory device can be degraded due to the change of the composition of the phase change layer.
Further, in the above conventional phase change memory device (with the pnp-BJT), TiN is the material used as the upper electrode. A TiN upper electrode serves as a factor increasing the resistance of the upper electrode, which has the shape of a bar. Therefore, in the conventional phase change memory device (with the pnp-BJT), since the bar-shaped upper electrode has a high resistance, the sensing margin of the bit line is likely to be degraded.

Phase change memory device using PNP-BJT for preventing change in phase change layer composition and widening bit line sensing margin


There is provided a multilayer ceramic electronic component including a ceramic body including a plurality of dielectric layers stacked in a thickness direction and satisfying T/W>1.0 when it is defined that a width thereof is W and a thickness thereof is T, a plurality of first and second internal electrodes disposed in the ceramic body so as to face each other, having the dielectric layer interposed therebetween, and alternately exposed through both end surfaces of the ceramic body, and first and second external electrodes including head parts formed on both end surfaces of the ceramic body and two band parts connected to the head parts and formed on portions of upper and lower main surfaces of the ceramic body so as to be spaced apart from each other in a width direction, and electrically connected to the first and second internal electrodes, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multilayer ceramic electronic component, a manufacturing method thereof, and a board for mounting the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In accordance with the recent trend toward miniaturization of electronic products, a multilayer ceramic electronic component used in the electronic products has been demanded to have a small size and high capacitance.
Therefore, efforts to allow dielectric layers and internal electrodes to be thinned and stacked in increasingly greater numbers have been attempted using various methods, and recently, a multilayer ceramic electronic component in which a thickness of the dielectric layers is relatively low and the number of stacked layers is increased has been manufactured.
It is possible that the multilayer ceramic electronic component is miniaturized and the dielectric layer and the internal electrode are thinned, which allows the number of stacked layers to be increased for achieving a high degree of capacitance.
However, in the case in which the number of stacked layers is increased while the thicknesses of the dielectric layer and the internal electrode are thinned as described above, it is possible to implement high capacitance multilayer ceramic electronic components, but the manufactured multilayer ceramic electronic components have a thickness greater than a width thereof due to an increase in the number of stacked layers.
In the case in which the multilayer ceramic electronic component has a thickness greater than a width as described above, external electrodes formed on both end surfaces of the multilayer ceramic electronic component generally have a rounded, convex circumferential surface.
Therefore, when the multilayer ceramic electronic component is mounted on a printed circuit board or the like, the multilayer ceramic electronic component may not be maintained in a state in which it is mounted, but may topple over frequently, such that a rate of defects in mounting the multilayer ceramic electronic component has increased.
The following Related Art Document discloses a multilayer ceramic condenser having small size and high capacitance, but does not describe a unit for preventing a multilayer ceramic condenser from toppling over when the condenser is mounted on a printed circuit board.

Multilayer ceramic electronic component, manufacturing method thereof and board for mounting the same


An improved magnetic sensor for use in measuring the position, velocity and/or direction of movement of an object having alternating zones of different magnetic conductivity in the direction of movement, comprises a permanent magnet member having a pole face facing the moving object and having an axis transverse to the direction of movement thereof. A pair of sensor elements are mounted on the permanent magnet pole face, one on each of the opposite sides of the magnet axis in the direction of movement of the object. A laminated flux bar having strips of ferromagnetic material of high permeability and strips of ceramic material having low permeability is mounted on the pair of sensor elements. The ferromagnetic laminations of the flux bar concentrate the field of the permanent magnet member through the sensitive area of each of the sensor elements such that the signal-to-noise ratio of the overall magnetic sensor is increased, decreasing the sensors sensitivity to changes in temperature and changes in the gap between the object and the sensor. The ram in a metal diecasting machine can be positioned using the sensor and/or the position, velocity and direction of movement of the ram can be determined through the use of improved magnetic sensor.

This invention relates to the art of magnetic sensing devices and, more particularly, to an improved magnetic sensor for use in a system for measuring the position, velocity and/or direction of a moving object having alternating zones of different magnetic conductivity in the direction of movement. This invention also relates to my prior co-pending application, Ser. No. 437,657 filed Nov. 17, 1989, now U.S. Pat. No. 1,992,733, with respect to which the present application is a continuation-in-part.
It is, of course, well known to provide a transducer or motion sensor comprised of a permanent magnet having a pole face facing an object whose motion is to be detected and which pole face is provided with a magnetic field sensitive sensor element coaxial with the axis of the pole face. Such a motion sensing device is adapted to be positioned with the pole face and sensor element facing and spaced by an air gap from an object such as an axially reciprocable rod or a rotatable toothed gear formed of a magnetically conducting material. The rod may, for example, be provided with circumferentially extending grooves or threads, providing alternating lands and grooves, and the teeth of the gear are of course circumferentially spaced apart, whereby the rod lands and grooves, and the gear teeth and spaces therebetween, provide alternating zones of different magnetic conductivity in the direction of movement of the object. The lines of flux of the magnetic field of the permanent magnetic pass through the alternating zones as the object moves relative to the magnetic sensor, causing flux changes and inducing a current in the magnetic sensor which is proportional to the position of the moving object. The output of the magnetic sensor is applied to a suitable auxiliary electronic device to provide some desired function or display. It will be appreciated of course that the magnetic field of the permanent magnet is uniform with respect to a magnetic sensor centered on the pole face thereof so as to be coaxial with the axis of the pole face.
Often, it is desirable in connection with such a motion detecting device to provide for determining the direction of movement of the object. This can be achieved by simply providing two magnetic sensor elements on the pole face on opposite sides of the axis of the pole face and spaced apart in the direction of movement of the object by a distance proportional to the pitch of the rod lands and grooves or gear teeth. With such an arrangement, the flux changes at any given time resulting from the passage of the zones of different magnetic conductivity relative to each of the magnetic sensors will be different, thus producing different signals at the auxiliary electronic device capable of providing directional information with respect to the moving object. However, the simple mounting of two magnetic sensor devices on the pole face causes problems with respect to the signal output from the individual magnetic sensors. In this respect, the offset of the two magnetic sensors relative to the center of the magnet provides a magnetic field in the region of each of the magnetic sensors that is not uniform. In this respect, the magnetic flux on the side of each sensor which is nearest the center of the magnet is different from that on the side of the sensor furthest away from the center of the magnet. More particularly, each sensor element generally has a positive leg and a negative leg each producing an output signal to a comparator or differentiating device, and these legs are adjacent one another in the direction of movement of the object and, thus, are spaced differently with respect to the center of the magnet. Accordingly, the pattern of the magnetic field flux lines relative to the two legs is different, whereby the outputs of the two legs are different. This difference presents problems with respect to obtaining accurate and/or intelligent information with respect to movements of the object. It has been proposed to place a resistor in each leg of each sensor element to compensate for the effect of the difference in the flux field thereacross and, while such an arrangement does compensate for the imbalance, it does so only with respect to a given air gap between the sensor and moving object, and a given temperature in that the sensors are temperature sensitive. Therefore, any change in the air gap and/or temperature introduces error into the readings. A further problem encountered in connection with simply offsetting two sensor elements on laterally opposite sides of the center of the permanent magnet pole face is a considerable decrease in the signal-to-offset error ratio relative to that which exists with a single sensor element coaxial with the magnet axis. In this respect, the offset error level with two offset sensors can be thirty times the offset error level with a single centered sensor, and such a high offset error level makes it extremely difficult to obtain intelligent output signals from the sensors.
As the pair of magnetic sensor elements are inherently fragile, protective casings have been provided wherein the permanent magnet and sensors mounted thereto are placed within a housing and held in position therein by an epoxy material. To provide for protection between the sensor elements and the axially reciprocal rod or rotatable toothed gear, a thin sheet of stainless steel is provided on one side of the housing and between the sensor elements and the moving object. In addition to the physical protection provided the sensor elements by the stainless steel plate, electrical protection against shorts is necessary on the side of the stainless steel plate immediately adjacent the sensor elements. Most often this protection is provided in the form of a thin layer of an insulative material sprayed onto the stainless steel plate. The addition of these protective features, however, necessitate that the magnetic field produced by the permanent magnet must pass through additional layers of material before encountering the object being sensed. Accordingly, the overall sensitivity of the magnetic sensor is reduced.
In addition to the detrimental effects on overall sensor sensitivity, the stainless steel plate is oftentimes destroyed in use through contact between itself and a moving grooved rod or rotatable toothed gear. The vibrational effects encountered in an industrial environment combined with machining inaccuracies in the object being sensed, too often leads to contact between the object being sensed and the stainless steel protective plate, resulting from a scratching or galling of the plate and subsequent failure of the sensing device.
The present invention will be described in detail hereinafter in conjunction with magnetic field sensitive sensor elements in the form of silicon magnetoresistors mounted on a thin ferrite base. This type of sensor element adds an additional problem in connection with the manufacture of permanent magnet type transducers. In this respect, silicon magnetoresistors are extremely fragile, whereby a great deal of care must be exercised in connection with the mounting thereof on the pole face of a permanent magnet. In this respect, the attraction of the magnet during the mounting operation can impact the sensor against the pole face with such force as to shatter the fragile sensor element.

Magnetic sensor with laminated field concentrating flux bar


Embodiments of the present invention relates to an integrated mixer. A problem with producing low power consumption mixers is that they require a relatively high operating voltage due to the number of layers of transistor between the power rails. Accordingly, an embodiment of the present invention provides a mixer comprising first and second double balanced mixers having first and second anti-phase differential RF and LO input signals; the first double balanced mixer having a first set of four active devices each arranged to mix selected pairs of the input signals and to combine the mixed signals via first and second output nodes to produce a first portion of differential intermediate frequency output signals; the second double balanced mixer having a second set of four active devices each arranged to mix selected pairs of the input signals and to combine the mixed signals via the first and second output nodes to produce a second portion of the differential intermediate frequency output signals; the first and second portions of the output signals being combined at the first and second output nodes to produce the differential output signals.

The proliferation of mobile wireless devices in recent years has lead to an interest in reducing the power consumption of the circuits used within both the mobile phone and wireless devices generally. In particular, the realisation of a CMOS RF down-converter would allow an increase in transceiver integration to be achieved. Typically, a limitation of the performance of a mobile wireless device is the period for which the battery can reliably supply power to the device between re-charges or battery replacements. Suitably, the design of mixers that have a low power consumption would increase the working period of the mobile wireless device. Alternatively, by producing circuits that consume less power, the capacity, and consequently the size, of the battery can be either reduced for a given operational life-time, which also leads to a weight reduction, or maintained for an increased operational life-time for the same weight.
It is well understood within the art that the design of mixers requires a compromise to be reached between, for example, conversion gain, local oscillator power, linearity, noise figures, port-to-port isolation, voltage supply and current consumption. A double balanced Gilbert mixer, as is well known within the art, is typically used to meet the varied requirements imposed upon an RF mixer for mobile, that is, battery powered, devices.
However, a typical Gilbert cell with differential inputs comprises a stack of at least three levels of transistors between Vdd and ground. Due to the stacked transistors commonly found within a Gilbert cell, these cells usually require more than at least one volt to operate correctly and they have a low gain.
It is an object of the embodiments of the present invention at least to mitigate some of the problems of the prior art.
An object of embodiments of the present invention provides a mixer that is capable of being operated via a single battery cell having a nominal voltage of 1.2 volts. A further object of embodiments of the present invention provides a mixer that has very low power consumption for use in, for example, direct conversion radio receivers.
A still further object of embodiments of the present invention is to provide a mixer that has a relatively high gain and that can be fully integrated onto a silicon chip.
Another object of embodiments of the present invention is to provide a mixer having an acceptable degree of port-to-port isolation, that is, to have an acceptable degree of RF and local oscillator isolation.


There is disclosed an apparatus for testing concentration-type solar cells. The apparatus includes a light source for emitting light, a focusing unit for focusing the light emitted from the light source and turning the same into a light beam, a testing unit for testing any one of solar cells of a wafer; and a wafer-positioning unit for moving the wafer horizontally and vertically, thus brining a targeted one of the solar cells into contact with the testing unit.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to concentration-type solar cells and, more particularly, to an efficient, effective and inexpensive apparatus for testing concentration-type solar cells.
2. Related Prior Art
Solar cells are popular for being environmentally friendly and economic in use. The efficiencies of solar cells are becoming higher and higher while the prices are becoming lower and lower. Therefore, solar cells are getting more and more attention. To increase the efficiency of a solar cell and reduce the cost of the same, more and more effort are made to develop concentration-type solar cells of III-V compounds. Therefore, there is a need for an efficient and effective apparatus to test these tiny concentration-type solar cells of III-V compounds. Such an apparatus is however expensive.
The present invention is therefore intended to obviate or at least alleviate the problems encountered in prior art.

Apparatus for testing concentration-type solar cells


A method for transmitting data over an optical super-channel partitions the data unequally into a set of data streams for transmission over the set of sub-channels of the super-channel, such that a size of a first data stream for transmission over a first sub-channel is different than a size of a second data stream of the data for transmission over a second sub-channel. The method encodes each data stream of the data with an error correction code (ECC) having different ECC rates to produce a set of encoded data streams and transmits concurrently the set of encoded data streams over the set of sub-channels of the super-channel. Accordingly, the method uses an adaptive ECC for optical super-channels, such that a first ECC rate for encoding the first data stream is different than a second ECC rate for encoding the second data stream.

Coherent optical communications enable data to be transmitted over long haul (typically >2,000 kin) optical transmission networks at higher data rates. A coherent detector requires that the received phase modulated optical signal is digitized for a digital signal processor (DSP). Digitizing the received signal requires a high speed analog-to-digital converter (ADC). However, an increase in serial ADC sampling rates is difficult to implement for single-wavelength coherent detection at data rates greater than 100 Gbit/s.
A super-channel is an evolution in dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) in which multiple coherent optical carriers are combined on a single super-channel at a higher data rate, and is brought into service in a single operational cycle. Rather than a single wavelength channel of, e.g., 100 Gbit/s, a super-channel a multi-wavelength signal in which each wavelength operates as a sub-channel at the maximum data rate permitted by ADC components.
One notable difference between the super-channel and conventional wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) is a size of a gap between frequencies of different sub-channels. The super-channel can decrease the size of the gap between wavelengths of the sub-channels, but the transmitted data is handled uniformly, i.e., each super-channel is handled like a single wide channel, in terms of adding, dropping, and routing data. Various techniques can be used to reduce the sub-channels gap to the MHz range. These techniques include orthogonal-band-multiplexed (OBM), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), no guard interval (NGI)-OFDM, Nyquist WDM, and multi-channel equalization (MCE)-WDM.
However, the small size of the gap between frequencies of different sub-channels cause nonlinearity of noise in the sub-channels, i.e., each sub-channel receives different nonlinearity-induced phase noise causing non uniformity in the bit-error-ratio (BER) across the sub-channels. One solution to this problem is to increase the transmission power over the sub-channels experiencing higher noise. However, the increase of the transmission power for one channel also changes the nonlinearity-induced distortion of other channels. Therefore, it is difficult to adjust the power levels of all the sub-channels in the same fiber to meet the BER requirements.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and a method for transmitting data over an optical super-channel formed by a set of sub-channels in a single fiber such that the transmission over all the sub-channels meets the BER requirements.

Adaptive error correction code for optical super-channels

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.


At least two lighting modules are disposed on a printed circuit board (PCB). Each of the lighting modules includes a plurality of light emitting diode (LED) chips disposed in a non-rectangular array. Lenses are provided over the lighting modules. Each lens has a convex outer surface, and a chamber with a planar or concave inner surface facing a corresponding lighting module and disposed to cover the LED set within the chamber. A light projecting device includes a plurality of LED sets and a plurality of lenses. An orientation part couples each lighting module to the PCB at a non-zero angle.

Conventionally, in the field of display devices such as television backlighting, light-emitting diode (LED) lighting devices may be employed, and arranged in arrays on a rear surface of a television device that is opposite to a display screen of the television device. Referring to FIG. 1, each of the LED lighting devices typically includes a loader 11, an LED chip 12 and a lens 13. The loader 11 is a pentahedron having a triangular cross-section, and has a top surface 14 and a bottom surface 15 that define a non-zero angle θ therebetween. The loader 11 is mounted on a PCB 10 with the bottom surface 15 in contact with the PCB 10. The LED chip 12 is mounted on the top surface 14 of the loader 11, such that a light-emitting surface (LES) 16 of the LED chip 12 and the PCB 110 also have the non-zero angle θ therebetween. The lens 13 covers the LED chip 11. By controlling the LED lighting devices, light may be projected on a wall at the back of the television device while the display screen is activated. This may be referred to as a backlighting effect.

Multi-colored LED lighting module with angular orientation parts


A gas supply apparatus measures a first pressure inside a first body cavity of a specimen and a second pressure inside a second body cavity of the specimen. The gas supply apparatus regulates a pressure of a predetermined gas based on the measured first and second pressures inside the first and second body cavities so that the first and second pressures reach predetermined first and second pressure settings, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and a system for supplying predetermined gas into body cavities of a specimen.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, laparoscopic surgeries have been practiced extensively. The laparoscopic surgery is executed for treating a patient with minimally invasive capability.
Specifically, in the laparoscopic surgeries, for example, a first trocar for introducing a rigid endoscope, referred to as "rigidscope", for observation to a body cavity of a patient is inserted thereinto. In addition, a second trocar for introducing a treatment tool to a site to be treated is inserted thereinto.
In such a laparoscopic surgery, an insufflator has been used for supplying carbon dioxide gas (hereinafter also referred to as CO2) as insufflating gas into an abdominal cavity of the patient to ensure the rigidscope field and a space to manipulate the treatment tool.
Conventionally, some types of insufflators each for supplying carbon dioxide into one of body cavities, such as an abdominal cavity of the patient, have been prepared.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-139830 discloses a gas supplying apparatus designed to feed a control signal to a pressure-regulating valve when gas flow volume does not reach a predetermined value. The control signal causes the pressure-regulating valve to increase the pressure of the output gas to control the amount thereof, thereby keeping an internal pressure of a living body at the predetermined value.
Moreover, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-256972 discloses an insufflator having a plurality of electro magnetic valves for controlling a state of gas flowing through a gas delivery channel extending from a gas supply source to an insufflation tool. Specifically, the insufflator is designed so that the plurality of electro magnetic values is integrated with a manifold valve, allowing the gas-flow state controlling section to become compact.
Furthermore, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-139823 discloses an insufflation system for insufflating air into a lumen to keep constant the pressure inside of the lumen.
In the meanwhile, when diagnosing and treating a lumen, such as the stomach, the large intestine, or the like of a patient as one of the body cavities thereof, a flexible endoscope, referred to as "flexiblescope", and a treatment tool therefore have been used. The flexiblescope has one thin and flexible end portion to be used as an access site into the lumen. The treatment tool for the flexiblescope is designed so that its forceps channel is inserted into the flexiblescope to project through an opening formed in the head of the one end portion of the flexiblescope.
When executing curative intervention, such as diagnosis and treatment of a lumen, such as the stomach, the large intestine or the like of a patient under such monitored conditions with the flexiblescope, in some cases, gas for lumens is injected into the lumen. The injection of gas aims at securing the flexiblescope field and a space to manipulate the treatment tool.
In these cases, the gas to be supplied into the lumen can be transferred with a gas supply pump. As the gas for lumens, air has been generally applied, but the carbon dioxide gas can be used
Recently, as a new attempt, in the laparoscopic surgeries, the rigidscope is inserted into an abdominal cavity of a patient with the flexiblescope inserted into a lumen of the patient. This allows identification of a site to be treated in the patient based on an image of the inside of the abdominal cavity, which is obtained by the rigidscope, and that of the inside of the lumen, which is obtained by the flexiblescope.
Under such monitored conditions with both the rigidscope and flexiblescope, in some cases, for example, air as gas for lumens is injected through the flexiblescope into the lumen so that the lumen inflates.
When air is supplied into the lumen, it is difficult for the air to be absorbed into the living body. This may cause the lumen to remain inflated.
For this reason, when inserting the rigidscope into an abdominal cavity of a patient while inserting the flexiblescope into a lumen thereof, using an endoscope CO2 regulator (hereinafter referred to as ECR) has been considered to supply carbon dioxide gas (CO2), which is absorbed easily into the living body, into the lumen.

Method and apparatus for supplying predetermined gas into body cavities of a patient


A method of identifying an object class uses a model based upon appearance parameters derived by comparing images of objects of different classes. The model includes a representation of a probability density function describing a range over which appearance parameters may vary for a given class of object, the model further including a defined relationship between the appearance parameters and the probability density function. The method generates appearance parameters representative of an unknown object, estimates an appropriate probability density function for the unknown object using the defined relationship between the appearance parameters and the probability density function, then iteratively modifies at least some of the appearance parameters within limits determined using the probability density function to identify the object class.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the identification or verification of an object class, and relates also to the synthesis of images of objects. The invention relates particularly though not exclusively to the identification or verification of faces, and relates also to the synthesis of images of faces.
2. Related Art
Many known methods of face identification utilise a universal face space model indicative of facial features of a non-homogeneous population. Commonly, the universal face space model is represented as a set of appearance parameters that are best able to represent variations between faces in a restricted dimensional space (see For example U.S. Pat. No. 5,164,992; M. A. Turk and A. P. Pentland). A face to be identified is converted into a set of appearance parameters and then compared with sets of appearance parameters indicative of known faces.
Recently published face identification methods include the active appearance method and active shape method (G. J. Edwards, C. J. Taylor, and T. F. Cootes. Face recognition using Active Appearance Models. In 5th European Conference on Computer Vision, pages 581–595, 1998; T. F. Cootes, C. J. Taylor, D. H. Cooper, and J. Graham. Active Shape Models—their training and application. Computer Vision and Image Understanding, 61(1):38–59, January 1995). The active appearance method comprises a universal face space model with which an unknown face is compared, and further includes pre-learned knowledge indicating how to adjust appearance parameters in universal face space in order to match a face synthesised using the model to an unknown face. Using the pre-learned knowledge is advantageous because it allows the required number adjustment iterations to be minimised.
If the facial appearance of each individual was unchanging, and every image of each individual was identical, then each individual could be represented by a single point in universal face space. However, the facial appearance of an individual may vary in response to a number of factors, for example changes of expression, pose or illumination. The variability of appearance parameters representative of the appearance of an individual under changes of expression, pose, illumination or other factors can be expressed as a probability density function. The probability density function defines a volume in universal face space which is considered to correspond to a given individual. So for example, a series of images of an individual, with a variety of expressions should all fall within the volume described by the probability density function in universal face space.
In known face identification methods a single probability density function is generated which is applied to all individuals. This is done centering the probability density function on a mean parameter vector for a given individual.

Object class identification, verification of object image synthesis


A detergent supply system for a kitchen hood has a mounting case perpendicularly attached to the kitchen hood, a detergent dispenser with a pump, a wastewater collector and a detergent reservoir mounted higher than the detergent dispenser is mounted. By mounting the detergent dispenser, wastewater collector and the detergent reservoir inside the mounting case, the detergent supply system can be conveniently attached to a self-cleaning kitchen hood.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a detergent supply system for a self-cleaning kitchen hood, and more particularly to a detergent supply system that can be conveniently attached to the self-cleaning kitchen hood.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional kitchen hood catches and discharges oily smoke from a kitchen with an exhaust fan. However, the fan and wall of the kitchen hood are coated with a sticky oil residue when the kitchen hood is used for a short period. Then, the kitchen hood becomes stinky, and the exhaust efficiency is significantly reduced. To clean the kitchen hood, users have to disassemble the kitchen hood, especially to detach the fan, and reassemble the kitchen hood after cleaning. Therefore, cleaning the kitchen hood is troublesome for the user. Moreover, a technician is needed to reassemble the kitchen hood because the kitchen hood is complicated and easily makes noise when accessories of the kitchen hood are not reassembled properly.
Consequently, kitchen hoods manufacturers developed a self-cleaning kitchen hood that includes a cleaning apparatus with detergent inside the kitchen hood so that the kitchen hood can clean itself when the kitchen hood gets dirty. Because the cleaning apparatus is built into the kitchen hood, the kitchen hood is huge. Additionally, the cleaning apparatus is difficult to access when repairs are required. Because of the foregoing drawbacks, the cleaning apparatus for a kitchen hood cannot be used in many kitchens.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate or obviate the disadvantages of the conventional cleaning apparatus for a kitchen hood.

Detergent supply system for a self-cleaning kitchen hood


An apparatus for the pull-through blind installation of a headless tubular ferrule in a hole in a workpiece at a position therealong spaced from the nearer face of the workpiece includes an annular anvil for supporting the ferrule inside the workpiece hole; anvil supporting means for initially supporting the anvil at a position inside the workpiece hole; a mandrel having a stem extending through the anvil aperture; and an enlarged head. The apparatus further includes a pneumatically-operated retraction device for retracting the mandrel stem through the anvil aperture thereby to draw the mandrel head into the adjacent part of the bore of the ferrule while the ferrule is supported inside the workpiece hole by the annular anvil, thereby to enlarge the part of the ferrule more remote from the anvil into engagement with the workpiece; and a pneumatically-operated withdrawal device for withdrawing the anvil away from the ferrule to allow the mandrel head to be withdrawn completely through the remainder of the bore of the ferrule, to complete installation of the ferrule.

Blind installation of a tubular member in a workpiece is installation by access to one side only of the workpiece. One method of blind installation is the so-called pull-through method, which essentially comprises pulling an oversize mandrel head through the bore of the tubular member. In use, the tubular member is inserted in a hole in a workpiece in which the outside of the member is a fairly close radial fit. It is installed by pulling through the bore the head of a mandrel, the mandrel head having a greater external diameter than at least part of through the anvil aperture; and an enlarged head; the bore (the term "diameter" is used because the tubular bore and the mandrel head are usually both circular in cross-section, although not necessarily so). The passage of the mandrel head through the bore thus radially expands at least part of the bore and the corresponding part of the exterior of the tubular member, thereby deforming the tubular member into engagement with the workpiece in which it is inserted. The remote end of the tubular member usually protrudes from the rear face of the workpiece and is expanded to form a blind head. The mandrel is removed completely from the bore and forms no part of the installed member. Examples of such tubular members are the blind tubular rivets commercially available in many countries of the world under the Registered Trade Marks CHOBERT and BRIV.
When the head of the mandrel is pulled through a tubular member, the member must be supported axially against the axial force exerted on it by the mandrel head. This is done by means of an annular anvil, the annular face of which contacts the end of the tubular member, the mandrel stem extending through the aperture in the centre of the annular anvil. Since the tubular member is in contact with the anvil, and the mandrel head has to be pulled completely through the bore, the anvil aperture has to be of a sufficient diameter to allow the head of the mandrel to enter it and pass through it. Thus the diameter of the anvil aperture is larger than the diameter of the bore of the tubular member (or at least of that part of the bore which is radially expanded by the mandrel head).
Tubular members of the blind tubular rivet type available under the Registered Trade Marks CHOBERT and BRIV have an enlarged preformed head at one end, which head contacts the accessible face of the workpiece. In use, the tubular member is axially supported as aforesaid by contact of the anvil of the installation apparatus (usually referred to as a placing tool) with the preformed head of the member. The annular anvil can support the member by contact with the enlarged preformed head outside the workpiece, around an annular zone surrounding the anvil aperture, which zone may be spaced radially outwardly from the bore and provides no restrictions on making the anvil aperture sufficiently large to accommodate the mandrel head.
Pull-through blind installation apparatus operating in this way has been well known for many years in the art of mechanical assembly, for installing the aforementioned blind tubular rivets available under the Registered Trade Marks CHOBERT and BRIV.
In this prior art apparatus, the practice has been for a column of rivets to be loaded onto the mandrel, behind the anvil. In order to feed the next rivet along the mandrel stem to the front of the anvil, the anvil is split longitudinally into two parts along a plane containing the mandrel axis. These two parts are referred to as "jaws", since their shape and movement resemble those of a pair of jaws, although these anvil parts do not usually perform any gripping operation. When the mandrel head has been withdrawn through the anvil aperture, the column of rivets on the mandrel stem is urged forward so that the leading rivet contacts the mandrel head. The mandrel head and the leading rivet are urged forward so that they force the anvil jaws apart and allow the leading rivet through the thus enlarged anvil aperture. The anvil jaws then close behind the head of the leading rivet and around its shank, in the axial space behind that head and in front of the head of the next succeeding rivet, ready to provide axial support to the leading rivet when it is placed.
There has now arisen a requirement to install a tubular member in the form of a tubular ferrule, having no preformed enlarged head, with the nearer end of the ferrule at a distance inside the hole in the workpiece. The ferrule has a relatively thin wall, and in order to axially support the ferrule against the passage of the mandrel head as explained above, it is necessary for the anvil to support the end of the ferrule wall across substantially the full thickness thereof. Thus the anvil aperture can be no larger in diameter than the ferrule bore. Consequently the mandrel head (or at least that part of it which is of the largest diameter and which is effective to expand the ferrule) cannot pass into and through the anvil aperture. Since the anvil is inside the workpiece hole, there is no room to open the jaws as has been the practice in the prior art. Furthermore, since the tubular ferrule, when in the installation apparatus before installation, is headless and of uniform external diameter, there is no head on the leading ferrule behind which the anvil jaws could close, as described in the prior art apparatus described above. Thus it would not be possible to reliably separate the leading ferrule from the following one as the leading ferrule is fed through the anvil jaws, so that the split jaws could not be arranged to close behind the leading ferrule.
These restrictions present problems, which the present invention seeks to overcome.

Method and apparatus for pull-through blind installation of a tubular member


An internal combustion engine includes at least one cylinder block having at least one combustion cylinder. A number of cylinder liners are respectively associated with each combustion cylinder. Each cylinder liner defines a corresponding cylinder inside surface. Each cylinder liner includes a plurality of discrete oil retaining indentations in a predefined pattern on the cylinder inside surface. The plurality of oil retaining indentations are bounded in both peripheral and longitudinal directions of the corresponding cylinder liner.

In an internal combustion (IC) engine, when a piston reciprocally moves in sliding contact within the cylinder, friction and wear are most severe at top dead center (TDC) and bottom dead center (BDC) of the stroke positions of the piston. At these exact points where the piston changes direction, a condition of zero velocity occurs causing a reduction in hydrodynamic oil film thickness which can lead to metal-to-metal contact. This condition is most severe at TDC because lubricating oil on the surface is exposed to combustion temperatures which may cause unfavorable changes in its viscosity. This condition renders it more difficult to retain oil in the pores of the metal surfaces, accelerating the oil film diminishment rate subsequent to when the liner is wiped clean by the oil wipe rings situated beneath the combustion rings of the piston.
It is known to hone the inside surface of a combustion cylinder to produce scratches that retain lubricant oil. For example, a commonly used plateau honing operation provides deep scratches extending entirely around the inside surface of the combustion cylinder that retain lubricant oil. A second honing operation provides a smooth finish for the piston ring and piston to ride on. The deep scratches are not well controlled and are not conducive to the build up of a good squeeze film or hydrodynamic oil film.
What is needed in the art is an internal combustion engine providing improved oil lubrication of the combustion cylinders and reduced oil consumption.

Internal combustion engine with localized lubrication control of combustion cylinders


A reusable multilayer filter for use with a beverage brewing apparatus. The multilayer filter includes a foraminous support player, a porous mesh layer and a multiplicity of wrinkles formed in the porous mesh layer. The foraminous support layer has a multiplicity of spaced apart holes extending through the layer. The porous mesh layer overlies and is attached to the foraminous support layer. The mesh layer is formed of a woven, etched, or deposited material which has a multiplicity of small openings extending therethrough. The openings in the porous mesh layer are smaller than the holes in the foraminous support layer for selectively retaining material having a dimension larger than the openings. The wrinkles in the porous mesh layer are formed in spaced apart areas which are defined by a perimeter of the holes in the foraminous support layer. The wrinkles increase the effective surface area of the filter. A method of forming the filter includes providing a support layer material which is generally rigid, and a flexible mesh layer material. The mesh material is attached to the support layer material traversing the holes. The support layer material with the attached mesh layer is then deformed to form a desired concaved filter shape. A multiplicity of wrinkles are formed in the mesh layer within the perimeters of the holes.

The present invention relates to filters for beverage brewing apparatus and more particularly to multilayer reusable filters for an automatic beverage brewing apparatus.
Various forms of beverage brewing apparatus are available. For example, there are manual apparatus as well as automatic apparatus. A typical beverage brewing apparatus, regardless of whether it is automatic or manual, infuses a brewing substance with a quantity of heated water. The brewing substance is retained in a filter and the infusing water is introduced and allowed to seep through the brewing substance and drain through the filter material. It is desirable to provide a filter material which is reusable, promotes consistent brewing and is easily cleaned.
One way to promote consistent brewing is to provide increased surface area to promote a predetermined metering of the infusion water through the filter material. A variety of filters have been produced which increase the surface area, most notably, corrugated paper filters. Corrugated paper filters have a pleated or folded surrounding edge to increase the surface area of the filter material. Such filters, however, are disposable and must be changed with each brewing cycle. A variety of reusable filters have been designed including a mesh material, which is woven, etched, or plated, and retained in a supporting structure.
A problem arises with the reusable filters since they are usually formed of a thin mesh material which is not conducive to the substantial flexing used to form the corrugated paper filters. As such, the reusable mesh filters typically do not maximize the surface area in the same manner as do the disposable filters.
In an automatic beverage brewing apparatus, a disposable filter has drawbacks since the purpose of the automatic brewing device is to minimize or eliminate the manual steps and the human interaction in the brewing process. Heretofore, a reusable filter for an automatic beverage brewing device has not been known to include a filter structure with an increased surface area.

Multilayer frustoconical filter structure


A system provides monitoring for application usage on a device, such as a mobile device, using network consumption data of the device. The system determines an application list of applications executing on a device, determines application strings associated with the applications, receives network consumption data for a process executing on the device, and determines consumption data strings from the network consumption data. The system further determines match scores by identifying matching strings between the application strings and the consumption data strings along weighted search paths defined between the application strings and the consumption data strings, identifies an application from the application list for the process based on the match scores, and associates the network consumption data for the process with the application. The system generates usage data for the application by aggregating network consumption data associated with the application over time.

Mobile application usage information can be useful to monitor an individual's device engagement habits and monitor network activity autonomously generated by the device. Some mobile device operating systems prevent third party applications from gaining information about other applications and related information regarding how, what, when, or where a user uses the device. However, mobile operating systems may provide a Virtual Private Network (vpn) layer or other way that allows for monitoring of network traffic of the device that otherwise may be prevented from gaining access to such information.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Deriving mobile application usage from network traffic


Methods, systems, and computer readable media for generating simulated network traffic from a plurality of different traffic flows and maintaining a configured distribution among the flows are disclosed. One exemplary method includes determining a number of operations per flow for each of a plurality of flows that generate simulated network traffic between the flows and a device under test. The method further includes determining a desired traffic distribution among the traffic generated by the traffic flows. The method further includes assigning a weight to each flow that determines the number of times to execute each flow during execution of a batch of flows. The method further includes executing the flows in batches according to the assigned weights to transmit the desired distribution of traffic between the different flows and the device under test.

Some network components, such as firewalls, network address translators (NATs), intrusion detection systems (IDSs), and intrusion protection systems (IPSs), deep packet inspection (DPI) devices, wide area network (WAN) optimization devices, layer 7 acceleration devices, and server load balancers will see a diverse mix of network traffic in operation. Accordingly, before deploying such equipment in a live network, it is desirable to test the equipment with a traffic mix that is representative of the traffic mix that the equipment will see in operation. For example, it may be desirable to test a firewall by repeatedly sending traffic from different applications through the firewall. Each application may generate different amounts of traffic and may operate independently of other applications that generate simulated traffic to test the functionality of the firewall. It may be desirable to maintain a desired distribution of traffic among the applications. However, without some regulation of transmissions by the applications, maintaining a desired traffic distribution cannot be achieved.
Accordingly, there exists a long felt need for methods, systems, and computer readable media for generating simulated traffic using different traffic flows and for maintaining a configured traffic distribution between the traffic flows and a device under test.

Methods, systems, and computer readable media for generating simulated network traffic using different traffic flows and maintaining a configured distribution of traffic between the different traffic flows and a device under test


A method of providing communications can include transmitting a default username and password for a subscriber account from a Digital Subscriber Link (DSL) modem to an authentication server. The subscriber account is authorized based on the default username and password subscriber. A unique username and password for the subscriber account is transmitted to the DSL modem if the subscriber account is authenticated.

One of the issues that arises given the increasing desire for high speed Internet access, is the complexity of installing devices, such as modems, at a subscriber's location. In particular, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) service for Internet access has become popular due to the relatively high speed with which data can be transported between a network access provider and the subscriber's location.
Typically, the service provider delivers a DSL modem to the subscriber's location for installation so that the subscriber may access the services provided. The installation may require the subscriber to load a CD-ROM into a personal computer connected to the DSL modem, which is coupled to a network connection over which the network access provider provides the Internet service.
As part of the installation procedure, the subscriber may need to enter a unique user name and password assigned by the network access provider that can be used to authenticate the subscriber's account (and access) to the network. For example, the network access provider may include the unique user name and password for the subscriber's account printed on a receipt included with the DSL modem. When the subscriber installs the DSL modem (using the PC and the CD-ROM), the subscriber may be prompted for the unique user name and password as part of the authentication process, which may complicate the installation procedure especially if the subscriber is unfamiliar with computers and/or the Internet.

Methods, DSL modems, and computer program products for provisioning DSL service using downloaded username/password


To provide a fluorine-containing olefin represented, for example, by CH.sub.2 .dbd.CFCF.sub.2 --R.sub.f.sup.6 --(CH.sub.2).sub.k --X.sup.2 [wherein, X.sup.2 is ##STR1## R.sub.f.sup.6 is a fluorine-substituted fluorine-containing alkyl group having 1 to 40 carbon atoms or --OR.sub.f.sup.7 --(Rf.sup.7 is a fluorine-substituted fluorine-containing alkyl group having 1 to 40 carbon atoms or a fluorine-substituted fluorine-containing ether group having 3 to 50 carbon atoms), k is 0 or an integer of 1 to 6]; a fluorine-containing polymer with functional group which is prepared by polymerizing the above-mentioned olefin, has good affinity with various heat-resisting thermoplastic resins and is capable of forming homogeneous dispersion with the thermoplastic resin; and a thermoplastic resin composition comprising the above-mentioned fluorine-containing polymer with functional group and an aromatic polyester or the like as the heat-resisting thermoplastic resin.

Crystalline heat-resisting thermoplastic resins (these have a melting point of crystal of not less than 150.degree. C.) such as polyacetal, polyamide, aromatic polyester, poly(arylene sulfide), polyketones, poly(ether ketones), polyamideimide and poly(ether nitrile) are excellent in mechanical properties and moldability, and therefore are used for functional parts in the fields of automobiles, industrial machineries, office automation equipments, electrical and electronic equipments and the like. However there is a market demand for higher chemical resistance and sliding property and in addition, since these resins are generally brittle, enhancement in impact resistance is particularly desired. Also non-crystalline heat-resisting thermoplastic resins (these have a glass transition temperature of not less than 150.degree. C.) such as polycarbonate, poly(phenylene ether), polyarylate, polysulfone, poly(ether sulfone) and poly(ether imide) are widely employed for uses where their transparency, dimensional stability, impact resistance and the like are utilized, but generally have problems of chemical resistance, solvent resistance and moldability.
From another aspect, fluorine-containing resins such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), tetrafluoroethylene/perfluoro(alkyl vinyl ether) copolymer (PFA), tetrafluoroethylene/hexafluoropropylene copolymer (FEP), poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and ethylene/tetrafluoroethylene copolymer (ETFE) are excellent in thermal resistance, chemical resistance, solvent resistance, weather resistance, sliding property, flexibility, electrical properties and the like, and are widely used in the fields of automobiles, industrial machineries, office automation equipments, electrical and electronic equipments and the like. However as compared with the crystalline heat-resisting thermoplastic resins, in many cases, the fluorine-containing resins are inferior in mechanical properties and physical heat resistance as shown by a deflection temperature under load, and also are inferior in dimensional stability as compared with non-crystalline heat-resisting thermoplastic resins, and thus their application is limited.
In order to eliminate the drawbacks of the above-mentioned non-fluorine type heat-resisting thermoplastic resins, attempts for preparing novel materials have been aggressively made by combining with a fluorine-containing polymer (resinous and elastomeric ones are included) or, contrarily, by modifying the resinous fluorine-containing polymer with a non-crystalline heat-resisting thermoplastic resin.
First, as an example of simple melt-blending by means of a kneader, for instance, JP-A-202344/1982 discloses that a commercially available fluorine-containing elastomer is added to poly(arylene sulfide) for the purpose to improve impact resistance, crack resistance and strength against thermal shock without impairing the characteristics of poly(arylene sulfide) such as thermal resistance and chemical resistance. Also JP-A-165647/1989 and JP-A-110156/1990 disclose that a polymer forming an anisotropic melt, i.e. a liquid crystal polymer (aromatic polyester and the like) is added for the purpose to decrease a coefficient of linear expansion and further to improve mechanical properties and moldability without impairing weather resistance, chemical resistance, wear resistance and antisoil property of the fluorine-containing polymer such as PVDF. As examples of a blend of a liquid crystal polymer and PTFE, there are JP-B-5693/1992 and JP-A-230756/1988. JP-A-7850/1975 discloses that it is effective to blend PVDF for improving water absorption property and hygroscopicity of polyamide.
Further JP-A-23448/1985 discloses an example of improving mold-release property by incorporating a fluorine-containing polymer to an aromatic polysulfone composition of which shrinkage from mold dimensions is reduced by adding fibrous reinforcing agents such as glass fibers and wollastonite and inorganic fillers such as talc and glass beads.
Also attempts to improve sliding property by mixing PTFE powder to various synthesized resins have been widely conducted.
However there is a problem that usually the fluorine-containing polymer has poor affinity with other materials, because of a small surface energy thereof. For that reason, when the fluorine-containing polymer is melt-blended with other materials, there occurs a phase separation, and an interfacial adhesivity therebetween is substantially zero, and thus interfacial adhesion failure is easy to occur. In addition, the fluorine-containing polymer is difficult to disperse into other materials during blending, which results in aggregation and makes it difficult to sufficiently exhibit effects of adding the fluorine-containing polymer.
In order to resolve these drawbacks or enhance affinity between the different polymers, there is often added a compatibilizing agent as a third component. JP-A-218446/1987 discloses a composition prepared by blending a thermoplastic fluorine-containing elastomer in order to improve impact resistance of poly(arylene sulfide) without impairing its flowability, and teaches that it is more effective to add a polymer containing a fluorinated aliphatic group for improving the affinity. Also JP-A-62853/1991 discloses a method of adding, as a compatibilizing agent, a graft polymer comprising a vinyl polymer having epoxy group and methyl methacrylate polymer or acrylonitrile/styrene copolymer when blending poly(arylene sulfide) and a thermoplastic resin including PVDF.
Also claim 2 of the above-mentioned JP-A-165647/1989, JP-A-197551/1989 and JP-A-263144/1989 disclose that it is more effective to add an acrylic polymer, poly(vinyl acetate) and poly(vinyl methyl ketone), respectively to the blend of PVDF and an anisotropic melt-forming polymer as compared with simple blending.
In JP-A-11109/1989 there is described an example of using, as a compatibilizing agent for blending polyamide and PVDF, a block polymer comprising any one of N-vinylpyrrolidone or methyl (meth)acrylate and any one of an ethylenically unsaturated monomer, polycondensated monomer or lactum.
Also JP-A-98650/1989 and JP-A-110550/1989 disclose the use, as a compatibilizing agent when blending poly(phenylene ether) and a fluorine-containing polymer such as PVDF, of a copolymer comprising polystyrene and an acrylic polymer by utilizing excellent affinities of poly(phenylene ether) with polystyrene and of PVDF with an acrylic polymer.
However in JP-A-218446/1987, the effect of improvement in affinity is not enough because the fluorinated aliphatic group in the compatibilizing agent has a low degree of polymerization, i.e., not more than 20 of carbon atoms. Also all the other patent publications substantially direct to examples of using non-fluorine type compatibilizing agents synthesized by utilizing the excellent affinity between the PVDF and the carbonyl group-containing polymer such as an acrylic polymer, and thus the fluorine-containing polymer is limited to PVDF. Also in the affinity improving method using such compatibilizing agents, since chemical resistance and thermal resistance of the compatibilizing agents themselves are poorer than those of the main component polymer, there is a problem that physical properties of molded articles are lowered.
There are also attempts to improve dispersibility of compositions comprising fluorine-containing polymers and thermoplastic resins by so-called dynamic vulcanization. JP-A-185042/199 1 discloses that, when blending a crosslinkable fluorine-containing elastomer and a thermoplastic polymer having a melting point of crystal or glass transition temperature of not less than 150.degree. C., dispersibility of the fluorine-containing elastomer is improved to give a thermoplastic elastomer by conducting vulcanization of the fluorine-containing elastomer during melt-blending. Also in JP-A-172352/1991, fine dispersion of fluorine-containing rubbers has been achieved by utilizing the dynamic vulcanization method for improving impact resistance of poly(phenylene sulfide) with a fluorine-containing elastomer.
However in these dynamic vulcanization methods, since the fluorine-containing elastomer is vulcanized during melt-blending with other materials, impurities derived from a vulcanizing agent and other additives to be usually used for vulcanization remain in the composition, which makes the properties of molded articles such as chemical resistance lowered.
Also particularly because in a dynamically vulcanized composition comprising the thermoplastic resin and the fluorine-containing elastomer, the thermoplastic resin becomes a matrix, for example, chemical resistance of the composition is easy to be influenced by characteristics of the thermoplastic resin, and the effect of adding the fluorine-containing elastomer is not sufficiently obtained.
On the other hand, there are reports with respect to a composition comprising a fluorine-containing polymer with reactive functional group. JP-A-105062/1988, JP-A-254155/1988 and JP-A-264672/1988 disclose examples of a blend of a matrix polymer with a fluorine-containing polyether with functional group at its end(s), a polymer containing functional group and a polyfluoroalkyl group having 2 to 20 carbon atoms or a fluorine-containing elastomer with functional group. However, either of these examples is conducted in the way of letting two functional group-containing polymers disperse in the matrix polymer and react with each other to form a network structure, and then physically bond the network structure to the matrix polymer. Namely, the way does not directly utilize chemical affinity and reactivity with the matrix polymer.
Therefore a combination of two or more functional groups which react with each other is necessary, and it is required to regulate the conditions where those functional groups give a network structure. Also the fluorine-containing polyether is usually obtainable as an oily substance and is expensive, and moreover the effect of addition is limited to improvement of lubricity of the matrix polymer. Further as the polyfluoroalkyl-containing polymer, only ones having low molecular weight, which are difficult to be defined as polymer, are exemplified.
Also JP-A-112612/1993 discloses modified fluorohydrocarbon polymers to which substituents such as vinyl, allyl, acrylate, alkoxysilane, amide, sulfonic acid salt, pyridine and carboxylic acid salt are introduced. There is also described that among these substituents, particularly amide is further converted to amino and carboxylester being converted to carboxyl, and thus it is possible to graft to an aromatic polyamide and aromatic polyester. Also it is mentioned that the graft polymers are used for blending with commercially available engineering polymers to improve their surface characteristics, weather resistance, wear resistance and water absorption property.
However the substituents of these modified polymers are introduced by polymer reaction wherein Y-R-Z which is a combination of a highly reactive nucleophilic group Y (amino, oxy, thio) and the above-mentioned modifying substituent Z being connected through a bonding segment R, is reacted with a double bond formed in the vinylidene polymer by dehydrofluorination of the polymer.
That is, because of polymer reaction, it is difficult to introduce the substituents uniformly, and for that reason, there occurs an irregular distribution in the concentration of functional groups, and thus it is difficult to obtain sufficient effect on dispersibility and affinity at the time of blending with the thermoplastic resin.
Also at the time of introduction of the modifying substituents and hydrolysis of amide or carboxylester, there remains a reactive reagent, which results in lowering of thermal resistance and chemical resistance. Further since the bonding segment of the modifying reagent is of hydrocarbon type, thermal resistance of the obtained polymer itself is lowered at that portion and the polymer is decomposed when kneading with the heat-resisting thermoplastic resin at high temperature to lower the physical properties of the blended composition. Also the vinylidene polymer, after the dehydrofluorination, is colored markedly and external appearance of the molded article is impaired remarkably. Also in this method, the fluorine-containing polymer is limited to vinylidene fluoride polymers, and also introduction of hydroxyl group and glycidyl group is difficult, and thus sufficient effects of enhancing dispersibility cannot be obtained in blending with an aromatic polyester, polycarbonate and poly(phenylene sulfide). Further there is no detailed description as to examples of the composition blended with the heat-resisting thermoplastic resin and the physical properties at the time of blending.
JP-A-8 1159/1988 discloses that mechanical properties of a thermoplastic elastomer composition can be improved by modifying a fluorine-containing rubber with any one of carboxyl, hydroxyl or epoxy group when blending a poly(ether ester amide) and the fluorine-containing rubber.
However the described fluorine-containing rubber with functional group is prepared by copolymerizing a fluorine-containing monomer and an acrylic monomer with functional group to introduce the functional group. Therefore, the thermal resistance and chemical resistance are lowered and physical properties of a molded article is lowered when blended with the heat-resisting thermoplastic resin. The functional group-containing acrylic monomer has poor copolymerizability with a fluorine-containing monomer represented by tetrafluoroethylene and vinylidene fluoride, and a uniform concentration of functional groups is difficult to obtain in every polymer molecule, which results in an irregular distribution of components. Thus it is difficult to obtain sufficient effects on dispersibility and affinity in blending with the thermoplastic resin. Also poly(ether ester amide) is usually low in chemical resistance as compared with polyamide.
As mentioned above, when blending a fluorine-containing polymer and a thermoplastic resin, since the fluorine-containing polymer usually has poor affinity, it is difficult to obtain a blend having stable characteristics, and physical properties of the molded article obtained therefrom is lowered. Also though various attempts have been made for improving the affinity, such as study on additives and modification and denaturation of the fluorine-containing resin, there have not been obtained a fluorine-containing polymer and a composition prepared by mixing the fluorine-containing polymer and a thermoplastic resin, which do not lower thermal resistance and chemical resistance of the composition.

Fluorine-containing olefin, fluorine-containing polymer and thermoplastic resin composition prepared by using said polymer


A gaming machine has a display and a game controller arranged to control images of symbols displayed on the display. The game controller is arranged to play a game wherein at least one random event is caused to be displayed on the display means and, if a predefined winning event occurs, the machine awards a prize. The gaming machine further comprises a game feature where, upon being awarded at least one prize in the feature, a player is offered a choice and, if the choice results in a successful outcome, the player has the option of continuing with the feature but, if the choice results in an unsuccessful outcome, the feature ends and a portion, but not all, of a total prize accumulated up to termination of the feature is forfeited.

Players who regularly play gaming machines quickly tire of particular games and therefore it is necessary for manufacturers of these machines to develop innovative game features which add interest to the games. In so doing, it is hoped to keep players amused and therefore willing to continue playing the game as well as to attract new players.
Also, with the growth that has occurred in the gaming machine market, there is intense competition between manufacturers to supply various existing and new venues. When selecting a supplier of gaming machines, the operator of a venue will often pay close attention to the popularity of various games with their patrons. Therefore, gaming machine manufacturers are keen to devise games and/or game features which are popular with the players as a mechanism for improving sales, retaining customers and attracting new customers.
In addition, players enjoy having greater interaction with a game such that they feel that they can have an effect on the outcome of the game. However, due to very strict compliance regulations which need to be satisfied in various jurisdictions, it is difficult, if not impossible, to include high levels of player skill in game features of gaming machines. It is desirable to include features where pseudo-skill is involved in the feature which, the applicant believes, will enhance player enjoyment.

ARISTOCRAT TECHNOLOGIES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD


A liquid fuel power plant (100) including an open-ended combustion chamber (102) and a first mechanism (114) for delivering a combustible fuel to the open-ended combustion chamber (102). A second mechanism (124) is included for igniting the fuel in the open-ended combustion chamber (102) and a concentric cylinder-shaped mechanism (130) is provided for extending the length of the combustion chamber (102) for decomposing the fuel to provide an exhaust gas comprised of fundamental elements. Finally, a third mechanism (202) is provided for using the exhaust gas to perform useful work. The air inlet line (122) delivers compressed air which is preheated in an air inlet passageway (194) and thereafter mixed with the combustible fuel in the open-ended combustion chamber (102). The residue of the combusted air-fuel mixture is thereafter forced by the compressed air into the concentric cylinder-shaped extension (130) which forms the reaction region (180) of the combustion chamber (102). The reaction region (180) becomes sufficiently hot to ensure complete decomposition of the hydrocarbon fuel. The hot pressurized exhaust gas, which is very low polluting, is directed by an exhaust tube (178) to a load (202) such as a turbine.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to power plants. More specifically, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus for a non-polluting power plant having a liquid fuel combustion chamber for the burning of hydrocarbon based fuels.
While the present invention is described herein with reference to illustrative embodiments for particular applications, it should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. Those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the teachings provided herein will recognize additional modifications, applications and embodiments within the scope thereof and additional fields in which the present invention would be of significant utility.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many different types of liquid fueled power plants are known in the art for providing thrust to, for example, propel a projectile or drive a generator. Examples include liquid fueled jet engines, piston engines and rocket motors of various designs. Each of these liquid fueled power plant designs suffer from a number of problems during the launch and flight stages of the projectile or when driving the generator. The problems common to liquid fueled power plant designs include the generation of excessive amounts of noise and heat. Also, in the case of a liquid fueled rocket motor, large amounts of smoke can be generated which results in increased levels of atmospheric pollution.
Low detectability of a projectile during target approach is necessary in stealth operations. However, the generation of excessive noise during the launch and flight stages increases the probability that the projectile will be detected upon approach. Likewise, generation of large amounts of heat by the projectile can be detected by infrared sensors such as the forward looking infrared devices utilized by aircraft. The heat generated by the projectile can also be detected visually by utilizing night vision goggles. The smoke generated by certain liquid fueled rocket motors creates a visual smoke trail. Thus, the projectile is easier to track and the origin of the launch point is easier to determine. The density of the smoke trail is dependent upon the type of rocket motor fuel employed. Each of these problems increase the probability of projectile detection during approach to the target. Likewise, when driving a generator with, for example, a liquid fueled piston engine, the smoke exhaust from the engine increases the atmospheric pollution level.
Specific examples of liquid fueled power plant designs capable of providing thrust to propel a projectile include a liquid fueled turbine jet engine and a liquid fueled ram rocket motor. Turbine jet engines employing liquid fuel are known and are capable of providing thrust to propel a projectile and to provide rotational power to ground based power generator plants. In general, a turbine jet engine has a long cylindrical body and includes one or more liquid fuel burning chambers. The burning chamber is located at the center of the long cylindrical body and normally burns at temperatures in excess of three-thousand degrees Fahrenheit. The turbine jet engine includes multiple compression stages which produces a very high pressure in the burning chamber. When the liquid fuel is injected into the burning chamber, the fuel is combusted to provide hot, high pressure gases and enormous output horsepower.
The outer walls of the burning chamber are at a lower temperature than that of the flame at the center of the burner. Because of the temperature differential between the flame and the outer wall and the operating temperature of the burning chamber, the liquid fuel is not totally combusted. The liquid fuel is generally a hydrocarbon based fuel. When particles of a hydrocarbon based fuel are not totally burned, hydrocarbon based pollutants are produced. Further, since all of the liquid fuel is not totally combusted, the turbine jet engine is not fuel efficient. Additionally, the turbine jet engine is very noisy and produces excessive heat. Each of these characteristics of turbine jet engines increases the detectability of a projectile and the pollution level of the atmosphere.
The second example of a known liquid fueled power plant design capable of providing thrust to propel a projectile is a ram rocket motor. The ram rocket motor is a hybrid rocket motor generally having a short motor casing. The length of the motor casing is approximately three times the diameter of the rocket motor combustion chamber. The ram rocket motor burns liquid fuel which is injected into the combustion chamber along with compressed ambient air. The output of the combustion chamber is a hot pressurized gas which is directed to an impulse turbine blade that rotates a propeller or ducted fan. Ram rocket motors are normally utilized with air breathing missiles or any application that utilizes hot pressurized gas.
The combustion chamber of the ram rocket motor includes a device that provides a flame at the center of the rocket motor. Thus, the center of a ram rocket motor also operates at a temperature in excess of three-thousand degrees Fahrenheit. A high volume of air is forced through the rocket motor causing the temperature of the outer wall of the combustion chamber to be lower than the temperature at the center of the combustion chamber. The temperature differential between the center and the outer wall of the rocket motor results in incomplete combustion of some liquid fuel drops. This condition produces hydrocarbon and carbon pollution which is exhausted to the atmosphere. Therefore, liquid fueled rocket motors must be preheated to a specific temperature range to ensure total combustion of the fuel. Otherwise, a fuel efficiency problem results.
Further, the desired combustion temperature range of operation within the ram rocket motor is difficult to control. If the desired combustion temperature range is not maintained, the flame at the center of the combustion chamber is extinguished because of the length-to-diameter ratio of the motor casing. Further, ram rocket motors must be operated very hot and fuel rich to avoid extinguishing the combustion chamber flame. This situation results in fuel waste. Additionally, if the liquid fuel and compressed air are not properly mixed, residue smoke in the form of carbon particles appears in the exhaust gases. The smoke residue permits the projectile to be tracked. Finally, the ram rocket motor is very noisy which permits the projectile to be tracked by an audible sensor. Each of these characteristics of ram rocket motors increases the detectability of the projectile and the pollution level of the atmosphere.
A final example of a liquid fuel power plant design of the prior art is an incinerator employed for destroying hazardous waste. The incinerator includes a cylindrical combustion chamber joined by a flat circular plate to a smaller inlet pipe. Fuel nozzles protrude through the flat plate into the combustion chamber. The air and fuel are not premixed but rather are injected into the combustion chamber at the point of flame stabilization. Total combustion of the fuel occurs and low nitrous oxide (NO.sub.x) levels are produced. Recirculation of the gas and air mixture is employed to ensure total combustion. The heat generated by the combustion is released to the atmosphere through a long hot exhaust tube that completes the decomposition of the hydrocarbon and carbon molecules.
Thus, there is a need in the art for further improvements in the design of liquid fueled power plants to reduce the detectability of and the exhausted pollutants from the power plants.


Disclosed is a PCB having axially parallel via holes, in which an outer ground via hole, acting as a ground, is formed around a via hole for intercircuit connection in the PCB, thereby minimizing the effect of noise caused by the via hole.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printed circuit board (PCB) having axially parallel via holes. More particularly, the present invention pertains to a PCB having axially parallel via holes, in which an outer ground via hole, acting as a ground, is formed around a via hole for intercircuit connection in the PCB, thereby minimizing the effect of noise caused by the via hole.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In accordance with the recent miniaturization and multifunctionalization of portable information devices, such as notebook computers, PDAs, and mobile phones, demand for highly integrated PCBs used in the portable information devices is growing. Accordingly, high integration of via holes is required for circuit connection between layers of the PCB.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a PCB, through which various types of via holes 11, 12, 13, 14 are formed.
As shown in FIG. 1, the via holes, which are formed through the PCB, are divided into inner via holes 11 for connecting circuits of internal layers, staggered via holes 12, which have a step-shaped circuit connection path, stacked via holes 13, in which a plurality of via holes are laminated, and through via holes 14 for interlayer connection according to the purpose and shape.
The via holes of the PCB cause noise, such as transfer noise or reflection noise, due to impedance mismatching of a circuit pattern or a device therewith.
The noise caused by the via holes matters little for a low-speed signal, but significantly affects an output signal when a bandwidth is expanded and a signal processing speed increases due to a rapid increase in data transmission.
Hence, a method of processing a via hole using a laser drill, and a method of designing a through via hole and a staggered or stacked via hole have been studied in order to reduce noise caused by the via holes of the PCB.
However, the method of processing the via hole using the laser drill is problematic in that it is difficult to process the via hole when the PCB is thick, like a multilayered PCB, even though integration is improved and noise is reduced a little.
Meanwhile, in the method of designing the staggered or stacked via hole as well as the through via hole, it is possible to reduce a thickness of the PCB, which is processed by the laser drill. However, this method is problematic in that the inductance of a copper layer, acting as a conductor for the via hole, increases with an increase in a frequency, and that noise is significantly increased due to the effect of capacitance.
Turning to FIG. 1, a via hole structure of a conventional PCB is problematic in that since a power supply layer or a signal transfer layer 20 is exposed to transfer noise caused by the via hole, the power or the signal transfer is distorted.

Printed circuit board having axially parallel via holes


An apparatus for compensating for a defect of a storage medium of an optical driving includes a memory to store sample values of a servo driving signal during at least one track sampled by a first signal and cycle information about the first signal; a servo driving signal estimator to estimate a servo driving signal during at least one next track using the sample values, the cycle information about the first signal, and cycle information based on a second signal; and a transmitter to transmit the servo driving signal estimated by the servo driving signal estimator to a servo driver of the optical driving device during a defect section of the storage medium; wherein the first signal is synchronized with a radial direction of the storage medium; and the second signal has a frequency higher than the first signal.

1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the invention relate to compensating for a defect of a storage medium of an optical driving device, and more particularly to a method and an apparatus for compensating for a defect of the storage medium by controlling a servo driver of the optical driving device during a defect section of the storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
A defect easily occurs on a surface of a storage medium such as an optical disc due to a scratch or a fingerprint. Such a defect causes an abnormal signal during a defect section of the optical disc when a signal of the optical disc is reproduced or recorded and thus a servo control operation is not normally performed. In this case, an optical spot is not correctly focused at a desired point of the optical disc.
Therefore, a variety of methods of performing the servo control operation with respect to the optical disc have been proposed in order to correctly focus the optical spot during the defect section of the optical disc.
However, a scratch defect or a black band defect having a size of several mm and a fingerprint defect having a size of several tens of mm may occur between two frequency generator (FG) signals. A defect having different start points and lengths on adjacent tracks may occur. Several defects may occur on a single track. A defect may occur substantially parallel to a radial direction. Thus, various types of defects can occur on a storage medium.

Method and apparatus for compensating for defect of storage medium