The apparatus is comprised by a three-dimensional measurement device for measuring an object and generating three-dimensional data of the object; a control device for changing a position or a posture of the object; a three-dimensional position sensor for measuring a relative position or a relative posture between the three-dimensional measurement device and the object; and a computer device for integrating plural sets of three-dimensional data based on a measurement result of the three-dimensional position sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and a system for generating three-dimensional data in which a set of three-dimensional data are generated by integrating plural sets of three-dimensional data obtained by measuring an object from different positions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to generate three-dimensional data of a shape of a whole periphery (an outline) of an object, it is necessary to conduct plural times of three-dimensional measurements of the object from different positions and to integrate the plural sets of three-dimensional data.
For example, three-dimensional data of an upper body of a person are obtained by integrating plural sets of three-dimensional data obtained by measuring a front side, a left side, a right side, a back side and so on of the person.
Additionally, in the case where precise measurement of a part of the object is desired, plural times of three-dimensional measurements of the part are conducted from different positions. Three-dimensional data obtained by the measurements are integrated so that precise three-dimensional data of the part can be obtained.
FIG. 16 shows an example of conventional system for obtaining plural sets of three-dimensional data by measuring an object from different positions.
The three-dimensional measurement device 91 shown in FIG. 16 generates three-dimensional data of the object Q by the light section method or the like. The turn table 92 rotates about the rotational axis L′ to change a relative position or a relative posture between the object Q set thereon and the three-dimensional measurement device 91. A relative position and a relative posture between the three-dimensional measurement device 91 and the rotational axis L′ are fixed. As the processor 93, there may be used a computer device including a personal computer or workstation.
Plural sets of three-dimensional data of the object Q are obtained by rotating the turn table 92 and changing the relative position or the relative posture between the object Q and the three-dimensional measurement device 91. The processor 93 integrates the plural sets of three-dimensional data based on a rotational angle of the turn table 92 during the generation of the plural sets of three-dimensional data, the relative position and the relative posture between the three-dimensional measurement device 91 and the rotational axis L′ and so on, to thereby generate a set of three-dimensional data.
According to the method described above, it is possible to obtain three-dimensional data of an object Q with respect to a whole periphery on a rotating direction.
However, parts such as a human head that cannot be included in the measuring range of the three-dimensional measurement device 91 even when rotating the turn table 92 may sometimes be left unmeasured.
Further, occlusion may occur in a part such as chin even if measurement is conducted from any positions with rotating the turn table 92. In such a case, three-dimensional data of the part cannot be obtained.
Moreover, a position and an axial direction of the rotational axis L with respect to the three-dimensional measurement device 91 needs to be calculated by using, for example, a specific chart in order to decide the relative position and the relative posture between the three-dimensional measurement device 91 and the turn table 92 in advance of the three-dimensional measurement. Such system may impose an extra workload on a user and may cause increase in the production cost.

Method and system for generating three-dimensional data


The present invention provides a method of inhibiting angiogenesis within a tissue by providing exogenous PEDF to cells associated with the tissue. The presence of exogenous PEDF inhibits angiogenesis within the tissue, in part by interfering with the ability of vascular endothelia to expand within the tissue. The invention also provides a method for determining the severity of a tumor be assaying for the presence of PEDF within the tumor. To facilitate the inventive methods, the present invention provides pharmaceutical compositions including sources of PEDF.

Angiogenesis is the fundamental process by which new blood vessels are formed. The process involves the migration of vascular endothelial cells into tissue followed by the condensation of such endothelial cells into vessels. Angiogenesis may be induced by an exogenous angiogenic agent or may be the result of a natural condition. The process is essential to a variety of normal body activities such as reproduction, development and wound repair. Although the process is not completely understood, it involves a complex interplay of molecules that stimulate and molecules that inhibit the growth and migration of endothelial cells, the primary cells of the capillary blood vessels. Under normal conditions, these molecules appear to maintain the microvasculature in a quiescent state (i.e., without capillary growth) for prolonged periods which can last for several years or even decades. The turnover time for an endothelial cell is about one thousand days. However, under appropriate conditions (e.g., during wound repair), these same cells can undergo rapid proliferation and turnover within a much shorter period, and a turnover rate of five days is typical under these circumstances. (Folkman and Shing, 1989, J. Biol. Chem. 267(16):10931-10934; Folkman and Klagsbrun, 1987, Science 235:442-447).
Although angiogenesis is a highly regulated process under normal conditions, many diseases (characterized as "angiogenic diseases") are driven by persistent unregulated angiogenesis. In such disease states, unregulated angiogenesis can either cause a particular disease directly or exacerbate an existing pathological condition. For example, ocular neovasculaization has been implicated as the most common cause of blindness and underlies the pathology of approximately twenty diseases of the eye. In certain previously existing conditions such as arthritis, newly formed capillary blood vessels invade the joints and destroy cartilage. In diabetes, new capillaries formed in the retina invade the vitreous humor, causing bleeding and blindness.
Both the growth and metastasis of solid tumors are also angiogenesis-dependent (Folkman, 1986, J. Cancer Res. 46:467-473; Folkman, 1989, J. Nat. Cancer Inst. 82:4-6; Folkman et al. 1995, "Tumor Angiogenesis," Chapter 10, pp. 206-32, in The Molecular Basis of Cancer, Mendelsohn et al., eds. (W. B. Saunders). It has been shown, for example, that tumors which enlarge to greater than 2 mm in diameter must obtain their own blood supply and do so by inducing the growth of new capillary blood vessels. After these new blood vessels become embedded in the tumor, they provide nutrients and growth factors essential for tumor growth as well as a means for tumor cells to enter the circulation and metastasize to distant sites, such as liver, lung or bone (Weidner 1991, New Eng. J. Med. 324(1):1-8). When used as drugs in tumor-bearing animals, natural inhibitors of angiogenesis can prevent the growth of small tumors (O'Reilly et al., 1994, Cell 79:315-328). Indeed, in some protocols, the application of such inhibitors leads to tumor regression and dormancy even after cessation of treatment (O'Reilly et al., 1997, Cell 88:277-285). Moreover, supplying inhibitors of angiogenesis to certain tumors can potentiate their response to other therapeutic regimens (e.g., chemotherapy) (see, e.g., Teischer et al., 1994, Int. J. Cancer 57:920-925).
Although several angiogenesis inhibitors are currently under development for use in treating angiogenic diseases (Gasparini, 1996, Eur. J. Cancer 32A(14):2379-2385), there are disadvantages associated with these proposed inhibitory compounds. For example, suramin is a potent angiogenesis inhibitor, but, at doses required to reach antitumor activity, causes severe systemic toxicity in humans. Other compounds, such as retinoids, interferons and antiestrogens appear safe for human use but have only a weak anti-angiogenic effect. Still other compounds may be difficult or costly to make.
There remains, therefore, a long felt need for the development of new methods and compositions for inhibiting angiogenesis. The present invention satisfies these needs.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods and compositions for inhibiting angiogenesis


A method of forming isolated features of semiconductor devices is disclosed. A first hard mask is deposited over a material layer to be patterned, and a second hard mask is deposited over the first hard mask. The second hard mask is patterned with a pattern for an array of features using an off-axis lithography method. A portion of the pattern for the array of features is transferred to the first hard mask. The first hard mask is then used as a mask to pattern the material layer.

Semiconductor devices are used in a variety of electronic applications, such as computers, cellular phones, personal computing devices, and many other applications. Home, industrial, and automotive devices that in the past comprised only mechanical components now have electronic parts that require semiconductor devices, for example.
Semiconductor devices are manufactured by depositing many different types of material layers over a semiconductor workpiece or wafer, and patterning the various material layers using lithography. The material layers typically comprise thin films of conductive, semiconductive, and insulating materials that are patterned and etched to form integrated circuits (IC's). There may be a plurality of transistors, memory devices, switches, conductive lines, diodes, capacitors, logic circuits, and other electronic components formed on a single die or chip.
There is a trend in the semiconductor industry towards scaling down the size of integrated circuits, to meet demands of increased performance and smaller size. However, as semiconductor devices become smaller, it becomes more difficult to pattern material layers because of diffraction and other effects that occur during the lithography process.
Thus, what are needed in the art are improved methods of patterning features of semiconductor devices.

Method of forming isolated features of semiconductor devices


A separator for a redox flow battery and a redox flow battery including the same, and the separator includes a cation conductive film and an anion conductive film disposed on either side of the cation conductive film.

1. Field
This disclosure relates to a separator for a redox flow battery and a redox flow battery including the same.
2. Description of Related Art
A rechargeable battery is utilized to transform electrical energy into chemical energy and to store this chemical energy and then to retransform the chemical energy into electrical energy. Here, a rechargeable battery having a lighter weight has been actively researched.
Recently, a redox flow battery has garnered attention as a high-capacity and high efficiency rechargeable battery, which may be appropriate or suitable for a large system such as an electric power storage system and the like.
Unlike other batteries, the redox flow battery does not use a solid as an active material, but rather uses aqueous ions as the active material and generates energy through an oxidation/reduction reaction of the aqueous ions at the positive and negative electrodes.

Separator for redox flow battery and redox flow battery


An electronic component substrate (1-1) includes an insulating base (10) and a flexible circuit board (20) mounted on the insulating base (10). The flexible circuit board (20) is a synthetic resin film provided thereon with terminal patterns (29) and a conductor pattern (25) whose surface is slidingly contacted with a slider. The insulating base (10) is a synthetic resin molded piece. The flexible circuit board (20) is insert-molded to the insulating base (10). The electronic component substrate (1-1) is produced by preparing the flexible circuit board (20) and first and second mold members (41, 45) having a cavity (C1) with a shape that corresponds to the external shape of the electronic component substrate (1-1). Then, the flexible circuit board (20) is accommodated in the cavity (C1) between the first and second mold members (41,45), and the cavity (C1) is filled with a molten molding resin. After the molding resin has solidified, the first and second mold members (41, 45) are removed.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a substrate for an electronic component that is usable for a pre-set variable resistor or the like, and also relates to a method of producing the electronic component substrate.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, a chip type pre-set variable resistor has a ceramic substrate, a slider and a collector plate. The slider is installed on the upper side of the ceramic substrate, and the collector plate is installed on the lower side of the ceramic substrate. In fabrication, a tubular projection provided on the collector plate is inserted through a through-hole provided in the ceramic substrate and further through a fitting hole provided in the slider, and the distal end of the tubular projection is caulked, thereby rotatably securing the slider to the ceramic substrate. Rotating the slider causes a sliding contact provided on the slider to slide on the surface of a horseshoe-shaped resistor pattern provided on the ceramic substrate, thereby varying the resistance between the collector plate and terminal patterns provided at both ends of the resistor pattern.
However, the above-described pre-set variable resistor uses a ceramic substrate and needs to fire a resistor pattern onto the ceramic substrate. Therefore, the production efficiency is inferior, and the material cost is high. Accordingly, there has been a limit to the reduction in cost of the pre-set variable resistor. Further, because the ceramic substrate is easily breakable, it has been difficult to achieve a further reduction in thickness of the pre-set variable resistor.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate for an electronic component that can be produced easily at an improved efficiency and at a reduced material cost and is therefore capable of achieving a cost reduction and also capable of attaining a further reduction in thickness easily, and also provide a method of producing the electronic component substrate.

Electronic parts board and method of producing the same


A high pressure accumulator is disclosed which includes a housing having walls defining a chamber and a piston residing in the chamber. The piston is comprised of polyphenylene sulfide and preferably includes a head portion and wall portions extending away from the head portion. The wall portions preferably include outer and inner surfaces which are oblique. Preferably the polyphenylene sulfide includes glass fibers and minerals and is formed using injection molding techniques. The material composition of the piston and its geometrical definition give it the ability to operate when exposed to the brake fluid and when exposed to operating pressures is the range of 100 bars.

Great advances have recently been made in the use of plastics in high stress applications. The use of plastics is no longer limited to low stress applications and they are finding their way into components which, in the recent past, were only constructed from metals or the like. However, there still are a number of extremely high stress applications which plastics have not found application. One of these applications includes pistons used in high pressure designs such as the high pressure circuit lines of anti-lock brake systems ("ABS") and the like. More specifically, while it is common to use plastic pistons in low pressure accumulators found in many ABS designs, there is no system to date which utilizes plastic pistons in the high pressure circuits of ABS designs. The zero to five bar pressure deviations typical in the low pressure circuits of ABS designs are easily handled by components formed from plastic; however, the high pressure circuits of ABS designs are often exposed to twenty times the pressure (100 bars of pressure)of that of the low circuit, or greater. Heretofore, plastic components such as plastic pistons and plastic accumulators, have not been able to withstand the forces associated with such high pressures and accordingly, components in the high pressure circuits of ABS have been fabricated only from various metals.
An object of the invention is to provide a piston having a geometry and a composition which allows it to withstand the forces present in the high pressure circuit of an ABS.
A further object of the present invention includes an ABS having a high pressure accumulator which includes a piston comprised of plastic.


A model display stand system includes a platform portion that is designed to be coupled to the dashboard of the vehicle. The platform portion is designed for receiving the model such that the platform portion is designed for supporting the model above the dashboard of the vehicle. A frame assembly is pivotally coupled to the platform portion. The frame assembly is designed for selectively engaging the rear wheels of the model such that the frame assembly is designed for permitting the model to pivot with respect to the platform portion when the vehicle is turning. A steering assembly is pivotally coupled to the frame assembly. The steering assembly is designed to be coupled to the front wheels of the model. The steering assembly is designed for pivoting the front wheels of the model to correspond to the front wheels of the vehicle when the vehicle is turning.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to model display stands and more particularly pertains to a new model display stand system for fulfilling a need for a self-adjusting model stand for vehicle interiors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of model display stands is known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 2,910,260 describes a swivel stand for supporting model airplanes at various angles to simulate the orientation of an airplane in flight. Another type of model display stand is U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,647 describing a universal fulcrum for mounting an object such as a model airplane, on a supporting surface such as an upstanding rod. U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,065 describes a mounting device for an ornamental object to a surface of vehicles. U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,430 describes a swivel mounting base that utilizes a locking screw with a spherical nut to permit lock-in of a mounting surface at a desired position relative a mounting base. U.S. Pat. No. 3,467,350 describes a vibration damping mount for mounting an instrument such as a camera. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 394,646 describes an ornamental design for a monitor stand.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the need remains for a device provides a stand for a model which allows the model to mimic the vehicle.


Some embodiments include an apparatus that comprise an interface chip having an oscillator to produce an original clock signal, a first memory chip having first memory cells, and a second memory chip having second memory cells. The first memory cells may be refreshed in response to a first clock signal based on the original clock signal. The second memory cells may be refreshed in response to a second clock signal based on the original clock signal.

Some semiconductor devices, such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), perform a refresh operation to restore charge in memory cells to maintain the stored state of logical data. In general, the refresh operation is performed on a periodic basis or on a command basis with regard to a single die of DRAM. When a plurality of dice are involved, operations are more complex, such that current consumption and stability become more difficult to control.

Apparatus having dice to perorm refresh operations


Sealed insulating glass units with multiple-pane construction containing an intermediate taut, flexible heat shrunk plastic sheet are made using silicone edge sealant which exhibits a sheet creep of less than 0.018 cm after 500 hours at 71.degree. C. The plastic sheet remains substantially wrinkle free by the use of such silicone edge sealants.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to insulating glass windows and the manufacture thereof.
2. Background Information
Insulating glass units for use in windows or doors commonly comprise two or more parallel glass panes that are separated from one another by spacers along their edges. Various multiple-pane configurations are known in the art. Certain of these configurations have employed sheets of plastic in parallel spaced relation to the glass panes. If a multiple pane glass unit is to be assembled with a plastic sheet held in spaced relationship between two glass panes, the unit may be manufactured by applying a marginal spacer along the edges of one glass pane, the spacer extending away from the plane of the pane, adhering a heat-shrinkable film to the spacer, and then heat-shrinking the film to draw the film taut and flat. The second pane, also provided with a marginal spacer, is then attached, the film becoming sandwiched between the opposed marginal spacers of the two panes. In another embodiment, the film may be grasped by small springs that are held by or form a part of spacers separating the two glass panes from one another. Generally unbreakable mirrors may be formed by adhering a marginal spacer about the periphery of a sheet of plywood or the like, then adhering a heat-shrinkable, silvered plastic film to the spacers, and then heat-shrinking the film so that it becomes taut and flat to provide a mirrored surface.
In each of the described embodiments employing heat-shrinkable plastic film, the film is stretched over spacers held at the edge of a stiff pane or board, and the plastic film is then heated directly, typically by hot air. For multiple-pane glass units in which the plastic film is to be employed as an internal sheet between but spaced from parallel glass panes, the manufacturing methods cited above have been found difficult and time consuming, and require piecemeal construction methods.
Lizardo et al in U.S. Pat. No. 4,335,166, issued Jun. 15, 1982, describe manufacturing multiple-pane insulating glass window units by supporting a flexible, heat-shrinkable plastic sheet between parallel, spaced glass panes which are spaced from one another and from the plastic sheet (film) by means of spacers arranged about the edges of the glass panes. The panes are sealed to one another along their edges by the spacers and by a sealant adhered to edges of the plastic sheet to provide, with the heat-shrinkable plastic sheet, a sealed integral unit. The unit itself is then heated for a sufficient time and at a sufficient temperature to cause the plastic sheet to shrink and to become taut and wrinkle-free. The resulting integral unit upon cooling, requires no further manufacturing steps, and can be directly inserted into an appropriate frame for use as an insulating glass unit.
Further evaluation of the method claimed by Lizardo et al, found that successful construction depended upon the sealant materials used. For example, the edge sealant proposed by Lizardo et al, the two-part, room-temperature-curing resin identified as GE3:204 (manufactured by General Electric Company) may provide the necessary adhesion to hold the glass panes together along with the spacers, but experience finds that the plastic sheet became wrinkled in a short time after a multiple-pane insulating glass unit containing a plastic sheet was made. Although, in addition to GE3204, various silicone sealants may have been tried as edge sealant in making window units with an intermediate plastic sheet, as far as the present inventors know, to no silicone sealant has been satisfactory. Hood et al in U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,530, issued Sep. 23, 1986, teach that the edge sealant should be polyurethane. Although polyurethanes are useful as edge sealants for the kinds of multiple-pane insulating glass units described by Lizardo et al, they can be degraded by exposure to UV radiation if installed without a proper glazing cap to protect the sealant. Woodard et al in U.S. Pat. No. 5,308,662, issued May 3, 1994, describe the pros and cons of the various kinds of edge sealants and propose a mechanical means to overcome the degradation effects of UV radiation. Woodard et al teach that silicone sealants are resistant to light induced cross-linking and hardening which can cause serious failings in other kinds of sealants but are very permeable to water vapor. The organic sealants such as the polyurethanes and polysulfides are damaged by sunlight and thus Woodard et al have invented a construction for using a nonreflective dark tape positioned exactly right to overcome the impact of UV radiation on the edge sealant.
Hood et al in U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,894, issued Oct. 20, 1992, teach that suitable edge sealants for multiple-pane insulating glass units are curable, high modulus, low-creep, low-moisture-vapor-transmitting sealant, such as a polyurethane adhesive, for example the two-component polyurethanes marketed by Bostik, such as Bostik 3180-HM or 3190-HM. Vincent et al in U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,264, issued Aug. 1, 1989, teach that the same kind of edge sealants as Hood et al for use on curved triple-pane glazing in which a plastic sheet is intermediate between two glass panes. Vincent et al teach that the plastic sheet is anchored along the parallel curved edges but is not attached to the other edges and that the plastic sheet heat shrinks in the direction it is anchored.

Insulating glass units containing intermediate plastic film and method of manufacture


Techniques for detecting malicious code are disclosed. In one particular embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for detecting malicious code comprising the steps of identifying a query to a domain name service that resolves to a local address; identifying the process that originated the identified query; and designating the identified process as infected based on identifying the process as having originated the query that resolved to a local address.

Malware authors have devised many ingenious methods of protecting the identity of their Command and Control (C2) servers. One common method is to use DNS as a layer of indirection that protects the IP address of C2 servers. A recent malware trend has emerged in which a botnet or Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) uses a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) and registers it with DNS public resolvers, but with a short time to live (TTL) so that its bots must continually poll a public DNS resolver to obtain the identity of the C2 server. Since the C2 server rarely needs to send any commands, this technique sets the FQDN to resolve to localhost, which causes all bots to send their C2 traffic back to themselves, suppressing traffic that would otherwise be susceptible to analysis by security devices attached to the network. When the C2 server awakes, the domain name entry is changed to the C2 server's IP address, and once C2 commands have been successfully communicated, the C2 server goes back to sleep and the DNS entry is set to localhost once more.
In view of the foregoing, it may be understood that there may be significant problems and shortcomings associated with current data security technologies.


The present disclosure relates to a novel strain capable of saccharifying and fermenting biomass-derived cellulose and a recombinant strain thereof with improved biomass saccharification capability. The present disclosure also relates to a method for producing a material useful as a bioenergy source material such as ethanol, acetic acid, formic acid, etc. using the strain or the recombinant strain. The strain or the recombinant strain may be usefully used in bioenergy industry.

1. Field
The present disclosure discloses a novel strain capable of saccharifying and fermenting biomass-derived cellulose and a genetically engineered strain thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, studies on alternative energy are increasing because of the surge of oil prices and the restriction of fossil fuel use due to the obligation of implementing conventions on climate change. In particular, interests in renewable biomass are growing rapidly as energy production from biomass is expected to play an important role.
The processes using biomass include pretreatment, saccharification and fermentation processes. Biofuel is of low price competitiveness because of saccharifying enzymes used in the saccharification process are expensive.
Recently, many researches are focused on the development of an integrated biological process which allows saccharifying and fermenting of biomass at the same time by a single microorganism. For the development of the integrated biological process, a method of genetically engineering a saccharifying enzyme gene into monosaccharide-degrading E. coli or yeast is being studied. However, biofuel production is unsatisfactory because of low saccharification efficiency. For the development of microorganisms optimized for the development of the integrated biological process, improvement of saccharification capability through genetic engineering is necessary together with the securement of microorganisms capable of degrading polysaccharides, in addition to studies using monosaccharide-degrading microorganisms.

Korea Institute of Science and Technology


To locate a person within a particular room inside a building or, if outside, within a small enough radius that enables a rapid identification of where that person is located, a system of sensors is strategically disposed throughout the building or area. The sensors are calibrated so that upon activation of an alarm the feedback from all of the sensors enables differentiation of the location of the alarm. To locate an object within a defined area, received values output by the sensors are compared to stored reference values received by the sensors when transmitting reference signals. A best fit of the received values against the reference values is performed to determine the location of the person. To create the stored reference values, a calibration of the sensors is performed. This includes transmitting one at a time a plurality of reference signal levels, and measuring an output of each of the sensors after each transmission. One particularly noteworthy aspect of the present invention is that the sensors are coupled to a central computer via AC power lines in the facility in which the person is to be located. In this case, the AC power lines act as the physical interconnection layer of a local area network.

The present invention relates generally to personal security systems, and more particularly to a personal security system employing a locating and tracking device.
Security personnel often place their lives at risk merely by showing up for work. Quick response to emergency situations helps alleviate the concern that some of these personnel feel when performing their jobs. Yet, at times these individuals are unable to notify the main control center that they are in trouble or where they are when trouble arises.
College campuses and certain employers also seek to monitor security personnel within their zone of control, both for safety and managerial reasons. Some of these areas are inside buildings, while others are outside.
Many organizations would benefit from the ability to continuously locate the position of individuals as they move throughout a facility. The most likely candidates of these are corrections facilities, hospitals, and nuclear power plants and storage sites. However, university and office campuses and amusement parks also become candidates for this capability as the frequency of violent crime increases.
Early tracking and direction-finding (DF'ing) was achieved using directional antennas or pseudo-Doppler array techniques. These techniques were developed for outdoor use over relatively long ranges. The reliability and accuracy of these systems falls short of required personnel tracking needs.
The increase in violent crime and the imposition of mandatory sentencing guidelines have dramatically expanded the U.S. population behind bars. The U.S. prison population climbed to 1.4 million in 1996--a 100% increase over a seven year period. Expansion of prison capacity has failed to keep pace despite $2 billion national budgets for new prison construction. Advanced technology is needed to protect corrections staff in the current over-crowded prison settings and to extend electronic monitoring of prisoners on early release and home-arrest programs.
The plague of violent crime has extended from the country's urban centers to envelop commercial business centers, government facilities, shopping malls and university campuses. Local police are overwhelmed in their attempts to protect an increasingly mobile populace. Nationwide, 911 emergency services are unable to adequately respond to requests for aid. In Los Angeles, 13.5% of 911 callers abandon their call before operators service their request for emergency aid.
Introduction of remote emergency alarm reporting and locating technologies could relieve the burden on existing law enforcement agencies and deliver more rapid response to true emergency situations. In an agreement with the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, the FCC mandated a five year program requiring cellular providers to phase in technology to determine the location of cellular callers to within 125 meters. Similar personnel location services are required on a micro-cellular basis.
Direction-finding (Angle of Arrival)
The earliest position location systems were based on direction-finding (DF) antenna technology. These systems calculated the angle of arrival of incoming radio signals. If two or more receive sites were equipped with DF receivers, and the relative positions of the two receive sites was known with accuracy, the location of the transmitter could be computed by calculating the intersection of the two angles of arrival. This calculation is often referred to as "triangulation."
Modern DF systems utilize a pseudo-Doppler technique to determine the angle of arrival of an incoming radio signal. A useful way to visualize the concept is to imagine a fixed monopole antenna mounted on the circumference of a rotating disk. During some portions of its travel, the monopole will be moving towards the transmit site. During other portions, the monopole will move away from the transmit site. The received carrier frequency will exceed that of the transmitter while the monopole is approaching the transmit site due to the Doppler effect. The received carrier frequency will be less than the that of the transmitter while the monopole is moving away from the transmit site--again, due to the Doppler effect. The observed output frequency from the rotating antenna will be modulated at the rotational frequency of the monopole. If the output signal from this monopole is demodulated, the result will be an audio tone equal in frequency to the rotational rate of the monopole antenna. The relative phase of this tone, however, is determined by the angle of arrival of the transmitted carrier. By performing a phase comparison between this demodulated tone and the physical rotational frequency of the monopole, the angle of bearing will result.
Large mechanical rotating structures are undesirable from a reliability standpoint. Practical implementations replace the single rotating monopole with an array of fixed dipoles which are sampled using an electronic commutator. This multi-element antenna is called an Adcock array.
FIG. 1 presents a block diagram of an Adcock array connected to an antenna commutator, a DF receiver and bearing processor and display. The receiver is a standard FM receiver tuned to the frequency of the transmitter. It separates the recovered Doppler tone from any modulation (audio/data) applied by the transmitter. The bearing processor contains a phase comparator which operates on the antenna commutator control signal and the demodulated output of the receiver.
When this process is applied to locate tracking beacons, the transmit pulse width is very narrow (50-250 ms) with a maximum duty cycle of 10%. Pulsed operation maximizes tracking beacon battery life. The challenge for DF receivers is to capture sufficient pseudo-Doppler information and perform the bearing calculation within the pulse width of the transmitter. Pseudo-Doppler principles apply at any frequency of operation. However, practical limitations on antenna construction and RF propagation confine commercial DF systems to the HF through UHF bands.
The principal limitation of pseudo-Doppler systems is susceptibility to multipath (RF carrier reflections from adjacent objects). The DF receiver will determine the angle of arrival of the largest amplitude signal reaching the antenna array. Due to multipath, the angle of arrival of the largest signal often deviates from the actual bearing of the transmitter. In high multipath environments, such as dense urban areas, DF receivers often produce erroneous results. Indoors, where direct line-of-sight paths seldom exist, pseudo-Doppler DF receivers and triangulation are useless. In addition, the Adcock arrays are physically large and should be mounted on masts for maximum performance. Such installations are generally unwelcome inside buildings.
The bearing accuracy of commercial DF systems is typically 3.degree. RMS under ideal, line-of-sight conditions. At a range of one mile, this bearing accuracy corresponds to a location uncertainty of 276 feet. This accuracy degrades dramatically under multipath conditions. To achieve a higher degree of accuracy, the DF receivers need to be spaced more closely. For twenty foot accuracy, the maximum distance between the DF receiver and the transmitter is 380 feet.
DF systems can locate individuals moving through large, open compounds if their movements are confined outdoors. Used in conjunction with an indoor location capability, DF systems can extend coverage into distant, outdoor regions of a large facility. By themselves, DF systems can not provide a single solution to personnel location in facilities having indoor areas.
Satellite-based Radiolocation
Satellite-based location systems utilize an array of communication satellites to locate earth-bound personnel location devices PLD's. Location and velocity data are computed by calculating the relative range between the individual satellites and the PLD and the Doppler shift of the received carriers. The most mature of these system, Global Positioning System (GPS), delivers accurate time, location, and velocity data to receive-only hand-held units allowing simultaneous access by an unlimited number of earth-bound units. Other systems have been recently deployed which utilize an array of low earth orbit (LEO) satellites to provide bidirectional data communications and positioning information to commercial users.
Global Positioning System
GPS was developed to deliver accurate position, velocity and clock data using a standard positioning reference to an unlimited number of simultaneous users distributed throughout the globe. In 1990, there were only thirteen orbiting GPS satellites in service limiting the system's availability to eighteen hours per day. Full service will be provided by twenty-one satellites providing twenty-four hour, three dimensional positioning around the globe. Basic accuracy is ten meters for the military service and twenty-five meters for commercial GPS receivers. Differential GPS service can improve the accuracy dramatically but differential GPS service requires communication with a second fixed terrestrial GPS station.
GPS satellites transmit signals on two L-Band frequencies (approximately 1.5 GHZ) enabling the system to adjust for variations in ionospheric propagation time delays. Users obtain three-dimensional co-ordinates based on ranging measurements from at least four GPS satellites. Velocity information is extracted from the Doppler shift of the received GPS carriers. GPS utilizes a spread spectrum coding format allowing the satellite transmissions to occupy the same spectrum while enabling the earth-bound GPS receivers to independently track the carrier phase and code.
FIG. 2 presents a block diagram of a GPS-based personnel location device. The PLD obtains its location from the GPS receiver. Upon activation, the PLD transmits this location, along with an ID code to the central monitor site.
Due to the requirement for the GPS receiver to acquire, decode, and process four independent satellite signals, GPS receivers require over one minute to determine position after power up. After acquiring this first bearing, position updates occur much more rapidly. A one minute delay is not compatible with personnel location applications where emergency response is required. Typical response times for emergency location systems are three seconds maximum. A potential solution would be to operate the GPS receiver continuously to maintain position information current. However, the power consumption (900 mW) of existing OEM GPS receiver boards is too high for continuous operation from body-worn communications battery packs.
GPS service is effectively confined to outdoor location. The link margins are so small that the RF carrier penetration loss into most building materials reduces the GPS signal level below the receiver detection threshold. For example the penetration loss produced by standard cinder block is 21 dB at 1.5 GHZ. Recall that accurate location requires four satellite signals to reach the GPS receiver simultaneously. Even if the receiver is operated outdoors, care must be taken to direct the receive antenna upward--this restriction is not practical for most body-worn PLD applications.
GPS accuracy can be seriously degraded by carrier reflections off the ground and nearby objects. The reflected signals combine with the direct path signals to create a propagation phenomenon known as "multipath." The multipath effect causes a slow fading (0.1 Hz variation in received signal amplitude envelope) and, in spread spectrum systems, corrupts the code and carrier synchronization. The following results were obtained by Van Nee:
______________________________________ Receiver Environment SNR B.sub.f Mean Error ______________________________________ Rural, Suburban, Fixed 5 dB 0.1 Hz 33 meters ______________________________________
In other words, in rural and suburban settings using a motionless GPS receiver, the amplitude of the direct path signal exceeds the multipath signal by 5 dB, and a .+-.33 meter error occurs at a 0.1 Hz rate (once every 10 seconds). In urban settings, where the streets are lined with tall buildings, the multipath delay spreads are shorter and the mean error due to multipath will be even larger.
An error of this magnitude, .+-.33 meters, exceeds the maximum tolerable location error for most personnel location applications. As stated, if differential GPS service is available, the accuracy can be improved significantly. However, combining the limited location accuracy with the restrictions of outdoor-only service and one minute location-determination delays, it becomes apparent that GPS is not a complete solution to current personnel location applications. GPS can be a valuable outdoor complement to other indoor location capabilities such as the tagging or distributed sensor approaches, which are discussed later herein.
Signpost Location Systems
If the facility to be monitored has well defined patterns of movement and many bottleneck areas which personnel must traverse during their movements, then that facility is a candidate for a signpost location system. At each of these bottlenecks, a "signpost" is installed which logs the passing of individual body-worn Personnel Location Devices (PLD's). The system's location accuracy is dictated by the number of installed signposts and by the precision with which a given signpost predicts an individual's location. For example, a signpost installed at an entry point to a small office would yield a more accurate location than a signpost installed at an entry point to a large auditorium.
One feature of all signpost systems is that they can only provide updated position information when PLD's pass by the electronic signposts. Interrogating the signposts will yield updated information only if a PLD has traversed a signpost since the last report. Signposts have unique advantages and disadvantages with regards to reliability. If one signpost fails, the location capability is terminated in that area--there is no systematic redundancy. However, the degraded location capability is confined to one zone and the accuracy of the remainder of the system is unaffected. One unattractive feature of signpost systems is their lack of an effective self-test mechanism. The only way to confirm operation is to physically walk through the facility and test location accuracy.
There are two variations on the signpost architecture shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, which are typical of all location systems. FIG. 3 presents a tagging style system, in which the PLD acts as a transmitter, which announces to the system its location. FIG. 4 presents a self-locating system in which the PLD acts as a receiver and determines its location from the signpost. The PLD then transmits this location information to the central monitor site upon alarm activation. These two approaches will be discussed in detail in the following sections.
Tagging PLD's
FIG. 3 presents a tagging system where the PLD acts as a transmitter which announces to the system its location. For reliable operation, the required PLD transmit duty cycle would be so high that battery life of a PLD using an active transmitter would be compromised. Therefore, a transponder-based PLD is utilized. Many commercially available systems based on RFID technology can be applied to the signpost location problem. For example, the Texas Instruments Registration and Identification System (TIRIS) supplies tags in a variety of form factors. One large-volume application of the TIRIS technology is automobile security. Commercial tags operate in the 150-400 KHz bands and the FCC ISM bands.
The PLD shown in FIG. 3 contains a passive transponder, which reflects a portion of the incident RF interrogating signal. The reflected signal is modulated by a serial data sequence identifying the PLD. The only power required by the PLD is that consumed by the ID code generator and a bias current for the transponder subcarrier oscillator. No RF carrier is actually generated by the transponder itself in an attempt to minimize PLD current drain. The signpost in this case is actually a CW radar. The radar consists of an interrogator, which generates the transmitted RF signal and receives the reflected carrier. The radar then subtracts a sample of the transmitted carrier to yield the ID code of the PLD passing within the radar's illumination zone. An ID decoder then formats the ID for retransmission. A communications interface encodes the signal for modulation and transmission over a wired or wireless network to the central monitor site. The range system was limited to about 15 feet.
Self-locating PLD
FIG. 4 presents a self-locating system, in which the PLD acts as a receiver and determines its location from the signpost. In this case, the signpost continuously transmits a location code that the central monitor site will interpret correctly as a particular entry way or room number. Although this location code could be transmitted on an RF carrier, current commercial implementations utilize IR and ultrasonic carriers in an attempt to confine the propagation of the location signal. These carriers however can easily be blocked by clothing. The wearer of the PLD must be careful to avoid obstructing the path between the PLD and the signpost by garments--a limitation found unacceptable to some users. Further, IR receivers are susceptible to saturation by direct or reflected sunlight so operation is typically confined to indoor areas.
The PLD in this configuration contains a receiver/decoder, which collects the location signal and, in effect, tells the PLD where it is currently located. The PLD then formats the location code packet with a PLD identifier code packet and transmits the information over a wired or wireless network to the central monitor site. This transmitted data packet informs the central monitor site of the current location the PLD.
Time of Arrival Location Systems
Tracking systems under development utilize distributed receivers, which measure the time of arrival of personal alarm transmissions. The systems addressed here are terrestrial location receivers, which can be installed throughout urban areas or building complexes. The speed of travel of radio signals in free space is known--signals require one nanosecond (ns, one billionth of a second) to travel one foot. Knowing this delay, and knowing the exact positions of an array of time-of-arrival (TOA) receivers, one can compute the location of an RF transmission based on the relative times-of-arrival of the signal reaching each receiver. The term "relative" must be emphasized because the actual time of the RF transmission is unknown--only the time at which the wavefront reached each receiver is known. Therefore, the calculation is not as simple as finding the intersection of multiple circles. A minimum of three receivers must receive the RF transmission to obtain a single location solution.
TOA receiver arrays must be synchronized to perform relative time-of-arrival measurements. For indoor or urban receivers, this requires a hardwired connection between the receiver modules to synchronize the time stamp clocks. For example, given the propagation speed of RF signals (1 ns/foot), the clocks of every TOA receiver must be synchronized to within 20 ns to achieve a location accuracy of 20 feet. Further, the receivers signal strength indicator must be sampled at an even higher rate (less than 5 ns) to prevent sampling error from contributing further to the location inaccuracy. Installation of this synchronization backbone can be extremely expensive--particularly in existing corrections facilities in which cabling must be installed in conduit and security procedures hamper access. In addition, cutting this backbone can potentially disable the complete system.
TOA location systems are particularly vulnerable to multipath. When a single direct and multiple reflected signals reach the TOA receiver, the solution is simple--the direct signal will always travel over the shortest path and will provide the best estimate of relative transmitter distance. The TOA processor must always choose the relative time-of-arrival of the first signal to reach it. However, in most urban and indoor settings, there is no direct path. Because of the complex signal propagation paths, the first signal to arrive does not necessarily represent the Euclidean distance to the transmitter.
A further difficulty arises in TOA systems when attempting to process multiple alarms over a short period. The problem becomes apparent when examining the typical delay spread of an RF signal in an indoor setting. Delay spread is the range of RF carrier propagation delays between two physical points in space caused by the many propagation paths that exist between two points. FIG. 5 presents the results of a propagation delay profile over an indoor obstructed path (no line of sight exists).
The indoor delay profile demonstrates that, although the first time-of-arrival occurs at 50 ns, multipath causes delayed replicas of the direct signal to be received for the next 200 ns. These delayed signals are still within 20 dB of the direct signal. If a distant alarm transmission were to take place within this 200 ns window, its measured time-of-arrival would be corrupted. The alarm transmitters would need to operate using a carrier sense-multiple access (CSMA) protocol to eliminate this problem. CSMA requires the personal location device (PLD) to monitor the channel for activity before transmitting. Although feasible, it now requires the PLD to include a receiver which is constantly powered, which limits battery life and increases package size.
The TOA approach imposes another limitation for personnel tracking applications. Flexible location systems are designed to locate existing personal communications devices (cell phones, walkie talkies) to minimize system cost. These communications devices are characterized by long periods of continuous transmission. During continuous transmission periods, the TOA system is unable to measure a relative difference in carrier arrival times and the transmitter's position cannot be updated.
The present invention is therefore directed to the problem of developing a method and apparatus for locating a person within a particular room inside a building or, if outside, within a small enough radius that enables a rapid identification of where that person is located.

Method and apparatus for tracking and locating personnel


A color filter fabricated by an ink jet process is disclosed. The color filter includes a substrate, a plurality of pixel regions positioned on the surface of the substrate, and a plurality of colored photoresists. Each pixel region includes a plurality of sub-pixel regions, and each colored photoresist is positioned in each sub-pixel region. The colored photoresists include a plurality of hydrophile photoresists and a plurality of hydrophobic photoresists. The hydrophile photoresists and the hydrophobic photoresists are alternately arranged to prevent an overflow of the colored photoresists.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color filter and the related fabricating method, and more particularly, to a color filter applied to a color display device and the related fabricating method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Due to continued development and advancement in electrical technology, the variety of applications as well as the demand for liquid crystal displays is ever increasing. A liquid crystal display (LCD) is one type of flat panel display and is employed extensively in applications ranging from small-scale products, such as a digital watch, to various portable electronic devices such as PDAs and notebooks, and even to commercial large panel displays. Since an LCD has the advantages of lightweight, low energy consumption, and free of radiation emission, the LCD is extensively applied to informational products and has a great potential for the future. Taking a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) as an instance, the TFT-LCD basically includes a thin film transistor (TFT) substrate, a color filter (CF) substrate, and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the TFT substrate and the CF substrate.
In the traditional process of manufacturing a TFT-LCD, the method of fabricating a color filter mainly includes the following three steps: spin coating the photoresist slurries having three primary colors, red (R), green (G) and blue (B); exposing; and developing. However, the remaining photoresist slurries is only about 1%-2% of the total provided photoresist slurries in the traditional method of fabricating the color filter. About 90% of the total photoresist slurry is flung out in the spin coating process, and then about 70% of the remaining photoresist slurry is removed in the developing process. In addition, a procedure, which includes a coating step, a pre-baking step, an exposing step and a developing step, can only form photoresists with a single color. In other words, it takes three procedures, which includes three coating steps, three pre-baking steps, three exposing steps and three developing steps, to form photoresists with three colors, and therefore the process is complicated and is a high-power consumer. Due to these problems, an ink-jet process is poised to replace the traditional spin coating process for fabricating color filters.
Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional method of fabricating a color filter by an ink-jet process. As shown in FIG. 1, a glass substrate 26 is first provided, and the needed color filter pattern is next formed on the glass substrate 26 by utilizing ink-jet equipment 20. The ink-jet equipment 20 includes at least an ink-jet nozzle (also named as nozzle in the following description) 22 and a control device (not shown in the drawings). The glass substrate 26 includes a black matrix pattern (BM pattern) 28 as a shelter from improper reflecting light beams or improper refracting light beams. Subsequently, photoresist slurries 24 directly jet out of the nozzle 22 to the glass substrate 26. Thus, photoresist slurries 24 with different colors jet to the predetermined vacant spaces in the black matrix pattern 28 respectively according to the different processes or the different product requirements. After the photoresist slurries with different colors are jetted onto the glass substrate 26, a curing process is performed on the photoresist slurries 24 to form a stable colored photoresist, and a color filter 10 is therefore fabricated.
However, overflows of the photoresist slurries 24 exist in the conventional ink-jet process. As shown in FIG. 2, when the red photoresist slurries 25R are jetted in a second ink-jet process after the blue photoresist slurries 25B are jetted in a first ink-jet process, the red photoresist slurries 25R overflow toward the blue photoresist slurries 25B. Thus, the photoresist slurries of different colors interblend with each other. The fabricated color filter 10 therefore has problems of disordered hues, and displays adopting this color filter 10 have a serious color shift problem.

Color filter and method of fabricating the same


Conducting hands-free transactions comprises a server at a payment processing system, a user computing device, and a merchant computing device. The payment processing system receives a communication from a hands-free payment application on a user device, the communication comprising a first transaction token, an identification of a user account, and a beacon identifier. The merchant may provide a challenge to the user and use the response to identify the token and account of the user. The merchant computing device can use voice patterns of the user to assist in identifying the token and account of the user. The system receives from the merchant computing device a transaction request, the transaction request comprising the first transaction token and transaction data associated with the transaction request. The system determines that the transaction is for an amount less than a configured transaction limit and communicates a request for an authorization of the transaction.

When consumers make purchases at a merchant location, many methods of conducting a transaction arc available. Consumers may use many different payment cards or accounts for purchases, such as gift cards, debit cards, credit cards, stored value cards, and other cards or accounts. The user account identifiers and other data represented by the cards may be communicated to the merchant system via magnetic stripes, near field communication technologies, and other suitable mechanisms.
Conventional payment systems require the consumer to perform actions to provide the user account identifiers and other data to the merchant system. For example, the user may be required to actuate a start button or initiate an application. In another example, the user may be required to tap or swipe a user computing device to initiate a transaction. Other user interactions may be required by conventional payment systems.

Hands-free transactions with voice recognition


There is provided a reflective diffuser plate to achieve more uniform diffusion angle distribution properties. The reflective diffuser plate is a microlens array reflective diffuser plate including a single lens group positioned on a surface of a transparent base material. There are variations in aperture diameter and radius of curvature that respective single lenses constituting the single lens group have in the single lens group as a whole, and vertex positions of the respective single lenses are located irregularly. A luminance distribution of reflected light of light vertically incident on the single lens group is substantially uniform in a predetermined diffusion angle range. For at least light incident on the single lens group from certain directions, a relation of 0.3≤A/B≤1 holds where A represents a reflection luminance value in the surface normal direction, and B represents a peak reflection luminance value of a diffuse reflection component.

A diffuser plate that scatters incident light to various directions is widely utilized in various devices such as, for example, a display device such as a display, a projection device such as a projector, and various types of lighting devices. An incident light diffusing mechanism in this diffuser plate is roughly classified into a mechanism that utilizes light refraction resulting from the surface shape of the diffuser plate and a mechanism that utilizes scattering by a substance existing inside a bulk body and having a different refractive index from the surroundings. One of the diffuser plates that utilize light refraction resulting from the surface shape is what is called a microlens array diffuser plate including a plurality of microlenses having sizes of approximately several tens of micrometers and located on the surface of the bulk body.
As this microlens array diffuser plate, Patent Literature 1 below discloses a diffuser plate for a reticle, and this diffuser plate is designed to have variations in pitch and height of microlenses. Specifically, Patent Literature 1 below discloses setting a microlens pitch P such that 8 μm≤P≤30 μm holds and setting a microlens height H such that 0.01×P≤H≤0.1×P holds.
Further, as a microlens array diffuser plate, Patent Literature 2 below discloses that a light diffusion effect is imparted to the lens surface by setting a diameter (D) of microlenses constituting a microlens array at more than or equal to 100 μm and less than or equal to 1000 μm and setting a surface roughness (Ra) of the microlenses at more than or equal to 0.1 μm and less than or equal to 10 μm. In this Patent Literature 2, a locating pattern of the microlenses is a random locating pattern similarly to Patent Literature 1 above, but introduction of randomness for the microlens height is denied stating that stress concentration can be suppressed by keeping the microlens height constant.

Reflective diffuser plate, display device, projection device, and lighting device


Proposed is a belt webbing, more particularly for an automatic seat belt inflatable at least in part. The belt webbing includes a tubular fabric (6) applied to at least one flat side (top and/or bottom flat side) defined by side edges, extending longitudinally to the belt webbing which is folded (together) about folding edges oriented parallel to the longitudinal direction of the belt webbing (4) so that the belt webbing is substantially in contact with the corresponding flat side in each case. An outer side (16) faces away from the flat side and does not substantially protrude beyond the side edges (12) of the belt webbing (4). The fabric (6) is releasably connected to the belt webbing (4) in the region juxtaposing the side edges (12).

The invention relates to a belt webbing, more particularly for an automatic seat belt, inflatable at least in part, comprising a tubular fabric applied to at least one flat side (top and/or bottom side) defined by side edges, extending longitudinally to the belt webbing.
"Webbing" or "belt webbing", "belt" or "seat belt" as termed in the following is always intended to mean substantially the same thing, i.e. always involving materials or semi-finished products for use in the manufacture of seat belts and webbing, this applying in the same way too, to the terms "tube" or "fabric".
One such belt webbing is known from German Patent 20 08 048 in which the belt evident therefrom is configured as a tube comprising a stitched-in burst fold configured in such a way that it bursts due to the tensile forces exerted by the belt in a crash situation and the opening of a valve coupled thereto causes inflation of the tubular belt. As a result of this the belt located as a flattened tube prior to the accident and whose width corresponds to half the circumference of the inflated belt is abruptly inflated. Due to this it represents to advantage, as compared to the simple belt, an impact cushion. However, adequate protection of the vehicle passenger is not satisfactorily assured due to the insignificant extent of the inflated tubular belt. An increase in the circumference of the belt tube with an inflatable cushion arranged in a part of the belt around the belt, likewise stated in the cited document, is also of a disadvantage since the corresponding cushion is not necessarily located at the right position and thus fails to be available for its actual purpose.
Known from the international patent application PCT/US 95/10695 is an inflatable tubular restraint system. The seat belt system shown in this case consists of a lap belt and a shoulder belt, the lap belt consisting regionally of an inflatable balloon, the length of which is shortened during inflation thus having in addition to the cushioning function also a belt tensioning function. In this arrangement, however, although that midriff zone of the passenger is particularly protected, the shoulder and head zone--except for an additional restraint of the shoulders due to the tensioned belt--fails to be taken into account.


A nuclear reactor containment arrangement has a permanent seal ring across the thermal expansion gap defined by the reactor vessel wall and the containment wall. The seal ring allows for lateral translation of the reactor vessel, in addition to radial and axial expansion and contraction. The seal ring features an outer attachment arrangement characterized by a radially corrugated cylinder extending vertically between two annular Belleville plates having different diameters. The corrugations of the cylinder extend longitudinally between the cylinder edges, and flex during lateral movement of the reactor vessel relative to the containment wall. The Belleville plates accommodate axial expansion and contraction of the vessel, and an inner attachment arrangement accommodates radial expansion and contraction.

This invention relates to nuclear reactor containment arrangements, and more particularly to permanent seal rings extending across an annular thermal expansion gap between a peripheral wall of a nuclear reactor vessel and a containment wall wherein the seal ring provides a water tight seal across the expansion gap allowing for lateral translation of the reactor vessel relative to the containment wall.
Nuclear reactor vessels are typically positioned within a cavity defined by a concrete containment wall that may also contain shielding material. The containment wall is generally cylindrical in shape, having an upper portion defining a refueling canal above the reactor vessel and a lower portion spaced apart from and surrounding the reactor vessel. The annular expansion gap between the peripheral wall of the reactor vessel and the containment wall allows for thermal expansion and lateral movement of the reactor vessel in relation to the containment wall. Generally, the refueling canal is maintained dry during normal reactor operations. However, during refueling the upper portion of the reactor vessel is raised to expose the reactor core for the exchange of fuel assemblies. During the refueling operation, it is advantageous to fill the refueling canal with water to provide additional shielding. It is generally not desirable to fill the entire space defined by the containment wall with water, but rather to only flood the upper portion defining the refueling canal. A water tight seal ring is therefore provided across the annular gap between the peripheral wall of the reactor vessel and the containment wall at the boundary between the refueling canal and the lower annular portion, or well, in which the vessel is positioned.
Typically, the reactor vessel has a horizontally extending flange and the containment wall has a horizontally extending ledge at about the same elevation at which the seal ring attaches. Although removable gasket type seal rings are known, the elastomeric gaskets used must be carefully installed during each refueling operation and are susceptible to thermal degradation and leakage. Furthermore, the gasket must be replaced during each refueling operation.
It is advantageous to provide a permanent seal ring to reduce the time required for the refueling operation. However, permanent seal rings need to allow for thermal expansion of the reactor vessel that reduces the gap between the peripheral wall of the reactor vessel and the containment wall, and also ideally provide for some vertical and lateral movement of the reactor vessel relative to the containment wall. In addition, the seal ring should be able to withstand heavy blows from objects, such as fuel assemblies, accidentally dropped during refueling. Thus, the seal ring must have (1) strength to retain the large volume of water used in the refueling operation; (2) flexibility to accommodate movement of the reactor vessel within the containment wall; and (3) structural integrity to resist damage from falling objects.
Prior art seal rings are discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,993 to Hankinson et al. and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,904,442 to Swidwa et al., the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference. Although those designs provide accommodation for radial and axial thermal expansion/contraction of the reactor vessel relative to the containment wall experienced during reactor operation, they fail to provide for lateral movement of the reactor vessel relative to the containment wall. Such movement of the reactor vessel, that may be encountered during operation of the reactor, can cause a loss of integrity of the seal ring.

Laterally translating permanent seal ring for a nuclear reactor cavity


A calculation control circuit unit 110A is provided with a microprocessor 111, an auxiliary control circuit unit 190A, and a high-speed A/D converter 115 to which the detection signals of excitation currents for electromagnetic coils 81 through 84 are inputted; based on an valve-opening command signal generated by the microprocessor 111 and excitation-current setting information, the auxiliary control circuit unit 190A opening/closing-controls power supply control opening/closing devices by use of a numeral value comparator and a dedicated circuit unit, and monitors and stores at least one of the peak value of a rapid excitation current and a peak current reaching time; the microprocessor 111 performs correction control with reference to the monitoring storage data, and implements fuel injection control while reducing a rapid control load on the microprocessor 111.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microprocessor-incorporated vehicle engine control system in which, in order to rapidly drive the fuel-injection electromagnetic valve of an internal combustion engine, a boosted high voltage is instantaneously supplied from a vehicle battery to the electromagnetic coil for driving the electromagnet valve and valve-opening holding control is performed by means of the voltage of the vehicle battery; in particular, the present invention relates to a vehicle engine control system in which while the high-speed control load on the microprocessor is reduced, the control accuracy in fuel injection is raised.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is widely put into practice that for a plurality of electromagnetic coils that are provided at the respective cylinders of a multi-cylinder engine and drive the respective fuel-injection electromagnetic valves, a microprocessor that operates in response to the output of a crank angle sensor sequentially and selectively sets the respective valve opening and valve closing timings, and hardware provided outside the microprocessor performs rapid excitation control and opened-valve holding control so that rapid opening and opened-valve holding of the electromagnetic valve are implemented.
In general, in such an existing vehicle engine control system, the excitation current for the electromagnetic coil is monitored through an analogue signal voltage obtained by amplifying the voltage across a current detection resistor connected in series with the electromagnetic coil, and as the hardware provided outside the microprocessor, an analogue comparison circuit generates a logic signal for control. In this case, the comparison determination threshold value to be inputted to the comparison circuit is generated based on an analogue reference voltage; therefore, it is difficult for the microprocessor to correct the comparison determination threshold value.
However, there is publicly known a vehicle engine control system utilizing a method in which the detected signal voltage obtained from an excitation current is digital-converted by an A/D converter and a comparison determination threshold value is digitally set. For example, Patent Document 1, listed below, discloses a fuel injection valve control apparatus that makes it possible to implement stable fuel injection even when the voltage of a vehicle battery fluctuates and to implement limp-home operation against the abnormality in an opening/closing device or an auxiliary power source that generates a boosted high voltage.
According to FIG. 1 in Patent Document 1, the voltage across a current detection device (current detection resistor) 29 connected in series with an electromagnetic solenoid (electromagnetic coil) 27 is inputted to an A/D converter 32 by way of an amplifier 31; in response to a valve opening signal (valve-opening command signal) PL1 generated by a microprocessor 4a and the present value of an excitation current that has been digital-converted by an A/D converter 32, a logic circuit 16 generates control signals A, B, and C; then, as represented in the timing chart of FIG. 2, a first opening/closing device (high-voltage opening/closing device) 20 implements rapid excitation control, a second opening/closing device 24 implements opened-valve holding control, and a third opening/closing device (selective opening/closing device) 28 implements selective conduction and rapid cutoff control.
On the other hand, there is also publicly known a technology of monitoring the generation condition of a rapid excitation current in a typical vehicle engine control system utilizing a method in which the detected signal voltage obtained from an excitation current, left as an analogue signal, is utilized and a comparison determination value is set with an analogue value. For example, Patent Document 2, listed below, discloses a technology in which according to FIGS. 3 and 5, a fuel injection control apparatus is provided with switching devices 50, 51, and 52, a current detection resistor 60, a fuel injection valve drive IC56, and an engine control unit ECU19.
In response to a valve-opening command signal generated by ECU19 and a current detection signal voltage obtained through the current detection resistor 60, IC56 in Patent Document 2 closes the switching devices 50 and 52 based on a valve opening command of the injection pulse width Ti. The value of an excitation current at a time when a circuit-closing drive time Th has elapsed is compared with a target peak current Ipeak, which is a predetermined determination threshold value; in the case where an actually measured current exceeds the target peak current Ipeak, the valve-opening voltage (boosted high voltage) VH is recurrently and slightly decreased until the actually measured current and the target peak current Ipeak coincide with each other. In the case where the actually measured current is smaller than the target peak current Ipeak, the valve-opening voltage (boosted high voltage) VH is recurrently and slightly increased until the actually measured current and the target peak current Ipeak coincide with each other. In other words, control is performed in such a way that the predetermined peak current Ipeak can always be obtained at a time when the predetermined circuit-closing drive time Th has elapsed, so that the valve-opening control accuracy is raised.
According to FIGS. 2 through 5 and 7 in Patent Document 3, listed below, a fuel supply system is provided with a microprocessor 24 that generates a valve opening signal 24a and a holding signal 24b, a voltage boosting circuit 32, switches 33, 34, 36, and 37, an upstream current detectors 53 and 56, a downstream current detector 63, a control unit 39, and a diagnosis unit 41; the control unit 39 performs rapid excitation control in response to the valve opening signal 24a and the holding signal 24b generated by the microprocessor 24 and a signal voltage proportional to a rapid excitation current obtained through the upstream current detectors 53; the diagnosis unit 41 measures an elapsed time T2 in which the rapid excitation current reaches a predetermined peak current 71, and in the case where the elapsed time T2 is too short, the diagnosis unit 41 determines that there exists a shortcircuit abnormality in an electromagnetic coil 13 or a short-to-ground abnormality of the positive line and reports the determination to the microprocessor 24 through serial communication 24c.


An illumination subsystem configured to provide illumination for a measurement system includes first and second light sources configured to generate light for measurements in different wavelength regimes. The illumination subsystem also includes a TIR prism configured to be moved into and out of an optical path from the first and second light sources to the measurement system. If the TIR prism is positioned out of the optical path, light from only the first light source is directed along the optical path. If the TIR prism is positioned in the optical path, light from only the second light source is directed along the optical path. Various measurement systems are also provided. One measurement system includes an optical subsystem configured to perform measurements of a specimen using light in different wavelength regimes directed along a common optical path. The different wavelength regimes include vacuum ultraviolet, ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared wavelength regimes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to measurement systems configured to perform measurements of a specimen and illumination subsystems configured to provide illumination for a measurement system. Certain embodiments relate to a measurement system in which VUV and non-VUV light is directed along a common optical path.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following description and examples are not admitted to be prior art by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
Optical systems play a significant role in the manufacturing of integrated circuits and other semiconductor devices. For example, optical metrology and/or inspection tools are used for quality control purposes in semiconductor manufacturing. The capability and throughput of these optical systems can have a significant impact on semiconductor manufacturing. For example, the throughput of an optical metrology and/or inspection tool has a direct impact on the throughput of a semiconductor manufacturing process (e.g., as the throughput of the tool decreases, the throughput of the process decreases). Likewise, the resolution capability of an optical metrology and/or inspection tool can have a significant impact on a semiconductor manufacturing process since the accuracy of the optical metrology and/or inspection tool can directly affect how well the process is controlled.
The resolution of an optical system depends to a large extent on the wavelength of the optical system as well as other parameters such as numerical aperture (NA). For example, as the wavelength of the optical system is decreased, the optical system can image features having smaller and smaller dimensions thereby increasing the resolution of the system. Some metrology and/or inspection tools used in semiconductor manufacturing today are designed for use with light having a wavelength of 248 nm. However, metrology and/or inspection tools that are designed for use with light having a wavelength of 193 nm or shorter (for example, 157 nm) are becoming more common in semiconductor research and manufacturing.
Metrology and/or inspection tools may be designed for such wavelengths since lithography tools are also designed for these wavelengths. For example, such wavelengths are sometimes used to examine materials such as resists at the wavelengths to which they will be exposed during a lithography process. In addition, a great deal of information about these wavelengths of light and the issues surrounding their implementation in optical tools is generated during the lithography tool design process that can be used to aid in the design of a metrology and/or inspection tool. Optical metrology and/or inspection tools that operate at vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) wavelengths are also being developed for semiconductor research and manufacturing as these wavelengths of light will be used in future lithography processes.
Spectroscopic measurements are also becoming more and more important in many areas, especially in semiconductor industries. To meet the next generation tool requirements, measurements across a broader spectral range must be provided. It is greatly desirable to use a spectrum that is as broad as possible with a single light source. However, it is difficult to find a single light source covering a broad enough spectrum, for example, from VUV to infrared (IR). Most of the time, it is necessary to use several light sources to cover the required broadband spectrum.
Several different ways of coupling different light sources into a common optical path are currently being used. For example, one previous approach is to use a "see-thru" lamp. This technique combines a deuterium lamp with a tungsten lamp. One of the lamps is imaged into the other lamp which has a see-thru configuration. This technique only applies to see-thru lamps and adds complexity to the optical subsystem in that additional imaging optics are required.
Another technique for combining light beams from different light sources is to use a flip-in mirror. However, a flip-in mirror will create residual polarization in the deflected beam. As such, this technique cannot be used in some forms of ellipsometry or reflectometry applications because the residual polarization due to the reflection on the flip-in mirror will distort the measurements. It is possible to correct the residual polarization effect; however, such corrections require additional calibration procedures and degrade the accuracy of the measurement system.
A different technique for increasing the spectroscopic capability of a measurement system is to use two or more separate optical subsystems combined into one measurement system. However, combining separate optical subsystems into a measurement system greatly increases the cost of the measurement system. In addition, multiple optical subsystems require additional calibrations and increase the complexity of the measurement system.
Two different measurement systems, each configured to perform measurements in different wavelength regimes, may also be used to measure a specimen such that measurements across a much broader range of wavelengths may be achieved. However, using a combination of measurement systems increases the cost of hardware and software. In addition, the use of a combination of measurements from different systems to obtain information on one specimen makes the calibration and matching of the different systems complex and difficult.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to develop illumination subsystems that can provide illumination for a measurement system across a relatively wide range of wavelengths (e.g., from VUV to IR) without introducing residual polarization to the light, without substantially increasing the complexity or cost of the measurement system, and without requiring additional calibrations while maintaining the accuracy of the measurement system.

Measurement systems configured to perform measurements of a specimen and illumination subsystems configured to provide illumination for a measurement system


The present invention provides a cerium oxide-zirconium oxide-based mixed oxide having superior platinum dispersibility and a suitable OSC, and a simple production process thereof. The cerium oxide-zirconium oxide-based mixed oxide comprises cerium oxide and zirconium oxide, wherein (1) the weight ratio of CeO2:ZrO2 is 60:40 to 90:10, and (2) the cerium oxide and the zirconium oxide are present as a mixture, the zirconium oxide being composed of a solid solution in which tetragonal or cubic zirconium oxide contains cerium.

Since the oxidation-reduction potential of Ce4+ and Ce3+ is small at about 1.6 V and the reaction represented by the following formula proceeds reversibly, cerium oxide has an oxygen storage capacity (OSC), and is used as a co-catalyst or catalyst support of automotive three-way catalysts.CeO2CeO2-x+X/2O2 (X=0 to 0.5)
However, the OSC of pure cerium oxide is well known to be extremely low at about X=0.005.
Thus, in order to improve this, there have been numerous reports describing (1) improving the heat resistance of the specific surface area of cerium oxide, and (2) improving the OSC by inserting Zr4+ having a small ionic radius into a Ce backbone to alleviate the increase in volume during the above-mentioned reaction, by putting zirconium oxide into a solid solution with cerium oxide.
On the other hand, in the case of using pure cerium oxide as a co-catalyst or catalyst support of an automotive three-way catalyst, the dispersibility thereof is extremely good in the case of loading with a precious metal, and particularly platinum. Namely, it is a known fact that the cerium oxide has the superior characteristic of being able to inhibit aggregation of platinum particles at high temperatures.
Therefore, there has recently been a demand for a cerium oxide-zirconium oxide-based mixed oxide having both of these characteristics.
Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. H06-74145 describes a "composition mainly consisting of ceric oxide having a stabilized specific surface area, comprising ceric oxide and at least one type of additive at a ratio of 1 to 20% by weight, wherein the additive is an oxide of one or more types of other metal elements A selected from the group consisting of silicon, zirconium and thorium".
However, only the heat resistance of ceric oxide containing 2.5% zirconia is described in the examples.
In addition, Japanese Patent No. 3623517 describes a "composition composed of cerium oxide and zirconium oxide having an atomic ratio of cerium/zirconium of at least 1 and demonstrating a specific surface area of at least 35 m2/g after being calcined for 6 hours at 900° C. and an oxygen storage capacity of at least 1.5 ml/g O2 at 400° C.".
However, there is no description regarding the dispersibility of platinum.
On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-177781 describes an "exhaust gas purification catalyst comprising a mixed oxide (B) comprised of cerium oxide loaded onto a solid solution oxide (A) containing zirconium and cerium".
However, this catalyst has a unique structure in which cerium oxide is loaded around a solid solution oxide (A) containing zirconium and cerium, and what is more, there are no descriptions whatsoever regarding the OSC and platinum dispersibility thereof.
Moreover, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-314134 describes "metal oxide particles having a core portion containing a comparatively large amount of a ceria-zirconia solid solution and a shell portion containing a comparatively large amount of a second metal oxide", and a "production process of metal oxide particles having a core portion containing a comparatively large amount of a ceria-zirconia solid solution and a shell portion containing a comparatively large amount of a second metal oxide that provides a sol containing colloidal particles of a ceria-zirconia solid solution and colloidal particles of a second metal oxide each having different isoelectric points, comprising making the pH of the sol closer to the isoelectric point of the colloidal particles of the ceria-zirconia solid solution than the isoelectric point of the colloidal particles of the second metal oxide, aggregating the colloidal particles of the ceria-zirconia solid solution, making the pH of the sol closer to the isoelectric point of the colloidal particles of the second metal oxide than the isoelectric point of the colloidal particles of the ceria-zirconia solid solution, aggregating the colloidal particles of the second metal oxide around the aggregated colloidal particles of the ceria-zirconia solid solution, and drying and firing the resulting aggregate".
However, although there are descriptions relating to OSC and platinum dispersibility, the shell portion and core portion are characterized by both being in the form of ceria-zirconia solid solutions, and the production process is extremely unique.

Cerium oxide-zirconium oxide-based mixed oxide and method for producing thereof