A rotor disc for an electrical machine is disclosed. The rotor disc comprises a series of magnetisable members arranged in a circumferential series on a surface thereof and against peripheral retaining structure of the disc. The disc also includes a retainer fixable to the surface and arranged for assisting in retaining the members at least axially on the surface when so fixed. The retainer is arranged to abut at least one of a substantially circumferentially and substantially tangentially extending, radially inner part of each member and thereby to provide the axial retention.

The use of rare-earth permanent magnets to provide the excitation field in alternating current (AC) machines is known. However, the handling and mounting of members of rare-earth material is not straightforward. Such members are brittle and are therefore easily damaged. Consequently, it is difficult to mount the members onto a rotor or a stator of an AC machine in such a way that they can withstand the large forces exerted on them during operation, without sustaining damage.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,037,696 discloses a rotor for use in an electrical machine wherein magnetized members are mounted on a surface of a disc-shaped central sheet. The rotor disc of U.S. Pat. No. 6,037,696 includes a braced hub in the form of a spider that is for restraining the central sheet and promoting rotor rigidity. The magnetized members are constrained axially and tangentially on the central sheet by being bonded face-to-face with the surface thereof. The magnetized members are constrained radially on the central sheet by the provision of a circumferential lip that is formed integrally with the central sheet. Further radial constraint is provided by bonding a radially innermost edge of each magnetized member to the braced hub.
It is an object of this invention to address this problem.

Rotor disc for an electrical machine and a retainer


A color image forming apparatus 1 includes: a multiple number of process printing units 20, each having an photoreceptor drum 21 for bearing a developer image formed with a toner corresponding to a different color of color-separated image information; a transfer belt 31 to which a multiple number of developer images are comprised in layers; and a transfer roller 36 for transferring the developer images that have been comprised in layers on transfer belt 31, all at once, to recording paper, wherein the multiple number of process printing units 20 are arranged along transfer belt 31, and is characterized in that among the developer images to be transferred from the photoreceptor drums 21 of multiple image forming units 20 onto transfer belt 31, the toner for the developer image of the color to be transferred first is specified to produce a base-layer of the color images of information.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color image forming apparatus and in particular relates to a color image forming apparatus, such as a copier, printer, facsimile machine or the like, which uses electrophotography as a process of image forming, wherein developer images formed on image bearing members are transferred to a transfer medium.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Recently, in the field of image forming apparatus, there is a common trend toward color configurations, and with the development of color image forming apparatus, an increased number of color image forming apparatus have become used.
Conventionally, in the field of color image forming apparatus, since it is necessary to reproduce a duplicate of an original with as faithful colors as possible, various kinds of image processing techniques for matching colors and hues have been used for color-balance adjustment.
As one example of an image processing technique, a configuration has been known whereby color balance adjustment is made by modifying color correction parameters based on the color information selected by the user and the information on the printing characteristics of the image forming apparatus (patent literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open 2000-190572).
The above technique is without doubt effective in being used in a direct transfer process in which each color developer is directly transferred to print paper. However, this method faces difficulties when it is applied to an indirect transfer process which is aimed at making the apparatus compact and achieving high-speed color printing.
A color image forming apparatus using the indirect transfer process uses an intermediate transfer medium and is configured so that layered images of separated color components are formed on the intermediate transfer medium, forming images of information (primary transfer) and then the laminated color images of information are transferred as a whole to the conveyed paper (secondary transfer), thus printing image information on the paper.
In this indirect transfer process, since the whole developer is not transferred at the stages of the primary transfer and the secondary transfer, account should be taken of the transfer efficiency.
Usually, the transfer efficiency in the indirect transfer process roughly ranges from 80 to 95%.
For example, the transfer efficiency falls within the range of 80 to 90% in the case of a spatial transfer process where a discharge type transfer mechanism is used for electrification, while the transfer efficiency falls within the range of 90 to 95% in the case of a pressing contact transfer process where a roller/brush or a similar element is used for electrification.
Accordingly, it is necessary to take into account the transfer efficiency if the aforementioned adjustment of color balance based on the image processing is effected at other than a 100% transfer efficiency.
The transfer efficiency in the indirect transfer process of each color varies not only depending on the amount of electricity on the developer on the photoreceptor for each color and the electric field generated by the transfer mechanism but also on the paper conditions (paper type, thickness, moisture content, etc.) of the sheet interposed between the photoreceptor and transfer mechanism.
This is why it has been difficult to provide an image process that can satisfy the user no matter which complicated process is performed for color balance adjustment.
In reference to the developers not having transferred at the primary and secondary transfer stages of the indirect transfer process, those involved in the primary transfer can be reused because each image forming unit always handles the developer of an unvaried color.
In the secondary transfer stage, however, the color of the untransferred or leftover developer varies depending on the image information. Therefore, the leftover developer collected from the intermediate transfer medium contains various colors of developers, which is not reusable hence has no other use than disposal. This increases the cost for the user, causing a problem in view of copy cost reduction.

Color image forming apparatus using base-layer


A method, computer system, and a computer program product for modifying XR applications is provided. The present invention may include receiving capability input associated with the capabilities of the user. The present invention may include determining operational requirements of an XR application. The present invention may include determining movement capabilities of the user. The present invention may include generating a movement capabilities profile. The present invention may include determining differences between the operational requirements of the XR application and the movement capabilities profile of the user. The present invention may include modifying the operational requirements of the XR application based on the determined differences. The present invention may include monitoring the user's participation in the XR application with modified operational requirements.

The present invention relates generally to the field of computing, and more particularly to extended reality applications.
Extended Reality ("XR") refers to all real-and-virtual combined environments and human-machine interactions generated by computer technology and wearables, where 'X' represents a variable for any current or future spatial computing technologies (e.g., It includes representative forms such as augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR) and virtual reality (VR) and the areas interpolated among them). XR simulation involves a source of content (e.g., software) and a user device (e.g., hardware).
XR devices (e.g., headsets, all-direction treadmills, special gloves, goggles, smart phones) can track a user's movements (e.g., head movements, eye direction and physical movements) and translate those movements into virtual ones. These XR devices provide users an immersive sensory experience within a wide array of XR applications. XR applications may require a user to perform certain physical movements to meaningfully participate within an XR space. For example, an XR application may require a user to reach an object within the environment to accomplish a certain task.

Adapting extended reality applications to user capability and preference

International Business Machines Corporation


A circuit interrupter employing an electronic trip unit utilizes a current transformer assembly containing both air and metal cores on a common load strap for providing sensing current to the electronic trip unit along with supplying operating power to the trip unit electronic components. A two-part plastic housing provides support for the metal core and the sensing coil while further providing thermal transfer of heat generated within the transformer secondary windings out to the load strap.

The advent of digital circuit implementation to the electrical distribution and control field has resulted in combining several electronic functions within a single modular enclosure. One example of a circuit interrupter having supplemental protective relay function is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,672,501 entitled "Circuit Breaker and Protective Relay Unit".
To provide a continuous sample of the current level within an associated electrical distribution system, a current transformer is connected within the circuit interrupter, as described within U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,591,942 and 5,321,378 both entitled "Current Transformer Assembly". The current transformers as employed therein also derive operating power from the circuit current to power-up the electronic components within the circuit interrupter electronic trip unit. It has been found advantageous to use a single iron core current transformer to both sense the circuit current along with providing operational power to the electronic trip unit in higher ampere-rated circuit interrupters. To prevent the iron cores from becoming saturated at higher current levels, expensive magnetic steel laminates are used and the laminates are sized to allow short circuit current sensing without causing the cores to saturate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,148 entitled "Current-Sensing Arrangement Utilizing Two Current-Sensing Signals" teaches the use of a separate air core transformer and a separate iron core transformer to increase the current sensing range when the iron core saturates.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,297,741 entitled "Rate Sensing Instantaneous Trip Mode Network" describes the use of an iron core transformer for sensing ordinary current overload levels along with a separate air core transformer to sense short circuit currents.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,846,675 entitled "Molded Case Circuit Breakers Utilizing Saturating Current Transformers" teaches the use of iron core transformers for providing operating power to the trip unit and separate air core transformers for monitoring the circuit current.
In lower ampere-rated electronic circuit interrupters, the current transformer size constraints require the use of expensive core steel laminations to optimize transformer action with the least possible amount of material without reaching saturation when such current transformers are used for both sensing circuit current as well as powering up the electronic trip unit circuit. It would be economically desirable to perform such sensing and power-up functions by use of a single modular transformer design for all the reasons given earlier. One such modular design is described within U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/358,493 filed 19 Dec. 1994 entitled "Modular Current Transformer for Electronic Circuit Interrupters" wherein separate iron core and air core transformers are used to sense circuit current within a protected circuit while providing operating power to the circuit interrupter electronic trip unit. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/735,719 entitled "Self Powered Axial Current Sensor" filed on 23 Oct. 1996 describes a compact current transformer arrangement wherein the current sensor coil is arranged within the transformer core and the power generating coil is arranged outside the transformer core. U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,320 entitled "Modular Current Transformer for Electronic Circuit Interrupters" describes a concentric arrangement of an air core transformer within an iron core transformer for providing current sampling to an electronic trip unit along with operating power. Tile advent of such compact and inexpensive current transformers now allows the use of circuit interrupters within lower ampere commercial and industrial environments.
One purpose of the invention is to provide a compact circuit interrupter employing an electronic trip unit whereby the operating power to the trip unit is provided by means of an iron core and the current sensing is provided by means of an air core both within a compact common current transformer assembly.
A further purpose of the invention is to provide means for reducing the operating temperature of the current transformer to allow compact insertion within smaller frame circuit breakers without overheating.

Current transformer assembly for electronic circuit interrupters


An endoscope-like image taking method includes providing at least one peculiar index, which can be discriminated from other portions on an MR image, at the tip of a catheter, previously inserting a metal guide wire for guiding the catheter into a body cavity of a patient inserting the catheter into the body cavity along the guide wire, executing an MR imaging sequence of a plurality of sliced images intersecting the guide wire, reconstructing three-dimensional image data based upon the nuclear magnetic resonance signals, which are received by the guide wire, and determining the tip position and the inserting direction of the catheter by detecting the peculiar index provided at the tip of the catheter based upon the three-dimensional image data, and reconstructing the center projected image using the three-dimensional image data and setting the tip position and the inserting direction of the catheter as a view point and a line-of-sight direction and displaying the center projected image on a display means.

An MRI apparatus is an apparatus for observing the inside of a patient by acquiring a tomogram and a frequency spectrum of a patient making use of a nuclear magnetic resonance phenomenon and includes a static magnetic field generator, a gradient magnetic field coil, a transmitting coil, and a receiving coil. The static magnetic field generator aligns the directions of the spins of nuclei (ordinarily, protons) that constitute the patient, the gradient magnetic field coil identifies the imaging slice of the patient as well as encodes position information to the nuclear magnetic resonance signals acquired from the patient, the transmitting coil generates a high frequency magnetic field having the same frequency as the resonance frequency of the protons, and the receiving coil receives the signals from the protons.
The MRI apparatus arranged as described above can selectively image any of arbitrary regions and tissues, and various imaging methods have been proposed according to patients to be imaged. For example, imaging can be executed using a two- or three-dimensional measurement. Further, in recent years, as an important field to which the MRI apparatus is applied, there has been developed a method (IV-MRI) of utilizing the MRI apparatus as the monitor of a catheter while needling or introducing the catheter into a blood vessel. In this IV-MRI, it is required to execute imaging and to display images in real time so that, for example, the catheter can be inserted to a target position without fail, and various types of a high speed imaging method such as EPI and the like have been in practical use.
In contrast, various shapes of the receiving coil have been developed and practically used according to portions to be imaged, and an RF receiving antenna, which also acts as a guide wire of the catheter, has been proposed as a receiving coil preferably used when the catheter is inserted as described above (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-179550, PCT Japanese Translation Patent Publication No. 2000-509276, a document "Intravascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging Using a Loopless Catheter Antenna", MRM 37: 112-118 (1997), and the like). Note that since the measurable sensitivity range of the guide-wire-shaped RF receiving antenna is limited to the vicinity of the guide wire, a tomogram that can be imaged is limited to a small region (for example, several millimeters).
However, an image obtained by conventional MRI apparatuses is mainly a tomogram. Accordingly, the conventional MRI apparatuses are disadvantageous in an application for confirming the position of a catheter inserted into a body cavity such as a blood vessel having a curving portion because they cannot uniquely determine a sliced plane including the catheter. In contrast, as to a straight needle, the conventional MRI apparatuses can automatically take a tomogram on a plane including the needle or on a plane orthogonal to the needle by attaching an active or passive marker to the needle, and many conventional technologies exist. Further, as to the catheter, there is known a method of executing imaging by providing a marker, which can be identified by the MRI apparatuses, in the catheter. Since, however, a sliced plane including the catheter having a curved portion cannot be uniquely determined, it is not always easy to confirm the inserted position of the catheter.
Incidentally, the applicant has proposed a method of creating an endoscope-like image making use of three-dimensional image data acquired by an X-ray CT apparatus and an MRI apparatus as a method of displaying an image of the inside wall of a blood vessel, and the like in place of a conventional tomogram (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications Nos. 7-210704 and 8-16813). According to the method, it is possible to convert three-dimensional tomogram data of a region including a blood vessel and the like into an image (endoscope-like image) of the inside wall of a body cavity, and the like observed from the inside by a center projecting method and to display the image, and this image is effective to diagnosis. In this case, the image may be processed according to particular shading algorithm.
However, the conventional endoscope-like image is created by a method of creating it based on three-dimensional image data that has been acquired, and further a view point and a line-of-sight direction must be input by a mouse or a track ball. Accordingly, the method cannot be applied to the IV-MRI which executes imaging and display of an image in real time.

Endoscopic image pickup method and magnetic resonance imaging device using the same


Colored radiation-sensitive composition includes (A) a dye multimer, (B) an alkali-soluble resin containing at least one kind of repeating unit selected from a group consisting of a repeating unit represented by the following Formula (b1) and a repeating unit represented by the following Formula (b2), (C) a polymerizable compound, and (D) a photopolymerization initiator. In the formulae, each of R1 and R4 independently represents a hydrogen atom, an aryl group, or an alkyl group, and among these, an aryl group is preferable. R2 represents a hydrogen atom or a methyl group, R3 represents an alkylene group having 2 or 3 carbon atoms, and m represents an integer from 1 to 15.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a colored radiation-sensitive composition which is suitable as a color resist used for forming color pixels, a colored cured film and a color filter which use the colored radiation-sensitive composition, a production method thereof, and a solid-state image sensor and an image display device which include the color filter.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, as a digital camera, a camera-equipped cellular phone, and the like have come into wide use, and a demand for a solid-state image sensor such as a CCD image sensor has greatly increased. As a key device of these displays or optical devices, a color filter is used, and it is increasingly required for the color filter to have a higher degree of sensitivity and to be miniaturized. Generally, the color filter has colored patterns of three primary colors including red (R), green (G), and blue (B) and plays a role of separating transmitted light into the three primary colors.
Colorants used for the color filter are commonly required to have the following properties. That is, it is required for the colorants to have light absorptivity preferable for color reproducibility, not to have optical disorders such as uneven optical density that results in light scattering, color unevenness, or rough texture, to exhibit excellent toughness, for example, heat resistance, light fastness, or the like, during the production thereof or under the condition in which the colorants are used, to have great molar absorptivity, and to be able to be formed into a thin film.
One of the examples of methods for producing the color filter includes a pigment dispersion method. The method for producing a color filter by using the pigment dispersion method by means of a photolithography or an inkjet method is stable with respect to light or heat since this method uses a pigment. However, the pigment is in the form of fine particles, and as a result, problems such as light scattering, color unevenness, and rough texture arise in some cases. In order to solve the problems, micronization of the pigment is performed. However, there is a problem in that it is difficult for the micronized pigment to have dispersion stability.
Examples of the method for producing the color filter that can replace the pigment dispersion method include a method of using a dye as a coloring material. In a composition, a dye is present in a dissolved state, and accordingly, light scattering, color unevenness, or rough texture caused by a pigment can be inhibited. The heat resistance or light fastness of a dye is poorer than that of a pigment. Therefore, in recent years, for the purpose of improving toughness, preventing migration of the color of dye to other layers, and the like, attempts at ameliorating dyes have been made (for example, see JP2011-95732A and JP2000-162429A).

Colored radiation-sensitive composition, colored cured film, color filter, colored pattern forming method, color filter production method, solid-state image sensor, and image display device


Coriolis mass flowmeter apparatus comprising a flow-sensing structure including a support, a conduit having an input segment affixed to the support, an output segment affixed to the support, an elongated active inlet segment having a first end and a second end, the first end adjoining the input segment, an elongated outlet segment having a third end and a fourth end, the fourth end adjoining the output segment, and a connecting segment connecting the second and third ends of the inlet and outlet segments, the inlet and outlet segments being disposed to lie within a common plane, a driver connected between mid-portions of the inlet and outlet segments and operative to drive the inlet and outlet segments such that they oscillate in antiphase relationship within the common plane, sensors affixed to the support and at least one of the inlet and outlet segments and operative to detect Coriolis force-induced motion of the conduit and to generate output signals corresponding thereto; and a signal processor responsive to the output signals and operative to indicate the mass flow rate of material flowing through the conduit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to Coriolis type mass flowmeters and more particularly to an improved mass flowmeter having a flow-sensing structure in which both driving and responsive vibrations are experienced in a plane defined by the looped structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Most existing Coriolis mass flowmeters utilize flow-sensing structures including two tubes, or tube segments, with flow directed through them in a hydraulically serial or "parallel" manner. The use of two separate tubes is the favored configuration in that it allows tuning-fork-like vibrational modes as a means of cancelling out common mode vibrations and extraneous noise. However, the use of two tubes and their associated manifolding and/or flow-splitting parts normally make the device expensive, and the presence of flow-splitting or manifolding castings may make it extremely difficult to meet sanitary/cleanability requirements for interior surface finish.
Many dual-tube Coriolis flowmeters are also not self-draining and are thus not suitable for applications where high-level sanitation or contamination of residual material is of concern. Moreover, dual tube Coriolis meters that split the flow often experience clogging in one of the tubes which can go undetected and give rise to measurement error in addition to sanitary problems.
One approach to solving the sanitary problem is disclosed in Levien et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,501, entitled "Single Tube Parallel Flow Coriolis Mass Flow Sensor". In this device, elongated crossing portions of a single length of looped conduit form parallel sensor segments, the ends of which are defined by isolation plates secured to corresponding opposite ends of the segments. While this approach clearly solves the sanitary and cleanliness problem, it has the disadvantage that, since both ends of the active tube segments are normally fixedly supported, fluid temperature changes give rise to axial stresses that adversely effect meter performance.
Some Coriolis flowmeters have flexible joints, couplings or conduit loops that render them susceptible to pressure changes, sanitary, cleanability and drainability problems. One example of a relevant device having a flexible intermediate section coupling an active inlet segment to an active outlet segment is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,606, to Hasegawa et al., entitled "Mass Flowmeter". In such apparatus the straight tubular segments are fixed at one end and swung by a vibrator at the opposite end, such that the distal ends of the tubes alternately approach and depart to and from each other. The ends of the tubes subjected to vibration are connected by a flexible tube. However, it is now understood that flow measurement errors can result from the use of such a flexible tube in the following ways:
1) Vibrational drive motion can be damped by a flexible section thereby causing variations in "drive" excitation. Damping can also compromise (i.e. dampen) the responsiveness of such a structure to Coriolis forces. PA1 2) Pressure changes can introduce unwanted motions/distortions into the flow tube assembly (and hence flow measurement errors) due to the adverse pressure sensitivity of a flexible intermediate section whose flexibility arises from a conduit section that is deformed or shaped in the form of a loop or a bellows-like structure or from another flexible material such as rubber or plastic. Hydrostatic pressure changes can cause variations in the elasticity of a flexible section, further complicating the ability to obtain accurate flow measurements. PA1 3) In addition to the pressure sensitivities of a flexible section, the temperature variation of its elastic modulus (in addition to that of the inlet/outlet sections) may contribute additional flow measurement errors and other errors from variable zero flow offsets. PA1 4) Flexible sections made of an elastic material or bellows may not meet the "sanitary" or cleanability requirements of many food, pharmaceutical, beverage or chemical applications, nor will a flexible section comprised of loops necessarily be self-draining. PA1 5) A flexible section fabricated from bent conduit and looped in some manner will also present a higher pressure drop to the flowing fluid due to the additional number of turns presented to the flowing fluid, thereby further restricting the usable flow range of the meter. PA1 6) The use of a flexible intermediate section may require that the flexible section be attached or somehow secured to the support. If so, then additional and unwanted stresses may be introduced into the flow tube structure.


In one embodiment, after a new filter unit is installed in a treatment liquid supply apparatus, there is performed, before a solvent-containing treatment liquid is passed through the filter unit, a step of soaking the filter unit with a solvent for pretreatment and then discharging therefrom the solvent. The solubility of a material, constituting a filter part of the filter unit, to the solvent is greater than the solubility of the material to the treatment liquid. This step makes it possible to remove a component, which may elute from the filter part into the treatment liquid to produce foreign matters (particles), before treatment liquid is passed through the filter unit.

A semiconductor manufacturing process includes a step that supplies a treatment liquid onto a substrate to perform a liquid treatment to a substrate. Such a liquid treatment step is performed by ejecting from a nozzle the treatment liquid that has been fed from a treatment liquid tank through a supply passage. A filter unit is provided in the treatment liquid supply passage to remove foreign matters included in the treatment liquid in the treatment liquid tank or foreign matters originated from piping and supply devices.
If a treatment starts immediately after a new filter unit is installed in the piping at the starting-up or maintenance of the apparatus, the filtration performance of the filter unit (i.e., the cleanliness of a liquid flowing out of a filter) is not stable, and thus a treatment cannot be performed normally. Thus, after installation of the filter unit, a pretreatment, such as a repetitive dummy dispensing operation or a long time circulation of the solvent, is performed until the filtration performance of the filter unit becomes stable. Even after stating of the treatment using the new filter unit, the filtration performance of the filter unit deteriorates so that an operation such as the dummy dispensing is again needed.
However, such an operation increases the solvent consumption and prolongs the standby time before the liquid treatment of substrates, resulting in productivity decline. The inventors have found through their research that elution of resins from the filter part of the filter unit, caused by the solvent contained in the treatment liquid, is one of reasons for instability in filtration performance of the filter unit. It has been found through the inventors' research that foreign matters derived from the eluted substance invite defects on substrates. Under the recent circumstances where the allowable level of defects caused by foreign matters becomes severer because of miniaturization of patterns, the eluted substance from the filter part is not a negligible problem.
In addition, when a new resist liquid supply apparatus is installed or when the type of the resist liquid used in the resist liquid supply apparatus is changed, cleaning of the inside of the resist liquid supply passage is recommended. To this end, the piping is filled with deionized water and is left for a predetermined period of time. This cleaning process requires a long period of time and a large amount of cleaning liquid consumption. In addition, since circuit patterns becomes more complicated, it is required to eliminate causes of lowering the throughput, by removing organic matters adhering to the liquid contacting parts of the piping and the supply devices.
Patent Document 1 describes a method of lowering absorption of foreign matters to a filter part in a substrate processing apparatus by changing the temperature of the filter part. The problem to be solved by the method differs from that of the technique disclosed below.
Patent Document: JP2013-030690A

Filter unit pretreatment method, treatment liquid supply apparatus, filter unit heating apparatus, and treatment liquid supply passage pretreatment method


An output limiting circuit includes a reference current generating portion for converting a predetermined constant voltage into a reference current by using a first resistor, an upper side clip voltage generating portion for converting the reference current into an upper side clip voltage with respect to a bias voltage of the operational amplifier by using a second resistor, a lower side clip voltage generating portion for converting the reference current into a lower side clip voltage with respect to the bias voltage of the operational amplifier by using a third resistor, and a gain adjusting portion for adjusting a gain of the operational amplifier so that a voltage level of the output signal does not exceed an upper side limit level corresponding to the upper side clip voltage and that the voltage level of the output signal does not exceed a lower side limit level corresponding to the lower side clip voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power amplifying circuit (e.g., a class D power amplifier).
2. Description of Related Art
(First Related Art)
A short circuit in the output of a push-pull circuit or the like including two transistors connected in series is usually detected by using a sensing resistor. For instance, JP-A-11-239029 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1) discloses and proposes a technique as shown in FIG. 1 of the document, in which a sensing resistor connected to a source of an N-channel field effect transistor is used for sensing current flowing in a complementary circuit, and a switch circuit is driven to cut off a power supply if the sensed current is not smaller than a predetermined threshold value.
However, the above-mentioned conventional short circuit detection circuit needs an expensive sensing resistor, so it causes a cost increase. In addition, since current flows in the sensing resistor of the above-mentioned conventional short circuit detection circuit, undesired power loss is caused.
(Second Related Art)
Conventionally, a class D power amplifier to which an analog signal (e.g., analog audio signal) is input has a limiter circuit for limiting its output power.
Conventional techniques of the above-mentioned limiter circuit are disclosed in JP-A-2006-5741 and JP-A-10-335961 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Documents 2 and 3, respectively).
The Patent Document 2 discloses and proposes a limiter circuit for clipping an input signal applied to an input terminal at a constant voltage by a control signal that is applied externally. The limiter circuit includes a control element connected between a power supply terminal and the input terminal and a control circuit that turns off the control element normally and turns on the control element when the input signal exceeds the constant voltage.
In addition, the Patent Document 3 discloses and proposes a bass amplifying system for driving a sub woofer, which includes a preamplifier for amplifying an input signal, a waveform shaping circuit for shaping a waveform of an output signal of the preamplifier, a power amplifier for amplifying an output of the waveform shaping circuit, and a power supply voltage supplying circuit for supplying the preamplifier with a power supply voltage of an absolute value smaller than a power supply voltage that is supplied to the power amplifier.
According to the above-mentioned conventional techniques, an increase in distortion caused by output saturation or damage to a speaker can surely be prevented even if an excessive input signal is applied.
However, the clipped waveform in the conventional technique described in the Patent Document 2 is not a soft-clipped waveform, so the output signal contains a lot of harmonic components as a result. Therefore, the speaker may produce an unusual grating sound.
In addition, since a limit level of the output power in the conventional technique described in the Patent Document 2 responds to variable control of a control voltage relatively too sensitively, it is not always easy to set a desired output power accurately.
In addition, since upper and lower limit levels are set by using a control signal in the conventional technique described in the Patent Document 2, it is necessary to adjust circuit constants in order to realize a symmetrical clipping with respect to a bias voltage of an operational amplifier.
On the other hand, the conventional technique described in the Patent Document 3, which realizes the soft clip by controlling the power supply voltage of the preamplifier, is different from the present invention concerning the essential structure.
(Third Related Art)
Conventionally, various techniques are proposed for preventing damage to a speaker or burning thereof by detecting a DC output and protecting the same in a power amplifying circuit for amplifying an audio signal. Some examples thereof are disclosed in JP-A-2003-258575, JP-A-2000-152367 and JP-A-2000-151297 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Documents 4, 5 and 6, respectively), as well as in "YAMAHA Digital Amplifier IC", [online], Apr. 10, 2007, YAMAHA CORPORATION, [Searched on Nov. 1, 2007], the Internet <URL: http://www.yamaha.co.jp/news/2007/07041001.html> (hereinafter referred to as Non-patent Document 1).
The Patent Document 4 proposes a BTL amplifying system that detects and decides whether or not an offset is generated so as to prevent a load such as a speaker from damage. However, there is a problem that the BTL amplifying system proposed in the Patent Document 4 cannot be applied to a class D amplifier since it detects and protects the DC output by detecting and deciding whether or not an offset is generated.
The Patent Document 5 proposes a BTL power amplifier that detects a clip of an output voltage waveform so as to protect a speaker. However, there is a problem that the BTL power amplifier proposed in the Patent Document 5 cannot be applied to a class D amplifier since it detects and protects the DC output by detecting a clip of an output voltage waveform.
The Patent Document 6 proposes a fault detection circuit that detects an output current difference between output transistors of two BTL amplifying circuits for driving different speakers respectively so as to protect the speakers. However, there is a problem that the fault detection circuit proposed in the Patent Document 6 needs two BTL amplifying circuits for driving individual speakers, so it is difficult to protect the speaker by a single BTL amplifying circuit driving one speaker.
The Non-patent Document 1 discloses a block diagram as shown in FIG. 78, and a class D amplifier having a DC output detecting function is disclosed. However, a concrete circuit structure for detecting a DC output is not disclosed or suggested at all, so it is not clear how the DC output detecting function is realized with which circuit structure.
Furthermore, although a DC output of a class D amplifier is usually generated by a ground fault or a short-to-power fault of the input terminal or the like of the class D amplifier in a BTL output type, it may be generated also by an abnormal state that occurred in the driver. Therefore, it is desirable that a DC output generated by an abnormal state that occurred in the driver can be detected. In addition, it is also desirable that detection time for the DC output detecting function can be changed in accordance with the performance of the speaker that is connected. However, the conventional techniques described above cannot satisfy these requirements.

Output limiting circuit, class D power amplifier and audio equipment


The invention proposes a subassembly of a hydraulic variable valve train of an internal combustion engine, having a guide bushing (4) that can be installed in a hydraulic housing (3), and having a piston (5) supported therein so as to be axially movable for actuating a gas exchange valve (1), and having a valve element (7) that, together with the end face (10) of the piston distant from the gas exchange valve, defines a hydraulic pressure chamber (11) in the guide bushing, wherein the valve element is a throttle check valve that allows hydraulic medium to flow out of the pressure chamber throttled by a continuously open throttle opening (16) and allows hydraulic medium to flow into the pressure chamber with little throttling by a ball check valve (17). The subassembly is intended to be implemented as a modular unit assembled outside of the hydraulic housing, wherein the guide bushing and the valve element are fastened to one another, and the piston is secured in a captive manner in the guide bushing.

An electro-hydraulic variable valve train with a generic subassembly is apparent from EP 1,344,900 A2. An important element of this valve train—which operates, as is generally known, according to the so-called lost motion principle—in which a so-called hydraulic linkage with variable, controllable hydraulic volume runs between the input end, which is to say the cam of a camshaft, and the output end, which is to say the gas exchange valve, is a hydraulic valve brake that controls the contact speed of the closing gas exchange valve independently of the cam position and limits it to predefined values that are acoustically and mechanically acceptable.
The hydraulic valve brake is a valve element implemented as a throttle check valve. The controlled braking of the piston and consequently of the gas exchange valve, which is spring-loaded in the closing direction, is accomplished by means of the throttle opening, which produces a strong throttling of the hydraulic medium displaced from the pressure chamber in the final closing phase of the gas exchange valve. By contrast, the purpose of the ball check valve that is closed during the valve closing phase is to permit a fast initial opening speed of the gas exchange valve in that an essentially unthrottled, and accordingly comparatively large, volume flow can enter the pressure chamber when the valve ball is then opened.
The valve element is located in a fixed position in a hydraulic housing that is placed in the cylinder head of the internal combustion engine and includes the primary elements of the hydraulic valve train. The valve element is fastened in the hydraulic housing by means of a screw that braces a guide bushing against the valve element and braces the valve element against the hydraulic housing.

Hydraulic valve train of an internal combustion engine


There is provided a novel composition for oral cavity application to which a sustained release property is imparted so as to effectively exhibit the effects of a component for preventing bad odor from the oral cavity and/or a flavor component and/or an anti-dental caries component in the oral cavity. By incorporating a .beta.-2,1 linked fructose polymer as a polysaccharide together with a sweetener component, a component for preventing bad odor from the oral cavity and/or a flavor component and/or an anti-dental caries component, the residence time of the effective components described above can be prolonged in the oral cavity to enhance their effects and the residence time can also be controlled. That is, the composition for oral cavity application is characterized by sustained release of the effective components described.

Prior art compositions that have been used for application to the oral cavity generally comprise a component for preventing bad odor and/or a flavor component and/or an anti-dental caries component, and use sugars like sucrose, glucose, sorbitol, etc. as bulking agents. At the same time, sweetness is imparted by the sugars mentioned above. Various sugars may be employed as bulking agents depending on end use, but all prior art sugars dissolve rapidly and are quickly swallowed. Thus, any additives contained in a sugar composition whose effects are exhibited only when retained for long periods of time in oral cavity are not kept in the mouth long enough to be effective, and the desired results are generally not observed.

Sustained release composition for application to the oral cavity


A camshaft apparatus includes rolling bearings which support a camshaft rotatably, whereby a reduction in torque when an engine is started or is running at low speeds, a reduction in vibration of the camshaft and an extension of the lives of the bearings can be realized. In the rolling bearings, one rolling bearing is made to constitute a main ball bearing which restrains an axial relative movement of the camshaft relative to a shaft case, and the other rolling bearings are made to constitute a plurality of needle roller bearings, whereby a mechanical movement of the camshaft in an axial direction can be restricted in an ensured fashion by the main ball bearing. As to relative displacements due to thermal expansion or contraction of the camshaft and/or the shaft case, an axial relative displacement can be absorbed by needle rollers relatively moving on inter-cam outer circumferential surface areas.

The present invention relates to a camshaft apparatus which is driven to rotate in synchronism with rotation of an engine, and more particularly to a camshaft apparatus which is supported rotatably by rolling bearings.
Generally, as an example of a bearing construction for supporting a camshaft rotatably in a shaft case, there has been known a slide bearing construction in which an outer circumferential surface of a camshaft 102 is supported directly by slide bearings 104 of a shaft case 140 as shown in FIG. 4. In this case, however, since the outer circumferential surface of the camshaft 102 is brought into direct contact with the bearing portions 104, there is caused a problem of short life or generation of vibration. In addition, as is shown in FIG. 5, in the slide bearing 104, when the camshaft 102 stops rotating, the camshaft 102 falls to rest on the bearing side and is then brought into line contact with the slide bearing 104 to thereby increase friction therebetween. This then causes a problem that the increased friction will results in a remarkable torque increase when the engine is started or is running at low speeds. Further, since the slide bearing 104 permits the axial relative slide of the camshaft 102, a restriction flange 102f is formed at an end portion of the camshaft 102 which lies at an end to which a pulley 109 is attached in such a manner as to be brought into sliding contact with the shaft case 140, so as to restrict the axial movement of the camshaft 102. However, in this bearing construction, the sliding friction between the restriction flange 102f and the shaft case 140 becomes large, leading to a drawback that the torque loss becomes large.
With a view to avoiding the problems, JP-A-2006-226183 discloses a camshaft apparatus in which the slide bearings are replaced by deep groove ball bearings. By the adoption of the deep groove ball bearings, the rotational sliding friction of the camshaft is changed from sliding friction to rolling friction, thereby making it possible not only to reduce vibration but also to extend the life thereof. Further, even when the camshaft stops rotating, since the periphery of the camshaft is surrounded by balls, the camshaft does not fall, thereby making it possible to reduce the starting torque. Further, in the deep groove ball bearing, since the inner ring and the outer ring are fixedly fitted in the outer circumferential surface of the camshaft and the inner circumferential surface of the shaft case and the balls constituting rolling elements roll in such a state that the balls fit in the groove-shaped raceway surfaces of the inner ring and the outer ring, a function to restrict the axial movement of the camshaft 102 is provided. As a result, the pulley-side restriction flange which slide contacts the shaft case can be eliminated from the camshaft, this also contributing to reduction in rotational sliding friction of the camshaft.
In recent years, with a view to reducing the weight of an engine and its peripheral portions, a configuration has widely been adopted in which a shaft case is made of light metal such as an aluminum alloy. On the other hand, since the camshaft is a component used in a power transmission system, the camshaft is made of a steel material in order to ensure strength and durability. However, the periphery of the engine where the camshaft is disposed tends to be heated to high temperatures and is frequently subjected to thermal cycling occurring in association with start and stop of the engine. In this case, there exists a large difference in linear expansion coefficient between the shaft case to which the outer rings of the ball bearings are fixed and the steel material to which the inner rings of the ball bearings are fixed. Due to the portion where the camshaft is disposed being heated to high temperatures and subjected to thermal cycling, the axial relative displacement of the camshaft relative to the shaft case becomes large considerably. However, since the plurality of bearings which support the camshaft are made up of the ball bearings, the thermal relative displacement between the camshaft and the shaft case is retrained strongly. As a result, an undesirable strong preload is imparted to the ball bearings in the axial direction, whereby an increase in torque tends to be called for easily due to an increase in rotational sliding resistance, and an eccentric wear of the raceway surfaces tends to be produced easily.


A finish trim for use in dry wall construction having an elongated core that is configured with a flange having outwardly facing surfaces to which is affixed a pre-shrunk covering strip.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to drywall finish trim devices typically utilized in finishing a drywall installation at a corner or terminus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Drywall, sometimes also referred to as wallboard, is a staple in the construction industry as an economical alternative to joint compound for forming the interior walls and ceilings of rooms in residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. The materials used in drywall construction include gypsum board, plywood, fibre-and-pulp boards, and asbestos-cement boards. The large, rigid sheets are fastened directly to the frame of a building with nails, screws, or adhesives, or are mounted on furring (strips of wood nailed over the studs,joists, rafters, or masonry, which allow free circulation of air behind the interior wall). A significant advantage afforded by drywall construction is that it allows a builder to avoid the unnecessary delays attendant to the drying of wet plaster before other work can be started or before the on-site work required to achieve specific finishes may be completed. Wallboard is manufactured in both finished and unfinished forms, and finished wallboards may be faced with vinyl or other materials in a variety of permanent colors and textures so that they do not need to be painted when installed.
When employing drywall in construction, builders can easily cut the panels to any desired shape and size. However, workmen face a challenge in finishing drywall panels at an edge or corner. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to cut the edges of such panels with the precision, straightness, and smoothness that is required so that the abutted edges of adjoining panels form a straight corner that will afford an aesthetic finish. Additionally, cutting of the drywall panels exposes the soft, raw cores thereof, thus requiring some sort of covering to provide a finished appearance.
In light of the limitations of drywall tape, trim strips or corner beads are often utilized in effort to produce a seamless and aesthetically pleasing edge trim or intersection at the corners of drywall panels.
Such trim may take many different forms such as a flat strip, a corner bead having flanges diverging at any one of a number of different angles, or a J strip to cap the edge of a dry wall panel. For the purposes of this invention, the particular angular configuration is not critical, but use in conjunction with numerous different configurations presently in existence and that may be developed in the future is contemplated. Further examples of corner trims include beads with perpendicular flanges, corner trims with a rib formed at the juncture of the flanges, flanges angled at 135° to one another, those configured with somewhat of a Z shape, those with soft line corners, and those with offsets or other configurations traditionally used in the trade and known to those skilled in the art.
To enhance the finished appearance of construction finished drywall with such trim, efforts have been made to cover a hard structural core with an exterior covering of paper or paper-like material to enhance the finished appearance. It is recognized that by covering a plastic or metal core with paper, the paper will serve to cooperate with the covering on adjacent drywall panels to, when covered with a joint compound, afford a continuous smooth appearance from such panels and over the resultant trimmed joint. The compound may be sanded down and feathered in effort to provide a continuous smooth surface.
A disadvantage arising from the use of such paper covered trim cores is that during the sanding process, the workman sometimes sands through such compound and into the paper layer. This sanding tends to scuff up the fiber in the paper layer leaving somewhat of a scuffed or abraded surface, oftentimes with frayed fiber ends. This results in a discontinuous and unattractive surface. Efforts to solve this problem have led to the development of various different trims and corner beads that incorporate a protective layer constructed of either a strengthening compound or paper impregnated at the outer surface.
While these advancements may act to provide some strengthening to the covering paper, they do not adequately address the problem raised by sanding through the layer of material treated by the strengthening compound or the problems posed by separation of the paper from the core element with shrinkage of the paper cover. This issue becomes especially evident when trim strips or beads are subjected to high temperatures above about 100° F., as during storage in sheds, during transportation, or after prolonged exposure to various environmental conditions. In such instances, the paper covering will often shrink and bubble up on the core or pull away from it, particularly in any areas of any irregularity such as adjacent any shoulder or rib formed in such core. This bubbling and separation of the paper covering is often detected only at the construction site after the product has been transported and stored for preparation of the drywall phase of the construction project. Consequently, the onsite workman oftentimes reject and discard any strips with such deteriorated trim resulting in significant waste of both product and time.
Consequently, there exists a need for a durable, affordable, and aesthetically pleasing corner bead device having a paper covering not susceptible to shrinkage or rupturing at elevated temperatures or after prolonged exposure to the environment.

Method of making pre-shrunk drywall trim device


The device is arranged in the form of a complete assembly group on two plates (1,2) screwed together by spacer bolts (18). Guide slots (1a,1b,2a,2b) of similar arrangement and design serve for positively guiding a reciprocable carriage (9,10). The carriage (9,10) comprises a guide member (9) with guide rollers (12,13,33,34) which are supported on ball bearings, bars (3,4) being hinged to the guide member which at their other ends are hinged to drivers (5,6). The drivers (5) are secured to toothed belts (7,8) guided and driven by gear wheels (16,30) mounted on the plates. A carrier (10) is mounted on the guide member (9) so as to be shiftable, liftable and tiltable and supports a pivotally mounted suction plate (11,22). The guide slots are arranged in a position inclined towards the cassette (27) to be unloaded while the toothed belts (7,8) are arranged in an angular position opening in this direction. The guide slots (1b,2b) facing the cassette (27) have in their lower end areas downwardly bent guide sections (1d,2i) which in connection with the angular arrangement of the toothed belt (7,8) cause the suction members (22) to be slowed down when being lowered onto the film (30) to be unloaded.

In a known device of this type (DE 37 16 904-A1) the suction device is moved into an open cassette by means of a lever linkage and, together with the attracted sheet film, moved in the reverse direction into the area of transport rollers which further advance the sheet film removed. The bending of the attracted sheet film to release it and a compensation in height for adjustment to different cassette sizes is attained by the elasticity of specially designed suction elements and their movable mounting. However, the suction elements of this known device have only a limited range of movement. Moreover, the drive of that suction device is not sufficiently smooth and cannot be optimally controlled for adjustment to the speed most favorable for meeting the various requirements during a sequence of motions.
It is the object of the invention to design a device of the generic type such that the suction device can be reliably controlled for proper functioning and can be moreover driven such that it runs smoothly.


Wavefront measurements of eyes are typically taken when the pupil is in a first configuration in an evaluation context. The results can be represented by a set of basis function coefficients. Prescriptive treatments are often applied in a treatment context, which is different from the evaluation context. Hence, the patient pupil can be in a different, second configuration, during treatment. Systems and methods are provided for determining a transformed set of basis function coefficients, based on a difference between the first and second configurations, which can be used to establish the vision treatment.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to systems and methods for treating vision in a patient. Particular embodiments encompass treatment techniques that account for geometrical transformations in wavefront maps.
Ocular aberrations of human eyes can be measured objectively with wavefront technology. In the various fields of optics, wavefront aberrations have traditionally been represented by Zernike polynomials. Wavefront measurements of eyes are normally taken when the pupil is relatively large, and the results are often represented by a set of Zernike coefficients. Different sets of Zernike coefficients can be calculated to represent aberrations at smaller pupil sizes. Pupil sizes may change according to the lighting environment or context where a patient is situated, for example. Recently described techniques allow scaling of the expansion coefficients with Zernike polynomials, yet there remains a need for scaling approaches that can used with other basis functions, such as Taylor monomials. Moreover, there remains a need for techniques that account for other geometrical transformations, such as pupil center shift and cyclorotation.
Many current approaches to wavefront refraction and ablation shape design, such as for the treatment of presbyopia, do not consider the contribution of induced high order aberrations due to geometrical transformations which may include pupil constriction, pupil center shift, or cyclorotation. Accordingly, there is a need for a general analytical errorless approach for determining a new set of coefficients of any basis functions from an original set when an ocular wavefront map evokes a geometrical transformation that includes pupil constriction, cyclorotation, or pupil center shift, or any combination thereof. There is also a need for a general geometrical transformation technique that does not have the restriction of a sub-area definition after such a geometrical transformation. Relatedly, there is a need for an optimal analytical errorless approach for calculating wavefront refractions when a geometrical transformation occurs. There is also a need for tissue ablation profiles that include the adjustment of such geometrical transformations for the correction of high order aberrations. Further, there is often an error or discrepancy between the manifest refraction and wavefront refraction. There is a need for systems and methods for combining a CustomVue treatment with a shifted presbyopic treatment. Embodiments of the present invention provide solutions for vision treatment that address at least some of these needs.

Wavefront refractions and high order aberration correction when wavefront maps involve geometrical transformations


A high-performance thermal interface material comprising a heterogeneous copper-tin nanowire array that is ultra-compliant and that can reduce thermal resistance by two times as compared with the state-of-the-art thermal interface materials. The high-performance thermal interface material can be further used in electronic systems, ranging from microelectronics to portable electronics to massive data centers, to operate at lower temperatures, or at the same temperature but with higher performance and higher power density.

Continually increasing power dissipation has become a dominant limiting factor for the performance of modem electronics, such as computer chips, solid state lasers, high-power electronics, and LED modules. Consequently, highly effective, compact, and reliable heat removal solutions are generally required for various electronics, particularly in pursuit of concurrent size reduction and operating speed increase. Such thermal challenges are negatively impacting numerous areas from microelectronics, portable electronics and wearable devices to massive data centers. For instance, as the power density dissipated by logic chips reaches 100 W/cm2, the scaling of microelectronics, such as complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) transistors has entered a phase of "power-constrained scaling" in which power density cannot increase further without substantially improved cooling technologies.
On the other hand, due to the dramatic increase in power density, the thermal resistance of interfaces has been widely identified as a bottleneck in the thermal management of electronics, where it can constitute more than 50% of the total thermal resistance from device to cooling fluid. To resolve this critical thermal issue, a TIM that thermally bridges two surfaces must simultaneously possess high thermal conductivity for significantly reducing thermal resistance, and high mechanical compliance for accommodating the thermal stress generated due to mismatch in coefficients of thermal expansion between two joined layers that can induce fatigue of materials, and even cause delamination and device failure.
Existing TIMs such as solders, greases, gels, and epoxies cannot provide the required thermal and mechanical multifunctionality. Solder TIMs usually have high thermal conductivity but very poor mechanical compliance, due to their stiff nature. Polymer-based TIMs offer high compliance but low thermal conductivity, on the order of 1 W/m·K. Large-scale nanostructures including nanowires, nanotubes, nanofibers, and their composites, have emerged as promising materials for TIM applications. Among them, vertically aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays have generated significant interest because of the high mechanical compliance and the high intrinsic thermal conductivity of CNTs. Nevertheless, the relatively large thermal contact resistance when using CNTs severely limits their potential as TIMs because most CNTs do not have the same height due to non-uniform growth, and their ends are highly entangled.
While the copper nanowires grown from polycarbonate membranes have been measured to have a thermal conductivity as high as 70 W/m·K, their mechanical compliance and reliability under thermal cycling still remain unknown because of the crosslinks between the nanowires. A compliant polymer TIM was developed using arrays of polythiophene nanofibers in which individual nanofibers have a moderate thermal conductivity up to 4.4 W/m·K.

Metal nanowire based thermal interface materials


Methods and resulting structure of forming a transistor having a high mobility channel are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes providing a gate electrode including a gate material area and a gate dielectric, the gate electrode being positioned over a channel in a silicon substrate. A dielectric layer is formed about the gate electrode, and the gate material area and the gate dielectric are removed from the gate electrode to form an opening into a portion of the silicon substrate that exposes source/drain extensions. A high mobility semiconductor material, i.e., one having a carrier mobility greater than doped silicon, is then formed in the opening such that it laterally contacts the source/drain extensions. The gate dielectric and the gate material area may then be re-formed. This invention eliminates the high temperature steps after the formation of high mobility channel material used in related art methods.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to semiconductor device fabrication, and more particularly, to methods of forming a transistor, and the transistor so formed, including a channel of a high mobility semiconductor material.
2. Related Art
Semiconductor devices have continued to decrease in size. One challenge facing continued size reduction is developing high performance devices with smaller gate lengths. One approach to increase performance with smaller gate lengths is to increase the carrier mobility, i.e., electron and/or hole, in the channel. Although it is possible to obtain higher carrier mobilities with strained silicon, much higher mobilities can be achieved by using a different semiconductor material in the channel other than silicon. For example, hole mobility in silicon-germanium (SiGe) and germanium (Ge) is known to be much higher than in silicon. However, using a bulk material other than silicon presents huge integration and device design challenges. For example, defects due to the relaxation of SiGe are a large problem. In addition, diffusion enhancement of n-type dopants in SiGe and Ge makes it very challenging to obtain advantageous ultra-shallow junctions. Moreover, most of the process steps such as silicidation and surface cleaning are currently unsatisfactory. As a result, it continues to be easier and cheaper to use silicon as a bulk material and use the high mobility materials only in the channel.
In order to achieve a SiGe or Ge channel transistor structure, SiGe or Ge can be epitaxially grown on silicon to include a strain. Unfortunately, however, exposure of these materials to required high temperature steps, e.g., for implant damage annealing, can relax the strain, causing a multitude of defects to form. These defects can make the devices inoperative and/or can cause large yield losses. Moreover, high temperature steps can cause too much n-type dopant diffusion through these materials and can cause the source/drain regions to short, or can cause significant short channel effects. Strained materials such as SiGe exhibit better critical thickness and stability at lower temperatures. For example, a higher Ge concentration SiGe can be stable on silicon if it is grown and maintained at lower temperatures. Unfortunately, no process currently exists to generate this structure and not expose the materials to high temperature steps.
Another approach to increase mobility in silicon is to use super steep retrograde wells (SSRW). The term "retrograde well" indicates that the well is formed using an approach in which the highest concentration of dopant (implanted) in the well is located at a certain distance from the surface, which makes the gate electrode smaller and less susceptible to punch-through. The term "super-steep" indicates that the transition from the lower concentration of dopant to the higher concentration is fairly abrupt, i.e., a dopant profile has a super-steep attribute at the transition. SSRW devices are advantageous because they can have undoped silicon in the channel because short channel effects can be controlled by the steep well. A challenge relative to SSRW devices, however, is controlling dopant diffusion into the undoped silicon channel during the high temperature steps. The undesired diffusion can happen either from the steep wells or from source/drain extensions.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need in the art for a process that does not suffer from the problems of the related art.

Transistor having high mobility channel and methods


A wheel assembly for large off-road mining vehicles wherein an electric motor and drive system for each wheel is combined with a hydrodynamic retarder. The hydrodynamic retarder is mounted such that a rotor is directly connected to an electric motor shaft where typically a disc-type parking brake is mounted. This arrangement eliminates any possible mechanical failure of a gear train or other power reduction or increasing device which would otherwise result in the loss of braking.

This invention relates to improvements in motor vehicles, particularly off-road haulage type vehicles such as large ore dump trucks and the like having very large wheels.
Extremely large off-road vehicles are becoming widely used in many industries, particularly in the mining industry and also in the large construction industry, and the like. The excessive size and weight of these vehicles have created many problems in the construction and operation thereof for both efficiency and safety purposes. The wheels of said vehicles are exceptionally large, usually requiring tires in excess of 10 feet in diameter. The power to such vehicles has generally consisted of an engine, transmission, drive line, differential, and rear axle. Time is of the essence in a typical mining situation. The time, that is, the time a loaded vehicle travels between its loading site to its unloading site, and then its return to the loading site, is critical to efficient use of these large off-road vehicles. Many of the mining operations have steep uphill and downhill grades; and due to the desire for high speed, long haul, and long downhill grades, the usual service brakes of these vehicles have not been adequate to retard the speed. It has been found that during braking operation that a common disc brake system, for example, generates a considerable amount of heat, and the metallic material from which the disc is constructed frequently "seizes" the elements to which it is secured, or fuses thereto, resulting in dangerous situations and expensive down time. Hydrodynamic retarders, i.e. water brakes, have been used on such vehicles to relieve the service brakes of the excessive retarding requirements. Typically, however, the retarder is installed in the drive line of the power transmission system.
In later years, the design of such vehicles has progressed to the use of hydraulic and electrical wheel driven vehicles. As such, an electric or hydraulic motor driving means is located in each rear wheel and through a gear reduction system, the entire mechanical drive between the engine and the wheel was eliminated. By installing an alternator/generator or hydraulic pump on the engine, flexibility between the engine and wheels was obtained by transferring power through electric lines or hydraulic tubing. The electric wheel-driven design eliminated the transmission and drive train normally required. Braking of the vehicle was achieved by switching the electric motor to an electric generator during severe downhill braking requirements. The energy developed by the vehicle descending a steep grade is then converted from mechanical energy to electrical energy by the wheels driving the generator/motor. The generated electrical current is then dissipated as heat in an electrical resistance. The heat generated in the electrical resistance is then transferred to the surrounding air by forced convection, i.e. cooling of the electrical resistance. It has been found that resistance of such an electrical regarding system achieves temperatures of 1200.degree. F. to 1300.degree. F. Since the energy transfer rate is directly in proportion with the temperature differential, the four-fold temperature increase resulted in quadrupling the retarded energy. Although the electrical retarding of vehicles resulted in an advantage of continuous retarding, one disadvantage resulted. DC electric motors used on vehicles have a definite torque-speed relationship, but the same characteristic whether the motor is being used as a power source or as a generator absorbing power or energy. As the speed of the motor increases, the torque developed or absorbed decreases. In order for the torque output as a motor or the torque input as a generator to remain constant, the electrical current must increase with speed. The electrical current must flow through the contact between the brushes and the commutators. As the shaft speed increases, the current must be decreased, to prevent arcing or flashover between the brushes and the commutator. Otherwise, the commutator will be damaged. Due to this mechanical limit of electrical current versus speed, the electric motor-driven type of off-road vehicle has very little retarding torque at high speeds, thus restricting the maximum possible speed of the vehicle. If the operator of such a vehicle exceeds the maximum speed on a grade and uses the backup service brakes to slow the vehicle in order to continue down the grade, should he exceed the maximum speed again, there is no means of stopping the vehicle since the service brakes become hot and will fade or become inoperative. For example, a 300,000 lb. vehicle must not exceed 22.5 miles per hour on a twenty percent (20%) grade or 24.5 miles per hour on an eighteen percent grade.

Hydrodynamic retarder for large off-road electric wheel driven vehicles


Data integrity between multiple databases with redundant data fields is enhanced by a synchronization method which adapts to unspecified database formats by a flexible format definition, identification of a data origin and identification of data targets to significantly improve data integrity and update efficiency in legacy database systems.

The daily operation of business, governmental and other types of organizations has become increasingly dependent upon the use of computerized systems to keep track of necessary data. A large organization typically has a number of systems with databases of information for different purposes. Typically these databases contain redundant data. A familiar example is the multiple forms a new employee is typically asked to fill out, for things such as payroll, tax, insurance, phone listing, and perhaps things such as parking permits. Although each form is for a different purpose, the person is asked for some of the same data such as name, address and Social Security number for each form. Each form eventually is input into a computer system, thus leading to the creation and maintenance of multiple databases which have some common, redundant information. Conceptually, all the organization's database needs could be covered by a single, comprehensive system wherein each purpose or application would be as a defined subset of the whole. However, such is not the case in practice, and for a number of reasons any given organization probably has a large and growing number of databases as new systems are being added and new functions are being automated. When the common data changes, this necessitates changing data in each of the data systems, a process which involves considerable effort, cost, and the possibility of introducing mistakes.
The field of telecomnmuications management presents a number of situations where common pieces of information are needed in a number of disparate systems. The most common example is an employee's name. A change in an employee's name happens frequently in large corporations. It includes everything from the exact spelling e.g. "John" vs. "Jon" or the inclusion of a middle initial or Jr. designation to people who have just been married and taken the name of their spouse.
When an employee wishes to change the exact appearance of their name, as many as seven or more databases must be updated with the changed information.
Here are some examples:
a. Telephone Switch or PBX: This system uses an individual's name to display it on a telephone to let called parties know who is calling them. PA1 b. Voice Mail: These systems include the name of an individual attached to voice mailboxes in the form of a directory. A caller from outside the company can key in, by touch tones (DTMF), the letters for an individual's last name. At the point where the sequence becomes unique, the voice mail system will prompt the caller to record a message in the recipient's voice mailbox. PA1 c. Directory Service: When a caller calls into the company's main reception desk, they will ask for an employee by name. Since the telephone system needs an extension number to extend the call, a cross-reference must be available. Directory Service applications must have a list of employee names and an up to date extension number to transfer the call. PA1 d. Call Accounting: When employees make long distance phone calls, their calls are tracked by a call accounting system. This system will produce reports on both usage and abuse. The system needs the name of the individual that corresponds to each extension number to make the reports more clear. Without this information, abuse reports and telephone bills must be constantly cross-referenced. PA1 e. Cable Management: As corporations manage their cable plant, it is more efficient to show the individual's name at the termination point of each cable. PA1 f. Inventory Control: These systems track property of the corporation. It is helpful to show, by name, who in the company is using a particular piece of equipment. PA1 g. Work Order Entry: When entering work orders for service, it is helpful to show the individual's name associated with each trouble ticket. Corresponding work orders should also show the name of the individual for whom the work is being done for.

Automatic external data synchronization method


A method for manufacturing a studded flow channel (38) results in enhancing the heat transfer performance of a hydraulically expanded heat exchanger such as a coiled tube boiler (10). The studs are machined or rolled into a flat metal sheet (20) prior to forming a cylinder. One cylinder (28) is rolled so that the studs are located outside the cylinder while another embodiment positions the studs on the inside of a cylinder. The cylinders are positioned one inside the other and electron beam welded to form a helical weld path (16). A pressure fitting (34) is attached to the welded cylinder (36) and hydraulic pressure (P) is applied to deform the cylinders (28, 32) between the helical weld path thus creating a studded flow channel (38).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a method of improving heat transfer in stored chemical energy powered coiled tube boiler and, in particular, to a method for enhancing the heat transfer performance of such a coiled tube boiler manufactured with a hydraulic expansion technique by providing fins or studs on the expanded coils.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are a variety of power sources operating from heat derived in the oxidation of metallic lithium, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,964,416 and 4,634,479. U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,416 converts this energy to steam to drive a turbine for propulsion of underwater vehicles. In such devices, it is desirable not to exhaust the products of combustion into the sea.
The Stored Chemical Energy Propulsion System (SCEPS) as disclosed therein employs a lithium-fueled boiler which supplies steam to a turbine. The turbine is connected to a gearbox that drives the propulsor. The boiler consists of two helical coils, an inner and an outer coil, arranged to provide an annular cylindrical cavity for the lithium fuel. Each helical coil is fabricated from stainless steel tubing that is coiled and welded to form the inner and outer containment walls of the boiler. The heat source in the boiler is a result of an exothermic chemical reaction between lithium fuel and injected sulfur hexafluoride (SF.sub.6) which acts as the oxidant. The heat generated by the exothermic reaction is transferred from the lithium-fuel side of the boiler to the inside of the tubing and converts feedwater into steam.
Hydraulic expansion manufacturing techniques are known for creating flow channels. U.S. Pat. No. 4,295,255 issued to Weber describes a method of manufacturing a cooling jacket assembly for a control rod drive mechanism. This technology has further been applied to creating a flow channel as depicted in FIG. 1 and is referred to hereinafter as a coiled-tube boiler. The flow channel finds particular utility for both the inner and outer helical coils of the SCEPS boiler as depicted in FIG. 7. To fabricate a flow channel (inner or outer helical coil), one cylinder (12) is placed inside another cylinder (14) and an electron beam welder (not shown) spirally welds in a helical weld path (16) the two cylinders (12, 14) together. After welding, hydraulic pressure is applied between the welds (16) of the two cylinders (12, 14). As the hydraulic pressure increases, the cylinders (12, 14) deform between the helical weld paths (16) creating a flow channel (18) as is illustrated in FIG. 1.
It is also known in the art that internal ribs in tubes increase heat transfer performance as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,088,494 and 4,044,797. These ribs are provided in the tubes after the tube is formed by milling, machining, drawing or swaging processes known in the art.
There are tubes of very hard materials such as Inconel 625 which are extremely difficult to provide ribs in. Also, it can be very costly to form ribs in long sections of tubing. Moreover, in small diameter tubing, it is difficult and sometimes not even practical to form ribs therein.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/666,276 filed Mar. 7, 1991 which is assigned to the Assignee of the present invention and hereby incorporated by reference discloses a method for forming ribs in a coiled tube boiler.
During operation of the SCEPS boiler, by-products of the lithium reaction deposit and freeze on the outer and inner coils when the metal temperature is below about 1450.degree. F. This creates an insulating layer for the coil which decreases the thermal output of the boiler as the operation proceeds.
Studs (2) have been employed on tube membrane walls (3) in conventional boilers for holding a refractory (4) in place on the hot side as shown in FIG. 2. The studs or pins (2) are welded to the tubes (3) at close intervals and covered with a slag-resistant refractory material. This construction increases furnace temperature to maintain the coal, peat, or lignite ash in a liquid state.
It is desirable to improve heat transfer in a stored chemical energy powered coiled tube boiler and other hydraulically expanded heat exchangers. The method should allow for a rapid and simple fabrication of studs or fins in hard materials and on small nonuniform diameter tubing.

Enhanced stored chemical energy powered boiler


A gas mask and breathing equipment air cleaning cartridge (1) with a carbon dioxide-binding chemical packing (4) and an insert (3). The insert has legs (6) arranged in a radiate pattern perpendicularly to the direction of flow. The legs (6) have a flexibility that compensates for differences in the filling ratios of the strands (5) of chemical and have an identical bent zigzag-shaped designs to provide good heat distribution in the circumferential direction and good resistance to vibrations and shocks.

An air-cleaning cartridge of the above-described class has become known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,193,966. The prior-art air-cleaning cartridge has individual inserts arranged in a radiate pattern, which are accommodated in a cylindrical cartridge housing and whose intermediate spaces are packed with a carbon dioxide-binding chemical. The inserts are made of solid, metallic material and have legs extending in a radial direction, which converge in a center and whose free ends are in contact with the wall of the cartridge housing.
It is disadvantageous in the prior-art air-cleaning cartridge that the intermediate spaces of the legs can be packed only at a limited packing density because of the rigidity of the legs, as a result of which such air-cleaning cartridges are not resistant to vibrations and shocks during operation. Resistance to vibrations and shocks means in this connection that the chemical must not be "crushed" during the use of the apparatus when, e.g., a gas mask and breathing equipment is worn by a person for several years for a possible emergency use in underground mining. In addition, only radial heat conduction within the air-cleaning cartridge is possible with an insert of the above-described class. If a substance that binds carbon dioxide and generates oxygen, e.g., potassium peroxide, is used as the chemical packing, good heat distribution or heat storage capacity by the insert in both radial direction and circumferential direction, rather than heat conduction in the radial direction alone is necessary for uniform breathing from the air-cleaning cartridge.
Swiss Patent No. CH-PS 207,614 discloses an air-cleaning cartridge in which uniform packing density is achieved by packing a wire screen strip with a chemical and subsequently winding it helically. To guide the flow within the air-cleaning cartridge, ribs, which may have a zigzag or corrugated design, are provided within the wire screen strip. This is the to lead to uniform heat distribution and breathability of the air-cleaning cartridge.
It is disadvantageous in the prior-art air-cleaning cartridge that the use of a wire screen strip is expensive, and packing the wire screen strip cannot be carried out at a favorable cost in mass production. In addition, the amount of chemical with which the air-cleaning cartridge can be packed is reduced by the volume of the wire screen strip. However, since the external dimensions of the air-cleaning cartridges have been extensively specified by standardization, inserts must be designed with the smallest possible volume. In regard to dynamic load-bearing capacity, an air-cleaning cartridge with a wire screen strip as the insert has only limited shock resistance, because the wire screen strip may undergo permanent deformation under the effect of loads, as a result of which the uniform packing density is destroyed.

Air cleaning cartridge for a gas mask and breathing equipment with an insert


A polarizer can have high contrast. This high contrast polarizer can be useful in applications requiring minimal leakage of an undesired polarization through the polarizer. The high contrast polarizer can include a substrate sandwiched between a reflective polarizer and an absorptive polarizer. The high contrast polarizer can include a reflective polarizer sandwiched between a substrate and an absorptive polarizer. The high contrast polarizer can include an absorptive polarizer sandwiched between reflective polarizers.

Polarizers can divide light into two different polarization states. One polarization state can pass through the polarizer and the other can be absorbed or reflected. The effectiveness or performance of polarizers is based on a very high percent transmission of one polarization (e.g. Tp) and minimal transmission of an opposite polarization (e.g. Ts). It can be beneficial to have high contrast (e.g. Tp/Ts). Some applications require ultra-low Ts, and thus very high contrast.


Polypeptide antigens are disclosed which are immunoreactive with sera from individuals having a non-A, non-B, non-C, non-D, non-E Hepatitis, herein designated Hepatitis G Virus (HGV). Corresponding genomic-fragment clones containing polynucleotides encoding the open reading frame sequences for the antigenic polypeptides are taught. The antigens are useful in diagnostic methods for detecting the presence of HGV in test subjects. The antigens are also useful in vaccine and antibody preparations. In addition, the entire coding sequences of two HGV isolates are disclosed. Methods are presented for nucleic acid-based detection of HGV in samples and also methods for the isolation of further genomic sequences corresponding to HGV.

Viral hepatitis resulting from a virus other than hepatitis A virus (HAV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been referred to as non-A, non-B hepatitis (NANBH). NANBH can be further defined based on the mode of transmission of an individual type, for example, enteric versus parenteral.
One form of NANBH, known as enterically transmitted NANBH or ET-NANBH, is contracted predominantly in poor-sanitation areas where food and drinking water have been contaminated by fecal matter. The molecular cloning of the causative agent, referred to as the hepatitis E virus (HEV), has recently been described (Reyes et al., 1990; Tam et al.).
A second form of NANB, known as parenterally transmitted NANBH, or PT-NANBH, is transmitted by parenteral routes, typically by exposure to blood or blood products. The rate of this hepatitis varied by (i) locale, (ii) whether ALT testing was done in blood banks, and (iii) elimination of high-risk patients for AIDS. Approximately 10% of transfusions caused PT-NANBH infection and about half of those went on to a chronic disease state (Dienstag). After implementation of anti-HCV testing, HCV seroconversion per unit transfused was decreased to less than 1% among heart surgery patients (Alter).
Human plasma samples documented as having produced post-transfusion NANBH in human recipients have been used successfully to produce PT-NANBH infection in chimpanzees (Bradley). RNA isolated from infected chimpanzee plasma has been used to construct cDNA libraries in an expression vector for immunoscreening with serum from human subjects with chronic PT-NANBH infection. This procedure identified a PT-NANBH specific cDNA clone and the viral sequence was then used as a probe to identify a set of overlapping fragments making up 7,300 contiguous basepairs of a PT-NANBH viral agent. The sequenced viral agent has been named the hepatitis C virus (HCV) (for example, the sequence of HCV is presented in EPO patent application 88310922.5, filed Nov. 18, 1988). The full-length sequence (.about.9,500 nt) of HCV is now available.
Primate transmission studies conducted at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC; Phoenix, Ariz., 1973-1975; 1978-1983) originally provided substantial evidence for the existence of multiple agents of non-A, non-B hepatitis (NANBH): the primary agents associated with the majority of cases of NANBH are now recognized to be HCV and HEV (see above), for PT-NANBH and ET-NANBH, respectively. Later epidemiologic studies conducted at the CDC (Atlanta, Ga., 1989-present) using both research (prototype) and commercial tests for anti-HCV antibody showed that approximately 20% of all community-acquired NANBH was also non-C. Further testing of these samples for the presence of HEV (Reyes, et al., WO A 9115603 (Genelabs Inc.) 17, Oct. 1991) have indicated that these cases of community-acquired non-A, non-B, non-C hepatitis were also non-E.
Liver biopsy specimens, sera and plasma of Sentinel County patients (study of Drs. Miriam Alter and Kris Krawczynski) also showed that many bona fide cases of NANBH were also non-C hepatitis (serologically and by Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR; Kawasaki, et al.; Wang, et al., 1990) negative for all markers of HCV infection) developed subsequently into chronic hepatitis with presentation of chronic persistent hepatitis (CPH) or chronic active hepatitis (CAH) consistent with a viral infection.

Hepatitis G virus and molecular cloning thereof


Compounds having a selective N-type calcium channel antagonistic activity are provided. Dihydropyridine derivatives represented by the following formula:

The present invention relates to new dihydropyridine derivatives and the use of the dihydropyridine derivatives as medicines. The activation of N-type calcium channel is concerned with various diseases, for example, acute stage of ischemic cerebrovascular disorders caused by cerebral infarction or intracerebral bleeding (including subarachnoidal hemorrhage); progressive neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, AIDS related dementia and Parkinson's disease, dementia due to cerebrovascular disorder and ALS; neuropathy caused by head injury; various pains such as pain caused by spinal injury, diabetes or thromboangiitis obliterans, postoperative pain, migraine and visceral pain; various diseases associated with psychogenic stress such as bronchial asthma, unstable angina and irritable colitis; emotional disorder and withdrawal symptoms after addiction to drugs such as ethanol addiction withdrawal symptoms. The compounds of the present invention can inhibit the activation of the N-type calcium channel and, therefore usable as therapeutic agents for these diseases.
Calcium channels are now classified into subtypes of L, N, P, Q, R and T. Each subtype of calcium channels is organ-specifically distributed. It is known that particularly N-type calcium channel is widely distributed in pars centralis, peripheral nerves and adrenomedullary cells and participates in neuronal cell death, regulation of blood catecholamine level and control of senses such as perception.
It has been confirmed that omega conotoxin GVIA and omega conotoxin MVIIA, which are peptides selectively inhibiting N-type calcium channel, inhibit the release of excitatory neurotransmitters in the sliced brain preparation. It is also confirmed in animal experiments that they inhibit the progress of neuronal necrosis associated with cerebrovascular disorders. It is generally considered that compounds having a N-type calcium channel blocking action are clinically effective in the treatment of acute stage of ischemic cerebrovascular disorders caused by cerebral infarction or intracerebral bleeding (including subarachnoidal hemorrhage); progressive neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, AIDS related dementia and Parkinson's disease, dementia due to cerebrovascular disorder and ALS; and neuropathy caused by head injury. Further, it is confirmed in animal tests that omega conotoxin MVIIA relieves a pain induced by formaldehyde, hot plate and peripheral neuropathy. Accordingly, omega conotoxin MVIIA is considered to be clinically effective against various pains such as pain caused by spinal injury, diabetes or thromboangiitis obliterans, postoperative pain, migraine and visceral pain. In addition, because omega conotoxin GVIA inhibits the release of catecholamine from cultured sympathetic ganglion cells, catecholamine secretion from canine adrenal medulla and the contraction of the isolated blood vessel by electric stimulation of the perivascular nerve, it is considered that compounds having N-type calcium channel-blocking effects are clinically effective against various diseases related to psychogenic stress such as bronchial asthma, unstable angina and irritable colitis [Neuropharmacol., 32, 1141 (1993)].
Some peptidergic and non-peptidergic compounds which selectively affect N-type calcium channels have been ever disclosed (see, for example, WO 9313128 and WO 9849144). However, none of them was actually used as a medicine. Some of the compounds which affect N-type calcium channels are also effective against various types of calcium channels of other than N-type [British Journal of Pharmacology, 122 (1) 37–42, 1997]. For example, compounds having an antagonistic effect on L-type calcium channels which are very closely related to hypotensive effect, could not be used for diseases for which N-type antagonists will be used (such as cerebral stroke, neuralgia, terminal cancer pain and pain of spinal injury). Under these circumstances, the development of a highly active antagonist selective toward N-type calcium channel has been eagerly demanded.

Abstract: analogs thereof and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof have an activity of selectively inhibiting the action of N-type calcium channel, and they are used as therapeutic agents for various diseases relating to N-type calcium channel.