A confocal laser scanning microscope acquires confocal images of a sample. The microscope is provided with an optical-microscope optical system which acquires non-confocal images of the sample by detecting measurement light coming from the sample. The optical-microscope optical system includes optical systems corresponding to at least two observation methods, and one of the optical systems is selected during use.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a confocal laser scanning microscope that enables acquisition of images of samples by use of various observation methods such as brightfield observation.
2. Description of the Background Art
A confocal laser scanning microscope irradiates a sample with a laser beam emitted from a laser beam source, and detects a measurement beam from the sample by use of a confocal aperture diaphragm. By performing this operation, the confocal laser scanning microscope acquires a shallow-focus confocal image of the sample. Known confocal laser scanning microscopes include a microscope which acquires both a shallow-focus confocal image and a deep-focus non-confocal image of a sample and selectively displays the confocal image and the non-confocal image.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 9-133869, for example, discloses a confocal laser scanning microscope capable of selectively displaying a confocal image and a non-confocal image. A light beam from a sample passes through a confocal aperture and is detected by a first detector. The first detector detects the light beam coming from the sample by way of the confocal aperture, and outputs a confocal image signal. A light beam from the sample is received by a second detector. The second detector detects the light beam coming from the sample and outputs a non-confocal image signal. The confocal image signal output by the first detector and the non-confocal image signal output by the second detector are supplied to a switching device. The switching device electrically switches between the confocal image signal output by the first detector and the non-confocal image signal output by the second detector, and supplies the selected image signal to a monitor. The monitor displays either the confocal image or the non-confocal image.
The confocal laser scanning microscope of Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 9-133869 allows selection between the confocal image and the non-confocal image of the sample. The non-confocal image can be acquired by subjecting the sample to reflected illumination and performing brightfield observation of the sample. In addition, although the sample can be observed by brightfield observation, there is a demand that the sample be observed by darkfield observation as well. There is also a demand that the surface of the sample be observed finely by use of the confocal laser scanning microscope.


The disclosure describes spindle-shaped magnetic iron-based alloy particles containing cobalt and iron as the main ingredients in which the Co content is 1.0 to 50.0 atm % (calculated as Co) based on the total Fe in the spindle-shaped magnetic iron-based alloy particles, and which the spindle-shaped magnetic iron-based alloy particles have an average major axis diameter of 0.05 to 0.18 .mu.m, a size distribution (standard deviation/major axis diameter) of not more than 0.25, an average minor axis diameter of 0.010 to 0.020 .mu.m, an aspect ratio (major axis diameter/minor axis diameter) of 4 to 15, an X-ray crystallite size D.sub.110 of 120 to 180 .ANG., a coercive force of 1720 to 2500 Oe, a saturation magnetization of not less than 110 emu/g, and a saturation magnetization decrement percentage of not more than 17%.

The present invention relates to spindle-shaped magnetic iron-based alloy particles containing cobalt and iron as the main ingredients, spindle-shaped goethite particles containing cobalt, and a process for producing the same. Particularly, the present invention relates to spindle-shaped fine magnetic iron-based alloy particles containing cobalt and iron as the main ingredient which have a uniform particle size, especially the size distribution (standard deviation/major axis diameter) of not more than 0.25, no inclusion of dendrites, a high coercive force, especially a coercive force (Hc) of 1720 to 2500 Oe and an excellent stability against oxidation, especially a saturation magnetization decrement percentage of not more than 17%, and a process for producing the spindle-shaped fine magnetic iron-based alloy particles containing cobalt and iron as the main ingredient, spindle-shaped goethite fine particles containing cobalt which have an average major axis diameter of 0.05 to 0.20 .mu.m, an aspect ratio (major axis diameter/minor axis diameter, hereinunder referred to simply as "aspect ratio") of 4 to 15, an X-ray crystallite size ratio (D.sub.020 /D.sub.110) of 1.5 to 3.5, a uniform particle size, especially the size distribution (standard deviation/major axis diameter) of not more than 0.30 and no inclusion of dendrites, and a process for producing the spindle-shaped goethite fine particles containing cobalt.
The spindle-shaped magnetic iron-based alloy particles containing cobalt and iron as the main ingredients according to the present invention are fine particles which have a uniform particle size, no inclusion of dendrites, a high coercive force, an excellent coercive force distribution, a large saturation magnetization, and in addition, an excellent stability against oxidation. In addition, the spindle-shaped magnetic iron-based alloy particles containing cobalt and iron as the main ingredients according to the present invention are excellent in dispersibility and packing property as a material for a magnetic recording medium. The spindle-shaped goethite particles containing cobalt according to the present invention are suitable for use as a starting material for magnetic particles, especially as a starting material which produces the spindle-shaped fine magnetic iron-based alloy particles containing cobalt and iron as the main ingredients.
Miniaturized and lightweight video or audio magnetic recording and reproducing apparatuses for long-time recording have recently shown a remarkable progress. Especially, video tape recorders (VTR) have rapidly spread wide and the development of miniaturized and lighter-weight VTR's for longer-time recording have been rapid. With this development, magnetic recording media such as a magnetic tape have been strongly required to have a higher performance and a higher recording density.
In other words, magnetic recording media are required to have a higher picture quality and higher output characteristics, in particular, to improve the frequency characteristics and lower the noise level. For this purpose, it is necessary to improve the residual flux density (Br), the coercive force, the dispersibility, the packing property, the surface smoothness of the magnetic recording media such as a magnetic tape and the S/N ratio.
These properties of magnetic recording media have close relation to the magnetic particles used for the magnetic recording media. In recent years, magnetic iron-based alloy particles have attracted attention due to their coercive force and saturation magnetization which are superior to those of conventional iron oxide magnetic particles, and have been put to practical use as magnetic recording media such as digital audio tapes (DAT), 8-mm video tapes, Hi-8 tapes and video floppies. Such magnetic iron-based alloy particles, however, are also strongly demanded to improve the properties.
The relationship between various properties of magnetic recording media and magnetic particles used therefor is described in the following.
In order to obtain a high picture quality, magnetic recording media for VTR's are required to improve (i) the video S/N ratio, (ii) the chroma S/N ratio and (iii) the video frequency characteristics, as is obvious from the description in NIKKEI ELECTRONICS, No. 133, pp. 82 to 105 (1976).
In order to improve the video S/N ratio and the chroma S/N ratio, it is important to improve the dispersibility of the magnetic particles in a vehicle, the orientation property and the packing property of the magnetic particles in a coating film and the surface smoothness of the magnetic recording media. As such magnetic particles, fine particles which have a uniform particle size, no inclusion of dendrites and an appropriate aspect ratio are demanded.
In order to improve the video S/N ratio, it is important to lower the level of the noise caused by a magnetic recording medium. As to the noise of magnetic iron-based alloy particles, it is known that it has a relationship with the X-ray crystallite size of the magnetic iron-based alloy particles.
This phenomenon is shown in, for example, in FIG. 38 on page 123 of the COLLECTED DATA ON MAGNETIC RECORDING MEDIA, Aug. 15 (1985), published by Synthetic Electronics Research. FIG. 38 shows the relationship between the X-ray crystallite size (D.sub.110) of the magnetic iron-based alloy particles and the noise level of the magnetic tape produced therefrom. It is observed from FIG. 38 that the more the X-ray crystallite size lessens, the more the noise level of the magnetic tape lowers.
It is, therefore, effective for lowering the level of the noise caused by a magnetic recording medium to reduce the X-ray crystallite size of the magnetic iron-based alloy particles as much as possible. As described above, in order to improve the video S/N ratio and lower the noise level, magnetic particles are required to have as small an X-ray crystallite size as possible.
In order to improve the video frequency characteristics, it is necessary that the magnetic recording medium has high coercive force (Hc) and residual flux density (Br). In order to enhance the coercive force (Hc) of the magnetic recording medium, magnetic particles having a higher coercive force (Hc) are required.
Since the coercive force of magnetic particles are generally dependent upon the shape anisotropy, a high coercive force is obtained by making the particles as fine as possible or increasing the aspect ratio. This is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication (KOKOKU) No. 1-18961 (1989), " . . . The coercive force becomes larger with an increase in the aspect ratio. On the other hand, the coercive force is influenced by the particle size, and in particles having a particle size more than the particle size which produces the superparamagnetism, the coercive force increases in proportion to a reduction in the particle size. It is, therefore, possible to obtain an intended coercive force by appropriately selecting the particle size and the aspect ratio. . . . "
Hi-vision VTRs for home use have recently been developed, and finer particles are demanded as the magnetic iron-based alloy particles which are used for W-VHS tapes of Hi-vision VTRs.
This fact is described in, for example, on pp. 14 to 15 of NIKKEI MATERIAL & TECHNOLOGY No. 128 (1993), "A VTR tape up to the W-VHS standard of a home Hi-vision VTR system has been developed. . . . The VTR tape has a two-layer structure comprising an upper layer composed of a metal (iron) magnetic material and having 0.2 to 0.4 .mu.m in thickness and a lower layer composed of a nonmagnetic material and having 2 to 3 .mu.m in thickness. . . . In a Hi-vision VTR for recording and reproducing a high-definition picture, it is necessary for the purpose of high-density recording to record and reproduce a recording signal at a low noise level. . . . The magnetic iron-based alloy particles in the magnetic layer have also been improved. The particles have been made finer so as to improve the coercive force and the saturation magnetic flux density. . . . Acicular magnetic particles are used but . . . the major axis diameter thereof is 0.1 .mu.m, which is about half of the major axis diameter of the magnetic material for S-VHS. . . . "
It is also required to an excellent switching field distribution (S.F.D.).
This fact is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 63-26821 (1988), "FIG. 1 is a graph showing the relationship between the S.F.D of the above-described magnetic disk and the recording and reproducing output. . . . As is clear from FIG. 1, the relationship between the S.F.D. and the recording and reproducing output is linear. It indicates that the recording and reproducing output is enhanced by using ferromagnetic powder having a small S.F.D. That is, in order to obtain an output larger than the ordinary output, an S.F.D of not more than 0.6 is required."
There is no end to the demand on these magnetic iron-based alloy particles, and they are required to have a large saturation magnetization in addition to a very small particle size and a high coercive force. This fact is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 5-98321 (1993), " . . . In order to obtain a high-density magnetic recording medium, it is necessary that the magnetic iron-based alloy particles used are fine particles which have a high coercive force, a large saturation magnetic flux density, an excellent dispersibility and an excellent stability against oxidation. . . . The saturation magnetic flux density changes with the composition of the magnetic iron-based alloy particles, the particle size and the thickness of the oxide film. With respect to the composition, when the magnetic particles are an iron-based alloy particles, addition of cobalt is effective. As to the particle size, the larger the particles, . . . the larger the saturation magnetic flux density naturally becomes. . . . However, since the aspect ratio largely influences the coercive force, it is impossible to make it extremely small. . . . "
Accordingly, a magnetic material for a high-density magnetic recording medium is required to be fine particles which have a uniform particle size, no inclusion of dendrites, a high coercive force, an excellent coercive force distribution, a large saturation magnetization and an excellent stability against oxidation.
Generally, magnetic iron-based alloy particles are obtained by heat-treating in a reducing gas, goethite particles as the starting material, hematite particles obtained by heating and dehydrating the goethite particles, or goethite particles or hematite particles containing metals other than iron, after the heat-treatment, if necessary.
As a method of producing goethite particles as the starting material, there are known (i) a method of producing acicular goethite particles by oxidizing a suspension containing ferrous hydroxide colloid obtained by adding not less than an equivalent of an alkali hydroxide solution to an aqueous ferrous salt solution, introducing an oxygen-containing gas-thereinto at a pH of not less than 11 and at a temperature of not higher than 80.degree. C. (described in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication (KOKOKU) No. 39-5610 (1964), these particles obtained are referred hereinunder as "iron hydroxide-based goethite particles"), (ii) a method of producing spindle-shaped goethite particles by oxidizing a suspension containing FeCO.sub.3 obtained by reacting an aqueous ferrous salt solution with an aqueous alkali carbonate solution, introducing an oxygen-containing gas thereinto (described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 50-80999 (1975), these particles obtained are referred hereinunder as "iron carbonate-based goethite particles"), and (iii) a method of producing spindle-shaped goethite particles by oxidizing a suspension containing an Fe-containing precipitate obtained by reacting an aqueous ferrous salt solution with a mixed aqueous solution of alkali carbonate and alkali hydroxide, introducing an oxygen-containing gas thereinto (described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 2-51429 (1990), these particles obtained are referred hereinunder as "mixed alkalis-based goethite particles").
Prior arts for producing these iron hydroxide-based goethite particles, iron carbonate-based goethite particles, mixed alkalis-based goethite particles are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication (KOKOKU) Nos. 55-29577 (1970), 1-18961 (1989), 2-57122 (1990) and 3-43323 (1991), Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) Nos. 63-222404 (1988), 3-49026 (1991), 4-56709 (1992), 4-63210 (1992), 5-62166 (1993), 5-98321 (1993), 6-25702 (1994), 6-36265 (1994), 6-139553 (1994), 6-140222 (1994) and 6-215360 (1994), and EP 0 466 338 A1.
The iron hydroxide-based goethite particles have an aspect ratio as large as 10 but contains dendrites and cannot be uniform particle size. This fact is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 5-62166 (1993), " . . . are produced by air-oxidizing the hydrolyzate of a ferrous salt by an alkali hydroxide. According to this method, in order to make the goethite particles finer, for example, a water-soluble silicate -is added to a reaction system. . . . There is a tendency of producing dendrites in particles . . . , the particle size distribution of the magnetic iron-based alloy particles becomes wide. . . . If it is intended that the goethite particles are made extremely fine and that the particle size distribution is made uniform, the hydroxide alkali method has its limitation." When from the iron hydroxide-based goethite particles are produced magnetic iron-based alloy particles, although it is easy to obtain a high coercive force, especially not less than 1720 Oe, it is difficult to reduce the particle size and to obtain a uniform particle size, which makes it difficult to obtain an excellent switching field distribution.
The iron carbonate-based goethite particles are spindle-shaped particles which have a uniform particle size and which do not contain any dendrites, but the aspect ratio is at most about 7 and it is difficult to produce spindle-shaped goethite particles having a large aspect ratio. This fact is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 5-62166 (1993), " . . . The spindle-shaped goethite particles obtained by the air-oxidization after hydrolyzing a ferrous salt by an alkali carbonate, are fine particles and have a uniform particle size. . . . It is considered that these goethite particles generally have a small aspect ratio and it is difficult to enhance the coercive force due to the shape anisotropy. . . . " When from the iron carbonate-based goethite particles are produced magnetic iron-based alloy particles, although the produced magnetic iron-based alloy particles show a excellent distribution, it is difficult to have a high coercive force, especially not less than 1720 Oe.
The mixed alkalis-based goethite particles are spindle-shaped particles having a uniform particle size and a large aspect ratio. This fact is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 2-51429 (1990), " . . . It is possible to obtain spindle-shaped goethite particle having a large aspect ratio (major axis diameter/minor axis diameter). . . . " The mixed alkalis-based goethite particles have a tendency of producing magnetic fine iron-based alloy particles having a good size distribution and a higher coercive force than the magnetic iron-based alloy particles produced from the iron carbonate-based goethite particles.
The present inventors investigated in detail the magnetic iron-based alloy particles produced from the iron hydroxide-based goethite particles as the starting material in comparison with the magnetic iron-based alloy particles produced from the iron carbonate-based goethite particles as the starting material in accordance with the prior art.
The method disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication (KOKOKU) No. 55-29577 (1970) is a method of producing acicular Fe-Co alloy particles by producing acicular goethite particles uniformly containing Co (which is equivalent to the iron hydroxide-based goethite particles in this specification) and reducing the goethite particles with hydrogen. In Examples 3 and 4 of Japanese Patent Publication (KOKOKU) No. 55-29577 (1970), when 20 mol % and 25 mol % of Co is respectively added, fine particles having a major axis diameter of 0.2 .mu.m and 0.1 .mu.m, respectively, are obtained. However, the coercive force thereof is at most as low as 1120 Oe and 1000 Oe, respectively. In addition, even if the amount of Co added is increased, the coercive force lowers.
The method disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication (KOKOKU) No. 1-18961 (1989) is a method of producing magnetic iron-based alloy particles having a major axis diameter of 0.05 to 0.2 .mu.m, an aspect ratio of 4 to 8 and a coercive force Hc of not less than 1300 Oe from spindle-shaped goethite particles having a major axis diameter of 0.05 to 0.3 .mu.m, a minor axis diameter of 0.015 to 0.04 .mu.m, and an aspect ratio of 3 to 15 (which is equivalent to the iron carbonate-based goethite particles in this specification). All the magnetic iron-based alloy particles obtained in Examples of Japanese Patent Publication (KOKOKU) No. 1-18961 (1989) have a coercive force of not more than 1700 Oe.
The method disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication (KOKOKU) No. 2-57122 (1990) is a method of producing iron magnetic particles or magnetic iron-based alloy particles by depositing a water-soluble salt of Al, Cr, Ce or Nd and an water-soluble borate compound or perborate compound on the surface of an oxide or hydroxide oxide of ferric oxide hydroxide of hematite containing another element such as Ni and Co, and heat-treating the particles in a reducing gas. In Examples 1 to 3 of Japanese Patent Publication (KOKOKU) No. 2-57122 (1990), a maximum coercive force (Hc) of the magnetic iron-based alloy particles is 1840 Oe, and all of these particles are produced from iron hydroxide-based goethite particles. The magnetic iron-based alloy particles in Examples 4 and 5 of Japanese Patent Publication (KOKOKU) No. 2-57122 (1990) are produced from iron carbonate-based goethite particles and have a coercive force (Hc) of 1430 to 1600 Oe.
The method disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication (KOKOKU) No. 3-43323 (1991) is a method of producing magnetic iron-based alloy particles by mixing an aqueous solution containing sodium carbonate and at least one compound selected from the group consisting of water-soluble Co compounds, Ni compounds and Cu compounds with an aqueous solution of a ferrous salt, blowing air into the obtained mixture to produce .alpha.-FeOOH (which is equivalent to the iron carbonate-based goethite particles in this specification), and thereafter reducing the resultant mixture. The coercive force (Hc) of the magnetic iron-based alloy particles obtained is 700 to 1200 Oe.
In the invention described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 63-222404 (1988), although the magnetic iron-based alloy particles having a coercive force (Hc) of not less than 1900 Oe are obtained, since the magnetic iron-based alloy particles is acicular, it is apparent that the iron hydroxide-based goethite particles is used as a raw material and as seen from the Comparative Examples described later, the size distribution of the obtained magnetic iron-based alloy particles is extremely inferior.
The magnetic iron-based alloy particles produced from mixed alkalis-based goethite particles in accordance with the prior art were also investigated.
According to the method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 4-63210 (1992), when a zinc compound is existent in a suspension containing FeCO.sub.3 or an Fe-containing precipitate obtained by reacting an aqueous ferrous salt solution with a mixed aqueous solution of an alkali carbonate and an alkali hydroxide, it is possible to obtain goethite particles (which is equivalent to the iron carbonate-based goethite particles in this specification) having an improved axis ratio, especially having an aspect ratio of more than 15, and it is possible to increase the coercive force of the magnetic iron-based alloy particles produced. In Examples 11 to 17 of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 4-63210 (1992), the magnetic iron-based alloy particles having a coercive force (Hc) of more than 1700 Oe are obtained, but the axis diameter thereof is as large as 0.23 to 0.33 .mu.m.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 5-62166 (1993) discloses spindle-shaped magnetic iron-based alloy particles produced from a starting material of spindle-shaped added metal-containing goethite particles (which is equivalent to the iron carbonate-based goethite particles in this specification) which are produced by air-oxidizing a precipitate slurry obtained by hydrolyzing a ferrous sulfate and a metal salt selected from the group consisting of Ni, Co, Zn and Mn with an alkali carbonate. In the Examples of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 5-62166 (1993), the added metal is only Ni, and although the major axis diameter of the magnetic iron-based alloy particles obtained is as small as 0.10 to 0.20 .mu.m, the coercive force thereof is not more than 1700 Oe.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 5-98321 (1993) discloses magnetic iron-based alloy particles produced by growing the crystals of iron hydroxide oxide (iron oxyhydroxide) on the surfaces of particles of the seed crystals mainly containing iron hydroxide oxide which is obtained by blowing an oxidizing gas into a suspension of a mixture of a ferrous salt and an alkali, by adding an aqueous solution of a rare earth compound and/or a silicon compound to the suspension in a nonoxidizing atmosphere in process of the oxidation, aging the suspension at a temperature higher than the oxidation temperature and blowing an oxidizing gas again into the suspension; coating the crystals with a shape-retaining agent, heat-treating the obtained particles and heat-treating the treated particles in a reducing gas. All of the goethite particles described in Examples 1 to 8 of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 5-98321 (1993) are iron hydroxide-based goethite particles. The goethite particles described in Example 9 of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 5-98321 (1993) are iron carbonate-based goethite particles, but in this case, compounds of a ferrous salt, Nd and Si are not added in the oxidation process to grow crystals, but the surfaces of spindle-shaped goethite particles are coated with a ferrous salt, Nd and Si. The coercive force (Hc) of the magnetic iron-based alloy particles obtained is 1602 Oe.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 6-140222 (1994) discloses magnetic iron-based alloy particles containing a rare earth element, an alkaline earth metal and Al and/or Si at around surface of each particle, and having an average major axis diameter of 0.05 to 0.3 .mu.m, a coercive force of 1600 to 2000 Oe, a saturation magnetization of 100 to 150 emu/g, a specific surface area of 45 to 70 m.sup.2 /g and a X-ray crystallite size as determined by X-ray diffraction of 120 to 170 .ANG..
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 6-25702 (1994) discloses magnetic iron-based alloy particles and further containing Ni, Co, one or more rare earth element and Al and/or Si compound, and having a major axis diameter of 0.05 to 0.3 .mu.m, a crystallite size of 130 to 170 .ANG., a specific surface area of 40 to 70 m.sup.2 /g, a coercive force of 1600 to 2000 Oe and a saturation magnetization of not less than 100 emu/g after allowing to stand at 60.degree. C. and 90% RH for 7 days.
In Example 9 of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 6-25702 (1994), the stability against oxidation of the magnetic iron-based alloy particles is inferior and further the squareness (.sigma..sub.r /.sigma..sub.s) thereof is not satisfactory. In Example 6 of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 6-140222 (1994), the coercive force (Hc) of the magnetic iron-based alloy particles is low, and in Example 7 thereof, although the saturation magnetization of the magnetic iron-based alloy particles is appropriate, the stability against oxidation thereof is inferior and further the squareness (.sigma..sub.r /.sigma..sub.s) thereof is not satisfactory.
From the result of the above-described investigation, it can be said that magnetic iron-based alloy particles produced from iron hydroxide-based goethite particles as a starting material have a coercive force (Hc) of more than 1700 Oe, while it is impossible to obtain fine magnetic iron-based alloy particles which have a coercive force (Hc) of more than 1700 Oe when iron carbonate-based goethite particles are used as a starting material.
That is, no fine magnetic iron-based alloy particles which have balanced properties such as a uniform particle size, no inclusion of dendrites, an appropriate aspect ratio, a high coercive force, an excellent coercive force distribution, a large saturation magnetization and an excellent and balanced stability against oxidation, are produced from iron carbonate-based goethite particles or mixed alkalis-based goethite particles as a starting material.
Accordingly, the technical problem of the present invention is to provide spindle-shaped fine magnetic iron-based alloy particles containing cobalt and iron as main ingredients which have a uniform particle size, especially size distribution (standard deviation/major axis diameter) of not more than 0.25, no inclusion of dendrites, a high coercive force, especially a coercive force (Hc) of 1720 to 2500 Oe and an excellent stability against oxidation, especially a saturation magnetization decrement percentage of not more than 17%.
Further, the technical problem of the present invention is to provide spindle-shaped magnetic iron-based alloy particles containing cobalt and iron as main ingredients which have a uniform particle size, especially a size distribution (standard deviation/major axis diameter) of not more than 0.25, no inclusion of dendrites, an average major axis diameter of 0.05 to 0.12 .mu.m, a coercive force (Hc) of 1850 to 2500 Oe, a saturation magnetization of not less than 130 emu/g and an excellent stability against oxidation, especially a saturation magnetization decrement percentage of not more than 17%, by using mixed alkalis-based goethite particles as a starting material.
Also, the technical problem of the present invention is to provide spindle-shaped magnetic iron-based alloy particles containing cobalt and iron as main ingredients which have a uniform particle size, especially a size distribution (standard deviation/major axis diameter) of not more than 0.25, no inclusion of dendrites, an average major axis diameter of 0.05 to 0.18 .mu.m, a coercive force (Hc) of 1720 to 2200 Oe, a saturation magnetization of not less than 110 emu/g and an excellent stability against oxidation, especially a saturation magnetization decrement percentage of not more than 14%, by using mixed alkalis-based goethite particles as a starting material.
As a result of studies undertaken by the present inventors so as to achieve the technical problem, it has been found that spindle-shaped magnetic iron-based alloy particles containing cobalt and iron as the main ingredients which are produced by so controlling that an average major axis diameter is 0.05 to 0.18 .mu.m, an average minor axis diameter is 0.010 to 0.020 .mu.m, an aspect ratio (major axis diameter/minor axis diameter) is 4 to 15 and X-ray crystallite size D.sub.110 is 120 to 180 .ANG., a size distribution (standard deviation/major axis diameter) of not more than 0.25 and the Co content in the spindle-shaped magnetic iron-based alloy particles is 1.0 to 50.0 atm % of Co (calculated as Co) based on the total Fe, have a high coercive force, especially a coercive force of 1720 to 2500, an excellent coercive force distribution, a saturation magnetization of not less than 110 emu/g and an excellent stability against oxidation, especially a saturation magnetization decrement percentage of not more than 17%. The present invention has been achieved on the basis of this finding.

Process of making goethite or iron-based alloy particles


A security system, system user interface, and method for displaying status information from security devices in a networked security system using a multistate alert user interface. The security system supports different features in icons associated with the security devices, displayed on a graphical user interface. This provides operators with the ability to display status information from security devices, such as alert information comprising one or more alerts, by displaying the icons on a topology map of the graphical user interface. In this way, the operator can determine at a glance the number and type of alert information from the topology map without the need to perform additional selection and navigation steps within the graphical user interface.

Security systems are used to help protect people, property, and reduce crime for homeowners and businesses alike and have become an increasingly cost-effective tool to reduce risk. These systems have multiple components, such as workstations, display devices, and security devices that communicate over a security network. These security devices include monitoring points, video cameras for capturing live video of an area of interest, network video recorders for recording and playback of previously captured events, physical access control devices such as key pads and card readers, and a variety of sensor devices installed within and at entry and exit points for premises.
Security devices send status information periodically and in response to events. These events include changes in the environment the devices were designed to detect, such as a when a window sensor detects that the window has been opened or that the window sensor itself has been tampered with, and events related to device operation, such as when a sensor's battery voltage is low, or when a video camera indicates that condensation has occurred on its lens. When the status changes, the devices send their status information to a receiving entity such as a security control system so that the security control system can record the event. Display devices are also used to present the status information to an operator in graphical user interfaces ("GUI"). The graphical user interfaces typically include icons associated with each of the security devices on a topology map. The topology map displays a device-specific icon for each security device. The topology map typically displays a virtual floor plan containing physical features of an area being monitored, and displays icons for security devices on the security network for that area.
One of the ways the security system notifies operators of changes in the security network is by updating the icons associated with security devices on the topology map of the GUI in response to status information sent by the security devices.

Security system and method with multistate alert user interface


The invention is a Concrete Screed Handle assembly which provides a comfortable and stable grasping mechanism for an individual who wishes to put a screed board into a side-to-side motion while advancing it over a wet concrete surface. It is of tubular construction, inverted U-shaped while being used, and has two clamping points roughly shoulder width apart which mount onto the top of the screed board. The clamps on the handle assembly are hand-tightened through threaded bolt/stop assembly which, through a pivoting lever action, clamps the screed board to the handle assembly.

This handle was developed to reduce the difficulty of the side-to-side motion and advancement of the concrete screed over a freshly poured concrete ribbon or pad, while providing the concrete screed handle assembly at an affordable price.
As would be known by a person familiar with the art, the screeding operation is very tiresome and awkward. The screed board operator(s) either bend forward at the waist or assume a crouching position beside the screed board. They then grasp the board (usually a 2.times.4 or 2.times.6 common on a construction site) with both hands, thumbs on one side and fingers on the other, variably moving their arms side-to-side while pulling the screed board toward them over the wet concrete surface. This motion is necessary to settle the aggregate and level the surface under the screed board to a pre-established grade height. The board must pass in this manner over the entire surface of the pour. A well-designed handle providing rigid clamping and comfortable grasping would make the operation much less tiring and quicker.
The screed board operators frequently find it necessary to remove high spots and fill voids in the wet concrete surface immediately in the path of the screed board. To do this, they need to be at the concrete surface level, usually making the corrections with a trowel. For this reason, a taller handle assembly such as the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,427 issued to Nisenbaum, though it does make the screeding process less tiresome because of operating the screed board from a standing position, limits the flexibility of the operator as the handle must remain upright during the screeding process. In my opinion, this necessary upright position would make concrete surface corrections difficult.
The handle-screed board assembly in U.S. Pat. No. 4,256,416 issued to Bishop is effective in diminishing the tiresome effects of screeding, however, my handle assembly as a unit is more rigid with reference to the side-to-side motion of the screed board because of two separate clamping points along the screed board on each handle assembly.
In addition, this handle installs with less physical effort and is more adaptable to periodic adjustment than the previously mentioned handle by Bishop because of the self-contained screw-type clamping mechanism on the handle to screed board clamp points.
The grasping points on the handle are comfortably sized and spaced. The handle may be used from either a crouching or bent-at-the-waist position. The preceding features make this concrete screed handle assembly superior over any currently on the market or patented in the past.


Selective blockade of DA and 5-HT uptake sites with 3-aryltropane derivatives.

The tropane skeleton is a basic structural unit that can lead to compounds with diverse Central Nervous System (CNS) activity. Due to the rigid nature of the structure, the possibility exists for the preparation of highly selective compounds. This application describes the synthesis of tropane derivatives that selectively bind to monoamine neurotransmitters and thus have the potential for the treatment of major depression, Parkinson's disease and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADD).
Two important central nervous system neurotransmitters are serotonin (5-HT) and dopamine (DA). Together with norepinephrine and epinephrine, these neurotransmitters comprise the group of agents known as the monoamines. Either 5-HT or DA have been implicated in a variety of disorders, including depression, Parkinsons disease, ADD, obesity and cocaine addiction.
Major depression represents one of the most common mental illness, affecting between 5-10% of the population. The disease is characterized by extreme changes in mood which may also be associated with psychoses. It has generally been found that most antidepressant agents exert significant effects on the regulation of monoamine neurotransmitters, including DA, 5-HT and norepinephrine. The tricyclic antidepressants, such as imipramine, are the most commonly used drugs for the treatment of depression. Their ability to inhibit the neuronal uptake of norepinephrine is believed to be a major factor behind their efficacy.
A number of new types of antidepressants have been developed in recent years. Two such compounds that are marketed in the U.S. are trazodone and fluoxetine. Both of these compounds interact with the regulation of 5-HT. Trazodone potentiates the actions of 5-HT while fluoxetine is a potent and selective inhibitor of 5-HT reuptake. 3-Chloroimipramine which inhibits both 5-HT and norepinephrine reuptake has been extensively used as an antidepressant in Europe and Canada. Other compounds which are of current interest or have been examined as antidepressants include fluvoxamine, citalopram, zimeldine, bupropion and nomifensine. All of these drugs inhibit monoamine uptake mechanisms, but differ in selectivity between the dopamine, 5-HT and norepinephrine transporters.
Other syndromes also respond to antidepressant drugs. These include (1) severe anxiety syndromes characterized by panic reactions, and (2) obsessive-compulsive disorder, both of which seem most likely to respond to 5-HT selective agents. Monoamine uptake blockers have also been useful in treatment of chronic pain, neuralgias, migraine, sleep apnea, fibromyalgia, and irritable bowel syndrome.
Parkinson's disease effects about 1% of the population over the age of 65 and leads to serious neurological disorders. The main clinical features of the disease are centered around disruption of motor function, such as walking, speech, eating and other skilled acts. It has been recognized that the disease is the result of dopamine deficiency in the basal ganglia. Thus, drugs that can increase the levels of dopamine have the potential to be effective medications for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. The most effective drug in this regard has been levodopa which acts as a biogenic precursor to dopamine.
Considerable attention has recently been directed to the condition known as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Children with this condition tend to be very active physically but have great difficulty with situations requiring long periods of attention. Consequently, they tend to underachieve academically and can be very disruptive. Furthermore, these behavioral problems often persist in modified forms into adulthood. The condition appears to be associated to the effect of monoamines in the cerebral cortex, which are involved with control of attention. A number of stimulant drugs such as dextroamphetamine, methylphenidate as well as the tricyclic antidepressants, antipsychotic agents and clonidine have been used as medications to control the disorder. Many of these drugs interact with the monoamine uptake transporters.
Another disorder for which inhibitors of monoamine transport are useful therapeutic agents is obesity. In general, sympathomimetic drugs (i.e., those which increase synaptic levels of monoamines) promote weight loss by suppressing appetite. Drugs like mazindol, which act as sympathomimetic agents by blocking monoamine uptake, have been useful in the treatment of obesity.
Cocaine has the following formula: ##STR1## The basic ring structure of cocaine is a tropane ring system.
It has previously been shown that cocaine and related compounds are potent inhibitors of dopamine reuptake and this may lead to compounds with reinforcing properties. In recent years a number of new extremely potent cocaine analogs have been prepared based on the tropane structure (Abraham et al., Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 1992, 35, 141; Boja et al., European Journal of Pharmacology, 1990, 183,329; Boja et al., European Journal of Pharmacology, 1991, 194, 133; Carroll et al., Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 1992, 35, 969; Carroll et al., Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 1992, 35, 1813; Carroll et al., Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 1992, 35, 2497, Cline et al., Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 1992, 260, 1174; Cline et al., Synapse, 1992 12, 37; Kozikowski et al., Medicinal Chemistry Research, 1991, 1, 312; Kozikowski et al., Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 1992, 35, 4764; Lewin et al., Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 1992, 35, 135; Madras et al., Molecular Pharmacology, 1989, 36, 518). All of these compounds are based on the tropane skeleton and tend to selectively bind to the dopamine transporter. Certain structural variations can lead to compounds that bind with very high selectivity to the dopamine reuptake site (Carroll et al, Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 1992, 35, 2497). However, all of these tropane derivatives are very similar to each other because they are all derived from cocaine as starting material.
It has now been discovered that if the tropane ring system is modified, particularly at the aryl moiety as hereinafter described, compounds can be produced which are more selective in binding to 5-HT transporters as compared to DA transporters. Since these modified tropanes (as described below) bind preferentially to the 5-HT transporter, they may preferentially block 5-HT transport, thus, increasing synaptic levels of 5-HT. This may be helpful in treating diseases related to 5-HT function. Similarly, tropane analogs can be synthesized which selectively block DA transporters and selectively increase synaptic levels of DA.
In principle, the tropane skeleton is ideally suited to prepare highly selective compounds because it is a rigid structure and tropane derivatives will have rather limited conformational flexibility. Such derivatives may be altered by appropriate structural changes so that analogs favoring binding to either the 5-HT or DA reuptake site could be prepared. The novel chemistry that has been developed, as referred to in our parent application, has enabled preparation of a much wider range of tropane analogs than was previously accessible, leading to novel structures with selective biological activity.
Accordingly, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a process for preparing tropane analogs which are selective inhibitors of either 5-HT or DA reuptake.
Another primary objective of the present invention is to prepare a range of tropane analogs which can be investigated as drugs for the treatment of chronic depression.
A still further objective of the present invention is to provide a wide range of tropane derivatives which can be systematically used and tested to determine structure-activity relationships for binding at dopamine, 5-HT and norepinephrine transporters.
A further objective is to provide a treatment system for diseases whose course can be altered by patient treatment with compounds that selectively bind to either the 5-HT or DA reuptake site and therefore prevent neurotransmissions at this site.

Process for blocking 5-HT and dopamine uptake with biologically active tropane derivatives


A method and system for performing a binary mode and hexadecimal mode Multiply-Add floating point operation in a floating point arithmetic unit according to a formula A*C+B, wherein A, B and C operands each have a fraction and an exponent part expA, expB and expC and the exponent of the product A*C is calculated and compared to the exponent of the addend under inclusion of an exponent bias value dedicated to use unsigned biased exponents, wherein the comparison yields a shift amount used for aligning the addend with the product operand, wherein a shift amount calculation provides a common value CV for both binary and hexadecimal according to the formula (expA+expC−expB+CV).

Referring to FIG. 1 a final sum is calculated according to a formula A*C+B, with an addend 20, a multiplicand 21 and a multiplier 22, wherein A, B and C each have a fraction and an exponent part, and the exponent of the product A*C, calculated by multiplier 23, is calculated and compared to the exponent of the addend 20 under inclusion of an exponent bias value dedicated to use unsigned biased exponents. The comparison yields a shift amount denoted herein as SA, which is used for aligning the addend 20 with the product operand 24 in order to build the final sum. Exemplary prior art is given by U.S. Pat. No. 5,166,898 incorporated herein by reference.
With reference to FIG. 1 the prior art provides an arithmetic unit designed to be operable in two distinct operation modes, in which the A, B, C operands 20, 21, 22, respectively, are represented in their totality in a respective specific type of floating point format, for instance, wherein all operands have either a binary IEEE-compliant representation, or all operands having a hexadecimal representation, which is fabricated by the applicant in the prior art arithmetic processors of the IBM z/Series and of IBM S/390, which can be found e.g. in proceedings of 16th IEEE Symposium on Computer Arithmetic, ARITH-16, June 2003 in article "High Performance Floating-Point Unit with 116 bit wide Divider" ISBN 0-7695-1894-x ISSN 1063-6889 incorporated herein by reference.
Other prior art arithmetic units also offer a dual mode operation, wherein all operands have either a binary IEEE-compliant representation, or all operands have a different—e.g., an octal—representation.
It should be noted that no mixed mode operation, wherein one operand is binary for example, and the other two are hexadecimal, is the subject of the present invention.
In the prior art defined by arithmetic units of the applicant in the IBM z-series and in IBM S/390, the shift amount SA is calculated as follows:SA=expA+expC−bias−expB+constant=expA+expC−expB−constant2 (constant2=bias−constant)
The constant is needed to compensate for an eventual shift left of the addend before adding product and addend operand.
Disadvantageously, hexadecimal and binary formats have different bias values; therefore the constant2 value is different for hexadecimal and binary, see logic 25A for binary and 25B for hexadecimal:
IEEE 754 standard notations (s:=sign, f:=fraction):
    Binary Single=(−1)**S*1.F*2**(exp−127)    Binary Double=(−1)**S*1.F*2**(exp−1023)    Binary Quad=(−1)**S*1.F*2**(exp−16383)
It should be noted that the binary bias is of the form (2**(N−1))−1.
IBM S/390 hexadecimal notation:Hexadecimal=(−1)**S*0.F*16**(exp−64)It should be noted that the hex bias is of the form (2**(N−1)).
With respect to further increased clock rates the above shift amount calculation is very timing critical because it is used to align the addend into a very wide dataflow. In prior art implementations of the above-mentioned z-series, either two different constant values are multiplexed in a multiplexer 26 in front of a 4-port adder, or two 4-port adders are used to calculate both shift amount values, wherein the correct value for the particular operational mode (e.g. binary or hexadecimal) is selected later on.
The above-mentioned first option has an increased delay since the select signal must drive an exponent width multiplexer (for example a 13-bit multiplexer for a 64-bit dataflow) in order to select the constant, whereas the second option needs more hardware and still adds a multiplexer stage to the critical path.
Disadvantageously, both prior art alternatives are too slow for offering a further increased cycle rate required for new processor designs.

Common shift-amount calculation for binary and hex floating point

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for compensating carrier feedthrough in a quadrature modulation system. In order to suppress the carrier feedthrough, and minimize and compensate the carrier feedthrough, differences of baseband differential input DC voltages in an in-phase as well as a quadrature-phase are simultaneously adjusted to 0 or a certain slight voltage difference by a simple analog circuit. Therefore, it is possible to suppress carrier feedthrough using a simple analog type apparatus for compensating carrier feedthrough, and simply achieve an apparatus for carrier feedthrough using a variety of quadrature modulators.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for compensating carrier feedthrough in a quadrature modulator and a quadrature modulation system.
(b) Description of the Related Art
In general, an ideal voltage difference in a quadrature modulator is considered to be when the DC voltage difference of a baseband differential input is 0, since this prevents carrier feedthrough. However, the DC voltage difference of the baseband differential input in the quadrature modulator is not substantially 0, and this causes carrier feedthrough due to mixing with a local oscillator signal.
Currently, carrier feedthrough occurs even in a quadrature modulator used in a system using quadrature modulation, the carrier feedthrough being caused by the DC voltage difference of a baseband differential input. The carrier feedthrough occurs differently as various types of the quadrature modulators. For example, there are quadrature modulators of which the carrier feedthrough is at the minimum when the DC voltage difference is 0, whereas there are quadrature modulators of which the carrier feedthrough is at the minimum when a slight DC voltage difference appears.
A digital compensating circuit has been used in the related art to suppress the carrier feedthrough. In more detail, it detects a carrier feedthrough first, digital circuit compensating carrier feedthrough is activated by comparator and the carrier feedthrough is compensated by a DC compensation signal through a digital-to-analog converter. However, according to the above method, because a number of digital blocks, i.e., constituent elements including a comparator, a digital-analog converter, a control signal generator, etc., in addition to the quadrature modulator are needed, the configuration of the system becomes complicated.
Another method has been disclosed in the related art that detects a DC voltage error in an in-phase/quadrature-phase input in a modulator, and then compensates carrier feedthrough using a bias current of a transistor that performs a modulating operation. However, this method can be applied to only the design of a quadrature modulator.
Another method has been disclosed in the related art that suppresses carrier feedthrough at in-phase/quadrature-phase using a correlator, an integrator, and a pseudo-noise generator on a feedback path. However, the configuration is too complicated to implement a device that suppresses carrier according to this method.

Apparatus and method for compensating carrier feedthrough in quadrature modulation system

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


In a connector, a connector terminal has a first portion partially supported by a connector housing to be parallel to a wiring board, a second portion exposed outside the housing to be parallel to the board and located closer to the board than the first portion, a joint portion having a first end joined to the first portion and a second end exposed outside the housing and joined to the second portion, and a contact portion soldered to a corresponding land of the board. The first portion of a first terminal is located farther from the board than the first portion of a second terminal. The joint portions of the first and second terminals are located at different distances from the housing. The joint portion of the first terminal is supported by the housing between the first portions of the first and second terminals.

As disclosed in, for example, JP-A-2000-164273, a through-hole connector is mounted on a wiring board such that terminals of the through-hole connector are inserted into through holes in the wiring board and soldered to lands in the through holes. As disclosed in, for example, JP-A-2007-179974, a surface-mount connector is mounted on a wiring board such that terminals of the through-hole connector are soldered to lands on a surface of the wiring board.
In the through-hole connector disclosed in JP-A-2000-164273, the terminals are supported by a tine plate at a position near a surface of the wiring board to accurately position the terminals with respect to the lands. However, the terminals may not be accurately positioned with respect to the lands, due to manufacturing variations in the tine plate. Further, since the tine plate is fixed to a connector housing, the terminals may not be accurately positioned with respect to the lands, due to variations in assembly of the tine plate to the connector housing.
In such a through-hole connector with a tine plate, when the length of the terminal between a first portion supported by the tine plate and a second portion soldered to the land of the wiring board is short, the terminal is subjected to a lot of stress. Since the stress can cause disconnection between the terminal and the land, there is a need to increase the length of the terminal between the first and second portions. That is, the length of the terminal between the tine plate and the wiring board needs to be increased to reduce the stress applied to the terminal. As a result, the distance between the tine plate and the wiring board is increased. Accordingly, the size of the connector in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the wiring board is increased.
In the surface-mount connector disclosed in JP-A-2007-179974, the terminals are soldered to the lands on the wiring board by a reflow soldering process. Since a tine plate for supporting the terminals cannot be used in the reflow soldering process, it is difficult to accurately position the terminals with respect to the lands. Further, since the terminals are arranged in a line in the length direction of a connector housing, the distance between adjacent terminals decreases in an increase in the number of the terminals. As a result, crosstalk problems may be likely to occur, when the connector has a large number of terminals.

Connector and electronic control apparatus having the same


A thermoplastic resin component has improved transparency and impact resistance, the thermoplastic resin composed of 5 to 40 parts by weight of a graft copolymer (A) and 95 to 60 parts by weight a copolymer (B), the graft copolymer (A) being prepared by polymerizing at least one selected from the group consisting of alkyl methacrylate, aromatic vinyl, and vinylcyanide with an agglomerated rubber, the copolymer (B) being prepared by polymerizing at least one monomer selected from the group consisting of an aromatic vinyl monomer, an alkyl methacrylate monomer, and a vinylcyanide monomer. The agglomerated rubber is prepared by agglomerating a styrene-diene rubber latex with an acid-group-containing copolymer latex containing unsaturated acid, aromatic vinyl, and alkyl acrylate as the essential components and having a controlled refractive index.

Aromatic vinyl, alkyl methacrylate or vinylcyanide resins are used in various applications owing to their transparency. However, they typically do not have sufficient strength to meet market demand. In order to overcome this problem, various attempts have been made to introduce rubber components into the resins. For example, there is a method in which a graft copolymer having a core-shell structure prepared by emulsion polymerization is added into the resins as the rubber component. According to this method, rubber properties or morphology (e.g., rubber content or particle size) can be controlled relatively easily, such that there is a relatively large capability for designing the balance of impact resistance and transparency. However, in providing sufficient impact resistance to a resin having a high aromatic vinyl monomer content, the required particle diameter of the rubber component is relatively large with respect to the size range generally achieved by emulsion polymerization.
Accordingly, various methods for growing rubber particles have been investigated. For example, there is a method for adding a core-shell graft copolymer to a methyl methacrylate-styrene copolymer resin, whereby the core-shell graft copolymer is prepared by graft-polymerizing a monomer with rubber particles grown by agglomerating a small-particle resin component to have a particle diameter of 0.5 μm using an electrolyte such as acid or salt (e.g., see Japanese Examined Patent Application Publication No. 63-47745). This agglomeration method, which uses a water-soluble electrolyte, suffers from increased amounts of scale produced during polymerization due to the instability of the latex caused by addition of the electrolyte. Moreover, the method has a low upper limit of the particle size of the agglomerated rubber particles. Thus, making a large-particle graft copolymer according to this method is difficult.
In other methods, a graft copolymer is added to an aromatic vinyl-acryl copolymer resin, wherein the graft copolymer is prepared by graft-polymerizing a monomer with rubber particles grown using an acid-group-group-containing copolymer having a predetermined composition (e.g., Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 60-118734 and 2002-20566). According to these methods, agglomerated rubber particles can be easily produced relative to those obtained by emulsion polymerization methods, and good impact resistance can be achieved. However, the transparency is not high enough to allow the resin to be applied for uses requiring high transparency. As noted above, conventional core-shell graft copolymer resin particles have failed to achieve high impact resistance without impairing the good transparency of the aromatic vinyl, alkyl methacrylate, or vinylcyanide resins.
Thus, the performance of core-shell graft copolymer resin particles needs to be improved.

Transparent and impact-resistant thermoplastic resin compositions


An illumination system is provided for an optical system that includes an imaging device for acquiring an image of a target, for decoding of a symbol or other analysis. The illumination system can include a first light source configured to provide illumination of a first wavelength, a second light source configured to provide illumination of a second wavelength that is different from the first wavelength. The light sources can be controlled for operations that include: illuminating the target with the first and second light sources simultaneously for acquisition of the image of the target; and altering an illumination output of at least one of the first light source or the second light source, while maintaining non-zero illumination output for at least one of the first light source or the second light source, to indicate a status of the optical system.

In many applications it may be useful to illuminate targets for image acquisition, such as optical codes that are to be decoded. It may also be useful to provide an indication regarding the status of an image acquisition or other system, such as to provide information regarding success in decoding attempts. In some contexts, for example, status indicators can communicate whether an optical code was accurately decoded.

Optical illumination for status indication


A semiconductor light-receiving device includes: a substrate that has a first surface and a second surface facing each other; a first semiconductor layer that is formed on the first surface of the substrate and includes at least one semiconductor layer of a first conductivity type; a light absorption layer that is formed on the first semiconductor layer and generates carriers in accordance with incident light; a second semiconductor layer that is formed on the light absorption layer and includes at least one semiconductor layer of a second conductivity type; a first electrode part that is electrically connected to the first semiconductor layer and applies a first potential thereto; a second electrode part that is electrically connected to the second semiconductor layer and applies a second potential thereto; and a third semiconductor layer of the second conductivity type that is interposed between the first surface of the substrate and the first semiconductor layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a semiconductor light-receiving device, and more particularly, to a PIN photodiode that can perform high-speed operations and can be used in large-capacity optical fiber communication systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
As optical communication systems have been rapidly increasing in capacity, high-speed transmission systems with 40 bps or higher, for example, have been developed in recent years. Semiconductor light-receiving devices to be used in such large-capacity transmission systems need to be capable of operating at high-speed of 40 GHz or higher, and therefore, need to exhibit higher performance and higher reliability than conventional semiconductor light-receiving devices.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-127333 discloses this type of semiconductor light-receiving device in the form of a PIN photodiode having a tapered optical waveguide structure integrated therein. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an example structure of the PIN photodiode. In the circle denoted by A in FIG. 7, an enlarged section view of the light receiving unit of the photodiode is shown. As can be seen from FIG. 7, the photodiode 100 has a tapered optical waveguide structure 102 connected to a side surface of a light receiving element 103 over a semi-insulating InP substrate 101. The tapered optical waveguide structure 102 converts the size of light transmitted from optical fibers into a spot size, and then sends the converted light into the light receiving element 103 through a side surface of a light absorption layer 104.
A p-side electrode pad 105 of a predetermined shape is provided on the substrate 101, with an insulating film being interposed in between. Also, n-side electrode pads 106 are provided on the same plane as the p-side electrode pad 105. Accordingly, this photodiode 100 can be connected directly to a substrate of a coplanar strip line substrate. A p-type electrode 107 is formed on top of the light receiving element 103. The p-type electrode 107 is connected to the p-side electrode pad 105 by an air bridge 107a.
An n-type electrode 108 is formed on the surface of an n-type semiconductor layer 109 that is exposed by etching performed on the light receiving element 103 to form a mesa structure. The n-type electrode 108 is connected to the n-side electrode pads 106 extending onto the semiconductor layer 109. The n-side electrode pads 106 occupy large areas to secure a connection region for a bypass capacitor (later described) and to securely provide a ground potential to the n-type electrode 108 in high-frequency operations.
However, in a photodiode having a smaller p-i-n junction area (in the capacity range of 20 fF to 90 fF or lower, for example) than a conventional chip to perform operations at high speeds (about 40 GHz, for example), even a very small noise pulse can cause a high voltage between electrodes, resulting in deterioration of the device. To avoid such a problem, it is necessary for a conventional optical receiver module to employ a large bypass capacitor 112 in the vicinity of the n-side electrode pads 106 of the photodiode 100, when a photodiode chip 110 and an amplifier circuit (preamplifier) 111 for amplifying received signals are mounted on the module, as shown in FIG. 8.
In the optical receiver module, the chip 110 of the photodiode 100 is soldered onto a subcarrier with AuSn (silver paste), so that the metal layer on the bottom surface of the chip 110 is connected to a ground potential. The n-side electrode pads 106 of the photodiode 100 are electrically connected to the upper electrode 112a of the bypass capacitor 112 with wires 113, and the upper electrode 112a is connected to the positive potential side of a dc bias power source 115 with wires 114. The lower electrode of the bypass capacitor 112 is connected to a ground potential. The p-side electrode pad 105 is also connected to a ground potential via an input terminal 111a of the preamplifier 111.
The above semiconductor light-receiving device, however, requires a large area, because the photodiode chip 110 and the bypass capacitor 112 are arranged on the same plane in the light receiver module. Furthermore, the bypass capacitor 112 is at least a few times larger in area than the photodiode chip 110, and sometimes two or more such bypass capacitors are connected. Therefore, it is difficult to reduce the size of each conventional optical receiver module, and it is also difficult to simplify the production process.
Further, it is necessary to employ a large number of wires 113 to connect the upper electrode 112a having a large area to the n-side electrode pads 106 of the photodiode 100. With such a large number of wires 113, the inductance component (L component) becomes so large as to obstruct high-speed operations.
As the p-side electrode pad 105 of the photodiode 100 and the bottom surface (the metal layer) of the chip 110 are both connected to a ground potential, a leak path is formed between the bottom surface (the metal layer) and the n-side electrode pads 106. This causes a problem that the leak current flowing in the module suddenly increases after the mounting of the chip 110, though the chip 110 has only a low leak current.

Semiconductor light-receiving device with multiple potentials applied to layers of multiple conductivities


The present invention provides a processor including data manipulating means for generating an arbitrary combination of elements of a first input vector and elements of a second input vector, arithmetic means for performing a product-sum operation on the combination, and repetition control means for controlling the generation of the combination by the data manipulating means and the product-sum operation by the arithmetic means according to a number of the elements of the first input vector and the second input vector.

The present invention relates to a SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data) type processor, and particularly to a SIMD type processor that handles three-dimensional vectors or quaternions.
A number referred to as a quaternion is used to perform object rotation, spherical interpolation, and the like in a three-dimensional graphics process. The quaternion is a three-dimensional vector added to a scalar value, and represents an axis in a three-dimensional space and rotation on the axis. A quaternion P is represented by a scalar value p and a three-dimensional vector U as follows.P=[p; U]
Setting p=Aw and U=(Ax, Ay, Az), and using imaginary units i, j, and k, the quaternion P is also represented as follows.P=Aw+Axi+Ayj+Azk
The imaginary units i, j, and k have the following relations.ii=jj=kk=ijk =−1ij=kji=−k
Similarly, setting a quaternion Q as Q=[q; V], and setting q=Bw and V=(Bx, By, Bz),Q=Bw+Bxi+Byj+Bzk
A quaternion product PQ of the quaternion P and the quaternion Q is obtained by
                                                        PQ              =                                                          (                                                      -                    AxBx                                    -                  AyBy                  -                  AzBz                  +                  AwBw                                )                                                                                +                                                                  (                                      AxBw                    +                    AyBz                    -                    AzBy                    +                    AwBx                                    )                                                          i                                                                                +                                                                  (                                                            -                      AxBz                                        +                    AyBw                    +                    AzBx                    +                    AwBy                                    )                                                          j                                                                                +                                                                  (                                      AxBy                    -                    AyBx                    +                    AzBw                    +                    AwBz                                    )                                                          k                                                                          =                                                          Mw                +                Mxi                +                Myj                +                Mzk                                                                        (                  Equation                                                              1                )
Sixteen multiplications and 12 additions and subtractions are required to obtain the components (Mw, Mx, My, and Mz) of such a quaternion product. When these operations are to be performed simultaneously, a necessary circuit scale may be increased.
When the two quaternions are treated as two four-dimensional vectors, the components (Mw, Mx, My, and Mz) of the quaternion product are each given in the form of a sum of products of elements (Aw, Ax, Ay, and Az and Bw, Bx, By, and Bz) of the two four-dimensional vectors. However, the order and signs of the sum of products differ for each component. Hence, when there is a circuit that can perform rearrangement of the elements of the four-dimensional vectors and perform sign inversion simultaneously with product-sum operation, the quaternion product can be expressed by four product-sum operations.
With a 32-bit instruction code, however, the number of bits is not sufficient to represent a vector operation instruction with three operands while including information on rearrangement and sign inversion in an instruction field. Therefore means are often used which realize vector rearrangement and sign inversion by another instruction, store a new vector resulting from the rearrangement and the sign inversion in another register, and then perform operation using the register.
For example, an instruction to perform such vector rearrangement and sign inversion is provided in an instruction set SSE (Streaming SIMD Extensions) for multimedia, which instruction set has been developed by Intel Corporation, an instruction set AltiVec for multimedia, which instruction set has been developed by Motorola Inc., and the like (see Non-Patent Literature, "IA-32 Intel(R) Architecture Software Developer's Manual Volume 1: Basic Architecture," Intel Corporation, 2004 and Non-Patent Literature, "AltiVec Technology Programming Interface Manual," Motorola Inc., June 1999)


Profiled clamp that includes a clamping element, a sealing element having elastically deformable spacers on a radial outside, and a profile band on which the sealing element is held secured against loss. The elastically deformable spacers bear against an inside of the profile band in a non-positive manner.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a profiled clamp with a clamping element and a profile band on which a sealing element is held secured against loss.
2. Discussion of Background Information
Profiled clamps of the above-described type are used, for example, for the fluid-tight connection of two pipe ends, which have a radially outwardly directed connecting flange. The profiled clamp is then placed onto this flange, so that axial and radial holding forces can be applied by tightening the profiled clamp. A cross section of the profile band is generally embodied or formed in a V-shaped or U-shaped manner for this purpose.
In order to achieve a fluid-tight connection, a sealing element, which has to be positioned axially between the connecting flanges of the pipe ends, is often used. If the sealing element is not attached to the profile clamp, at least two independent components, i.e., the profiled clamp and the sealing element, must be handled, with the result that the installation of the profiled clamp is relatively complicated. The fitter then has to correctly position the sealing element as well as the profiled clamp with respect to the pipes.
It is therefore known, e.g., from DE 602 10 142 T2 to connect the sealing element, which is embodied or formed as an annular disk, with the aid of deformable fixing clamps to the profile band in a positive manner. The fixing clamps can thereby be embodied or formed in one piece with the sealing element. The disclosure of DE 602 10 142 T2 is expressly incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
A holding construction of this type is relatively complex. As a rule, a special tool is necessary for this purpose.


A high-impact resistant pick having a superhard material bonded to a cemented metal carbide substrate at a non-planar interface. The cemented metal carbide substrate is bonded to a front end of a cemented metal carbide bolster. A bore formed in a base end of the carbide bolster is generally opposed to the front end. A steel body has a shaft extending distally from a shelf, and which shaft is fitted into the bore of the bolster at an interface. A shank adapted for connection to a driving mechanism extends proximally from the steel body opposite the shaft. A washer is disposed intermediate the base end of the carbide bolster and the shelf of the steel body.

Formation degradation, such as asphalt milling, mining, or excavating, may result in wear on attack tools. In excavating operations, often, a trenching machine comprises an array of attack picks disposed within holders that may be rotated and moved so that the attack picks engage a hard surface. Consequently, many efforts have been made to extend the life of these tools.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,678 to Herridge, which is herein incorporated by reference for all that it contains, discloses a mineral mining pick boss having a socket therein for the reception of a shank of a mineral mining pick and a locking arrangement for retaining the shank, the locking arrangement comprising a plug received in the bore extending through the boss transversely of the socket the arrangement being such that the bore intersects the socket, the plug comprising a body of a resilient material (e.g. neoprene) having bonded into the periphery thereof at spaced locations a plurality of metallic members one of which protrudes from the bore into the socket for frictional engagement with the shank of the tool so as to retain the tool in position, the other(s) of the metallic members being such that the plug may be removed from the bore, rotated and re-inserted to change the metallic member which protrudes into the socket.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,423 to Briese, which is herein incorporated by reference for all that it contains, discloses a frustum cutting bit arrangement, including a shank portion for mounting in, and to be retained by, a rotary cutting tool body, the shank portion having an axis, an inner axial end, and an outer axial end. A head portion has an axis coincident with the shank portion axis, a front axial end, and a rear axial end, the rear end coupled to the shank portion outer end, and the front end having a conical cavity therein diminishing in diameter from the front end toward the rear end. A frustum cutting insert has an axis coincident with the head portion axis, a forward axial end, a back axial end, and an outer conical surface diminishing in diameter from the forward end toward the back end, the conical cavity in a taper lock. In variations of the basic invention, the head portion may be rotatable with respect to the shank portion, the frustum cutting insert may comprise a rotating cutter therein, and combinations of such features may be provided for different applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,702,160 to Levankovskii et al., which is herein incorporated by reference for all that it contains discloses a tool for crushing hard material comprising a housing and a hard-alloy insert mounted on the latter. The insert is made up of a head portion, an intermediate portion and a base with a thrust face. The intermediate portion of the insert is formed by a body of revolution with an outer lateral surface of concave shape. The head portion of the insert is formed by a body of revolution with an outer lateral surface of convex shape. The lateral side of the head portion of the insert is smoothly located adjacent to the lateral side of the intermediate portion of the insert about its longitudinal axis does not exceed the length of the head portion of the insert about the same axis.


A multi-rate transmission apparatus wherein components operate with a single clock from the outside and, even if the modulation system and the coding rate are varied arbitrarily by switching of the modulation operation mode similarly from the outside, transmission data can be allocated to modulation data and transmitted in response to the variation of the modulation system and the coding rate only with the clock signal from the outside. The multi-rate transmission apparatus includes a data processing section for reading in data with a bit width suitable for the modulation system, a coding unit for performing coding processing parallelly for the data read in by the data processing section, and a transmission section for transmitting the data, for which the coding processing has been performed, in response to the variation of the modulation system and the coding rate.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a multi-rate transmission apparatus which is ready for multi-rate transmission without varying a transmission processing rate even if a phase modulation system or a coding rate is varied.
2. Description of the Related Art
Phase modulation systems include a two-phase type phase modulation (phase-inversion modulation) system, a polyphase phase modulation system and an orthogonal amplitude modulation system. FIG. 8 illustrates relationships between codes and data of the modulation systems on a coordinate system represented by a real axis and an imaginary axis.
Referring to FIG. 8, reference numeral 800 denotes an example of BPSK (Binary Phase Shift Keying) which is a two-phase type modulation system, 801 an example of QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) which is a polyphase phase modulation system, and 802 an example of 16QAM (16 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) which is an orthogonal amplitude modulation system.
In BPSK, data is represented with "0" and "1" on the coordinate system, and a code corresponding to a point on the coordinate system is transmitted with a carrier. In QPSK which is a polyphase phase modulation system, data is represented with 2 bits called dibits, and a corresponding code is transmitted. Meanwhile, in the 16QAM of an orthogonal amplitude modulation system, data is represented with 4 bits.
In order to vary the phase modulation system, it is necessary to re-arrange and transmit data for each number of bits suitable for the modulation system.
As an apparatus for varying the modulation system or the coding rate, a variable coding rate error correction transmission apparatus is conventionally known and disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 10-163883.
The transmission apparatus mentioned is illustrated at FIG. 9 and includes an input signal production apparatus 11, a parallel to serial converter 12, a convolution coding unit 13, a puncture circuit 14, a clock generation circuit 15, a clock sampling out circuit 16, a ½ frequency divider 17, and a ⅛ frequency divider 18.
In the transmission apparatus, parallel data DATAB outputted from the input signal production apparatus 11 is supplied to the parallel to serial converter 12, by which it is converted into another parallel data DATA.
The clock sampling out circuit 16 samples out n clocks CLK0 from m clocks CLK0 outputted from the clock generation circuit 15 based on a coding rate (m−n)/m to produce a data readout clock signal CLK.
The convolution coding unit 13 performs two kinds of convolution operation and outputs coded data CDATA1 and CDATA2 with error correction codes added thereto in synchronism with the clock signal CLK.
The puncture circuit 14 deletes data at predetermined positions from the parallel coded data in accordance with the coding rate and outputs transmission symbol data in synchronism with a symbol clock signal CLKS.
However, where the modulation system or the coding rate is varied with the conventional system, it is often the case that, if the data transfer rate increases, then the rate of a reference clock signal in the circuit is raised or a plurality of different clocks are used in accordance with the increase of the data transfer rate. In the transmission apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 10-163883 mentioned above, a transmission clock signal is produced by sampling out a reference clock signal. However, in order to raise the data transfer rate with the transmission apparatus, the rate of the reference clock signal must be raised.


A device provides temporal and spatial 3-D patterns with a plurality of elements. The shape, position and orientation of the elements are controlled by a computer. The medium in which the elements lie provide movement of the elements without effects of vibration or turbulence. In a particular medium elements movements are dampened such that a quick change in position and/or orientation of an element is without apparent vibration. The medium and elements are of respective materials such that noise is eliminated. Iron powder elements on a surface are repositionable and reorientable in a desired temporal and spatial pattern through computer controlled changes to a generated magnetic field. Different sized bubbles are generated in a desired temporal and spatial pattern in a tank of glycerin through computer controlled air valves. The computer control is preprogrammed or in response to user operation of an input device.

Various amusement and display devices exist. Of the amusement/display devices which provide a visual effect, many do not provide a 3-D display of elements. For example, graphical display devices generally operate in a 2-D plane.
Of interest are those devices which provide displays that are visually intriguing. Examples are the devices which form patterns from iron filaments. However, these devices typically provide a physically two-dimensional display.
Other examples are the devices which form patterns from gas and liquid elements, such as air and water. A particular example is a fountain. Although these devices form patterns in 3-D, they are generally very noisy and bulky.
Accordingly, there is a need for an amusement/display device which provides 3-D displays in a space conscious and relatively quiet manner, yet is visually intriguing.


A sealed rechargeable battery includes: a metal case having an elliptical or rectangular cross section; a metal sealing plate for sealing an opening at one end of the case; and an electrode plate assembly being housed in the case with an electrolyte solution. In this configuration, a plurality of projecting ridges are formed in a continuous or discontinuous manner on both longer side faces of the case between a bottom face and the opening so as to enhance the cooling performance and to improve the strength of the side faces of the case.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sealed rechargeable battery and a battery module, in particular, to a sealed rechargeable battery constituted by housing an electrode plate assembly in a metal case having an elliptical or a rectangular cross section and a battery module constituted by connecting the sealed rechargeable batteries in series.
2. Description of Related Art
As a sealed rechargeable battery used as a power source for electric vehicle and hybrid car, a lithium ion rechargeable battery or a nickel metal hydride battery has been put into practical use.
As this type of sealed rechargeable battery, a sealed rechargeable battery having the following structure is conventionally known. As shown in FIG. 12, an electrode plate assembly 54, in which a band-like positive electrode plate 51 and a band-like negative electrode plate 52 are spirally wound with a separator 53 interposed therebetween, is housed in a cylindrical metal case 55 together with an electrolyte solution. A positive electrode tab 56 and a negative electrode tab 57 are extended from the positive electrode plate 51 and the negative electrode plate 52 towards the sides opposite to each other. The negative electrode tab 57, which is downwardly extended, is welded to the bottom face of the case 55, whereas the positive electrode tab 56, which is upwardly extended, is welded to a sealing plate 58 for sealing an opening of the case 55. The sealing plate 58 is fixed to seal the opening of the case 55 with a gasket 59 interposed therebetween.
With the structure as shown in FIG. 12, however, a connection resistance is large because the positive electrode plate 51 is connected to the sealing plate 58 through the positive electrode tab 56 whereas the negative electrode plate 52 is connected to the case 55 through the negative electrode tab 57. As a result, an internal resistance of the battery is increased to degrade the output characteristics and the high-current discharge characteristics. What is worse, since the number of components and the number of assembly steps are both increased, the component cost and the fabrication cost are increased.
Furthermore, since the case 55 is cylindrical, the number of batteries that can be housed in a certain volume is small. Particularly, if a cooling path is formed between the batteries so as to prevent a rise in a battery temperature, the space efficiency is further decreased. Moreover, since the case 55 has a circular cross section, the cooling performance for the central portion of the battery is low, resulting in poor volume efficiency per battery output.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the applicants of the present invention have proposed a battery module having the following structure. A prismatic battery container made of synthetic resin is constituted by integrally connecting a plurality of prismatic battery cases so as to share their shorter side faces. In each battery case, an electrode plate assembly is housed with an electrolyte solution to constitute a cell. Then, the cells are connected to each other in series in the prismatic battery container.
With the prismatic battery container made of synthetic resin, however, it is not possible to perfectly prevent a gas leak from the battery in the long term, resulting in lowered battery performance. Moreover, since the synthetic resin does not have a high thermal conductivity, the cooling efficiency of the battery is low, limiting the increase in output. What is worse, since both sides of the battery container are expanded by an internal pressure generated in each cell, it is necessary to place end plates on both ends of the battery module and to bind the end plates with a rod or a band. As a result, the battery module is increased in size as well as in cost.

Sealed rechargeable battery and battery module

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Image sensor with CMOS output, an another circuit receiving input. The circuit operates like a transmission line, in current mode, with substantially zero voltage. The impedances are matched by setting bias currents.

CMOS active pixel sensor cameras can produce a digital output.
While digital outputs are often relatively noise insensitive, the noise can couple to the analog part of the circuit and cause problems there. Different techniques of minimizing this noise are known in the art.
One way to address the noise is to use current mode transmission of voltages. The current mode transmission can be configured to operate with less noise in certain circuits. However, when current mode transmission is used, other problems can occur. One such problem is a so called ground bounce caused by surges in the power supply.

High resolution CMOS circuit using a matched impedance output transmission line


Rotary pliers include a guide tube having a guide tube wall and a guide tube longitudinal axis and a guide tube proximal end connected to a radially protruding tube rotation lever and having a tube distal end with a distally protruding plier outer jaw radially spaced from the guide tube longitudinal axis; and a torque transmission shaft rotatably retained within the guide tube having a shaft proximal end connected to a radially protruding shaft rotation lever adjacent to the tube rotation lever and having a shaft distal end with a distally protruding plier inner jaw circumferentially aligned with the plier outer jaw; so that rotation of the torque transmission shaft relative to the guide tube by pivoting the tube rotation lever and shaft rotation lever relative to each other rotates the plier inner jaw along a circumferential path which is one of: toward or away from abutment with the plier outer jaw to grip or release an object.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of hand tools. More specifically the present invention relates to eccentric rotary pliers for gripping an object with tremendous mechanical advantage and having a long reach into a tight space with virtually undiminished gripping force. The pliers include a shaft guide structure preferably in the form of a guide tube having a tube proximal end connected to a radially protruding tube rotation lever and having a tube distal end with a distally protruding plier outer jaw radially spaced from the guide tube longitudinal axis, and includes a torque transmission shaft rotatably retained within the guide tube having a shaft proximal end connected to a radially protruding shaft rotation lever adjacent to the tube rotation lever and having a shaft distal end with a plier inner jaw circumferentially aligned with the plier outer jaw, such that rotation of the torque transmission shaft relative to the guide tube by pivoting the tube rotation lever and shaft rotation lever relative to each other rotates the plier inner jaw along a circumferential path either toward or away from abutment with the plier outer jaw to grip or release an object between plier inner and outer jaws. The large ratio of the radial distance from the shaft rotational axis to the jaws and to the gripped region of the lever gives the pliers a very great mechanical advantage, on the order of 80 to 1, or 80 pounds gripping force between the inner and outer jaws for each pound of gripping force applied to the lever.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional pliers include two elongate members pivoting in their middle regions about an interconnecting bolt which define plier jaws at member distal ends and plier handles at member proximal ends. A problem with these prior pliers is that they typically give a mechanical advantage of no more than five to one, and more typically of one two or three to one. Another problem has been that conventional pliers have a limited reach along a narrow path which cannot be extended in a practical way, limiting their usefulness when working on a vehicle engine and in many other applications.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide eccentric rotary pliers which can provide a mechanical advantage of dozens of pounds of pliers gripping force to each pound of user hand gripping force.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such eccentric rotary pliers which can be designed to reach up to several feet along a narrow path with negligible loss in mechanical advantage, and may be used to feed wire into a distant opening.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such eccentric rotary pliers which are compact and can be carried in most tool boxes, in a belt or in a holster.
It is finally an object of the present invention to provide such eccentric rotary pliers which are durable, reliable and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.


A power good signal generating circuit includes an NPN transistor, a first resistor, a second resistor, a third resistor, a first power source, and a second power source. The first resistor is connected between a base of the transistor and the first power source. The second resistor is connected between a collector of the transistor and the second power source. The third resistor is connected between an emitter of the transistor and ground. The collector is connected to an output for sending a PG signal and the emitter is connected to an input for receiving a control signal P.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to signal generating circuits, and particularly to a circuit which can quickly generate a PG (power good) signal to a motherboard.
2. General Background
An electronic device such as a computer generally includes many circuits to control apparatuses or elements installed in the computer. When a function is executed, relating circuits must respectively work and respond in a predetermined order in response to certain indicating signals. For example, in a motherboard of the computer, a PG (power good) signal is a signal informing the motherboard that a corresponding apparatus or element is ready for work.
Referring to FIG. 3, a conventional PG signal generating circuit includes a first transistor Q200, a second transistor Q300, an input Pin connected to a base of the first transistor Q200, an output Pout connected to a collector of the second transistor Q300, a first power supply Vcc12 connected to a collector of the first transistor Q200, a second power supply Vcc22 connected to a collector of the second transistor Q300, and the emitters of the first and second transistors Q200 and Q300 are grounded. When a control signal P (high level) is received by the input Pin, the first transistor Q200 turns on and the second transistor Q300 turns off and a PG signal (high level) is sent from the output Pout. However, the more electronic elements there are, the more control signals P there are sent to the PG signal generating circuit which slows the generation of PG signals.
What is desired, therefore, is circuit which can quickly generate a PG signal.

Circuits for quickly generating power good signals to motherboard

Bao-an District, Shenzhen, Quangdong Province

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.