A color printing system achieves enhanced registration of a plurality of color separations. A plurality of color separation images are formed on a receptor in spaced relationship to one another, the distance between the leading edges of successive images corresponding to a pitch distance. The motion components of the system have circumferences which are equal to or a submultiple of the pitch distance. Any systematic errors due to motion of the components will repeat themselves identically for each color separation and eliminate misregistration.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to color printers or copiers which perform a plurality of color separations and, more particularly, to color printers which perform a plurality of color separations in which registration of the color separations is ensured.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
In color printing, successive images corresponding to each of a plurality of colors, i.e., color separations, are formed. Each single color separation is transferred to a copy sheet in superimposed registration with any prior single color image. The registered relationship of the single color images creates a multi-layered image on the copy sheet Thereafter, the multi-layered image is permanently affixed to the copy sheet, thus creating a color image.
The achievement of good copy quality using a color printer is largely dependent on the attainment of good relative registration of the various color separations forming the image. Otherwise, blurred images will result.
Color printers generally incorporate a plurality of subsystems. Examples of these subsystems are receptor loops for handling latent images, receptor loops for handling developed images, image development subsystems and image transfer subsystems. Since a plurality of subsystems cooperate to form each color separation of a single image, it is particularly difficult to establish with adequate precision the spacial position of the color separations at any given instant of time and, particularly, when color separation registration is performed.
One factor contributing to this difficulty in establishing precise color separation registration is the non-perfect cylindricity of various components of the subsystems. Another contributing factor is the eccentric location of rotating shafts about which roller components of the color printer rotate, thus causing roll run out which induces a wobble-like roller rotation Accordingly, even when components of the subsystems are driven at a perfectly constant rotational speed, the linear motion will not necessarily be uniform throughout these subsystems.
The related art has proposed techniques for improving the relative registration of various color separations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,906 to Bothner et al discloses a color printer which reproduces a multi-color image and improves registration between the formation of each image. The improvement in registration is attained by utilizing a transfer drum which has a circumference substantially equal to a distance on an image member between comparable points in consecutive images. The apparatus does not disclose synchronization throughout the components of the printer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,652,115 to Palm et al discloses a color printer which maintains precise registration of color composite images. Registration is maintained by making the length of a belt carrying an intermediate transfer medium an integer submultiple of another belt which carries a photoreceptor. A digital electronic controller synchronizes the mechanical movements of the two belts to assure proper registration of the color component images when forming a composite image. The apparatus thus requires an additional controller to ensure registration.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,847,660 to Wheatley, Jr. et al discloses a method and apparatus for registration control. Registration and synchronization between a photoreceptor web and an image receiving web is maintained by separate motors which drive the webs under the control of independent servo mechanisms. Each of the servo mechanisms is controlled to drive the respective web such that the webs have constant rotational periods. The relationship between the constant rotational periods is equal to the relationship between the lengths of the webs. Since the photoreceptor and image receiving webs have a ratio of lengths nominally equal to an integer, the relationship between the constant rotational periods is nominally an integer. The device, however, does not ensure uniform motion throughout the individual components of the printer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,572 to Slayton et al discloses a dual belt synchronization system for a color printer which provides enhanced image registration. Each belt is independently driven by a DC electric motor. A digital electronic controller synchronizes the mechanical movements of the two belts to assure proper registration of color images when forming a composite image. A length of one of the belts is nominally an integer submultiple of the length of the other belt. The system achieves proper registration by synchronizing angular velocities around rollers. The synchronization of angular velocity, does not, however, create uniform motion in all subsystems of the printer. Further, the system requires an additional controller.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,597 to Ohigashi et al discloses a color image recording apparatus which forms a composite color image on a recording medium. The apparatus includes registration marks formed on the recording medium at equal pitches as the recording medium is transported through an image formation device. The apparatus measures each pitch between registration marks and compensates, for each interval between the registration marks, for a discrepancy between the measured pitch and the number of lines assumed when the registration marks were formed. The recording medium does not provide synchronous motion of all printer subsystem components.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,933,727 to Mizuma et al discloses a color recording apparatus comprising a timing control system which controls the timing of exposing an optical image to a photoconductor belt. The timing is synchronized with rotation of a drive roller of the photoconductor belt so that a cycle of an exposure operation is equal to a value of one cycle of the driver roller multiplied by a number of rotation. The device thus only controls exposure timing in accordance with rotation of a single drive roller of the photoconductor belt.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,089 to Jamzadeh discloses a web tracking apparatus wherein a lateral movement of the web in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of the web along a path is monitored, and signals are generated in response thereto. In response to the signals, a determination is made whether an operation can be performed upon the web without imposing a correction to the lateral web movement. The device thus requires sensing of web movement in a plurality of directions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,664 to Chiku et al discloses an image forming apparatus which eliminates a possible image misregistration in each image station. The apparatus detects register marks formed by each image forming station. When misregistration occurs, a correcting means begins operation at a predetermined time which is independent from the image forming sequence of each image forming station. The misregistration is corrected without causing a rate of operation of the apparatus to decrease. Accordingly, the apparatus requires the use of an additional correcting means.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,635 to Paxon et al discloses a reproduction apparatus which corrects registration errors. Reproductions of reproductions are enlarged and examined for image registration. Appropriate adjustments are made in the timing of process steps to provide a registration suitable for high quality image reproduction. This apparatus requires the production of additional reproductions for examination purposes, thus increasing the time required to produce an image.
While the related art attempts to improve color separation registration in a color printer, the art proposes no structure for achieving this goal which is effective for all subsystems of the printer without requiring additional timing control devices, perfect synchronization and/or perfectly designed components.

Registration improvement by component synchronization in color printers


The present invention provides improved, low-cost fuel cells having reduced fuel crossover, reduced sensitivity to metal ion impurities and ability to operate under a broad range of temperatures. The invention further provides improved methods for catalyst preparation and a new integrated flow field system for use in H2/O2 fuel cells.

Fuel cells are often described as continuously operating batteries or as electrochemical engines. Fuel cells utilize an external supply of fuel and oxygen (or air) and produce power continuously, as long as the fuel and oxygen supply is maintained.
The most classic fuel cell is the H2/O2 fuel cell of the direct or indirect type, wherein hydrogen is oxidized to form H3O+ at the anode and oxygen is reduced to water at the cathode. In the direct type, hydrogen and oxygen are used as such, the fuel being produced in independent installations. The indirect type employs a hydrogen-generating unit, which can use as raw material a wide variety of fuels.
Another type of fuel cell is the organic fuel cell. In a direct oxidation cell an aqueous solution of an organic fuel such as methanol, formaldehyde or formic acid, is directly fed into the fuel cell without any previous chemical modification, where the fuel is oxidized at the anode, and oxygen is reduced to water at the cathode.
A major distinguishing characteristic of different fuel cells is in the electrolyte used. NASA's Jet Prepulsion Laboratory (JPL) developed a direct liquid-feed cell using a solid membrane electrolyte. A detailed description of JPL's fuel cells can be found, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,599,638 and 5,773,162. These fuel cells operate without any acid electrolyte and comprise solid electrolyte membranes fabricated from proton-exchange materials, especially Nafion™ (manufactured by DuPont). When methanol is used as the fuel, the electro-oxidation of methanol at the anode can be represented by:CH3OH+H2O→CO2+6H++6e,and the electro-reduction of oxygen at the cathode can be represented by:O2+4H++4e→2H2O.
Protons generated at the anode are transported directly across the electrolyte membrane to the cathode. A flow of current is sustained by a flow of ions through the cell and electrons through the external load.

Direct oxidation fuel cell with a divided fuel tank having a movable barrier pressurized by anode effluent gas

Tel Aviv University Future Technology Development L.P.


The disclosure relates to image processing and embedding machine-readable codes into image data. One combination estimates embedded signal strength from embedded image data transformed according to anticipated color space, printer data and/or substrate data. Other combinations are also provided.

The term "steganography" generally means data hiding. One form of data hiding is digital watermarking. Digital watermarking is a process for modifying media content to embed a machine-readable (or machine-detectable) signal or code into the media content. For the purposes of this application, the data may be modified such that the embedded code or signal is imperceptible or nearly imperceptible to a human, yet may be detected through an automated, machine-based detection process. Most commonly, digital watermarking is applied to media content such as images, audio signals, and video signals. Digital watermarks can be incorporated into images or graphics that are then printed, e.g., on product packaging.
Digital watermarking systems may include two primary components: an embedding component that embeds a watermark in media content, and a reading component that detects and reads an embedded watermark (referred to as a "watermark reader," or "watermark decoder," or simply as a "reader" or "decoder"). The embedding component (or "embedder" or "encoder") may embed a watermark by altering data samples representing the media content in the spatial, temporal or some other domain (e.g., Fourier, Discrete Cosine or Wavelet transform domains). The reading component (or "reader" or "decoder") may analyze target content to detect whether a watermark is present. In applications where the watermark encodes information (e.g., a message or auxiliary information), the reader may extract this information from a detected watermark.
A watermark embedding process may convert a message, signal, etc., into a payload conveyed by a watermark signal. The embedding process may then combine the watermark signal with media content and possibly other signals (e.g., a transform domain-based orientation pattern or synchronization signal) to create watermarked media content. The process of combining the watermark signal with the media content may be a linear or non-linear function. The watermark signal may be applied by modulating or altering signal samples in a spatial, temporal or transform domain.
A watermark encoder may analyze and selectively adjust media content to give it attributes that correspond to the desired message symbol or symbols to be encoded. There are many signal attributes that may encode a message symbol, such as a positive or negative polarity of signal samples or a set of samples, a given parity (odd or even), a given difference value or polarity of the difference between signal samples (e.g., a difference between selected spatial intensity values or transform coefficients), a given distance value between watermarks, a given phase or phase offset between different watermark components, a modulation of the phase of a host signal associated with the media content, a modulation of frequency coefficients of the host signal, a given frequency pattern, a given quantizer (e.g., in Quantization Index Modulation) etc.
The present assignee's work in steganography, data hiding and digital watermarking is reflected, e.g., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,013,021, 6,993,154, 6,947,571, 6,912,295, 6,891,959, 6,763,123, 6,718,046, 6,614,914, 6,590,996, 6,449,377, 6,408,082, 6,345,104, 6,122,403 and 5,862,260. Some 3rd-party work is reflected in, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,130,442; 6,208,735; 6,175,627; 5,949,885; 5,859,920. Each of the patent documents identified in this paragraph is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Of course, a great many other approaches are familiar to those skilled in the art, e.g., Avcibas, et al., "Steganalysis of Watermarking Techniques Using Images Quality Metrics", Proceedings of SPIE, January 2001, vol. 4314, pp. 523-531; Dautzenberg, "Watermarking Images," Department of Microelectronics and Electrical Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, 47 pages, October 1994; Hernandez et al., "Statistical Analysis of Watermarking Schemes for Copyright Protection of Images," Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 87, No. 7, July 1999; J. Fridrich and J. Kodovský. Rich models for steganalysis of digital images, IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, 7(3):868-882, June 2011; J. Kodovský, J. Fridrich, and V. Holub. Ensemble classifiers for steganalysis of digital media, IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, 7(2):432-444, 2012; and T. Pevný, P. Bas, and J. Fridrich. Steganalysis by subtractive pixel adjacency matrix, IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, 5(2):215-224, June 2010; I. J. Cox, M. L. Miller, J. A. Bloom, J. Fridrich, and T. Kalker. Digital Watermarking and Steganography, Morgan Kaufman Publishers Inc., San Francisco, Calif., 2007; R. O. Duda, P. E. Hart, and D. H. Stork. Pattern Classification. Wiley Interscience, New York, 2nd edition, 2000; each of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The artisan is presumed to be familiar with a full range of literature concerning steganography, data hiding and digital watermarking.
Digital watermarking may be used to embed auxiliary information into cover media (e.g., images, packaging, graphics, etc.) such that changes to the cover media to convey the digital watermarking remain invisible to humans but allows machines to reliably extract the auxiliary information even after common signal-processing operations (e.g., noise, filtering, blurring, optical capture). This allows machines to uniquely identify objects depicted in captured imagery. Digital watermarking has been used for applications including media content protection, track and trace, etc.

Methods for estimating watermark signal strength, an embedding process using the same, and related arrangements


In a wireless ad hoc network comprising a plurality of nodes (102), when a method of the present invention determines that a source node and a destination node belong to a common virtual local area network (VLAN), information is routed to the destination node using only nodes that belong to the common VLAN. If a path is not available to route the information between the source node and the destination node using only nodes that belong to the common VLAN, a default VLAN is used to route the information at least partially through the ad hoc network. If, however, the method of the present invention determines that the source node belongs to a first VLAN and the destination node belongs to a second VLAN, the source node or an intermediate node registers with the second VLAN and continues routing the information using nodes that belong to the second VLAN.

A wireless ad hoc network (an example illustrated in FIG. 1) is a collection of nodes that communicate by forming a multi-hop radio network without the need of a infrastructure. Nodes in an ad hoc network forward information (e.g., frames) to other nodes by selecting one of the available routes to the destination node based on several parameters, such as link quality, round trip time, etc. Generally ad hoc nodes do not have a fixed topology, but ad hoc networks can be fixed and perform multi-hopping. Nodes can join the ad hoc network and leave dynamically, and the ad hoc networks can vary in the degree of mobility. The ad hoc network heals itself by selecting alternate routes to the destination node, and each node in an ad hoc network can be viewed as a router. The dynamic formation of ad hoc networks, the ability to setup a network anywhere without the need of infrastructure, and the self healing characteristic make the ad hoc network very necessary for situations, such as public safety incident scenes, where infrastructure connectivity (e.g., access points) might not be available.
In the case of an incident scene, wireless ad-hoc networks allow public safety agencies to communicate without the dependence on an infrastructure. One of the problems with using a wireless ad hoc network, for example at an incident scene, is the ability to prevent information from hopping (i.e., being routed) through a single bottleneck node. Nodes which are not part of a communication dialog between another set of nodes may become a bottleneck node and may have little or no bandwidth available to make any emergency calls for itself; the bottleneck node in such a case ends up forwarding information for other nodes. Although the advantage of ad hoc networks is for information to hop through any available node, this does pose a serious problem in a large, dense ad hoc network.
Thus, there exists a need for minimizing the likelihood of a node becoming a bottleneck node and forwarding information for other nodes.

Method of dynamic management of a virtual local area network (VLAN) in a wireless ad hoc network


What is disclosed is a novel toxic waste remediation system designed to provide on-site destruction of a wide variety of hazardous organic volatile hydrocarbons, including but not limited to halogenated and aromatic hydrocarbons in the vapor phase. This invention utilizes a detoxification plenum and radiation treatment which transforms hazardous organic compounds into non-hazardous substances.

Hazardous volatile organic compounds (VOC) in soils and groundwater can pose significant health risks, particularly if aquifers which feed the water supplies of population centers are threatened. Current remediation methods for treatment of soil and groundwater include air stripping, vacuum extracting, carbon containment, incineration/oxidation and bioremediation.
Air stripping and vacuum extracting are dispersion technologies which extract vapors (the words vapors, VOCs and gases are generally used interchangeably throughout and, unless clearly understood otherwise, are intended to have the same meaning) from the soil and vent the contaminants to the atmosphere. While these techniques are relatively inexpensive and can prevent or reduce groundwater contamination threats, they are environmentally undesirable because they merely change the medium of the pollution (from soil to air). Venting is controversial and its use in the future is likely to be limited by stricter air quality regulations.
Carbon containment is a collection technology in which vapors from vapor extraction wells or other VOC sources are passed through carbon (or other adsorbent) filled canisters to adsorb the VOC's. Collection technologies prevent or limit groundwater contamination by reducing the contaminant level and can be cost effective for certain flowrates and contamination levels. However, containment is not a destruction technology; the VOCs collected require removal and subsequent disposal. Also, containment is not universally effective, as some VOCs have low adsorptivity.
Incineration involves high temperature burning of waste streams from soil or air-stripped ground water for destruction of VOCs. Incineration is highly controversial, often achieving only incomplete destruction, and is costly. Incomplete destruction can produce products more hazardous than the original contaminant and has the potential of releasing them to the atmosphere.
This current state-of-the-art has led to the present invention, which achieves safe and effective destruction on site for a wide variety of VOCs.

The Regents of the University of California


A test circuit for two level latches on an integrated circuit to be tested includes a test enable driver circuit coupled to a third level switch which is connected in series between the latches to be tested and a low voltage source. The third level switch converts the two level latches to be tested into a buffer such that data applied as an input to the two level latches appears in identical form as data at the output pin of the integrated circuit chip.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to test circuits on-board integrated circuit chips. More particularly, the present invention relates to test circuits having an input which overrides all flip-flop or latch inputs such that data into the chip becomes data out, thus, converting the flip-flop or latch into a non-inverting buffer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, scan set latch circuits were known and used on-board integrated circuit chips to implement series scan test patterns. Such prior art scan set latch circuits are known to require sequentially clocking of a pattern into the series string of latches to obtain test patterns out. Such series scan test circuits when tested on a chip using scan set latch circuits requires a complex setup as well as three or more dedicated pins on the chip in addition to a clock input pin.
It would be desirable to simplify the prior art scan set test circuits and procedure without requiring any significant on-board chip circuitry.


A drive apparatus improves drive efficiency while reducing device size, and a lens unit and a camera using the drive apparatus. A cam member is driven rotationally by vibration of an oscillator in the lens unit and thereby causes lenses to move forward and backward. The construction and operation of the drive apparatus supplants the need for a complicated drive mechanism using an electromagnetic motor and incumbent gears or cam rings. The simplified drive apparatus enables the device in which it is embodied to be made compact. Driving the lenses by means of a cam member minimizes energy loss due to friction, and thus sufficiently improves drive efficiency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a drive apparatus, a lens unit, and a camera. More particularly, the present invention relates to a drive apparatus for driving a driven member by means of an oscillator using a piezoelectric element, and to a lens unit employing a lens drive mechanism for driving a lens using such a drive apparatus where the lens unit is used in a film camera, digital camera, video camera, microscope, binoculars, or other such products. The invention also relates to a camera, such as any of those identified above, employing a lens drive mechanism for driving a lens by means of the above-identified drive apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Devices for driving movable parts in cameras and other such precision products normally use the drive force produced by an electromagnetic motor. See, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. H10-161001, pages 3 to 4. The lens drive apparatus as taught in H10-161001 connects a plurality of lens groups, which are driven members, located inside the lens unit, to an electromagnetic motor disposed outside the lens unit by means of gears and cam rings. The gears and cam rings rotate in conjunction with the rotation of the drive shaft of the motor, and this rotation causes the lens groups to travel in an out along the optical axis for zooming and focusing.
The problem with such an electromagnetic-motor-driven drive apparatus is that, while the drive apparatus produces high drive power, the electromagnetic motor itself is relatively large and must be disposed externally to the lens unit, thus resulting in a large lens unit.
To reduce the size of the lens unit, devices that use the deformation of a piezoelectric element to drive the lens have also been proposed. See, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. H7-274546 (pages 3 to 4), Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. H8-66068 (pages 3 to 4), and Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. H4-69070 (pages 3 to 5). A piezoelectric-element-based drive apparatus as taught in H7-274546, H8-66068, and H4-69070 has a lens and a lens frame as the driven member, a drive shaft frictionally coupled to the lens frame, and a piezoelectric element to which this drive shaft is fixed. When a voltage with a specified waveform is applied to the piezoelectric element, it oscillates by expanding and contracting along the drive shaft. This linear oscillation is transferred to the drive shaft, and the driven member, which is friction-coupled to the draft shaft, is thus driven. The voltage applied to the piezoelectric element is more specifically a pulse wave that causes the piezoelectric element to displace gradually in the drive direction and then displace rapidly in the opposite direction. The driven member moves in the drive direction as a result of friction with the drive shaft, but because the inertia of the driven member exceeds the friction when the piezoelectric element moves in the opposite direction, the driven member does not move in the opposite direction and is thus driven in the specified drive direction.
A large electromagnetic motor disposed externally to the lens unit, as is required with the drive apparatus taught in H10-161001, is therefore not required with the drive apparatus taught in H7-274546, H8-66068, and H4-69070, and a complicated mechanism having gears and cam rings for transferring the drive power of the electromagnetic motor to the driven member is not needed. The drive apparatus taught in H7-274546, H8-66068, and H4-69070 therefore affords a smaller lens unit with a simple construction.
With the drive method taught in H7-274546, H8-66068, and H4-69070, the expansion and contraction of the piezoelectric element when a voltage is applied is transferred directly to the drive shaft, and the driven member is driven by a friction coupling between the drive shaft and the lens frame. To drive the driven member quickly with this arrangement, the drive shaft must move a long distance with each oscillation, or more specifically the expansion/contraction displacement of the piezoelectric element must be great. This increases the size of the device in the expansion/contraction direction of the piezoelectric element.
Furthermore, while the driven member is held in the drive direction by friction with the drive shaft, the driven member can move easily and is unstable if this friction is too weak. Conversely, if friction is too great, energy loss when the shaft is driven increases, and drive efficiency deteriorates.


A knife drive assembly for use in a harvesting header may be mounted near the center line of the cutter bar of the header. Mechanical power from the power unit behind the header (typically the combine power output shaft) may be translated for application to two knife assembly sections in the cutter bar at the front of the cutter table. Movement of the two knife assembly sections with this apparatus can be fully synchronized and 180 degrees out of phase, to maximize cutting effectiveness and minimize vibration of the header. The unitary drive assembly may allow for rapid repair and manufacture, and the size and weight of the knife drive assembly may represent a significant weight and balance advantage over the prior art.

Some known harvesting equipment employ harvesting headers to cut crops for various purposes, such as for windrowing or swathing, or for the feeding of a combine harvester.
Attached to the front portion of a combine harvester or other equipment such as for example a swather) is the portion referred to as the header. A typical header is equipped with a crop cutting mechanism (often referred to as a cutter bar), and a conveyor deck or surface behind the cutter bar onto which cut crop material will fall for direction to a windrow discharge or into the combine. The header also typically includes a bat reel, which is typically a reel mounted between two rotational mounts at either end of the header with a rotational power drive attached thereto, with rotating bats that gather standing crop material into the cutter bar and transfer the cut crop onto a draper table.
With headers of increasing width, there are a number of manufacturing parameters or limitations with respect to the header frame which limit the ability to extend the length (or harvesting width) of the header. One limitation is the weight and complexity of the mechanical power system used to actuate the cutting mechanism such as a cutting knife, as the width of the header increases.
In known headers, a cutting knife is typically driven by either a hydraulic or mechanical drive. The drive mechanism translates power derived from a central location of the harvesting header to an outer end of the harvesting header, where reciprocating motion may be applied, to cause the cutting knife to move back and forth in its guide and cut crop material that comes into contact or close proximity with the cutting mechanism. An issue with such an approach is that, whether hydraulics or mechanical power are used to drive the cutting knife, the addition of a reciprocating drive mechanism at the outer end of the harvesting header results in the addition of significant outboard weight to the header, causing balance issues. Additionally, by providing the necessary components to these drives add significant weight to the header as well. Finding a way to minimize the weight of cutting knife drive components in a harvesting header is desirable.
Translating rotational power from the combine or other power unit, or even providing hydraulic power, to a knife drive assembly located at one or both ends of header table, results in significant mechanical complexity during construction and maintenance of the knife drive mechanism. In addition to the relatively large number of parts typically involved in the construction and maintenance of known harvesting headers, it can be difficult to perform in-field service on this type of the knife drive assembly. A way to drive the cutting knife of harvesting headers which minimized or at least reduced the number of parts, for repair purposes or otherwise, would be desirable in the industry as a means of streamlining repair and maximizing or at least increasing harvesting header uptime in the field.
Another issue with known knife drives used in known harvesting headers is that of vibration during operation of the harvesting header. Particularly, in a harvesting header knife drive that drives the cutting knife along the entire width of the harvesting header from a single drive point/location at one end of the harvesting header, there can be significant vibration of the harvesting header and the entire combine harvesting unit as the knife operates. Even in known knife drives that are centrally located near the center line of the harvesting header, vibration has been an issue. A way to minimize, or least reduce, the amount of vibration of the header, and that would maximize or increase the efficiency of the unit, as well as the level of operator comfort, is desirable.
Another limitation associated with known harvesting headers is the interruption, or interference, with an otherwise streamlined or low profile at the cutter bar on the harvesting header. The interruption or interference impedes the efficacy of the harvesting header overall and can interfere with crop flow. Typical central drive solutions for cutting knives in a harvesting header are typically either flush on the bottom of the cutter bar with the drive components protruding on top, or are flush to the top of the cutter bar with drive components protruding out the bottom. Any non-conformity or significant height difference in the area of the draper deck and the cutting bar acts as a barrier to crop flow. A knife drive for use with a harvesting header having a sufficiently low profile at the cutter bar to allow for normal or low skid plate profiles under the cutter bar would allow for the cutting knife to be positioned as low as possible to perform near the ground.
Additionally, some known center cutting knife drives utilize a gearbox that is quite wide and deep, resulting in a negative impact on crop flow and performance, and limit additional cutter bar features. For example, some known harvesting headers often include rock traps and other features. The ability to include such features near the cutter bar on a harvesting header where a conventional center cutting knife drive is used is limited, due to the space consumed by the drive components.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Drugs intended for absorption in the stomach or upper intestinal tract are administered in oral drug delivery systems in conjunction with any of various substances that have been discovered to function as potent agents for inducing the fed mode. By inducing the onset of the fed mode, these agents cause the stomach to prolong its retention of the drug delivery system, which is either large enough to be retained in the stomach during the fed mode or swells or expands to such a size upon ingestion. The fed mode inducing agents include the following compounds and their salts: glycine and glycylglycine, xylitol and related sugar alcohols, sodium and other metal docusates, β-casomorphins, α-lipoic acid and similarly structured acids, 2,2-diaryl-4-(4′-aryl-4′-hydroxypipendino)butyramides, arginine, Trp-Trp, alkylpyridinium halides, dihydroxybenzoic acids, and potent sweeteners such as aspartame, aspartic acid, acesulfame, and stevioside.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the general field of pharmacology, and relates in particular to oral dosage formulations that deliver drugs by controlled release in the stomach for a prolonged period of time.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many drugs have their greatest therapeutic effect when released in the stomach, particularly when the release is prolonged in a continuous, controlled manner. Drugs delivered in this manner cause less side effects and provide their therapeutic effects without the need for repeated dosages, or with a low dosage frequency. Localization of the drug delivery in the stomach is an advantage for the treatment of local disorders of the stomach such as esophageal reflux disease, for the eradication of ulcer-causing bacteria in the gastric mucosa, and for the treatment of disorders that require sustained antacid action. Sustained release in the stomach is also useful for therapeutic agents that the stomach does not readily absorb, since sustained release prolongs the contact time of the agent in the stomach or in the upper part of the small intestine, which is where absorption occurs and contact time is limited. Under normal or average conditions, for example, material passes through the small intestine in as little as 1 to 3 hours. For drugs that are absorbed almost exclusively in the small intestine, such as captopril and the cephalosporins, this short contact time limits the bioavailability of these drugs, particularly when the drugs are administered in a controlled-release dosage form.
The passage of matter through the stomach can be delayed in the normal digestive process by the physiological condition that is variously referred to as the digestive mode, the postprandial mode, or the "fed mode" (the latter term is used in the remainder of this specification for convenience). When the stomach is not in this mode, it is in the interdigestive or "fasting" mode. The difference between the two modes lies in the pattern of gastroduodenal motor activity.
In the fasting mode, the stomach exhibits a cyclic activity called the interdigestive migrating motor complex (IMMC). This activity occurs in four phases:                In Phase I, which lasts 45 to 60 minutes and is the most quiescent, few or no contractions occur.        In Phase II, irregular intermittent sweeping contractions occur that gradually increase in magnitude.        In Phase III, intense bursts of peristaltic waves appear in both the stomach and the small bowel. This lasts for 5 to 15 minutes.        Phase IV is a transition period of decreasing activity which lasts until the next cycle begins.
The total cycle time is approximately 90 minutes, and the contents of the stomach are swept out by the powerful peristaltic waves that occur during Phase III. Phase III of the IMMC thus functions as an intestinal housekeeper, sweeping swallowed saliva, gastric secretions, food particles, and particulate debris to the small intestine and colon, and preparing the upper tract for the next meal while preventing bacterial overgrowth. Pancreatic exocrine secretion of pancreatic peptide and motilin also cycle in synchrony with the motor pattern.
The fed mode is induced by nutritive elements immediately after food ingestion, and begins with a rapid and profound change in the motor pattern of the upper gastrointestinal GI tract, the change occurring over a period of 30 seconds to one minute. The change occurs almost simultaneously at all sites of the GI tract, before the stomach contents have reached the distal small intestine. Once the fed mode is established, the stomach generates 3-4 continuous and regular contractions per minute, similar to those of the fasting mode but of about half the amplitude. The pylorus is partially open, causing a sieving effect in which liquids and small particles flow continuously from the stomach into the intestine while indigestible particles greater in size than the pyloric opening are retropelled and retained in the stomach. This sieving effect thus causes the stomach to retain particles exceeding about 1 cm in size for approximately 4 to 6 hours.
The minimum particle size that will be retained in the stomach is thus substantially smaller in the fed mode than in the fasting mode. Particles large enough to be retained in the fasting mode are too large for practical administration in most patients. Particles of a smaller particle size can be retained in the stomach if they are administered to a patient who is in the fed mode, and this serves as an effective and feasible means of prolonging the residence time of these particles in the stomach.
While onset of the fed mode is normally caused by the ingestion of a meal, the use of a meal as a means of prolonging the residence time of a drug in the stomach has certain disadvantages. One disadvantage is a lack of reliability, since although a variety of nutritive elements are capable of inducing the fed mode, different individuals consume meals of different compositions, some inducing the fed mode more easily and for different durations than others. Another disadvantage is that many drugs are adversely affected by the presence of food in the stomach. Thus, a meal-induced fed mode can increase the absorption of some drugs, while decreasing the absorption of others. These disadvantages are avoided by inducing the fed mode through means other than the ingestion of a meal.
While the fed mode promotes the retention of relatively small particles in the stomach, there are still many patients for whom even these particles are too large to be comfortably ingested. For these patients, particles that are initially small enough for comfortable ingestion and swell to a larger size upon contact with the gastric fluid in the stomach can be used. The swelling can occur as a result of hydration of the particle material upon absorption of water from the gastric fluid. Alternatively, the swelling can occur as a result of gas generation, such as carbon dioxide for example, by contact of gastric fluid with the dosage form, the gas generation occurring in a membrane bag or otherwise within the dosage form. A still further alternative is the use of a large tablet held in a compressed condition by mechanical tension within a small capsule and released to expand to its full relaxed size when the capsule contacts gastric fluid. Whether the particles are large enough for fed mode retention before they are ingested or reach that size by swelling or expansion in the stomach, it is important that the particles retain their size while the drug is released into the gastric fluid. Thus, release of the drug must not itself cause the particle to shrink below the minimum size required for retention in the fed mode. Also, the quantity of drug in the formulation should be controllable independently of the particle size. Thus, while the particles must be large enough to be retained in the stomach and contain enough inert carrier to maintain their size during drug release, there should be no need for the patient to ingest a large number of particles to achieve the needed drug dose.
The need for administering and maintaining particles of appropriate size has been addressed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,790 ("Sustained Release Oral Drug Dosage form," Shell, inventor, Apr. 16, 1991). This patent discloses particle-form oral drug delivery systems in which the particles are small when taken orally but swell in the gastric fluid to a diameter of approximately 8 to 11 mm. Swelling to this size requires approximately two hours. Retention of the particles in the stomach while they are swelling requires that the patient be in the fed mode when the drug is administered, or at least that the swelling occur before the Phase III IMMC waves of the fasting mode begin. With control of the IMMC waves dependent on the timing of the fed mode and the manner in which the fed mode is induced, the particle size and retention are subject to uncertainty, and the duration of the retention is at times, and in some individuals, less than desired.
Induction of the fed mode by pharmacological means is reported in the literature, particularly by J. N. Hunt and his co-workers (J. Physiol. 201:327(1968)). The most potent pharmacological agents reported for this purpose are straight-chain fatty acids with optimal activity at a chain length in the vicinity of 12 carbons. Use of these agents for maintaining the fed mode for a period of hours in dogs or humans, however, requires dosages in the range of 0.5 g to 1 g. Other agents that have been reported to induce the fed mode are glucose and tryptophan, but these require even higher dosages. John Stephens and co-workers (Am. J Physiol. (1976) 231:848-853 and Gastroenterol. (1975) 69:920-927) reported that amino acids such as glycine, arginine and tryptophan slowed gastric emptying in dogs when administered in excess of 1 g similar to results obtained for glucose. The literature reports that all of these agents, with the exception of tryptophan, slow gastric emptying by their osmolarity and consequently fail to suggest any potent specific agents. The low potency of these reported agents makes it difficult to incorporate them in effective amounts in a sustained-release oral dosage form such as a capsule or tablet since the capsule or tablet must be small enough for ingestion and yet contain effective amounts of the agent, the drug, and any excipients needed for controlling the release of the drug.
R. Groning and G. Heun (Drug Dev. Ind. Pharm. 10:527 (1984) and Int. J. Pharmaceut. 56:111 (1989)) incorporated salts of myristic acid (the 14-carbon fatty acid) into a double capsule or two-layer immediate release dosage form containing either riboflavin or nitrofurantoin as active drugs. These salts are not of high potency, however, and the amounts administered, 107.5-165 mg per dosage form, had only a marginal effect on gastric retention, increasing the retention time by only about 1 to 2 hours. An agent that can be incorporated into a dosage form at a low dose and yet achieve a mean gastric retention time of 4-6 hours similar to food has not been reported.

Pharmacological inducement of the fed mode for enhanced drug administration to the stomach


In a single-sided, recordable/rewritable phase change optical recording medium having one or more layers, an interface layer adjacent to a phase change optical recording film contains at least Zr (zirconium), O (oxygen), and N (nitrogen), and further contains one or both of Y (yttrium) and Nb (niobium).

1. Field
One embodiment of the invention relates to a recordable and/or erasable information recording medium. This embodiment particularly relates to an optical recording medium having one or more recording films configured to record information by using a phase change. More specifically, the embodiment relates to a single-sided, multi-layer phase change optical disc suitable for repetitive recording/playback of large-volume digital data such as high-resolution video information.
Or, one embodiment of the invention relates to an optical recording medium which records information by reversibly changing a state by emitting a light beam. This embodiment particularly relates to a phase change optical recording medium in which the atomic arrangement of a thin film for holding information changes between an amorphous state and crystalline state, thereby causing a state change for information recording.
2. Description of the Related Art
(Phase Change Optical Recording Principle)
In a general phase change optical recording film, a portion heated to a melting point or more melts, and this melted portion takes an amorphous atomic arrangement when rapidly cooled. Also, when the film is held in the temperature region of a crystallization temperature which is below the melting point for a predetermined time or more, the film remains in a crystalline state if it is initially crystal, but crystallizes if it is initially amorphous (a solid phase erase mode). Depending on the material of the recording film, it is also possible to crystallize the recording film by melting a portion near a non-crystal portion of the recording film by heating the portion to a melting point or more, and slowly cooling the melted portion (a melt erase mode).
Since the intensity of reflected light from an amorphous portion and that of reflected light from a crystal portion are different, the intensity of reflected light is converted into that of an electrical signal, and information is read out by A/D-converting the electrical signal. This is the principle of the phase change optical recording medium. It is also possible to record and read out information by using a change between a metastable crystal phase such as a martensite phase and a stable crystal phase, or a change between a plurality of metastable crystal phases, instead of the crystal-amorphous phase change.
(Method of Increasing Density)
The following two methods can be used to increase the amount of information recordable on one recording medium, i.e., increase the recording capacity. One is a method which reduces the pitch of recording marks in a track direction. If the degree of downsizing advances, however, the pitch size reaches a region smaller than the size of a playback light beam, so a playback beam spot may temporarily include two recording marks. If the recording marks are well separated from each other, a playback signal is largely modulated, and a signal having a large amplitude is obtained. However, if the recording marks are close to each other, a signal having a small amplitude is obtained, so an error easily occurs when the signal is converted into digital data.
The other method of increasing the recording density is to reduce the track pitch. This method can increase the recording density without being largely influenced by the reduction in signal intensity caused by downsizing of the mark pitch described above. Unfortunately, this method has the problem that in a region where the track pitch is equal to or smaller than the size of a light beam, information on a certain track deteriorates while write or erase is performed on an adjacent track. That is, so-called cross erase occurs.
The causes of the cross erase are that a mark is directly irradiated with the outer edge of a laser beam on an adjacent track, and that a hot stream during recording flows into an adjacent track and raises the temperature of a mark on the adjacent track, thereby deteriorating the shape of the mark. These problems have to be solved to increase the density of the phase change optical recording medium. Also, to accurately read a downsized mark and decrease the probability of a read error, it is desirable to minimize the noise component by smoothing the shape of the outer edge of a recording mark to be formed.
(Method of Increasing Capacity by Multi-Layer Medium)
Another method of increasing the capacity is to stack a plurality of layers for holding information. This method is disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-322770 (a dual-layer RAM system). A medium having two stacked layers and designed to be readable and writable from one side is called a single-sided, dual-layer medium or simply called a dual-layer medium. In this single-sided, dual-layer medium, an information layer (to be referred to as L0 hereinafter) formed close to the light incident side has to ensure a transmittance of approximately 50[%] or more so as not to attenuate light excessively in L0 when an information layer (to be referred to as L1 hereinafter) formed far from the light incident side is accessed. To this end, the thickness of the recording film has to be as very small as 10 nm or less in L0.
Decreasing the film thickness prolongs the holding time for crystallization, and produces unerased information at a normal recording speed. "Manuscripts for The 12th Phase Change Recording Research Meeting Symposium (Proceedings of PCOS2000) pp. 36-41" discloses that a method of substituting a portion of a GeSbTe recording film with Sn is effective as a measure to counter this problem. Also, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-232941 (a GeSbTeBi series) discloses that substituting a portion of a GeSbTe recording film with Bi, In, Sn, or Pb is similarly effective. To ensure the erase ratio described above, however, improvements of the recording film material are unsatisfactory, and a film having a crystallization promoting effect is formed in the interface with the recording film.
According to "Manuscripts for The 12th Phase Change Recording Research Meeting Symposium", germanium nitride (GeN) is effective. However, the inventors made extensive studies, and found that when a very thin film made of the recording film material described above and having a thickness of 10 nm or less is combined with the conventional interface film material such as GeN, the cross erase described previously occurred, so the track pitch could not be decreased. Also, when silicon carbide (SiC) reportedly having a crystallization promoting function is used, the extinction coefficient of light is large at a wavelength of 405 nm of a laser beam used for the next-generation, high-density optical disc, and this produced a very large optical loss. In addition, germanium nitride (GeN) or silicon nitride (SiNx) also produced an optical loss.
On the other hand, in a medium having no interface film, it is possible to suppress recrystallization of the melted portion and reduce the cross erase, but the erase ratio is totally unsatisfactory. Furthermore, recording and erase have to be performed on L1 by using a laser beam attenuated to approximately a half beam by passing through L0. Therefore, it is very important to decrease the optical loss in an interface layer or dielectric layer, in order to meet the requirements for a high density of the medium and increase the utilization ratio of the emitted laser beam at the same time.
(Method of High-Speed Recording)
High-speed recording is another requirement for phase change optical recording. When an image is to be recorded, for example, if the image can be recorded within a time shorter than the actual playback time, it is readily possible to realize a so-called time shift function (time slip playback) by which a user can view previous images by tracing back the time during dubbing of a distributed medium or recording of broadcast. One main cause which prevents high-speed recording in phase change recording is the problem that information is kept unerased when crystallization is performed by a laser having a relatively low erase level during overwrite, i.e., the problem of an insufficient erase ratio. This problem arises because a recording mark rapidly passes through a laser spot and hence does not stay in a temperature region capable of crystallization for a sufficiently long time, so information is kept unerased.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 11-213446 discloses a method which raises the erase speed by promoting crystallization by forming a material such as GeN in the interface with a recording film. However, when the inventors conducted experiments by using the material disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 11-213446 as an interface film, a part of a portion melted during recording recrystallized, i.e., to form a recording mark having a necessary size, a range larger than the recording mark has to be melted. The use of an interface film like this melts an unwanted large region, and consequently accelerates the cross erase. Accordingly, this method has an adverse effect from the viewpoint of high-density recording.
In other words, when the material disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 11-213446 is used as an interface film and information is recorded by a laser power within a range which is allowable in respect of the cross erase, the width of the formed recording mark decreases, and this lowers the obtained signal-to-noise ratio (or carrier-to-noise ratio: CNR). On the other hand, in a medium having no interface film, it is possible to suppress recrystallization of the melted portion and reduce the cross erase, but the erase ratio is totally unsatisfactory. That is, a new interface film material capable of raising the crystallization rate during erase (ensuring a necessary erase ratio even in high-speed recording) and also capable of suppressing recrystallization of the melted portion during recording (reducing the cross erase) is desired.
(Film Design of Phase Change Optical Recording Medium)
As explained in "phase change optical recording principle", in the phase change optical recording medium, an amorphous mark is formed, i.e., data is written in a desired portion of a recording film by emission of a laser pulse, and data is erased by crystallization by irradiating an amorphous mark with a low-power laser. In the data write, an amorphous mark is formed by rapidly cooling a portion irradiated with the laser. In the data erase, an amorphous portion is crystallized by slow cooling. If the recording film has a high laser absorbance, operations such as recording and erase can be performed with a low laser power. If this absorbance is low, a high laser power is needed for recording and erase. This absorbance in the recording film is determined by the optical characteristics and thermal characteristics of the individual film materials of the medium formed by a multi-layer film. For example, the arrangement can be changed by selecting film materials equal in absorbance, and it is possible to produce anisotropy in thermo-physical properties between a rapid-cooling structure and slow-cooling structure, or between the longitudinal direction and sectional direction of the film.
That is, film design of the phase change optical recording medium includes optical design and thermal design. The optical design requires the optical characteristics of each thin film. The thermal design requires the thermo-physical properties including, e.g., the melting point, melt latent heat, and crystallization temperature of each thin film. The optical constant of a thin film can be measured by using a device such as an ellipsometer. However, it is impossible to systematically measure the thermo-physical properties of a thin film on the nanometer order while removing the effects of other factors, although several researches suggested that they are different from bulk thermo-physical properties. Therefore, experimental parameters are needed to correct these properties. In particular, there is almost no method of measuring the boundary thermal resistance between thin films on the nanometer order. The inventors made extensive studies on these problems as well, and have established a thermal design method in which the thermo-physical properties of thin films and the boundary thermal resistance between them measured by a highly precise method are taken into consideration by thermal design, thereby completing the invention.
(Interface Layer Materials)
As a known technique which can be another interface layer material having a crystallization promoting function differing from GeN, there is a technique which mixes a carbide or nitride in several oxides such as Ta2O5 to form a sulfur (S)-free protective film material (Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2003-006794). This invention disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2003-006794 has its main purpose to improve the current DVD using a laser diode (LD) having wavelength λ=650 nm. Therefore, the material of Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2003-006794 becomes opaque at wavelength λ=405 nm of the next-generation blue LD. Since the optical loss increases, this material cannot be used in the next-generation, high-density medium. GeN described previously is not also transparent at wavelength λ=405 nm, and increases the optical loss.
As a known technique of an interface layer material containing ZrO2, there is a technique related to (ZrO2)M(Cr2O3)100-M, i.e., a Zr—Cr—O series (Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2003-323743). Cr2O3 mixed in the material series of Jpn. at. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2003-323743 is a material having a very large extinction coefficient in the wavelength region of visible light. Even when the amount of material is small, therefore, a thin film having a relatively large extinction coefficient forms if the material is used as the material mixture contained in the film. As described above, none of the presently known techniques can provide an interface layer material which is optically transparent at a wavelength of 405 nm or less and has the crystallization promoting function.
(Material Series of Recording Film)
A eutectic recording film uses the melt erase mode in the erase process as described earlier, so a cap layer need not have the crystallization promoting function. Therefore, details such as the film material and micro-structure have not been studied. In addition, when the eutectic series is used, it is very difficult to perform so-called land-groove recording by which information is recorded on and played back from both a land (L) and groove (G), since the melt erase mode is used as described above. This makes the eutectic series very disadvantageous in increasing the recording density. By contrast, a so-called pseudo-binary recording film material such as Ge2Sb2Te5 has a performance capable of rapidly changing the phase from an amorphous state to a crystalline state in a solid-phase state (a solid phase erase mode). If the recording film is thin, however, the time needed for crystallization becomes relatively long, so it is indispensable to use an interface layer material having the crystallization promoting function. This can also realize land-groove recording.
That is, the data erase process when the eutectic recording film material is used and that when the pseudo-binary recording film material is used are entirely different as phenomena. Accordingly, characteristics required of a cap layer are different from functions such as the crystallization promoting function required of an interface layer. From the foregoing, it is naturally necessary to select an appropriate film material to provide a suitable interface layer material, but details such as the micro-structure and composition have to be further studied.

Optical recording medium, and information recording/playback apparatus and method using the medium


A semiconductor elements having N-type negative resistance characteristics are connected in series to obtain a series circuit. The two ends of the series circuit serve as drive voltage terminals to which periodic drive voltages are applied. At least one of the semiconductor elements has a control electrode to which a voltage is applied to change the peak current. A connection point between the two semiconductor elements serves as an output terminal.

The present invention relates to a high-speed, multi-functional semiconductor logic circuit device.
As such semiconductor logic circuit devices, various types of devices have been proposed. As a conventional logic circuit expected to perform a high-speed operation, a circuit as in FIG. 18 has been proposed. A similar arrangement is disclosed by McCarthy, "Mos Devices and Circuit Design", John Willey & Sons. The logic circuit shown in FIG. 18 is an inverter constituted by a combination of enhancement and depletion type MOSFETs. In this case, an enhancement type element 50 is used as a driver element, whereas a depletion type element 51 is used as a load element. Assume first that a pulse input is supplied to the input terminal of the driver element 50, and the input level changes from low level to high level. In this case, the driver element 50 is switched from an OFF state to an ON state, and the output voltage changes from high level to low level. With this change in level, the charge accumulated in an output capacitor 52 is extracted by a current flowing in the driver element 50. Therefore, a switching time .tau..sub.on is given by EQU .tau..sub.on =C.sub.out .multidot.VL/(gm.sup.d .multidot.VL)=C.sub.out /gm.sup.d
where C.sub.out is the output capacitance, VL is the change in output voltage, and gm.sup.d is the average transconductance of the driver element.
Assume next that the input level of the driver element 50 changes from high level to low level. Similar to the above case, EQU .tau..sub.off =C.sub.out .multidot.VL/(gm.sup.1 .multidot.VL)=C.sub.out /gm.sup.1
where gm.sup.1 is the average transconductance of the load element 51.
As indicated by the above equations, the switching speed at which low level is switched to high level, or vice versa is equal to the value obtained by dividing the output capacitance C.sub.out by the average transconductance gm.sup.d or gm.sup.1. If the fan-out and the input capacitance of an element are respectively represented by m and C.sub.in, and the wiring capacitance is neglected, the output capacitance is given by EQU C.sub.out =mC.sub.in
Therefore, the switching time of the inverter having such an arrangement is increased in proportion to the fan-out. That is, the operating speed of a conventional logic gate is decreased with an increase in fan-out. The arrangement constituted by MOSFETs has been described above, because the input capacitor and the driving performance for charging it are closely related to each other. The above-described problem equally applies to other circuit arrangements (e.g., a circuit constituted by CMOSs).

Semiconductor logic circuit using two n-type negative resistance devices

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation


A zoom lens system of the present invention comprises, from the object side, a first positive lens unit, a second negative lens unit, a third positive lens unit, a fourth positive lens unit and a fifth negative lens unit, wherein all of the lens units move toward the object during zooming from the shortest focal length condition toward the longest focal length condition, and said zoom lens system meets the following conditions. EQU -0.30<f2/f1<-0.10 (1) EQU 1.25<.beta.5T/.beta.5W<2.00 (2) EQU 0.25<(.beta.5T.multidot..beta.2W)/(.beta.2T.multidot..beta.5W)<0.65 (3) EQU -1.20<f12W/fw<-0.60 (4). where,. f1: focal length of the first lens unit;. f2: focal length of the second lens unit;. fw: shortest focal length of the entire system;. .beta.5W: horizontal magnification of the fifth lens unit in the shortest focal length condition;. .beta.5T: horizontal magnification of the fifth lens unit in the longest focal length condition;. .beta.2W: horizontal magnification of the second lens unit in the shortest focal length condition;. .beta.2T: horizontal magnification of the second lens unit in the longest focal length condition; and. f12W: combined focal lengths of the first lens unit and the second lens unit in the shortest focal length condition.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a zoom lens system, and more particularly to a zoom lens system that is capable of high magnification exceeding seven times.
In recent years, zoom lens systems have become increasingly high power, and various zoom lens systems capable of high magnification (in excess of seven times, for example) have been proposed.
However, if a zoom lens system is made high-power, aberration correction becomes difficult. Consequently, conventional high-power zoom lens systems comprise many lenses in order to properly correct aberration, but this has led to an increase in size.


Provided is a gemstone treated with a cut expressing a reflected image pattern not recognized before, wherein the gemstone includes the crown 100 having the table 110 and plural bezel facets 130, and the pavilion 200 having the culet 210 and plural main facets 220; the girdle 300 is formed between the crown 100 and the pavilion 200; a direction of a horizontal component of an inclination direction of the bezel facet 130 from the table 110 to the girdle 300 is set to be different from a direction of a horizontal component of an inclination direction of the main facet 220 from the culet 210 to the girdle 300; and inclination angles of the bezel facet 130 and the main facet 220 are set so that a light that enters the table 110 is reflected by two of the main facets 220 and emitted from the bezel facet 130.

In the past, a round brilliant cut has been widely known as the cut to maximize a beautiful shine of a gemstone. Especially in a diamond, which is the material having a very high refractive index, when it is treated with the round brilliant cut, almost all of the lights entering the diamond from outside can be reflected internally. Accordingly, it is considered that this can maximize the beautiful shine inherent to the diamond, such as brilliance (white internal reflected light), fire (colored reflected lights such as red and blue), and sparkle (reflected light from surface).
FIGS. 1A-1C illustrate the gemstone treated with a conventional round brilliant cut, wherein FIG. 1A illustrates a top view, FIG. 1B illustrates a bottom view, and FIG. 1C illustrates a side view, of the gemstone respectively. The gemstone treated with this cut includes the crown 100 provided with the table 110 (upper plane), the pavilion 200 provided with the culet 210, and the girdle 300 that is cut to a round (circular) shape between the crown 100 and the pavilion 200.
In general, the culet refers to a small cut surface that is made to avoid a defect in the peak part of the pavilion. In the description including this specification and the claims, the one not having the small cut surface thereby having a sharp pavilion peak part (sharp culet) as illustrated in FIG. 1C is also considered to be included in the culet.
Among the diamonds treated with the conventional round brilliant cut, it has been known that those having an especially superior cut symmetry exhibit an eight arrow-shaped reflected image pattern as illustrated in FIGS. 2A-2B when it is observed from above the diamond (from the side of the crown 100 in FIG. 1A). This reflected image pattern can be visually recognized; but this can be confirmed more clearly by using "gemstone scope" described in Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2, and so forth. The beautiful arrow-shaped having a high symmetry can be visually recognized only in the gemstone having an especially superior cut symmetry. Accordingly, that the beautiful arrow-shaped having a high symmetry can be visually recognized is widely used as the method to demonstrate that this gemstone is of high quality.
On the other hand, the reflected image pattern such as an aforementioned symmetric arrow-shaped is also gaining an attention as a new added value in the gemstone design. The inventor of the present application proposed, in Patent Document 3 filed in the past, various cuts of the gemstone with which the reflected image patterns different from the arrow-shaped can be observed by devising the shape, the disposition, and the like of the main facets formed in the pavilion while cutting with a superior symmetry.


A method and system are described for on-board treatment of an exhaust stream containing CO2 emitted by a hydrocarbon-fueled internal combustion engine (ICE) used to power a vehicle in order to reduce the amount of CO2 discharged into the atmosphere which include:                a. a treatment zone on board the vehicle containing a capture agent that is a liquid, a slurry or a finely divided flowable solid having a predetermined capacity for extracting CO2 from the exhaust stream,                    the treatment zone having an inlet for admitting the exhaust gas stream and an outlet for passage of a treated exhaust stream to contact the capture agent having a reduced CO2 content,            the treatment zone including a heat exchanger with an inlet for receiving the hot exhaust gas stream from the ICE for passage in heat exchange relation with the capture agent to release CO2 and regenerate the capture agent, and an outlet for the cooled exhaust gas stream,            the treatment zone having a CO2 discharge outlet for CO2 released from the regenerated capture agent;                        b. a compression zone in fluid communication with the CO2 discharge outlet from the treatment zone, the compression zone including one or more compressors for reducing the volume of the CO2;        c. a storage zone for receiving the compressed CO2 for temporary storage on board the vehicle;        d. an exhaust gas conduit in fluid communication with the treated exhaust gas stream outlet from the treatment zone; and        e. at least one waste heat recovery zone for recovery of heat energy from the exhaust gas stream, the ICE cooling system and/or directly from the ICE for conversion to electrical or mechanical energy.

The currently accepted thinking is that global warming is due to emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). About a quarter of global human-originated CO2 emissions are currently estimated to come from mobile sources, i.e., automobiles, trucks, buses and trains that are powered by internal combustion engines (ICES). This proportional contribution is likely to grow rapidly in the foreseeable future with the projected surge in automobile and truck ownership in developing countries. At present, the transportation sector is a major market for crude oil, and controlling CO2 emissions is both an environmental responsibility and a desirable goal in order to maintain the viability of the crude oil market in the transportation sector in the face of challenges from alternative technologies, e.g., cars powered by electric motors and storage batteries.
Carbon dioxide management from mobile sources presents many challenges including space and weight limitations, the lack of any economies of scale and the dynamic nature of the operation of the ICEs powering the mobile sources.
Prior art methods for the capture of CO2 from combustion gases have principally focused on stationary sources, such as power plants. Those that address the problem of reducing CO2 emissions from mobile sources employ either combustion using oxygen, provide no means for the regeneration and reuse of the CO2 capture agent, and/or make no use of waste heat recovered from the hot source. Combustion using oxygen requires an oxygen-nitrogen separation step which is more energy-intensive than separating CO2 from the exhaust gases and would be more difficult if attempted on board the vehicle.
The focus of CO2 capture technology has been on stationary or fixed sources. Processes have been developed that use amines and amine functionalized liquids and solutions to absorb CO2 at temperatures ranging from ambient up to about 80° C. At temperatures above 100° C., and particularly in the range of from about 130° C. to 300° C. that are encountered in vehicles powered by an ICE, the amines exhibit low capacity for CO2 adsorption. Thus, the high temperature of the ICE exhaust gas makes direct treatment to remove CO2 with liquid amine solutions impractical.
The capture of CO2 from mobile sources has generally been considered too expensive, since it involves a distributed system with a reverse economy of scale. The solution to the problem has appeared to be impractical due to on-board vehicle space limitations, the additional energy and apparatus requirements and the dynamic nature of the vehicle's operating cycle, e.g., intermittent periods of rapid acceleration and deceleration.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method, a system and an apparatus which address the problems of efficiently and cost-effectively reducing the CO2 emissions from vehicles by temporary on-board storage of the CO2. The capability for mass production of such systems will at least partially off-set other costs associated with the distributed nature of these mobile sources.
As used herein, the term "internal combustion engine," or ICE, includes heat engines in which a carbon-containing fuel is burned to produce power or work and generates waste heat that must be removed or dissipated.
As used herein, the term "mobile source" means any of the wide variety of known conveyances that can be used to transport goods and/or people that are powered by one or more internal combustion engines that produce an exhaust gas stream containing CO2. This includes all types of motor vehicles that travel on land, as well as trains and ships where the exhaust from the ICE is discharged into a containing conduit before it is discharged into the atmosphere.
The term "vehicle" as used herein is to be understood to be as a convenient shorthand and synonymous with "mobile source" and is coextensive with "conveyances", generally, as that term is used above.
As used herein, the terms "CO2 capture agent" and "capture agent" mean an absorbent liquid or a finely divided solid adsorbent material or composition, e.g., a flowable solid adsorbent in powdered form, that has a predictable capacity to absorb or adsorb CO2 reversibly over a significant number of absorption/adsorption and desorption cycles. The powdered solid adsorbent has the ability under appropriate conditions, to be pumped and otherwise transported as if it were a fluid. A flowable solid adsorbent material can be transported by any means known in the art, such as mechanical screw conveyors, pneumatic means, and the like. The terms also mean a flowable slurry of a solid adsorbent material in a liquid, where the liquid optionally is also capable of absorbing CO2 upon contact, or where the slurry forms a new compound, e.g., a hydrate.
As used herein, the term "waste heat" is the heat that a typical engine produces which is contained mainly in the hot exhaust gases (˜300° C.-650° C.) and the hot coolant (˜90° C.-120° C.). Additional heat is emitted and lost by convection and radiation from the engine block and its associated components, and other components through which the exhaust gas passes, including the manifold, pipes, catalytic converter and muffler. This heat energy totals about 60% of the energy that typical hydrocarbon (HC) fuels provide.

Liquid, slurry and flowable powder adsorption/absorption method and system utilizing waste heat for on-board recovery and storage of CO


A method of utilizing the output of a first pulse processor, such as processor designed for use with an SDD, to generate the input signal expected by the second pulse processor, such as an existing processor not designed for use with an SDD. In one embodiment, piled-up pulses which would not be detected as such by the second pulse processor are omitted from the generated input signal. The method generates an output (which then serves as the input signal for the second pulse processor) of the same general form as the ramp signal from a detector with a pulsed-reset preamplifier, but which does not have the same noise characteristics. In addition, the method may alter the timing between the reconstructed steps in the ramp to increase the maximum throughput of the second pulse processor beyond what is normally possible with a direct connection to the associated detector.

Energy-dispersive radiation spectrometry systems, such as, without limitation, X-ray spectrometry systems or gamma-ray spectrometry systems, are used for detecting, measuring and analyzing radiation emissions, such as X-ray emissions or gamma-ray emissions, from, for example, a scanning electron microscope (SEM). A typical energy-dispersive radiation spectrometry system includes the following four main components: (1) a detector, (2) a pre-amplifier, (3) a pulse processor, and (4) a computer-based analyzer. For convenience only, and not for purposes of limitation, the following description will relate to X-ray spectrometry systems and photons in the form of X-rays (as compared to, for example, photons in the form of gamma-rays that are detected in a gamma-ray spectrometry system).
The detector, which usually takes the form of a semiconductor sensor of some type, converts an incoming X-ray into a very small current pulse, typically on the order of tens of thousands of electrons, with a duration of about tens to a few hundreds of nanoseconds. The magnitude of each of the current pulses is proportional to the energy of the X-ray.
The pre-amplifier amplifies the current pulse output by the detector and typically converts it into a voltage signal in the range of tenths of millivolts up to a few hundreds of millivolts. There are two main types of preamplifiers: "tail pulse" or RC-coupled preamplifiers, and pulsed-reset preamplifiers. The subject matter described elsewhere herein applies to both types of preamplifiers. However, for convenience, the subject matter is described with reference to the pulsed-reset type.
In a pulsed-reset type of preamplifier, the charge generated in the sensor is integrated in a feedback capacitor such that the resulting voltage increases in steps of varying heights and intervals, until it reaches an upper limit. When that limit is reached, a "reset" pulse is applied which drains the accumulated charge from the feedback capacitor, restoring the preamplifier to near its minimum output voltage in a short time, typically a few microseconds. Then, charge due to the interaction of X-rays with the detector accumulates on the feedback capacitor again, and the cycle repeats. The output signal of a pulsed-reset preamplifier is known in the art as a "ramp", due to its characteristic when observed with an oscilloscope of having a slow, irregular rise followed by a rapid return to its lower limit. In contrast, tail-pulse preamplifiers act as high-pass filters on the voltage step signal output by the detector, with an exponential return to baseline whose time constant is long compared to the charge integration time in a feedback capacitor of the preamplifier.
The pulse processor receives the pre-amplifier signal and generates a numeric representation of the X-ray's energy through an integration process. In older energy-dispersive radiation spectrometry systems, the pulse processor included two separate components, namely a "shaping amplifier" and an analog to digital converter. Modern energy-dispersive radiation spectrometry systems, on the other hand, typically combine these functions, with the newest designs digitizing the preamplifier signal directly and carrying out all pulse detection and filtering functions using digital signal processing.
The computer-based analyzer accumulates the X-ray energies output by the pulse processor into a spectrum or plot of the number of X-rays detected against their energies. The spectrum is divided into a somewhat arbitrary number of small ranges called "channels" or "bins." In older systems, a hardware component called a multi-channel analyzer (MCA) did the accumulation of X-rays into spectrum channels and a computer read out the summed result. In modern systems, the MCA function is handled in software, either by the computer or even within the pulse processor.
The job of the pulse processor is made more complex by several factors. For example, electronic noise is superimposed on the underlying signal received from the preamplifier. For X-rays that are near the lowest detectable energy level, the preamplifier output step height may be significantly smaller than the peak-to-peak excursions of the electronic noise. In such as case, the X-ray can only be detected by filtering the signal for a relatively long period of time before and after the step, to average away the contribution of the noise. The amount of such noise averaging is a fundamental operating parameter of all pulse processors. This averaging time is variously referred to in the art as "shaping time" or "peaking time."
Resolution of detectors for X-ray microanalysis is customarily reported as the full width in electron volts (eV) at half the maximum peak height (FWHM) of the Mn K-alpha emission line. Good quality lithium drifted silicon (Si(Li)) detectors have an optimum peaking time of up to 80-120 microseconds (μS) achieving a resolution under 130 eV with a maximum counting rate of around 1-2 kilocounts/sec (kcps), and a usable minimum peaking time around 2 μS at a resolution of perhaps 240 eV with a maximum counting rate around 50 kcps. The majority of X-ray microanalyzers currently installed on scanning electron microscopes (SEM) use Si(Li) detectors.
Recently, a new generation of X-ray sensors known as silicon drift detectors (SDDs) has come on the market, with very different characteristics in several respects. In SDDs, the device capacitance is several orders of magnitude lower than in Si(Li) detectors because the electrons generated when an X-ray strikes the sensor are guided by the internal bias field to a small-spot anode. As a result, the rise time of the preamplifier output signal is up to four or five times shorter than for Si(Li) detectors, and the peaking time for equivalent energy resolution is enormously reduced, from 80-100+ μS down to perhaps 2-4 μS. Also, an SDD operates at a higher temperature, and therefore higher leakage current, than a Si(Li) detector. Leakage current noise and various series and parallel noise components cause the measured resolution for an SDD as a function of peaking time to go through an optimum, then begin to become worse as the peaking time is increased beyond the optimum.
Because the peaking time in SDDs is reduced by a factor of about 25-40, the potential maximum counting rates are correspondingly higher. The superior rise time of SDDs allows for better correction at these high count rates of an error known in the art as "pulse pile-up". This occurs when two X-rays arrive at the detector so close in time that they cannot be distinguished from a single X-ray at the sum of their energies. Pulse processors specifically designed to take advantage of the characteristics of SDD detectors to improve pile-up detection are just now coming on the market.
Existing X-ray spectrometry systems, and in particular the pulse processors thereof, were designed around the characteristics of the Si(Li) detector which has been in use for about 40 years. As a result, existing pulse processors are not well suited to handle the output of SDDs (and associated preamplifiers). Specifically, in some cases, the existing pulse processor cannot be set to a sufficiently short peaking time to give optimum resolution from an SDD detector. The noise of a silicon detector becomes worse if the peaking time is longer than optimum, due to shaping-time-dependent noise as described above. This is rarely an issue with Si(Li) detectors, whose optimum shaping time is very long, but can become a problem with SDDs. A commercial example of a pulse processor which cannot be configured optimally for an SDD is the Gresham Titan model analog processor, which only has shaping time settings of 10 μS and 40 μS, while the optimum for an SDD is typically around 2-4 μS.
With the benefits of SDDs described above, users of such systems will likely want to replace the Si(Li) detectors (and associated preamplifiers) with SDDs (and associated preamplifiers). Because of the limitations of existing pulse processors described above, users of existing X-ray spectrometry systems wishing to switch to SDDs will also need to employ a new pulse processor designed to function with SDDs. From the user's point of view, it is desirable to not have to modify the existing X-ray spectrometry software to support the new pulse processor directly for a number of reasons. First, many of these existing systems are no longer well supported by the original manufacturers, due to a series of mergers and acquisitions over the last 10-15 years, or would require costly purchase of software upgrades. In addition, purchase of an entire new spectrometry system for the SDD would be significantly more expensive than purchasing only the SDD and a new pulse processor. Finally, it would also require the user to learn an entire new suite of spectrometry software.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,369,393 to Jordanov uses (possibly replicated) digital samples which have noise characteristics determined by the first stage of the preamplifier to fill in the required time separation between events before pulse shaping. The subject mater described herein contemplates improving performance by pulse shaping in one pulse processor to measure the X-ray energies, and then separating edges reconstructed from those energies by a signal with much lower noise than the first preamplifier stage for processing by a second pulse processor.

Adapting a high-performance pulse processor to an existing spectrometry system


Provided is an image reader, including a reading unit that reads an image of a read body, an optical unit that forms the image of the read body on the reading unit, a filter unit that is disposed in the optical unit and eliminates infrared light by an interference film, a calculating unit that calculates a coefficient matrix during a color correction based on a reading position of the reading unit and spectral field angle characteristics of the filter unit in the reading position, and a correction unit that performs the color correction with respect to the image read by the reading unit using the coefficient matrix.

(i) Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image reader, and a non-transitory computer readable medium storing image reading program.
(ii) Related Art
In general, in an image reader for reading a color image, a read body is irradiated with light, and reflected light or transmitted light is received by a light receiving element and is output as a signal of each color component. On an optical path to the light receiving element from the read body, an optical system such as a lens which forms an image on the light receiving element is disposed.
Light receiving characteristics of the light receiving element receives light of up to a wavelength longer than a wavelength band at the time of being observed by naked eyes, and when light of a wavelength which is invisible for the naked eyes is received and a signal is output, a color which is visible for the naked eyes and a color which is indicated by the signal output from the light receiving element are separated from each other. For example, spectral characteristics of a used light source are generated in various cases such as a case where light is emitted up to a wavelength band which is invisible for the naked eyes, or a case where a colorant used in an image forming apparatus absorbs light in a wavelength band which is visible for the naked eyes but reflects light in the wavelength band which is not visible for the naked eyes. In addition, spectral transmission characteristics of a blue (B) color and a green (G) color among color filters for performing a three-color separation on the light receiving element have characteristics of transmitting a 700 nm or greater infrared region, and thus there may be turbidity in a read color.
In a case of the filter for eliminating the infrared light by the interference film, the spectral characteristics are changed according to an incident angle. Then, light passing through an optical axis, and light passing through a position separated from the optical axis have different spectral characteristics, and thus there is a difference in the read color. In addition, recently, a white color light-emitting diode (hereinafter, referred to as a "white color LED") is used as the light source. Emitted light of the white color LED has spectral characteristics different from the xenon lamp, and a change of the spectral characteristics according to the incident angle may affect the read color.
In addition, there is a trend in which a spectral frequency band of an R component extends to a short wavelength side according to needs for high sensitivity of the light receiving element. Accordingly, a half value wavelength of the R component is shorter than a half value wavelength of a red colorant, and for example, there is a trend in which a spectral distribution of the R component at the time of reading an achromatic color and a spectral distribution of the R component at the time of reading a red color are separated from each other.
FIGS. 5A and 5B are explanatory views of an example of the spectral distributions of the R component at the time of reading the achromatic color and the red color. In FIG. 5A, as the spectral distribution of the R component at the time of reading the achromatic color, a solid line indicates the spectral distribution in the optical axis, and a broken line indicates the spectral distribution in the position separated from the optical axis. In addition, in FIG. 5B, as the spectral distribution of the R component at the time of reading the red color, a solid line indicates the spectral distribution in the optical axis, and a broken line indicates the spectral distribution in the position separated from the optical axis. In any case, a portion which is indicated by a hatched line is a portion in which the spectral characteristics are changed according to the incident angle by the filter for eliminating the infrared light by the interference film. An output value of a signal of the R component corresponds to an area of the spectral distribution thereof.
In general, a shading correction for correcting a limb darkening of the lens or the like is performed based on an output value of each color component at the time of reading the achromatic color. By an output value W (an area of the spectral distribution) at the time of reading the achromatic color illustrated in FIG. 5A, an output value R (an area of the spectral distribution) at the time of reading the red color illustrated in FIG. 5B is normalized, and R/W is considered. An output value of the R component at the time of reading the achromatic color in the optical axis is set to Wc, an output value of the R component at the time of reading the red color is set to Rc, and Rc/Wc is considered as a normalized value. In addition, an output value of the R component at the time of reading the achromatic color in the position separated from the optical axis is set to Wt, an output value of the R component at the time of reading the red color is set to Rt, and Rt/ Wt is considered as a normalized value. Here, when a change of the value according to a change of the spectral characteristics of the filter which is indicated by the hatched line in FIGS. 5A and 5B is set to S1, and it is assumed that the changed values S1 at the time of reading the achromatic color and at the time of reading the red color are identical to each other, Wt may be approximated by (Wc−S1), and Rt may be approximated by (Rc−S1). Here, when Rc/Wc and (Rc−S1)/(Wc−S1) are compared to each other, an influence of the changed value S1 decreases as a value of a fraction thereof becomes closer to 1, but a difference between the values of both of the fractions according to the changed value S1 increases as the value of the fraction becomes smaller. As described above, the value of the fraction decreases along with the increasing spectral sensitivity width of the light receiving element, and thus the influence according to the change of the spectral characteristics of the filter appears. A decrease in Rc/Wc indicates a decrease in color saturation of the read value of the red color. Furthermore, a color turbidity correction amplifies the difference of color saturation, and thus a read color saturation characteristic difference according to the incident angle is emphasized.