Provided is a process for producing cyclohexylbenzene, in which a benzene feed stream is subjected to each of the following treatment steps: treating the feed stream with at least one adsorbent and fractionating the feed stream to remove components having a different boiling point than benzene. The treatment steps are carried out in any order and produce a treated benzene feed stream. The treated benzene feed stream is then contacted with hydrogen in the presence of a hydroalkylation catalyst in a hydroalkylation unit under conditions effective to produce a reaction product containing cyclohexylbenzene.

Phenol is an important product in the chemical industry and is useful in, for example, the production of phenolic resins, bisphenol A, ε-caprolactam, adipic acid, and plasticizers.
Currently, the most common route for the production of phenol is the Hock process via cumene. This is a three-step process in which the first step involves alkylation of benzene with propylene in the presence of an acidic catalyst to produce cumene. The second step is oxidation, preferably aerobic oxidation, of the cumene to the corresponding cumene hydroperoxide. The third step is the cleavage of the cumene hydroperoxide in the presence of heterogeneous or homogenous catalysts into equimolar amounts of phenol and acetone, a co-product. However, the world demand for phenol is growing more rapidly than that for the acetone co-product. In addition, due to developing shortages in supply, the cost of propylene is likely to increase.
Thus, a process that avoids or reduces the use propylene as a feed and coproduces higher ketones, rather than acetone, may be an attractive alternative route to the production of phenol. For example, there is a growing market for cyclohexanone, which is used as an industrial solvent, as an activator in oxidation reactions and in the production of adipic acid, cyclohexanone resins, cyclohexanone oxime, caprolactam, and nylon 6.
It is known that phenol and cyclohexanone can be co-produced by a variation of the Hock process in which cyclohexylbenzene is oxidized to obtain cyclohexylbenzene hydroperoxide and the hydroperoxide is decomposed in the presence of an acid catalyst to the desired phenol and cyclohexanone. Although various methods are available for the production of cyclohexylbenzene, a preferred route is via benzene hydroalkylation in which benzene is contacted with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst such that part of the benzene is converted into cyclohexene which then reacts with the remaining benzene to produce the desired cyclohexylbenzene. One such method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,037,513, in which the catalyst comprises a molecular sieve of the MCM-22 family and at least one hydrogenation metal selected from palladium, ruthenium, nickel, cobalt, and mixtures thereof. The '513 patent also discloses that the resultant cyclohexylbenzene can be oxidized to the corresponding hydroperoxide which is then decomposed to the desired phenol and cyclohexanone co-product in roughly equimolar amounts.
There are, however, a number of problems associated with producing phenol via cyclohexylbenzene rather than the cumene-based Hock process. One such problem is that, even with the most selective catalysts, the process converts only a portion of the benzene feed per pass and the reaction product inherently contains a non-negligible amount of cyclohexane, which is normally converted into benzene at a downstream step. Thus, a viable commercial benzene hydroalkylation plant will likely include recycle of both unreacted benzene from the primary hydroalkylation step but also of benzene produced in downstream processing steps. This leads to an additional problem in that both sources of benzene tend to contain impurities that can adversely affect the hydroalkylation catalyst. For example, deleterious impurities in fresh benzene include water, light aliphatics, olefins, diolefins, styrene, toluene and other aromatics, oxygenated organic compounds, sulfur-containing compounds, nitrogen-containing compounds, and oligomeric compounds. Impurities in the recycle benzene that may affect the hydroalkylation catalyst include toluene, biphenyl, and light aliphatics/olefins/diolefins.
International patent application publication No. WO 2011/146167 A2 provides a general description of the influence of impurities in the benzene and, more particularly, the hydrogen employed in benzene hydroalkylation processes. In the case of benzene, the relevant impurities are said to include nitrogen and sulfur compounds and are removed by treatment with adsorbents, such as molecular sieves.
However, in view of the wide range of potential impurities encountered in a commercial setting, there remains a need for an improved process for removing the impurities from the fresh and recycle benzene feed steams to benzene hydroalkylation units and the present invention seeks to address this need.


A blend for blown film which exhibits improved MD/TD tear balance. The blend is a bimodal molecular weight ethylene resin containing two fractions of different molecular weight. The weight fraction of a higher molecular weight component of the blend is about 0.35 to 0.75.

High density polyethylene (HDPE) is one of the most versatile of the thermoplastic resins and offers a broad spectrum of uses. The properties of finished goods made from HDPE are strongly influenced by the polymerization and processing conditions and the properties of the polymer and the resin.
Physical and mechanical properties of Ziegler HDPE can be summarized as follows: low to medium stiffness and hardness; medium to extremely high toughness; no reduction in toughness to -40.degree. C.; unrestricted usage in contact with food; no restriction for disposal, burning, or recycling; high resistance against solvents and chemicals at ambient temperature; and easy and safe to process.
Molecular weights of polyethylenes are customarily evaluated by measuring their melt indexes in accordance with ASTM D-1238. Three melt indexes are cited below, those measured with the weights of 21.6 kg (I.sub.21 or high-load melt index, HLMI), 5.0 kg (I.sub.5) and 2.16 kg (I.sub.2 or melt index, MI). All these numbers vary inversely with resins' molecular weight.
Strength, as well as impact, stress and puncture resistance, together with toughness, are attributed to high molecular weight resins.
However, as the molecular weight of the resin increases, the processabiliity of the resin usually does decrease. By providing a blend of polymers, the properties characteristic of high molecular weight resins can be retained and processability, particularly extrudability, can be improved.
Various approaches have been examined for production of such blends. Physical blending suffers the disadvantage brought on by the requirement of complete homogenization and attendant high cost. Direct synthesis with one catalyst, although theoretically possible and most desirable, is difficult to achieve. The third strategy is a multi-stage polymerization which involves different staging of variables, usually in multi reactor set ups, sometimes referred to as tandem, which provide the possibility of diversity in molecular weight. The products exhibit good ESCR and stiffness.
However, the tandem produced products have not received universal domestic market acceptance because the tandem produced products exhibit different swell and melt fracture characteristics from the Phillips type resins, requiring downstream equipment modification, with high attendant costs.
In accordance with the invention, it is an object to provide bimodal film with the desired physical properties of the tandem products but with improved bubble stability and film MD and TD tear properties.

Producing blown film and blends from bimodal high density high molecular weight film resin using magnesium oxide-supported Ziegler catalyst


Image forming equipment for applying heat to a charged image carrier to attenuate part of the potential of the image carrier in order to form a latent image on the image carrier. The surface of a dielectric image carrier is charged by a charger and a thermal print head is driven in response to image information in order to form a latent image on the charged surface of the image carrier. A developing roller applies a liquid developer to the latent image and presses it against the portion where the potential has been lowered. The resulting toner image formed on the image carrier is fixed on a paper sheet fed from a paper feeding device or is directly fixed on the image carrier. The image carrier is formed of polyethylene terephthalate or a mixture of polybutylene terephthalate and silicon dioxide.

The present invention relates to a printer, copier, facsimile apparatus or similar image forming equipment which heats a charged image carrier in association with an image to attenuate part of the potential thereof to thereby form a latent image and develops the latent image to produce a visible image.
Image forming equipment extensively used today uses an electrophotographic procedure which charges an image carrier in the form of a photoconductive element, illuminates the charged image carrier by a laser beam representative of document information to electrostatically form a latent image, develop the latent image by a liquid toner or a dry toner to produce a toner image, and transfer the toner image to a paper sheet or similar recording medium. The problem with this type of image forming equipment is that the photoconductive element and an optical unit for exposing it are expensive, increasing the overall cost of the equipment. Another problem is that the optical unit has to be sufficiently screened from external light in order to illuminate only part of the photoconductive element which corresponds to an image. This not only increases the number of parts but also complicates the construction, further increasing the cost of the equipment.
On the other hand, there has been proposed an image forming method which heats a charged image carrier in association with an image to attenuate part of the potential thereof to thereby form a latent image and develops the latent image to produce a visible image, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 14722/1960 and 15878/1962. This type of equipment forming a latent image by heat is operable with an image carrier which is far lower in cost than a photoconductive element, and a thermal writing unit which is also far lower in cost than an optical unit. In addition, such equipment does not need a screening implementation. However, this type of equipment has customarily relied only on the drop of electric resistance of the image carrier due to heat. Moreover, such equipment has not given consideration to the stable formation of a latent image or the durability of the image carrier against repetitive use.

Thermal image forming equipment forms image directly on image carrier or paper sheet


A semiconductor memory device includes: a modulation controller for generating a modulation control signal for controlling a frequency modulation operation; a delay locked loop (DLL) circuit for performing a delay locking operation to generate first and second DLL clocks and outputting a frequency-modulated DLL clock in response to the modulation control signal; and a data strobe signal generator for outputting the frequency-modulated DLL clock as a data strobe signal.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly, to a delay locked loop (DLL) of a semiconductor memory device.
A system is implemented with a plurality of semiconductor devices. Among them, a semiconductor memory device is used to store data. The semiconductor memory device outputs data corresponding to addresses received from a data processor, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), or stores data received from a data processor on unit cells corresponding to addresses inputted together with the data.
As the operating speed of the system increases, the data processor requires the semiconductor memory device to input/output data at a high speed. As semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) technologies rapidly develops, the operating speed of the data processor increases, but the data input/output speed of the semiconductor memory device does not keep up with the increased operating speed of the data processor.
Many attempts have been made to develop semiconductor memory devices that can increase data input/output speed up to the level required by the data processor. One of these semiconductor memory devices is a synchronous memory device that outputs data at each period of a system clock. Specifically, the synchronous memory device outputs or receives data to or from the data processor in synchronization with the system clock. However, because even the synchronous memory device could not keep up with the operating speed of the data processor, a double data rate (DDR) synchronous memory device was developed. The DDR synchronous memory device outputs or receives data at each transition of the system clock. That is, the DDR synchronous memory device outputs or receives data in synchronization with falling edges and rising edges of the system clock.
However, the system clock necessarily has a predetermined delay time until it arrives at a data output circuit because it passes through a clock input buffer, a transfer line, etc. Thus, if the data output circuit outputs data in synchronization with the delayed system clock, an external device will receive data that are not synchronized with rising edges (rising transitions) and falling edges (falling transitions) of the system clock.
To solve this problem, the semiconductor memory device uses a delay locked loop (DLL) circuit to lock a delay of a clock signal. The DLL circuit compensates for the delay caused by internal circuits of the semiconductor memory device until the system clock input to the semiconductor memory device is transferred to the data output circuit. The DLL circuit finds the delay time of the system clock, which is caused by the clock input buffer, the clock transfer line, etc. of the semiconductor memory device. Then, the DLL circuit delays the system clock by the found delay time and outputs the delayed system clock to the data output circuit. That is, the DLL circuit outputs the delay-locked system clock to the data output circuit. The data output circuit outputs data in synchronization with the delay-locked system clock. Therefore, it seems that the data are correctly output to the external circuit in synchronization with the system clock.
In an actual operation, the delay-locked system clock is transferred to the output buffer at a point in time earlier by one period than a point in time when the data must be outputted, and the output buffer outputs data in synchronization with the received delay locked clock. Therefore, the data is outputted faster than the delay of the system clock caused by the internal circuit of the semiconductor memory device. In this way, it seems that the data are correctly outputted in synchronization with the rising and falling edges of the system clock input to the semiconductor memory device. That is, the DLL circuit is a circuit to find how fast the data must be outputted in order to compensate for the delay of the system clock within the semiconductor memory device.
A data input device can receive data accurately synchronized with the system clock when the data is outputted in synchronization with the delay locked clock output from the DLL circuit. However, since the delay locked clock always has a constant frequency, an electromagnetic interference (EMI) characteristic may be degraded during the data transfer process. That is, the EMI characteristic may be degraded when a clock frequency used for data transfer between the semiconductor memory device and the data processor is fixed to a single frequency. To solve this problem, the system with the semiconductor memory device is designed to have a spread spectrum clock (SSC) function. The SSC function is to spread a power spectrum by modulating a clock received from the semiconductor memory device. However, when the SSC function of the system is operated incorrectly, the EMI characteristic is degraded because the power spectrum output from the semiconductor memory device has a single peak.

Semiconductor memory device having a delay locked loop (DLL) and method for driving the same


A current mirror circuit is provided with a first current mirror including first and second mirror transistors sharing a common control terminal; the first mirror transistor has a conduction terminal for receiving, during a first operating condition, a first reference current, and the second mirror transistor has a respective conduction terminal for providing, during the first operating condition, a mirrored current based on the first reference current. The current mirror circuit is provided with a switching stage operable to connect the control terminal to the conduction terminal of the first mirror transistor during the first operating condition, and to disconnect the control terminal from the same conduction terminal of the first mirror transistor, and either letting it substantially float or connecting it to a reference voltage, during a second operating condition, in particular a condition of stand-by.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a current mirror circuit. The disclosure will make reference to the field of non-volatile memory devices, in particular PCM (Phase Change Memory) devices, without this implying any loss in generality.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is known, PCM devices include an array of memory cells connected at the intersections of bitlines and wordlines and comprising each a memory element. The memory element comprises a phase change region made of a phase change material, i.e., a material that may be electrically switched between a generally amorphous and a generally crystalline state across the entire spectrum ranging between a completely amorphous and a completely crystalline state; as phase change materials, various chalcogenide elements are commonly used. The state of the phase change material is non-volatile, absent application of excess temperatures, such as those in excess of 150° C., for extended times. When the memory is set in either a crystalline, semi-crystalline, amorphous, or semi-amorphous state representing a resistance value, that value is retained until reprogrammed, even if power is removed. Phase changes are obtained by locally increasing the temperature of the memory element by means of resistive electrodes (generally known as heaters) in contact with the chalcogenide element.
Current mirror circuits are widely used in such non-volatile memory devices, in particular in sense amplifiers stages thereof, and allow to perform memory operations on the individual memory cells, like reading or verify during programming (either during writing or erasing).
FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a portion of a known non-volatile memory device (e.g., a PCM memory device), denoted in general with 1, made in a die 2 (shown schematically) of a semiconductor material.
A reference current Iref is generated in a periphery portion 2a of the die 2 by means of a reference current generator 3 and routed towards a core portion 2b of the same die 2, in which memory partitions Pi of the memory device 1 are made, via a reference current bus. Each memory partition Pi includes a respective current mirror 4, that is connectable to the reference current bus via a respective connecting switch 5. Each current mirror 4 has a reference branch (including a first, diode-connected, MOS transistor 6) connectable to the reference current bus via the respective connecting switch 5 and receiving therefrom the reference current Iref, and a plurality of mirrored branches (including respective second MOS transistors 7) connected to respective sense amplifier stages (here not shown in detail and denoted with reference SA), the number of the sense amplifier stages SA being dependent on the number of memory cells making up each memory partition Pi. Current mirrors 4 allows the local generation of replicas of the reference current Iref at each memory partition Pi, to be supplied to the sense amplifier stages SA for performing memory operations.
Routing of current reference Iref, instead of a voltage reference, is advantageous to avoid ohmic losses occurring along the reference current bus (and consequent variations in the reference quantity supplied to the various memory partitions Pi), but entails higher power consumption. In particular, generation of reference currents having lower values (to reduce the above power consumption) is not practical, because disturbance factors, such as parasitic capacitance or charge injection due to switching of the transistors, must be taken into account, and the locally generated replicas of the reference currents should have mismatch errors preferably lower than 5%; as a consequence, high polarization reference currents are indeed needed in such current mirror circuits.
In particular, power consumption should be reduced as much as possible when a memory partition Pi is deselected or put in stand-by (i.e., in any condition in which the memory cells of the partition are not involved in memory operations). Moreover, the time for exiting from the stand-by (or deselected) condition should be as low as possible, in order for the same memory cells to be readily available for next memory operations. This implies that start-up of the current mirrors should be enhanced, in order to reduce re-activation delays.
Current-mirror circuit arrangements have already been proposed to achieve efficient stand-by management, for example including dedicated start-up circuits facilitating transition from a stand-by to an operating state. However, these circuits have not proven to be fully satisfactory, in particular as far as the requirements of low power-consumption or low mismatches are concerned.

Current mirror circuit, in particular for a non-volatile memory device


A self-releveling, height adjustable, hydraulically operated desk and a hydraulic circuit therefor are disclosed in which the desk top is supported for vertical movement upon master and slave rephasing cylinders connected in series. The desk top may be releveled by extending the cylinders to their limits of extension. The desk and circuit may include a height adjustable monitor support. The monitor support may also be supported for vertical movement upon master and slave rephasing cylinders for self-releveling. The hydraulic circuit includes check valves to prevent the desk top and the monitor support from being raised with respect to the supporting structure except upon activation of the hydraulic pump.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a desk or work surface and, more particularly, to a hydraulically operated height adjustable desk having a means for self-releveling the desk top.
2. Description of the Related Art
Providers of office furniture have been increasingly aware of the need for proper ergonomic design. It is desirable that items of furniture be conformed to maximize the safety, comfort, and effectiveness of workers. With desks, it is highly desirable that the height of the desk top be adjustable to accommodate workers of various heights and to allow workers to alter their posture from time to time. Accordingly, desks are known in which the desk top is mounted atop a gas spring cylinder. The cylinder is released by the worker to adjust the desk top up and down.
Larger and heavier desk tops require stronger and more complex mechanisms to support the weight of the desk and to maintain the levelness of the desk top. Various approaches to such mechanisms include the use of multiple cylinders, or arrangements of springs, wires and pulleys. Whatever approach is used, several factors will tend, over time, to cause the mechanism to allow the desk top to deviate from level. Such factors include normal wearing of the mechanism components and uneven loading on the desk top surface. In a desk provided with a hydraulic lift system, hydraulic fluid may leak or seep past valves and seals, resulting in a nonlevel desk top.
Since it is likely that a height adjustable desk may periodically deviate from level, it is desirable that the mechanism be provided with a means for releveling the desk top. Preferably, the releveling means should be readily accessible and easy to operate. Most desirably, the desk top should be self releveling.
With the current widespread use of computers, it is also desirable for a desk or worksurface to include a height adjustable support for a computer monitor.
Accordingly, there is a heretofore unmet need for a reliable and effective self-releveling height adjustable desk having a computer monitor support.

Desk having self-releveling height adjustment and hydraulic circuit therefor


Obtaining at least one of a cross-section profile, depth, width, slope, undercut and other parameters of via-holes by a non-destructive technique using an optical system having an illumination system for producing at least one light beam and directing it on a sample in a region of the structure containing at least one via-hole, a detection system configured and operable to collect a pattern of light reflected from the illuminated region, the light pattern being indicative of one or more parameters of said via-hole, and, a control system connected to the detection system, the control system comprising a memory utility for storing a predetermined theoretical model comprising data representative of a set of parameters describing via-holes reflected pattern, and a data processing and analyzing utility configured and operable to receive and analyze image data indicative of the detected light pattern and determine one or more parameters of said via-hole.

Packaging technology for Integrated Circuits (IC) in the semiconductor industry undergoes increased development in order to satisfy a need for miniaturization and/or mounting reliability. Wafer level processing (WLP) techniques have been developed to allow various features of IC packages to be formed within a wafer before the wafer is diced. For instance, certain WLP techniques are used to form device interconnection features together with other wafer processing steps, thereby avoiding the need to form wire bonding after IC chips are diced.
In general, such WLP techniques allow IC package manufacturing processes to be streamlined and consolidated. Moreover, WLP techniques can generally be performed in parallel on a plurality of IC chips arranged in a matrix on the wafer, thereby allowing a plurality of IC chips to be formed and tested while still in a wafer stage. By performing WLP techniques in parallel across a plurality of IC chips, IC package manufacturing throughput is increased and the total time and cost required to fabricate and test IC packages is decreased accordingly. In addition, by forming features such as device interconnections at the wafer level, the overall size of IC packages can be reduced.
One of the WLP techniques used to form device interconnections involves the formation of a through silicon via. A through silicon via (TSV) is usually formed by creating a hole (via-hole) through a semiconductor substrate and/or various material layers formed on the substrate, and then forming a penetration electrode in the hole. The penetration electrode may be connected to internal features of an IC chip such as signal terminals, data transmission lines, transistors, buffers, and so on. In addition, the penetration electrode may be connected to features external to the IC chip, such as a PCB, via an external terminal.
Depending on the type of process in use, via-holes could be formed in different layered stacks of materials in wafers and other substrates. The holes are typically formed by etching based on Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) or laser drilling by ablation. The ion etching can be performed by a variety of processes optimized for materials, etch rate, sidewall slope, smoothness and other parameters. A well known method of etching is the Bosch method which is based on alternating steps of semi-isotropic etching and deposition.
In the so-called "via-first approach", the holes are first formed in silicon, by etching using an etch mask and photoresist and/or other harder mask materials. The mask materials layers are relatively thin layers on thick silicon. If the via-holes are formed by laser-drilling, no etch mask material is used, the holes being formed only in the thick silicon. Via-hole diameters can range from the one micron scale up to tens of microns, with depth to diameter aspect-ratios going from 5 or less up to 30 or more. The minimum pitch that can be implemented between the holes is a critical parameter for minimizing the distance that electrical signals have to cover between the vertically stacked ICs. The minimum pitch is usually a small multiple of the minimum hole diameter.
In the so-called "via-last approach", the holes are formed in the wafer backside through the silicon, until coming up to the conductive material on the wafer frontside. In this case, in addition to the possible etch mask materials on the silicon as in the via-first, the bottom of the hole (i.e. near to the wafer frontside) is formed in a different, possibly conducting, material such as copper. The layered stack can thus include possible masking layers, silicon sidewalls and a conductive bottom.
An additional option for the via-last approach is based on etching or laser drilling through the full stack of materials on the wafer frontside including dielectric insulating materials. The bottom of the hole is deep in the silicon substrate. The layered stack can include in this case, possible masking layers, sidewalls of various dielectric materials, sidewalls of silicon and bottom of silicon. In via-last, the holes are usually formed with dimensions and pitch (e.g. tens of microns) larger than in the via-first, usually targeted to be connected with the underside of previously formed copper pads on the front surface of the wafer.

Optical system and method for measurement of one or more parameters of via-holes


A thermal printer for printing on a continuous print medium by ink transfer from a thermal print ribbon has a print head which is pivotally mounted and which is driven in an oscillatory nodding motion by means of a stepper motor so as repeatedly to bring a linear array of energizable printing elements to bear against a platen roller. Both the element array and the platen extend transversely to respective paths of travel of the print medium and the ribbon. The print medium is fed through the printer from an inlet region, between the platen and print head, and thence to an outlet region. The instantaneous rate of travel of the print medium past the print head is substantially the same as the rate of feed of print medium to the printer. Typically this rate is of the order of 250 to 400 mm per second. The ribbon also travels between the print head and the platen, overlying the print medium and is driven in such a manner that it travels at the same rate as the print medium during each printing operation. Between each printing operation the ribbon is driven in reverse to rewind any unused portion of ribbon which has overshot the printhead.

It is known to print continuous packaging material and other continuous print media such as label bearing substrates with alphanumeric information and other symbols using a thermal transfer printer. A print head having a row of electronically driven heating elements is brought to bear against an ink-carrying thermal transfer ribbon lying over the print medium while the print medium is driven perpendicularly to the row of print elements. In one known printer, the ribbon is supplied from a take-off spool and then passes along a ribbon path which extends between the print head and the path of the print medium, and thereafter is fed onto a take-up spool, the ribbon travelling across the print head at at least approximately the same speed as the print medium whilst printing is taking place. The path followed by the print medium extends around movable rollers which deflect the print medium by variable amounts both upstream and downstream of the print head. The ribbon drive mechanism has considerable "inertia"; both true mechanical inertia in the drive mechanism and that resulting from delays in the control system which starts and stops the mechanism. This inertia causes ribbon wastage since gaps are left between successive used areas of the ribbon.
It is an object of this invention to provide a printer for continuous printing which makes more efficient use of ribbon.

Printer with reversible ribbon driving means for rewinding overshot ribbon


Vertical handover apparatus and method in a wireless communication system are provided. The method includes examining whether there exists an accessible target network while communicating with a serving network; when there exists the accessible target network, linking up to the target network; changing a communication state to an idle mode by de-registering the linked target network; and performing a network re-entry to the target network in a vertical handover to the target network. When the terminal can execute the vertical handover without the seamless service support and reduce the handover delay.

With the increasing attention to multimedia service, radio communication system developers are researching a fourth generation (4G) communication system to increase data rates. For example, 4 G communication technology includes the Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) proposed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 Working Group and the Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN) proposed by the IEEE 802.16 Working Group.
WLAN communications use a short range communication technique developed to provide high-speed communication services to stationary users in a crowded, limited area, such as indoors and downtown, by extending the wired LAN based on the IEEE-802.11 standard. A network which supports the WLAN communications (hereafter, referred to as a WLAN network) supports the users in a service coverage area with tens of Mbps to hundreds of Mbps. However, a WLAN network has narrow service coverage and does not guarantee the mobility of the user.
The WMAN communication technique supports data service based on the IEEE-802.16 standard when users are stationary, walking, or moving at a medium speed (60 km/h at maximum). A network supporting WMAN communications (hereafter, referred to as a WMAN network) supports average data rates of tens of Mbps.
While a WMAN network has wide service coverage and supports user mobility compared to a WLAN network, a WMAN network suffers a low data rate. In contrast, a WLAN network provides a faster data rate than a WMAN network but has narrow service coverage and does not guarantee user mobility. As such, since the multiple networks supported by the broadband wireless communication system have different advantages and disadvantages, service is provided to the user over the corresponding network according to the user's intended service type.
Therefore, to select the network according to the user's intended service type and provide the service to the user, a broadband wireless communication system requires smooth interworkings between networks. That is, the broadband wireless communication system should support a handover between heterogeneous networks or media.

Apparatus and method for decreasing handover delay in broadband wireless communication system


The invention relates to a golf club head and a method of manufacturing the same, the external surface of which a plate is attached as a sole plate or face plate. A pair of protruding pieces which protrude approximately in the opposite direction with respect to the center of the plate are provided in the periphery of the plate, and the protruding pieces are respectively embedded in a head body of the golf club head. The ends of the protruding pieces are extended so that they are exposed onto the external surface of the head body. By this arrangement, the plate can be positively fixed to a predetermined position without causing removal from the head body, and thus there is no possibility that the plate comes off from the head body even if an impact is given to the head body when a ball is hit.

The present invention relates to a golf club head and a method of manufacturing the golf club head.
From the viewpoints of stabilizing the quality and making it easy to procure the material, instead of natural wood such as persimmon or cherry, titanium alloy or aluminum alloy is formed into a hollow external shell, or a core (filling member) made of foaming synthetic resin is covered with a fiber reinforced resin layer such as a carbon fiber reinforced resin layer or a glass fiber reinforced resin layer, to manufacture a head main body of a golf club head referred to as a wood, which will be referred to as a "head" in this specification hereinafter. Golf clubs made in the above manner are widely put into practical use recently.
Further, there is a tendency that a face plate made of fiber reinforced resin or metal is attached onto a face of the head body in order to extend the flying distance of a ball, or a sole plate made of metal, the specific gravity of which is higher than that of the head body, is attached to the sole portion of the head in order to adjust the weight so that a position of the center of gravity is lowered.
Conventionally, the sole plate or face plate is fixed to the head body by means of screws or adhesive. Also, in the case of a face plate, it is engaged with and fixed to a recess provided on the face portion. Accordingly, there is a possibility that the screws and engaging portions are unfastened or the adhesive is peeled off by the action of vibration caused when the golf club is used.
Recently, the following head and manufacturing method thereof are disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-207474.
As illustrated in FIG. 8, a face plate 3 is attached onto a surface of a fusible core 1, and the fusible core 1 with the face plate 3 is accommodated in a mold 5 composed of a plurality of blocks 5a, 5b, 5c. Metallic material is then poured into a cavity 8 from a pouring gate 7 so as to conduct pressure casting. Then the core 1 is removed by drilling chaplets 9 supporting the core 1. In this way, the head 13 is provided, in which the face plate 3 is attached onto the face 12 of the head body 11 as illustrated in FIG. 9.
However, even if the face plate 3 is retained onto the face 12 by the internal-chill casting process when the head body 11 is cast, since the face plate 3 has no means for engaging with the head body 11, there is a possibility that the face plate 3 is peeled off from the head body 11 by the vibration caused in the use of a golf club, and the face plate 3 is disconnected from the face 12.
Different from attaching the face plate and sole plate, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-206481 or Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-7876 discloses a head and a manufacturing method thereof in which a weight adjusting member is embedded in an iron head body during the casting process of the head.
FIG. 10 is a view showing a mold used for the method of manufacturing a head disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-206481. On a mating surface of the split type mold 14, there are provided recess portions 17, 18 communicated with the cavity 15 for receiving and holding base portions of the support pins 19.
While the weight adjusting member 21 is held by the support pins 19 in the cavity 15 as illustrated in the drawing, molten metal is poured from the pouring gate 23 into the cavity 15. In this way, a head is manufactured by casting so that the weight adjusting member 21 is included in the main body of the head.
However, when this method is applied to a case in which the face plate is attached to the main body, a hole formed as a result of removal of the support pin 19 is left, which requires troublesome after-treatment. Even when the method illustrated in FIG. 8 is adopted, troublesome after-treatment is required for the holes 25 shown in FIG. 9 which are formed to remove the core 1.
Further, Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-7876 discloses a head 37 and a manufacturing method thereof illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12, in which a substantially U-shaped weight adjusting member 29 made of material, the melting point of which is different from that of the head body 27, and the specific gravity of which is higher than that of the head body 27, is arranged in the head body 27, and while extending portions 33 provided at both large weight portions 31 are exposed onto the heel and toe sides of the back portion 35 of the head body 27, the parts are subjected to casting so as to be fixed at predetermined positions in the head 37.
However, this method is disadvantageous in that the weight adjusting member 29 is supported only by the back portion 35 in the manner of cantilever, so that the weight adjusting member 29 is inclined and shifted from a predetermined position in the process of casting.

Golf club head and method of manufacturing the same


A method to separate two chemically-shifted components of water (w) and fat (f) signals by: (i) estimating the field inhomogeneity β through a treatment of the residuals of the Moore-Penrose solution of the following equations: cos(αnβ)*w+cos [αn(1+β)]*f=real (In) and sin(αnβ)*w+sin [αn(1+β)]*f=imaginary (In), and (ii) using the estimated β to determine the resulting solution for w and f from the original input signals In.

This invention generally relates to Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and, in particular, to a method and apparatus for water-fat image separation in MRI.
Fast spin echo (FSE) imaging offers fast acquisition with long repetition times (TR). FSE can be used to improve contrast of long transverse relaxation time (T2) image components with respect to short transverse T2 image components. In clinical applications, where water signals are chiefly of interest, it is desirable to attenuate or eliminate MR signals from lipids (the terms "lipid" and "fat" are used interchangeably) which tend to reduce image contrast especially in the extremities and abdominal sections of a patient. The loss of water image contrast due to lipids is also exasperated by the natural behavior of the FSE sequence to enhance the lipid signal by partial averaging the scalar J-coupling of the lipid protons. The J-coupling signal enhancement becomes progressively worse as refocusing pulses are repeatedly applied during the FSE imaging echo train. Lipid signal levels tend to be relatively intense because of partial averaging in FSE sequences especially when they have long effective echo times (TE) and short echo spacing.
Conventional approaches to attenuate lipid signals include: chemically selective radio frequency (RF) preparation, saturation, and excitation pulses, inversion recovery preparation pre-pulse such as in short tau inversion recovery (STIR) and multipoint Dixon techniques. Chemically selective RF pulses are dependent on the homogeneity of the main magnetic field. For successful application of chemically selective RF pulses, magnetic field homogeneity of one (1) part per million [ppm] or better is typically needed to effectively attenuate lipids during image acquisition. Such high levels of main field homogeneity are not always achievable over the entire field of view (FOV) being imaged. Even where shimming of the main magnetic field provides field homogeneity under 1 ppm, small field inhomogeneities can occur in certain anatomical areas being imaged. For example, a discontinuity of magnetic susceptibility of several ppm can occur at tissue-to-tissue and tissue-to-air interfaces. Furthermore, at mid and low magnetic field strengths, the actual frequency difference between water and lipid signals is so small that impractically long RF pulse lengths are needed to discriminate between the water and lipid signals.
An inversion recovery preparation pre-pulse, e.g., STIR, to prepare the subject region for acquisition is simple and easy to implement. A difficulty with STIR is the loss of signals from tissues that have longitudinal relaxation times (T1) which are similar to the T1 of the attenuated lipids. At mid-field strengths, typical values of T1 for muscle, brain, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and lipids are: 450, 600, 3500 and 220 milliseconds (ms) respectively. Although lipids have the fastest relaxations, the recovery curve after an inversion pre-pulse at an evolution time of about 100 to 150 ms removes significant amounts of signal from the water components which reduces the overall conspicuity of many features of clinical importance.
Phase sensitive methods have been applied to distinguish water and lipid signals. These methods rely on the phase increment of the water signals relative to lipid signals in a homogeneous field. Within the small volume of a single image volume element (voxel) the main field can be treated as uniform even though it is not so over the entire image field of view. The phase increment α is given in radians by the following relationship (1):α=2π*ΔF0*Δt   (1)where ΔF0 is the water-lipid chemical shift in hertz (Hz) and Δt is the evolution time in seconds (sec). The evolution time is measured from the echo formation to a point where the first order interactions are canceled out, such as at the nominal time TE or at a multiple of TE for each echo in the sampling window. In a typical fast spin echo sequence, TE is also the time distance between refocusing pulses and TE/2 is the time between the 90 degree excitation and the first refocusing pulse.
When echo formation occurs at a time different from the mid-point between the refocusing pulses, a water-lipid phase difference is generated for every voxel in the imaging volume. The water-lipid phase difference may be used to distinguish the water and lipid signals, and thereby facilitate attenuation of the lipid signals. The water-lipid phase difference may be relatively small or be obscured by inhomogeneties in the static magnetic field. In the past, identifying and using the water-lipid phase difference to attenuate lipid signals has been problematic. There remains a long felt need for improved phase sensitive methods to suppress lipid signals and thereby improve MR images.

Water-fat separation for fast spin echo imaging in an inhomogeneous field with progressive encoding


A system and method for managing administration of security services provided to users includes a computer system and an operating system running on the computer system. A plurality of Virtual Execution Environments (VEEs) are executed on the computer system. The VEEs can be any of a Virtual Private Server, a Virtual Machine, a Hypervisor-based Virtual Machine, and a Lightweight Hypervisor-based Virtual Machine, a session of Terminal Server and a session of Presentation Server, Lightweight Hypervisor-based Virtual Machines, VMM-based VMs or hypervisor-based VMs. Each VEE provides a set of services to remote users. One or more designated VEE(s) provide security services to each of the VEEs based on the needs of the remote users of the particular VEEs. The security services provided by the designated VEE can be firewall services, spam filtering and anti-virus protection. The security services are controlled and administered by each of the VEEs requesting a particular service via control means of the designated VEE(s).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to management of security services within a virtual execution environment (VEE), and more particularly, to dedication of one or more VEEs for administration and management of security services for remote users.
2. Background Art
Security services for computer systems are typically implemented by firewalls located on the edge of a LAN. The same set of security services is provided for all of the computer systems "behind" the firewall. Another typical implementation of security services is to have a security application such as anti-virus or spam filtering executed on each of the computer systems.
Computer systems, such as those that run server processes, typically have a set of services (sometimes called "daemons") that are used for servicing user requests and operating system requests. These services can be dedicated to servicing requests from external anonymous users, for example, a WWW service or an anonymous FTP service. They can also be used for servicing requests from authorized users, such as FTP service and email service POP3/IMAP4 (Post Office Protocol 3/Internet Message Access Protocol (version 4)).
Such services are typically launched as one or more operating system processes/threads and "live" within operating system space, which includes within it a common object name space. Examples of such types of objects with operating system-wide names or identifiers include process identification (PID), file names, named pipes, TCP port IDs, etc. Each service, upon request and when available, receives appropriate resources from the operating system, which it then uses to service user requests.
For management (administration) of these services, typically a system administrator, who can enter appropriate operating system commands, and who can monitor the state of the operating system and the services, is required. A particular case of a system administrator is an operator, who is typically allowed only a highly restricted subset of functions—for example, checking server statistics, management of print queues, etc.
The cost of a system administrator for the owner of such a system (e.g., a data center) is often a substantial part of the total cost of ownership (TCO). Easing the burden on such a system operator and enabling a substantial commonality of his activities is an important issue in software development for data center administration.
The job of an administrator, as it relates to administrative services, often includes not just direct commands to the computer system for performance of specific actions, but also involves certain "indirect" operations. Examples of such indirect operations include assurance of an appropriate level of security, verification of system state, backing up data and creation of backup databases, provision of new servers and services, load balancing, etc. Attempts to ease the burden on the operator for providing such functions take several forms. For example, the use of Virtual Private Servers (VPSs) allows at least some commonality among the various server processes running within the computer system, and also allows commonality in their instantiation and configuration. Usually VPSs are installed with mass administration tools, for example, VIRTUOZZO VPS (available from SWSOFT Inc., www.SWSOFT.com) has a set of special scripts, command line and Graphical User Interface utilities for such a purpose.
The problem of administration of a large set of services and servers for many users is widely known, especially to administrators of web hosting companies and data centers. Each routine operation often requires expensive manual operations, and, when handling thousands of users even on a single hardware box with a single operating system, each simple operation, which should be performed hundreds and thousands of times, becomes very expensive. Unification and simplification of mass operations therefore can result in a significant economical benefit.
Another ever-present problem is assuring a level of safety and security of the services provided to the users. For example, authentication of users and user login verification has to occur within a safe environment. Any failures and crashes of services for one user should not affect services for other users, and should not affect overall system security.
Another approach is sometimes referred to as Embedded IT solution technology (http:**www.intel.com/technology/itj/2006/v10i3/4-models/10-authors.htm), enabled through the use of Intel Virtualization Technology (VT) or software emulation mode to implement VM support. It performs client isolation and uses a Recovery (CIR) usage model that emphasizes isolating manageability and security services in a virtual manageability appliance. IT departments thus benefit from the ability to isolate key services from end-user access.
The concept of a so-called "sandbox" is one conventional solution. For example, in the UNIX environment, it is common to place the FTP services for anonymous users within a "sand box." In that case, even if an intruder manages to gain access to that particular server and "breaks it," then his malicious activities still occur within the sand box (a secure environment), and the intruder cannot gain access to any critical system data in this fashion.
Additionally, there may be issues with execution of non-standard operations. One type of such non-standard operations is "dangerous" operations that can result in an unpredictable state of the system. Examples include remote services reboot and remote firewall configuration operation. In the case of remote services reboot, should that process fail to reboot and reinitialize the appropriate server process properly, the only recourse available to an administrator of that particular process (for example, to a remote VPS administrator) is to request expensive manual intervention from the system administrator. In the case of remote firewall configuration, the person configuring the firewall could accidentally mis-configure it in such a manner that even the administrator or operator of such a firewall is himself blocked from any further access through the firewall. This results in a server process or a VPS, that is "empty," i.e., running "normally," but is in reality useless, because it is inaccessible.
Other non-standard operations include organization of services providing name-based hosting for web users, where a number of virtual web servers share the same IP address with a single logical instance of the webserver. Other services include security services.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method for providing a more secure and more reliable mechanism for managing administration of security services in a multi-server environment, as well as a way to simplify mass management of security implementations.

Method and system for administration of security services within a virtual execution environment (VEE) infrastructure


The present invention relates to a teat for a feeding bottle. The teat has an outer wall (18) and a plurality of recesses (25) formed in an outer wall (18). The plurality of recesses (25) extend in a circumferential arrangement around a longitudinal axis of the teat. The present invention also relates to a teat with an outer wall (5, 46, 66). The outer wall has a region of reduced wall thickness (7, 47, 67, 84) extending in a circumferential band around a longitudinal axis of the teat.

Many different designs of teats for feeding bottles are known. Such teats generally attempt to mimic the shape and feel of the nipple and areola of a mother's breast. During feeding a baby generally receives a nipple in their mouth and pinches the aerola with their gums. This pinching motion is known as 'latching on', and it is an important aspect to acceptance of the nipple and aerola by a baby.
A conventional teat for a baby bottle has a mouthpiece defined by a circle symmetric outer wall formed from a resilient material, such as a suitable rubber or latex material, comprising a nipple portion and an aerola portion. The outer wall of such a teat generally has a high stiffness to enable the teat to maintain its overall shape and to prevent the teat from tearing.
However, a problem with conventional teats is that babies may find it difficult to latch on to the aerola portion of the teat, because their gums cannot pinch the teat easily.


The object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball having an improved impact resistance without lowering the productivity, and a golf ball paint which is used therefor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a golf ball having a paint film on the surface of the golf ball body, and a golf ball paint therefor, more particularly to a golf ball paint which has the reduced amount of volatile organic solvent in view of the environmental problem and the golf ball using the golf ball paint.
2. Description of the Related Art
A golf ball generally has a paint film on the surface thereof to impart a gloss and protect the mark printed thereon. It is required for the paint film to have durability against the impact of the shot and exhibit the weather-resistance which prevents the change of the color and the deterioration, due to the sunlight and the rain. Conventionally, the solvent borne paint such as a urethane paint and an epoxy paint has been used. In recent years, however, the approach to reduce the amount of the volatile organic solvent in the process of producing the golf ball has been studied in view of the environmental problems. For example, Japanese unexamined patent publication No.2001-271027 discloses a golf ball paint which comprises a water-soluble urethane polyol having hydroxyl value of 100 to 300 and a polyisocyanate having a hydrophilic group.

Abstract: The present invention is characterized in the use of two component curing type urethane paint comprising an aqueous polyol having hydroxyl value of from 50 mgKOH/g below 100 mgKOH/g and a weight average molecular weight of 4,000 to 20,000, and a polyisocyanate.


The present invention relates to a laser fuse structure for high power applications. Specifically, the laser fuse structure of the present invention comprises first and second conductive supporting elements (12a, 12b), at least one conductive fusible link (14), first and second connection elements (20a, 20b), and first and second metal lines (22a, 22b). The conductive supporting elements (12a, 12b), the conductive fusible link (14), and the metal lines (22a, 22b) are located at a first metal level (3), while the connect elements (20a, 20b) are located at a second, different metal level (4) and are connected to the conductive supporting elements (12a, 12b) and the metal lines (22a, 22b) by conductive via stacks (18a, 18b, 23a, 23b) that extend between the first and second metal levels (3, 4).

The current trend in semiconductor manufacturing is to fabricate integrated circuit (IC) chips having reduced sizes. As such, the functional circuits containing such IC chips continue to increase in complexity. This increases the opportunity for defective chips resulting from a failed element or a defective conductor. One solution for this problem is to provide redundant circuits or redundant elements on the IC chips. For example, if a primary circuit or element becomes defective, a redundant circuit or element can be used to substitute for that defective circuit or element, which involves logic de-activation of the defective circuit or element and activation of the redundant circuit or element. One major disadvantage of the logic de-activation approach is that the defective circuit or element are still tied to the power planes of the IC chips and continue to drain power from the IC chips after the logic de-activation, which can cause functional chips to be rejected due to violations of predetermined power specifications, especially in low power logic applications.
There is therefore a need for physically and permanently canceling the defective circuits and elements and separating them from the power planes of the IC chips.
Further, advances in IC chip manufacturing technology have allowed a continuously increasing number of functionalities to be implemented on a single IC chip, and much effort has been devoted to streamline and reduce IC chip part numbers that have proliferated due to the multitudes of various customer applications. Tremendous cost savings can be realized if a "one-chip-fits-all" model is provided for the IC chip manufacturing process, and custom-modification or "personalization" of the IC chips is carried out post-manufacturing for tailoring the functionalities of the IC chips according to the specific customer application. Currently, the custom-modification or personalization is conducted at the logic level through logic activation and de-activation of various functional circuits or elements. However, after the logic custom-modification or personalization, the un-used circuits or elements are still tied to the power planes of the IC chips and continue to drain power from the IC chips. Such un-used circuits or elements can also cause the chips to be rejected due to violations of predetermined power specifications, especially in low power logic applications.
There is therefore also a need for providing custom-modification or personalization of IC chips at the wafer level so as to completely eliminate the un-used circuits or elements, separate them from the chip power planes, and reduce the overall chip loading.
Laser fuses have been used for permanently canceling defective circuits or elements and for custom-modifying/personalizing the IC chips in low power applications, which are typically characterized by low voltage drops (approximately in the order of about 0.1V) and low duty cycle limits (approximately in the order of about 0.001%). Use of currently available laser fuses in high power applications characterized by high voltage drops (in the order of at least about 2V) and high duty cycles (approximately in the order of at least about 100%), on the other hand, have resulted in reliability failures due to fuse regrowth under high voltage and high duty cycle conditions.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide improved laser fuse structures that have high current capability and are suitable for use in high power applications.

Laser fuse structures for high power applications

International Business Machines Corporation


A cord lock for use in a window covering for selectively locking lift cords in a predetermined position includes a housing adapted to be fitted in the head rail of the window covering with the housing having a pivotal locking lever with a cord gripping formation at one end adjacent a locking surface on the housing and a cord guiding passage at the opposite end through which the lift cords can pass. The locking lever is pivoted about a pivot pin that is located between the cord gripping formation and the cord guiding passage so that the cord gripping formation can move toward and away from engagement with the locking surface with pivoting movement of the locking lever about the pivot pin. A fixed guiding surface is also provided around which the lift cords pass for dependable operation of the cord lock.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an automatically activated cord lock for one or more lift cords of a window covering, particularly for pleated blinds.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Such a cord lock, which locks automatically when its lift cord is not being pulled downwardly to raise a window covering, is known from EP 0 690 199 B1. Although this cord lock has generally been satisfactory in normal use, the necessity for mounting it in a slanted head rail of a window covering has sometimes interfered with its operation.


This disclosure describes a tubular humidor with a mechanism for retrieving cigars stored therein. The tubular humidor includes a tubular member having an open end and a closed end and a mechanism for covering the open end of the tubular member, thereby isolating the interior of the tubular humidor from the ambient environmental conditions. The retrieval mechanism is inserted into the tubular humidor concurrently with the cigars to be stored therein. When the covering mechanism is disengaged and pulled away from the open end of the tubular humidor, the retrieval mechanism biases the cigars through the open end for retrieval by the cigar smoker. The tubular humidor further comprises a replaceable humidifier which may be an integral component of the retrieval mechanism.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to humidors and, more particularly, to a tubular humidor with a mechanism for retrieving one or more cigars stored therein.
2. Description of Related Art
Cigar smoking has been subject to renewed popularity in 1990's. Nowhere is the popularity of cigars more evident than on the golf course. The focus of this renewed popularity has been fine cigars made of natural leaf tobacco throughout. Unfortunately, the leaf tobaccos used in fine cigars are very delicate, and their flavor can only be preserved by maintaining control over the moisture content of the cigar. Therefore, it is desirable to have a portable container which controls the moisture content of the cigars for transporting a small cache of cigars out to the golf course or other remote location where the cigars will be smoked.
The typical prior art humidor is a wooden box with a hinge top. Interior portions of the box are dimensioned to protectively surround a supply of cigars. The box humidors also include a source of humidity that delivers moisture to the cigars in the humidor. Some prior art humidors include a moisture-retaining pad at an upper location in the humidor, such as in the cover. The moisture-retaining material in the cover may be periodically replaced or remoistened to maintain a desirably high level of humidity. One example of such a prior art humidor is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,051, which illustrates a cigar humidor with multiple compartments for storing cigars.
Box shaped humidors of the type described above are ideal for long-term storage of a large number of cigars in the home or office. However, these humidors are too large and awkward to be conveniently transported out to a golf course or other remote location. The box humidors are too cumbersome to either carry along with other equipment or store within one of the compartments of a bag or other container used to transport equipment. Therefore, a need exists for a humidor which can store several cigars and can be easily transported along with other equipment being carried by the smoker.
In an effort to preserve the freshness of a cigar during storage and transportation, manufacturers have sealed their cigars in individual cigar tubes. One example of a cigar storage tube is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,009. Although these tubes provide a sealed environment for transporting a single cigar, the tubes are not designed to provide humidity control for the cigar stored therein. The cigar tube in the above-cited patent provides an adjustable opening which exposes the stored cigar to the regulated environment of a humidor. While the individual cigar tubes are small enough to be transported in a container or a bag, they are not designed to provide the humidity control necessary to maintain the moisture content of the cache of cigars which may be stored for a period of time before being smoked.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a tubular humidor adapted for storing cigars which can be stored in or mounted on a golf bag or other container for transporting equipment for extended periods of time. Due to the increased size of the tubular humidor over the prior art individual cigar tubes, the present invention further includes a retrieval mechanism for extracting the cigar(s) stored therein without the need to completely remove the humidor from the golf bag or container.

Tubular humidor with a retrieval mechanism


A canister system is installed in a vehicle having a body having a substantially closed space defined therein, and a subframe mounted on the body and having a substantially closed space defined therein. An air intake passage is connected to a canister for drawing and delivering fresh air into the canister, and an air exhaust passage is connected to the canister for exhausting air resulting from removal of evaporative fuel components from an evaporative fuel-air mixture by adsorption of the evaporative fuel components by the canister into the atmosphere. An open end of the air intake passage remote from the canister is formed in the body of the vehicle, and an open end of the air exhaust passage remote from the canister is formed in the subframe.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a canister system for use in vehicles or the like, and more particularly to improvements in or to the air intake/exhaust arrangement of a canister system.
2. Prior Art
FIG. 1 schematically shows the air intake/exhaust arrangement of a conventional canister system. Connected to a canister 114 are an air intake passage 121 through which fresh air is drawn into the canister 114 and an air exhaust passage 125 through which air is exhausted from the canister 114 after removal of evaporative fuel components from an evaporative fuel-air mixture by adsorption of the evaporative fuel components by the canister 114. The air intake passage 121 has an air-inlet open end 121a remote from the canister 114, which is formed in a side frame 101 of a body of a vehicle, not shown, and a one-way valve 123 arranged thereacross. The air exhaust passage 125 also has a one-way valve 127 arranged thereacross. The air intake passage 121 and the air exhaust passage 125 are joined together at sides of the respective one-way valves 123 and 127 closer to the canister 114. The air exhaust passage 125 has an air-outlet open end 125a arranged at a lower portion of the vehicle body in opposed relation to a mudguard cover 130 such that the air-outlet open end 125a will not be clogged with mud or the like.
With the above arrangement, evaporative fuel generated in a fuel tank, not shown, at refueling is delivered to the canister 114 to be adsorbed thereby, and air resulting from the removal of evaporative fuel components from the evaporative fuel-air mixture is delivered from the canister 114 into the air exhaust passage 125 and discharged into the atmosphere through its air-outlet open end 125a. On the other hand, when evaporative fuel is purged from the canister 114 to an engine, not shown, fresh air is drawn through the air-inlet open end 121a formed in the side frame 101, into the air intake passage 121 and delivered to the canister 114.
According to the air intake/exhaust arrangement of the conventional canister system, however, a special part such as the mudguard cover 130 has to be employed. Further, although the mudguard cover 130 can prevent clogging of the air-outlet open end 125a of the air exhaust passage 125 with mud or the like, it cannot prevent introduction of water into the open end 125a. If water introduced into the open end 125a is frozen, it causes a decrease in the opening area of the open end 125a, and in the worst case it can clog the open end 125a.
In a canister system where evaporative fuel generated in a fuel tank at refueling is not adsorbed by a canister, when the ambient temperature is so low that water is frozen, the amount of evaporative fuel generated in the fuel tank is very small, causing almost no problem even if the opening area of the air-outlet open end decreases with water freeze-up. In contrast, in the air intake/exhaust arrangement of the conventional canister system as illustrated where evaporative fuel generated in a fuel tank at refueling is delivered to the canister to be adsorbed thereby, if the opening area of the air-outlet open end 125a decreases, the flow resistance of the open end 125a increases such that refueling cannot be carried out in the worst case.


Ionic species and method for the quantitation of sample constituents utilizing capillary zone electrophoresis analysis are disclosed. As disclosed, at least one ionic species having a charge density of betwen about 0.02 and about 0.001 is added to the sample. Benzoic acid is a preferred ionic species. Quantitation of a sample constituent can be derived by normalizing the constituent species with the ionic species.

The articles set forth in the Background of the Invention are each incorporated herein by reference.
Mammalian proteins present in clinical samples (e.g. whole blood, serum, plasma, cerebrospinal fluid, and urine) are useful as indicators of a disease state or a bodily condition. The amount and type of these proteins in the sample can provide a wealth of information to the clinician.
For example, the protein components of serum include albumin, alpha-1 lipoprotein, alpha-2 macroglobulin, beta-1 lipoprotein and immunoglobulins (including gammaglobulins). Albumin, the major protein of serum, is usually present in a concentration of between 4.0 and 5.0 g/dL. Decreased concentration of albumin can be indicative of renal disease; increased concentration of albumin is characteristic of dehydration. Elevated levels of alpha-1 lipoprotein can be indicative of chronic alcoholism or hyperestrogenism due to, e.g., pregnancy. Elevated levels of beta-1 lipoprotein can be indicative of increased cholesterol levels.
Mammalian proteins are charged proteins containing both cationic and anionic moieties. They thus lend themselves to analysis by capillary zone electrophoresis ("CZE"). CZE is a technique which permits rapid and efficient separations of charged substances. In general terms, CZE involves introduction of a sample into a capillary tube and the application of an electric field to the tube. The electric field pulls the sample through the tube and separates it into its constituent parts. I.e., each of the sample constituents has its own electrophoretic mobility; those having greater mobility travel through the capillary faster than those with slower mobility. As a result, the constituents of the sample are resolved into discrete zones in the capillary tube during the migration of the sample through the tube. An on-line detector can be used to continuously monitor the separation and provide data as to the various constituents based upon the discrete zones. The detector measures the absorbance of light by each constituent at a specified wavelength; different constituents absorb light differently, and, because of this, the constituents can be differentiated from each other.
CZE can be generally separated into two categories based upon the contents of the capillary columns. In "gel" CZE, the capillary tube is filled with a suitable gel, e.g. polyacrylamide gel. Separation of the constituents in the sample is predicated in part by the size and charge of the constituents travelling through the gel matrix. In "open-tube" CZE, the capillary tube is filled with an electrically conductive buffer solution. Upon application of an electric field to the capillary, the negatively charged capillary wall will attract a layer of positive ions from the buffer. As these ions flow towards the cathode, under the influence of the electrical potential, the bulk solution must flow in this direction to maintain electroneutrality. This electroendosmatic flow provides a fixed velocity component which drives both neutral species and ionic species, regardless of charge, towards the cathode. The buffer in open CZE is as stable against conduction and diffusion as the gels utilized in gel CZE. Accordingly, separations can be obtained in open CZE quite similar to those obtained in gel-based electrophoresis.
Typically, the pH of the buffers utilized in open CZE are chosen with reference to the isoelectric points (pI) of the constituents in the sample. For example, the pI of serum albumin is 4.6; therefore, at pH 4.6, negatively charged and positively charged moieties of serum albumin are equal and the overall charge is neutral. However, as the pH is raised above the isoelectric point, the negatively charged moieties predominate and the net charge is negative. Thus, by selection of the proper pH, all of the species of the sample will be negatively charged. For serum samples, at pH greater than about 8.00, the majority of all serum-protein species will be negatively charged. Thus, manipulation of the isoelectric points of sample species can be used to ensure a proper charge distribution vis-a-vis the flow of such species through a charged capillary.
Typically, the results of CZE analysis are provided via an electropherogram, which depicts the discrete zones of the sample constituents as peaks of various height and width. Additionally, the results can be presented in terms of numerical data based upon the integrated area under each constituent peak.
From analysis of clinical samples, it is possible to determine a disease state or bodily condition by comparing the peaks obtained in an electropherogram of the sample with those obtained in an electropherogram of a known control. Thus, if a sample constituent peak from a clinical sample electropherogram is broader or more narrow or higher or not as high relative to the same sample constituent peak from the control electropherogram, it may be indicative of a disease state or a bodily condition.
A problem with CZE analysis of protein-containing samples, peptide-containing samples, and samples containing native and/or synthetic DNA and RNA, is that it is very difficult to accurately quantify the individual sample constituents. I.e, while it has been possible to visually compare relative peaks to determine if a potential disease condition exists, it has heretofore been a problem to accurately and consistently determine the precise quantitative amounts of the individual constituents of the sample.
Another problem encountered with capillary zone electrophoresis of such samples is that the constituents may appear on the electropherogram at different migration times with different samples. Stated again, a protein and/or peptide common to two different samples may show up at a different place on each of the electropherograms for such samples. This is due, in part, to the fact that the amount of time taken by each earlier sample constituent as it passes through the capillary will affect the migration time of latter sample constituents.
Previous attempts at quantitation of sample constituents have been reported. Cinnamic acid has been attempted as an internal standard for the determination of ferulic acid concentration in dog plasma after oral administration of .gamma.-oryzanol. Fujiwara, S. and Honda, S. "Determination of Cinnamic Acid and its Analogues by Electrophoresis in a Fused Silica Capillary Tube." Anal. Chem. 58:1811-1814 (1986). Phenol has been attempted as an internal standard for the determination of chlorinated phenol concentrations. Otsuka, K. et al. "Quantitation and Reproducibility in Chromatography with Micellar Solutions." J. of Chrom. 396:350-354 (1987). Additionally, coinjection of a known amount of a species to be analyzed is well documented.
Internal standards, i.e. standards that are detected within the constituent detection region, can lead to at least two problems. First, there is the potential for co-migration. The internal standard may migrate at or near a region where a sample constituent migrates leading to erroneous analysis of that constituent. This is because the sample constituent may appear to have a peak of greater height or width based upon its mixing with and the effect of the co-migrating standard. Second, because the amount of sample analyzed can affect its flow rate, the location of the internal standard peak on the electropherogram can vary depending on the amount of sample analyzed. If the peak location of the internal reference is artificially altered, quantitation of constituents based on such alterations would be inaccurate, incomprehensible or erroneous.
Accordingly, a need exists for an efficient and reliable method for rapidly quantifying protein-and/or peptide containing sample constituents using a capillary zone electrophoresis protocol.

Quantitation of samples utilizing capillary electrophoresis


A light emitting device includes light emission units, a voltage generator, a lighting selector, and a drive control unit. Each light emission unit includes light emitting component groups each of which includes a light emitting component array and a drive switch. The light emitting component array includes light emitting components that are connected in series. The drive switch is connected in series to the light emitting component array to drive the light emitting component array. The lighting selector selects the light emitting component group that is to be lit on according to brightness intensity required for each light emission unit. The drive control unit controls each drive switch independently according to the selection by the lighting selector and controls to light on each light emitting component group independently and controls the voltage generator to generate a common drive voltage.

As a backlight device (a light emitting device) of a display device such as a liquid crystal display device, a backlight device using a CCFL (a cold cathode fluorescent lamp) has been used and also a backlight device including a plurality of light emitting diode (LED) components (hereinafter, referred to as an LED backlight) has been recently used.
However, variations are generally caused in forward voltages applied to the LED component due to product variations in the LED components. In the LED backlight device, a plurality of LED components are connected in series to form an LED component array and a plurality of LED component arrays are connected in parallel. Each of the LED component arrays is driven to be lit on with a common drive voltage. In such driving, variations are caused in the forward voltages Vf of the LED component array due to the product variations in the LED components. Such variations in the forward voltages Vf of the LED component array cause wasteful consumption of driving power. Patent Document 1 describes a technology for preventing such wasteful consumption of driving power. In patent Document 1, drive voltage difference caused by the variation in the forward voltages Vf of each LED component array is detected and the common voltage supplied to the LED component arrays is optimally adjusted and negative-feedback controlled.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2010-56305

Light emitting device, display device and method of driving light emitting device


An anti-tilt apparatus is provided in the present invention, in which a frame of a vehicle is locked or released for tilt by a locking mechanism controlled according to the vehicle moving status. In addition, the present invention further provides a frame structure of a tilt vehicle wherein the anti-tilt apparatus and an independent suspended wheel set with a tiltable frame are combined together for maintaining certain comfort, good tracking capability and driving safety while the vehicle is moving and swerving. The anti-tilt apparatus of the present invention functions to lock the tiltable frame while the vehicle is operated in low speed or stop and functions to make wheels simultaneously inwardly incline for providing a tilt capability while the vehicle is swerving in high speed so as to increase higher stability and anti-turnover capability of the vehicle.

Currently, there are already many types of tilting vehicles available, which can be three-wheeled or four-wheeled vehicles, or even vehicles with more than four wheels, and are configured with all kinds of wheel arrangement, such as those with one front wheel and two rear wheels or vice versa, or those with two front and two rear wheels. Such tilting vehicles can be applied in motorcycles, cars, bicycles, or even toy automobiles. As such tilting vehicle has the mobility and maneuverability of motorcycles and the stability of cars, there are more and more tilting vehicles becoming available, especially in urban area since such tilting vehicle can achieve same anti-overturn ability as conventional vehicles with greatly reduced wheelbase, which can be a great advantage while traveling in small alleys commonly seen in urban area.
Generally, tilting vehicles can be categorized into two groups. One group includes those vehicles with automatic tilting ability that is able to calculate the vehicle's dynamic parameters to determine the degree of inclination for such automatic tilting vehicle. Most automobiles with enclosed vehicle hull belong to the aforesaid group of automatic tilting ability. Another group includes those vehicles without automatic tilting ability, by which the inclination is adjusted by the control of a driver driving the vehicle, and is mostly likely to be seen in bicycles and motorcycles. It is noted that the driver driving a vehicles without automatic tilting ability must put his/her leg down for preventing overturn when he/she is cruising in low speed or stopping.
There are already many studies about the tilting vehicles, one of which is an anti-rolling device for vehicles, disclosed in EP1561612A1. The anti-rolling device for vehicles of the type equipped with a front steer system with articulated quadrilateral structure, and the device has at least one stop element, integral with an element of the quadrilateral structure in its rolling movements, at least one locking element, to lock the position of the stop element for preventing the rolling movements of the quadrilateral structure, and a parking group, guided by command means for commanding the opening or closing of the locking element. However, the aforesaid anti-rolling device still can not lock the vehicle automatically and require a driver to evaluate the current driving condition and thus determine whether to lock the vehicle manually.

Anti-tilt apparatus and frame structure of tilting vehicle using the same

Industrial Technology Research Institute