An method of fabricating the gate structure comprises: sequentially depositing and patterning a dummy oxide layer and a dummy gate electrode layer on a substrate; surrounding the dummy oxide layer and the dummy gate electrode layer with a nitrogen-containing dielectric layer and an interlayer dielectric layer; removing the dummy gate electrode layer; removing the dummy oxide layer by exposing a surface of the dummy oxide layer to a vapor mixture comprising NH3 and a fluorine-containing compound at a first temperature; heating the substrate to a second temperature to form an opening in the nitrogen-containing dielectric layer; depositing a gate dielectric; and depositing a gate electrode.

As the dimensions of transistors decrease, the thickness of the gate oxide must be reduced to maintain performance with the decreased gate length. However, in order to reduce gate leakage, high dielectric constant (high-k) gate oxide layers are used which allow greater physical thicknesses while maintaining the same effective thickness as would be provided by a typical gate oxide used in future technology nodes.
Additionally, as technology nodes shrink, in some integrated circuit (IC) designs, there has been a desire to replace the typically polysilicon gate electrode with a metal gate electrode to improve device performance with the decreased feature sizes. One process of forming the metal gate electrode is termed "gate last" process in which the final metal gate electrode is fabricated "last" which allows for reduced number of subsequent processes, including high temperature processing, that must be performed after formation of the gate.
FIGS. 1A-C show cross-sectional views of a plurality of conventional gate structures 101 for semiconductor devices 100 at various stages of fabrication in a "gate last" process. FIG. 1A illustrates the plurality of gate structures 101 may be formed by sequentially depositing and patterning a dummy oxide layer 106 and a dummy gate electrode layer (not shown) on the silicon substrate 102 including isolation regions 104; forming lightly doped source/drain (LDD) regions 112 in the substrate 102; surrounding the dummy oxide layer 106 and the dummy gate electrode layer with a nitrogen-containing dielectric layer 110; forming source/drain (S/D) regions 114 in the substrate 102; surrounding the nitrogen-containing dielectric layer 110 with a contact etch stop layer 116 and an interlayer dielectric (ILD) layer 118, such as silicon oxide; removing the dummy gate electrode layer to form an opening 120 in the nitrogen-containing dielectric layer 110.
However, problems arise when subsequently removing the dummy oxide layer 106 to form a larger opening 130 in the nitrogen-containing dielectric layer 110, which typically involve wet and/or dry etching steps. During wet etching step, top portions of the ILD layer 118 are isotropically removed leaving a plurality of recesses 118a in the ILD layer 118 (shown in FIG. 1B). This is due to the use of hydrofluoric (HF) acid in the wet etching steps, and the opening 120 limits entrance of the HF acid into interior surface of the opening 120. Thus, less HF acid reaches bottom of the opening 120, i.e., top of the dummy oxide layer 106, so more of the ILD layer 118 reacts and less removed from the dummy oxide layer 106. In another way, FIG. 1C shows a plurality of recesses 102a in the silicon substrate 102 may be formed due to the use of plasma during dry etching step, which recesses the silicon substrate 102. The plurality of recesses 102a or 118a are problematic in various respects. For example, the plurality of recesses 102a present in the silicon substrate 102 may change dopants distribution in channel regions. Thus, performance characteristics such as threshold voltage and reliability may degrade. For another example, the plurality of recesses 118a present in the ILD layer 118 can become a receptacle of metals during subsequent processing thereby increasing the likelihood of electrical shorting and/or device failure.
Accordingly, what is needed is a method for fabricating a gate structure having almost no recess in the interlayer dielectric layer or the substrate.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


A traffic information display device including a current position detecting unit for detecting the current position of a vehicle in which the traffic information display device is mounted, a road map storing unit for storing road map data, a map display control unit for displaying a road map image associated with an area in the vicinity of the current position of the vehicle on the screen of a display device on the basis of the current position from the current position detecting unit and road map data from the road map storing unit, a traffic information receiving unit for receiving traffic information, a traffic information display control unit for displaying traffic information from the traffic information receiving unit on the road map image displayed on the screen of the display device, and a traffic information display restricting unit for restricting a display of traffic information about a predetermined area of the on-screen road map image so as to emphasize traffic information about the remaining area of the on-screen map image including the current position of the vehicle other than the predetermined area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a traffic information display device for displaying traffic information delivered thereto on a map image displayed on the display screen thereof, a method of displaying traffic information delivered thereto, and a recording medium on which a display control program for use in the traffic information display device is recorded.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, when a vehicle is moving in a well-trafficked area or an area including a number of roads, a vehicle navigation device carried in the vehicle receives a large amount of traffic information. Therefore, when all the traffic information delivered to the vehicle navigation device is displayed on the screen thereof, the amount of on-screen information is too large for the user to easily recognize the traffic information displayed on the screen of vehicle navigation device. Particularly, since most roads in a well-trafficked area such as a midtown area are congested or dense, a large amount of traffic jam information displayed on the traffic information display device makes the visibility of the display screen worse. When a number of display marks such as red lines each showing a congested area of each road are displayed on the screen, they make it more difficult for the user to easily recognize all the on-screen information.
A vehicle navigation device as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laying Open (KOKAI) No. 8-63094 intended to solve the above problem is known. Referring now to FIG. 26, there is illustrated a block diagram showing the structure of the prior art vehicle navigation device. In FIG. 26, reference numeral 1 denotes a bearing sensor for measuring the direction in which the vehicle is headed, 2 denotes a speed sensor for measuring the speed of the vehicle to furnish a signal with pulses the number of which is determined by the vehicle speed, and 3 denotes a map storage memory for storing road map data including intersection network data.
Furthermore, reference numeral 4 denotes a central processing unit (CPU) which receives information about the vehicle from the bearing sensor 1, speed sensor 2, and so on, and then performs various types of operations on the information about the vehicle and display control processing, 5 denotes a ROM for storing a control program and the like which are executed by the CPU 4, and 6 denotes a RAM for storing operation results from the CPU 4.
In addition, reference numeral 7 denotes a VRAM for storing image data generated by the CPU 4, 8 denotes a display such as a cathode-ray tube display or a liquid crystal display, on the screen of which display data such as map information and traffic jam information are displayed, 9 denotes a console panel through which the user can select information to be displayed on the screen of the display 8, 10 denotes a global positioning system (GPS) receiver which receives radio waves from GPS satellites to detect the position of the vehicle, and 11 denotes a traffic information receiver which receives various types of road traffic information such as traffic jam information transmitted thereto through a beacon or an FM multiplex broadcasting.
Furthermore, reference numeral 12 denotes an interface circuit which can transmit a signal among the bearing sensor 1, speed sensor 2, map storage memory 3, CPU 4, ROM 5, RAM 6, VRAM 7, display 8, console panel 9, GPS receiver 10, and traffic information receiver 11.
In operation, the CPU 4 detects the current position of the vehicle by means of the GPS receiver 10 first, and then reads road map data about an area in the vicinity of the current position from the map storage memory 3. When the vehicle navigation device receives traffic information, the CPU 4 computes the mean value of the extent of traffic congestion in all links to be displayed on the display 8, and after that computes the number of the links to be displayed on the display 8.
When the number of the links is equal to or larger than a threshold value A and the mean value of the extent of traffic congestion is larger than a threshold value B, the vehicle navigation device displays all congested links on the screen of the display 8 with a thick line having a predetermined color. On the other hand, when the number of the links is equal to or larger than the threshold value A and the mean value of the extent of traffic congestion is smaller than the threshold value B, the vehicle navigation device displays all links not congested on the screen of the display 8 with the thick line having the predetermined color.
Thus, the prior art traffic information display device is adapted to reduce the difficulty in recognizing traffic information on the display screen by emphasizing the display of the on-screen congested links when it determines that the mean extent of traffic congestion exceeds the predetermined threshold value.
While the prior art traffic information display device can emphasize the display of all congested roads on the screen thereof or vary the number of roads displayed on the screen thereof to reduce the difficulty in recognizing the whole of the display screen, the prior art traffic information display device suffers from the disadvantage that the user cannot recognize needed information because it does not make a distinction between information necessary for the user and information unnecessary for the user.
For example, since the traffic information display device emphasizes the display of all congested on-screen roads when it receives a large amount of traffic jam information, there may be a case where the user cannot recognize needed traffic jam information about an area in the vicinity of the vehicle and the vicinity of a path through which the vehicle is scheduled to move. On the other hand, the variation of the number of on-screen roads may cause the disappearance of needed road information from the display screen.

Traffic information display device method of displaying traffic information and medium on which display control program for use in traffic information display device is recorded


A detection agent for high malignancy breast cancer includes an antibody against collagen XIV, or a variant or derivative or fragment of the antibody. A therapeutic agent for high malignancy breast cancer includes a conjugate of an anticancer drug and an antibody against that protein, or a variant or derivative or fragment thereof. Accordingly, it is possible to easily and accurately detect and diagnose high malignancy breast cancer.

According to the report of 1998 on "Research on Increasing the Accuracy and the Utilization of the Population-Based Cancer Registry", supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Cancer Research from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan, 33,676 cases of breast cancer are reported in one year, and the age-adjusted incidence rate was 52.2 cases per 100,000 persons, becoming the number one malignant neoplasm in women, and these figures have increased approximately three-fold since 1970. The number of breast cancer patients has been increasing year by year, and it is predicted to reach 48,000 cases, 56.9/10,000 persons by 2015. Because of breast cancer's relatively good prognosis, according to the 2001 report by Vital Statistics of Japan, Statistics and Information Department, Minister's Secretariat, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the mortality rate for breast cancer is fifth among cancer sites in female cancer patients, but from age 50 onward the mortality rate is high. The standardized death rate tends to be higher in urban areas, and a 1999 report by the Japan Cancer Society shows that the standardized death rate in the Tokyo Metropolis is 132.2%, compared to 73.5% in Kagoshima Prefecture. This increase in the number of breast cancer patients seems to be related to changes in our lifestyle in recent years, and example of the reasons include longer menstrual periods, postmenopausal hormone supplement therapy, and alcohol consumption.
Most breast cancer is invasive ductal carcinoma arising from duct epithelium. Appropriate surgical treatment and chemotherapy will bring the cancer into temporary remission, but metastasis often occurs from the earliest stages, and the cancer reappears after a number of years, then develops bone, liver, brain, and lung metastases (carcinomatous lymphangitis) and frequently leads to death. The 5-year survival rate is 90% in stage I cases in which the tumor is 2 cm or less and there is no lymph node metastasis. Whereas in stage III and IV cases with skin/chest wall infiltration and 10 or more of lymph node metastases or distant metastases, the 5-year survival rate is about 70%.
Lymph node metastasis is the most important prognosis factor that affects these survival rates. A systemic metastasis mechanism via lymph nodes is predicted in many types of breast cancer, and in recent years, breast cancer has been increasingly viewed as a systemic disease. There are few specific markers for diagnosing metastasis, and thus the diagnosis of metastasis is frequently made by diagnostic imaging using primarily ultrasound, or fine-needle aspiration cytology. Effective treatments include surgical excision as well as antihormonal therapy and preoperative chemotherapy, and at the current time, monoclonal antibody against HER2/neu (Herceptin) has been applied as a molecular target drug to cases having metastasis.
The average prognosis for breast cancer differs depending on the medical facility, and the 5-year survival rate is 80% or more. However, there is a very poor prognosis group with a 5-year survival rate of approximately 40%, and in particular, this group exhibits widespread (numerous) lymph node metastasis from earlier stages, regardless of the size of the tumor. This group is classified as invasive micropapillary carcinoma under the histological classifications of the World Health Organization, and inflammatory breast cancer is a representative example thereof. Some known factors for defining the degree of malignancy, the degree of local progress, and the metastasis of breast cancer include cell growth ability, estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and HER2 (Woelfe U. et al., Cancer Res., (2003) vol. 63, pp. 5679-5684; Jacquemier J. et al., Cancer Res., (2005) vol. 65, pp. 767-779; Lim S M. and Elenitoba-Johnson K S J., Lab Invest., (2004) vol. 84, pp. 1227-1244; Adam P J. et al., J. Biol. Chem., (2003) vol. 278, pp. 6482-6489; and Jessani N. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, (2002) vol. 99, pp. 10335-10340).
With regard to cancer metastasis, and particularly the metastasis of breast cancer, a method for comprehensively examining expression level of risk markers by using MUC1 and keratin19 in the bone marrow of breast cancer patients as risk markers and quantifying their level of mRNA expression has been developed (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-151003). However, at the current time, means or methods for easily detecting the malignancy of breast cancer is not yet sufficiently established.

Detecting agent and therapeutic agent for highly malignant breast cancer


An image forming apparatus has an image bearing member, an image forming unit for forming a toner image on the image bearing member and having a first charge member for charging the image bearing member, a rotatable intermediate transfer member onto which the toner image on the image bearing member is transferred at a first transfer position, the toner image on the intermediate transfer member being transferred onto a transfer material at a second transfer position, and a second charge member for charging residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer member, the second charge member charging the residual toner on the intermediate transfer member with polarity opposite to charging polarity of the first charge member for charging the image bearing member, after the toner image is transferred from the intermediate transfer member to the transfer material. At the first transfer position, an electric field for transferring the residual toner on the intermediate transfer member charged by the second charge member onto the image bearing member is generated, and a charging area of the second charge member in a longitudinal direction thereof is disposed internally of a longitudinal charging area of the first charge member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine, an electrophotographic printer and the like, and more particularly, it relates to an image forming apparatus using an intermediate transfer member.
2. Related Background Art
FIG. 11 is a schematic constructural view of a conventional image forming apparatus using an intermediate transfer member.
A photosensitive drum 101 rotated in a direction shown by the arrow R1 is uniformly charged by a charge roller 102. Then, scan exposure is effected by using a laser beam 103 ON/OFF-controlled in response to image information to form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum.
The electrostatic latent image is developed by a developing means 104. The developing means 104 includes a rotary 104A, and four developing devices mounted on the rotary. The developing devices are developing devices 104a, 104b, 104c and 104d in which yellow (first color) non-magnetic one-component toner, magenta (second color) non-magnetic one-component toner, cyan (third color) non-magnetic one-component toner, and black (fourth color) non-magnetic one component toner are contained, respectively. Each developing device has a developing roller for adhering the toner to the electrostatic latent image. By rotating the rotary 104A, the developing device selected to be used for the development of the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 101 is brought to a developing station where the developing device is opposed to the photosensitive drum 101. The above-mentioned electrostatic latent image is developed (visualized) by the developing device 104a with yellow toner to form an yellow (first) toner image.
The visualized first toner image is electrostatically transferred (firstly-transferred) onto a surface of an intermediate transfer belt 105 at a first toner station 106a where the toner image is opposed to the intermediate transfer belt 105 which is rotated in a direction shown by the arrow. After the first-transferring, a small amount of residual toner (first-transferring residual toner) remaining on the photosensitive drum 101 is removed by a cleaning device 107.
Then, the above-mentioned process is repeated regarding the remaining colors, i.e., magenta, cyan and black. In this way, a magenta (second) toner image, a cyan (third) toner image and a black (fourth) toner image are successively firstly-transferred onto the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 105 in a superimposed fashion.
Thereafter, a second transfer roller 108 which was disengaged from the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 105 (which roller can be engaged by and disengaged from the intermediate transfer belt along a direction shown by the arrow K8) is urged against the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 105 and is rotated, so that the toner images formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 105 are collectively transferred (secondary-transferred) onto a surface of a transfer material P conveyed to a second transfer station 106b at a predetermined timing. Thereafter, the transfer material P is conveyed to a fixing device (not shown), where the toner images are fixed onto the transfer material as a permanent image. Then, the transfer material is discharged out of the apparatus.
After the secondary-transferring, a small amount of residual toner (secondary-transferring residual toner) remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 105 is removed by a cleaning roller 109 (which can be engaged by and disengaged from the intermediate transfer belt along a direction shown by the arrow K9) which is urged against the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 105 by a drive means (not shown) at a predetermined timing. The cleaning roller 109 is constituted by a core cylinder, and a conductive elastic layer coated on the core cylinder. While the toner images on the surface of the photosensitive drum 101 are being transferred onto the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 105 successively, the cleaning roller is spaced apart from the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 105, and, after the toner images on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 105 are secondary-transferred onto the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 105 are secondary-transferred onto the surface of the transfer material P collectively, the cleaning roller is urged against (engaged by) the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 105 and bias is applied to the cleaning roller from a high voltage power source 110.
As a result, the secondary-transferring residual toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 105 is charged to polarity opposite to normal charging polarity of toner. At the same time, when a first color yellow toner image in a next image forming process is firstly-transferred from the surface of the photosensitive drum 101 onto the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 105, the secondary-transferring residual toner is reversely transferred from the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 105 onto the surface of the photosensitive drum 101 at the first transfer station 106a, thereby cleaning the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 105.
In the past, the entire longitudinal length (referred to as "effective charging area" hereinafter) of the charge roller 102 was selected to become slightly greater than a thin toner layer forming area on the surface of the developing sleeve. The reason is to prevent occurrence of the following phenomenon. That is to say, for example, in the development using a jumping developing method, since a small amount of toner is also scattered onto surface portions of the photosensitive drum outside of the thin toner layer forming area on the surface of the developing sleeve, if the charging potential of such surface portions is insufficient, the amount of the scattered toner is increased, thereby contaminating the interior of the apparatus. Further, it is practical that the cleaning roller 109 having the same configuration and construction as the charge roller 102 for charging the surface of the photosensitive drum 101 is used from the viewpoint of cost.
However, the image forming apparatus having the above-mentioned construction had the following problems.
That is to say, in order to effect the cleaning operation by using the cleaning roller 109, must be fully charged with polarity opposite to the polarity of the secondary-transferring residual toner charged by the cleaning roller 109 with polarity opposite to the normal polarity of toner. However, when the charge roller 102 and the cleaning roller 109 as described in connection with the above-mentioned conventional example are used, deformed amounts (compressed amounts) of the rollers are great at both longitudinal ends of the rollers, so that the adequate discharge area cannot be obtained. Consequently, charging ability becomes unstable, with the result that, for example, in the vicinity of ends of the areas of the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 105 against which the cleaning roller 109 is urged, the secondary-transferring residual toner which was not reversely transferred to the photosensitive drum 101 is accumulated, thereby contaminating the output print with toner.
Further, particularly in an image forming apparatus of the type in which a process cartridge integrally including the photosensitive drum and the charge roller is mounted to a main body of the apparatus having the intermediate transfer belt 105 or an intermediate transfer drum (not shown), the charge roller 102 of the process cartridge is offset from the cleaning roller 109 of the main body along the longitudinal direction. Thus, the surface of the photosensitive drum 101, the area of the surface of the photosensitive drum 101 charged by the charge roller 102 and the area of the intermediate transfer belt 105 charged by the cleaning roller 109 are not partially overlapped, thereby causing the above problem.

Image forming apparatus with first and second charging members


A tamper-resistant ball bat may include a barrel having a tamper-resistant layer and a handle coupled to the barrel. The tamper-resistant layer may include a plurality of composite strips. The composite strips may be layered such that each composite strip radiates outward from the longitudinal axis of the barrel. Each composite strip may include a plurality of longitudinal edges. The longitudinal edges may be disposed at an angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the barrel.

The present disclosure relates to ball bats. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to tamper-resistant ball bats. In recent years, composite ball bats have become extremely popular within collegiate-level baseball leagues, men's and women's softball leagues, and related youth leagues. Unlike traditional ball bats featuring solid body constructions made from wood or aluminum, composite ball bats are made from lightweight fibers. As a result, they are much lighter than traditional ball bats and allow a player to achieve an increased bat speed when swinging at a pitch.
Although previously offered composite ball bats have successfully delivered increased power-to-weight ratios, they are highly susceptible to tampering or "doctoring." Tampering with a composite ball bat commonly entails squeezing the barrel by rolling it between two rollers. In doing so, a player can apply sheer forces that are high enough to delaminate the composite layers. Delamination occurs when the shear stress between composite layers exceeds the strength of the matrix resin. When the internal layers of a composite ball bat delaminate, the bat becomes less stiff and the internal layers take on trampoline-like properties. Increased trampoline-like properties ultimately result in a player being able to hit a ball with greater force.
With previously offered composite bats, delaminations generally occur at or near the center of the layup thickness where the shearing stresses peak. They then propagate along the fibers in such a way that they remain hidden below the surface of the bat. Because internal delaminations do not show any visible damage to the surface of a bat, it is easy for players to secretly tamper with previously offered composite bats. Rampant cheating amongst ball players at any skill level damages the integrity of the sport and can leave lasting negative impressions on participants. The sports industry needs an improved composite bat that is less vulnerable to concealable tampering.


The invention discloses a utility vehicle, in particular an agricultural tractor, with a steering system having single-wheel-suspended steering wheels, which are mounted on a respective wheel carrier (11). Each wheel carrier (11) may be swivelled about the axis of at least one rigidly connected bolt (18) and is connected via a ball-and-socket joint (9) on the at least one bolt, to a transverse steering element (1) that is articulated to the vehicle body.

The invention relates to a utility vehicle, in particular an agricultural tractor, with a steering system having single-wheel-suspended steering wheels, which are mounted on a respective wheel carrier, wherein each wheel carrier may be swivelled about the axis of at least one rigidly connected bolt which is connected via a ball-and-socket joint, to a transverse suspension element that is articulated to the vehicle body.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,274 describes a utility vehicle having a single-wheel suspension system for the steering wheels. The steering wheels are each mounted on a wheel carrier, which is connected via two ball-and-socket joints to an upper and a lower transverse suspension element. The transverse suspension elements are pivotally mounted on the vehicle frame and guide the wheel carrier during vertical movement of the suspension elements relative to the body vehicle. The ball-and-socket joints allow not only the suspension movement, but also the pivoting of the wheel carrier about an axle connecting the ball-and-socket joints, for the purpose of steering the vehicle. A ball-and-socket joint consists of a ball, which is rigidly connected to the wheel carrier via a bolt, and a ball shell that encompasses the ball and is an integrated component of the associated transverse suspension element. During pivoting of the wheel carrier, the ball is rotated within the ball shell in the same direction as the wheel carrier. During the suspension movement of the vehicle, on the other hand, the direction of motion of the ball extends perpendicularly thereto. These different directions of motion of the ball make precise detection of the steering angle, in proximity to the wheel, appear impossible. As precise detection of the steering angle is imperative for the automatic guiding of vehicles, for example by means of GPSs (Global Positioning Systems), the steering angle has in the past been detected indirectly on components of the steering device that are remote from the wheel. Thus, in the case of vehicles with hydraulic steering systems, in particular, the steering angle was determined by detecting the position of the piston in the steering cylinder of the steering device. However, as there is no fixed relation between the position of the piston and the position of the wheel carrier in steering devices of this type, the current steering angle has to be determined on the basis of the measured piston position using additional calculations. This entails considerable expenditure on hardware and software for the electronic equipment of the vehicle, particularly if a large number of vehicle types are equipped with different steering devices.
Although EP 0 888 951 B1 has disclosed a device for utility vehicles that allows the steering lock angle to be determined in proximity to the wheel, these vehicles are equipped not with a single-wheel suspension system for the steering wheels, but rather with a rigid axle. The wheel carriers of this rigid axle are connected to the axle body via simple axle bolts that form rotary joints and pivot with the wheel carriers. As the rotary joint is thus fixed to the axle body, the rotary joint merely absorbs swivel motions of the axle bolt that derive from a steering process and are detected by means of a suitable steering angle sensor that is attached to the axle body.
The object of the invention is to make in a simple manner a utility vehicle of the type mentioned at the outset suitable for automatic steering.

Abstract: Associated with the ball-and-socket joint (9) is a steering angle sensor (22) comprising a rotatable input member (23), which is located at least approximately in the extension of the axis of the swivel bolt (18). The rotatable input member (23) is connected to the bolt via an entrainment element (25) that transmits the swivel motion of the bolt in an angularly precise manner to detect the current swivel position of the wheel carrier (11).


A cutting bur assembly including a cutting head with a head shaft extending therefrom. The cutting head and the head shaft are rotatable by a motor. A tube with the head shaft is rotatably mounted therein. The head shaft extends out from within the tube to locate the cutting head beyond a distal end of the tube. A plurality of bearing rollers are in direct cooperation with an outer surface of the head shaft such that upon rotation of the head shaft the plurality of bearing rollers roll along the outer surface. An outer bearing race surrounds the plurality of bearing rollers and the head shaft to retain the plurality of bearing rollers in cooperation with the head shaft.

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure, which is not necessarily prior art.
A cutting bur is a powered instrument including a cutting head, which is similar to a drill bit. It is desirable to operate a cutting bur at as high a speed as reasonable for the particular application in order to provide fast resection and enhanced stability of the instrument. Stability is important when operating near critical anatomy, and provides a surgeon with confidence that he/she can operate in delicate areas with maximum control. Cutting burs are often used in trans-nasal sinus and skull-based surgery, for example.
The operating speed of current cutting burs is limited, often to speeds of 30,000 RPM. At speeds greater than 30,000 RPM, current cutting burs may not operate as intended. A cutting bur configured for operating at speeds in excess of 30,000 RPM would thus be desirable. The present disclosure advantageously provides for such a high-speed bur, as described in detail herein. The present disclosure provides numerous additional advantageous and unexpected results, as described herein and as one skilled in the art will appreciate.


A laser beam recording system for exposing a photoresist master disc having a photoresist layer formed over a substrate for making a hybrid optical recording disc having a read only (ROM) portion and a writable portion, including a first optical modulator for modulating an intensity of a first laser beam having a wavelength selected to provide activating radiation to expose a pattern in the photoresist layer formed over the substrate of the master disc between a lower intensity for exposing a groove in the photoresist layer and a higher intensity for exposing the groove and a pattern of depressions in the groove in the photoresist layer; and a second optical modulator for frequency-modulating an intensity-modulated second laser beam with a wobble-frequency to cause the exposed groove to be a continuously frequency-modulated groove. The recording system also includes a laser beam modulation control system for controlling the operation of the first and second optical modulators to form a continuously frequency-modulated exposed groove with exposed depressions in the ROM portion of the exposed groove. The first and the second laser beams can be provided by one laser as a single laser beam, by one laser as two split laser beams, and by a first and a second laser.

Hybrid optical recording discs are discs having a read-only memory (ROM) area and a recordable area for recording or writing data which are usually generated by a computer user and which are recorded on the disc by a recorder or writer controlled by a computer. Such a disc has a substrate which can be formed by injection molding against a master plate so that the mastered substrate will have a continuous spiral track extending from an inner edge to an outer edge of the substrate. The spiral tack is usually a groove which provides data channels on the disc and also provides for tracking of the disc while reading or recording data. The groove is frequency-modulated in a direction normal to the groove and is, therefore, referred to as a wobbled groove or a wobble groove. In the ROM area of a hybrid optical disc the groove is further modulated in the form of depressions which correspond to disc addressing data and to disc program data. The mastered substrate is then coated with a recording layer which can include an organic dye selected to absorb radiation in the recordable area. Upon coating the recording layer, a reflective layer is formed over the entire recording layer. A protective layer, usually of a polymer organic material, is formed over the reflective layer.
The tracks or grooves of a hybrid optical recording disc, the degree of modulation of the groove, as well as the arrangement of addressing and program data is usually provided in accordance with Orange Book specifications. "Orange Book" is a specification published by Philips Corporation and Sony Corporation which defines key properties of recordable compact disc media and recording performance.
The aforementioned master plate is used to produce numerous plastic disc substrates by embossing or injection molding techniques. Such a master plate is also referred to as a stamper. The stamper, in turn, is produced by metal plating techniques whereby a photoresist master having the spiral groove and the data depressions is plated with a metal. The metal layer is then separated from the photoresist master and constitutes the stamper which replicates the features of the photoresist master in an inverted orientation, i.e. a groove in the photoresist master will be a projection in the stamper. The photoresist master disc comprises a photoresist layer formed over a substrate which is usually a glass substrate. Accordingly, the photoresist master is also referred to in the art as a glass master.
Depending on the configuration and on the intended application of an optical disc, particular challenges and problems need to be addressed to meet and to retain specifications in accordance with standards such as, for example, defined in the aforementioned Orange Book or in a Red Book, also published by =Philips Corporation and Sony Corporation. For example, Horie et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,123 disclose optical phase-change material formed on a substrate which has a wobbled spiral groove on a substrate. Particular relationships are selected between a groove width, a laser beam diameter, and a wobble amplitude to prevent distortion of the groove caused by repeated over-writing operations. In FIG. 10 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,123 to Horie et al., a block diagram of a laser beam recording apparatus is shown for recording grooves and data on a photoresist layer formed over a glass substrate, i.e. for recording a "glass master" having the selected particular relationships.
Udagawa, U.S. Pat. No. 5,737,289 discloses a data recording apparatus providing different plural recording laser powers within respective subcode frames constituting sub-partitions of an optical disc so as to determine an optimum laser drive power. Also disclosed are laser drive circuit and control circuitry.
Wilkinson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,129 disclose a method and apparatus for shaping the waveform of laser pulses to achieve improved characteristics (leading and trailing edges) of surface effects recorded on an optical disc. An optical modulator is used to modulate the intensity of a laser beam either above or below a threshold level to either produce surface effects on a moving recording medium, or to be incapable of producing surface effects on the moving recording medium when the laser beam intensity is below a threshold level.
The fabrication of a photoresist master disc dedicated to forming a hybrid optical recording disc poses significant technological challenges which differ from the challenges encountered by the above cited references. Firstly, conventional laser beam recording systems for recording a photoresist master dedicated for a conventional CD-ROM do not have the ability to record a photoresist master in a multi-session format required of a hybrid optical recording disc. Nor do such conventional CD-ROM laser beam recording systems provide a capability to record frequency-modulated or wobbled grooves. For example, in a hybrid optical disc, the ROM area includes a first session which includes a ROM lead-in area, a ROM program area, and a ROM lead-out area. The recordable area of the hybrid optical disc constitutes a second session comprising a lead-in area, a recordable program area, and a lead-out area. Since the hybrid optical recording disc has a recordable area, the photoresist master for such a disc must be recorded so as to simulate a CD writer and thus write the first session and leaving it open for appending, i.e. for subsequent writing in the recordable area of the hybrid optical disc, the writing to be performed by a computer user. It is also required to record in such a photoresist master various codes and addressing data which allow a writer to recognize the hybrid optical disc as being writable.
Furthermore, a photoresist master for a hybrid optical disc must meet particular specifications within a transition area between the lead-out area of a recorded first session and a lead-in area of the recordable second session.
In particular, the transition between the ROM area and the recordable area has a specification of a 26EFM frame interval. An EFM generator is used to modulate the intensity of a laser beam so as to record a continuous spiral groove and data in portions of the groove in the form of depressions. A frame has a typical duration of about 130 microseconds. Conventional laser beam recording systems designed for recording photoresist masters for conventional CD-ROMs rely on decoding a subcode in the EFM data stream to change or to modulate the recording laser beam via a coded channel such as a RS232 channel. However, the response of a typical RS232 channel is in a range of milliseconds, a response time which is too long for meeting the 26EFM frame interval requirement accurately and consistently.
Thus, existing conventional laser beam recording systems for recording photoresist masters of conventional CD-ROMs have to be modified in order to have a performance which meets the requirements of recording a photoresist master for a multi-session hybrid optical recording disc.

System for making a photoresist master for a hybrid optical recording disc


A silicon carbide MESFET (10) is formed to have a source (21) and a drain (22) that are self-aligned to a gate (16) of the MESFET (10). The gate (16) is formed to have a T-shaped structure with a gate-to-source spacer (18) and gate-to-drain spacer (19) along each side of a base of the gate (16). The gate (16) is used as a mask for implanting dopants to form the source (21) and drain (22). A laser annealing is performed after the implantation to activate the dopants. Because the laser annealing is a low temperature operation, the gate (16) is not detrimentally affected during the annealing.

The present invention relates, in general, to semiconductor devices and more particularly, to silicon carbide semiconductor devices.
The semiconductor industry has utilized a variety of processes and structures to form metal semiconductor field effect transistors (MESFETs) from silicon carbide. One problem with these prior transistors is the inability to form structures having a gate that is self-aligned to source and drain areas of the transistor. Activation of dopants within silicon carbide usually requires heating the silicon carbide and the dopants to temperatures in excess of 1200.degree. C. Such high temperatures are detrimental to the materials typically utilized to form the gate of the MESFET. The high temperatures result in destroying the junction formed at the interface of the gate material and the channel, and can also result in significantly deforming the shape of the gate.
Consequently, prior silicon carbide MESFETs generally form source and drain implants, and activate the implants prior to depositing the gate. As a result, the gate is not self-aligned to the source and drain areas. Consequently, the gate to source spacing is larger than that which can be obtained from a self-aligned transistor, and the resulting transconductance and frequency response is less than that which can be obtained from a self-aligned transistor.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have a silicon carbide MESFET having a gate that is self-aligned to the source, that is self-aligned to the drain, and that has a gate-to-source spacing of less than 0.5 microns.


An image forming device includes a developer bearing member, a photosensitive member, a developing-bias applying portion, a pressing-force adjusting portion, and a density adjusting portion. The photosensitive member is disposed in contact with the developer bearing member. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive member and developed by the developer supplied from the developer bearing member for forming a developer image. The developing-bias applying portion applies a developing bias to the developer bearing member. The pressing-force adjusting portion adjusts the pressing force between the developer bearing member and the photosensitive member. The density adjusting portion controls both the developing-bias applying portion and the pressing-force adjusting portion to adjust, based on adjustment of both the developing bias and the pressing force, an amount of developer in the developer image developed on the photosensitive member, thereby adjusting density of a developer image on a recording medium.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming device such as a color laser printer, and a process cartridge mounted in the image forming device.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional image forming devices such as laser printers normally include a process cartridge detachably mounted in the image forming device. The process cartridge includes a developing roller for bearing toner, and a photosensitive drum disposed in opposition to the developing roller. Electrostatic latent images are formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum.
In the developing process, a bias is applied to the developing roller, supplying toner from the developing roller to the photosensitive drum. The supplied toner develops an electrostatic latent image that has been formed on the photosensitive drum, producing a toner image thereon.
Subsequently, the toner carried on the photosensitive drum is transferred onto paper, forming an image on the paper.
It is known that as toner is consumed in these types of image forming devices, transmission density (base 10 logarithm of the inverse of the transmittance) of the toner image formed on the paper generally increases.
For this reason, as disclosed in Japanese patent-application publication No. HEI-9-311510, a technology for stabilizing changes in the density of a printed image has been proposed. In this technology, developing bias values that are optimal for various ambient temperatures and humidity, the accumulated number of sheets developed by developing devices, and the like are stored in a developing bias memory. The optimal developing biases for the conditions of use are read from the developing bias memory to control the power supply of the developing device according to the developing bias value.

Image forming device that adjusts image density based on developing bias and pressing force


A gravity-assisted tracking base assembly for an aircraft seat includes base rails mounted to floor tracks in an aircraft cabin by floor track fittings in fixed positions, the base rails connected by a tracking member for providing longitudinal tracking while minimizing added height. The base rails include tracking slots extending longitudinally, and the tracking member includes tracking elements translatable forward and backward along the tracking slots, allowing an aircraft seat mounted to the tracking member to translate forward and backward relative to the base. The tracking member includes a locking mechanism for locking the tracking member and seat in intermediate positions within the tracking slots. The tracking slots may be oriented slightly downward from the horizontal to allow for gravity-assisted tracking or to counteract the nose-up flight angles associated with cruising altitude, providing for easier seat tracking.

Aircraft seats may be mounted into an aircraft cabin via floor tracks running longitudinally (e.g., substantially parallel to the roll axis of the aircraft) along the aircraft floor, aft to forward. Each seat may be mounted to two substantially parallel tracks. For example, an individual aircraft seat may be mounted to the cabin at four points, e.g., a forward point and rear point along both a left and right track. The aircraft seat may be configurable to adjust between a substantially upright configuration (e.g., a taxi, takeoff and landing (TTL) position), one or more reclining configurations, and a berthed configuration wherein the seat reclines fully for sleeping. The seat may additionally track forward (e.g., move longitudinally forward without reclining) or rotate (e.g., around a vertical axis or z-axis parallel to the yaw axis of the aircraft). If a seat is mounted directly in front of a bulkhead, the seat may be configured to recline and/or track without interference from the bulkhead.
Conventional aircraft seating assemblies may achieve these reclining and tracking objectives via a system of sliding rails. However, the tracking mechanisms necessary for such tracking operations may add height to a seating assembly that must fit into a compact aircraft cabin with limited vertical space. Additionally, extended tracking may lead to critical interface loading: for example, as the seat tracks full forward, the left and right rear mounting points may track forward as well, reducing the distance between the front and rear mounting points. As a result, the occupant may be required to vacate the seat when converting to a berthed or full-forward tracked configuration. Further, once in the berthed configuration, the occupant may be able to use the seat only as a bed rather than as a conventional seat.
Furthermore, seat tracking operations may be complicated by the fact that cruising aircraft tend to maintain a flight angle (e.g., pitch angle) slightly above the horizontal, or nose-up. As a result, occupants of manual forward-facing seats (wherein, for example, the occupant manually tracks the seat by pushing or "walking" the seat forward or backward with their feet) may be required to track their seats slightly "uphill", expending extra effort to account for the few degrees of nose-up flight angle. Similarly, aft-facing seats may tend to "run away", or naturally track forward, due to a combination of gravity and the nose-up flight angle.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Gravity-assisted tracking base assembly for aircraft seat


Techniques are disclosed for generating device cluster capability information for a cluster of devices in a network environment. Capability information can specify capabilities of the devices in the cluster. A first user device can generate device capabilities for the first user device and obtain device capabilities for other devices in the cluster. The first user device can generate cluster capability information providing an intersection of the first set of device capabilities and device capabilities of the other user devices in the cluster. The first user device can obtain cluster capability information for other clusters in the network environment and receive a request from a service user device to perform a specific task. The first user device can transmit cluster capability information relating to a selected cluster that corresponds with the request.

Many network environments include multiple devices capable of performing various processing tasks. For example, a network environment can include a combination of computing devices, mobile devices, sensors, internet of things (IoT) devices, etc. In some instances, the devices in a network environment can be separated into clusters of devices within the network environment and assigned to a leader within each cluster. One or more of the clusters can work together to manage an automated environment within the network. However, given the many various types of devices and processing tasks, many challenges exist in managing the automated environment.

Techniques for sharing device capabilities over a network of user devices


A current sensing circuit that determines an output current of a bi-directional converter circuit comprises a current transformer that receives a first current signal and that outputs a second current signal. The first current signal is indicative of the output current and flows in one of a first direction and/or a second direction. The second current signal is indicative of the first current signal. A current sensing module receives the second current signal and has a first state and a second state. A converter control module simultaneously transitions the first current signal from the first direction to the second direction and transitions the current sensing module from the first state to the second state. The converter control module transitions the current sensing module to the first state after a resetting period.

DC/DC converter circuits are used to receive an input DC voltage and output an output DC voltage. Typically, the output DC voltage is different than the input DC voltage. For example, a DC/DC converter circuit may act as a step-down DC/DC converter that outputs an output DC voltage that is less than the input DC voltage. The DC/DC converter circuit may act as a step-up DC/DC converter that outputs an output DC voltage that is greater than the input DC voltage. DC/DC converter circuits may also be used for other purposes, such as to provide noise isolation or regulate voltage levels.
Referring now to FIG. 1, an exemplary DC/DC converter circuit 10 includes a converter circuit 12 and a converter control module 14. The converter circuit 12 receives an input voltage 16. The converter control module 14 generates one or more switching control signals 18. The converter circuit 12 generates output voltage signals 20 according to the input voltage 16 and the switching control signals 18. In a bi-directional DC/DC converter circuit, current flows out of the converter circuit 12 in first and second directions. Current may flow in a first direction in a first operating mode and in a second direction in a second operating mode. In this manner, an AC output of the converter circuit 12 is bi-directional.
It may be desirable to sense an output current through a load or another portion of the DC/DC converter circuit 10 to perform various adjustments of the DC/DC converter circuit 10. The DC/DC converter circuit 10 may be adjusted when the output current exceeds a predetermined threshold and/or when the output current is not equivalent to a desired output current. A current sensing device (not shown) may be used to sense the output current. For example, the current sensing device may sense a voltage drop across a sense resistor 22 to determine the output current.
A DC/DC converter circuit 24 may include a current sensing device 26 that further includes a current transformer 28 as shown in FIG. 2. The DC/DC converter circuit 24 includes a converter circuit 12 that receives an input voltage 16 and generates output voltage signals 20 as previously described with respect to FIG. 1. A converter control module 14 generates one or more switching control signals 18.
The current sensing device 26 communicates with the DC/DC converter circuit 24 to determine an output current (i.e. a current through a load connected to output voltage signals 20) of the DC/DC converter circuit 24. The current sensing device 26 receives a current signal 30 that is indicative of current through one or more components of the DC/DC converter circuit 24. The bi-directional current signal 30 is further indicative of the output current of the DC/DC converter circuit 24.
The current signal 30 flows through the current transformer 28. The current transformer 28 generates a second current signal 32 according to the current signal 30. A rectifier diode 34 receives the second current signal 32 and generates a rectified sensing current signal 36 accordingly. The sensing current signal 36 flows through a resistor 38. In this manner, a value of the sensing current signal 36 can be determined according to a voltage at a voltage sensing node 40.
Typically, current transformers (i.e. current sense transformers) are used to measure current trends, peak values, and average values for purposes of current limiting and/or control. As described in FIG. 2, the current sensing device 26 comprising the current transformer 28 forms a feedback loop that provides current information to the converter control module 14 for use in pulse width modulation (PWM) control. Current transformers provide voltage isolation between the sensed current and the output current and improve the overall efficiency of the DC/DC converter circuit. Current transformers are often preferred over other methods such as described in FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 2, the current transformer 28 includes a primary winding 42 and a secondary winding 44. Typically, current transformers use a single turn primary winding to minimize power loss and increase a signal to noise ratio. During operation, the current sensing device 26 senses current as described above when the current signal 30 is flowing in a first direction. A transformer core 46 acquires magnetizing energy as a result of the current flow. When the direction of the current signal 30 reverses according to operation of the converter circuit 12, current flowing through the primary winding 42 reverses. However, the magnetizing energy stored in the transformer core 46, as well as magnetizing inductance characteristics of the secondary winding 44, prevents the secondary winding 44 from providing an accurate indication of the current signal 30.
As a result, typical current sensing devices require the current transformer 28 (i.e. the stored magnetizing energy) to be reset. For example, the current sensing device 26 may include a resetting diode 48 that blocks current flow through the secondary winding 44 when the current signal 30 is flowing in a second direction. In this manner, the current transformer 28 resets during a reset period following transitions of the bi-directional current signal 30 from the first direction to the second direction. As such, the current sensing device 26 is not able to provide current sensing during reset periods.


A fiber-optic modulator based on a micromachined grating device which is both polarization independent and achromatic in behavior is described. The device is a two dimensional grating or periodic structure which is symmetric in the X and Y axes. It is comprised of a membrane with holes cut in it that moves downward with the application of a voltage which starts diffracting light. The hole region may have a raised island to provide achromatic behavior.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to polarization independent grating modulator. More particularly, the present invention relates to micromachined grating modulators which exhibit polarization independent behavior.
2. Description of Related Art
Optical modulators are an important component in optical systems for controlling and modulating light. In particular, for fiber-optic networks, modulators are used for imparting data modulation on the transmitting laser beam and as an electronically controlled variable optical attenuator (VOA) for channel equalization and power control. In fiber-optic networks the state of polarization is unknown and therefore little or no polarization dependence is tolerated from components.
Bloom et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,360) demonstrated a micromachined grating modulator comprised of narrow ribbons anchored at the two ends but suspended in the center xcex/2 (half wavelength) above the substrate. The ribbons are separated by gaps of the same width. Both ribbon and gap have a reflective coating from which light is reflected in phase and therefore it emulates a mirror. By applying a voltage to the ribbons, the electrostatic force moves the ribbon down by xcex/4. Now the ribbon and gap are out of phase and all the light is diffracted out in multiple orders. Thus modulation is achieved.
One limitation of the previous invention is that the height difference between the ribbon and gap leads to poor spectral performance. Bloom et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,841,579) improved on this by inventing a flat grating light valve comprised of ribbons of equal width with very little gap between them. In the nominal position, all ribbons are at the same height. By applying a voltage and pulling every other ribbon down, the grating is turned on.
For fiber-optic applications operating over the bandwidth of erbium doped fiber amplifier (EDFA), the spectral performance of the previous invention is not acceptable especially at high attenuation. Godil et al. (Achromatic optical modulator, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/372,649, filed Aug. 11, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,169,624) demonstrated a device with alternate narrow and wide ribbon. By proper choice of the ribbon widths and gap width, spectrally flat attenuation over the EDFA band over a large dynamic range is obtained.
A limitation of the previous inventions, because of lack of symmetry, is that they are not completely polarization independent. In particular, at high attenuation the polarization dependence is unacceptably high for fiber-optic networks.
What is needed is a micromachined modulator which exhibits achromatic and polarization independent behavior.
The present invention is directed towards a fiber-optic modulator comprising of an input optical fiber carrying a light beam through a lens onto a micromachined reflective modulator, back through the lens into an output optical fiber. The micromachined modulator is a two dimensional grating or periodic structure which is modulated by the application of a voltage. The two dimensional grating is symmetric in the X and Y axes, and therefore leads to polarization independent behavior. The achromatic modulator invention of Godil (patent application filed August 1999) is also incorporated to give achromatic behavior.

Polarization independent grating modulator


Proposed by the present invention is (a) a method, (b) structure for implementing the method, and (c) a resulting data structure that comes from implementation of the method, relating to introducing various modifications into the image file directory data contents in an otherwise conventional TIFF multi-page document data structure. Modifications are made in order to change the behavior of a printing device which is called upon to print the document, so as to implement rasterization-free, driverless, mulit-selectible-print-option printing of the document.

This invention relates to the printing of multi-page documents from a TIFF file, and specifically to the driverless printing of such documents, in a manner which also enables the convenient implementation and performance of a multiplicity of conventional print options. In particular, the invention features methodology, related apparatus, and a TIFF-file data structure which involve modifications in the Image File Directory (IFD) portion(s) of that data structure.
IFD data in a TIFF file is associated with each page-specific (image) data unit, and such IFD data is normally organized to establish regular, serial-order sequential printing of pages. The IFD data includes operational path pointers for directing this normal activity.
As will be seen, the invention provides an easy and elegant way to utilize the internal structure of a TIFF file per se to enable driverless, rasterization-free, multi-option-capability, TIFF-file printing.
According to a preferred manner of practicing the invention, what is proposed is that modifications be appropriately made in what would otherwise be a conventional TIFF-file data structure to alter, in various ways, the page-order and/or page-orientation contents only of IFD data contained in that data structure. Associated image data, per se is not altered. Such page-order and/or page-orientation modifications can readily enable rasterization-free, driverless implementation of multi-page-printing, with full access to a wide range of conventional print options, such as document page splitting, page-specific printing with respect to certain selected pages, face-down and face-up printing where desired, multi-copy per-page printing of selected pages from a file, collated multi-page printing, uncollated multi-page printing, and many others.
The IFD changes which are made in accordance with practice of this invention relate only to page-order and/or page-orientation tag changes include, in general terms, (a) additions, (b) subtractions, and (c) internal modifications, as by the rewriting of pointers.
The methodology of the invention can be described, from a general point of view, as a driverless method for altering, selectively, and solely, the hierarchy (i.e., the order) of page printing from a multi-page TIFF file, and/or the page-orientation tag data, which altering includes the steps of intercepting such a TIFF file upstream from a printer, and then appropriately changing just the page-order tags and/or the page-orientation tags of IFD data present in that file so as to implement, in a driverless manner, a selected print option which differentiates from normal TIFF-file printing. Another way of viewing the methodology of the invention is that it involves creating a multi-page TIFF file for printing, including creating only modified-from-standard IFD page-order and/or page-orientation data in the file. Such modified data includes information that directs the operation of page printing in accordance with the selected print option.
Structure proposed in accordance with the present invention is that which is capable of implementing the methodology just expressed above, and the invention also features unique structure in the revised IFD page-order and/or page-orientation data per se.
These and other objects and advantages which are attained by the invention will become more fully apparent as the description that now follow is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Driverless, selectable multi-option tiff printing


The present invention relates to a method of improving the tensile, elongation, and/or modulus (overall toughness) of a radiation curable composition by reacting in a free multi-functional isocyanate prior to curing. Also, radiation-curable compositions are provided that include                (i) a component represented by the following formula (a):A-X1-A  (a)                    wherein A represents a (meth)acrylate group; and            X1 represents an aliphatic or aromatic group; and                        (ii) a urethane (meth)acrylate component comprising a (meth)acrylate group, said X1, and                    in addition a residue of a multifunctional isocyanate.

In the production of optical fibers, a resin coating is applied immediately after drawing of the glass fibers for protection and reinforcement of the glass fiber. Generally, two coatings are applied, a soft primary coating layer of a flexible resin (low modulus and low Tg) which is coated directly on the glass surface and a secondary coating layer of a rigid resin (higher modulus and higher Tg) which is provided over the primary coating layer. Often, for identification purposes, the fibers will be colored. Accordingly, the fibers may further be coated with an ink, which generally is a curable resin comprising a colorant (such as a pigment and/or a dye), or the secondary coating may be a colored secondary coating (i.e, comprise a colorant).
Several coated (and optionally inked) optical fibers can be bundled together to form a so-called optical fiber ribbon, e.g., four or eight coated (and optionally inked) optical fibers are arranged on a plane and secured with a binder to produce a ribbon structure having a rectangular cross section. Said binder material for binding several optical fibers to produce the optical fiber ribbon structure is called a ribbon matrix material. In addition, a material for the further binding of several optical fiber ribbons to produce multi-core optical fiber ribbons is called a bundling material.
Resins that cure on exposure to radiation such as ultraviolet radiation are favored in the industry, due to their fast cure, enabling the coated fiber to be produced at high speed. In many of these radiation curable resin compositions, use is made of urethane oligomers having reactive terminal groups (such as an acrylate or methacrylate functionality, herein referred to as (meth)acrylate functionality) and a polymer backbone. Generally, these compositions may further comprise reactive diluents, photoinitiators, and optionally suitable additives.
It is a continual objective of the industry to improve the performance of the coatings. Among the many performance characteristics required of the coating systems, the tensile strength, modulus and elongation are important. Accordingly, formulators add components to the composition to manipulate these characteristics.
The applicants have discovered that they can introduce a free multi-functional isocyanate either directly mixed with the multi-functional acrylate or into the final composition, prior to curing, and thereby improve tensile, elongation, and/or modulus properties in the composition. Applicants have furthermore discovered that the addition of relatively small amounts of aromatic urethane acrylate components can also give improved mechanical properties.

Urethane-acrylic coatings for optical fiber


A data storage system for interleaved memory banks employs a lookahead search of data request addresses to reduce the impact of bank collisions. The system permits out of order load and store referencing patterns. Status of the memory systems individual banks is maintained by a scoreboard which contains the instantaneous status of each memory bank, and a pipeline which contains upcoming transitions of banks from the active to the inactive state. Out of order operations is achieved by selecting the oldest operand reference whose banks are not currently active. Reordering of elements is achieved by assigning a sequence number to each operand reference as it becomes available.

High performance computers require both fast CPUs and high bandwidth storage sub-systems. A high performance CPU design is achieved by using a combination of device technology and a highly pipelined machine organization. Better device technology permits higher circuit density and shorter gate propagation delays. `Pipelining` allows an architect to partition machine functionality into a set of short, sequential activities. By keeping each activity small, the architect can minimize the number of gates required for an action and thus keep the fundamental machine cycle time short.
Continual reductions in machine cycle times have aggravated the disparity between the CPU speed and the baiikwidth capability of the storage sub-system. While some aspects of operand referencing can be pipelined (e.g. delivering addresses to storage or retrieving values from storage), the actual reference to storage cell is not pipelined. Because each storage cell request requires several machine cycler, to complete, storage sub-systems generally run far slower than the CPU.
There are two common methods that are employed to increase the bandwidth capability of the storage subsystem: caches and interleaved memory banks. A cache is a small, high speed memory positioned close to the CPU. The small size of the cache permits operand referencing in a single machine cycle. A machine's cache structure can be hierarchically organized, where more distant caches are larger but slower. Hierarchical memory organization provides a tradeoff between low latency and large storage capability. A cache can be of limited utility for programs iterating over very large data structures (as might be encountered during vector processing). If an operand is used only once (or the times between uses are far apart), loading it through a cache will unnecessarily displace another operand which may be subsequently used; this is referred to in the art as cache pollution. Clearly this has a negative effect upon performance.
A second implementation strategy increasing a storage system's bandwidth is to partition the address space into `N` independent banks each of which can be concurrently accessed. This has the potential for a speedup on the order of: EQU min(bankCycleTime, bankcount)
where the bank cycle time is an integral multiple of the cycle time for the CPU. This speedup can generally be achieved only in special cases where the striding pattern of an operand request is coprime with the interleave factor of the storage system. All other instances cause delays in referencing due to bank conflicts. A bank conflict (or hazard) occurs when 2 operands reference the same memory bank with the bank cycle time of the storage system. When this happens, the second operand must be delayed until the first request has completed.
It would at first appear desirable to maximize the interleave factor. However, hardware implementation problems prohibit this approach. While a high interleave factor might provide better throughput, the engineering problems for implementation also increase. Consider, for example, the fan-in and fan-out of addresses and data from the CPU to the banks. Doubling the interleave factor also doubles the number of wires required for interconnect. With 32 (or more) address bits and 64 data bits, board interconnection rapidly becomes unmanageable.
Substantial effort has been devoted in the past to interleaved memory organizations incorporating bank bypass circuitry, and bank remapping schemes. An early high performance machine which employed an interleaved bank system was the IBM 360/91. As a complement to the scoreboarding system in the CPU, operand references were assigned target register numbers which accompanied them through their traversal of the storage system.
The storage system for the IBM 360/91 provided a mechanism for short circuit passthrough of FLOW and INPUT operand dependencies. When the storage system dynamically detected these dependency relationships it would write multiple copies of the data value into difference registers in the CPU. The target register for the dependent operand would be updated without requiring a read from the storage cell.
Some of the recent work associated with interleaved bank implementations has concentrated upon deriving methods for remapping address streams into pseudo-random bank reference streams. In these schemes, bijective functions which permute the address space are used to remap operand addresses. When applied to constant striding array references, the result is a nearly uniform distribution of bank references. The work presented in this paper complements these pseudo-random memory referencing strategies.
One strategy for reducing bank conflicts is to include a small address buffer at the front of each bank. This implementation has been employed in one simulation study of a bank remapping scheme. The use of bank buffers complicates the synchronization requirements for address and operand transfers within the storage system.
It is interesting to note the role of address decoupling in operand referencing. As shown below, DAE machines use an asynchronous processor to generate addresses for operand references. Data loaded from storage is buffered in a queue in the CPU. Queue references in the CPU are interleaved with other computations. The combination of these properties helps to reduce the instantaneous bandwidth demands on the machine's storage system. Note that a vector load is the degenerate case of address decoupling where the number of operands referenced is a fix length (the size of the vector registers) and the referencing pattern has a fixed stride.
Decoupled address references can cause degradation of performance because of pathological interactions between streams. One study showed through simulation and empirical studies that performance on a range of Cray XMPs.sup.4 could degrade by as much as a factor of 2 because of pairwise interactions between vector loads with specific strides and specific starting bank locations. We experienced a similar effect; this is discussed hereinbelow.

Method and apparatus employing lookahead to reduce memory bank contention for decoupled operand references


One embodiment provides an extravasation detection device having an enclosure, an attachment coupled to the enclosure to be removably connected to a patient, and a detection assembly enclosed within the enclosure, in this embodiment, the detection assembly includes a housing and a transducer coupled to the housing to generate a signal representative of a force or pressure applied to the detection device caused by extravasation of medical fluid from the patient. This embodiment of a detection device may be attached to the patient's hand or other injection site. When extravasation occurs, and a swelling or blister presses against the transducer, an alarm can be triggered to warn a clinician, or the device can cause a powered injection system to automatically shut down or halt the injection process.

In many medical diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, a physician or other trained clinician injects fluid into a patient. For example, during a computed tomography (CT) procedure, a physician may inject a contrast medium into a patient to help improve the visibility of internal bodily structures in one or more X-ray images that are taken during the procedure. To inject the contrast medium, the clinician may use a manual injection syringe, or may alternatively use a powered contrast media injection device. A cannula is coupled to the manual injection syringe or injection device and is used to inject the contrast medium into the patient (such as into a vessel in the patient's hand or arm).
Extravasation is often characterized as an accidental infusion of an injection fluid, such as a contrast medium, into tissue surrounding a blood vessel rather than into the blood vessel itself. Extravasation can be caused, for example, by a fragile vascular system, valve disease, inappropriate needle placement, or patient movement resulting in the infusing needle being pulled from the intended vessel or causing the needle to be pushed through the wall of the vessel. Furthermore, high injection pressures and/or rates of some modern procedures increase the risk of extravasation. In CT, for example, contrast injection flow rates can range, in some cases, from 0.1 to 10 ml/s, which may increase the potential for extravasation.
Complications related to extravasation may potentially be quite severe and may include tissue necrosis. This may require reconstructive surgery to repair. It is, therefore, very important when performing fluid injections to detect extravasation as soon as possible and discontinue the injection upon detection.
Several extravasation detection techniques are known in the art. Two simple and very useful techniques for detecting extravasation are palpation of the patient in the vicinity of the injection site and simple visual observation of the vicinity of the injection site by a clinician. In the palpation technique, the clinician manually senses swelling of tissue near the injection site resulting from extravasation. When using the visual observation technique, it is also sometimes possible to directly observe any swelling of the skin in the vicinity of an injection site resulting from extravasation.
In addition to the palpation and observation techniques, there are a number of automated methods of detecting extravasation. These methods include forms of subcutaneous temperature detection at or near the injection site, microwave extravasation detection, impedance change detection and measurement, optical sensing detection, as well as certain other techniques. Some of these methods provide for an automatic triggering of an alarm condition upon detection of extravasation.


A floating, offshore drilling and/or production platform is equipped with a rail-mounted transport system that can be positioned at a plurality of selected positions over the well bay of the vessel. The transport system can move a drilling riser with a drilling riser tensioner system and a blowout preventer from one drilling location to another without removing them from the well bay of the vessel. Using the transport system, the drilling riser is lifted just clear of a first well head and positioned over an adjacent, second well head using guidelines. The transport system may then move the upper end of the drilling riser (together with its attached tensioner and BOP) to a second drilling location. A dummy wellhead may be provided on the seafloor in order to secure the lower end of the drilling riser without removing it from the sea while production risers are being installed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to offshore drilling and production platforms. More particularly, it relates to a method and apparatus for drilling a plurality of wells at a single platform (or vessel) location and installing production risers on those wells.
2. Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.
Both tension leg platforms (TLP's) and semi-submersible floating vessels ("semis") can be used for offshore drilling and production operations.
A tension leg platform (TLP) is a vertically moored floating structure typically used for the offshore production of oil and/or gas, and is particularly suited for water depths greater than about 1000 ft.
The platform is permanently moored by tethers or tendons grouped at each of the structure's corners. A group of tethers is called a tension leg. The tethers have relatively high axial stiffness (low elasticity) such that virtually all vertical motion of the platform is eliminated. This allows the platform to have the production wellheads on deck (connected directly to the subsea wells by rigid risers), instead of on the seafloor. This feature enables less expensive well completions and allows better control over the production from the oil or gas reservoir.
A semi-submersible is a particular type of floating vessel that is supported primarily on large pontoon-like structures that are submerged below the sea surface. The operating decks are elevated perhaps 100 or more feet above the pontoons on large steel columns. This design has the advantage of submerging most of the area of components in contact with the sea thereby minimizing loading from wind, waves and currents. Semi-submersibles can operate in a wide range of water depths, including deep water. The unit may stay on location using dynamic positioning (DP) and/or be anchored by means of catenary mooring lines terminating in piles or anchors in the seafloor. Semi-submersibles can be used for drilling, workover operations, and production platforms, depending on the equipment with which they are equipped. When fitted with a drilling package, they are typically called semi-submersible drilling rigs.
The DeepDraftSemi® vessel offered by SBM Atlantia, Inc. (Houston, Tex.) is a semi-submersible fitted with oil and gas production facilities that is suitable for use in ultra deep water conditions. The unit is designed to optimize vessel motions to accommodate steel catenary risers (SCRs).

Method and apparatus for drilling multiple subsea wells from an offshore platform at a single site


An organic light emitting diode having a substrate, a first electrode, a hole transporting layer proximate the first electrode, a second electrode, an electron transporting layer proximate the second electrode, and an emissive layer between the hole transporting layer and the electron transporting layer. The emissive layer includes a square planar tetradentate platinum or palladium complex, and excimers formed by two or more of the complexes are aligned such that emitting dipoles of the excimers are substantially parallel to a surface of the substrate.

FIG. 1 depicts a cross-sectional view of an OLED 100. OLED 100 includes anode 102, hole transporting layer (HTL) 104, emissive layer (EML) 106, electron transporting layer (ETL) 108, and metal cathode 110. Anode 102 is typically a transparent material, such as indium tin oxide, and may be formed on substrate 112. EML 106 may include an emitter and a host. Although phosphorescent emitters used in OLEDS such as OLED 100 can reach electron-to-photon conversion efficiency approaching 100%, much of the light emitted in these OLEDS remains trapped in the stratified thin film structure. FIG. 2 depicts four different pathways of photons (modes) in OLED 100, including plasmon mode 204, organic mode 206, and substrate mode 208, all of which represent trapping of photons in OLED 100, and air mode 210, which represents light emitted from OLED 100. Due at least in part to losses via plasmon mode 204, organic mode 206, and substrate mode 208, a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of a typical OLED (e.g., 20-30%) is much less than that of a typical inorganic LED.

Display and lighting devices comprising phosphorescent excimers with preferred molecular orientation as monochromatic emitters

Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of Arizona State University


A precompression pump is disclosed with a sliding inlet valve seal. In a first embodiment, the valve seal has sealing and retention surfaces which interact with sealing and retention surfaces on a bead on the inner wall of the pump chamber, to seal the pump inlet and retain the inlet seal respectively. In a second embodiment, the seal has friction tabs which engage the outer wall of the pump chamber. On the upstroke of the piston, these tabs engage a bead on the inner wall of the pump chamber, causing the tabs to rotate about a hinge, increasing the outer diameter of the seal. The result is improved frictional engagement of the seal with the inner wall, resulting in improved retention of the seal.

The present invention is directed to an atomizing pump using a sliding inlet valve seal, and more particularly a precompression pump which utilizes a sliding inlet valve seal.
Dispensing pumps have been described which use a sliding inlet valve seal. U.S. Pat. No. 3,331,559 to Fedit describes a liquid atomizer which includes a valve rod 12 upon which is mounted a seal ring 17. A retaining ring 15 retains the seal ring 17 within an annular cavity 16. Axially-inward movement of the valve rod 12 causes the seal ring 17 to seat against a seating surface 13.sub.1, sealing off the pump chamber from the inlet. Axially-outward movement of the rod 12 causes the seal ring 17 to unseat from the surface 13.sub.1, allowing the flow of liquid into the pump chamber. Axially-outward movement of the seal ring 17 is constrained by the retaining ring 15.
Sliding inlet valve seals have been used in precompression pumps, i.e., pumps in which opening of the outlet valve is controlled by the pressure within the pump chamber. Precompression pumps using a sliding inlet seal are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,144,987 to Kishi and 4,389,003 to Meshberg. A precompression pump with a movable seal member is disclosed in European Patent Specification No. 0 342 651.


A hermetic compressor assembly including a housing having mounted therein a motor and a compression mechanism which are operatively coupled by a drive shaft. The drive shaft is rotatably received in a bearing mounted in the housing. Engaging means are provided in the drive shaft and the bearing to prevent relative movement between the compression mechanism and the drive shaft in both directions along the drive shaft axis of rotation. The engaging means includes a circumferential groove provided in the drive shaft, a bore located in the bearing, and a retaining element may be in the form of a ball or an elongate pin. The circumferential groove and the bore are aligned and each receive a portion of a retaining element to prevent axial movement of the drive shaft.

The present invention relates to hermetic compressors and particularly to compressors having substantially horizontal drive shafts.
Hermetic compressors generally include a hermetically sealed housing in which a compression mechanism and an electric motor are disposed. The motor is coupled to the compression mechanism via a drive shaft. A substantially horizontal hermetic compressor is one in which the shaft axis of rotation and thus the drive shaft of the compressor are nearly horizontal. Electrical power is provided to the motor through a hermetic terminal assembly to induce rotation of the drive shaft. Rotation of the drive shaft induces rotation of the compression mechanism to compress refrigerant fluid in the compression mechanism and discharge refrigerant gas to a refrigeration system.
In horizontal compressors, the weight of the drive shaft and the rotor does not urge the drive shaft along its axis of rotation into a position in which the drive shaft is in abutting relationship with a thrust bearing surface. During operation of the compressor, the rotation of the rotor, drive shaft, and compression mechanism may generate oscillating axial movement of the drive shaft. Objectionable noise, such as knocking, often accompanies such back and forth oscillation of the drive shaft.
One method of biasing the rotor and the drive shaft in one direction along the longitudinal axis of rotation is by using the solenoid effect of the motor. The stator and the rotor of the motor are offset by a specific distance, and upon energization of the stator the rotor is urged in a direction to allow alignment of its laminae with those of the stator. The rotor exerts an axial force on the drive shaft, moving the drive shaft into engagement with a thrust bearing surface to maintain axial compliance of the drive shaft during compressor operation. Axial positioning of the rotor and stator must be closely toleranced.
Another method which may be employed to prevent axial oscillations of the drive shaft is to construct the compressor to have close tolerances and selective fits. This limits the available space in which the drive shaft may move and thereby limits axial movement of the drive shaft. By limiting the axial movement of the drive shaft, the amount of noise produced by oscillating axial movement of the drive shaft is reduced.
A problem with these methods of providing axial compliance of a horizontal drive shaft is that gaging and selective assembly of compressor components is labor intensive. Further, manufacturing processes for compressor components having close tolerances are more difficult and thus more expensive.
It is desirable to provide a shaft axial compliance mechanism for a substantially horizontal hermetic compressor which avoids selective fits and close tolerances to prevent objectionable noise created by oscillating axial movement of the drive shaft during compressor operation.
The present invention provides a shaft compliance mechanism for a substantially horizontal hermetic compressor to prevent objectionable noise created by oscillating axial movement of the drive shaft without resorting to close machining tolerances or selective assembly of components.
The drive shaft of a substantially horizontal hermetic compressor is provided with a circumferential groove near one end of the shaft. A bore is provided in the outboard bearing of the compressor which is aligned with the circumferential groove in the drive shaft. A retaining element such as a ball or an elongated pin is placed in the bore such that a portion of the retaining element is located within the bore and a portion of the retaining element is located in the shaft circumferential groove to prevent relative axial movement of the drive shaft.
The present invention provides a hermetic compressor assembly including a housing having mounted therein a compression mechanism and a motor which are operatively coupled by a drive shaft having a substantially horizontal axis of rotation. A bearing is disposed in the housing, is fixed relative to the compression mechanism and is disposed about the drive shaft. The drive shaft is provided with a circumferential groove in the outer surface thereof. A drive shaft retaining element is located in a bore located in the bearing with a first portion of the retaining element engaging the bore, and a second portion of the retaining element received in and engaging the circumferential groove. Relative movement of the drive shaft in both directions along the drive shaft axis of rotation is thereby prevented.
The present invention also provides a hermetic compressor assembly including a housing having a compression mechanism and a motor disposed therein. A drive shaft having an axis of rotation which is substantially horizontal operatively couples the compression mechanism and the motor. A bearing is disposed in the housing, is fixed relative to the compression mechanism and is disposed about the drive shaft. Further provided are means for engaging the drive shaft and the bearing to prevent relative movement between the compression mechanism and the drive shaft in both directions along the drive shaft axis of rotation.
The present invention also provides a hermetic compressor assembly including a housing having disposed therein a compression mechanism and a motor operatively coupled by a drive shaft. The drive shaft, having an axis of rotation which is substantially horizontal, has an outer surface in which a circumferential groove is provided. A bearing is disposed in the housing, is fixed relative to the compression mechanism and is disposed about the drive shaft. A ball is retained in a bore provided in the bearing such that a portion of the ball is received in and engages the shaft circumferential groove to prevent relative movement between the compression mechanism and the drive shaft in both directions along the drive shaft axis of rotation.
The present invention also provides a hermetic compressor assembly including a housing having disposed therein a compression mechanism and a motor operatively coupled by a drive shaft. The drive shaft has an outer surface in which a circumferential groove is provided and an axis of rotation which is substantially horizontal. A bearing is disposed in the housing, is fixed relative to the compression mechanism and is disposed about the drive shaft. The bearing is provided with a bore in which a pin is received. A portion of the pin is received in and engages the shaft circumferential groove to prevent relative movement between the compression mechanism and the drive shaft in both directions along the drive shaft axis of rotation.
The present invention provides a method of preventing oscillating axial movement of a substantially horizontal drive shaft during operation of a hermetic compressor. The method includes forming a circumferential groove in the drive shaft and rotatably supporting the drive shaft in a bearing. Further included is forming a bore in the bearing and aligning the bore and the circumferential groove. The method also includes engaging the bore and the circumferential groove each with a portion of a retaining element.
One advantage provided by the shaft axial compliance mechanisms of the present invention is that the tolerances of the compressor may be looser and selective component assembly is not required to provide axial compliance of the horizontal drive shaft. Further, the inventive axial compliance mechanism may be incorporated with only minor design and process revisions, and with only minimal increases in labor.


A power generator includes a hydrogen producing fuel in a first high pressure chamber. A fuel cell having a proton exchange membrane is disposed in a second low pressure chamber. A water absorbing material provides water vapor to the hydrogen producing fuel, and a plurality of valves control hydrogen provided to the fuel cell from the first high pressure chamber, and exposure of the water absorbing material to ambient and the high pressure chamber.

In some fuel cell based power generators, hydrogen is extracted from a fuel in the presence of water and then is introduced into a fuel cell to produce electricity. Power generators based on hydrogen generators and proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells may also have difficulty in providing increased power levels for sustained periods of time for selected portable devices. Fuel cell based power generators may provide higher energy density than conventional power sources like batteries, but may also have difficulty with high discharges, slow startup, and an inability to provide pulses of current. High costs of manufacture have also prevented wide commercialization. Many electronic devices have intermittent and widely varying power requirements from essentially zero to short pulses as high as a few Watts. These power requirements make it difficult to design a fuel cell for a wide variety of applications.

Power generator with high pressure hydrogen generator