A de-icer comprises a compressible member immediately subjacent an outer skin overlying an apex of a leading edge. The compressible member facilitates deflection of the outer skin overlying the compressible member toward the substructure when the skin deflection means deflects the outer skin.

In recent years, many aircraft manufacturers have sought improved ice protection systems to enable aircraft to safely fly in atmospheric icing conditions. Ice accumulations on the leading edge surfaces of various aircraft structures can seriously effect the aerodynamic characteristics of an aircraft. Examples of such aircraft structures include wings, engine inlets, and horizontal and vertical stabilizers. A leading edge is that portion of a surface of a structure that functions to meet and break an airstream impinging upon the surface of an aircraft structure. The impinging airstream is induced during flight. Conventional pneumatic de-icers, electrothermal de-icers and bleed air anti-icers have been used for many years to protect the leading edges of general aviation or commercial aircraft. These ice protection techniques are described in detail by Technical Report ADS-4, Engineering Summary of Airframe Icing Technical Data published by the Federal Aviation Agency, December 1963. In spite of these proven techniques, many aircraft manufacturers and operators have expressed a desire for new systems having better ice removal performance, longer life and decreased weight and energy requirements.
In response to this need, a class of systems has been developed that utilize skin deflection means to dynamically activate a thin deflectable outer skin upon which ice accumulates. The dynamic activation induces rapid motion in the thin deflectable skin sufficient to dynamically debond, shatter and expel an accumulated ice cap into surrounding airflow. As will be discussed more fully, the skin deflection means can take a variety of forms.
In some devices, the skin deflection means are combined with the thin deflectable outer skin to form a unitary de-icer. The unitary de-icer is generally formed in a thin sheet that can be subsequently bonded to the leading edge surface of an existing aircraft structure. The de-icer is usually designed to be removed from the aircraft structure and replaced in the field requiring the use of a replaceable adhesive such as 3M 1300L rubber cement. Examples are presented in U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,911 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DEICING A LEADING EDGE, Briscoe et. al. (hereinafter referred to as the Pneumatic Impulse Patent), U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,644 ELECTRO-REPULSIVE SEPARATION SYSTEM FOR DEICING, Adams et al. (hereinafter referred to as the Electro-Repulsive Patent), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,598 ATTACHABLE ELECTRO-IMPULSE DE-ICER, Adams et al. (hereinafter referred to as the Electro-Impulse Patent). In other devices, the skin deflection means are combined with the thin deflectable outer skin and a reinforcing structure thereby forming a unitary leading edge structure with integral de-icing capability. The de-icer is permanently bonded to the reinforcing structure necessitating replacement of the entire assembly upon failure of the de-icer. An example of this type of device is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,037 STRUCTURAL AIRFOIL HAVING INTEGRAL EXPULSIVE SYSTEM, Leffel et al. (hereinafter referred to as the Integral Expulsive System Patent). For the purposes of this application, the structure to which the de-icer is attached will be referred to as the "substructure." Examples of substructures include an existing aircraft structure having a leading edge surface and a reinforcing structure as discussed above.
As mentioned previously, the skin deflection means can take a variety of forms. In the Electro-Repulsive Patent, the skin deflection means comprises an upper array of conductors and a lower array of conductors. The upper conductors are substantially parallel to each other and to adjacent conductors in the lower layer. The upper conductors are connected in series with the lower conductors so that a single continuous conductor is formed that passes from the upper layer, around the lower layer, back around the upper layer, and so on. Upon application of an electrical potential to the input leads, current is developed in the upper conductors that is in the same direction in all upper conductors. Likewise, current is developed in the lower conductors that is in the same direction in all lower conductors, but opposite to the direction of the current in the upper conductors. As explained in the Electro-Repulsive Patent, maintaining a constant current direction in all the conductors of a layer greatly increases the separation force between the two layers.
After installation of the de-icer on a substructure, the upper and lower conductors are sandwiched between the structural member and a surface ply (the surface ply is analogous to a thin deflectable skin). Upon application of a high magnitude short duration current pulse, opposing electromagnetic fields in the upper and lower layers forcefully repel each other. This motion induces a dynamic motion into the surface ply which dynamically removes accumulated ice. As described in the Electro-Repulsive Patent, a current pulse that rises to between 2300 and 3100 amperes within 100 microseconds generates effective ice removal. A circuit for generating such a pulse is described in the Electro-Repulsive Patent. The circuit includes a pulse forming network, but this is not absolutely necessary.
Another form for the skin deflection means utilizing electromagnetic apparatus is illustrated by the Electro-Impulse Patent. A planar coil comprising at least one coiled conductor is sandwiched between a surface ply and a conductive substructure (such as the leading edge of an aluminum aircraft structure). Planar coils are described in great detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,480 PLANAR COIL CONSTRUCTION, Adams et al. (hereinafter referred to as the Planar Coil Patent). As described in the Electro-Impulse Patent, a high magnitude short duration current pulse is applied to the coil. The current in the coil induces a strong rapidly changing electromagnetic field. The electromagnetic field generates eddy currents in the conductive substructure which, in turn, generates an opposing electromagnetic field. The two electromagnetic fields repel each other causing a repelling force between the coil and the substructure. The coil induces dynamic motion into the surface ply thereby dynamically removing accumulated ice. Effective ice removal is generated by a peak current of about 3000 amperes rising in a period of 100 microseconds. An electrical circuit for generating such a pulse is disclosed. The circuit is very similar to the circuit disclosed in the Electro-Repulsive Patent.
In the previous example, the skin deflection means is composed of a single unitary planar coil. A target may also be required if the substructure does not have sufficient electrical conductivity to effectively develop eddy currents. A target would be required with a fiber reinforced plastic substructure, or a conductive substructure that is too thin to effectively develop eddy currents. The target is a sheet of conductive material such as copper or aluminum that is located adjacent one surface of the coil. The coil and target are forcefully repelled from each other upon application of a high magnitude short duration current pulse to the coil due to opposing magnetic fields generated by current in the coil and by eddy currents in the target. This motion induces dynamic motion into the surface ply which dynamically removes accumulated ice. The target can be formed as a part of the substructure or can be formed as a part of the thin force and displacement generation means. Also, as described in the Electro-Impulse Patent, either the target or the coil can be located immediately subjacent the outer skin. The target applies the motive force to the skin if it is located subjacent the skin. Conversely, the coil applies the motive force to the skin if it is located subjacent the skin.
The Planar Coil Patent also teaches an electro-repulsive variation similar to the Electro-Repulsive Patent. Two mirror image unitary planar coils are superposed relative to each other and electrically connected so that upon application of a high magnitude short duration current pulse to each coil, current direction is opposite in each coil. Opposing electromagnetic fields are generated in the coils which causes each coil to forcefully repel the other. This motion induces a mechanical impulse into the surface ply which removes accumulated ice. This approach differs from the Electro-Repulsive Patent which utilizes a single conductor to form the upper and lower conductors.
A type of skin deflection means that utilizes pressurized gas is described in the Pneumatic Impulse Patent and the Integral Expulsive System Patent. A plurality of pneumatic impulse tubes extend in a spanwise direction subjacent a thin deflectable outer skin. The tubes and skin are supported by a fiber reinforced plastic substructure which together form a leading edge structure with integral de-icing capability. Special fittings are integrated into the tubes at various locations spaced along the span of each tube. A pneumatic impulse valve is attached to each fitting. A suitable valve is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,647 PNEUMATIC IMPULSE VALVE AND SEPARATION SYSTEM, Putt et al. The valve contains a small volume (about 1 cubic inch) of high pressure air (500 to 5,000 psig). Upon activation by a solenoid, the valve quickly releases the pressurized air into each tube via the fitting. The expanding air pulse causes the tube to expand and induce mechanical motion into the skin thereby dynamically expelling accumulated ice. The expanding air pulse most preferably inflates the tube in less than 500 microseconds.
As evidenced by these patents, many variations of skin deflection means have been developed. The Electro-Repulsive Patent, Electro-Impulse Patent, Planar Coil Patent, Pneumatic Impulse Patent, and Integrated Pneumatic Impulse Patent provide examples of the types of structure that can serve as skin deflection means. In each example, the skin deflection means generates a force that causes the skin to be deflected away from the substructure. These patents are intended to be merely representative, and the types of structures that can serve as skin deflection means is not limited to the specific teachings of these patents.
Certain devices in the art are presented in FIGS. 1 and 2. The de-icers of FIGS. 1 and 2 have skin deflection means of the type that utilize compressed air as described by the Pneumatic Impulse Patent and Integral Expulsive System Patent. Unless noted otherwise, the following discussion applies equally as well to skin deflection means that utilize electromagnetic apparatus similar to those presented in the Electro-Repulsive Patent, Electro-Impulse Patent, and Planar Coil Patent. Referring to FIG. 1, a de-icer 100 is shown attached to a substructure 102 which serves to support the de-icer 100. An outer surface 122 meets and breaks an impinging airstream 119. Ice cap 115 is deposited by the airstream 119 during flight in atmospheric icing conditions. The section shown in FIG. 1 is a chordwise cross-section. The chordwise direction is defined as being approximately parallel to the direction of the impinging airstream 119 as it passes around the de-icer 100 and substructure 102. The de-icer 100 and substructure 102 also extend in a spanwise direction which is generally perpendicular to the chordwise direction. The de-icer and substructure can either be straight or have curvature in the spanwise direction. If de-icer 100 is applied to an engine inlet, the spanwise direction corresponds to the circumference of the inlet. In practicing the invention, the spanwise curvature can generally be ignored. Therefore, for the purposes of this application, the term "curvature" refers only to curvature measured in the plane of the chordwise section.
The outer surface 122 has a radius of curvature R that changes depending on the chordwise position along the outer surface 122. The radius of curvature R is measured perpendicular to the outer surface 122 in a chordwise plane. De-icer 100 and substructure 102 have an apex 120. The term "apex" is intended to refer to the portion of a de-icer and substructure underlying the area of the outer surface where the radius of curvature is smallest. The outer surface 122 defines a typical curvature wherein the smallest radius of curvature R is over the apex 120 and the radius of curvature R increases with distance from the apex 120.
De-icer 100 is comprised of a skin 104 and skin deflection means 103. Substructure 102 can be formed from metal, such as aluminum, or from fiber reinforced plastic, such as a plurality of reinforcing plies impregnated with plastic matrix (for example, plies of fabric formed from carbon, glass, or Kevlar.RTM. fibers impregnated with epoxy resin). The outer surface of the de-icer forms the outer surface 122.
The thin deflectable skin 104 is composed of an erosion resistant layer 105 and a backing layer 106. The erosion resistant layer can be formed from nearly any film having good erosion resistant properties. Titanium 15-3 alloy 0.005 inch thick and polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) ranging from 0.007 to 0.016 inch thick have been used for erosion layer 105. The backing layer 106 can either support and reinforce the erosion layer, or it can serve to bond the erosion layer to the skin deflection means 103. Epoxy and nitrile phenolic film adhesives have been used for the backing layer 106.
The skin deflection means 103 has five expandable tubes 107.varies.111 that abut each other along an edge of each tube. Tubes 107-111 can be formed from plastic coated fabric, such as nitrile phenolic impregnated nylon fabric, or from rubber coated fabric such as neoprene coated nylon fabric. The tubes 107-111 are described in greater detail in the Pneumatic Impulse Patent and Integral Expulsive System Patent. One tube 109 overlies the apex 120. Tube 110 is shown inflated. Deflections of skin 104 over tubes 108 and 109 are shown by phantom lines 112 and 113 respectively. Tubes 107-111 are sequentially inflated by pulses of compressed air as described in the Pneumatic Impulse Patent or Integral Expulsive System Patent. Inflation of the tubes 107-111 induces dynamic motion in the skin 104 and ice cap 115 is debonded and shattered into side ice-pieces 116 and 118, and nose ice-piece 117, which are ejected into impinging airstream 119. Centerline 121 bisects the de-icer 100 and substructure 102. Depending on the angle of the incoming airflow in relation to the centerline 121, ice accumulation 115 could shift to predominantly one surface or the other. For example, if the incoming airflow rotates to below the centerline 121, the ice cap would shift back over tube 107 and forward over only part of tube 110. The amount of shift depends on the magnitude of the angle between the incoming airflow 119 and the centerline 121 which is a function of aircraft flight and airflow characteristics. Tubes 107 and 111 are provided to protect against shifts in the ice cap 115. They are normally activated sequentially with tubes 108-110 as part of a single activation cycle.
Referring now to FIG. 2, de-icer 200 represents another arrangement for the skin deflection means. De-icer 200 is shown attached to substructure 202 that has an apex 220. De-icer 200 comprises skin 204 and skin deflection means 203. The de-icer 200 and substructure 202 are bisected by a centerline 221, and de-icer 200 has an outer surface 222. The outer surface 222 has a radius of curvature R that changes with distance from the apex 220. Here, the skin deflection means 203 has only four tubes 207, 208, 210 and 211 arranged such that the edges of tubes 208 and 210 abut directly over the apex 220. Skin 204 includes a backing layer 206 and an erosion resistant layer 205. The substructure 202, skin deflection means 203 and skin 204 can be constructed from the same materials as the substructure 102, skin deflection means 103 and skin 104 of de-icer 100. An ice cap 215 is deposited by an impinging airstream 219 and is shown debonded and shattered into side ice-pieces 216 and 218, and nose ice piece 217. The ice cap 215 is debonded and shattered by activation of the skin deflection means 203 as discussed previously in relation to skin deflection means 103 of de-icer 100. As before, tubes 207 and 211 are provided to protect against shifts in the ice cap 215. De-icer 200 is shown in an activated state by inflation of tube 210. Deflected profile of skin 204 induced during subsequent inflation of tube 208 is shown as a phantom line 212. Tube 210 is inflated by a pulse of compressed air which forces the skin 204 to rapidly move outward. The motion of skin 204 during inflation of tube 210 causes the ice cap 215 over tube 210 to debond and shatter into ice-pieces 218 which are ejected into the airstream 219. During subsequent inflation of tube 208, ice cap 215 debonds and shatters over tube 208 and side ice-pieces 216 are ejected into the airstream 219. Nose ice-piece 217 is located over the area where tubes 208 and 210 abut. As shown, deflection of skin 204 over the edge of a tube is small in comparison to the deflection over the center of a tube. Therefore, activation of skin 204 over the apex 220 of de-icer 200 is much less than activation of skin 104 over the apex 120 of de-icer 100. De-icer 100 is generally more effective than de-icer 200 in removing ice over an apex. However, depending on the radius of curvature over the apex, neither may effectively remove ice.
Referring to de-icer 100 of FIG. 1 and de-icer 200 of FIG. 2, the radius of curvature R over apexes 120 and 220, respectively, can have an adverse effect on ice removal performance. De-icer 100A of FIG. 1A illustrates how the geometry of the leading edge can effect ice removal performance. De-icer 100A is shown attached to the substructure 102. Like numbered components of de-icer 100 of FIG. 1 and de-icer 100A of FIG. 1A are equivalent. A skin deflection means 103A is comprised of five tubes 107A-111A. Tubes 107-111 are identical to tubes 107A-111A except for the width of each tube. The tube 109A overlying the apex 120 is wider than tube 109. Tube 109A is shown inflated. Due to the position dependent curvature of the outer surface 122, tube 109A tends to inflate on the sides, where the radius of curvature is greater, away from the apex 120, where the radius of curvature is lesser. Tube 109A has an outer wall 109A' which is pulled down over the very tip of the apex 120 resulting in almost no force application to the skin 104 over the tip of the apex 120. Therefore, side ice-pieces 116 and 118 are removed, but nose ice-piece 117 located over the apex 120 is not removed. This phenomenon has been observed in numerous icing wind tunnel tests.
Referring to de-icer 100 of FIG. 1, tube 109 also has an outer tube wall 109'. If the curvature of the apex 120 is not too great, and the width of tube 109 is narrow enough, the outer tube wall 109' can deflect outward, as shown in FIG. 1, and apply force to the skin 104 over the tip of the apex 120 resulting in skin deflection 113. Ice piece 117 will be ejected. De-icer 200 of FIG. 2 may provide a viable solution depending on geometry. As a general guideline, de-icer 100 of FIG. 1 is suitable if the radius of curvature R over apex 120 is greater than about 1.0 inch. In contrast, de-icer 200 of FIG. 2 is suitable if the radius of curvature of apex 220 is between about 0.5 and 1.0 inch. However, de-icer 200 can be unsatisfactory for use with leading edge geometries having a radius of curvature R over apex 220 less than about 0.5 inch. A propeller blade represents a type of leading edge geometry that often has an apex radius of curvature of less that 0.5 inch. An effective means of removing ice over an apex having a small radius of curvature is desired.
In addition to ice removal performance, life of a de-icer represents another very important consideration. For the purposes of this application, de-icer life is defined as the length of time a de-icer can continuously operate before the de-icer mechanically fails. The components of the de-icer are subjected to a stress cycle each time the de-icer is activated. These stress cycles accumulate and eventually cause a de-icer to mechanically fail due to fatigue. There are two ways to increase the life of a de-icer similar to de-icers 100 or 200 without changing materials. The cycle rate can be decreased (fewer cycles per minute), or the stress levels can be reduced. Reducing the cycle rate usually is not an option because flight conditions and ice accumulation characteristics of an aircraft are usually fixed.
The other option, reducing the stress levels, is limited because skin deflection in de-icers similar to de-icers 100 or 200 is achieved predominantly by stretching the skin. Referring to de-icer 100 of FIG. 1, the substructure 102 is relatively rigid and stretching the skin 104 is the only way deflection of skin 104 over any of tubes 107-111 is achieved. Referring to de-icer 200 of FIG. 2, this is also true of skin 204, tubes 207-211 and substructure 202. Referring to de-icer 100 of FIG. 1, a maximum deflection 114 in skin 104 over tube 110 is presented. In general, the maximum deflection 114 ranges between about 0.020 inch to about 0.060 inch. The maximum deflection 114 depends mostly on two variables; (1) modulus of elasticity of the skin 104, and (2) the magnitude of force generated by tube 110. For a given set of materials, the maximum deflection 114 can be achieved only by increasing the force generated by tube 114 to a sufficient magnitude. Increasing the force increases stresses in tube 110 and skin 104 thereby decreasing life. Referring to de-icer 200 of FIG. 2, the same is also true in relation to maximum deflection 214 of skin 204 over tube 210 of de-icer 200. Therefore, a means of obtaining a maximum deflection in a thin deflectable skin while maintaining lower stresses in the skin and skin deflection means is desired. Decreasing the stresses in the skin and skin deflection means results in a de-icer having longer life.
In addition to ice removal, energy consumption and weight are also of primary importance. De-icers similar to de-icers 100 and 200 have an "active area." The term "active area" refers to that portion of the outer skin that is dynamically activated by the thin force and displacement generation means in a manner that removes ice accumulations. For example, the active area of deicer 100 includes any area of skin 104 covering tubes 107-111 and the active area of de-icer 200 includes any area of skin 204 covering tubes 207-211. Normally, as evidenced by de-icers 100 and 200, the surface area of the skin deflection means 103 and 203 must equal the active area. Reducing the surface area of the skin deflection means reduces the energy consumption of the de-icer. However, the active area required for a particular application is usually fixed. Therefore, a way of reducing the surface area of the skin deflection means without reducing the active area is desired in order to provide a de-icer having decreased energy consumption. Also, since the skin deflection means represent a significant portion of the weight of a dynamic de-icer, reducing the surface area of the skin deflection means in relation to the active area should also reduce weight.
In the context of a pneumatic impulse embodiment, the force required to deflect the outer skin bears on energy consumption and weight in a manner that is even less apparent. For de-icers similar to de-icers 100 and 200 of FIGS. 1 and 2, the pulse propagation distance generally decreases as the modulus of the skin increases. Pulse propagation distance refers to the distance from a valve along the span of a tube over which ice is effectively removed. In general, skin deflection and dynamics decrease with distance from a valve because the pulse of compressed air is constantly expanding and the peak pressure inside the tube decreases with distance from the valve. For example, if the erosion layer 105 or 205 is formed from 0.005 inch thick 15-3 titanium alloy, the pulse may generate effective ice removal about two feet on either side of a valve. Therefore, the distance between valves would be about four feet in order to provide effective ice removal along the span of a tube. Four valves per tube would be required for a sixteen foot span. For an ice protector having five tubes, a total of twenty valves would be required. By increasing the pulse propagation distance, the space-between valves can be increased. Increasing the space between valves reduces the number of valves and the total weight of the system. Reducing the number of valves also increases the reliability of the system by reducing the number of mechanical components. Therefore, means of increasing the pulse propagation distance between valves is desired in order to increase reliability and decrease energy consumption and weight.
The devices described above represent advancements over previous de-icing systems. In spite of these advancements, means of improving ice removal performance, life, reliability, weight, and energy consumption are of continuing interest. In particular, a de-icer is desired exhibiting the excellent ice removal performance typical of the devices described above while having increased life, reduced weight, and reduced energy consumption.


A clock data recovery device 1 generates a recovered clock Recovered Clock and recovered data Recovered Data based on an input signal Data In, and includes a signal selector 10, a phase delay unit 20, a time measurement unit 30, a phase selector 40, an edge detector 50, a polarity detector 60, a logic inverter 70, and a data output unit 80. The signal selector 10, the phase delay unit 20, the time measurement unit 30, and the phase selector 40 constitute a clock-generation device 1A. The phase delay unit 20 includes a plurality of cascaded delay elements 211 to 21P. The phase selector 40 selects a signal output from the delay element in a position corresponding to a unit interval time among the delay elements 211 to 21P, and outputs the signal as a feedback clock Feedback Clock.

For a digital signal in which a clock and data are combined, which is output from a transmitter, it is necessary for the clock and the data to be recovered at a receiver side. A clock data recovery (CDR) device for performing such recovery is described, for example, in Non-Patent Literature 1.
The clock data recovery device described in Non-Patent Literature 1 detects an edge of an input signal, recovers a clock based on a timing of the edge, and recovers data of the input signal at each timing indicated by the clock. A clock-generation device which generates a recovery clock in this clock data recovery device includes a phase lock loop (PLL) including a gated voltage controlled oscillator (GVCO), a frequency divider, a phase difference detector, an up-down counter, and a DA converter using a ΔΣ scheme.
The clock data recovery device described in Non-Patent Literature 1 is a device that operates in a burst mode. That is, the clock-generation device receives a reference clock from the outside before signal input start and during signal input, and outputs a clock at the same frequency as that of the reference clock. When the signal input is started, the clock-generation device matches a phase of the clock with a phase of the input signal in a short time, and outputs the clock.

Clock-generating device and clock data recovery device


A method for network intrusion detection on a network comprising a plurality of state machines for passing a plurality of network packets comprises determining frequency distributions for each transition within each state machine, determining the distributions of values of each state machine on each transition, and comparing the distributions to observed statistics in the network, and upon determining that the observed statistics are outside defined limits, detecting an anomaly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to anomaly detection in computer networks, and more particularly to a specification-based anomaly detection method for network intrusion detection.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Intrusion detection techniques can be broadly classified into misuse detection, anomaly detection and specification based approaches. Misuse detection, which detects known misuses accurately, is not effective against unknown attacks. Anomaly detection copes better with unknown attacks, but can generate false positives. Specification-based approaches can detect novel attacks, while maintaining a low degree of false alarms.
Misuse detection techniques detect attacks as instances of attack signatures. This approach can detect known attacks accurately. However, it is not effective against previously unseen attacks, as no signatures are available for such attacks.
Anomaly detection overcomes the limitation of misuse detection by focusing on normal system behaviors, rather than attack behaviors. In Anomaly detection, machine learning techniques are used to learn normal behavior by observing system operation during a training phase that is free of attacks. Subsequently, this learnt behavior is compared against observed system behavior during the detection phase, and any deviations are deemed to indicate attacks. Unfortunately, systems often exhibit legitimate but previously unseen behavior, which leads anomaly detection techniques to produce a high degree of false alarms. Moreover, the effectiveness of anomaly detection is affected greatly by what aspects (also called "features") of the system behavior are learnt. The problem of selecting an appropriate set of features has proven to be a hard problem.
Many network intrusion detection systems reconstruct higher level interactions between end hosts and remote users, and identify anomalous or attack behaviors. Other approaches operate on the basis of packet header contents. The reconstructive approaches provide a way to define signatures based on the content of data exchanged in a reconstructed TCP session, whereas the packet-header techniques define signatures in terms of individual packets. The former class of approaches are more effective in detecting application layer attacks, whereas the latter class of techniques can provide better detection of attacks that do not result in valid TCP sessions (e.g., probing attacks) or valid requests at the application level.
Within the area of anomaly detection based approaches, data mining is concerned with the extraction of useful information from large volumes of data. Data mining techniques for intrusion detection rely on expert identification of useful features for network intrusion detection. For example, W. Lee and S. Stolfo, Data Mining Approaches for Intrusion Detection, USENIX Security Symposium, 1998, suggest the selection of a long list of features that include, among many others, the following: successful TCP connection, connection rejection, failure to receive SYN-ACK, spurious SYN-ACKs, duplicate ACK rate, wrong size rate, bytes sent in each direction, normal connection termination, half-closed connections, and failure to send all data packets.
The NATE (Network Analysis of Anomalous Traffic Events) system uses statistical clustering techniques to learn normal behavior patterns in network data. Training data is used in the formation of clusters, or groups, of similar data. During detection, data points that do not fall into some cluster are seen as anomalous. Clustering uses a similarity measure and, for network data, sampling techniques are also needed. NATE can detect most network probes and DOS attacks in the MIT Lincoln Labs data. The technique used by NATE is sensitive to the sampling methodology and distance measure used, so continuing research is involved in trying to develop more accurate methods. NATE uses sampling to select a small subset of packet data for training. Moreover, the information learnt by NATE requires checking by a human before it is used for detection.
The EMERALD system contains a statistical component called eStat. This statistical component maintains short and long-term distribution information for several types of "measures", using a decay mechanism to age out less recent events. While the techniques do not need prior knowledge of attack activity, such knowledge is used in the choice of attributes that constitute measures and time ranges used for intensity measures.
EMERALD also has a component that combines signature and anomaly-based approaches called eBayes. EBayes uses a belief network to determine from a number of features whether the values of those features fits with some normal behavior (http, ftp, etc.), some predefined bad behavior (mailbomb, ipsweep, etc.), or neither of these (other).
Unlike signature or misuse based intrusion detection techniques, anomaly detection is capable of detecting novel attacks. However, the use of anomaly detection in practice is hampered by a high rate of false alarms. Specification-based techniques have been shown to produce a low rate of false alarms, but are not as effective as anomaly detection in detecting novel attacks, especially when it comes to network probing and denial-of-service attacks.
Therefore, a need exists for a system and method of specification-based anomaly detection for network intrusion detection.

Research Foundation of the State University of New York


A gas component detecting element using particles of metal oxide. The particles are prepared and calcined, and then subjected to a treatment which enlarges a specific surface area thereof. Catalyst particles are supported on the surface of these particles, and then the particles are sintered. The gas component detecting element is formed from these particles. A detector formed in this way can be used for a long period of time without any change in characteristics.

The present invention relates to a method for producing a gas component detecting element and a detector.
Hitherto, it has been known to use a gas component detecting element comprising titanium dioxide for indirect detection of air-fuel ratio of internal-combustion engine. According to this known method which utilizes the property of titanium dioxide to change in its electrical resistance depending on concentration of the gas component, concentration of the gas component is detected by the change of electrical resistance and air-fuel ratio of internal-combustion engine is indirectly detected based on the detected concentration of gas component.
In the case of this gas component detecting element comprising titanium dioxide, titanium dioxide alone is slow in adsorption and resorption of gas component and so low in sensitivity and therefore, conventionally a platinum/rhodium catalyst was supported on the surface of titanium dioxide particles for enhancement of sensitivity (e.g., Japanese Patent Kokai No. 56-112638).
Internal-combustion engine is used at temperatures in a very wide range (200.degree.-1000.degree. C.). Therefore, particles of the platinum/rhodium catalyst easily move about on the surface of titanium dioxide particles and they gather and agglomerate to result in growth of particles due to especially the heat under high temperature.
As a result, catalytically active area on the surface of titanium dioxide particles decreases and absorption and resorption of gas component on the surface of titanium dioxide particles become slow to cause reduction of sensitivity for gas component.
The inventors have conducted intensive research on these points and have found out the cause for movement of catalyst particles under high temperature. That is, it is guessed that catalyst particles firmly bond to surface defect (called active point) of titanium dioxide particles with bonding of S.M.S.I. (Strong Metal Support Interaction) as disclosed, for example, in "American Chemical Society", pages 2870-2874 published in U.S.A. in 1979. The surface defect of titanium dioxide means lattice defect caused by escaping, from crystal lattice, of unpaired electrons (dangling bond), oxygen or the like on the surface of titanium dioxide. Bonding to such surface defect results in strong adherence of the surface of titanium dioxide particles and catalyst particles.
However, the surface defects (active points) of titanium dioxide particles disappear owing to reduction of specific surface area accompanied by growth of particles, and bonding of defects to each other and rearrangement of defects by the heat at heat treatment, namely, calcination which is a pretreatment for stably obtaining the final desired product, namely, titanium dioxide sintered body (for reducing heat shrink and obtaining desired density). Thus, the surface defect density markedly decreases.
As a result, even if catalyst particles is supported on titanium dioxide particles having a low surface defect density, proportion of catalyst particles which bond to the surface defects is very small and thus movement of catalyst particles is brought about due to heat.
The present invention aims at inhibition of particle growth by preventing movement of catalyst particles.

Gas component detecting element and detector


A circuit for generating a regulated negative voltage output pulse for use in calibrating a transducer, such as used in sensing an acceleration profile of a moving object, comprises a transistor responsive to a periodically generated control pulse for reversing the polarity charge on a capacitor. A negative voltage charge on the capacitor activates a negative voltage regulator to generate the desired regulated negative voltage calibration pulse. A pair of resistors are series connected to the regulated negative voltage output and a positive voltage reference source to provide an output for an external monitoring device to verify the generation of an accurate regulated negative voltage calibration pulse. The pair of resistors also provide a bypass of the negative voltage regulator when no external control pulse is present, thereby establishing a positive voltage output for the calibration pulse generating circuit when a regulated negative voltage calibration pulse is not being generated. The present invention is able to use a positive voltage power supply, or battery, to generate the desired regulated negative voltage calibration pulse output.

The present invention is generally related to systems for calibrating transducers, and more particularly to circuits for producing negative voltage pulses used to generate electrostatic calibration forces for transducers used in sensing the acceleration profile of a moving object, such as a motor vehicle.
The prior art teaches transducers, or sensors, having a rigid frame and a sensing mass cantilevered on a support beam which is displaced generally normal to the direction of beam extension upon acceleration of an accelerating force to the frame. A plurality of strain gages bonded to the beam or diffused into the surface thereof are connected to a Wheatstone bridge in a manner familiar to those skilled in the art, whereby an output proportional to the amount of such sensing mass displacement is obtained. The Wheatstone bridge is typically referenced to a small positive excitation voltage, such as 5 volts, to accommodate natural sensing mass offset not caused by an accelerating force. Unfortunately, the output from the strain gages is adversely affected by creep and hysteresis losses. Moreover, the resistance of the strain gages and, hence, the output of the Wheatstone bridge connected thereto vary greatly with temperature. The variation in bridge output due to temperature is further complicated, for example, where the sensing mass and its supporting beam are micromachined from silicon, as the relationship between the acceleration-induced deflection of the sensing mass and temperature is unknown. Still further, such sensors are typically manufactured at high temperatures and subsequently cooled, whereby a thermal prestress is generated therein which is released or otherwise manifests itself as the operating temperature of the sensor varies. As a result, the sensor must be recalibrated on a continuing basis.
In the past, calibration of the sensor was achieved by periodically generating a predetermined, positive value, electrostatic displacement voltage. The displacement voltage is typically placed on the sensor beam in order to induce a particular electrostatic displacement field on the sensing mass. The particular electrostatic displacement field simulates the deflection effect on the sensing mass equivalent to application of a predetermined acceleration force to the sensor frame. The instantaneous change in the bridge output is then calibrated in terms of the simulated, predetermined acceleration value. Such calibration ensures that the sensor output accurately reflects true acceleration profiles of the moving object.
Typical prior art sensors, which are capable of output calibration, generally have been provided with electrical input leads on the sensor bridge to accommodate the above described positive value, electrostatic displacement voltage. However, in particular situations, such electrical input leads are susceptible to errant electrostatic voltages, such as static electricity discharged from a technician handling the sensor, thereby causing uncontrolled displacement of the sensing mass. In order to prevent this type of uncontrolled sensing mass displacement and possible attendant damage to the sensor, circuitry has been connected to the electrical input leads which reduces or eliminates any sensitivity of the sensor bridge to errant electrostatic voltages placed on the electrical input leads.
However, such circuitry is problematic for achieving sensor output calibration because the circuitry is typically realized as a diode arrangement which prevents any positive value electrostatic displacement voltages greater than the reference excitation voltage from deflecting the sensing mass. Accordingly, negative value electrostatic displacement voltages must be used to calibrate the sensor output as described hereinabove. Prior art negative voltage calibration pulse generating circuits have not presented a satisfactory solution due to the drawbacks of requiring a dedicated negative voltage power supply, and/or providing unregulated negative voltage outputs which can compromise accuracy in calibration of the sensor, or potentially damage the sensor due to the generation of excessive voltage spikes.

Regulated negative calibration pulse generator


The present invention relates to methods of detecting carcinomas by measuring the level of a glycero compound, such as glycerol-3-phosphate, in a plasma, serum, or urine specimen from a patient. The method is particularly useful as a screening test for ovarian and breast carcinomas.

The present invention relates to methods of detecting carcinomas by measuring the level of a glycero compound, such as glycerol-3-phosphate, in a plasma, serum, or urine specimen from a patient. The method is particularly useful as a screening test for ovarian and breast carcinomas.
Carcinomas such as ovarian carcinoma, lung carcinoma, colon carcinoma, and breast carcinoma are among the most frequent causes of cancer death in the United States and Europe. Despite decades of cancer research, mortality rates among persons who contract cancer remain high. This dismal outcome is due, at least in part, to an inability to detect the carcinoma at an early stage of tumor development. When a carcinoma is detected at an early stage, survivability increases dramatically. For example, when ovarian carcinoma is diagnosed at an early stage, the cure rate approaches 90%. In contrast, the 5 year outlook for women with advanced disease remains poor with no more than a 15% survival rate. Thus, early diagnosis is one of the most effective means of improving the prognosis for carcinomas.
Frequently, however, detection of carcinomas depends upon the detection and inspection of a tumor mass which has reached sufficient size to be detected by physical examination. For instance, transvaginal sonography is the most sensitive of the currently available techniques used for detecting ovarian tumors. However, transvaginal sonography is non-specific, i.e. it will detect benign as well as malignant tumors. Accordingly, detection of an ovarian tumor by transvaginal sonography must be followed by a second diagnostic procedure which is able to distinguish benign tumors from malignant tumors. Moreover, transvaginal sonography is very expensive and, therefore, not useful as a screening procedure for large numbers of patients.
Typically, benign ovarian tumors are distinguished from malignant ovarian tumors by surgical procedures such as biopsy of the mass or aspiration of the mass and cytological examination of the cells that are surgically removed from the patient. However, these techniques are highly invasive, expensive, and in the case of aspiration can lead to release of cancerous cells into the peritoneum.
As can be seen from this example for ovarian cancer, several factors prevent the early detection and treatment of carcinomas. First, the carcinoma may be too small to be felt or seen on an x-ray or sonogram. Second, once the carcinoma is located, it may be mischaracterized as benign by the histologist examining a biopsy from the tumor. Third, the intensely invasive nature of these procedures prevents their use by patients and prohibits their use as regular screening techniques.
The detection of molecular markers of carcinogenesis and tumor growth can solve many of the problems which the physical examination of tumors have encountered. Samples taken from the patient for screening by molecular techniques are typically blood or urine, and thus require minimally invasive techniques. Thus, they can be used on a regular basis to screen for carcinomas. In addition, because molecular markers often appear before the tumor is of a detectable size, it is possible to detect carcinomas at very early stages in the progression of the disease. However, special processing of the samples is often required, and the molecular marker used is often of limited specificity and diagnostic value.
For instance, the antigenic determinant CA 125, which is a high molecular weight mucin-like glycoprotein, is the current serum biomarker of choice for screening for ovarian carcinomas. However, CA 125 testing suffers from two main limitations. First of all, it is not very sensitive. For example, elevated serum CA 125 levels, i.e. levels above the cut-off point of 35 U/ml, are present in fewer than 50% of the patients with Stage I ovarian carcinoma. Taylor, K. J. W. and Schwartz, P. E., xe2x80x9cScreening for Early Ovarian Cancer,xe2x80x9d Radiology, 192:1-10, 1994. In addition, CA 125 testing is not very specific. For example, approximately 25% of patients with benign gynecological diseases also have elevated serum levels of CA 125. Moreover, liver disease such as cirrhosis, even without ascites, elevates serum CA 125 levels above 35 U/ml. Taylor, K. J. W. and Schwartz, P. E., xe2x80x9cScreening for Early Ovarian Cancer,xe2x80x9d Radiology, 192:1-10, 1994.
Additionally, the level of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) in the blood of patients has been used as an indicator of ovarian cancer and other gynecological carcinomas. For example, see the method disclosed in Xu, et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,824,555, and 5,994,141. In this method, the plasma sample is first prepared from the blood of the patient. The sample may then be enriched by extracting lipids from the plasma sample with organic solvents in order to separate the LPA from other lipid components of blood. An LPA level of 0.1 xcexcM or greater is then assayed in the sample in order to diagnose the patient as having an ovarian carcinoma. Although LPA concentration is conventionally determined by gas chromatography, LPA may also be measured by enzymatically converting LPA to glycerol-3-phosphate, and then determining the level of glycerol-3-phosphate produced from LPA by an enzymatic cycling assay, see WO 00/23612. Although levels of LPA and other lysophospholipids in the blood have been shown in the blood of patients with carcinomas, see WO 98/43093, no similar instance has been shown for the endogenous levels of glycero compounds such as glycerol-3-phosphate.
The present invention provides a new, simple method for detecting the presence of carcinomas in a patient. The method comprises detecting the presence of an endogenous glycero compound such as glycerol-3-phospate (G3P) or a glycero compound derivative thereof (GPX) in a plasma, serum, or urine sample of the patient at levels which correlate with the presence of a carcinoma.
An embodiment of the method comprises: collecting a serum, plasma, or urine specimen from the patient, assaying for the presence of G3P, GPX, or a combination of glycero compounds in the specimen, and correlating the presence of the glycero compound at levels indicative of a carcinoma with the presence of the carcinoma in the patient. Glycero compounds suitable for assaying in the present invention include glycerol-3-phosphate (G3P), glycerophosphoinositol (GPI), glycerophosphocholine (GPC), glycerophosphoserine (GPS), glycerophosphoglycerol (GPG), and glycerophosphoethanolamine (GPE). In preferred embodiments of the invention, the xe2x80x9cglycero compoundxe2x80x9d assayed is a combination of these glycero compounds. A preferred embodiment of the method assays for the presence of the glycero compounds by an enzymatic cycling reaction utilizing glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and glycero-3-phosphate oxidase. If non-G3P glycero compounds are assayed in the invention, it is preferred that the enzymatic cycling reaction step be proceeded by an enzymatic step which cleaves non-G3P glycero compounds in the specimen to produce G3P.
The method of the present invention can be used to detect a broad range of carcinomas at an early stage, including breast carcinoma, ovarian carcinoma, cervical carcinoma, uterine carcinoma, endometrial carcinoma, peritoneal carcinoma, and fallopian tube carcinoma. Because the method is sufficiently sensitive to detect ovarian carcinoma in patients with early stage ovarian carcinoma and marginally invasive, the method is especially useful for screening patients for ovarian carcinomas. For the same reasons, the method is especially useful for screening patients for breast carcinomas, as current screening techniques (such as mammograms) are relatively expensive and uncomfortable for the patient.


Methods are disclosed for forming spatially addressable arrays of polynucleotides of known squence, by using blocking groups that prevent the incorporation of multiple nucleotides during each incorporation step.

Advances in the study of molecules have been led, in part, by improvement in technologies used to characterise the molecules or their biological reactions. In particular, the study of nucleic acid, DNA and RNA, has benefitted from developing technologies used for sequence analysis and the study of hybridisation events.
An example of the technologies that have improved the study of nucleic acids, is the development of fabricated arrays of immobilised nucleic acids. These arrays typically consist of a high-density matrix of polynucleotides immobilised onto a solid support material. Fodor et al., Trends in Biotechnology (1994) 12:19-26, describes ways of assembling the nucleic acid arrays using a chemically sensitised glass surface protected by a mask, but exposed at defined areas to allow attachment of suitably modified nucleotides.
An alternative approach is described by Schena et al., Science (1995) 270:467-470, where samples of DNA are positioned at predetermined sites on a glass microscope slide by robotic micropipetting techniques. The DNA is attached to the glass surface through its entire length by non-covalent electrostatic interactions.
The arrays are usually provided to study hybridisation events, determine the sequence of DNA (Mirzabekov, Trends in Biotechnology (1994) 12:27-32) or to detect mutations in a particular DNA sample. Many of these hybridisation events are detected using fluorescent labels attached to nucleotides with fluorescence detected using sensitive fluorescent detector, e.g. charge coupled detector (CCD). However, the major disadvantages of these methods are that it is not possible to sequence long stretches of DNA and repeat sequences can lead to ambiguity in the results. These problems are recognised in Automation Technologies for Genome Characterisation, Wiley—Interscience, 1997, Ed. T. J. Beugelsdijk, Chapter 10: 205-225.
In addition, the use of multi-molecule high-density arrays in a multi-step analysis procedure can lead to problems with phasing. Phasing problems result from a loss in the synchronisation of a reaction step occurring on different molecules of the array. If a proportion of the arrayed molecules fails to undergo a step in the procedure, subsequent results obtained for these molecules will no longer be in-step with results obtained for the other arrayed molecules. The proportion of molecules out of phase will increase through successive steps and consequently the results detected will become ambiguous. This problem is recognised in the sequencing procedure described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,302,509.

Synthesis of spatially addressed molecular arrays


A method of inhibiting growth, transformation and/or metastasis of mammalian cells, particularly epithelial cells, in which activity of at least one enzyme, which participates in purine metabolism or regulation of nucleotide levels or the relative ratios of their phosphorylated states, is elevated. In particular, a method of inhibiting transformation, growth and/or metastasis of mammalian cells in which a DNA tumor virus, a DNA tumor virus factor or other factor which has an equivalent effect on cells has acted.

Transformation, or malignant transformation, of cells results in changes in their growth characteristics and can cause them to form tumors in animals into whom they are introduced. For example, transformation of adherent cells can be associated with alterations such as changes in growth control, cell morphology, membrane characteristics, protein secretion and gene expression. Although transformation can occur spontaneously, it can be caused by a chemical or irradiation or may result from infection by a tumor virus. Little is known about the underlying molecular events. One type of RNA viruses (the retroviruses) and many different types of DNA viruses can act to transform cells and collectively are referred to as tumor viruses. In the case of tumor viruses, it is clear that the virus does not itself carry all of the genes necessary to produce the phenotypic changes characteristic of infected cells. Tumor viruses may act through a gene or genes in their genome (oncogenes) which, in some way, influence or induce target cell genes. The induced target cell genes, in turn, act to carry out the changes observed in transformed cells. There are at least three major classes of transforming DNA viruses: adenoviruses, which have two groups of oncogenes, ElA and ElB, which act together to produce transformation; papovaviruses, which synthesize proteins, called T antigens, which may work together to transform cells; and herpes viruses, for which no oncogene has been identified as yet.
Although considerable effort has been expended in identifying transforming genes or oncogenes and, in some cases, has also resulted in identification of their protein products, very little is known about the cellular mechanisms affected in the transformation process. There is a consensus that these oncogenes perturb cell growth by modifying the expression or activity of key growth related genes. It would be very helpful to have a better understanding of how transformation occurs, particularly if the biochemical pathways affected can be identified. Such knowledge would make it possible to design compounds which can interfere with or counter the effects of the transforming signals and, thus, are useful in preventing transformation or minimizing the extent to which it occurs, once begun, and, thus, to reduce effects on individuals in whom it occurs.

Method of inhibiting transformation of cells in which purine metabolic enzyme activity is elevated


A method of processing substrates for a liquid crystal display panel includes providing a first loader having a first port and a second port, concurrently inputting and outputting first substrates between a cassette at the first port and a processing assembly, and, processing the first substrates in the processing assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel, and a liquid crystal display panel manufactured thereby.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquid crystal displays use electrical and optical properties of a liquid crystal material injected inside a panel to display images. Liquid crystal displays are widely applied to various fields such as a computer monitors or mobile communication terminals. Liquid crystal displays have advantages of small size, light weight, and low power consumption.
The manufacturing of liquid crystal displays requires numerous processes. The manufacturing requires a variety of equipment to perform each process and operators to operate the equipment. As a result, manufacturing of liquid crystal displays requires an enormous cost and sufficient space for operating the equipment.
Accordingly, increasing process efficiency and reduction of space requirements for manufacturing liquid crystal displays are important to increasing yield and reducing cost.
A related art method for etching thin film transistor substrates includes a single line having process chambers for coating and exposing substrates one by one. Another related art method includes a dual line having process chambers for coating and exposing substrates two by two. The single line related art method takes about 80 seconds to process each substrate. The dual line related art method takes about 45 seconds to process each substrate. The dual line performs more efficiently and requires less space for equipment compared with the single line, thus increasing the yield and reducing cost.
A system and method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel in the related art will be described below.
FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram illustrating the system for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel in the related art. FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating a method for operating the system for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel shown in FIG. 1A.
Referring to FIG. 1A, the related art system for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel includes a dual line. The dual line includes a process line for inputting substrates to be processed separate from a process line for outputting processed substrates.
The system for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel in the related art includes a loader 110, a cleaner 120, coaters 130-1 and 130-2, a transfer line 140, exposure units 150-1 and 150-2, a developer 160, a tester 170, and an unloader 180.
Operation of the above constructed system for manufacturing the liquid crystal display panel will be described below.
When substrates are supplied in a cassette through the loader 110 having two ports, each of the substrates is automatically processed in the cleaner 120, the coaters 130-1 and 130-2, the exposure units 150-1 and 150-2, the developer 160, and the tester 170. The processed-substrates are then outputted to a cassette and unloaded by the unloader 180.
A system and method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel in the related art, is shown in (A) of FIG. 1B. After the loader 110 loads a cassette filled with substrates to be processed, the substrates are inputted to a rear process chamber. After all the substrates are inputted, the empty cassette is unloaded and replaced with another filled cassette.
Similarly, as shown in (B) of FIG. 1B, at the unloader 180 the processed-substrates are outputted to a blank cassette. Once the blank cassette is filled with substrates, the filled cassette is unloaded and replaced with another blank cassette.
However, the system for manufacturing the liquid crystal display panel in the related art has a disadvantage in that two coaters 130-1 and 130-2 or two exposure units 150-1 and 150-2 perform the same process.
In the case where a processed-substrate has a defect, determining which of the two coaters 130-1 and 130-2 or two exposure units 150-1 and 150-2 processed the defective substrate is not accurate because the processes are not executed on a per-substrate or per-cassette basis. Thus, there is a disadvantage in that a cause of the defect cannot be accurately analyzed.
In addition, there is a drawback that it is difficult to determine a history of the manufacturing process.
FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of another system for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel in the related art. FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating a method for operating the system for manufacturing the liquid crystal display panel shown in FIG. 2A.
The system for manufacturing the liquid crystal display panel of FIG. 2A is a dual line system in which processes of inputting and outputting substrates are integrated, unlike the system in which the processes of inputting and outputting the substrates are separated.
Referring to FIG. 2A, the system for manufacturing the liquid crystal display panel includes a first loader 210 and a second loader 215 each including three ports, a cleaner 220, a first coater 230, a second coater 235, a first exposure unit 250, a second exposure unit 255, a developer 260, a tester 270, and transfer lines 280 and 285.
In other words, the system for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel includes the first loader 210 and the second loader 215 of FIG. 2B at which both inputting and outputting of substrates occurs, and a production from two kinds of cassettes through the two loaders 210 and 215 is possible. Each of the loaders 210 and 215 needs at least three ports to perform the inputting and outputting of substrates and replacement of cassettes.
In the system for manufacturing the liquid crystal display panel of FIG. 2A, the substrates inputted through a loader are processed either through the first coater 230 or the second coater 235 and the first exposure unit 250 or the second exposure unit 255.
Accordingly, the coaters 230 and 235 and the exposure units 250 and 255 can perform processes different from each other, respectively. Thus, there is an advantage that the processes can be more effectively performed and a cause of a defective substrate can be analyzed because it is easy to determine the process history of each substrate.
However, as shown in FIG. 2B, the system for manufacturing the liquid crystal display panel requires a port for inputting substrates, a port for outputting substrates as well as a replacement port. Therefore, each of the loaders 210 and 215 should include at least three ports.
Also, the transfer lines 280 and 285 that connect the respective ports with process chambers are required. This excessively increases the installation area required for equipment, and reduces efficiency of space.

System and method for manufacturing liquid crystal display panel, and liquid crystal display panel using the same


Storage nodes for semiconductor memory devices may be fabricated by repeatedly forming conductive and insulating spacers on mold oxide layer pattern sidewalls, to thereby obtain fine line patterns which can increase the surface area of the storage node electrodes. Supporters also may be provided that are configured to support at least one freestanding storage node electrode, to thereby reduce or prevent the storage node electrode from falling or bending towards an adjacent storage node electrode.

As semiconductor memory devices have become highly integrated, the areas of unit cells and the distances between cells may be reduced. However, capacitors having a large capacitance within small areas are desired, to provide predetermined capacitances. As is well known to those having skill in the art, semiconductor memory device capacitors include a lower electrode, also referred to as a storage node electrode, an upper electrode, also referred to as a plate electrode, and a dielectric layer therebetween. Conventional methods for securing large capacitances of the capacitors include using a high dielectric material as the dielectric layer, reducing the thickness of a dielectric layer, and/or increasing the surface area of storage node electrodes of the capacitors.
A method for increasing the surface area of the storage node electrodes includes forming three-dimensional storage node electrodes, for example, cylindrical or concave electrodes.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating conventional concave storage node electrodes.
Referring to FIG. 1, an interlevel insulating layer 12 is formed on a semiconductor substrate 10 having circuit devices (not shown), such as MOS transistors. The interlevel insulating layer 12 includes storage node contact plugs 14 that are widely known to connect a source region (not shown) of a selected MOS transistor with storage node electrodes 16, which will be formed in a subsequent process. Thereafter, the cup-shaped concave storage node electrodes 16 are formed on the predetermined portions of the storage node contact plugs 14 and the interlevel insulating layer 12. A method for forming the concave storage node electrodes 16 is as follows. First, a mold oxide layer (not shown) having a predetermined thickness is deposited on the interlevel insulating layer 12 including the storage node contact plugs 14. The mold oxide layer is etched into hole shapes until exposing the storage node contact plugs 14, thereby defining a region for forming the storage node electrodes. Thereafter, a conductive layer (not shown) and a node isolation insulating layer (not shown) are subsequently formed on the mold oxide layer so as to contact the exposed storage node contact plugs 14. The conductive layer and the node isolation insulating layer are chemical mechanical polished to expose the surface of the mold oxide layer. Thereafter, the node isolation insulating layer and the mold oxide layer are removed by a conventional method so that the concave storage node electrodes 16 are formed.
However, the concave storage node electrodes formed by the above-described method may have the following problems.
In order to manufacture the storage node electrodes having large capacitance, the height of the storage node electrodes may need to be increased within a limited area. In addition, in order to increase the height of the storage node electrodes, the thickness of the mold oxide layer may need to be increased. In this case, when the mold oxide layer is etched to define the region for forming the storage node electrodes, a large slope may occur on the sidewalls of the holes, and the critical dimension of the exposed storage node contact holes may be reduced. Accordingly, the lower portions of the thin and high storage node electrodes may become narrower so that the storage node electrodes may become unstable. In addition, the distance between adjacent storage node electrodes may be reduced so that it may be difficult to provide insulation between the storage node electrodes.
Furthermore, due to thermal stress generated in subsequent processes, some of the weak storage node electrodes may fall or break and generate bridges between unit storage node electrodes, thereby causing defects in the device.

Methods for manufacturing semiconductor memory devices using sidewall spacers


A connector having a ferrule, and a translucent or transparent covering membrane sealingly bonded with the ferrule by a paste zone and blanking the opening of the connector. The covering membrane being detachable from the ferrule by peeling and having a strip for gripping the membrane during peeling. The covering membrane having a line defining an easy cutting path to prevent its re-installment on the ferrule after its peel off.

A connector set comprises a male connector, and a female connector, each comprising electrical or optical contacts, and intended to couple one with the other to provide an electrical or an optical continuity between the contacts of the male connector and those of the female connector.
With regards to an optical connector, the introduction into the aforementioned connector of a foreign body on the optical contacts is likely to decrease the performances of the connector either by the presence of this foreign body, for example a dust, or by the consequences of its mechanical interaction with the contacts, in particular by scratching
According to prior art, for a use in a severe environment, each connector unit is provided with closing caps set up, one on the front face of the male connector, and the other on the front face of the female connector, said caps being intended to protect the contacts. These two caps are removed right before carrying out the coupling of the two connectors. Alternatively or in a complementary way, little caps, also known as individual caps, are also set directly on the contacts and are removed at the time of connection. These various caps do not provide all the required sealing, consequently, dust and moisture are likely to enter inside the male connector or the female connector. Thus, the contacts are systematically cleaned before the coupling, which presents difficulties in a severe environment. Moreover, the aforementioned caps account for a bulk before and after the coupling, since, even if they are attached to the connectors, they require a certain space for their removal and require a specific set up during the coupling.
According to another aspect, more specific to the case of the connectors whose contacts comprise lenses, it is necessary to protect the operator carrying out the installation from any exposure to the optical beam.

Protection device for an optical connector comprising a membrane seal


An approach is provided for acquiring information regarding installed applications on a user equipment. A request for information is received regarding one or more applications installed on user equipment in a category of applications. The request includes a respective unique identifier for the one or more applications. And, a transmission of the information is initiated including an icon corresponding to the one or more applications compiled using the respective unique identifier for the one or more applications.

Wireless (e.g., cellular) service providers and device manufacturers are continually challenged to deliver value and convenience to consumers by, for example, providing compelling network services, applications, and content, as well as user-friendly devices. An important differentiator in this industry is the user interface. In particular, user interfaces that can provide information for display regarding installed applications on mobile devices.

Method and apparatus of acquiring information regarding applications for display on a user interface


The use of continuous deionization as an alternative or substitute method for the purification of a crude magnetic resonate.

Ioversol is disclosed as a useful nonionic X-ray contrast agent in U.S. Pat. No. 4,396,598, incorporated herein by reference. N,N'-bis(2,3-dihydroxypropyl)-5-[N(2-hydroxyethyl) glycolamido]-2,4,6-triiodoisophthalamide, more commonly called Ioversol has the following structure: ##STR1## In the production of Ioversol, purification columns are used to remove impurities from the crude Ioversol product following completion of the synthetic steps as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,396,598. Approximately 11 per cent of the crude Ioversol produced is lost from the time it enters the purification plant to the final purification of the product. Besides this large loss of Ioversol during purification, the cost and time involved in the purification operations, such as regenerating and replacing the purification columns is significant. Large amounts of costly resins and large volumes of solutions are also necessary to regenerate the purification columns between uses. These costs are significant in the production of Ioversol.
An improved procedure which eliminates the need for costly purification columns to remove impurities from the crude Ioversol product following synthesis thereof is desired as an alternate and/or a more cost efficient method of producing Ioversol. It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to meet these needs.
Additional objects and features of the present invention will appear from the following description in which the preferred methods are set forth in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a continuous deionization system.

Purification of a crude MRI agent using continuous deionization


Ni silicide is formed through simple steps. After forming a semiconductor film over a substrate, a Ni film is deposited over the semiconductor film while heating the substrate, thereby forming Ni silicide on the semiconductor film. Alternatively, after forming a semiconductor film over a substrate, a Ni film is deposited over the semiconductor film while heating the substrate up to 450° C. or higher, thereby forming Ni silicide on the semiconductor film. Alternatively, after forming a semiconductor film over a substrate, a Ni film is deposited with a thickness of 10 nm or more over the semiconductor film while heating the substrate to 450° C. or higher, thereby forming Ni silicide on the semiconductor film. Alternatively, after forming a semiconductor film over a substrate, and removing an oxide film on the semiconductor film, a Ni film is deposited over the semiconductor film while heating the substrate up to 450° C. or higher, thereby forming Ni silicide on the semiconductor film. Alternatively, after forming a semiconductor film over a substrate, and removing an oxide film on the semiconductor film, a Ni film is deposited with a thickness of 10 nm or more over the semiconductor film while heating the substrate up to 450° C. or higher, thereby forming Ni silicide on the semiconductor film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) formed over a substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
In accordance with the reduction in scale of an integrated circuit, the contact resistance between Si and metals as well as the resistance of source and drain regions has been required to be lowered. Ti or Co silicide has been adopted for the LSI process. Meanwhile, since Ni silicide (NiSi) can be formed at a low temperature, it is researched as a next-generation material.
For example, a Ni silicide formation step in a TFT manufacture process is carried out by depositing a Ni film over a source region and a drain region by sputtering and then annealing the Ni film at about 450° C. so that an unreacted portion of the Ni film is removed (see Patent Document 1).
In this manner, the Ni silicide formation step has conventionally been carried out by:
(1) forming a Ni film over a semiconductor film;
(2) applying heat treatment to produce Ni silicide by chemical reaction; and
(3) removing an unreacted portion of the Ni film.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-221115.
When the aforementioned process is carried out, the number of manufacturing steps is inevitably increased. The increase in the number of manufacturing steps is preferably suppressed since it will lead to a higher cost, shipping delay, higher probability of troubles, lower yield and the like.
Further, in the aforementioned steps, the thickness of the silicide film is determined by three parameters that are the thickness of a Ni film, the heat treatment temperature and the heat treatment time; therefore, elaborate conditioning and management of the treatment conditions are required in order to accurately control the thickness of the silicide film.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Manufacturing method of semiconductor device

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A cord reel box with recharging unit has a housing, a rotating plate, a volute spring, a communication cord, a recharging unit, and a pressing device. The gear mechanism is assembled between the rotating plate and the regenerator. The pressing device is pivotally mounted on one side of the housing. The gear mechanism is assembled between the pressing device and the regenerator. An AC plug is mounted on the housing and electrically connecting with the PCB. The PCB has a transformer mounted thereon, and the communication cord electrically connects with the PCB. The cord reel box can recharge a cell phone via the recharging unit or plug with the AC plug.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cord reel box with recharging unit, and particularly to a cord reel box combined with a recharging unit not only for extending and rewinding a communication cord, but also for generating or recharging electric power while pulling the communication cord or by pressing a handle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Use of any communication device, such as a computer, modem, telephone, or a fax machine, requires connection of a proper communication cord for transmission of electrical messages. Several types of cord reeling devices exist to allow such a communication cord to be sufficiently long for practical use while avoiding entanglement of the same. The cord reeling device basically comprises a housing, a communication cord, a rotating plate and a volute spring. A connector of the communication cord can thus connect with an associated communication device for providing transmission. The volute spring is coiled on the rotating plate to retract the cord.
Additionally, to avoid the spring winding the communication cord too tightly in the cord reeling device such that the extended length thereof cannot remain constant, the inventor also discloses a cord reeling device with cord-fixing function. A switching plate mates with a cutout formed on a periphery of the housing of the reeling box and a hooking slot for fixing the communication cord after the same is extracted.
However, the cord reeling device only can retract cord, but cannot recharge and provide electrical power. The use of the cord reeling device is thus limited so as to have no other uses.


A multilayer coil component includes an element body made of a ferrite sintered body and a coil. The coil is configured with a plurality of internal conductors juxtaposed in the element body and electrically connected to one another. An average crystal grain size in a surface region of the element body is smaller than an average crystal grain size in a region between the internal conductors in the element body. A surface of the element body is covered with a layer made of an insulating material. The insulating material is not present among the crystal grains in the surface region of the element body.

Known multilayer coil components include an element body made of a ferrite sintered body and a coil (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2010-040860). The coil is configured with a plurality of internal conductors that are juxtaposed in the element body and are electrically connected to one another.


Computer implemented systems and methods are disclosed for extracting specific data using machine learning algorithms. In accordance with some embodiments, a memory device that stores at least a set of computer executable instructions for a machine learning algorithm and a pre-fill engine; and at least one processor that executes the instructions that cause the pre-fill engine to perform functions that include: receiving electronic documents, seed dataset documents, and pre-fill questions; determining output data that enable navigation through the electronic documents using the machine learning algorithm; determining output questions that enable navigation through the electronic documents using the machine learning algorithm; determining output documents to enable navigation through the electronic documents using the machine learning algorithm; and presenting one or more answers for one or more of the output questions using a graphical user interface.

Reading and extracting structured data from non-standardized documents can be a difficult task. For example, reading through documents used for underwriting business insurance can involve reading a wide variety of documents, including documents related to loss history, credit score, employment history, salary verification, financial statements, building permits, statements of values, insurance application forms, and health inspection documents, among many others. Insurance underwriting entails reviewing these and multiple other documents to determine the risk that a specific liability entails.
Some automated techniques for reading and extracting data from documents exist. However, the available automated techniques for extracting textual data are not designed to analyze and extract specific fields related to the business process. For example, there are terms and concepts that are unique to insurance. Some of these terms or concepts may have different applications or meanings in a non-insurance domain. As a result, the existing automated techniques may not successfully extract insurance-specific data, and/or may incorrectly apply the same information in an insurance domain.
Some current automated techniques for extracting data use supervised machine learning techniques. Supervised machine learning techniques involve humans actively creating seed datasets related to the data to be extracted and monitoring the machine's methods and accuracy. However, actively creating seed datasets involves continuous maintenance and human effort to develop new seed datasets to re-train the machine. This human effort can be expensive, error-prone, and time-consuming and further may result in biased machine learning algorithms.

Systems and methods for extracting specific data from documents using machine learning


A fuel-level measuring apparatus measures the level of fuel in a vehicle fuel tank. The apparatus can ensure a sufficient capacity of the fuel tank and sense the fuel level even when the fuel tank has a thin or complicated shape. A fuel-level measuring apparatus that senses the level of fuel in a vehicle fuel tank disposed below a floor panel of a vehicle includes a tank band that secures the fuel tank to a body of the vehicle, and a strain gauge attached to the tank band. The fuel level can be obtained from strain in the tank band detected by the strain gauge.

1. Field
The present application relates to a fuel-level measuring apparatus that measures the fuel level in a fuel tank installed in a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a vehicle that uses gasoline or light oil as fuel, it is necessary to indicate the fuel level in a fuel tank so that the driver can know when the tank needs to be refilled and how far the car can drive.
A known fuel-level measuring apparatus that measures the fuel level in a fuel tank is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-50410. The apparatus disclosed therein includes a float provided in a fuel tank, the float moving up and down with the surface level of the fuel, and, by making a float arm of the float slide over a resistor plate and converting the surface level into an electric potential difference, the apparatus measures the height of the surface and indicates the fuel level calculated from the height of the surface to a driver.
However, the technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-50410 has the following problems: because the fuel-level measuring apparatus, such as the float, is disposed in the fuel tank, the capacity of the fuel tank decreases by an amount corresponding to the volume of the fuel-level measuring apparatus; because the fuel-level measuring apparatus needs to be disposed in the fuel tank, the shape of the fuel tank is restricted and cannot be thin or complicated; and, because the surface level of the fuel in the tank changes significantly depending on the orientation and driving conditions of the vehicle, it is impossible to measure the accurate fuel level.


An inhaler for administering powder by inhalation and a method of constructing the same. The inhaler includes an inhaler body having an opening therein and an indicating wheel disposed in the inhaler body for providing an indication as to the usage of the inhaler. The indicating wheel is disposed such that at least part thereof is visible through the opening and so as to be rotatable in a diametrical plane containing a central axis of the inhaler body. The inhaler also includes a divider substantially closing one end of the inhaler body and a storage unit disposed in the inhaler body. The storage unit includes a storage chamber for storing powder for inhalation. The inhaler body and the divider are formed as a single integral unit of an opaque material and the storage unit is formed of a transparent material and has a portion which substantially fills the opening.

The present invention relates to a powder inhaler and a method of constructing the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a powder inhaler having a reduced number of component parts as compared to known powder inhalers, which powder inhaler is hence easier to construct than known powder inhalers.
A number of powder inhalers are known which use different systems for introducing a dose of powder into an air stream. Typically, the powder is inhaled into the lungs of a patient in order to treat, for example, asthma.
FIG. 1 illustrates such a powder inhaler. The inhaler comprises a mouthpiece 2 comprising an air chamber (not illustrated) and an outlet nozzle 4, an inhaler body 6 and a rotatable grip portion 8 for operating a dosing mechanism for providing doses of powder for inhalation. The inhaler body 6 is provided with an opening 10 which is filled with a window 12 through which an indicating wheel 42 is visible so as to provide an indication as to the usage of the inhaler.
FIG. 2 illustrates in exploded view component parts disposed within and to the inhaler body 6. The inhaler body 6 is capped with a divider 14 which is fixed thereto and separates the air chamber in the mouthpiece 2 from a major part of the inhaler body 6. For aesthetic reasons the inhaler body 6 is an opaque moulding. The divider 14 is a transparent moulding which has a depending tongue 15, a part of which forms the window 12.) When the inhaler is assembled, the only part of the divider 14 which is visible is the part of the tongue 15 forming the window 12, and thus the overall appearance of the inhaler is unaffected.
Within the inhaler body 6 are housed the component parts of the dosing mechanism. These component parts include a dosing unit 16 which comprises a plurality of dosing means 18 and has a central axial shaft 20, an inhalation unit 22 which comprises an inhalation channel 24 and a storage unit 26 which comprises a storage chamber 28 for storing powder. The above-mentioned component parts of the dosing mechanism are assembled by passing the inhalation channel 24 through an opening 30 in the storage unit 26 and passing the shaft through central openings 32, 34 in the inhalation unit 22 and the storage unit 26 respectively. When so assembled, the upper ends of the inhalation channel 24 and the storage chamber 28 pass respectively through first and second openings 36, 38 in the divider 14.
In use, powder is transferred from the storage chamber 28 to one of the dosing means 18, and, with rotation of the dosing unit 16, the one dosing means 18 provides a dose of powder to the inhalation channel 24. On inhalation by a user the powder is drawn up through the air chamber and out of the outlet nozzle 4 of the mouthpiece 2.
As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the divider 14 further comprises supporting means 40 for rotatably supporting an indicating wheel 42. The indicating wheel 42 has a plurality of teeth 44 disposed around the periphery thereof which engage with a spiral groove or protrusion 46 on the end face of the shaft 20 of the dosing unit 16. The supporting means 40 is configured to align the indicating wheel 42 such that a part of the periphery thereof is disposed adjacent the inner surface of the window 12.
In use, as the dosing unit 16 is rotated, the spiral groove or protrusion 46 engages with one or more of the teeth 44 on the indicating wheel 42 so as to rotate the same. In this way, by providing a coloured marking on the periphery of the indicating wheel 42, it is possible to provide the user with a visible indication at the window 12 as to the usage of the inhaler.
Although the above-described known powder inhaler functions quite adequately, its construction is relatively complicated and it is formed from a large number of component parts. It is thus an aim of the present invention to provide a powder inhaler which has a fewer number of component parts and is of simpler construction.
Accordingly, the present invention provides an inhaler for administering powder by inhalation, comprising: an inhaler body having an opening therein; an indicating wheel disposed in the inhaler body for providing an indication as to the usage of the inhaler, the indicating wheel being disposed such that at least part thereof is visible through the opening and so as to be rotatable in a diametrical plane containing the central axis of the inhaler body; a divider substantially closing one end of the inhaler body; and a storage unit disposed in the inhaler body, the storage unit comprising a storage chamber for storing powder for inhalation; wherein that the inhaler body and the divider are formed as a single integral unit of an opaque material and in that the storage unit is formed of a transparent material and has a portion which substantially fills the opening.
Embodiments of this aspect of the invention may include one or more of the following features.
Preferably, the inhaler further comprises an inhalation unit disposed in the inhaler body, the inhalation unit having an inhalation channel through which powder is in use inhaled. In a preferred embodiment the inhalation unit and the storage unit are formed as a single integral unit.
Preferably, the inhaler further comprises a dosing unit disposed in the inhaler body so as to be rotatable about the central axis thereof for introducing a dose of powder into the inhalation channel, the dosing unit having a central shaft co-axial with the central axis of the inhaler body, the central shaft having an end face with a spiral groove or protrusion and the indicating wheel having a toothed periphery for engaging the spiral groove or protrusion.
In a preferred embodiment the indicating wheel is rotatably supported by the storage unit and the divider is constructed as a substantially flat member so as to minimize the risk of powder accumulting on the upper surface thereof.
Preferably, the inhaler body further comprises an air inlet in a side wall thereof, the air inlet allowing air to be drawn to the dosing unit and through the inhalation channel. In a preferred embodiment the air inlet is provided in a recess in the inhaler body.
In another aspect, the invention provides a method of constructing an inhaler for administering powder by inhalation, comprising the steps of: providing as a single integral unit of an opaque material an inhaler body with a divider substantially closing one end thereof; fitting an indicating wheel in the inhaler body in such a manner as to be rotatable in a diametrical plane containing the central axis thereof, the inhaler body having an opening through which at least part of the indicating wheel is visible and the indicating wheel providing an indication as to the usage of the inhaler; and fitting a storage unit comprising a storage chamber for storing powder for inhalation in the inhaler body, the storage unit being formed of a transparent material and including a portion which substantially fills the opening.
Medicaments suitable for administration by the powder inhaler of the present invention are any which may be delivered by inhalation and include for example xcex22-adrenoreceptor agonists, for example, salbutamol, terbutaline, rimiterol, fenoterol, reproterol, adrenaline, pirbuterol, isoprenaline, orciprenaline, bitolterol, salmeterol, formoterol, clenbuterol, procaterol, broxaterol, picumeterol, TA-2005, mabuterol and the like, and their pharmacologically acceptable esters and salts; anticholinergic bronchodilators, for example, ipratropium bromide and the like; glucocorticosteroids, for example, beclomethasone, fluticasone, budesonide, tipredane, dexamethasone, betamethasone, fluocinolone, triamcinolone acetonide, mometasone and the like, and their pharmacologically acceptable esters and salts; antiallergic medicaments, for example, sodium cromoglycate and nedocromil sodium; expectorants; mucolytics; antihistamines; cyclooxygenase inhibitors; leukotriene synthesis inhibitors; leukotriene antagonists; phospholipase-A2 (PLA2) inhibitors; platelet aggregating factor (PAF) antagonists and prophylactics of asthma; antiarrhythmic medicaments; tranquilisers; cardiac glycosides; hormones; antihypertensive medicaments; antidiabetic medicaments; antiparasitic medicaments; anticancer medicaments; sedatives; analgesic medicaments; antibiotics; antirheumatic medicaments; immunotherapies; antifungal medicaments; antihypotension medicaments; vaccines; antiviral medicaments; proteins; polypeptides and peptides, for example, peptide hormones and growth factors; polypeptide vaccines; enzymes; endorphines; lipoproteins and polypeptides involved in the blood coagulation cascade; vitamins; and others, for example, cell surface receptor blockers, antioxidants, free radical scavengers and organic salts of N,Nxe2x80x2-diacetylcystine.


An arresting apparatus for arresting a rotational motion of two components relative to each other is provided. The arresting apparatus includes a first arresting means having a longitudinal axis and at least one first engaging element, and a second arresting means having an opening and at least one second engaging element. In a first mode of operation, the first arresting means extends through a first section of the opening of the second arresting means such that it is freely rotatable and the first engaging element and the second engaging element are distanced from each other. In a second mode of operation, the first arresting means is misaligned and extends through a second section of the opening of the second arresting means such that the first engaging element and the second engaging element engage and arrest the first arresting means relative to the second arresting means.

Typically, high lift systems of commercial and military aircraft are powered by a centralized power control unit (PCU) positioned in the fuselage of the aircraft and connected to a transmission shaft arrangement providing mechanical power to geared actuators at flap or slat panel drive stations. The transmission shaft arrangement comprises at least two transmission shafts, each extending from the PCU into a wing of the aircraft. Commonly, wing tip brakes are coupled with the transmission shafts and are located somewhere in the region of the wing tips. A wing tip brake is capable to arrest and hold the respective transmission shaft.
The transmission arrangement may also comprise several gearboxes, universal joints, spline joints and other components for compensating manufacturing tolerances and deflections of the wing structure during flight. Typically, each flap or slat is driven by at least one geared rotary actuator (GRA) coupled with a transmission shaft. A speed sensor in the PCU allows to detect and compare the actual speed of the PCU with its commanded speed.
EP 1 462 361 B1 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,048,234 B2 disclose an adaptive flap and slat drive system for an aircraft comprising a central power control unit.
In addition, other objects, desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description, and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.

Drive system for a high lift system of an aircraft and method for detecting a misalignment between a transmission shaft and an opening in a drive system for a high lift system of an aircraft