A quality and/or flow meter employs a capacitance probe assembly for measuring the dielectric constant of flow stream, particularly a two-phase flow stream including liquid and gas components. The dielectric constant of the flow stream varies depending upon the volume ratios of its liquid and gas components, and capacitance measurements can therefore be employed to calculate the quality of the flow, which is defined as the volume ratio of liquid in the flow to the total volume ratio of gas and liquid in the flow. By using two spaced capacitance sensors, and cross-correlating the time varying capacitance values of each, the velocity of the flow stream can also be determined. A microcontroller-based processing circuit is employed to measure the capacitance of the probe sensors. The circuit employs high speed timer and counter circuits to provide a high resolution measurement of the time interval required to charge each capacitor in the probe assembly. In this manner, a high resolution, noise resistant, digital representation of each of capacitance value is obtained without the need for a high resolution A/D converter, or a high frequency oscillator circuit. One embodiment of the probe assembly employs a capacitor with two ground plates which provide symmetry to insure that accurate measurements are made thereby.

The present invention relates in general to a two-phase quality/flow meter which can measure the ratio of liquid to gas in, and the flow velocity of, a two-phase flow stream by using capacitance measurements.
Many prior art measurement devices monitor capacitance changes to measure a physical phenomenon related thereto. For example, because different materials typically have different dielectric constants, a capacitance measurement performed on a mixture of two materials can be employed to determine the ratio of one material to the other. Similarly, the dielectric constant of a single material typically changes when the material changes phase between a liquid and a gas or a liquid and a solid. Thus, the ratio of one phase to another phase in a two-phase flow stream can also be determined using capacitance measurements. This measurement technique is useful in "quality" meters which measure the volume ratio of a gas or liquid component in gas-liquid mixture to the total volume of the mixture, where quality is defined as this ratio. A specific application of a quality meter is in the monitoring of a cryogenic flow of liquid nitrogen, hydrogen or oxygen as is typically used for fueling rocket engines. Cryogenic cooling is required to maintain these elements in their liquid state due to their very low boiling temperatures. Even the slightest malfunction in the cryogenic cooling system can result in the generation of gas bubbles in the flow stream, and these can be very detrimental to the proper operation of the fuel supply system. Accordingly, a means must be provided which can rapidly detect when the proportion of liquid volume to the total volume in the flow stream drops below an unacceptable level, and quality meters provide an accurate means for monitoring such a condition.
Capacitance measurements can also be employed to measure the flow velocity of a material flow stream by making capacitance measurements with two capacitance sensors disposed at spaced locations in the flow stream, and cross-correlating the obtained measurements. The cross-correlation determines when like portions of the flow stream pass each capacitance sensor, and the flow velocity can be determined by dividing the distance between the two sensors by the time interval required for like portions of the flow to pass from one sensor to the other.
Prior art capacitance based measurement devices of these type suffer from a number of drawbacks. Typically, these devices employ a capacitance probe which is positioned in the flow or material to be tested. The probe includes two spaced conductive plates which form the capacitor, and the material to be tested forms the dielectric between the plates. Thus, if the material's dielectric constant changes, such as may occur as a result of a partial phase change, the value of the capacitor also changes.
Numerous techniques have been employed to measure the capacitance of the capacitor in these devices. In a first known technique, the capacitor is connected as part of an RC oscillator circuit whose frequency changes in proportion to changes in the capacitor's dielectric constant. Although this frequency monitoring technique has the benefit of simple electronics, it has the detriment of requiring that a division be performed, which is difficult with analog circuitry. Additionally, this type of device typically employs a high frequency oscillator which is very sensitive to electrical noise induced errors. Further, temperature and pressure changes affect the device capacitance, and these parameters are thus also a source of error.
Another prior art capacitance measurement technique employs a high frequency oscillator to rapidly charge and discharge the capacitor, and the current required to do this is measured. If the capacitor changes in value, a differing amount of current will be required to charge and discharge it. This technique allows high speed monitoring of the capacitance value, but has the detriments of requiring a high speed, accurate and stable oscillator, voltage-to-current monitoring at high speed, and an accurate, high resolution analog to digital converter. Again, the high frequency oscillator is very sensitive to electrical induced errors, and its stability is affected by various factors, such as temperature and pressure changes. Also, the high resolution analog to digital converter increases both the device complexity and its cost.

The United States of America as represented by the Adminstrator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration


An anti-agglomeration device for a nanofluid includes a support module, a motion module, a photoacoustic conversion module and a control module. The support module includes a frame and screws and is configured to support the photoacoustic conversion module and the motion module. The photoacoustic conversion module includes a nanosecond laser, a first clamp, a lens, a silica optical fiber, a second clamp, gold nanoparticles and a container and is configured to realize photoacoustic conversion to generate ultrasonic waves. The motion module includes a servo motor, a dovetailed rail, a guide screw, a fixed plate, a slider and a deep groove ball bearing. The motion module is configured to support the photoacoustic conversion module and realize the combined motions of the photoacoustic conversion module. The control module includes a support plate and a CCD camera and is configured to control the motion module in real time.

A nanofluid is a new kind of heat transfer medium which is uniform and stable and has high thermal conductivity. The nanofluid is usually prepared by dispersing metallic or non-metallic nanoparticles in the traditional liquid heat transfer media such as water and oil. The nanofluid has broad application prospects in the fields of energy, chemical industry, automobiles, architecture, microelectronics, information, etc., and thus has become research hotspots in many fields such as materials, physics, chemistry and heat transfer.
As the nanofluid has shown a significant enhancement of the heat transfer characteristic, it is gradually applied for lubrication and cooling in the machining. However, when the nanofluid is left standing for a long time, nanoparticles in the nanofluid are prone to form agglomeration, and then the sedimentation occurs, which directly affects the heat transfer and cooling efficiency of the nanofluid.

Anti-agglomeration device using ultrasonic waves for a nanofluid

Changsha University of Science and Technology


Methods and apparatus are disclosed for producing high quality images in uncontrolled or impaired environments. In some examples of the disclosed technology, groups of cameras for high dynamic range (HDR), polarization diversity, and optional other diversity modes are arranged to concurrently image a common scene. For example, in a vehicle checkpoint application, HDR provides discernment of dark objects inside a vehicle, while polarization diversity aids in rejecting glare. Spectral diversity, infrared imaging, and active illumination can be applied for better imaging through a windshield. Preprocessed single-camera images are registered and fused. Faces or other features of interest can be detected in the fused image and identified in a library. Impairments can include weather, insufficient or interfering lighting, shadows, reflections, window glass, occlusions, or moving objects.

Imaging applications continue to increase in areas as diverse as factory automation, surveillance, and autonomous vehicle computer vision. The successful deployment of many such applications can be dependent on the quality of a source image. Often, images must be acquired in poorly controlled conditions, with impairments in a scene that can include weather, sub-optimal ambient lighting, shadows, reflections, occlusions, or moving objects.
Existing approaches are limited in their ability to operate successfully in uncontrolled or harsh environments. Accordingly, there is ample opportunity for improved technology for imaging in uncontrolled or harsh conditions.

Optical array for high-quality imaging in harsh environments


A low-profile in-shaft connector including a female connector (82) and a male connector (90) for electrically connecting a power source to the electrical windings of a motor for rotating a magnetic disc storage system. The female connector (82) includes a sleeve extension (50) that extends down and around the three pins (72, 74, 76) of the female connector and engages the outward sides of the pins in order to prevent lateral deflection of the pins and thereby increase the spring biasing force of the electrical connection between the male and female connector components.

Seagate Technology of Scotts Valley, Calif., USA, the assignee company of the applicant herein, has made and sold in-shaft connectors as part of a spindle assembly for rotatably supporting magnetic disc drives for use in personal computers. The in-shaft connectors sold by Seagate included a set of three electrical prongs extending downwardly within the hollow interior of the spindle assembly shaft. The width of the hollow interior of the shaft provided sufficient room for a female connector to be inserted up into the shaft and connected to the three extended prongs in a manner where the female component completely surrounded the extended prongs. Laterally displaceable conductive elements engaged the extended prongs and the spring force of the conductive elements ensured a solid electrical connection.
While these male/female connectors have worked satisfactorily, it has been discovered that they tend to lose some of their spring elasticity, which can weaken the electrical integrity of the connection. They also tend to require a wide profile spindle shaft to accommodate the female connector, which limits the amount of room between the connector and the motor for the bearing components.
The present invention improves upon this prior art connector design.


A non-contact reader/writer for an IC card includes an antenna substrate provided with a loop antenna and a capacitor on its upper surface, a control substrate provided with a transmitting/receiving circuit and a chip coil on its upper surface, and a magnetic sheet disposed between the antenna substrate and the control substrate. A magnetic flux generated by the chip coil on the control substrate passes through the loop antenna to cause magnetic coupling, so that the loop antenna and the transmitting/receiving circuit need not be connected to each other through a communication cable.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reader/writer and a mobile communication apparatus, and more particularly to a reader/writer communicating with an IC card or the like in a non-contact manner and a mobile communication apparatus such as a mobile phone.
2. Description of the Related Art
Readers/writers for an IC card, performing communication in a non-contact manner by using magnetic coupling, have been known (e.g., see Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Registration Application Publication No. 6-13214 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-288447). These known readers/writers 100 for an IC card include an antenna substrate 101 provided with a loop antenna 102 on its upper surface and a control substrate 103 provided with a transmitting/receiving circuit (not shown) on its upper surface, as shown in FIG. 13.
The loop antenna 102 is a printed coil provided on the upper surface of the antenna substrate 101 by printing or the like. In order to ensure a predetermined or more communication distance between the loop antenna 102 and an IC card, the loop antenna 102 is disposed over as wide an area as possible on the upper surface of the antenna substrate 101, so that a wide range of magnetic flux distribution can be obtained.
The lower surface of the control substrate 103 is provided with a ground electrode over a wider area. Due to this configuration, the antenna substrate 101 and the control substrate 103 need to be placed with a predetermined distance therebetween so that the flow of a magnetic flux generated by the loop antenna 102 is not obstructed by the ground electrode. Also, the transmitting/receiving circuit on the control substrate 103 and the loop antenna 102 electrically connect to each other through a communication cable 105.
However, since the known reader/writer 100 for an IC card includes the communication cable 105 to electrically connect the transmitting/receiving circuit on the control substrate 103 and the loop antenna 102, the communication cable 105 needs to be soldered to connectors, which requires many assembling steps. Further, space for routing the communication cable 105 needs to be ensured, which is a factor inhibiting the miniaturization of the reader/writer 100 for an IC card.
On the other hand, this type of reader/writer for an IC card may be configured in a compact size so as to be incorporated into a mobile communication apparatus such as a mobile phone. However, it is very difficult to incorporate a control substrate and an antenna substrate into a mobile communication apparatus, which is originally made compact.

Reader/writer and mobile communication apparatus


A system and method for integrating business tools in a social networking environment. A proxy access module includes a social network application, a business registration engine, an application directory engine, an access request engine and a graphical user interface engine. The social network application receives input from a user for sharing the business tool with other members of a social network. The business registration engine receives and processes registration information for allowing access to a business tool. The application directory engine determines whether the user has permission to access the business tool. The access request engine receives and processes a request for accessing a business tool via a social network. The graphical user interface engine generates graphical data for displaying a business tool.

The specification relates to methods and systems for providing business tools in a personal social networking environment.
Over the last decade, social networking has become increasingly popular. For many, logging into or checking a social networking online service is at least a daily routine. Social networking online services provide tools for socializing and connecting with people who share interests and activities. In addition to an account for accessing the social network, a person may have numerous accounts for accessing a number of other tools for personal or business. It is desirable to minimize the number of accounts the user has to log into. As a result, what is needed is a method for providing access to business tools in a social networking environment.

Integrating business tools in a social networking environment


In MOSFET having SBD as a protection element, a TiW (alloy having tungsten as a main component) film is used as an aluminum-diffusion barrier metal film below an aluminum source electrode in order to secure properties of SBD. The present inventors have found that a tungsten-based barrier metal film is in the form of columnar grains having a lower barrier property than that of a titanium-based barrier metal film such as TiN so that aluminum spikes are generated relatively easily in a silicon substrate. In the present invention, when a tungsten-based barrier metal film is formed by sputtering as a barrier metal layer between an aluminum-based metal layer and a silicon-based semiconductor layer therebelow, the lower layer is formed by ionization sputtering while applying a bias to the wafer side and the upper layer is formed by sputtering without applying a bias to the wafer side.

The present invention relates to a technology effective when applied to a metal film forming technology in a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device (or a semiconductor integrated circuit device).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-247559 (Patent Document 1) and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007-0148896 (Patent Document 2) disclose a technology of forming a ruthenium film as a lower electrode of DRAM (dynamic random access memory) by sputtering according to a PCM (point cusp magnetron) system (i.e., PCM sputtering) and CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-358091 (Patent Document 3) and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002-0089027 (Patent Document 4) disclose a technology of forming, by a kind of ionization sputtering, a titanium film, a titanium nitride film, or the like as a barrier metal layer for effectively filling a contact hole with aluminum.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-127005 (Patent Document 5) discloses a technology of forming a titanium film as a barrier metal film by sputtering based on an IMP (Ion Metal Plasma) system in order to fill aluminum in a hole with a high aspect ratio.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-223708 (Patent Document 6), Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-165663 (Patent Document 7), Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-267569 (Patent Document 8), and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-32598 (Patent Document 9) disclose a technology of using TiW as a barrier metal of an aluminum source electrode of a trench gate power MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 223752/1998 (Patent Document 10), Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 45281/1994 (Patent Document 11), and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-21880 (Patent Document 12) disclose a technology of forming a titanium film, a titanium nitride film (or TiW), or the like as a barrier metal layer of an aluminum interconnect by using typical sputtering.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-318395 (Patent Document 13), U.S. Patent Publication 2003-0199156 (Patent Document 14), and U.S. Patent Publication 2005-0145899 (Patent Document 15) disclose a technology of using TiW as a barrier metal of an aluminum source electrode of a power MOSFET and forming an aluminum source electrode by reflow.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-247559
[Patent Document 2] U.S. Patent Publication 2007-0148896
[Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-358091
[Patent Document 4] U.S. Patent Publication 2002-0089027
[Patent Document 5] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-127005
[Patent Document 6] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-223708
[Patent Document 7] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-165663
[Patent Document 8] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-267569
[Patent Document 9] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-32598
[Patent Document 10] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 223752/1998
[Patent Document 11] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 45281/1994
[Patent Document 12] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-21880
[Patent Document 13] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-318395
[Patent Document 14] U.S. Patent Publication 2003-0199156
[Patent Document 15] U.S. Patent Publication 2005-0145899

Manufacturing method of semiconductor device


Disclosed is a gas measuring device which comprises compensation of disturbances and offers high accuracy of measurement immediately after being activated. Said gas measuring device is provided with a gas sensor (1) for generating a measuring signal (S1) that depends on the gas concentration and can have a spurious component while a high-pass filter (13) having an adjustable limiting frequency is mounted downstream of said gas sensor (1). The limiting frequency can be predefined according to the spurious component by means of a selection unit.

For the measurement of gas concentrations and especially the concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NO) and hydrocarbons (CxHy), semiconductor sensors are used in the automotive field because of their low cost. Most of the semiconductor sensors are conductivity-based SnO2 sensors. The measurement results can serve, for example, to open or close air circulation flaps in an automobile.
The above-mentioned sensors are characterized, apart from their low cost, by a good sensitivity to the gases to be measured. On the drawback side, however, these sensors have a number of side effects which complicate the signal evaluation. Reducing gases, like for example carbon monoxide contribute to an increase in the conductivity of the semiconductor sensors. Oxidizing gases like for example nitrogen oxide contribute to a reduction in the conductivity of the semiconductor sensors. In addition, the strong adsorption of water on the surface of the SnO2 semiconductor sensor gives rise to a detrimental side effect. The bound water increases the conductivity of the gas-sensitive SnO2 layer significantly. The amount of water adsorbed on the sensitive SnO2 layer is dependent to a high degree upon the temperature. As a result the change in the conductivity of the SnO2-layer is strongly temperature dependent. At a temperature below 200° C. substantially greater quantities of water can be bound to the semiconductor sensors than at higher temperatures. The adsorbed water quantities can be determined by means of a TDS [Total Dissolved Solids] measurement. After a certain time, a temperature-dependent equilibrium develops between adsorbed and desorbed water. Upon a change in temperature, the time constant to reach a new equilibrium is between several minutes and several hours. The time constant depends upon prevalent environmental conditions.
This effect arises especially in the phase following the switching on of the semiconductor sensor or in operation and is especially detrimental in its manifestations.
If the sensor is stored at ambient temperature for a period of several weeks, in the course of this period there will be an equilibrium for this temperature at saturation between adsorbed water and desorbed water. This equilibrium is referred to hereinafter also as the saturation equilibrium. To be able to carry out gas measurements with the sensor, the sensor is brought to an operating temperature of about 330° C. The increased temperature of 330° C. by contrast with the storage temperature means that water will be desorbed until a new saturation equilibrium is formed. During this period of time, as a consequence, the conductivity will drop continuously even if the gas concentration should remain constant. The resulting drop in conductivity is correlated with a conductivity change of the type which can result from a large increase in the NO concentration.
The result is that the measurement of the NO concentration during the interval in which a new saturation equilibrium is created is associated with significant errors in measurement.

Gas measuring device and method with compensation of disturbances


A soap dispenser utilizes an infrared sensor for detecting the presence of an object upon which soap will be dispensed. There is a source of soap and a pump connected thereto. A voltage regulator having an adjustable output voltage to control the force at which soap is dispensed, and which may be considered a method of accommodating viscosity of soap, is connected to the pump. The sensor controls operation of the pump and there is an adjustable timing circuit to control the amount of time the pump operates and hence the volume of soap dispensed. A prime circuit is included to prime the pump as conditions require.

The present invention relates to soap dispensers of the kind found in public washrooms and in other types of washrooms, for example scrub rooms in hospitals, where the dispenser is to be operated without hands-on or manual control. The soap dispenser is operated by a sensor, for example infrared, and will provide a measured amount of soap when the hands of the person desiring the soap are placed within the path of the sensor. Since soap is supplied in various viscosities, depending upon the particular application, and since it is important that the soap not be splashed when dispensed, there is a viscosity or thickness control to accommodate soaps of different viscosity. There is also a timing circuit which controls the volume of soap or the time during which the pump will actually dispense soap. Further, the invention includes a priming circuit to prime the pump as required.
The invention is described particularly in connection with a soap dispenser, although it has application in any environment in which it is desired to dispense a liquid having a viscosity greater than that of water and in which it is desired to control the force at which the viscous liquid is dispensed and also the time period of operation. In this context, the invention has application in the dispensing of condiments such as ketchup, mustard, salad dressing, etc., and in dispensing cosmetic products such as shampoo, lotion, and conditioners, etc.

Liquid dispensing pump with splash minimizing adjustment and volume dispensing adjustment


A method, device, and system for providing multipoint network services over a ring topology network. According to the disclosed method point-to-point connections and point-to-multipoint connections are established between network elements (NEs) providing the same network services. These connections eliminate the need for replicating packets at a source NE and, as a result, the bandwidth utilization is significantly improved. In one embodiment of this invention the multipoint network services provided by the present invention is a virtual private LAN service (VPLS).

Ethernet has emerged as the standard of choice for local area networks. With speeds of 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, 1 Gbps, and 10 Gbps, Ethernet capacity has grown to meet the need for increased network capacities. Consequently, there is considerable interest by operators to offer multipoint network services over public networks. A multipoint network service is a service that allows each of the customer sites to communicate directly and independently with all other customer sites connected to the network via a common interface.
A new network technology that renders multipoint connectivity services has been introduced recently in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/265,621 by Casey. This technology is known as "virtual private LAN service" (VPLS). VPLS is a multipoint Layer 2 virtual private network (VPN) technology that allows multiple sites to be connected over a emulated Ethernet broadcast domain that is supported across, for example, multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) networks. That is, VPLS provides connectivity between geographically dispersed customer sites across metropolitan area networks (MANs) or wide area networks (WANs), seemingly as if the customer sites were connected using a LAN.
Abstractly, a VPLS can be defined as a group of virtual switch instances (VSIs) that are interconnected in a full-mesh topology to form an emulated LAN. Specifically, a full-mesh of transport tunnels (i.e pseudowires) needs to be established between network elements (NEs) participating in a single VPLS. Concretely, a VSI can be seen as a bridging function, in which a packet is switched based upon its destination address "DA" (e.g., a medium access layer (MAC) address) and membership in a VPLS. If the destination address is unknown, or is a broadcast or multicast address, the packet is flooded (i.e., replicated and broadcasted) to all transport tunnels associated with the VSI. All NEs participating in a single VPLS instance appear to be on the same LAN.
Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which shows a VPLS 100 established between sites 110, 112, 114 and 116 of a customer A. Sites 110, 112, 114 and 116 are served by NEs 120, 122, 124 and 126 respectively. Each site is connected to an output port of each NE through a customer edge (CE) device (not shown). The VPLS is formed by a full-mesh of pseudowire (PW) connections 130 that interconnect NEs 120 through 126. The PW connections are carried over a MPLS network 150.
NEs in VPLS 100 need to support a "split-horizon" scheme in order to prevent loops. Namely, a NE in VPLS 100 is not allowed to forward traffic from one PW to another PW in the same VPLS. Furthermore, each NE in VPLS 100 needs to implement basic bridging capabilities, such as flooding packets and replicating packets, as well as learning and aging (to remove unused) destination addresses. A packet received at a source NE (e.g. NE 120) is transmitted to its destination based on the DA designated in the packet. If the source NE (in this case 120) does not recognize the destination NE associated with the DA, the packet is flooded to all other NEs in VPLS 100.
A packet to be flooded is replicated in as many copies as the number of PWs 130 connected to a NE, namely, a packet is replicated on all connections that are associated with a particular VSI. The number of packet replications increases linearly as the number of connections in the VSI increases. This replication is not as efficient as the mechanism for transmitting broadcast traffic with Ethernet switching technology, in which broadcast traffic is transmitted only once per physical interface. Furthermore, replicating packets and transmitting them at wire speed may not be feasible.
VPLS and other multipoint network services are designed to operate properly only in a full-mesh logical topology. This significantly limits the bandwidth utilization when providing VPLS over networks that have a network topology other than a full-mesh topology, such as ring topology networks. Therefore, it would be advantageous to allow multipoint network services to be efficiently executed over networks having a topology other than a full-mesh topology. It would be further advantageous to eliminate the shortcomings resulting from the need to replicate packets.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for enabling multipoint network services over a ring topology network


An apparatus and related method for detecting oil and mineralized water, if it exists, in a well. The apparatus comprises a sensor assembly for placing down the well, the sensor assembly having a float therein that rises when fluid is detected and adapted to close an electrical contact of a circuit having a power source. The apparatus also has a base assembly used for raising and lowering the sensor assembly into and out of the well. An alarm is electrically coupled to the circuit that includes the sensor assembly and power source, the alarm operable to indicate when the electrical contact is closed.

Stripper wells are oil or gas wells that are either non-producing or yield very little oil, generally less than three barrels a day. Because of their low yield, these wells are often abandoned due to the cost to recover the oil. Over time, however, these wells often can recover so that, often for a limited time, oil can be once again be extracted from the well. Many times these wells are often sold or leased in hopes of recovering oil that may have accumulated in the wells. Several techniques have been developed for extracting oil in these wells. They include placing pump jacks having timers set to operate the pump at known oil recovery intervals. Conventional recovery devices include bailers and air jets techniques. Each of these techniques has the disadvantage that each is unable to determine the depth at which oil resides in the well, and the amount of recoverable oil in the well.
Before these recovery techniques are used it would be advantageous to determine the depth at which oil can be found in the well, and if there is mineralized water present, at what depth such mineralized water exists. This information could be used to determine how much oil is available to recover and to evaluate whether it is worth recovering.

Apparatus and method for determining the depth level and amount of fluids in a well


A construction toy includes a plurality of rigid die-cut laminated plastic modular cards having a plurality of sides. A first side of a first card has a plurality of cuts opposite and complementary to respective cuts of a first side of a second card, such that the cards may be assembled by interfacing sides in mating relation. The side of a card extends along an axis and is defined by a varying height profile formed by inner and outer lands, an outer land being along the outer edge of the side, and an inner land being recessed inwardly therefrom. The cards have a first assembled condition with coincident axes providing two-dimensional and three-dimensional structures. A slit in the side enables a third assembled condition with noncoincident axes.

The invention relates to construction toys, and more particularly to toys constructed of modular cards which may be assembled in a myriad of configurations. The invention is desirably suitable for low cost manufacture, including rigid laminated plastic cards which may be printed and die-cut, as opposed to more expensive injection molding.
In the field of construction toys, it is known to injection mold modular pieces of different shapes and sizes which may be assembled by a child in various manners to build various toy constructions. An objection is the expense of the injection molding.
The present invention arose from efforts to lower the manufacturing cost of the above noted type toys. In one aspect, the inventor provides a construction toy enabling usage of rigid die-cut laminated plastic modular cards, addressing and solving the above noted cost objection.
In another aspect, the invention enables numerous construction possibilities and combinations in two-dimensional structures, three-dimensional structures, static and dynamic structures, including a multitude of orientations and assembly angles.


Particles of iron and nickel are added to a flowing plasma stream which does not chemically alter the iron or nickel. The iron and nickel are heated and vaporized in the stream, and then a cryogenic fluid is added to the stream to rapidly cause the formation of nanometer size particles of iron and nickel. The particles are separated from the stream. The particles are preferably formed as single crystals in which the iron and nickel atoms are organized in a tetragonal L10 crystal structure which displays magnetic anisotropy. A minor portion of an additive, such as titanium, vanadium, aluminum, boron, carbon, phosphorous, or sulfur, may be added to the plasma stream with the iron and nickel to enhance formation of the desired crystal structure.

There is a continuing need for relatively inexpensive, high performance permanent magnet materials. For example, in the automotive vehicle industry there is a particular need for such permanent magnet materials, having relatively high curie temperatures Tc (>300° C.), in traction motors, generators, and other applications.
Iron-nickel alloys are believed to offer permanent magnet properties providing they can be formed in the tetragonal L10 crystal structure. There is a need to form very small particles of compositions of elemental iron and nickel that may be consolidated into unitary shapes to serve as permanent magnets. Iron (atomic number 26) and nickel (atomic number 28) are similarly-sized transition element atoms. A molten mixture of elemental iron and nickel may be solidified as a face-centered cubic (fcc) crystal structure with the iron and nickel atoms in a disordered arrangement. But the disordered fcc crystal structure of iron and nickel atoms does not provide the magnetic anisotropy that is necessary for permanent magnet properties. There is a need for a method by which iron and nickel atoms may be formed into nanometer size particles of iron-nickel alloys in which the iron and nickel atoms are arranged in layers such that the resulting crystals are not cubic, but tetragonal and in the L10-type AuCu 1 crystal structure to provide magnetic anisotropy.

Synthesis of ordered L10-type FeNi nanoparticles


Existing bone dowels are improved through the use of rigid, preferably metallic end plates. The plates are positioned relative to the anterior and posterior end surfaces of the bone dowel, which may be an existing, modified, or a specially fabricated bone section. The completed structure may be inserted, removed, and positioned into the vertebrae in the same manner as existing devices, that is, by way of a threaded or frictional fit, just as the dowel being fortified. However, the use of the rigid endplates facilitates load sharing which helps to prevent graft fracture. In the preferred embodiment, the end plates are positioned against the end surfaces of the bone section through the use of a link member, which passes through the interior of the bone section and connects the end plates. One of the end plates may include a threaded bore, and one end of the link member may be threaded to receive the threaded bore of that end plate to hold it in place. The use of a link member allows a plurality of bone sections to be journaled onto the link member, with a disk of rigid, preferably metallic material to be interposed between each bone section. Alternatively, the end surfaces of the bone section may each include an aperture having an inside diameter, with each end plate having an outside diameter corresponding to the inside diameter of the apertures, enabling the end plates to be positioned against the end surfaces of the bone section through a frictional fit.

The present invention relates generally to orthopedic surgery and, in particular, to interbody cages and dowels of the type for use in interbody spinal fusions.
With respect to spinal surgery wherein one or more vertebrae are fused, the use of bone dowels have certain advantages over metal cages. First, allograft bone readily fuses to the vertebrae. Second, it is often impossible to determine if metal bone-filled cages have fused to adjacent vertebrae, because the metal obstructs x-ray imaging of the bone within the metal cages as well as the cage vertebra junction. Third, bone dowels have a modulus of elasticity closer to that vertebrae. Consequently, bone dowels stress shield less than metal cages.
Bone dowels have certain disadvantages when compared to metal cages, however. Allograft bone incorporates into host bone through a process known as xe2x80x9ccreeping substitution.xe2x80x9d Host blood vessels grow into the allograft bone in the first stage of this process. Bone removing cells known as osteoclasts then invade the allograft bone. After sufficient bone is removed by the osteoclasts, bone building cells known as osteoblasts lay down new host bone on the allograft bone.
This remodeling process may go on for years. As would be expected, the allograft is weakened by the channels formed by the blood vessels, as well as the bone removal by the osteoclasts. Although the allograft regains its strength once sufficient new bone is formed, allograft bone dowels are at risk of fracture during the period of time that they are weakened. Allograft bone dowel fracture is well known to those skilled in the art of spinal surgery. Bone dowels are also weaker than metal cages, even before they undergo creeping substitution. Consequently, bone dowels can fracture during surgical placement. Fractured dowels can be difficult to remove, and may lead to failure of a fusion to occur. The properties of bone also do not allow certain shapes or machining.
This invention improves upon existing bone dowels through the use of rigid, preferably metallic end plates, thereby providing the advantages of bone dowels while eliminating the disadvantages, as discussed above. The plates are positioned relative to the anterior and posterior end surfaces of the bone dowel, which may be an existing, modified, or a specially fabricated bone section.
The completed structure may be inserted, removed, and positioned into the vertebrae in the same manner as existing devices, that is, by way of a threaded or frictional fit. However, the use of the rigid endplates facilitates load sharing which helps to prevent graft fracture.
In the preferred embodiment, the end plates are positioned against the end surfaces of the bone section through the use of a link member, which passes through the interior of the bone section and connects the end plates. One of the end plates may include a threaded bore, and one end of the link member may be threaded to receive the threaded bore of that end plate to hold it in place. The use of a link member allows a plurality of bone sections to be journaled onto the link member, with a disk of rigid, preferably metallic material to be interposed between each bone section.
Alternatively, the end surfaces of the bone section may each include an aperture having an inside diameter, with each end plate having an outside diameter corresponding to the inside diameter of the apertures, enabling the end plates to be positioned against the end surfaces of the bone section through a frictional fit.
At least the bone section preferably includes an exterior threading, such that with a generally cylindrical outer shape the finished structure may be screwed into place. Alternative geometries, including rectangular, trapezoidal, and so forth may also be accommodated, with and without exterior threading or serrading.


Disclosed herein is a method for controlling an autonomous driving vehicle. The vehicle control method includes detecting an eye level of an occupant adjacent to the window through a first camera which captures an image of an inside of the vehicle, setting an area of the window corresponding to the eye level of the occupant to a first area and setting the other remaining area of the window to a second area, and adjusting light transmittance of the window such that light transmittance of the first area is lower than light transmittance of the second area.

Vehicles may be classified as internal combustion engine vehicles, external combustion engine vehicles, gas turbine vehicles, electric vehicles, and the like, according to types of prime movers used therein.
Recently, for the safety and convenience of drivers and pedestrians, smart vehicles have been actively developed and research into sensors to be mounted on the intelligent vehicles have actively been conducted. Cameras, infrared sensors, radars, global positioning systems (GPS), lidars, and gyroscopes are used in intelligent vehicles, among which cameras serve to substitute for human eyes.
Due to the development of various sensors and electronic equipment, vehicles having a function of providing a display service to occupants while on the move has come to prominence.
Among them, providing a display service according to physical characteristics of an occupant is the issue.

Method for controlling autonomous driving vehicle


This disclosure is related with propeller noise and cavitation abatement in applications like propulsion, ventilation, pumping or turbine systems on liquid or gas fluids working like a propellers, pumps, fans or turbines, by novel techniques that allows a stronger propellers and improves laminar flow and allow a smooth acceleration or deceleration of the liquid or gas by means of a propeller that consist on a rotating cylindrical block with one or more tunnels around it axis, said cylindrical block also may have flow separators structures at both input and output that helps to keep laminar flow of the fluid or gas with it surrounding media, having This rotating cylindrical block tunnels with either circular or irregular oval section that accelerates fluid or gas by means of both combined centrifugal and axial movement.

1. Field of Invention
The invention disclosed herein relates to propeller improvement, particularly to noise and cavitation abatement on propellers used on marine propulsion, fluid pumps, fans, and power turbines. Noise is always undesirable collateral of machine function, is source of illness, operational restrictions, and service life shortened on devices affected by noise. It is also a security concern to deal with when discrete operation is required.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Propellers accelerate a fluid by impinging it against a rotating blade. Such acceleration provides the thrust to an object to which it is connected. A common cause of noise is created by the turbulence of the fluid, cavitation and the vibration of the propellers' blades. Some designs achieve lower noise by means of a hardened blade structure, or surrounding the entire propeller with a duct. Other designs also reinforce the blade structure linking all blades to a ring at the propeller perimeter. Other designs use screw-type blade propellers.
Turbulence is often caused by the blade itself. The flat shape of a blade generates parasite waves that generate turbulence. This turbulence generates noise when the fluid knocks against the blade's surface or other structures near the propeller. This fluid impact creates structural tension that when released generates sound waves. To reduce the noise caused by the structural tension, reinforcements to the propeller blade structures are introduced. Some reinforcement strategies use a greater blade section or use reinforced materials on blade structures. Others use a ring attached at the extremes of the blades surrounding the propeller (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,441,852; 1,518,501 and 4,684,324 and their citations).
The basic technique of laminar turbulence reduction on the blades has been to design screw blade propellers as on U.S. Pat. No. 1,518,501. The blades described therein have an open semicircular chamber, which shapes help to avoid turbulence generated by flat shapes and also helps to reduce the angular momentum perturbation on the particles.
The Inertial cavitation phenomena is caused when the fluid pressure falls below it's vapor pressure due high acceleration momentum. The cavitation causes shock waves that are a powerful noise source. Prior art systems are designed to reduce cavitation by using larger diameter propellers to move a bigger volume (and mass) of fluid at a lower acceleration. Other systems inject gas under pressure. As expected, this avoids the shock waves but introduces a new source of noise to the system due the turbulence generate by such gas (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,906 and its citations).
All these solutions actually improved the noise abatement on the prior art systems, but didn't deal with the root of the problem. The turbulence generated by the particle circular momentum against the blade surface. Such turbulence causes a noise whose frequency is proportional to the rotational speed of the propeller.


An iontophoresis device comprising (A) a working electrode assembly having a working electrode, a medicine-containing portion and an ion-exchange membrane, (B) a counter electrode assembly having an electrode which opposes the working electrode, and (C) a power source unit electrically connected to the working electrode assembly and to the counter electrode assembly, enabling an ionic medicine contained in the medicine containing portion to be permeated into a living body by the electrophoresis through the ion-exchange membrane, wherein the ion-exchange membrane has a structure in which voids of a porous film are filled with an ion-exchange resin. The iontophoresis device using the above ion-exchange membrane makes it possible to administer the medicine in amounts larger than those accomplished by using the conventional devices.

The iontophoresis for permeating, into the living body, an ionic medicine useful for the living body by utilizing the electrophoresis has also been called ionic permeation therapy or ion introduction method, and has been widely known as a method of administering a medicine of a required amount into a diseased part in a pain-free state.
In the iontophoresis, so far, a medicine-containing layer impregnated with an ionic medicine is placed on the living body, a working electrode is arranged on the side opposite to the living body with the medicine layer sandwiched therebetween, a counter electrode is placed on the living body separated away from the medicine-containing layer, and an electric current is permitted to flow across the working electrode and the counter electrode from a power source causing the ionic medicine to permeate into the living body. This method has an object of permeating the ionic medicine only into the living body through the living body interface such as the skin and the mucous membrane. According to this method, however, the ionic medicine does not necessarily pass through the living body interface but, conversely, it often happens that sodium cations, potassium cations and chloride anions permeate back into the medicine layer from the side of the living body. In particular, ionic medicines that are believed to be useful for the living body have a smaller mobility than those of ions existing in the living body, and a desired medicine is not efficiently administered (does not efficiently permeate into the living body) in proportion to the time the electricity is supplied. In the iontophoresis, further, the medicine comes into direct contact with the electrodes triggering a reaction on the electrodes not only wasting the medicine but also forming compounds that may adversely affect the living body. Moreover, the medicine is usually used in the form of an aqueous solution. Therefore, the electrolysis of water takes place on the working electrode and on the counter electrode, whereby the pH of the medicine-containing aqueous solution varies due to H+ ions and OH− ions that are formed often causing the living body to be inflamed.
In order to solve these problems, new iontophoretic methods have been proposed by arranging an ion-exchange membrane on the living body interface so that ionic medicine permeates into the living body through the ion-exchange membrane (e.g., see patent documents 1 to 4).
[Patent document 1] JP-A-3-94771
[Patent document 2] JP-T-3-504343
[Patent document 3] JP-A-4-297277
[Patent document 4] JP-A-2000-229128
According to the systems proposed in the above patent documents, the ion-exchange membrane arranged on the living body interface permits the permeation of only those ions having the same charge as the desired medicine ions. This makes it possible to prevent the ions having a charge opposite to that of the desired medicine from oozing out of the living body and, hence, to accomplish a high dosage of the medicine as compared with when no ion-exchange membrane is arranged. The above technologies use a commercial ion-exchange membrane which employs, as a reinforcing member (reinforcement), a woven fabric, that is used for the manufacture of the salt and for the dialysis of food compounds.
So far, the iontophoresis has used a large device and could be practiced in particular places only such as in a hospital. In order to realize the iontophoresis at any time in any place, therefore, study has been forwarded vigorously concerning the iontophoresis devices that feature simple and compact structures and that can be carried.
The iontophoresis device of the portable type usually uses cells such as button-type cells as a power source. Therefore, the dosage of the medicine becomes particularly important when the voltage remains constant (constant voltage) rather than when the current remains constant (constant current).
Further, the administration of medicine by the iontophoresis and, particularly, the administration of medicine by using a portable iontophoresis device is continued over a relatively long period of time unlike that of the method such as the injection. It is therefore desired that the patient is allowed to move around and behave while carrying the iontophoresis device.
However, even the above iontophoresis method using the ion-exchange membrane is not satisfactory concerning the dosage of the medicine and, particularly, the dosage of the medicine in a constant-voltage state, and it has been desired to accomplish a further improved dosage.
Further, if the patient behaves while carrying the iontophoresis device, the portions of the skin to where the iontophoresis device is fitted are expanded, contracted and bent. Therefore, the ion-exchange membrane used for the iontophoresis device must be so strong as will not be broken by the stress generated by the expansion, contraction and bending. In general, the membrane exhibits a strength that increases with an increase in the thickness thereof. However, an increase in the thickness of the membrane, at the same time, causes a decrease in the flexibility and, hence, a decrease in the follow-up property for the expansion, contraction and bending. Therefore, if an ion-exchange membrane having a large thickness is used by giving importance to the strength, then, such problems arouse that the iontophoresis device peels off the skin or is disconnected while being carried.


A spectral image obtainment unit obtains spectral image data by receiving reflection light in different wavelength bands, into which light reflected by a living body mucous membrane has been separated, at a light receiving unit by causing a ratio of a light receiving level in a short wavelength band with respect to a light receiving level in a long wavelength band to be greater than a ratio of spectral reflectance in the short wavelength band at the living body mucous membrane with respect to spectral reflectance in the long wavelength band thereat. A spectral image data operation unit performs a spectral image estimation operation by correcting the value of the spectral image data to that of spectral image data obtained by receiving light without causing the ratio to increase. Accordingly, a diagnostic spectral image of the living body mucous membrane is obtained in an electronic endoscopic apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic endoscopic apparatus. Particularly, the present invention relates to an electronic endoscopic apparatus for diagnosing a living body mucous membrane by producing a spectral image of the living body mucous membrane.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an electronic endoscopic apparatus (Narrow Band Imaging-NB1) that produces a spectral image for diagnosis is well known as an electronic endoscopic apparatus using a solid-state imaging device. In the electronic endoscopic apparatus (Narrow Band Imaging-NB1), narrow-band spectral images of a living body mucous membrane of the digestive organ, such as the stomach, are obtained by imaging the living body mucous membrane through a narrow-band-pass filter, which transmits light only in a narrow wavelength band. Then, the narrow-band spectral images or the like are synthesized to produce a spectral image for diagnosis. This electronic endoscopic apparatus includes a rotation filter and performs imaging by using a plane-sequential method. The rotation filter is a filter formed by combining three kinds of narrow-band-pass filters, each transmitting light in a wavelength band different from each other. In the electronic endoscopic apparatus, the living body mucous membrane is imaged while the living body mucous membrane is sequentially illuminated with light that has been separated by being transmitted through each of the narrow-band-pass filters. Accordingly, narrow-band spectral images of the living body mucous membrane are obtained. The spectral image for diagnosis of the living body mucous membrane, which is obtained as described above, can represent a very fine structure of the living body mucous membrane, which could not be represented in a conventional apparatus.
Meanwhile, regarding an electronic endoscopic apparatus that performs imaging by using a plane-simultaneous method by placing an RGB mosaic filter, which is used in ordinary color image photography, in a solid-state imaging device, a method for obtaining an image that has a quality similar to that of the narrow-band spectral image, obtained through the narrow-band-pass filter, has been proposed. In this method, the image is obtained by performing an operation based on color image data obtained by imaging a living body mucous membrane.
The method, as described above, has been proposed by finding out a fact that spectral reflectances of the living body mucous membrane in the entire wavelength band of visible light can be substantially restored using three major components, namely the first major component through the third major component. This fact was found out by performing major component analyses for estimating the spectral reflectance of the living body mucous membrane using a multiplicity of sets of measurement data on the spectral reflectances of the living body mucous membrane in the wavelength band of visible light. In this restoration method, it is possible to obtain an image having a quality similar to that of the narrow-band spectral image in a pseudo manner by performing an operation using spectral reflection estimation matrix data and image data of each of RGB colors that has been obtained by performing imaging through an ordinary RGB mosaic filter corresponding to the three major components. The spectral reflection estimation matrix data is data obtained in advance using a multiplicity of sets of measurement data on the spectral reflectance of the living body mucous membrane (please refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-93336 and "Analysis and Evaluation of Digital Color Image", Yoichi Miyake, University of Tokyo Press, pp. 148-153).
The spectral reflectance of a living body mucous membrane in a short wavelength band is lower than that of the living body mucous membrane in a long wavelength band, as illustrated in FIG. 4. Therefore, when reflection light reflected by the living body mucous membrane is received by an imaging device to form an image, the light receiving level of light (for example, green light and blue light) in a short wavelength band is lower than the light receiving level of light (for example, red light) in a long wavelength band. Meanwhile, an image signal obtained by receiving light of each of the colors includes a noise component, and a constant noise component is included in the noise component. The constant noise component is included at a substantially constant ratio with respect to a maximum light receiving level of light receivable at the imaging device. Specifically, when a spectral image is obtained by reading the image signal, a constant noise component is included in the spectral image at a constant ratio with respect to the maximum light receiving level regardless of the light receiving level. Therefore, the ratio of a constant noise component included in a spectral image corresponding to the short wavelength band is larger than that of a constant noise component included in a spectral image corresponding to the long wavelength band, thereby the quality of the spectral image corresponding to the short wavelength band becoming lower. Hence, there is a demand for reduction of the ratio of the constant noise component included in the spectral image corresponding to the short wavelength band.
The ratio of the constant noise component included in the spectral image corresponding to the short wavelength band might be reduced by increasing the light receiving level corresponding to the short wavelength band when an image is obtained by the imaging device. However, if the light receiving level corresponding to the short wavelength band is increased, there is a problem that the light receiving level corresponding to the long wavelength band is saturated and exceeds the maximum light receiving level.


A retaining apparatus for retaining a semiconductor wafer on the surface of a chuck. The retaining apparatus includes elongate shafts each positioned adjacent to a perimeter of the surface of the chuck and so that a lengthwise axis of each shaft is substantially perpendicular to the surface of the chuck. Two shafts are located on one side of a diameter of the surface of the chuck and two additional shafts are located on another side of the diameter of the surface of the chuck. Retainer members are connected to each of the shafts. The retainer members extend over the surface of the chuck and portions of the semiconductor wafer resting thereon in order to retain the semiconductor wafer thereagainst when the retainer members are in a closed position. Chambers each receive another end of each of the shafts. A vacuum source is coupled to the chambers to provide suction inside the chambers to pull the shafts deeper into their respective chambers so that the retainer members move from an open position where they are spaced apart from the semiconductor wafer to the closed position where they contact portions of the semiconductor wafer. Methods of retaining a semiconductor wafer on a first surface of a chuck and testing a semiconductor wafer are also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to semiconductor wafer testing equipment and methods, and, in particular, to an apparatus and method for retaining a semiconductor wafer on a chuck surface.
2. Description of the Related Art
The manufacturing process of semiconductor wafers generally includes the so called "front end" stage which includes the actual processing of the wafer, and the so called "back end" stage which includes the testing of the completed wafer. During the back end testing operations the wafer is normally secured to the chuck of an automated testing station. A probe card which is attached to a probe card holder is positioned above the wafer and is lowered so that its pins can stick into the wafer to make electrical contact with the pads of the particular chip(s) being tested. It is important that the wafer be tightly held in place so that as the probe card moves, its pins connect to the proper pads of the wafer. If the wafer is permitted to move, even slightly, the probe card's pins may not make contact with the proper pads, thus causing the testing operations to fail and possibly even cause damage to the wafer.
Vacuum chucks have typically been used to hold wafers tightly in place during testing operations. Specifically, a vacuum chuck includes a series of apertures in the surface of the chuck to which a vacuum source is connected. The suction created between the surface of the chuck and the bottom surface of the wafer securely holds the wafer in place.
Vacuum chucks perform very well for solid wafers through which air cannot pass. However, a vacuum chuck will not work well for a wafer having one or more "through holes". This is because a suction force between the surface of the chuck and the bottom surface of the wafer cannot be achieved since the air will continue to pass through the through holes in the wafer.
For example, semiconductor microphones and pressure sensors often include open areas which extend completely through the wafer, as well as very thin and sensitive areas, such as diaphragms. Because the open areas go all the way through the wafer, there is no way to pull a complete vacuum. Furthermore, other problems may arise in trying to use a vacuum chuck with these structures. Specifically, the vacuum may create too much pressure (atmospheric pressure) on the diaphragm and cause it to distend or even break. If the diaphragm distends without breaking it will be stretched to its limits and be unable to vibrate. A diaphragm that cannot vibrate freely in response to pressure waves cannot be properly tested.
Thus, there is a need for an apparatus and method for tightly holding micromachined wafers having through holes and/or sensitive areas in place during back end testing procedures. Furthermore, it would be desirable if such apparatus and method would be capable of being installed on a conventional vacuum chuck.

Apparatus and method for retaining a semiconductor wafer during testing


Network fabric events may be utilized to proactively handle network path outages. A storage network virtualization manager may receive a network fabric event indicating a failure along a network path to a storage device and in response may initiate a proactive error handling mechanism. A storage network virtualization manager may proactively handle a network path failure before I/O requests via that network path fail. The proactive error handling mechanism may be initiated and completed prior to or without a host receiving an indication that an access request to a storage device on the network path has failed. Proactive error handling in response to network fabric events may reduce the number of I/O failures and retries and may also reduce the length of time access requests to storage devices affected by a network fabric path failure must be quiesced.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to data storage and data storage network/fabrics in general and, more particularly, to proactive utilization of fabric events in a network virtualization environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Maintaining continual access to large amounts of data is a primary concern of many business operations and the need for data storage capacity in enterprise systems is growing exponentially. Modern network storage systems provide the ability to store data on multiple, often redundant storage devices or subsystems. Data stored across multiple devices or sub-systems are often virtualized to present a single, uniform arrangement of data to applications. Maintaining continual access to the data of a storage network requires quick, efficient detection and correction of network errors such as failures along network fabric paths to storage devices.
Detecting and handling network fabric path failures within a storage network may take a relatively long time and may cause access request failures. Traditionally, detecting network path failures has involved a host detecting that a host-initiated I/O failed, generally by timing-out before the I/O request was completed. Only after an I/O request failed or timed out, and generally after a number of retries, would the underlying error be looked into and dealt with.

Proactive utilization of fabric events in a network virtualization environment


A flat panel display device capable of implementing an ultra-slim flat panel display device having an improved aperture ratio by attaching two substrates having independently drivable OLED display elements respectively formed thereon to emit light in the same direction, without a separate sealing process, and preventing image sticking due to a reduction of lifetime of the emission layer, by using the OLED display elements in different uses.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flat panel display device capable of improving resolution and aperture ratio by attaching first and second substrates to each other, which include organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), respectively, and more particularly, to an active matrix OLED display device capable of increasing an aperture ratio of an emission region by forming a thin film transistor (TFT) used in an active matrix flat panel display device in a layered structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
While a cathode ray tube (CRT), a conventional display device, has been widely used as a monitor in TVs, measuring instruments, information terminals, and similar devices, it is difficult to adapt the CRT for use in a small-sized and light-weight electronic devices, due to its weight and size.
As a substitute for the CRT, a flat panel display device is attracting public attention, which can readily be made small in size and light-weight. Flat panel display devices include liquid crystal displays (LCDs), OLED displays and similar devices.
Flat panel display devices (FPD) are classified into passive matrix FPDs and active matrix FPDs based on a driving mechanism.
FIGS. 1A and 1B are cross-sectional views of a conventional top emission OLED display device.
First, a buffer layer having a predetermined thickness (not shown) is formed on a first substrate 100 having red, green, and blue pixel regions. The buffer layer is formed to prevent impurities from leaking from the first substrate 100 into a TFT to be formed through the following process.
Next, a polysilicon layer pattern (not shown) is formed on the buffer layer, and impurities are implanted into both sides of the polysilicon layer pattern to form source and drain regions. At this time, a channel region is formed between the source and drain regions.
Next, a gate insulating layer (not shown) is formed on the entire surface of the resultant structure, and a gate electrode is formed to correspond to the channel region of the polysilicon layer pattern.
Next, an interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is formed on the entire surface of the resulting structure and then etched to form a contact hole (not shown) for exposing the source and drain regions. Source and drain electrodes (not shown) are formed to be connected to the source and drain regions through the contact hole.
Then, a passivation layer (not shown) and a planarization layer (not shown) are formed on the entire surface of the resultant structure.
Next, the passivation layer and the planarization layer are etched to form a via-hole for exposing the drain electrode.
A pixel electrode (not shown) connected to the drain electrode through the via-hole is formed. The pixel electrode may be a reflective electrode.
Next, a portion of the pixel electrode is exposed to form a pixel defining layer pattern for defining an emission region,
Then, an organic layer (not shown) including at least an emission layer and an opposite electrode are formed on the entire surface of the resultant structure.
Next, a transparent passivation layer (not shown) is formed on the opposite electrode.
A second substrate 200 is correspondingly attached and sealed to the first substrate 100.
FIG. 2 is a photograph illustrating a pixel region of an OLED display formed through the method, region A represents an emission region, and region B represents a non-emission region.
As described above, the conventional OLED display is an active matrix OLED display, and a pixel region includes an emission region A and a non-emission region B. Each pixel includes a switching TFT, a driving TFT, a capacitor, and a light emitting diode. As a result, each pixel of the OLED display includes two TFTs and one capacitor. It is difficult to reduce the size of the TFTs and the capacitor, because the device is integrated, as a result, a decrease of the emission region leads to a reduction in an aperture ratio.


Mobile device user interface techniques are disclosed that can run across multiple platforms. These techniques allow for unobtrusive and intuitive communication with the user of the mobile device. For instance, one particular embodiment of the present invention allows a security product executing on a mobile device to use SMS-like messages to alert the user of the security status of the device, and more generally that security products (e.g., anti-virus, anti-spyware, email scanning, and/or intrusion detection) are actively protecting his/her device. A non-platform-user-interface dependent means of providing such alerts is also provided.

Mobile devices (e.g., cell phones, personal digital assistants, and smart phones) are typically configured with a small screen and limited input mechanisms due to their desired form factor and mobility. Such limitations present an inherent challenge for user interface (UI) design of applications running on these devices. This challenge is often overlooked by application developers whom design their applications for larger, less constrained computing systems, such as desktop and laptop computers, which have ample display area.
For instance, applications running on desktop and laptop computing systems can readily communicate with the user with any one of a number of techniques. Pop-up windows, dialog boxes, and alert boxes can all be used to inform the user of activity or status information regarding the application. Such communication techniques are acceptable, because larger computing systems provide ample screen room. In addition, having multiple windows open at a time is common on such computing systems and widely accepted.
In contrast, mobile devices generally do not allow for multiple windows to be visible at once. Thus, options are limited to provisioning a blocking window that requires the user to dismiss it, or to show a temporary message on the screen that disappears after a few seconds. Neither of these options is ideal. For instance, blocking windows tend to be obtrusive in that they are generally unexpected in the context of a mobile device, and can impede or otherwise frustrate the user's interaction with the device (e.g., receiving a blocking window while trying to make or receive a call prohibits use of the device until the window is cleared). Temporary messages can also be obtrusive (particularly on a small display), and may go unnoticed if the user is not looking at the display at notification time. Another solution is to simply not provide such communications to the mobile device users. However, such communication silence (as well as unseen messages) is contrary to developing and maintaining product recognition in the market place.
Furthermore, typical operating systems for mobile devices, such as Symbian OS, present a unique development problem. For instance, Symbian OS is a core mobile operating system, but it ships without a standard user interface API so that it remains maximally flexible for different looks, feels, and usage patterns. As such, device manufacturers (e.g., Nokia, DoCoMo, Fujitsu) and third parties (e.g., UIQ) are responsible for developing the user interface. These user interfaces tend to differ dramatically from device to device, even if they are built upon the same target OS version. As such, developers are usually required to rewrite significant portions of existing code base to support each new user interface version running a particular operating system.
What is needed, therefore, are mobile device user interface techniques that can run across multiple UI platforms. These techniques should allow for acceptable and unobtrusive communication with the user.

Cross UI platform alerting of security status


An electronic apparatus includes a first processing unit for executing an operation of a first type; a second processing unit for executing an operation of a second type, with the average power consumption of the second processing unit being less than average power consumption of the first processing unit; a sharing unit connected to the first processing unit and the second processing unit and for operating cooperatively with either or both of the first processing unit and the second processing unit selectively according to predetermined condition; and a fixing unit for fixing relative position relation of the electronic apparatus with the user.

This application claims priority to Chinese patent application No. 201310400189.9 filed on Sep. 5, 2013; and Chinese patent application No. 201410065588.9 filed on Feb. 25, 2014, the entire contents of each are incorporated herein by reference.
This application relates to an electronic apparatus and an information processing method.
Now, wearable electronic apparatus becomes more and more popular. For example, the wearable electronic apparatus in form of glasses or a watch has already appeared. Such electronic apparatus also has various kinds of functions of the electronic apparatus beside wearable form.
However, such wearable electronic apparatus has various defects in power consumption and functionality. Taking a smart watch as example, a processor used by the current usual smart watch is basically a MPU based on Cortex-M3/M4 system on which an operating system is running and which adopts a TFT-LCD display in order for displaying effect. Displaying time of the screen maintaining bright of such watch does not exceed 7 hours. Measure of the usual smart watch is to lighten the screen by a key-press when a user wants to know time, which is like the mobile phone. Thus, experience brought to the user is like the mobile phone instead of the watch. Since the smart watch needs to process a blue-tooth protocol stack and drive the TFT-LCD display now, it needs a relatively strong CPU of which standby power consumption is generally above 30 mW, and thus standby time thereof does not exceed 3 days generally.
Therefore, it is desired to provide a novel and improved electronic apparatus which is able to switch combination of the internal components correspondingly with respect to different using environment to save power consumption while providing improved user's experience.

Electronic apparatus and information processing method


A method is disclosed for starting-up/restarting continuous printing in a sheet-processing printing machine where the sheets to be printed are fed from a feeder stack connected to the printing machine via a switchable clutch, the feeder assembly is cut-in at a basic speed, and the printing machine is run-up to a continuous printing speed. According to the invention, the time for starting the running up of the printing machine from the basic speed to the continuous production speed is a function of the number of machine revolutions necessary to convey a first sheet from the feeder stack to a predetermined position inside the printing machine such that the first sheet reaches the predetermined position inside the printing machine at the same time or after the production speed is reached. The object of the invention is to reduce the number of rejects that occur during the starting-up/restarting of the printing machine to the largest extent possible.

In sheet-fed printing machines, the sheets to be printed are removed from the top of a feeder stack, conveyed over a conveyor table to a feeder rest and aligned on a feeder lay. Sheets properly resting on the feeder lay are gripped by a pre-gripper and conveyed into the first printing unit where printing commences. The starting-up/restarting of continuous printing requires various steps to properly initiate this printing process. Procedurally, the process of starting-up/restarting of continuous printing is performed by cutting-in a feeder assembly at a basic rotational speed and simultaneously cutting-in sheet removal actuators. The basic rotational speed is illustratively 5,000 sheets per hour. Cutting-in is achieved by activating switchable clutches coupled to the drive of the printing machine which initiate the removal and conveyance of sheets.
The printing machine executes a number of revolutions before the first sheet reaches the feeder rest since several sheets rest on the conveyor table at one time. As sheets are conveyed on the conveyor table between the feeder stack and the first printing unit in an imbricated fashion, they travel at a speed slower than the speed of the sheets traveling within the printing machine. Once in the printing unit, the sheets are accelerated to the continuous printing speed.
During the run-up operation a certain number of reject sheets are produced. Rejects occur for various reasons including inadequate ink saturation in the first sheets printed due to the fact that the ink/damping solution equilibrium is not established prior to the first sheets entering the printing unit. Rejects also occur on account of drive torsion and mackling which results when sheets are accelerated to the continuous printing speed from a resting position after waiting for the print machine to complete the run-up process.
Disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,244 (and corresponding German Patent DE 4 407 631 C1) is a method for starting the production run on a sheet-processing printing machine. According to that method, the feeder assembly is cut-in at a basic rotational speed while the sheet removal actuators are disengaged. After the printing machine is run-up to the continuous printing speed, the paper supply is cut-in causing removal of sheets from the stack and conveyance into the printing machine. This method reduces the large number of reject sheets incurred during the start-up process by ensuring that a first sheet entering the printing machine for printing is printed at the continuous printing speed.
Disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,077 (and corresponding German Patent DE 195 05 560 A1) is a method for controlling sheet feed. According to that method, a controller is utilized to determine the presence of double or misfed sheets as the sheets are removed from a sheet stack in a feeder unit. Upon the detection of a double or misfed sheet, the controller, through actuating devices in the machine, shuts down various printing machine functions such that the sheets ahead of the double or misfed sheet complete the printing process and the machine ceases operating precisely at the point where the double or misfed sheet reaches the feeder rest. This method avoids the situation where sheets located on the conveyor table are discarded after detection of a double or misfed sheet. This method also turns off the ink feed and damping solution feed such that the sheets still printing, after detection of a double or misfed sheet, pick up the ink from the rubber blanket and printing plate. Thus, over-inking of the first sheet is avoided when printing resumes.
Disclosed in DE 195 10 082 C2 (corresponding to U.S. application Ser. No. 08/618,786, which is assigned to the same assignee as that of the present application) is a method and apparatus for controlling the sheet supply in a sheet processing printing machine. According to that method, sheets are conveyed across a conveyor table to a feeder rest in a printing unit. When the first sheet hits the predetermined position in the printing machine, the sheet feed process is stopped and a process implementing predamping and preinking in a first printing unit is started. After the predamping and preinking process is complete, the sheet feed process is restarted and a first sheet enters the printing zone. This method also reduces reject sheets by ensuring that a first sheet entering the printing machine for printing receives the optimal ink and is not over or under saturated. A disadvantage associated with this method is that the sheet feed process is halted while waiting for the preinking and predamping process to complete.

Method of starting-up/restarting continuous printing in printing


A sensor measures the flow velocity and/or the volumetric flow rate of a fluid flowing in a pipe and in a measuring tube mounted therein, and includes a bluff body disposed in the conduit of the measuring tube, said bluff body being designed to generate Karman vortices and having a blind hole which is in communication with the conduit via passages formed in the bluff body, a vortex sensor inserted into the blind hole and having an electrodynamic transducer responsive to the vortexinduced pressure fluctuations, said electrodynamic transducer supporting a first oscillating body being a sensor sleeve which is deflectable by the pressure fluctuations, has a first cavity sealed from the fluid, and supports a permanent magnet within the cavity, and a second oscillating body movably disposed within the cavity so as to be isolated from the pressure fluctuations and supporting at least one coil located opposite the permanent magnet.

Such a vortex flow meter is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,716,770. The conduit of the measuring tube contains a bluff body which is designed to generate Kaman vortices and has a blind hole which is in communication with the conduit via passages formed in the bluff body. Inserted in the blind hole is a vortex sensor with a capacitive transducer which is responsive to the vortex-induced pressure fluctuations and comprises a first and a second oscillating body, the first oscillating body being a sensor sleeve which is deflectable by the pressure fluctuations, has a cavity sealed from the fluid, and supports a capacitor electrode within the cavity, and the second oscillating body being movably disposed within the cavity so as to be isolated from the pressure fluctuations and supporting at least one additional capacitor electrode. Connected to the capacitor/ capacitors is a specific measuring circuit working on the switched-capacitor principle.
Although thousands of the prior art vortex flow meters have proved good in practice, the capacitive sensor, on the one hand, is not operable as a floating device because of the unilateral grounding of its capacitor electrode/electrodes and, on the other hand, does not allow a minimum power requirement of the measuring circuit. Particularly the charge reversals conditioned by the switched-capacitor principle and the power necessary therefor are disturbing in specific applications, e.g., if the requirements of the German standard DIN 19 230 (4-mA-to-20-mA technology) are to be met.
It has also turned out in practice that the manufacture of the prior art capacitive sensor is quite cost-intensive, since highly accurate mechanical processing steps, partly under clean-room conditions, are necessary. Also, the sensor is not always usable in the high-temperature range.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide another sensor principle which is largely compatible with the prior art construction.


Provided is an organic light-emitting display apparatus including a substrate; a first electrode formed on the substrate; an emission layer formed on the first electrode; and a second electrode formed on the emission layer, wherein the first electrode includes a first layer including silver (Ag); and a second layer disposed on the first layer and comprising oxide of non-silver metal.

Field
Exemplary embodiments relate to an organic light-emitting display apparatus and a method of manufacturing the same.
Discussion of the Background
An organic light-emitting display apparatus is a self-emissive display apparatus including a hole injection electrode and an electron injection electrode, and an emission layer formed therebetween, in which holes injected from the hole injection electrode and electrons injected from the electron injection electrode are re-combined in the emission layer so that light is emitted therefrom. The organic light-emitting display apparatus is expected to become a next generation display apparatus due to its high quality characteristic such as low power consumption, high contrast, a fast response time, etc.

Organic light-emitting display apparatus and method of manufacturing the same


A method is provided for controlling bus-using rights in a multi-bus system which has a plurality of buses and a plurality of units connected to each of the buses. A unit connected to one bus is accessible by another unit connected to another bus. When a first unit accesses either a second unit on the one bus or a third unit on another bus, two requests for use of the one and another buses are issued substantially at the same time, thereby reducing the time taken for acquiring a bus-using right of the another bus. As soon as it is found that access is directed to the second unit on the one bus, the request for using the another bus is canceled, thus reducing a bus occupation rate for the another bus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bus-using right control system for a bus system which requires real-time or immediate processing in data transfer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional bus-using right control system, data transfer is carried out as follows:
First, in a bus system where a plurality of units are connected to a single bus, data transfer between one unit or a unit A and another unit or a unit B is usually carried out in the following procedure. That is, the unit A sends a bus-using request to a bus arbiter, and, when none of other units is using the bus, the bus arbiter gives permission to the unit A. Thus, the unit A obtains a bus-using right and is then allowed to use the bus to carry out data transfer.
Second, in a multibus system where a plurality of units are connected to a plurality of buses, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 1-205365, data transfer is carried out between a unit A connected to one bus or bus 1 and a unit B connected to another bus or bus 2, in the following procedure (1) or (2). (1) The unit A sends a bus-using request to a first bus arbiter of bus 1, and after obtaining a bus-using right for bus 1, the unit A outputs address information to bus 1. The address information is decoded and then a bus-using request is sent to a second bus arbiter of bus 2 to obtain a bus-using right for bus 2. After successively obtaining the bus-using rights for bus 1 and bus 2, the data transfer is carried out. (2) The unit A sends bus-using requests to the first and second bus arbiters of bus 1 and bus 2 at the same time, and after obtaining both the bus-using rights for bus 1 and bus 2, the data transfer is carried out.
In the above-described first and second (1) conventional bus systems, before a unit actually starts the data transfer, the bus-using rights should be obtained, which requires excess time, causing the access to be delayed. In the second (2) conventional bus system, in order to realize a quick access, the bus-using rights for two buses are obtained at the same time. However, in the data transfer between units connected to the same bus, the bus-using right for another bus is obtained unnecessarily, causing a bus occupation rate higher than necessity.

Bus system wherein a bus-using request signal is issued in advance of a determination that a bus is to be used and is thereafter cancelled if the bus is not used

DIG.
1
MS
File;DIG.
2
MS
File
FSS 325;725;200
FSS 825.5
FSS 85.2


Systems and methods are presented that enable a higher-level software application to control a robot's motion through a generic motion interface. In one embodiment, a system includes a controller, an interface, and a set of robot driver modules. The interface receives a command from the controller and translates the command into another command to send to the driver modules. The interface includes a client, a server, and a network. The server includes two interfaces: a client interface to communicate with the client and a driver interface to communicate with the driver modules. The server also includes two buffers: a command queue and a reply queue. The command queue stores commands received from the controller (via the client). The reply queue stores replies received from the driver modules.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to enabling a higher-level software application to control a robot's motion through a generic motion interface.
2. Description of Background Art
Robot motion interfaces do exist, but they are either hardware-specific or support only very simple (non-humanoid) robots. As a result, the motion of a humanoid robot is generally controlled directly via its device drivers. Developers write their own driver interfaces to the specific robot. These driver interfaces are then used by applications in order to control the robot's motion. It is difficult to create these interfaces due to the lack of knowledge about the internal workings of the robot's proprietary software and hardware. The interfaces themselves tend to be very complex in order to provide access to the robot's various capabilities. Also, if the robot's hardware changes, the driver interfaces (and the applications using them) also need to change. This is inefficient because the same algorithms have to be reimplemented every time the hardware changes.
What is needed is a generic interface that enables a higher-level software application to control a robot's motion.


A swash plate assembly for use in connection with a hydrostatic transmission. The swash plate assembly comprises a thrust bearing and a swash plate formed as a net shaped part from a plastic material adapted to carry the thrust bearing wherein the swash plate has an elongated aperture for allowing a shaft to pass therethrough and a plurality of acoustical cavities formed in the underside thereof generally arranged around the elongated aperture and proximate to the thrust bearing.

This invention relates generally to swash plates and, more particularly, relates to a swash plate assembly for use in a hydrostatic transmission.
Currently known hydrostatic transmissions comprise a hydraulic pump unit and a hydraulic motor unit. The hydraulic pump unit is hydraulically connected to the hydraulic motor unit through hydraulic porting, which may be formed in the housing, a center section, or the like, to form what is referred to as a hydraulic circuit. The hydraulic pump unit comprises a pump cylinder block having a plurality of piston receiving chambers formed therein in each of which is disposed a movable pump piston. Similarly, the hydraulic motor unit comprises a motor cylinder block having a plurality of piston receiving chambers formed therein in each of which is disposed a movable motor piston. An example of a hydrostatic transmission utilizing a center section may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,394 to Hauser et al. entitled "Rider Transaxle having Improved Casing Design" which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
An input shaft, which is driven by the engine of a vehicle, is drivingly connected to the hydraulic pump unit such that the rotation of the input shaft rotates the pump cylinder block therewith. The rotation of the pump cylinder block causes the pump pistons to travel up and down as they travel against a movable, metallic swash plate. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the swash plate may be moved to a variety of positions to vary the stroke of the pump pistons. In particular, as the stroke of the pump pistons is varied, the volume of the hydraulic fluid pumped into the hydraulic porting will vary. Since the speed of the hydraulic motor unit is dependent upon the amount of hydraulic fluid pumped thereinto by the hydraulic pump unit, the positioning of the swash plate is seen to control the speed of the hydraulic motor unit. More specifically, each of the motor pistons is driven by the pumped hydraulic fluid against a fixed, angularly orientated motor thrust bearing such that the action of the motor pistons thereagainst forces the motor cylinder block to rotate.
While the currently utilized metallic swash plate works well for its intended purpose, it is seen to suffer from a number of drawbacks. In particular, prior art metallic swash plates have been seen to be relatively costly to manufacture owing to, among other things, the costs associated with forming the part from powdered metal or machining the part after it is formed from cast iron or aluminum. It is also seen that machining such parts may lead to stress induced fractures of the components during the operation of the transmission. In addition, owing to the relatively non-resilient characteristic of such metallic swash plates, the relative tolerances with which the part must be manufactured further function to increase the cost of their production. Furthermore, the use of metallic material in the construction of such swash plates functions to undesirably increase the overall weight of the hydrostatic transmission. As a result of these drawbacks, it is seen that a need exists in the art for an improved swash plate which need not be constructed from a metallic material.
As a result of this existing need, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved swash plate for use in a transmission. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a swash plate for use in a transmission which is relatively less costly to manufacture. It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a swash plate for use in a transmission which is formed as a net shape part thereby eliminating the need for machining. It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a swash plate for use in a transmission which is generally resilient thereby requiring relatively less exacting manufacturing tolerances. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a swash plate for use in a transmission which functions to reduce the overall weight of the transmission. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a swash plate which functions to reduce the overall noise associated with the operation of the transmission.

Hydrostatic transmission swash plate assembly