In combination with a alternating-current-carrying electric power cables and a guide holding the cable. The guide is constructed such that electrical or magnetic radiation emitted by the cable can pass through the guide, an electrosmog shield has a channel formed of a material capable of blocking low-frequency electrical and magnetic radiation and dimensioned to fit with the conduit.

Standard electrical lines carrying alternating-current electricity in the 220V-400V range emit radiation known as electrosmog that is alleged to be unhealthy. In order to avoid the emission of electrosmog by cables and to keep it from the environment, this emission should be shielded in or on these cable ducts, especially adjustably and adapted to the local demand and in a manner making it easy to retrofit to existing wiring. According to the local needs on different positions of the conduit, different shielding strength are needed.
Electrosmog consists of electric and magnetic fields, originated by electric current in cable conduits, interfering with the environment. Electric fields do not spread themselves far and are easy to shield, however magnetic fields can have deleterious health effects at considerably greater distances.
Cable conduits or rather cable ducts for supplying electric power in buildings are manufactured either from plastic material or from steel or aluminum, for instance cable channels, pipes, hoses, channels. Such cable-guides, usually hold electric wires that are not shielded. These electrical conductors thus emit electrosmog for the following reasons:
1. Cable guides made from plastic do not shield electric and magnetic fields from current-carrying cables.
2. Cable guides made from sheet steel do not shield magnetic fields at a frequency at 50 or 60 Hertz, as is standard in common power supplies; instead only electric fields are shielded. Electrosmog emerges as magnetic fields.
3. Shielded cables for power supply in buildings are rarely installed in cable guides because of their wider diameter and higher costs.
4. In case of cable conduits of plastic or composite plastic material or rubber including shielding substances such as metal fibers, metal-powder, carbon-powder and the like, there is an attenuation of the emerging electrosmog, but at substantial high cost and considerable material thicknesses only.
5. Cable conduits consisting of plastic in composite construction with shielding foils are expensive with cost and material; their shielding factor cannot be varied locally.
Cable conduits in buildings are placed in the wall usually in flexible or rigid tubes, on the wall in form of channels made of plastic, steel or aluminum, below the floor as channels made of plastic or steel and below the ceiling in tray systems.
Unlike electric fields which can be shielded by brickwork as well as by steel or other metals, magnetic fields at a frequency of 50 or 60 Hertz penetrate brickwork and steel as well as plastic material in all directions when the cables in the conduits are not themselves shielded.
Furthermore, the shielding effect of soft magnetic alloys or other alloys with similar features of high permeability are known. Soft magnetic alloys shield electric as well as magnetic fields that originate from current wiring through the whole frequency range. In the contrary steel and aluminum in fact shield electric fields; however show only low or no shielding property for magnetic fields below a frequency of 100 kHz.
According to the current state of the art the shielding factor of already laid or new cable conduit elements cannot be subsequently modified. In case additional shielding is needed, the shielding is not applied at the cable guides, but to the walls or at the appliances to be shielded. Therefore the exposure of humans at least in significant areas of the environment in general remains unhampered.
Standard cable conduits for power supply normally made from plastic or metal are laid along the wall, below the ceiling as well as below the floor. Depending on the mode of installation low frequency as well as high frequency electric and magnetic fields can propagate from these cable conduits and interfere with the environment. Just in buildings for offices, homes, hospitals etc. such cable-conduits are equipped with unshielded cables or wires below the floor, along the wall or below the ceiling. In hospitals with bedrooms as well as offices, cable-conduits in most cases are laid near the human body or in the level of head. Electrosmog therefore can reach and affect persons and appliances from many directions.
As the harmful influence of low frequency electrosmog in that scale for is contended, there is its long-term influence with respect to disorders of sensitivity at electro-sensible persons and damage to patients with implants such as cardiac pacemakers, nervous stimulators, implanted insulin-pumps or hearing aids etc. or their interference liability is evident.
The use of electric and electronic appliances in homes, offices, hospitals increases every year rapidly. People are overburdened by electrosmog, since the unavoidable electrosmog, from monitors, printers, scanners, electro-installations on desks or refrigerators, electric stoves, microwave ovens that add to the permanent electrosmog penetrating unshielded cable conduits.
Therefore not only the influence of single appliances counts on persons as shown in statistics, but also the sum total of all influencing fields, as well as their duration which with regard to electrosmog are emerging from cable guides in various rooms from all directions and which are lasting all the time.


A computing in memory (CIM) cell includes a memory cell circuit, a first semiconductor element, a second semiconductor element, and a third semiconductor element. A first terminal of the first semiconductor element is coupled to a first computing bit-line. A control terminal of the first semiconductor element is coupled to a computing word-line. A control terminal of the second semiconductor element is coupled to the memory cell circuit. A first terminal of the second semiconductor element is coupled to a second terminal of the first semiconductor element. A first terminal of the third semiconductor element is coupled to a second terminal of the second semiconductor element. A second terminal of the third semiconductor element is coupled to a second computing bit-line. A control terminal of the third semiconductor element receives a bias voltage.

Artificial intelligence (AI) networks, such as deep neural networks (DNN), are often required to perform a matrix multiplication. Matrix data is transmitted (moved) from a memory to a computing circuit for the matrix multiplication. In the computing process of the AI network, the movement of a large amount of data will consume time and energy. Computing in memory (CIM) technology can reduce the number of data movements. CIM technology has the advantages of increasing computing power and reducing power consumption.

Industrial Technology Research Institute


The invention has been achieved to solve the problem mentioned above. The object of the invention is to provide a novel method of manufacturing a printed wiring board by allowing manufacturers to provide a slit and perforations on the substrate without causing even the slightest crack to be generated in the course of manufacturing the printed wiring board.. In the course of manufacturing printed wiring boards splittable across a slit and perforations,the method embodied by the invention executes those sequential steps including the following; provision of thickness adjusting film for specific regions adjacent to the slit and perforations; adjustment of the thickness of a main substrate and a splittable substrate which is splittable by means of the slit and the perforations; and formation of the slit and the perforations by applying a pressing and punching process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a printed wiring board which is splittable across a slit and a plurality of perforations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There is presently such a conventional printed wiring board which is provided with a slit and a plurality of perforations in the course of the manufacturing process in order that main regions of the substrate can be separated from each other.
FIG. 3 illustrates a conventional printed wiring board 1 typical of the printed wiring board having the structure cited above. This conventional printed wiring board 1 consists of a main substrate 3 mounting a printed wiring circuit 2 which contains the predetermined pattern, and a split-table substrate 4 which is to be split from the main substrate 3. This conventional printed wiring board 1 is provided with a slit 5 and a plurality of perforations 6 between the main substrate 3 and the splittable substrate 4.
While forming the slit 5 and perforations 6 in the course of manufacturing a conventional printed wiring board as described above, cracks are easily generated between the perforations 6 or between the slit 5 and the perforations 6, thus causing the main substrate, 3 to be separated from the splittable substrate 4. Typically, the slit 5 and the perforations 6 are furnished to the printed wiring board 1 by means of a pressing and punching operation. However, as shown in FIG. 4 , when sandwiching the printed wiring board 1 between the top and bottom molds 7 and 8, a substantial difference in thickness results between superficial areas 3a, 3b, 4a, and 4b, and those superficial areas 7a and 8a of the main and splittable substrates 3 and 4 in contact with the top and bottom molds 7 and 8.
The above difference is caused by (1) the presence or absence of the printed wiring circuit 2 on those regional surfaces 3a, 3b, 4a, and 4b of the main substrate 3 and the splittable substrate 4, and (2) the difference in thickness between those superficial regions 3a, 3b, 4a, and 4b of the main and splittable substrates 3 and 4 in contact with the top and bottom molds 7 and 8 due to the presence or absence of the undercoated or overcoated insulative film or shielding film.

Method of manufacturing a printed wiring board


A control system for an internal combustion engine that performs learning of a throttle opening degree during idle operation, at which a target idle speed can be obtained, the control system comprising a control section that is configured to use a first learned value and a second learned value as learned values of the throttle opening degree during idle operation and to update the first learned value when a state of combustion is not deteriorated, and update the second learned value when the state of combustion is deteriorated.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a control system and method for an internal combustion engine that performs learning of a throttle opening degree, at which a target idle speed can be obtained.
2. Description of Related Art
In an internal combustion engine such as that mounted on a vehicle, learning is performed to acquire a throttle opening degree, at which a target idle speed can be obtained. In the case where the state of combustion is temporarily deteriorated, for example because of occurrence of a misfire, during idle operation, the throttle opening degree at which the target idle speed can be obtained increases. Therefore, if learning is performed while the state of combustion is deteriorated, the learned value of the throttle opening degree may become larger than that for normal operation. In this case, while the learned value of the throttle opening degree is increased once, the learned value of the throttle opening degree is returned to the value for normal operation through re-learning when the deteriorated state of combustion is resolved.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-014031 (JP 2010-014031 A) discloses a technique that enables continuation of learning of a throttle opening degree, even during deteriorated combustion, by relaxing the conditions on engine speed variations related to execution of learning control of the throttle opening degree when deterioration in the state of combustion is found.
In recent years, meanwhile, hybrid vehicles that include two driving power sources, namely an internal combustion engine and an electric motor, and vehicles that perform idle stop control to automatically stop an internal combustion engine during idling have been put into practice. In such vehicles, the frequency of idle operation is low, and hence there are fewer chances to learn a throttle opening degree during idle operation. Therefore, once the learned value of the throttle opening degree is varied by deterioration in combustion, there may be no chance for re-learning, and the value acquired during deteriorated combustion may be used continuously thereafter.
Such an issue can be suppressed to some degree by prohibiting learning, securing a longer learning period so that learning is performed not only based on a deteriorated state of combustion, or the like when the state of combustion is deteriorated. In such cases, however, it may take more time to complete learning, which may deteriorate the fuel efficiency.
The above issue may likewise occur in internal combustion engines other than those mounted on hybrid vehicles and vehicles that perform idle stop control if there are fewer chances to learn a throttle opening degree during idle operation.

Control system having idle speed control learning and method having idle speed control learning for internal combustion engine


A computer monitoring apparatus for use with a computer system having a plurality of components interconnected by a system bus is provided to display system information related to the components and data information being transferred through the system bus, and comprises a controller for generating an operation inhibiting signal and a plurality of control signals in accordance with a function selection signal of a key input section, a buffer for temporally storing the system and data information, and a display section for displaying the system and data information on a screen thereof.

With the rapid development in the performance of computer systems, computer systems are popularly used in many fields. Particularly, so as to improve the performance of a computer system, the computer system must be provided with hardware components and/or software components for performing a variety of functions. Such components are normally interconnected by a system bus, which is provided to transfer some information between the components.
However, in case of a computer system with a variety of functions, if there occurs a system failure, it is difficult to check operating conditions of the computer system in order to recover the computer system.
There are several cases of system failure in the computer system. As one of them, the computer system may be mal-operated or halted because of the incorrect transfer of signals between the hardware/software components. The computer system may also fail because of an incomplete program being performed in the computer system. In case of system failure, an operator cannot easily check the cause of the system failure without the use of a computer monitoring apparatus.
Several U.S. Patents address this issue. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,413 for an Environment Monitoring System For Standard Interface Bus Computer Systems to Lui et al discloses an apparatus and method for monitoring the environment of remote components attached to a host processor via a standard interface bus.
What is needed is a simple design for a bus monitor that uses the bus clock to drive the monitoring equipment. Discrete logic circuits enable the bus clock to drive the clock for the bus monitor.

Computer monitoring apparatus and a method of controlling the same


The semiconductor apparatus is disclosed that includes a partial SOI substrate including an oxide film; a lateral first MOSFET section having a planar gate structure and formed in the portion of the partial SOI substrate where there is an oxide film; a vertical second MOSFET section having a trench gate structure and formed in the portion of the partial SOI substrate where there is no oxide film, the second MOSFET section being adjacent to the first MOSFET section. The first MOSFET section includes a first p-type base region on the oxide film. The second MOSFET section includes a second n+-type drain region, a second n-type drift region on the second n+-type drain region, and a second p-type base region in the surface portion of the second n-type drift region. The height H1 of the pn-junction between the second n-type drift region and the second p-type base region from the second n+-type drain region is set to be lower than the height H2 of the boundary between the oxide film and the first p-type base region from the second n+-type drain region to make the oxide film serve as a field plate. The semiconductor apparatus including a vertical device and a lateral device configured as described above facilitates doping the second n-type drift region heavily while securing a certain breakdown voltage, reducing the ON-resistance of the second MOSFET section, and reducing the semiconductor chip size.

A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor apparatus including a vertical semiconductor device and a lateral semiconductor device formed on a substrate, a part thereof having a SOI structure (hereinafter referred to as a "partial SOI substrate"). The present invention relates also to the method of manufacturing the semiconductor apparatus having the structure as described above.
B. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 22 is a block diagram of a synchronous commutator circuit. The synchronous commutator circuit shown in FIG. 22 supplies electric power to CPU 110 in a computer. High-side MOSFET 101 and low-side MOSFET 102 are connected in series to each other. LC filter 112 formed of coil 107 and capacitor 108 is connected to the connection point of MOSFETs 101 and 102 such that connection point 111 of coil 107 and capacitor 108 is an output point. Free wheel diodes 103 and 104, battery 105, smoothing capacitor 106, control IC 109 and CPU 110 are shown in FIG. 22.
The operations of this synchronous commutator circuit are described below. A certain voltage, e.g. around 12 V, is applied between the drain of high-side MOSFET 101 and the source of low-side MOSFET 102 from battery 105, or other DC power supply. By switching on and off high-side MOSFET 101 and low-side MOSFET 102 alternately at a high frequency (from 500 kHz to 1 MHz), a DC voltage, e.g. around 5 V, is supplied to CPU 110 via LC filter 112, the resonance frequency of which is from 50 kHz to 100 kHz.
The DC voltage becomes higher as the ON-period of high-side MOSFET 101 is longer (as the ON-period of low-side MOSFET 102 is shorter). The DC voltage becomes lower as the ON-period of high-side MOSFET 101 is shorter (as the ON-period of low-side MOSFET 102 is longer). In other words, for supplying a predetermined voltage to CPU 110, it is necessary to set the ON- and OFF-periods of high-side MOSFET 101 and low-side MOSFET 102 at the respective predetermined values. When the ON-period of high-side MOSFET 101 is long, it is necessary to provide high-side MOSFET 101 with a high current capacity. When the ON-period of low-side MOSFET 102 is long, it is necessary to provide low-side MOSFET 102 with a high current capacity. The current that flows through low-side MOSFET 102 flows from its source to its drain, that is in the same direction with the current flow direction (upward in FIG. 22) in free wheel diode 104 connected in opposite parallel to low-side MOSFET 102.
The package, which houses a semiconductor chip mounting high-side MOSFET 101 thereon and a semiconductor chip mounting low-side MOSFET 102 thereon, occupies a large space. To obviate this problem, the package size is reduced by providing high-side MOSFET 101 and low-side MOSFET 102 with respective lateral planar structures and by integrating lateral planar MOSFETs 101 and 102 on the same semiconductor substrate (that is, into one chip) employing the IC techniques and the LSI techniques. However, when MOSFETs 101 and 102 are integrated into one chip, it is necessary to separate MOSFETs 101 and 102 from each other by a device separation region, e.g., an insulating separation region that separates MOSFETs 101 and 102 from each other by an insulator film. The device separation region causes a wide chip area. To narrow the chip area, it may be effective to use a vertical device for the high-side device, corresponding to high-side MOSFET 101, or for the low-side device, corresponding to low-side MOSFET 102.
Alternatively, a method has been disclosed that uses a partial SOI substrate, forms a lateral MOSFET in an area in which an oxide film is formed, and forms a vertical MOSFET in an area in which an oxide film is not formed (cf. JP P Hei. 11 (1999)-204541 A). The method disclosed in the JP P Hei. 11 (1999)-204541 A uses the oxide film in the partial SOI substrate for electrically separating the vertical device and the lateral device from each other. In the disclosed method, the depletion layers for sustaining the breakdown voltage are designed to expand almost throughout the semiconductor section except the insulator film. Due to this design, the impurity concentrations in the drift regions formed in the semiconductor section are set to be low to expand the depletion layers sufficiently. Due to the low impurity concentrations in the drift regions, the ON-resistance and the ON-voltage of each constituent semiconductor device are high. For reducing the ON-voltages, it is necessary to expand the active regions of the devices. In the structure as described, a device separation region and a large active region are necessary to secure a certain breakdown voltage and to reduce the ON-resistance. The device separation region and the large active regions cause a large semiconductor chip.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to obviate the problems described above. It would be desirable to provide a semiconductor apparatus that includes a vertical device and a lateral device formed on the same semiconductor substrate that facilitates securing a predetermined breakdown voltage and reducing the semiconductor chip size. It would be also desirable to provide the method of manufacturing the desirable semiconductor apparatus described above.
The present invention is directed to overcoming or at least reducing the effects of one or more of the problems set forth above.

Semiconductor apparatus and method of manufacturing the same


A polymer modified pigment having a polymer (P-1) on the surface of a pigment (A), wherein the polymer (P-1) is obtained by copolymerizing a copolymer (B-1) of a polymerizable unsaturated monomer containing at least one polymerizable unsaturated group soluble in a non-aqueous solvent, and at least one kind of polymerizable unsaturated monomer (C), which is soluble in the non-aqueous solvent and either insoluble or poorly soluble following polymerization: and a polymer modified pigment having a polymer (P-2) on the surface of a pigment (A), wherein the polymer (P-2) is obtained by polymerizing at least one kind of polymerizable unsaturated monomer (C) soluble in the non-aqueous solvent and either insoluble or poorly soluble following polymerization, in the presence of an alkyd resin (B-2) soluble in a non-aqueous solvent.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a polymer modified pigment having a polymer on a pigment surface, and a production process of the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since pigments are typically insoluble colorants, the uniform dispersion of pigment particles in media such as solvents or resins is an important factor in the production of paint, printing ink or color filters and the like and in the coloring of plastics.
Since the dispersibility of a pigment is largely dependent on the surface properties of the pigment particles, efforts to improve dispersibility have been made using various surface treatments. Examples of these treatment methods include rosin treatment, treatment with various types of surfactants such as cationic surfactants, anionic surfactants or nonionic surfactants, pigment derivative treatment and polymer treatment.
Among these treatment methods, examples of polymer treatment methods, which are used to improve dispersibility by coating a polymer onto a pigment surface, include in-situ polymerization, phase separation (coacervation) and drying-in-liquid.
Among these, in-situ polymerization is a method that has been employed in the past, and is described in Patent Documents 1 to 7. All of these methods are carried out under aqueous conditions. For example, in the methods described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2004-189928 (Patent Document 1) and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2004-189929 (Patent Document 2), a polymer modified pigment is obtained by stably dispersing a pigment in an aqueous medium using a surfactant or water-soluble polymer followed by polymerizing a monomer. In addition, in the methods described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2005-097517 (Patent Document 3) and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H10-316909 (Patent Document 4), a polymer modified pigment is obtained using a polymerizable surfactant. In addition, in the method described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2004-155818 (Patent Document 5), a polymer modified pigment is obtained by using an alkylene oxide chain-containing compound having a polymerizable functional group and polymerizing a monomer in a system in which a pigment is dispersed.
However, all of these methods had problems consisting the pigments able to be used being specified since the pigment is required to be in a state in which it can be stably dispersed in an aqueous medium, dispersion stability of the resulting polymer modified pigment being only able to be obtained in an aqueous medium, and dispersion stability being unable to be obtained in an organic solvent.
Although the method described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H13-72887 (Patent Document 6) is a method for obtaining a polymer modified pigment by mixing a pigment and a monomer followed by suspension polymerization using a dispersion stabilizer, this method prevents the obtaining of fine polymer modified pigments.
In addition, the method described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2005-120365 is a method for obtaining a polymer modified pigment by polymerizing a monomer in the presence of a pigment of which the surface thereof has been precoated with a silane coupling agent in a mixed solvent consisting of a hydrophilic organic solvent and water. However, this method cannot be applied to organic pigments that are poorly miscible with silane coupling agents, that is, have poor affinity with silane coupling agents.
Examples of in-situ polymerization methods not using water for the solvent are described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2004-2501, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2004-18736, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2004-35592, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2004-083660, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2004-107523 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2004-107524 (Patent Documents 8 to 13). All of these methods consist of carrying out in-situ polymerization in a non-aqueous solvent having a dielectric constant of 1.5 to 20 and surface tension of 15 to 60 mN/m. However, since all of the methods described in these references require the use of a surface-modified pigment and that the pigment be stably dispersed with a specific dispersion stabilizer, they are not universal methods.
In this manner, although there are various techniques used to carry out in-situ polymerization, techniques have not obtained yet that can be applied to general-purpose pigments and allows the obtaining of a polymer modified pigment demonstrating satisfactory dispersion stability even in an organic solvent.
An object of the present invention is to provide a polymer modified pigment demonstrating satisfactory dispersion stability even in an organic solvent, and a process for producing a polymer modified pigment demonstrating satisfactory dispersion stability even in an organic solvent that can be applied to general-purpose pigments.
As a result of conducting extensive studies to solve the aforementioned problems, the inventors of the present invention found that a polymer modified pigment, having a polymer obtained by copolymerizing a specific polymer soluble in a non-aqueous solvent with at least one kind of polymerizable unsaturated monomer, demonstrates satisfactory pigment dispersibility, thereby leading to completion of the present invention.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Polymer modified pigment and production process of the same


An electrophotographic developing apparatus uses a two-component developer comprising a carrier and a toner for development. The apparatus includes an intermediate roller with a non-magnetic sleeve accommodating a magnetic roller disposed between a developing roller and an agitating device for tribo-frictionally charging the carrier and the toner. After forming a magnetic brush consisting of the carrier and the toner, the toner is transferred to the developing roller by applying a first bias to the intermediate roller and the developing roller. A second bias is applied to the developing roller and an image carrier included in the apparatus to cause the toner to selectively attach to the image carrier. A third bias is applied to the developing roller and the intermediate roller to cause the toner to transfer back to the intermediate roller. The intermediate roller has two like polarity poles facing the agitating device and has a peripheral speed which is greater than the developing roller and photosensitive drum.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrophotographic developing apparatuses used with a two-component developer composed of a carrier and a toner and, more particularly, to an electrophotographic developing apparatus, in which the toner is charged by making use of tribo-frictional charging between the carrier and the toner or with a preliminary developing bias to be carried on a developing roller and selectively attached latent image areas (in case of positive development) or non-latent image areas (in case of opposite development) of a photo-sensitive drum or like image carrier.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electrophotographic developing apparatuses, in which toner is selectively attached to latent image areas (in case of positive development) or non-latent image areas (in case of opposite development) of a photo-sensitive drum or like image carrier, or more specifically dry electrophotographic developing apparatuses, are well known in the art.
Developing apparatuses of this type are largely classified into those based on a uni-component developing process using toner alone as the developer and those based on a two-component developing process using carrier together with toner. They are also classified in dependence on whether the toner used is magnetic, that is, in dependence on whether they are based on a magnetic uni-component (or two-component) developing process or a non-magnetic uni-component (or two-component) developing process.
As an example of the magnetic uni-component developing process, a commonly termed jumping developing process has been proposed (U.S. Pat. No. 4,281,329, U.S. Pat. No. 4,292,387, U.S. Pat. No. 4,395,476 and others). In this process, a thin layer of toner is formed on a developing sleeve and brought to the proximity of the surface of a photo-sensitive drum (or like image carrier), and an AC bias is applied between the two to cause the toner to be attached to an electrostatic image.
In this jumping developing process, however, magnetic forces of a magnet roller which is accommodated in the developing sleeve cause the magnetic brush (to be formed) on the developing sleeve, the magnetic brush to be formed on the developing sleeve, and therefore a high density toner layer cannot be formed. Particularly, in its applications to full-color electrophotography or the like in which toner is attached to the entire transfer sheet surface, sufficient and homogeneous image density cannot be ensured.
The non-magnetic uni-component developing process can be advantageously applied to full-color electrophotographic apparatuses, because it is possible to use toners which are more transparent than magnetic toners. However, because of the use of the non-magnetic toner, no magnetic forces of toner can be used to supply the toner to the developing sleeve. Accordingly, a technique which additionally employs a toner feed roller has been proposed (Ricoh Technical Report, Nos. 16 and 18, 1987). FIG. 7 illustrates this technique. As shown, in this technique a toner feed roller 113 is disposed on an upstream part of a developing sleeve 112 accommodating a magnet roller 111. The magnetic forces of the magnet roller 111 are not effective to attract the toner. However, they act on a toner layer thinning blade 114, which is elastic and magnetic, thus indirectly permitting toner attraction to the developing sleeve 112. Reference numeral 115 designates a discharging brush, 117 a toner agitator, and 116 a toner hopper.
In such non-magnetic uni-component developing process, however, although indirect toner attraction to the developing sleeve 112 on the magnetic toner layer thinning blade 114 is permitted by the magnetic forces of the magnet roller 111, sufficient charge cannot be injected by the agitation of the non-magnetic toner alone by the tribo-frictional charging utilizing the toner agitator 117 or the like. In consequence, a highly dense toner layer cannot be formed on the developing sleeve 112 and, like the above case, it is impossible to ensure sufficient and homogeneous image density in the full-color electrophotography or like applications where toner is attached to the entire transfer sheet surface.
As the two-component developing process, a two-component magnetic brush developing process is usually used. In this process the toner is used together with a carrier, which is constituted by magnetic particles of iron, ferrite, etc. with or without a polymer coating layer or by magnetic fine particles dispersed in a polymer binder. A developer is formed by mixing at a fixed rate the carrier, the diameter of which is set to 50 to 200 .mu.m, and the toner, the diameter of which is set to smaller than the carrier diameter, for instance 5 to 20 .mu.m, and a fellow developer is agitated by agitating means to charge the carrier and the toner by tribo-frictional charging. The toner is attached to the carrier surface by electrostatic forces thus generated. Then, the carrier is carried together with the toner on a non-magnetic developing sleeve accommodating a magnet roller, and a magnetic brush is formed on the developing sleeve at a developing position thereof by making use of the magnetic poles (main poles) of the magnet roller.
At the developing position, the toner is selectively attached to latent image areas (in case of positive development) or non-latent image areas (in case of opposite development) on a photo-sensitive drum, by applying a developing bias to the developing position, while causing friction on the photo-sensitive drum with the magnetic brush.
In the magnetic brush developing process of this type, however, the friction of the magnetic brush, which is formed on the developing sleeve and mainly constituted by the carrier, with the photo-sensitive drum surface, is liable to disturb a toner image that is formed in the developing step or cause transfer of the carrier to the photo-sensitive drum to generate white streaks or the like.
As shown above, the magnetic developing process using a magnetic toner is disadvantageous in its applications to full-color electrophotographic apparatuses, because it is impossible to use a toner which is satisfactorily transparent.
Particularly, in the above jumping developing process the toner layer carried on the developing sleeve is low in density, and sufficient and homogeneous image density cannot be ensured in such applications where toner is attached to the entire transfer sheet surface as the full black development, photographic development or full-color development and the like.
In the two-component magnetic brush developing process, although it is possible to use either magnetic or non-magnetic toner, disturbance of a toner image on the side of the photo-sensitive drum may be caused by the friction of the carrier with the toner surface.

Developing apparatus having developing roller which is loaded via an intermediate roller


A thermal transfer image receiving sheet comprising a heat insulating layer and a layer adjacent to the heat insulating layer on a substrate, wherein the heat insulating layer is provided between the layer and the substrate, the heat insulating layer contains hollow particles in an amount of at least 65 percent by mass, and the heat insulating layer and the layer are formed by simultaneous multi-layer coating.

What is commonly known in the prior art for forming a color image or black-and-white image includes a technique (so-called a pigment thermal transfer method) wherein the ink sheet containing the thermally diffusive pigment subjected to diffusion and migration by heating is arranged face to face with an image receiving layer of the image receiving sheet, and the thermally diffusive pigment is thermally transferred onto this image receiving layer as an image, using a thermal printing means such as a thermal head or laser, whereby an image is formed. Such a thermal transfer method is highly evaluated as a technique of producing a high-quality image comparable to the image obtained from silver halide photography, using digital data, without the need of utilizing any processing solution such as a developing solution.
To provide a superb printing characteristic in the recording method based on thermal transfer technique using a pigment, it is important to incorporate a heat insulating function and cushioning function into the thermal transfer image receiving sheet. This importance has been recognized in the prior art.
One of the known methods for meeting this requirement is to bond an expanded film having both the heat insulating function and cushioning function onto a substrate, and to arrange an image receiving layer thereon. This method causes the expanded film to be shrunken by the heat produced by coating of the image receiving layer, with the result that a curl will be found in the final product. Such a problem has been observed in the prior art. To overcome these difficulties, a study has been made to develop a new functional layer having the heat insulating function and cushioning function. A study has also been made to provide a thermal transfer image receiving sheet and its manufacturing method without using the step of bonding a expanded film or the like, in order to eliminate the possibility of a curl being produced by heat history in the manufacturing process. Such a method is exemplified by a coating method.
For example, a thermal transfer image receiving sheet having an intermediate layer and image receiving layer provided on a substrate has been disclosed. This sheet is characterized in that the intermediate layer is composed of a layer mainly comprising:
hollow particles having a diameter of 0.1 through 100 μm obtained by thermal expansion of thermally expanding plastic substances; or
hollow polymer particles, shaped like a micro-capsule, having a diameter of 0.1 through 20 μm; and
high polymers impervious to organic solvent (Patent Document 1).
To get a heat insulating effect when using the hollow particles, it is generally necessary to ensure a high fill factor sufficient to allow use of the void between particles. It is not possible to avoid irregularities in surface smoothness or reduction in the strength of the layer resulting from a low percentage of binder. Not only that, when a further layer is coated thereon, air bubbles present in the voids between hollow particles tend to rise and to give an adverse effect to the image receiving layer in the final stage, with the result that uneven printing will occur.
A solution to these problems is disclosed in an image receiving sheet formed by sequential lamination of a heat insulating layer and an image receiving layer containing hollow particles on the substrate of cellulose paper, for example. In this sheet, the substrate has an air permeability is 1,000 sec. or more without exceeding 3,500 sec. (Patent Document 2). However, this proposal is based on the concept of ensuring that air bubbles present in the void between hollow particles are released toward the substrate, wherein presence of these air bubbles raises a problem when a layer is coated on the layer containing hollow particles. This proposal makes it difficult for air bubbles to rise, but tends to encourage permeation of the liquid coated on the layer to be arranged on the layer containing hollow particles. This method allows film thickness to become uneven. Not only that, this approach causes the compositions of the coated liquid to fill the void between hollow particles close to the surface of the heat insulating layer where the heat insulating function is most effective. Thus, the originally intended heat insulating effect cannot be utilized. This method has such a problem.
Against this backdrop, there has been a long felt need for a thermal transfer image receiving sheet or manufacturing method thereof, capable of making the maximum use of the advantages of the heat insulating layer of the hollow particles, providing high-density printing characteristics, and ensuring uniform printing.
Further, a method for manufacturing a thermal transfer image receiving sheet is disclosed, wherein the water-based intermediate layer containing hollow particles, and the water-based image receiving layer containing a mold releasing agent adjacent thereto are coated according to the wet-on-wet method (Patent Document 3). This Patent Document 3 discloses a process of improving the viscosity of each coating solution and controlling the excessive mixture of liquids. When exposed to a high temperature in the step of drying, not a small amount of substances transfer takes place on the two adjacent liquid interfaces of high fluidity. For example, if the mold releasing layer in the wet image receiving layer transfers in the wet heat insulating layer, insufficient bondage occurs between the hollow particles close to the surface of the heat insulating layer. Smoothness of the interface will be reduced, with the result that uneven printing will occur.
[Patent Document 1] the Official Gazette of Japanese Patent Tokkaihei 11-321128
[Patent Document 2] the Official Gazette of Japanese Patent Tokkai 2004-9572
[Patent Document 3] the Official Gazette of Japanese Patent Tokkaihei 6-171240

Thermal transfer image receiving sheet and manufacturing method of thermal transfer image receiving sheet


A semiconductor apparatus includes a plurality of stacked chips. Each of the plurality of stacked chips includes a delay chain. Each of the plurality of stacked chips comprises a plurality of Through-Vias, wherein one of the plurality of Through-Vias formed in a first one of the plurality of stacked chips and electrically coupled to a predetermined location of a first delay chain on the first one of the plurality of stacked chips and one of the plurality of Through-Vias formed in a neighboring one of the plurality of stacked chips and electrically coupled to a predetermined location of a delay chain on the neighboring one of the plurality of stacked chips are configured to electrically couple the first one of the plurality of stacked chips to the neighboring one of the plurality of stacked chips. A signal transmitted from a first one of the plurality of stacked chips generates a feedback signal to the first one of the plurality of stacked chips through one or more of the plurality of Through-Vias.

1. Technical Field
Various embodiments relate to a semiconductor apparatus, and more particularly, to a semiconductor apparatus that is stacked through a Through-Via.
2. Related Art
Recent technological advances directed towards attempts to increase the integrity of semiconductor apparatuses have led to the development of a 3 dimensional (3D) semiconductor apparatus where a plurality of chips are stacked and packaged in single package. The 3D semiconductor apparatus seeks to increase integrity in a relatively limited amount of space by vertically stacking two or more chips.
In one example of a 3D semiconductor apparatus, a plurality of substantially similar or different chips are stacked. The plurality of stacked chips are electrically coupled to each other through wires like metal lines.
In some cases, "Through Silicon Via" (TSV) is used to electrically couple the plurality of stacked chips. The TSV extends through the plurality of stacked chips. A semiconductor apparatus that uses a TSV structure that vertically extends through and electrically couples the plurality of chips typically has a relatively smaller size package than a semiconductor apparatus that uses a wire structure to electrically couple the plurality of chips through edge-wiring.
A Through Via such as the TSV is typically created by forming a hole that extends through the chip, forming a dielectric layer on the side wall of the hole, and filling a conducting material in the dielectric layer. The Through-Via is used as a pathway for transferring a signal and electrically couples the stacked chips.

Stacked semiconductor apparatus being electrically connected through through-via and monitoring method


Provided are a method and apparatus for location update in a wireless communication system. A machine-to-machine (M2M) device transmits a mobility access classifier indicating the mobility access classification of the M2M device to a first base station, and receives information on a reattachment zone indicating a list of base stations accessible by the M2M device from the first station. The M2M device transits to an idle mode, and provides a location update to a second base station based on whether or not the second M2M device has exited the reattachment zone.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless communications, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for a location update in a wireless communication system.
2. Related Art
The institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) 802.16e standard was adopted in 2007 as a sixth standard for international mobile telecommunication (IMT)-2000 in the name of 'WMAN-OFDMA TDD' by the ITU-radio communication sector (ITU-R) which is one of sectors of the international telecommunication union (ITU). An IMT-advanced system has been prepared by the ITU-R as a next generation (i.e., 4th generation) mobile communication standard following the IMT-2000. It was determined by the IEEE 802.16 working group (WG) to conduct the 802.16m project for the purpose of creating an amendment standard of the existing IEEE 802.16e as a standard for the IMT-advanced system. As can be seen in the purpose above, the 802.16m standard has two aspects, that is, continuity from the past (i.e., the amendment of the existing 802.16e standard) and continuity to the future (i.e., the standard for the next generation IMT-advanced system). Therefore, the 802.16m standard needs to satisfy all requirements for the IMT-advanced system while maintaining compatibility with a mobile WiMAX system conforming to the 802.16e standard.
There is ongoing development on the IEEE 802.16p standard optimized for machine-to-machine (M2M) communication based on the IEEE 802.16e standard and the IEEE 802.16m standard. The M2M communication can be defined as an information exchange performed between a subscriber station and a server or between subscriber stations in a core network without any human interaction. In the IEEE 802.16p standard, there is an ongoing discussion on enhancement of medium access control (MAC) of the IEEE 802.16 standard and a minimum change of an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) physical layer (PHY) in licensed bands. Due to the discussion on the IEEE 802.16p standard, a wide area wireless coverage is required in the licensed band, and a scope of applying automated M2M communication can be increased for an observation and control purpose.
When accessing a network, requirements demanded by many M2M applications are significantly different from requirements for human-initiated or human-controlled network access. The M2M application can include vehicular telematics, healthcare monitoring of bio-sensors, remote maintenance and control, smart metering, an automated service of a consumer device, etc. The requirements of the M2M application can include very lower power consumption, larger numbers of devices, short burst transmission, device tampering detection and reporting, improved device authentication, etc.
A user equipment (UE) can perform a location update when a specific condition is satisfied. When performing the location update process, a base station (BS) transmits information on a mobility access classifier and reattachment zone of the UE to an authenticator in a network entry stage. The mobility access classifier indicates a fixed UE or a nomadic UE. The reattachment zone indicates a list of BSs accessible by the fixed UE or the nomadic UE. The UE transmits an AAI-RNG-REQ message to the BS to perform the location update. The BS transmits an R4_LU_Req message to an anchor paging controller (PC) access service network (ASN). The anchor PC ASN receives the R4_LU_Req message and confirms information on the mobility access classifier and reattachment zone of the UE. If an identifier (ID) of a BS on which the UE intends to perform the location update is not included in the list of the BSs of the reattachment zone, the R4_LU_Req message is transmitted to the BS so that the UE performs an initial network reentry with respect to the BS instead of the location update.
In addition, in the paging process, the anchor PC ASN confirms the information on the mobility access classifier and reattachment zone of the UE before transmitting a paging announcement. If the UE is the fixed or nomadic UE, the anchor PC ASN can transmit the paging announcement only for a BS included in the list of the reattachment zone.
Meanwhile, an M2M device can perform the location update similarly to a typical UE. There may be a need for a more effective location update method according to a characteristic of an M2M application to which the M2M device is applied.

Method and apparatus for location update in a wireless communication system


A user terminal is provided, including a communication interface unit which receives an application content at least part of which is encrypted, a storage unit which stores the received application content, a decryption unit which decrypts the application content, a user interface unit which receives a command to execute the application content, and a controlling unit which controls the decryption unit to install an application content stored in the storage unit in an encrypted state and decrypt the installed application content according to the execution command. Accordingly, an application, which is an executable content, may be downloaded and installed in a user terminal, and used and updated safely.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a user terminal, a server, and a controlling method thereof, and, more particularly, to a user terminal using an application content, which is partially encrypted, a server, and a controlling method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional Digital Rights Management (DRM) system is designed to manage the rights of digital content, which is reproduced by another player, such as a document, music and movie. Such a DRM system has been used to protect an application, which is executable digital content. Specifically, all digital content is encrypted and the encryption key is included in an object called a license, to which a provider's signature is added before being distributed. The distributed content and license are installed on a user's terminal, the license is parsed by a designated DRM client, and the content is decrypted using the encryption key and then executed by a designated viewer or player.
A conventional DRM system, which is designed to protect digital content such as music and movie, may decrypt the latter portion of the content while the former portion of the content is being reproduced, even though the entire content are encrypted. Therefore, encryption of content does not have a significant impact on its reproduction time. However, if an application is encrypted, the encrypted file must be decrypted in its entirety and only then can it be executed. Thus, the longer the decryption time is, the longer it takes to reproduce the application. Such delay in reproduction time may cause inconvenience to a user and reduce the user's desire to purchase.
While content such as music and movies are rarely updated once they are downloaded, an application must frequently be patched and updated. However, conventional DRM systems do not have a protocol to receive a license again when an application is updated. Therefore, it is difficult to use the conventional DRM system to protect an application.
The main purpose of a conventional DRM system is to protect content which must be reproduced and thus, the main purpose of DRM design is to guarantee the confidentiality of the content. On the other hand, in order to protect an application, combinability is more important than confidentiality.

User terminal, server and controlling method thereof


A printing system having a print portion is provided. The printing system includes a storage portion configured to store job data based on which a plurality of first print jobs is executed, the first print jobs being instructed by a specific user; an obtaining portion configured to, in response to a request made by the specific user, obtain group information on a group of the first print jobs; and a job execution portion configured to, after the print portion starts the first print jobs, leave a second print job other than the first print jobs unexecuted and execute all of the first print jobs based on the group information, and after that, execute the second print job.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing system and printing device that are shared by a plurality of users, and so on.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recent years have seen the widespread use of image forming apparatuses that have various functions such as copying, scanning, faxing, and Internet Protocol (IP) communication. Such an image forming apparatus is called a "Multi-Functional Peripheral" (MFP) or a "multifunction device". The various functions are applied by applications in different ways, which enables an image forming apparatus to provide users with a wide variety of services. Some services are proposed which are offered by the image forming apparatus working in conjunction with a server.
One of such proposed services is called "pull printing". According to the pull printing service, print data sent by a terminal such as a personal computer is temporarily held on a server named "pull printing server" instead of being received promptly by an image forming apparatus. The pull printing server receives sets of print data from personal computers installed in different locations and manages the sets of print data collectively. When a user goes to the installation site of a certain image forming apparatus and performs predetermined operation thereon, the pull printing server sends print data of the user to the image forming apparatus.
According to the pull printing service, a print job is executed after the user gets to the installation site of the image forming apparatus. The service therefore enables the user to obtain a printed matter based on the print job more reliably than the case where the print job is executed immediately after the print data is sent directly to the image forming apparatus without a server.
Meanwhile, one user sometimes instructs an image forming apparatus to execute a plurality of jobs through the pull printing service. In such a case, it is desirable that printed matters produced based on the jobs are not confused with the other printed matters related to the other users.
To cope with this, the following method has been proposed. In a printer which is connected to a network to receive printing data and prints the data, an IP address of an apparatus which transmits data is managed together with printing data, and the sequence of received data is managed together with printing data, whereby data sent from the same apparatus is printed out consecutively (see the English Abstract of Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2004-058501).
A print server stores pint jobs accepted from a PC in a storage unit in order to wait for printing of a printer; however when it becomes possible to transmit the print jobs to the printer, the print server issues a print execution instruction to a print job at a top of print order and transfers the instruction to the printer, and if a print job of the same user as the print job to which the print is instructed is stored in the storage unit, the print server changes the print order so that the print job of the same user is issued a print instruction in succession the print job to which the print execution instruction has been issued (see the English Abstract of Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2008-090385).
In some cases, a plurality of users shares one terminal. In other cases, while a printing device receives a plurality of sets of print data in succession from one transmission source, the printing device receives print data from another transmission source.
In such a case, according to the conventional methods, the printing device sometimes executes, between a plurality of print jobs instructed by one user, a different print job related to another user. This probably causes confusion between printed matters related to one user and the different printed matter related to the other user.
The present invention has been achieved in light of such an issue, and an object thereof is to prevent desired printed matters produced based on print jobs instructed by a specific user from mixing with another printed matter produced based on a print job instructed by another user.

Printing system, printing device, method for controlling the printing device, and computer-readable storage medium for computer program, for executing a plurality of print jobs based on group information


A gaming apparatus is provided comprising a display unit that is capable of generating video images, a value input device, and a controller operatively coupled to said display unit and said value input device The controller comprises a processor, a random access memory and a read only memory operatively coupled to the processor. The controller is programmed to detect, in a computer software instruction, a name of a computer program to be executed, and to access memory to retrieve a memory address corresponding to the name of the computer program to be executed. The controller is also programmed to cause the computer program to be retrieved from the memory utilizing the memory address, and to execute the computer program retrieved from the memory.

Traditional gaming apparatuses utilize read only memories ("ROMs") to store a variety of executable software routines as well as non-executable text files. The data stored on these ROMs is typically not compressed and is stored as a single binary image file. To access an executable software routine or a non-executable text file stored on the ROM, a controller must know exactly where the data is stored in the ROM. In other words, the exact memory address for the beginning point of the file must be known. If the exact memory address is known, the controller will jump to the location within the ROM or a mapped virtual memory. Furthermore, adding more data or files into an image on traditional ROMs has an affect on other software written to execute the software or retrieve the data because the image on the ROM will need to be rebuilt, causing the subsequent memory addresses to change.

Abstract: The controller is further programmed to allow a person to make a wager, to cause a video image representing a game to be generated on the display unit, and to determine, after the video image has been displayed, a value payout associated with an outcome of the game represented by the video image.


Novel soluble polyester-supported chiral phosphines have been prepared and have been used in the preparation of rhodium and ruthenium catalysts. Such polymer-supported catalysts show high catalytic activities and enantioselectivities. In the case of Ru(BINAP) catalyst supported on soluble polyester, the resulting catalysts were found to be more active than those of the corresponding homogeneous Ru(BINAP) catalysts in the asymmetric hydrogenation of 2-arylpropenoic acids. These soluble polyester-supported catalysts can be easily separated from the reaction mixture and then be reused without loss of activity and selectivity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to soluble polymer-supported chiral phosphines and, more particularly, relates to soluble polyester-supported chiral phosplines. The polyester-supported phosphine ligands have been used in the preparation of rhodium and ruthenium catalysts which are recyclable and useful in asymmetric catalysis.
2. Description of the Related Art
Polymer-supported catalysts have been attracting much attention due to their easy separation from the reaction mixture and the recyclability of the catalysts. The traditional polymer-supported catalysts used insoluble polymers or inorganic materials as support. The heterogenized catalysts can be separated easily from the reaction mixture via filtration or centrifugation at the end of catalytic reaction. However, the insoluble polymer-supported catalysts usually gave very low catalytic activity and enantioselectivity as compared to the corresponding free catalysts. The main reason is the restriction of the polymer matrix which results in the limited mobility and accessibility of the active sites. For example (see Achiwa, K. Chem. Lett., 1978, 905), a cross-linked polyalkyl methacrylate-supported Rh(BPPM) catalyst was found to catalyze the asymmetric hydrogenation of (Z)-acetamido-cinnamic acid to N-acetylphenylalanine in far lower e.e. (23%) as compared to the free Rh(BPPM) catalyst which gave 91% e.e.
Taking the above circumstances into consideration, extensive studies have been conducted in improving the catalytic activity and enantioselectivity of the polymer-supported catalysts. For example (see Nagel, U. et. al., Chem. Ber., 1996, 129, 815), the chiral phosphine DEGPHOS was supported on cross-linked polystyrene via polyethylene oxide chains which acted as "spacer" to enhance the mobility and accessibility of the catalytic species. The resulting polymer-supported bis(phosphane) rhodium catalyst showed about the same catalytic activity and enantioselectivity as the corresponding free catalyst in the asymmetric hydrogenation of dehydroamino acids. However, after one recycle, this polymer-supported catalyst abruptly lost activity. Another example (see Wan, K. T. et. al., Nature, 1994, 370, 449) is the immobilization of the water soluble organometallic complex, [Ru(BINAP-4SO.sub.3 Na)(benzene)Cl.sub.2 ], in a thin ethylene glycol film on a high-surface area hydrophilic support such as silica or control-pore glass. The resulting catalyst was used to catalyze the hydrogenation of dehydronaproxen to give naproxen with similar enantioselectivity as the corresponding free Ru(BINAP) catalyst, but the catalytic activity was low (trim-over-frequencies were 40.7 hr.sup.-1 vs 131.0 hr.sup.-1).
Insoluble polymer-supported catalysts usually have low mechanical strength which may result in the change of the polymer structure, e.g. polystyrene beads collapse and shrink in polar solvents during catalytic reactions. The poor stability of the polymer-supported catalyst also results in the "leaching" of the noble metal from the support to the reaction solution. For these reasons the insoluble polymer-supported catalysts are not commercially attractive.
Another less known approach is to use a soluble polymer as the catalyst support. Recently, cinchona alkaloid type ligands were anchored on a soluble polyethylene glycol which showed similar catalytic activity and selectivity as compared to the corresponding free catalysts in the osmium-catalyzed asymmetric dihydroxylation of unfunctional olefins (see Han, J. and Janda, K. D., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1996, 118, 7632; and Bolm C. and Gerlach, A., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 1997,36, 741). However, the separation of the polymer-supported ligands from the reaction mixtures is inconvenient and needed the use of a large amount of ether which is unsafe in industrial operation.

Soluble polyester-supported chiral phosphines


The present invention comprises a simple way of identifying the tendency towards allergy or allergy already broken out, and showing the probability of allergy in a patient, by measuring the receptor expression of the phagocytic cells of peripheral blood. With a logistic regression model a combination of variables were found which best describe the probability of allergy. Thus the invention relates to a method for detecting allergy and a test kit for accomplishing the method. The invention also relates to a sensitive and specific logistic model for determining the probability of allergy.

Allergic diseases are nowadays a very large problem of public health, and morbidity to allergy seems to be increasing. Food allergies are usually the first manifestation of allergy, and they are commonest in children under 3 years. After recedence of food allergy another allergic disease can later be developed in the patient.
The defence mechanisms of foreign substances are specific as e.g. antibody response, or non-specific as e.g. the defence reactions mediated through phagocytic inflammatory cells or complement and other proteins. The mechanisms have mutual regulation. Usually the primary phase comprises phagocytosis and the secondary phase the specific immune response. This is why measuring the parameters related to phagocytosis gives firsthand information of a possible sensitization which leads into allergy.
The as early as possible detection of the tendency towards allergy enables effective treatment of food allergy and preventive measures against other allergies.
In the diagnostics of allergy skin prick tests and determination of allergen specific IgE antibodies are generally used. However, these methods are useful only if the allergy is IgE-mediated, i.e. immediate or type I reaction. On the other hand the tests measuring the type I reaction are known to be unreliable in children under two years by whom allergy and especially food allergy is common and the IgE response develops slowly. Recent placebo-controlled predisposition tests carried out using double-blind techniques show that patients with food allergy can be divided into groups on the basis of the way of the reaction (skin, intestines, respiratory tract) and the time of the reaction (immediate and delayed reactions and intermediary forms thereof).
Especially in the diagnosis of food allergy with intestinal symptoms, and delayed food allergy (type III or type IV) the usefulness of the above mentioned methods is restricted, and distinguishing between allergic and other intestinal symptoms is especially difficult. The allergic inflammatory reaction caused by nutritives always causes changes in the intestinal mucous membrane, although the disease would show itself in e.g. skin. The early detection of the inflammatory changes has also importance for the prognosis of the patient.
Tendency towards allergy or allergy already broken out can be detected and monitored by measuring the expression of the receptors related to the phagocytosis of monocytes and neutrophils. The phagocytic cells have their own part in the origin of symptoms accompanied with allergy and especially food allergy. Phagocytic cells are able to release into the ambient tissue lytic enzymes and reactive forms of oxygen which are essential parts of the defence mechanism of the cell. Phagocytic cells receive their secreting signals through the receptors accompanied with phagocytosis. These receptors include Fc.gamma.I, Fc.gamma.II and Fc.gamma.III receptors for immunoglobulin G (IgG) and Complement receptor type 1 (CR1) and Complement receptor type 3 (CR3) receptors for derivates of C3, a component of the complement cascade. The expression level of these receptors effects the ability of phagocytes to secrete the compounds meant for the defence of the organism.
In in vitro tests it has been shown that immunologically activating compounds enable the two- or even threefold increase of the expression of complement receptors (Leino and Lilius, 1992, J. Leukocyte Biol., 51:157-163). In the same connection FcyRIII, which deviates from the other receptors mentioned in that it is not transmembraneous but attached on the surface of the cell by a glycosyl phosphatidyl inositol linkage (GPI), is easily detached, whereby its level is decreased into half. Further, it can be shown in vitro that cytokines, as gamma-interferon (IFN.gamma.), cause a substantial Fc.gamma.I-receptor expression in neutrophils. Monocytes have this receptor even normally. Fc.gamma.II-receptor seems to be fairly stable and constitutive on the basis of in vitro tests. However, it has to be noted that receptor expression and the binding ability of the receptors are not always one and the same thing. The above mentioned receptors can be activated or deactivated without their amount changing. That is why it is important to determine also the function of the cells.


Various election methods are provided wherein voters are able to verify their votes through public means. In one embodiment, each of the ballots includes a ballot identifier and each of the choices thereon is associated with a selection identifier. After the completed ballots are received by the voting authority, the authority publishes the ballot identifiers obtained from the ballots in association with the selection identifiers of the selected choices to enable each voter to verify his or her vote. In another embodiment, the voter provides the ballot identifier and the selection identifiers of the selected choices on a delivery mechanism (e.g., envelope). The relevant identifiers are then obtained by the authority from the delivery mechanisms and published. In another embodiment, the voters generate their own selection identifiers on the ballot which are then published by the authority to enable each voter to verify his or her vote.

In democratic countries, governmental officials are chosen by the citizens in an election. Conducting an election and voting for candidates for public office in the United States can be performed in several different ways. One such way utilizes mechanical voting machines at predetermined polling places. When potential voters enter the predetermined polling place, voting personnel verify that each voter is properly registered in that voting district and that they have not already voted in that election. Thus, for a voter to cast his vote, he must go to the polling place at which he is registered, based on the voter's residence. Another method for conducting an election and voting utilizes paper ballots that are mailed to the voter who marks the ballot and returns the ballot to the voting authority running the election through the mail. In the usual vote by mail process, the voter marks the ballot to cast his/her vote and then inserts the ballot in a return envelope which is typically pre-addressed to the voter registrar office in the corresponding county, town or locality in which the voter is registered. The voter typically appends his/her signature on the back of the envelope adjacent his/her human or machine readable identification.
When the return envelope is received at the registrar's office of the voting authority, a voting official compares the voter signature on the envelope with the voter signature retrieved from the registration file to make a determination as to whether or not the identification information and signature are authentic and valid, and therefore the vote included in the envelope should be counted. If the identification information and signature are deemed to be authentic and valid, the identifying information and signature are separated from the sealed ballot before it is handed to the ballot counters for tabulation. In this manner, the privacy of the voter's selections is maintained and thus the ballot remains a "secret ballot."
Prior art voting systems, and in particular vote by mail systems as just described, suffer from a number of drawbacks, including the fact that in many cases they lack security and the fact that the vote counting can potentially be modified without being detected. In such systems, voters have no other choice but to trust the voting officials to verify that their votes have been counted, and counted as the voter intended. Voting by mail is becoming more prevalent (apart from the usual absentee voting), and in some jurisdictions, entire elections are being conducted exclusively by mail. Thus, there exists a need for a voting system, and preferably a vote by mail system, that gives voters confidence that their votes have been counted as intended by allowing the voters to verify their votes in a secure manner.

Voting system that allows voters to securely verify their votes


An Ethernet switch includes a plurality of ports, and the switch is configured to be operable within a temperature range of at least between approximately 0° C. and approximately 60° C. The switch is further configured to be operable within a non-condensing humidity range of at least between approximately 10% and approximately 95%. Also, the switch is configured to support at least one of a Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN), a Quality of Service (QoS), a Remote Monitoring (RMON), and a Spanning Tree.

This invention relates generally to Ethernet switches, and more particularly, to Ethernet switches in harsh, non-office environments.
If an industrial user or other non-office user desires a feature laden Ethernet switch for use in a harsh environment, the industrial user has heretofore used an office grade switch and has built an environmentally protective enclosure in which to place the office grade switch. The environmentally protective enclosures typically cost more than the office grade switch, and sometimes up to ten times more. Accordingly, the conventional placing of an office grade switch in a user built environmentally protective enclosure tends to be costly and oftentimes not cost-effective.


A method which can be used to enhance an outline of an image displayed in an image display apparatus such as a television receiver, and a circuit performing the method. The circuit includes a peaking signal generation circuit which generates a first peaking signal and a second peaking signal corresponding to an amplitude transition of a video signal. A first peaked video signal generation circuit generates a first peaked video signal by adding the first peaking signal to the video signal. A control signal generation circuit generates a first control signal based on a result of comparing a first-order differential signal developed by differentiating the video signal with a reference signal, and a second control signal by delaying the first control signal for the predetermined period. A first selection circuit selects either the video signal or the first peaked videos signal according to the first control signal. A second peaked video signal generation circuit generates a second peaked video signal by adding the second peaking signal to the first selected signal. And, a second selection circuit selects either the first selected signal or the second peaked signal to develop a second selected signal, and outputs the second selected signal as an enhanced video signal. Therefore, the circuit can enhance an outline of an image formed by a video signal without modifying an amplitude transition time of the video signal and introducing the preshoot and overshoot into the video signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for enhancing an image outline and a circuit thereof for use in an image display apparatus such as a television receiver, a videotape recorder or a video projector. More particularly, the present invention relates to an image outline enhancing method and a circuit thereof which can be used to enhance the outline of an image displayed by a video signal in order to improve a contour of the image.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known that the response of a video signal processing system, such as one found in a television receiver, may be subjectively improved by increasing the slope or "steepness" of a video signal amplitude transition. The response may also be improved by generating a signal "preshoot" just before an amplitude transition, and a signal "overshoot" just after the amplitude transition, so that an image outline displayed by the video signal is improved.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram for showing a conventional circuit for enhancing an image outline.
In FIG. 1, the circuit includes a first delay 121, a second delay 122, a third delay 123, a first adder 131, a second adder 132, a subtracter 141, and a 1/2-amplifier 151.
First and second delay sections 121 and 122 delay video signals which are continuously inputted through an input terminal 101 for a predetermined period T, respectively. The delayed signals, which are produced by first and second delay 121 and 122, are respectively outputted to first adder 131 and subtracter 151. Third delay 123 delays the delayed signals from second delay 122 for the predetermined period in order to generate a video signal delayed for period 2T. Second adder 132 adds the 2T period delayed video signal to a current video signal through input terminal 101 so that second adder 132 generates continuously added video signals, and second adder 132 provides the added video signals to 1/2-amplifier 151. 1/2-amplifier 151 1/2-amplifies the added video signals to generate 1/2-amplified signals. The 1/2-amplified signals generated by 1/2-amplifier 151 are provided to subtracter 141. Subtracter 141 subtracts the 1/2-amplified signals from the T period delayed video signals in order to generate subtracted signals, which are outputted to first adder 131 as peaking signals. First adder 131 adds the peaking signals from subtracter 141 to the delayed video signal from first delay 121, so that first adder 131 generates peaked video signals.
According to the image outline enhancing circuit 100, the circuit derives the peaking signals from video signals which are continuously inputted through the input terminal 101, and adds the peaking signals to the video signals for peaking video signals, so that the circuit enhances image outlines to be formed by the video signals.
However, in the image outline enhancing circuit 100; when an amplitude transition of a video signal occurs for a period, the generation of the preshoot before an amplitude transition and overshoot after an amplitude transition causes the amplitude transition to occur for a longer period than that of the original amplitude transition.
In order to improve an image outline without introducing the preshoot and overshoot, one example of an image outline enhancing circuit is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,361 (issued to Yosuke Izawa on Sep. 21, 1993). The circuit suggested by the above U.S. Patent improves an outline of an image formed by a video signal having a rising and falling slope portions and a flat portion. The circuit includes an enhancing signal producing circuit for producing an enhancing signal having a first, a second, and a third enhancing portions, wavelengths of which are the same as those of three portions of the video signal, respectively. A delay circuit is provided for delaying the video signal to be synchronized with the enhancing signal. A subtracter is further provided for subtracting the enhancing signal from the synchronized video signal, such that three enhancing portions of the enhancing signal are exactly superimposed on the rising slope, the falling slope and the flat portions, respectively. Therefore, the circuit enhances an outline of an image to be displayed according to a video signal in an image display system without introducing a preshoot and an overshoot.
However, though the circuit improves a quality of a reproduced image by enhancing an outline of the reproduced image without introducing the preshoot and overshoot, the circuit has a problem that an original video signal is modified because the amplitude transition time is shortened, that is, a length of the flat portion length of the video signal is longer than that of the original flat portion thereof. And, this modification of the video signal may cause an artificial contour compensation at edges of the image reproduced by the modified video signal.
For the foregoing reasons, there is need for an image outline enhancing method and a circuit thereof that can enhance an outline of an image to be reproduced according to a video signal without modifying an amplitude transition time as well as introducing the preshoot and overshoot.

Image outline enhancing method and circuit thereof


An automobile exhaust filter that both traps particulates while altering the concentration of one or more gaseous species is provided. This dual functionality is combined in a single device by utilizing a reactive material that simultaneously alters gaseous component concentration while filtering out particulate material. The automobile exhaust filter is suitable for inclusion in the exhaust of a diesel-powered vehicle. A method utilizing the automobile exhaust catalyst is also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to automobile exhaust particulate filters, and in particular to automobile particulate filters that are used in diesel-powered automobiles.
2. Background Art
Emissions of nitrogen oxide ("NOx") and particulate matter ("PM") are of primary concern for both diesel and gasoline vehicles to meet future emissions standards. Diesel vehicles have significant advantages over their gasoline counterparts including a more efficient engine, higher fuel economy, and lower emissions of HC, CO, and CO2. For example, diesel vehicles potentially have a 40% higher fuel economy than current gasoline vehicles with 20% lower CO2 emissions.
Aftertreatment systems for diesel engines typically use separate devices for reduction of NOx and particulate matter emissions to meet regulatory standards. For example, a filter composed of a ceramic monolith traps PM and the PM is oxidized on a periodic basis. The PM is trapped by plugging every other channel of the filter substrate with nonporous material thereby forcing the exhaust gas through the filter wall. Typical ceramics used to make the filter substrate are cordierite and silicon carbide.
Available technologies for NOx reduction in lean environments include Selective Catalytic Reduction ("SCR"), in which NOx is continuously removed through active injection of a reductant over a catalyst and Lean NOx Traps (LNT), which are materials that adsorb NOx under lean conditions and must be periodically regenerated by running under rich conditions. SCR technologies utilizing an ammonia-based reductant, such as aqueous urea, have shown potential in achieving high NOx conversion with minimal fuel economy penalty. Moreover, Selective Catalytic Reduction with ammonia as the reductant has been used extensively for stationary source NOx control. The high selectivity of ammonia for reaction with NOx in high O2 environments makes SCR attractive for use on diesel vehicles. Compared to ammonia, aqueous urea is much easier to use onboard a vehicle. SCR catalysts are typically composed of a ceramic flow-through monolith with washcoat or a solid catalyst extrudate. Base metal/zeolites are preferred for vehicle applications due to their superior performance at the exhaust gas temperatures of diesel vehicles and high temperature durability.
Although, current SCR devices and PM filter work reasonably well, separate NOx and PM devices increase system complexity and system cost. Moreover, thermal management of the separate systems is more difficult and negatively impacts fuel economy.
Accordingly, there exists a need for improved SCR and PM devices with reduced system complexity and increased fuel economy.

Diesel engine after treatment device for conversion of nitrogen oxide and particulate matter


A very long wearing material to replace regions that erode rapidly in the heels of outdoor shoes. The material is made by embedding relatively large, round, wear-resistant particles in a very hard urethane binder. Applications include both applying the material directly to the heel as a paste with curing in situ and casting in molds for attachment to the heel with an adhesive.

1. Technical Field
This invention is concerned with preventing premature heel wear on outdoor shoes.
2. Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,966 to Chen relates to improving sole and heel wear through the use of molded studs made of rubber or plastic having high carbon content.
Japan Pat. No. 1,166,710 to Fujiyoshi relates to a nonslip material composed of a rubber or resin body with embedded hard porous material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,360 to Bible relates to a nonskid sole incorporating granular particles of sufficient hardness to furrow a slippery surface. a slippery surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,573,155 to Mitchell relates to a nonslip material composed of a rubber-like mass impregnated with aluminum shavings.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,954,694 to Hallstrom et al relates to composition used as a coating on the surfaces of machinery and fluid systems to reduce abrasive wear.
The commercially available products to increase heel life are of three types: viscous adhesives that harden after application, glue-on plastic taps, and nail-on metal taps.


Described is a method for the trenchless underground laying of pipes. According to said method, a shield tunnel boring machine and then subsequently pipes are driven through the ground starting from a starting shaft. The shield tunnel boring machine produces a borehole whose diameter is slightly greater than the outer diameter of the pipes. The annular space between the borehole wall and the pipes thereby obtained is filled with a supporting and lubricating agent. During advance, a continuous and periodical examination of the composition of the ground is carried out in the area of the shield tunnel boring machine or the first pipe following the shield tunnel boring machine or the first lubricating point. Depending on the result of the examination, the ground in the examined area is sealed off and/or solidified by a sealing and/or solidifying agent and/or the composition of the supporting and lubricating agent is adjusted.

In the laying of supply and waste pipes above all in areas within towns, technical and economic requirements resulting from the presence of sensitive living spaces, dense mains systems and much used highways have led to the fact that the closed construction method relative to the open construction method is continually gaining in importance. Pipe advance counts amongst the most important construction methods in this respect for trenchless laying of sewers, water pipes, protected and jacketed tubes, ducts and conduits.
In this method, advance pipes are driven through the subsoil into a target shaft starting from a starting trench with the help of a main pressing station and assistance of intermediate pressing stations. The advance in straight or curved line guidance is thereby made possible by a controllable shield tunnel boring machine which is disposed in front of the first pipe. The stone is broken up at the front location mechanically over a partial or full surface area and is conveyed away to above ground by the advanced piping. As a function of the outer diameter there are used advance pipes premanufactured in a factory, as a rule with a circular annular cross section 1200≦DN/ID≦3000, or advance pipes produced in a factory on site with even greater nominal width.
Pressing-in of shield tunnel boring machine and piping is effected with the help of the advance force produced by the pressing station. It serves for overcoming the penetration resistance of the bore head into the existing subsoil and the frictional resistances along the peripheral surface area of the shield tunnel boring machine and also the subsequent piping in the ground (surface friction). In order to be able to control the advance in the vertical and horizontal direction, the dimension of the borehole produced by the advance machine is slightly greater than the outer diameter of the advance pipes so that these can be angled off relative to each other within the borehole and hence the pipes which are connected to each other in an articulated manner to form piping can follow the direction changes forced by the shield tunnel boring machine without or with only slight jamming. The dimension by which the borehole radius exceeds the pipe outer radius is termed annular gap (or annular space from a spatial point of view). The annular space is generally, in particular when advancing in unstable loose stone, filled with a so-called supporting and lubricating agent which, on the one hand, supports the soil from falling into the annular space and in addition reduces the required advance forces because of its friction-reducing effect between ground and pipe outer surface. For this purpose, the supporting and lubricating agent is under pressure, the level of which is dependent in particular upon the horizontal and vertical earth or soil pressure, the groundwater pressure, the permeability of the soil, the annular space dimensions and also the rheological properties of the supporting and lubricating agent.
A problem which occurs frequently in practice is presented by supporting and lubricating agent losses and pressure drops which go beyond a tolerable amount, with significant consequences for the further course of the advance operations as far as advance standstill or impermissible stressing of the pipes.
During lubrication and supporting of the annular space, liquid, solid-free and solid-containing liquids (so-called drilling fluids) are used nowadays, in particular water, bentonite drilling fluids or bentonite-polymer drilling fluids.
The supporting is achieved with the help of a corresponding pressure impingement of drilling fluid, it requiring to be ensured that the pressure of the supporting liquid at any place to be supported must be greater than the pressure due to the groundwater and subsoil.
In stable, groundwater-conducting subsoil, the supporting agent pressure need merely counteract the prevailing groundwater pressure. For this application case, all the previously mentioned drilling fluids are suitable.
In unstable subsoil, the respectively used supporting agent must develop a mechanism with the ground to be supported which makes it possible to transmit in full the difference of the pressure of the supporting agent and of the prevailing earth and/or groundwater pressure to the grain structure of the existing ground. For this application case, in particular solid-containing supporting agents, such as e.g. bentonite drilling fluids and bentonite-polymer drilling fluids which have a corresponding flow limit, are suitable.
In the case of bentonite drilling fluids or bentonite-polymer drilling fluids, transmission of the pressure difference to the grain structure is effected in a time-independent manner if a zone is formed at the surface or up to a certain penetration depth in the region close to the surface of the borehole wall, the permeability of which zone is less than that of the existing ground. In this zone, the differential pressure between the supporting agent side and the soil to be supported is converted into an effective pressure acting on the grain structure.
At the interface between ground and bentonite drilling fluid or bentonite-polymer drilling fluid, a thin layer accumulates in addition in particular in the case of higher supporting agent pressure, said layer comprising superposed bentonite particles. This layer—also termed filter cake—seals the interface of the cavity wall and thus assists transmission of the supporting agent pressure to the grain structure.
The formation of impermeable zones or of the filter cake is however only successful when the bentonite particles which are dispersed in the bentonite drilling fluid or bentonite-polymer drilling fluid are larger than the smallest pores in the existing soil or freely occurring polymer particles block any still available pores mechanically-physically as a result of their moveability and plasticity.
The field of use of bentonite drilling fluids extends therefore to coarse-grain, loose to densely packed sand and gravels, non-uniform and non-homogeneous soils with water permeability coefficients of kf>10−3 m/s.
Bentonite-polymer drilling fluids comprise water as basic material to which bentonite and polymers are added. They are used preferably in coarse-grain soils with open structures, such as e.g. uniform coarse gravels in order to avoid outflows and in addition in clay soils which are inclined to swell and stick together. In practice, the most varied of types of polymers are used in the present application case. They thereby serve for example for filtrate reduction, as protective colloid and for viscosity regulation.
The problems of the existing method technique for supporting the annular gap and lubricating the piping are characterised by the following factors:
a) The modification of supporting agents with the help of additives and in particular polymers is essentially dependent upon the experience of the employees working on the building site. There are in fact corresponding operational guidelines for using polymers, such as e.g. the instructions W 116 of the DVGW (German Association of Gas and Water Applications), "Use of drilling fluid supplements in bore drilling fluids in boring works in groundwater" with corresponding dosage recommendations for the respective drilling fluid formulation; however because of the wide range of available types of polymers with different modes of operation, these should be regarded rather as generally valid handling recommendations. For the specific application case, in practice as a rule separate "experiments" are therefore implemented in order to identify suitable, modified supporting agents or self-formulated supporting agents are used. The danger exists however hereby that combinations of a plurality of polymers can lead to undesired reactions.
b) The automatic lubricating systems used to date inject continuously the previously established supporting and lubricating agent into the annular gap via lubricating stations integrated in the piping. Injection agent quantities and pressures for each lubricating station are thereby individually adjustable. Since, however, all the lubricating stations are supplied with the supporting and lubricating agent via a closed circulation from a single container or mixer installed in the region of the starting shaft, it is not possible, along the advance route, to react at the individual lubricating stations to changing geological structures with different supporting and lubricating agents which are suitable for the respective application case.
c) In loose, pebbly soils, the danger exists furthermore that the annular gap being dug collapses directly behind the shield tail over the piping. In this case there are no possibilities for producing the annular gap again. This situation must definitely be avoided since the surface friction increases abruptly and, upon reaching the pressing capacity, the danger exists of stalling of the advance.
In order to reduce the advance forces or surface friction, a microtunnel construction method was developed for use with groundwater in highly water-permeable soils, said method being used with the description "Support membrane depot box system". This method is characterised in that, moving forward with the advance, an endless tube which is mounted in a magazine in the trailer of the advance machine and comprising soft PVC with a thickness of 0.3 mm is unwound, said tube enveloping the advance pipes. Parallel hereto the region between the tube and advance pipe and also between tube and exposed soil is injected under pressure with a bentonite suspension. There should be mentioned as disadvantages of this technology, which stand in the way of wider use, a very complex construction of shield tail and trailer, relatively large spatial requirement for the tube magazine and also the risk of damage to the tube.

Method and device for trenchless laying of pipelines


The invention relates to a silencer for exhaust systems of motor vehicles with an internal combustion engine. The silencer includes an exhaust gas flow pipe for guiding exhaust gas with an exhaust gas inlet opening, an exhaust gas outlet opening having a flow connection to the exhaust gas inlet opening, and a longitudinal center axis. It furthermore has at least one actuable adjustment body for influencing the flow of the exhaust gas in the exhaust gas flow gas pipe, the at least one adjustment body being arranged downstream of the exhaust gas inlet opening. Moreover, the silencer includes at least one bypass channel, which has a flow connection to the exhaust gas flow pipe, runs past the at least one adjustment body and has an exhaust gas outlet opening.

Exhaust systems of motor vehicles have to adhere to legally prescribed sound emission limit values. In the framework of the legally prescribed noise emission limit values, for example, a maximum volume of the exhaust system is in general desired for motor cyclists when traveling. The legally prescribed noise emission limit values are not fixed uniformly worldwide, so an expensive adaptation to the noise emission limit values prevailing locally, in each case, is required for exhaust systems provided for export.
Various silencers for exhaust systems are known from DE 20 2005 011 448 U1. These silencers have proven successful in practice.