A method for inputting characters on a terminal, which includes displaying virtual character sets on a display screen of the terminal, in which each of the virtual character sets includes a plurality of virtual characters corresponding to physical keys included on a keypad of the terminal. The method also includes selecting a particular virtual character set among the displayed virtual character sets, and selecting a particular virtual character from the selected virtual character set.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for inputting character or text information on a terminal, and more particularly for providing virtual character sets including a plurality of virtual characters on a display of a terminal in which the plurality of virtual characters may be selected by selecting a corresponding physical key on the terminal.
2. Description of the Background Art
To create a text message on a mobile terminal, a user inputs information via an input unit included with the mobile terminal. The input unit generally includes a reduced number of keys for inputting the text message compared to the amount of keys used on a computer, for example.
In more detail, FIG. 1 is an overview illustrating a typical mobile communication terminal. As shown, the mobile terminal includes a keypad with a set of twelve key buttons in addition to cursor keys used to move a cursor on the display. Further, the twelve key buttons are arranged in four rows and three columns, and each key button is assigned a different character or numeral. For example, the numerals 0 to 9 and the special characters "*" and "#" are assigned to the key buttons. Thus, the user can enter telephone numbers by selecting the appropriate key buttons. In addition, the user can also write a text message by selecting the appropriate text message menu option and then selecting the different key buttons to create the text message.
For example, to create the word "APPLE" as shown on the display in FIG. 1, the user would select the key button 2 (to select the letter A); the key button 7 (to select the letter P); the cursor key to indicate a next letter was to be selected; the key button 7 (to again select the letter P); the key button 5 three times (to select the letter L); and the key button 3 two times (to select the letter E).
Thus, the user would have to select a total of nine key buttons to enter the word "APPLE." That is, because the key buttons 1-9 are assigned three alphabet characters, the user has to repeatedly press the same key button to input one of the particularly desired characters. Therefore, it takes a long time to create a relatively long text message. This is inconvenient for the user. In addition, because the number of key buttons is limited to twelve, the number of available characters is also limited.

Character input apparatus and method for mobile communications terminal


A data storage connecting device includes a circuit board, a first connector, a second connector and a third connector. The circuit board has a first connecting end and a second connecting end. The first connector and a second connector are both disposed on the first connecting end and respectively at two sides of a long axis of the circuit board, a location of the second connector connecting with a data storage device being opposite to that of the first connector connecting with another data storage device. The third connector is disposed on the second connecting end for transmitting data from two data storage devices connected to the first connector and the second connector, respectively, via the circuit to a server device, or vice versa.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a data storage connecting device, and more particularly to a connecting device capable of connecting multiple data storage devices to a server system for data transmitting purpose.
2. Description of Related Art
Nowadays, the high-performance, high-efficiency server technology plays a tremendous role in the Network or Cloud Computing industry. Among other things, the quality, quantity, and speed of data access become the most important issue to determine the performance of any server or cloud technology. The more hard drives or storage device can be accessed, the more powerful the server system could be. Generally speaking, the server device or system is a relay station for transmitting or accessing data in the network, so the configuration of the server device need to be well designed, and the following factors listed below indicates certain issue currently be faced:
(1) The traditional configuration of server system requires a hard drive electrically connecting to a connecting board or a data bus cable to the main motherboard. Under this one to one connection (one hard drive to one connector/cable), multiple hard drives or storage devices will be required to correspond to multiple connecting boards or data bus cables, in which it will occupy a significant amount of space in the server system. Further the component cost will be higher due to such redundant connecting boards or data bus cables.
(2) In the prior art, the transmitting distance may vary due to the displacement between multiple hard drive or storage devices with corresponding connecting boards or bus cables. The discrepancy of transmitting always causes the trouble of signal synchronization, and even signal lost issue if some signals travel for long distance.
(3) As aforesaid, the volume for multiples connecting boards or data bus cables in a server system will further cause the space issue as well. In the event the server design requires a compact space without changing the original configuration, a room for dissipating heat has to be reduced, and the problem of heat-dissipation will occur inevitably. As the server system works in high-speed calculation process with bad heat-dissipation efficiency, the system crash is very possibly to happen, and in any event, may cause the entire network or cloud connection shut down.
Accordingly, how to develop a data storage connecting device in order to solve the above problems is an important issue to the people skilled in the art.


An electronic circuit board assembly and method that enable close stacking and cooling of closely positioned pluralities of similar electronic I/O or memory boards and requiring high speed communication between the boards, such as high speed switching amongst the I/O terminals of the boards or CPU processing, and having an upper and a lower set of similar spaced groups of closely spaced vertical boards; powering terminals aligned along the upper edges of the upper set of boards, and along the lower edges of the lower set of boards, and terminals for connection with a switching fabric disposed along the lower edges of the upper set of boards and the upper edges of the lower set of boards; power backing planes mounted to power and support the lateral edges of the respective sets of groups of boards and extending across the upper and lower sections of the frame; and a plurality of parallel closely spaced vertical switching fabric boards comprising switching fabric (or CPU processing boards) and centrally mounted in the central space of the frame between the groups of boards of the upper and lower sets of boards, and with a backing plane therefor extending intermediately of the frame between the upper and lower section backing plates and isolatively separate therefrom to provide a no-power quiescent zone for the switching fabric (or CPU) boards.

The electronic circuit board assembly mounting art is replete with varied mechanical layouts and techniques for permitting the insertion or plug-in and removal of pluralities of stacks of electronic boards or cards within confined frames, cages and housings.
With the use of large pluralities or banks of boards such as memory, CPU or I/O boards in computer systems, or line interface boards, switch fabrics, and control processors in networking equipment, problems attendant upon the cooling of proximally mounted boards requiring large amounts of power have arisen, along with the requirement for benign signaling environments for very high speed, low voltage signals. These very high-speed circuits, moreover, can generate strong electromagnetic radiation fields that must also be contained with the enclosure system. As more boards are required, they must be mounted closer and closer together, greatly increasing the airflow impedance and decreasing the allowable maximum component height on each board. This creates difficult cooling problems such as hot spots and dead zones on the boards, and this is additionally complicated by the increased power requirement for today's high-speed integrated circuits. These high-power, high-speed circuits require large amounts of airflow volume and very small enclosure openings to contain electromagnetic radiation; and these two requirements, unfortunately, are diametrically opposed.
Most current computers and networking equipment are constrained to be packaged in fixed width cabinets, such as 19-inch EIA racks. Designers have thus been forced to find ways of packaging more and more boards into such a fixed width chassis. One obvious method is to decrease the space between boards hence increasing the number of vertical boards in a chassis. Beyond sixteen boards, however, this become extremely difficult as the pitch of the boards falls below 1-inch, leaving little height on boards for taller components (and heat sinks) and dramatically increasing the airflow impedance, thereby requiring very powerful blower systems.
Another approach currently being used is to mount some boards vertically and others horizontally, either above or below the vertical boards. While many networking vendors are employing this approach, it has serious drawbacks. Such an approach, indeed, requires cooling air to be forced in two directions, vertically and horizontally within the chassis or housing, with the horizontal air intake and exhaust developing convection effects, and deleteriously exhausting air from the sides into adjacent equipments as in central offices and the like; and with side-exhausted air becoming pulled in by the blowers or fans providing the vertical cooling air for the vertical boards. When air is forced to turn corners or bend, however, energy is wasted and thermal performance is sacrificed. Further drawbacks of this approach revolve around the distance between the horizontal boards and the vertical boards. To provide an adequate air intake plenum, this space should be as large as possible. The larger the space between the boards, however, the greater the distance of the electrical path. Since many vendors are installing their switch fabric boards horizontally, this increases the distance between the I/O boards and the switch fabric.
Through the novel mounting approach of the present invention, on the other hand, all boards may be vertically mounted and with high densities in standard width enclosures; all airflow is strictly vertical, a low impedance airflow path is maintained; and a power distribution scheme is used to separate high current noisy supply voltages from low voltage sensitive interface logic, and with tight electromagnetic radiation containment.

Electronic circuit board assembly and method of closely stacking boards and cooling the same


A thin gooseneck assembly is provided for use in the chassis of a semi-trailer intended for hauling freight containers. The gooseneck assembly is formed by a fabricated tube extending longitudinally to define substantially the entire length of the gooseneck. The fabricated tube includes a lower plate having a pair of upstanding side defining flanges. A rearward portion of the lower plate includes a pair of longitudinal slots for receiving in fixed relation the web of a longitudinal beam which extends from the gooseneck to the rearward end of the semi-trailer. The top flange of each longitudinal beam is fixed to an upper surface of the lower plate so that a lower surface of each top flange is in surface-to-surface contact with the lower plate upper surface. An upper plate is positioned parallel to the lower plate and fixed to upper portions of the side-defining flanges. A kingpin for coupling the chassis to a tractor fifth wheel projects downward through the lower plate of the fabricated tube. A rearward margin of the upper plate of the gooseneck assembly includes a downwardly inclined portion joining the upper plate to an upper surface of the top flanges of the longitudinal beams.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to land vehicles having a frame or chassis intended to carry containers of standardized dimension used in multi-mode transportation of freight. The invention particularly relates to such land vehicles having a thin gooseneck assembly in the chassis to permit containers of greater height with correspondingly greater cargo capacity to be carried.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of containers of standardized dimension in multi-mode transportation of freight is becoming increasingly common. The freight containers intended to be carried by the chassis of the present invention are generally constructed in certain standardized incremental lengths. The containers additionally are adapted for use on rail cars and particularly on board ship in a stacked arrangement as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,646,609. Such containers are constructed such that the total gross weight of the container is adapted to be supported by the tunnel area and by four steel castings generally located on the four outer most lower corners of the container.
A trailer chassis carrying such a container must therefore provide support for the tunnel area of the container and at the four support castings locations. The trailer chassis usually includes the conventional sort of container locks at the casting support locations. Since the gross weight of the container is carried by tunnel area as well as the four outer most corners of the chassis, this load supporting arrangement puts severe structural demands on the underlying chassis construction. To maximize the load carrying capacity of the chassis, it is desirable to make the chassis as light as possible thereby permitting a greater fraction of the total gross weight to be in the freight carried within the container. An increase in cargo capacity of the container can be achieved by maximizing its interior dimensions while maintaining the exterior dimensions of the container within specified limits. Containers of greater interior height with correspondingly increased cargo capacity can be achieved by diminishing the thickness of the floor of the container. The thinner floor is not compatible with the use of a standard gooseneck assembly in the chassis. Thus an object of the present invention is to construct a chassis which allows containers of greater height with correspondingly increased cargo capacity to be carried than would be achievable with a standard and conventional gooseneck.


A device (15) for the application of pesticides to animals as they feed and that accommodates wildlife of all sizes, poses no threat of harm to the animals, and maximizes the per capita application of pesticide. Whole kernel corn (or other feed) placed in a feed bin (30) is dispensed into a trough/receptacle (20) through an opening at the bottom of the bin. The trough/receptacle (20) is surrounded by pesticide applicators (40) such that as an animal feeds, some part of its head, neck and/or ears will contact one or more of the applicators. The applicators (40) are flexible and rotatable, so that animals attracted to the apparatus to feed are subjected to the application of a pesticide upon their head, neck, ears, and/or, where applicable, antlers or horns, the flexible and rotatable applicators (40) maximizing pesticide application with minimal stress to both the animal and device. The device employs a modular molded polyethylene design that is durable, economical, mass-producible, lightweight, and can be shipped for user-assembly, thereby reducing shipping and manufacturing costs.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices utilized to control the spread of ectoparasite-borne diseases and, more particularly, to an improved apparatus for feeding and applying pesticides onto animals, particularly wildlife such as deer.
2. Description of the Background
A variety of diseases are transmitted to humans and animals by ectoparasites such as ticks. Certain species of wildlife, such as white-tailed deer, propagate and harbor large populations of ectoparasites in direct proximity to areas populated by humans and their domesticated pets. An effective strategy for the prevention of disease transmission through the control of ectoparasites includes the pesticidal treatment of such wildlife found in and around human-populated areas. Unfortunately, direct treatment can be challenging, especially with species that are not easily captured, restrained or otherwise handled directly. Thus, access to wildlife in order to control ectoparasites remains a challenging problem,
There have been prior efforts to develop devices that passively (and surreptitiously) apply pesticides to wildlife. One noteworthy example by a subset of the present inventors is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,983 to Pound et al. As shown in FIG. 1, the Pound et al. '983 patent discloses an apparatus for feeding and applying pesticides onto animals, particularly wildlife such as deer. This device includes a feed supply bin 20 that spills feed into either side of an open-topped receptacle 10. A pair of spaced apart vertical support members 30 carry pesticide applicators 31 positioned near the sides of the receptacle 10. Pesticide applicators 31 are positioned on each of the support members 30, and are adapted to apply pesticide onto an animal upon contact therewith. Pesticide is automatically supplied, for example, from pesticide reservoirs 50 at the lower end of each applicator 31 that wick pesticide into the absorbent material of the applicator. While the concept of the Pound et al. '983 device is excellent, the structural features leave room for improvement both functionally and to achieve manufacturing economy. For example, the vertical support members 30 in the aforementioned apparatus are rigid and may obstruct (or certainly do not adapt to) wildlife as they crane their heads and/or necks to feed and, therefore, may not apply adequate pesticide. Moreover, the design suggested by Pound et al. '983 was intended for sheet metal construction, thereby resulting in sharp edges that might cut the animals and susceptibility to oxidation. In addition, the entire product had to be fully assembled at the factory and shipped as a unit. This was very heavy and expensive. It has been found that a more economical modular design more suited for molded construction allows ready solutions to the foregoing problems (the Pound '983 design is not well-suited for molding). A modular molded product is comparatively lightweight, and the components can be shipped for user-assembly, thereby saving significant shipping and manufacturing costs. Therefore, there remains a need for a like device possessing an improved means for accommodating wildlife of all sizes (inclusive of all species of deer, cattle, antelope, elk, etc.), and which is formed by a simple, scalable, durable and economically mass-producible design which can be manufactured wholly or partly by molding in order to provide for more widespread use.

Apparatus for use in controlling the spread of ectoparasite-borne diseases


An animal identification and security system and method assigns an identifying code uniquely associated with each system member and each animal owned by the member. An identification code imprinted on a marker attached to the animal includes information uniquely identifying the animal's owner including a two letter abbreviation of the state of residence, a numerical identifier of the county of residence, and an assigned number designating the owner's ranch/farm within the indicated county. The identification code further includes a letter designation of the type of animal and the individual animal's number within the owner's herd/flock, as well as a two letter designation of the animal's country of origin. The identifying codes are maintained in a computerized system at a central location for dissemination on a global information network for facilitating the return of lost or stolen animals to the rightful owner and to indicate the origin of all registered animals.

A need exists for identifying and tracking domesticated animals such as used in commercial businesses such as those involving dairy and beef cattle, sheep, hogs, horses, goats, llamas, birds, etc. Marking personal property such as tools and machines essential to the operation of a business is common. However, there is currently no available system for identifying which animals belong to a particular owner and the location of that owner. This information would be helpful in the recovery of lost or stolen animals to return the missing animals to their rightful owner, as well as for identifying the owner or source of animals having a dangerous disease which may threaten humans or other animals. The need for this type of system as a high priority became clear with the recent "mad cow" disease threat in the beef industry. Information as to the source and history of a diseased animal could be vitally important in locating and identifying the origin of a dangerous and possibly economically devastating animal disease, as well as for limiting exposure of humans and other animals which might be potentially affected by the disease. This important information is currently not available to any government or regulatory body for use in preventing or combating a dangerous animal epidemic. In addition, a centralized animal identification and security system would facilitate the return of lost/stolen animals to their rightful owner as well as the transfer of ownership of animals by using a single database which is easily updated and universally accessible to provide realtime animal ownership information.
The present invention addresses the aforementioned limitations of the prior art by providing an animal identification and security system and method which assigns an identifying code uniquely associated with each animal owner member as well as each individual animal owned by the member. This identification and security system and method is particularly adapted for use with commercial animals used in the conduct of a business such as cattle, hogs, sheep, horses, etc. The animal identification and security system provides for the centralized recording and storage of ownership information relating to animals as well as to the permanent marking of ownership indicia on each animal. Ownership indicia includes information relating to the state and county of residence or location of the animal owner and the owner's ranch or farm, as well as the particular type of animal, the specific animal in each owner's herd/flock, and the country of origin of each animal.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Animal identification and security system


Systems and methodologies that provide for multi-parameter sensing via micro fabricated sensing structures operatively connected to oscillators, each micro-fabricated sensing structure in part defines a frequency of a respective associated oscillator. Output from such oscillators can be combined together, and then AC coupled with an incoming DC voltage that feeds the oscillators. The wiring arrangement includes two conducting paths/wires that carry a direct current to the oscillators as well as outputting the combined signal to external measurement devices. In addition, arrangements for pressure sensors are provided that mitigate errors from temperature variations and the induced stress/strains.

Sensors are typically employed in a wide array of industrial applications for the measurement of various physical parameters, e.g. pressure and temperature. Such sensors often rely on variance of a physical property that is measured by a sensing element, and then correlated to a value of the desired parameter by measurement or analyzer units. For example, pressure and temperature sensors often rely on the transmission of strain from an elastic structure (e.g., a diaphragm, bellows, and the like) to the sensing element.
For such sensors, errors in measurement may occur if properties other than those intended influence the measured properties. For example, temperature stresses/strains induced in the diaphragm of a pressure sensor from an attachment surface can adversely affect accuracy of the pressure measured with such sensor. Likewise, as a result of the mismatch created by the differences in the coefficients of thermal expansion for the sensor and its packaging, undesirable thermo-mechanical stresses can also be induced on the sensor element. As such, packaging components having material properties different than the sensors that they carry can also affect measurement reliability.
Moreover, in general the long term stability of the sensor attachment to the associated structure is also important, since attachment of a typical sensing element to another structure with high temperature variation can in general contribute to a large source of error, when the attachment is not highly stable. Accordingly, a major source of such long term sensor instability can be effect of other undesired parameters, such as temperature changes and the ensuing stress/strain on the sensing element from sources other than those being measured. Such can typically result in a permanent shift or drift error in the sensor signal output, and create inaccurate measurements.
At the same time, typical electronics and their associated sensitive devices cannot be placed in close proximity to the harsh environments, wherein the required parameters are actually acquired—(e.g., high temperature, pressure that exist within an engine, turbine and the like)—since exposure to such harsh environment can prevent correct operation or cause permanent damage of electronic circuitry. Accordingly, wiring arrangements can in general be required to transfer a signal resulting from measurements in the "Hot Zone", to an analyzer device placed in normal room temperature or a "Cold Zone". Such wirings can add to complexities of a sensing system and at the same time increase costs associated with installations, as well as interfacing costs and interconnect procedures with other devices.
Therefore, there is a need to overcome the aforementioned exemplary deficiencies associated with conventional systems and devices.


A reconfigurable modular microfluidic system for preparation of a biological sample including a series of reconfigurable modules for automated sample preparation adapted to selectively include a) a microfluidic acoustic focusing filter module, b) a dielectrophoresis bacteria filter module, c) a dielectrophoresis virus filter module, d) an isotachophoresis nucleic acid filter module, e) a lyses module, and f) an isotachophoresis-based nucleic acid filter.

1. Field of Endeavor
The present invention relates to sample preparation and more particularly to a modular microfluidic system for biological sample preparation.
2. State of Technology
Nearly all biological assays require front end sample preparation to process a complex sample such as blood, saliva, or urine and extract the biological material of interest. Benchtop techniques, such as membrane filtration, centrifugation, and chemical methods, have demonstrated preparation of biological materials from a wide range of complex fluids. Robust, automated sample preparation, however, remains an open challenge. The automated sample preparation system of the present invention will perform the critical step of preparing complex samples from environmental aerosol collectors for whole bacteria, intact virus, RNA, DNA, and protein testing by a variety of downstream assays. The automated sample preparation system of the present invention goes beyond solid-phase extraction methods and offers distinct advantages over traditional approaches including: 1) significant reductions in genomic and protein background concentrations via bioparticle fractionation; 2) reagentless processing, requiring only simple, stable buffers; 3) compatibility with a large range of input sample solution properties; 4) high recovery efficiency due to low-surface area; 5) high-throughput (order 100 μL/min) with the ability to handle a large range of volumes (10 μL to >1 mL); and 6) straight-forward integration into a small, automated, fieldable system.

Modular microfluidic system for biological sample preparation

Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC


A wood or engineered wood structural panel, such as, but not limited to, OSB (“oriented strand board”) or plywood, that is both fire-resistant and water resistant. The panel is factory-coated with a product that provides fire resistance. The treatment gives it a Fire-Resistant (FR) performance (for use in a one- or two-hour rated assembly). The panel also is overlaid or coated in a factory setting with a weather/water resistive barrier (WRB). The structural panel thus combines a fire-resistant structural sheathing and WRB product in one integrated panel produced at a factory prior for installation at a job site.

Engineered wood is generally formed from lignocellulosic strands, wafers or particles that are mixed with adhesives and bonded together in a high temperature press (i.e., under heat and pressure). Oriented-strand board ("OSB") is a form of multi-layer engineered wood composite product formed of lignocellulosic strands or wafers. The strands in each layer are positioned relative to each other with their lengths in substantially parallel orientation, and with adjacent layers generally have a different orientation. For example, a three-layer OSB panel is formed by forming a lower mat of oriented strands, laying a core mat of oriented strands on top of the lower mat, and then laying an upper mat of oriented strands on top of the core mat. An overlay may be added on top of the upper layer. The stacked, unconsolidated mats are then inserted to a multi-layer press and subjected to high pressure and heat sufficient to form an integrated product. Oriented, multilayer wood strand boards of the above-described type, and examples of processes for pressing and production thereof, are described in detail in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,164,511, 4,364,984, 5,435,976, 5,470,631, 5,525,394, 5,718,786, and 6,461,743, all of which are incorporated herein in their entireties by specific reference for all purposes.
Building wall and roof assemblies typically are constructed by attaching several panels of the above described type as to an underlying supporting structure frame as "sheathing." These sheathing panels are often placed in a pattern with the edge of each panel contacting adjacent panels, thereby forming a substantially continuous flat surface. In certain types of construction, the panels (and other construction materials) may be required under applicable building codes to meet certain fire resistance or water resistance requirements.
For certain applications and/or locations, panels or panel assemblies are required to meet certain fire resistance ratings under applicable codes (i.e., Fire-Rated sheathing). Fire ratings indicate that the panel assembly is built to withstand the heat from a fire for a certain period of time before failing. Typical fire ratings are referred to as one- and two-hour ratings. According to the American Standards for Testing Materials (ASTM), for example, a one-hour rating indicates that a wall constructed in a manner similar to the one tested will contain flames and high temperatures, and support its full load for at least one hour after the fire begins. Thus, for example, a Fire-Rated OSB sheathing can be used as a component in a 1-hour or 2-hour UL-listed (Underwriter Laboratories) fire-rated wall assembly. An OSB panel typically has a class C flame spread rating. Non-limiting examples of systems and methods for the coating of a fire-resistant material on a substrate are provided in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,595,092 and 7,921,800, which are incorporated herein in their entireties by specific reference for all purposes.
Sheathing panels of this type also are often used in construction as part of a structure, and thus are frequently exposed to adverse weather conditions, including rain and other forms of water or moisture. In prior art applications, a fire-resistant panel is installed as sheathing at a job or construction site. After installation, a code-approved water resistant barrier (WRB) system or material is applied. Examples of these WRB systems include housewrap (e.g. Tyvek®, E. I. Du Pont De Nemours And Company, Wilmington, Del.; Typar®, Fiberweb, Inc., Old Hickory, Tenn.), peel-and-stick membranes, or a WRB fluid or liquid applied to the installed panel. However, these systems all rely upon skilled labor for installation at the job. In addition, many of the systems cannot be installed during inclement weather, and require the installed sheathing to be free of defects and provide a clean surface free of debris in order to achieve proper adhesion between the panel and the WRB. As a result, all of these system can be problematic to install on a job site, and often result in improper installation causing failures in the building "envelope," leading to problems such as moisture instruction or mold or mildew growth.
Accordingly, what is needed is a fire-resistant panel with a WRB overlay that avoids the above problems.

Fire-rated structural OSB panels with overlaid water-resistant barrier


A noise-reduced stage lighting system has a motor having an output shaft driving a moving part of a stage lighting device, e.g. pan and tilt functions. An anti noise coupling is used to attenuate the noise produced by the assembly. An interface surface is formed with no metal connections between the noisy motor and the relatively quieter downstream components.

The entertainment industry requires that lights and light modifying elements such as color changers be moved. Motors and other moving elements, however, are inherent sources of noise. The inventors of the present invention realized that silent operation is highly desirable so that an audience watching a theater production will not be disturbed.
However, there is a trade-off between the speed of movement of various elements and the amount of noise that they produce. Belts and pulleys can be just as noisy as gears, depending on the speed and quality. Belts and pulleys are very noisy when running fast. The first stage of a reduction train runs at speeds which are typically above 1500 rpm. This high speed operation invariably produces noise. At speeds below 1500 rpm, belt and pulley systems become much quieter. This is especially true when noise-reducing mechanisms, such as special tooth-cutting methods, are used. The belt and pulley uses a rubber belt to transmit the force from the driving pulley to the driven pulley. The belt and pulley inherently has low noise transmission and noise vibration. The damping effect of the belt in essence minimizes the transmission of noise and vibration.
Gears, on the other hand, transmit noise directly from the driving gear to the driven gear due to direct contact between the teeth.
The inventor recognized that belts do a very good job of preventing noise transmission so long as they are going slow. The inventor realized, therefore, that a belt in the final stage of the reduction train would help quiet the system. The high speed portion will inherently have noise therein. Since both gears and pulleys will cause noise, the inventors recognized that the quietest solution for the high speed portion is to use small plastic gears with small teeth. This portion will inherently have noise therein.
It is an object of the present invention to isolate this noise and prevent it from travelling through the rest of the system. The inventors recognized that this could be accomplished by allowing any necessary noise to occur at one spot in the unit. That one spot, and hence the noise, is isolated from other places in the unit. Every location which is isolated from the initial noise is formed of low-noise components, such as low-speed belts. Accordingly, the structure of the present invention includes a first movement element which is noisy, a second movement element which is quiet, and a noise isolating structure between said first and second movement elements.
The inventors of the present invention noticed that such noise, although often masked by the sounds of the theater production, can prove very bothersome to the user. In order to obviate this problem, the inventors determined that a certain combination of elements minimizes the noise from such systems.
According to the present invention, a connection between an output shaft of a motor and a pulley is formed using an anti-noise element combination. The pulley is then connected via a belt to a driven shaft. One element of the anti-noise element combination includes a flexible coupling system which has inner surfaces which are substantially the same shape as the outer surface of the driving shafts. Typically these driving shafts are cylindrical. The flexible coupling has elements allowing tightening of these surfaces around the driving shaft. When a specific end of the coupling is tightened, it contracts in size around the shaft, thus tightly gripping the shaft.
Many different kinds of couplings are used. The most preferably used one includes a plurality of circumferential cuts through the middle portion. These cuts, and the material of the coupling, contribute to the ability of the flex coupling to flex in directions which are perpendicular to the axial direction. This has the advantage of minimizing the amount of direct physical noise across the coupling.
Another aspect of the invention relates to the way in which the drive system, the motor, and shaft are mounted to the mounting plate. According to the present invention, rubber grommets are used to minimize driving motor and the plates supporting the pulley system.


A liquid dispensing faucet including a flow control lever engaging a sealing member within an internal cavity of a faucet body. The sealing member is held within the faucet body in an oversized recess permitting liquid to flow about all sides of the sealing member when the flow control handle is placed in an open position and liquid flows through the faucet body. The faucet body may have a removable spout mounted at a second end of the body. An air inlet may be included within a flow path of the liquid downstream of the sealing member. This air inlet promotes the removal of residual liquid from the flow path when the flow lever is in a closed position and is positioned to discourage flow of the liquid through the air inlet when the flow lever is in an open position.

Conventional faucets for use with pressurized fluids, such as beer taps or other similar devices for dispensing liquids for human consumption, may have an external operating lever which actuates an internal valve to control the dispensing of the fluid under pressure. Within such faucets, there may exist spaces upstream and downstream of the internal valve. The fluids typically dispensed with such faucets may be perishable and prolonged contact with air may destroy the taste or quality of the fluid.
Within such conventional faucets, fluids which are upstream of the internal valve are typically protected from exposure to ambient air, while fluids downstream of the valve may be exposed to ambient air. Fluids downstream of the valve may be residuals clinging to sealing members or other portions of the valve, or they may be trapped by friction or suction within a dispensing spout positioned to direct fluid into a serving container. Fluids trapped about the seals or within the spout may be exposed to ambient air and may provide for the growth of bacteria or other contaminants. Continued dispensing through such a contaminated valve may result in all subsequently dispensed fluid be adversely affected, or even unsanitary for consumption.
It is desirable to improve faucets for dispensing pressurized fluids to aid in the release of trapped fluids that may be exposed to ambient air.


A liquid crystal panel unit is attached to a light incident surface of a prism composite. The liquid crystal panel unit includes a panel frame plate holding a liquid crystal panel, and a fixation frame plate glued and fixed to the light incident surface. The panel frame plate is fastened to the fixation frame plate by screws through an intermediate frame plate. By using wedges, the position of the panel frame plate with respect to the light incident surface is adjusted. This allows the liquid crystal panel to be reliably positioned and fixed so that the deviation amount in pixel matching is minimized and the focus adjustment can be accomplished correctly.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a projection type display device which separates a white beam from a light source into beams of three colors, i.e., red, blue and green, modulates each color beam through a light valve such as a liquid crystal panel in accordance with image information, synthesizes the modulated color beams by light synthesizing means, and projects the synthesized beams onto a projection surface through projecting means in an enlarged state. More specifically, the invention relates to a mechanism for mounting a liquid crystal panel to a prism composite constituting a light synthesizing mechanism of a projection type display device.
2. Description of Related Art
In a conventional projection type display device, a liquid crystal panel, serving as a light valve, is mounted to a light incident surface for each light beam of a prism composite. The prism composite is a light synthesizing mechanism. A conventional mechanism for mounting a liquid crystal panel to a prism composite is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-118368. In this type of mounting mechanism, the liquid crystal panel, which serves as the light valve, is directly glued and fixed to the light incident surface of the prism composite by an adhesive.
When the light valve is directly glued and fixed to the light incident surface, it is possible to omit the mutual pixel matching mechanism (alignment) of multiple light valves which modulate the light beam separated into red, green and blue colors. It is also possible to omit the focus adjusting mechanism (focus adjustment) so that each image formation plane constituting the subject is positioned within the permissible depth of focus of the projection lens. Thus, it is possible to reduce the size, weight and number of parts of the optical system of the projection device.
However, when the light valve is directly glued and fixed to the light incident surface of the prism composite, several problems may arise. These problems are outlined below.
First, when external light enters the interior of the device, there is a possibility that the external light will enter the light valve. When the light valve receives such light, there is also a possibility of each element of the light valve malfunctioning.
Second, directly touching the light valve while treating the light valve is not desirable since that will lead to problems such as breakage. For example, when the light valve is glued to the prism composite, chucking the light valve directly with a jig may lead to the edge, corner, etc. of the light valve being damaged. Additionally, it is not desirable for the operator to hold the light valve directly by hand and glue it to the prism composite because the light valve, such as a liquid crystal panel, is also vulnerable to static electricity.
Third, the light valve, which is glued to the prism composite, can generate a defect in a part of its pixels as a result of changes with time. When a defect has been generated in the light valve, it is necessary to replace it with a new one. However, since the light valve is glued and fixed to the prism composite, it is difficult to replace only the light valve having the defect. That is, it is not easy to detach the liquid crystal panel glued and fixed to the light incident surface of the prism composite without damaging the light incident surface. For this reason, it is necessary in some cases to also replace the prism composite. The replacement of the prism component, however, is not economical.


A vehicle wheel bearing apparatus has an outer member with double row outer raceway surfaces on its inner circumferential surface. An inner member includes a wheel hub and at least one inner ring. An outer joint member forms a constant velocity universal joint. The outer joint member has a cup-shaped mouth portion. A shoulder portion forms the bottom of the mouth portion. A shaft portion axially extends from the shoulder portion. The shaft is axially separably and torque transmittably inserted into the wheel hub with the shoulder abutted against the caulked portion to transmit torque. The inner ring is axially secured relative to the wheel hub by a caulked portion. The caulked portion is formed by plastically deforming, radially outwardly, the end portion of the cylindrical portion. The caulked portion has a flat surface formed by a cutting process that is adapted to surface contact the shoulder. The radially outermost end of the flat surface is arranged so that it does not abut against the shoulder.

A vehicle power transmitting apparatus is required not only to transmit power from an engine to a wheel but to enable radial and axial displacements or moment displacement of the wheel caused by bounce of the vehicle during rolling on a rough road or during turning of the vehicle. Accordingly, one end of a driving shaft, arranged between the engine and the driving wheel, is connected to a differential gear unit, via a sliding type constant velocity universal joint. The other end is connected to the driving wheel, via a bearing apparatus. The driving wheel includes a non-sliding type constant velocity universal joint.
Several types of structures of the wheel bearing apparatus have been proposed. One type is shown in FIG. 4. Here, the driving wheel bearing apparatus 50 has a wheel hub 51 adapted to mount a wheel (not shown) at one end. A double row rolling bearing 52 rotatably supports the wheel hub 51. A secured type constant velocity universal joint 53 transmits the power of the driving shaft (not shown) to the wheel hub 51.
The wheel hub 51 has an integrally formed wheel mounting flange 54. Its outer circumferential surface is formed with an inner raceway surface 51a. A cylindrical portion 51b axially extends from the inner raceway surface 51a. The double row rolling bearing 52 has an outer member 55 integrally formed with a body mounting flange 55b on its outer circumferential surface. A double row outer raceway surfaces 55a, 55a is formed on its inner circumferential surface. An inner member 57 is inserted into the outer member 55 via double row rolling elements (balls) 56, 56, contained within the outer member 55.
The inner member 57 include the wheel hub 51. An inner ring 58 is press-fit onto the axially extending portion 51b of the wheel hub 51. The inner ring 58 is formed with an inner raceway surface 58a on its outer circumferential surface. The inner ring 58 is axially immovable secured relative to the wheel hub 51 by a caulked portion 51c. The caulked portion 51c is formed by plastically deforming, radially outwardly, the end portion of the axially extending portion 51b of the wheel hub 51.
The constant velocity universal joint 53 includes a mouth portion 59. An outer joint member 62 is integrally formed with a shoulder 60 that forms the bottom of the mouth portion 59. A shaft portion 61 extends from the shoulder 60. The outer joint member 62 is inserted into the inner member 57 (wheel hub 51) in a manner to enable torque transmission between the two. That is, serrations 63 formed on the inner circumferential surface of the wheel hub 51 mate with serrations 64 formed on the outer circumferential surface of the shaft portion 61 of the outer joint member 62. The shaft portion 61 of the outer joint member 62 is inserted into the wheel hub 51 until the shoulder 60 of the outer joint member 62 abuts against the caulked portion 51c. The wheel hub 51 and the outer joint member 62 are joined together so as not to be axially separated by fastening a securing nut 66, at a predetermined fastening torque, on an external thread 65 formed on the end of the shaft portion 61.
It is known that a large torque is applied from the engine to the driving wheel via a sliding type constant velocity universal joint (not shown) at a time of increasing engine speed (at the time of starting the vehicle and thus torsion is caused on the drive shaft). Accordingly, torsion is also caused on the inner member 57 of the double row rolling bearing 52 that supports the driving shaft. When the large torque is caused on the drive shaft, stick-slip noise is caused by sudden slip between the mutually abutting surfaces of the outer joint member 62 and the inner member 57. The slips are caused by a circumferential gap between the serrations 63 of the wheel hub 51 and the serrations 64 of the shaft portion 61 of the outer joint member 62.
In order to deal with this problem, the prior art vehicle wheel bearing apparatus 50 has the end surface of the caulked portion 51c of the wheel hub 51, against which the shoulder 60 of the outer joint member 62 abuts, finished as a flat surface 67. This makes it possible to bring surface contact between the caulked portion 51c and the shoulder 60. Thus, this reduces the surface stress applied to the caulked portion 51c by the fastening force of the nut 66. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent plastic deformation of the caulked portion 51c as well as loosening of the nut 66. Thus, this prevents the generation of the stick-slip noise due to sudden slip between the abutting surfaces of the shoulder 60 and the caulked portion 51c (see Japanese Patent No. 3533883).


A non-destructive method for characterizing a sputter target material comprises the steps of sequentially irradiating a test sample of the sputter target material with sonic energy at a plurality of positions on a surface of the sample; detecting echoes induced by the sonic energy; discriminating texture-related back-scattering noise from the echoes to obtain modified amplitude signals; comparing the modified amplitude signals with said at least one calibration value to detect flaw data points and no-flaw data points; counting the flaw data points to determine a flaw count; counting the total flaw data points and the no-flaw data points to determine a total number of data points and calculating a cleanliness factor.

This invention relates to non-destructive testing methods and apparati for determining the xe2x80x9ccleanliness,xe2x80x9d that is, degree of material internal purity, of metallic sputter target materials and, more particularly, non-destructive methods and apparati for determining cleanliness based on the sound propagation properties of the materials.
Cathodic sputtering is widely used for depositing thin layers or films of materials from sputter targets onto desired substrates such as semiconductor wafers. Basically, a cathode assembly including a sputter target is placed together with an anode in a chamber filled with an inert gas, preferably argon. The desired substrate is positioned in the chamber near the anode with a receiving surface oriented normally to a path between the cathode assembly and the anode. A high voltage electric field is applied across the cathode assembly and the anode.
Electrons ejected from the cathode assembly ionize the inert gas. The electrical field then propels positively charged ions of the inert gas against a sputtering surface of the sputter target. Material dislodged from the sputter target by the ion bombardment traverses the chamber and deposits on the receiving surface of the substrate to form the thin layer or film.
One factor affecting the quality of the layer or film produced by a sputtering process is the xe2x80x9ccleanlinessxe2x80x9d of the material from which the sputter target is made. The term xe2x80x9ccleanlinessxe2x80x9d is widely used in the semiconductor industry, among others, to characterize high purity and ultra high purity materials. In common practice, xe2x80x9ccleanlinessxe2x80x9d refers to the degree of material internal purity. Such impurities may be present, for example, as inclusions of impurity-rich phases surrounded by the sputter target material. Cleanliness is usually measured in units of particles per million (xe2x80x9cppmxe2x80x9d) or particles per billion (xe2x80x9cppbxe2x80x9d) which define a ratio between the number of contaminant atoms and the total number of atoms sampled.
Since the cleanliness of the material from which a sputter target is made affects the quality of layers of films produced using that target, it is obviously desirable to use relatively clean materials in fabricating sputter targets. This implies a need in the art for non-destructive techniques for selecting sputter target blanks of suitable cleanliness to produce high quality sputter targets. Known destructive test methods, such as glow discharge mass spectroscopy and LECO techniques, are not suitable for this purpose.
Another factor affecting the quality of the layer or film produced by a sputtering process is the presence of xe2x80x9cflawsxe2x80x9d in the sputter target material. As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cflawsxe2x80x9d refers to microscopic volumetric defects in the sputter target material, such as inclusions, pores, cavities and micro-laminations. Since flaws in a sputter target affect the quality of layers or films produced using that target, there exists a corresponding need in the art for non-destructive techniques for characterizing flaws present in sputter target materials.
FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art non-destructive ultrasonic xe2x80x9cflawxe2x80x9d detection method for characterizing aluminum and aluminum alloy sputter target materials. The technique illustrated in FIG. 1 is similar to that suggested in Aluminium Pechiney PCT Application No. PCT/FR96/01959 for use in classifying aluminum or aluminum alloy blanks suitable for fabricating sputter targets based on the size and number of internal xe2x80x9cdecohesionsxe2x80x9d detected per unit volume of the blanks.
The prior art technique of FIG. 1 employed a pulse-echo method performed on a test sample 10 having a planar upper surface 12 and a parallel planar lower surface 14. In accordance with this technique, focused ultrasonic transducer 16 irradiated a sequence of positions on the upper surface 12 of the test sample 10 with a single, short-duration, high-frequency ultrasound pulse 18 having a frequency of at least 5 MHz, and preferably 10-50 MHz. The ultrasonic transducer 16 then switched to a sensing mode and detected a series of echoes 20 induced by the ultrasound pulse 18.
One factor contributing to these echoes 20 was scattering of sonic energy from the ultrasound pulse 18 by flaws 22 in the test sample 10. By comparing the amplitudes of echoes induced in the test sample 10 with the amplitudes of echoes induced in reference samples (not shown) having compositions similar to that of the test sample 10 and blind, flat-bottomed holes of fixed depth and diameter, it was possible to detect and count flaws 22 in the test sample 10.
The number of flaws detected by the technique of FIG. 1 had to be normalized in order to facilitate comparison between test samples of different size and geometry. Conventionally, the number of flaws was normalized by volumexe2x80x94that is, the sputter target materials were characterized in units of xe2x80x9cflaws per cubic centimeter.xe2x80x9d The volume associated with the echoes 20 from each irradiation of the test sample 10 was determined, in part, by estimating an effective cross-section of the pulse 18 in the test sample 10.
One drawback to the technique of FIG. 1 is that a number of factors detract from the ability of the transducer 16 to detect sonic energy scattered by the flaws 22. This reduces the sensitivity of the technique.
One such factor is relative weakness of the scattered energy. A portion of the scattered energy is attenuated by the material making up the test sample 10. Furthermore, since the flaw sizes of interest, which range from approximately 0.04 mm to 0.1 mm, are significantly less than the wavelength of ultrasound in metals (for example, the wavelength of sound in aluminum for the frequency range of 10 MHz to 50 MHz is 0.6 mm to 0.12 mm, respectively), the pulse 18 has a tendency to refract around the flaws 22, which reduces the scattering intensity.
Another factor detracting from the ability of the transducer 16 to detect the sonic energy scattered by the flaws 22 is the noise generated by scattering of the pulse 18 at the boundaries between grains having different textures. In fact, the texture-related noise can be so great for high-purity aluminum having grain sizes on the order of several millimeters that small flaws within a size range of approximately 0.05 mm and less cannot be detected. Larger grain sizes reduce the signal-to-noise ratio for the sonic energy scattered by the flaws when compared to the noise induced by the grain boundaries.
Other factors affecting the sensitivity and resolution of the technique of FIG. 1 includes the pulse frequency, duration and waveform; the degree of beam focus and the focal spot size; the coupling conditions (that is, the efficiency with which the sonic energy travels from the transducer 16 to the test sample 10); and the data acquisition system parameters.
Another drawback to the technique of FIG. 1 is that the calculation of the xe2x80x9cflaws per cubic centimeterxe2x80x9d in the test sample 10 presupposes that only flaws 22 within a determinable cross-sectional area scatter sonic energy back toward the transducer 16. In fact, the pulse 18, due to its wave nature, does not have localized, well-determined boundaries.
The distribution of the energy of the pulse 18 within the test sample 10, under simplifying assumptions, permits one to define a corridor 30 having a determinable cross-section beneath the transducer 16 in which most of the energy should be concentrated. Nevertheless, some of the energy of the pulse 18 will propagate outside this corridor 30. As a result, the transducer may detect sonic energy scattered by relatively large flaws 22 located outside the estimated corridor 30, thereby overestimating the density of flaws 22 in the test sample 10 and underestimating their sizes. Therefore, material cleanliness characteristics become to some degree uncertain.
Thus, there remains a need in the art for non-destructive techniques for characterizing sputter target materials having greater sensitivity than methods in the prior art. There also remains a need for techniques which permit the comparison of the cleanliness of different sputter target materials in a manner which is not dependent on arbitrary volumetric estimations in the form xe2x80x9cflow per cubic unit.xe2x80x9d One conventional imaging technique for sputter target material is C-scanning. It maps the flaws on a two-dimensional image of the material sample. Where the size of the tested object is on the order of approximately ten centimeters or greater, however, it becomes difficult to indicate the relative sizes of flaws having diameters on the order of approximately 0.04 mm to 0.1 mm to any realistic scale. When computerized imaging is used it may be impossible to indicate the relative sizes of flaws in this manner where the sizes of the flaws relative to the entire width or diameter of the sample surface are less than the relative pixel sizes of the display device.
Therefore there remains an additional need in the art for an imaging technique which does not require the display of flaws scaled relative to the surface area of the test sample.
These needs and others are addressed by a non-destructive method for characterizing a sputter target material comprising the steps of sequentially irradiating a test sample of the sputter target material with sonic energy at a plurality of positions on a surface of the sample; detecting echoes induced by the sonic energy; discriminating texture-related backscattering noise from the echoes to obtain modified amplitude signals; comparing the modified amplitude signals with said at least one calibration value to detect flaw data points and no-flaw data points (that is, data points in which flaws were detected, and were not detected, respectively); counting the flaw data points to determine a flaw count CF; counting the flaw data points and the no-flaw data points to determine a total number of data points CDP; and calculating a cleanliness factor FC=(CF/CDP)xc3x97106.
Unlike the prior art method described earlier, the method of the present invention provides a characterization of the sputter target material which is not dependent on theoretical estimates of the cross-sectional area occupied by the sonic energy during its flight through the test sample. Since the cleanliness factor is normalized by the number of data points rather than by estimated volume, there is less risk of overestimating the number of flaws, or underestimating their sizes, than in the prior art method of FIG. 1.
Although the cleanliness factor provides a useful characterization of the sputter target material, more information can be provided by means of a histogram. More specifically, the sputter target may be characterized by defining a plurality of amplitude bands; measuring said modified amplitude signals to determine modified amplitude signal magnitudes; comparing said modified amplitude signal magnitudes with said plurality of amplitude bands to form subsets of said modified amplitude signals; counting said subsets of modified amplitude signals to determine a plurality of modified amplitude signal counts, each modified amplitude signal count of said plurality of amplitude signal counts corresponding to one of said amplitude bands of said plurality of amplitude bands; and constructing a histogram relating said modified signals counts to said plurality of amplitude bands. Since the histogram does not attempt to directly map the locations of flaws along the surface of the sputter target material, it does not suffer from the scaling problems inherent in prior art mapping techniques.
Most preferably, the test sample is compressed along one dimension, such as by rolling or forging, and then irradiated by sonic energy propagating transversely (that is, obliquely or, better yet, normally) to that dimension. This has the effect of flattening and widening any flaws in the material. The widening of the flaws, in turn, increases the intensity of the sonic energy scattered by the flaws and reduces the likelihood that the sonic energy will refract around the flaws.
These methods for characterizing sputter target materials may be used in processes for manufacturing sputter targets. As noted earlier, the cleanliness of a sputter target is one factor determining the quality of the layers or films produced by the target. By shaping only those sputter target blanks having cleanliness factors or histograms meeting certain reference criteria to form sputter targets, and rejecting blanks not meeting those criteria, one improves the likelihood that the sputter targets so manufactured will produce high quality layers or films.
Therefore, it is one object of the invention to provide non-destructive methods for characterizing sputter target materials. Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the follow description the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.

Method and apparatus for quantitative sputter target cleanliness and characterization


An insertion instrument for inserting an implant in an intervertebral space is provided. The instrument includes a housing with an inner shaft with a device holder on the distal end and a locking lever on a shaft pin on the proximate end. The device holder has a gripping surface that engages the implant through an actuating mechanism through the locking lever. The instrument is operable to insert the implant into a vertebral space through impaction and is extracted without disturbing the placement of the implant.

Spinal fusion surgery involves the addition of bone graft to the area of the spine to set up a biological response that causes bone to grow between two adjacent vertebral elements to stop motion of the spine at that segment. Spinal fusion surgery, such as posterior lumbar interbody fusion, can achieve fusion of adjacent vertebrae with the insertion of a cage or spacer directly into the disc space. The spacer maintains the desired distance between the vertebral body segments which avoids impingement of nerves to reduce back pain.
Surgery is an ordeal and to minimize the invasiveness of the procedure on the patient an orthopedic surgeon would prefer to perform the surgery with the smallest possible incision required to implant the device. As such, there is a need for a lightweight interbody device insertion instrument that delivers the device with surgical techniques that are minimally invasive for the patient and affords more precision for the surgeon while implanting the device.


An x-ray tube has a cathode that generates free electrons; an anode on which the free and accelerated electrons strikes so that x-ray radiation is generated; a cooling channel with coolant flowing therethrough to cool the anode; a vacuum region between the cathode and the anode; and an exit window through which the x-ray radiation exits from the x-ray tube. The anode is fashioned as a transmission anode; with the transmission anode arranged between the vacuum region and the cooling channel, with the cooling channel arranged between the transmission anode and the exit window; so the useful x-ray radiation passes through the coolant.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns an x-ray tube of the type having a cathode to generate free electrons; an anode on which the free and accelerated electrons strike to cause x-ray radiation to be generated; a cooling channel with coolant flowing therethrough to cool the anode; a vacuum region between cathode and anode; and an exit window for allowing the x-ray radiation to exit from the x-ray tube.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An x-ray tube of this general type is known from United States Patent Application Publication 2006/015051 A1, for example. In this document an x-ray tube is disclosed in which a thin metal foil is used on which the electrons coming from a cathode (thus an electron source) strike with high energy and generate x-ray radiation that is directed out through a vacuum window. The thin cathode foil is cooled with the aid of a liquid. The foil is cooled on the back side, or the side facing away from the utilized radiation by a liquid conducted past the foil. A constriction in the cooling channel is present in the region of the cathode foil that leads to a higher flow speed of the liquid in this region so as to increase the effectiveness of the cooling. The quantity of generated bremsstrahlung is shifted relative to the generated characteristic radiation by this use of a very thin anode foil, such that an essentially monochromatic x-ray radiation arises in the range of the characteristic lines.
Although a relatively high degree of effectiveness is achieved in the generation of x-ray radiation in this embodiment of an x-ray tube, this is still not sufficient.


A modification process of the synthetic quartz powder, which can make a quartz glass product hardly having bubbles at the time of fusing, is provided, along with a modification process of the synthetic quartz powder and a glass product using said modified quartz powder are provided, wherein the synthetic quartz powder is kept in helium atmosphere at least in the temperature falling process, when the amorphous synthetic quartz powder produced by the sol-gel method is carried out by heat treatment in a vacuum furnace at more than the degas temperature and less than the baking temperature, wherein the highest temperature in the helium atmosphere is preferably set to from more than 700° C. to less than 1400° C., and the helium atmosphere is kept to less than 400° C.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a modification process of a synthetic quartz powder, wherein it is possible to make a quartz glass having few carbon content and hydroxyl group content and hardly having an inner bubble content at the time of fusing to be vitrified at high temperature, and also relates to a glass product using said quartz powder.
2. Discussion of the Background
It has been known that a process, in which a gel made by hydrolyzing a metal alkoxide etc. is dried and baked to produce the synthetic quartz powder, i.e., a sol-gel method. Conventionally, it has been known that the synthetic quartz powder made by said producing process is amorphous and has high purity having fewer metal impurities than the natural quartz powder. However, it has been also known that there are a residual carbon or a residual hydroxyl group from an alkoxy group in said synthetic quartz powder. Therefore, when the quartz glass crucible is produced by using the synthetic quartz powder made by the sol-gel method as a raw material, said residual carbon etc. becomes the cause of the inner bubbles.
Then, regarding the synthetic quarts powder produced by the sol-gel method, many trials for reducing the residual carbon have been carried out. For example, the following processes etc. have been already known. The process, in which the dried gel powder is heated to remove the residual carbon by burning at the temperature of less than 600° C., in which the pores in the powder are not closed, and after this decarbonization, said heated powder is baked to be vitrified at the high temperature being about from 1000° C. to 1300° C., in which the pores are closed, to produce the amorphous synthetic quartz powder, i.e., shown in Japanese Patent Laid Open No. H09-86916 or No. H10-287416, etc. The process, in which the silica powder produced by the sol-gel method is heated at about 500° C. in air to burn organic components, and is vitrified by heating to fuse at more high temperature to remove the OH group. The process, in which the dried gel powder is baked in two steps at a dried atmosphere or a reduced atmosphere at the time of making the synthetic quartz powder to bake the dried gel powder, and then, the synthetic quartz powder having the predetermined high density is produced i.e., shown in Japanese Patent Registration No. 2530225. However, it is impossible to reduce sharply the residual carbon in the quartz powder by these conventional producing processes, so that it is substantially difficult to produce the glass products hardly having inner bubbles.
On the other hand, it has been known that the process, in which the quartz powder produced by the sol-gel method is carried out by the heat treatment at the temperature being from 800° C. to 1300° C. in hydrogen atmosphere, to make the quartz powder which does not indicate a spectral peak of O═C═O bonding, and the quartz crucible is produced by using said quartz powder as the raw material, i.e., shown in Japanese Patent Laid Open No. 2001-261353. However, in this process, there is a problem that the concentration of OH basis and the amount of an adsorbed water in the quartz powder become high by the hydrogen gas, so that the inner bubbles are increased by the adsorbed water etc., when the quartz powder is vitrified. Moreover, it is dangerous that the hydrogen gas is introduced at the high temperature. Furthermore, it has been also known that the process other than these processes, in which after a fumed-silica produced by the sol-gel method is carried out the heat treatment, said fumed-silica is baked in vacuum, hydrogen, or helium atmosphere at high temperature to make the quartz glass powder, i.e., shown in Japanese Patent Laid Open No. 2001-89168.
Although all of the above-mentioned conventional modification processes are aimed at the removing of the residual carbon, the cause of the bubble aroused at the time of vitrifying the quartz powder is not limited to the residual carbon. The air components adsorbed to the quartz powder after the heat treatment also become the important cause of the inner bubble. Regarding the present invention, it is possible to make the quartz glass crucible which has no bubbles substantially by carrying out the heat treatment and also preventing the adsorption of the air components after said heat treatment. In addition, the above-mentioned problems in the conventional modification processes for producing the quartz powder are also solved.

Modification process of synthetic silica powder and its quartz glass product


The invention provides for tracking and day-to-day management of technical requirements, costs and environmental details of existing computer data centers, and the creation of scenarios for determining the optimum acquisition, expansion and reconfiguration strategies of the data centers as well as the forecasting of technical requirements, costs and environmental requirements of existing and proposed configurations of the data centers. A knowledge base comprises technical and financial specifications of various storage devices and other computer hardware as provided. A modeling tool allows for the creation of various “What-If” scenarios of possible data center configurations for long term projections of the technical and financial requirements of existing, modified or proposed data center configurations. The cost of individual devices, systems or data center locations, as well as the cost of proposed new equipment including software are tracked. Also provided is the ability to present technical, financial and other information of a data center of various levels, such as at the configuration, location, system and individual device levels, as well as the ability to prepare custom reports, tables and charts of the information.

The present invention relates to the management of the hardware and software of data centers and, more particularly, to the management of information about existing, planned or proposed hardware and software assets of the data centers.
Data center managers, capacity planners and financial planners are periodically required to evaluate the technical capabilities, financial requirements and environmental requirements of the hardware and software of computer data centers, networks, corporate IT assets and other collections of computer hardware and software. The term "data center" is meant here to be broad enough to encompass any or combinations of the foregoing. The managers and planners must also periodically determine whether or not to modify, upgrade or replace the existing hardware and software or whether to purchase additional hardware or software.
Typically, the only sources of information are from sales literature and from the sales representatives of new hardware and software products. The sales representatives are not likely to be familiar with the technical, financial and environmental requirements of existing data centers. The data center managers, capacity planners and financial planners thus do not presently have a good methodology for evaluating existing software and hardware, determining whether to purchase or lease new hardware and software, upgrade existing hardware and software or to dispose of existing hardware or software. There is currently no reliable methodology for determining the financial and environmental costs of such changes. Though spreadsheet products are currently available, the spreadsheets do not take into account all the parameters of existing data centers.
It is therefore desirable to provide an apparatus for and a method of tracking the technical specifications, costs and environmental details of existing data centers as well as for determining the optimum acquisition, expansion and reconfiguration strategies for the data centers.

Hardware/software management, purchasing and optimization system


The present invention relates to a voltage regulator and a resonant gate driver of the voltage regulator, where the resonant gate driver is configured to drive a first power transistor and a second power transistor and includes: a first control gateway, a second control gateway, and an inductor, where: a first end of the first control gateway is connected to a first end of the second control gateway; a second end of the first control gateway is connected to a second end of the second control gateway by using the inductor; and a third end of the first control gateway is connected to the first power transistor, and a third end of the second control gateway is connected to the second power transistor. The resonant gate driver according to an embodiment of the present invention can reduce a driving period and increase a response speed.

Dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (Dynamic voltage and frequency scaling, DVFS) is a technology that effectively reduces power consumption. As density of a design area of a chip increases, a response speed, on-chip integration, and energy efficiency become three corresponding important features of a voltage regulator.
In a basic structure of a voltage regulator, especially in a system with a high on-chip switching frequency, most loss comes from loss of a parasitic capacitor of a power transistor and conduction loss of a body diode. Currently, a structure, of a resonant gate driver (Resonant gate driver), that effectively reduces the foregoing two types of loss has been put forwarded. That is, two PMOS transistors, an affiliated diode of the PMOS transistors, two NMOS transistors, an affiliated diode of the NMOS transistors, and an inductor are used to control turn-on and turn-off of two power transistors. Specifically, a turn-on operation on a power transistor may include a process of charging a parasitic capacitor of the power transistor and a process of discharging an inductor; and a turn-off operation on the power transistor may include a process of discharging the parasitic capacitor of the power transistor and a process of discharging the inductor.
However, as mentioned above, the response speed and on-chip integration are also important features of the voltage regulator. In addition, generally, higher on-chip integration requires a faster response speed. Therefore, a response speed of a driver of the voltage regulator also needs to be increased.

Voltage regulator and resonant gate driver thereof


A component mounter includes a mounting head configured to revolve multiple nozzle holders to which multiple pickup nozzles can detachably be attached individually in a circumferential direction and to allow the multiple pickup nozzles to rotate on their own axes while being interlocked with each other and two Z-axis drive devices provided at two locations on a revolving orbit of the multiple pickup nozzles to raise and lower the pickup nozzles situated at the two locations. Then, when a component supplied from a component supply device can be picked up at any of multiple different nozzle angles of the pickup nozzle, the component mounter moves the pickup nozzle to a revolving angle at which the pickup nozzle can be raised and lowered and then lowers the pickup nozzle to pick up the component at a nozzle angle of the multiple nozzle angles which involves a smaller moving amount.

Conventionally, component mounters are known in which components are picked up and are then mounted on a board. For example, Patent literature 1 discloses a component mounter including a rotary head configured not only to revolve (move around in a circular orbit) multiple pickup nozzles (pickup members) in a circumferential direction but also to cause each pickup nozzle to rotate about its own axis (rotate on its own axis), wherein a cylindrical chip member is picked up through suction to be fitted in a V-shaped groove formed on a lower surface of the pickup nozzle, and the picked up component is mounted on a printed board. In the component mounter, a chip component is picked up by the pickup nozzle which is lowered while being rotated (on its own axis) so that the direction of the V-shaped groove coincides with the axial direction of the cylindrical chip component.


A fixer for an image forming apparatus includes a fixing member configured to fuse a toner image with heat, a pressure member configured to press against the fixing member to form a nip therebetween, and a control unit configured to control a relative pressure of the pressure member against the fixing member. The control unit includes a cam configured to change a rotation position thereof to change the relative pressure of the pressure member against the fixing member, a driving source configured to drive the cam to rotate, and a controller configured to detect a rotation position of the cam by detecting changes in an electrical current that flows in the driving source when the cam is rotated, and control the rotation position of the cam.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copier, a printer, a facsimile machine, and a multi-function machine including functions of the above, and a fixer included in the image forming apparatus.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
In general, electrophotographic image forming apparatuses include an image forming unit for forming a toner image and a fixer for fixing the toner image on a recording medium.
A fixer includes a fixing member such as a fixing roller, a fixing belt, and a fixing sleeve, and a pressure member such as a pressure roller and a pressing belt. The fixing member and the pressure member are configured to contact each other to form a fixing nip therebetween. A recording medium is transported to the fixing nip, where a toner image on the recording medium is fixed thereon.
In fixers, it is preferable to adjust pressure of the fixing nip according to sheet thickness. Further, a fixing member and/or a pressure member typically include an elastic layer of a foamed rubber to secure a sufficient fixing nip when the diameter thereof is relatively small. When such an elastic layer is used, it is necessary to adjust the pressure frequently to prevent a decrease in hardness, foam breaking, and permanent compression strain of the elastic layer, which may occur when constant pressure is applied to such an elastic layer.
To solve the problems described above, changing the pressure of the pressure member against the fixing member has been proposed.
In one related-art example of a fixer, a pressure roller as a pressure member is pressed against a fixing roller as a fixing member by a pressure lever provided at an axis of the pressure roller. The pressure lever engages a cam and the pressure roller is pressed against or disengaged from the fixing roller when the cam is rotated by a motor.
In another related-art example of a fixer, the pressure of a pressure member on a fixing belt as a fixing member is adjusted to prevent deformation of an elastic layer of the fixing belt.
Yet in another related-art example of a fixer, a pressure member is pressed against a fixing member by rotating a cam. The rotation of the cam is detected with a micro switch that is in contact with the cam.

Fixer, image forming apparatus, and image forming method


Systems and methods for enhanced specular reflections are provided. An example method may include determining a first portion of a specular reflection associated with a computer-generated object based on a first contribution from an environment map component at a shading point of the computer-generated object and determining a second portion of the specular reflection associated with the computer-generated object based on a second contribution from a camera feed component at an intersection point of a camera feed and a reflection vector associated with the environment map component. The example method may further include determining the specular reflection, at the shading point, associated with the computer-generated object based on a blending of the first and second portions of the specular reflection.

Content may be inserted into an image or a user's field of view. For example, an augmented reality (AR) system may generate an immersive augmented environment for a user by inserting content. The immersive augmented environment can be generated by superimposing computer-generated content in a user's field of view of the real world. For example, the computer-generated content can include three-dimensional entities, labels, textual information, images, sprites, etc. These images may be displayed at a position in the user's field of view so as to appear to overlay an object in the real world. Similarly, the computer-generated content may be overlaid on a displayed image. The lighting applied to the inserted content may impact how well the inserted content fits with the rest of the image.

Enhanced specular reflections for inserted content


The present invention relates to particularly stable and soluble scFv antibodies and Fab fragments specific for TNF, which comprise specific light chain and heavy chain sequences that are optimized for stability, solubility, in vitro and in vivo binding of TNF, and low immunogenicity. The antibodies are designed for the diagnosis and/or treatment of TNF-mediated disorders. The nucleic acids, vectors and host cells for expression of the recombinant antibodies of the invention, methods for isolating them and the use of the antibodies in medicine are also described.

Tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFα, also known as cachectin), is a naturally occurring mammalian cytokine produced by numerous cell types, including monocytes and macrophages in response to endotoxin or other stimuli. TNFα is a major mediator of inflammatory, immunological, and pathophysiological reactions (Grell, M., et al. (1995) Cell, 83: 793-802).
Soluble TNFα is formed by the cleavage of a precursor transmembrane protein (Kriegler, et al. (1988) Cell 53: 45-53), and the secreted 17 kDa polypeptides assemble to soluble homotrimer complexes (Smith, et al. (1987), J. Biol. Chem. 262: 6951-6954; for reviews of TNFA, see Butler, et al. (1986), Nature 320:584; Old (1986), Science 230: 630). These complexes then bind to receptors found on a variety of cells. Binding produces an array of pro-inflammatory effects, including (i) release of other pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin IL-6, IL-8, and IL-1, (ii) release of matrix metalloproteinases and (iii) up regulation of the expression of endothelial adhesion molecules, further amplifying the inflammatory and immune cascade by attracting leukocytes into extravascular tissues.
A large number of disorders are associated with elevated levels of TNFα, many of them of significant medical importance. TNFα has been shown to be up-regulated in a number of human diseases, including chronic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), inflammatory bowel disorders including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, sepsis, congestive heart failure, asthma bronchiale and multiple sclerosis. Mice transgenic for human TNFα produce high levels of TNFα constitutively and develop a spontaneous, destructive polyarthritis resembling RA (Keffer et al. 1991, EMBO J., 10, 4025-4031). TNFα is therefore referred to as a pro-inflammatory cytokine.
TNFα is now well established as key in the pathogenesis of RA, which is a chronic, progressive and debilitating disease characterised by polyarticular joint inflammation and destruction, with systemic symptoms of fever and malaise and fatigue. RA also leads to chronic synovial inflammation, with frequent progression to articular cartilage and bone destruction. Increased levels of TNFα are found in both the synovial fluid and peripheral blood of patients suffering from RA. When TNFα blocking agents are administered to patients suffering from RA, they reduce inflammation, improve symptoms and retard joint damage (McKown et al. (1999), Arthritis Rheum. 42:1204-1208).
Physiologically, TNFα is also associated with protection from particular infections (Cerami. et al. (1988), Immunol. Today 9:28). TNFα is released by macrophages that have been activated by lipopolysaccharides of Gram-negative bacteria. As such, TNFα appears to be an endogenous mediator of central importance involved in the development and pathogenesis of endotoxic shock associated with bacterial sepsis (Michie, et al. (1989), Br. J. Surg. 76:670-671.; Debets. et al. (1989), Second Vienna Shock Forum, p. 463-466; Simpson, et al. (1989) Crit. Care Clin. 5: 27-47; Waage et al. (1987). Lancet 1: 355-357; Hammerle. et al. (1989) Second Vienna Shock Forum p. 715-718; Debets. et al. (1989), Crit. Care Med. 17:489-497; Calandra. et al. (1990), J. Infect. Dis. 161:982-987; Revhaug et al. (1988), Arch. Surg. 123:162-170).
As with other organ systems, TNFα has also been shown to play a key role in the central nervous system, in particular in inflammatory and autoimmune disorders of the nervous system, including multiple sclerosis, Guillain-Barre syndrome and myasthenia gravis, and in degenerative disorders of the nervous system, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease. TNFα is also involved in disorders of related systems of the retina and of muscle, including optic neuritis, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, dermatomyositis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and muscular dystrophy, as well as in injuries to the nervous system, including traumatic brain injury, acute spinal cord injury, and stroke.
Hepatitis is another TNFα-related inflammatory disorder which among other triggers can be caused by viral infections, including Epstein-Barr, cytomegalovirus, and hepatitis A-E viruses. Hepatitis causes acute liver inflammation in the portal and lobular region, followed by fibrosis and tumor progression. TNFα can also mediate cachexia in cancer, which causes most cancer morbidity and mortality (Tisdale M. J. (2004), Langenbecks Arch Surg. 389:299-305).
The key role played by TNFα in inflammation, cellular immune responses and the pathology of many diseases has led to the search for antagonists of TNFα. One class of TNFα antagonists designed for the treatment of TNFα-mediated diseases are antibodies or antibody fragments that specifically bind TNFα and thereby block its function. The use of anti-TNFα antibodies has shown that a blockade of TNFα can reverse effects attributed to TNFα including decreases in IL-1, GM-CSF, IL-6, IL-8, adhesion molecules and tissue destruction (Feldmann et al. (1997), Adv. Immunol. 1997:283-350). Among the specific inhibitors of TNFα that have recently become commercially available include a monoclonal, chimeric mouse-human antibody directed against TNFα (infliximab, Remicade™; Centocor Corporation/Johnson & Johnson) has demonstrated clinical efficacy in the treatment of RA and Crohn's disease. All marketed inhibitors of TNFα are administered intravenously or subcutaneously in weekly or longer intervals as bolus injections, resulting in high starting concentrations that are steadily decreasing until the next injection. Their volume of distribution is limited.
Despite these advances, there remains a need for new and effective forms of antibodies or other immunobinders for the treatment for TNFα-associated disorders such as RA. In particular, there is an urgent need for immunobinders with optimal functional properties for the effective and continuous treatment of arthritis and other TNFα-mediated disorders which allow for more flexible administration and formulation and have an improved tissue penetration and thereby an increased volume of distribution.

Stable and soluble antibodies inhibiting TNFα


Systems and methods may provide for obtaining data associated with an image and using a plurality of threads in a graphics processor to conduct a single instruction multiple data (SIMD) scan of the data. Additionally, systems and methods may provide for generating a plurality of connection tables corresponding to the plurality of threads based on the SIMD scan. In one example, a plurality of threads in the graphics processor are used to conduct a single phase merge of the plurality of connection tables onto a global connected components labeling (CCL) table for the image.

Computer vision applications may involve the automatic recognition of faces, gestures, and other objects in images and/or video. The recognition may be facilitated by connected component labeling (CCL), which identifies portions of an image/frame that belong to the same object. Traditionally, CCL solutions may have been implemented on a central processing unit (CPU), wherein the CPU-based solutions may have encountered inefficiency and power consumption challenges. While more recent CCL solutions may have used general purpose graphics processing unit (GPGPU) techniques to address some of these concerns, there remains considerable room for improvement.

Connected component labeling in graphics processors


A pneumatic distributor of granular and/or powdery materials includes a main distribution duct having a first end in the region of which an air-flow is injected into the duct under pressure, and a second end. The main duct includes respective adjacent converging-diverging portions, with reference to the direction of the air-flow, defining a Venturi duct. A dosing device is provided for delivering a metered quantity of material into the main duct in the region of the narrow cross-section of the Venturi duct, for the mixing of the material into the air-flow and the entrainment of the mixture obtained towards the second end. The distributor includes at least one auxiliary duct, bypassing the Venturi duct, in order to connect a section of the main duct disposed upstream of the Venturi duct to a section of the main duct disposed downstream of the Venturi duct.

Distributors of the type indicated are used particularly but not exclusively in the technical field of sowing machines with pneumatic seed transportation. In these applications, it is known to provide a seed-loading hopper to which a dosing device, for example, of the volumetric type, is fitted; the dosing device supplies metered quantities of seed into a Venturi duct (in short a "Venturi") by means of which the seed is introduced into an air-flow in a main duct of the distributor. The air-flow is generated by forced ventilation, for example, by means of a blower or similar air-pressurization means so as to convey the air and seed mixture towards the sowing regions in a jet.
The limitations imposed by the overall size of the distributor, which is dictated partly by the size of the components used as well as by the space offered by the machine equipped with the distributor, generally suggest the use of a Venturi having a narrow cross-section with a diameter no greater than preset values. However, these dimensional limitations of the Venturi duct penalize the utilization of the power deliverable by the blower that is used to produce the forced ventilation in the air flow; this power is thus only partially transferred to the air and seed mixture in the respective static and kinetic energy components, resulting in low efficiency and low flow-rates of material delivered in comparison with those that could theoretically be achieved with the power used.

Pneumatic distributor of granular and/or powdery materials, in particular for sowing machines


Methods, systems and apparatus are described to provide visual feedback of a change in map view. Various embodiments may display a map view of a map in a two-dimensional map view mode. Embodiments may obtain input indicating a change to a three-dimensional map view mode. Input may be obtained through the utilization of touch, auditory, or other well-known input technologies. Some embodiments may allow the input to request a specific display position to display. In response to the input indicating a change to a three-dimensional map view mode, embodiments may then display an animation that moves a virtual camera for the map display to different virtual camera positions to illustrate that the map view mode is changed to a three-dimensional map view mode.

Maps display information in visual form. Some map information may be represented in more than one view. For example, some maps of a certain area of land may be represented as road maps, which delineate the vehicle roadways in the area displayed by the map. Another view of the same area may be represented as a topographical map, which identifies the changes in elevation through contour lines. Other differing views of a map may be two-dimensional or three-dimensional views. Map display devices often provide more than one view of a particular map. While some of these views, such as a topographical view, will entail obvious visual differences upon switching from one view to another view, some map views may have more subtle visual differences, not easily detected by an observer. For certain map displays, a two-dimensional perspective may not appear different from a three-dimensional perspective.

Method, system and apparatus for providing visual feedback of a map view change