A device is disclosed which includes a die comprising an integrated circuit and an interposer that is coupled to the die, the interposer having a smaller footprint than that of the die. A method is disclosed which includes operatively coupling an interposer to a die comprising an integrated circuit, the interposer having a smaller footprint than that of the die, and filling a space between the interposer and the die with an underfill material.

1. Technical Field
This subject matter disclosed herein is generally directed to the field of packaging of integrated circuit devices, and, more particularly, to a packed flip chip with an interposer, and various methods of making same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Integrated circuit technology uses electrical devices, e.g., transistors, resistors, capacitors, etc., to formulate vast arrays of functional circuits. The complexity of these circuits requires the use of an ever-increasing number of linked electrical devices so that the circuit may perform its intended function. As the number of transistors increases, the integrated circuitry dimensions shrink. One challenge in the semiconductor industry is to develop improved methods for electrically connecting and packaging circuit devices which are fabricated on the same and/or on different wafers or chips. In general, it is desirable in the semiconductor industry to construct transistors which occupy less surface area on the silicon chip/die.
In the manufacture of semiconductor device assemblies, a single semiconductor die is most commonly incorporated into each sealed package. Many different package styles are used, including dual inline packages (DIP), zig-zag inline packages (ZIP), small outline J-bends (SOJ), thin small outline packages (TSOP), plastic leaded chip carriers (PLCC), small outline integrated circuits (SOIC), plastic quad flat packs (PQFP) and interdigitated leadframe (IDF). Some semiconductor device assemblies are connected to a substrate, such as a circuit board, prior to encapsulation. Manufacturers are under constant pressure to reduce the size of the packaged integrated circuit device and to increase the packaging density in packaging integrated circuit devices.
There are many applications where a plurality of integrated circuit die are attached to a single module that is commonly referred to as a multi-chip module. In some cases, traditional flip chip techniques have been employed to electrically couple an integrated circuit die to the module. In some cases, after the die is attached to the module, an underfill material is positioned between the integrated circuit die and the module in an effort to enhance the stability of the conductive connection between the integrated circuit die and the multi-chip module. The underfill material is typically applied by dispensing a quantity of the underfill material and allowing it to wick under the integrated circuit die and fill the space between the die and the multi-chip module. Thereafter, the underfill material is cured. The use of such underfill material can be time-consuming and expensive, especially if it is required on large surface areas.
While the subject matter disclosed herein is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Flip chip with interposer, and methods of making same


A new portable lap tray for securing to a user's thighs for use inside of a vehicle. The inventive device includes a tray portion having a generally rectangular configuration. The tray portion includes an upper surface and a lower surface. The upper surface has a circular recess formed therein. The tray portion is defined by a long forward edge, a long rearward edge and opposed short side edges. The long forward edge curves inwardly at a central extent thereof. The long rearward edge and the opposed short side edges have a continuous upwardly extending peripheral ridge. The tray is securable to the thighs of a user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lap trays and more particularly pertains to a new portable lap tray for securing to a user's thighs for use inside of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of lap trays is known in the prior art. More specifically, lap trays heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art lap trays include U.S. Pat. No. 4,765,583 to Tenner; U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,455 to Miller et al.; U.S. Pat. No. Des. 308,450 to Harris et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,249 to Goss; U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,370 to Pickett et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 331,330 to Bennett et al.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new portable lap tray. The inventive device includes a tray portion having a generally rectangular configuration. The tray portion includes an upper surface and a lower surface. The upper surface has a circular recess formed therein. The tray portion is defined by a long forward edge, a long rearward edge and opposed short side edges. The long forward edge curves inwardly at a central extent thereof. The long rearward edge and the opposed short side edges have a continuous upwardly extending peripheral ridge. The tray is securable to the thighs of a user.
In these respects, the portable lap tray according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of securing to a user's thighs for use inside of a vehicle.


A medical liquid injection system capable of automatically preventing a piston drive mechanism from being driven when a cylinder holding mechanism does not hold a medical liquid syringe properly. When a cylinder member (210) is being held, in a specific direction of rotation about the axis of the mechanism, by a cylinder holding mechanism (120), an RFID chip (230) and an RFID reader (131) become communicable, making the piston drive mechanism operable. On the other hand, when the cylinder member (210) has been rotated by a specified angle from a specific direction, the RFID chip (230) and the RFID reader (131) become incommunicable, not making the piston drive mechanism operable. As a consequence, the piston drive mechanism is not driven when the cylinder holding mechanism (120) is not holding the medical liquid syringe properly.

Presently available imaging diagnostic apparatuses for capturing diagnostic images of patients include CT scanners, MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) apparatuses, PET (Positron Emission Tomography) apparatuses, ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses, CT angiography apparatuses, MRA (MR angiography) apparatuses and the like. When the abovementioned imaging diagnostic apparatuses are used, a liquid such as a contrast medium and physiological saline may be injected into a patient. Chemical liquid injectors for automatically performing the injection have been put into practical use.
Such a chemical liquid injector has a piston driving mechanism formed of a driving motor, a slider mechanism and the like, for example. A liquid syringe is removably mounted on the injector. The liquid syringe typically includes a cylinder member and a piston member slidably inserted in the cylinder member.
More specifically, the cylinder member is formed in a cylindrical shape and has a leading end closed and having a conduit formed at the center thereof and a trailing end opened. An annular cylinder flange is formed in the outer circumference of the trailing end, and the piston member is slidably inserted into the cylinder member through the opening at the trailing end.
There are a pre-filled type and a refill type in the liquid syringe. The liquid syringe of the pre-filled type includes a cylinder member filled with a liquid and is wholly sealed by a packing material for shipment. The liquid syringe of the refill type includes a cylinder member which can be filled with a desired liquid by a user.
For simplicity, the following description will be made assuming that the liquid syringe of the pre-filled type is used.
When the liquid in the liquid syringe of the abovementioned type is injected into a patient, an operator prepares for a liquid syringe containing an appropriate liquid and takes out the liquid syringe from the packing material. The operator connects the liquid syringe to a patient through an extension tube and mounts the liquid syringe on a chemical liquid injector. The cylinder flange thereof is held by a cylinder holding mechanism. In this state, the chemical liquid injector presses the piston member into the cylinder member with the piston driving mechanism in accordance with a predetermined operation to inject the liquid into the patient from the liquid syringe.
In that case, the operator determines the rate at which the liquid is injected and the total quantity of the liquid to be injected in view of the type of the liquid and the like, and enters data representing the rate and total quantity into the chemical liquid injector. The chemical liquid injector injects the liquid into the patient based on the entered data. For example, if a contrast medium is injected as the liquid, the image contrast of the patient is changed to allow the imaging diagnostic apparatus to capture a favorable diagnostic image of the patient.
Some chemical liquid injectors can inject physiological saline as well as the contrast medium into the patient. In such a chemical liquid injector, the operator enters as desired an instruction to inject the physiological saline following the completion of the injection of the contrast medium, together with data representing the injection rate and total quantity of the physiological saline, into the chemical liquid injector. Based on the entered data, the chemical liquid injector first injects the contrast medium into the patient and then automatically injects the physiological saline. The subsequently injected physiological saline can push the previously injected contrast medium to reduce the consumption of the contrast medium and also can reduce artifacts in the captured image.
The contrast medium has a high viscosity, but the chemical liquid injector can insert the piston member into the cylinder member of the liquid syringe at high pressure and is preferably used for injection of the contrast medium. To insert the piston member into the cylinder member at high pressure, the cylinder member needs to be held securely.
Thus, a chemical liquid injector invented and practiced by the present applicant includes a pair of metallic flange holding members supported openably or closeably to hold individually the left and the right of a cylinder flange of a liquid syringe put from above (see, for example, non-patent document 1 below).
None-patent document 1: "Dual Shot/A-300 in product guides of Nemoto Kyorindo Co., Ltd" (retrieved on Jun. 30, 2004)


A simple device for generating pyrotechnic effects, in which an enveloping body (11) is formed from a plurality of interconnected plate-like layers between which the pyrotechnic charges (10) as well as the igniter means (12) are embedded. A configuration of the igniter means (12) as heating resistors, in particular as heating resistors whose conductors run in a meandering path. Such igniter means (12) are particularly suitable for use in the formation of a plate-like enveloping body consisting of a plurality of layers. By virtue of this enveloping body, the device assumes a shape comparable to that of a credit card or bank card.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a device for generating pyrotechnic with preferably a plurality of pyrotechnic charges and igniter means which are housed in a common enveloping body, and with a plurality of pyrotechnic charges and igniter means assigned to the pyrotechnic charges.
2. Prior Art
Pyrotechnic effects are employed for training purposes in civil defense and military exercises. When used inside buildings, for example in MOUT exercises, the pyrotechnic effects are generated by minute quantities of pyrotechnic effect charges.
Prior art devices of this type are known in which the effect charges for generating the pyrotechnic effects are housed in an enveloping body configured in the shape of tube or sleeve. The effect charge is ignited by electric igniter pellets. These pellets as well as the placement of the effect charges in the tubular or sleeve-like enveloping body make the production of such known devices very costly and complicated. This is particularly the case if a number of pyrotechnic effects are disposed in the same enveloping body. Here the ignition of the individual effect charges using igniter pellets has proven to be particularly complex.
The object of the invention is to provide a device for generating pyrotechnic effects that is simple to manufacture, in particular if it has a large number of pyrotechnic effects, while ensuring a high degree of reliability in its operation.

Device for generating pyrotechnic effects


A method, and apparatus in an ISDN system form a setup message at a source ISDN terminal where the setup message includes a resource coordination message containing the communication attributes of the source terminal. The ISDN source terminal sends the setup message using a synchronous protocol to an ISDN switch, where the ISDN switch implements a central resource coordination mechanism that extracts the source terminal attribute information. The ISDN switch sends an inquiry message over a D channel to a destination terminal so as to ascertain the communication attributes of the destination terminal, which are reported to the ISDN switch in a reply message. In light of the communication attributes of the source terminal and destination terminal, the ISDN switch and central resource coordination mechanism therein, compares and allocates ISDN communication resources and identifies common attributes. Based on the common attributes, the ISDN allocates a B channel, or at least a portion of a B channel, so that a most efficient, and highest capacity communication link may be established between the source terminal and destination terminal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to synchronous communication systems and methods for communicating information over an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) network. In particular, the present invention pertains to establishing over an ISDN D channel a synchronous communication link between a source terminal and a destination terminal via an ISDN switch, where the established communications link has communications attributes that are favorable to both the source terminal and the destination terminal.
2. Discussion of the Background
Conventional facsimile devices communicate over the Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN) using analog signals that are transmitted over conventional telephone lines. The source terminal (e.g., a facsimile device, computer with scanner and modem facilities, or another device that transmits and/or receives data) converts digital scanned information into a corresponding analog signal so the same may be sent over the PSTN telephone line to the destination terminal. In turn, the source terminal receives the analog information and converts the analog information back into digital signals which form the basis of an image to be printed, perhaps on facsimile paper.
The Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is evolving into a next generation worldwide public telecommunications network that will replace existing public switch telephone networks and provide a variety of services that are not offered by the PSTN. ISDN will allow the transmission of various types of data between various types of ISDN terminal equipment (TE).
A portion of the ISDN link between a source terminal and a central office, which has a switch facility, is referred to as a xe2x80x9cdigital pipexe2x80x9d. A capacity of the pipe is generally discussed in terms of separate channels. In particular, a xe2x80x9cbasic accessxe2x80x9d digital pipe includes two B channels (basic channels) which support 64 kbps signaling, and a D channel at 16 kbps. While the total bit rate of these three channels is 144 kbps, framing, synchronization and other overhead bits bring the total bit rate of a basic access link to 192 kbps. However, the B channels serve as separate communication channels such that the maximum data capacity, as view by the user, is 64 kbps per channel, not 192 kbps.
The function served by the D channel, is twofold. First, the D channel is used to establish and maintain signaling between the user""s equipment and the ISDNs switch (operated by the telephone company). Thus, the D channel carries signaling information such as that required for dialing the telephone number of the destination terminal and making the connection between the source terminal and the destination terminal. A more complete description of narrowband and broadband ISDN, as well as ISDN terminal equipment, protocols, data rates, etc. is provided in the literature, for example in Stallings, W., xe2x80x9cData and Computer Communicationsxe2x80x9d, 5th Edition, Prentice Hall, 1997, pp 740-769 (hereinafter xe2x80x9cStallingsxe2x80x9d) the contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional ISDN system where a source facsimile 10 at a source facility 1 communicates via an ISDN switch 22 to a destination facsimile 16 (or other type of destination terminal, such as a computer, ISDN equipped photocopier, etc.) in a destination facility 2. The source facsimile 10 communicates via a terminal adapter 10A, which is shown as an internal device, although a separate external terminal adapter may be used as well. The terminal adapter 10A provides a protocol (physical layer and intermediate layer) conversion function for converting signal protocol such as V.35, RS-232, Universal Serial Bus (USB), IEEE 1394 (FireWire), etc. to an ISDN compliant protocol over a 4-wire interface.
The source facsimile 10, terminal adapter 10A, and network termination (NT1) 14, are included at the users"" source facility 1. The NT114 connects, via a two-wire line 15, to a switching module 26 located at the ISDN switch 22. Alternatively, a second network termination (NT2) may be used at the source facility 1 between NT1 and the terminal adapter to provide a switching and concentration function, such as with a digital private branch exchange (PBX). Likewise, the NT1 may be replaced with a NT12 that performs the functions of both the NT1 and NT2.
At the ISDN switch 22, the switching module 26 connects to a processor 24 and another switch module 28 via a bus 27, which allows digital commands and data to be passed between the respective switching modules 26 and 28, and processor 24.
The equipment at the destination facility 2 may or may not be exactly similar to that of the source facilities 1. It is assumed, however, that the source facsimile 10 and the destination facsimile 16 have no prior knowledge of the other""s communication attributes. In the system shown at FIG. 1, the destination facility 2 includes the destination facsimile 16 having a terminal adapter 16A incorporated therein, which connects to another NT120 as shown. The NT120 connects to the switching module 28 in the ISDN switch 22, via another two-wire line 17 as shown.
ISDN communications is based on a seven layer protocol stack, as explained in reference to FIG. A.5 of Stallings, for example. Control signaling is accomplished between the respective user-network interface and occurs at a third layer of the protocol stack (i.e., the xe2x80x9cnetworkxe2x80x9d layer) and is named I.451/Q.931. Thus, establishing and maintaining control signaling for a communication link established between the source facility 1 and a destination ISDN facility 2 through the D channel, and in particular, the ISDN network layer, data link layer and physical layer.
A link access protocol (LAPD) D channel is defined for establishing particular LAPD frames that are exchanged between the subscriber equipment (either at the source facility 1 or at the destination facility 2) and the ISDN switch 22. The call control protocol I.451/Q.931 is used on the D channel to establish, maintain and terminate connections on B channels.
FIG. 2 illustrates the signaling sequence between the source facility 1 and the ISDN switch 22. In order to establish a B channel connection between the source facility 1 and the destination facility 2, an initial communication link must be established on the D channel between the source facility 1 and the destination facility 2. To this end, a series of messages is sent back and forth between the source facilities 1 and the ISDN switch 22. This communication between the source facilities 1 and ISDN switch 22 occurs on a continuing basis on the D channel, while communications are maintained between the source facilities 1 and destination facilities 2 on the B channel. As shown in FIG. 2, several different messages are sent between the source facilities 1 and ISDN switch 22 while the D channel is maintained.
The direction of the arrows in FIG. 2, indicates a direction of communication between the source facilities 1 and the ISDN switch 22. The process for establishing a connection is initiated by the source facilities 1 by first sending a setup message. Particular features of the setup message will be discussed with respect to FIG. 3, however the purpose of the setup message is to provide general information regarding the request to connect to the ISDN switch 22. Next, the ISDN switch 22 responds with a call proceeding message that indicates that call establishment has been initiated. Subsequently, the ISDN switch 22, sends a connect message that indicates call acceptance by the source facilities 1. The source facilities 1 then sends a connect acknowledge signal that indicates the user has been awarded the call. When the user wishes to disconnect a call, the user sends a disconnect message via the source facilities 1 to the ISDN switch 22, requesting for connection clearing. In response, a release message is sent from the ISDN switch 22, indicating the intent to release the channel and call reference. In response the source facilities 1 issues a release complete message, indicating that the release of the channel and the call reference. Subsequently, the call and information flow through the B channel is terminated.
FIG. 3 shows the structure of a conventional ISDN D channel setup message. The setup message includes respective LAPD frames (e.g., 501, 503 . . . ) of different sizes (measured in octets). The message includes a flag frame 501 that is one octet in length, followed by a service access point identifier (SAPI) frame 503 having a command/response bit (CR) and address field extension bit (0). The SAPI frame 503 is joined with the terminal end point identifier (TEI) frame 505, each of which are one octet in length. A control frame 507, is one or two octets in length, and is followed by an information frame 509, which has a variable length between 0 and 128 octets. A frame check sequence frame 511 follows and occupies two octets in length. An end frame 513 serves as an end of setup message flag.
The SAPI frame 503 includes a first subfield xe2x80x9cSAPIxe2x80x9d, that identifies a protocol layer-3 user, as well as subframes C/R and 0, that are used as a predetermined formatting feature of SAPI. The terminal end point identifier frame 505, is used to provide a unique terminal end point identifier that is used to identify the user""s equipment. The control frame 507 defines the type of frame format that will be employed such as an information frame, supervisory frame, and unnumbered frame for example. The information frame 509, includes a variable number of octets varying from 0 to 128 and contains respective subfields that contain any sequence of bits that form an integral number of octets.
Thus, when a user wishes to send data to a destination, information in the information field is passed directly to the destination user without the ISDN switch deciphering the contents of the information. Following the information field 509, the frame check sequence 511 is included and forms an error-detection function by calculating a code from the remaining bits of the frame, exclusive of the flags. The normal code is a cyclical redundancy check code. Finally, the end flag frame 513, includes a specific code indicating the end of the setup message.
As identified by the present inventor, a limitation with the conventional ISDN setup architecture is that there is no suitable approach for coordinating, optimally, the communication attributes of the source terminal and the destination terminal on the D channel prior to allocating or using the B channels. Moreover, the ISDN switch, while being able to relay information directly to a destination terminal, passes this data on directly, without interpreting the data or the contents therein.
Furthermore, the conventional ISDN terminals and ISDN switch are not configured to perform a communication resource allocation and optimization process using the D channel so that while establishing the request for a particular B channel, the ultimate resources assigned by the ISDN switch to the source terminal and destination terminal are optimum based on the attributes of the source terminal and the destination terminal.
The present inventor also determined that the conventional approach for communicating over the ISDN channel is not well suited for older facsimile machines and other devices that send facsimile messages, perhaps by way of synchronous communication protocols.
Furthermore, the present inventor determined that in order to accommodate different vintage source and destination terminals, there may be the possibility of manually, or alternatively automatically, configuring the communication parameters between the source terminal and the destination terminal so that a quick communication link may be established through the ISDN switch. Some of the such devices employ synchronous protocols including modified G3 synchronous protocols, Val-U-Tec protocols, and MIL-STD-161 protocols. FIGS. 13-18 describe conventional communications using modified G3 protocols. FIGS. 25-26 describe conventional communications using the Val-U-Tec protocol. No specific figures are presented herein regarding conventional signaling using the MIL-STD-161 protocol, although such figures may be found in Military Standard 188-161B (or C) of Mar. 30, 1990, the entire contents of which being incorporated herein by reference.
A typical messaging sequence of a G3 facsimile machine that communicates to a called facsimile machine by way of a telephone network is shown in FIG. 13. The different acronyms used in FIG. 13 correspond with the acronyms and synchronous protocol symbols shown in FIGS. 30A and 30B. FIG. 14 and 18 show timing sequences, with timing control specifications, between a calling facsimile device and a called facsimile device on an ISDN line using a modified G3 protocol. FIG. 15 explains the communications loading in terms of number of bits per line for different baud rates and input/output (I/O) parameters for sending a facsimile message using the G3 protocol. FIG. 16 explains the different offset values (relative to a beginning of a file) and byte lengths for those offsets for communication parameters used in the modified G3 protocol. FIG. 17 is a continuation of the offset information shown in FIG. 16. FIGS. 25 and 26 describe conventional features of a Val-U-Tec protocol including facsimile control frame definitions, wake up timing intervals and single page protocol timing sequences.
As presently recognized, limitations with the conventional communication use of the above-identified protocols used in a conventional ISDN system is that the communication may be made more efficient by performing the initial handshaking coordination over the ISDN D channel, including an identification of the communication and facsimile device attributes of the sending terminal and the destination terminal before the communications is initiated over the ISDN B channel. Moreover, conventional techniques do not enable the ability for the two terminals to agree upon a set of communication protocol features that will enable the most efficient communication between the two devices. It is presently recognized that if such a coordination mechanism were made available, it would be possible to employ older-style facsimile devices and other devices that send facsimile messages in a most efficient manner over an ISDN line via an ISDN switch.
Accordingly, one object of this invention is to provide a novel method, apparatus and system for establishing optimized communication conditions between an ISDN source terminal and an ISDN destination terminal that overcomes the above-mentioned limitations of existing methods, apparatuses and systems.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method, and apparatus, that employs a D channel of an ISDN basic service, for providing information to an ISDN switch regarding the communication attributes of the ISDN source terminal for establishing manually or automatically a synchronous communication link between the source terminal and destination terminal.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a modified ISDN switch that is capable of identifying the communication attributes of the source terminal, and relaying a request message to the destination terminal, so that the ISDN switch can provide an optimal match of communications resources, based on the attributes of the source terminal and the destination terminal.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a computer-based apparatus and method that may be employed in ISDN user terminals, and related methods and processes provided at an ISDN switch, for identifying and coordinating attributes between a source terminal and destination terminal only on a D channel of an ISDN basic service.
It is a further object of the present invention to establish this optimization procedure on the ISDN D channel, before the B channel communication link has been established between the source terminal and the destination terminal.
These and other objects are achieved with the inventive method, apparatus and system, that forms a setup message at a source ISDN terminal where the setup message includes the communication attributes of the source terminal. The ISDN source terminal, relays the setup message with the attribute information to an ISDN switch, where the ISDN switch implements a central resource coordination mechanism that extracts the attribute information from the source terminal, and initiates communications over a D channel with a destination terminal so as to ascertain the communication attributes of the destination terminal. In light of the communication attributes of the source terminal and destination terminal, the ISDN switch and central resource coordination mechanism contained therein, compares and allocates ISDN communication resources for optimally using the attributes of the source terminal and destination terminal prior to the allocation of B channels, so that a most efficient, and highest capacity communication link may be established between the source terminal and destination terminal using the assigned B channels.
The present invention also includes a feature of permitting the source terminal and destination terminal to communicate over a synchronous communication protocol, where attributes associated with the facsimile message (such as image resolution, number of black/white shades of the image, and number of shades of color features for the image to be transferred) are specifiable, either automatically through a terminal adapter, or manually, as requested by a user of the source terminal, for example. Manually establishing these particular parameters, enables a more rapid set up between the source terminal and destination terminal.
The present invention will require an addition to ISDN switch facilities that is not currently present. In particular, the ISDN switch processor, and computer based resources, must be modified so as to interpret, and make inquiries about the communication attributes of the source terminal and destination terminal, and subsequently allocate communication resources between the terminals so that optimal communication conditions may be established. In this way, the coordination between the resources is accomplished using the D channel, without requiring the additional time and resources at the source terminal and destination terminal using the B channel, so that calls may be established more quickly, and handshaking process between the source channel and destination terminal may be streamlined, for ultimately a lower cost service to the user.

Method and apparatus for establishing synchronous fax communication through ISDN


The goods and services purchase supporting apparatus includes an identification information acquiring unit (30) to acquire an image of a medium on which a marker indicative of identification information of goods or services is presented, the medium being presented to a customer in association with the goods or the services, and acquire the identification information from the marker represented on the acquired image of the medium, a discount information acquiring unit (34) to acquire, from a storing unit (32) to store discount information applicable to the goods or the services in association with the identification information of the goods or the services, the discount information that is associated with the identification information acquired by the identification information acquiring unit, and an arranging unit (36) to arrange display information, which is based on the discount information acquired by the discount information acquiring unit, with the image of the medium.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a goods and services purchase supporting apparatus, a method thereof, and an information storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
It has been known to print out a web coupon provided on a store's web page and bring the printed coupon to the store to make use of services, such as discount prices for the goods and offers of food and beverage. Using such a system, it is possible to guide the viewers of the web page to the store. JP2001-338351A discloses an electronic coupon issuing system in which a customer can receive a discount on goods using an electronic coupon registered beforehand in association with an electronic coupon usage medium, such as a credit card, by simply presenting the electronic coupon medium. In this manner, it is possible to omit a step of printing out a coupon and bringing it to a store.

Goods and services purchase supporting apparatus, method and information storage medium


A method for removing a tubular from a wellbore can include repeatedly and sequentially using an upper gripping member of an upper section and a lower gripping member of a lower section to hydraulically grip the tubular, while repeatedly and sequentially extending and retracting the upper section relative to the lower section to raise the tubular from the wellbore to a predetermined height. At least one lifting hole can be formed in the tubular, and a lifting member can be installed in each lifting hole. A hoist can be connected with each lifting member. The tubular can be cut using a saw and removed from the wellbore using the hoist.

A need exists for a method for lifting a casting from a well that requires fewer personnel.
A need exists for a method for lifting a casting from a well that can be remotely implemented.
The present embodiments meet these needs.
The present embodiments are detailed below with reference to the listed Figures.

Method for lifting a tubular from a well


In a wireless communication system, a user equipment is configured to establish an RRC link with a cell when operating in a first mobility state or a second mobility state of an RRC connected mode. When all currently running application programs only cause background traffic or do not require short data latency, the user equipment is configured to maintain in or switch to the first mobility state having a lower monitoring frequency. When any of the currently running applications involves user interaction or requires short data latency, the user equipment is configured to maintain in or switch to the second mobility state having a higher monitoring frequency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a method of changing a user equipment mobility state in the RRC connected mode, and more particularly, to a method of changing a user equipment mobility state in the RRC connected mode based on background traffic or monitor requirement.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has developed various wireless communication networks. A universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) or a global system for mobile communications edge radio access network (GERAN) is a 3rd generation (3G) network which adopts a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) technology capable of providing high frequency spectrum utilization, universal coverage, and high-speed/quality multimedia data transmission. In the UMTS network, a radio access network known as a universal terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) includes multiple cells, commonly known as Node-Bs (NBs), for communicating with multiple user equipment (UE). Along term evolution (LTE) system is a 4th generation (4G) network which includes a new radio interface and radio network architecture capable of providing a high data rate, low latency, packet optimization, and improved system capacity and coverage. In the LTE network, a radio access network known as an evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN) includes multiple evolved NBs (eNBs) for communicating with multiple UEs and a core network which includes a mobility management entity (MME), a serving gateway and other devices for non-access stratum (NAS) control.
According to 3GPP specifications, after selecting a public land mobile network identity (PLMN), the UE may perform a cell selection procedure and a cell reselection procedure in order to use related network services. The cell selection procedure allows the UE to quickly camp on a serving cell, thereby receiving system information from the PLMN, establishing radio resource control (RRC) links, accessing network via control channels, and receiving/replying paging messages. The cell reselection procedure allows the UE to camp on another target cell having better signal quality than the current serving cell for better performance.
Multiple application programs may be run on a UE at the same time. For example, a user may read an electronic book (E-book) on the UE with telecommunications application software being executed in the background environment. The execution of each application program may involve user interactive commands and/or non-user interactive commands. For example, since the user may issue commands for turning pages, making remarks or adding bookmarks while reading an E-book, the E-Book interface is a user interactive application program. Meanwhile, the telecommunications application software is a non-user interactive application program since it only causes background traffic. Background traffic includes keep-alive messages automatically sent by the UE to the base station, but does not involve any active commands issued by the user. Similarly, once the user switches to the interface of the telecommunications application software for browsing a new message, the telecommunications application software becomes a user interactive application program, while the E-Book interface executed in the background environment becomes a non-user interactive application program.
In a prior art wireless communication system, even if the user does not actively engage in any application program, the modem of the UE is still turned on by background traffic caused by non-user interactive application programs, thereby increasing power consumption. Even if user interactive application programs and non-user interactive application programs have different requirements for data latency, the prior art wireless communication system fails to change the mobility state of the UE accordingly, thereby causing high handover failure rate. Meanwhile, the current mobility state of the UE may not be able to meet the monitor requirement of the network, thereby causing unnecessary power consumption or high handover failure rate.

Method of changing UE mobility state in RRC connected mode


A method is provided for controlling operation of a subsurface hydraulically operated well tool. In a described embodiment, a surface controlled subsurface safety valve is controlled utilizing two control lines. The control lines are hydraulically connected to respective ones of two pistons in the safety valve. Pressure applied to either of the two pistons is capable of independently operating the safety valve. In normal operation, pressure is applied to both of the pistons. However, when a failure occurs in one of the control lines, the other may still be used to operate the safety valve.

The present invention relates generally to operations performed in conjunction with a subterranean well and, in an embodiment described herein, more particularly provides a method of controlling a hydraulically actuated subsurface well tool.
Safety valves are being installed at progressively greater depths in wells. These increasing safety valve depths have created numerous problems for those responsible for the valve installations and operations.
One of these problems has to do with the need to run a control line to a safety valve installed at a very deep location in a well. An increase in the length of a control line brings with it the increased probability that a failure will be experienced in the control line at some point in the productive life of the well. This is due to, for example, an increased number of connections in the control line, an increased number of control line tubing sections, an increased probability of damage during installation, etc.
Various solutions have been proposed for dealing with this problem. Unfortunately, however, these prior solutions have required installation of an inordinate amount of additional equipment at the well, undue complexity and/or an increased probability of experiencing a failure requiring replacement of the safety valve, with the associated expense of killing the well, pulling the production string and installing a new production string.
What is needed is a method of controlling a hydraulically actuated subsurface well tool which does not require a large investment in additional equipment, which is relatively simple in construction and use, and which provides true redundancy for control lines installed in a well.
In carrying out the principles of the present invention, in accordance with an embodiment thereof, a method is provided which solves the above problems in the art.
In one aspect of the present invention, a method of controlling a subsurface hydraulically actuated well tool is provided. The method includes the steps of hydraulically connecting a first control line to a first piston of the well tool and hydraulically connecting a second control line to a second piston of the well tool. The well tool is operable in response to pressure in the first control line, and the well tool is operable in response to pressure in the second control line. The well tool is operated by applying pressure to both of the first and second control lines, and then, in response to failure of the first control line, the well tool is operated by applying pressure only to the second control line.
In another aspect of the present invention, a single pump is used to operate the well tool when applying pressure to both of the first and second control lines. The same pump is then used when operating the well tool by applying pressure to only the second control line.
In yet another aspect of the present invention, a method of controlling a surface controlled subsurface safety valve is provided. The safety valve includes first and second pistons operatively connected to an opening mechanism of the safety valve. The first and second pistons are hydraulically isolated from each other in the safety valve.
The safety valve is operated by applying pressure to both of first and second control lines hydraulically connected to the first and second pistons, respectively. Then the safety valve is operated by applying pressure to only the second control line.
These and other features, advantages, benefits and objects of the present invention will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon careful consideration of the detailed description of a representative embodiment of the invention hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings.

Method of controlling a subsurface safety valve


A parameter setting unit sets a parameter used in a predetermined interpolation calculation. A calculating unit performs the predetermined interpolation calculation based upon an input parameter. A feedback unit feeds back a value obtained through the predetermined interpolation calculation to the parameter setting unit. Then, the parameter setting unit resets the parameter based upon the value obtained through the predetermined interpolation calculation. Accordingly, an image rendering apparatus easily implements nonlinear interpolation by DDA processing which performs linear interpolation using polygon node coordinates in, for example, computer graphics, and implements rendering of, for example, curved line portions quickly and with light processing loads.

The present invention relates to an image rendering method and apparatus which generate, for example, two-dimensional image information from three-dimensional polygon data, recording media recorded with an image rendering program, and the image rendering program.
In recent years, video game consoles and personal computers continue to see advances in, for example, higher integration and faster speeds of processors, memories, and the like. Accordingly, an image rendering apparatus configured with such a game console or personal computer can generate in real time, from three-dimensional image information, finer, high-definition two-dimensional images rich with diversity and which appear more life-like and give a higher sense of realism, and can render these two-dimensional images upon a two-dimensional screen.
Image rendering, which generates two-dimensional image information from three-dimensional polygon data, is generally comprised of geometry processing and rendering processing. Geometry processing for three-dimensional polygon data comprises geometry processing such as coordinate transformation, clipping and lighting, and perspective projection transformation processing and the like. Rendering processing is a process that generates pixels based upon post-projection transformation processing graphics information (polygon data) and generates two-dimensional image information by determining the color value of each of those pixels.
Incidentally, conventional image rendering apparatus are capable of forming objects by gathering a plurality of polygons. However, a polygon is represented by a multilateral shape in which the node coordinates are each connected by straight lines. As a result, for example, in the case where curved line portions of an object are rendered, the conventional image rendering apparatus approximately expresses the curved line portions by preparing a plurality of small polygons and linking the respective node coordinates that configure the sides of each polygon.
However, the image rendering apparatus when rendering such above-mentioned curved line portions, must process a plurality of polygon data in a short period of time, imposing an extremely heavy load as a result. In addition, the image rendering apparatus that is capable of processing a plurality of polygon data in a short time period needs to be highly efficient and expensive, interfering undesirably with the lowering of costs.

Image rendering method using recursive interpolation


An electrophotographic photosensitive member superior in dot reproducibility and a process cartridge and an process cartridge having the electrophotographic photosensitive member are provided. Where in a light attenuation curve drawn in a way in which the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member is so charged that intensity of an electric field is 15 (V/μm) to establish the surface potential of the electrophotographic photosensitive member into a given value E(V) and then exposed to light under conditions that the electrophotographic photosensitive member has a surface potential of 0.8 E(V) at a time point T(ms) passes after exposure starts, the inclination of the light attenuation curve at a time point T(ms) passes after exposure starts is represented by m, and in a dark-time surface potential attenuation curve drawn in a way in which the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member is charged under conditions that the electrophotographic photosensitive member has a surface potential of 0.8 E(V) at a time point T(ms) passes after charging is finished and thereafter no exposure is performed, the inclination of the dark-time surface potential attenuation curve at a time point T(ms) passes after charging is finished is represented by m′, the m and m′ satisfy |m−m′|≦0.020, provided that T=[{d2/(μ×E)}×100]×10−5, where d is the layer thickness (μm) of the charge transport layer and μ is the drift mobility [cm2/(V·s)] of the charge transport layer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electrophotographic photosensitive member, and a process cartridge and an electrophotographic apparatus which have the electrophotographic photosensitive member.
2. Related Background Art
Various systems such as an electrophotographic system, a thermal transfer system and an ink-jet recording system have been employed in image forming apparatus. Of these, image forming apparatus employing the electrophotographic system are superior to image forming apparatus employing the other systems, in view of higher speed, higher image quality and less noise, and are employed in many copying machines and printers.
Image formation by the electrophotographic system is performed by a process in which the surface of an electrophotographic photosensitive member is electrostatically charged, the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member thus charged is exposed to exposure light to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member, this electrostatic latent image is developed with a toner (a developer) to form a toner image on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member, and this toner image is transferred from the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member to a transfer material such as paper.
At present, laser light is widely used as the above exposure light. Where laser light is used as exposure light, the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member is formed as a digital electrostatic latent image (a digital latent image).
As the electrophotographic photosensitive member, widely used is an electrophotographic photosensitive member (an organic electrophotographic photosensitive member) having a photosensitive layer containing an organic charge-generating material and a charge-transporting material. As such a photosensitive layer, from the viewpoint of durability, what is prevalent is one having layer configuration of a multi-layer type (regular-layer type) in which a charge generation layer containing a charge-generating material and a charge transport layer containing a charge-transporting material are superposed in this order from the support side.
In these days, the progress of electrophotographic technique is remarkable, and electrophotographic photosensitive members are also required to have high performance. In particular, the performance that deals with higher image quality has become strongly demanded.
As the reason that such higher image quality is demanded, it is cited that the electrophotographic technique has, in virtue of their on-demand availability, advanced into the market that has belonged to printing techniques such as offset printing and screen printing. Accordingly, a high image quality on the level of that in printing techniques is demanded in respect of reproducibility of small-point characters and photographic images, in particular, reproducibility of halftone images.
However, in the printing techniques such as offset printing and screen printing, the shape of a plate is faithfully reproduced, whereas in the electrophotographic technique, especially when laser light is used as exposure light, there is a problem concerning deterioration of dot reproducibility, i.e., a problem such that not only dots on the electrophotographic photosensitive member surface but dots on reproduced images are inevitably enlarged as compared with laser beam spots. It is considered that the dots of electrostatic latent images formed on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member are shallower and broader in their three-dimensional shapes. Also, this problem is remarkable where the dots are contiguous to each other.
As a technique by which the dot reproducibility is improved, an induction photosensitive member is disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Applications Laid-open No. H01-169454, No. H03-287171 and No. H09-096914, in which its potential does not attenuate until reaching a certain amount of exposure light and steep attenuation of potential takes place when exceeding that amount of exposure light.

Electrophotographic photosensitive member, process cartridge, and electrophotographic apparatus


A method of identifying the fraudulent use of a cellular telephone includes the step of identifying an initial call made from the cellular telephone. An automated challenge-response authentication operation is then executed with a rotating subscriber query, resulting in a first authentication failure. In response to the first authentication failure, an operator assisted escalated challenge-response authentication operation is performed with a rotating subscriber query to generate a second authentication failure, indicating the fraudulent use of the cellular telephone.

The use of stolen Mobile Identification Numbers (MINs) and Electronic Serial Numbers (ESNs) to fraudulently place wireless telephone calls is causing the cellular telephone industry losses of hundreds of millions of dollars a year. As the cellular telephone industry continues to rapidly expand, the fraud losses continue to grow. A major portion of these losses are attributed to "roaming" fraud. Roaming fraud is largely a result of the creation of "cloned MINs/ESNs" taken from legitimate cellular telephone customers in a home region. These cloned numbers from the home region are programmed into modified cellular telephones for use in a roaming region outside of the home region.
When a cloned MIN/ESN cellular telephone registers in a roaming region, the carrier of the roaming region requests the registration data for that MIN/ESN from the carrier in the home region. This registration data is delivered back to the roaming region, allowing the roaming region to provide service, if appropriate. Thus, the system validates that a MIN/ESN is entitled to cellular service in a roaming region, but it does not determine whether the telephone itself is in fact legitimate and not just a clone of the true telephone.
In view of the foregoing, it would be highly desirable to provide a method and apparatus for authenticating that a validated MIN/ESN is being utilized by a legitimate subscriber, not a criminal that has stolen a legitimate subscriber's MIN/ESN.

Method for preventing cellular telephone fraud


The present invention relates to a ground structure of a printed circuit board in a microwave oven, where the microwave oven formed with a screw hole at a tip end of a bar extended from a body thereof and having a jumper wire connected to a ground pattern at around a screw hole formed at a printed circuit board while a bolt is screwed to a control panel through a screw hole formed at the tip end of the bar and through a screw hole formed at the printed circuit board are connected by the jumper wire, so that the printed circuit board is automatically connected and grounded to the body of the microwave oven when the printed circuit board is fastened to the control panel, thereby providing a convenience in assembly of the microwave oven and a stability thereto.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microwave oven, and more particularly to a microwave oven for automatically grounding a printed circuit board to a body of a microwave oven when the printed circuit board is fastened to a control panel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, a microwave oven is designed to generate microwaves to heat and cook the food, where the microwave oven is disposed at a body thereof with a control panel equipped with a manipulating key.
The printed circuit board (hereinafter referred to as PCB) for electrically controlling the microwave oven according to a signal input through the manipulating key is fastened and fixed to an inner side of the control panel.
In the conventional microwave oven thus constructed and illustrated in FIG. 1, the PCB 1 is secured to a plastic control panel 3 by way of a plurality of screws (2-1, 2-2, 2-3 and 2-4).
At this location, a ground pattern formed at the PCB 1 and a body 4 of the microwave oven made of steel are connected by a ground wire 5 to thereby ground the PCB 1 to the body 4 of the microwave oven.
However, there is a problem in a ground structure of a PCB according to the prior art thus constructed, in that a separate ground wire 5 must be pulled out of the PCB 1 to be connected to the body 4, which leads to inconveniences in assembly of the microwave oven.
Furthermore, there is another problem in that an operator often forgets to connect the ground wire 5 to the body 4 of the microwave oven to thereby cause a safety problem because the PCB 1 is not grounded to the body 4.
Meanwhile, an example of a microwave oven disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. Hei-8-233286 has a construction where a PCB is screwed to an inner side of a panel disposed with a manipulating key, so that a screw fastening member cannot be forgotten in fastening.
In the microwave oven thus constructed as illustrated in FIG. 2, the PCB is formed with a screw hole through which the PCB is fastened via a fastening screw to an inner side of the panel disposed with a manipulating key.
At this time, the PCB is formed with a screw hole which in turn renders same unconductive, but the PCB is rendered conductive by way of the screw being plugged into the screw hole.
Accordingly, a microcomputer 10 connected to the PCB can discriminate whether or not a screw is inserted thereinto according to a potential of the PCB.
The conventional microwave oven thus constructed can only discriminate whether or not a screw for fixing the PCB to a control panel is accurately fastened.

Electrical grounding arrangement for a printed circuit board of a microwave oven


An efficient system to heat the insole of a heated insole of a shoe in which the Intelligent Circuit (IC) for a flat lithium battery is located outside the shoe and the placement of the heater for the insole is between more efficient heat insulation and heat conducting members.

This invention relates to improvements for heated insoles for shoe wear, especially for hiking, cycling and skiing and even for ordinary shoes if the wearer has cold feet.
Over the years, various systems have been designed and employed to provide additional heat inside shoes when they are used in outdoor environments. An example of such a prior art system is shown in US Patent Publication US2009/0013554, which is directed to a wireless system in which signals are transmitted to control a heater in the insole.
For some time, there have been fixed hardwired systems such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,301 in which heaters are plugged into a wall socket to provide heat to the insole which is used during the day. It may be recharged through a suitable recharging system to reheat the heated insole to provide sufficient warmth to the user.
These systems generally have an electric heater placed on the bottom of the insole with various nonconductive foam materials therein. Current designs, while conventional, are limited in that a good portion of the heat is not provided to the upper portion of the sole, which is in closer contact with the foot of the wearer.
Lithium ion batteries which are flat have been incorporated as the batteries to provide power for the insole, and opposed to having battery power outside the boot as was previously provided for heating the insole.
Lithium ion battery chargers are generally formed of two sections:                A power supply that converts line AC into low voltage DC; and        An intelligent circuit (IC) that receives the low voltage DC, monitors the battery charge state, and delivers suitable current and voltage to fully and safely charge the batteries for heating the heating pad and the insole.
Heretofore insoles with built in lithium ion batteries have the charger power supply as a wall mounted device and the intelligent charging circuit located inside the insole. This arrangement subjects the charging components to the heat and mechanical stress of use when the footwear is worn. Any failure of a charging component renders the entire product useless.
An object of this invention is to provide an improved heating system for insoles for shoes.
Another object of this invention is to more efficiently provide heat to the wearer during normal usage.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved lithium battery system in which the intelligent circuit component is located outside the shoe.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a more efficient, economical system for heating insoles.
Another object of this invention is to more efficiently locate the heater within an insole to more directly provide heat to the foot of the wearer.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a more efficient and economical battery charging system more susceptible of widespread use.
Other objects, advantages and features of this invention will become more apparent from the following description.
In accordance with the principles of this invention, the above objects are accomplished by separating the intelligent circuit (IC) which charges the rechargeable lithium batteries from the lithium ion batteries itself. This may be accomplished by locating the IC charging circuit within the AD/DC plug adapter assembly or having the IC charging circuit assembly as a module closely located and connected to the AC/DC converter.
Since the IC is a relatively expensive part of the lithium battery assembly, removing it from the physical wear and tear conventionally encountered and integrally formed with the battery to be charged enables a costly component to prolong its life, reduce the possibility of failure and ensure that only the lithium battery is replaced when necessary without the need to replace the entirety of the Intelligent Circuit (IC) lithium battery combination.
Further, the above objects are accomplished by additionally relocating the heater within the insole from the substantially bottom most location furthest from the foot of the user to a location closer to the foot of the user so as to provide more efficient heat directed to the user, thereby reducing power drain and more efficiently and quickly heating the area. Prior art insoles have an EVA foam layer of about 5 mm thickness located above the heater. The new structure compresses the EVA foam to no more than 2 or 3 mm, then adds an additional conductive layer above the battery and an additional insulating layer between the foot and bottom of the shoe to improve heat conductivity to the foot of the wearer.
These improvements are described below in greater detail with reference to the following drawings.


A cyanoacrylate adhesive is applied to the skin areas prone to blistering prior to blister formation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to methods for retarding blister formation by use of cyanoacrylate adhesives that can be applied to skin areas prone to blistering prior to blister formation.
2. State of the Art
Cyanoacrylate adhesives have been suggested for a variety of adhesive purposes including glues and surgical adhesives. In particular, cyanoacrylate adhesives of formula I: ##STR1## wherein R is an alkyl or other suitable substituents are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,527,224; 3,591,676; 3,667,472; 3,995,641; 4,035,334; and 4,650,826. Typically, when used as adhesives for living tissues, the R substituent is alkyl of from 2 to 6 carbon atoms and most often is butyl.
The suggested medical uses for cyanoacrylate adhesives have been limited to surgical environments wherein the cyanoacrylate adhesive are utilized as an alternative to sutures and are employed in a sterile environment. Specifically, in surgical environments, the cyanoacrylate adhesive is applied to separate sections of soft tissue. The cyanoacrylate adhesive, in the presence of water found in soft tissue, bonds to the skin as well as polymerizes so as to join separate sections of soft tissue together.

Methods for retarding blister formation by use of cyanoacrylate adhesives


Improved optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging systems are generally described. In an example, an OCT imaging system includes a tunable laser source, an interferometer, a splitter, and a detector. The tunable laser source is configured to provide a wavelength-scanned beam. The interferometer is configured to split the wavelength-scanned beam into a reference beam and an object beam. The splitter is configured to split the object beam into a first path corresponding to an anterior chamber imaging component and a second path corresponding to a retinal imaging component. The detector is configured to detect a signal caused by interference between the reference beam and at least a portion of the object beam reflected from the eye.

The following description is provided to assist the understanding of the reader. None of the information provided or references cited is admitted to be prior art.
Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) includes Spectral Domain OCT and Swept Source OCT. Swept source OCT is advantageous in deep imaging ranges because of the narrow line width of the laser, which enables higher coherence during rapid sweep. The majority of applications in ophthalmic OCT use swept source OCT, which is traditionally intended for either anterior chamber or retinal imaging. One can try to accommodate both anterior chamber and retinal imaging in a single integrated device. However different optical configurations are generally required for each. For anterior chamber imaging, the beam scan is perpendicular to the sample or corneal and with a focusing shallow. While for retina imaging, because of the presence of refraction by the eye itself, the beam scan has to be convergent with larger beam size to focusing deep or collimating. This generally requires either the adjustment of the focus beam and scanning pattern or having two arrangements in one system.

Optical coherence tomography system with multiple sample paths


An apparatus and method for producing hydrogen. The apparatus includes a fuel processor, a purification unit and a system controller. The controller determines a calculated flow of reformate from the fuel processor and operates the purification unit based on the calculated flow. The calculated flow is derived from a process model of the fuel processor and known feed(s) to the fuel processor. The calculated flow of reformate is used to control the flow of reformate to adsorbent beds within the purification unit and can be used to control other materials flows within the apparatus. Means for reducing fluctuations in the pressure and/or flow rate of reformate flowing from the fuel processor to the purification unit are also disclosed. The purity of the hydrogen produced can be maintained by adjusting the operation of the purification unit in response to changes in reformate composition, pressure and/or flow rate.

Hydrogen is utilized in a wide variety of industries ranging from aerospace to food production to oil and gas production and refining. Hydrogen is used in these industries as a propellant, an atmosphere, a carrier gas, a diluent gas, a fuel component for combustion reactions, a fuel for fuel cells, as well as a reducing agent in numerous chemical reactions and processes. In addition, hydrogen is being considered as an alternative fuel for power generation because it is renewable, abundant, efficient, and unlike other alternatives, produces zero emissions. While there is wide-spread consumption of hydrogen and great potential for even more, a disadvantage which inhibits further increases in hydrogen consumption is the absence of an infrastructure that can provide generation, storage and widespread distribution of hydrogen.
One way to overcome this difficulty is through distributed generation of hydrogen, such as through the use of fuel processors to convert hydrocarbon-based fuels to hydrogen-rich reformate. Fuel reforming processes, such as steam reforming, partial oxidation, and autothermal reforming, can be used to convert hydrocarbon-based fuels such as natural gas, LPG, gasoline, and diesel, into hydrogen-rich reformate at a site where hydrogen is needed. However, in addition to the desired hydrogen product, fuel reformers typically produce undesirable impurities that reduce the value of the reformed product. For instance, in a conventional steam reforming process, a hydrocarbon feed, such as methane, natural gas, propane, gasoline, naphtha, or diesel, is vaporized, mixed with steam, and passed over a steam reforming catalyst. The majority of the hydrocarbon feed is converted to a reformate mixture of hydrogen and impurities such as carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. To reduce the carbon monoxide content, the reformate is typically subjected to a water-gas shift reaction wherein the carbon monoxide is reacted with steam to form carbon dioxide and hydrogen. After the shift reaction(s), additional purification steps may be utilized to bring the hydrogen purity to acceptable levels. These purification steps can include, but are not limited to, methanation, selective oxidation reactions, membrane separation techniques, and selective adsorption such as in temperature swing and/or pressure swing adsorption processes.
Gas separation by pressure swing adsorption (PSA) is achieved by coordinated pressure cycling over an adsorbent bed that preferentially adsorbs a more readily adsorbed component relative to a less readily adsorbed component of a mixture. In a conventional PSA device, two or more adsorbent beds are connected in alternating sequence by directional valving to pressure sources and sinks for establishing the changes of working pressure and flow direction. In another conventional PSA device, flows to and from adsorbent beds are controlled by a rotary distribution valve that is rotated to cycle the adsorbent beds through adsorption and regeneration phases. For instance, the separation of oxygen from air is a known application of such conventional PSA devices. However, in such applications the composition of the gas mixture, its pressure and/or flow rate are typically fixed and known. In contrast, the integration of a PSA device to a fuel processor that produces a product of varying composition, pressure and/or flow rate imposes challenges to the efficient operation of such a system.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Apparatus and methods for producing hydrogen


A process is disclosed for integrating isoalkane dehydrogenation with isoalkene/alkanol etherification in a manner that eliminates the need to condense the isoalkene and/or isoalkane components of the dehydrogenation process in order to produce alkyl tertiary alkyl ethers. The novel process integration permits recycling of unreacted isoalkene and/or isoalkane components of the integrated dehydrogenation and etherification process back to the dehydrogenation reactor with revaporization. It has been determined that isoalkane dehydrogenation can be integrated with vapor phase etherification by pressuring the dehydrogenation effluent and passing compressed isoalkene to the vapor phase etherification zone. Following etherification and separation of the etherification effluent, unreacted isoalkene and isoalkane vapor components of the etherification effluent are recycled to the dehydrogenation zone. Optionally, unreacted isoalkene is oligomerized in contact with medium pore shape selective zeolite catalyst.

It is known that isobutene and other isoalkenes (tertiary olefins) produced by hydrocarbon cracking may be reacted with methanol or other C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 lower aliphatic alcohols over an acidic catalyst to provide tertiary butyl ether, especially MTBE and TAME. Generally, it is known that asymmetrical ethers having the formula (CH.sub.3).sub.3 C-O-R, where R is a C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl radical, are particularly useful as octane improvers for liquid fuels, especially gasoline.
MTBE, ethyl t-butyl ether (ETBE), TAME and isopropyl t-butyl ether (IPTBE) are known to be high octane ethers. The article by J.D. Chase, et al., Oil and Gas Journal, April 9, 1979, discusses the advantages one can achieve by using such materials to enhance gasoline octane. The octane blending number of MTBE when 10% is added to a base fuel (R+O=91) is about 120. For a fuel with a low motor rating (M+O=83) octane, the blending value of MTBE at the 10% level is about 103. On the other hand, for an (R+O) of 95 octane fuel, the blending value of 10% MTBE is about 114.
Liquid phase reaction of methanol with isobutylene and isoamylenes at moderate conditions with a resin catalyst is known technology, as provided by R. W. Reynolds, et al., The Oil and Gas Journal, June 16, 1975, and S. Pecci and T. Floris, Hydrocarbon Processing, December 1977. An article entitled "MTBE and TAME--A Good Octane Boosting Combo," by J.D. Chase, et al., The Oil and Gas Journal, April 9, 1979, pages 149-152, discusses the technology. Preferred catalysts are polymeric sulfonic acid exchange resin such as Amberlyst 15 and zeolites such as zeolite Beta and ZSM-5. The acid resin catalysts are effective catalysts at temperatures below 90.degree. C. At higher temperatures the resin catalyst is unstable. Typically, with acid resin catalyst the etherification reaction is carried out in liquid phase. However, vapor phase and mixed phase etherification is known, particularly where the catalyst is contained as a fixed bed in a catstill type fractionator which serves to both separate the reaction products and operate as a vessel to contain the catalyst under etherification conditions.
Typical hydrocarbon feedstock materials for etherification reactions include olefinic streams, such as cracking process light gas containing butene isomers in mixture with substantial amounts of paraffins including n-butane and isobutane. The C.sub.4 components usually contain a major amount of unsaturated compounds, such as 10-40% isobutene, 20-55% linear butenes, and small amounts of butadiene. Also, C.sub.4 + heavier olefinic hydrocarbon streams may be used, particularly mixtures of isobutene and isoamylene and C.sub.5 + streams containing isoamylene.
Isoalkanes such as isobutane and isopentanes can be dehydrogenated to isoalkenes or tertiary olefins such as isobutene and isoamylenes and etherified with methanol to provide MTBE and TAME.
Dehydrogenation of isoalkanes in the vapor phase is well known in the art to produce isoalkenes. When in the prior art dehydrogenation is integrated with etherification to produce MTBE and TAME, isoalkene vapor from dehydrogenation is first condensed to employ as a feedstream in the conventional liquid phase etherification of iso-olefins of tertiary alkyl ethers. Following etherification, unconverted iso-olefins is the etherification reactor effluent are vaporized to recycle them to the dehydrogenation reactor. Prior integrated dehydrogenation-etherification process require at least two phase changes with significant energy losses and inefficiencies associated with these changes as well as the need for multiple heat exchangers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,787 to Chu et al., incorporated herein by reference, describes a process for the preparation of methyl tertiary butyl ether which comprises reacting isobutene and methanol in the vapor phase in the presence of zeolite catalyst. Under the conditions described for the vapor phase etherification, side reactions, particularly the dimerization of isobutene, are virtually eliminated. The reaction products are essentially MTBE and unreacted methanol and/or isobutene.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,467 to Vora et al. describes a process for direct etherification of a dehydrogenation effluent using liquid phase etherification. Light components are not purged in a membrane system; nor is a single tower used to debutanize the MTBE product and recover MTBE product. Conventional practices are followed as well with respect to the provision of a reflux stream for the fractionator employed in the process of Vora et al.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved process for the production of alkyl tertiary butyl ether or alkyl tertiary amyl ether from isobutane and/or isopentane.
A further object of the invention is to provide a substantially vapor phase integrated process for dehydrogenation of isoalkanes and etherification of resultant isoalkenes to tertiary alkyl ethers.
Another object of the invention is to improve the overall energy efficiency of converting isoalkanes to alkyl tertiary alkyl ethers by avoiding the need to condense at least a major portion of the effluent from dehydrogenation of isoalkane and revaporize the effluent from isoalkene etherification so that unreacted isoalkene or isoalkane can be recycled to the dehydrogenation vessel.

Production of alkyl tertiary alkyl, ethers from isoalkanes


A limiting circuit includes an input transconductance stage, an output transconductance stage, a feedback transconductance stage, first and second resistive loads, and a level limiting circuit. The input transconductance stage is operably coupled to convert an input voltage signal into an input current signal. The first resistive load is operably coupled to convert the input current signal and a feedback current signal into an intermediate output voltage signal. The output transconductance stage is operably coupled to convert the intermediate output voltage signal into an output current signal. The second resistive load is operably coupled to convert the output current signal into an output voltage signal. The feedback transconductance stage is operably coupled to produce the feedback current signal based on the output voltage signal. The level limiting module is operably coupled to limit at least one voltage level of the feedback transconductance stage.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to data communications and more particularly to limiting circuits within receivers of such data communications.
2. Description of Related Art
Communication systems are known to transport large amounts of data between a plurality of end user devices, which, for example, include telephones, facsimile machines, computers, television sets, cellular telephones, personal digital assistants, etc. As is also known, such communication systems may be local area networks (LANs) and/or wide area networks (WANs) that are stand-alone communication systems or interconnected to other LANs and/or WANs as part of a public switched telephone network (PSTN), packet switched data network (PSDN), integrated service digital network (ISDN), the Internet, etc. As is further known, communication systems include a plurality of system equipment to facilitate the transporting of data. Such system equipment includes, but is not limited to, routers, switches, bridges, gateways, protocol converters, frame relays, private branch exchanges, etc.
The transportation of data within communication systems is typically governed by one or more standards that ensure the integrity of data conveyances and fairness of access for data conveyances. For example, there are a variety of Ethernet standards that govern serial transmissions within a communication system at data rates of 10 megabits per second, 100 megabits per second, 1 gigabit per second and beyond. Another standard, which is for fiber optic data conveyances, is Synchronous Optical NETwork (SONET) that includes a hierarchy of data rates such as OC-3=155 Mbps, OC-12=644 Mbps, OC-48=2.488 Gbps, OC-192=9.952 Gbps, and OC-768=39.808 Gbps. In accordance with such standards, many system components and end user devices of a communication system transport data via serial transmission paths. Internally, however, the system components and end user devices process data in a parallel manner. As such, each system component and end user device must receive the serial data and convert the serial data into parallel data without loss of information.
To receive data, the system component includes a receiver section that may include an equalization module, a limiter, and a clock and data recovery module. As is known, the equalization module filters incoming serial data based on an equalization response, which typically corresponds to an inverse of the channel response of the channel on which the data was received. The limiter limits, on a bit-by-bit basis, the incoming data to one of the known states of the data symbol (e.g., a 1 or a 0 for a binary data symbol). The clock and data recovery module recovers a clock signal and data from the limited symbols produced by the limiter. The recovered data is then converted into a parallel data stream for subsequent processing.
One known implementation of a limiter is disclosed in a paper by Galal and Razavi, entitled, "10 Gb/s Limiting Amplifier and Laser/Modulator Driver in 0.18 μm CMOS Technology". Such a limiter works well in small signal applications. However, as signal magnitude increases, the feedback stage introduces distortion, in the form of jitter, due to severe reverse biasing of the gate-source voltages of its transistors. The introduced jitter reduces the receiver sensitivity, which limits the amount of data and/or the distance over which data can be transmitted.
Therefore, a need exists for a limiting circuit that includes a feedback stage with negligible introduction of jitter.

Limiting circuit with level limited feedback


An articulated lever for a device for moving a furniture part received on a furniture carcass of an item of furniture, which has a spacer member in the form of a first and a second embossing. The first embossing is present on a first side of the first articulated lever, and the second embossing is present on a second side of the first articulated lever. The first and the second side of the first articulated lever are present opposite and spaced from one another. The first and the second embossing are present opposite one another. The first embossing has in the azimuthal and/or radial direction, about a center, an elevation and a depression relative to a remaining surface of the first side. The second embossing has in the azimuthal and/or radial direction, about the center, an elevation and a depression relative to a remaining surface of the second side.

Guides such as furniture hinges or flap fittings are known in the furniture sector in order to be able to move a furniture part relative to a furniture carcass.
The guide must meet different requirements; in particular, an interior of the furniture carcass or of the movable furniture part should be made accessible by means of the movement guide in order to be able to accommodate objects therein or remove them therefrom.
A disadvantage with known guides is that they are of comparatively multipart design and comparatively cost-intensive to produce.

Articulated lever for a device for moving a furniture part received on a furniture carcass of an item of furniture


In a case where suction means for taking in outside air into an inkjet printer is provided, a heated recording medium is abruptly cooled by a flow of air, thereby causing cooling unevenness, which is a factor of degradation of image quality. Further, it is difficult to efficiently cool an inside of a carriage. In view of the above, provided are a structure for allowing the outside air, which is taken into a device of the inkjet printer, to be directly sucked into the carriage, and a structure for preventing the outside air from passing through the carriage. Thus, the temperature inside the carriage can be effectively decreased. Further, mechanisms for exhausting the gas are provided on both sides of a housing, specifically, one mechanism is provided on a side surface of the housing and another mechanism is provided on a rear surface thereof. Thus, unevenness of exhausted gas can be suppressed at the right and left of the housing.

There is known an inkjet printer for recording an image or the like by ejecting ink onto a recording medium, such as recording paper and a resin film. In the inkjet printer, various types of inks are used. Examples of the inks include solvent ink using an organic solvent as a prime solvent, ultraviolet curable ink that is curable due to ultraviolet radiation, and thermosetting ink that is curable due to heat. The various types of inks are used depending on intended use.
In recent years, there has been a growing demand to quickly dry ink in order to promptly shift to a next work process, such as lamination of a film so as to protect a printed surface after printing and cutting of a printed product into a desired size after the printing. To meet such a demand, methods utilizing properties of inks, such as the ultraviolet curable ink and the thermosetting ink, are considered.
On the other hand, the solvent ink using the organic solvent as the prime solvent is excellent in fixability onto a resin film such as a PVC sheet, thereby achieving an advantage in that a recorded product that is highly resistant to wear can be obtained. It is desired to enhance a drying property of this type of ink. To enhance fixability onto the recording medium, this type of ink is ejected under a state in which the recording medium is moderately heated, and also after the recording, the recording medium is moderately heated in order to quickly dry the solvent. For example, a platen, a paper guide provided on a front side of the platen, and a paper guide provided on a rear side of the platen are each heated, and due to the heat, the recording medium is heated. A recording head is also heated, and further the recording head itself generates heat. On the other hand, when the temperature of the recording head or the ink is changed, the viscosity of the ink is changed accordingly, which adversely affects the ejection performance and the image quality. Thus, it is necessary to moderately cool the recording head and the ink.
For example, JP 2006-264328 A discloses a technology relating to air blowing and cooling in the printer. The related art discloses an inkjet printer using the thermosetting ink that promotes fixing due to heat. This device has a structure in which a heater is arranged above a carriage so as to extend along a scanning direction of the carriage. Therefore, the carriage is considerably heated, and hence is required to be cooled. A flow of air is forcibly formed so as to cool the carriage by the air.


A method for loading program modules into programmable network devices of a network comprises loading an ID-generator into each network device for generating a unique identification code for the network devices. Next the program modules are loaded into the network devices based on the identification codes. Thus selective programming of network devices within a network is possible.

In a network comprising a plurality of network devices, each of the different network devices can be provided with a unique identification code. A network device can be any device that can communicate within a network. With a unique identification code a network device can be addressed selectively, for example in order to send data to it, to request data from it, or generally speaking to communicate with it. The data may be of any kind and may be values measured by the network device data to control or setup the network device or data for a further communication between the network device and a further device connected to the network device.
Usually the network devices perform specific tasks that may not be the same for all network devices. If a network device is programmable, the task performed by that network device may be determined by a program module loaded into that network device. A program module is generally all data that determines the performance of a network device and a programmable network device is generally a network device whose performance can be modified by data.
In order to set up a programmable network device for its specific performance, it is necessary to load the corresponding program module into this network device. If the program module is intended only for individual ones of a plurality of network devices and not for all, it is necessary to be able to selectively access those network devices by means of the identification code. Network devices that are to be loaded with a program module that is intended for all network devices do not necessarily need to have an identification code since there is no need to access them separately. Each network device can also be loaded with more than one software module depending on the specific tasks of this network device and on the breadth or complexity of the program module.

Method for loading a program module into a network device and network with network devices


After power is turned on, a control section causes a distance detecting section to detect a distance up to a screen, and controls focus positions of a projector lens and an imaging lens in synchronization with each other based on the detected distance (projection distance and subject distance) and an initialized zoom ratio. Moreover, when a change operation in angle of view is executed by a user in a user control apparatus, the control section changes a zoom ratio of the projector lens according to the user's operation and changes a zoom ratio of the imaging lens to correspond to the zoom ratio of the projector lens. The control section controls the zoom ratio and the focus position of the imaging lens in synchronization with setting of the zoom ratio and the focus position of the projector lens.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a projecting apparatus with a shooting function of shooting a screen on which an image is projected in addition to a function of projecting an image onto the screen, program for controlling the projecting apparatus with a shooting function, and projection image shooting system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, documents (characters, diagram, etc.) that are stored as data in a personal computer are magnified and projected on a screen using a projector at the time of the presentation, the conference and the like. There is generally used the projector which includes a configuration wherein image information of the document input as an image signal from PC and the like is converted to a projection light by an image converting device such as a liquid crystal, a micromirror array and the like.
On the other hand, in using the projector at the conference and the like, a whiteboard is used as a screen and a character, a line (underline, ruled line), etc. are frequently added to a projected document. In this case the screen (whiteboard) is shot by a digital camera, so that the document on which the character and the like are written is converted to digital data (image data). Moreover, regarding an apparatus for converting the document on which the character and the like are written to digital data, Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. H-11-305335 (patent document 1, see FIG. 1) describes a projector equipped with a digital camera. The projector equipped with the digital camera has two types of optical systems, namely, a projector lens for the projector and a taking lens for the digital camera. For this reason, an adjustment of an angle of view (zoom ratio) of the projection image and a focus adjustment in the projector, and an adjustment of an angle of view (zoom ratio) and a focus adjustment in the digital camera according to the former adjustments are indispensable at the time of using the projector, and this causes a problem in which a preparatory work for using is complicated.

Projecting apparatus with shooting function, program for controlling projecting apparatus with shooting function, and projection image shooting system


An automatic, rotary, glass-making press comprises a base, a rotary table mounted for rotation on the base, and glass-forming mechanisms on the table and base, for formation of glass articles at work stations around the press. A rotator is mounted for rotation to the base, and a drive pin is mounted to the rotator. The drive pin is advanced and retracted into engagement and out of engagement with the table. A rotator drive drives the rotator in reciprocating rotation, and includes opposed hydraulic drive and cushion cylinders mounted between the base and the rotator. The drive cylinder advances the rotator; the cushion cylinder cushions the advance, and returns the rotator to starting position. The drive and cushion cylinders are trunnion mounted to the base, for arcuate motion of the rods of the cylinders during rotary motion of the rotator. A control co-ordinates the advance and retraction of the drive pin and the drive and return of the rotator, for incremental forward advances of the press rotary table.

This invention relates to industrial glass molding, and more particularly, to the drive mechanisms of rotary glass-molding presses.
The art of industrial glass molding has focused on high speed, constant operation, single article glass molding presses. While many useful glass molding presses have existed, the drives of some such machines have been subject to defeating wear under the necessary repetitive actions of the drives, and have included many components.

Rotary glass-molding press with cushioned, trunnion mounted hydraulic drive