PAGE-4 is a gene preferentially expressed in normal male and female reproductive tissues, prostate, testis, fallopian tube, uterus and placenta, as well as in prostate cancer, testicular cancer and uterine cancer. This expression pattern makes it a target for diagnosis and for vaccine based therapy of neoplasms of prostate, testis and uterus. The invention provides immunogenic compositions comprising PAGE-4 protein or immunogenic peptides thereof, methods of inhibiting the growth of malignant cells expressing PAGE-4, and methods of inducing an enhanced immune response to PAGE-4-expressing cancers.

ESTs are sequences derived from randomly selected clones from various cDNA libraries (Adams, M. D. et al. Science 252:1651-1656 (1991); Adams, M. D. et al. Nature 377:3-174 (1995); Adams, M. D. et al., Nature 355:632-634 (1992); Emmert-Buck et al., Science 274:998-1101 (1996); Krizman, D. B. et al., Cancer Res. 56:5380-5383 (1996); Strausberg, R. L. et al., Nat. Genet. 16:415-516 (1997)). Each cDNA clone is generated from a transcript, and the frequency and distribution of the many different transcripts in any given tissue depends on the tissue specific activity of the genes. The translation of transcript frequency and distribution into frequency and distribution of EST sequences depends not only on the specificity and magnitude of mRNA expression, but also on other factors such as mRNA stability and clonability of these EST sequences. Therefore, a specificity or frequency analysis of ESTs only provides a guide for the prediction of expression patterns. Nevertheless, ESTs provide a valuable source of information that may be utilized to predict the expression patterns of specific genes in different tissues.
The recently developed NCI Cancer Genome Anatomy Project (CGAP) uses microdissection and laser-capture techniques to generate defined and tissue/tumor specific EST libraries (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ncicgap (Emmert-Buck et al., Science 274:998-1101 (1996); Krizman, D. B. et al., Cancer Res. 56:5380-5383 (1996); Strausberg, R. L. et al., Nat. Genet. 16:415-516 (1997)). CGAP has already accumulated a vast number of tissue-specific sequences and the CGAP sequence data base is rapidly growing with the continuous addition of sequences from different tissues and tumor types. There are many ways by which the EST sequence data can be processed to cluster, sort and filter the cDNA sequences, in order to identify genes that are specifically expressed in certain tissues. Database "mining" for cDNAs that are preferentially or exclusively expressed in defined tissues, or in malignant/neoplastic tissues provides lists of potential target genes for cancer therapy (Emmert-Buck et al., Science 274:998-1101 (1996); Krizman, D. B. et al., Cancer Res. 56:5380-5383 (1996); Strausberg, R. L. et al., Nat. Genet. 16:415-516 (1997); Vasmatzis, G. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA 95:300-304 (1998)). Although in many cases these "candidate genes", which appear tissue specific in database analyses, cannot be confirmed in their specificity by experimental techniques (e.g. Northern blots or PCR), a reasonable number of candidate genes remain for which the predicted and desired expression pattern can be experimentally confirmed (Vasmatzis, G. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA 95:300-304 (1998); He, W. W. et al., Genomics 43:69-77 (1997)). These specifically expressed genes are of interest because of their functions in cell or tumor biology and may also be directly used as markers for cancer diagnosis and as the basis for a variety of methods of therapy.
One method of therapy is to use the gene product as a vaccine to enhance the patient's immune response to the cancer. T cells play an important role in tumor regression in most murine tumor models. Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes ("TIL") that recognize unique cancer antigens can be isolated from many murine tumors. The adoptive transfer of these TIL plus interleukin-2 can mediate the regression of established lung and liver metastases (Rosenberg, S., et al., Science 233:1318-1321 (1986). In addition, the secretion of IFN-.gamma. by injected TIL significantly correlates with in vivo regression of murine tumors suggesting activation of T-cells by the tumor antigens. (Barth, R., et al., J. Exp. Med. 173:647-658 (1991)). In humans, the ability of tumor TIL to mediate the regression of metastatic cancer in 35 to 40% of melanoma patients when adoptively transferred into patients with metastatic melanoma attests to the clinical importance of the antigens recognized (Rosenberg, S., et al., N Engl J Med 319:1676-1680 (1988); Rosenberg S., J. Clin. Oncol. 10:180-199 (1992)).
T cell receptors on CD8+ T cells recognize a complex consisting of an antigenic peptide (9-10 amino acids for Human Leukocyte Antigen ("HLA")-A2), β-2 microglobulin, and class I major histocompatibility complex ("MHC") heavy chain (HLA-A, B, C, in humans). Peptides generated by digestion of endogenously synthesized proteins are transported into the endoplasmic reticulum, bound to class I MHC heavy chain and β-2 microglobulin, and finally expressed in the cell surface in the groove of the class I MHC molecule. Therefore, T cells can detect molecules that originate from proteins inside cells, in contrast to antibodies that detect molecules expressed on the cell surface. Antigens recognized by T cells thus may be particularly useful for inhibiting the progression of cancer.
Strong evidence that an immune response to cancer exists in humans have been provided by, for example, the existence of lymphocytes within melanoma deposits. These lymphocytes, when isolated, are capable of recognizing specific tumor antigens on autologous and allogeneic melanomas in an MHC restricted fashion. (Kawakami, Y., et al., J. Immunol. 148:638-643 (1992); Hom, S., et al., J. Immunother. 13:18-30 (1993)). TIL from patients with metastatic melanoma recognize shared antigens including melanocyte-melanoma lineage specific tissue antigens in vitro (Kawakami, Y., et al., J. Immunother. 14:88-93 (1993); Anichini, A. et al., J. Exp. Med. 177:989-998 (1993)).
Although several tumor associated antigens ("TAA") have been found for melanoma, there is a need to identify tissue specific genes whose expression is associated with cancers of other tissues.

Page-4, an x-linked gage-like gene expressed in normal and neoplastic prostate, testis and uterus, and uses therefor

The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services


An opthalmic shading device depends from a structure worn on the head and provides a shading structure which may be mounted between a source of light to be attenuated and the human eye. A shading structure is attached to a flexible rod which depends from a mounting bracket which is attached to another structure supported by the head, preferably to head wear or to an eye wear frame's temple member. The flexible rod enables the user to adjust the position and angle of the shading structure to interpose it between the user's eye and the light source to be blocked or attenuated. One of the shading structures may be larger than the other, especially where one light source to be blocked presents a larger area of projection than the other. In one embodiment, the shading assemblies depend from a top frame including a brow span and hinged temple arms with lower structures being excised, the top frame fittable on top of conventional eye wear with the shading structure movable to its operable position. In a second embodiment a pair of shading assemblies depend from temple arms of conventional eye wear.

Many people find driving at night to be extremely fatiguing to their eyes. In general, there are two sources for that fatigue: one is the glare of headlights from oncoming traffic, and the second is the glare of headlights from the rear and side view mirrors. The problems created from glare off a rear view mirror have been eliminated quite easily. Auto manufacturers have solved the problems associated with the rear view mirror by outfitting just about every car with a center mirror featuring a dimable night setting to reduce the glare. For the headlights from the oncoming traffic, there have been many U.S. patents issued for eye wear devices which attempt to reduce glare from this source. However, in their endeavors to reduce glare from oncoming traffic, they all have a similar flaws. They severely reduce the driver's overall scope of vision and ability to see clearly by putting shaded or partially shaded lenses directly in front of the driver's eyes. This inhibits the drivers front, forward vision. Until a device is formulated that will reduce the glare from oncoming cars without limiting one's vision, drivers will simply have to cope with the annoyance of oncoming traffic.
Several of these patents, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,252,997 to Christenberry (October 1993), U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,380 to Cherian (May 1989), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,296 to Smith (July 1987), describe devices that attempted to reduce glare from side view mirrors. There are flaws associated with these devices. First, since their attempt to reduce glare from the side view mirrors was in addition to its attempt to reduce glare from oncoming headlights, they would still reduce a driver's main forward vision. Second, some of these devices shade the eyes by positioning opaque material to intercept the peripheral glare. This would create a blind spot in the driver's periphery. Third, these devices can create their own glare for the driver. The designs of these devices will allow headlights from following cars, at a certain undesired angle, to reflect directly off of the shaded lens as well as the frames and into the driver's eye. The driver will receive glare from the very device which he or she is using to reduce glare. In the sunglass industry, this is often referred to as "collateral glare." Fourth, since both cars and people come in a variety of shapes and sizes, the position in one's periphery in which the side view mirrors are located can vary greatly from person to person and from car to car. Most of these devices suffer in that their peripheral shading is not adjustable. The only way these devices could accommodate a variety of cars and trucks would be to design the peripheral shading to be large enough to cover all possible sources of glare. In addition to suffering from severe collateral glare, such a large lens would significantly reduce the peripheral visibility of the driver. The few of these devices which do account for adjustability still suffer from the first three problems.
One particular patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,596,290 to Kennedy (August 1971), describes an attachable flat visor designed to shade the driver from the glare of the Sun. Although the design does not attempt to shade the driver's forward vision, Kennedy's visor would not work well if attempting to intercept glare from one's side view mirrors. Because the Kennedy visor is designed to be attached directly to the temple arm, and to lie outside the frame, to actually block the glare from the side view mirrors would require that the visor to sit so far forward on the arm that it would extend out in front of the frame itself. Although it would not create an absolute blind spot, the visor, a relatively large lens extending out so far forward, would again significantly reduce a driver's peripheral vision and would also be an unbearable source of collateral glare.
The "Eye Guard and Shield for Spectacles," U.S. Pat. No. 893,972 to Bayless (July 1908), which blocks the light from the side totally, could be used while driving, but although allowing clear forward vision, they would also create blind spots in the driver's periphery. Many recent innovations in sunglasses, such as Oakley's U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,448 to Tackles (June 1985), do in fact include peripheral shading, but again only in addition to shading of light entering from the forward scope of vision. This would once again unsafely reduce one's overall visibility at night. Obviously, it is unsafe to drive at night while wearing regular sunglasses.
To successfully eliminate glare from side view mirrors, a device must not impair a driver's normal forward vision, must not create any collateral glare, must accommodate a variety of drivers and cars, and must not create a blind spot nor significantly reduce peripheral vision. What is needed is a device that will reduce the glare from the reflection of headlights in the side view mirrors of an automobile. The needed device should reduce strain to the eyes of a driver. Such a device should in no way inhibit a driver's forward field of vision. The solution should provide a device that will be adjustable to any driver in any car or truck, and not significantly reduce the peripheral vision of a driver. The needed device should not create collateral glare for the driver, nor create a blind spot. The needed device should be inexpensive to manufacture and easily adapt to accommodate the specific needs of consumers. Clearly, none of the patents mentioned above meet all these criteria.


The present invention comprises a graphical user interface, including methods and apparatus for configuring and implementing such an interface. One or more embodiments of the invention comprise a graphical user interface comprising a main window including a navigation viewport and a data viewport, the navigation viewport arranged to display navigation selectable elements and the data viewport arranged to display information associated with an application associated with one or more of the navigation selectable elements. One embodiment of the invention comprises a method of configuring a graphical user interface based upon user or device information. One embodiment of the invention comprises a method of controlling the navigation of the graphical user interface based upon user or device information. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the graphical user interface is associated with a gaming system which includes at least one gaming device.

Video displays are commonly used to display information to a user. As is well known, a video display may be associated with a computing device, with the display presenting information regarding the device or one or more operations which may be performed with or by the device. Graphical user interfaces or "GUI's" are commonly used to display this information to a user. These interfaces may have a variety of forms, comprising displayed text and/or objects such as representations of windows, buttons, sliders and the like.
A graphical user interface is generally arranged to make it more simple for the user to obtain information and interact with the computing device. Unfortunately, there are problems which make these functions difficult to achieve.
First, it is often desirable to display on a single display information regarding a plurality of tasks. For example, in a computing environment, a computing device may run several applications at the same time. It is desirable to present information to a user about each of these multiple applications at the same time, or individually in a manner permitting selection between them.
In many instances, multiple users may wish to interact with the computing device. Each of these users may need to interact with the device in a different manner, requiring that different information be displayed to each of these users. In some cases, each of these users may interact with the computing device utilizing the same video display.
In some instances, the apparatus which is used to interact with the computing device may vary. For example, one or more users may interact with a computing device using several different workstations. Some of these work stations may include video displays permitting touch-input only. Other of the work stations may include a keyboard, mouse or other user controllable input device.
It is desirable to provide improved methods and apparatus for configuring and navigating a graphical user interface.

Method and system for configuring a graphical user interface based upon a user profile


A flexible light guide film having a light-adjusting structure in the form of a lenticular-like microstructure on the bottom side of the light guide film. The light guide film has a substrate layer supporting a layer light-adjusting structure, which is in the form of an array of longitudinal lenticular lenses laterally arranged in parallel. A prismatic-like microstructure may be provided on the top light emitting side of the light guide film. The light guide film is fabricated by a process involving coating/embossing of a roll of sheet material, in a roll-to-roll continuous process. Advantages includes significantly reducing the thickness of the light guide film, and the roll-to-roll fabrication process provides for more precise replication of the microstructures on the master mold or drum onto the surface of the light guide film, which in turn reduces the failure rate and manufacturing cost.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to light guides, particularly to light guides for use in flat panel displays, and more particularly to light guides for use in liquid crystal display panels.
2. Description of Related Art
In a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel, the liquid crystal (LC) layer does not emit light inherently, as compared to, for example, an electro-luminescent material layer in a plasma display panel. The LC layer or panel functions as a modulator of light transmitted through the LC layer. In a backlit LCD panel, a backlight module serves as a planar light source, which is an important element of the LCD panel, and is critical for enhancing the brightness of the LCD panel. The backlight module includes a light guide plate, for guiding light from a planar array of light sources (e.g., a planar array of LEDs), or a linear light source (e.g., a cold cathode fluorescence (CCF) tube, or a row of LEDs). Backlight modules having the latter linear light source are referred in the art as edge-lid backlight modules.
Heretofore, conventional light guide plates incorporated in edge-lit backlight modules utilize total internal reflection to direct light from a light source positioned at an edge surface of the light guide plate to a light emitting major planar surface facing towards the LC panel. The light from the light source is guided to propagate through the light guide plate to an opposite edge surface of the light guide plate, so that light can be emitted from the entire planar surface towards the LC panel. In the past, the other major planar surface of the light guide plate (e.g., the bottom surface) opposite to the light emitting planar surface is provided with a structure that facilitates reflection of light towards the top planar surface. For example, in some prior art light guide plates, a reflective layer may be provided at the bottom surface, reflecting light back into the light guide plate. In other prior art light guide plates, the bottom surface of the light guide plate opposite to the light-exit surface is textured with light-reflecting or light-scattering surface dots. Light beams encountering these dots are diffused and/or reflected towards the light emitting surface of the light guide. More particularly, the light-reflecting or light-scattering dots formed or embedded on the bottom surface of the abovementioned conventional light guide plate are capable of changing the direction of propagation of light beams so as to spread light from the linear light source across the planar light emitting surface, thereby forming a planar light source emitting light from a plane. The diffused and reflecting surface of the light-reflecting or light-scattering dots are generally matte as a result of the fabrication process. Accordingly, a great deal of energy is required by the point or linear light source to produce planar light output of acceptable brightness, resulting in waste of electrical power consumption.
Another technique using a V-cut light guide plate has been developed in the field of backlight modules. The V-cut light guide plate is made mainly by directly micro-fabricating prisms on a light guide plate, and is usually used in a backlight module in combination with a reverse prism sheet. As shown in FIG. 1, the prior art backlight module mainly includes a reverse prism sheet 3, a V-cut light guide plate 2 having a tapering thickness, and a reflective film 1 under the reverse prism sheet, and a diffusion film 4 above the reverse prism sheet. The LC panel (not shown) is placed on top of the diffusion film 4. A linear light source/reflector 5 is positioned at the thicker edge of the light guide plate 2. Compared to the earlier conventional backlight modules, the brightness of the backlight module having a V-cut light guide plate can be enhanced by nearly 30%. Therefore, overall power consumption for a particular output brightness can be saved by about one third using such improved backlight module, which is a considerable improvement on energy-saving performance.
Light guide plates used in backlight module are typically made by injection molding. In general, molten polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) material is filled into a mold cavity having the desired mold structure and a holding pressure is maintained. After the material is allowed to cool down and harden to conform to the configuration of the mold cavity. However, when it comes to V-cut light guide plate, a high failure rate is present as a result of difficulties associated with making the mold cavity and the nature of the above-described injection molding process. The replica of the mold master having V-cut structures made by CNC precision-machining are often mal-manufactured and/or result in defects. Therefore, the manufacturing of V-cut light guide plate becomes more difficult and thereby less cost effective.
Furthermore, the problems with prior art light guide plates are exacerbated by the tightened requirements of lighter-weight, thinner-profile and more flexible structure for LCD devices, which are gradually becoming the mainstream in recent years. Due to the limitations of injection molding, it is not easy to obtain thin and flexible light guide plates manufactured by this method. In particular, when it comes to large LCD panels sizes, the failure rate is even higher.
There remains a need for a back light plate having a structure that is thin and flexible, and efficient in planar light output and easy to manufacture.


A backlight assembly is suitable for preventing generation of foreign materials. The backlight assembly comprises a reflector on a bottom cover, a set of optical sheets supported by the bottom cover, stoppers on opposite edges of the bottom cover to prevent movement of the optical sheet set, and supports extending from the reflector at least partially contacting inner sides of the first stoppers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a backlight assembly. More particularly, the present invention relates to a backlight assembly and a liquid crystal display having the same, which may prevent defects caused by foreign materials.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Typically, liquid crystal displays (LCDs) show a tendency that their application fields are gradually increased due to the characteristics of light weight, thin thickness, low-power-consumption driving, and so on. Owing to this tendency, the LCDs are applied to office automation equipment, audio/video equipment, and so on. Meanwhile, the LCDs adjust an amount of transmitted light on the basis of image signals applied to a plurality of control switches arranged in a matrix pattern, thereby displaying a desired image on a screen.
The LCDs require a backlight assembly, because they are not spontaneous light-emitting displays. The backlight assembly is divided into a direct type and an edge type according to the position of a light source. The edge-type backlight assembly comprises a light source disposed at the edge of a flat panel, and a light guide plate guiding light from the light source to the front of a liquid crystal panel.
Meanwhile, the direct-type backlight assembly has a plurality of light sources disposed at the rear of a liquid crystal panel. The light sources directly irradiate light throughout the rear of the liquid crystal panel. The direct-type backlight assembly having the light sources can further increase brightness and a light emitting area, compared to the edge-type backlight assembly. The direct-type backlight assembly includes optical sheets that diffuse and collect the light from the light sources. These optical sheets are supported by supporter sides.
An LCD having this direct-type backlight assembly is constructed as in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a related direct-type LCD, and FIG. 2 is a detailed view illustrating the state in which optical sheets are placed on the bottom cover in part A of FIG. 1.
As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the related LCD includes a liquid crystal panel 10 displaying an image, and a backlight assembly 20 supplying light.
The backlight assembly 20 includes a plurality of light sources 60 that emit light, a reflector 70 that is disposed at the rear of the light sources 60 and reflects the light, and optical sheets 30 disposed at the front of the light sources 60 and diffusing and collecting the light.
The backlight assembly 20 further includes first and second supporter sides 50A and 50B that are disposed on opposite sides of the light sources 60 and support opposite sides of the optical sheets 30, and a bottom cover 80 that is disposed at the rear of the reflector 70. The first and second supporter sides 50A and 50B are made of a molding, protect opposite ends of the light sources 60, and support the optical sheets 30.
The first and second supporter sides 50A and 50B are provided thereon with first and second stoppers 51A and 51B, which prevent the optical sheets 30 from moving in the direction of line X-X′. Meanwhile, each optical sheet 30 is provided with first and second guide recesses 31A and 31B at the positions corresponding to the first and second stoppers 51A and 51B.
The bottom cover 80 is provided, at opposite edges thereof, with third and fourth stoppers 81A and 81B, which protrude to prevent the optical sheets 30 from moving in the direction of line Y-Y′. The bottom cover 80 is made of metal material, which can increase durability of the LCD.
Although this related LCD having the direct-type backlight assembly includes the first and second stoppers 51A and 51B of the first and second supporter sides 50A and 50B which guide the optical sheets 30 as well as the third and fourth stoppers 81A and 81B of the opposite edges of the bottom cover 80, foreign materials are generated by the friction when the third and fourth stoppers 81A and 81B integrated with the bottom cover 80 made of metal material are brought into contact with the opposite sides of the optical sheets 30.
The foreign materials enter into the backlight assembly 20 to be deposited on the light sources 60. The foreign materials deposited on the light sources 60 interrupt some of the light emitted from the light sources 60, so that black noise corresponding to a shape of each foreign material shows on a displayed image. For this reason, the LCD having the direct-type backlight assembly does inevitably deteriorate a quality of image.

Backlight assembly and liquid crystal display having the same


This is invention is directed to a shaft coupling for coupling a first shaft and a second shaft. The shaft coupling includes an outer ring for encasing one end of the first shaft and one end of the second shaft; a first pin provided in the outer ring and the first pin extending in a first direction; and a second pin provided in the outer ring and the second pin extending in a second direction substantially orthogonal to the first direction; wherein the first shaft and the first pin are so set such that the end of the first shaft is movable along the first pin and the second shaft and the second pin are so set that the end of the second shaft is displaceable along the second pin.

Conventionally, in a tandem type color copier, it has been a common practice that each photosensitive drum for respective color components, namely black, magenta, cyan, yellow, is combined together with the respective toner tank to construct a photosensitive unit, and each photosensitive unit is arranged along a feed direction of the copy sheet. Then a toner image is developed onto the respective photosensitive units to perform a multiple toner transferring operation in series, i.e., a second toner image onto a first toner image formed on the photosensitive unit, until a forth toner image is transferred onto the previous toner image without color mis-matching to finally obtain a desired color image.
In the above described photo-sensitive drum unit, a rotary drive of the photo-sensitive drum is given from a power source of a main body of a copy machine via a drive transmission mechanism.
In addition, when the toner cartridge needs to be replaced or when the photosensitive drum needs to be replaced with a new one due to elapse of its available life, the photosensitive unit is so constructed that it can be detached from the drive transmission mechanism.
As the aforementioned drive transmission mechanism for transmitting the drive from the power source to the photosensitive drum unit, there are several types. One is a so-called direct drive transmission type in which a gear portion formed at the drum flange of the photo sensitive drum is meshed in a gear train driven from the power source and another type is a co-called drum shaft type in which four shafts are extended from the power source and the respective photosensitive drums are engaged with the respective drum shafts and the other type is a so-called coupling type in which the driven shaft of the photosensitive drum is connected to the drive shaft via a coupling.
In practical sense, the photosensitive unit as a replaceable part is designed to have manufacturing tolerances, thus at the time of replacement, such manufacturing tolerance has to be taken into consideration when connecting the driven shaft of the photosensitive drum to the drive shaft. In view thereof, it would be much easier when using a coupling for such connection between the drive shaft and the driven shaft of the photosensitive drum unit for the coupling by itself can absorb such manufacturing tolerances. Examples of this type of connection, namely a coupling connection, are such as a cruciform universal joint as shown in FIG. 6 and an Oldham's coupling as shown in FIG. 7.
Referring now to FIG. 6, two pins 2,3 orthogonary arranged from one another, are provided at a connecting plate 1 and a C-shaped arm 4,5 is pivotally fitted to the opposite ends of each pin 3,2 respectively. Thus when two shafts 6,7 to be coupled are intersecting each other at a certain angle, i.e., two shafts are not aligned on a straight line but are bent with respect to each other by a certain bending angle, such bending angle is absorbed by the coupling, thereby causing no adverse effect on the coupling status of those two shafts 6,7. In addition, the C-shaped arm 4 is slightly displaceable along the pin 2 and similarly the C-shaped arm 5 is slightly displaceable along the pin 3, thus such misalignment between the axes, S1 & S2, of the shaft 6 and the shaft 7, if occurred, can also be absorbed by this structure of the cruciform joint.
On the other hand, in the Oldham's coupling structure, a shaft 8 and a shaft 9 are respectively fixed onto a disk 10 and a disk 11 and a connecting disk 12 is interposed between the disks 10, 11. Furthermore, orthogonally crossing grooves are respectively formed on both surfaces of the disk 12 and a projection 13 formed on the disk 10 and a projection formed on the disk 11 are respectively engaged with grooves on the respective sides of the disk 12 in such a manner that the disk 10 is slidable along the extension direction of the projection 13 and the disk 11 is slidable along the extension direction of the projection 14. Thus, when the axis S3 of the shaft 8 and the axis S4 of the shaft 9 are not aligned from each other in some degree, this mis-alignment of the shaft axes is taken care by this coupling.
However, the cruciform joint of this conventional type is consisted of a great number of parts such as a pair of C-shaped arms 4,5, a connection plate 1, pins 2,3 and so forth, and thus has a complicated structure. Accordingly there has been a problem in assembling the drive and driven portions with this joint. On the other hand, with the Oldham's joint, the problem associated with the cruciform joint, difficulty in assembling, is solved, as the Oldham's joint is greatly simple in structure as compared with the cruciform joint. However, the Oldham's joint cannot cope with the shafts to be coupled, whose axes are not in parallel from each other.
In view of the above, there is certainly room for improvement in designing a coupling structure for use in coupling the power source of the main body of the copy machine and the photosensitive drum of the photosensitive unit.

Shaft coupling and shaft coupling structure for use in image forming apparatus


A display control apparatus for controlling display of a document on a display part, includes an acquiring section that acquires authentication information associated with a user entering a predefined area, a deciding section that decides whether or not the authentication information acquired by the acquiring section satisfies a display authorization condition associated with the document, and a limiting section that limits display of the document on the display part when the deciding section decides that the authentication information does not satisfy the display authorization condition.

(i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display control technology, which is effectively applicable, for example, to an apparatus, a method and a storage medium storing a program for controlling display of a confidential document.
(ii) Description of the Related Art
In the case of using a confidential document, access right in which readout by other people cannot be performed so that the document is not browsed by other people has been set generally.
However, conventionally, for example, even for a document in which access right is set, once the document is displayed on a predetermined display part, everybody having access to the display part can easily see the contents of display of the document, so that confidentiality of the document was lost.

Display control apparatus, display control method, and storage medium storing display control program


An ink-jet recording apparatus using a detachable ink-jet recording head for ejecting ink and a detachable ink container for containing ink to be supplied to the recording head includes: a recovery device for recovering a condition for ejecting ink for the ink-jet recording head; a detection device for detecting a replacement of the ink container or a refilling thereof with ink; a counting device for counting the number of times N that recovery is executed by the recovery device; a measurement device for measuring a period of time elapsing between the time t0 at which last ink ejection was finished and the time at which ink ejection is newly performed; and a control device for controlling the recovery device according to detection result by the detection device, counting result by the counting device and measurement result by the measurement device. A recovery method for an ink-jet recording apparatus includes: a detection step for detecting a replacement of an ink container or a refilling thereof with ink; and a recovery step for recovering the ink-jet recording head at a relatively short interval directly after detection in the detection step as compared to the subsequent recovery intervals, which gradually increase until next detection.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing system, such as a copying machine, a facsimile apparatus, a printer, a word processor, or a personal computer, and to an ink jet recording apparatus for outputting information in the form of characters, images, etc. onto a recording medium in such a system, and further to recovery method of the ink jet recording apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recording apparatuses which record on a printing medium, such as paper, cloth, plastic sheet, or OHP (Over Head Projector) sheet (hereinafter simply referred to as "recording paper") have been proposed in forms allowing the mounting of a recording head that is, for example, of a wire-dot type, thermal type, thermal transfer type, or ink-jet type.
Of these types of recording heads, the ink-jet type ones are roughly divided, in terms of ink-droplet forming process and of ejection-energy generating method, into continuous-type ones (including charged-particle controlling type and spray-type) and on-demand type ones (including piezo type, spark type and type utilizing thermal energy).
A continuous-type ink-jet recording head continuously ejects ink, imparting electric charge exclusively to those droplets which are to be used for printing. While the charged droplets adhere to the recording paper, the rest of the ink is wasted. In an on-demand-type ink-jet recording head, ink is ejected only when it is needed for printing, so that no ink is wasted, with the interior of the apparatus being kept clean. Further, the on-demand system can be miniaturized relatively easily as compared with the continuous system. Therefore, at present, most of the recording apparatuses on the market are of the on-demand type. Since a recording apparatus equipped with a recording head of this ink-jet system is capable of high-density and high-speed recording, it being used and commercialized ad the output means of an information processing system, for example, as a printer serving as the output terminal of a copying machine, a facsimile apparatus, an electronic typewriter, a word processor, a work station or the like, or as a handy or portable printer with which a personal computer, a host computer, an optical disc apparatus, a video apparatus or the like is equipped. Ink-jet recording apparatuses thus used have constructions corresponding to the peculiar functions, forms of use, etc. of the associated information processing apparatuses.
Generally speaking, an ink jet recording apparatus comprises a carriage that carries recording means (a recording head) and an ink tank, conveying means for conveying recording paper, and control means for controlling these components. The recording head, which ejects ink droplets from a plurality of ejection holes, is made to perform serial scanning in a direction (main scanning direction) perpendicular to the recording-paper feeding direction (sub-scanning direction). When no recording is being performed, the recording paper is intermittently fed by an amount equal to the recording width at one time. This recording method, in which recording is effected by ejecting ink onto recording paper in response to recording signals, involves a relatively low running cost, so that it is widely used as a tranquil recording system. Further, by using a recording head in which a large number of nozzles for ejecting ink are linearly arranged in the sub-scanning direction, it is possible to record in a width corresponding to the number of nozzles by a single scanning over the recording paper by the recording head. Thus, it is possible to speed up the recording operation.
In the case of an ink jet recording apparatus capable of color recording, a color image is formed by superimposing ink droplets ejected from a recording head for a plurality of colors. Generally speaking, when performing color recording, it is necessary to use four recording heads corresponding to the three primary colors of Y (yellow), M (magenta) and C (cyan) or the four colors consisting of these three primary colors plus B (black). Nowadays, an apparatus on which such a recording head for three to four colors is mounted and which is capable of full color image formation has been put into practical use.
Further, in ink-jet recording apparatuses, various constructions for maintaining a satisfactory ejection of ink are usually provided. Due to such a construction, it is possible to prevent an increase in the viscosity of ink through evaporation at and near the ejection openings, where the ink is exposed to the air, or to remove the ink portion that has become excessively viscous. In particular, in a recording head of the bubble-jet type, the influence of an increase in ink viscosity may become relatively large since, in this type of recording head it is possible to form the ejection openings and the liquid passages communicating therewith, etc. in a very fine and highly intensive form. In view of this, such ink-jet recording apparatuses are equipped with a cap by means of which that face of the recording head on which the discharge holes are provided is sealed when the ejection of ink is not being effected. Further, for a more stable ejection of ink, a preliminary ejection, in which ink is ejected onto a predetermined spot that is not on the recording medium, is periodically performed, or a recovery operation, in which ink is automatically sucked when the power of the ink-jet recording apparatus is turned on. Further, from the viewpoint of running cost, the capacity of a waste-ink tank provided in the ink-jet recording apparatus, etc., a system for automatic recovery operation has been proposed, in which time measurement means is provided in the ink-jet recording apparatus and in which automatic suction is effected when a fixed period of time has elapsed without any printing signal having been input to the recording head or any ink ejected (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-234541 and No. 3-234543).
An example of the conventional ink-jet recording apparatus will be specifically described.
First, an ink-jet recording head (which, hereinafter, will also be simply referred to as the "recording head"), with which the ink-jet recording apparatus is equipped, will be described.
In the above recording head, the means for generating the energy for ink ejection may consist, for example, of an electromechanical converter, such as a piezoelectric element, or a device that heats liquid by an electro-thermal conversion element having a heat generating resistor.
In particular, a recording head which ejects liquid by utilizing heat energy (by utilizing a phenomenon called film boiling) is capable of recording with high resolution and miniaturization of the head since it allows a high-density arrangement of the liquid ejection openings and liquid paths communicated with the openings.
To facilitate the understanding of the prior-art technique and the present invention, an example of a conventional recording head and an ink jet recording apparatus equipped therewith will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.
FIG. 5 is a sectional perspective view for schematically illustrating the construction of an ink-jet recording head, which is mounted on an ink-jet recording apparatus.
Numeral 51 indicates a top plate, which has a plurality of grooves 53 serving as nozzles for passing ink, a groove 54 serving as a common liquid chamber communicating with these grooves, and a supply port 55 for supplying ink to the common liquid chamber. Numeral 52 indicates a base plate on which electro-thermal converters 56 respectively corresponding to the nozzles and electrodes 57 for supplying electric power to each electro-thermal converter are integrally formed by a film formation technique. The top plate 51 and the base plate 52 are combined with each other to form a plurality of ejection openings (orifices) 58.
The recording head 51, constructed as described above, is integrally combined with-an ink tank, which serves to supply ink to the recording head through the above-mentioned supply port, to constitute an ink-jet cartridge.
FIG. 6 is an external perspective view for schematically illustrating an ink-jet recording apparatus which is equipped with an ink-jet recording head as shown in FIG. 5.
In the drawing, numeral 20 indicates an ink-jet head (recording head) consisting of an IJC (ink-jet head cartridge) having a group of nozzles facing the recording surface of recording paper conveyed to a platen 24 and performing ink ejection. Numeral 16 indicates a carriage HC for holding the recording head 20. The carriage 16 is connected with a part of a driving belt for transmitting the driving force of a driving motor 17 and is slidable on two guide shafts 19A and 19B that are arranged parallel to each other, whereby the recording head 20 is capable of reciprocating over the entire width of the recording paper. During this reciprocation, the recording head 20 records an image corresponding to received data on the recording paper. For each cycle of this reciprocation, i.e., main scanning, the recording paper is fed by a predetermined amount for sub-scanning.
Numeral 26 indicates a head recovery device, which is arranged at one end of the travel path of the recording head, for example, at a position where it is opposed to the home position. The head recovery device 26 is operated by the driving force of a motor 22 transmitted through a transmission mechanism 23 to effect a capping of the recording head 20. An appropriate suction means (for example, a suction pump) is provided in the head recovery device 26 so as to be linked with that section of the head recovery device 26 in which the capping of the recording head 20 is effected with a cap section 26A. By using this suction means, an ejection recovery operation is performed, in which suction of ink (recovery through suction) is effected to thereby force ink out of the ejection ports, whereby, for example, the portion of ink in the ejection ports whose viscosity has increased is removed. This ejection recovery operation is conducted, for instance, when the power source is turned on, when the recording head-is replaced with a new one, or when recording operation is not performed for a certain period or over.
Numeral 31 indicates a blade serving as a wiping member made of silicone rubber and arranged on a side surface of the head recovery device 26. The blade 31 is held in a cantilever-like form by a blade holding member 31A, and, like the head recovery device 26, operated by the motor 22 and the transmission mechanism 23 to be engaged with the ejection surface of the recording head 20. This operation is performed such that the blade 31 is made to protrude into the travel path of the recording head 20 in an appropriate timing in relation to the recording operation of the recording head 20, or after ejection recovery by the head recovery device 26, to wipe off dew, moisture or dust.
The ink droplet forming process in the system utilizing thermal energy, effected with a recording head as described above, will be briefly described.
First, when the heat generating resistor (heater) has reached a predetermined temperature, a coating bubble which covers the heater surface is generated. The inner pressure of this bubble is so high as to push out the ink within the nozzle. The ink is moved toward the exterior of the nozzle and toward the common liquid chamber opposite thereto by the inertial force due to this pushing. As the ink continues to move, the internal pressure of the bubble becomes a negative pressure, and the velocity of the ink inside the nozzle decreases, which is partly due to the passage resistance. Once ejected outwardly from the nozzle opening (orifice), the ink moves more slowly than when it was inside the nozzle, so that a constriction is generated due to the inertial force and passage resistance, contraction of the bubble, and the surface tension of the ink, resulting in the ink being separated and turned into drops. Then, simultaneously with the contraction of the bubble, ink is supplied into the nozzle from the common liquid chamber by capillary attraction, and the next pulse is waited for.
In this way, a recording head using an electrothermal conversion element as the energy generating means is capable of generating a bubble in the ink inside the liquid passage in one-to-one correspondence by an electric pulse drive signal. Further, since it is possible to instantaneously and appropriately cause growth and contraction of bubbles, an ink drop ejection which particularly excels in responsiveness can be achieved. Further, the recording head is advantageous in that it easily allows high-density mounting and requires a relatively low production cost due to the ease with which the size of the recording head can be reduced and the possibility of making full use of the merits of the IC technique, micro processing technique, etc., in the field of semiconductors, which techniques have recently greatly advanced and been remarkably improved in reliability.
The conventional ink jet recording apparatus described above is also capable of relatively easily assuming a construction which allows recording on paper of a large size, such as A1. In this regard, a recording apparatus capable of A1-size color recording, for example, a plotter for CAD output printer, is commercially available. Further, there is a demand for a variety of uses for such apparatus. For example, there is an increasing demand for recording on OHP films that allow projection for presentation in conferences, lectures, etc. To meet this demand, there is being developed for commercial introduction a recording apparatus which allows selection of recording media having different ink absorption characteristics and which is capable of optimum recording independent of the kind of recording medium.
As described above, there is an increasing demand for ink-jet recording apparatuses as an excellent recording means in a wide variety of industries (e.g., the apparel industry). At the same time, there is also a demand for provision of images of a still higher quality.
However, the conventional recording apparatuses described above have a problem in that air bubbles can enter the ink-jet recording head and the ink supply duct for supplying ink from the ink container to the ink-jet recording head. In particular, during shipment of the ink-jet cartridge or in the case of an ink-jet cartridge in which the ink-jet recording head and the ink container are detachable from each other, air bubbles are liable to enter the ink-jet recording head and the ink supply duct when the ink container is replaced with a new one. An air bubble existing in the head will act as a core inviting atmospheric air from outside, resulting in the air bubbles being allowed to grow. In a relatively short period of negligence, the air bubble will grow, for example, to such a degree as to cause the interior of the head to be filled with atmospheric air to make ejection impossible, thus adversely affecting printing. Such air bubbles might be removed by increasing the number of times that automatic suction is Affected or the suction amount. However, if such increase is effected to excess, the running cost and, further, the amount of wasted ink will increase.
Thus, it is an object of this invention to solve the above problem and to provide an ink-jet recording apparatus and recovery method thereof which can obtain stable printing, and further an information processing system using this apparatus as the output means.

Ink-jet recording apparatus with recovery at controlled time intervals


Rupture of distance holding members, aback substrate or a front substrate attributed to atmospheric pressure is suppressed in a display device in which, between the back substrate having cathode lines and plate-member control electrodes and the front substrate, a large number of distance holding members, which maintain distance between the substrates, are mounted in an erect manner. At portions where the distance holding members are brought into contact with the back substrate and/or the front substrate, a buffering/fixing material, which is constituted of a buffering material having high resiliency and an adhesive, is interposed for dispersing the atmospheric pressure applied from the back substrate and the front substrate substantially uniformly. Further, the distance holding members are fixed between the back substrate and the front substrate by a heat treatment and a pressurizing step.

The present invention relates to a display device of the type which utilizes an emission of electrons into a vacuum space, which is defined between a front substrate and a back substrate; and, more particularly, the invention relates to a display device in which there are arranged, with high accuracy, cathode lines having electron sources and control electrodes, which control the quantity of electrons emitted from the electron sources, which display device can exhibit stable display characteristics by maintaining a vacuum between the front substrate and the back substrate.
As a display device which exhibits a high brightness and high definition, color cathode ray tubes have been widely used conventionally. However, along with the recent request for higher quality in the generation of images in information processing equipment or television broadcasting, there has been an increased demand for planar displays (panel displays), which are light in weight and require a small space, while exhibiting a high brightness and a high definition.
As typical examples, liquid crystal display devices, plasma display devices and the like have been commercialized. Further, as display devices which can realize a higher brightness, it is expected that various kinds of panel-type display devices, including a display device which utilizes the emission of electrons from electron Sources into a vacuum (hereinafter, referred to as "an electron emission type display device" or "a field emission type display device"), and an organic EL display device, which is characterized by low power consumption, will be commercialized.
Among such panel type display devices, there are various types of field emission type display devices, including a display device having an electron emission structure as developed by C. A. Spindt et al, a display device having an electron emission structure of a metal-insulator metal (MIM) type, a display device having an electron emission structure which utilizes an electron emission phenomenon based on a quantum theory tunneling effect (also referred to as a "surface conduction type electron source"), and a display device which utilizes an electron emission phenomenon observed with a diamond film, a graphite film and carbon nanotubes and the like.
The field emission type display device includes a back substrate, on which cathode lines having electron-emission-type electron sources and control electrodes are formed on an inner surface thereof, and a front substrate, on which an anode and a fluorescent material are formed on an inner surface which faces the back substrate; wherein, both substrates are laminated to each other by inserting a sealing frame between the inner peripheries of both substrates, and the inside space between substrates is evacuated. Further, to set a distance between the back substrate and the front substrate to a given value, distance holding members are provided between the back substrate and the front substrate.
The distance holding members for maintaining the distance between the back substrate and front substrate are formed of thin plates made of glass or ceramics, which are disposed in an erect manner at positions spaced from the pixels. Here, as conventional examples of a display device provided with such distance holding members, attention is directed to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 326306/1995 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 338528/2001.


Systems, methods, and software for operating communication systems and wireless communication devices are provided herein. In one example, a method is provided that includes transferring an access request for delivery to a remote data system, receiving a security challenge transferred by the remote data system, and in response, transferring a security answer for delivery to the remote data system that includes at least one hash result generated in the security portion using at least one of the security keys. The method also includes receiving a security grant transferred by the remote data system indicating one of the hash results, selecting at least one of the transceivers based on an association of the transceivers with one of the security keys used to generate the hash result indicated in the security grant, and transferring the data for delivery to the remote data system over a wireless network associated with the selected transceiver.

Wireless communication systems typically include wireless access systems with equipment such as wireless access nodes along with various control and routing nodes which provide wireless access to communication services for wireless communication devices over wireless links. A typical wireless communication system includes systems to provide wireless access across a geographic region, with wireless coverage areas associated with individual wireless access nodes. The wireless access systems exchange user communications between wireless communication devices, service providers, and other end user devices. The user communications typically include voice calls, data exchange, web pages, streaming media, or text messages, among other communication services.
In some wireless communication systems, more than one wireless communication network can be employed across a similar geographic region, with each wireless communication network including one or more sectors of wireless coverage. For example, a first wireless network employing a first wireless communication protocol can be deployed along with a second wireless network employing a second wireless communication protocol. Separate wireless access equipment can be deployed for each wireless network, such as when a fourth generation (4G) Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless network is deployed over a similar geographic area as a third generation (3G) wireless network or other wireless networks.
Wireless communication devices can be configured to support multiple wireless access modes, such as communicating with one or more wireless networks using one or more transceivers or associated equipment. However, selecting which wireless access mode, protocol, or transceiver to use for any given communication session can be complicated due to loading conditions, network preferences, RF conditions, or security concerns.
In addition to multiple transceiver portions, some wireless communication devices include partitioned security 'zones' in their associated processing systems. For example, a first zone can be employed to execute open or untrusted applications and obtain untrusted or unauthenticated data, and a second zone can be employed to execute trusted applications or obtain authenticated data. These security zones can be implemented on separate microprocessors, in separate cores of a multi-core microprocessor, or otherwise allocated over different processing portions of a computing or sensor device. However, when multiple transceivers are employed on a device with these security zones, indicating which transceiver to use or authenticating data from a specific transceiver can be difficult due to the various security zone measures.

Selecting transceiver for wireless network based on security keys


The invention refers to a composite filter for filtering a stream of ambient air including at least one non-prebonded upstream tier and one non-prebonded downstream tier, wherein the ratio of absolute pore volume of upstream tier to downstream tier RAPV>2, and the absolute projected fiber coverage of upstream tier and of downstream tier APFC>95%. Further, the invention refers to a method of making such a composite filter including the steps of (a) laying down a filtration material onto a support to form the upstream non-prebonded tier, (b) depositing onto the upstream tier the downstream non-prebonded tier, and (c) bonding the tiers to form a composite filter having a unitary stratified structure.

In recent times, the technology for filtering particulates from gases has become quite sophisticated in both commonplace applications such as consumer oriented vacuum cleaning of dirt and dust as well as very demanding industrial applications such as removal from gases of specific particle size fractions of wide varieties of contaminants including from inert to biochemically sensitive, among others. It is now well appreciated that the contaminating particulates in a gas stream can have a wide variety of sizes, geometric shapes, e.g., elongated and spherical, and chemical and physical compositions, e.g., odor-free and odoremitting particles.
Consequently, filtration technology has evolved to provide filter media which are adapted to optimally filter specific fractions of the contaminating particulates. Also, this technology has developed techniques for optimizing various performance characteristics of filters such as maintaining low pressure drop across the filter and increasing the filter service life so as to extend the length of time between filter element replacements.
The traditional approach to achieving these objectives has been to provide a multilayer filter medium composed of separate, individually designed layers which are each intended to accomplish primarily one, and sometimes several specific filter functions. For example, a very open, porous and thin scrim is often used to protect underlying filter layers from abrasion by fast moving, large and hard particles; a porous and bulky layer is typically used to capture substantial amounts of chiefly large particles, and an ultrafine diameter filament, low porosity layer is usually prescribed for removing the smallest particles to increase filtration efficiency. From the many choices available, separate filter layers are selected and combined in a preselected sequence then assembled as a group to form a multilayer, and therefore multifunctional filter. The one or more adjacent layers can be bonded to each other or the layers can be unbonded. Optionally, the individual layers can be sandwiched between covers, typically of paper, for structural integrity and ease of handling.
A drawback of the aforementioned multilayer system of constructing multifunctional filters is that there is repetitive processing of the filter media which can be excessive. That is, the filter material in a given layer is first processed to form the individual layer, then it is processed to assemble that layer in the multilayer filter. Each step adds to the compaction and cover, if ever slight, of the final filter product. This tends to raise the pressure drop through the filter and reduce dust holding capacity, thereby limiting service life.
WO 01/03802 discloses a composite filter comprising at least one non-prebonded upstream tier and one non-prebonded downstream tier. However, as will be shown in detail below (FIG. 2), in this composite filter a relatively high pressure drop across the composite filter occurs. Further, also the service life time of this filter is low.
In view of this, the objective problem underlying the invention is to provide a composite filter in which the pressure drop across the filter is maintained low and which has a long service life time.

Composite filter and method of making the same


Embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of communications technologies, and disclose a method and an apparatus for recovering from a radio downlink failure. The method includes: monitoring a first radio link to determine whether a radio downlink failure occurs on the first radio link, where the first radio link is a currently connected radio link; if it is detected that the radio downlink failure occurs on the first radio link, starting a physical-layer-monitored automatic-recovery process for the first radio link and starting a Radio Link Control RRC connection re-setup process to set up a second radio link; and recovering from the radio downlink failure through either of the physical-layer-monitored automatic-recovery process and the RRC connection re-setup process.

Rapid development of communications technologies brings wide application of radio access networks. In an actual application process, a radio link is usually to be set up between a radio access device (for example, a macro base station) and user equipment (UE) to transmit a service. The UE can implement a plurality of connections, in other words, the UE synchronously maintains downlink synchronization of a plurality of radio links. However, during service transmission, a radio downlink failure may occur on the radio link because of an environmental factor or the like. In this case, to ensure normal service transmission, a recovery from the radio downlink failure needs to be made.
In the current system, a recovery from a radio downlink failure may be made by using the UE. The UE includes a physical layer and a radio resource control (RRC) layer. During radio downlink evaluation, the physical layer continuously monitors quality of a cell reference signal. The cell reference signal includes a positioning reference signal (PRS) and the like. An out-of-synchronization indication is sent to the RRC layer when the physical layer detects that the quality of the cell reference signal is less than a threshold Q1. When the RRC layer receives N310 continuous out-of-synchronization indications, it is determined that the radio downlink failure occurs on the radio link. The RRC layer starts a physical-layer-monitored automatic-recovery process, to recover from the radio downlink failure. To be specific, the RRC layer starts a timer T310, and T310 is configured to time the physical-layer-monitored automatic-recovery process. In addition, the physical layer continues to monitor the quality of the cell reference signal. A synchronization indication is sent to the RRC layer when the physical layer detects that the quality of the cell reference signal is greater than a threshold Q2, and the RCC layer counts a quantity of synchronization indications. If N311 continuous synchronization indications are received in a running period of T310, it is determined that the recovery from the radio downlink failure has been automatically made.
However, if the N311 continuous synchronization indications are not received in the running period of T310, it indicates that the recovery from the radio downlink failure fails to be automatically made. In this case, the UE starts a timer T311, and starts a radio resource control (RRC) connection re-setup process. T311 is configured to time the RRC setup process. To be specific, the UE sends an RRC connection setup request to a radio access device to which a target cell managed by the radio access device belongs, so that the radio access device to which the target cell belongs sets up an RRC connection between the target cell and the UE. Then, the UE may transmit a service by using the RRC connection that has been set up. In other words, it is determined that the recovery from the radio downlink failure has been made through the RRC connection. The target cell may be determined by the UE according to a designated policy. In addition, T310, T311, N310, and N311 may be all configured by the radio access device for the UE in a broadcast manner or by using dedicated signaling.
However, in the provided method for recovering from a radio downlink failure, because both the physical-layer-monitored automatic-recovery process and the RRC connection re-setup process are time-consuming, the recovery from the radio downlink failure needs to be made through the RRC connection re-setup process if it is detected that the recovery from the radio downlink failure fails to be automatically made in the physical-layer-monitored automatic-recovery process. In this way, a latency requirement cannot be met for some ultra-reliable and low latency services.

Method and apparatus for recovering from radio downlink failure


An electronic device with a semiconductor layer of (I)

The present disclosure is generally directed to semiconductors of the formulas/structures as illustrated herein and processes of preparation and uses thereof. More specifically, the present disclosure in embodiments is directed to TFT polymers of the formulas as illustrated herein and more specifically to a number of stabilized polythiophenes wherein there is introduced into the polythiophene atoms of higher electronegativity, such as O (3.44, Pauling's electronegativity), and N (3.04) than C (2.55) at the beta and/or gamma positions of the 3-substituent of the thiophene unit, and which resulting polythiophenes are more stable than poly(3-alkylthiophene)s, such as poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), and which disclosed polythiophenes can be selected as semiconductors for polymer thin film transistors, and also which can be selected as solution processable and substantially stable channel semiconductors in organic electronic devices, such as thin film transistors, and which transistors are stable in air, that is do not substantially degrade over a period of time when exposed to oxygen. Although not desiring to be limited by theory, it is believed that the inductive effect and insignificant resonance (or mesomeric) effect of atoms like O and N, and that such atoms at the beta and/or gamma positions would have an electron withdrawing characteristic on the polymer backbone that there is lowered the HOMO (highest occupied molecular orbital) energy level of the polythiophene polymer thus resulting in an increased stability against oxygen and in enhancing transistor performance, such as field effect mobility. More specifically, it is believed that although O and N atoms have a larger electronegativity than carbon (C), the net polar effect of the substituents containing O or N, such as OH, OR, is electron release (donating) when they are attached directly to the aromatic moiety of the thiophene primarily because of their electron releasing resonance effect, thus poly(3-alkoxythiophene) is usually more sensitive to photoinduced oxygen doping than poly(3-alkylthiophene). To eliminate or reduce the resonance effect of O and N atoms with the present disclosure, there is inserted, for example, one or two methylene groups between the O or the N and the thiophene moiety since the O and N would not involve the conjugation of the thiophene ring. However, the electron withdrawing inductive effect to the thiophene ring would be still maintained to some extent. The net polar effect of these substituents would be less electron-releasing than alkyl substituents, and thus lower the HOMO energy level of the polymer compared with poly(3-alkylthiophene), therefore an increase in the stability of these polymers towards oxidative doping by oxygen results.
There are desired electronic devices, such as thin film transistors, TFTs, fabricated with a semiconductor of the formulas as illustrated herein, and which semiconductors possess excellent solvent solubility, and which can be solution processable; and which devices possess mechanical durability and structural flexibility, characteristics which are desirable for fabricating flexible TFTs on a number of substrates, such as plastic substrates. Flexible TFTs enable the design of electronic devices with structural flexibility and mechanical durability characteristics. The use of plastic substrates together with the semiconductor of the formulas as illustrated herein can transform the traditionally rigid silicon TFT into a mechanically more durable and structurally flexible TFT design. This can be of particular value to large area devices such as large area image sensors, electronic paper and other display media. Also, the selection of the semiconductors of the formulas as illustrated herein possess in embodiments extended conjugation for integrated circuit logic elements for low end microelectronics, such as smart cards, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, and memory/storage devices, and enhance their mechanical durability, and thus their useful life span.
A number of semiconductor materials are not, it is believed, stable when exposed to air as they become oxidatively doped by ambient oxygen resulting in increased conductivity. The result is large off current, and thus a low current on/off ratio for the devices fabricated from these materials. Accordingly, with many of these materials, rigorous precautions are usually undertaken during materials processing and device fabrication to exclude environmental oxygen to avoid or minimize oxidative doping. These precautionary measures increase the cost of manufacturing therefore offsetting the appeal of certain semiconductor TFTs as an economical alternative to amorphous silicon technology, particularly for large area devices. These and other disadvantages are avoided or minimized in embodiments of the present disclosure.

Abstract: wherein X is O or NR′; m represents the number of methylenes; M is a conjugated moiety; R and R′ are selected from the group consisting of at least one of hydrogen, a suitable hydrocarbon, and a suitable hetero-containing group; a represents the number of 3-substituted thiophene units; b represents the number of conjugated moieties, and n represents the number of polymer repeating units.


A method of balancing a ram air turbine that has a turbine shaft with a turbine shaft axis, a rotor attached to the shaft, rotor blades attached to the rotor that move between a fine pitch and coarse pitch position, a spring-loaded governor for controlling the position of the blades that has its springing retained by a stationary outer spring seat and a movable inner yoke plate that slides on the turbine shaft and whose position determines blade pitch, comprises the steps of: pulling the yoke plate toward the spring seat to displace the yoke plate toward the spring seat sufficiently to cause the rotor blades to assume a desired degree of pitch; spinning the turbine shaft at a desired rotational speed; balancing the rotor to minimize vibration of the rotor with the desired rotor blade pitch and turbine shaft speed; and releasing the pull of the yoke plate toward the spring seat.

A ram air turbine (RAT) is a device for generating emergency supplemental power in a wide variety of aircraft. A RAT may generate hydraulic power, electric power or both. A RAT incorporates a turbine that extracts power from an air stream proximate the aircraft in flight. U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,163 to Markunas et al., owned by the assignee of this application, and incorporated herein by reference, describes a typical RAT in current use. The turbine is coupled to suitable power generating equipment, such as a hydraulic pump for hydraulic power, an electric generator for electric power, or both in the case of a hybrid RAT.
As described in Markunas et al., the turbine includes a speed governor that changes the turbine blade position to maintain a relatively constant shaft speed to the power generating equipment. Upon assembly, it is necessary to balance the turbine rotor to minimise vibration. This involves rotating the rotor on a test stand at a relatively low speed that does not cause the blades to shift from their low speed, fine pitch position. Unfortunately, as the rotor increases in speed, the balance of the rotor shifts to some degree due to the shift in position of the turbine blades from a fine pitch to a coarse pitch and due to compression of the main governor springs.
It would be advantageous to balance the rotor at an intermediate speed, wherein the blades would have an intermediate pitch, so that the maximum imbalance would be reduced by approximately one-half. However, the power that the test stand would need to rotate the rotor at the combination of intermediate pitch and speed makes this an impractical proposition.


This invention refers to an apparatus for determining the sag of a running web of material transversely to its longitudinal direction. For this purpose according to the invention a carrier of a web sensing roller is guided in a housing to be movable against spring force transversely to its rotational axis and apparatus is provided for measuring the displacement distance of the roller. The roller is replicated in triplicate across the width of the web. In other embodiments web sag is measured by roller rotation and by web force respectively on the three rollers.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for determining the sag of a running web of material transversely to its longitudinal direction.
2. Description of Prior Art
For determining the characteristics of a running web of material, for example for the purpose of subjecting the web to a further treatment in accordance with the determined characteristics, it may be necessary to measure the sag of the web transversely to its running direction Such a measurement of the sag is for example, required in the method for the reduction of the sag of a flattened tubular film web of thermoplastic material, produced by blow molding, transversely to its longitudinal direction, as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/709,319 now pending. The methods as described in said patent application for the reduction of the sag are made use of according to the size of the measured sag.

Apparatus for determining the sag of a running web of material transversely to its longitudinal direction


There are provided a communications system between a vehicle, a home and a center, a vehicle information communicating apparatus and an indoor information processing apparatus which imposes no limitation on communicating time enables bulk communication. The communications system comprises an on-board server and DSRC on-board equipment which are installed on the vehicle 10 and includes a DSRC base station 23 residing outside the vehicle which can communicate with the DSRC on-board equipment and a PC or a home server 22 residing indoors which is connected to the DSRC base station 23, the communication system having a detection apparatus installed on the vehicle and/or an indoor detection apparatus for detecting the state of the vehicle 10 and a communication activating apparatus for activating the communication of information between the on-board server and the PC or the home server 22 using the detection result of either or both of the detection apparatus.

FIG. 26 shows a conventional communications system between a vehicle 10 and a service center 40 which is provided in a car dealer or the like. The conventional communications system is implemented by a mobile phone or a data communication module 58 via a mobile communication network 57. There also exists a system in which the inspection, failure diagnosis and maintenance of the vehicle 10 are implemented in a remote controlled fashion by means of communications systems including a wireless LAN at hot spots.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 27, there also exists a case in which communication between pieces of on-board equipment 61, 62, 63 of the vehicle 10 and the center 40 is configured by a network utilizing an internet 46 by way of continuous communication (roaming) by a mobile telephone network or DSRC (Dedicated Short-Range Communication) (refer to, for example, Patent Document No. 1).
Patent Document No. 1: JP-A-2003-348130
Patent Document No. 2: JP-A-2002-330469

Communications system, vehicle information communicating apparatus, and indoor information processing apparatus


A nail holder which includes at least one nail holding plate respectively and pivotably received in a rectangular casing, each nail holding plate having two rows of nail holes disposed along two opposite long sides thereof in different diameters for holding different nails, and rents respectively and outwardly extended from the nail holes to the border through which the respective nail holding plate can be removed from the nail been driven in the workpiece.

The present invention relates to a nail holder and more particularly to such a nail holder for holding any of a variety of nails while nailing.
In making wooden furnitures, upholstering a room, or fastening wooden members, a variety of nails may be used for holding things together. While nailing, the nail is held with fingers and then driven in by a hammer. While hammering the nail, the fingers may be injured by the hammer easily. If the nail is to be driven in a harden object (for example: the concrete wall), the fingers may be hurt by the severe shock. Further, the nail after driven may be out of the course, or tilted and caused to deform as it is held with the fingers while nailing.


Systems and methods for providing fractional bandwidth communication channels in classes of service that do not normally support these types of channels. In one embodiment, a method comprises receiving one or more frames, wherein each frame contains non-QoS header information, classifying the one or more frames based on the corresponding non-QoS header information and scheduling delivery of the one or more frames based upon corresponding frame classifications, wherein frames in classifications corresponding to QoS circuits are scheduled in a manner that meets QoS requirements associated with the QoS circuits. When the frames are classified, they are forwarded to dynamically allocated queues corresponding to the respective classifications. Frames are scheduled for delivery from the queues according to a modified bin-filling algorithm that is designed to meet the QoS requirements of the respective circuits. This method may be implemented, for example, in a Fibre Channel Class 2 or Class 3 fabric.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to data communications and more particularly to systems and methods for implementing quality of service (e.g., minimum bandwidth and maximum latency guarantees) in environments (e.g., Fibre Channel Class 2 and Class 3 services) that do not normally support quality of service features.
2. Related Art
Computers and computer peripherals (collectively "devices") generally include at least one input/output (I/O) channel that allows communication with other devices. Communications between devices may be carried over various types of communication channels, such as Fibre Channel switching fabrics. While the present disclosure is applicable to other types of communication channels, Fibre Channel will be used to exemplify the problems of the prior art and corresponding solutions provided by the embodiments of the invention.
A Fibre Channel switching fabric may provide one of several different classes of service to its users. Each class of service provides different characteristics than the others. For example, Fibre Channel Class 1 provides point-to-point connections between devices. The connected devices are allocated 100 percent of the communication channel's bandwidth. Fibre Channel Classes 2 and 3, on the other hand, provide connectionless service. Many different devices may be connected by a Fibre Channel fabric that provides Class 2 or Class 3 service, but none of the devices is guaranteed any particular amount of bandwidth. Fibre Channel Class 4 provides virtual connections between devices, and a particular virtual connection may guarantee a certain bandwidth to the devices that communicate via the virtual connection.
While the Fibre Channel classes of service provide various features that are useful for different types of communication, each has its drawbacks. For example, Fibre Channel Class 1, which establishes connections between devices, may hinder the optimal performance of the fabric because particular switches within the Fibre Channel fabric are dedicated to the connection and may not be used for other communication channels. Thus, some communication channels may be completely blocked. Class 1 is, therefore, rarely used.
In Fibre Channel fabrics that provide Class 2 or Class 3 service, one communication channel will not block another because the channels are connectionless. In other words, they do not have switches that are dedicated to particular communication channels, so they do not block each other. Class 2 and Class 3 service, however, cannot allocate a portion of the available bandwidth to communications between particular devices and cannot provide any guarantees as to the bandwidth or latency of communications over the corresponding channels. Consequently, they are not suitable for transmissions of audio or video or other types of streaming or real-time data that have to be delivered in a timely manner. Class 2 and Class 3 are the prevalent classes of service in Fibre Channel fabrics.
Fibre Channel Class 4 establishes virtual connections between devices and provides guarantees as to the bandwidth and latency of communications over these virtual connections. Class 4 service can be used to provide fractional bandwidth circuits that allocate a fraction of the total bandwidth available to a particular virtual connection. Minimum bandwidth and maximum latency guarantees can then be provided as to this virtual connection. Class 4 is therefore capable of providing service that is suitable for use in transmitting audio, video and similar data that requires these guarantees. Fibre Channel Class 4, however, requires special Start-of-Frame (SoF) delimiters that identify the corresponding QoS connection and also requires the active participation of the communicating devices in order to set up the virtual connection. The devices have to be able to provide the specialized SoF delimiters, headers and other information required to set up the end-to-end virtual connections. Because of these requirements, Class 4 is widely considered to be impractical, and consequently has not been implemented.
Despite the various capabilities that are provided by the individual Fibre Channel classes of service, there is not a class of service that is currently available that is both efficient (e.g., non-blocking) and will adequately support the communication of data that requires bandwidth and latency guarantees. Moreover, there is not a class of service that is available or even defined that enables these requirements to be met for legacy devices (e.g., Fibre Channel Class 2 and 3 devices).

Systems and methods for providing quality of service (QoS) in an environment that does not normally support QoS features


The invention provides a laser hardening tool having little laser output loss. The laser hardening tool 100 condenses the irradiated beams LB1 from a semiconductor laser stack 120 via a condensing optical lens 134, and creates parallel light beams LB3 via a diverging optical lens 142. The laser beams LB4 having been bent by a first mirror 160 travels through an optical waveguide 150 having a rectangular cross-sectional shape. The laser beams LB5 having been condensed by a re-condensing optical lens 170 are irradiated through a nozzle 190 to subject a work to hardening. The number of reflections of the laser beams LB4 in the angular optical waveguide 150 is small, and thus the loss of laser output is reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hardening tool that utilizes semiconductor laser.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-138314 (patent document 1) discloses a laser hardening device proposed by the present applicant. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-238253 (patent document 2) discloses a laser hardening tool capable of being attached in removable manner to a tool post of a machine tool.
According to these laser hardening tools, the laser beams output from a laser emission source such as a semiconductor laser bar or a semiconductor laser stack are transmitted via an optical fiber or a waveguide to a torch disposed at the end of the tool.
As shown in FIG. 10, the prior art laser beam waveguide 10 has an inner surface 12 formed of a cylindrical surface. Since the laser beams LB traveling through the waveguide having the cylindrical surface 12 rotate along the cylindrical surface, the number of reflections is increased. Since the reflectivity of the inner surface of the waveguide is 1.0 or smaller, the efficiency is deteriorated each time the beams are reflected, which causes the laser output to be reduced.
The present inventors have conducted various experiments on the effect that the cross-sectional shape of the optical waveguide has on the laser output efficiency, and confirmed that an optical waveguide 20 with a rectangular cross-section having its inner surfaces formed of planar surfaces 22 has reduced number of reflections, and thus realizes an optical waveguide having high output efficiency.


In certain embodiments, a method of processing a semiconductor structure includes forming a patterned layer over a copper layer to be etched. The copper layer is disposed over a substrate. The method includes patterning the copper layer, using the patterned layer as an etch mask, by performing a cyclic etch process to form a recess in the copper layer. The cyclic etch process includes forming, in a first etch step, a passivation layer on an exposed surface of the copper layer by exposing the exposed surface of the copper layer to a chlorine gas. The passivation layer replaces at least a portion of a surface layer of the copper layer. The cyclic etch process includes subsequently etching, in a second etch step, the passivation layer using a first plasma that includes a noble gas. Each cycle of the cyclic etch process extends the recess in the copper layer.

Generally, semiconductor devices, such as integrated circuits (ICs), are fabricated by sequentially depositing and patterning layers of dielectric, conductive, and semiconductor materials over a semiconductor substrate, using photolithography and etching to form structures that operate as circuit components (e.g., transistors, resistors, and capacitors) and as interconnect elements (e.g., conductive lines, contacts, and vias). Examples of metals used to form conductive features in a semiconductor device, such as conductive features in a metallization layers, include copper, aluminum, and others.
The semiconductor industry has repeatedly reduced the minimum feature sizes in semiconductor devices to a few nanometers to increase the packing density of components. This miniaturization to a few nanometers has intensified various challenges associated with semiconductor fabrication. Fabrication processes, including plasma and other processes, are expected to deliver precise dimensions (e.g., linewidths, etch depth, and film thicknesses) in the nanometer range along with precisely controlled features, for example, conformality, anisotropy, selectivity, surface and line edge roughness, and edge profile, often at atomic scale dimensions, uniformly across a wide (e.g., 300 mm) wafer.

Etching metal during processing of a semiconductor structure


A three-phase generator that has a plurality of stator windings, a rectifier system connected with the stator windings, an exciter winding, a generator controller, and an additional circuit that effects an increase in voltage. This additional circuit is a passively operated booster circuit that is integrated into the generator and that has no controlled components.

In known claw-pole generators, the energy for the excitation is taken from the electrical system of the respective motor vehicle. This takes place using a generator controller that has a switched semiconductor as a switching element. The generator controller sets the excitation voltage between 0 V and the electrical system voltage. This is shown in FIG. 1, which depicts a diagram illustrating the positioning of generator controller R between electrical system BN and excitation winding WE of the generator.
FIG. 2 shows a known generator circuit having a generator controller R, an excitation winding WE, a rectifier system G and three stator windings WS. The stator windings form a star connection, and are offset by 120° from one another with respect to the rotor (not shown). The beginnings of the windings, which are connected to the rectifier system, are designated with the letters U, V, W. When the rotor is turned, an alternating voltage is produced in each of these stator windings. The three alternating voltages produced are offset from one another by 120°.
From German Published Patent Application No. 196 34 096, a voltage supply system is known that has an increased output power, produced when an increased power requirement is signaled by an external control signal. The known system has a three-phase generator whose windings supply the voltage for a vehicle electrical system via rectifiers. In addition, the generator contains an exciter winding through which the excitation voltage, which can be influenced by a voltage controller, flows. The exciter winding can be operated with a voltage that is higher than the supply voltage during times that can be predetermined. This increased voltage is produced through the activation of additional windings having rectifiers in the generator, or by a direct-current converter allocated to the generator. In this way, the controlling of the generator takes place through the voltage controller, which has controlled transistors, in such a way that the output voltage of the generator remains at the level of the electrical system.

Three-phase generator having increased output


A substantially rectangular tool has a flat body, approximately 12 inches long and 6 inches wide, with a rasp surface on one side and a file surface on the other. The rasp portion of the tool includes a stop located near one of its narrower ends for abutting against the side wall of the hoof of a horse. This stop is provided as a reference and alignment point to measure the width of the hoof. The file portion on the other side of the tool includes measure markings for determining the width of the hoof being filed with reference to the stop. Both rasp and file portions have cutting edges placed at about 45 degrees with respect to the longitudinal axis of the tool. Two handles, a longer one for pushing the tool and a shorter one for controlling its position through each cutting stroke, are provided at each longitudinal end. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, a filing shoulder perpendicular to the cutting plane of the rasp is provided for trimming the side walls of the hoof.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to farrier rasps and, in particular, to a rasp including means for measuring a hoof width to determine the appropriate size of horse shoe to be used.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Horses need periodic shoeing to protect their hooves and prevent damage to their feet. Typically, the wear and tear on the shoe and the normal growth and expansion of the hoof require filing, trimming and reshoeing every six to eight weeks. Therefore, the process of replacing old shoes and reconditioning hooves is a significant part of the upkeep of a horse and an important aspect of a farrier's work.
In order to replace a horse's shoe, a farrier is required to lift each foot several times to carry out the various steps involved in the process. First the old shoe is extracted; then the hoof is filed down to remove the old, distal horn material and provide a structurally sound anchor for shoe nails; then the width of the hoof is measured for fitting; and finally a new shoe is nailed or otherwise attached to the hoof. Each step involves picking up and holding the foot of the horse between the legs of the farrier such that the hoof faces up and its bottom and side walls are accessible to perform the particular work required. Each step must be carried out for each foot of the horse, which is time consuming and adds to the cost of horse shoeing. Moreover, since rasps in current use are only about two inches wide, it is extremely difficult for farriers to produce a level hoof without "eye-balling" and constantly checking the shoe to make sure there are no gaps between the hoof wall and the shoe that might cause the shoe to rock on the hoof.
A particular problem that results from the procedure just described is the fact that farriers often skip the measuring step for three of the four hooves and use the first measurement for all fittings, assuming that the hooves of all four feet are the same. In fact, though, that is normally not the case and the shoe has to be bent to conform to the particular hoof to which it is being attached. Thus, instead of using a shoe of a different size, as available in commerce for obtaining an optimal fit, this shortcut is often taken to save time and provide a less expensive service. Unfortunately, though, this practice introduces stresses in the hoof that can affect the integrity of its structure and the life of the fit.
Therefore, any improvement in the procedure and tools used in horse shoeing that simplified the process would be welcome by farriers. This invention is directed at providing a tool that makes it possible for a farrier to obtain the advantages of the described shortcut without its negative consequences.


The invention relates to the systems for ensuring the safety of an individual, particularly in case of avalanche or other emergencies when snowboarding. The system for jettisoning a snowboard consists of a signaling device comprising a wireless transmitting module, a contact connected to an initiating lever, current source and equipment release modules. Each equipment release module which is arranged on a corresponding strap (rear strap, or on each of the straps) of the snowboard binding consists of the wireless receiving module, a replaceable pyrotechnic element and a current source. Each replaceable pyrotechnical element is an integral part of the strap (rear strap) of the snowboard binding, the latter constituting a plastic band which consists of two parts and is connected by a rod according to the swivel hinge principle.

The closest to the technical substance of the claimed invention is a system to release bindings of ski boots or snowboard boots which consists of a signaling device comprising a wireless transmitting module, a contact connected to the handle of initiation, a current source and equipment release modules disclosed in Document EP 1941935 A2 published on Jul. 9, 2008.
The disadvantage of this system is a high probability of accidental actuation of the system as well as the failure of its components due to the design features. Moreover, an engineering problem of releasing binding elements has not been solved for analog equipment and there exists the risk of losing the signalling mechanism.

System for jettisoning snowboard in an emergency situation