A composite material being excellent in heat conductivity is provided. In order to realize this, a fibrous carbon material made of fine tube form structures constituted with single-layer or multiple-layer graphene is present to form a plurality of layers within a substrate made from a spark plasma sintered body of a metal powder, a mixed powder of a metal and ceramics, or a ceramic powder. The fibrous carbon material constituting each layer is made of a mixture obtained by mixing a small amount of a small diameter fiber 2 having an average diameter of 100 nm or less with a large diameter fiber 1 having an average diameter of 500 nm to 100 μm.

As the fibrous carbon material, a carbon nanotube (CNT) and a vapor growth carbon fiber (VGCF) are well known. Both the carbon nanotube and the vapor growth carbon fiber are fine tube form structures constituted with graphene, and are differentiated by the difference in the lamination structure and the fiber diameter associated therewith, as will be described below.
Graphene is a net of honeycomb structure in which six carbon atoms are regularly arranged in a two-dimensional manner, and is also referred to as a carbon hexagonal net plane. The substance in which this graphene is laminated with regularity is referred to as graphite. A single-layer or multiple-layer fine tube form structures constituted with this graphene is a fibrous carbon material, and includes both a carbon nanotube and a vapor growth carbon fiber.
That is, the carbon nanotube is a seamless tube in which graphene is rounded in a tubular shape, and may be a single-layer one or a multiple-layer one in which the layers are concentrically laminated. The single-layer one is referred to also as a single-layer nanotube, and the multiple-layer one is referred to also as a multiple-layer nanotube.
Also, the vapor growth carbon fiber is one having, in a core part, a graphene tube of a single layer or plural layers in which graphene is rounded in a tubular shape, namely a carbon nanotube, where graphite is laminated in a radial direction of the graphene tube so as to surround the core part in a multiple manner and in a polygonal shape, and is referred to also as a super multiple-layer carbon nanotube because of its structure.
In other words, the single-layer or multiple-layer carbon tube that is present at the central part of a vapor growth carbon fiber is a carbon nanotube.
Various composite materials are proposed in which it is intended to improve the heat conductivity and the electric conductivity by a fibrous carbon material while taking advantage of the features of a metal or ceramics by allowing such a fibrous carbon material to be contained in a metal, ceramics, or a mixture thereof. A representative composite material is a composite material in which carbon nanotubes are compounded into a substrate made from a metal, ceramics, or a mixture thereof.
However, the fibrous carbon material is essentially short and is not continuous in one direction. Therefore, even if it could be oriented in one direction, it would be difficult to improve the heat conductivity to a great extent. That is, the carbon nanotube is thin and short. Typically, the carbon nanotube is present by being entangled in a cotton form. Recently, some have appeared that have a high straightness and can be strongly oriented in one direction. On the other hand, the vapor growth carbon fiber is comparatively thick and long, and has a good straightness, so that it can be relatively easily oriented in one direction, whereby the heat conductivity can be improved more easily as compared with the carbon nanotube. However, even with that vapor growth carbon fiber, a large amount of vapor growth carbon fiber is needed to improve the heat conductivity to a great extent, thereby inviting aggravation of economical property.
In the meantime, the length of a carbon nanotube is several hundred μm and the thickness is 100 nm or less, whereas the length of a vapor growth carbon fiber is at most 2 to 5 cm and the thickness is 500 nm to 100 μm.
Under these circumstances, the present inventors are continuing to make researches on a structure capable of effectively utilizing the electric conduction property, the heat conductivity, and the strength property of a fibrous carbon material in a composite material in which a fibrous carbon material such as a carbon nanotube is compounded in a substrate, based on commission of development by the Independent Administrative Agency, Japan Science and Technology Agency. During this process, the present inventors have previously developed a composite material having extremely high heat conductivity in which fibrous carbon material layers are laminated at a predetermined interval in a spark plasma sintered body of an aluminum powder (see Patent Document 1).    Patent Document 1: International Publication WO2006/120803 pamphlet
This composite material is, for example, a cylindrical body. In the case of a cylindrical body, spark plasma sintered body layers of an aluminum powder and carbon fiber sheets in which fibrous carbon materials are oriented in a specific direction perpendicular to the central line are alternately laminated in a central line direction thereof, whereby it is particularly excellent in heat conductivity in the orientation direction of the fibrous carbon material in the carbon fiber sheet (the direction perpendicular to the central line in the case of a cylindrical body).
As the fibrous carbon material used herein, a thick and long vapor growth carbon fiber is advantageous. A thick and long vapor growth carbon fiber also has a high orientation property. The heat conductivity rises to about 300 W/mK when the vapor growth carbon fiber is contained at 30 wt %, while the heat conductivity of an aluminum powder sintered body serving as a substrate is about 200 W/mK. That is, the heat conductivity increases by about 1.5-fold when the vapor growth carbon fiber is contained at 30 wt %. Also, the heat conductivity rises to 500 W/mK, which is about 2.5-fold of that of the substrate, when the vapor growth carbon fiber is contained at 60 wt %.
However, even with a vapor growth carbon fiber, a fibrous carbon material is essentially expensive. A carbon nanotube has a low orientation property because of being thin and short, and the price is further higher. A long one having a high straightness property is developed; however, a long one is especially expensive. Due to these circumstances, development of an economical high heat conduction composite material that can reduce the amount of use of the fibrous carbon material as much as possible while maintaining high heat conductivity is waited for.


A message management facility is described herein that is hosted by a networked node, in a process control network environment, that is separate from a control processor. The message management facility routes a stream of messages received from the control processor to a set of destinations on a supervisory network. By interposing the message management facility on a node that is interposed, in a message steam, between alarm message sources (control processors) and alarm message sinks (workstations, printers, historians), a number of additional functions can be implemented to carry out a number of advanced functions. Examples of such functions include: table-based routing of a single alarm to a number of destinations on an application network, suppressing alarm showers by applying a criterion to received messages when shower conditions have been sensed, invoking commands based upon a configured category assigned to particular identified messages prior to delivery of the message to its final destination, and invoking actions in response to event/mode status changes (including re-prioritizing alarms).

Industry increasingly depends upon highly automated data acquisition and control systems to ensure that industrial processes are run efficiently, safely and reliably while lowering their overall production costs. Data acquisition begins when a number of sensors measure aspects of an industrial process and periodically report their measurements back to a data collection and control system. Such measurements come in a wide variety of forms. By way of example the measurements produced by a sensor/recorder include: a temperature, a pressure, a pH, a mass/volume flow of material, a tallied inventory of packages waiting in a shipping line, or a photograph of a room in a factory. Often sophisticated process management and control software examines the incoming data, produces status reports, and, in many cases, responds by sending commands to actuators/controllers that adjust the operation of at least a portion of the industrial process. The data produced by the sensors also allow an operator to perform a number of supervisory tasks including: tailor the process (e.g., specify new set points) in response to varying external conditions (including costs of raw materials), detect an inefficient/non-optimal operating condition and/or impending equipment failure, and take remedial actions such as move equipment into and out of service as required.
Typical industrial processes are extremely complex and receive substantially greater volumes of information than any human could possibly digest in its raw form. By way of example, it is not unheard of to have thousands of sensors and control elements (e.g., valve actuators) monitoring/controlling aspects of a multi-stage process within an industrial plant. These sensors are of varied type and report on varied characteristics of the process. Their outputs are similarly varied in the meaning of their measurements, in the amount of data sent for each measurement, and in the frequency of their measurements. As regards the latter, for accuracy and to enable quick response, some of these sensors/control elements take one or more measurements every second. When multiplied by thousands of sensors/control elements, this results in so much data flowing into the process control system that sophisticated data management and process visualization techniques are required.
Highly advanced human-machine interface/process visualization systems exist today that are linked to data sources such as the above-described sensors and controllers. Such systems acquire and digest (e.g., filter) the process data described above. The digested process data in-turn drives a graphical display rendered by a human machine interface. Such data includes mode changes, events, and alarm messages rendered by process controllers in response to a variety of detected process conditions/circumstances.
Process alarm messages are traditionally sent from plant control processors to alarm displays on workstations to notify operators of plant upsets. Generally, alarm messages are issued by control processors when a measured or calculated value is rendered outside a pre-configured range. The plant controller transmits the generated alarm to one or more operator workstations coupled to a separate (e.g., application) network. Detection, generation and transmission of alarms can potentially place a heavy load on a controller.
Known process control systems support a variety of alarm ordering techniques including assigning alarm priorities and filtering alarm messages according any of a variety of characteristics. The alarm prioritization/filtering functionality carried out by the control processor assists operators in assessing plant/process status and facilitates expedited correction of problems as they arise in a plant process. In general, the alarm priorities are relatively fixed and are changed through human intervention. Prioritizing alarms/messages alone will not avoid overwhelming an operator with a shower of alarm messages during a major plant failure or succession of cascading process/plant component failures. Overlooking a particular alarm or class of alarms, during an alarm shower can lead to harm to both humans and the plant itself.

Message management facility for an industrial process control environment


This device, a nursing cover-up (10), allows a nursing mother to breast feed her child in public without fear of exposing herself to others, but allows herself to view the child during the feeding (19). The nursing cover-up is a piece of fabric attached to the front of the mother's clothing by clips, clamps, or fasteners (12A & 12B) or by optional neck strap (17). The nursing cover-up has a flexible shapeable coated wire (15) sewn into the upper edge of the nursing cover-up (10) that provides support to the nursing cover-up allowing the mother to shape or mold the edge of the nursing cover-up outward (19); thus permitting her to see the child throughout feeding while prohibiting others from seeing in. The shield and slit opening (16 & 18) provides access for the mother's hand to the underside of the nursing cover-up permitting her to move or manipulate her nipple as needed. A pocket is provided for storage (20). This device can be produced in a one size fits all which is easy to take on and off. It can be folded small enough to fit into a diaper bag or purse. The fabric is light and the sides are open which allows ample ventilation for the child.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a cover which provides privacy for use by a nursing mother while breast feeding a baby in a public place.
2. Description of Related Art
There exists many forms of blankets and coverings for a woman's upper torso for use in screening a mother's breast from view when in public. While traditional blankets and diapers have been used for this purpose, a blanket or diaper draped over her shoulder will not enable the mother to view the breast feeding baby and there is no way of securing the blanket or bib to the mother, thus risking the possibility of slipping off and exposing the mother's breasts.
As a result, numerous types of securable privacy coverings have been developed. These privacy coverings have either been securable at the mother's shoulder (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,964,172; 4,989,268; and 5,038,411) or around her neck in the manner of a bib (for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,631,754; 4,716,597; 4,924,528; 4,987,612; 5,034,999; 5,259,068; and 5,479,662). The first type provide only a limited coverage area, posing problems if the child is nursed from both sides due to the need to remove and reposition the shield on the opposite shoulder when switching sides, and their holding mechanisms (e.g. a hook-like component) could be uncomfortable if too small or fall off or slip if too big.
The bib type privacy shields have possessed other deficiencies. For example, if secured around the neck of the mother, a bib type covering has a tendency to drape itself over the child and if large enough to provide adequate coverage of the mother's torso, provides little ventilation to the baby and obstructs the ability of the mother to view the baby. To alleviate this situation, various techniques have been utilized. In the case of U.S. Pat No. 5,479,662, the privacy covering for nursing mothers disclosed therein is fastened to the mother by use of a hook and loop self-adhering detachable closure and a curved flexible flat strip is hemmed into a central portion of the upper edge of a blanket which allows viewing of the child. However, in practice the privacy covering falls against the mother's chest and does not stand out on its own. The strip is too heavy and has inadequate structural strength to allow visibility for the mother without the use of her hand(s) to move the strip and look in.
Also in the case of U.S. Pat. No. 4,631,754, the nursing scarf disclosed herein is tied so as to produce a neck opening substantially larger than the wearer's neck opening and the upper margin of the scarf is pleated, to provide an opening through which the mother may view her nursing baby. Nevertheless, in practice, the pleats have little structural strength and with a opening that is large enough to insure the ability to view the child, it would be difficult to arrange the scarf so as to achieve both sufficient screening of the nursing child relative to onlookers and visibility for the mother.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,716,597, a nursing garment is disclosed which is in the form of a poncho that is worn by placing it over the head of the mother. In an attempt to enable the mother to be able to view her baby, a rigid hoop is hemmed into the neck opening. However, because the rigid hoop must be large enough to allow the mother's head to pass through it and there is no means to hold it in a horizontal position, it has a tendency to hang against the mother's chest, effectively blocking the visibility of the child. Moreover, such a poncho type garment is large and cumbersome to carry around and creates the problem that the mother's hair has the possibility to become messed-up as a result of putting it on and off, thereby making it use undesirable.


A photograph assistance device for assisting a stationary camera in photographing a curved surface of cylindrical objects, such as a finger print wrapped around a bullet casing or soda can. The cylindrical object is moved at a constant speed into a photograph area of the camera while rotated at a constant rotating speed. The moving speed of the object is preferably determined so that the object can successfully pass through the photograph area of the camera while the camera and stop is adjusted for a small diameter opening for the best depth of field. The rotating speed of the object is preferably determined so that the image of the object can be rotated onto the field without producing a distorted image, that is, a stretched or compressed image.

1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to photography, and more particularly to an apparatus for assisting a camera in photographing cylindrical objects.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
It is sometimes required to photograph a curved surface of a cylindrical object, such as a fingerprint, for example, on a coat hanger, a soda can, a cartridge casing, or cocaine tooter. However, it is arduous to take several different-angled pictures of the cylindrical object and compose them later into one entire view of the cylindrical object. Accordingly, some attempts have been made to provide devices for automatically photographing the curved surface of the cylindrical object. One such device, for example, is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,462,218 issued Aug. 19, 1969 to Pfaff. Pfaff's device moves a camera in a direction parallel to a diameter of a stationary cylindrical object. Although Pfaff's device can automatically photograph several different-angled pictures of the object it has the following disadvantages, namely: Pfaff's device can photograph only a 180.degree. view of the object; the object's image taken by the camera includes distortion since the camera is not moved parallel to the circumference of the cylindrical object; and the object's image taken by the camera is blurred since the camera is moved while vibrated slightly.
An alternative device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,659 issued Feb. 8, 1983 to Ogawa. Ogawa's device arranges a cylindrical object on a first disk, and a slit camera and a mirror on a second disk. The 360.degree. view of the object reflected in the mirror is photographed by the camera by rotating either the first disk or the second disk. The successive film frames are exposed in synchronization with the relative rotation of the object. Although Ogawa's device can automatically photograph the 360.degree. view of the object, it has the following disadvantages, namely, Ogawa's device requires the expensive slit camera in which film is fed continuously behind the slit and it is difficult to synchronize the film feeding speed and the rotation speed of the object.
Yet another device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,457,603 issued Jul. 3, 1984 to Gebhart et al. Gebhart et al. discloses a stationary camera and a rotating cylindrical object. Although Gebhart's device can automatically photograph the 360.degree. view of the object, it has the following disadvantages, namely, Gebhart's device requires, like Ogawa's device, a specific camera in which film is fed continuously behind the slit and it is difficult to synchronize the film feeding speed and the rotation of the object.
Japanese Patent Application No. 52-40327 filed by Tomita and Laid-Open Mar. 29, 1977 discloses another device in which three stationary cameras are placed at different-angled positions. Although Tomita's device can automatically photograph three different-angled pictures of the object it has the following disadvantages. Tomita's device can photograph only a 180.degree. view of the object and it is arduous to compose three pictures into one entire view of the cylindrical object.
Other patents which may be deemed of interest is U.S. Pat. No. 3,471,236 issued Oct. 7, 1969 to Pearson which discloses a prism for an optical stroboscope; U.S. Pat. No. 3,517,447 issued Jun. 30, 1970 to Fox which discloses an optical-reimaging system; U.S. Pat. No. 3,820,130 issued Jun. 25, 1974 to Cornelison, Jr. et al. which discloses a golf instruction device; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,063,259 issued Dec. 13, 1977 to Lynch et al. which discloses a method of matching a golfer with a golf ball, a golf club or style of play.

Apparatus for assisting camera in photographing cylindrical objects


The present invention comprises an improved organic composite-plated steel plate which is obtained by applying a thermosetting resin to a chromate-coated alloy-plated steel plate and curing this, wherein, various aqueous resin compositions having the form of basic coating film formation components, such as, for example, aqueous vinyl modified epoxy ester resins, or aqueous vinyl modified epoxy ester resin / blocked isocyanate compound-types, or aqueous vinyl modified epoxy ester resin / blocked isocyanate compounds / colloidal silica-types, are used as the thermosetting resin described above. In accordance with the present invention, it is possible to provide an organic composite-plated steel plate which is novel and has extremely high applicability in a form in which an aqueous resin (composition) for organic composite coating, which has superior adhesion with adhesives, superior continuous welding properties, superior post-working corrosion resistance, and superior electro-deposition coating properties, and moreover, has superior coating material adhesion and corrosion resistance, and the coated surface of which, after electro-deposition coating, has particularly superior shininess (smoothness), and which furthermore has superior rust resistance and does not use large amounts of organic solvent, is pre-coated onto a metallic material.

As a result of problems associated with organic solvents constituting in coating materials, such as the combustibility thereof, atmospheric pollution, worker safety, and sanitation problems, it has been hoped a rapid shift from organic-solvent-based coating materials to water-based coating materials.
On the other hand, in the field of automobiles, steel household items, and household electrical appliances, the use of pre-coated metal materials has been increasing in order to improve productively.
Accordingly, in the field of surface preparation and coating, as well, in order to respond to such demands, various coating material compositions for use in pre-coated metal materials have been developed; however, in this field, as well, the shift from conventional organic-solvent-based coating materials to water-based coating materials is strongly desired.
Furthermore, in systems employing conventional organic-solvent-based coating materials, in order to obtain the conductively which is a necessary condition for conducting an electro-deposition coating, the invention disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application, Second Publication, No. Sho 45-2430 and Japanese Patent Application, Second Publication, No. Hei 4-6882, disclose zinc-rich coating materials. Such zinc-rich coating materials are capable of electro-deposition coating; however, the smoothness of the coated surface is insufficient. Furthermore, in such zinc-rich coating materials, the coating film is unstable with respect to rust produced in the case in which corrosion occurs, and it is impossible to guarantee corrosion resistance over a long period of time (resistance to rust cannot be guaranteed), and moreover, after working, the coating film is easily fractured, and thus the resistance to corrosion after working is poor.
On the other hand, the inventions disclosed in Japanese Patent Application, Second Publication, No. Sho 52-44569, Japanese Patent Application, Second Publication, No. Sho 58-19706, and Japanese Patent Application, First Publication, Laid-Open No. Sho 51-79138 and Japanese Patent Application, First Publication, Laid Open No. Sho 58-138758 provide coating materials having a form into which conductive pigment is blended in order to make electro-deposition coating possible.
However, in such coating materials, particulate pigment possessing a relatively large particle diameter, wherein the average particle diameter is 1 micron (.mu.m) or more, such as metallic powders of zinc, metallic carbide powders, or metallic phosphate powders, are employed as the conductive pigment. For this reason, unevenness is produced on the coating film which is formed, or, during press working, flaws resulting from the conductive materials which are added are deposited on the surface of the steel plate, and such unevenness or flaws remain on the surface of the electro-deposited coating, and as a result, even after two or three coats, there is a problem in that such unevenness or flaws remain on the coating film surface, and there is a disadvantage in that, as a result thereof, it is also impossible to guarantee rust resistance.
Furthermore, in Japanese Patent Application, First Publication, Laid Open No. Sho 58-224174, Japanese Patent Application, First Publication, Laid Open No. Sho 60-197778, Japanese Patent Application, First Publication, Laid Open No. Sho 60-199074, and Japanese Patent Application, First Publication, Laid Open No. Sho 60-174879, inventions relating to organic composite silicate coating films and steel plates coated with such coating films are disclosed. These organic silicate coating films do not contain conductive pigments and are extremely thin coating films having a thickness within a range of 0.2.about.5.0 microns (.mu.m ), and possess high corrosion resistance as a result of bonds between an organic binder and colloidal silica, so that such coating films represent a noticeable improvement, particularly in press workability.
However, the problem of unevenness in the electro-deposited coating film is present, and in particular, there is a problem in that the coating film thickness of the electro-deposited coating film formed on the organic composite silicate coating film varies greatly in correspondence with the variation in the thickness of the organic composite silicate coating film. That is to say, in places in which the organic composite silicate coating film is thick, the electro-deposited coating film becomes thick, while in place where the coating film is thin, the electro-deposited coating film becomes thin. Accordingly, there is a problem in that as a result of the electro-deposited coating film, those unevennesses are magnified. Additionally, all of these organic composite silicate coating films exhibit a tendency to have poor rust resistance.
Furthermore, the problems described above were solved to a considerable extent by means of methods disclosed in Japanese Patent Application, First Publication, Laid Open No. Sho 62-2833161, and Japanese Patent Application, First Publication, Laid Open No. Hei 3-269067; however, these methods possess problems. That is to say, in these methods, the use of a special organic solvent, or the use of special additives, was necessary, and there was a problem in that the adhesion thereof with adhesives such as vinyl chloride sol or the like is poor, and in addition, the electro-deposited coating film lacks a sense of glossiness, that is to say, the coating film is not shiny, and the smoothness thereof is insufficient. In addition, since it is necessary to apply an extremely thin coating film, it is necessary to sufficiently dilute the coating material which is used, and in order to do this, it is necessary to employ a large amount of organic solvent.
In view of the problems and defects present in the conventional technology, the present inventors began research in order to obtain an organic composite-plated steel plate which did not have the problems described above and was novel and possessed great usefulness.
That is to say, the present invention has as an object thereof to provide an organic composite-plated steel plate which is novel and possesses great usefulness, is in a form in which an aqueous resin for organic composite coating which, in particular, has superior adhesion with adhesives, has superior continuous weldabilities, has superior resistance to corrosion after working, and superior electro-deposition coating, and moreover, has superior coating material adhesion and resistance to corrosion, and in particular, the coated surface of which has superior shininess (smoothness) after electro-deposition coating, and furthermore, which has superior rust resistance and the like, and which additionally does not employ large amounts of organic solvent, is pre-coated on a steal material.

Organic composite-plated steel plate and resin composition for coating material used therein


The present invention provides a gas barrier film including a plastic film and a thin film which is made of a composition containing an oxide as a main component and is formed on at least one surface of the plastic film. A specific gravity of the thin film is 55% or more and 100% or less of a specific gravity of the oxide in the form of a crystal generally present at room temperature and under atmospheric pressure. Thus, the invention provides a gas barrier film having an excellent gas barrier and retort properties and bending resistance; a gas barrier film suitably used in a wrapping material for dried food, liquid food or food containing liquids, frozen food and retort food; a gas barrier film that can be used in an electronic oven, can be sterilized by micro waves and can contain a free-oxygen absorber; a gas barrier film suitably used in a paper carton, a tube, a lid and the like; and a gas barrier film suitably used for cutting off gas for industrial use.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a film used in wrapping materials that is required to be airtight such as wrapping materials for food, medicine and electronic components, the wrapping materials having excellent gas barrier and retorting properties and bending resistance (gelbo characteristics).
2. Description of the Related Art
As a conventional gas barrier film, the following films are known: films comprising a plastic film coated with a vinylidene chloride copolymer or a copolymer of ethylene and vinyl alcohol; and films comprising a plastic film having a thin film of aluminum or an oxide (such as silicon oxide and aluminum oxide) laminated thereon.
However, the former films have an insufficient gas barrier property against vapor, oxygen and the like. Particularly, when such films are used at a high temperature, the gas barrier property is markedly low. Moreover, the films comprising the vinylidene chloride copolymer have a problem of affecting the environment since they generate chlorine gas when incinerated.
Among the latter films, those having a thin film of aluminum are economical and have an excellent gas barrier property. However, since the film is opaque, the contents therein can not be seen from the outside. Moreover, when the film is used for wrapping retort food, it can not be cooked in an electronic oven since micro waves do not penetrate the film.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,442,686 describes a transparent flexible gas barrier film comprising an inorganic thin film such as a film of silicon oxide and aluminum oxide evaporated on a surface of a synthetic resin film substrate and a film further comprising another resin film laminated on the gas barrier film.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 51-48511 discloses a gas barrier film comprising Si.sub.x O.sub.y (for example, SiO.sub.2) evaporated on a surface of a synthetic resin. When such a silicon oxide type film is used for wrapping, the contents therein can be seen from the outside since it is transparent. Such a film can be used in an electronic oven.
But the above described films have only an insufficient gas barrier property. Among such films, one having a particular composition, that is, one having a SiO.sub.y (wherein y=1.3 to 1.8) type thin film has a relatively excellent gas barrier property. However, it has a brownish color. In addition, the gas barrier property and the bending resistance of such a silicon oxide type film are still insufficient. "Having a bending resistance" means not losing a gas barrier property by bending a film in steps after forming a film. (for example, steps of laminating, printing and making bags) or by careless handling of the film. The bending resistance is evaluated by measuring the gas barrier property after the gelbo treatment.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 62-101428 discloses a gas barrier film comprising a thin film containing aluminum oxide as a main component. This film is completely transparent and chemically stable, and the material costs are small. However, the gas barrier property against oxygen and bending resistance are not sufficient. Moreover, the film requires careful handling because the thin film itself is brittle.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2-194944 discloses an Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 --SiO.sub.2 type film as a gas barrier film with a retort property. "Having a retort property" means having an excellent airtightness and flexibility even after a high temperature treatment. The retort property is evaluated, for example, by measuring the gas barrier property under a condition for producing retort food. The Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 --SiO.sub.2 type film comprises an Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 layer and a SiO.sub.2 layer laminated successively on a plastic film. A large scale machinery is required for the production of such a film. The gas barrier property and bending resistance of such a film are not sufficient either.
Further, a gas barrier film comprising a layer made of a composite oxide (an oxide containing two or more kinds of metals) formed on a film substrate is known. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 1-176069 discloses an M--Si--O type gas barrier film, wherein M is at least one kind selected from the group consisting of Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Mo, Ag, In, Sn, Sb and V. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Nos. 61-297134 and 61-297137 disclose a MgO--SiO.sub.2 type and a MgO--CaO type gas barrier films, respectively. However, none of these films has a sufficient gas barrier property, an excellent bending resistance and a retorting property.
The thin film formed on the plastic film must be as thin as possible in order to improve the bending resistance and, the contrary, the thin film must have a certain thickness (for example, 2000 angstroms) so as to improve the retort property. When a film comprising an aluminum oxide thin film laminated on a plastic film is used for wrapping retort food, a range of a preferable thickness of the film is particularly small. Moreover, the film used for wrapping retort food is required to be resistant against conditions of the various steps of production such as the heat sealing step, a printing step and the like when it is made into a bag.
As described above, a transparent gas barrier film with satisfactory gas barrier and retort properties and an excellent bending resistance has not been provided.


A zero insertion force socket for an electronic package comprises a cover (20) which is slidably mounted on a base (10). The cover has a package mounting surface (22) which defines a plane. A cam mechanism (30) which is operable for sliding the cover on the base is pivotable on an axis (36) that extends perpendicular to the plane of the package mounting surface.

A zero insertion force socket for a pin grid array or ball grid array electronic package or the like typically includes a base, a cover and a cam actuator. The base holds an array of contacts in respective cavities, the contacts being matable with a corresponding array of leads on the electronic package. The cover is slidable over the base between open and closed positions. When the cover is in the open position the leads can be freely inserted into the cavities, and when the cover is in the closed position the leads are electrically mated with their respective contacts. The cam actuator is operable to move the cover over the base between the open and closed positions. Previous cam actuators such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,217 include a lever arm which is connected to rotate a cam on a horizontal axis. The cam is mounted in a tunnel between the base and the cover, and a portion of the cover over the tunnel is relatively tall compared to the remainder of the cover. Space limitations in modern electronic assemblies, particularly laptop computers, are continually being reduced. A problem with the prior art ZIF sockets is that the cam actuator is too high. There is a need to reduce the height of the cam actuator in a zero insertion force socket.


In a double-clutch transmission, a clutch of an input shaft which is not synchronously rotated with a output shaft is connected to synchronize the speed of rotation of the input shaft with that of the engine, and the rotational speed of the input shaft is measured to thereby detect a engine rotational speed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present Invention relates to a double-clutch transmission which enables continuous shift transmission by a synchromesh mechanism with interruption of power transmission suppressed to a minimum by use of two clutches and two input shafts.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an automatic transmission of a vehicle, there is a double-clutch transmission. For the double-clutch transmission, for example, a constantly meshing gear mechanism in which a drive gear and a driven gear constantly engage with each other is used, which suppresses loss of power transmission during shift transmission.
For the structure of this double-clutch transmission, a structure that combines an input system using two clutches and two input shafts having drive gears with an output system using two output shafts having driven gears and a synchromesh mechanism is adopted.
Specifically, in the input system, for example, a plurality of advance shift levels are divided into shift level groups of an even number of shift levels and an odd number of shift levels. Each drive gear of the odd-number shift level group is installed to one of the first and second input shafts connected to a clutch, respectively. Each drive gear of the even-number shift level group is installed to the other input shaft. The rotational force of the engine is transmitted to the first and second input shafts via each clutch.
For the output system, there is used a structure to distribute each driven gear that meshes with each drive gear and a synchromesh mechanism that transmits the rotational force to each driven gear to the first and second output shafts installed in parallel to the first and second input shafts.
According to the above-mentioned input system and output system, for example, after the shift of the odd-number transmission shift level is finished, while the engine rotation to be input from the clutch to the first input shaft, that is, the motive force, is being generated from one output shaft, the drive gear of the subsequent even-number transmission shift level is synchronized with the other output shaft by the synchromesh mechanism to get ready for the gearshift operation of the subsequent shift level.
Consequently, when a gear is shifted in the subsequent shift level, the first input shaft is disconnected from the engine output shaft, and a clutch that connects the second input shaft to the engine output shaft is operated to connect them to change over to the shift level group that utilizes the second input shaft; then, immediately, the gear is shifted to the subsequent even-number shift level.
Then, when a gear is changed to the odd-number shift level, allowing the shift level of the first input shaft to get ready for the gearshift operation in the same manner as described above while the engine rotational force is being transmitted through the second input shaft can complete the gearshift operation to the subsequent odd-number shift level by changing over both clutches. Therefore, a loss of motive force transmission can be suppressed in the gearshift operation from a low-speed gearshift level to a high-speed gearshift level, for example, for first to sixth gear speeds.
This kind of technology is disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2006-52832.
Note that, in this kind of double-clutch transmission, for control of the clutch operation, sensors to measure the rotational speed of the first and second input shafts are installed. Specifically, two sensors, one sensor that measures the rotational speed of the first input shaft and the other sensor that measures the rotational speed of the second input shaft, are installed.
On the engine side, a sensor that detects the engine rotational speed is installed. On the double-clutch transmission side, information on the engine rotational speed is conveyed. The double-clutch transmission controls the operation of each clutch in accordance with the engine rotational speed and rotational speeds of the first and second input shafts.
On the other hand, when the information on the engine rotational speed is not conveyed to the double-clutch transmission because, for example, the sensor that measures the rotational speed on the engine side fails, the automobile enters a failed state.
When the automobile enters such state, the shift position is fixed to, for example, the third gear speed to enable the automobile to travel to a safe place.
However, in the case where the shift position is changed to the third gear speed under the conditions that the engine rotational speed is not known, or in the case where the engine rotational speed does not correspond to the third gear speed, cases in which the clutch is destroyed, etc. may be assumed. Consequently, to control each clutch, for example, an auxiliary sensor that detects the engine rotational speed is installed on the engine side. This auxiliary sensor measures the engine rotational speed and the measurement results are conveyed to the double-clutch transmission side.
However, in a structure to install auxiliary sensors on the engine side to achieve fail-safe as described above, sensors increase in number.
When the number of sensors increases, consideration must be given to cost increase and installation space, which is not desirable.

Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha


A method and apparatus for measuring the characteristics of microstructures by modulating a sample using a modulated source and utilizing a microscope to magnify a desired sample area and direct a monochromatic probe light source onto the desired microstructure of the sample. The probe light is reflected by the sample and the reflectance spectra is directed by the microscope and thereafter, is detected and transmitted to a computer to record or display the measured characteristic. Further, the computer is also used to control the brightness of the monochromatic probe light and to control the modulation frequency of the modulated source. The wavelength of the monochromatic probe light can also be varied by the computer. The magnification of the microscope can be varied so that the desired microstructure is visible and the probing light spot is precisely placed on it. The desired sample microstructure can be precisely located within the viewing field of the microscope through the use of an indicator like a cross line indicator.

In the study of bulk semiconductor materials and low-dimensional semiconductor materials, it is very desirable to be able to accurately measure physical characteristics such as energy levels, critical points, electric-field distribution dopant concentration, etc. These characteristics may be measured using reflectance spectrometry which is a contactless and nondestructive measuring system that can operate at room temperature. The measurement of these characteristics is important for evaluating the quality and homogeneity of semiconductor materials.
The use of modulation reflectance spectrometry as a measuring system is known and is discussed at length in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,287,169; 5,260,772; 5,255,071; 5,255,070; and 5,159,410, all to Pollak. The contents of those patents are incorporated herein by reference.
The technique of modulation reflectance spectrometry measures the effect that a periodically modulated source has on the reflectance spectra of a given sample, instead of directly measuring a given characteristic of the sample.
For instance, photoreflectance (PR) spectrometry uses a modulated light source. Electroreflectance (ER) spectrometry uses a modulated electric field. Other modulation methods can be used such as piezomodulation, thermal modulation, wavelength modulation, etc.
In the case of PR, a modulated light source and a monochromatic light source are directed at a sample through the use of lenses or mirrors. The modulated light source affects various parts of the sample differently depending on specific transitions in the sample composition and structure. The reflectance spectra of the sample is determined by the reflectance of the monochromatic light. The reflected light is received by a detector such as a photodiode, photoconductor, etc. The detector produces signals that are used to measure the desired characteristic and to adjust a variable neutral density filter. The neutral density filter regulates the intensity of the monochromatic light source for normalization.
In the case of ER, the sample is placed in a condenser-like system comprised of a pair of electrodes that produce a modulated electric field in response to an electromodulation source. As with the above noted PR system, a monochromatic light source is directed at the sample and the reflected light is received by a detector which produces signals that are used to measure the desired sample characteristic and to normalize the monochromatic light source.
The problem in the past has been that these systems could only operate on sample sizes with an area of more than 1.0 mm.sup.2. This was due to a limitation in the prior art reflectance systems which could not collect the reflected light of a focused optical spot that was smaller than 1.0 mm.sup.2. This corresponds to an area which is considerably larger than the discrete segments (e.g., gate junctions) that comprise semiconductor devices and prevents the prior art reflectance systems from being used to characterize small-size semiconductor devices and microstructures. This characterization is very important in the analysis of semiconductor materials.
Oftentimes, the purpose of analyzing semiconductor materials is to ascertain the qualities of the various sample areas. These qualities are determined by the various conditions under which a given semiconductor material is grown. Imperfections in the semiconductor material are indicative of improper growth conditions (e.g., temperature, vacuum, growth material, etc.) and to correct these imperfections it is necessary to be able to isolate specifically what step in the process of fabrication caused the imperfections. To do this, one must be able to measure specific microstructures within the semiconductor material.
A further problem with the prior art reflectance system is that it is very difficult to set up the monochromatic light source and the detector to measure the characteristics of a specific desired portion of the sample such as a specific gate junction.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to utilize a method of micro-reflectance spectrometry that is capable of measuring sample sizes and sample areas smaller than 1.0 mm.sup.2.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved apparatus that utilizes micro-reflectance spectrometry to characterize sample sizes smaller than 1.0 mm.sup.2.
A further object of this invention is to provide a method of directing a probing light spot through the use of a microscope capable of achieving a spatial resolution of less than 1.0 .mu.m utilizing micro-reflectance spectrometry.
A still further object of this invention is to provide an improved apparatus that utilizes micro-reflectance spectrometry and is capable of achieving a spatial resolution of less than 1.0 .mu.m.

Method and apparatus for determining characteristics of microstructures utilizing micro-modulation reflectance spectrometry


A dynamic model is stored in memory that defines torque transmitted by the lockup clutch as a function of a plurality of torque converter operating parameters. A lockup clutch command is asserted to control engagement the lockup clutch, and thereafter a number of the plurality of torque converter operating parameters are monitored. A profile is selected of one of the plurality of torque converter operating parameters, and the profile is configured to result in an intersection of rotational speeds of the pump and the turbine over time when inserted into the model along with the monitored values of the number of torque converter operating parameters. The model is continually solved over time using the selected profile and the monitored operating parameters to produce transmitted torque values, and the lockup clutch command is modified based on the transmitted torque values.

Torque converters are commonly used as an interface between an internal combustion engine and a transmission having a number of automatically selectable gear ratios. Some torque converters include a so-called lockup clutch that is connected between the pump and turbine of the torque converter, and that is engaged under certain operating conditions to rigidly connect the pump and turbine together. It is desirable to control torque transmitted by the lockup clutch during the lockup clutch engagement process.

System and method for controlling engagement of a lockup clutch in a torque converter


Sixteen membered macrolide anti-infective agents having a structure according to formula I

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to 16-membered macrolide anti-infective agents and methods for making and using them.
2. Description of Related Art
Both 14- and 16-membered macrolide antibiotics have been used extensively in human and veterinary medicine. These compounds bind to bacterial ribosomes and inhibit protein synthesis. Erythromycin A, the prototype 14-membered macrolide antibiotic, has a limited activity spectrum and unpleasant gastrointestinal side effects due to an acid catalyzed rearrangement resulting in the creation of derivatives that have high affinity for the motilin receptor. These issues have prompted a large effort in the design of semisynthetic analogs of erythromycin A, leading to compounds such as clarithromycin (Biaxin™), azithromycin (Zithromax™), and the more recently developed ketolides, telithromycin (Ketek™) and cethromycin (ABT773).
In addition to the efforts in the 14-membered macrolide area, there have been considerable efforts in the 16-membered macrolide area. Illustrative disclosures relating to semi-synthetic 16-membered macrolide antibiotics include: Theriault, U.S. Pat. No. 3,784,447 (1974); Gorman et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,459,853 (1969); Lukacs et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,058 (1990); Narandja et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,023,240 (1991); Maring et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,014 (1992); Hecker et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,545,624 (1996); Jaynes, U.S. Pat. No. 5,677,287 (1997); Narandja et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,924 (1997); Narandja et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,922,684 (1999); Or et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,680,299 B2 (2004); Katz et al., US 2002/0128213 A1 (2002); Ma et al., US 2004/0014687 A1 (2004); Hamao et al., EP 0,070,170 A1 (1983); Narandja et al., EP 0,287,082 (1988); Lopotar et al., EP 0,410,433 A2 (1991); Narandja et al., EP 0,985,679 A1 (2000); Hamao et al., JP 62-221695 A (1987); Tanaka et al., J. Antibiot. 35 (1), 113-116 (1982); Sakamoto et al., J. Antibiot. 37 (12), 1628-1634 (1984); Debono et al., J. Antibiot. 42 (8), 1253-1267 (1989); Ruggeri et al., J. Antibiot. 42 (9), 1443-1445 (1989); Maring et al., J. Antibiot. 44 (4), 448-450 (1991); Grandjean et al., J. Carbohydrate Chem., 15 (7), 831-855 (1996); and Narandja et al., J. Antibiot. 52 (1), 68-70 (1999); the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Due to the continuing emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains, there exists an ongoing need for new antibacterial compounds. We have discovered new 16-member macrolide antibacterial compounds having a useful spectrum of activity against various bacteria.

Sixteen-member macrolide antiinfective agents

Abstract: where R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, and R6 are as defined herein, and related compounds are disclosed.


A method of recording data includes forming a plurality of codewords by error correction coding a predetermined amount of inputted data according to a predetermined method, and recording the data including the plurality of codewords to the small-sized optical disc in a recording unit of a shorter length than a predetermined track of an inner circumference region of the small-sized optical disc.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of error correction coding, and a method and apparatus for recording data using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Information recording media include magnetic discs such as floppy discs and hard discs, magnetic tapes, semiconductor memory chips such as ROMs and RAMs, and optical discs such as CDs and DVDs.
The recording capacity of an optical disc has rapidly increased along with the development of semiconductor techniques and signal processing techniques, and the price of optical discs is relatively low.
Information recorded on an optical disc is recorded in block units with a predetermined size. The block unit in which data is recorded is also a basic unit for error correction coding (ECC). A size of an ECC block used in a conventional optical disc is generally 32 Kbytes or 64 Kbytes.
Attempts have been made to use the optical disc as an information recording medium for recording and/or reproducing both sound and images simultaneously with a portable electronic device such as a camcorder.
However, the use of the optical disc in such a portable electronic device like a camcorder has a few shortcomings. That is, the size of the optical disc, generally 80 mm or 120 mm, is too big for a camcorder, and power consumption is too high using the conventionally sized optical disc.
Accordingly, to use the optical disc as an information recording medium for a portable electronic device, an optical disc with a smaller size, but higher recording density, than a conventional optical disc is required.
When recording and reproducing data with a conventional size of an ECC block unit on a small-sized optical disc having a diameter of 30-50 mm, a problem may occur in correcting errors when reproducing recorded data.
For error correction coding in a conventional DVD, a Reed-Solomon Production Code (RSPC) is used. In the case of the RSPC, an ECC block unit includes 416 recording frames corresponding to 32 Kbytes of user data. One sync frame includes 1488 channel bits, and one channel bit is 0.133 μm long. Therefore, the length of the unit ECC block in a track direction is 82,328.064 μm, which is equivalent to a circumference of a circle with a radius of 13.1 mm. Accordingly, when the ECC block unit used in the conventional DVD is recorded within a region inside the radius of 13.1 mm, the ECC block unit will occupy more than one track. Therefore, when recording a conventional ECC block unit to a small-sized optical disc having a diameter of 30-50 mm, it is inevitable to record the error correction data on two or more tracks.
FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing showing an inner circumference region of a small-sized optical disc, on which data with a conventional ECC block unit is recorded.
Referring to FIG. 1, when a 64 Kbytes ECC block unit is recorded from an inner circumference region to an outer circumference region in the data recording region within a radius of 6 mm from the center of a small-sized optical disc, the conventional ECC block unit is recorded in the regions from point A to point D. That is, when recording the ECC block unit from the innermost circumference region of the small-sized optical disc, the ECC block unit is recorded on two tracks, thereby generating an overlapping region in a radial direction by the ECC block unit. If there is a scratch in a radial direction on an overlapping region on which the unit ECC block is recorded, a serious error may occur in the ECC block unit, thereby reducing an error correction capability remarkably.
That is, if an ECC block unit is not recorded in only one track, but recorded in two tracks of a small-sized optical disc, the error correction capability of the recorded ECC block unit is remarkably reduced if there is any defect such as a scratch on the inner circumference region.
This problem occurs not only when the RSPC is used as an ECC format, but also occurs when a long distance code (LDC) is used.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,049, an ECC block unit includes 304 LDCs generated according to RS (248, 216, 33), and 24 burst indicator subcodes (BIS) generated according to RS (62, 32, 33). An ECC block unit includes 64 Kbytes of user data and 496 recording frames. Each recording frame includes a Sync pattern, 152 bytes of ECC data, and 3 bytes of BIS.
When 8 bytes are modulated to 12 bytes according to a modulation method of Run Length Limit (RLL) (1, 7), and if the number of Sync patterns is 20, the length occupied by the ECC block according to the Channel Bit Length (CBL) and ECC format in a track direction is 937,440×CBL.
A length of an ECC block disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,049 is equal to a length of the circumference of a circle with a radius of 149,274×CBL. Since error correction corresponding to a length of 64 recording frames is possible according to the ECC format, the maximum error correction length is 120,960×CBL.
Therefore, when the CBL is 0.100 μm, a radius of a circle having a circumference equal to the length of the ECC block is 14.93 mm, and the maximum error correction length is about 12.10 mm.
When the CBL is 0.090 μm, a radius of a circle having a circumference equal to the length of the ECC block is 13.43 mm, and the maximum error correction length is about 10.89 mm.
When the CBL is 0.080 μm, a radius of a circle having a circumference equal to the length of the ECC block is 11.94 mm, and the maximum error correction length is about 9.68 mm.
When the CBL is 0.070 μm, a radius of a circle having a circumference equal to the length of the ECC block is 10.45 mm, and the maximum error correction length is about 8.47 mm.
When the CBL is 0.060 μm, a radius of a circle having a circumference equal to the length of the ECC block is 8.96 mm, and the maximum error correction length is about 7.26 mm.
Practically, an optical disc having a diameter of 120 mm does not have an overlapping region for these ECC blocks because the recording commences beyond a radius of 20 mm. However for a small-sized optical disc having a diameter of 30˜50 mm, the radius to commence recording data has to be small to record as much data as possible.
In the case of applying the ECC format of 64 Kbytes disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,049 to a small-sized disc in which the recording or storing data commences from a radius of about 6˜9 mm, and when the CBL is larger than 0.060 μm, inevitably the ECC block unit is recorded to two or more tracks.
If the CBL is 0.070 μm, and one recording frame includes 1890 channel bits, a length occupied by the recording frame is 132.3 μm. Accordingly, a 2 mm scratch can affect about 16 consecutive recording frames. In this case, an error of 8 bytes is caused to the RS (248, 216, 33) code, and an error of 16 bytes will be caused when the scratch occurs on an overlapping region on which an ECC block unit is recorded to two tracks.
Assuming that an erase correction is performed on the scratched region and a Byte Error Rate is 10−3, the block error rates (BER) when an 8 bytes error and a 16 bytes error occur in an ECC block unit are shown in Table 1.
TABLE 18 bytes of error16 bytes of errorBER when a scratch is 1 mm7.8 * 10−202.5 * 10−16BER when a scratch is 2 mm2.5 * 10−161.1 * 10−9
Referring to Table 1, the BER when a scratch occurs on a region in which an ECC block unit is overlapping on two tracks is more than double that of an error when a scratch of the same length occurs on a region in which an ECC block unit is in one track.
A length L of the ECC block unit occupying a length of recording medium in the track direction is a multiple of channel bit numbers CBN of the ECC block, a minimum mark length MML according to a numerical aperture and laser wavelength, and a channel bit length CBL defined by a modulation code. That is, L=CBN×MML×CBL.
At the same modulation code, by increasing the density of recording lines (reducing minimum mark length), and by decreasing the length of the channel bit, the length of the ECC block can be reduced, thereby minimizing or removing a region overlapping two or more tracks by an ECC block unit.
However, an effect of an error causing problem such as a scratch or a finger print is increased in an inversely proportional manner to the reduction of the channel bit length. Consequentially, the effect of an error increases with the reduction of the channel bit length, even though the size of the error causing problem does not change. That is, if the length of the channel bit is reduced, the length of the maximum error correction of the ECC block is also reduced. Therefore, the reduction of the length of channel bit as a way of recovering the error correction capability of the ECC block on an overlapping region accompanies a problem of reducing the maximum error correction length of the ECC block.
Therefore, in a case when reducing the size of the ECC block at a fixed channel bit length (the minimum mark length is equal to the modulation code) and at the same parity ratio, the maximum error correction length may also be reduced. The maximum error correction length under a structure of the ECC format proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,049 is determined by adding parity of a codeword existing in the ECC block unit to an interleaving depth between codewords. That is, the maximum error correction bytes are 9728 because the ECC format is RS (248, 216, 33) code x 304.
Consequentially, since the size reduction of the ECC block maintaining the parity ratio results in the reduction of an interleaving depth or the reduction of an amount of user data, and adding parity of a codeword, the maximum error correction bytes will be reduced. Accordingly, the reduction of an error correction capability, including a maximum error correction length, will appear.
As described above, when a circumference on a region of the optical disc to which the ECC block is recorded or stored is shorter than the length of the unit ECC block, the unit ECC block is recorded to two or more tracks, thereby reducing the error correction capability, which results in lowering the reproducing reliability.
A conventional optical disc has a structure of recording regions in which a lead-in region, a user data region, and a lead-out region are sequentially formed from an inner circumference region to an outer circumference region. Generally, important information for reproducing data of the optical disc is recorded to the inner circumference region corresponding to the lead-in region.
Therefore, the reduction of error correction capability of the ECC block unit recorded in the inner circumference region becomes a serious problem.

Method of error correction coding, and apparatus for and method of recording data using the coding method


Copper bearing alloy comprises more than 4% by weight and up to 35% by weight of Bi, 0.2 to less than 1.5% by weight of Pb and the rest of Cu. This considerably improves the erosion resistance while maintaining the excellent seizure resistance and fatigue strength.

Cu-Pb bearing alloy is known in the art, as is Cu-Pb bearing alloy which also contains Bi (see Japanese Patent Publications No. 36,415/1978, No. 9,295/1974 and No. 47,284/1978).
Cu-Pb bearing alloy generally exhibits excellent seizure resistance and fatigue strength, but is subject to an erosion of Pb layer as the lubricant used becomes degraded, with a consequent likelihood of causing a seizure or abnormal abrasion.


A device for making it possible to set reference data in a digital correlator with a high speed includes a digital correlator, a PN (pseudo-noise) code generator and a counter. The reference data outputted by the PN code generator are inputted to the digital correlator by reference register clocks. At the same time, these clocks are counted by the counter and when this count value arrives at a number of chips of the reference data, input of the reference data is terminated.

FIG. 7 shows a basic circuit construction of a prior art digital correlator.
In the figure, R and S represent N bit shift registers; Ex-NOR.sub.1 .about.NOR.sub.N exclusive NOR gates; and ADDER an adder. The N bit register R is loaded in serial with N bit reference data REFERENCE in synchronism with a clock RCLOCK. On the other hand, the N bit register S is loaded in serial with information data DATA in synchronism with another clock SCLOCK. It is detected by the Ex-NOR.sub.1 .about.NOR.sub.N gates whether the contents of the registers are in accordance or not in accordance with each other for every bit and the total number of bits, which are in accordance with each other, is obtained by the adder ADDER.
In the case where the digital correlator as indicated in FIG. 7 is used in SSC, it is necessary to set previously reference data by means of external circuits, e.g. a microprocessor 1 and a memory 2, as indicated in FIG. 8.
However, in the case where reference data are changed frequently, or in the case where the reference data are very long, etc., inconveniences such as elongation of the time necessary for changing the reference data, lowering in utilization efficiency of the microprocessor 1 and the memory 2, etc. are produced.


A programmable motion estimator having a memory and processing element array that implement a dual addressing scheme and a block rotating scheme that work together to perform block difference calculations required in video encoder subsystems to provide motion estimation with less processing power without comprising video quality.

Video coders/decoders are widely used to provide motion video in many present day applications including video conferencing, video mail, video telephony and image database browsing. In order to provide high quality video in such applications, a video system must have high data storage capability.
To illustrate, one frame of a digitized NTSC (National Television Standard Committee) quality video comprising 720.times.480 pixels requires approximately one half megabyte of digital data to represent the image. As a result, in an NTSC system that operates at 30 frames per second, the video will generate over 15 megabytes of data per second. Thus, depending on the video system, video imaging can create significant storage and rate problems.
It has been determined, however, that video can be compressed in some form to reduce these data storage and data rate demands, and thus increase the overall throughput of the system. One method of video data compression involves estimating the motion between successive frames of video. Generally, it has been found that when there is little or no motion of objects within the scene, from one frame to the next, there is a great amount of redundancy between successive frames of the video sequence. As a result, it is unnecessary to send the entire data block for each frame to reliably recreate the image at the receiver (decoder). Rather, the transmitter (encoder) need only send information on those changes or motion of objects between successive frames. That is, it has been determined that the throughput and efficiency of the video encoder could be greatly enhanced by identifying or estimating the motion of objects between successive frames. Consequently, those skilled in the art have found that motion estimation plays an important role in achieving high data compression, and thus high efficiency video encoders.
Motion estimation is a tool or method of predicting a present frame using a target frame to exploit the redundancy between frames, and thus reduce the amount of information transmitted to the receiver. The target frame is a frame other than the present frame. For example, the target frame can be the frame immediately preceding the present frame in time. A motion estimator predicts the motion of objects between frames of video, usually by computing displacement vectors, which is accomplished by computing the differences between blocks of data in successive frames (i.e. block difference calculations). The calculation or extraction of this motion information is computationally intensive, thus placing a burden on the hardware designed to perform such a task. In fact, motion estimation is the most computationally demanding task in encoding video in the H.261, H.262 and H.263 standards.
Presently, many video systems implement a block-based method of motion estimation. In such block-based systems, an image is divided into blocks of pixels. Each pixel defines both a coordinate (or displacement vector) within the frame and an integral value that represents luminary content at that coordinate. To estimate motion, the integral values of each block of pixels in a present frame (hereinafter called "reference block") is compared against the integral values of similarly-sized blocks of pixels in a region of a target frame (hereinafter called "search area"). The search area data blocks that most closely match the reference block provide the best estimate of the change in position of objects in the frame. Thus, if the reference block and the closest matching search area block have the same coordinates, the encoder reports no motion for that block of data. Conversely, if the reference block and the closest matching search area block have significantly differing coordinates, the system assumes motion occurred between frames.
A match may be determined using a number of procedures. For example, a match may be found by taking some metric representing a comparison between pixels, and then summing the metrics, pixel by pixel, over the entire block. Since the metric is typically one of absolute difference, mean-squared difference, etc., the summation of metrics is called a block difference calculation. Moreover, since each pixel within a frame also defines a coordinate or displacement vector, each block difference has a displacement vector associated with it. Thus, the displacement vector associated with the best match represents the direction of motion of an object in the present frame with respect to the target frame. As a result, the primary function of the block based motion estimator is to find a block of pixels in the target frame that most closely matches the block of pixels in the present frame to determine if and how much motion has occurred between these frames, and thus enable a host microprocessor (i.e. of a video codec) to minimize the amount of information that must be sent from frame to frame to recreate the images at the receiver.
Depending on the desired quality of the video encoder, the design of the architecture of such block based motion estimators can become fairly complex. In addition, the algorithm required to direct the estimator architecture to perform the computations necessary to find the block difference for each location in a search area can also become quite complex. As a result, over the years many block-based motion estimation algorithms have been proposed, each algorithm presenting different levels of video quality at the cost of different levels of architecture and algorithm complexity.
One such algorithm is the full search algorithm. In full search motion estimation, the estimator systematically searches through every vector point within the search area (target frame) and compares each and every unique reference-block-sized region within the search area with the reference block to find the best match. Since most pixels are shared between successive reference-block-sized regions within a search area, search areas are typically traversed one pixel offset per block difference. As a result, the block difference computation is a key operation in motion estimation (See FIG. 1). FIG. 1 shows a reference block 80 traversing a target or search area 81, pixel by pixel, wherein displacement vector 82 indicates the present position of reference block 82.
Although many different motion estimation algorithms have been developed over the years, they all involve block-difference computation similar to the computation of an M.times.N block by the distortions function D(x,y), defined as: ##EQU1## where s(i,j) is the search area pixel, r(i,j) is the reference macroblock pixel and D(x,y) is the block displacement in the search. The present day motion estimators differ mainly in the size of the M.times.N data blocks and the size of the search area (indicated by the range of x and y) that is used to calculate the block differences. In any event, however, the data in all present day motion estimators is stored in memory.
To illustrate the manner in which present day estimators compute block differences, an M=N=8 block is searched through a search area having an index range between (0,0) and (21,21). That is, 21.gtoreq.x.gtoreq.0 and 21.gtoreq.y.gtoreq.0. Typically, the computation is done through an array having a set of processing elements. The processing elements hold a specific r(m,n) content, compute the absolute difference .vertline.s(m+x,n+y)-r(m,n).vertline., and add the absolute difference to a partially accumulated sum. FIG. 2 illustrates the block difference computation for the given search area 85.
As shown, the reference pels r(m,n) are stored in the array. The reference pels represent the pixel data of a block of pixels in the present or reference frame. The memory then pumps search area pels into the array and computes the difference between the search area pixel and the reference pixel, the difference being called a partial score. The array then sums up the partial scores of the pixel by pixel difference computations for the entire reference block, and generates block differences D(x,y) therefore. This is often done in pel stripes. For example, the computation is computed for the first stripe D(0,0), D(0,1), D(0,2), . . . , D(0,21), and then the second stripe D(1,0), D(1,1), D(1,2), . . . , D(1,21), and finally to the 22 stripe D(21,0), D(21,1), D(21,2), . . . , D(21,21).
There are two types of conventional memory-array architecture in performing such block difference computation. The first type is a serial 1D array as illustrated in FIG. 3. Here, the memory 87 feeds the 1D array 88 in 1-pel wide stripes while the array 88 uses side registers 89 to align the partial sums computed by the processing elements. This approach to computing block differences was implemented in many video encoder subsystems and motion estimators.
Another approach to calculating block differences is to use parallel memory and parallel 2D array structure as illustrated in FIG. 4. Note that in FIG. 4 the data needs to be realigned before the array 90 computes a new stripe of D(x,y). For example, when computing the first stripe D(0,0), D(0,1), . . . D(0,21), a processing element 91 with r(0,0) computes the absolute difference between r(0,0) and s(0,i) to be accumulated, where 0.ltoreq.x.ltoreq.21. Therefore, the processing element should receive a pel stream of s(0,i) from the memory.
In general, for the first stripe, processing elements 91 on column 0 should receive pel stream s(0,i), processing elements 91 on column 1 should receive pel stream s(1,i), . . . , and processing elements 91 on column 7 should receive pel stream s(7,i). For the second stripe D(1,0), D(1,1), . . . , D(1,21), the processing element with r(0,0) computes the absolute difference between r(0,0) and s(1,i). Thus, processing elements 91 on column 0 receives a pel stream s(1,i) from the memory. Similarly, column 1 receives pel stream s(2,i), column 2 receives pel stream s(3,i) etc.
Thus, in this approach to calculating block differences, the pel stream alignment is shifted and the data is aligned in a pattern as shown in FIG. 5. As shown, for the first stripe, D(0,0), D(0,1), . . . D(0,21), the reference block is matched against the pel stripe 93 delineated with solid lines within the search region 85 shown in FIG. 2. For the second stripe D(1,0)(1,1), . . . , D(1,21), reference block is moved one pel to the right to match against the second pel stripe 94 delineated with dash lines in FIG. 2. This one pel shift per stripe is repeated until the last search stripe is shifted in.
In order to support the data alignment pattern of this approach, however, the memory must provide addition bandwidth to retrieve all the pels. Moreover, the windowing/shifting block must properly select the appropriate pels and align them in the appropriate array columns. As shown in FIG. 4, a typical architecture that accommodates this approach utilizes a 16-pel wide memory to extract data from an 8-pel window.
Although there are motion estimators that implement other approaches to manipulating the reference data and the search area data, such as reloading the reference pels, they all require additional memory access bandwidth. Consequently, present day motion estimators implement full search algorithms and architecture that require very complex methods of aligning the data in the array for making the block difference calculation. As a result, present day video encoding subsystems have motion estimators that implement search algorithms and complex architecture that require much processing power.

Apparatus and method for a programmable video motion estimator


A method of manufacturing a bituminous coated aggregate mix, said method comprising at least the following steps:                (a) course aggregate are dried by heating;        (b) an intermediate mix is formed by coating the course aggregate with hot bitumen; and        (c) wet sand is mixed with the intermediate mix obtained in step (b).

Document U.S. Pat. No. 3,868,262 describes an example of such a method in which all of the aggregate is heated during step (a), which requires a large amount of energy to be used because the initial aggregate mix contains a large quantity of water. In addition, the drying and the temperature being raised result in a large quantity of flue gasses being given off that contain water vapor laden with dust. In view of their large quantity, those flue gases are difficult to treat, and implementing methods of that type therefore gives rise to non-negligible pollution for the environment.

Method of manufacturing a bituminous coated aggregate mix


A system incorporated in a vehicle is disclosed. The system includes a communication system including a text messaging communication hardware to receive a message via a text messaging service. The message includes a command. The system also includes a microcontroller, coupled to the communication system and a machine control system, to execute the command through the machine control system. The machine control system is configured to control components of the vehicle. The microcontroller is configured to determine if a configuration allows execution of the received command and to return a response to the communication system.

With mass production of mobile phone related components and systems, it has become economically feasible to explore other uses of mobile phone technology beyond its well-known typical use, that is, for person to person conversations and Internet browsing. In addition, text messaging is also a popular use of mobile phones. Text messaging is universally available in that text messaging services are offered by virtually all commercial mobile service providers. Text messaging is also referred to as Short Message Service (SMS). Standards related to SMS are defined by Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) series of standards. These standards limit the message size to 160 characters. The standards also allow sending larger messages using multipart sub-messages each of them are limited to 160 characters.
In recent years, automobiles and many different types of machines are being equipped with sophisticated electronics controls. Many newer automobiles include one or more microcontrollers, variety of electrical and electronic sensors and control software that control and monitor internal operations of these automobiles. In addition, these electronics systems also collect a variety of information through sensors for diagnostic purposes. Some informational data is also collected. For example, temperatures at different locations inside the engine compartment and/or cabin are collected by automobile control systems. Error conditions and occurrence of faults are another set of information that is actively collected by automobile or machine control systems. Typically, a special data reader is connected to a special interface (e.g., On Board Diagnostic or OBD) provided inside an automobile to retrieve at least some of the collected data from an automobile control system.

System for using short text messaging for remote diagnostic


The present invention provides an optical fiber enabling signal transmission in a wider band, which is applicable to optical transmission not only in the 1.3 μm wavelength band but also in the 1.55 μm wavelength band, as a transmission medium of a WDM optical communication system capable of transmitting signal light of multiple channels. The optical fiber is comprised of silica glass and has a core region along a predetermined axis and a cladding region provided on the outer periphery of the core region. The optical fiber comprising such a structure has, as the following typical optical characteristics, a cable cutoff wavelength of 1260 nm or less, a transmission loss of 0.32 dB/km or less at the wavelength of 1310 nm, and an OH-related loss increase of 0.3 dB/km or less at the wavelength of 1380 nm.

Optical communication systems are configured to transmit signal light through optical fiber as a transmission medium, thereby enabling fast transmission/reception of large volume of information. Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) optical communication systems are configured to transmit signal light in which multiple channels of different wavelengths are multiplexed (multiplexed signal light), thereby enabling transmission/reception of larger volume of information. In recent years, there are demands for further increase of volume in the WDM optical communication systems and under such circumstances there are ideas to narrow the signal channel spacing in WDM optical transmission and to expand the wavelength band used in WDM optical transmission.
In order to expand the signal wavelength band, studies have been conducted to utilize the initial C-band (1530 nm-1565 nm) and also to use the L-band (1565 nm-1625 nm) and the U-band (1625 nm-1675 nm) on the longer wavelength side than the C-band. In addition, there are also studies to utilize the O-band (1260 nm-1360 nm), the E-band (1360 nm-1460 nm), and the S-band (1460 nm-1530 nm) on the shorter wavelength side than the C-band.
The optical fibers to transmit signal light in such a broad band are demanded to satisfy conditions such as a small transmission loss in the signal wavelength band. The optical fibers applied to the optical communication systems are generally transmission media consisting primarily of silica glass, which have a minimum transmission loss near the wavelength of 1550 nm in the C-band and an increase of loss due to OH-radical at the wavelength of 1380 nm.
Characteristics of standard single-mode optical fiber are defined by International Standard (ITU-T G.652). According to this Standard, a standard single-mode optical fiber has the zero dispersion wavelength of 1300 nm-1324 nm, the mode field diameter whose center value at the wavelength of 1310 nm is 8.6 μm-9.5 μm and whose tolerances of deviation are ±0.7 μm, and the cable cutoff wavelength of 1260 nm or less. Single-mode optical fibers compliant with this Standard are manufactured and sold by many optical fiber makers, for example, as described in Non-patent Documents 1 to 4.
On the other hand, as an optical fiber for the 1.55 μm wavelength band, for example, Non-patent Document 5 discloses an optical fiber having the transmission loss of 0.154 dB/km at the wavelength of 1550 nm, the transmission loss of 0.291 dB/km at the wavelength of 1300 nm, and the OH-related loss increase of 0.75 dB/km at the wavelength of 1380 nm. Additionally, Patent Document 1 discloses an optical fiber having the transmission loss of 0.170-0.173 dB/km at the wavelength of 1550 nm and the OH-related loss increase of 0.3 dB/km at the wavelength of 1380 nm.
Patent Document 1: U.S. Pat. No. 6,449,415
Non-patent Document 1: Catalog of Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd., "Specification for Low Water Peak Single-Mode Optical Fiber (G.652D) <PureBand™>," Aug. 25, 2003
Non-patent Document 2: Catalog of Corning Inc., "Corning R SMF-28e™ Optical Fiber Product Information," March 2003
Non-patent Document 3: Catalog of OFS, "AllWave R Fiber The New Standard for Single-Mode Fiber," 2003
Non-patent Document 4: Catalog of Alcatel, "Alcatel 6901 Enhanced Singlemode Fiber," January 2002
Non-patent Document 5: Hiroshi Yokota et al., "Loss characteristics of ultralow-loss pure silica core single-mode fiber," THE INSTITUTE OF ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERS, 1986 General Conference, 1091


A circuit is provided which is operable to program an electrically alterable element, e.g., fuse or antifuse, to a programmed state and determine whether the electrically alterable element is in the programmed state or not. Such circuit includes a multiple conduction state field effect transistor (“multi-state FET”) having at least one of a source or a drain coupled to the electrically alterable element to apply a current to the electrically alterable element. The multi-state FET has a first threshold voltage and a second threshold voltage, both being effective at the same time, the second threshold voltage being higher than the first threshold voltage. The gate is operable to control operation of the multi-state FET in multiple states including a) an essentially nonconductive state; b) a first or “low” conductive state when a gate-source voltage exceeds the first threshold voltage, in which the multi-state FET is biased to conduct a relatively low magnitude current for determining the state of the fuse; and c) a second conductive state when the gate-source voltage exceeds the second threshold voltage, in which the multi-state FET is biased to conduct a relatively high magnitude programming current.

The present invention relates to circuits used to program an electrically blowable fuse, especially integrated circuits having such function.
Fuses are used to support memories of integrated circuits or "chips" such as stand-alone memory chips and memory macros of chips by storing information regarding the allocation of redundancy elements within such memories. Fuses are also used to store permanent settings within chips, such as chips which contain identification codes and the like. When used to support a memory macro of an integrated circuit memory, the macro is tested to identify any failing locations of the macro. A repair solution is then generated for the pattern of failing locations utilizing redundancy elements available on the chip to replace corresponding failing elements. A block or array of fuses is then programmed, i.e., controllably blown, as a way of storing information regarding the repair solution. Thereafter, whenever an attempt is made to access the failing memory locations, the access operation will be detoured to a set of redundancy addresses stored in the fuse array.
While some types of fuses are programmed by applying intense heat directly to the fuse, e.g. via laser irradiation, other types of fuses are electrically programmable or "blowable" by passing a high current through the fuse, e.g., as by applying a higher than normal electric potential across the fuse. Application of such high current causes electromigration of the material of the fuse, causing the resistance of the fuse to increase. The state of the fuse, i.e., the condition of whether the fuse has been programmed or not, can be determined by applying a low electric potential across the fuse and measuring the amount of current that the fuse conducts.
For example, FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art circuit 10 used to program an electrically blowable fuse, and, in addition, to determine whether the fuse is in a programmed state or an unprogrammed state. As shown in FIG. 1, the circuit 10 includes a NAND gate N0 to which fuse logic enable signals FENABLE1 and FENABLE2 are input, an inverter I1 coupled to the output of the NAND gate N0, the electrically blowable fuse F0, a transistor N1 used during an operation to program or "set" the fuse F0, as well as during an operation to determine the state of the fuse F0. Determination of the programming state of the fuse F0 is performed by a resistance measuring circuit 12 based on the output FOUT taken at the drain of transistor N1. Typically, the resistance of the fuse F0 in the unprogrammed state is about 100 ohms to about 200 ohms.
To program or "set" the fuse, inputs FENABLE1 and FENABLE2 are set to "1", i.e., to the high logic level at the upper power supply voltage level Vdd of about 1.0 to 1.5 V, causing the output of the NAND gate N0 to fall to "0" or low. This output from NAND gate N0 is then inverted to the logic high level by inverter I1 and applied to the gate of transistor N1, in turn causing transistor N1 to conduct. To program the fuse, FSOURCE is set to a voltage, e.g., 3.3 V which is higher than an ordinary power supply voltage level of Vdd. The 3.3 V potential is applied across the stack including the fuse F0 and transistor N1. At such time, the input to the resistance measuring circuit 12 is placed in a high impedance or "off" state to prevent current flow thereto. Since FSOURCE is capable of sourcing a high programming current, e.g., about 10 mA, such high current flows through fuse F0 and causes electromigration therein sufficient to change the resistance of the fuse from the minimal 100 to 200 ohm initial resistance to a much higher value such as 5 kilo-ohms. After maintaining the high current long enough to program the fuse, the potential at FSOURCE is lowered again to ground.
At other times, the state of the fuse of being in the programmed state or not is determined by again setting the FENABLE1 and FENABLE2 inputs to the logic high levels, which drives the output of NAND gate N0 to low, in turn causing inverter I1 to drive the gate of transistor N1 to high, causing transistor N1 to conduct. At this time, the potential at FSOURCE is raised from logic level low (usually at ground) to a relatively low voltage permitting conduction, e.g., about 100 mV. FSOURCE is held at such potential for about 100 μs to allow the resistance measuring circuit 12 to determine the state of the fuse. During such operation, circuit 12 measures the current sourced from the FSOURCE node and determines the resistance of the electrically blowable fuse F0. Under the applied biasing conditions, with the voltage applied between the gate and the source of N1 at Vdd (about 1.0 to 1.5 V), and the voltage applied by FSOURCE between the drain and the source of about 100 mV, transistor N1 operates in a linear mode. Unfortunately, the measurement operation is not robust against possible variations in the manufacturing process and operating conditions of the chip, leading to possibly inaccurate measurements which potentially affect the ultimate determination of the state of the fuse. Measurement under such biasing conditions potentially introduces error because a slight deviation in either the voltages applied to the gate of transistor N1 or the drain will cause the amount of current conducted by transistor N1 to vary significantly.

Programming and determining state of electrical fuse using field effect transistor having multiple conduction states

International Business Machines Corporation


Mutant Type-A DNA polymerases having increased resistance to one or more polymerization activity inhibitors are provided.

The detection, analysis, transcription, and amplification of nucleic acids are frequently-used procedures in modern molecular biology. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is an example of such a commonly used method. PCR is used to study gene expression and in the diagnosis of infectious or genetic diseases, to name but a few applications.
A component of PCR is DNA polymerase, which synthesizes new DNA complimentary to a segment of DNA. A variety of thermostable polymerases have been discovered. At least five families of DNA-dependent DNA polymerases are known, although most fall into families or types A, B and C. There is little or no structural or sequence similarity among the various families. Most family A polymerases are single chain proteins that can contain multiple enzymatic functions including polymerase, 3′ to 5′ exonuclease activity and 5′ to 3′ exonuclease activity. Family B polymerases typically have a single catalytic domain with polymerase and 3′ to 5′ exonuclease activity, as well as accessory factors. Family C polymerases are typically multi-subunit proteins with polymerization and 3′ to 5′ exonuclease activity.
Of the many different polymerases commercially available, Taq DNA polymerase (a Type-A DNA polymerase) is a popular choice because it is thermostable, efficient and easy to produce. The enzymatic activity of Taq DNA polymerase, however, can be reduced due to endogenous polymerase inhibitors present in the sample being tested or due to inhibiting substances that have been added to the sample (e.g., anticoagulant added to a blood sample).


During operation of a power generating plant, which essentially comprises a gas turbogroup, a compressed air accumulator, an air turbine which is equipped with at least one generator, the compressed air which is extracted from the compressed air accumulator is directed through a heat exchanger, which acts on the outflow side of the gas turbogroup, and is thermally conditioned there. This compressed air then charges the air turbine, wherein during a “black out” or other shutdown of the power generating plant, the electric current energy which can be obtained by means of the thermally conditioned compressed air in the air turbine, via a power line is used directly for start-up of the gas turbogroup.

From the prior art, gas turbine power generating plants have become known in which the exhaust gas heat of a gas turbogroup is used for steam generation, wherein the steam can be supplied to multifarious applications. In combined cycle power generating plants, the steam is then expanded in a steam turbine in accordance with requirements, delivering power. The steam turbine drives a generator for power generation.
Furthermore, a recuperative pressurized storage facility has become known, for example from U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,822, in which fluid, especially air, which is stored under pressure in a storage volume, is heated in a heat exchanger by the exhaust gas of a gas turbogroup, and subsequently expanded in a storage fluid expansion machine for driving a generator, delivering power. In principle, very high power outputs can be achieved with this, since during operation under load the compression of the fluid is dispensed with. Consequently, when utilizing the waste heat in a recuperative pressurized storage facility, higher power output potentials result than during utilization in a steam turbine. These potentials, however, are available only as long as expanded fluid is available at a corresponding pressure level in the storage volume.
Such a power generating plant, therefore, does not solve two crucial problems which are very closely linked to its operation. For one thing, the position which is possibly already specified, according to which the potentials are available only as long as expanded fluid is available at a corresponding pressure level in the storage volume.
For another thing, even if this weak point can be eliminated, a further shortcoming still remains, which is associated with the requirement specifically of being able to put such a power generating plant into operation via a so-called "black start".