The present invention includes an element for use in an inductive coupler in a downhole component. The element includes a plurality of ductile, generally U-shaped leaves that are electrically conductive. The leaves are less than about 0.0625″ thick and are separated by an electrically insulating material. These leaves are aligned so as to form a generally circular trough. The invention also includes an inductive coupler for use in downhole components, the inductive coupler including an annular housing having a recess with a magnetically conductive, electrically insulating (MCEI) element disposed in the recess. The MCEI element includes a plurality of segments where each segment further includes a plurality of ductile, generally U-shaped electrically conductive leaves. Each leaf is less than about 0.0625″ thick and separated from the otherwise adjacent leaves by electrically insulating material. The segments and leaves are aligned so as to form a generally circular trough. The inductive coupler further includes an insulated conductor disposed within the generally circular trough. A polymer fills spaces between otherwise adjacent segments, the annular housing, insulated conductor, and further fills the circular trough.

This invention relates to oil and gas drilling and production, and more particularly to apparatus and methods for reliably transmitting information between downhole components.
For the past several decades, engineers have worked to develop apparatus and methods to effectively transmit information from components located downhole on oil and gas drilling strings to the ground''s surface. Part of the difficulty comes from the fact that the operating environment for the transmission system can be extremely harsh, including temperatures as high as 200° C., pressures as high as 25,000 psi, and extremely abrasive and chemically corrosive conditions.
Another source of difficulty comes from the fact that a drill string is made up of hundreds of components, such as sections of drill pipe and various downhole tools. Thus, if the transmission system is integrated into each of these components, it must be capable of connections that can reliably transmit information across the joints between these hundreds of components.
Moreover, since these components are connected serially to create the drill string that may stretch for thousands of feet below the earth''s surface, reliability is imperative. A failure in the transmission system of a single component can bring the whole system down and require an expensive "roundtrip" of the drill string to replace the defective component.
As an alternative to integrating a system into each of the drilling components, a transmission system has been developed known as mud pulse telemetry. Rather than using electrical connections, mud pulse telemetry transmits information in the form of pressure pulses through fluids circulating through a well bore. However, data rates of mud pulse telemetry are very slow compared to data rates needed to provide real-time data from downhole components. For example, mud pulse telemetry systems often operate at data rates less than 10 bits per second. At this rate, the low data resolution can prevent a driller from making decisions in real time. Since drilling equipment is often rented and very expensive, even slight mistakes can incur substantial expense. Part of the expense can be attributed to time-consuming operations that are required to retrieve downhole data or to verify low-resolution data transmitted to the surface by mud pulse telemetry. Often, drilling or other procedures are halted while data is gathered.
Since direct electrical connections between drill string components may be impractical and unreliable, converting electrical signals to magnetic fields for conversion back to electrical signals offers one solution for transmitting information between drill string components. One such system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,670,880. These types of elements are referred to as inductive couplers. An inductive coupler functions by converting electrical signals to magnetic fields for transmission across the tool joint. A corresponding inductive coupler located on the next downhole component converts the magnetic field back to an electrical signal where it may be transmitted along the drill string.
Moreover, the harsh working environment of drill string components may cause damage to data transmission elements whatever their form. For example drill strings undergo intense vibrations during operation which could fracture key components in an inductive coupler and significantly weaken the transmitted signal or even render it inoperative. Another barrier to successful data transmission is the high temperatures of some boreholes. Often the boreholes extend tens of thousands of feet deep into the earth where temperatures are exceedingly hot. Sometimes they can be as high as 250 C. in the oil and gas industry and over 300 C. in geothermal wells. Inductive couplers exposed to such temperature extremes can lose their magnetic capabilities resulting in increased attenuation or even signal loss.

Element for use in an inductive coupler for downhole drilling components


To provide a material for forming an exposure light-blocking film which includes at least one of a silicon compound expressed by the following structural formula (1) and a silicon compound expressed by the following structural formula (2), wherein at least one of R1 and R2 is replaced by a substituent capable of absorbing exposure light.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exposure light-blocking film that is suitable for a multilayer interconnection structure in a semiconductor integrated circuit and can efficiently block exposure light (e.g., ultraviolet light) applied to a porous insulating film; to a material for forming an exposure light-blocking film, which is suitably used for the formation of the exposure light-blocking film; to a multilayer interconnection structure provided with the exposure light-blocking film and a manufacturing method thereof; and to a semiconductor device provided with the multilayer interconnection structure and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the scale of integration of semiconductor integrated circuits and chip density have been increasing, so too has been, in particular, the demand for multilayered semiconductor chips. Against this background, the interval between adjacent interconnections, or interconnection interval, has become smaller and smaller, leading to a problem of interconnection delay due to an increased capacity between interconnections. Here, the interconnection delay (T) is represented by the equation T∝RC, which means that (T) is influenced by the interconnection resistance (R) and the capacity between adjacent interconnections (C). The relationship between permittivity (ε) and capacity (C) is represented by the equation C=ε0εr ·S/d (where S is an electrode area, ε0 is the permittivity of vacuum, εr is the permittivity of an insulating film, and d is the interconnection interval). The reduction of the capacity (C) can be achieved by reducing the interconnection thickness and the electrode area, though, reducing the interconnection thickness causes an increase in the interconnection resistance (R), making it impossible to achieve a speedup. Accordingly, reducing the permittivity of an insulating film is an effective way to achieve a speedup by minimizing the interconnection delay (T).
In a semiconductor device with a multilayer interconnection structure the interval between adjacent interconnections has become smaller and smaller with the recent trend moving toward an increased scale of integration of semiconductor integrated circuits and greater chip density, leading to an increased impedance of metal interconnections due to electrostatic induction. For this reason, there is a great concern that the response speed will be reduced and power consumption will be increased. To avoid this problem, it is necessary to reduce the permittivity of an interlayer insulating film as small as possible, which is provided between the semiconductor substrate and metal interconnections or between interconnection layers.
Materials for conventional insulating films include inorganic materials such as silicon dioxide (SiO2), silicon nitride (SiN) and phosphosilicate glass (PSG), and organic materials such as polyimides. The CVD-SiO2 film, an insulating film frequently used in semiconductor devices, however, has a permittivity of as high as 4. In addition, the SiOF film, an insulating film explored as a candidate for a low-permittivity CVD film, has a permittivity of as small as 3.3 to 3.5, but highly hygroscopic; therefore, the SiOF film has a problem that the permittivity increases with time. Moreover, a porous silica-based low-permittivity film has been proposed (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2004-153147). Since the production process for this porous film involves a pore formation step in which thermally decomposable components are heated, and evaporated or decomposed to form pores, it is possible to further reduce the permittivity of the porous film. At present, the pore size of this porous film, however, is large—10 nm or more. For this reason, increasing the porosity for reduced permittivity leads to a problem of increased permittivity and/or reduced film strength, caused due to moisture absorption.
At present, the following method has been explored to solve this kind of problem: After the deposition of an insulating film, the insulating film is cured by irradiation with ultraviolet light, plasmas, electron beams or the like to increase its film strength. However, ultraviolet light and plasmas unfavorably reach other films provided below the insulating film which is to be irradiated with them (or an exposure target). Thus, there is a concern about the use of ultraviolet light and plasmas because the thickness of lower interlayer insulating films may be reduced as a result of repeated curing operations. Moreover, there is a concern about the use of electron beams because their exposure energy is particularly high enough to undesirably damage transistors present in the lowermost layer.
It is an object of the present invention to solve the foregoing problems and to achieve the object described below.
More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide an exposure light-blocking film which has a high exposure light (particularly ultraviolet light) absorptivity, which efficiently blocks the exposure light that reaches porous insulating films present below an exposure target, and which is capable of reducing the permittivities of the porous insulating films without impairing their functions; a material for forming an exposure light-blocking film, which is suitably used for the formation of the exposure light-blocking film; a multilayer interconnection structure in which the parasitic capacity between adjacent interconnections can be reduced and an efficient mass-production method for the same; and a high-speed, highly-reliable semiconductor device provided with the multilayer interconnection structure and a manufacturing method thereof.

Material for forming exposure light-blocking film, multilayer interconnection structure and manufacturing method thereof, and semiconductor device

Abstract: (where R1 and R2 may be the same or different, and each represents any one of a hydrogen atom, alkyl group, alkenyl group, cycloalkyl group and aryl group which are optionally substituted, and n is an integer of 2 or greater)

Abstract: (where R1, R2 and R3 may be the same or different, at least one of R1, R2 and R3 represents a hydrogen atom and the others represent any one of an alkyl group, alkenyl group, cycloalkyl group and aryl group which are optionally substituted, and n is an integer of 2 or greater)


Aspects relate to Input/Output (IO) Memory Management Units (MMUs) that include hardware structures for implementing virtualization. Some implementations allow guests to setup and maintain device IO tables within memory regions to which those guests have been given permissions by a hypervisor. Some implementations provide hardware page table walking capability within the IOMMU, while other implementations provide static tables. Such static tables may be maintained by a hypervisor on behalf of guests. Some implementations reduce a frequency of interrupts or invocation of hypervisor by allowing transactions to be setup by guests without hypervisor involvement within their assigned device IO regions. Devices may communicate with IOMMU to setup the requested memory transaction, and completion thereof may be signaled to the guest without hypervisor involvement. Various other aspects will be evident from the disclosure.

An Input/Output Memory Management Unit (IOMMU) provides a capability of mapping a device address from an I/O Device to a Physical Memory Address (PA). Such an IOMMU can be used by I/O Devices that originate DMA traffic. An IOMMU provides memory protection similar to that provided by a Memory Management Unit that protects memory from errant access by programs running on one or more processor cores that use the memory. Thus, an IOMMU can increase I/O throughput and also provide protection and isolation for memory accesses by I/O devices.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Virtualized-in-hardware input output memory management


An interactive document processing system includes a display screen that is coupled to a processing device. In addition, the document processing system includes an input device for viewing all or a portion of a hardcopy document on a work surface. The input device generates signals representing the appearance of the hardcopy document from representative electronic data stored in a print memory. In one embodiment, the processing device is connected to the input device to receive the signals, determine the position of a moving indicator relative to the document, and correlate the determined position with the electronic representation of the hardcopy document. The display screen provides information related to user commands that edit and/or select portions of the electronic representation of the hardcopy document.

The invention relates to an interactive document processing system, and in particular to the use of a document to input control instructions to the processing system.
In a conventional document processing system, the operator is provided with a user interface including input devices, typically a keyboard and mouse, and a display screen to enable the user to view the operation of the system. The user can then issue instructions to the computer such as editing instructions relating to the text of a document, or other control functions.
Recently, some techniques have been developed to provide an alternative way of entering control instructions and in particular editing functions to the processing system. These have involved placing markings on a paper version of a document, for example editing marks or data glyph codes, and then scanning the document. The processing system detects the editing marks and/or glyph codes and performs the required function. One example of this approach is described in PCT publication Nos. WO-99/50787-A1, WO-99/50751-A1, and WO-99/50736-A1.
Other examples of this approach are described in "A Facsimile Based Text Editor Using Handwritten Mark Recognition", by Y. Suenaga, Proceedings Of The Sixth International Joint Conference On Artificial Intelligence, Tokyo, Aug. 20–23 1979, Vol. 2, pages 856–858; "A Facsimile Based Manuscript Layout And Editing System By Auxiliary Mark Recognition", by Suenaga et al, Fifth International Conference On Pattern Recognition, IEEE, 1–4 Dec. 1980, pages 856–857; and "Some Techniques For Document And Image Preparation", by Y. Suenaga, Systems And Computers In Japan, Vol. 17, No. 3, 1986, pages 35–46.
In these disclosures, the manuscript-amended page is scanned using a flat bed scanner or the like to generate electronic versions of the document and editing marks. The processor then identifies the editing marks that are then used to modify an electronic version of the document. This is a relatively slow batch process and requires that the editing be completed to the user's satisfaction before the document is scanned. Furthermore, if the user wishes to use the same approach to achieve a further modification, the user must print the amended document, amend it again and rescan it.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,148 and European Patent Application No. EP-A-0568161 describe a method of modifying a document being copied. In these disclosures, the hardcopy document is recorded using a camera and the result of modifying the hardcopy document is projected onto the same work surface as the hardcopy document either superimposed on the hardcopy document or beside it. It would therefore be advantageous not to require that the input and output displays of hardcopy document are tightly coupled.

System for processing electronic documents using physical documents


Disclosed are an apparatus and a method for providing a wallpaper. To this end, a current state of a mobile terminal is detected, particle images and fluid image reflecting the detected current state of the mobile terminal are generated, and the generated particles and the generated fluid are displayed on a preset wallpaper so as to generate a wallpaper. Then, user motion is detected, acceleration and movement amount are extracted from the detected user motion, and movement amounts and movement directions of the particles and the fluid are determined based on the extracted acceleration and movement amount. Then, the particles and fluid are displayed in reflection of the gravity on movement amounts and movement directions of particles and fluid. Accordingly, it is possible to provide a wallpaper having an effect as if an actual snow globe is moved.

In general, a mobile terminal includes various terminals such as a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) and a portable telephone. With the rapid development of technology of such a mobile terminal, it satisfies a user's demand for higher performance, smarter appearance, and a display screen.
Therefore, a current mobile terminal can display various wallpapers at a user's request. For example, a user may set an image of the user's face or lover's face to be used for the wallpaper, or may set images of animations repeatedly showing a specific action to be used for the wallpaper.
However, in the conventional wallpaper display technology of the mobile terminal, only still images or the above-described animations repeatedly showing only a specific action has been used. Accordingly, in the conventional wallpaper display technology, it is possible to display only insignificant and simple images and is impossible to display images in reflection of current states of mobile terminal or user motion occurring when a user shakes or reverses the mobile terminal as in a case of a snow globe.
Herein, the snow globe refers to a toy for decoration, which includes liquid similar to water within a glass sphere (that is, fluid), small snow-shaped particles within the fluid, and decoration characters such as a Christmas tree or a doll. Therefore, when a user shakes this glass sphere, the snow-shaped particles and the fluid are shaken according to the user movement, so that it is possible to provide an effect as if the shapes of the shaken particles and fluid are similar to those of the actually falling snow.
A general snow globe has the advantage of the excellent decoration effect, but lacks portability. This is because the snow globe is heavy and fragile due to inclusion of the glass sphere and the fluid, so that a user is requested to carefully handle it. Therefore, although the snow globe has an excellent decoration effect, it is difficult to use the snow globe for the decoration of a mobile terminal.

Apparatus and method for providing wallpaper


Described herein are one or more implementations for transferring formatted digital media content (“formatted-media-content”) from a source device (e.g., a desktop computer) to a target media-playback device (e.g., a MP3 player). The formatted-media-content may need to be converted from a source format to a target format before it is transferred. An implementation seeks permission from a source-format-agent associated with the source format of the formatted-media-content, to perform a format-conversion (“transcoding”).

As digital media technology continues to advance, and the cost of storage continues to decline, users increasingly host and consume digital media content on their own primary computers (e.g., desktop PCs). Examples of such digital media include music, video, still images, and so on. So, this means that increasingly users are listening to digital music, watching digital video, and viewing still images (e.g., photographs) on their home or business computers.
At the same time, the corresponding increase in the availability of portable media-playback devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), digital media players (e.g., so-called "MP3 players"), hand-held computers, laptop computers, and smart phones is providing users more ubiquitous access to digital media content than ever. As users rely more and more on such portable computing devices, there is a growing need for applications that effectively transfer digital media from source devices, such as primary computers, to the portable devices.
However, the existence of the multitude of media content formats complicates the transference of digital media content from source devices to target media-playback devices. This multitude of media content formats raises issues about format compatibility with target media-playback devices and management of legal rights for transferred media content.
Digital media content typically exists in a specified "format." Herein, a "format" of digital media content includes its specific pre-established arrangement or organization of media data in computer-readable storage media. In addition, media data is typically compressed (and later decompressed) using a specific compression/decompression ("codec") algorithm. Because a media format and its specified codec are often closely associated, the line between them is often blurred. Herein, unless the context indicates otherwise, references to the "format" of digital media content includes the codec associated with compressing/decompressing the content, as well as the content's specific pre-established arrangement or organization of media data in computer-readable storage media.
There is a variety of conventional and available formats of digital media content. Some formats are generally available with low or no commercial encumbrances (e.g., paying of royalty fees). Examples of these widely available formats include WAV, MPEG audio layer 3 (commonly called "MP3"), and AVI. Others formats are proprietary; therefore, the uses of these formats often are controlled by licensing agreements. Examples of these proprietary formats include the Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding (Atrac®) format from the Sony Corporation; the RealAudio™ format from RealNetworks, Inc., the QuickTime™ format from Apple Computers, Inc. and Windows Media Audio (WMA) and the Windows Media Video (WMV) formats from the Microsoft Corporation.
Typically, a media-playback device is designed to handle one or more specific formats of the digital media content ("formatted-media-content"). Due to space, processing-power, memory, and licensing constraints, these playback devices typically have a limited set of compatible formats. Often, a device manufacturer licenses the technology for playing formatted-media-content in a proprietary format, such as those formats listed above. Sometimes, the device manufacturer implements its own proprietary format technology.
Since a target playback device typically employs a different or slightly altered format than does the source device (e.g., desktop PC), the format of formatted-media-content is typically altered before being transferred from the source device to the target device. This format-alteration is commonly called "transcoding."
A transcoding process may include, for example, converting a formatted-media-content from one format to another (e.g., MP3 to WMA), so the newly formatted content will play on the playback device. Furthermore, a transcoding process may include, for example, down-sampling the formatted-media-content to a lower bit rate to reduce the amount of storage space needed on the playback device, or adapting the screen size of the formatted-media-content, so video appears correctly on the playback device.
When transcoding, the formatted-media-content is sometimes converted into a format having lower processing requirements for decoding. A formatted-media-content configured for playback on a full-scale "desktop" computer may be too complex to decode effectively on a device with a lower-powered processor, such as a portable media-playback device. Furthermore, when transcoding, the formatted-media-content is sometimes converted into a specific format (e.g., a proprietary format) employed by the target media-playback device.
There are many different conventional approaches employed when transferring formatted-media-content from a source device to a target media-playback device. Many of those conventional approaches include transcoding the formatted-media-content into a format compatible with, and/or preferred by, the target device ("compatible/preferred format").

Sanctioned transcoding of digital-media content


A microendoscope with a distal probe tip which has, in particular, a diameter of up to approximately 1 mm is provided and inside of which an optical subassembly at least provided with a micro-objective and with an image transmitting element is accommodated. An image transmitting system is connected to the optical subassembly. An image-enlarging coupling element is provided between the optical subassembly of the probe tip and the image transmitting system connected thereto. The image transmitting system connected to the coupling element has a larger active diameter than the optical subassembly that is provided with the distal objective. As a result, the distal probe tip on a handgrip has the necessary small working diameter over the entire working length, and at the beginning or inside the handgrip, the optical coupling element is coupled to an image guide or to an image transmitting system or the like having a higher pixel count and thus a larger active diameter and, therefore, a larger outside diameter.

The invention relates to a microendoscope with a distal probe tip, which has, in particular, a diameter of up to approximately 1 mm and which houses an optical subassembly at least provided with a micro-objective and an image-transmitting element, with an image-transmitting system being connected to the optical subassembly.
In microendoscopy, for working diameters below 1 mm, flexible endoscopes are known, which have close to the distal end a lightweight handle, whose rigid tip can extend, for example, over a length of 30-120 mm. The microendoscope tip generally has the following structure:
In the center at the distal end there is a micro-objective, formed from one or more micro-lenses, e.g., with an outer diameter of 0.5 mm. This distal micro-objective is usually placed directly on a subsequent image guide with the same active diameter. At the proximal end, the pixel-structured image transmitted by the image guide is prepared by an objective for visual observation or for projection on a video-camera array.
Optical fibers, which are fastened mechanically close to the proximal end and which are connected to a light source via a connecting light guide, are arranged around the distal micro-objective and the image guide along the probe length for illuminating the image field. In the region of the distal tip, micro-objectives, image guides, and optical fibers are installed in a rigid or semi-flexible tube, which forms a holder and guide for these components.
The light-transmitting and image-transmitting elements are usually fastened in a flexible protective sleeve from the handle outwards to the proximal end. For certain applications, an empty channel, represented, for example, by a micro-lumen sleeve or a metal tube, can also be integrated into the probe.
Many microendoscopic applications in medical technology and for industrial applications require small working diameters starting at 0.15 up to about 1 mm. These working diameters permit only about 3000 pixels for the image guide due to space requirements; however, the applications demand higher resolutions with more than at least 10,000 pixels (e.g., 20,000, 30,000, 50,000). In addition, the handle of the microendoscopic probe and the probe feed line should be configured as lightweight as possible, which requires the image-transmitting system to have a flexible image-guiding system to the endoscopic camera (for video observation). Image guides with pixel counts greater than 3000 do not allow distal probe tips with working diameters of less than 0.5 mm for the structure described above.


A control apparatus is disclosed for optimizing the regeneration of an aftertreatment device located in an exhaust pipe of an internal combustion engine of a vehicle. The control apparatus includes an Electronic Control Unit configured to collect data from a GPS device associated to the vehicle, determine a time period for starting a regeneration of the aftertreatment device on the basis of data collected by the GPS device, and initiate the a regeneration of the aftertreatment device within the time period.

A compression ignition internal combustion engine (ICE) for a motor vehicle generally includes an engine block which defines at least one cylinder accommodating a reciprocating piston coupled to rotate a crankshaft. The cylinder is closed by a cylinder head that cooperates with the reciprocating piston to define a combustion chamber. A fuel and air mixture is cyclically disposed in the combustion chamber and ignited, thereby generating hot expanding exhaust gasses that cause the reciprocating movements of the piston. The fuel is injected into each cylinder by a respective fuel injector. The fuel is provided at high pressure to each fuel injector from a fuel rail in fluid communication with a high pressure fuel pump that increase the pressure of the fuel received from a fuel source.
After the expansion, the exhaust gases exit the combustion chamber and are directed into an exhaust system, which generally includes an exhaust pipe having one or more aftertreatment devices configured to fitter and/or change the composition of the exhaust gases, such as for example a Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC), a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF), a Lean NOx Trap (LNT), and/or a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system or a SCRF (SCR on Filter).
In order to guarantee and/or restore the efficiency of some of these aftertreatment devices, it may be necessary to perform suitable regeneration procedures. For example, the particulate matter that progressively accumulates inside a particulate filter (DPF) must be periodically removed to prevent an excessive pressure drop across the filter. This process, which is conventionally known as DPF regeneration, is achieved by increasing the temperature of the exhaust gases entering the DPF (typically up to 630° C.), which in turn heat the filter up to a temperature at which the accumulated particulate burns off.
A known strategy to increase the exhaust gas temperature provides for the exhaust gases to be mixed with a certain amount of unburned fuel (HC) that oxidizes in the oxidation catalyst, thereby heating the exhaust gases that subsequently pass through the DPR.
The unburned fuel may come from the engine cylinder thanks to the so called after or post-injections or, in some automotive systems, may be supplied by means of a dedicated fuel injector.
In order to start a DPF regeneration when the DPF is deemed bill of particulates, an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) of the vehicle continuously estimates the amount of emitted particulates since the last DPF regeneration on the basis of engine operating parameters. DPF regeneration is initiated as soon as those estimates by the ECU reach a predefined physical threshold.
DPF regeneration is preferably initiated during conditions requiring low EGR rates (e.g. less than 50%). For example, DPF regeneration is preferably initiated during cruising at highway speeds. DPF regeneration, however, can be initiated at less than optimum conditions if required.
Another aftertreatment device is the Lean NOx Trap (LNT), namely a device the traps nitrogen oxides (NOx) contained in the exhaust gas and is located in the exhaust line upstream of a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) In some embodiments, the LNT and the DPF are closely coupled in a single component.
The LNT is a catalytic device containing catalysts, such as Rhodium, Pt and Pd, and adsorbents, such as barium based elements, which provide active sites suitable for binding the nitrogen oxides (NOx) contained in the exhaust gas, in order to trap them within the device itself.
Also Lean NOx Traps (LNT) must be subjected to periodic regeneration processes or events, as soon as a physical threshold estimated by the ECU is reached, whereby such regeneration processes are generally provided to release and reduce the trapped nitrogen oxides (NOx) from the LNT. For this reason, Lean NOx Traps (LNT) are operated cyclically, for example by switching the engine from a lean burn operation to a rich operation, performing a regeneration event also referenced as DeNOx regeneration.
Also, in order to release accumulated sulphur from the LNT, DeSOx regeneration events are periodically performed by means of several rich combustion phases executed at high temperature, where gas temperature in the LNT may be around 650° C., each rich combustion phase being followed by a lean combustion phase, whereby this lean-to-rich-to-lean approach is also referred as wobbling approach. A DeSOx regeneration is generally performed at the same time during which a DPF regeneration is performed.
The LNT regenerations are obtained by operating the engine actuators, such as the injectors, the rail valve, the variable geometry turbine (VGT), the Exhaust Gas Recirculation system (EGD), the swirl valve, the throttle valve and the cooler bypass, all of which are moved to dedicated set points in order to achieve the desired combustion properties, using information coming mainly from temperature and lambda sensors positioned upstream and downstream of the LNT.
A problem with conventional systems is that a regeneration of an aftertreatment device, such as a DPF or a LNT, is generally started only on the basis of the physical needs of the aftertreatment device itself, as determined by a mathematical or statistical model of the physical conditions of the aftertreatment device with no regard to the mission profile of the vehicle or other variables. Consequently, a regeneration may, in many cases, be interrupted before it is completed or may be conducted at a low efficiency, for example in urban driving conditions, with consequently high oil dilution and high regeneration duration.

Control apparatus for optimizing the regeneration of an aftertreatment device


To improve the purification action of a catalytic converter that is being heated but has not yet reached a desired operating temperature, the internal combustion engine is driven by an electric machine to convey a flow of heating medium through a catalytic converter for heating purposes before the internal combustion engine is started.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for operating a hybrid drive having an internal combustion engine and an electric machine that can be coupled in terms of drive to the internal combustion engine, and having a heatable catalytic converter through which exhaust gas of the internal combustion engine flows.
2. Description of the Related Art
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,991 and JP 10089053 A disclose a hybrid vehicle having a catalytic converter that is pre-heated before the internal combustion engine is started.
It is an object of the invention to improve the purification action of the catalytic converter, in particular during starting of the internal combustion engine after a standstill.

Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft


An LED lamp includes a housing, an LED module, a fixing bracket and a power driver source. The housing includes a base plate and first and second sidewalls extending downwardly from two opposite edges of the base plate, respectively. A light emitting window is defined between free, bottom ends of the first and the second sidewalls and located under the base plate. The base plate has a heat absorbing surface facing the light emitting window and a heat dissipating surface opposite to the heat absorbing surface. A plurality of fins are provided on the heat dissipating surface of the base plate. The LED module, which is received in the housing and mounted on the heat absorbing surface of the base plate, faces the light emitting window. The fixing bracket is mounted on the housing and located above the base plate of the housing.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to an LED (light-emitting diode) lamp, and more particularly to an improved LED lamp with a high heat dissipating efficiency.
2. Description of Related Art
An LED lamp utilizes LEDs as a source of illumination, in which current flowing in one direction through a junction region comprising two different semiconductors results in electrons and holes coupling at the junction region and generating a light beam. The LED is resistant to shock and has an almost endless lifetime under specific conditions, making it a popular, cost-effective and high quality replacement for incandescent and fluorescent lamps.
Known implementations of LED modules in an LED lamp make use of a plurality of individual LEDs to generate light that is ample and of satisfactory spatial distribution. Therefore, heat dissipation of the LED lamp is a problem inhibiting the application of the LED lamp, which requires to be resolved. For a high brightness LED lamp, a highly efficient heat dissipation device is necessary in order to timely and adequately remove the heat generated by the LED lamp. Otherwise, the brightness, lifespan, and reliability of the LED lamp will be seriously affected.
What is needed, therefore, is an LED lamp which can overcome the limitations described.

Fu Zhun Precision Industry (Shen Zhen) Co., Ltd.


A substrate with a surface-collection-layer includes a honeycomb substrate having a porous partition wall that defines and forms cells, and a plurality of plugging portions. A surface-collection-layer is formed on a surface of the partition wall that forms the remaining cells, and the thickness of the surface-collection-layer on the outlet-side open end is larger than the thickness of the surface-collection-layer in a center area of the substrate. The partition wall has predetermined thickness, porosity, and average pore size. The surface-collection-layer has a predetermined thickness, porosity, and average pore size, and the substrate has a predetermined cell density.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate with a surface-collection-layer and a catalyst-carrying substrate with a surface-collection-layer. More particularly, the present invention relates to a substrate with a surface-collection-layer and a catalyst-carrying substrate with a surface-collection-layer that have a sufficient partition wall strength, a low pressure loss, and a high particulate matter collection efficiency, and may be used for a gasoline direct injection engine.
2. Description of Related Art
Exhaust gas discharged from an internal combustion engine (e.g., diesel engine) or a combustion apparatus (hereinafter may be appropriately referred to as "internal combustion engine or the like") contains a large amount of particulate matter (hereinafter may be appropriately referred to as "particulate matter", "particulate" or "PM") that mainly contains soot (black smoke). If particulate matter is directly discharged to the atmosphere, environmental pollution occurs. Therefore, a filter that collects particulate is generally provided in an exhaust gas passage from an internal combustion engine or the like.
For example, a honeycomb filter 100 (wall-flow type filter) shown in FIG. 7 has been known as a honeycomb filter used for such a purpose (see Patent Document 1, for example). The honeycomb filter 100 includes a honeycomb structure having a plurality of cells 103 (exhaust gas passages) defined by a partition wall 104 formed of a porous ceramic having a number of pores, one open end and the other open end of the cells 103 being alternately plugged by plugging portions 110. According to such a honeycomb filter, when exhaust gas is introduced into the exhaust gas inlet cells, particulate matter contained in the exhaust gas is collected by the partition wall when the exhaust gas passes through the partition wall. The exhaust gas from which particulate matter has been removed (i.e., purified gas) is discharged from the purified gas outlet cells.

Substrate with surface-collection-layer and catalyst-carrying substrate with surface-collection-layer


Recognition results associated with handwritten electronic ink, voice recognition results or other forms of user input can be corrected by designating at least a portion of a visual display. Recognition results corresponding to the designated portion, and optionally, additional recognition results to provide context, are displayed. Portions of the displayed recognition results are then selected, and alternate recognition results made available. Alternate recognition results can be chosen, and the selected recognition results modified based upon the chosen alternate. The invention may include different user interfaces.

Computers (including lesser electronic devices with limited computational abilities) are now part of everyday life. Until recently, however, the tasks for which computers could practically be used was sometimes limited by the manner in which a user could input information. There are innumerable ways in which pre-existing text, graphics, numerical data or other information can be transferred to the memory or storage of a computer. For example, a picture or other graphic can be scanned and transmitted electronically to (and between) computers. Text files can similarly be uploaded, downloaded, etc., as can many other types of information that someone else has previously assembled, tabulated, typed, etc.
However, there are fewer options for input of information being contemporaneously created. In many ways, the keyboard is still the primary computer input mechanism in this regard. Although keyboard text entry is satisfactory (or even superior) in some circumstances, it is less satisfactory in other circumstances. Note taking is but one example. Many individuals lack the typing skills to contemporaneously take notes by typing on a keyboard. Even if a person has such skills, he or she may find it socially awkward or otherwise inappropriate to simultaneously use a keyboard and devote attention to other matters, such as participation in a meeting. Conversely, most people can take handwritten notes while participating in such activities, and can do so rather quickly. Many people also take notes by combining written language with drawings, sketches, diagrams, symbols, etc. Keyboards, mice, touchpads, trackballs and various other traditional user input devices are not conducive to such activity. Moreover, keyboards often require using both hands to type and generally require a surface upon which to rest the keyboard, and are thus ill-suited to situations where a user may be standing or frequently moving from place to place. For these and other reasons, a computer sometimes cannot practically be used in a situation where the computational, storage and other abilities of the computer might be beneficial.
An increasingly common input technique mimics traditional pencil (or pen) and paper. Specifically, certain devices allow a user to create images by moving an electromagnetic pen or other stylus across a display screen. Using the stylus as a writing instrument, the user creates a graphical image of handwriting, symbols, drawing figures, or anything else that can be drawn with pencil and paper. Various application software may then be able to recognize or interpret the electronically handwritten letters, words, symbols, drawing figures, etc. Text or other types of objects may then be associated with (or substituted for) the electronic "ink." Alternatively (or additionally), the associated text or other object type may be communicated to another application program. These devices and associated recognition software offer the convenience and intuitive nature of pencil and paper combined with electronic storage, editing, copying and other advantages of a computer.
Unfortunately, these advantages can be offset by the inherent inaccuracies of present recognition software. Almost inevitably, some text (or other object type) automatically associated by such software with electronic ink handwriting is not correct and must be replaced by other text (or object type). Some handwriting may not be recognized at all, or other types of corrections may be needed (e.g., replacing only a few characters of a word, changing case, underlining, changing color or other display attributes, changing volume, etc.). Accordingly, any system using electronic ink must include the ability to make corrections. If correction methods and interfaces are not intuitive, efficient and comfortable, the advantages over other input mechanisms—or even over pencil and paper—can quickly erode. Accordingly, there is a need for improved methods and interfaces for correcting recognition results corresponding to electronic ink.
Speech (or voice) recognition is another input mechanism that is often more advantageous than a keyboard or other input devices. Various software applications can convert (with varying degrees of accuracy) spoken words into electronically stored and/or displayed text. Even when speech recognition might be advantageously used, however, recognition results usually require some amount of user correction and/or modification. Without convenient and user-friendly ways of making such corrections, any advantage from voice recognition may be undercut. Accordingly, there is also a need for improved methods and interfaces for correcting recognition results that correspond to information input by speech recognition techniques.

Correcting recognition results associated with user input


A recycling automatic document feeder (RADF) for a copier or similar image forming apparatus and capable of preventing curled or otherwise deformed documents from being damaged when such documents are recirculated. The RADF includes a parting plate for separating part of a stack of documents not undergone illumination from the other part undergone illumination and returned to the stack. When the parting plate is raised to a level above a predetermined height, the RADF is inhibited from returning the illuminated documents to the stack.

The present invention relates to a recycling automatic document feeder (RADF) for a copier or similar image forming apparatus and, more particularly, to an RADF capable of preventing curled or otherwise deformed documents from being damaged when they are recirculated.
An RADF is generally constructed to transport the lowermost one of documents stacked on a document table to a predetermined document set position on a copier and, after the document has been illuminated by the copier, returns it to the table. To separate the lowermost sheet from the other sheets, air under pressure may be blown against one edge of the stack of documents, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 127681/1990 by way of example. Specifically, in this type of RADF, a nozzle blows compressed air against the edge of a document stack set on a document table face down. At the same time, a suction tank sucks the lowermost document to retain it on a feed belt, while separating it from the other documents. The RADF has an opening for receiving the documents sequentially returned after illumination. A parting plate is disposed in this opening and presses the documents having not illuminated, thereby separating such documents from the documents returned after illumination.
However, the conventional RADF described above has some problems left unsolved, as follows. Assume that the documents stacked on the document table are noticeably curled. Then, when documents undergone illumination are sequentially returned to the table, the parting plate raised by the underlying curled documents obstructs and damages the returned documents. Moreover, when the parting plate is raised by the underlying curled stack to an excessive level, it loses the expected function and allows the returned documents to run onto the stack. This prevents the returned documents from being distinguished from the non-illuminated documents, i.e., prevents the last document of the non-illuminated stack from being identified. As a result, the RADF fails to transport the documents with accuracy.

Recycling automatic document feeder for a copier


A gaming terminal has a game process layer for executing different game application and a system process layer for executing machine functions, such as controlling peripherals of the gaming terminal, wherein the game applications and system processes may be implemented using different protocols. The gaming terminal also includes a game server and a control server which may communicate with one another via an integration or translation protocol. The gaming terminal can thus execute generic game code or game code configured in accordance with varying protocols from different vendors rather than a single, proprietary protocol, and can still use a single unique system protocol for controlling the machine functions.

Traditional casino-style slot machines, such as slot and video poker machines, were configured as independently-operable machines. For example, each slot machine was configured with a set of reels and a controller which determined an outcome or stopping position for the reels. Each video poker machine was configured with a controller which caused game information, such as images of cards, to be determined and displayed on a display of the machine. The controllers of these gaming machines were configured to be "stand-alone", meaning that they were capable of generating game outcomes by themselves (i.e. without input or control by an external device or system). For example, the gaming controller of a video poker machine might include a random number generator for randomly determining game outcomes and software for generating images of cards based upon each randomly determined outcome. FIG. 1A illustrates such a configuration wherein a first stand-alone gaming machine is configured to present a slot game and a separate stand-alone gaming machine is configured to present a video poker game.
One advantage of the configuration of these traditional gaming machines is that they can easily be set up to operate anywhere. In particular, because they machines are free-standing, they do not need to be connected to other machines or systems. However, these machines have various disadvantages. For example, because the gaming machines are custom-created to present one or more games in a stand-alone fashion, the gaming machines can only present those one or more pre-defined games. Thus, if new and more exciting games are developed, the existing gaming machines cannot be configured to present those new games without entirely re-configuring or re-programming the machines. Also, because each gaming machine must include all of the components necessary to present games in a free-standing manner, each gaming machine is very complex and expensive.
In recent years, server-based gaming systems have been developed. FIG. 1B illustrates one example of such a system. As illustrated, these systems include one or more main game servers and a plurality of gaming machines which are linked to the game server. Each gaming machine may be configured as a kiosk or terminal which communicates with the game server. This configuration has a number of advantages. First, each gaming machine may present various different games as determined by the game server (e.g. Games A, B, C . . . as illustrated in FIG. 1B). For example, the game server may include a menu of games, which menu may change over time, wherein the gaming machines may present any of the games on the menu. In one embodiment, game code corresponding to the games which are supported by the game server may be downloaded to the gaming machines from the game server, which code may be varied from time to time to permit the gaming machines to present different games. In another configuration, the gaming machines or terminals may not even require all of the game code. For example, in one configuration, the game server may execute the game code and generate corresponding game outcomes and then transmit the outcomes to the gaming machines. The gaming machines may then simply present the game outcomes to the players of those machines.
The new server-based casino gaming system thus has the advantage that new games can be implemented more quickly. As indicated above, traditional gaming machines could only present new games by taking the machines out of service and then completely reconfiguring and/or reprogramming them to present a new game or games. In the server-based model, software for a new game may be associated with the game server so that it can be executed by the game server or so that it the game code is accessible to (such as for download to) each server-based gaming machine.
In addition, because traditional gaming machines were custom-configured by their manufacturer, it was difficult for third parties to get new casino games implemented, thus limiting the number of new casino-style games which made it into the market. In particular, to even get a new game into the market, a developer of a new game generally had to have a gaming machine manufacturer develop the game for implementation on its own machines. However, even if the gaming machine manufacturer was willing to introduce the new game, given that all development was performed by the gaming machine manufacturer, the development time of the game could be many years.
An oft-stated advantage of the server-based gaming system that was frequently touted was that third parties would be able to easily create new games for implementation by the system. However, this has not generally been true. In particular, currently, each gaming machine manufacturer has developed their own unique and proprietary server-based platform/architecture which integrates the game and machine/system functions. This proprietary platform ensures, for example, that game code which is run at the gaming machine allows the gaming machine to both present game information and integrate with the various associated peripheral devices, systems and functions of the gaming machine.
This requires, however, that all game software be specifically coded for a specific manufacturer's platform. For example, an outside game content developer is required to code their game software to certain specifications so that it will run on one gaming manufacturer's platform (such as for presentation of the game at gaming machines at one casino) and then must code the same game software an entirely different way so that can be implemented on a different gaming manufacturer's platform (such as for presentation of the game at gaming machines at a different casino). This is time consuming and costly. In addition, this generally requires that the game developer turn their game code over to the system operator so that it can be integrated onto the game server, as illustrated in FIG. 1B. At that point, the game developer loses control of their game software. This makes it difficult for the game developer to know how and when their software is being used or to make changes to the software, such as to implement new and exciting game features.

Architecture for server-based casino gaming machine system


A method is provided for dyeing cationic dyeable nylon fibers with fiber reactive dyes. According to this method, an aqueous dyebath is provided containing one or more fiber reactive dyes. The dyebath has a pH of about 1.5 or below. The dyebath is heated to a temperature of at least about 160.degree. F., and the cationic dyeable nylon fibers are immersed in the dyebath for a period of time sufficient for weak bonding to occur between the dye and the fibers. The nylon fibers are removed from the dyebath and immersed in an alkaline solution for a period of time sufficient for the dye to become covalently bonded to the fibers. The cationic dyeable nylon fibers are removed from the alkaline solution and dried.

There is a need within the textile industry for pre-colored nylon yarns which can be combined with undyed nylon and then overdyed by a method which will color the undyed nylon without dyeing or staining the precolored nylon yarns. Such a precolored yarn may offer stylists an opportunity to achieve a wide variety of multicolored effects in carpeting and other textile applications which cannot be achieved in any other way. One way in which nylon producers have attempted to satisfy the need for precolored styling yarns is by a use of cationic dyeable nylon, one of two types of nylon, when considered from the standpoint of electrostatic charge.
Acid dyeable nylon is a synthetic long-chain polymer that includes a number of positively charged amine or amide groups that are receptive to negatively charged dyes. Among these anionic dyes are several categories, but the most important for use in dyeing acid dyeable nylon are the acid dyes and the premetallized acid dyes. Depending on the number of amine or amide groups in the acid dyeable nylon, it may be characterized as deep-dye, medium-dye or light-dye. Under certain conditions of temperature and pH level, acid dyes will form ionic bonds with the amine and/or amide groups in the nylon.
Cationic dyeable nylon is a type of nylon that has been treated by its manufacturer to impose an overall negative charge on the nylon. This makes it difficult for cationic dyeable nylon to accept negatively charged acid dyes at certain pH levels. Since most common liquids which may be spilled on carpet are negatively charged, cationic dyeable nylon therefore is naturally and inherently stain resistant.
Cationic dyeable nylon was initially developed to be dyeable with positively charged cationic dyes. When combined with acid dyeable nylon, unique multicolor effects may be created when acid dyes and cationic dyes are used in the same dyebath. However, cationic dyes do not generally offer the versatility and colorfastness properties of acid dyes, and so the use of cationic dyes to dye cationic dyeable nylon for styling purposes is somewhat limited.
Another way in which nylon producers have attempted to satisfy the need for precolored styling nylon has been by the use of color-sealed or solution-dyed nylon. These nylons are pigment colored during the extrusion process. This locks the color into the nylon structure, so it will not bleed during the overdye process. If solution-dyed nylon is cationic dyeable, it will not be stained by the acid dyes used to color the nylon in subsequent dyeing operations. However, solution-dyed nylon is only available in a limited number of pre-selected colors, which limits its usefulness as a styling tool.
In recent years, processes have been developed for dyeing cationic dyeable nylon with acid dyes and premetallized acid dyes. Such processes are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,667 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,466,527 of Jenkins, U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,958 of Jenkins et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,632 of Boyes. These processes apparently involve the formation of ionic bonds between the acid and premetallized acid dyes and the fibers. Jenkins teaches the application of acid and premetallized acid dyes at pH levels within the range of about 2.0 to about 6.5 (4.0 to 6.5 in U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,958), and Boyes teaches the application of the same type of dyes at pH levels of 2.5 or below. However, while some of the shades produced by the methods of Jenkins and Boyes may sufficiently hold their color in continuous overdyeing, it is unlikely that shades produced by these methods will be substantive for extended periods of time when used to dye nylon in batch type overdye equipment such as a dyebeck, skein dye machine, package dyer, or paddle dyer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,918 of Kelley teaches the application of a specific type of fiber reactive dyes to regular acid dyeable nylon that has been combined with cationic dyeable nylon. According to the Kelley method, the fiber reactive dyes are applied at a pH level within the range of about 2 to about 4, followed by steaming and washing, with the result that the acid dyeable nylon is dyed by the fiber reactive dyes while dyeing or staining of the cationic dyeable nylon is avoided.
Another method for dyeing acid dyeable nylon with vinyl sulfone type fiber reactive dyes was also developed by American Hoechst Corporation. According to this method, the vinyl sulfone dye was first pretreated with an alkali to convert the ester into the vinyl group, and then it was applied to acid dyeable nylon under moderate acid conditions. After washing, the printed nylon was dipped into an alkali solution, dried and heatset. When the vinyl sulfone dyes undergo heat setting under alkaline conditions, they form a covalent bond with the amine or amide groups of the nylon.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,653 of Hixson et al. describes a method for dyeing cationic dyeable nylon by application of fiber reactive dyes at a pH level no higher than 1.5. The nylon is steamed and washed to remove residual fiber reactive dyes and is then treated with an alkaline solution and heatset. During the heatsetting operation, the fiber reactive dyes form covalent or electron sharing bonds with the amine and amide groups in the cationic dyeable nylon, rather than the weaker ionic bonds of the methods of Jenkins and Boyes. The Hixson method, unlike the methods of Jenkins and Boyes, may be utilized to produce shades on cationic dyeable nylon that will be substantive when used to overdye the cationic dyeable nylon in combination with acid dyeable nylon in batch type overdye equipment such as a dyebeck, skein dye machine, package dyer, or paddle dyer. The inherent stain resistance of the cationic dyeable nylon resists dyeing and staining by acid dyes in the subsequent overdye operations and the covalently bonded fiber reactive dyes are extremely colorfast in dyebaths or continuous dye operations under ordinary overdyeing conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,455 of Kelley also describes a method for dyeing cationic dyeable nylon with fiber reactive dyes. According to this method, a specific type of previnylized fiber reactive dye is applied to the nylon at pH levels between 1.5 and 3 (for printing) or between 2.0 and 3.0 (for exhaust dyeing). The nylon is then steamed and washed and an alkaline solution is applied in an amount necessary to raise the pH to between 9.0 and 10.5. After the alkane solution is applied, the nylon is dried and heatset to permit the formation of covalent bonds between the nylon and the dye.
Although both the Hixson method and the Kelley method of U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,455 appear to allow multicolored styling effects to be readily achievable, both methods also require heatsetting of the nylon in order to effect covalent bond formation. This may be done by autoclaving or in continuous wet or dry heat setting equipment such as Superba or Suessen ranges. Whatever method is used, heatsetting is an expensive and time-consuming operation. It would be desirable, therefore, if a method could be developed for dyeing cationic dyeable nylon with dyes capable of obtaining a wide range of colors without requiring a heatsetting step. It would also be desirable if such a method could be provided that would produce colored nylon capable of maintaining high colorfastness in dyebaths or continuous dye operations at 212.degree. F. It would also be desirable if such a method could be developed for dyeing cationic dyeable nylon in such fashion to resist dyeing and/or staining by acid dyes in subsequent overdye operations.

Method for dyeing cationic dyeable nylon with fiber reactive dyes without heat setting


A cleaning device is disclosed for an offset printing machine for quickly removing stains on a printed matter. A number of scrapers (7) are arranged in an axial direction of the surface of a printing drum (1) of the offset printing machine. The scrapers (7) are held by rods of air cylinders (8) which cause the scrapers to contact or be separated away from the surface of the drum (1). Solenoid valves are arranged corresponding to respective cylinders. The solenoid valves are controlled by a control unit (16). The position of hickey on the surface of the drum is designated from an information of a hickey position on the printed matter generated corresponding to the stain on the surface of the drum. When the associated solenoid valves are actuated, then the scrapers are brought into contact with the hickey position on the drum surface to scrape the hickey.

The present invention relates to a cleaning device for removing dregs on surfaces of printing drums in an offset printing machine.
In the case where a printing operation is effected by using the offset printing machine, there would be a fear that ink dregs, lees, paper powders and the like would be generated on a surface of a printing drum to form hickeys on a printed matter.
Conventionally, when such hickey is formed, the operator of the printing machine comes to the position where the hickey such as ink dregs is produced on the printing drum. A jig is applied to the surface of the printing drum to remove the dregs therefrom. The jig is made of a rubber piece provided at a free end of a rod, for example.
However, since such a cleaning operation must be effected for the operator to access the place where the printing drum is rotated at a high speed, it is very dangerous. Also, since the place where the hickey is produced must be found, it is time consuming to remove the hickey.

Cleaning device for offset printing machine


A mailing system includes a mailing machine having a printing mechanism for printing an indication of postage value on a mailpiece and structure for controlling relative movement between the printing mechanism and the mailpiece to ensure the mailpiece is properly positioned relative to the printing mechanism during printing of the indication of postage value; a meter vault having a securely sealed housing, and apparatus, within the securely sealed housing, for accounting for the printed indication of postage value, wherein the meter vault is removably mounted in the mailing machine for easy removal via a plug-in connector; and a printing mechanism control module for securely controlling printing by the printing mechanism based on data received from the meter vault, the printing mechanism control module being removably mounted in the mailing machine for easy removal via a quick disconnect connector; wherein the meter vault and the printing mechanism control module are in electrical communication via the mailing machine. The mailing system can also include ciphered communications between the vault and the printing mechanism.

This invention relates to a mailing system, and more particularly to a digital mailing system incorporating a modular design.
Value dispensing systems are apparatus which dispense an indication of value. Examples of such value dispensing systems are postage meters, tax stamp machines, lottery vending machines, and admission ticket dispensing machines. With regard to postage meters, the indication of value printed, on a mailpiece or mailing label, is a postal indicia. The postage meter can be a stand-alone type postage meter containing, within a single securely sealed housing, accounting structure to account for the value of the postage dispensed by the meter and the total amount of postage funds added to the meter. In conventional stand-alone postage meters, the accounting structure is mechanically coupled to the printing mechanism which prints the postal indicia. Moreover, both the accounting structure and the printing mechanism are contained in the securely sealed housing except for that portion of the printing mechanism which necessarily extends out of the housing to print the postal indicia. The sealed secure housing had conventional mechanical security devices, such as sealed screws, which would permit a visual indication that tampering of the postage meter had occurred if the seals were broken. Accordingly, the maintenance and repair of the postage meter had to be done by a certified technician to ensure that once the securely sealed housing of the postage meter was opened up and the maintenance and/or repair completed, the housing was resecured with the appropriate mechanical security devices. This complex procedure added to the downtime and repair cost of a broken meter.
In addition to stand-alone postage meters, there are mailing systems which are a combination of a postage meter removably mounted on a mailing machine (also referred to as a base). The mailing machine provides the necessary structure for moving the recording medium (such as envelopes and tapes) upon which the postal indicia is to be printed, from a feeding position to the postage meter printing device. In the simplest mailing machine, only a recording medium feeding mechanism is included. In more sophisticated mailing machines, known structure is provided along the mailpiece feed path to accomplish additional functions such as singulating individual envelopes, moistening envelope flaps, and opening envelope flaps, all of which typically occur prior to the envelopes being fed and presented to the postage meter printing mechanism for printing of the postal indicia. In these conventional mailing systems (mailing machines in combination with postage meter), the accounting structure of the postage meter is mechanically coupled to the postage meter printing mechanism and both are contained in a securely sealed postage meter housing.
With the advent of new printing technologies, such as ink jet printing, it has been proposed to provide postage meters with ink jet printers. Additionally, since the ink jet printers are electronically versus mechanically driven, the postage meter accounting circuitry can be mechanically decoupled from the printing mechanism since only an electrical communication between the two is required. Moreover, new ink jet printing technology has, for example, permitted the use of smart cards as the structure for securely housing the accounting circuitry of the postage meter, which cards are referred to as smart card meter vaults. The smart card vault is removably placed into a conventional smart card receptacle mounted in a secure postage meter housing. The secure housing contains the postage meter printer together with other circuitry for performing additional meter functions such as communicating through a postage meter display and keyboard with a postage meter operator and controlling the printer motor or motors which move the printer as desired. This particular smart card structure is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,903 issued to Wright, et al. on Feb. 13, 1990. In the aforementioned Wright patent, the printing mechanism includes, a microprocessor unit which controls the printing mechanism. However, because the printing mechanism and the smart card vault communicate via an unsecure communications link, security becomes an issue in that it is possible to drive the printing mechanism to print an indicia without accounting for the postage dispensed by tapping into the unsecure communications link. In an attempt to solve the security problem, the Wright structure ensures that the microprocessor unit for the printing mechanism will not operate the printing mechanism to print the postal indicia until a mutual authentication handshake has occurred between the smart card vault and the printing mechanism microprocessor unit. Moreover, in order to provide additional security, the microprocessor unit is formed integrally with the printing mechanism and is embedded in epoxy or the like so that it cannot be physically accessed without destroying the microprocessor unit and also the printing mechanism. Accordingly, the Wright postage meter, like the previously discussed devices, requires some type of secure mechanical protection for the printing mechanism of the postage meter. Accordingly, if the printhead microprocessor unit in the Wright apparatus is not operating properly the whole printing mechanism must be changed at a significant cost to the user.
Due to the strict security requirements of postage meters, conventional mailing systems have included the postal indicia printing mechanism as part of the secure postage meter and not as part of the mailing machine. In the United States, where postage meters can only be rented, a customer can buy a mailing machine but must still rent a postage meter to have a complete mailing system. In order to potentially reduce postage meter rental costs, it is desirable to include the printing mechanism as part of the mailing machine so that only a meter vault needs to be rented versus a meter vault/printer combination.
Accordingly, what is needed is a mailing system including accounting and printing modules which are mechanically decoupled from each other but which communicate in a secure manner. Moreover, the overall mailing system design should be modular to include individual removably mounted functional modules which can be readily accessed and removed for repair.


A method of producing a printed product having a computer disk incorporated therein. The method includes the steps of depositing the disk onto the sheet of material, folding a first portion of the sheet over the disk and over at least a second portion of the sheet, securing the first portion to the second portion, folding a third portion of the sheet into overlapping relation with the first portion to produce a package, maintaining the third portion free from securement with the remainder of the sheet, and gathering the package with a signature to produce a book block while maintaining the third portion free from securement with the remainder of the sheet. The method further includes the step of perforating the sheet with a plurality of perforations to form a perforation line. The perforation line is formed substantially parallel to a fold line produced by the folding step, and preferably before the folding step. The gathering step includes the step of orienting the perforation line to be substantially perpendicular to the binding edge of the book block.

The printing industry has long recognized the need to have the ability to incorporate objects (i.e., other than standard signatures) into printed products (e.g., magazines). For example, it is known to attach empty envelopes, cologne samples and dehydrated food into a magazine. Customer demands and increased competition in the printing industry has led to the continued search for new objects that can be incorporated into printed products. Since each product is different in its size, shape and ability to withstand abuse, new products can require novel packaging techniques in order to ensure the product can survive the printing process and subsequent delivery to the consumer.
Due to the relatively recent surge in computer popularity, companies have begun using computer disks to convey information to potential customers. For example, some companies provide potential customers with computer disks that give textual and pictorial information about the company's products. In addition, computer disks can accompany an owners' manual to convey to the consumer information about the use of the product. The ability to store large amounts of information makes CD-ROMs particularly useful in conveying information to consumers for these purposes. However, sending the computer disks by direct mail can be cost prohibitive, thereby limiting the use of computer disks for this purpose. In addition, enclosing a computer disk with a product can require special packaging in order to avoid damage to the disk. A cheaper way of packaging and sending computer disks could significantly increase their use in advertising and for other purposes.

Method of producing a printed product having a packaged compact disk


A light emitting system includes a series connection of a light emitting unit and a variable current source, and a voltage conversion device that includes a rectifier circuit and an output circuit. The rectifier circuit rectifies an AC voltage to generate a rectified voltage across a first rectifier output coupled to one end of the series connection of the light emitting unit and the variable current source, and a second rectifier output. The output circuit is coupled between the second rectifier output and another end of the series connection of the light emitting unit and the variable current source, and is configured to generate a direct-current (DC) output voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a light emitting system and a voltage conversion device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional light emitting system 1 is shown to include a voltage conversion device 11, a processor 12, a variable current source 13 and a light emitting diode (LED) unit 14. The voltage conversion device 11 is coupled to an alternating-current (AC) power source 10 for receiving an AC voltage, and converts the AC voltage into a direct-current (DC) voltage Vo serving as a working voltage of the processor 12. The processor 12 generates an adjustment signal according to the DC voltage Vo. The variable current source 13 is coupled between the processor 12 and a ground node, and receives the adjustment signal from the processor 12, so as to generate a driving current Io for driving the LED unit 14. The voltage conversion device 11 includes a rectifier circuit 15, a voltage reducing circuit 16 and an output circuit 17.
The rectifier circuit 15 is coupled to the AC power source 10 for receiving the AC voltage, and has a first rectifier output O1 coupled to the LED unit 14, and a second rectifier output O2. The rectifier circuit 15 rectifies the AC voltage, and generates a rectified voltage VRE across the first and second rectifier outputs O1, O2.
The voltage reducing circuit 16 is coupled to the first and second rectifier outputs O1, O2 for receiving the rectified voltage VRE, and has an output O3 that provides a reduced voltage associated with the rectified voltage VRE.
The output circuit 17 is coupled between the output O3 of the voltage reducing circuit 16 and the second rectifier output O2 for receiving the reduced voltage, so as to generate the DC output voltage Vo that is provided to the processor 12.
Such a conventional light emitting system 1 has the following drawbacks:
1. High power consumption and short service life: Since the rectified voltage VRE is mainly across the voltage reducing circuit 16, the voltage reducing circuit 16 may be easily damaged due to high power consumption, resulting in a short service life.
2. Low conversion efficiency: Since the rectified voltage VRE is mainly across the voltage reducing circuit 16, the DC output voltage Vo that is outputted by the output circuit 17 according to the reduced voltage may be limited, resulting in low conversion efficiency.
3. Waste of current: Since the variable current source 13 is grounded, the driving current Io directly flows to the ground, resulting in waste of current.

Light emitting system and voltage conversion device thereof


An imaging target, suited for use in multi-modal imaging systems, includes test patterns for testing quality of both focus and co-registration for multiple magnifications and multiple modalities of operation of a multimodal imaging system.

In the field of multimodal imaging a single imaging station may be employed to image specimens using multiple imaging modalities. In a multimodal imaging system of the type disclosed in commonly assigned, copending (a) regular U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/221,530 filed Sep. 8, 2005 by Vizard et al. entitled "APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MULTI-MODAL IMAGING" and (b) Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/024,621, previously mentioned, the disclosures of both of which are incorporated herein by reference, a specimen to be imaged may be illuminated by optical back-illumination, optical front-illumination or X-ray back-illumination. The imaging modalities may include bright-field optical imaging at various wavelengths, dark field fluorescence optical imaging at various wavelengths, and radiographic imaging at various energies. There is a need for a simple way for combining, in a single imaging target, patterns for testing quality of both focus and co-registration for multiple magnifications and multiple modalities of operation of such multimodal imaging systems.

Imaging target for testing quality of multiple-magnification focus and image co-registration


A pixel structure is disclosed. The pixel structure includes a plurality of data lines arranged in a first direction, and a plurality of gate lines arranged in a second direction. The plurality of data lines intersect with the plurality of gate lines near a plurality of sub-pixels. In addition, each of the plurality of sub-pixels includes a thin film transistor, and a pixel electrode. The plurality of sub-pixels includes a plurality of first rows of sub-pixels, and a plurality of second rows of sub-pixels, where the first rows of sub-pixels and the second rows of sub-pixels are interleaved, each sub-pixel in the first rows of sub-pixels is provided with a signal over a second-closest data line, and each sub-pixel in the second rows of sub-pixels is provided with a signal over a first-closest data line.

Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) have been widely applied to our life in respective aspects ranging from small-sized handsets, video cameras and digital cameras to middle-sized notebook PCs and desktop PCs further to large-sized home TV sets and large projectors, etc., and in particular, thin film transistor LCDs have become predominant in the market of displays due to their perfect pictures and rapid response characteristic in addition to their advantages of a low weight and slimness.
A pixel structure which is one of core components of a thin film transistor LCD poses a direct influence upon the aspect ratio, the response speed, the quality of a display picture and other aspects of the liquid crystal display, but it is desirable to further improve the pixel structure of the liquid crystal display in a number of aspects despite the ongoing in-depth study thereon.
Polarity inversion is required to drive the liquid crystal display, where an electric field applied to the liquid crystal molecules is directional, and polarity inversion refers to the application of the electric field to the liquid crystals in a direction being inverted over time for the purpose of obviating residual direct current of the liquid crystals. Common polarity inversion patterns of an array of pixels include frame inversion, column inversion, row inversion and point inversion. Since the voltage at pixels in the same row is written sequentially over different data lines whereas both the voltage at pixels in the same column is written sequentially over the same data line, row inversion and point inversion require a signal over a data line for input per row to be converted between positive and negative potential differences, thus resulting in high power consumption and complicating the data signal. Column inversion does not require the data signal for input per row to be converted between the positive and negative potential differences, thus resulting in low power consumption. However an advantage of point inversion lies in that point inversion comes with the lowest flickering among the inversion patterns while addressing residual direct current of the liquid crystals, thus resulting in the best display effect of an image in point inversion, and also the use of different polarity inversions between adjacent pixels further contributes to the elimination of a crosstalk which is an improper display arising from the adjacent pixels with similar voltage polarities. The pixel structure of the liquid crystal display can be modified for point inversion at low power consumption to achieve a better display effect.
The arrangement of sub-pixels is also an important factor influencing the display effect, and the sub-pixels are arranged typically in three colors of red, green and blue or sometimes in four colors of red, green, blue and white in the existing displays in a number of arrangement orders, where a monochromatic picture may fail to be displayed making it difficult to inspect visually a display screen with sub-pixels being arranged in difficult colors between sub-pixels in the same column.

Pixel structure, liquid crystal display array substrate and liquid crystal display panel

SHANGHAI TIANMA MICRO-ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.


A storage device includes a storage element having characteristics such that the resistance value thereof changes from a high state to a low state as a result of an electrical signal higher than or equal to a first threshold signal being applied and changes from a low state to a high state as a result of an electrical signal higher than or equal to a second threshold signal whose polarity differs from that of the first threshold signal being applied; and a circuit element that is connected in series to the storage element and that serves as a load, the storage element and the circuit element forming a memory cell, and the memory cells being arranged in a matrix, wherein the resistance value of the circuit element when the storage element is read differs from the resistance value when the storage element is written or erased.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a storage device and a semiconductor device and, more particularly, to a storage device and a semiconductor device including a memory cell that uses storage elements for storing and holding information in accordance with the state of electrical resistance.
2. Description of the Related Art
In information devices, such as computers, as a random access memory, a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) that operates at a high speed and that has a high density is widely used. However, since the DRAM is a volatile memory such that information is erased when the power supply is switched off, there has been a demand for non-volatile memories in which information is not erased.
As a non-volatile memory that is thought to hold great promise in the future, an FeRAM (ferroelectric memory), an MRAM (magnetic memory), a phase-change memory, and resistance-change type memories such as a PMC (Programmable Metallization Cell) and an RRAM (Resistance RAM), have been proposed.
In the case of these memories, it is possible to hold written information for a long period of time even if power is not supplied. Furthermore, in the case of these memories, as a result of being formed to be non-volatile, it is considered that a refresh operation is eliminated and the power consumption can be reduced correspondingly.
In addition, resistance-change non-volatile memories, such as a PMC and an RRAM, are configured comparatively simple in such a manner that a material having characteristics such that the resistance value thereof changes as a result of a voltage and an electrical current being applied is used for a storage layer for storing and holding information, two electrodes are provided with the storage layer in between, and a voltage and an electrical current are applied to these two electrodes. Thus, fine patterning of storage elements is easy.
PMC is constructed so as to sandwich an ion conductor containing a predetermined metal between two electrodes, and uses characteristics such that, as a result of allowing a metal contained in the ion conductor to be further contained in one of the two electrodes, the electrical characteristics of the resistance or the capacitance of the ion conductor change when a voltage is applied between the two electrodes.
More specifically, the ion conductor is formed of a solid solution (for example, amorphous GeS or amorphous GeSe) of chalcogenide and a metal, and one of the two electrodes contains Ag, Cu, or Zn (refer to, for example, PCT Japanese Translation Patent Publication No. 2002-536840).
For the structure of an RRAM, for example, a structure in which a polycrystalline PrCaMnO3 thin film is sandwiched between two electrodes and a voltage pulse or an electrical current pulse is applied between the two electrodes, causing the resistance value of PrCaMnO3, which is a recording film, to be greatly changed is introduced (refer to, for example, W. W. Zhuang, "Novel Colossal Magnetoresistive Thin Film Nonvolatile Resistance Random Access Memory (RRAM)", Technical Digest "International Electron Devices Meeting", 2002, p. 193). Then, a voltage pulse whose polarity differs between when information is recorded (written) and when information is erased is applied.
Furthermore, for another structure of RRAM, for example, a structure in which SrZrO3 (monocrystal or polycrystal) in which Cr is doped in small amounts is sandwiched between two electrodes, and an electrical current is made to flow from those electrodes, causing the resistance of the recording film to change is introduced (refer to, for example, A. Beck, "Reproducible switching effect in thin oxide films for memory applications", Applied Physics Letters, 2000, vol. 77, p. 139-141).
In this "Reproducible switching effect in thin oxide films for memory applications", I versus V characteristics of the storage layer are shown, and the threshold voltage during a recording and erasure is ±0.5 V. Also, in this structure, the recording and erasure of information are possible by the application of a voltage pulse, the necessary pulse voltage is set at ±1.1 V, and the necessary voltage pulse width is set at 2 ms. In addition, high-speed recording and erasure are possible, and operation at the voltage pulse width of 100 ns is reported. In this case, the necessary pulse voltage is ±5 V.


A system for facilitating the separation of materials dissolved from a fluid. The system includes an apparatus for separating proteins and other organics from fluid is provided. The apparatus includes a column having an interior chamber extending between a first end and a second end of the column. The apparatus also includes an inlet tangentially positioned relative to the interior chamber, so as to induce a cyclonic flow as fluid enters into the interior chamber. The apparatus further includes an injection port through which bubbles may be introduced into the fluid flow within the interior chamber. As the bubbles ascend materials dissolved in the fluid adhere to the bubbles an get carried upward towards the surface level of the fluid. Foam generated by the coalescing bubbles may be collected in a trough provided about the first end of the column and may be directed thereinto by a deflector.

The present invention relates to systems and methods for facilitating the separation of organics from fluids.
Protein removing devices have been used to remove dissolved proteins and/or other dissolved organic compounds from, for example, aquaculture fluid. These devices typically introduce a fluid to be treated through a top portion of a reactor vessel, and a countercurrent of air through a mechanism that creates bubbles near the bottom portion of the reactor vessel. As the bubbles rise up the reactor vessel through the fluid to be treated, proteins and/or other organics adhere to the bubbles and float to the surface level to the fluid in the vessel. The accumulation of the bubbles having the proteins and/or other organics adhering thereto at the surface of the fluid in the vessel generates foam. The foam can subsequently be removed to remove the proteins and/or other organics from the vessel. The current technology, however, may not provide a uniform interaction of the bubbles with the fluid to permit optimal removal of materials dissolved in the fluid. Moreover, current technology often requires the foam to travel a substantial distance along the surface of the fluid before being removed. As a result, a large amount of foam can burst and collapse during removal, which can lead to the redissolving of the removed proteins and/or other organics in the foam back into the fluid.
The present invention provides, in one embodiment, an apparatus for facilitating the separation of material dissolved from a fluid to be treated. The apparatus, in accordance with an embodiment, includes a column having an interior chamber extending between a first end and a second end of the column. The apparatus further includes an inlet in tangential communication with the interior chamber, so as to impart a cyclonic flow for fluid introduced through the inlet. Below the inlet, an injection port may be included through which bubbles can be introduced towards a central axis of the column. A trough may be situated circumferentially about the first end of the column for collecting foam generated by the coalescence of rising bubbles having material dissolved in the fluid adhering thereto. Adjacent the second end of the column, a first outlet may be provided in tangential communication with the interior chamber, so as to permit the cyclonic flow within the interior chamber to exit therefrom. A controller may be provided on the outlet to regulate outflow of treated fluid from the interior chamber. A second outlet may be provided in communication with the trough for removal of foam collected therein. In one embodiment of the invention, a deflector may be placed at the surface level of the fluid to enhance diversion of foam into the trough. Furthermore, an enclosure may be extended across the trough, so as to pressurize the fluid within the column to facilitate removal of foam through the second outlet.
The present invention also provides a method for treatment of fluid. The method includes imparting on the fluid a flow direction, which approximates a cyclonic pattern. Thereafter, the flow direction may be permitted to move axially downward while maintaining the cyclonic pattern. While maintaining this cyclonic pattern, bubbles may be injected transversely to the pattern towards a central axis, such that the bubbles rise through the fluid in a countercurrent manner relative to the flow direction towards a surface level of the fluid. Subsequently, materials dissolved in the fluid may be allowed to adhere to the rising bubbles and separate from the fluid. The introduction of bubbles into the cyclonic flow may result in a substantially uniform mixing and interaction of the bubbles with the fluid to permit optimal removal of materials from the fluid. Next, the bubbles may be permitted to coalesce into foam on the surface level of the fluid, and the foam removed.
In another embodiment, fluid to be treated may be introduced into an interior chamber of an apparatus through a tangential inlet in a manner which imparts a cyclonic flow within the interior chamber. The fluid may, thereafter, be subjected to a downward flow along the interior chamber while permitted to maintain a cyclonic pattern. Bubbles subsequently may be injected through an injection port, across the fluid flow, towards a central axis of the interior chamber, such that the bubbles may rise towards a surface level of the fluid in a countercurrent manner relative to the downward flow. Materials dissolved within the fluid may next be allowed to adhere to the rising bubbles, and the bubbles be permitted to coalesce into foam at the surface level of the fluid. The foam on the surface of the fluid may then be directed radially into a trough for removal.

Systems and methods for separation of organics from fluids