An optical device package comprising a receptacle, an optical device received therein, and a window member disposed forward of the receptacle in a light emitting direction of the optical device. The window member is a member of synthetic quartz glass having front and back surfaces, at least one of the front and back surfaces being a rough surface.

While receptacles and window members are used in packaging LEDs, the window members must be made of materials having high transparency to light emitted by the LED. In the prior art, light-transmissive resins such as epoxy resins, silicone resins, modified acrylic resins and unsaturated polyester resins are used as the window members for LEDs (see Patent Document 1).
As the use of mercury lamps is recently regulated, UV-LEDs capable of emitting short wavelength light, especially UV band light are regarded promising as the replacement. While LEDs can produce light of arbitrary wavelength, LEDs of wavelength for a particular application are developed. For example, wavelength 265 nm in the UV region is known effective for sterilization. UV-LEDs adapted to emit light of wavelength 265 nm are developed for the sterilization application. Even when optical devices of 265 nm are in constant supply, it is difficult to use the optical devices without packages. It is thus required to package the UV-LED while maximizing the light extraction efficiency from the UV-LED.
In packaging of UV-LEDs, borosilicate glass and quartz glass are generally used as the window members (see Patent Document 2). When light-transmissive resins and borosilicate glass are used as the window member, there is the advantage of easy working, but the drawback of low UV transmittance. When quartz glass is used as the window member, there is the advantage of high UV transmittance, but the drawback of difficult working because of the high softening point of quartz glass. For all these materials, mirror finishing of their surface is effective for enhancing the extraction efficiency of light. Once the window member is mirror finished, however, the window member fails to scatter light from an optical device featuring directional emission. For light scattering purpose, a separate member such as diffusing filter is necessary.

Window member for optical device package, optical device package, making methods, and optical device-mountable package


A hockey glove system is disclosed having asymmetrical upper and lower hockey gloves, each being optimized for its particular role and position. The lower glove has only three finger gussets and is adapted for the last two fingers of the wearer""s hand to be together in one gusset in order to maximize power and control. The upper glove has four finger gussets and is adapted to maximize the player""s grasp on the hockey stick and enable a stable pivot point. Each glove has padding adapted and arranged to protect the portions of the wearer""s hands most vulnerable in their respective positions. Each glove further has an articulated thumb skeleton disposed in the thumb member. The thumb skeleton comprises a plurality of sections pivotably joined together to enable the thumb to articulate between open and closed positions. A locking mechanism is provided for preventing the thumb skeleton sections from bending backwards, thereby preventing hyperextension of the wearer""s thumb.

This invention relates generally to the field of protective outer gear, and more particularly to protective gloves for use in playing hockey.
Hockey is a fast-moving, competitive game involving extensive contact between players and implements. Thus, hockey players wear padding and protective gloves while playing. Because of the thick padding required to absorb repeated impact with sticks, players and walls, hockey gloves tend to be bulky, and cumbersome and can restrict desired finger and hand movement.
For example, a hockey player""s thumb tends to receive much physical contact from opposing players, sticks, walls, etc. Accordingly, the thumb of a hockey glove is heavily padded. Also, during play, impact may tend to hyperextend the player""s thumb. Accordingly, hockey gloves usually have a stiffened member provided in the thumb padding in order to prevent such hyperextension. However, the stiffened member usually substantially constricts normal articulated movement of the player""s thumb. Thus, the thumb tends to have awkward and uncomfortable movement during play because of the glove. This may affect a player""s performance.
To facilitate thumb movement, some gloves have a loop formed on the palm side to create a thumb pocket for alternative placement of the wearer""s thumb in the glove. This thumb pocket allows the thumb to move with more freedom, being less connected to the padding and the stiffened member. However, such an arrangement provides less complete padding protection and exposes the thumb to dangerous impact from sticks, etc. Also, since the thumb pocket is still joined to the thumb padding, the stiffened member still restricts movement of the thumb even when the wearer""s thumb is in the pocket.
Hockey players generally hold the hockey stick with an upper hand near the butt of the stick and a lower hand gripping the shaft nearer the blade. A typical right-handed hockey player will use his left hand to grasp the stick near the butt of the shaft. This left hand is the main hand for grasping the stick and acts to provide stability to the player""s grip. Also, this upper hand acts as a pivot point when the player shoots or passes the puck. A right-handed hockey player generally positions his right hand on the handle of the shaft but closer to the blade. This lower hand acts as the main power generator and controller of the hockey stick. The player uses this lower hand to generate power during shots and slashing movements, as well as during passing, receiving, and advancement of the puck. This lower hand is also the main controller of the player""s grip on the stick.
Because of their differing positions and purposes, the upper and lower hands tend to grip the hockey stick from different perspectives. For instance, during play, the lower hand is wrapped around the stick with the palm facing generally upward and slightly to the side, while the upper palm generally faces downward. Because of these opposing orientations, the upper and lower hands tend to be impacted in different places.
Although each hand of a hockey player has a different function or role during a hockey game and different protection needs, traditional hockey glove pairs have included symmetrical right and left gloves. These glove pairs ignore the differences between the grasping/pivot role of the upper glove and the power/control role of the lower glove.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a system of hockey gloves that facilitates articulated movement of the thumb and includes upper and lower gloves that are specially adapted for their particular roles and positions on the hockey stick.
An object of the current invention, therefore, is to provide a hockey glove having an articulated thumb that is less restrictive to natural movement of the wearer""s thumb, but still protects the wearer""s thumb from impact and hyperextension. Another object of the current invention is to provide a hockey glove system wherein the upper and lower gloves are each configured to maximize their suitability for their respective functions.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a hockey glove thumb member is provided having articulated stiffening sections that roughly correspond to the sections of a players thumb. These sections are stiffened to absorb and protect the thumb from impacts and are pivotably connected so as to allow them to rotate relative to each other and articulate in a manner similar to a human thumb. However, adjoining segments have stops or locks disposed therebetween to prevent the sections from rotating to such a degree that would cause hyperextension of the wearer""s thumb. At each junction, a section that is closer to the tip of the thumb overlaps an adjoining base section. A notch is formed in the base section and an extension extends from this base section beyond the notch. The tip segment overlaps this extension of the base segment, wherein the pivot point is disposed. Accordingly, the tip is rotatable relative to the base section. However, this rotation is only possible in the rotational direction facilitating normal, articulated thumb movement similar to that incurred when closing a fist. If the tip section is rotated in an opposite direction (i.e., a direction towards hyperextension of the thumb), then the tip section will contact a stop formed by the notch in the base section. This stop prevents further rotation of the tip section in that direction.
In accordance with another aspect, the present invention provides a hockey glove system comprising upper and lower gloves that are asymmetric from each other. The upper glove""s main roles are to protect the player""s hand, help the player grasp the stick near its butt end, and provide stability and a pivot point for shots and slashing motions, etc. The lower glove""s main roles are to protect the player""s hand while grasping the hockey stick along the shaft but closer to the blade, and provide power and control when the player shoots, slashes, passes, catches or otherwise advances the puck.
To facilitate improved control and minimize padding interference with a player""s grip or hand movement, the lower glove is arranged so that the last two fingers, i.e., the pinky and ring fingers of the hockey player""s hand, are kept together in one finger gusset of the control glove. Thus, the control glove is considered a three-fingered glove, the pinky and ring fingers being disposed together in one glove finger. The upper glove, on the other hand, facilitates use of all of the player""s fingers to maximize the player""s grasp over that portion of the stick, and thus maximize stability of grip. Accordingly, the grasp glove has four fingers.
Because the upper and lower hands tend to grip the hockey stick in a somewhat different manner, the palm reinforcement strips of each glove also differ according to function. In the upper glove, the palm strip extends generally diagonally across the palm from the index finger to the outside base of the palm. In the lower glove, the palm reinforcement strip extends generally perpendicularly to the fingers.
The upper and lower gloves preferably have differing padding arrangements. The upper glove, which generally grasps the hockey stick with the palm facing downward and requires forward movement of the wrist to facilitate its role as a pivot point, is heavily padded along the cuff on the outer wrist to protect the hand and wrist, but lightly padded on the palm side of the wrist to facilitate the pivoting motion. The lower glove, which generally grasps the hockey stick with the palm facing upward, is heavily padded along the cuff along the palm side and base of the thumb. Thus, the most vulnerable areas are more heavily padded.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a hockey glove comprising a palm, a protective back extending over the palm, a thumb portion, and a plurality of finger gussets. The back has at least one foam segment adapted to provide padding for a wearer""s hand disposed within the glove. The thumb portion has a base communicating with the palm and the back. The finger gussets are adapted to accommodate the wearer""s fingers. At least one of the finger gussets is adapted to accommodate more than one finger.
In accordance with yet another aspect, the above hockey glove is combined with a second hockey glove having a separate finger gusset for each of the wearer""s fingers.
In accordance with a still further aspect, the present invention provides a hockey glove system comprising an upper and lower glove. Each glove comprises a palm and a protective back extending over the palm. The protective back has at least one foam segment adapted to provide padding for a wearer""s hand disposed within the glove. The upper and lower gloves have asymmetrical construction relative to each other. The lower glove includes means for grasping a hockey stick in a manner to emphasize enhancement of stick control. In a still further aspect, the upper glove includes means for grasping a hockey stick in a manner to emphasize enhancement of the upper glove""s pivot-point function.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, a hockey glove is provided having a thumb member. The thumb member is padded and comprises a rigid articulating skeleton. The skeleton comprises at least two sections pivotably joined together. The sections are adapted to be rotatable relative to each other to allow rotation between a closed position and an open position. A stop is provided to prevent rotation in an open direction beyond the open position.
In accordance with a still further aspect of the present invention, a hockey glove is provided having a thumb member. The thumb member is padded and comprises a rigid articulating skeleton. The skeleton comprises at least two sections pivotably joined together. The sections are adapted to be rotatable relative to each other to allow rotation between a closed position and an open position. Locking means is provided for preventing rotation of the sections in an open direction beyond the open position.
For purposes of summarizing the invention and the advantages achieved over the prior art, certain objects and advantages of the invention have been described herein above. Of course, it is to be understood that not necessarily all such objects or advantages may be achieved in accordance with any particular embodiment of the invention. Thus, for example, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other objects or advantages as may be taught or suggested herein.
All of these embodiments are intended to be within the scope of the invention herein disclosed. These and other embodiments of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments having reference to the attached figures, the invention not being limited to any particular preferred embodiment(s) disclosed.

Asymmetrical hockey glove system with articulated locking thumb


A fishing lure which generates an electromagnetic field about the body of the fishing lure to closely resemble the electromagnetic field naturally emitted by a fish. The fishing lure further includes a battery to generate the electromagnetic field in light or dark waters, a hook acting as the anode or cathode, a structure for isolating at least one of the anode or cathode leads to prevent shorts, and a ROM for varying the strength and/or frequency of the electromagnetic field in response to environmental factors such as the temperature of the water.

The present invention relates to a fishing lure and, more particularly, to a fishing lure which generates an electromagnetic field in a manner closely resembling the electromagnetic field naturally emitted by a fish.
A certain type of bait may attract a fish by appealing to one or more of its sensory faculties. For example, through its sense of sight, a fish may pursue a lure because of the lure's shape, color, or action. Through its sense of smell, a fish may be attracted to the freshly dug nightcrawler instead of the plastic imitation worm. Through its sense of hearing, a fish may chase the man-made acoustic lure or be chased by the sound of the pebbles thrown by the younger fisherperson. It is believed that a fish may even possess a sense of taste.
One or more of the senses of a fish may be provided by the lateral line of the fish. The lateral line of a fish is a linear series of sensory pores and tubes extending along each of the sides of a fish from head to tail. As well as providing for some of the more obvious sensory faculties, it is believed that the lateral line senses the presence of an electromagnetic field, such as that emitted by another fish. It is further believed that the electromagnetic field naturally generated by a fish is produced by and emitted from the lateral line.

Electromagnetic field generating fishing lure


A semiconductor memory device including a nonvolatile random access memory cell constituted by a combination of a static random access memory cell or a dynamic random access memory cell and a floating circuit element, is disclosed.. In the device, the circuit constitution, the application of writing voltage, and the like, are improved. Thus, the number of the circuit elements, particularly the number of floating gate circuit elements, is reduced. As a result, the cell area can be decreased, high integration of the device can be increased. In addition, improvement of the circuit configuration increases the discretion allowed in the layout design, and the plurality of applications of the write voltage improves the storage efficiency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, more particularly, it relates to a nonvolatile memory device constituted by combining a volatile memory cell and a nonvolatile memory cell including a floating gate circuit element.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, in a static random access memory device (RAM), a volatile memory cell is combined with a floating gate circuit element to obtain a nonvolatile memory cell which is used to constitute a nonvolatile memory device. In a nonvolatile memory device of this type, the circuit configuration of each memory cell tends to be complex, and so the size of each memory cell tends to be large. However, this tendency leads to degradation in the reliability and integration of the memory device. In view of this problem, this tendency must be eliminated by a special circuit configuration or the like.
The prior art regarding this invention is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,212, and will be explained later in this text.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor memory device wherein the number of circuit elements is reduced, the area of a cell by which the device is constituted is reduced, high integration of the circuit is performed, and the number of tunnel capacitors which are the constituent elements are decreased, thereby increasing the production yield.
Another object of the present invention, is to increase the discretion of the layout design regarding the memory cell circuit.
Still another object of the present invention is to increase the storing efficiency by a plurality of write voltage applications.
According to the fundamental feature of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor memory device comprising a volatile memory cell and a nonvolatile memory cell corresponding to the volatile memory cell, the nonvolatile memory cell comprising a transistor having a floating gate which turns on or off in response to the memorized data, a tunnel capacitor, with one electrode connected to the floating gate, a first write circuit connected to the other electrode of the tunnel capacitor, and a second write circuit capacitively coupled to one electrode of the tunnel capacitor. Either the first write circuit or the second write circuit supply a voltage for writing to the tunnel capacitor in response to the memorized data of the volatile memory cell, and electrons are injected into or emitted from the floating gate.
According to another feature of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor memory device having a volatile memory cell and a nonvolatile memory cell corresponding to the volatile memory cell, wherein the nonvolatile memory cell comprises a tunnel capacitor with one electrode connected to a high-voltage control power source terminal, a first capacitor, with one electrode connected to the other electrode of the tunnel capacitor, a second capacitor connected between the other electrode of the first capacitor and the high-voltage control power source terminal, a transistor having a tunnel gate electrode with the gate connected to a common node between the tunnel capacitor and the first capacitor, and a switch means for controlling the potential at a common node between the first capacitor and the second capacitor in response to the memorized data of the volatile memory cell.
According to still another feature of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor memory device having a volatile memory cell and a nonvolatile memory cell corresponding to the volatile memory cell, wherein the nonvolatile memory cell comprises a capacitor unit consisting of two series-connected tunnel capacitors, a series circuit of a first capacitor and a depletion-type or enhancement-type transistor connected between the common node of the two tunnel capacitors and a high-voltage control power source terminal, a transistor with the gate connected to the common node, and a switch means for controlling the potential of the gate of the depletion or enhancement-type transistor in response to the memorized data of the volatile memory.
According to still another feature of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor memory device having a memory cell which comprises a pair of a volatile memory cell and a nonvolatile memory cell for saving the memorized data of the volatile memory cell, wherein the volatile memory cell comprises a capacitor portion for storing charges in response to data to be memorized, a transfer gate transistor connected between the capacitor and a bit line, a nonvolatile memory cell transistor having a double gate structure which has a control gate and a floating gate and in which electrons are injected by a tunnel effect, a recall transistor for transferring data stored in the nonvolatile memory cell transistor to the capacitor portion in response to a recall signal, a transistor turned on or off in response to the memorized data in the capacitor portion, a PGM transistor connected between the transistor turned on or off in response to the memorized data and the control gate, and a diode element connected to the control gate; wherein a first write voltage is applied to the control gate through the diode element, a second write voltage is applied to the drain of the nonvolatile memory cell transistor, and the PGM transistor is in a conductive state, whereby data of the volatile memory cell is written into the nonvolatile memory cell.


Described herein are topical, non-systemic, slow releasing oral pharmaceutical compositions, methods for making the same, and methods for treating subjects in need thereof with such compositions. In particular, the oral composition provides topical, non-systemic administration of one or more active pharmaceutical ingredients to the oral cavity and upper gastrointestinal track, including the esophagus. In one embodiment, the pharmaceutical composition provides topical corticosteroids to the esophagus and oral cavity.

Steroid therapy has long been the therapy of choice for reducing inflammation by the application of a topical corticosteroid to the affected area, such as in the case of eczema, asthma, or other allergic conditions. In order to reduce systemic toxicity associated with steroid use, topical preparations were developed for inflammation disorders of the esophagus or gastrointestinal tract, such that the steroid could adhere to the esophageal mucosa and provide an anti-inflammatory effect. However, topical corticosteroid therapy is limited. For these types of disorders, treatments have typically involved patients swallowing inhaled corticosteroid medications or corticosteroid suspensions. Treatment using inhaled corticosteroids is achieved via a "puff and swallow" technique, where the patient administers the corticosteroid composition to the mouth, but swallows rather than inhaling. This technique is often difficult for children and geriatric patients, and can result in variable doses and less than an effective dose of the steroid being delivered to the esophagus. In addition, oral administration of topical steroids can also result in oropharyngeal or esophageal candidosis.
Thus, there is an unmet need for oral dosage forms of corticosteroids, where the dosage form can be chewed, sucked, permitted to dissolve in the mouth, or swallowed, and has desirable organoleptic properties; slowly releases the active ingredient in the oral cavity and esophagus; and maintains drug contact with the oral and esophageal tissue for an extended period providing topical, non-systemic delivery.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Non-systemic topical compositions comprising corticosteroids


A molding die has a lower holder, an intermediate holder, an upper holder, a lock member, an upper link bar, a lower link bar, a restriction member, and a drive part. A movement of the lock member in a molding die opening direction or a molding die closing direction is restricted by the intermediate holder. The upper link bar has a first retaining groove in which the lock member fits when being located at a molding die closing position. The lower link bar has a second retaining groove in which the lock member fits and a release portion that enables the lock member to be released from the first retaining groove. The restriction member is movable between a restriction position that prevents the lock member from fitting in the second retaining groove and a free position that enables the lock member to fit in the second retaining groove.

A three-plate molding die is known to be open at two positions of a position to take out a runner etc. and a position to take out a pinpoint gate type molded item when opening the molding die, for example, in an injection molding using resin (refer to Patent Literature 1 etc.).
Alternatively, a cassette type molding die is known to have a holder, as a case, that is attached mutually to a platen of a molding machine. A template provided with a cavity and a core corresponding to each molded item is mounted to the holder to be exchangeable. The cassette type molding die provides various molded items using the same molding machine.


The instant invention relates to a process for the production of isocyanates in which tert.-alkyl urethanes are reacted with phosgene and to isocyanatoaryl sulphonic acid esters obtainable for the first time by this process.

Chemical modification of organic isocyanates with the isocyanate group left intact is often complicated by the high reactivity and lability of the isocyanate group. For example, it is not possible to produce isocyanatoaryl sulphonic acid esters in the same way as sulphonic acid esters free from isocyanate groups, i.e. by reacting the corresponding chlorosulphonyl aryl isocyanates with alcoholates or phenolates. If the reaction is carried out in alcoholic medium, for example, the isocyanate groups would react to form urethanes while in the heterogeneous phase, the alcoholates or phenolates, which are well known trimerization catalysts, would promote trimerization of the isocyanate groups to form the corresponding isocyanurate derivative. One way of avoiding these reactions would be by blocking the isocyanate groups with known blocking agents for isocyanate groups before such a reaction. The isocyanate groups would be reformed by thermally splitting off the blocking agent after completion of the reaction leading to the sulphonic acid ester formation. However, such a process would probably result in considerable losses of yield on account of the considerable thermal stressing involved.

Process for the production of isocyanates


An interconnection apparatus for providing solderless, three dimensional microwave interconnection from a planar suspended substrate stripline network to MIC modules using three wire transmission line input/output ports. The apparatus includes in sequence a coaxial line transition which is coupled to the stripline center conductor, a slabline transition coupled to the coaxial line transition. A center conductor having a constant diameter extends through the coaxial and slabline transition. A short three wire transition couples the slabline transition to the three wire transmission line input/output port, and uses compressible conductors as the wire elements to provide a robust solderless connection to the three wire transmission line port.

An application of this invention is to carry RF signals between vertically stacked modules of RF components/circuits. Conventional techniques include interconnecting modules with coaxial cables with connectors, mating coaxial push=on coaxial connectors, soldered ribbons or soldered flexible cables. The disadvantages of these techniques include size, weight and assembly costs. Such connection techniques require several process steps. More permanent connections include the use of epoxies and solders. Moreover, direct vertical connections from coaxial line to three-wire transmission lines have the effect of exciting additional, undesirable waveguide modes within the module.

Vertical right angle solderless interconnects from suspended stripline to three-wire lines on MIC substrates


Dentifrices containing cationic antibacterial agents are disclosed herein.

The present invention relates to a dentifrice comprising a cationic antibacterial agent useful in the prophylaxis and/or treatment of periodontal disease, calculus and caries and selected abrasives. A new thickening agent comprising a soluble alkali metal pyrophosphate and a calcium salt is also disclosed.
The use of antibacterial agents, including cationic antibacterial agents, in oral hygiene compositions has been widely advocated as a means of reducing the bacterial plaque population and this may be beneficial in the treatment of periodontal disease, calculus and/or caries.
While mouthwashes containing cationic antibacterial agents are available, these suffer the disadvantage that the cationic antibacterial agents tend to leave a brown stain due to interaction of the agents with plaque. Such a drawback may be, in principle, minimized by using the antibacterial agent in a dentifrice, so that the abrasive included therein removes the stained plaque. In practice however there are found to be severe problems in providing a useful formulation because of the intrinsic incompatibility of the cationic antibacterial agents with many of the other conventional elements of a dentifrice formulation, which incompatibility drastically reduces the bio-availability of the cationic agent. In addition, the cationic antibacterial agents often have a bitter taste which needs to be masked to provide a product which is acceptable to the consumer.
It has now been discovered that the problem of bio-availability may be overcome or at least mitigated by the use of certain abrasives in combination with cationic antibacterial agents in dentifrices. Also, the thickening agents based on a pyrophosphate and a calcium salt make it possible to eliminate all or essentially all of certain thickening agents such as non-abrasive silica gels which may reduce CPC availability.


A color spatial filter for ink jet color printers, especially four color CYMK printers. The printer includes an enhanced print mode and associated logic circuitry which examines and corrects black pixel coloring to increase black picture quality and reduce intercolor bleeding. This is accomplished by examining a surrounding neighborhood of pixels around each pixel as they flow to a color swath print buffer and selecting a method of correcting the representation of each pixel, based on a set of predetermined rules, to produce black by choosing either K, a slow-drying high density ink, or CYM, a fast-drying ink having low intercolor bleeding to thereby control bleeding characteristics that provide the best copy quality images. A lookup table may be used for greater gradations of black representation. Alternatively, printing may be performed using a color printer having two black inks, each with different drying rates and picture qualities. In this case, the filter examines the color space pixel planes and enhances the image by updating the color space pixel planes with CYMK.sub.1 K.sub.2 based on each pixel and its associated neighborhood of values.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to color spatial filtering for ink jet printers or the like and more specifically, to an enhanced print mode and associated circuitry for a thermal ink jet printer which corrects black pixel coloring to increase black picture quality and reduce intercolor bleeding.
2. Description of Related Art
There is a need for high quality black text and graphics and color text graphics and pictorials on plain paper. Current state of the art thermal ink jet printers have fast drying CYMK (Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, Black) ink for color and low intercolor bleed, but the black picture quality needs to be improved (e.g., line edge sharpness).
Various methods of modifying color data prior to printing are known. U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,790 to Morgan discloses an apparatus and method for producing color corrected reproduction of colored original images. This particular apparatus was designed for the purpose of correcting for the effects of linearity failures of various coloring agents. A scanner provides input signals representing primary color readings. A memory stores increments of primary color readings and correlation factors. The apparatus determines final coloring agents based on contribution amounts from the respective coloring agents read from the scanner. This method has a black enhancement mode which merely adds a black color if criteria for a particular pixel indicate a high density at that pixel location. This enhancement is for the purpose of enhancing representation of shadows in the image.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,477 to Ellis et al. discloses an image enhancement apparatus wherein an image is represented by color picture components. Fringe signal generators derive a plurality of sharp and unsharp signals in a predetermined manner, and a correction circuit connected in parallel with the fringe generators modifies the signals to provide modified output signals. A black definition signal is also derived from the original pixel signals and summed with the original signal to derive a black output signal. Preferably, the black fringe signal is only summed when the black value is above a predetermined threshold.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,413 to Sullivan et al. discloses a halftoning method for creating a continuous tone color image which improves perceived visual color by including a visual color blur function such that a perceived color vector rather than binary color error is propagated. Input color vectors are transferred to a preferred color space to give new color vectors. An output vector is then selected for each new vector color. A neighborhood of previously selected output vectors weighed by a human visual system blur filter produces a blurred output vector. This method is used to correct a continuous tone color image, reducing noise and worms.
Numerous problems are associated with present enhancement methods and apparatus. In particular, no known apparatus addresses a problem inherent with current ink jet printers relating to high quality color image production while reducing or eliminating intercolor bleed. This intercolor bleed is due to the use of a slow drying black ink for four color ink jets. While the slow drying ink commonly used provides high quality reproduction of black images, it also can easily bleed into adjacent areas which may contain other colors. If a fast drying black ink is used for the printer, the intercolor bleed is reduced or eliminated, but accompanying that is a reduced quality of black reproduction since current fast drying black inks have lower picture quality than their slow drying counterparts. Additionally, black could be reproduced by a combination of the other colors, i.e., Cyan, Yellow and Magenta (CYM). This too reduces intercolor bleed, but also results in a reduced quality of black reproduction since current colored inks CYM do not provide the high quality picture associated with printing with a good black ink.
Accordingly, there is a need for an ink jet printer which is capable of reproducing black on a pixel- by-pixel need based on characteristics of surrounding pixels such that the prior compromise between intercolor bleed and high quality need not be sacrificed.
Future ink formulations and papers may improve drying time and reduce spread, and even black picture quality, but present printers need to resolve these problems without unduly increasing printer costs.

Color spatial filtering for thermal ink jet printers


A method and a system for the localization of a mobile WLAN client, located within a WLAN network of multiple WLAN stations. Static reference points are ascertained by measuring field strengths of the WLAN stations at spatial coordinates, aided by WLAN client(s), and assignment of the measured field strengths to the spatial coordinates in terms of data records. Self-learning ascertainment of further dynamic reference points is obtained by measuring field strengths of the WLAN stations, aided by WLAN client(s) moving through the region of the network, and assignment of the measured field strengths in terms of data records to the respective spatial coordinates calculated for this purpose, in the database server. This may be done to localize a WLAN client by selecting a plurality of nearest matched data records of static and dynamic reference points whose subsequently calculated center of gravity corresponds to the estimated position of the WLAN client.

Mobile terminals—such as PDAs or smartphones—are often equipped with a WLAN interface to permit a wireless data exchange over it. Among other things, a WLAN (wireless local area network) allows a localization of the mobile terminal located within the network, thereby permitting site-based services such as navigation. The increasing coverage by WLAN networks in shopping arcades, at public places such as railway stations or airports and in companies is reinforcing the trend of such site-based services.

Method and system for the localization of a mobile WLAN client


A rotary washer/extractor for use with textiles and other materials includes a dynamically controlled suspension system for supporting the washer/extractor from a stationary frame to minimize forces exerted onto the frame and transmitted to the floor or other structure supporting the washer/extractor. The suspension system includes a plurality of supports extending between the frame and the washer/extractor at spaced apart locations in relation to the spin axis. At least one of the supports is a variable length member which may be continually adjusted to vary the distance between the frame and the washer/extractor and thereby minimize the forces caused by eccentric masses of textiles and washing fluids contained in the washer/extractor. A force sensor is provided for measuring the force acting between the washer/extractor and the frame. A processor is provided for receiving the measured force and generating an output response for varying the length of the support to minimize the value of the force and its vibratory effect on the frame. The suspension system is particularly useful for rotary washer/extractors having a drum rotating about horizontal as well as vertical axes and is especially adapted for reducing and minimizing vibratory forces.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a new and improved rotary type washer/extractor for textiles and other materials including a new and unique dynamic force minimizing, suspension system for supporting a rotating drum from a base or stationary structure of the machine. The new and improved dynamic suspension system of the present invention is also useful for devices other than rotary type washer/extractors in centrifugal machines of a wide variety wherein it is necessary and desirable to minimize loads or forces generated by a spinning mass which changes in terms of eccentricity, velocity and acceleration values during an operating cycle of the machine.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Rotary type centrifugal washing and extracting machines have been used in industrial and commercial laundry facilities and these machines generally employ large rotating drums for containing a mass of laundry material and washing liquid. After washing is completed, the wash liquid is centrifuged out of the rotating drum at a relatively high speed at the end of a washing phase.
The following U.S. patents disclose various prior art washing and extracting machines: Adachi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,645; Broadbent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,768; Fesmire et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,479,371; Fesmire et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,530 and Toth, U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,921.
A common problem assoc with all types of washer/extractors and other rotary centrifuge machines is the imbalance of material inside the machine. This imbalance generates unbalanced forces that occur during a spin cycle. The magnitude of the unbalanced forces often becomes more acute during high speed extraction phases than during relatively lower speed washing phases. In large industrial and commercial machines, the unbalanced forces cause noise and vibrations which are transmitted to floor and other supports even though force dampening type suspension systems are provided. Excessive forces are sometimes carried through the base or frame structure of a spinning washer/extractor and impact upon a floor or other structure of the building in which a machine is housed.
Attention has been addressed to reducing the magnitude of unbalanced forces transmitted through the base of such machines to underlying building supporting structures. The present invention is addressed towards a suspension system for such machines and designed for a minimization of such unbalanced forces so that a wider variety of locations for such machines are available with a minimum amount of floor structure or structural foundation base being required in the enclosed surrounding area.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,645 discloses a suspension control method and apparatus for a vehicle having each wheel of the vehicle independently supported on an air spring in conjunction with a controllable force damping shock absorber utilized for minimizing vibration and unbalanced forces. The disclosed suspension system provides a system for sampling the damper stroke position on the shock absorber at each wheel and generating a control signal to a central processing unit. The central processing unit sends an output signal to each wheel to adjust the air spring to provide a hard or soft ride and to adjust the shock absorber to provide a hard, middle or soft value of dampening.

Force minimizing suspension system for rotary washer/extractors


An input image that includes an eye is divided into a plurality of blocks, and a mosaic image in which each of the blocks has a density value is produced. Among all the blocks, one having a small distance from a center point of the mosaic image and having a small density value is determined to be a block including the center of the pupil of the eye. Then, based on the determined block, a center position of the pupil in the input image is derived. Based on the density value of the block including the center of the pupil, a density threshold value is set. Then, based on the density threshold value, a two-valued image is produced from the input image. Among regions in the two-valued image which are darker than the density threshold value, one including the center position of the pupil is extracted as a pupil region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an eye image recognition method for extracting a region of a pupil of an eye from a captured image including the eye, and further relates to eye image selection method and system for selecting an image including eye data about a pupil and its peripheral portion of an eye from among consecutively captured images each including the eye. The eye data is used for individual identification of an animal, such as a human being, a horse or a cow.
2. Description of the Related Art
A technique is disclosed, for example, in JP-A-4-264985, for carrying out individual identification based on a human face. In the disclosed technique, regions of the eyes, nose and so on are individually extracted from an input image of the whole face, captured by a camera, so as to be subjected to identification processes, respectively. For locating, for example, the eye region to be extracted, a rectangular region is preset in the input face image and projected in vertical and horizontal directions, and positions having the minimum luminance value in the projected regions are considered to define the center of the eye.
In the foregoing technique, it is necessary that the human face is adequately positioned relative to the camera so that the eyes and so forth can be present in the corresponding preset rectangular regions.
However, in practice, human faces are not always positioned adequately relative to cameras, and further, it is almost impossible to adequately position faces of other animals relative to cameras. Thus, for automatically searching out the position of an eye for extraction, it is necessary to select an image, which includes the eye in a preset region, from a number of consecutively captured images.
In view of this, a technique has been demanded which can achieve automatic selection of such an image from the consecutively captured images.
On the other hand, when carrying out individual identification using eye data of a human being or an animal of another kind, it is necessary to use an enlarged image of an eye for obtaining as many eye data as possible. However, in the enlarged eye image, those portions, such as an eyebrow, eyelashes, a mole and a shadow, may appear as regions having the same or like density (luminance) values as a pupil of the eye. Therefore, it is difficult to identify a region of the pupil only based on density data, such as differences in density.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, an eyebrow, eyelashes and a mole exist in an image of an eye as regions having the same or like density values as the pupil of the eye. Accordingly, when the image is simply projected in vertical and horizontal directions, a plurality of minimum value regions are located so that it is difficult to extract only the region of the pupil with accuracy.
In view of this, a technique has been demanded which can extract the pupil region with accuracy even if the input image includes portions having the same or like density values as the pupil region.

Eye image recognition method eye image selection method and system therefor


An endeavor is made to enhance system reliability by automatically detecting the status of each HDD at startup, and detecting failures in nonvolatile memory as well so that a failure does not occur when restarting the system after it has gone down. Consequently, the present invention is a method for operating a disk array, this disk array comprising a plurality of physical disks, an intrinsic data memory, which stores intrinsic data read from this disk, an array controller, which controls the disk, and a status data memory, which stores status data indicating the control status of this array controller. Then, in accordance with the present invention, this operating method reads intrinsic data from each disk. And then the connection status of the array controller and disks is checked by comparing intrinsic data read from a disk with intrinsic data stored in memory. Next, in accordance with the connection status of the controller and disks, and the status data stored in status data memory, it is determined whether or not recovery processing will be performed for data stored on a disk.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk array system, and more particularly to a disk array system for storing data in a plurality of magnetic disk devices (hard disk drive (HDD)) using a redundancy configuration.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, a redundant array of inexpensive disks (RAID) Level 0, which stores data on a single HDD, was the norm. Thereafter, so as to further enhance reliability, RAID Level 1 disk array systems, which store the same data on a plurality of HDD, and RAID Levels 3, 4 and 5 disk array systems, which store data in a distributed fashion on a plurality of HDD, were utilized.
With a RAID Level 0 magnetic disk device, when data stored on an HDD was lost, it was no longer possible to use that data.
With RAID Levels 1, 3, 4 and 5 disk array systems, data is made redundant, so that even if data stored on one of the built-in HDD units is lost, when the disk array system is viewed as a whole, that data can be restored. For this reason, workstations, network servers and other equipment that requires large-capacity external storage systems have come to make use of disk array systems that utilize RAID Level 1, 3, 4 or 5 arrays.
The operation of a dual magnetic disk device, called a RAID Level 1, is explained using FIG. 9. When a disk array controller 53 receives a write request from a host, the write-requested data 60 is written to both HDD 54.sub.1 and 54.sub.2. When, as a result of this write operation, it is possible to read the data from both HDD, by comparing HDD 54.sub.1 data against HDD 54.sub.2 data, a highly accurate data read is possible.
And even when it is not possible to read data from one of the HDD, the data can still be obtained be reading it from the other HDD. For example, when it is not possible to read data from HDD 54.sub.1, the data can be obtained by reading it from HDD 54.sub.2 alone.
FIG. 10 is a schematic depicting the configuration of a disk array system 51 when a redundancy configuration, called RAID Level 4, is used. When a disk array controller 53 receives a write request from a host, the write-requested data 60 is divided into sector units and written in a distributed fashion to storage regions 58.sub.1 -58.sub.4 of HDD 54.sub.1 -54.sub.4.
The disk array controller 53 does not simply distribute the data at this time. That is, it performs an Exclusive OR (XOR) operation on data D.sub.1, D.sub.2, D.sub.3, D.sub.4 stored in corresponding storage regions 58.sub.1 -58.sub.4, and writes the result of this operation, parity P, to storage region 58.sub.5 of HDD 54.sub.5. This XOR operation provides redundancy to the data. Therefore, all of the data is stored in a format that is capable of being reconstructed on the basis of other data parity.
For example, the parity P XOR operation result for data D.sub.4 is the same as those for data D.sub.1, D.sub.2, D.sub.3. Consequently, if it is not possible to read storage region 58.sub.4, when the data in this HDD storage region and the parity are read out and subjected to an XOR operation, data D.sub.4 can be obtained without reading storage region 58.sub.4.
Further, with a conventional disk array system, data specifying a failed HDD is stored in volatile memory. Consequently, when the system goes down as a result of a power outage or something, data specifying the failed HDD is lost.
By comparison, with a disk array system, various systems are proposed, whereby data specifying a failed HDD is stored in nonvolatile memory.
For example, in Japanese Patent Publication No. A7-56694, a control method for a system, which uses nonvolatile memory to store the status of a magnetic disk device, is proposed.
FIG. 11 depicts the configuration of this conventional disk array system. The disk array system 51 comprises an interface 52, a magnetic disk controller (disk array controller) 53, perhaps 5 magnetic disk devices (HDD) 54.sub.1 -54.sub.5, nonvolatile memory 55.sub.1 -55.sub.5 corresponding to each HDD, and a clock 56.
The interface 52 inputs data access requests from a host 61 (either read or write requests) to the disk array controller 53.
The disk array controller 53 comprises means for performing a data read or write operation by controlling the HDD 54 in accordance with the contents of a request output from the host, and means for determining the status of each HDD based on data in nonvolatile memory 55, and data stored in a storage management data storage region 57 created on the respective disk media. The clock 56 is used to rewrite date and time data in nonvolatile memory 55 storage management data when a failure occurs.
An overview of this prior example is provided by referring to FIGS 12 and 13. This prior example uses a variable "i", which specifies in sequence a plurality of HDD, a parameter "N.sub.DISK ", which specifies a failed HDD when a failed HDD exists, and a parameter "N.sub.ERR ", in which the count value of the number of failed HDD is stored. Also, storage management data stored in each nonvolatile memory 55 depicted in FIG. 11 is stored in array A (i), and storage management data stored in the storage management data storage region 57 is stored in array B (i).
Since this prior example employs a redundancy configuration that makes data recovery possible even if an entire disk's worth of data is lost, when the value of "N.sub.ERR ", in which the count value of the number of failed HDD is stored, is 2 or more, it treats the entire disk array system as abnormal. And, based on the parameter which specifies a failed HDD, this prior example determines whether or not the failed HDD was replaced with a new HDD, and when it determines that the device is a new HDD, it automatically performs recovery processing.
Further, with this prior example, at initialization, the disk array controller 53 stores storage management data containing date/time information in the storage management data storage region 57 of the HDD, and in the nonvolatile memory 55 provided with the pertinent HDD. Also, when an HDD fails, the disk array controller stores the date and time the failure occurred in the nonvolatile memory provided with the failed HDD. Therefore, it is possible to check whether or not the pertinent HDD is the failed disk by comparing the contents of nonvolatile memory 55 with the contents of the storage management data storage region 57.
Specifically, first, as shown in FIG. 12, "0" is set in array variables A(i), B (i), "1" is set in counter i, "0" is set in failed HDD counter N.sub.ERR, and "0" is set in failed HDD identification parameter N.sub.DISK (S201).
Then, the i.sup.th nonvolatile memory is tested, and when nonvolatile memory is not normal (N), a determination is made as to the usability of that HDD, N.sub.ERR is incremented to "1", i is set in N.sub.DISK (S207) and processing proceeds to S208.
When nonvolatile memory is normal (S202: Y), the contents of that nonvolatile memory are written to array variable A(i). Next, the i.sup.th HDD storage management data storage region is tested, and when the storage management data storage region is not normal (S204: N), processing proceeds to S207. When the storage management data storage region is normal (S204: Y), the contents of that storage management data storage region are set in B (i) (S205).
When array variables A (i) and B (i) do not match (S206: N), since the i.sup.th HDD is not a normal HDD, N.sub.ERR is incremented to "1", and i is set in N.sub.DISK (S207). Next, "1" is added to i (S208), and when i is not greater than the number of HDD (S209: Y), processing returns to S202 and the next nonvolatile memory, storage management data storage region is tested. This type operation is repeated until i becomes greater than the total number of HDD.
Next, the number of failed HDD N.sub.ERR is determined (S301). When N.sub.ERR is "0", all HDD are normal and the startup operation ends. When N.sub.ERR is "2" or larger, an error message is output (S302), and the restart operation ends. When N.sub.ERR is "1", A (N.sub.DISK) is compared to "0", and when A (N.sub.DISK) is "0" (S303: Y), nonvolatile memory is determined to be abnormal at step S202. Since the contents of that nonvolatile memory are not stored in array A (N.sub.DISK), the N.sub.DISK.sup.th nonvolatile memory is abnormal, and the N.sub.DISK.sup.th HDD is therefore deemed unusable (S306).
When the A (N.sub.DISK) is not "0" (S303: N), there are times when the N.sub.DISK .sup.th HDD could be usable. Therefore, that HDD is tested (S204).
Then, when that HDD is determined to be abnormal (S305: N), that HDD is deemed unusable (S306), and when it is determined to be normal (S305: Y), recovery work is performed by writing data reconstructed from data in other HDD to that HDD (S307). Once recovery work is complete, A (N.sub.DISK) is written to that HDD's storage management data storage region, and the restart operation ends.
However, this prior example is inadequate in that when replacing a failed HDD, if an HDD that already has data stored therein is mistakenly connected as the new HDD, recovery data is written to the HDD with data already stored therein without an error of any kind being detected, thus resulting in the original data being lost.
That is, when there are a plurality of disk array systems configured as shown in FIG. 11, and a plurality of failed HDD, the procedures depicted in FIGS. 12 and 13 will give rise to a failure at restart following the replacement of the failed HDD.
For example, assume there are 2 magnetic disk devices of the type shown in FIG. 11, and 2 HDD to be replaced, and assume that HDD 54a.sub.1 in disk array system 51a, and HDD 54b.sub.2 in disk array system 51b, as shown in FIG. 14, are the failed HDD.
Because disk array system 51a and disk array system 51b are each operating independently, the data being written to HDD 54a.sub.1 -54a.sub.5 and 54b.sub.1 -54b.sub.5 are different.
When replacing the failed HDD 54a.sub.1 and 54b.sub.2 with the new HDD 54c.sub.1 and 54c.sub.2, instead of disk array system 51a's failed HDD 54a.sub.1 being removed, HDD 54a.sub.2, which is operating normally, is removed, and replaced with the new HDD 54c.sub.1. Then, disk array system 51b's failed HDD 54b.sub.2 is removed, and previously-removed HDD 54a.sub.2, which operated normally in disk array system 51a, is mounted. After both magnetic disk devices have been replaced, they are simultaneously restarted.
That is, a magnetic disk device that is not failing is changed for a new replacement magnetic disk device, and a failing magnetic disk device is replaced with one that is mistaken for a replacement magnetic disk device.
In this case, since failed HDD 54a.sub.1 and new HDD 54c.sub.1 (in the place where HDD 54a.sub.2 was located) become failed HDD, disk array system 51a is in an unusable state. On the other hand, since disk array system 51b's failed HDD 54b.sub.2 is replaced by normally-operating HDD 54a.sub.2, recovery commences.
Since the data in disk array system 51a's HDD 54a.sub.2 is lost when the recovery operation is performed for disk array system 51b, data from 2 HDD, 54a.sub.1 and 54a.sub.2, are lost, and recovery work cannot be carried out for disk array system 51a.
That is, it was a problem in that when a normal magnetic disk device was removed from one disk array system, connected to another disk array system, and recovery work performed, failure recovery could not be performed for one of the disk array systems. This kind of problem will not occur if the user of the magnetic disk device does not make a mistake when replacing the HDD. However, it is desirable for the magnetic disk device to make data redundant so that, in addition to enhancing its reliability as a storage device, it can also cope with human errors such as this.
With the prior example, the possibility that data might be lost during recovery processing is not taken into consideration like this.
Further, treating nonvolatile memory 55.sub.1 -55.sub.4 as a single nonvolatile memory, and partitioning the regions in which storage management data is stored, enables nonvolatile memory to correspond to each HDD. But when nonvolatile memory is treated as a single memory, the nonvolatile memory test of the system control method shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 takes the form of the tests conducted on the respective storage management data storage regions of nonvolatile memory, resulting in cases where failures of nonvolatile memory itself are not detected.
For example, when a failure occurs in an HDD, and the storage management data storage region of nonvolatile memory is rewritten, nonvolatile memory, which has operated normally up until now, could generate a write failure. This could either make it impossible to rewrite data, or result in the same data that existed prior to rewrite being rewritten. Thereafter, if the device is restarted without detecting the failure, the test of the storage management data storage region where the write failure occurred in nonvolatile memory ends normally, and it appears that the device is fault free. And even if the test of the storage management data storage region where the write failure occurred generates an error, the other storage management data storage regions will appear normal.
When a nonvolatile memory failure occurs in a magnetic disk device employing a single nonvolatile memory, this creates situations wherein it is impossible to detect HDD failures, and the failing regions cannot be used, but other regions can be used. This makes it impossible to learn the correct status of a magnetic disk device.
This problem is felt to be caused by various failures that occur in the circuitry. For that reason, it is desirable that the device possess mechanisms for detecting failures when problems like this occur.

Method and system for recovering lost data


An automatic fluid flow control device and method are disclosed. The fluid flow control device provides a constant flow rate of strained fluid despite varying differential pressures and employs a combination of a unitary body with a first valve to open or close the device to fluid flow and an integrated, removable strainer in the form of a cup that encircles an inlet of a removable flow control valve. The body is essentially in the shape of a "Y" and provides a compact valve with minimum threaded joints and access to the various components thereof with minimum disassembly. The removable strainer is configured and arranged in a manner so that fluid flows from the outside to the inside of the cup-shaped strainer, allowing easier use and cleaning.

Fluid control devices are used to regulate fluid flow so that fluid flowing into such a device will be output at a constant rate. Strainers are often used in conjunction with such devices to filter out unwanted debris. Prior art devices many times comprise multiple components, which result in major drawbacks, namely, increased risk of leakage due to multiple connections, longer installation times, and increased space requirements. In addition, such prior art devices may be difficult to clean due to increased disassembly requirements.
Some prior art devices incorporate a strainer, but the devices generally require disassembly in order to clean the strainer, and debris that collects on the strainer can be difficult to expel.
Another problem with prior art assemblies is that a plumbing system incorporating a prior art assembly is not easily subjected to excessive flow to flush the system without clogging the various components. Certain components of the assembly impede flow through the assembly and, therefore, would impede a high pressure flow therethrough for flushing. Furthermore, the impeding components of the prior art assemblies are not easily removable. Indeed, some prior art assemblies must be taken off-line to remove or replace such components.


A method of actinic aligning semiconductor wafers which are coated with a contrast enhancement material is provided, wherein an alignment target formed on a semiconductor substrate which is coated with photoresist and contrast enhancement material is exposed to actinic wavelength light, while protecting active device areas from exposure. The contrast enhancement material over the alignment target is thus bleached so that the underlying alignment target becomes visible to actinic wavelength light. A pattern comprising an alignment pattern and an active device pattern is projected onto the wafer. The now visible alignment target is aligned to the projected alignment pattern with sub-exposure energy actinic light using conventional techniques and an actinic alignment tool, and the active device pattern subsequently exposed at an exposure energy of the actinic wavelength once the alignment is completed.

This invention relates, in general, to photolithography, and more particularly to photolithography using a contrast enhancement material (CEM) on top of photoresist.
As semiconductor device dimensions approach the submicron level, one of the limiting factors for further reduction in size is the ability to photolithographically reproduce submicron dimensions onto a semiconductor substrate. The minimum dimension which can be reproduced by an alignment tool is determined by the tool's abilities to optically reproduce or image a pattern onto the substrate and to align the imaged pattern to a previous pattern on the semiconductor substrate. The former ability allows the system to produce a small image with acceptable line width control, and the latter ability allows minimum clearance between patterns of a multilayer device. As semiconductor devices become more complex the number of layers used increases and the alignment ability, or alignment tolerance, becomes more important.
A pattern is reproduced on a semiconductor substrate by aligning a mask pattern to a previously formed alignment target or key, and then projecting the mask pattern onto a photoresist covered substrate, thereby exposing the photoresist. The mask pattern comprises an alignment pattern, which is used for alignment, and an active device pattern, which is used to form active devices. Photoresist is sensitive to a narrow bandwidth of light called the actinic wavelengths. The photoresist is also sensitive to the intensity and time of exposure to the actinic wavelength light. Photoresist requires exposure to a threshold energy light for imaging to occur, thus a sub-threshold energy will not expose the photoresist. It is undesirable to expose the photoresist during alignment. One method of aligning the mask pattern to the previously formed target pattern comprises using an alignment wavelength other than the actinic wavelengths for the alignment, so that the photoresist is not exposed during the aligning process. In this manner, the projected alignment pattern can be moved many times with respect to the target until proper alignment is achieved. Once the patterns are aligned, the mask pattern is projected onto the substrate using actinic wavelength light, thereby exposing the photoresist. This method of alignment, however, requires two sets of optics since the focal distances are different for the alignment wavelength and the actinic wavelength. Two sets of optics increase the complexity of the photo alignment tool and decrease alignment accuracy of the tool. Another alignment method which has been developed uses a narrow bandwidth of light of the actinic wavelengths, for both alignment and exposure of the projected pattern. In this method the alignment takes place at a lower energy so that the photoresist layer is not exposed during alignment. Once alignment is complete, the mask pattern is transferred by increasing the light energy above the photoresist's exposure energy threshold. Such systems are called actinic alignment systems. These systems offer the advantage of using a single optic system within the tool and allow for improved alignment tolerances as well as reduced cost and complexity of the tool.
Recently, contrast enhancement materials (CEM) have been used for reproducing images having dimensions around and below 0.5 micron to improve line width control. Contrast enhancement materials comprise a dye which is initially opaque to the actinic wavelengths and bleachable by exposure to light of the actinic wavelength. Above a threshold energy CEM is essentially transparent. CEM may also be responsive to wavelengths other than the actinic wavelength. Contrast enhancement material is applied as a thin layer covering a photoresist layer and, once exposed, forms a portable conformal mask which is in direct contact with the photoresist layer, thus greatly improving the ability to define submicron dimensions. While contrast enhancement materials work well with alignment tools which use non-actinic wavelengths for alignment, when actinic alignment is used the existing pattern on the semiconductor wafer can not be easily seen through the opaque CEM and thus alignment is difficult or impossible. Until now, it has been difficult or impossible to use contrast enhancement material with actinic alignment tools.
One solution to this problem has been to remove the contrast enhancement material over the alignment target by laser ablation so that the alignment target could be seen at actinic wavelengths. Since alignment targets are usually distanced from active device patterns, laser ablation could be used to remove the CEM and photoresist over the alignment target without damaging or exposing active device areas. Laser ablation removes both contrast enhancement material and the underlying photoresist thus exposing the surface of the semiconductor substrate. Laser ablation can result in particulates, generated by the vaporization of the CEM and photoresist, which deposit on active device areas of the substrate. It has also been found that by removing the photoresist layer over the alignment targets that light reflected from the substrate, which is used to detect proper alignment, comprises a large amount of standing wave noise and scattered light which reduce alignment accuracy.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for photolithographic alignment which realizes both the improved accuracy of an actinic alignment tool and the small dimensions of contrast enhancement material processes.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for actinic alignment using contrast enhancement material with improved alignment tolerance.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method for actinic alignment using contrast enhancement material with a shorter process time.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a method for actinic alignment using contrast enhancement material which is defect free.

Actinic alignment to CEM coated resist films


An efficient ballast for Mini-fluorescent lamps, includes an inductor, in communication with a power source and constructed as transformer with only primary winding, a fluorescent lamp in series with the inductor, and a capacitor in series with the fluorescent lamp, and optionally may include a resistor in parallel with the coil, and a switch interposed between the capacitor and power source. The value of the capacitance may change based upon the degree of change in the supply voltage.

The present invention relates to a ballast circuit for a fluorescent lamp. More precisely, the present invention relates to a compact ballast circuit having a capacitor in series with an inductor, such that the fluorescent lamp is interposed in series with capacitor and the inductor, and particularly where the inductor is formed using materials which are commonly available for use in transformers but having only a single winding.
Fluorescent lamps are becoming increasingly popular for use in the home or office because of their high operating efficiency as compared to incandescent lamps. Indeed, fluorescent lamps emit light at several times the efficiency of a typical incandescent lamp, and do not generate as much heat as a typical incandescent bulb, thereby conserving radiant energy and eliminating excess heat output.
A typical fluorescent lamp is constructed from a glass tube which contains two electrodes at opposite ends, a coating of powdered phosphor covering the interior of the tube, and small amounts of mercury. The major portions of a fluorescent lamp are the bulb, electrodes, fill gas, phosphor coating and a base used to support the external conductors of the electrodes. When energized, the electrodes provide a large potential between which free electrons initiate an arc. The arc generates some visible radiation, but mostly ultraviolet radiation, which in turn excites the phosphor coating causing it to emit light. In this process, the fluorescent effect is caused by the mercury when it is vaporized in the arc.
These fluorescent lamps require a ballast. A ballast is necessary to maintain constant current flow into the lamp. In a ballast resistor, for example, the resistance increases as the temperature increases. As resistance increases, less current is allowed through, thus lowering the temperature and consequently lowering the resistance. Current flow through the lamp is thus maintained at a constant level.
Larger fluorescent systems are well known and have involved larger scale, well known illumination electronics which have been optimized to one degree or another over the years. The techniques for optimizing these larger fluorescent systems include a variety of issues, especially pertinent to eliminating flicker, providing light which is suitable for reading and working, and providing adequate lighting in large industrial facilities. With smaller fluorescent lamps of lesser luminous intensity, in which less visible lighting is required, the circuit details must enable operation with efficiencies as high as the larger fluorescent systems.
As fluorescent lighting has gained acceptance for increasingly less formal and consequently smaller uses, the sizes of the fluorescent lamps and their systems have become smaller. The reduced scale of the fluorescent lights cannot generally be accomplished with a simple size reduction in the circuitry elements. Care must be taken to re-design the operating electronics to insure first that a size reduction may be had, and second that the power efficiency is present in the smaller sized lamps. This is especially so, since it is the power efficiency which generated the interest in a more widespread use of fluorescent lighting initially.
One such technique involved in down scaling is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,179,323 to Byung L. Ham, entitled "Ballast for Mini Fluorescent Lamp," which issued on Jan. 12, 1993. The technique described therein uses a transformer having a shorted secondary winding to attempt to mitigate the effects of inductive heating. However, with regard to the cost of materials involved in mass production of mini-fluorescent lamps, a small savings per lamp translates into significant savings in view of the larger numbers of mini lamps produced. The use of a transformer secondary in a closed loop fashion is associated with a significant cost including the cost of the wire for the secondary winding, the cost of its coating, and the cost of winding it on a transformer core without damaging the primary winding, and the labor and extra process time involved. Further, the use of a transformer with a shorted secondary requires a secondary impedance match as the energy is transformed through the transformer.
The use of a ballast circuit containing a shorted secondary would require a change in the transformer if the operating conditions changed, such as a change to a higher supply voltage. With a higher supply voltage, the secondary current would significantly increase causing an even more significant increase in the waste power in the secondary according to the relationship P=I.sup.2 R. Thus, a new, two winding transformer would be needed for each size mini-fluorescent lamp and for each level of input power.
What is needed is a very simple mini-fluorescent ballast circuit, one has an inductive element which eliminates the significant cost associated with a secondary winding, and preferably which will enable the use of a single inductive element with a given mini-fluorescent lamp with changing conditions, such as input power. These and other objects are met with the ballast circuit of the present invention.

Variable voltage ballast system for mini-fluorescent lamp


A web-based graphical user interface system includes an embedded controller in a chassis that couples to a physical display device and input device, and creates a virtual display device and input device. When an input is received from the physical input device, the embedded controller generates a virtual input on the virtual input device. A chassis management controller in the chassis is coupled to the embedded controller, and views the virtual display device and input device as local devices. The chassis management controller may render a web-based graphical user interface and direct it to the virtual display device such that it is transmitted to the embedded controller for display on the physical display device. The chassis management controller may also identify the virtual input generated by the embedded controller on the virtual input device and, in response, translates the virtual input into a web-based graphical user interface event.

The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to the display of web-based graphical user interfaces for managing information handling systems.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems are sometimes provided using a multi-devices chassis that house multiple computing devices. These types of information handling systems may allow for local management of their computing devices via a Keyboard Video Mouse (KVM) feature that allows an embedded controller in the multi-devices chassis to provide images generated by any of the computing devices for display on a display device that is locally connected to the multi-device chassis via the KVM feature. These types of information handlings systems often include a chassis management controller that is represented in the information handling system as one of the computing devices. The chassis management controller may be configured to provide a chassis management controller Command Line Interface (CLI) such as, for example, the Remote Access Controller Administrator (RACADM) available from Dell Inc. of Round Rock, Tex., United States, which allows a user to interact with the chassis management controller via the display of the chassis management controller CLI on the locally-connected display device in substantially the same manner as discussed above for the images generated by any of the other computing devices. However, chassis management controllers are now being provided with web-based graphical user interfaces that allow users to interact with the chassis management controller via a network (e.g., the Internet), but those web-based graphical user interfaces are inaccessible locally due to limitations in the image provisioning techniques discussed above.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved web-based graphical user interface display system.

Web-based graphical user interface display system


An IC device and layout having one or more layers having route segments and at least some shield segments that are diagonal in orientation. Shield termination segments enclosing a route segment may be diagonal in orientation. Some embodiments describe a method for providing diagonal shielding for a routed net of an IC layout. A route “bloating” method is used where shield position lines (used to position the shielding) are generated by expanding out the dimensions of routes using a bloating shape. The bloating shape that may be dependent on the preferred wiring direction of the layer on which the shielding is provided. After bloating a route, a resulting bloating geometry is identified comprising the area overlapped during the expanding out of the route. The perimeter of the bloating geometry is identified comprising the shield position lines.

An integrated circuit ("IC") is a device (e.g., a semiconductor device) that includes many electronic components, such as transistors, resistors, diodes, etc. These components are often interconnected to form multiple circuit components, such as gates, cells, memory units, arithmetic units, controllers, decoders, etc. An IC includes multiple layers of wiring that interconnect its electronic and circuit components. Traditionally, IC's use preferred direction ("PD") wiring models, which specify a preferred wiring direction for each of their wiring layers. In preferred direction wiring models, the preferred direction typically alternates between successive wiring layers.
One example of a PD wiring model is the PD Manhattan wiring model, which specifies alternating layers of preferred-direction horizontal and vertical wiring. An example of a newer PD wiring model is the PD diagonal wiring model, which specifies alternating layers of preferred-direction diagonal wiring. The PD diagonal wiring model can allow for shorter wiring distances than the PD Manhattan wiring model and can decrease the total wirelength needed to interconnect the electronic and circuit components of an IC.
Design engineers design IC's by transforming logical or circuit descriptions of the IC's components into geometric descriptions, called layouts. An IC layout comprises descriptions of each layer of the IC and typically include a variety of geometries such as (1) circuit modules (i.e., geometric representations of electronic or circuit IC components) with pins, and (2) interconnect lines (i.e., geometric representations of wiring) that connect the pins of the circuit modules. A net is typically defined as a collection of routable elements (e.g., pins) that need to be connected.
To create layouts, design engineers typically use electronic design automation ("EDA") applications. These applications provide sets of computer-based tools for creating, editing, and analyzing IC design layouts. One EDA tool is a router that defines routes for interconnect lines that connect the routable elements (e.g., pins) of nets. In routing the routable elements of a net, a router may explore Manhattan routing directions, and more recently, diagonal routing directions on a layer of an IC to determine routes for connecting the routable elements. The various geometries of the IC layout are later physically created for an IC based on the descriptions of the various geometries in the IC layout.

Methods and apparatus for diagonal route shielding


The carbon fiber forming raw material is a carbon fiber forming raw material (Z) as a prepreg including sizing agent-coated carbon fibers and a thermosetting resin or a carbon fiber forming raw material (Y) as a forming material that includes sizing agent-coated carbon fibers and has a woven fabric form or a braid form. The sizing agent includes components (A) and (B). The component (A) is an epoxy compound having two or more epoxy groups or two or more types of functional groups. The component (B) is one or more compounds selected from the group consisting of a tertiary amine compound, a tertiary amine salt, a quaternary ammonium salt, a quaternary phosphonium salt, and a phosphine compound. The component (B) is contained in an amount of 0.1 to 25 parts by mass relative to 100 parts by mass of the component (A).

Carbon fibers are lightweight and excellent in strength and elastic modulus, and thus are combined with various matrix resins to form a composite material, which is used in various fields such as aircraft members, spacecraft members, automobile members, ship members, constructional materials, and sporting goods. In order to impart the excellent characteristics of carbon fibers to a composite material including the carbon fibers, excellent adhesion between the carbon fibers and a matrix resin is important.
In order to improve the adhesion between carbon fibers and a matrix resin, the carbon fibers are typically subjected to oxidation treatment such as gas phase oxidation and liquid phase oxidation, and thus an oxygen-containing functional group is introduced to the surface of the carbon fibers. For example, a disclosed method includes subjecting carbon fibers to electrolysis to improve interlaminar shear strength as an index of the adhesion (see Patent Literature 1). However, as the level of characteristics required for a composite material has increased in recent years, the adhesion achieved by such an oxidation treatment alone is becoming insufficient.
Carbon fibers are brittle and poor in bindability and abrasion resistance and thus readily generate fluffs or broken thread in a high-order processing step. To address this problem, methods of coating carbon fibers are disclosed (see Patent Literatures 2 and 3).
For example, a disclosed method includes applying, as a sizing agent, a diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A onto carbon fibers (see Patent Literatures 2 and 3). Another disclosed method includes applying, as a sizing agent, a polyalkylene oxide adduct of bisphenol A onto carbon fibers (see Patent Literatures 4 and 5). Another disclosed method includes applying, onto carbon fibers, a sizing agent that is obtained by adding an epoxy group to a polyalkylene oxide adduct of bisphenol A (see Patent Literatures 6 and 7). Another disclosed method includes applying, as a sizing agent, an epoxy adduct of polyalkylene glycol onto carbon fibers (see Patent Literatures 8, 9 and 10).
In addition, another disclosed method includes applying, as a sizing agent, a urethane compound having an epoxy group and a quaternary ammonium salt onto carbon fibers (see Patent Literature 11). The disclosed method also improves the bindability and the abrasion resistance but has failed to improve the adhesion between carbon fibers and a matrix resin.
It is known that these methods improve the bindability and the abrasion resistance of carbon fibers.
However, these previously disclosed methods have no technical idea to positively improve the adhesion between carbon fibers and a matrix resin by means of the sizing agent and cannot greatly improve the adhesion between carbon fibers and a matrix resin in practice.
In order to improve impregnation properties of a matrix resin into carbon fibers, a method of coating carbon fibers with a particular sizing agent has been carried out.
For example, a disclosed method includes applying, as a sizing agent, a cationic surfactant having a surface tension of 40 mN/m or less and a viscosity at 80° C. of 200 mPa·s or less onto carbon fibers (see Patent Literature 12). Another disclosed method includes applying, as a sizing agent, an epoxy resin, a water-soluble polyurethane resin, and a polyether resin onto carbon fibers (see Patent Literature 13). These methods are proved to improve the bindability of carbon fibers and the impregnation properties of a matrix resin into carbon fibers. However, these previously disclosed methods also have no technical idea to positively improve the adhesion between carbon fibers and a matrix resin by means of a sizing agent and cannot greatly improve the adhesion between carbon fibers and a matrix resin in practice.
As described above, a sizing agent has been used as what is called an adhesive for improving high-order processability or for improving the impregnation properties of a matrix resin into carbon fibers, and little study has been made on the sizing agent to improve the adhesion between carbon fibers and a matrix resin. Even when studied, sizing agents achieve limited effects. In other words, the adhesion is insufficiently improved, or the effect is achieved only in the case of a combination with particular carbon fibers.
For example, a disclosed method includes applying, as a sizing agent, N,N,N′,N′-tetraglycidyl metaxylylene diamine to carbon fibers (see Patent Literature 14). The disclosed method provides improvement in interlaminar shear strength as an index of the adhesion when compared with the case using glycidyl ether of bisphenol A, but the improvement effect of the adhesion is still insufficient. In addition, the N,N,N′,N′-tetraglycidyl metaxylylene diamine used in the disclosed method contains a tertiary aliphatic amine in its structure and thus exhibits nucleophilicity, which unfortunately causes the diamine to undergo self-polymerization. This hardens carbon fiber bundles with time to deteriorate high-order processability.
Another disclosed method includes applying, as a sizing agent, a mixture of a vinyl compound monomer having a glycidyl group and an amine curing agent for an epoxy resin onto carbon fibers (see Patent Literature 15). The disclosed method provides improvement in interlaminar shear strength as an index of the adhesion when compared with the case without the amine curing agent, but the improvement effect of the adhesion is still insufficient. In addition, the glycidyl group reacts with the amine curing agent to increase the molecular weight during a process of drying the sizing agent, and this hardens carbon fiber bundles to deteriorate high-order processability. Moreover, the space among carbon fibers becomes small, and this reduces the impregnation properties of a resin.
Another method is also disclosed as the method using a sizing agent containing an epoxy compound and an amine curing agent in combination (see Patent Literature 16). The disclosed method improves the handleability and the impregnation properties of fiber bundles, but the sizing agent is polymerized to form a film on the surface of carbon fibers. This may interfere with the adhesion between the carbon fibers and an epoxy matrix resin.
Another disclosed method includes applying an amine compound onto carbon fibers (see Patent Literature 17). The disclosed method provides improvement in interlaminar shear strength as an index of the adhesion when compared with the case without coating, but the improvement effect of the adhesion is still insufficient. The disclosed method describes no detailed mechanism of improving the adhesion, but the mechanism is supposed as below. In the disclosed method, the amine compound used is diethylenetriamine or xylenediamine containing a primary amino group, or piperidine or imidazole containing a secondary amino group. Each amine compound contains an active hydrogen in the molecule, and the active hydrogen can cause an epoxy matrix resin to accelerate the curing reaction. For example, an epoxy matrix reacts with the amine compound to form a hydroxy group. The hydroxy group interacts with a carboxy group, a hydroxy group, and other groups on the surface of carbon fibers to form hydrogen-bonds, and this improves the adhesion. As described above, the disclosed method unfortunately still provides insufficient improvement result of the adhesion, which does not satisfy the requirements for recent composite materials.
Another disclosed example of using an amine compound as the sizing agent is a method using a cured product of a thermosetting resin and an amine compound (see Patent Literature 18). The disclosed method uses m-xylenediamine containing a primary amino group and piperazine containing a secondary amino group as the amine compounds. An object of the disclosed method is to improve the bindability and the handleability of carbon fiber bundles by actively reacting an active hydrogen contained in the amine compound with a thermosetting resin typified by an epoxy resin to form a cured product. The carbon fiber bundles are limited to be used for a chopped application and still have insufficient mechanical characteristics relating to the adhesion of a formed piece after melting and kneading with a thermoplastic resin.
Still another disclosed method includes using carbon fibers having a surface oxygen concentration O/C within a particular range, a surface concentration of hydroxy groups within a particular range, and a surface concentration of carboxylic groups within a particular range and applying, as a sizing agent, an aliphatic compound having a plurality of epoxy groups onto carbon fibers (see Patent Literature 19). Although the disclosed method provides improvement in EDS as an index of the adhesion, the method still achieves insufficient improvement effect of the adhesion between carbon fibers and a matrix resin, and the improvement effect of the adhesion is limited and is achieved only in the case of a combination with particular carbon fibers.

Carbon fiber forming raw material, formed material, and carbon fiber-reinforced composite material


A method, computer program product, and system for job profile generation, the method, computer program product, and system include receiving employee intranet usage data, storing the received employee intranet usage data in a database, identifying a portion of the stored employee intranet usage data associated with the former employee, transmitting the portion to a recommender system, where the recommender system identifies one or more required job skills of the former employee, based on the transmitted portion, and generating a job profile based on the one or more identified required job skills.

The present invention relates generally to for the field of data processing, and more particularly to job profile generation.
A job profile, or job description, is a document that presents a summary of information related to a particular employment role, such as responsibilities, necessary skills, desired skills, and required education and credentials. A sufficiently descriptive job profile may be used by hiring personnel to successfully fill an open position by identifying and prioritizing desired candidate skills. Furthermore, application requirements included within a job profile may help job candidates determine their eligibility for an open position prior to submitting an application.

Job profile generation based on intranet usage

International Business Machines Corporation


A powered latch system for motor vehicles includes at least one powered latch that can be controlled based, at least in part, on vehicle operating conditions. The system may be configured to control unlatching of the vehicle doors utilizing data relating to the vehicle speed and/or the existence of a crash event. The powered latch system can be configured as required for various vehicles, and to accommodate specific operating requirements with respect to child locks in various geographic jurisdictions.

Electrically powered latches ("E-latches") have been developed for motor vehicles. Known powered door latches may be unlatched by actuating an electrical switch. Actuation of the switch causes an electric motor to shift a pawl to a released/unlatched position that allows a claw of the latch to move and disengage from a striker to permit opening of the vehicle door. E-latches may include a mechanical emergency/backup release lever that can be manually actuated from inside the vehicle to unlatch the powered latch if the powered latch fails due to a loss of electrical power or other malfunction.

Electronic safe door unlatching operations