A high efficiency optical ignition device is provided in a two-part compact and robust package to be mounted directly on an internal combustion engine chamber. The ignition device ignites a combustion fuel with a high intensity plasma generated by a high power laser beam from a solid state laser operable in Q-switched, or non-Q-switched mode for producing short or long pulses, respectively. Multiple pulses are generated, and duration and frequency of the laser beam pulses are controlled by controlling an optical pump module to pump the solid state laser. The optical pump module comprises a semiconductor laser, preferably a VCSEL device. One or more laser beams are precisely directed, each one to a desired location anywhere within the combustion chamber for more efficient and near complete burning of the combustion fuel. The robust packaging is well suited to withstand mechanical and thermal stresses of the internal combustion engine.

Field of Invention
This invention relates to controlled ignition of combustible fluid materials or fluid mixtures in a closed environment, and in particular to a laser ignition device for an internal combustion engine constructed from high power high brightness semiconductor lasers including VCSEL devices, and is suited to be operable under high mechanical, vibrational and thermal stress.
Related Background Art
Ignition of a combustible fluid or a combustible fluid mixture such as, gasoline and air, etc. (combustion fuel hereinafter) in an internal combustion engine using conventional electrical spark plugs, is inefficient and therefore uses more fuel and generates more emission gases that cause pollution. A major advantage of improving combustion efficiency would result in using leaner combustion mixture (having a low fuel/air ratio) to support nearly complete combustion which would thereby facilitate fuel efficiency and lower environmental cost. While a lot of research and resource is directed towards improving combustion efficiency, none has proven better than using an ignition device and a process that will allow use of a leaner combustion mixture and ignition at higher pressure.
The concept of using a high intensity light source for reliable and efficient combustion as compared to using a conventional electrical spark plug has been described in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,371 issued on Jan. 21, 1975 to Gamell. The light source in this approach is a high intensity broad band light source, such as a high intensity flash lamp or a strobe light. As the technology progressed, the high intensity light source was replaced by a laser source, typically a solid state laser, for example a ruby or a Nd:YAG laser. However, to achieve high enough output power using traditional optical pumping schemes require a very large pumping source and cooling device. In recent years, different innovative concepts have been applied to facilitate a better ignition device and a better combustion process to facilitate a near complete combustion of the fuel mixture.
These innovative concepts include using optical fiber to deliver a continuous wave (CW) or pulsed laser radiation to the combustion chamber, high energy Q-switched pulsed laser operation, ricocheting the laser beam in the combustion chamber by positioning reflecting surface within the ignition chamber, using a plurality of CW or pulsed laser beam to focus at different regions of the combustion chamber to ignite the combustion fuel in different regions. as has been described in many patent and non-patent literature publications (U.S. Pat. No. 4,314,530 issued on Feb. 9, 1982, to Giacchetti, U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,226 issued on Nov. 22, 1983 to Nishida et al., United States Patent Application Publication No. 20140238038 published on Aug. 28, 2014, by Macchia et al.).
A wide range of laser devices including solid state lasers, edge and surface emitting semiconductor lasers are used to construct ignition devices. The laser light is directly launched in the combustion chamber through a suitable transparent window that seals the laser apparatus from the combustion chamber and thereby impervious to the combustion process. In addition, one or more optical elements are used to achieve a desired beam profile and quality so as to deliver high energy laser pulses directly in to the combustion chamber through the window. Therefore, it is extremely important to incorporate a device for example a pre-chamber for generating a high temperature plasma or/and a method, to keep the window clean of combustion fluid mixture or residue from the combustion process to minimize attenuation of the laser light during operation of the engine as has been described in the U.S. Pat. No. 7,806,094 issued on Oct. 5, 2010 to Gruber.
One important requirement for reliable operation of an optical ignition device is optical beam quality and optical power to efficiently burn a combustion mixture, and mechanical and thermal robustness to survive mechanical, vibrational and thermal stress of an internal combustion engine environment. In addition, it is desirable to have a form factor that closely matches the form factor of a conventionally used electrical spark plug. An ignition device using VCSELs as ignition source is described in the United States Patent Application Publication No. 20130291818 published on Nov. 7, 2013, by Hartke et al. There it describes a laser spark plug which uses a plurality of VCSELs to generate multiple beams that are focused using optical components to ignite combustion fluid mixture (vapor) at plurality of regions in an internal combustion engine.
A more widely used configuration of laser ignition device includes an optically pumped solid state laser medium. Optical pumps include semiconductor lasers for example, edge emitting or surface emitting lasers including VCSEL or arrays of semiconductor lasers. Due to the small size as well as superior emission properties of VCSELs or VCSEL arrays, laser ignition devices in a small form factor external housing may be installed using a threaded section to an external wall of a combustion chamber similar to a conventional electric spark plug (United States Patent Application Publication No. 20140109855 published on Apr. 24, 2014, by Gruber, United States Patent Application Publication No. 20140216383 published on Aug. 7, 2014, by Nuebel et al., United States Patent Application Publication No. 20130276738 published on Oct. 24, 2913 by Hartke).
Small form factor optical pumps using semiconductor edge emitting lasers or VCSELs are also suitable for pumping solid-state laser in Q-switched mode. Optical pumps may be implemented in end-on as well as side-pumping configurations within a small mechanical housing (U.S. Pat. No. 8,576,885 issued on Nov. 5, 2013, to van Leeuwen et al., United States Patent Application Publication No. 20130255613 published on Oct. 3, 2013, by Hartke et al., United States Patent Application Publication No. 20140290613 published on Oct. 3, 2013, by Hartke et al., United States Patent Application Publication No. 20130199483 published on Aug. 8, 2013 by Herden et al., United States Patent Application Publication No. 20090133655 published on May 28, 2009, by Inohara et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,322,320 issued on Dec. 4, 2012, to Oledzki, U.S. Pat. No. 6,382,957 issued on May 7, 2002, to Early et al.).
Most of the prior art laser ignition device use either a remote (using a fiber) or an integrated optical pump assembled in a cylindrical housing. In one prior art design the optical ignition is equipped with a spring loaded housing for a vibration free operation (U.S. Pat. No. 8,312,854 issued on Nov. 20, 2012 to Weinrotter et al.). Other design aspects include components for fixed or variable focusing optics such as lens or microlens array, beam guiding devices, window including sapphire window, coupling devices, polarization selective output option, apparatus to generate a plurality of individually addressable beams, an antechamber construction to pre-ignite the combustion fuel and introduce the hot plasma at many different locations of the internal combustion chamber, and provision for air or liquid cooled apparatus with heat exchanger for cooling the optical pump as well as the solid state laser material.
Despite all the progress made in innovative designs for laser ignition devices or optical spark plugs, there is still a need for an optical spark plug that would easily adapt to, and conform to the widely used electric spark plug with added advantage of ultra-compact small form factor, higher combustion efficiency, longer life cycle and lower environmental cost. In this invention a compact laser ignition device is provided. The apparatus as designed includes a solid state ignition laser, an optical pump source, beam shaping and steering optics in a robust and compact housing that may even be smaller than 3.0″ in length and about 0.75″ in diameter. The device as claimed functions for combustion of fluids or fluid mixtures including gasoline, and natural gas.

Compact laser ignition device for combustion engine


Methods and systems for performing auto-recovery for an aircraft. An example system includes position and information systems, an automatic flight control system, a database, and a processor. The database includes terrain data, airport data, obstacle data, and protected airspace data. The processor determines if one of a caution alert or a warning alert exists based on data stored in the database and information received from the position and information systems. Auto-recovery instructions are generated and sent to the automatic flight control system if no positive flight control input has been performed at time of expiration of a waiting period. Auto-recovery instructions are generated based on an analysis of two or more auto-recovery routes. The system does not perform auto-recovery if components of the system fail to meet a predefined validity or integrity level.

An obvious intent of any automatic recovery system for almost any aircraft is to prevent ground impact during controlled flight of the aircraft. Many aircraft have standard proximity alarms for alerting pilots to the nearness of ground. These alarms can be based on inadmissible rates of descent of the aircraft or nearness of the ground. While proximity alarms are an improvement over prior systems, they are not a permanent solution to some of the problems that have been shown to cause aircraft ground impacts.
The need for ground collision avoidance extends to a wide variety of aircraft and scenarios ranging from terminal area navigation for commercial airliners to low level navigation, pilot spatial disorientation and g-induced loss of consciousness (G-LOC) for high performance aircraft. While some aircraft have been equipped with ground proximity warning systems. Most of the existing ground proximity warning systems contain no provisions for variations in aerodynamics, but rather rely on the pilot to compensate for these variations by giving him a finite amount of time to recover level flight. At the same time, these systems are passive, relying on pilot awareness and competence to recover from the situation.
Thus, two essential problems remain with proximity warning systems. Firstly, if the pilot or crew is incapacitated, as might occur due to loss of cabin pressure after a bird strike through the cockpit windshield, for example, pilot awareness or ability may not be up to the task of controlling the aircraft and recovering level flight.
An innovative approach to this problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,058,710 to Altman. Altman discloses a process for preventing unwanted contact by an aircraft with land or water. When applied over land the Altman assumes flat terrain or low hills. Altman's process utilizes the aircraft's rate of descent and altitude to compute a limiting altitude, which is further modified by the aircraft's ability for transverse acceleration. This limiting altitude is used to determine when to activate an automatic feedback controller, which provides the aircraft with the maximum feasible transverse acceleration. Thus, Altman attempts to continuously calculate a limiting altitude for the aircraft below which automatic controls will be applied for aircraft recovery. Various theoretical schemes are proposed by Altman for determining this limiting altitude. All of these schemes are difficult to incorporate into an aircraft control design or to simplify in a manner that will not cause spurious effects including nuisance flyups during controlled flight.
The current Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) is designed to provide pilots with timely alerts in the event that the airplane is flown towards terrain or an obstacle. The EGPWS alerting algorithms are predicated on the expectation that the response of the pilot to a warning will be a "pull-up", i.e. a maneuver in the vertical plane only. If an aircraft is about to enter restricted airspace, it may not be possible to avoid the airspace by using a "pull-up" maneuver alone. Also, some airspace volumes expand laterally with altitude, and again a "pull-up" will not avoid penetrating the airspace volume.
A need therefore exists for a ground and obstacle collision and protected airspace auto-recovery system that is sufficiently sophisticated to initiate a recovery maneuver when required while avoiding a multitude of nuisance recoveries that interfere with controlled flight and providing smooth recovery maneuvers for crew and passenger safety and comfort.

Aircraft autorecovery systems and methods


Air is separated in a double rectification column comprising a higher pressure rectification column, a lower pressure rectification column, and a condenser-reboiler placing the column in indirect heat exchange relationship with the column. A stream of pressurized liquid, comprising oxygen and nitrogen, typically taken from the bottom of the higher pressure rectification column, is expanded through a valve and is typically partially vaporized in a vaporizer-condenser which is separate from a second vaporizer-condenser in which argon is condensed. The vaporized liquid is expanded with the performance of external work in an expansion turbine and is introduced into the lower pressure rectification column. An oxygen product is withdrawn from the column through an outlet.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for separating air.
Air separation by rectification (at cryogenic temperatures) is well known. Typically, in such methods the air is separated in a double rectification column comprising a higher pressure rectification column and a lower pressure rectification column and a condenser-reboiler placing the higher pressure rectification column in heat exchange relationship with the lower pressure rectification column. Such an arrangement enables an oxygen product to be withdrawn from a bottom region of the lower pressure rectification column. In addition, a nitrogen product is typically taken from the top of the lower pressure rectification column.
Normally, a relatively high yield or recovery of oxygen from the incoming air can be achieved by rectification of the air in a double rectification column. However, various demands may be placed on the separation such that the oxygen recovery will fall. Such demands include the production of liquid products in an amount in excess of 5% of the total oxygen production and when refrigeration of the process is provided by turboexpansion of air into the lower pressure rectification column; a requirement for a liquid nitrogen product; and a requirement for a gaseous nitrogen product not only from the lower pressure rectification column but also from the higher pressure rectification column. The demands on the separation process are increased if an argon product is formed by withdrawing an oxygen stream containing argon from the lower pressure rectification column and separating argon from it in a side rectification column. Further, if an argon product is produced, co-production of a nitrogen product from the higher pressure rectification column or co-production of relatively large proportions of liquid products can have a drastic effect on the argon recovery.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,710 relates to a relatively conventional air separation method employing a double rectification column and a side column in which an argon product is produced, wherein oxygen-enriched liquid is taken from the bottom of the higher pressure rectification column, is passed through a throttling valve into a condenser in which argon is condensed, the oxygen-enriched liquid thereby being vaporized, and a stream of the resulting vapor is expanded with the performance of external work and introduced into the lower pressure rectification column. Such an arrangement is advantageous in that it is a useful way of providing additional refrigeration for the separation, thereby adding to the flexibility of the method in being able to provide liquid products without unacceptable product recoveries or unacceptable power consumption. The method is, however, limited by the fact that the argon condenser needs to be operated at a pressure less than 2 bar in order to provide the necessary temperature difference for the condensation of argon; therefore the amount of refrigeration that can be produced by expansion to the pressure of the lower pressure rectification column is strictly limited.
It is an aim of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus which is an improvement over those described in U.S. Pat. 5,469,710 and which are capable of being operated even if there is not any argon production.


The invention provides a translucent glazing panel comprising: (a) a thermoplastic panel comprising (i) an outer wall having an inner surface defining an internal channel, the internal channel having an internal volume, and (ii) at least one inner wall protruding from the inner surface into the internal channel, and (b) hydrophobic aerogel particles, the hydrophobic aerogel particles being disposed within the channel. The invention also provides an insulated glazing system comprising: (a) a first U-shaped element, (b) a second U-shaped element, the first and second elements being disposed to define a cavity therebetween, and (c) an insulating panel disposed within the cavity. The insulated glazing system can further comprise hydrophobic aerogel particles disposed within the internal channel of the insulating panel. The insulating panel of the glazing system also can be the same as the translucent glazing panel described herein.

In an effort to improve indoor lighting conditions and the aesthetic appeal of enclosed spaces, architects and builders have begun to construct buildings using an increasing large amount of glazing materials and systems, such as windows, skylights, and transparent or translucent walls and roofs. While the use of such glazing materials can dramatically improve the quality of indoor lighting, buildings incorporating relatively large amounts of such glazing materials often are poorly insulated. More specifically, the thermal transmission of conventional glazing materials typically is significantly higher than the thermal transmission of conventional building materials or structures, such as framed roofs and walls. Therefore, the overall thermal transmission of a building incorporating relatively large amounts of such glazing materials typically is significantly higher than a similar structure using less of the same, and such buildings often experience relatively large amounts of heat flux across the glazing materials, which can dramatically increase the cost of maintaining the climate within the building at a level considered comfortable by the occupants. Accordingly, several attempts have been made to address the relatively poor (i.e., high) thermal transmission of conventional glazing materials and systems.
For example, glazing materials and systems, such as windows, have been developed which incorporate an air space between two vitreous (e.g., glass) or thermoplastic surfaces. One such popular glazing material is commonly referred to as a "multiwall panel." These multiwall panels typically comprise two thermoplastic sheets and a plurality of supporting members disposed between the thermoplastic sheets. The thermoplastic sheets and the supporting members together define a plurality of chambers disposed between the thermoplastic sheets and the supporting members. Insofar as gases have lower thermal conductivities than solid materials, such as glass and thermoplastics, the gases within the chamber provide an insulating layer that serves to decrease and/or retard thermal transmission across the panel. While such multiwall panels do exhibit improved (i.e., lower) thermal transmission than conventional, single-pane glazing materials, condensation often forms within the chambers as the panels are exposed to differences in temperature and/or humidity across the major surfaces of the panel. The humid environment provided by such condensation can promote the growth of mold and mildew within the chambers of the panel. Furthermore, the structure of the multiwall panels often causes the panel to unevenly refract visible light, which can negatively impact the indoor lighting quality of a structure incorporating the panels as a glazing material.
Another glazing system that has been developed to provide an improved (i.e., lower) thermal transmission relative to conventional glazing materials and systems is commonly referred to as double-glazed U-profile or U-channel glass. These glazing systems typically comprise a pair of U-shaped glass elements disposed in such a way as to form a chamber between the two elements. While the gases contained within this channel can retard thermal transmission across the glazing system (i.e., between the two glass elements), the glazing system typically further comprises an insulating material disposed within the chamber formed between the two elements. The most commonly used insulating material is a rigid panel which consists of a plurality of acrylic (e.g., poly(methyl methacrylate)) capillaries covered by two glass fiber mats. The individual acrylic capillaries are arranged in a substantially parallel direction so that the panel resembles a honeycomb structure, the ends of which are covered by the glass fiber mats. These rigid insulation panels can often dramatically improve (i.e., lower) the thermal transmission of a glazing system incorporating the same.
However, the costs saved due to the improved thermal transmission of the glazing system can often be partially offset by the relatively high labor costs associated with the installation of such insulating panels. For instance, the insulating panels are extremely fragile and frequently break during the installation due to their relatively large dimensions (e.g., up to about 6 meters or more in length). The debris generated by such breakage (e.g., glass fibers) can create an environmental hazard for the workers installing the insulating panels and must be painstakingly removed. Furthermore, the insulating panels typically are adhered to one of the glass elements (e.g., the glass element facing the outside of the building) before the other glass element is installed. In such a configuration, the insulating panel impedes the drainage of condensation that forms on the glass element to which the panel is adhered. As noted above, the humid environment provided by such condensation can then promote the growth of mold and mildew within the chamber formed by the glass elements.
A need therefore exits for an insulated panel that is suitable for use as a glazing material and a glazing system comprising such an insulated panel, both of which address the foregoing and other problems associated with existing insulated glazing materials and systems. The invention provides such an insulated panel and glazing system. These and other advantages of the invention, as well as additional inventive features, will be apparent from the description of the invention provided herein.

Insulated panel and glazing system comprising the same


Configuration information representing the configuration elements of a client PC or the like on a network is compared with initial configuration information. When the configuration information changes, it is determined whether the configuration is proper. If the configuration is improper, the function of a corresponding configuration element to the network is inhibited. This can prevent an unstable state of the system, leakage of information, and a decrease in reliability of the network system upon a change in network configuration.

General-purpose information processing apparatuses (e.g., personal computers: to be simply referred to as PCs hereinafter) which are used in a company are connected to a LAN, share devices and files on the network, and use a client-server database.
For example, many client PCs can access data files held by a file server on a network.
Upon building a network system, it is important that each apparatus on the network operates stably and security is ensured.
For the latter problem, there is proposed a system in which the server monitors access by a client PC to a shared resource (e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-38232).
For the former problem, there are many application programs which can run on a PC, including business applications, freeware, and shareware. Some application programs normally run under an OS of a specific version, some have bugs and operate unstably, and some are not compatible with a specific application.
The proposed technique can inhibit access by a third party other than a user who possesses the access right, and can ensure security to a certain degree.
However, considering past data leakage troubles, the measure is not satisfactory because once the password is stolen, the network becomes substantially vulnerable. In other words, conventional techniques of maintaining security consider only the access right to a shared resource on a network, and do not consider any process after the shared resource is accessed. There is a need for a technique of limiting an output from a client PC to a removable storage device connected to it.
An application program necessary for business is naturally installed in a PC. It is practically difficult to inhibit installation of an application irrelevant to business and an application which may make the system unstable.
Especially in a company in which many PCs are installed, even the system administrator cannot inhibit installation of an application irrelevant to business and an application which may make the system unstable. When the system or a given PC becomes abnormal, the cause must be determined from both hardware and software, which puts a heavy burden on the administrator.
Client PCs which operate under various OSs may be connected to a network. Even if an original OS is common, the OS may be changed and used without permission. This makes the system unstable, and the reliability suffers.

Network management apparatus, management server, client terminal, and control method thereof


A waterborne lubricant, useful in the plastic working of metals, which imparts a lubricating behavior to the surface of metals in the absence of a conversion coating contains (A) water-soluble inorganic salt and (B) wax, wherein these components are dissolved or dispersed in water and the (B)/(A) solids weight ratio is 0.3 to 1.5. The (C) metal salt of a fatty acid can also be present at a (C)/(A) solids weight ratio of 0.01 to 0.4. The water-soluble inorganic salt (A) can be selected from the sulfates, silicates, borates, molybdates, and tungstates. The wax (B) can be a synthetic wax having a melting point of 70 to 150° C. A lubricating coating is formed by application to give a post-drying add-on of 0.5 to 40 g/m2. A method for using said lubricant is also provided.

A lubricating coating is usually formed on the surface of a metal, such as iron, steel, or stainless steel, that will be subjected to plastic working in order to prevent the scuffing and galling that would be produced by metal-to-metal contact between the workpiece and tool. One type of lubricating coating that can be produced on the metal surface involves the physical attachment of lubricant to the metal surface. Another type involves the application of lubricant after the production of a conversion coating on the metal surface by a chemical reaction in a preliminary conversion treatment. Physical attachment of the lubricant on the metal surface provides a poorer adherence than use of the lubricant on a conversion coating elaborated on the metal surface, and as a result the former type is usually employed with light working processes. A phosphate coating or oxalate coating is produced on the metal surface when a conversion coating is used; this conversion coating functions as a carrier. A sliding lubricant is applied after the production of this conversion coating. This type, which has a two-layer structure of conversion coating (=carrier film) and lubricant, exhibits a very high resistance to galling and as a consequence has been used over a very wide range of applications in the plastics working sector for wire drawing, tube drawing, and forging. Within the realm of plastic working operations, the application of lubricant on an underlayer of a phosphate or oxalate coating is frequently used in particular in the severe working sector.
The lubricants applied on conversion coatings can also be broadly divided into two types depending on the method of application. One type involves physical attachment of the lubricant on the conversion coating, while the other type involves a reactive attachment of the lubricant on the conversion coating. The first type includes lubricants comprising an extreme-pressure agent added to a mineral, vegetable, or synthetic base oil. The first type also includes lubricants comprising a solid lubricant (e.g., graphite or molybdenum disulfide) dissolved along with a binder component in water; these lubricants are attached by drying. Since these lubricants can be simply applied by spraying or immersion, they offer the advantage of making bath management almost unnecessary. However, due to their low lubricity they are frequently used in relatively light lubricating environments. With regard to the second type, treatment is carried out with a reactive soap, such as sodium stearate, functioning as the lubricant. Reactive soaps are used as the lubricant in particular when a high lubrication performance is required. The reactive soaps have a high lubrication performance due to their reaction with the conversion coating.
The use of a reactive soap, however, requires bath management since a chemical reaction is involved, temperature management in order to control the chemical reaction, and waste disposal and bath renewal due to bath deterioration. Reducing the amount of industrial waste has recently become a major issue in view of the goal of global environmental protection. This has created demand for a lubricant and treatment method that do not produce waste. The complexity of process and treatment bath management in the prior-art technology has also made the appearance of a simple process desirable.
In order to solve the problems identified above, Japanese Laid-Open (Unexamined or Kokai or A) Patent Application Number Sho 52-20967 (20,967/1977) discloses a "lubricant composition comprising solid lubricant, a conversion coating-forming agent, and a base of water-soluble polymer or water-based emulsion thereof". This lubricant composition, however, does not match conversion coating treatments.
Another means for solving the problems under consideration is, for example, the invention in Japanese Laid-Open (Unexamined or Kokai or A) Patent Application Number Hei 10-8085 (8,085/1998), which is assigned to the present applicant. This invention relates to a waterborne lubricant for the cold plastic working of metals. This waterborne lubricant comprises (A) water-soluble inorganic salt; (B) solid lubricant; (C) at least one oil component selected from mineral oils, animal and vegetable fats and oils, and synthetic oils; (D) surfactant; and (E) water. The solid lubricant is present uniformly dispersed, while the oil is present uniformly emulsified. The lubricant provided by this invention is not stable in industrial applications due to the presence of the oil component in emulsion form, and this lubricant therefore does not provide a high lubricity on a stable basis.
Yet another means for solving the problems under consideration is, for example, the invention in Japanese Laid-Open (Unexamined or Kokai or A) Patent Application Number 2000-63880, which is assigned to the present applicant. This invention relates to a lubricant composition for the plastic working of metals. This lubricant composition contains (A) synthetic resin, (B) water-soluble inorganic salt, and water, wherein the solids weight ratio (B)/(A) is 0.25/1 to 9/1 and the synthetic resin is present dissolved or dispersed. The lubricant provided by this invention does not generate an acceptable lubricity on a stable basis under severe working conditions due to its use of synthetic resin as a main component.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Aqueous lubricant for plastic working of metallic material and method for forming lubricant film


A control apparatus for a vehicular drive system including a differential mechanism including an electric motor. The drive system includes a switching clutch and switching brake to switch the transmission mechanism between a continuously-variable shifting state and a step-variable shifting state. A shifting control mechanism changes a manner of controlling shifting action of the transmission mechanism during shifting action of an automatic transmission portion, for reducing a shifting shock, depending upon whether a differential portion is placed in the continuously-variable shifting state in which engine speed is variable due to differential function irrespective of rotating speed of power transmitting member, or the non-continuously-variable shifting state in which the engine speed is more difficult to be variable than in the continuously-variable shifting state.

There is known a vehicular drive system including a differential mechanism operable to distribute an output of an engine to a first electric motor and its output shaft, and a second electric motor disposed between the output shaft of the differential mechanism and vehicle drive wheels. An example of such a vehicular drive system is a drive system for a hybrid vehicle disclosed in Patent Document 1. In this hybrid vehicle drive system, the differential mechanism is constituted by a planetary gear set, and a major portion of a drive force of the engine is mechanically transmitted to the drive wheels by the differential function of the differential mechanism, and the remaining portion of the drive force of the engine is electrically transmitted through an electric path between the first electric motor and the second electric motor, so that the drive system functions as an electrically controlled continuously variable transmission the speed ratio of which is continuously variable and which is controlled by a control apparatus to drive the vehicle while the engine is kept in its optimum operating condition, for thereby improving the fuel economy of the vehicle.
[Patent Document 1] JP-A-2003-301731
Generally, a continuously variable transmission is known as a device which permits improved fuel economy of the vehicle, while on the other hand a gear type transmission such as a step-variable automatic transmission is known as a device having a high degree of power transmitting efficiency. However, there is not available any power transmitting mechanism having the advantages of those two types of transmission. For example, the hybrid vehicle drive system disclosed in the above-identified Patent Document 1 includes the electric path for transmitting an electric energy from the first electric motor to the second electric motor, namely, a power transmitting path for transmitting a portion of the vehicle drive force as an electric energy, so that the first electric motor is required to be large-sized to meet a need for an increased output of the engine, and the second electric motor driven by the electric energy generated by the first electric motor is also required to be accordingly large-sized, whereby the overall size of the hybrid vehicle drive system tends to be large-sized. It is also noted that a portion of the output of the engine is once converted into an electric energy which is subsequently converted into a mechanical energy to be transmitted to the drive wheels, whereby the fuel economy of the vehicle may possibly be deteriorated under some running condition of the vehicle, for instance, during a high-speed running of the vehicle. Where the above-described differential mechanism is a transmission the speed ratio of which is electrically variable, for example, a continuously variable transmission so-called an "electric CVT", the vehicular drive system suffers from a similar problem.
In the hybrid vehicle drive system of the above-identified Patent Document 1, it is well known to provide a transmission in a power transmitting path between the output member of the differential mechanism (electrically controlled continuously variable transmission) and the vehicle drive wheels, for the purpose of reducing the required capacity of the second electric motor when a high vehicle drive torque is required. In this vehicular drive system, the output of the drive power source is transmitted to the drive wheels through the two transmission mechanisms consisting of the electrically controlled continuously variable transmission and the transmission, and the overall speed ratio of the drive system is determined by the speed ratios of the two transmission mechanisms.
When a shifting action of the transmission takes place, the drive system as a whole may not be able to function as a continuously variable transmission, during the shifting action, unlike a drive system including only the electrically controlled continuously variable transmission. Therefore, the drive system may suffer from a shifting shock, and deterioration of the fuel economy due to a failure of the engine to operate in its optimum condition. A vehicular drive system provided with a transmission disposed in the power transmitting path between the differential mechanism and the drive wheels so as to solve the problem of the hybrid vehicle drive system described above also may suffer from the shifting shock and the deterioration of the fuel economy due to the failure of the engine to operate in its optimum condition.
The present invention was made in view of the background art described above. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a control apparatus for a vehicular drive system including a differential mechanism operable to perform a differential function for distributing an output of an engine to a first electric motor and its output shaft, another electric motor disposed in a power transmitting path between the differential mechanism and a drive wheel of a vehicle, the control apparatus permitting reduction of the required size or an improvement of the fuel economy of the vehicular drive system, and reduction of the shifting shock of the vehicular drive system.


The invention provides a metal nanoparticle comprising a metal and a chiral and/or thiolate group bonded to the metal. The monolayer-protected metal nanoparticle may be used as a chiral dopant in a liquid crystal. Accordingly, the invention also provides a colloidal suspension or dispersion comprising a metal nanoparticle comprising a metal and a chiral and/or thiolate group bonded to the metal, and a liquid crystal.

Nematic liquid crystals (LCs) are one-dimensionally ordered fluids commonly formed by rod-shaped molecules. Dispersed colloidal particles disrupt the nematic order, and minimization of the elastic energy leads to the formation of anisotropic colloidal structures.1 Sufficiently large particles, depending on the strength and direction of the nematic anchoring on the particle surface, can form various types of topological defects such as Saturn rings, hyperbolic hedgehogs, and boojums in agreement with theoretical considerations.2-7 Past experimental studies focused on dispersions of water microdroplets,1,8,9 ferro-fluids,10 gold coated glass spheres,11 or silicon oil12-15 in nematic LCs (N-LCs) as well as latex particles in lyotropic LCs.9,16 For most particles, if the nematic LC molecules are strongly and perpendicularly anchored at the surface of a spherical particle, the particles act like a radial hedgehog carrying a topological charge. Placed in a uniformly aligned nematic solvent to satisfy the boundary conditions at infinity, the particle should nucleate a further defect in its nematic environment. As theoretically predicted,17,18 the dipole is the preferred configuration for large particles and sufficiently strong anchoring, although quadrupoles are also observed.11 The topological dipole formed by one quasi-spherical particle and an accompanying topological defect, known as a hyperbolic hedgehog, generate elastic forces that lead to the formation of chain-like particle aggregates.19 However, the interactions between colloidal particles and the nematic LC molecules strongly depend on the particular combination of the two materials, the molecular structure and elastic properties of the LC, as well as on the type and likely the size and shape of the colloidal particle used.
Recent theoretical studies on the structural properties of gold nanoclusters have shown that the most stable (lowest energy) isomers of bare Au28, Au55 as well as thiol-protected clusters (e.g., Au28(SCH3)16) correspond to chiral nanostructures.20 These findings provide support for the existence of chirality in noble metal clusters suggested by the intense optical activity measured in the metal-based electronic transitions of size-separated glutathione-protected gold particles in the size range of 20 to 40 atoms.21 Further theoretical work, based on quantifying chirality via the Hausdorff chirality measure (HCM),20,22,23 predicts that strong structural distortions in a gold cluster upon thiol protection could, for example, induce chirality in an achiral unprotected cluster.20
In addition to the work of Whetten et al. on glutathione capped gold nanoparticles,21 the groups of Fujihara and Yao reported, for example, on the syntheses of optically active nanoclusters protected with chiral (R)- and (S)-BINAP24 or penicillamines25 (D-Pen, L-Pen, and racemate). It is important to note that all three groups used enantiomeric species of the capping agent for the synthesis of their gold nanoparticles resulting in enantiopure particles with an optical activity that is easily identified by circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. However, it appears that none of the considerably complex CD spectra in the UV regions, the CD signals at wavelengths where the used protecting agent does not absorb as well as an inversion of the ellipticity, and θ (mirror image) from free capping agent to the capped nanocluster25 can not be explained by the chirality of the capping agent itself. Hence, the structured CD spectra are likely due to the quantized electronic transitions and their interactions in the cluster, which indicates, as theory predicts,20 that nanoparticles can indeed form well-defined stereostructures as 'normal' chiral molecules do.
Circular Dichroism is observed when optically active matter absorbs left and right handed circularly polarized light with a different absorption coefficient. Another sensitive probe for molecular chirality are liquid crystalline phases, in particular the nematic phase. Nematic liquid crystals are one-dimensionally ordered fluids commonly formed by rod-shaped molecules. It has been known for a long time that doping nematic phases with chiral, nonracemic compounds (chiral additives or dopants) transforms them into chiral nematic phases,26 characterized by a helical spatial arrangement of the director. In this chiral structure, the anisotropic molecules rotate in a helical manner to form lamellae of equally spaced planes with a common molecular orientation. Polarizing optical microscopy (POM) commonly provides direct evidence of the chirality induced by a chiral dopant in a non-chiral nematic liquid crystal. Characteristic textures and defect structures clearly reveal the difference between chiral and non-chiral nematic phases. Depending on the boundary conditions (planar, homeotropic), between crossed polarizers nematic liquid crystals such as Felix-2900-03 usually produce so-called Schlieren (FIG. 1), marble or thread-like textures, whereas the chiral nematic phase induced by doping 5 wt % of a chiral dopant such as (S)-Naproxen into Felix-2900-03 can display so-called oily-streak, fan-like, fingerprint (FIG. 2) or cholesteric finger textures.27

Metal nanoparticle and use thereof for inducing chirality in liquid crystal phases


The invention provides, in some aspects, a container system for medical solutions such as peritoneal dialysis (PD) solutions. The invention particularly features a system which includes a first compartment that contains a first medical solution, e.g., a PD osmotic agent, and a second compartment that contains a second medical solution, e.g., a PD buffer agent. The compartments maintain their respective contents separately from one another for purposes of transport, storage and/or sterilization. However, the compartments are fluidly couplable, so that their respective contents can be combined with one another, e.g., following sterilization of the agents and prior to their introduction into the patient's abdomen. To that end, a container system can include a diffuser that is disposed in a fluid pathway between the first and second compartments, e.g., to facilitate homogeneous mixing of the first and second PD agents. That diffuser is disposed within and moves relative to a structure, such as a port that defines the fluid pathway between those compartment. Thus, for example, the diffuser can comprise a body that “floats” within that pathway-defining structure and that moves from one end to the other (and/or to from points there between), depending on a direction of solution flow through the structure.

This application is related to the following: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/423,627, filed Apr. 14, 2009, entitled "Systems and Methods for Delivery of Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) Solutions," U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/326,141, filed Dec. 2, 2008, entitled "Systems and Methods for Delivery of Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) Solutions," U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/829,611, filed Jul. 27, 2007, entitled "Systems and Methods for Delivery of Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) Solutions," U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/340,403, filed Jan. 26, 2006, entitled "Systems and Methods for Delivery of Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) Solutions," U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/046,667, entitled "System and Methods for Dextrose Containing Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) Solutions With Neutral PH And Reduced Glucose Degradation Product," filed Jan. 28, 2005, the teachings of all of which applications are incorporated herein by reference.
The invention relates to peritoneal dialysis (PD). In particular, it provides containers and methods for treating peritoneal dialysis solutions that reduce glucose degradation products (GDPs).
Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a medical procedure for removing toxins from the blood that takes advantage of the semi-permeable membrane surrounding the walls of the abdomen or peritoneal cavity. During a PD procedure, a solution is introduced into the patient's abdomen, where it remains for up to several hours, removing blood toxins via osmotic transfer through that membrane. At completion of the procedure, the solution is drained from the body along with the toxins.
An active constituent of the PD solution is an osmotic agent, such as glucose, that creates an osmotic gradient across the peritoneal membrane, allowing exchange of toxins from the blood into the peritoneal cavity, as described above. Another constituent is an electrolyte composition, such as a mixture of sodium, calcium, potassium, chlorine, magnesium, and so forth, which restores and maintains electrolyte balance in the blood. A final typical constituent is a buffering agent, such as lactate and pyruvate, which ensures that the blood pH remains at a physiological norms during the procedure.
A major problem with commercially available PD solutions is the presence of degradation products. These products, which typically arise during long-term storage or sterilization of the solutions, damage the peritoneal wall and can adversely affect proteins elsewhere in the patient's body.
Attempts to eliminate these degradation products have met some success. An example is the assignee's own U.S. Pat. No. 6,277,815, which utilizes a multi-chamber PVC or polyolefin bag to separate PD constituents during storage and sterilization. That notwithstanding, there remains a continuing need for improved containers and methods for PD solutions to reduce glucose degradation products (GDPs). Providing these is among the objects of this invention.
Another object of the invention is to provide such containers and methods as can be fabricated at low cost.
Still another object of the invention is to provide such containers and methods as can be fabricated utilizing existing materials and fabrication techniques
Still yet still another object of the invention is to provide such containers and methods as can be provided PD solutions of physiologically optimal concentrations and pH levels.

Systems and methods for delivery of peritoneal dialysis (PD) solutions with integrated inter-chamber diffuser


This invention provides a non-aqueous electrolyte magnesium secondary battery comprising a positive electrode, a negative electrode, a separator, and a non-aqueous electrolyte, the non-aqueous electrolyte comprising [N(SO2CF3)2]− as an anion, and Mg2+ and/or an organic onium cation as a cation.

Magnesium secondary batteries, which have a high theoretical capacity density and abundant resources, and which are highly safe, are expected to find practical application as batteries that are more excellent than lithium secondary batteries. Compared with monovalent lithium ions, however, divalent magnesium ions have a strong interaction, and are unlikely to diffuse in solid phase.
Non-patent Literature 1 reports electrochemical insertion of Mg2+ into V2O5, but is silent about a magnesium secondary battery.
Non-patent Literature 2 only discloses Mg metal electrolytic deposition/remelting behavior in an ionic liquid, and no battery data are shown.

Non-aqueous electrolyte magnesium secondary battery

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


Systems and methods are disclosed for alleviating the network congestion inherent in monitoring several million subscribers' usage by incorporating an Information Control Repository (ICR) at the user-level, ideally within the mobile device in the form of a software program. This Micro Intelligent Information Control Repository (MIICR) augments the user profile typically stored in the network-level IICR. The MIICR collects usage information at the user level such as keystrokes, application usage, and other information, and generates a sub-profile that can be stored on the device itself. This sub-profile may consequently be used to provide the user with an enhanced Adaptive User Interface, that dynamically changes based on the usage of the device. Additionally, the sub-profile may be used in conjunction with the network-level user profile stored on the IICR to provide enhanced services customized for the individual user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to mobile communication. More particularly, the present invention relates to mobile devices and services having customized user interfaces generated by an intelligent embedded profiling engine and in conjunction with intelligence from the network.
2. Background of the Invention
With the advent of Internet Protocol (IP) and packet-based services offered to mobile users, the fusion between mobile devices and computers is well under way. Mobile users are now performing everyday tasks via mobile devices thanks to advancements in service models for applications. One such advancement has been the ability to monitor a single user's usage of applications, and to provide services and applications based on this usage. However, monitoring every user's actions can bog down even today's high-throughput IP-based networks. Thus, there is a need for a more efficient system and method for monitoring usage and providing customized services to a single user.
Mobile users are increasingly using their mobile devices for more than just conversations. The advent of wireless data plans means that subscribers now have access to resources that were previously available only on the Internet. There is increased demand for performing tasks on mobile devices that were traditionally performed on a computer. These include Instant Messaging (IM), downloading multimedia, peer 2 peer file sharing (p2p), location based services such as maps and traffic reports, billing inquiries, etc.
These services require implementation of multiple Application Servers (AS) on the mobile network, as well as authentication, enablers, and storage units to work together to provide a service model for multiple applications. One benefit of an IP-based network is the ability to incorporate these network elements in a flexible manner, so that they can be configured and reconfigured in a way to provide efficient allocation of resources. Thus, this plethora of services revolves around sophisticated, interactive applications provided by server subsystems that enable users to have access to one or more applications quickly and simultaneously, as well as toggle between such multiple applications at will with minimal effort.
Mobile operators have recognized that there is tremendous business potential for targeted delivery of applications and services to suit a specific user's tastes. Mobile operators also recognize that in order to provide customized services, they need to understand how the user interacts with existing applications and services. In fact, with today's high-speed 3G mobile networks, mobile operators have recognized that they may monitor a specific subscriber's usage, and present targeted content and services in near real-time. These service models allow subscribers to transform their services in a way that is revolutionizing the mobile industry.
One such service model involves dynamically generated user profiles that contain a mobile subscriber's application usage, browsing, and download habits. This dynamically generated profile is typically stored in an Intelligent Information Control Repository (IICR). The profile is analyzed, and relevant services are presented to the subscriber in the form of an Adaptive User Interface that presents services most relevant to that particular user, as well as multiple options to download or purchase additional content, or by presenting a user with options to access more information resources.
However, such a model is heavily dependent on several inputs, most of which come from the user end, and traverse the mobile network to reach the Application Servers and IICR. Such inputs may include a user's menu choices, application usage, communicating habits, as well as the type and frequency of information that is shared between applications. Considering that today's large mobile operators handle over 60 million subscribers, this results in a massive amount of data being uploaded over the mobile network. Additionally, most current 3G networks are optimized for high speed downloads, not uploads. Consequently, monitoring subscribers' usage to provide customized services becomes a dead-end goal: the more customization an operator wishes to offer, the more it bogs its own network down.
What is needed is an improved system and method to monitor a mobile user's habits while exploiting the current advances in mobile technology without overloading existing networks.

Intelligent information control repository


The purpose of the present invention is to provide a cellulose acetate film having excellent adhesion to a polarizer, and in which there is minimal change in retardation with respect to residual solvent during film stretching. This phase difference film contains cellulose acetate α having a degree of acetyl substitution of 2.1 or less, cellulose acetate β having a degree of acetyl substitution of 2.3-2.5, and a compound having a van der Waals volume of 500 Å3 to 1000 Å3 in the amount of 5-10 mass % with respect to the total amount of the cellulose acetate α and the cellulose acetate β, and the phase difference film is stretched.

In order to improve the viewing angle and avoid color changes in liquid-crystal display devices, retardation films that exhibit a specific retardation value (hereinafter, R value) have been used either singly or in combination.
Cellulose acetate is known to be advantageous as the main material of the retardation film and the optical characteristics of the film is known to depend on the degree of acetyl substitution of the cellulose acetate. In particular, cellulose acetate having a low degree of substitution has a high intrinsic birefringence, and therefore, by reducing the degree of acetyl substitution it is considered that the cellulose acetate can develop high optical characteristics suitable as a VA retardation film. As described in PTLs 1 to 4, a film of cellulose acetate can be directly laminated to a polarizer containing polyvinyl alcohol as a principal component by immersing the film in an alkaline aqueous solution to saponify and make the surface of the film hydrophilic. For this reason, the cellulose acetate films have been utilized as films that exhibit a retardation compensating function for a polarizer (hereinafter, retardation film).
A polarizer to which a retardation film is laminated is incorporated together with a liquid crystal cell when a liquid crystal display device is manufactured. Since the retardation film is disposed between the polarizer and the liquid crystal cell at this time, the optical characteristics of the film greatly affects the visibility of the liquid crystal display device. The retardation film is required to exhibit stable optical characteristics against various environmental changes.
For suitable development of optical characteristics, it is necessary to reduce the degree of acetyl substitution of a cellulose ester. However, when the degree of acetyl substitution of the cellulose ester is reduced, hydrogen bonding components increase in number due to the increased number of hydroxy groups thus resulting in a large variation in the development of optical characteristics. Particularly, this raises the following problem: "during film stretching optical characteristics are prone to vary in response to a change in the amount of residual solvent in the retardation film". In recent years, with the wider viewing angle and higher image quality of the liquid crystal display device, high retardation compensation is increasingly required, and it has been required in the art to improve retardation compensation.
It has been proposed to use a film containing cellulose acetate having a high degree of acetyl substitution in order to stably develop optical characteristics even if the amount of residual solvent in the film changes when the film is stretched (for example, see PTL 5).

Phase difference film, polarizing plate, and liquid crystal display device


For driving gas discharge lamps, a ballast is provided between the positive and the negative output terminals of a rectifier arrangement (D1, D2, D3, D4). The ballast comprises a filter stage (C1, C2, C3, DR1, DR2) with an oscillation voltage build-up circuit (R1, C6, D5, DIAC) and with a high-frequency resonant circuit (R2-R6, T1, T2, D5, D6, C6, I1, I2), and also with a decoupling capacitor (C7), a third inductor (DR3) and a third inductance (I3, I4). This third inductance is wound together with the two abovementioned windings of the high-frequency resonant circuit (I1, I2) onto a common core. The ballast is routed by a connecting line (VL) from the junction (H) between the two transistors (T1, T2) to one electrode (E1) of the discharge lamp (FL), the second electrode (E2) of which is connected to the first electrode (E1) via a resonant capacitance (C12, C13). There is provided in the circuit between the connecting line (VL) and the connection of the discharge lamp (FL) to the rectifier (D1, D2, D3, D4) a series resonant circuit having an inductance (DR3, I4) and a capacitance (C8) for limiting the current and for building up a voltage potential of the high-frequency supply of the discharge lamp (FL) in order to activate the diodes (D1, D2, D3, D4) in the rectifier. The result of this is that the reactive current component is almost zero and the voltage spikes are virtually suppressed on the mains side.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a circuit arrangement for driving gas discharge lamps having a ballast between the positive and the negative output terminals of a rectifier arrangement connected to an AC mains voltage supply through a phase conductor and a neutral conductor, which ballast is equipped with a filter stage, an oscillation voltage build-up circuit, an oscillation inverter having two transistors driven by first and second windings of a current transformer a high-frequency resonant circuit, and also with a decoupling capacitor and a third winding which, having been wound together with the two abovementioned windings of the high-frequency resonant circuit onto a common core, form a current transformer, and which ballast is routed by a connecting line from the junction between the two transistors to one electrode of the discharge lamp.
2. Background and Prior Art
Electrical ballasts for fluorescent lamps have been known for a long time. They are used to raise the mains voltage of usually 110 or 220-250 volts to a substantially higher ignition voltage which may be in the order of magnitude of about 1000 volts. It is also known to raise the frequency of the usual mains frequency of 50 or 60 Hz to a higher frequency which may be from 30 to 40 kHz. These measures have the advantage that the lamp can ignite immediately when turned on.
It is required of the electricity suppliers that, on the one hand, the harmonics do not occur in the radiofrequency range, which would be the case with the third harmonic at 150 kHz if the frequency of the lamp supply voltage were 50 kHz. Consequently, the frequency must be <50 kHz, but for operation it should be >25 kHz. On the other hand, the reactive current is also very problematic, because the measurement and hence the billing are difficult.
A further problem is posed by the peak voltages of the high frequency, because their spikes are super-imposed on the oscillations of the mains voltage. These problems can be solved if, in accordance with DE-A-36 11 611, inductors are connected into the supply line. However, this has the disadvantage that such inductors have to be relatively large at the mains frequency of 50-60 Hz and, consequently, can in no way be built into the lamp stand of a power-saving lamp. In order to reduce the harmonics, DE-A-32 22 534 has proposed a series circuit of an inductor and a diode with two capacitors at the junction point of those two elements. This arrangement leads to a reduction in the harmonics. However, these elements form a high-frequency divider, as a result of which the transistors are heavily loaded. This additional inductor is thus part of the high-frequency resonant circuit and therefore only partially effects interference suppression, with the result that the harmonics are nevertheless higher than permitted, and, moveover, the reactive current component cannot be reduced in this way.

Series resonant lamp circuit having direct electrode connection between rectifier and AC source


There is provided a liquid crystal display including a panel using a liquid crystal material having spontaneous polarization, such as ferroelectroic liquid crystal (FLC); having a faster response time suitable to display dynamic images. The FLC has the disadvantage caused by the incomplete memory effect at during driving for displaying “black” in several frames, where the light transmittance is preferably desired zero. The panel in the display are driven signals so that the driving signals are applied across the picture element, where the signals are positively or negatively offset to reference voltage of the panel.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to liquid crystal devices, and particularly to devices using liquid crystal having spontaneous polarization such as ferroelectric or antiferroelectric liquid crystal materials.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, the research on liquid crystal has rapidly progressed, resulting in increase of its application to devices, such as a display panel, an optical modulator, and an optical shutter in printing machine and so on.
In particular, liquid crystal devices and liquid crystal panels are characterized by thin depth, a lightweight, and low consumption. Hence, the devices or the panels are used as a display unit in various kind of devices, such as mobile terminals, for example cellular phones and mobile computers, moreover desk-top computers or household television sets.
The configuration of a liquid crystal display panel generally has a pair of opposing substrates spaced appropriately apart, including electrodes on inner faces of these substrates for switching each picture element or pixel defined by the arrangement of electrodes. Liquid crystal material is filled in a space between these substrates which are sealed at their periphery, while the detailed configurations are described later.
The widely used liquid crystal materials used these days for the liquid crystal display devices are; super twisted nematic liquid crystal and twisted nematic liquid crystal, which are hereinafter referred to as STN and TN respectively. The liquid crystal display of STN driven through a simple-matrix-type electrode configuration, which is referred to as simple matrix, is liable to generate image degradation caused by electrical cross-talk between picture elements or pixels, while the relatively low manufacturing cost results from the use of the simple matrix. The liquid crystal display of STN driven through the simple matrix also has undesirable response time (slow response time) for displaying dynamic images such as moving pictures.
On the other hand, TN in devices may be driven through an active-matrix-type electrode configuration including thin film transistors as switching elements, where the configuration is referred to as active matrix.
The liquid crystal display device of TN driven through the active matrix generally has no problem of electrical cross-talk, hence its image quality is better than that produced by the liquid crystal display device of STN driven through the simple matrix. The liquid crystal display device of TN further has faster response time than that of the liquid crystal display of STN, however the response time is limited by the characteristics of material itself, which means the liquid crystal display of TN being unsuitable for a display panel required to respond at high speed for displaying dynamic images such as motion picture.
These two materials have a common problem of a narrow view angle, hence the preferable view direction to see images on the display using these materials is limited.
It is well known that a certain type of liquid crystal material has spontaneous polarization, and a ferroelectric liquid crystal, which is referred to as FLC hereinafter, is a representative one of this type. This type of liquid crystal material is characterized by its fast response time ranging from several to several hundred microseconds, which is approximately one hundred times faster than that of TN liquid crystal. Therefore, this type of material may solve the problem related to the response time.
The FLC also has a characteristic such that liquid crystal molecules of the FLC always maintain their axis parallel to an appropriately treated surface of a substrate contacting the crystal. This characteristic leads to extremely smaller variation of index of refraction of the crystal according to view direction than that of TN or STN liquid crystals, resulting in a wider viewing angle of display panels using FLC material. Therefore the FLC material also has the advantage suitable for the liquid crystal as the material for a display panel.
However, the FLC material has a disadvantage such as a decrease of contrast ratio (or low contrast ratio) when used as the material for the display panel. The decrease comes from incompleteness of the memory effect during data being maintained in a picture element, where data corresponds with whether the light transmittance of the material in the element is low or high. That is, a little increase of the light transmittance in the picture element occurs when data pulses of zero amplitude for displaying "black" during several frames are applied to the element, and a little amount of light from a light source leaks through the element, resulting in decreasing the contrast ratio.
Therefore, the prevention of the increase of the light transmittance during displaying "black" is desired for improving the contrast ratio of the display panel using the FLC material.

Display panel including liquid crystal material having spontaneous polarization


A semiconductor device includes semiconductor layers of a first conductivity-type and a second conductivity-type stacked on a silicon carbide semiconductor and having differing impurity concentrations. Trenches disposed penetrating the semiconductor layer of the second conductivity-type form a planar striped pattern; and a gate electrode is disposed therein through a gate insulation film. First and second semiconductor regions respectively of the first and the second conductivity-types have impurity concentrations exceeding that of the semiconductor layer of the second conductivity-type and are selectively disposed therein. The depth of the second semiconductor region exceeds that of the semiconductor layer of the second conductivity-type, but not that of the trenches. The second semiconductor region is arranged at given intervals along the length of the trenches. In the silicon carbide semiconductor below the trench bottoms, a third semiconductor region of the second conductivity-type and having a floating potential is disposed covering the trench bottoms.

Conventionally, an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) has been experimentally fabricated that uses a silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductor as the semiconductor material (hereinafter, referred to as "SiC-IGBT") as a semiconductor device including MOS gate (insulated gate formed by a metal oxide film semiconductor) structures of a planar gate type. The structure of a conventional planar gate SiC-IGBT will be described below. FIGS. 14 and 15 are cross-sectional views of the structure of a conventional planar gate SiC-IGBT. FIG. 14 depicts a p-channel IGBT and FIG. 15 depicts an n-channel IGBT.
In the p-channel IGBT depicted in FIG. 14, on one surface side of a p−-type drift layer 101, components are disposed such as a MOS gate structure including an n-type base region 102, a p+-type emitter region 103, a gate insulation film 104, and a gate electrode 105, and an emitter electrode 106. On the other surface side of the p−-type drift layer 101, a p-type buffer layer 107, an n+-type collector layer 108, and a collector electrode 109 are disposed. The n-channel IGBT depicted in FIG. 15 has a structure formed by inverting the conductivity types of the p-channel IGBT depicted in FIG. 14. Reference numerals "111" to "119" respectively denote an n−-type drift layer, a p-type base region, an p+-type emitter region, a gate insulation film, a gate electrode, an emitter electrode, an n-type buffer layer, a p+-type collector layer, and a collector electrode.
Operation of the IGBT will be described taking an example of the n-channel IGBT. When positive voltage is applied to the gate electrode 115, an inversion layer of the p-type base region 112 is excited in a surface layer of a region immediately under the gate electrode 115. Through this inversion layer, electrons are injected from the n+-type emitter region 113 into the p-type base region 112 of the surface layer of the n−-type drift layer 111. The electrons injected into the p-type base region 112 pass through the n−-type drift layer 111 and reach the p+-type collector layer 118. Holes (positive holes) are injected from the p+-type collector layer 118 toward the n−-type drift layer 111. Thereby, the IGBT transitions to the "ON" state. In the "ON" state, the electrons and the holes accumulate inside the n−-type drift layer 111 such that the charge neutralization condition is satisfied, and the carrier concentration of the n−-type drift layer 111 is increased.
The electric conductivity in the n−-type drift layer 111 is increased (conductivity modulation) and the "ON" voltage when a predetermined current flows is reduced. For the holes to be injected from the p+-type collector layer 118 toward the n−-type drift layer 111, a forward voltage substantially equal to a built-in voltage needs to be applied to a p-n junction between the p+-type collector layer 118 and the n−-type drift layer 111. For a bipolar device using the silicon carbide semiconductor as the semiconductor material, because the built-in voltage is high, the current rise voltage is high and the rate of the build-in voltage accounting for in the "ON" voltage is high in the "ON" state. A unipolar device having no built-in voltage is, therefore, advantageous in a breakdown voltage class including breakdown voltages up to several kV. On the other hand, the bipolar device using a silicon carbide semiconductor is suitable for a device in a breakdown voltage class including voltages greater than or equal to 10 kV.
To reduce the electrical resistance (the "ON" voltage) by accumulating the carriers (electrons and holes) in the n−-type drift layer 111, it is necessary to efficiently inject the electrons from the emitter side to the n−-type drift layer 111 and efficiently inject the holes from the collector side to the n−-type drift layer 111. To efficiently inject the holes from the collector side, the impurity concentration of the p+-type collector layer 118 merely has to be increased. On the other hand, to efficiently inject the electrons on the emitter side, the carriers (the electrons and holes) merely have to be confined to the n−-type drift layer 111 as many as possible, that is, the effect of electron injection enhancement (injection enhanced (IE)) merely has to be enhanced. The IE effect is a technique that is widely used to improve the property of the IGBT using silicon (Si) as the semiconductor material (hereinafter, referred to as "Si-IGBT").
The following two structures are already in practical use as front face element structures each having the IE effect. FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of a structure of a conventional trench gate Si-IGBT. In FIG. 16, the carrier distribution in the n−-type drift layer 111 is depicted on the right, and the flows of the carriers in the "ON" state are depicted using arrows in a cross-sectional view on the left. FIG. 17 is a perspective diagram of the structure of another example of a conventional trench gate Si-IGBT. The first structure is an injection enhanced gat transistor (IEGT) structure that accumulates the holes in the n−-type drift layer 111 in a vicinity of a bottom portion of the trench in the "ON" state by reducing the width of a mesa region (hereinafter, referred to as "mesa width") between adjacent trenches (trenches each having the gate electrode 115 embedded therein) (FIG. 16). The second structure is a carrier-stored trench-gate bipolar transistor (CSTBT) structure formed by inserting an n-type carrier accumulation (carrier-stored (CS)) layer 120 between the n−-type drift layer 111 and the p-type base region 112 in the mesa region between the adjacent trenches (FIG. 17).
For a trench gate Si-IGBT, the IE effect can be enhanced by setting the front face element structure to be a structure having a narrow mesa width or a structure having a CS layer disposed therein. On the other hand, for a planar gate Si-IGBT, the IE effect is difficult to enhance and any improvement of attributes is, therefore, limited. For a SiC-IGBT, it is also effective to enhance the IE effect to improve attributes. To realize an attribute exceeding that of the planar gate SiC-IGBT, the trench gate SiC-IGBT is employed and the front face element structure is set to be a structure having a narrow mesa width or a structure having the CS layer disposed therein, whereby improvement of the property can be expected. For example, when a structure having a narrow mesa width is applied, a voltage drop is generated by concentrating the hole current in the mesa region and thereby, the injection is enhanced of the electrons from the electron accumulation layer (the inversion layer) formed in the trench side wall to the drift layer.
According to a device that has been proposed as a semiconductor device having the IE effect, an n-type layer having an impurity concentration higher than that of the n−-type drift layer is disposed between the n−-type drift layer and the p-type base layer, whereby the carrier distribution in the n−-type drift layer substantially becomes like the carrier distribution in a diode, and the "ON" voltage is reduced maintaining the current value capable of being turned off to be high (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H08-316479).
According to a another proposed device, an n-type layer having a higher concentration than that of an n−-type layer is disposed between the n−-type layer and the p-type layer in an IGBT including at least a "p+n−pn+" structure from the collector side toward the emitter side (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H10-178174).
The following device has also been proposed as yet another device. A drift layer of a second conductivity type is disposed on a substrate of a first conductivity type. A current suppression layer is disposed on the drift layer. The current suppression layer is of a second conductivity type and has a doping concentration that is higher than the doping concentration of the drift layer. A well region of the first conductivity type is present in the current suppression layer. The well region has a junction depth that is smaller than the thickness of the current suppression layer, and the current suppression layer laterally extends under the well region. An emitter region of the second conductivity type is present in the well region (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-211178).
According to yet another proposed device, an n-type impurity diffusion region (an embedded diffusion layer) having a relatively high concentration is disposed in a vicinity of a region for an n−-type drift layer to constitute a p-n junction with a p-type body region in a structure of a MOS transistor portion (see, for example, Published Japanese-Translation of PCT Application, Publication No. 2009/122486 (paragraph 0079 and FIG. 39)).
The following device has also been proposed as yet another device. An n+-type semiconductor layer (nCELb) is disposed on the surface of an n−-type drift layer. The impurity concentration of nCELb is higher than the impurity concentration of the n−-type drift layer. An n-type semiconductor layer (nCELu) is disposed on the surface of nCELb. The impurity concentration of nCELu is higher than the impurity concentration of the n−-type drift layer and is lower than the impurity concentration of nCELb. A p-type body region is selectively disposed in the surface layer of nCELu (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2013-089700).
A device has also been proposed as yet another device that includes an n-type drift layer stacked on one surface of a p-type silicon carbide semiconductor substrate having a high impurity concentration, an n-type carrier storage layer having an impurity concentration higher than that of the drift layer and disposed inside the drift layer on the surface side to divide the drift layer into two layers of an upper and a lower layer, a p-type base region disposed in the surface-side drift layer of the two divided drift layers, an n-type emitter region disposed in the surface layer of the p-type base region, and a gate electrode disposed through a gate insulation film on the surface of the p-type base region and on the surface of the surface-side drift layer whose side face is adjacent to the p-type base region and whose main face is in contact with the carrier storage layer (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2013-149798).
According to another proposed device, an n-type charge accumulation layer and a p-type body layer are sequentially disposed on an n−-type Si substrate, and a trench gate is disposed through a gate insulation film in a trench that penetrates the p-type body layer (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2013-187440 (paragraph 0013 and FIG. 1)).
To inject the carriers into the n−-type drift layer, however, a high forward bias needs to be applied to the p-n junction between the p-type base region and the n−-type drift layer because the built-in voltage of the silicon carbide semiconductor is high. With the SiC-IGBT applied with the front face element structure having a narrow mesa width (the width of the mesa region between adjacent trenches), when the voltage drop caused by the hole current in the mesa region is lower than the built-in voltage of the silicon carbide semiconductor, a problem arises in that the electron injection enhancement (IE) effect is not sufficiently achieved from the emitter side to the n−-type drift layer. To enhance the IE effect in the SiC-IGBT, the mesa width needs to be reduced to a length smaller than the Si-IGBT and the trench depth needs to be increased, however, problems arise in that deep etching of the trench is difficult and the patterning to form the front face element structure having a narrow mesa width is also difficult.
When the front face element structure of the trench gate type is employed, a high electric field is applied to the bottom portion of the trench in a "normally off" state of the device and a problem arises in that the gate insulation film that is formed along the inner wall of the trench is degraded. Although the silicon carbide semiconductor has an advantage in that the critical electric field strength is high at which the avalanche breakdown occurs, however, the electric field applied to the gate insulation film is also increased and a problem, therefore, arises in that the long term reliability of the gate insulation film drops.

Semiconductor device and fabrication method of semiconductor device

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY


The invention concerns a valve arrangement for controlling a hydraulic drive, the supply to and the outflow from the hydraulic drive being separately controllable. It is endeavoured to realise separate controls of the speed and the hydraulic pressure of the hydraulic drive. For this purpose, a pump pipe is connected with a first control valve, the first control valve is connected through a pipe with a first working connection and a second working connection of the hydraulic drive, and the first working connection is connected with a second control valve and the second working connection is connected with a third control valve, the second control valve and the third control valve opening into a tank (T).

From the general state of the art, valve arrangements for controlling hydraulic drives are known, in which the control openings for controlling the supply to, and the outflow from the hydraulic drive are connected with each other mechanically or hydraulically. It is often desirable to be able to control the hydraulic drive with a certain speed for all load situations. With valve arrangements, whose control openings for controlling the supply to, and the outflow from the hydraulic drive are connected with each other, in which the speed of the hydraulic drive and the load acting upon the hydraulic drive have the same direction, and in which the supply is controlled, the speed of the hydraulic drive is achieved through a limitation of the outflow. However, this has a negative influence on energy efficiency. Other valve arrangements with connected control openings for controlling the supply to, and the outflow from the hydraulic drive are dimensioned so that both the supply to, and the outflow from the hydraulic drive can be controlled independently of the load. These valve arrangements have a predetermined relation between the supply and the outflow, which also results in poor energy efficiency. Depending on the load direction of the hydraulic drive, avoiding cavitation in such valve arrangements requires several valves, which makes the complete valve arrangement very labor intensive and expensive. For solving these problems, EP 0 809 737 B1, U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,838, U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,759 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,695 describe valve arrangements, with which the supply to and the outflow from the hydraulic drive can be controlled separately. However, these solutions do not meet the heavy demands, which exist with regard to the minimum permissible leakage flows at the working connections, when the valves are not active. In operation modes, in which the speed and the load acting upon the hydraulic drive act in the same direction, the speed is controlled by a supply pipe acted upon by the pump pressure, which also results in a poor energy efficiency. U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,111 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,264 attempt to avoid the high pressure in the pump line, however, their solution proposals require an unnecessarily high pressure in the tank pipe when lowering the loads, to avoid cavitation. Due to throttling losses, the consequence of the high pressure in the tank pipe is also poor energy efficiency.


The present invention provides a soluble phospholipid reagent and assays of clotting activity using the same. The methods of the invention can be used to carry out any clotting assay or other assay of clotting activity that traditionally relies on platelet membranes or synthetic membrane preparation by substituting therefor the soluble phospholipids of the invention. Assay compositions and kits comprising the soluble phospholipids of the invention are also provided.

The traditional "cascade" view of blood coagulation is illustrated in FIG. 1 and consists of two converging pathways: the intrinsic or "contact" pathway was originally defined based on adding clay or other "contact reagents" to blood in a test-tube, and the extrinsic pathway that is now believed to be the pathway by which clotting is initiated following tissue injury. Both of these pathways culminate in the production of blood coagulation factor Xa (FXa, a serine protease) by pathways that depend on membranes. In one of these, factor IXa (FIXa, also a serine protease) and its cofactor factor VIIIa (FVIIIa) activate factor X (FX) in a reaction that is dependent on activated platelet membranes (intrinsic pathway). In the other (extrinsic pathway), FX is activated by another plasma serine protease factor VIIa (FVIIa) in conjunction with a cell-membrane located (thus, "extrinsic" to the plasma) cofactor, tissue factor (TF). These two pathways join at the "common pathway," in which FXa along with its cofactor factor Va (FVa), activates prothrombin to thrombin in the final step in the blood coagulation cascade. While it is generally believed that the exposure of TF to plasma following tissue damage is the trigger that initiates blood coagulation, it is also clear that the platelet-membrane-dependent complexes (Xa-Va, IXa-VIIIa) are essential to amplify the process so that a clot will form. Indeed, most of the familial coagulation disorders involve defects in these four proteins.
Prothrombin activation is accomplished by the FXa-FVa enzyme complex, called "prothrombinase" in the presence of Ca2+, and negatively charged membranes (Mann, et al. (1990) Blood 76(1):1-16; Rosing, et al. (1980) J. Biol. Chem. 255(1):274-83). In vivo, the membranes derive from activated platelets in the form of vesicles (Sandberg, et al. (1985) Thromb. Res. 39(1):63-79; Sims, et al. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264(29):17049-57) upon whose surface phosphatidylserine (PS) is exposed (Comfurius, et al. (1990) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1026(2):153-60), having been buried on the cytoplasmic surface of resting platelets (Schick, et al. (1976) J. Clin. Invest. 57(5):1221-6). PS is known to have a specific role in prothrombin activation (Jones et al. (1985) Thrombosis Res. 39, 711-724; Comfurius et al. (1994) Biochemistry 33 10319-10324), but the nature of that role has not previously been understood. Because two bonds in prothrombin must be cut, activation can proceed via two possible proteolytic intermediates (FIG. 4), meizothrombin (MzIIa), probably the major intermediate in vivo (Rosing and Tans (1988) Thromb. Haemost. 60(3):355-60; Nesheim and Mann (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258(9):5386-91) and prethromin 2 plus fragment 1.2 (Pre2 & F1.2; FIG. 2) (Nesheim and Mann (1983) supra; Krishnaswamy, et al. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262(7):3291-9). Both FVa and PS-membranes are thought to direct activation through the meizothrombin intermediate, but PS has the major role in this regard (Boskovic, et al. (2001) J. Biol. Chem. 276(31):28686-93; Banerjee, et al. (2002) Biochemistry 41 (3):950-7; Wu, et al. (2002) Biochemistry 41(3):935-49). The fact that PS has this significant role and that it also alters the activity of factor Xa (Koppaka et al. (1996) Biochemistry 35:7482) implies a regulatory role for this platelet lipid.
Coagulation factor IX also plays a pivotal role in blood coagulation as shown by the bleeding tendency associated with congenital factor IX deficiency (hemophilia B). The activated form of X, FIXa, plays a key role in thrombin generation at the platelet plug by binding with FVIIIa on platelet membranes to form the Xase complex that activates X to Xa. Negatively charged phospholipids, especially PS, are also critical to this process. PS-containing membranes increase the kcat of the factor VIIIa-IXa complex by more than a 1000-fold (Gilbert et al. (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271 11120). FVIIIa and FIXa bind specifically and with high affinity to PS-containing membranes. However, as for the prothrombinase complex, the exact role of PS in the activation of FX is not known.
Synthetic membrane preparations, which can be derived from phospholipid extracts of platelets, mammalian brain or lung, or soybeans, are commonly used in current clotting assays. More recently, synthetic membranes prepared from mixtures of purified synthetic lipids have been used to improve reproducibility and shelf life of assays. Synthetic phospholipids are also commercially available (e.g., from Avanti® Polar Lipids Inc; Alabaster, Ala.). Even these synthetic membrane preparations suffer from the drawbacks that (1) they are labor-intensive to produce, (2) each batch must be individually calibrated to match clotting times to existing standards (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,596,543 B2 to Wang et al.), and (3) they still have only a limited shelf-life.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for improved reagents and methods for performing clotting assays and other assays of clotting factor activity.

Soluble phospholipids for use in clotting factor assays

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


A system and method for obstacle avoidance during hydrocarbon operations utilizing a non-vertical conduit between a vessel and associated subsea equipment. The system comprises a vessel and a conduit connected to the vessel with a first rotatable apparatus which is constructed and arranged to permit the vessel to rotate with respect to the conduit. The system also comprises a second rotatable apparatus connecting the conduit to subsea equipment secured to the seafloor. The second rotatable apparatus is constructed and arranged to permit the conduit to rotate with respect to the subsea equipment.

This section is intended to introduce various aspects of the art, which may be associated with exemplary embodiments of the present invention. This discussion is believed to assist in providing a framework to facilitate a better understanding of particular aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that this section should be read in this light, and not necessarily as admissions of prior art.
Arctic offshore regions are continuing to receive more interest by oil and gas development companies. However, due to the presence of ice floes and icebergs, conducting hydrocarbon extraction related operations, such as, but not limited to, hydrocarbon production and drilling, in offshore arctic locations is difficult.
A conventional offshore drilling system is depicted in FIG. 1. As depicted, a vessel 101 floats in the water 103. The position of both the vessel 101 and a wellhead 105, which is positioned on the seafloor 107, are fixed relative to each other using thrusters or other known techniques. For a drilling vessel, each installation typically includes a single riser 109 used to connect the wellhead 105 to the vessel 101 and pass drilling materials such as, but not limited to, drilling fluid, drill bit and string, casings, and cement. As appreciated by those skilled in the art, wellhead 105 may be equipped with additional hardware, such as, but not limited to, a blowout preventer or a lower marine riser package.
When drilling in offshore arctic locations, it may be required to disconnect from the wellhead 105 due to intrusions of unmanageable ice 111 flowing into the watch circle, or area surrounding the vessel 101. Based on the vertical configuration of the riser 109, the vessel 101 must remain relatively stationary over the wellhead 105 in order to protect the riser 109 and its connection to the wellhead 105. There is some horizontal tolerance 113 in the vessel's position, though it is typically limited by some amount, often less than 5% of the water depth (or riser length), in order to prevent damage to the riser 109. Because of the limited horizontal tolerance of the vertical riser, ice floes (particularly in shallow water) pose a significant risk to riser integrity. Therefore, small icebergs or other dangerous ice features that may cause damage to the rig or well must be detected early enough to disconnect the riser or allow for the ice to otherwise be mitigated. In addition to impending ice 111, the vessel 101 may drift off of its fixed position due to a variety of conditions, such as, but not limited to, wind, waves, current or drive off due to thruster malfunction.
Though drift-off and drive-off are rare, such conditions are not acceptable as an operational norm as they require emergency measures to disconnect the riser 109. It is therefore desirable to limit the number of riser disconnections.
In some Arctic environments, such as those with significant icebergs or pack ice, potential ice features exceeding any practical resistance may frequently occur. It is difficult to accurately forecast multi-day ice drift patterns. As a result, the state of the art strategy is to either schedule drilling when there is no threat of significant ice or to actively manage the ice through iceberg towing or lead icebreakers in pack ice. However, there are potential locations, such as, but not limited to, those near the toe of a glacier or an ice shelf, where the threat of significant ice features is nearly year-around and there is a significant probability that the ice is either too large to be managed or escapes active ice management. For example, the casing/cementing of a wellbore may take several days and it is unacceptable to disconnect the riser during such operations. Therefore, significant risks are associated with drilling in icy regions. In such locations an alternative strategy is needed to enable drilling and related operations without increased occurrence of emergency disconnect.
Thus, there is a need for improvement in this field.

System and method for obstacle avoidance during hydrocarbon operations