An exposure control apparatus for an electronic development type camera having a photographic optical system. The camera uses a recording medium in which subject images formed through the photographic optical system are electrically developed. The exposure control apparatus includes a detecting device for detecting first photometric data which corresponds to subject light passed through the recording medium at a moment an exposure of the recording medium commences. The detecting device further detects second photometric data which corresponds to subject light passed through the recording medium after the exposure commences and before the exposure terminates. The exposure control apparatus further includes a calculating device for calculating a transmittance of the recording medium after the exposure commences, using the first and second photometric data, and a controlling device for controlling the exposure of the recording medium in accordance with the calculated transmittance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exposure control apparatus for a camera using a recording medium in which subject images formed through a photographic lens can be electronically developed.
2. Description of Related Art
Photographic mediums in which subject images formed through a photographic lens can be electronically developed are known. One example of a photographic medium of this type is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-211221. In this patent publication, a recording medium is disclosed which includes a sensitized layer on which subject images are to be formed, and a light modulating layer through which the subject images, formed on the sensitized layer, are developed. Furthermore, in this publication, an exposure control is disclosed for controlling the amount of light passed through the sensitized layer and the light modulating layer to reach a predetermined level.
It should be noted that throughout this specification, the recording medium which can be electronically developed and a camera using the same are referred to as an electronic development type recording medium and an electronic development type camera, respectively.
The detected amount of light passed through the sensitized layer and the light modulating layer varies in accordance with the variation in intensity of subject light. Therefore, a precise transmittance of the recording medium cannot be measured with the structure disclosed in the above-noted Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-211221, and it is accordingly difficult to carry out a precise exposure control. On the other hand, exposure control precision can be improved by employing a direct photometering system such as disclosed in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 48-769. However, the dispersion of transmittance or gamma of the recording medium cannot be compensated since the sensitivity and the like of the recording medium are not directly detected in a conventional direct photometering system.
Another example of a photographic medium of this type is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-1693. In this publication, an electronic development type recording medium is disclosed which includes a sensitized layer on which subject images are to be formed and an electric-charge holding medium through which the subject images formed on the sensitized layer are developed. With such an electronic development type recording medium, the exposure time for the recording medium can be controlled by means of controlling the voltage applied to the sensitized layer and the electric-charge holding medium.
A focal-plane shutter, which is widely used in SLR cameras, can also be used for the electronic development type camera. In an electronic development type camera having a focal-plane shutter, in a slit exposure in which the trailing blades start moving before the leading blades completely open, if an exposure control for the electronic development type recording medium is carried out by merely controlling the focal-plane shutter, a dark current occurs in the unexposed portion of the recording medium, thus resulting in the occurrence of fogging in the unexposed portion caused by the difference in exposure time due to the slit exposure.
On the other hand, even in the case where the slit exposure is not performed due to a long exposure time, if an exposure control for the electronic development type recording medium is carried out by merely controlling the voltage application to the recording medium, an electric charge occurs in the electric charge generating layer of the recording medium due to an exposure in the state where no voltage is applied, thus resulting in the occurrence of fogging. In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 3-219270 it is noted that fogging occurs in the case when a voltage is applied to the electronic development type recording medium well before the recording medium starts to be exposed and that a precise exposure control cannot be achieved by merely controlling the voltage applied to the recording medium.

Exposure control apparatus for electronic development type camera


An interactive input system comprises at least two imaging assemblies capturing image frames of a region of interest from different vantages, each imaging assembly comprising an image sensor and signal processing circuitry implemented on an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), image data acquired by the image sensor being pre-processed by the signal processing circuitry; and processing structure processing pre-processed image data output by the imaging assemblies to determine the location of at least one pointer within the region of interest.

Interactive input systems that allow users to inject input into an application program using an active pointer (eg. a pointer that emits light, sound or other signal), a passive pointer (eg. a finger, cylinder or other object) or other suitable input device such as for example, a mouse or trackball, are well known. These interactive input systems include but are not limited to: touch systems comprising touch panels employing analog resistive or machine vision technology to register pointer input such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,448,263; 6,141,000; 6,337,681; 6,747,636; 6,803,906; 7,232,986; 7,236,162; and 7,274,356 and in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0179001 assigned to SMART Technologies ULC of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, assignee of the subject application, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated by reference; touch systems comprising touch panels employing electromagnetic, capacitive, acoustic or other technologies to register pointer input; tablet and laptop personal computers (PCs); smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and other handheld devices; and other similar devices.
Above-incorporated U.S. Pat. No. 6,803,906 to Morrison et al. discloses a touch system that employs machine vision to detect pointer interaction with a touch surface on which a computer-generated image is presented. A rectangular bezel or frame surrounds the touch surface and supports digital cameras at its corners. The digital cameras have overlapping fields of view that encompass and look generally across the touch surface. The digital cameras acquire images looking across the touch surface from different vantages and generate image data. Image data acquired by the digital cameras is processed by on-board digital signal processors to determine if a pointer exists in the captured image data. When it is determined that a pointer exists in the captured image data, the digital signal processors convey pointer characteristic data to a master controller, which in turn processes the pointer characteristic data to determine the location of the pointer in (x,y) coordinates relative to the touch surface using triangulation. The pointer coordinates are conveyed to a computer executing one or more application programs. The computer uses the pointer coordinates to update the computer-generated image that is presented on the touch surface. Pointer contacts on the touch surface can therefore be recorded as writing or drawing or used to control execution of application programs executed by the computer.
International PCT Patent Application Publication No. WO 2010/028490 to McGibney et al., assigned to SMART Technologies ULC, discloses a touch input system comprising at least two imaging assemblies capturing image frames of a region of interest from different vantages. Each imaging assembly comprises an image sensor and integrated signal processing circuitry. The integrated signal processing circuitry is implemented on a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The integrated signal processing circuitry comprises a spotlight processor and a bezel processor to pre-process image data acquired by the associated image sensor and generate pointer data, and pointer hover and contact status data.
Although a variety of interactive input system exists, in many cases, the interactive input systems employ off-the shelf components. Unfortunately, these off-the-shelf components tend to be large in size, expensive and power inefficient. This of course increases interactive input system manufacturing and operating costs. In addition, in interactive input systems employing multiple processors that communicate over communication links, the designs of the processor circuitry and communication links have limited processing and communication speed causing latency issues. As will be appreciated, improvements in interactive input system design are desired.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel interactive input system and method and a novel imaging assembly therefor.


A gel electrophoresis apparatus and a cooling system therefor. The apparatus includes a front panel and a back panel. A gel slab is contained in a gel slab platform between the front and back panels. The gel slab platform extends upwardly to the front edge of an upper buffer reservoir and downwardly to a lower buffer reservoir. A conventional gel mold assembly is inserted into the apparatus and supported by the gel slab platform. A cooling unit is disposed below the lower buffer reservoir of the apparatus. A baffle plate is inserted between the front panel and a back panel of the apparatus. When the cooling unit is actuated, the baffle plate directs a cooling medium through the apparatus and between the front panel and the back panel to cool the gel slab. The apparatus also includes dampers which are pivotally mounted on the apparatus at the top of the baffle plate. The dampers are used to control the flow of the cooling medium through each baffle individually. The apparatus further includes clamps which are pivotally mounted on the sides of the apparatus, and are used to hold the gel mold in place in the gel slab platform during testing. The clamps are designed with a hinge so that they naturally fall away from the gel slab platform when not in use.

Electrophoresis is based on the principle that charged particles suspended between opposite poles and in an electric field migrate toward the pole possessing the charge opposite that of the particle. The extent of migration is an indication of the composition of the particles. Electrophoretic separation is often used to separate DNA or RNA fragments generated as part of nucleic acid sequencing procedures.
A conventional apparatus for performing electrophoresis is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,984 to Flesher et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. A typical apparatus includes a gel mold composed of two flat glass plates separated by thin spacers placed at opposite edges. A polyacrylamide gel slab is cast between these plates. The electrophoretic separation will be carried out in this gel slab. Some apparatus are designed to orient the gel vertically; others are designed to orient the gel horizontally. A vertical orientation has generally been found to be preferred for the electrophoresis of nucleic acids in such applications as nucleic acid sequencing. A support platform having means for securing the gel mold to the support platform supports the gel mold.
The apparatus also has two reservoirs for containing a buffer solution, one installed toward the upper end of the support platform and a second installed toward the lower end of the support platform. An electrode is installed in each reservoir to apply a voltage to the buffer solution in each reservoir. These electrodes are typically made from platinum. However, platinum electrodes are costly and must be replaced frequently because the electrodes become brittle after several uses. Thus, what is needed is an electrode that would be a sufficient conductor of electricity and be less fragile and less costly than conventional platinum electrodes.
Placement of the gel mold against the support platform situates the gel slab so that when buffer solution is added to each of the reservoirs, an effective electrical contact is established between the buffer solution in one reservoir and the buffer solution in the other reservoir through the gel slab. Thus, most of the voltage differential between the electrodes occurs within the gel slab. Conventional electrophoretic separation is performed by applying between 1500 and 1800 volts, approximately 60 Watts, of electricity to the buffer solution and the gel slab. This involves a pre-run time, for heating the unit, of twenty to thirty minutes and a nominal run time, for completing electrophoresis, of eighty to eighty-five minutes.
When electrophoretic separation is performed, substantial heat is generated in the gel slab. Typically, the heat is removed by placing a large conducting plate in contact with the gel mold. Often this conducting plate is incorporated as part of the support platform against which the gel mold is placed. Means are provided for securing the gel mold against the conducting plate once it has been inserted into the support platform.
The process of performing electrophoretic separation includes: casting a gel slab in the gel mold, preheating the gel mold in the electrophoresis apparatus, inserting samples into the gel slab, applying electricity across the gel slab to perform electrophoretic separation, and removing the gel mold from the apparatus for developing the gel slab. This process is lengthy, often taking two full days to complete testing of a single gel slab. One method available to accelerate the preheating and testing stages of the process is to increase the voltage across the gel slab. However, an increase in voltage causes excess heat to build up in the gel slab, causing hot spots. The resulting variation in temperature across the gel slab can cause the samples to separate through the gel at different rates, thereby causing a "smile" or "frown" shape in the resulting bands. These distortions make comparison of the resulting bands difficult. Further, the hot spots present a danger to the samples because severe temperature fluctuations may destroy a sample.
The conventional conductive plate is insufficient to dissipate heat from the gel slab when the voltage is significantly increased. Thus, a cooling system is needed that will dissipate heat from the gel slab during accelerated electrophoretic separation and that will maintain the gel at a constant and evenly distributed temperature across the gel slab.


An internal combustion engine fuel injector (1) has a rod (10) movable along an axis (3) to open/close a nozzle, and a servovalve (7) having a control chamber (23) with a discharge passage (26, 48) which is opened/closed by a shutter (17) movable axially under the control of an electro-actuator; the servovalve also has a fixed axial rod (33) having an outer lateral surface (34) through which the discharge passage (26, 48) comes out; the shutter (17) is fitted to the axial rod (33) to slide axially in substantially fluidtight manner, and, when closing the discharge passage (26, 48), is subjected to substantially zero resultant axial pressure by the fuel; and a calibrated portion (42, 52) of the discharge passage (26, 48) is formed close to the outlet of the discharge passage to produce swirl and/or cavitation in the fuel outflow near to the closing area between the shutter (17) and the axial rod (33).

The present invention relates to an internal combustion engine fuel injector.
As is known, an injector comprises an injector body, which defines a nozzle for injecting fuel into the engine, and houses a control rod movable along an axis to activate a pin closing the nozzle. The injector body also houses an electric control servo valve comprising a control chamber bounded axially at one side by the control rod and at the other side by an end wall having an outlet hole, which is opened/closed by a shutter to communicate with a discharge conduit and so vary the pressure in the control chamber. More specifically, the cross section of the outlet hole is calibrated to accurately set fuel flow from the control chamber to the discharge conduit, and the shutter is movable axially under the control of an electro-actuator and the axial thrust of a spring, which is preloaded to keep the outlet hole closed when the electro-actuator is idle.
A need is felt for injectors in which the shutter opening/closing the outlet hole of the control chamber is subjected to substantially zero pressure when the shutter is in the closed position, so as to reduce the preload of the spring, the force required of the electro-actuator, and therefore size, as compared with solutions in which the shutter closes the outlet hole axially. More specifically, in injectors in which the shutter is "balanced" in terms of axial pressure, even a small amount of lift of the shutter produces a large fuel flow section to the discharge conduit, thus improving dynamic performance of the injector, i.e. by eliminating so-called "bounce" of the shutter at the end of the opening and closing strokes.
At the same time, a need is also felt for an injector which, in addition to a "balanced" shutter, provides for minimizing variations in opening/closing performance of the injection nozzle with respect to design conditions.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an internal combustion engine fuel injector designed to meet the above demands in a straightforward, low-cost manner, and which, in particular, is of relatively straightforward, compact construction.
According to the present invention, there is provided a fuel injector for an internal combustion engine; the injector terminating with a nozzle for injecting fuel into a relative cylinder of the engine, and comprising:                a hollow injector body extending in an axial direction;        a control rod movable axially with respect to said injector body to open/close said nozzle;        a control servo valve housed in said injector body and comprising:        a) an electro-actuator;        b) a control chamber, which is bounded axially at one side by said control rod, communicates with a fuel inlet, and has a discharge passage comprising a calibrated portion; and        c) a shutter movable axially, under the control of said electro-actuator, between a closed position, in which it closes said discharge passage, and an open position, in which it opens said discharge passage to vary the pressure in said control chamber and so produce axial movement of said control rod;
characterized in that:                said control servo valve also comprises an axial rod fixed with respect to said injector body and comprising an outer lateral surface through which said discharge passage comes out;        said shutter is fitted to said outer lateral surface to slide axially in substantially fluidtight manner, and, in said closed position, closes said discharge passage so as to be subjected to substantially zero resultant axial pressure by the fuel; and        said calibrated portion is so formed as to produce swirl and/or cavitation in the fuel outflow near to the closing area between said shutter and said axial rod.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Internal combustion engine fuel injector


An intermediate transfer unit includes a stand member that is integral with an intermediate-transfer-unit body of the intermediate transfer unit. The stand member stretches below the intermediate-transfer-unit body from a trailing edge to a leading edge of the intermediate-transfer-unit in an attachment direction of the intermediate transfer unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that includes a unit that can be detachably attached to a body of the image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional image forming apparatus of the above type is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-235309. The conventional image forming apparatus includes an intermediate-transfer-belt unit that can be detachably attached to a body of the image forming apparatus (hereinafter, "image forming-apparatus body"). A user can attach the intermediate-transfer-belt unit to the image-forming-apparatus body by inserting and pushing it into a space between two side walls of the image forming-apparatus body, or can detach it by pulling it toward the user. During the process of the attachment or detachment, the intermediate-transfer-belt unit is not in contact with a bottom surface of the image-forming-apparatus body. The image forming apparatus further includes guide rails that support the intermediate-transfer-belt unit during a process of the attachment or detachment.
When attaching the intermediate-transfer-belt unit to the image-forming-apparatus body, the user grips a portion on a trailing edge (hereinafter, "trailing edge portion") of the intermediate-transfer-belt unit in a direction in which the intermediate-transfer-belt unit is inserted into the apparatus body. Then, the user puts, on the guide rails, guide contact members on a leading edge of the intermediate-transfer-belt unit in the insertion direction of the intermediate-transfer-belt unit, and pushes the intermediate-transfer-belt unit into the image-forming-apparatus body along the guide rails. When detaching the intermediate-transfer-belt unit to the image-forming-apparatus body, the user pulls forward the intermediate-transfer-belt unit along the guide rails, and lifts up the intermediate-transfer-belt unit before the guide contact members come off the guide rails.
Because the guide rails support the intermediate-transfer-belt unit during the detachment or attachment, the intermediate-transfer-belt unit can be detached from or attached to the image-forming-apparatus body without making a physical contact with the bottom surface of the image forming apparatus.
However, sometimes the user may relax the grip on the front edge portion of the intermediate-transfer-belt unit even though the guide contact members are not yet put on the guide rails. In such a case, the intermediate-transfer-belt unit pivots on the trailing edge portion that the user grips such that the leading portion of the intermediate-transfer-belt unit falls. The leading portion may bump against and damage, for example, the bottom surface of the image-forming-apparatus body, or the intermediate-transfer-belt unit itself may get damaged.
Similarly, during detachment of the intermediate-transfer-belt unit, the intermediate-transfer-belt unit may pivot on the trailing edge portion that the user grips and the leading edge of the intermediate-transfer-belt unit may fall, in case the guide contact members come off the guide rails before the user lifts up the intermediate-transfer-belt unit. Even in this case, the leading edge of the intermediate-transfer-belt unit can bump and damage, for example, the bottom surface of the image-forming-apparatus body, or the intermediate-transfer-belt unit itself can get damaged.
Although the intermediate-transfer-belt unit is explained above as a unit that can be detachably attached to the image-forming-apparatus body, any unit can have the above drawbacks as long as the unit can be detached from or attached to the image-forming-apparatus body while being supported by guide rails and being not in contact with the bottom surface of the image-forming-apparatus body.


An apparatus and method for manufacturing and using a calibrated registration reference wafer in a semiconductor manufacturing facility where an archive media includes etched alignment attributes. Exposing a pattern of complementary alignment attributes onto the archive media such that the pattern of complementary alignment attributes overlay and interlock with the etched alignment attributes thereby forming completed alignment attributes. Then, measuring offsets in the completed alignment attributes and constructing a calibration file for the archive media based upon the offset measurements and other characteristic data of the exposure tool.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to processes for semiconductor manufacture and more particularly to semiconductor pattern overlay.
2. Description of Related Art
Lithographic processing is increasingly requiring ever tighter layer-to-layer overlay tolerances to meet device performance requirements. Overlay registration on critical layers can directly impact device performance, yield and repeatability. Increasing device densities, decreasing device feature sizes and greater overall device size conspire to make pattern overlay one of the most important performance issues during the semiconductor manufacturing process. The ability to accurately determine correctable and uncorrectable pattern placement error depends on fundamental techniques and algorithms used to calculate lens distortion, stage error, and reticle error.
Overlay registration generally refers to translational error that exists between features exposed layer to layer in a vertical fabrication process of semiconductor devices on silicon wafers. Other names for overlay registration include, registration error and pattern placement error. A typical microelectronic device or circuit may consist of 20-30 levels or pattern layers. The placement of patterned features on other levels must match the placement of corresponding features on other levels, commonly referred to as overlap, within an accuracy which is some fraction of the minimum feature size or critical dimension (CD).
Overlay error is typically, although not exclusively, measured with an optical overlay metrology tool. See Semiconductor Pattern Overlay, N. Sullivan, SPIE Critical Reviews Vol. CR52, 160:188 1997; Accuracy of Overlay Measurements: Tool and Mark Asymmetry Effects, A. Starikov et al., Optical Engineering, 1298:1309, 1992; KLA 5105 Overlay Brochure, KLA-Tencor; KLA 5200 Overlay Brochure, KLA Tencor; Quaestor Q7 Brochures, Bio-rad Semiconductor Systems. Lithographers have crafted a variety of analysis techniques that attempt to separate out systematic process induced overlay error from random process induced error using a variety of statistical methods. See A Computer Aided Engineering Workstation for Registration Control, E. McFadden, C. Ausschnitt, SPIE Vol. 1087, 255:266, 1989; A "Golden Standard" Wafer Design for Optical Stepper Characterization, K. Kemp, C. King, W. Wu, C. Stager, SPIE Vol. 1464, 260:266, 1991; Matching Performance for Multiple Wafer Steppers using an Advanced Metrology Procedure, M. Van den Brink et al., SPIE Vol. 921, 180:197, 1988; Characterizing Overlay Registration of Concentric 5× and 1× Stepper Exposure Fields Using Interfield Data, F. Goodwin, J. Pellegrini, SPIE Vol. 3050, 407:417, 1997; Super Sparse Overlay Sampling Plans: An Evaluation of Methods and Algorithms for Optimizing Overlay Quality Control and Metrology Tool Throughput, J. Pellegrini, SPIE Vol. 3677, 72:82, 1999.
The importance of overlay error and its impact to yield can be found elsewhere. See Measuring Fab Overlay Programs, R. Martin, X. Chen, I. Goldberger, SPIE Conference on Metrology, Inspection, and Process Control for Microlithography XIII, 64:71, March 1999; A New Approach to Correlating Overlay and Yield, M. Preil, J. McCormack, SPIE Conference on Metrology, Inspection, and Process Control for Microlithography XIII, 208:216, March 1999. Lithographers have created statistical computer algorithms (for example, Klass II (See Lens Matching and Distortion Testing in a Multi-Stepper, Sub-Micron Environment, A. Yost et al., SPIE Vol. 1087, 233:244, 1989) and Monolith (See A Computer Aided Engineering Workstation for Registration Control, supra)) that attempt to separate out correctable sources of pattern placement error from non-correctable sources of error. See Analysis of overlay distortion patterns, J. Armitage, J. Kirk, SPIE Vol. 921, 207:221, 1988; Method to Budget and Optimize Total Device Overlay, C. Progler et al., SPIE Vol. 3679, 193:207, 1999; and System and Method for Optimizing the Grid and Intrafield Registration of Wafer Patterns, J. Pellegrini, U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,538. Overall theoretical reviews of overlay modeling can be found in See Semiconductor Pattern Overlay, supra; Machine Models and Registration, T. Zavecz, SPIE Critical Reviews Vol. CR52, 134:159.
Typically, most overlay measurements are made on silicon product wafers after each lithographic process, prior to final etch. Product wafers cannot be etched until the alignment attributes or overlay target patterns are properly aligned to the underlying overlay target patterns. Examples of overlay targets are described in Overlay Alignment Measurement of Wafers, N. Bareket, U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,256 (at FIG. 1b), Matching Management of Multiple Wafer Steppers Using a Stable standard and a Matching Simulator, M. Van den Brink et al., SPIE Vol. 1087, 218:232, 1989; Automated Electrical Measurements of Registration Errors in Step and Repeat Optical Lithography Systems, T. Hasan et al., IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. ED-27, No. 12, 2304:2312, December 1980; Method of Measuring Bias and Edge Overlay Error for Sub 0.5 Micron Ground Rules, C. Ausschnitt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,757,507; Capacitor Circuit Structure for Determining Overlay Error, K. Tzeng et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,143,621.
Generally, manufacturing facilities rely heavily on exposure tool alignment, wafer stage matching and calibration procedures (See Stepper Matching for Optimum Line Performance, T. Dooly, Y. Yang, SPIE Vol. 3051, 426:432, 1997; Matching Management of Multiple Wafer Steppers Using a Stable standard and a Matching Simulator, supra), Matching Performance for Multiple Wafer Steppers using an Advanced Metrology Procedure, supra) to help insure that the stepper or scanner tools are aligning properly; inaccurate overlay modeling algorithms can corrupt the exposure tool calibration procedures and degrade the alignment accuracy of the exposure tool system. See Characterizing Overlay Registration of Concentric 5× and 1× Stepper Exposure Fields Using Interfield Data, supra.
Over the past 30 years the microelectronics industry has experienced dramatic, and rapid decreases in critical dimension in part due to improving lithographic imaging systems. See A New Lens for Submicron Lithography and its Consequences for Wafer Stepper Design, J. Biesterbos et al., SPIE Vol. 633, Optical Microlithography V, 34:43, 1986; New 0.54 Aperture I-Line Wafer Stepper with Field by Field Leveling Combined with Global Alignment, M. Van den Brink, B. Katz, S. Wittekoek, SPIE Vol. 1463, 709:724, 1991; Step and Scan and Step and Repeat, a Technology Comparison, M. Van den Brink et al., SPIE Vol. 2726, 734:753; 0.7 NA DUV Step and Scan System for 150 nm Imaging with Improved Overlay, J. V. Schoot, SPIE Vol. 3679, 448:463, 1999. Today, these photolithographic exposure tools or machines are pushed to their performance limits. As the critical dimensions of semiconductor devices approach 50 nm the overlay error requirements will soon approach atomic dimensions. See Life Beyond Mix-and-Match: Controlling Sub-0.18 Micron Overlay Errors, T. Zavecz, Semiconductor International, July 2000. To meet the needs of next generation device specifications new overlay methodologies need to be developed. In particular, overlay methodologies that can accurately separate out systematic and random effects and break them into assignable causes may greatly improve device process yields. See A New Approach to Correlating Overlay and Yield, supra; Expanding Capabilities in Existing Fabs with Lithography Tool-Matching, F. Goodwin et al., Solid State Technology, 97:106, June 2000; Super Sparse Overlay Sampling Plans: An Evaluation of Methods and Algorithms for Optimizing Overlay Quality Control and Metrology Tool Throughput, supra; Lens Matching and Distortion Testing in a Multi-Stepper, Sub-Micron Environment, supra.
New "mix and match" technologies that can quickly and accurately reduce the registration error through better calibration and cross referencing procedures are desirable. See Mix-and-Match: A Necessary Choice, R. DeJule, Semiconductor International, 66:76, February 2000.


An electronic device with automatic switching input interfaces and a switching method thereof. The electronic device supports an Advanced Configuration Power Interface (ACPI), and includes a display unit, a storage unit, a memory unit, and an embedded controller. The display unit can be changed to a first position or a second position, and sends a signal to an embedded control unit when the display unit is at different positions. A management program running in the electronic device queries the ACPI and the embedded control unit to check the position and state of the display unit, so as to automatically load and run a corresponding program of a virtual input interface or a physical input interface into the memory unit, and remove the other program from the memory unit at the same time.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic device with automatic switching input interfaces. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electronic device that can automatically load and run a corresponding program of a virtual input interface or a physical input interface into a memory unit, and remove the other program from the memory unit when a display unit of the electronic device is at different positions.
2. Related Art
An electronic device with a changeable display unit, e.g., personal digital assistant (PDA), tablet PC, or cell phone can provides a corresponding virtual input interface (e.g., an input interface provided by a touch screen) and physical input interface (e.g., the physical keyboard) when the display unit is changed to different positions, for the user to input or operate data conveniently.
When the display unit of this electronic device is changed to one of the positions, the physical input interface is generally shielded, and the user must a specific hot key or switch means to enable the virtual input interface for inputting or operating data. For example, a notebook with a touch display unit can be used as a tablet computer without a keyboard after the display unit is rotated and folded back down by the user. However, when the notebook becomes the tablet computer, the original physical keyboard and the hot keys or function keys on the physical keyboard will be shielded by the display unit and cannot be used. Thus, the user must uses a specific hot key or switch means to enable the virtual input interface, so as to display a virtual keyboard on the display unit to substitute the original physical keyboard, which is quite inconvenient for the user.
On the other hand, usually, a corresponding program of the virtual input interface of this electronic device is loaded into the memory unit at the moment that the electronic device is booted. When the display unit switches from a first position to a second position, the electronic device can rapidly execute a corresponding program of the virtual input interface. However, when the physical input interface is used, a corresponding program of the virtual input interface remaining in the memory unit will cause a waste of the memory resource. Moreover, as a corresponding program of the virtual input interface is loaded into the memory unit at the moment that the electronic device is booted, the time for booting up the electronic device becomes longer.

Electronic device with automatic switching input interfaces and switching method thereof


The present invention provides a rubber composition for a tread which can improve both of grip performance and rolling resistance in good balance and a tire having a tread prepared by using it. The rubber composition for a tread of the present invention contains 30 to 80 parts by weight of a silica having a pH of 7.1 to 12.0 when dispersed in water to prepare a 5% aqueous dispersion; and not more than 10 parts by weight of a carbon black on the basis of 100 parts by weight of a rubber component comprising an epoxidized natural rubber and the tire of the present invention has a tread prepared by using the rubber composition.

A rubber composition prepared by using a rubber component containing only a natural rubber has been used as a rubber composition for a tread. However, in that case, since grip force of obtained tires is low, grip performance has been improved by using a synthetic rubber such as a styrene-butadiene rubber derived from petroleum resources as a rubber component in addition to the natural rubber.
However, in recent years, environmental problems have been emphasized and regulations on CO2 emission have been made rigorous. Further, since petroleum resources are finite and its supply quantity has been reduced year by year, petroleum price is predicted to surge in future and there is a limit in using raw materials derived from petroleum resources such as a styrene-butadiene rubber. Consequently, considering petroleum depletion in future, it is necessary to use resources other than petroleum such as a natural rubber and white fillers such as silica and calcium carbonate.
However, even if non-petroleum resources are used, equal or better tread performances (for example, grip performance of a tire) are required compared with performances of conventional treads obtained by use of petroleum resources.
In order to improve performance of a tread portion of a tire by using non-petroleum resources, JP2002-533234A discloses a process for preparing a rubber composition for a tire containing, as a rubber component, an epoxidized natural rubber, which is a non-petroleum resource. However, although grip performance is not inferior as compared with a tire using petroleum resources, rolling resistance cannot be adequately reduced. Thus, reduction of rolling resistance is further required, considering influence on environment.

Rubber composition for tread and tire having tread using same


An exhaust gas heat recovery device of the present invention recovers heat of an exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine. The exhaust gas heat recovery device includes an exhaust pipe that leads the exhaust gas from an upstream side to a downstream side, a cylindrical shell that covers an outside of the exhaust pipe, and an exhaust gas heat recovery section that is interposed between the exhaust pipe and the cylindrical shell and that performs heat exchange between the exhaust gas and a heat exchange medium. The exhaust gas heat recovery section includes a stacked body that is composed by stacking a plurality of jacket each having a heat exchange medium conduit provided thereinside. In the stacked body, the respective heat exchange medium conduits in the plurality of jacket parts are serially connected to each other.

As described in Patent Document 1, there is a well-known device interposed in an exhaust-gas flow path, which device recovers exhaust gas heat by performing heat exchange between the exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine and a heat exchange medium, such as cooling water of the internal combustion engine and the like. In this device, a tube stacked body is composed by stacking a plurality of flattened tubes having a circular torus shape, an exhaust pipe is inserted into the tube stacked body, and a cylindrical case is disposed on an outside of the tube stacked body. Further, in this device, there is provided, in the exhaust pipe, a shutoff valve that shuts off the exhaust gas flowing out from the exhaust pipe. When the internal combustion engine is being warmed up, the shutoff valve is closed. According to such configuration, the exhaust gas is led into a space between the cylindrical case and the tube stacked body during warming-up, and then, led into a space between the flattened tubes, and delivered to an opposite space between the cylindrical case and the tube stacked body. After that, the exhaust gas is discharged downstream of the exhaust-gas flow path from the opposite space between the cylindrical case and the tube stacked body. Further, the flow paths formed inside of the respective flattened tubes are connected in parallel to each other, and by flowing the heat exchange medium through the connected flow paths, heat exchange is performed between the exhaust gas and the heat exchange medium.


Methods and related systems for operating a climate control system for an indoor space are disclosed. In an embodiment, the method includes increasing a speed of a fan of the climate control system, and determining a first fitted external static pressure (ESP) function from a first plurality of airflow values and a first plurality of ESP values. Additionally, the method includes obtaining a baseline ESP from the first fitted ESP function, and determining a second fitted ESP function from a second plurality of airflow values and a second plurality of ESP values collected at least one week after the first plurality of airflow values and the first plurality of ESP values are collected. Further, the method includes comparing the first calculated ESP obtained from the second fitted ESP function to the baseline ESP to determine a condition of an air filter of the climate control system.

Climate control systems, such as heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) systems may generally be used in residential and/or commercial areas for heating and/or cooling to create comfortable temperatures inside those areas. Some climate control systems may be split-type heat pump systems. These systems typically have an indoor air handling unit and an outdoor unit, which are capable of cooling a comfort zone by operating in a cooling mode for transferring heat from a comfort zone to an ambient zone using a refrigeration cycle. These systems are also generally capable of reversing the direction of refrigerant flow through the components of the climate control system so that heat is transferred from the ambient zone to the comfort zone, thereby heating the comfort zone. Climate control systems often include an air filer or cleaner to capture particulates and other contaminates. These particulates and other contaminates gradually accumulate on the air filter or cleaner of the climate control system during the operation of the climate control system, leading to the eventual "fouling" or clogging of the air filter. A fouled air filter may result in a substantially high external static pressure (ESP) across an air circulation path of the climate control system, including across the air filter, reducing the effectiveness of the climate control system and increasing a power usage of a motor of the climate control system needed to overcome the increased ESP.

Systems and methods for detecting air filter fouling in a climate control system


The invention concerns an apparatus and process for making foods coated in bread crumbs.. The apparatus has a crumbing apparatus for converting loaves, of bread into breadcrumbs; a coating location whereto fresh crumbs are delivered from the crumbing apparatus; and a conveyor for transporting substrate food to the coating location for coating with the crumbs and for transporting coated food away from the coating location. PA0 The process involves the steps of obtaining baked and staled bread; inserting the bread into an apparatus which converts the bread into crumbs and substantially immediately coats the crumbs onto a substrate food. For conversion into crumbs, bread is supported on rods over a rotating drum having teeth which project between the rods to engage the bread. Thus bread too moist for grinding can be crumbed.

The present invention relates to bread crumbs. In particular, the invention relates to a process and apparatus for the manufacture of bread crumbs and their coating onto a substrate food such as fish or poultry.
The food manufacturing industry produces bread crumbs for coating many food items, for example fish portions, veal and chicken. The conventional broad crumb is small and gritty. The conventional system for manufacturing this type of crumb uses the steps listed below. In the following discussion and description, all percentages are on a by weight basis.
1. Wheat is made into flour. Typically, the extraction rate is of the order of 76-78%. PA1 2. Flour is baked into bread. PA1 3. The bread is made into crumbs, which contain approximately 30% water. PA1 4. The crumbs are dried to reduce the moisture content to approximately 8-12%. PA1 5. The crumbs are begged. PA1 6. The crumbs are stored. PA1 7. The crumbs are transported. PA1 8. The crumbs are stored. PA1 9. The crumbs are transferred to the hopper of an enrobing machine and coated onto a food product. PA1 (a) baking bread from flour which has been aged; PA1 (b) staling bread; and PA1 (c) making crumbs from the bread and, substantially immediately, coating the crumbs onto a substrate food.
Stages 1 to 6 are carried out by a bread crumb manufacturer. Stages 8 and 9 are carried out by the manufacturer of the final product.
For the more sophisticated adult market, there is a need for bigger crumbs that are fresher and have improved qualities, such as texture and taste. To date, it has proved difficult to satisfy this demand, as the use of a fresher bread for creating the crumbs leads to processing problems, for example balling-up of the bread during the crumb producing steps. Furthermore, during transportation and storage, crumbs with a higher moisture content would tend to go mouldy.

Apparatus for coating food with bread crumbs


A system and method processes graphics data for remote display. A graphics processing system including a plurality of graphics processing devices is coupled to a host system that includes a host graphics processor and a display device that is remote relative to the graphics processing system. Graphics processing performance may be scaled by distributing processing between the plurality of graphics processing devices and the host graphics processor such that each of the plurality of graphics processing devices and the host graphics processor produces a portion of an image. The portions are combined to produce the image, which is output by the host graphics processor to the display device.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to computer graphics, and more particularly to processing graphics data for remote display.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional portable computing systems that include a graphics processor, such as laptop computers, are limited in graphics processing performance due to power constraints. In contrast, desktop computing systems are more flexible than portable computing systems in terms of power and configuration. However, graphics processing performance of desktop computing systems is limited by system configuration constraints, such as the number of graphics cards that may be installed in a particular desktop computing system and/or the number of graphics processors that may be driven by the host processor(s) available in the particular desktop computing system.
Accordingly, there is a need to be able to scale the graphics processing performance of a computing system by using additional graphics processing devices without being limited by power constraints or particular system configuration constraints.

Scalable graphics processing for remote display


A display device is disclosed. Particularly, a display device including a wavelength conversion layer is disclosed. The display device includes a first light source including a substrate, a light emitting device disposed on the substrate and emitting light having a first wavelength band, and a wavelength conversion layer disposed on the light emitting device, at least partially absorbing the light having a first wavelength band, converting the absorbed light into a second wavelength band, and including at least two phosphors emitting substantially the same color.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device, and more particularly, to a display device having a wavelength conversion layer.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Display devices with large screen sizes and high image quality have become an important focus of interest. Examples of commercially available display devices with large screen sizes include direct view type liquid crystal displays (LCDs), plasma displays, projection TVs, and projectors.
Among theses, a projector includes a light source rendering red, green, and blue colors of an input image, and the projector projects light onto a screen by regulating brightness, contrast, and the like of the light source.
Thus, optical properties of the light source are an important factor in improving projector performance.

Display apparatus including a wavelength conversion layer


A chair has a removable back portion and a base portion connectable by unique female/male tapered connectors attached to the base portion and back portion with the base portion being shaped and dimensioned to be received in a carton having a tapered rear portion provided by diagonal vertical panels on opposite sides of a rear vertical wall panel with the base carton being shaped and dimensioned so that the sum of its girth and height do not total more than 130 inches so that the carton can be shipped by a parcel service shipping company such as UPS rather than by regular freight with the back being separately shipped in a separate package so that total shipping charges are much less than regular freight charges.

The present invention is directed to the fields of furniture and shipment containers and methods therefor.
More specifically, the present invention is directed to a unique method of assembling and shipping chairs in cartons or boxes for that purpose. Even more specifically, the subject invention is directed to a unique method and apparatus for permitting the shipping of chairs at a cost substantially less than that required when using previously employed shipping procedures. Even more specifically, the subject invention is directed to a method and apparatus for packing chairs in cartons of a sufficiently small size so as to permit the cartons to be acceptable to United Parcel Service for shipment thereby at substantially lower rates than is possible with other previously employed shipping procedures.
Chairs and similar furniture items are of such a geometric configuration as to require relatively large rectangular or square conventional boxes or cartons for enclosing such items for shipment; such cartons or boxes consequently both enclose and occupy substantial volumes of waste space in addition to the space being occupied by the chair. Since the shipping rates charged by motor carriers and others are proportional to the volume of the carton enclosing the item being shipped, the conventional cartons in which chairs are shipped result in substantial freight charges due to the fact that their total internal volume is necessary substantially greater than the volume of the chair enclosed within such cartons or boxes. For example, the shipping charge for chairs sold by catalogue stores and delivered by a conventional motor freight can be as high as $90.00. On the other hand, United Parcel Service shipping charges are based upon the weight of the shipped item with the rate being substantially less than that of most other shipping companies. However, United Parcel Service (UPS) will only ship packages or cartons of the like of a shape and size that of relatively small volume which is substantially less than the minimum size rectangular boxes and cartons in which chairs or the like have been previously shipped. The United Parcel Service rule is that a carton or box must not weigh more than 70 pounds or be so dimensioned that the sum of the girth (the perimeter as measured adjacent the top of the box) and the height of the box or carton must not exceed 130 inches. However, until the present invention, full size chair manufacturers could not meet the 130 inch requirement of United Parcel Service.
Up until the present invention, chair manufacturers of adult size chairs have universally employed common carrier shipping such as motor freight carriers for shipping purposes; similarly, retailers normally use either their own in-house delivery and/or local independent delivery companies. In either event shipping and delivery expenses are substantial and far in excess of what would have been possible had they been able to use United Parcel Service for the shipment of such adult size chairs. Moreover, shipping and delivery time using common carrier and normal retail delivery channels normally takes from one to five weeks. Conversely, UPS will normally accomplish delivery in two to five working days. However, up until the present invention, adult size chairs could not be shipped by UPS due to the restrictive size and weight limitations discussed above.
Therefore, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method and structure for permitting the shipment of adult size chairs by United Parcel Service.
A further object of the present invention is a provision of a new and improved method permitting an adult size chair to be packed in cartons of sufficiently small dimensions as to permit their shipment by United Parcel Service.
Yet another object of the invention is the provision of chair shipping apparatus and method in which waste volume in the shipping container is substantially reduced.

Method of packaging a chair for shipment


This invention relates to methods for determining if a media jam has been detected by a print engine, an input device, or an output device.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to methods for determining if a media jam has been detected by a print engine, an input device, or an output device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Prior to the present invention, as set forth in general terms above and more specifically below, it is known, in the media handling art that after a media jam occurs, the printer firmware performs an urgent stop to stop all media movement. However, this will leave media in the print engine and the input/output devices of the printer. Some of this media can be flushed and some cannot. Consequently, the media that cannot be flushed, which can be located under the fuser of the printer, will create additional follow-on media jams that will have to be cleared by the user.
It is also known, in the media handling art, to employ a variety of internal purges for media jam clearance. Typically, these devices utilize buckle chambers or other internal devices located within the printer in order to compile the media located upstream of the media jam. While these devices prevent further media from being jammed, these devices may wrinkle or otherwise destroy the media as it is held within the internal device. This could be especially critical if the media is expensive. Also, these internal devices are not interchangeable between various printing devices.
Finally, it is known, in the media handling art, that once a media jam has occurred, the printing engine and/or output device are stopped in order that the user can remove the jammed media. This stoppage of the printing engine and/or output device becomes an inconvenience to the user because the user must now wait for the printing engine and/or output device to warm back up before the print job can be completed.
It is apparent from the above that there exists a need in the art for a time efficient, interchangeable apparatus and method that is capable of detecting a media jam and flushing the media without damaging it. It is a purpose of this invention to fulfill this and other needs in the art in a manner more apparent to the skilled artisan once given the following disclosure.

Method and apparatus for detecting a media jam

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A device includes a bus interface to couple to a shared bus of a sensor network. The device also includes a sensor interface to couple to a sensor of the sensor network. The device further includes a gated pulse width modulation circuit coupled to the bus interface and to the sensor interface. The gated pulse width modulation circuit is configured to transmit, during a time slot determined based on a timing signal received via the shared bus, an analog pulse width modulated representation of a signal received from the sensor.

Sensor networks may be used to monitor a variety of parameters, such as environmental parameters, structural parameters, or electrical parameters. As a number of sensors included in a sensor network increases, additional infrastructure and communication components are typically needed for the sensor network to be implemented. For a sensor network that includes thousands of sensors, wiring to connect each sensor to a data collection point (e.g., a controller) may be extensive. For example, a wire bundle with one wire per sensor may be used to communicate to the data collection point for processing and response. When implementing the sensor network using the wire bundle, the wire bundle may pose many drawbacks, such as weight, installation costs, cross-connections and interference (e.g., shorting), and poor reliability.
To reduce an amount of wiring used to implement sensor networks, a common medium, such as a bus, may be used for some or all of the sensors. However, implementing a sensor network using the common medium may present difficulties associated with synchronization, configuration, and coordination. For example, a sensor network having the common medium is typically implemented in a digital domain (e.g., communication using digital signals) using digital physical layers (PHY) with protocols, such as an Ethernet protocol, that are much more complex than necessary for simple sensors and that have variable transmission delays that do not meet latency requirements of the sensor network. Additionally, sensor networks that have hundreds or thousands of sensors sharing the common medium have several network management issues (e.g., configuration and coordination) that make using the common medium infeasible.

Sensor network using pulse width modulated signals


In a process for attaching indicator elements onto a disposable garment, indication sheets with indicator elements and liquid-absorbent cores are fed onto inner and outer surfaces of an outer layer web. A rear half of the front one of the adjacent sheets is placed upon a front end zone of the core and a front half of the rear one of the adjacent sheets is placed upon a rear end zone of the core. The sheet is joined to the outer layer web, the core is joined to the inner and outer layer webs, and the webs are joined together. The sheet is cut together with the webs between the adjacent cores to form laminated panels with indicator elements in front and rear regions.

This invention relates to a process for attaching, in front and rear regions of a disposable garment such as a diaper comprising an outer layer web, an inner layer web and a liquid-absorbent core interposed between these inner and outer webs, indicator elements which are visually recognizable from the exterior of the outer layer web.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-54536 A discloses a pull-on disposable diaper including a patterned sheet and a process for making the same. This diaper comprises a liquid-impervious backsheet lying on the side facing away from a wearer's body (outer layer web), a liquid-pervious topsheet (inner layer web) lying on the side facing the wearer's body, and a liquid-absorbent core interposed between these sheets. This diaper has a front waist region (front region), a rear waist region (rear region), a crotch region (intermediate region) extending between these waist regions, a waist-opening and a pair of leg-openings. The patterned sheet adapted to be visually recognizable from the exterior of the diaper is attached to an inner surface of the outer sheet.
The process for making this diaper comprises a step of attaching the patterned sheet in which the patterned sheet having an area smaller than the outer sheet is attached to the inner surface of the outer sheet at a predetermined location, a step of securing the core in which the core is secured to the inner surface of the outer sheet and a step of joining the sheets in which the inner sheet is placed upon and joined with the upper surface of the core. In the step of attaching the patterned sheet, a plurality of the patterned sheets are successively fed onto the inner surface of the outer sheet so as to be spaced one from another by a predetermined dimension in a longitudinal direction of the outer sheet and then these patterned sheets are attached to the outer sheet by means of a hot melt adhesive.
According to the process for making the diaper as disclosed in the above-cited Publication, a plurality of the patterned sheets must be individually fed onto and attached to the inner surface of the outer sheet with each pair of the patterned sheets being spaced apart from each other by a predetermined dimension in a transverse dimension. Feeding and attaching of these patterned sheets inevitably doubles time and labor and require the additional device as well as steps associated with such feeding as well as such attaching. Consequently, it is impossible to manufacture the diapers at a low cost.

Process for attaching indicator element to disposable garment


A semiconductor memory device that includes a first high voltage oscillator configured to generate a first control pulse in response to a first enable signal, a level shifter configured to generate a high voltage control pulse by boosting a level of the first control pulse using a source high voltage, and a first high voltage generator configured to generate a high voltage by boosting an external power supply voltage in response to the high voltage control pulse.

The subject matter relates to an internal voltage generating circuit of a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly, to a high-voltage generating circuit for boosting a supply voltage to generate a high voltage used in a semiconductor device.
In a system with a variety of semiconductor devices, a semiconductor memory device serves as a data storage. The semiconductor memory device outputs data corresponding to addresses received from a data processor, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), or stores data received from the data processor into memory cells selected by addresses received from a data processor.
As the integration density of semiconductor memory devices has increased, circuits are designed based on a sub-micron design rule. Thus, circuit components of the semiconductor memory devices have become ultra-fine. Meanwhile, as the operating frequency of the CPU increases, semiconductor memory devices within systems are also designed to operate in high frequency environments. In order to achieve high frequency operation while components are becoming ultra-fine, a power supply voltage should be lowered. For example, a power supply voltage lower than 1.5 V is applied to synchronous memory devices, such as double data rate version 3 (DDR3) or higher version, which are considered current and next generation memory devices.
As the power supply voltage for the next generation memory device is lowered, internal voltages with different voltage levels than the power supply voltage are required to support various operations inside electronic devices and semiconductor memory devices. It is difficult and inefficient to receive all of the internal voltages from external circuits. Therefore, the semiconductor memory devices include internal voltage generating circuits. Generally, such an internal voltage generating circuit generates an internal voltage according to a level of an external power supply voltage. For example, an internal voltage generating circuit may generate an internal voltage having the same level as the input power supply voltage, or may generate an internal voltage having a different level from the input power supply voltage, such as one half, one quarter, or double the input power supply voltage.
Among the internal voltage generating circuits, on-chip high voltage generating circuits have become more important. A high voltage generating circuit is a circuit for generating a high voltage higher than a power supply voltage. The high voltage generating circuit is used for driving word lines (WL) connected to unit cells of the semiconductor memory device. Also, the high voltage generating circuit is used to generate a driving power for a data output buffer.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional semiconductor memory device.
Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional semiconductor memory device includes a reference voltage generator 110, a high voltage detector 120, a high voltage oscillator 130, a high voltage generator 140, and a cell transistor 150. The cell transistor 150 is included in a unit cell for storing data. The cell transistor 150 is connected to a word line and acts as a switch to output data stored in the unit cell or store data in the unit cell. The semiconductor memory device needs internal voltages having various levels for various internal operations. Although the high voltage is used in various internal circuits of the semiconductor memory device, a representative case will be described below.
After an external power supply voltage VDD is applied, the high voltage detector 120 detects a high voltage VPP generated by the high voltage generator 140 and outputs a high voltage enable signal VPPE for enabling the high voltage generator 140 if the detected high voltage VPP does not reach a predetermined level. The high voltage oscillator 130 outputs control pulses P1 and P2 having a constant period in response to the high voltage enable signal VPPE, and the high voltage generator 140 generates a high voltage VPP in response to the control pulses P1 and P2. In addition, the reference voltage generator 110 generates a reference voltage VREF having a stable level to the high voltage detector 120. The high voltage detector 120 receives the reference voltage VREF and determines if the high voltage VPP output from the high voltage generator 140 is higher than a threshold based on reference voltage VREF.
More specifically, the reference voltage generator 110 is a basic circuit in the internal voltage generating circuit of the semiconductor memory device and generates the reference voltage VREF having a stable level (e.g., 0.8 V). The reference voltage VREF is input to the high voltage detector 120. The high voltage detector 120 receives the reference voltage VREF and the high voltage VPP, and outputs the high voltage enable signal VPPE. More specifically, the high voltage detector 120 divides the high voltage VPP and compares the divided high voltage with the reference voltage VREF. When the divided high voltage is higher than the reference voltage VREF, the high voltage detector 120 outputs the high voltage enable signal VPPE at a logic low level to disable the high voltage oscillator 130. When the divided high voltage is lower than the reference voltage VREF, the high voltage detector 120 outputs the high voltage enable signal VPPE at a logic high level to enable the high voltage oscillator 130.
The high voltage oscillator 130 receives the high voltage enable signal VPPE from the high voltage detector 120. The high voltage oscillator 130 is disabled when the high voltage enable signal VPPE is at a logic low level. That is, the first control signal P1 output from the high voltage oscillator 130 is locked to a logic low level. At this point, the second control signal P2 is locked to a logic high level. Alternatively, when the high voltage enable signal VPPE output from the high voltage detector 120 is at a logic high level, the high voltage oscillator 130 is enabled to output the first and second control signals P1 and P2 having a pulse form with a constant period.
The high voltage generator 140, receiving the first and second control signals P1 and P2 having the pulse form with the constant period, receives an external power supply voltage VDD and operates internal pumping capacitors to increase the level of the high voltage VPP. When the first control signal P1 does not have a pulse form with constant period, but is locked to a logic low level, the high voltage generator 140 does not operate internal pumping capacitors to increase the level of the high voltage VPP. Consequently, when the level of the high voltage VPP is low, the high voltage detector 120, the high voltage oscillator 130, and the high voltage generator 140 operate to boost the power supply voltage VDD by the pumping capacitor of the high voltage generator 140, thereby increasing the level of the high voltage VPP.
FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of the high voltage generator 140 of FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 2, the high voltage generator 140 includes inverters 142A and 142B for inverting the control signals P1 and P2 output from the high voltage oscillator 130, pumping capacitors C0 and C1 for performing a boosting operation, and a high voltage output unit 144 for outputting the high voltage VPP generated based on the power supply voltage VDD. Specifically, the high voltage output unit 144 includes first and second MOS transistors M1 and M2 for transferring the high voltage VPP, and third to fifth transistors M3 to M5 acting as a current source for a boosting operation.
Upon operation of the high voltage generator 140, an initial VPP output node is reset to a level of VDD−Vt by the applied power supply voltage VDD. In addition, nodes R1 and R2 are also initialized to a level of VDD−Vt by the applied power supply voltage VDD. To simplify the discussion, it is assumed that the VPP output node and the nodes R1 and R2 are reset to a level of the power supply voltage VDD, without considering the threshold voltage (Vt) of the transistor.
When the first control signal P1 changes from the logic high level to the logic low level, an output node A1 of the inverter 142A changes from a logic low level to a logic high level. At this point, the level of the node R1 rises from the initial power supply voltage VDD to two times the power supply voltage, 2×VDD, by the operation of the pumping capacitor C0. Due to the second control signal P2 having a phase opposite to the first control signal, the node R2 is kept at the level of the initial power supply voltage VDD. Hence, the first MOS transistor M1 is turned on and two times the power supply voltage, 2×VDD, is transferred to the VPP output node.
Likewise, when the second control signal P2 changes from the logic high level to the logic low level, the output node A2 of the inverter changes from a logic low level to a logic high level. At this point, the level of the node R2 rises from the power supply voltage VDD to two times the power supply voltage, 2×VDD, by the operation of the pumping capacitor C1. Since the first control signal P1 has a phase opposite to the second control signal P2, the node B1 falls from two times the power supply voltage 2×VDD to the power supply voltage VDD. Hence, the second MOS transistor M2 is turned on and two times the power supply voltage 2×VDD is transferred to the VPP output node.
FIG. 3 is a graph depicting the operation of the semiconductor memory device of FIG. 1.
The generation of the high voltage VPP after the power supply voltage VDD is applied is shown in FIG. 3. In the initial operation of the semiconductor memory device, the power supply voltage rises from a low level to a target level. The pumping capacitor repetitively boosts the power supply voltage VDD and the high voltage VPP rises from an initial low level to a VPP target level. That is, the high voltage VPP rises up to the VPP target voltage while the VPP output node of the semiconductor memory device is charged by the continuous pumping operation.
The pumping capacitors C0 and C1 having the relationship of Q=CV have relatively smaller capacitances than those of various loads connected to the VPP output node within the semiconductor memory device. Therefore, several pumping operations must be performed in order to increase the level of the VPP output node up to the VPP target level. However, the actual operation of the semiconductor memory device cannot wait a long time for the high voltage VPP to be charged up to the VPP target level after the input of the power supply voltage VDD.
Hence, the pumping capacitors C0 and C1 must have large capacitances in order to increase the high voltage VPP up to the target voltage level within a predetermined time. Accordingly, the capacitors C0 and C1 must be designed with large sizes. Consequently, a total size of the semiconductor memory device increases, which negatively affects the design of the high-integrated semiconductor memory device.


In a local stethoscope unit, acoustic auscultation sounds picked up by the stethoscope chest piece assembly of a local stethoscope unit are converted to analog electrical signals and then converted to digital signals. The digital signals are conveyed to a data communications system, having data communications device and a data communication channel. The digital signals are transmitted over the digital communications system to a remote stethoscope receiving unit. The remote stethoscope unit converts the digital signals back to the original analog signals suitable for listening.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates stethoscopes and in particular to coding and digitally transmitting auscultation sounds to a remote location where the signals are decoded and converted back to analog sounds for listening.
2. Description of Related Art
When a clinician examines a patient, the clinician typically will check the patient's vital signs. Key among the vital signs typically checked are the cardiovascular (heart) and respiratory (lung) sounds of the patient. Sounds coming from the body are referred to as auscultation sounds and a stethoscope is the medical device used to listen to a patient's auscultation sounds. A typical stethoscope will have a bell and diaphragm capability, where the bell position slightly enhances the lower frequency sounds of the beating heart and the diaphragm position is better at passing the higher frequencies, such as the breath sounds of the lungs.
The clinician will place the chest piece of the stethoscope to various spots on the patient's front and back depending on which organ is being monitored. The clinician will also use the bell/diaphragm capability as appropriate to enhance the auscultation exam. While a clinician may wish to see the patient and where the chest piece is being placed, it is not essential that the clinician hold the chest piece. That is, someone else, including the patient can position and hold the chest piece following the instructions of the clinician. As long as there is a video/audio (or at least an audio) connection between the clinician and patient and a data communications channel to pass auscultation sounds, the physician and patient don't have to be physically in the same location. The ability to perform certain medical functions on a patient at a remote location is generally referred to as telemedicine. Having a remote telephonic stethoscope system is essential in performing medical tests that require auscultation in telemedicine.
The output of a typical amplifying stethoscope can be digitized and send over a digital communications channel to a receiving stethoscope unit that converts the digitized signal back to analog to allow a clinician to listen to the sounds. The techniques and equipment available in the prior art to accomplish this produce a digital signal with a data rate that significantly limits the frequency range of the auscultation signal that may be passed over normal telephone lines; hence, many systems are thus restricted to usage between facilities that have broadband communications channels. Currently, most homes do not have broadband communications service. However, nearly all homes have basic telephone service so a remote telephonic stethoscope system that uses a bit rate low enough to be used over a normal telephone line is highly advantageous. Some remote telephonic stethoscope system can accomplish this in a store-and-forward method that approaches real-time operation. That is, they store a brief period of auscultation sounds and then pause in the monitoring of new sounds while they send the stored sounds. This is not real-time and is awkward for the clinician and patient.
Typical remote telephonic stethoscope systems use a relatively large bandwidth, generally in the range of 32 Kb/s to 64 Kb/s. The best state-of-the-art system achieves a modest auscultation bandwidth using 9.6 Kb/s, uses special techniques for error handling and achieves a bandwidth of 30 Hz to 500 Hz.
The prior art includes a remote telephonic stethoscope system that uses Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) and Adaptive Differential PCM (ADPCM) coding and a repeated byte error handling circuit to achieve a low bit rate that passes part of the key auscultation frequency band of interest and operates in real-time, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,841,846. The commercial implementation of this patent also includes in the remote stethoscope unit a monitor port so that the local physician with the patient can listen as well as the remote physician.
The conversion of an analog auscultation signal to a digital auscultation signal (A/D conversion) involves sampling the analog signal periodically and quantizing the samples. How often the analog signal is sampled is dependent on the highest frequency component that is to be passed. According to the Nyquist criteria, it is necessary to sample an analog signal at least twice as often as the highest frequency to be transmitted. For example, to pass a signal up to 3,400 Hz (cycles per second) requires sampling at least 6,800 times a second. While an analog signal is continuous, its digital counterpart is not. Matching the analog sample to its nearest digital equivalent is called quantization. Linear coding typically requires 10–12 bits for each sample and is the easiest and least efficient. PCM provides better efficiency and achieves similar quality with only 8 bits per sample by using a technique called companding where greater sensitivity is given to low volume sounds by assigning relatively more digital values than for high volume sounds. Because the typical signals are band limited in some way, the amplitude difference between two adjacent samples is much smaller than the total possible amplitude range. More sophisticated schemes take advantage of that and produce even greater bandwidth efficiency. Adaptive Differential PCM (ADPCM) yields nearly the same quality as PCM but produces only four bits per sample.
Adaptive delta modulation (ADM), although a known coding scheme, has not been used an electronic stethoscope system. ADM is a sophisticated digital coding method that uses an adaptive differential quantization technique based on the differences between three or four adjacent samples, but only produces one bit for each quantization computation. By looking at multiple samples, both the rate of change as well as the change in amplitude and slope can be used in the computation. Since each computation produces only one bit, rather than four, eight or twelve, there is no need for any synchronization or framing patterns; it is inherently self-synchronizing. A specific implementation of ADM called continuously variable slope delta (CVSD) modulation is used in communications networks where efficiency and robustness against noise is needed.
ADM/CVSD integrated circuits (IC) have been designed for the telephony communications industry. They are tailored for the telephony voice frequency range of 300 Hz to 3,400 Hz and typically include at the encoding side an input filter, an A/D converter and ADM/CVSD algorithm processing and at the decoding side ADM/CVSD algorithm processing, D/A conversion and output filtering.


The subject matter discussed herein relates to the automatic, real-time registration of pre-operative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data to intra-operative ultrasound (US) data (e.g., reconstructed images or unreconstructed data), such as to facilitate surgical guidance or other interventional procedures. In one such example, brain structures (or other suitable anatomic features or structures) are automatically segmented in pre-operative and intra-operative ultrasound data. Thereafter, anatomic structure (e.g., brain structure) guided registration is applied between pre-operative and intra-operative ultrasound data to account for non-linear deformation of the imaged anatomic structure. MR images that are pre-registered to pre-operative ultrasound images are then given the same nonlinear spatial transformation to align the MR images with intra-operative ultrasound images to provide surgical guidance.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to automatic multimodal image registration that utilizes structure segmentation to facilitate guidance and which may be used for real-time tracking of moving objects.
Non-invasive imaging technologies allow images of the internal structures or features of a patient/object to be obtained without performing an invasive procedure on the patient/object. In particular, such non-invasive imaging technologies rely on various physical principles (such as the differential transmission of X-rays through a target volume, the reflection of acoustic waves within the volume, the paramagnetic properties of different tissues and materials within the volume, the breakdown of targeted radionuclides within the body, and so forth) to acquire data and to construct images or otherwise represent the observed internal features of the patient/object.
By way of example, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a useful imaging modality in the context of surgical and interventional procedures since it provides soft tissue contrast that enables mapping of the location and boundary of pathological tissue (e.g., tumors) in the planning/diagnosis phases. However, due to the limited patient space in the magnet bore, requirement of MRI compatible surgical instruments and low imaging frame rate, it is difficult to integrate real-time MRI into surgical operation workflows. Thus, real-time MR images are typically not available in the surgical operation phase, which increases the risks of invasive access or treatment of healthy tissue regions that were not targeted in the planning phase. In addition, clinicians may fail to completely access or treat the pathological tissue due to the lack of real-time tracing of pathological tissue boundaries. While segmentation or manual tracing of a lesion/tumor from MR images in the planning phase may provide an initial location of one or more fiducials, due to physiological motion, position or orientation changes, deformation, and so forth, this initial location may not correspond to the true position and/or boundaries of the target lesion/tumor in a subsequent invasive procedure.
Ultrasound imaging, conversely, may be useful to provide real-time imaging, including during a surgical or interventional procedure. However, ultrasound imaging provides poorer soft tissue contrast, which may lead to inaccurate localization of the tissue of interest (e.g., pathological tissue, such as tumors) and/or the boundaries of such tissue. These limitations may in turn limit the ability to locate or delineate pathology or target lesions.
In certain contexts, such imaging technologies may be used together to provide or facilitate real-time tracking of moving (i.e., dynamic) objects (e.g., moving tissues or organs), such as by using a combination of imaging technologies to allow the internal structures or features of a patient/object to be recognized and monitored. In particular, such imaging targets may exist in areas of the body that move or change size and/or shape over time. The accurate tracking of such dynamic structures provides useful information in medical practice. For example, in neurosurgery it is useful for the doctor to see precisely where the brain tumor margin is in order to do proper resection without causing damage to the surrounding brain tissues. The pre-operative imaging (such as ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging) may provide useful references for identifying a tumor boundary (e.g., a brain tumor boundary) in such a context. However, in this example, during the subsequent brain surgical operation, there are deformations of the tissues inside the skull due to the fluid and pressure loss associated with the dura opening, or due to the tumor resection. Consequently, the intra-operative images of the tumor boundary may change significantly in comparison to the pre-operative image references.
However, in such combined or multi-modal imaging context, linking real-time ultrasound imaging with pre-acquired MR images (acquired at a different time) may be time-consuming, computationally intensive, and may have inaccuracies that adversely affects the precision and outcome of the surgical operation. In addition, image contrast and spatial resolution in MRI and ultrasound imaging are different and these differences exacerbate the difficulty in aligning or registering MR and ultrasound images. Thus, there is a need for an imaging approach that provides sufficient soft tissue contrast during the intervention/treatment phase while also providing real-time positional information of the target lesion.

Deformable registration for multimodal images


An air guide and motor housing assembly for use in domestic and commercial vacuum cleaners is described wherein the assembly comprises an air guide having a center detail for engaging the motor housing to facilitate assembly of the components, and reduce creep, turbulence and vibration-induced noise. An air guide for use with a centrifugal fan is described wherein the air guide is mounted on a motor bracket using the same rivets that fasten a bearing assembly to the motor bracket. Alternative embodiments of the device are also described in which a step in an inner fan housing cooperates with a step projecting from the air guide to securely fasten the air guide to the motor assembly, and a center detail on the air guide engages the motor housing to secure the air guide thereto, thereby providing the same advantages. Methods are provided for assembling an air guide and a motor housing together using fewer parts and assembly steps than conventional arrangements, and which permit reduction in the overall noise level of the finished appliance.

The present invention relates generally to the field of air guides used in conjunction with centrifugal fans to provide air power for electric motors. More particularly, the present invention relates to air guide and motor housing structures used with electric motors in appliances, such as vacuum cleaners, and methods of making such structures.
Electric motors are used in many domestic and commercial appliances requiring relatively high suction from a compact electric motor, such as in vacuum cleaners.
Several types of structures are known to redirect a radially outward airstream created by a centrifugal fan so that the redirected airstream flows parallel to the motor longitudinal axis. Typically such a structure, generally designated an "air guide" or "diffuser", is mounted to the motor housing, where it accepts the airflow exiting the centrifugal fan and induces a swirling motion in the airflow as it is redirected into the motor housing.
Torigoe et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,233, Numata et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,370 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 57/1982-30475 provide examples of previously known air guide arrangements, typically involving a centrifugal fan having a central suction intake and a series of spiral shaped impeller vanes that generate a radially outward airflow. This airflow exits into a generally circular chamber, where it is deflected radially off of a casing wall and into the inlet ports of an air guide. The air guide, which comprises a series of fixed spiral vanes, has inlet ports on the side adjacent to the centrifugal fan, and outlet ports on the reverse side. Air entering the air guide through the inlet ports is deflected radially inward to the outlet ports, where it is exits across the motor windings. In such devices, the air guide constitutes a separate element that is aligned with the openings in the motor housing and then affixed to the motor casing using fastening elements.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 1/1989-280700 describes a centrifugal fan, air guide and motor casing arrangement directed to reducing the noise inherent in previously known fan/air guide configurations. The publication notes that the noise resulting from the turbulence created in the airflow as it exits the fan, impinges off the fan casing and passes through the air guide, can be reduced by controlling the gap between the air guide inlet ports and the fan casing.
Similarly, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 60/1985-153498 describes a fan/air guide configuration in which the inlet ports of the air guide extend radially outwardly beyond the diameter of the fan. The arrangement described in that publication is an attempt to reduce the noise generated by the airflow passing through the fan/air guide by controlling the ratio of the air guide diameter to the fan diameter, and also by increasing the air guide inlet port area, thereby reducing the quantity of air impinging on the obstructed areas.
A drawback encountered with known air guides is that the exit areas of the air guide must be aligned with the air intake areas of the motor housing. Once so aligned, the air guide is affixed to the motor housing by suitable means, such as screws or rivets. Such structure may have the disadvantage of being difficult to assemble by automated machines, since care must be taken in positioning the air guide so that the air passages of the air guide and motor housing are properly aligned. A further disadvantage of such an arrangement is that the motor housing must provide a surface for accepting the fastening means used to affix the air guide to the motor housing, which in turn reduces the area of the motor housing that can be dedicated as air inlet area. It would therefore be desirable to provide an air guide that reduces the effort needed to align the outlet areas of the air guide with the inlet areas of the motor housing, and that reduces the amount of effort required to fasten the air guide to the motor housing.
Previously known devices typically provide two or more screws or other fastening means to affix the air guide snugly to the motor housing to avoid vibration of the air guide and attendant noise during operation. This mode of attaching the air guide to the motor housing can result in high localized stresses in the air guide where it is attached by the fastening means. As a result, creep deformation of the air guide locally adjacent to the fastening means may result in loosening of the air guide relative to the motor housing, causing vibration and noise during operation. It would therefore be desirable to provide an air guide that can be affixed to the motor housing so as to be resistant to creep-induced deformation and vibration.
The above cited publications show that the noise associated with the turbulence generated in redirecting the airflow exiting the fan into the motor housing can be reduced by controlling the dimensions of the gap between the air guide and the fan casing, and the fan diameter and the air guide diameter. While these parameters permit some noise reduction in the previously known fan/air guide configurations, those designs are limited by the noise created by the constriction of the air flow where it enters the inlet ports of the motor housing. It would therefore be desirable to develop an air guide allowing further noise reduction by reducing the extent of constriction of the airflow as it exits the air guide and enters the motor housing.

Air guide assembly for an electric motor and methods of making