A method for controlling a steam turbine with a steam bleed for various operational tasks is provided. The operational tasks are each characterized by the type of the controlled variables used for controlling the steam turbine. A control structure is used for deriving actuating signals for actuating elements for valves. The actuating signals are derived from control signals of the regulators which are used. Only a single control structure is used for all the operational tasks. As a result, the configuration of the control is simplified, the control signals are decoupled, and a smooth changeover between the operational tasks is achieved. A device for controlling a steam turbine is also provided.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for controlling a steam turbine with a steam bleed. The invention also relates to a control device for such a steam turbine.
A control of a steam turbine with bleed steam, called a bleeder turbine for short, is described in the book having the title xe2x80x9cRegelung von Dampfturbinenxe2x80x9d [xe2x80x9cClosed-loop control of steam turbinesxe2x80x9d] by Adolf Brxc3xccher, 2nd edition, 1972, Kraftwerkunion AG, Mxc3xclheim/Ruhr, from page 53 in the Chapter xe2x80x9cReglereinstellblatt bei gesteuerten Entnahmeturbinenxe2x80x9d [xe2x80x9cRegulator adjustment sheet for controlled bleeder turbinesxe2x80x9d]. In the case of a bleeder turbine, steam for normal operational purposes is bled off from a specific stage. If steam is bled off to condensation or feed-water preheaters, only one connection is provided from the stage to these preheaters, without any closed-loop control element. This is a so-called uncontrolled bleeding or tapping. The pressure at a tap is governed by the flow rate or amount of the steam passing through the turbine.
In contrast to this, it may be necessary to provide steam at a specific pressure, irrespective of the magnitude of the turbine steam flow rate, and thus the electrical power. However, this requirement can be satisfied only if it is possible to maintain pressure. In this case, the steam turbine is a controlled bleeder turbine. For example, steam flows into the high-pressure section of such a bleeder turbine. At the end of the high-pressure section, the steam flows on the one hand into a steam bleed line, and on the other hand into a low-pressure section of the turbine. The steam which flows through the low-pressure section can then be supplied not only to a condenser but also, once again, to a bleed line. The latter configuration is referred to as a backpressure bleeder turbine. Thus, the function of a bleeder turbine is not only to drive a generator, but also to provide so-called process steam for operational purposes.
Depending on the desired amount of electrical power or the desired amount of process steam, different operational tasks arise with regard to the closed-loop control of the bleeder turbine. These tasks are characterized by different types of controlled variables that are used for closed-loop control. The controlled variables may be, for example, a bleed steam flow rate, a power level emitted from the turbine, a rotation speed of the turbine shaft, a backpressure in the steam flowing out of the turbine, or an initial pressure in the steam flowing into the turbine. One operational task would thus be characterized, for example, by closed-loop control on the basis of the bleed steam flow rate and the power. Another operational task would be characterized, for example, by closed-loop control on the basis of the bleed steam flow rate and the backpressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,146,270 discloses a control device for a steam turbine with speed and power control coupled on the output side. A fuzzy controller described in the article xe2x80x9cDampfturbinenregelung mit Fuzzy-Logikxe2x80x9d [steam turbine regulation with fuzzy logic], R. Hampel, N. Chaker, in ATP Automatisierungstechnische Praxis [automation engineering in practice], 37 (1995), June, No. 6, Munich, Germany, is intended to permit such regulation in the case of a steam turbine with steam bypass stations. Nevertheless, until now, a specific control structure has been used for each operational task. Parameters obtained empirically are in this case linked so that the desired control response is obtained for the operational task. Both the parameters and the linking of the parameters thus differ from one another, so that use is always made of different control structures.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a method for controlling a steam turbine with a steam bleed which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known methods of this general type and which is matched in a simple and operationally reliable manner to the operational tasks of the steam turbine. It is a further object of the invention to provide a control device for a steam turbine with a steam bleed that carries out the operational tasks of the steam turbine in a simple and operationally reliable manner.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a method for controlling a steam turbine, the method includes the steps of:
regulating a steam feed via a feed valve, and regulating a steam bleed via a bleed valve;
supplying, with a first regulator or a second regulator, a first control signal and a second control signal to a regulating structure as a function of controlled variables fed to the first regulator or the second regulator;
linking, when there is a task-specific change between the first and second regulators, by using always a same regulating structure including a parameter set subdivided into subgroups, each subgroup having a first parameter and a second parameter, a result of a conversion of the first control signal with the second parameter and a result of a conversion of the second control signal with the first parameters to one another;
determining a first actuating signal with a first one of the subgroups and determining a second actuating signal with a second one of the subgroups; and
feeding the first actuating signal to the feed valve and feeding the second actuating signal to the bleed valve.
In other words, a method for controlling a steam turbine is provided in which a steam feed is regulated via a feed valve and a steam bleed is regulated via a bleed valve, wherein a first regulator or a second regulator emits a first control signal and a second control signal to a regulating structure as a function of the controlled variables respectively fed to them, wherein, during a task-specific change between the regulators by using a regulating structure which is always the same and has a parameter set subdivided into subgroups each having a first parameter and a second parameter, within each subgroup, the result of a conversion of the first control signal using the second parameter and the result of a conversion of the second closed-loop control signal using the first parameters are linked to each other, and wherein a first actuating signal fed to the feed valve is determined with a first subgroup, and a second actuating signal fed to the bleed valve is determined with a second subgroup.
There may also be a plurality of feed valves or else a plurality of bleed valves, and corresponding regulators. A bleed valve may also at the same time be a feed valve. For example, a steam bleed from a first stage of the steam turbine may be controlled by adjusting a feed steam quantity or flow rate (feed flow rate for short) for a second stage in the steam turbine, following the first stage, such that the desired bleed steam quantity or flow rate (bleed flow rate for short) is obtained from the difference between the respective feed flow rate supplied to the first stage and that supplied to the second stage.
A steam feed or else a steam bleed may be supplied to or taken from any point on the steam turbine, depending on the requirement. The operational tasks are characterized by the nature of the controlled variables, depending on the desired emission of power from the turbine or the desired bleed steam flow rate. For example, one operational task is characterized by a (closed-loop) control based on the steam bleed flow rate the rotational speed of the turbine.
The control structure is used to convert the control signals from the regulators into actuating signals for actuating elements for the feed or bleed valve. Depending on the operational task, this conversion must be carried out in a manner matched to the operational task, since each operational task is based on a different operating envelope for the feed or bleed valve.
In the invention only a single control structure is now used for this purpose for all the operational tasks. In this case, each operational task is now in each case characterized only by a specific set of parameters for the common control structure. The entire control system for the steam turbine is thus simplified. Furthermore, a high level of operational reliability is ensured since a smooth changeover can be carried out by the same control structure, in particular when changing from a first to a second operational task. This means that there is no sudden change to the actuated actuating element when changing from a first regulator to a second regulator. Such a sudden change in an actuating element position, which until now could not be ensured, since different control structures were used for the various tasks, results in a high mechanical load on this actuating element.
The common control structure for all the operational tasks means that it is possible to ensure that the controlled variables are largely decoupled from one another. This means that, for example, there is no significant change in power from the steam turbine when a change is made to the bleed steam flow rate. The desired parameters can thus be set independently of one another, depending on the operational requirement. With a control with different regulator structures for each operational task by empirically obtained parameters, such decoupling over the entire operating envelope is virtually impossible, due to the large number of parameters. In contrast, with the common control structure, the control structure parameters for the respective operational task are defined in a simple manner, using coupling functions between the controlled variables, such that the controlled variables are decoupled from one another. The parameters are preferably furthermore defined such that an operating envelope is defined which is matched to the chosen operational task.
One of the controlled variables is preferably a bleed steam amount or flow rate, a pressure in the steam turbine, a power level of the steam turbine, or a rotational speed of the steam turbine.
Each operational task is assigned a parameter group, which characterizes it, for the control structure. When a change is made from a first of the operational tasks to a second of the operational tasks, a change takes place from a first regulator to a second regulator such that initial variables for the output of the second regulator are fixed through the use of an inverse closed-loop control structure. The inverse closed-loop control structure is in this case the inverse of the closed-loop control structure with the parameter group for the second operational task. The initial variables are supplied to the second regulator. The second regulator thus starts with values which correspond to the last actuation of the first regulator from the old operational task. This means that there is no sudden change to the actuation of the actuating element. The initial variables for the second regulator are defined in a simple manner by using the common control structure in such a way that the initial variables are recalculated through the use of the inverse control structure from the actuating variables of the first regulator. The inverse control structure corresponds to reverse calculation of the control structure, with the control structure parameters being used as the basis for the new operational task. A smooth changeover between operational tasks is thus achieved in a simple manner.
Each parameter group preferably includes a feed valve subgroup and a bleed valve subgroup, in which case a first one of the control signals is linked to a first parameter, and a second one of the control signals is linked to a second parameter of each of these subgroups, and in which case the feed valve manipulated variable and the bleed valve manipulated variable, respectively, are additionally determined through the use of a respective offset parameter associated with each subgroup.
With the objects of the invention in view there is also provided, a control device for a steam turbine, including:
two regulators;
the two regulators receiving respective controlled variables and the two regulators respectively outputting, as a function of the controlled variables a first control signal and a second control signal;
a regulating structure receiving the first control signal and the second control signal, the regulating structure being a same regulating structure for the two regulators; and
the regulating structure including a parameter set subdivided into subgroups, each of the subgroups having a first parameter and a second parameter, the regulating structure linking a result of a conversion of the first control signal with the second parameter and a result of a conversion of the second control signal with the first parameters to one another such that a first one of the subgroups generates a first actuating signal for a feed valve, and a second one of the subgroups generates a second actuating signal for a bleed valve.
In other words, a control device for a steam turbine with two regulators which, as a function of controlled variables fed to them in each case, emit a first control signal and a second control signal to a control structure that is the same in both regulators, wherein the control structure having a parameter set subdivided into subgroups, each having a first parameter and a second parameter within each subgroup, links the result of a conversion of the first control signal with the second parameter and the result of a conversion of the second control signal with the first parameters to one another, and wherein a first subgroup generates a first actuating signal for the feed valve, and a second subgroup generates a second actuating signal for the bleed valve.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a method and device for closed-loop control of a steam turbine with a steam bleed, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Method and device for controlling a steam turbine with a steam bleed


A method for predicting and automatically verifying data assurance of a plurality of data values located in software processes in an e-commerce environment by a pattern recognition module, the method comprising: running the software processes on a data processing device; priming the software processes for creating baseline information based on collected data values; evaluating the baseline information by the pattern recognition module by comparing the collected data values of the baseline information with predetermined data values of predetermined information stored in a baseline database; establishing relationships between the collected data values and the predetermined data values to produce output data; determining whether the output data is valid; flagging data values outside permitted bounds; permitting a user to perform manual data assurance on the data values outside the permitted bounds; and updating the baseline database to include the collected data values of the baseline information without the data values outside the permitted bounds.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for autonomic data assurance, and particularly to a method for automating an auditing process where modifications to a system are predicted and automatically verified by a pattern recognition mechanism.
2. Description of Background
A common problem in software development is how to verify that a complex software element that provides a data altering function (or service) integrates correctly and produces predictable and valid output. As an example, an e-commerce component is considered that is responsible for processing an order.
The e-commerce component is integrated with several different components. These components include: an order capture component, which is usually a web interface that collects user input about the order, an order processing component, which is a main element that coordinates all other elements, a catalog component, which is utilized to check if entries in the order match with offered items in the store catalog, and if pre-processed prices are correct, an inventory component, a fulfillment component, a shipping component, tax components, a payment component, and an external payment provider component.
This complex function of order processing involves several different database values, calculates new values, and updates the database accordingly at the end of the process. In some specific processes, such as the prior example of the order processing system, these modifications follow an established pattern, which can be predicted and automatically verified for data assurance purposes. For processes involving monetary transactions, assurance is often a required element and is performed manually, e.g., human review of orders and associated payment reports to make sure no discrepancies have occurred. However, this manual assurance by human review is expensive and time consuming.
Considering the limitations of the aforementioned methods, it is clear that there is a need for a method for reducing human intervention when performing an auditing process. In the proposed method an automatic data assurance module compares and then selects patterns that can be automatically audited. In other words, a method of data assurance for e-commerce where modifications to a system are predicted and verified for data assurance by means of pattern recognition is highly desirable.

Autonomic data assurance applied to complex data-intensive software processes by means of pattern recognition

International Business Machines Corporation


In a thermal development method for generating an image from a latent image recorded on an image formation layer of a photosensitive photothermographic recording material, by means of heating the photosensitive photothermographic recording material, a first surface, which is one surface of the photosensitive photothermographic recording material, and a second surface, which is the remaining surface of the same, are heated; and wherein a second total amount of heat applied to one surface of the first and second surfaces, the one surface having a larger contact area, is controlled so as to be a value of 80 or less when a first amount of heat applied to the other surface having a smaller contact area is taken as 100, wherein the first and second amounts of heat are total amounts of heat applied to the image formation layer from the first and second surfaces, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermal development method and apparatus for generating an image from a latent image recorded on an image formation layer of a photosensitive photothermographic recording material, by means of heating the photosensitive photothermographic recording material.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus called, e.g., a medical imager, produces a print with a visible image from an image captured by a medical measuring machine, such as a CT or MRI device. The image forming apparatus employs a photosensitive photothermographic recording material (also called a "recording material") produced by forming a photothermographic image formation layer on a support such as a PET film or the like. This photosensitive photothermographic recording material is exposed to a light beam which has been modulated in accordance with image data supplied from an image data supply source, such as an MRI device, to thus record the latent image. Subsequently, the exposed photosensitive photothermographic recording material is subjected to heating development performed by a built-in thermal development section, to thus generate colors and output a hard copy.
FIG. 8 shows an imaging forming apparatus equipped with a related-art thermal development apparatus (See JP-A-11-218894 (FIG. 1)).
An image-forming apparatus 1 basically comprises, in sequence in a direction in which a recording material A is conveyed (hereinafter called a "conveyance direction of a recording material A"), a recording material feed section 3, an image exposure section 5, and a thermal development section 7. The recording material feed section 3 takes a sheet of recording material A from a magazine 9 and supplies the recording material A downstream in the conveyance direction. The image exposure section 5 is a section which exposes the recording material A to a light beam scan to record an image, and comprises an exposure unit 11 and sub-scan conveyance means 13.
The recording material A on which the latent image is recorded by the image exposure section 5 is conveyed upward to the thermal development section 7 by a pair of conveyance rollers 15 and 17. The thermal development section 7 is a section which heats the recording material A through use of a heating drum 19 serving as heating means, to thereby render the latent image visible through thermal development, and comprises an endless belt 21, a separation claw 23, and support rollers 25a to 25d for supporting the endless belt 21.
The recording material A transported to the thermal development section 7 is conveyed between the heating drum 19 and the endless belt 21 and sandwiched between the heating drum 19 and the endless belt 21 by means of rotation of the heating drum 19. The recording material A is transported while remaining in intimate contact with the heating drum 19 and is subjected to thermal development effected by the heat of the heating drum 19, whereby the latent image recorded by means of exposure becomes visible. In this case, only one side of the recording material A is heated by the heating drum 19. When the extremity of the thus-thermally-developed recording material A has reached the neighborhood of the separation claw 23, the separation claw 23 comes into contact with the heating drum 19 and intrudes between the heating drum 19 and the recording material A, whereupon the recording material A is exfoliated from the heating drum 19 and output to a discharge tray 27.
Specifically, the recording material loaded into the thermal development section is conveyed while being nipped between a heating drum and an endless belt and thermally developed by the heat of the heating drum, whereby the recorded latent image becomes visible through exposure. Namely, the recording material is heated from only one side by the heating drum.

Thermal development method and apparatus


Provided is a pretensioner for a seat belt retractor. The pretensioner for a seat belt retractor of a vehicle includes a torsion bar on which a webbing is wound; a gear member connected to the torsion bar; a base member with which the gear member is meshed and through which the torsion bar passes; a cylinder having a movement guide hole formed therein to supply a gas upon rapid deceleration of the vehicle; a piston having a rack formed at a side surface thereof in a longitudinal direction to be meshed with the gear member and moved along the movement guide hole upon supply of a gas, and; a cylindrical sealing operation part integrally formed with a bottom of the piston and projecting therefrom; and a sealing part coupled to an outer periphery of the sealing operation part to seal between the piston and an inner wall of the cylinder, wherein the base member has a hooking means for hooking the piston to a rack. Since the rack of the piston is hooked by the hooking means and assembled thereto, it is possible to form an appropriate gap (or a marginal space) between the sealing part and the straight movement guide hole.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pretensioner for a seat belt retractor, and more particularly, to a pretensioner for a seat belt retractor a capable of forcedly winding a webbing on a torsion bar upon abrupt deceleration of a vehicle due to collision, and so on, to prevent the webbing from being loosened.
2. Description of the Conventional Art
A conventional seat belt retractor employs a pretensioner for forcedly winding a webbing on a torsion bar upon abrupt deceleration of a vehicle due to collision, and so on, to prevent the webbing from being loosened.
Several examples of the conventional seat belt retractor will be described below.
Conventional Art 1
Typical structure of the pretensioner is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2000-302012, entitled "Webbing Winding Device," which will be described in brief.
The webbing winding device includes a winding shaft to which a base end of a long strip-shaped webbing belt for restricting a passenger's body is fixed and to which force is applied in a direction winding the webbing belt, a pretensioner for rotating the winding shaft in the winding direction under a predetermined condition, a bearing means having an inner periphery into which the winding shaft is inserted on a shaft having an inner diameter larger than an outer diameter of the winding shaft, and a projection projecting from one of the inner periphery of the bearing means and the outer periphery of the winding shaft toward the other, and contacting the other at a very small area in comparison with the area of the other opposite to the one.
Conventional Art 2
In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2000-302013 discloses "Pretensioner," which will be described in brief.
The pretensioner is integrally formed with a webbing winding device for winding a webbing for restricting a passenger on a winding shaft in a layered manner to rapidly rotate the winding shaft in a webbing winding direction to a predetermined extent using a rack/pinion type drive mechanism upon rapid deceleration of a vehicle. The drive mechanism includes a piston movably disposed in a cylinder in an axial direction and having a rack bar to be moved upon rapid deceleration of the vehicle, and a pinion disposed to be meshed with a rack gear of the piston and directly connected to a shaft end of the winding shaft through the medium of a clutch connected to the winding shaft upon rapid deceleration of the vehicle.
Conventional Art 3
Further, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-335217 discloses a safety belt retractor, which will be described in brief.
The safety belt retractor includes a housing having a pair of side plates, a winding shaft rotatably supported between the side plates of the housing and rotatably biased in a webbing winding direction, and a pretensioner mechanism attached to one side plate of the housing to rotate the winding shaft in the winding direction and wind the webbing upon rapid deceleration of a vehicle.
The pretensioner mechanism includes a gas generator for generating a gas, a cylinder having one end on which the gas generator is mounted and the other end installed at an outer surface of the one side plate of the housing at its one side, and a pinion gear interlocked with the winding shaft to be rotatably supported by the winding shaft.
In addition, a piston is installed at a base end to be movably accommodated in the cylinder to be driven by a gas pressure, and a rack is formed at a front end of the piston to be meshed with the pinion gear. The rack is meshed with the pinion gear depending on the compression driving of the piston to rotate the winding shaft in the winding direction.
Further, the retractor includes a cover body for forming a movement guide path of the rack disposed on an extension line of the other end of the cylinder and projecting from the other end of the cylinder, a first adhesion part installed at the one side plate of the housing to cover an opening at the other side of the cylinder in a manner adhered to the piston, and a second adhesion part installed at the cover body to cover the opening of the other side of the cylinder in a manner adhered to the piston.
Conventional Art 4
In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2004-1777 discloses a pretensioner, which will be described in brief.
The pretensioner is integrally formed with a webbing winding device for winding a webbing for restricting a passenger on a winding shaft in a layered manner to rapidly rotate the winding shaft in a webbing winding direction to a predetermined extent using a rack/pinion type drive mechanism upon rapid deceleration of a vehicle.
The drive mechanism includes a piston movably disposed in a cylinder in an axial direction and having a rack bar to be moved upon rapid deceleration of the vehicle, and a pinion disposed to be meshed with a rack gear of the piston and directly connected to a shaft end of the winding shaft through the medium of a clutch connected to the winding shaft upon rapid deceleration of the vehicle.
The pinion includes a gear part having a pinion gear meshed with the rack gear, and a clutch part integrally formed with the gear part in a concentric manner and having the clutch formed at an inner periphery thereof.
Conventional Art 5
First, Japanese Patent Registration No. 3519302 discloses a typical pretensioner structure, which will be described below in brief with reference to FIGS. 1A to 1C.
As shown, a retractor 38 of Conventional Art 5 includes a housing 12 fixed to a vehicle, and a torsion bar 14 rotatably installed at the housing 12. A webbing 16 is wound on the torsion bar 14.
In addition, the retractor 38 includes a piston-gear type pretensioner 10 for a seat belt retractor. A gear member 18 is connected to one end of the torsion bar 14. Therefore, rotation of the gear member 18 causes rotation of the torsion bar 14 to wind the webbing 16.
Further, a cylinder 20 is fixed to the housing 12. The cylinder 20 has a hollow cylindrical shape, a tip 22 of which is opened adjacent to the gear member 18.
Meanwhile, a cylindrical recess 26 is formed at a bottom surface 24 of the cylinder 20. The recess 26 has a diameter smaller than an inner diameter of the cylinder 20 such that a position of an O-ring 34 is determined depending on constitution of the bottom surface 24 and the recess 26 of the cylinder 20. In addition, a gas supply port (not shown) is formed at the recess 26 to allow supply of a gas into the cylinder 20 when the vehicle is abruptly decelerated.
Further, a substantially circular pressure receiving plate 28 is installed in the cylinder 20 to move in the cylinder 20. As a result, when a gas is supplied into the cylinder 20, the pressure receiving plate 28 moves along an arrow (direction C) of FIG. 1C.
In addition, a piston 30 is integrally formed with a surface of the pressure receiving plate 28 facing the gear member 18. A rack formed at one side of the piston 30 corresponds to the gear member 18. When the piston 30 moves with the pressure receiving plate 28 in the arrow direction C of FIG. 1C, the rack of the piston 30 is meshed with the gear member 18 to rotate the gear member 18 in a direction that the webbing 16 is wound (an arrow A of FIG. 1C).
Meanwhile, a cylindrical seal holding part 32 is integrally formed with the pressure receiving plate 28 facing the bottom surface 24 of the cylinder 20, and the O-ring 34 is disposed on an outer periphery of the seal holding part 32. The O-ring 34 has an elasticity to seal between the pressure receiving plate 28 and an inner wall 36 of the cylinder 20.
In addition, the O-ring interposed between the pressure receiving plate 28 and the bottom surface 24 of the cylinder 20 prevents the pressure receiving plate 28 from being in direct contact with the bottom surface 24 of the cylinder 20. In this state, the position of the pressure receiving plate 28 is an initial position (an initial assembly position) of the pressure receiving plate 28. Here, the seal holding part 32 is disposed in the recess 26 of the bottom surface 24 of the cylinder 20, with the O-ring 24 being in contact with the bottom surface 24 of the cylinder 20. Further, the recess 26 has a depth such that the seal holding part 32 is not in contact with a bottom surface 27 of the recess 26 even when the O-ring is elastically deformed.
Meanwhile, since the piston-gear type pretensioner for a seat belt retractor of Conventional Art 5 includes a force limiter (not shown), when the force limiter is operated, the gear member 18 is rotated in a counter-winding direction of the webbing 16 to release the webbing 16, thereby preventing a passenger from receiving a load more than a predetermined amount.
Eventually, in the case of the pretensioner of Conventional Art 5, the recess 26 having a diameter smaller than an inner diameter of the cylinder 20 is formed at the bottom surface 24 of the cylinder 24, and a step is formed between the inner wall 36 of the cylinder 20 and an inner wall of the recess 26. In addition, the O-ring 34 is disposed on the step.
Since the step narrows a space between the bottom surface of the recess 26 and a lower end of the seal holding part 32, a gas pressure provided through the gas supply port may be insufficiently transmitted to the pressure receiving plate.
In addition, according to Conventional Art 5, a portion of the cylinder adjacent to the gas support port may be weak to be readily broken on gas discharge.
Conventional Art 6
Japanese Patent Registration No. 3819189 discloses a constitution of a pretensioner, which will be described with reference to FIG. 2.
As shown, since a piston head 20 of a piston 22 of Conventional Art 6 maintains a state extended in an initial assembly position to a bottom position in which a straight section of the piston accommodating part 30 of the cylinder 24 is terminated, there is an insufficient space to be pressed by the discharged gas.
In addition, since the cylinder has a small thickness at its corners in which a gas pressure is largely applied and abruptly changes its direction, the corners of the cylinders may be damaged on gas discharge.
Conventional Art 7
Japanese Patent Registration No. 3218987 discloses a constitution of a pretensioner for a seat belt retractor, which will be described with reference to FIG. 3.
As shown, since a piston head 7 of a piston 25 of Conventional Art 7 also maintains a state extended from an initial assembly position to a bottom position in which a straight section of the piston accommodating part of the cylinder 24 is terminated, there is an insufficient space to be pressed by the discharged gas.
In addition, since the cylinder has a small thickness at its corners in which a gas pressure is largely applied and abruptly changes its direction, the corners of the cylinders may be damaged on gas discharge.
Conventional Art 8
Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 1995-251710 discloses a constitution of a pretensioner for a seat belt, which will be described with reference to FIG. 4.
As shown, the pretensioner for a seat belt of Conventional Art 8 includes an ignition propulsion wadding material operated by a fuse 48 and adapted to a drive device for the seat belt pretensioner, and the drive device includes a piston 18 for performing translation movement of a piston-cylinder unit.
However, in the seat belt pretensioner of Conventional Art 8, since an end of the piston 18 is disposed on a step of an inner wall of a cylinder 16 to maintain an initial assembly state, an area on which a gas pressure is applied is reduced to decrease operation efficiency of the gas pressure against a lower end of the piston 18.
Conventional Art 9
Great Britain Patent GB1162323 discloses a constitution of a pretensioner for a seat belt, which will be described with reference to FIG. 5.
As shown, since a piston head 26 of a piston 25 of Conventional Art 9 also maintains a state extended from an initial assembly position to a substantially bottom position of the piston accommodating part of the cylinder 24, there is an insufficient space to be pressed by the discharged gas.
As described above, since the piston head of the piston is disposed at a lower end of a straight movable guide of the cylinder on initial assembly to form an insufficient space under the piston head, or a step formed at a lower end of the cylinder also narrows the space, it is difficult to sufficiently apply a predetermined gas pressure to a pressure receiving plate.

Cylinder in pretensioner for seat belt retractor and pretensioner for seat belt retractor employing the same


In one embodiment, the present invention provides an apparatus for creating pulsating fluid flow, including an inlet into which fluid flows and a chamber having an upstream end and a downstream end. The chamber is defined by a pair of outwardly-projecting sidewalls, and the inlet is disposed at the upstream end of the chamber. This particular embodiment further includes at least two feedback passages with opposed entrances at the downstream end of the chamber and opposed exits at the upstream end of the chamber, near where the chamber joins the inlet. At least one feedback outlet leaves each of the feedback passages. A feedback cavity is disposed at the downstream end of the chamber. At least one exit flowline having an exit port leaves the at least one feedback outlet.

The prior art includes a number of devices that rely on fluid oscillation effects to create pulsating fluid flow. Generally, these devices connect to a source of fluid flow, provide a mechanism for oscillating the fluid flow between two different locations within the device and emit fluid pulses downstream of the source of fluid flow. These devices require no moving parts to generate the oscillations and have been used in various applications for which pulsating fluid flow is desired, such as massaging showerheads, flowmeters, and windshield-wiper-fluid-supply units.
A typical prior art apparatus for creating pulsating fluid flow includes body 10 with a nozzle 20 that attaches to a fluid source 30, as shown in FIG. 1. The nozzle 20 expels the fluid as a jet into a chamber 40 toward a flow splitter 50. This flow splitter 50 traditionally assumes a triangular or trapezoidal shape, with a narrow leading edge directly in the path of the jet. The sides of flow splitter 50 form the inner walls of two fluid pathways 60 and 60′ that initially diverge and then become parallel as they leave apparatus. The body 10 forms the outer walls of the two fluid pathways 60 and 60′, as well as at least two feedback passages 70 and 70′ leading from the fluid pathways back into the chamber. Each feedback passage 70 or 70′ will be disposed along one of the fluid pathways, 60 or 60′, respectively.
The jet will cling to one side of chamber 40 due to a phenomenon called the Coanda effect, explained in more detail later in this disclosure. Thus, the fluid will flow through one of the two fluid pathways 60 or 60′ at a time. Flow splitter 50 also helps guide the flow into either fluid pathway 60 or fluid pathway 60′. As the fluid flows through one fluid pathway such as fluid pathway 60, feedback passage 70 will divert a portion of the fluid and return it to chamber 40. The fluid will then disturb the fluid flow along the side of chamber 40 closest to fluid pathway 60. This disturbance will cause the fluid flow to switch to the side of the chamber closest to fluid pathway 60′. Fluid will thus leave from fluid pathway 60′, rather than from fluid pathway 60. As a result, the apparatus for creating pulsating fluid flow will emit pulses of fluid in succession from the two fluid pathways 60 and 60′, with only one fluid pathway 60 or 60′ ejecting fluid at a given time.
Generally, prior art apparatuses for creating pulsating fluid flow are manufactured from two rectangular blocks of a material suitable for the particular application. For example, if the apparatus for creating pulsating fluid flow will be used in a well bore, stainless steel blocks may be appropriate. A path for fluid flow is machined into the largest flat surface of one of the rectangular blocks. The two blocks are then joined together and the entire apparatus is lathed into a generally cylindrical form. This method of manufacture is labor-intensive and time-consuming.
Some applications for apparatuses for creating pulsating fluid flow require sharper fluid pulses than others. For example, apparatuses for creating pulsating fluid flow may be used to clean fluid flowlines or well bores. The apparatus for creating pulsating fluid flow is joined to a source of cleaning fluid and then is inserted into the flowline or well bore. Pulsating fluid flow has been found to be superior to steady fluid flow for cleaning surfaces such as the interior of a fluid flowline or well bore. Moreover, sharp fluid pulses dislodge buildup and debris from these surfaces better than less-defined fluid pulses because sharply defined pressure pulses have a higher frequency content. Prior art apparatuses, however, may not provide the pulse definition cleaning applications require. In addition, because prior art apparatuses emit fluid parallel to the nozzle, they do not always effectively clean areas located alongside the apparatus. For example, a prior art apparatus used downhole will not remove matter caked on the well bore because it will eject fluid down the center of the well bore, not at the sides.
Prior art apparatuses for creating pulsating fluid flow often exhibit erratic, weak or even no oscillation when used in submerged environments such as fluid flowlines or well bores. Prior art apparatuses generally rely on atmospheric air to boost the fluid oscillations. These apparatuses accordingly allow air to enter the path of the fluid. These apparatuses fail to provide reliable, robust fluid pulses in environments where air is unavailable, such as in fluid flowlines or well bores.

Apparatus and method for creating pulsating fluid flow, and method of manufacture for the apparatus


Lateral diffused metal oxide semiconductor (LDMOS) devices with electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection capability are presented for integrated circuits. The LDMOS device includes a semiconductor substrate with an epi-layer thereon. Patterned isolations are disposed on the epi-layer, thereby defining a first active region and a second active region. An N-type double diffused drain (NDDD) region is formed in the first active region and a N+ doped drain region is disposed in the NDDD region. A P-body diffused region is formed in the second active region, wherein the NDDD region and the P-body diffused region are separated with a predetermined distance exposing the epi-layer. An N+ doped source region and a P+ diffused region are disposed in the P-body diffused region. A gate structure is disposed between the N+ doped source region and the N+ doped drain region. An additional heavily doped region is formed between the semiconductor and the epi-layer. The punch-through voltage or the breakdown voltage of the interface can be adapted by regulating the P+ or N+ dosage to exceed the breakdown voltage of the LDNMOS transistor or the LDPMOS transistor. It can be able to effectively reduce the breakdown voltage or the punch-through voltage relative to the semiconductor substrate under the drain region, thus increasing ESD protection.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to high voltage semiconductor devices, and in particular, to lateral diffused metal oxide semiconductor (LDMOS) devices with electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection capability.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional integrated circuits, LDMOS transistors are vulnerable to high-voltage (HV) electrostatic discharge damage. This is mainly because the gate oxide layer of the LDMOS transistor is close to drain region, and further away from the source/body diffusion regions. Thus, when the ESD current travels from the drain end of the transistor, the energy of the ESD current tends to distribute towards the gate oxide layer, rather than flow towards the source/body diffusion regions, resulting in break down of the gate oxide.
In the conventional integrated circuits with HV devices, other additional ESD protection components are often adopted to avoid LDMOS transistor components from breaking down. However, the additional ESD protection components increase occupied space of the integrated circuit, and increase the complexity of fabrication thereof, resulting in higher manufacturing costs. Accordingly, a modified lateral diffused metal-oxide semiconductor transistor (LDMOS) device structure with excellent electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection capability is desired.

Lateral diffused metal oxide semiconductor (LDMOS) devices with electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection capability in integrated circuit

Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation


Provided is an air blower for an air conditioner. The air blower for the air conditioner includes a centrifugal fan and a fan housing. The fan housing covers the centrifugal fan, and forms a scroll-type flow path having a varying cross-sectional area and guiding air forcibly blown by the centrifugal fan to an outlet. Here, a bottom surface of the scroll-type flow path inclines and is thinnest near a region where the scroll-type flow path ends. The thickness of the bottom surface progressively increases along a straight line running from a region where the bottom surface is thinnest to an opposite outer side of the scroll-type flow path through a center of the centrifugal fan.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air blower for an air conditioner, and more particularly, to an air blower for an air conditioner having an extended flow path cross-sectional area at the side of the outlet by obliquely forming the bottom surface of a fan housing covering a centrifugal fan.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an air conditioner is an apparatus that provides users with a more pleasant indoor environment by cooling/heating an indoor space using a refrigeration cycle for refrigerant, constituted by a compressor, condenser, expansion unit, and an evaporator, or by filtering indoor air.
Such an air conditioner includes an air blower for discharging air heat-exchanged by a heat exchanger. The air blower includes a centrifugal fan for forcibly blowing air suctioned from an axial direction in a circumferential direction, and a fan housing covering the centrifugal fan.
The air forcibly blown by the centrifugal fan is guided through a flow path formed in the fan housing to be discharged. In a related art air blower, however, the flow path formed in the fan housing is not sufficiently expanded as it approaches the outlet. This causes a surging phenomenon, which may cause a flow rate loss and an increase in noise.


The present invention provides a catalyst for use in a NOx trap that has reduced NOx release during rich purges, increased NO conversion efficiency under stoichiometric conditions, and improved sulfur tolerance. The catalyst of this embodiment includes a precious metal, an oxygen storage component in contact with the precious metal, and a NOx storage material. The oxygen storage component in contact with the precious metal is present in an amount that provides sufficient oxygen storage capacity to reduce the NOx release from the NOx trap during rich purges to less than 20% of the NOx that is stored in the NOx trap across the operating temperature window of the NOx trap, increase the NOx conversion efficiency under stoichiometric conditions to a value greater than 70%, and increase the sulfur tolerance of the NOx trap.

1. Field of the Invention
In at least one aspect, the present invention relates to NOx traps with reduced NOx release during rich purges, increased NOx conversion efficiency under stoichiometric conditions, and improved sulfur tolerance and desulfation capability.
2. Background Art
Current three-way catalysts are effective for converting the HC, CO, and NOx in the exhaust into CO2, H2O, and N2 when the air fuel ("A/F") ratio is controlled about the stoichiometric mixture of 14.6 to 1. With the closed-loop control systems used in modern vehicles, the A/F ratio actually alternates between a slightly lean condition and a slightly rich condition with a frequency of about 1-2 Hz and at an amplitude of approximately 0.3 to 0.5 A/F ratio units. To provide high three-way conversion in this oscillatory environment, three-way catalysts usually contain oxides of cerium or mixed oxides of cerium and zirconium. For the short periods of slightly lean exhaust, the cerium is able to adsorb the excess oxygen, allowing the NOx reduction to continue. The cerium also releases oxygen during the short periods of slightly rich exhaust, providing oxidants for converting the HC and CO. The combination of tight A/F ratio control near stoichiometry and the modern three-way catalyst provide very high conversion efficiencies of the HC, CO, and NOx and allow automakers to satisfy stringent emission legislation in markets around the world.
It is desirable to operate the engine lean in order to improve the fuel economy. By opening up the air throttle plate and operating the engine with excess air, the pumping losses across the throttle plate are reduced and the thermodynamic efficiency of the engine is improved, resulting in decreased fuel consumption. However, the exhaust from such an engine contains large amounts of excess oxygen for extended periods of time (e.g., 30-60 seconds), and current three-way catalysts are unable to provide the NOx control necessary to satisfy stringent emission legislation in this environment.
One potential solution to this emission and fuel economy dilemma is to use a lean NOx trap. Lean NOx traps are three-way catalysts and, like all such catalysts, can store NOx under lean conditions for limited periods of time. NOx traps contain alkaline earth or alkali metals to enhance their NOx storage capabilities under lean conditions. Such catalysts can store NOx with high efficiency for a period of time on the order of 60 seconds. Periodically, as the NOx capacity of the NOx trap is approached, the A/F ratio must be driven to a rich condition for a few seconds in order to purge and reduce the stored NOx and regenerate the NOx storage capacity of the trap.
One of the characteristic features of lean NOx traps is that they are most effective at storing NOx in a temperature window that can vary somewhat with the formulation but is typically between 200° C. and 550° C. As a result of this temperature sensitivity, the NOx traps are typically placed in the underfloor location in the exhaust. Lightoff catalysts can be placed close to the exhaust manifold to provide fast lightoff during a cold-start. These lightoff catalysts can be formulated with little or no oxygen storage capacity ("OSC") in order to minimize the fuel required to purge and regenerate the lean NOx trap.
Lean NOx traps can provide very high conversion of NOx when the engine is operated with an A/F ratio control strategy consisting of extended periods of lean operation with periodic rich purges. However, the catalyst system is also expected to provide high three-way conversion when the A/F ratio is controlled at stoichiometry, for example during high load operation. If the close-coupled catalysts contain low amounts of OSC, this limits the ability of these catalysts to convert CO and NOx under stoichiometric conditions. Therefore, unless there is a cerium-containing three-way catalyst downstream of the NOx trap, the NOx trap itself must contain some OSC in order to provide high CO and NOx conversion under the oscillatory A/F conditions characteristic of closed-loop control systems.
The presence of cerium in the Nox trap has been observed to provide other benefits besides improving the stoichiometric performance of the trap. The cerium can improve the sulfur tolerance of the trap by adsorbing some of the sulfur and preventing that portion of the sulfur from poisoning the NOx storage sites. The cerium also improves the desulfation characteristics of the trap by promoting the water-gas-shift (WGS) reaction. The WGS reaction produces additional hydrogen, which has been shown to be the best agent for desulfating the poisoned trap. In addition, the presence of cerium can improve the NOx storage capability at low temperatures, as cerium is able to provide some NOx storage capacity at low temperatures (e.g., 300° C.). Finally, the cerium can be beneficial for the thermal durability of the trap, as ceria is known to stabilize the dispersion of the precious metals.
However, the presence of cerium in the trap can also be responsible for some undesirable effects. As with the lightoff catalysts, cerium in the trap requires additional reductants (i.e., HC, CO, H2) to purge the NOx trap, increasing the fuel penalty associated with the purges. A second undesirable effect, which is the subject of this invention, is that the oxygen storage capacity provided by the cerium can cause some of the stored NOx to be released from the trap during the purges without being reduced to N2. This purge NOx release is particularly evident at temperatures of 350° C. and above. A major source of this NOx release is attributed to the exotherm that results from the reaction between the reductants in the exhaust and oxygen from the cerium during the transition from lean operation to the rich purge condition.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a lean NOx trap with a balanced amount of oxygen storage capacity that results in low levels of purge NOx release but still provides high NOx conversion under stoichiometric conditions and resistance to sulfur poisoning.


This disclosure provides pixel arrays made up of a clear pixel and a color pixel. The color pixel includes a first photo-detecting element and a color pixel access transistor to selectively couple the first photo-detecting element to a first charge-storage node. The clear pixel includes a second photo-detecting element and a clear pixel access transistor to selectively couple the second photo-detecting element to a second charge-storage node. The color pixel access transistor transfers a first charge per unit time between the first photo-detecting element and the first charge-storage node. The clear pixel access transistor transfers a second charge per unit time between the clear pixel access transistor and the second charge-storage node. The first charge per unit time is less than the second charge per unit time to mitigate blooming. In other embodiments, the clear pixel includes an excess-charge transfer path that couples the clear pixel to a DC supply node to mitigate blooming.

Digital cameras and optical imaging devices employ image sensors. Image sensors convert optical images to digital data that may be represented as a digital image. Image sensors include an array of pixels, which are unit devices for the conversion of the optical image into digital data. The pixels often manifest themselves as charge-coupled devices (CCDs) or complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensors. While CMOS image sensors (CIS) devices have been more recently developed compared to CCDs, CIS devices provide an advantage of lower power consumption, smaller size, and faster data processing than CCDs as well as direct digital output that is not available in CCDs. Also, CIS devices have lower manufacturing cost compared with CCDs since many standard semiconductor manufacturing processes may be employed to manufacture CIS devices. For these reasons, commercial employment of CIS devices has been steadily increasing in recent years.

Pixel array with clear and color pixels exhibiting improved blooming performance

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


A method for manufacturing a formwork element 10 for concrete structures, uses a formwork element having a base body 12 of hollow profile construction with an outer side 14 designed as a form lining. The base body 12 is formed by at least two interlocking sub-segments which are permanently connected to one another at their interlocking edge areas. The sub-segments, such as edge segment and intermediate segment 16, 18, which are advantageously produced through extrusion, are hooked to one another to form an inseparable unit in the connected state.

The present invention concerns a method for manufacturing a formwork element for concrete structures, comprising a base body of hollow profile construction, the outer side of which is designed as a form lining.
Formwork elements that are ready for use have a base body, on which, in general, further extension elements, such as e.g. sealing elements, are arranged, and are used for formwork into which fresh concrete is introduced for producing concrete components, such as e.g. walls, ceilings and the like. For this work, the formwork elements must be available in different widths, for which reason the overall production costs are high.
It is the underlying purpose of the invention to further develop a formwork element of the above-mentioned type in such a way that it can be produced in an inexpensive fashion.

Method for manufacturing a formwork element


A computer-implemented method for collecting thief-identifying information on stolen computing devices may include (1) receiving an indication that a computing device has been stolen, (2) detecting an attempt by a thief of the stolen computing device to access a user account of the thief via the stolen computing device, (3) collecting, based at least in part on detecting the attempt by the thief of the stolen computing device to access the user account of the thief via the stolen computing device, information capable of identifying the thief, and (4) reporting, to a remote computing device, the information capable of identifying the thief. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

Computing devices have become a ubiquitous part of everyday life. For example, millions of people carry and use mobile computing devices (e.g., smartphones and tablets) throughout their daily activities. Unfortunately, such computing devices (especially relatively small, mobile computing devices) may be easily stolen by thieves. As a result, individuals and organizations have begun to use various anti-theft solutions to attempt to locate and recover their stolen computing devices.
Conventional solutions for locating stolen computing devices typically rely on Global Positioning System (GPS) or similar technologies to determine the geographic location of the stolen computing devices. However, geographic locations may not always enable stolen computing devices to be located. For example, it may be difficult to locate a stolen computing device if the geographic location of the computing device points to an apartment building housing hundreds of people or to a large public location. Moreover in the event that a stolen computing device is located, a geographic location may not be sufficient to incriminate the person who stole it. Accordingly, the instant disclosure identifies a need for additional and improved systems and methods for locating stolen computing devices and/or identifying thieves.

Systems and methods for collecting thief-identifying information on stolen computing devices


A hybrid bitmap-mode video coding system encodes and decodes a plurality of video frames with optimized coding performance. The coding system filters a video frame to determine an appropriate encoding mode. In response to the video frame to be encoded in bitmap-mode, the coding system generates a bitmap and DCT-type data of the video frame. The bitmap data of the video frame are encoded losslessly to keep the high quality of the video frame. The DCT-type data of the video frame are encoded with compression. The bitmap-mode encoding enables the coding system to flexibly encode part of a video frame data lossless and encode the rest of the frame data lossy. As such, the lossless encoding of the frame provides high quality of important data of the frame, and at the same time maintains high compression ratio on less important data of the frame.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains in general to use video compression technology to encode and decode information, and in particular, to provide an enhanced hybrid video coder using bitmap-mode coding.
2. Description of the Related Art
Video compression is useful for transmission of digital video over a variety of bandwidth-limited networks, or for storage constrained applications. For example, the broadcast transmission of digital video at 24-bit per pixel sampled at 720 by 480 spatial resolution and 30 frames per second (fps) temporal resolution would require a bit rate of above 248 Mbps! Taking another example of supporting web browser applications with rich media content in a client-server architecture within a wireless network, bandwidth limitations of the wireless network itself may comprise one of the major limiting factors in fully utilizing the client-server architecture. Client devices, such as mobile phones, may additionally be resource-constrained with respect to the device's capabilities, including processing power, memory and battery life limitations. Compounding this, web browser applications are continually embracing rich media content, such as digital video and audio, which in turn poses further challenges for a client-server architecture. For applications such as digital television broadcasting, satellite television, Internet video streaming, video conferencing and video security over a variety of networks, limited transmission bandwidth or storage capacity stresses the demand for higher video compression ratios.
To improve compression efficiency, currently available coding standards, such as MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MEPG4 and H.264/AVC etc., remove information redundancy spatially within a video frame and temporally between video frames. The goal of video compression systems is to achieve the best fidelity (or the lowest distortion D) given the capacity of a transmission channel, subject to the coding rate constraint R(D). However, this optimization task is complicated by the fact that various coding options show varying efficiency with different scene content and at different bit rates.
One limitation with conventional hybrid video coders such as a H.264 video coder is inefficiency at removing encoding noise especially around sharp edges. Such encoding noise, such as the mosquito artifacts, is easily noticeable to human eyes especially when browsing images that often contains text with a simple background, such as black text on a white background. For browsing images, the text embedded in the images needs to be encoded with high fidelity, but the simple background can afford more compression since not much data are contained in the background. To allow regions of an input picture to be represented without any loss of fidelity, H.264 video coding standard includes a "PCM" macroblock mode, in which the values of input pixels are sent directly from an encoder to a decoder without prediction, transformation or quantization. Additional motivation for this macroblock mode is to impose a minimum upper bound on the number of bits that can be used to represent a macroblock with sufficient accuracy. However, the PCM mode is not efficient to deal with encoding noise because an encoder can only choose to use PCM for high quality, at the expense of higher bit rate, or not use PCM for less high quality with a controlled bit rate for the encoder.
Hence, there is, inter alia, a lack of a system and method that provides an enhanced hybrid encoder within a video processing system.


A lens-fitted film unit has a date recording module which is disposed between an exposure unit and a front cover to project a calendar date onto the front emulsion layer of a film. The front cover is formed with an elevated platform which spatially encircle at least a taking lens, a lighting window and the date recording module as viewed from the front side of the film unit. The date recording module has a module base plate, a transmission type of liquid crystal display is mounted on the module base plate so as to position behind the lighting window formed in the front cover, and a battery attached to the back of the module base plate so as to position within a shadow of the module base plate. A single shutter blade is adapted to control light passage for both image formation and data recordation. Alternatively, two shutter blades are used which interact in a controlled manner.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a lens-fited film unit with a data recording device incorporated therein in which the utilization is made of external light to form a data image on a film.
2. Description of Related Art
Easy-use lens-fitted film units are well known. Such a lens-fitted film unit has a film unit housing comprising a main housing section with a film cartridge loaded therein and front and back cover sections attached to the main housing section. The main housing section is provided with various mechanisms or units, such as a shutter mechanism, a taking lens, an exposure unit and a flash unit. When a film is fully exposed, the lens-fitted film unit is forwarded to a photo-laboratory where the film cartridge with the exposed film rewound therein is taken out of the film unit housing and processed for development and printing. The developed film and prints are returned as one set to the customer.
Some types of the lens-fitted film units are provided with a data recording device for recording a calendar date on the film. Such a lens-fitted film unit is known from, for instance, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-289164. According to the Japanese publication mentioned above, the data recording device built in the lens-fitted film unit has a manual data setting dial by means of which a calendar date is set and a data recording optical system comprising an optical light guide through which external light is introduced to illuminate a data display plate and bear an image of the data to the back of the film. In this data recording device, the utilization is made of external light passing through the taking lens and then traveling to the data display plate disposed behind the film through the optical light guide which extends under an exposure chamber between the taking lens and an exposure aperture frame.
In the lens-fitted film unit with the data recording device described above, because the data display plate and the manual data setting dial are installed to the back cover, the film unit housing unavoidably juts backward and has a large thickness, which are undesirable for handiness of the lens-fitted film unit. In cases where the lens-fitted film unit has a built-in flash unit, the film unit housing is increased in height due to a flash battery which is placed under the exposure chamber together with the optical light guide. Further, in cases where the lens-fitted film unit has a contact exposure type of data recording device, the data display plate is placed slightly apart from the film in order to prevent the film from scratch marks. For this reason, the data is blurred on a print and unclear on, in particular, an enlarged print. The photographer of this type of lens-fitted film unit encounters somewhat troublesome data setting operation.
In order for the lens-fitted film unit to have a thin film unit housing, it is preferable to project a data onto the film from the front. For this purpose, a data exposure aperture is provided near a subject exposure aperture to introduce external light toward the film, which is opened and closed by a data exposure shutter cooperating with a subject exposure shutter for opening and closing the subject exposure aperture. This makes it possible to expose the film to a subject image and a data image simultaneously. However, the lens-fitted film unit of the type of projecting a data onto the film from the front has a need to incorporate a data display member between the exposure unit and the front cover section, encounters a difficulty with a thin film unit housing,
While a data may be projected onto the film from the front by means of the data exposure aperture and shutter to form a latent image of the data together with a subject image in response to operation of a shutter release member as described above, if the data exposure shutter is provided integrally with the subject exposure shutter, it is necessary to prevent the data exposure shutter from partly crossing the subject exposure aperture in the course of opening the subject exposure aperture. This is because, if the data exposure shutter partly crossing the subject exposure aperture, the subject image encounters a lack of evenness in exposure. Regarding the lens-fitted film unit described in the Japanese publication mentioned above, exposure of the film to a data image is made by external light introduced through the data exposure aperture opened by the data exposure shutter while the subject exposure shutter opens the subject exposure aperture, it experiences a lack of light. Accordingly, there is a strong demand for making the utilization of a lens to make up the insufficient amount of light. This has a need to adjust the lens in axial position and hold it so as to prevent a positional shift due to vibrations. In addition, in view of automatic assembly of the lens-fitted film unit, easiness and convenience of assembling the lens-fitted film unit must be taken into consideration.
Conventional lens-fitted film units, in particular, having data recording devices have less adaptability for recycling. That is, while the data recording device described above is protected from damages by the front and back covers, and hence it is recycled without repair, nevertheless, the data display plate and the manual data setting dial must be detached from the back cover which is one of recycling parts. During detaching work, these parts possibly encounters damages.

Lens-fitted film unit having a shutter mechanism adapted for data recording


Provided is a laser imageable media that forms both a vesicular bubble image and an infrared image upon exposure to laser radiation. The laser imageable media comprises (1) a substrate, preferably a transparent plastic substrate, (2) an infrared absorbing layer comprising an infrared absorbing compound, preferably an aminium radical cation compound, that exhibits a reduction in infrared absorption when exposed to the laser radiation, and (3) a polymeric layer comprising an organic polymer, preferably nitrocellulose, overlying the infrared absorbing layer. The vesicular image on a transparent plastic substrate is readable with a visible scanner without the use of any reflective background material behind the transparent plastic substrate.

There is an increasing need for security markings that are unique and difficult to counterfeit, compatible with existing machine reading systems, and low in cost. Particularly, there is a need for nearly invisible and colorless security markings that still are readable in the visible region with conventional visible machine readers, such as a visible bar code scanner, and that can be read on transparent backings or substrates, such as found in clear packaging materials.
There are nearly invisible and colorless security markings that have infrared absorption, are imageable with infrared lasers, and are readable in the infrared region with conventional infrared machine readers, such as an infrared bar code scanner or camera, as for example described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,381,059 and 6,589,451, both to Carlson. However, these security markings on a transparent backing or substrate, as in a clear packaging or in a clear card, are not readable in the visible region with existing visible bar code scanners and other visible readers.
It would be advantageous if a laser imageable media were available for use in a variety of nearly invisible and colorless security markings on transparent substrates that are easy to read with conventional visible bar code scanners. It would be particularly advantageous if this laser imageable media had the flexibility to also form an infrared image that is easy to read with conventional infrared bar code scanners.

Dual vesicular and infrared imaging media


An application providing system has a communication terminal, a Web server that manages resources of Web applications, and a push server that manages storage location addresses of resources. The push server has an address managing unit that manages a terminal ID, a storage location address, and providing timing in a manner associated with one another. The push server further has a timing monitoring unit that monitors the providing timing. The push server further has a push transmitting unit that transmits a storage location address of a resource of a Web application associated with providing timing to a communication terminal associated with the providing timing upon detection of the providing timing to cache the resource of the Web application corresponding to the providing timing in the communication terminal.

In recent years, a Web application (hereinafter, referred to simply as "Web app") that provides various applications to a client on a Web server is widely known. The client performs various processing using the online Web app on the side of the Web server without installing applications.
Furthermore, in recent years, there is a Web-app caching feature in the HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) 5 standard. The Web-app caching feature caches all resources, components of a Web app, such as HTML, CSS (Cascading Style Sheet), and JavaScript (registered trademark), in an app cache of a Web browser in a client. Then, even when the client is in an off-line state, the client can execute the Web app as a local app on the basis of the resources cached in the app cache.
As related techniques, there can be mentioned those described Japanese National Publication of International Patent Application No. 2010-508581, Japanese National Publication of International Patent Application No. 2007-519071, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2004-213243, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-107842, and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2003-308210.
However, the Web-app caching feature requests a resource used in a Web app from a Web server upon a request operation made on a client, and acquires the resource of the Web app from the Web server. Then, the Web-app caching feature caches the acquired resource of the Web app in an app cache of a Web browser in the client. Namely, in such a Web-app caching system, it is difficult to acquire a resource of a Web app in the case that no request operation is made on a client.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Application providing system and application providing method


A semiconductor device may include a write control block configured to generate a plurality of write enable signals for controlling a write operation, and a write delay block configured to apply delay times to a plurality of write data which are transmitted through a write global input/output line. The semiconductor device may also include a plurality of banks configured to operate in response to the plurality of write enable signals and receive the plurality of write data, wherein the plurality of write data have different delay times according to physical positions of the plurality of banks.

1. Technical Field
Various embodiments generally relate to a semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a technology for improving the timing skew of an input/output line.
2. Related Art
Semiconductor memory devices are being developed to increase the degree of integration and the operating speeds of the semiconductor memory devices. In order to increase operating speeds of the semiconductor memory devices a synchronous memory device has been developed. This synchronous memory device is capable of operating in synchronization with a clock signal received from outside the memory chip.
For example, a SDR (single data rate) synchronous memory device may be implemented whereby data is inputted and outputted through a single data pin during a single clock cycle. In the SDR synchronous memory device the input and output of the data is in synchronization with the rising edge of the clock signal.
However, the SDR synchronous memory device has difficulty operating with systems which require high speed operations. Accordingly, a DDR (double data rate) synchronous memory device may be implemented whereby data is consecutively inputted and outputted through each data input/output pin, in synchronization with the rising edge and the falling edge of a clock signal.
As such, a bandwidth at least two times wider than the conventional SDR synchronous memory device may be realized without increasing the frequency of a clock signal, and thus, a high speed operation may be achieved.
A DDR synchronous memory device adopts a multi-bit prefetch scheme in which multiple bits are internally processed at a time. The multi-bit prefetch scheme refers to a scheme in which data that is sequentially inputted are arranged in parallel in synchronization with a data strobe signal. Then the multi-bit data arranged in this way is stored at a time in a memory cell array by a write command which is inputted in synchronization with an external clock signal.


The present invention relates to a latex comprising water and a layered material intercalated with a polymer. The invention also relates to a nanocomposite material comprising a layered material intercalated with a polymer. The latex can be produced by forming a dispersion of layered material in water, adding surfactant, polymerizable monomer or monomers, and a polymerization initiator to the mixture and then polymerizing the monomer to form a latex. The latex can also be formed from preformed polymers. Composite materials formed from latexes produced by either method have improved mechanical properties and reduced air permeability.

Layered clay minerals such as montmorillonite are composed of silicate layers with a thickness of about 1 nanometer. Dispersions of such layered materials in polymers are frequently referred to as nanocomposites.
Recently, there has been considerable interest in forming nanocomposites as a means to improve the mechanical properties of polymers. Incorporating clay minerals in a polymer matrix, however, does not always result in markedly improved mechanical properties of the polymer. This may be due to the lack of affinity between the layered silicate materials and the organic polymers. Thus it has been proposed to use ionic interactions as a means of incorporating clay minerals in a polymer. In this regard, see for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,885 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,734. This type of approach, unfortunately, has limited usefulness. Indeed, a more direct, simple, and economic approach to preparing nanocomposites is highly desirable.
One object of the present invention is to provide a latex comprising a layered silicate intercalated with a polymer.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a composite material formed from a latex of a layered silicate and a polymer which material has reduced permeability to small molecules such as air, and improved mechanical properties.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the description which follows.


Thermoplastic moulding compositions comprising the following components: 5-95% of a copolymer A, 0-60% of a graft rubber B and 5-50% of thin glass fibers C. The copolymer A comprises 70-76% of vinylaromatic monomer(s) A1, 24-30% of vinyl cyanide monomer component(s) A2 and 0-50% of one or more unsaturated copolymerizable monomers A3. The thermoplastic moulding compositions are advantageously used for injection moulding.

Thermoplastic molding compositions based on acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and a process for preparation of thermoplastic ABS molding compositions are known for years. This invention relates to special glass fiber reinforced acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene compositions, moldings, foils, and coatings, which can be produced from thermoplastic molding compositions and glass fibers, and also to their use.
It has been known for decades that thermoplastic molding compositions can be prepared by modifying styrene-acrylonitrile copolymers via incorporation of rubbers. By way of example, this is achieved via graft copolymerization of styrene and acrylonitrile in the presence of a rubber, and also via subsequent blending of this graft copolymer with a separately prepared copolymer matrix which can, for example, be composed of a styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer or of a methylstyrene-acrylonitrile copolymer.
EP-A 0 022 200 discloses that thermoplastic molding compositions can be prepared which comprise a copolymer matrix composed of styrene and acrylonitrile, and also comprise a graft copolymer composed of a rubber latex, styrene, and acrylonitrile. Here, a polybutadiene latex is first prepared via free-radical polymerization using potassium peroxodisulfate as initiator. This rubber latex is then subjected to agglomeration, which serves to enlarge the rubber particles. This agglomeration can, for example, take place via a reaction of the rubber latex with an emulsion of a copolymer composed of ethyl acrylate and methacrylamide. The graft rubber is then prepared via reaction of the agglomerated rubber latex with styrene and acrylonitrile, using an initiator.
Glass fiber (GF) reinforced thermoplastic mixtures are also known for decades. They typically lead to an increase in rigidity and strength of the material, whereas elasticity and particularly impact strength are often significantly reduced. To achieve effective reinforcement together with a minimal loss of toughness, firm adhesion or coupling must exist between the polymer matrix and the glass fibers.
JP 56/095953 describes GF reinforced thermoplastic molding compositions containing GF-containing pellets and a GF free styrene-acrylonitrile matrix in the presence of a soluble, uncrosslinked acid containing rubber. In the process of preparation, which is difficult to control, the glass fibers are however not firmly coupled to the thermoplastic matrix.
In DE-A 33 24 909 the use of an epoxy group containing copolymer of styrene, acrylonitrile and/or methyl-methacrylate within an ABS molding composition is disclosed. Epoxy group containing copolymers however are difficult to produce in a large scale.
DE-A 34 36 602 describes GF-reinforced thermoplastic resin compounds consisting of a polymer A of styrene, acrylonitrile and methacrylates, a polymer B of styrene, acrylonitrile and maleic imides, and of polymer C containing styrene, acrylonitrile and a graft rubber D. The physical properties of the polymer mixtures show that the coupling of the glass fibers with the copolymers are inadequate.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,719 the use of either maleic anhydride containing copolymers or thermoplastic polyurethanes having isocyanate groups is proposed for the use of improved coupling of glass fibers to an ABS copolymer. However, by utilizing this method, the melt flow of the resulting ABS is reduced and thus the polymer product is less suitable for injection molding.
EP-A 03 03 919 describes a glass fiber containing molding compositions of A a co-polymer of styrene and acrylnitril and B a special terpolymer of styrene, acrylonitrile and tert.-butyl(meth)acrylate, which may additionally contain a graft rubber D. The crucial monomer is tert.-butyl(meth)acrylate which decomposes at compounding temperatures above about 200° C. into (meth)acrylic acid monomer units and isobutene.
The formation of the gaseous and flammable isobutene during production however is not desirable for scaling up into an industrialized process.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,211,269 describes the utilisation of specific organic tin components to enhance the coupling reaction with GF in an ABS moulding composition. However, tin components are toxicologically adverse, especially in applications like articles for food contact, toys, cosmetic housings or medical devices.
Thus, there is the technical need to have an ABS moulding composition with improved reinforcement between the glass fibers and the copolymer, without having a negative effect on other properties such as the melt flow.

Glass fiber reinforced ABS compositions with improved stiffness and toughness


An information processing apparatus includes a non-volatile memory including a first block where data error does not occur and a second block where data error is possible to occur. The first block stores a loader program, and the second block stores an apparatus controlling program. The loader program is executed to write the apparatus controlling program stored in the second block to a volatile memory, and the apparatus controlling program is executed on the volatile memory. Thus, the information processing apparatus can be provided at a reduced cost, using a NAND flash memory, which is inexpensive, to store a program.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus including a NAND flash memory and to an information processing method for the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, NOR flash memories are used to allow storing program codes for microprocessors and electrically rewriting the contents of the program codes. On the other hand, NAND flash memories, which are much less expensive than NOR flash memories, are used to store data.
NAND flash memories, however, have the problem that bit error could occasionally occur because of their structure. Thus, error that has occurred must be corrected, for example, by error correcting code (ECC). Error correction by hardware requires circuitry of a large scale since error correcting algorithms are complex.
A NAND flash memory includes a block where it is ensured, by restricting the number of times of rewriting allowed, that bit error does not occur. This block is referred to as a first block. The first block has a capacity on the order of 8 KB, which is not sufficient to store a program. Furthermore, since random access is very slow in a NAND flash memory, performance is degraded when a program is executed on a NAND flash memory.

Information processing apparatus including NAND flash memory, and information processing method for the same


A cup has a first recess defined in the outside thereof with two protrusions extending from the bottom of the first recess, a board received in the first recess and having two engaging members to securely engage the two protrusions. The board has a serrated groove defined therethrough so that a bolt movably extends through the groove and connects to a decorative member on the outside of the cup. The decorative member will move downward along the serrated groove and can also rotate relative to the cup when the cup is inclined.

Generally, containers such as teapots, cups or the like are designed to attract users' attention or interest by their special configuration, shape or colors. Cups designed for kids have beautiful colors or lovely marks so that kids are willing to use the cups and commercial benefits are gained. That is to say, the manufacturers or the designers of cups for kids exert a lot of effort to produce something that grasps children's interest. It is difficult to make a significant breakthrough in designing cups to have brand new shapes or colors that kids can enjoy.
The present invention intends to provide a movable decorative member which can be rotated and/or movable on the outside of the cup.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the disadvantage of the conventional container such as cups.

Combination of a decorative member and a container

No. 11, Hsinyi S. Rd., Anping Industrial Dist.


An image processing apparatus which sets threshold value matrices for performing screen processing using the threshold value matrices for respective pieces of image data for a plurality of colors according to an output image, the apparatus including: an allocation section which distributes and allocates memories to the respective threshold value matrices used for the respective pieces of the image data for the plurality of colors within a range that a total of memory allocation amounts to the threshold value matrices is equal to or less than a predetermined upper limit size; a setting section which sets the threshold value matrices in sizes according to the respective memory allocation amounts; and a storage section which stores the set plurality of threshold value matrices in respective allocated memory areas.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method and a computer readable recording medium storing a program.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, in image forming apparatuses which form images on recording media by using toner or ink, halftone images have been formed by screen processing in order to express half tones. As the screen processing, there is widely used a systematic dither method for performing binarization on the basis of large/small relationships between pixel values of a bitmap image and the respective threshold values regulated by threshold value matrices.
The systematic dither method includes AM modulation (halftone dot screen) for changing sizes of halftone dots according to gradation and FM modulation (FM dither method) for changing the number (frequency) of halftone dots to be dotted, each of the methods being used for image formation. However, image forming apparatuses using the methods do not necessarily output color dots of respective pixels isotropically due to the difference in characteristics according to the image formation, especially, due to the difference in characteristics according to the output in a conveyance direction (sub scanning direction) and its vertical direction (main scanning direction) of recording medium. Accordingly, there are generated portions where halftone dots are crushed or interrupted together in specific positions or directions due to the arrangement of threshold values in threshold value matrices. Since a threshold value matrix is normally applied repeatedly in a tiled manner to image data which is a forming target, as a result, there is a problem (artifacts) that artificial patterns are visually recognized in the output image due to the non-uniformity in density being repeatedly generated with an application cycle of dither matrix.
As for the problem, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Publication No. 2013-17109) discloses a technique for reducing cyclic visual recognition of crush and void of halftone dots by setting arrangement of threshold values in the main scanning direction and the sub scanning direction of a dither matrix with a frequency ratio according to the ratio of line width of thin line in the main scanning direction to line width of thin line in the sub scanning direction which were actually measured, and preventing the output overlapping patterns for each color from being repeated every cycle by making the sizes of dither matrices different from each other for the respective colors of color output.
On the other hand, the patterns which appear in a cyclic way vary in the degree of profile (visibility level of patterns) depending on various conditions. One of the various conditions is spatial period dependency of patterns. Accordingly, there is a conventional method for reducing visibility by appropriately adjusting sizes of dither matrices.
However, such visibility of artifacts can vary depending on combination of the above-mentioned various conditions. Then, conventional configurations have a problem that allocation amounts of memories corresponding to the sizes of threshold matrices are fixed and it is difficult to set threshold value matrices flexibly and easily.

Image processing apparatus, image processing method and computer readable recording medium storing program


A semiconductor chip has an n+-doped substrate, above which an n-doped epilayer having trenches is introduced, the trenches being filled with p-doped semiconductor material and in each case having a highly p-doped region at their top side, such that an alternating arrangement of n-doped regions having a first width and p-doped regions having a second width is present. A first metal layer functioning as an anode is provided on the front side of the chip and forms a Schottky contact with the n-doped epilayer and forms an ohmic contact with the highly p-doped regions. A second metal layer which represents an ohmic contact and functioning as a cathode is formed on the rear side of the semiconductor chip. A dielectric layer is provided between each n-doped region and an adjacent p-doped region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a super-junction Schottky PIN oxide diode.
2. Description of the Related Art
Increasingly efficient current converters are becoming necessary with regard to issues associated with CO2 emissions. Examples include inverters for photovoltaic or automotive applications. To this end, highly blocking, low-loss, quickly switching power semiconductors are necessary. In addition to active semiconductor switches such as IGBTs or CoolMOS transistors, freewheeling diodes are also required. For high-voltage applications, PIN diodes made of silicon are generally used. PIN diodes have small conducting-state voltages and low blocking currents, and therefore have low forward losses and blocking losses. However, high switching losses, which occur as switch-off losses during current commutation, are disadvantageous.
High-voltage PIN diodes are PN diodes in which an undoped (intrinsic), and in practice usually weakly doped, i layer is present between the p region and the n region. The blocking voltage is taken on primarily by the weakly doped i region. The space charge region extends mainly in the weakly doped region. The doping concentration and the thickness of this weakly doped region are determined by the predefined breakdown voltage. A high breakdown voltage means a low doping concentration and a large thickness of this weakly doped region. For a 600-V diode, the doping concentration of the i layer is approximately 3·1014 cm−3, and the layer thickness is approximately 50 microns.
High-level injection occurs in PIN diodes during flow operation with a high current density. In the process, electrons and holes are injected into the weakly doped region, and the concentration of the injected minority charge carriers exceeds the doping concentration of the weakly doped region. The conductivity of the weakly doped region is greatly increased as a result, and the voltage drop therefore remains low in the weakly doped middle region. For high currents, the forward voltage remains low. In contrast, no increase in the charge carrier density takes place for majority carrier components such as Schottky diodes. The weakly doped region represents a large ohmic resistor at which a correspondingly high voltage drops in the flow direction.
The charge carriers (electrons and holes), which are injected into the weakly doped region in the flow direction during the operation of PN or PIN diodes, must first be removed during switching off before the diode is able to take over blocking voltage. Therefore, during an abrupt current commutation the current initially continues to flow in the blocking direction until the stored charge carriers are removed or drained. This current is also referred to as drain current or reverse recovery current. The magnitude and duration of the drain current are determined primarily by the quantity of charge carriers stored in the weakly doped region. The more charge carriers that are present, the higher the drain current. A higher drain current means a higher switch-off power loss. Integration of the switch-off current over time results in reverse recovery charge Qrr, which is an important variable for describing the switch-off power loss, and which should be as small as possible. Switching times and switching losses are high for PIN diodes. Schottky diodes (metal-semiconductor contacts or silicide-semiconductor contacts) provide an improvement in the switching behavior. In Schottky diodes, no high-level injection takes place during flow operation, and therefore draining of the minority charge carriers is dispensed with. Schottky diodes switch rapidly and with practically no loss. However, for high blocking voltages, thick semiconductor layers with low-level doping are once again necessary, which for high currents results in unacceptable high forward voltages. For this reason, power Schottky diodes implemented in silicon technology, despite good switching behavior, are not suitable for blocking voltages above approximately 100 V.
Published German patent document DE 197 40 195 C2 describes a semiconductor element which is consistently referred to below as a Cool Schottky barrier diode (SBD). In this diode, as the result of introducing doped, alternatingly arranged p- and n-conductive pillars with a Schottky contact, it is possible to reduce the resistance to practically any desired level. When the pillar width is reduced, the pillar dopings may be increased. The doping of the p pillars and n pillars is selected in such a way that all dopant atoms are ionized when a blocking voltage is applied. This principle is also referred to as the superjunction (SJ) principle. Since a certain minority charge carrier injection takes place via the p-doped pillars, the ideal switching behavior of a pure Schottky diode is not achieved, but is greatly improved over that of a PIN diode. However, the low forward voltage of the PIN diode is not achieved for high currents. The superjunction principle is described, for example, in Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 36, pages 6254-6262.