Apparatus and methods for stimulating revascularization and tissue growth are provided using an apparatus having a directable end region carrying a tissue piercing end effector. The apparatus optionally includes electrodes for depositing RF energy to form a controlled degree of scar tissue formation, means for delivering a controlled amount of a bioactive agent at the treatment site, or both.

A leading cause of death in the United States today is coronary artery disease, in which atherosclerotic plaque causes blockages in the coronary arteries, resulting in ischemia of the heart (i.e., inadequate blood flow to the myocardium). The disease manifests itself as chest pain or angina. In 1996, approximately 7 million people suffered from angina in the United States.
Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), in which the patient's chest is surgically opened and an obstructed artery replaced with a native artery harvested elsewhere, has been the conventional treatment for coronary artery disease for the last thirty years. Such surgery creates significant trauma to the patient, requires long recuperation times, and causes a great deal of morbidity and mortality. In addition, experience has shown that the graft becomes obstructed with time, requiring further surgery.
More recently, catheter-based therapies such as percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and atherectomy have been developed. In PTCA, a mechanical dilatation device is disposed across an obstruction in the patient's artery and then dilated to compress the plaque lining the artery to restore patency to the vessel. Atherectomy involves using an end effector, such as a mechanical cutting device (or laser) to cut (or ablate) a passage through the blockage. Such methods have drawbacks, however, ranging from re-blockage of dilated vessels with angioplasty to catastrophic rupture or dissection of the vessel during atherectomy. Moreover, these methods may only be used for that fraction of the patient population where the blockages are few and are easily accessible. Neither technique is suitable for the treatment of diffuse atherosclerosis.
A more recent technique which holds promise for treating a larger percentage of the patient population, including those patients suffering from diffuse atherosclerosis, is referred to as transmyocardial revascularization (TMR). In this method, a series of channels are formed in the left ventricular wall of the heart. Typically, between 15 and 30 channels about 1 mm in diameter and up to 3.0 cm deep are formed with a laser in the wall of the left ventricle to perfuse the heart muscle with blood coming directly from the inside of the left ventricle, rather than traveling through the coronary arteries. Some researchers believe that the resulting channels improve perfusion of the myocardium with oxygenated blood. Apparatus and methods have been proposed to create such channels both percutaneously and intraoperatively (i e., with the chest opened).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,096 to Aita et al. describes a catheter-based laser apparatus for use in percutaneously forming channels extending from the endocardium into the myocardium. The catheter includes a plurality of control lines for directing the tip of the catheter. As the laser ablates the tissue during the channel forming process, the surrounding tissue necroses, resulting in fibroid scar tissue surrounding the channels. U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,316 to Aita et al. describes an intraoperative laser-based system for performing TMR.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,159 to Taheri describes mechanical apparatus for performing TMR comprising a catheter having an end effector formed from a plurality of spring-loaded needles. The catheter first is positioned percutaneously Within the left ventricle. A plunger is then released so that the needles are thrust into the endocardium. The needles core out small channels that extend into the myocardium as they are withdrawn. The patent suggests that the needles may he withdrawn and advanced repetitively at different locations under fluoroscopic guidance. The patent does not appear to address how tissue is ejected from the needles between the tissue-cutting steps
Although it is generally agreed that TMR benefits many patients, researchers do not agree upon the precise mechanism by which TMR provides therapeutic benefits. One theory proposes that TMR channels remain patent for long periods of time, and provide a path by which oxygenated blood perfuses the myocardium. However, relatively recent histological studies indicate that TMR channels may close within a short time following the procedure. For example, Fleischer et al., in "One-Month Histologic Response Of Transmyocardial Laser Channels With Molecular Intervention," Ann. Soc. Thoracic Surg., 62:1051-58 (1996), evaluated histologic changes associated with laser TMR in a 1-month nonischemic porcine model, and was unable to demonstrate channel patency 28 days after TMR.
Other researchers have observed that in laser-based TMR patients, there appears to he enhanced vascularization of the tissue on the margins of the scar tissue resulting from the laser channel-forming process. It has therefore been hypothesized that the act of causing trauma to portions of the myocardium may invoke a regenerative process, that enhances the development of neovascularization and endothelialization in the tissue.
To investigate these alternative theories, researchers have studied the use of gene therapy in promoting blood vessel growth in the tissue surrounding laser TMR channels. In one study, researchers intraoperatively administered a single dose of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) at the time of laser TMR. Although the study showed no significant increase in myocardial vascularity, the researchers hypothesized that a longer duration of VEGF residence may be necessary to stimulate angiogenesis.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide apparatus and methods for stimulating revascularization and tissue growth in an interior region of an organ or vessel, such as the heart, by stimulating native revascularization and tissue growth mechanisms.
It would also be desirable to provide apparatus and methods for stimulating revascularization and tissue growth by controlling the placement and size of tissue treatment sites, thereby resulting in a controlled degree of scar tissue formation.
It would be still further desirable to provide apparatus and methods for stimulating revascularization and tissue growth by depositing a controlled amount of a bioactive agent, such as an angiogenic growth factor, at the treatment sites.

Apparatus and methods for stimulating revascularization and/or tissue growth


A process is provided for converting oxygenate to olefins from a fluidized bed reactor which comprises removal of catalyst fines from a quenched vaporous effluent by contacting with a liquid low in catalyst fines content, e.g., oxygenate feedstock, or by-product water from the oxygenates to olefins conversion which is stripped and/or filtered. The process typically comprises: contacting a feedstock comprising oxygenate with a catalyst comprising a molecular sieve under conditions effective to produce a deactivated catalyst having carbonaceous deposits and a product comprising the olefins; separating the deactivated catalyst from the product to provide a separated vaporous product which contains catalyst fines; quenching the separated vaporous product with a liquid medium containing water and catalyst fines, in an amount sufficient for forming a light product fraction comprising light olefins and catalyst fines and a heavy product fraction comprising water, heavier hydrocarbons and catalyst fines; treating the light product fraction by contacting with a liquid substantially free of catalyst fines to provide a light product fraction having reduced catalyst fines content and a liquid fraction of increased fines content; compressing the light product fraction having reduced catalyst fines content; and recovering the light olefins from the compressed light product fraction.

Olefins are traditionally produced from petroleum feedstocks by catalytic or steam cracking processes. These cracking processes, especially steam cracking, produce light olefin(s), such as ethylene and/or propylene, from a variety of hydrocarbon feedstocks. Ethylene and propylene are important commodity petrochemicals useful in a variety of processes for making plastics and other chemical compounds.
The petrochemical industry has known for some time that oxygenates, especially alcohols, are convertible into light olefin(s). There are numerous technologies available for producing oxygenates including fermentation or reaction of synthesis gas derived from natural gas, petroleum liquids or carbonaceous materials including coal, recycled plastics, municipal waste or any other organic material. Generally, the production of synthesis gas involves a combustion reaction of natural gas, mostly methane, and an oxygen source into hydrogen, carbon monoxide and/or carbon dioxide. Other known syngas production processes include conventional steam reforming, autothermal reforming, or a combination thereof.
An important type of alternate feed for the production of light olefins is oxygenate, such as, for example, alcohols, particularly methanol and ethanol, dimethyl ether (DME), methyl ethyl ether, diethyl ether, dimethyl carbonate, and methyl formate. Many of these oxygenates may be produced by fermentation, or from synthesis gas derived from natural gas, petroleum liquids, carbonaceous materials, including coal, recycled plastics, municipal wastes, or any organic material. Because of the wide variety of sources, alcohol, alcohol derivatives, and other oxygenates have promise as an economical, non-petroleum source for light olefin production. Methanol, the preferred alcohol for light olefin production, is typically synthesized from the catalytic reaction of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and/or carbon dioxide in a methanol reactor in the presence of a heterogeneous catalyst. For example, in one synthesis process methanol is produced using a copper/zinc oxide catalyst in a water-cooled tubular methanol reactor. The preferred process for converting a feedstock containing methanol into one or more olefin(s), primarily ethylene and/or propylene, involves contacting the feedstock with a catalyst composition.
The catalysts used to promote the conversion of oxygenates to olefins are molecular sieve catalysts. Because ethylene and propylene are the most sought after products of such a reaction, research has focused on what catalysts are most selective to ethylene and/or propylene, and on methods for increasing the life and selectivity of the catalysts to ethylene and/or propylene.
Catalytic processes utilizing fluidized bed technology for conversion of hydrocarbon or oxygenates involving gas-solids contacting are widely used in industry for productions of petroleum-based fuels, chemical feed stocks and other industrial materials. The gaseous reactants are contacted with solid catalyst particles to provide gaseous products. Such processes often use continuous catalytic reactor unit operations, requiring catalyst regeneration at high temperature. FCC, MTO and other processes usually employ oxidative regeneration to remove coke or other carbonaceous deposits from spent or equilibrium catalysts. These operations often utilize combustion air to burn carbonaceous matter deposited on the catalyst during the conversion reactions. Ordinarily, this regeneration is carried out in a regeneration vessel separate from the main fluidized bed reactor. Attrition of the catalyst particles can occur during circulation of the catalyst into smaller particles of, say, less than about 60 microns, in overall diameter, i.e., the largest particle dimension.
The vaporous product from the reactor typically contains entrained particles such as catalyst fines carried from the process. Removal of such particles is desirable inasmuch as these particles can cause erosion and plugging problems for downstream equipment, e.g., suction drums, compressors, pumps, valves, exchangers and piping. Ultimately, the particles may be vented with gases to ambient atmosphere for disposal, e.g., through a cyclone used to separate solids from gases. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an economical method to reduce or substantially eliminate solids such as catalyst fines from the product effluent at a point upstream of equipment that can be damaged by such solids.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,121,504 to Kuechler et al. discloses a process for converting oxygenates to olefins with direct product quenching for heat recovery and to improve heat integration.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,403,854 and 6,459,009 to Miller et al. disclose a process for converting oxygenate to light olefins with improved heat recovery from reactor effluent streams and improved waste recovery which minimizes overall utility requirements. The reactor effluent is quenched with an aqueous stream in a two-stage process to facilitate the separation of hydrocarbon gases from any entrained catalyst fines, as well as to remove water and any heavy by-products such as C6+ hydrocarbons. A portion of the waste water stream withdrawn from the bottom of the quench tower is recycled to the quench tower at a point above where the reactor effluent is introduced to the quench tower. The references do not appear to teach the use of liquid streams that are substantially free of catalyst fines for treating reactor effluents.
All of the above references are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Liquid contacting of post-quench effluent vapor streams from oxygenate to olefins conversion to capture catalyst fines


A heat exchanger core includes a first side, a second side, a third side, and a fourth side. A first layer includes a first width extending in a first direction, a first length extending in a second direction, a first height extending in a third direction, and a first plurality of passages, which extend from an inlet to an outlet. A second layer includes a second width extending in the first direction, a second length extending in the second direction, a second height extending in the third direction, and a second plurality of passages extending from the first side to the second side. The first and second plurality of passages are adjacent to one another. The first and second plurality of passages include a sinusoidal profile in the third direction and a sinusoidal profile in the first direction.

The present disclosure relates to heat exchangers, and in particular to heat exchanger cores.
Heat exchangers are often used to transfer heat between two fluids. For example, on aircraft, heat exchangers are used to transfer heat between a relatively hot air source, e.g., bleed air from a gas turbine engine, and a relatively cool air source, e.g., ram air. Heat exchangers built for aircraft must be compact yet provide enough heat transfer surface area for adequate heat transfer. Maximizing the heat transfer surface area increases the effectiveness of the heat exchanger.


Improved color image display accuracy can be achieved across a computer network by obtaining information characterizing the color response of display devices associated with a client residing on the computer network, and using the information to modify color images delivered to the client. The information may include a gamma estimate. In one embodiment, the gamma estimate is limited to only the green color channel, without reference to the gammas for the red and blue channels. In this manner, the gamma estimate concentrates on the most dominant color channel and avoids errors that can arise due to the red-blue imbalances that are highly prevalent in many display devices. The information can be obtained, for example, by guiding the client through a color profiling process that profiles the color response of the display device. For example, such guidance may take the form of a series of instructional web pages that are delivered to the client. The web pages can be made interactive to enable collection of color characterization data from the client.

The growth of the Internet has created sizable opportunities for online retailers. Most major retailers of consumer products have established commercial sites on the World Wide Web. At the same time, the availability of website presence has eliminated many of the marketing barriers previously experienced by smaller retailers. Virtually any retailer can now post product information for easy access by potential customers, and take orders for products in an automated fashion.
The product information may include a large number of images. The images enable web customers situated at client devices to view products before submitting an online purchase order. For some items, the user is permitted to click on a "thumbnail" image to view the item in a higher resolution format. For many retailers, however, the quality of the images can be a significant concern. Color accuracy, in particular, can be very important for retailers of products for which color matters.
In the case of clothing retailers, for example, an image of a sweater should match its actual color as closely as possible. Unfortunately, the color output characteristics of different display devices can differ significantly. A cathode ray tube (CRT) or flat panel display, video card, driver software, and operating system together determine how RGB pixel values will be rendered and displayed, and vary significantly from system to system.
Consequently, an online customer may order what appears to be a burgundy sweater but instead receive a bright red sweater. Indeed, color inaccuracy has become a significant cause for return of merchandise purchased by online customers. In some cases, this problem can erase the advantages obtained by the retailer's commitment to online merchandising, and undermine continued investment.

Color image display accuracy using green-limited gamma estimate

Kodak Graphic Communications Canada Company


A system and methods for synchronizing datasets are provided that are especially suitable and efficient for a user who has three or more datasets that need to be occasionally synchronized, with no one dataset or synchronization system being guaranteed to participate in every synchronization. Synchronization status information, such as correspondences between data records of particular multiple datasets, is stored with more than one of the datasets. When two datasets that contain synchronization status information synchronize with each other, they not only synchronize user data and exchange status information involving each other, but they also synchronize and exchange status information involving “third-party” datasets that may not be participating in the synchronization. In this way, synchronization status information collected in an earlier synchronization is made available in a later synchronization, even if the earlier and later synchronizations are not conducted by a same synchronization system or do not both include a common, permanently-designated “hub” dataset. Further, when datasets being synchronized are found to contain mutually-duplicative data records, the data records are intelligently mapped to each other as being corresponding so as to avoid or minimize causing of changes to be made, in the data records, that would make synchronization status information stored in another dataset to become obsolete.

The present invention relates generally to synchronization of data—that is, the process of taking two or more separate collections of data ("datasets") and applying changes to one or more of the datasets to make the datasets identical or equivalent. The present invention is particularly relevant to synchronization involving a dataset that may separately synchronize with multiple other datasets at various times, especially if the other datasets may also synchronize with one another.
With each passing day, there is ever increasing need for synchronization solutions for connected information devices. Here, information devices include, for example, general- or special-purpose computers of all types and sizes, Internet or intranet access devices, cellular phones, pagers, and other handheld devices including, for example, the StarTAC® clipOn Organizer, REX PRO™ organizer, Palm organizer, Microsoft "Windows CE" devices, and the like.
(StarTAC is a registered trademark of Motorola, Inc. of Schaumburg, Ill. REX and REX PRO are trademarks of Franklin Electronic Publishers of Burlington, N.J. The StarTAC® clipon Organizer and REX™ and REX PRO™ organizers include licensed technology from Starfish Software, Inc. ("Starfish"), the present assignee. Palm organizers are produced by Palm Computing, Inc., a subsidiary of 3Com Corp. of Santa Clara, Calif. The Windows CE device operating system and other Microsoft software are produced by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.)
As the use of information devices is ever growing, users often have their data in more than one device, or in more than one software application. Consider, for instance, a user who has his or her appointments and contacts on a desktop personal computer (PC) at work and also has appointments or contacts on a notebook computer at home and on a battery-powered, handheld device for use in the field. The user is free to alter the information on any one of these devices independently of the other devices. What the user wants is the information in each device to remain synchronized with corresponding information in other devices in a convenient, transparent manner. Further, some devices are connected at least occasionally to a server computer (for example, an Internet server) that stores information for the user. The user would of course like the information on the server computer to participate in synchronization, so that the information on the server computer also remains synchronized.
An early approach to maintaining consistency between datasets was simply to import or copy one dataset on top of another. That simple approach, one which overwrites a target dataset without any attempt at reconciling any differences, is inadequate for all but the simplest of applications. Expectedly, more sophisticated synchronization techniques were developed. In particular, techniques were developed for attempting to reproduce in each dataset the changes made in other dataset(s) since a previous synchronization and resolving any conflicts involving such changes, automatically or with user assistance. Some earlier examples of such synchronization techniques were limited to "point-to-point" synchronization, in which exactly two datasets are synchronized. Later, certain "multi-point" synchronization techniques were developed by Starfish that are capable of synchronizing arbitrarily many datasets using a single synchronization system or in response to a single interaction with a user.
At first, as a typical user first began to accumulate more than two datasets that needed synchronization, he or she typically found that a hub-and-spoke configuration of his or her datasets was sufficient. FIG. 1 illustrates an example 100 of such a hub-and-spoke synchronization configuration for a hub dataset 105 and satellite datasets 110, 115, 120. According to the configuration 100, the hub dataset 105 participates in every synchronization and serves as a central repository of data from all datasets, as known from all synchronizations to date. Any one of the satellite datasets 110, 115, 120 (e.g., synchronization clients) may or may not participate in any particular synchronization, depending for example on availability, user preference, or the capabilities of the synchronization system being used (e.g., point-to-point or multi-point). In the example configuration 100, the hub dataset 105 and the satellite datasets 110, 115, 120 reside, for example, on a PC 140, a first handheld device 145 (e.g., a Palm organizer), an Internet server 150, and a second handheld device 155 (e.g., a StarTAC® clipOn Organizer), respectively. Synchronization paths 125, 130, 135 (e.g., serial cables (e.g., RS-232), infrared connections, the Internet, or the like) connect the datasets as indicated.
A configuration, such as the configuration 100, that has a single, permanently-designated hub dataset is useful for synchronizing the user's datasets, as long as the hub dataset is always available when synchronization is desired. However, as the user accumulates ever more datasets and uses them in ever more contexts, the user increasingly wishes to deviate from such a configuration. In particular, the user wishes to synchronize datasets with one another without requiring that a single permanently-designated hub dataset be available to participate in every synchronization. By wanting to deviate from a rigid hub-and-spoke configuration of the user's datasets, the user introduces additional complexity to the synchronization task. If not understood or handled properly, the additional complexity can cause inefficiencies or even corruption of the user's data.
Consider, for example, a user who formerly used the single permanently-designated hub dataset 105 in all synchronizations as a reference dataset. This user now wishes to occasionally synchronize the formerly permanently-designated satellite datasets 110, 115 directly with one another without participation of the formerly permanently-designated hub dataset 105. In effect, the user wishes to create a circular, or looping, synchronization relationship among the three datasets 105, 110, 115. In this looping relationship, the direct synchronization between the former satellite datasets 110, 115 cannot take advantage of knowledge stored in the former hub dataset 105. Thus, during the direct synchronization not involving the former hub dataset 105, the former satellite datasets 110, 115 may not realize the extent to which they may have already been synchronized by the former hub dataset 105. As a result, the former satellite datasets 110, 115 may needlessly exchange user data that is actually already known to the other side of the communication and thereby waste processing resources and communication bandwidth.
Additionally, the former satellite datasets may fail to realize that certain received user data is already known and therefore redundant. As a result, one or both former satellite datasets may actually treat the received redundant user data as new data to be added locally and thereby corrupt the user data by creating duplicate records. Such possible waste of processing resources and communication resources, and such possible corruption of user data with erroneously duplicated records, can further compound in subsequent synchronizations. This further compounding may occur, for example, in a subsequent synchronization involving the former hub dataset 105. In such a subsequent synchronization, the knowledge within the former hub dataset 105 may no longer be up-to-date, due to changes made to the former satellite datasets 110, 115 during their direct synchronization. As a result, the synchronization involving the former hub dataset 105 may also waste resources or corrupt user data.
In light of problems associated with circular synchronization relationships, such as described above, what is needed are synchronization technologies that can synchronize datasets in a non-single-dedicated-hub configuration, especially a circular configuration, without corrupting user data (once or repeatedly) and without needlessly processing and re-transmitting already-known user data (once or repeatedly). More generally, what is needed are synchronization systems and methods that share and preserve synchronization status information in an intelligent manner so that later synchronizations can more fully take advantage of knowledge gained in earlier synchronizations, even if the earlier and later synchronizations are orchestrated by different synchronization systems or use different reference datasets.

System and methods for synchronizing datasets using cooperation among multiple synchronization engines


An optical recording medium comprising a recording layer, a light interference layer, a reflective layer and a protective layer that are laminated on a substrate, characterized in that said recording layer and said light interference layer comprise at least one organic dye, and that a light absorbent and/or a thermal decomposition promoter are/is added to said light interference layer, wherein the optical recording medium has compatibility that allows good recording and/or reproduction by using lasers of different two wavelength ranges and has good recording properties.

(1). Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical recording medium and, more particularly, to an optical recording medium that allows recording and/or reproducing information at wavelengths of plural laser beams.
(2). Description of the Related Art
Compact disc-recordables (CD-Rs) are disclosed in, for example, Optical Data Storage 1989, Technical Digest Series Vol. 1, p. 45 (1989) as a write-once type optical recording medium satisfying compact disc (hereinafter, referred to as CD) standards and is on the market. A CD-R is laminated, as shown in FIG. 1, with a recording layer 2, a reflective layer 3 and a protective layer 4 in this order on a transparent resin substrate 1. The recording layer changes physically or chemically when irradiated with a high power laser beam, and thus the information is recorded in the form of pits. The information in the pits can be reproduced by means of irradiating a low power laser beam to the pits formed in the recording layer and detecting a change of a reflectance. A near infrared semiconductor laser having a wavelength of 770 to 830 nm is typically used for recording and reproducing such optical recording media which satisfies CD standards such as the Red Book Standards and the Orange Book standards. Therefore, it is compatible with CD players and CD-ROM players.
Such conventional optical recording media has, however, a recording capacity of only about 650 MB, which is not enough when taking account of recording of dynamic digital images. Thus, there is an increasing demand for an information recording medium having a higher density and a higher capacity.
Recently, a red semiconductor laser having a selected wavelength of from 620 to 690 nm has been developed. Under such circumstances, it is becoming increasingly possible to record and/or reproduce information at a higher density. With this semiconductor laser, such high-density recording media have been developed that have a recording capacity of 5-8 times as large as that of the conventional media. In addition, players for such high density recording media have also been developed. For example, digital video discs (DVD) have been on the market that have dynamic images of 2 hours or longer recorded thereon in a digital format.
In addition, lasers having a wavelength of around 530 nm and 420 nm have been put into practice that uses a higher harmonic wave conversion of a YAG laser. Furthermore, semiconductor lasers having a wavelength of around 490 nm and 410 nm have also been developed.
However, software and continuity of the recorded data are lost when the optical recording medium has no compatibility for various wavelengths even if the high-density optical recording media and players that use such a short-wave laser are introduced. The CD-R media now available on the market have a small reflectance of 10% or lower when it is attempted to reproduce information thereon by using a light beam having a wavelength selected from the range between 400 and 440 nm, between 480 and 540 nm, and between 620 and 690 nm. In addition, a degree of modulation is also very small. The recording is low-to-high recording in which the reflectance of the recorded portion is higher than that of the non-recorded portion. This is not preferable because the polarity is reversed from common CDs (high-to-low recording). Furthermore, a large deformation is observed in recorded waveforms, so that it is difficult to play such a recording medium by using a player for high-density recording which is provided with a laser having a wavelength selected from the range between 400 and 440 nm, between 480 and 540 nm, and between 620 and 690 nm.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-290835 discloses a medium having an interference layer comprising a low molecular weight organic compound between a recording layer and a reflective layer comprising an aluminum alloy. This medium uses the aluminum alloy instead of expensive gold for the reflective layer, and has an interference layer to achieve the reflectance of 70% or higher at 780 nm. In this medium, the reflectance is certainly 70% or higher at 780 nm. However, the reflectance is low to the light beam having a wavelength selected from the range between 400 and 690 nm, so that it is difficult to reproduce the recorded information by using a player for a high-density medium.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 8-99467 and 8-108623 propose an optical recording medium in which a dye-containing recording layer and a dye-containing light interference layer are laminated. However, these media proposed in the above publications are not good in recording characteristics, especially signal quality obtained by a light beam having a relatively short wavelength.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-98887 discloses an example of an optical recording medium in which an additive is added to improve the recording characteristics. However, this additive is only added to the recording layer. No additive is added to a layer such as the light interference layer, which is not directly involved in recording, for improving the recording characteristics.


A water shield, reinforcing device for insertion over a top edge of a joist member and useful for supporting a wood deck or other outdoor structure which may be exposed to water. The device includes an elongate channel of rectangular cross section which has a composition of sufficiently high modulus of elasticity to provide substantial inflexibility to the device. The width of the channel approximately corresponds to the width of the joist member and the height dimension is sufficient, in combination with the modulus of elasticity, to provide substantial inflexibility to the device. The length of the channel is coextensive and continuous with the length of the joist member and includes diverging wing members coupled at bottom ends and along the length of the elongate channel to direct water away from the joist member.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to structural devices for protecting floor joist members from water damage. More particularly, the present invention relates to reinforcing floor joists used for deck structures which are exposed to the elements, and particularly to rain or snow.
2. Prior Art
Typical construction of quality deck flooring for outdoor applications requires use of redwood floor planks as deck surfacing. Redwood provides long term resistance to water damage, as well as an aesthetically appealing rustic appearance. Redwood, however, does not offer the degree of load bearing stiffness to provide good floor joist members. Consequently, fir or other more sturdy types of wood are selected for floor joists.
Although conventional wood floor joist members supply the required load bearing capacity, they are typically subject to water damage and will necessitate replacement long before the deck flooring is worn. Unfortunately, replacement of the floor joists generally results in removal of the redwood floor planks, often leading to damage which makes floor decking unsalvageable. Repair of supporting joists, therefore, is often tantamount to replacement of floor decking as well.
This problem has long been recognized, leading to various plastic devices for shielding water away from floor joists, particularly under decking surfaces. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,654 by Cole discloses a deck subflooring that comprises a top plate and diverging, arcuate side members that carry water away from the joist A second patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,049, teaches a similar top plate with diverging wings which deflect away from the joist. These wings are flat, as opposed to curved. Each of these shielding devices rests on top of the plank and operates as a rain shed. There is no load-bearing function to this member
U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,399 by Salato, teaches the use of a plastic channel with upward projecting ribs for aligning floor planks as a floor deck surface. There is no winged structure for shedding water away from the sides of the joist. To the contrary, water flows off the top plastic cover with the alignment ribs, and down the sidewalls of the joist. This water can seep under the plastic cap, as well as directly damage the exposed joist structure. This channel is formed of resilient polymer which allows the channel to be press fit onto the beam or joist. There is no load-bearing function to this member.
Other protective water shields are well known as part of the construction industry, such as various types of flashing and other forms of roofing protection. Protective shields for protecting foundations from water damage are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 494,848. Floor moisture barriers are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,644,720.
It appears to be common practice in the construction industry to isolate the problem of water damage, without consideration of other concurrent construction problems. This practice extends not only in the deck flooring field of construction, but through the other aspects of roof, wall and floor design. The lack of emphasis on structural reinforcement considerations within the cited prior art confirms this observation. Nevertheless, the increasing costs of construction and the highly competitive nature of this industry requires continual attention to balancing quality versus cost competitiveness.
What is needed, therefore, is a method of construction which provides benefits of both water barrier structure and enhanced reinforcement to flooring members. Reinforcement can reduce the cost of materials by allowing use of less material to reach the same level of strength. Concurrent focus on protection of these materials from water operates to preserve the materials, avoiding the need for early replacement. These and other benefits suggest an ongoing need for renewed attention to combining quality and economics with a common focus.

Water shield reinforcing member for floor joists


An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier configured to carry an image on a surface thereof, a cleaning unit including a cleaning blade and configured to remove residual toner remaining on the surface of the image carrier with the cleaning blade, and an application unit including a brush roller having a modified cross-section fiber and configured to use the brush roller to scrape molded lubricant into scraped lubricant and apply the scraped lubricant to the image carrier. A process cartridge is provided to the image forming apparatus and integrally includes the image carrier, the cleaning unit, the application unit, and at least one of a charging unit and a developing unit in a single unit.

1. Field of the Invention
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention generally relate to an image forming apparatus and a process unit included in the image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus that effectively applies lubricant scraped from a solid lubricant onto an image carrier and removes residual toner from the image carrier, and a process unit that is included in the image forming apparatus.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Recently, color image forming apparatuses using electrophotographic methods have come into widespread use. Digitalized images are now widely available, and as a result printed images are required to have higher image definitions. While research aimed at higher image resolution and gradient is being undertaken, research on the toner that makes visible an electrostatic latent image is directed toward making the toner particles more spherical in shape and with a smaller particle diameter, to form images having higher definition.
Examples of proposed methods for preparing toner having a substantially spherical shape and a small particle diameter include a method of using powdered toner having circular particles with a specific particle diameter distribution, a suspension polymerization method, a method in which a binder resin and a colorant are mixed in a solvent that does not blend with water and dissolved and dispersed in an aqueous medium under a dispersion stabilizer, a method in which a binder resin including a partially modified resin and a colorant are mixed in an organic solvent and dissolved and dispersed in an aqueous medium to cause a polyaddition reaction of the modified resin, and so forth. Such toner having a substantially spherical particle shape and a small particle diameter can enhance image quality and fluidity.
Since toner particles of small size and a spherical shape are reproduced faithfully, they are suitable for obtaining images having high definition. At the same time, however, such toner of small particle size and spherical shape can easily slip through a gap formed between a cleaning blade provided in a cleaning unit and a photoconductor and onto a surface of the photoconductor. Due to the spherical surface of the toner particle, the surface of the photoconductor cannot be easily cleaned, and the residual toner particles are scattered in the image forming apparatus to contaminate an image forming component such as a charging roller. As a result, a defective image having background fogging may be produced.
To eliminate the above-described circumstance an electrophotographic image forming method has been proposed, in which a cleaning member is included for cleaning or removing residual toner on a photoconductor by using an elastic rubber blade after transferring a toner image onto a recording medium, zinc stearate is incorporated in the toner in an amount ranging from approximately 0.01% to approximately 0.5% by toner weight, and the elastic rubber blade is substantially held on a contacting surface side of a cleaning blade on the photoconductor by a supporting member for fixing the elastic rubber blade on the cleaning member.
However, when the zinc stearate is added to the toner, while a high-density image area may receive a great amount of toner and a sufficient amount of zinc stearate may be supplied to the photoconductor, a less sufficient amount of toner may be supplied to a low-density image area and the amount of toner may not be sufficient. That is, a layer of the toner including the zinc stearate applied on the surface of the toner becomes uneven depending on a condition of an image to be developed, resulting in a defective image.
Further, a different technique has been proposed for a related-art image forming apparatus that includes a photoconductor that carries a latent image on a surface thereof, a charging unit that includes a charging member disposed in contact with the surface of the photoconductor or disposed opposite thereto in a vicinity of the surface thereof to charge the surface of the photoconductor, an optical writing unit that emits light and irradiates the surface of the photoconductor to form a latent image on the surface thereof, a developing unit that supplies toner onto the latent image to develop the latent image into a visible toner image, a transfer unit that produces a transfer electrical field between the photoconductor and a surface moving member contacting and moving on the surface of the photoconductor so as to transfer the toner image formed on the surface of the photoconductor onto a recording medium sandwiched between the photoconductor and the surface moving member or onto the surface moving member, and a cleaning unit that removes residual toner remaining on the surface of the photoconductor. The related-art image forming apparatus further includes an application unit including a brush roller that applies lubricant to the surface of the photoconductor to use a technique in which the brush roller slidably moves on a solid or molded lubricant to scrape lubricant from the solid lubricant and applies the scraped lubricant onto the surface of the photoconductor. The brush roller is disposed facing the solid or molded lubricant and supported by a pressing member such as a spring so as to bite a given amount into the solid or molded lubricant. When rotating, the brush roller slidably moves on the surface of the solid lubricant to scrape lubricant from the solid lubricant, and applies the scraped lubricant onto the surface of the photoconductor.
As a contact pressure force of the solid lubricant against the brush roller increases, the extent to which the brush roller bites into the solid lubricant also increases, thereby supplying a more sufficient amount of lubricant to the photoconductor and performing a more stable cleaning operation but also increasing the rotational load of the brush roller. As a result, a life of a drive unit or member of the brush roller may be shortened, costs of motors and power consumption may increase due to an increase of a motor torque, banding may be generated due to rotation vibration of the brush roller, and other disadvantages may be caused.

Image forming apparatus and process unit for effectively applying lubricant and cleaning an image carrier


A method, system and program product for comparing a junk fax image stored in a database to an incoming facsimile image to determine whether the incoming facsimile image is a junk fax. If the facsimile image is a junk fax, the image is either deleted or the communication terminated. The invention also provides a junk fax determinator by which an incoming facsimile image can be designated as a junk fax. In one embodiment, a recipient (user) can make the determination as to whether the incoming facsimile image is a junk fax and generate a personal junk fax database. In another embodiment, the recipient (user) can scan a hard copy document to form an incoming facsimile image, which can be saved as a junk fax in a personal junk fax database.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to facsimile communication, and more particularly to a facsimile system, method and program product with junk fax disposal.
2. Related Art
Mass marketing communications have become a ubiquitous part of modern day interactions. As is well known, most of these communications are a nuisance because they are unsolicited and unwanted. The problem is so widespread that new terms have arisen to describe these communications such as "junk mail," "spam," "junk e-mail," etc.
Regardless of the type of communication format, mass marketing communications force consumption of resources of the recipient. For example, when these communications are received via post, recipients must waste time filtering through the "junk mail" and must dispose of more paper waste. Unfortunately, mass marketers also use electronic formats as broadcast media to reach more people at lower costs. When received via telephone, a recipient wastes time by answering the phone and may experience increased telephone usage charges. The problem is so widespread relative to telephonic communications, the US government has established a federally controlled "do-not-call" list for telemarketers.
When mass marketing is received as e-mail (i.e., junk e-mail or spam), it requires recipients to maintain larger data storage than would be required if only wanted mail was received. In addition, recipients of junk e-mail also waste time determining whether e-mail is unwanted, and then deleting those that are considered spam. Alternatively, an e-mail recipient may also employ any of a variety of software packages, such as SpamKiller™ by McAfee, that filter e-mails for unwanted communications by, for example, subject, address of sender, message text, or message header. The filtering software adds expense to any computer system's operation and consumes further computer resources.
Another telecommunications device that has found increasing acceptance beyond office use as a home appliance is a facsimile machine. As a result, facsimile machines have become increasingly targets for mass marketing communications. In addition to the extra time, data storage and telephone usage charges required of a recipient, mass marketing communications received via facsimile waste a recipient's paper and ink. Unfortunately, no mechanisms currently exist to address "junk faxes" despite the fact that recipients, as with almost all forms of mass marketing communications, oftentimes repeatedly receive very similar communications.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need in the art for a facsimile system, method and program product that address the above-described problems.

Facsimile system, method and program product with junk fax disposal

International Business Machines Corporation


A plastic security handrail system made with lightweight, high strength, non-corrosive plastic pipe having a plurality of elongated spaced rails mounted between end supports. A plurality of individual coped sections are held together by a compression force to form center posts spaced from the end supports. The system includes coped fitting joint connectors for perpendicular connections between rails and posts and rabbeted joint connections for connecting various rail sections together to form a rigid, strong railing system for a wide variety of uses.

The present invention relates to a reinforced plastic handrail security system and more particularly to a handrail system having improved interconnections.
Security railings have long been used for a variety of applications, such as multi-story buildings with stairways and balconies, industrial buildings, playgrounds and schools, among any number of others of a wide variety of uses. Many of these uses are outdoors, where the security railing is exposed to the weather and other corrosive elements, such as salt water, chemical vapors, and the like. Building codes require the use of high-strength materials, such as iron, steel, aluminum and the like to provide the sufficient rigidity and strength to ensure adequate security qualities, and these types of railing systems often present a problem of rusting and/or corrosion of the metallic parts. In addition to the corrosion being unsightly and requiring constant care and upkeep, the corrosion of the security railing often degrades the strength and security aspects of the railing to the point where they no longer function for their intended purpose. This is particularly true with outdoor railings used in highly corrosive environments.
In an attempt to overcome these problems, a number of fence systems made out of plastic have been proposed by the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,140 to Clemens et al. is directed to a non-corrosive plastic handrail system used for stairways, platforms and the like in corrosive environments where the strength of the system depends upon the use of a thermosetting resin and high-tensile strength reinforcing fibers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,461 to Caron teaches the use of a laminated railing formed from a polyvinyl chloride pipe using a laminated structure of two types wherein a smaller pipe has an outside diameter essentially equal to the inside diameter of the larger pipe.
Another Caron U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,754, relates to a similar polyvinyl chloride pipe handrail security system using a specific arrangement of fittings and cylindrical joint aligners made out of a solid cylinder of PVC which extends across each joint.
Other security railing systems are disclosed in the U.S. Pat. Nos. to Schroer (2,834,621), Heywood (3,353,853), Schroer (3,471,182), Snyder et al. (3,787,033), Hammerschmidt (3,804,542), Parisien (4,101,226), Russell (4,892,292), Ballerstein (4,952,092) and Evans et al. (GB 683,386), among others, which use specific joint connectors.
One of the shortcomings of the prior art rail systems of the type described above is the requirement for a plurality of joint connectors in order to provide the sufficient strength and rigidity to meet the code requirements for security railings. The use of many joints and shorter sections of rail tend to be aesthetically undesirable, particularly where the railings are used in home or retail store environments.
The present invention relates to a reinforced plastic railing using elongated rails and posts formed of a plurality of coped interconnecting sections. The features of the system include the use of unique joints for connecting the reinforced rails which ensures continuity in design and strength.
Among the objects of the present invention are the provision of an improved plastic reinforced handrail security system having elongated rails providing an aesthetically pleasing appearance while maintaining the requisite strength and rigidity required by building codes; the provision of a handrail security system which requires little maintenance and resists the efforts of a corrosive environment; the provision of a handrail security system using elongated rail members, coped posts and unique interconnection joints.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the invention. The objects and advantages will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

Plastic security handrail system and connectors therefor


The present invention relates to a retailing system that provides a series of consumer products, customizable prime business communication products and a selection of ready to eat convenience food products. The retail system is provided at a fixed retail location such as a kiosk or permanent installation and may include a series of advertising panels displaying one or more products that is offered by the retail system. The retail system further includes one or more transaction points enabling a user to obtain the consumer goods, business communication products and ready to eat convenience foods.

There are currently a plethora of business communication constructions, marketing and advertising pieces and other items that are available in the market today for communicating products and services with an intended audience. Yet with this inordinately large selection of offerings and permutations, there remains a continuing need to develop new products and new and innovative mechanisms to deliver such products. The changing landscape is largely due to technological adaptation, emerging societal trends, diversification of marketing, packaging and advertising campaigns and new information handling needs of businesses and consumers alike.
The market for printed communication material is also changing and becoming more sophisticated with the customers for such products, correspondingly becoming more demanding in having the communication deliver a more impact making message to customers.
Printed products, such as communication pieces and other assemblies that are intended to be used in business communications, can be delivered in a wide variety of formats, constructions and configurations. However, the difficulty arises in maximizing the contact with each individual customer in order to try and capture repeat business opportunities with customers previously serviced by the business.
In addition to the foregoing dilemma of having to create more meaningful and impact making messages, manufacturers and suppliers of such business communication products also need new and interesting ways to connect with different market segments and obtain additional customers for their products. No longer is it sufficient for a supplier of such business communication products to simply expect product orders to be delivered to a manufacturing location.
There are a wide variety of consumer retail outlets, seasonal kiosk installations and the like. Each of these retail locations typically focus on a single product, such as beverage, convenience foods, consumer products and the like. Occasionally, retail installations may blend consumer oriented activities, such as a consumer products location offering a beverage service, e.g. coffee stand, or other consumer oriented services, namely banking or other financial services.
Many consumers today need business communication products and are often subjected to having to select from a number of pre-formatted or generic office products selections that may be available at large retail outlets. Such offerings are intended to be processed on the home office or small office printing equipment which is often limited in the print resolution.
While these products fill a viable niche in the marketplace, they are typically provided to the consumer as part of a generic stock offering, such as is commonly found in retail bins or on shelves. Such products commonly offer no professional personalization or the ability to significantly modify the format in which the products are produced. These products offer little in the way of customization or quality which means that the consumer must offer "home made" looking communication pieces to business associates and other possible professionals and potential customers which may detract from the message that a user may wish to provide. With the increase in small businesses, there is a need to obtain more sophisticated communication products without necessarily increasing the cost of obtaining such products.
What is needed therefore is a retail system in which active professionals can obtain a variety of consumer goods, ready to eat convenience foods and obtain customized business communication products and other premium printing services which heretofore were unavailable.

Method and system of providing customized business products to consumer at a retail location


A wheelchair incorporates a tilt mechanism with a center of gravity compensation by employing a rotary actuator. The actuator is secured to the underside of the seat and has an arm pivotally secured to the frame. A seat pivot axis is located on a movable member that allows the axis to shift from a rear portion of the wheelchair toward a front portion as the seat is tilted from its upright position to a tilted position. This assures that the center of gravity of the user is maintained within the wheelbase of the chair, i.e., compensates for center of gravity.

This invention pertains to the art of wheelchairs and, more particularly, to a wheelchair in which the seat can tilt relative to the frame, i.e., the entire seat moves from an upright to a tilted position, and the weight of the user is repositioned to maintain the center of gravity at a stable location between the ground engaging wheels.
The invention is particularly applicable to a power chair and will be described with reference thereto. However, it will be appreciated that the invention has broader applications and may be advantageously employed in related environments and applications.
Known seating systems for wheelchairs allow the entire seat to pivot about a fixed point. Typically, the seating system is actuated via a linear actuator where the seat portion and seat back pivot or tilt as a unit about the fixed pivot point in response to extension and retraction of the linear actuator. Although adequate for some circumstances, it is desired to maintain the center of gravity of the user at substantially the same location whether in an upright or tilted position. The position of the center of gravity is not addressed with the fixed pivot arrangement of the prior art.
A compact, reliable actuator is also desired to provide for durable, yet repeatable performance. Preferably, the actuator should be mounted at a location that is easily secured to the seat assembly and frame, is accessible to a controller, and does not take up a large amount of space.
One known patent that describes a tilting wheelchair arrangement is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,647. The '647 patent has a tilt/recline wheelchair with a center of gravity compensation. Particularly, a pair of stanchions are secured to horizontal side members at their junction with a vertical support member. A pair of cam follower pins provided on upper ends of the stanchions cooperate with arcuate slots disposed in cam plates mounted at the joint between the seat back and seat portion. A lower end of the cam plate is secured to a seat support bar slidable along a pair of guide rails. As a linear actuator pulls the seat support bar, the seat then tilts from an upright position to a tilted position, the pin providing for the cammed arcuate movement and center of gravity compensation during the tilting process.
Although the '647 patent does maintain the center of gravity of the user between the front and rear wheels of the wheelchair, the tilt mechanism is relatively large and cumbersome. Thus, a simple, economical, and compact tilt mechanism that compensates for the center of gravity is desired.

Tilt wheelchair with center of gravity compensation


A level indicator attachment for a power hand tool to indicate the angle of inclination of the tool for making cuts at a predetermined angle. In a preferred embodiment, the level indicator comprises a circular bubble level adjustably positioned in a housing and frame mounted to the tool by use of preexisting fasteners used in assembly of the tool. Adjustment of the bubble level in the housing enables the level indicator to be calibrated or adjusted for different angle cuts. The invention is particularly suitable for use in cutting plumb cuts on rafter tails during construction of a building.

In the construction industry it is frequently necessary to make plumb cuts. For instance, during the construction of a building, carpenters and other persons working on the site measure and secure together pieces of dimension lumber to form a structure. During the course of measuring and assembling the lumber to form a structure, it may be necessary to make angled cuts in the lumber, and a variety of measuring tools are available for appropriately marking the lumber which can then be cut along the mark by using a power or hand saw.
In the construction of a roof, for example, boards are supported near their lower ends on the top edge of a wall and extend upwardly to a ridge line where they are secured to like boards extending upwardly from an opposite wall. These boards serve as rafters in the roof structure of a building. It is common practice in the prior art to install rafters with the lower or tail ends cut perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the rafter and after all of the rafters are installed to strike a chalk line along a top or bottom edge of the rafters and then mark each rafter by using an appropriate hand tool to provide a plumb or vertical line at the lower end of each rafter. A carpenter then uses a saw to cut along the marked plumb lines to provide an appropriate angle on the tail ends of the rafters. This procedure requires several time consuming steps, adding to the cost of the project.
Similarly, it is frequently necessary to make angled cuts at the upper ends or ridge line of the rafters or in other structures, including hip-roof constructions and the like.
As presently practiced, all of these special cuts require careful measuring and marking followed by cutting along the marked lines with an appropriate tool, such as a power hand saw.
Accordingly, there is need for a device which will enable angled cuts, and especially plumb cuts, to be made without first marking a line along which the cut is to be made.

Attachment for a power saw to make plumb cuts


A suspension cross member has a bulkhead interposed between an upper member plate and a lower member plate in such a manner as to extend longitudinally rearward from a disconnection initiating point on a forward arm side along an inner side of the upper member plate and an inner side of the lower member plate. The bulkhead is joined to the upper member plate and the lower member plate, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a suspension cross member, and more particularly to a suspension cross member to which forward arms and rearward arms of a pair of lower arms are coupled at ends thereof which extends to be bifurcated.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a vehicle body made of a monocoque structure, in order to increase the strength and rigidity of a part of the vehicle body to which a front suspension system is disposed and hence to which a large force is applied, a suspension cross member is provided on an underside of the vehicle body in such a manner as to extend in a transverse direction of a vehicle.
Since forward arms and rearward arms of lower arms which support wheels (front wheels) are coupled to left and right ends of the suspension cross member, and since equipment such as a transmission is disposed on the periphery of the suspension cross member, the left and right ends are each generally formed into a shape which is bifurcated into a forward portion and a rearward portion at a bifurcation proximal end, and the forward arm is coupled to the forward portion so bifurcated via a coupling member, whereas the rearward arm is coupled to the rearward portion via a coupling member.
In the suspension cross member, in order to reduce the weight thereof, a closed cross-sectional structure made of an upper member plate and a lower member plate which are superposed and are then joined together along circumferential edges thereof, has been adopted.
In recent years, in an attempt to reduce the weight further, a structure in which the upper member plate and the lower member plate are not joined together but are disconnected from each other in the vicinity of the bifurcation proximal end portions at the ends of the suspension cross member so as to form has been adopted. The rearward arms of the lower arms are inserted from the openings so as to be coupled together by being held directly between the upper member plate and the lower member plate without using coupling members within the closed cross section.
In the suspension cross member which are bifurcated at the ends thereof, when a force is inputted in a rearward direction of a vehicle from the lower arm via the forward arm, there are applied various rotational forces which attempt to rotate the forward portion and the rearward portion about the position in the vicinity of the bifurcation proximal end portion. Therefore, in the structure in which the upper member plate and the lower member plate are overlapped in such a manner as to have the openings, when the rotational force is applied to the forward portion and the rearward portion which are bifurcated at the end of the suspension cross member about the position in the vicinity of the bifurcation proximal end portion, a large moment is likely to be applied to a root portion of the forward portion and a root portion of the rearward portion by virtue of an excessive input to thereby bend and deform those root portions.
To cope with this, there has been developed a technique in which a reinforcement bracket is joined to in particular, a root portion of a rearward portion at each end of a suspension cross member having openings like those mentioned above whose rearward portion is expected to be bent and deformed due to the presence of the opening. (Refer to JP-A-2001-253218.)
Also, there has been developed a technique in which bulkheads for reinforcement are joined to each of a forward portion's root portion and a rearward portion's root portion to increase the rigidity of the root portions of the forward and rearward portions that are bifurcated. (Refer to JP-A-6-270837.)
Incidentally, as with the suspension cross member disclosed in JP-A-2001-253218, the attachment point where the forward arm of the lower arm is attached to the suspension cross member tends to be located far away from the bifurcation proximal end portion generally due to the availability of space, whereby there is a tendency that a large rotational force is applied in an attempt to rotate, in particular, the forward portion of the suspension cross member. When the large rotational force is applied to the forward portion, a large force is caused to be applied to a disconnection initiating point of the opening in an attempt to disconnect the upper member plate and the lower member plate which are joined together, and the opening is then caused to open further.
When there is force attempting to open the opening further, in the suspension cross member disclosed in JP-A-2001-253218, since the bracket is constructed to be simply joined to the lower member plate and is simply joined to the lower member plate even at the position in the vicinity of the disconnection initiating point, the upper member plate is made to open freely, resulting in a problem that the joint between the upper member plate and the lower member plate may easily break at the disconnection initiating point.
In this case, it is conceivable to joint the bracket also to the upper member plate. However, since the cross section of the bracket disclosed in JP-A-2001-253218 is formed into a U-shape and a flange is facing in a transverse inward direction of the vehicle, a joining operation that occurs after the upper plate member and the lower plate member have been joined together becomes difficult.
In addition, as disclosed in JP-A-2001-253218, in the event that the upper plate member and the lower plate member are constructed so as to be disconnected abruptly from the disconnection initiating point, when the rotational force attempting to rotate the forward portion rearward is applied, since the open edges are easily opened, the disconnection initiating point is easily shifted toward the bracket side, and the aforesaid problem becomes remarkable.
Incidentally, various rotational forces which attempt to rotate the forward portion and the rearward portion are exerted about the position in the vicinity of the bifurcation proximal end portion, that is, the position deviated to some extent from the bifurcation proximal end portion. Thus, a stress concentration at the bifurcation proximal end portion occurs due to the rotational force that attempts to rotate the forward portion and the rotational force that attempts to rotate the rearward portion.
Particularly, in the suspension cross member disclosed in JP-A-6-270837 in which bulkheads for reinforcement are joined to each of the forward portion's root portion and the rearward portion's root portion, excessive stress concentration occurs at the bifurcation proximal end portion although deformation of the forward and rearward portions are suppressed.
Especially, since the attachment point where the forward arm of the lower arm is attached to the suspension cross member tends to be located far away from the bifurcation proximal end portion generally due to the availability of space, stress concentration caused by a rotational force that attempts to rotate the forward portion becomes a problem.
When the excessive stress concentration occurs in the bifurcation proximal end portion, cracks may be generated at the bifurcation proximal end portion, whereby fatigue distraction may be caused.
It is conceivable to increase the thickness of the upper and lower member plates. However, this is not practical since the costs and weight increase.

Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha


There are provided a method of knowledge transferring, an information processing apparatus and a storage medium. The method of knowledge transferring includes: obtaining a first model which has been trained in advance with respect to a predetermined task; and training a second model with respect to the predetermined task by utilizing a comprehensive loss function, such that the second model has knowledge of the first model. The comprehensive loss function is based on a first loss function weighted by accuracy of an output result of the first model for a training sample in regard to the predetermined task, and a second loss function. The first loss function represents a difference between processing results of the second model and the first model for the training sample. The second loss function represents accuracy of an output result of the second model for the training sample in regard to the predetermined task.

Knowledge transferring is used for training a network model called as a "student" model using a supervisory signal of a network model called as a "teacher" model. In knowledge transferring, knowledge of the "teacher" model is transferred to the "student" model by causing the "student" model to output the same result as the "teacher" model, and thus the "student" model acquires the expression capacity of the "teacher" model.
As an example, the "teacher" model may be a large neural network model, and the "student" model obtained after the knowledge transferring may be a small neural network model. Further, the "teacher" model and the "student" model may be network models for processing different data. For example, the "teacher" model may process face image data, and the "student" model obtained after the knowledge transferring may process fingerprint image data. Different objects may be achieved by the knowledge transferring in different conditions. For example, a processing speed of a network model can be increased, and an existing model can be used for a new task.
With the development of machine learning, it is desired to provide an effective method of knowledge transferring.

Method of knowledge transferring, information processing apparatus and storage medium


A method for making an integrated circuit includes a) providing a substrate including n-type metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (NMOSFETs) and p-type metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (PMOSFETs), wherein channel regions of the NMOSFETs and the PMOSFETs include germanium; b) depositing and patterning a mask layer to mask the channel regions of the PMOSFETs and to not mask the channel regions of the NMOSFETs; c) passivating an exposed surface of the substrate; d) removing the mask layer; and e) depositing a metal contact layer on both the NMOSFETs and the PMOSFETs.

The background description provided here is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
P-channel metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (PMOSFETs) and n-channel MOSFETs (NMOSFETs) are used in many high performance integrated circuits. Reducing contact resistance is important for further improving performance. While nickel silicide (NiSi) provides good contact resistance, NiSi includes Si which is a mid-gap work function material (0.65 eV) (similar to cobalt (Co) and titanium (Ti)) and is prone to form pipes of NiSi2, which limits performance.
A metal insulator silicon (MIS) structure has also been used to reduce contact resistance. However, the insulator (typically titanium dioxide (TiO2) or silicon dioxide (SiO2)) does not remain stable during subsequent processing.
Another approach for reducing contact resistance uses Ti metal in direct contact with Si. The Ti metal is deposited using physical vapor deposition (PVD) and requires a titanium nitride (TiN) cap deposited using chemical vapor deposition (CVD). As contact dimensions scale, the TiN cap consumes much of the contact fill and has high resistance. Manufacturers have resorted to expensive integration techniques to etch back the high resistance TiN cap and fill the contact and/or metal gate with a lower resistance metal. Both the interface resistance and contact material resistance need to be reduced.
In dual silicide integration, providing low contact resistance for NMOSFETs and PMOSFETs involves the use of different materials. Dual silicide integration was actively researched to reduce resistance between the silicide and the silicon. In this integration, a work function of the silicide is tailored to reach the band edge. The candidates are: PMOSFETs>0.8 eV using iridium (Ir), platinum (Pt) or osmium (Os) and NMOSFETs<0.3 eV using erbium (Er), ytterbium (Yb), dysprosium (Dy) or gadolinium (Gd).
Other channel materials with higher carrier mobilities have been proposed to replace silicon (Si). For example, germanium (Ge) has higher electron and hole mobilities than Si. Ge is a group IV element (like Si) and is compatible with current manufacturing facilities.
Ge PMOSFETs have been demonstrated with good performance. However, Ge NMOSFETs have suffered from poor drive current due to high parasitic resistance. A metal Fermi level at metal/Ge interfaces is pinned close to a Ge valence band, which leads to a large barrier to n-type Ge and a high contact resistance (Rs). Rs needs to be reduced in order to improve Ge NMOSFET performance and realize Ge devices.

Method for integrating germanides in high performance integrated circuits


An electrical interconnect provides a path between cryogenic or cryocooled circuitry and ambient temperatures. As a system, a cryocable 10 is combined with a trough-line contact or transition 20. In the preferred embodiment, the cryocable 10 comprises a conductor 11 disposed adjacent an insulator 12 which is in turn disposed adjacent another conductor 13. The components are sized so as to balance heat load through the cryocable 10 with the insertion loss. In the most preferred embodiment, a coaxial cryocable 10 has a center conductor 11 surrounded by a dielectric 12 (e.g. Teflon.TM.) surrounded by an outer conductor 13 which has a thickness between about 6 and 20 microns. The heat load is preferably less than one Watt, and most preferably less than one tenth of a Watt, with an insertion loss less than one decibel. In another aspect of the invention, a trough-line contact or transition 20 is provided in which the center conductor 11 is partially enveloped by dielectric 12 to form a relatively flat portion 28. The preferred overall geometry of the preferred embodiment of the cable is generally cylindrical, although other geometries are possible (e.g. stripline, microstrip, coplanar or slotline geometries).

There are many benefits to having circuitry which includes superconductive material. Superconductivity refers to that state of metals and materials in which the electrical resistivity is zero when the specimen is cooled to a sufficiently low temperature. The temperature at which a specimen undergoes a transition from a state of normal electrical resistivity to a state of superconductivity is known as the critical temperature ("T.sub.c "). The use of superconductive material in circuits is advantageous because of the elimination of resistive losses.
Until recently, attaining the T.sub.c of known superconducting materials required the use of liquid helium and expensive cooling equipment. However, in 1986 a superconducting material having a T.sub.c of 30K was announced. See, e.g., Bednorz and Muller, Possible High Tc Superconductivity in the Ba-La-Cu-O System, Z.Phys. B-Condensed Matter 64, 189-193 (1986). Since that announcement superconducting materials having higher critical temperatures have been discovered. Collectively these are referred to as high temperature superconductors (HTSs). Currently, superconducting materials having critical temperatures in excess of the boiling point of liquid nitrogen, 77K (i.e. about -196.degree. C. or -321.degree. F.) at atmospheric pressure, have been disclosed.
HTSs have been prepared in a number of forms. The earliest forms were preparation of bulk materials, which were sufficient to determine the existence of the superconducting state and phases. More recently, thin films on various substrates have been prepared which have proved to be useful for making practical superconducting devices. More particularly, the applicant's assignee has successfully produced thin film thallium superconductors which are epitaxial to the substrate. See, e.g., Olson, et al., Preparation of Superconducting TlCaBaCu Thin Films by Chemical Deposition, Appl. Phys. Lett. 55, No. 2, 189-190 (1989), incorporated herein by reference. Techniques for fabricating and improving thin film thallium superconductors are described in the following patent and copending applications: Olson, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,830, issued Dec. 10, 1991; Controlled Thallous Oxide Evaporation for Thallium Superconductor Films and Reactor Design, Ser. No. 516,078, filed Apr. 27, 1990; In Situ Growth of Superconducting Films, Ser. No. 598,134, filed Oct. 16, 1990; and Passivation Coating for Superconducting Thin Film Device, Ser. No. 697,660, filed May 8, 1991, all incorporated herein by reference.
High temperature superconducting films are now routinely manufactured with surface resistances significantly below 500 .mu..OMEGA. measured at 10 GHz and 77K. These films may be formed into circuits. Such superconducting films when formed as resonant circuits have an extremely high quality factor ("Q"). The Q of a device is a measure of its lossiness or power dissipation. In theory, a device with zero resistance (i.e. a lossless device) would have a Q of infinity. Superconducting devices manufactured and sold by applicant's assignee routinely achieve a Q in excess of 15,000. This is high in comparison to a Q of several hundred for the best known non-superconducting conductors having similar structure and operating under similar conditions.
A benefit of circuits including superconductive materials is that relatively long circuits may be fabricated without introducing significant loss. For example, an inductor coil of a detector circuit made from superconducting material can include more turns than a similar coil made of non-superconducting material without experiencing a significant increase in loss as would the non-superconducting coil. Therefore, a superconducting coil has increased signal pick-up and is much more sensitive than a non-superconducting coil.
Another benefit of superconducting thin films is that resonators formed from such films have the desirable property of having very high energy storage in a relatively small physical space. Such superconducting resonators are compact and lightweight.
Although circuits made from HTSs enjoy increased signal-to-noise ratios and Q values, such circuits must be cooled to below T.sub.c temperatures (e.g. typically to 77K or lower). In addition, it is desirable to directly interface or connect these cooled HTS circuits to other components or devices which might not be cooled. Most particularly, the signals from the cooled circuits often must be coupled to electronics at ambient temperatures.
Furthermore, low temperatures must be maintained when using cryo-cooled electronics and infra-red detectors. In such situations an interface to couple signals between cooled and ambient temperatures is needed.
Generally, coaxial cables are used as signal interfaces. Coaxial cables are typically made of a central signal conductor (i.e. a center or inner conductor) covered with an insulating material (e.g. dielectric) which, in turn, is covered by an outer conductor. The entire assembly is usually covered with a jacket. Such a cable is "coaxial" because it includes two axial conductors which are separated by a dielectric core.
Although coaxial cables are generally used as signal interfaces, when connecting circuits which include HTS material one end of the connecting coaxial cable might be in contact with a circuit cooled to 77K and the other end might be in contact with a device at a much higher temperature (e.g. room ambient temperature is about 300K). Standard coaxial cables are not manufactured to operate under such conditions. When standard coaxial cables are used under such conditions, the signal losses may be quite high and the heat load by thermal conduction through the cable may be quite large.
Minimizing signal losses is important because the ability to transmit signals directly affects the sensitivity and accuracy of the devices. Insertion loss is a measure of such losses due to intermediary components. In equation form, if the output wattage of a circuit is P.sub.1 without intermediary components and P.sub.2 with intermediary components respectively, then the insertion loss L is given by the formula EQU L(dB)=10 log.sub.10 (P.sub.1 /P.sub.2)
Unless such losses are minimized, the benefits of using HTS or cryo-cooled materials may be lost.
Minimizing heat load is important because cryogenic coolers used to cool the HTS circuits generally have limited cooling capacity and are relatively inefficient. For example, the best cryocoolers currently available require the supply of approximately forty watts of power to a compressor to remove or lift approximately one watt of heat load. Therefore, it is preferable to limit heat load to 0.1 Watts or less.
Although minimizing heat load is important, it is also difficult. Standard coaxial cables are fabricated by extruding or swaging metal tubing (e.g. copper, gold, aluminum, stainless steel, or silver) over a dielectric (e.g. low-loss plastic materials, polyethylene materials, or Teflon.TM.). The thinnest extruded tubing of which applicant is presently aware is about 0.005 inches (about 0.127 mm) thick.
In addition, as described above, one of the advantages of using HTS materials in circuits for microwave systems is the elimination of resistive losses. However, the advantage of reduced resistive loss can only be fully exploited if reflection or return losses (i.e. losses due to mismatches in characteristic impedances of the components) are minimized. This is especially true for components to be used at high frequencies (e.g. mm wave).
A primary candidate for mismatch problems in circuits including HTS materials is the transition through which a coaxial cable is connected to the circuit. In general, HTS material and circuits containing same have optimal properties in a planar configuration. However, coaxial cable is cylindrically shielded. The transition between the planar circuit and the cylindrical cable may contribute significant reflection or return losses.
The circuit bonding process may also affect the geometry of the transition between the circuit and cable. Typical cables require a transition through which the cable may be attached or bonded to a circuit. Typical coaxial cable transitions use the inner conductor of the cable suspended in air (e.g. forming a pin) where the air acts as a dielectric. The suspended conductor may be inadvertently slightly bent during a typical bonding process. The geometry of the transition may suffer from unsatisfactory reproducibility problems because of the mechanical stability (or instability) of the pin. A further disadvantage occurs when the contact is wrapped around the inner conductor pin, unnecessarily increasing inductance.
In addition, the geometry of the transition between the circuit and cable will directly affect the ease of assembly of the device using such components. To maximize ease of assembly the packaging of HTS circuits which are cooled to cryogenic temperatures must include special input and output leads. As explained above, HTS circuits must be cooled to below T.sub.c. Generally, such cooling is achieved by holding the circuits in contact with the cold head of a cryocooler (e.g. enclosed in a vacuum dewar). To connect cooled circuits contained in a dewar interconnection points must be provided through a wall in the dewar. Such interconnections provide large thermal conduction paths for already inefficient cryocoolers.
The prior art has failed to provide a signal interface (including a transmission cable and cable-to-circuit transition) between cryogenic components and ambient environment components for use in radio frequency applications of cold electronics and high temperature superconductors. The prior art has also failed to provide an interface and transmission cable which exhibit low thermal conduction and low electrical losses (e.g. impedance continuity and low reflection losses), and which work over a frequency range including UHF, microwave, and low millimeter-wave frequencies (e.g. up to 40 GHz). The prior art has further failed to provide such an interface which is also mechanically stable (and, therefore, reproducible) and relatively easy to use.

Transition and interconnect structure for a cryocable


A line image sensor capable of being constructed in a simple manner with reduced production steps at a low cost. The line image sensor includes a case body having a mount groove part in an appropriate part of a container chamber, and a LED array container case for containing a LED array, mounted to the case body within the container chamber. The LED array container case includes a mount part to be engaged with the mount groove part for mounting the LED array container case to the case body, a spring plate part for pushing and holding a condenser lens against an internal wall of the container chamber, and holding projection parts for pushing and holding the LED array within the LED array container case, and directs light generated by the LED array to a transparent glass plate for supporting a manuscript. A resilient member can be used in place of the spring plate part. A facsimile machine including the line image sensor is also disclosed.

i) Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a line image sensor in which light emitted by an LED (light-emitting diode) array is reflected by the surface of a manuscript and the reflected light is concentrated by a condenser lens and is then detected by a light detector element array, and to a facsimile including the line image sensor.
ii) Description of the Related Arts:
In a conventional line image sensor, light emitted by an LED array composed of a plurality of light emitter elements such as LEDs particularly arranged is irradiated to the predetermined range of a manuscript and the light reflected by the manuscript is concentrated by a condenser lens and is then detected by a light detector element array composed of a plurality of light detector elements particularly arranged. Hence, the light detector element array reads image data of the manuscript to output electric signals as the image data. By the reading of each line in succession, the image data of the entire manuscript are read into the line image sensor. Such a line image sensor is frequently used for an image reading part of an image processing apparatus such as a facsimile machine or the like.
In FIG. 1, there is shown a conventional line image sensor. As shown in FIG. 1, in the line image sensor, a transparent glass plate 13 for supporting a manuscript is mounted on the top of a container chamber 12 of a case body 11. Within the case body 11, a reflection case 14, an LED array 15 with light emitting elements 15a, mounted to the reflection case 14, a condenser lens 16 such as a selfoc lens mounted to an internal wall of the container chamber 12, and a light detector element array 17 are arranged.
When the light emitting elements 15a of the LED array 15 generate the light, the light is reflected by a transparent resin film such as a silicon resin film of the reflection case 14 and is irradiated to the transparent glass plate 13. The manuscript is placed on the transparent glass plate 13, and the light is reflected by the manuscript supported on the transparent glass plate 13. Then, the reflected light is concentrated by the condenser lens 16, and concentrated light is detected by the light detector element array 17.
In the conventional line image sensor, the reflection case 14 and the LED array 15 are separately formed from each other. Hence, when the line image sensor is constructed, the reflection case 14 and the LED array 15 must be integrally assembled. In this assembling work, some processing is required to the LED array 15 side. Next, the LED array 15 providing with the reflection case 14 is secured to a mounting surface of the case body 11 by using a double-coated adhesive tape 18. The condenser lens 16 is fixed to the internal surface of the container chamber 12 by using a screw 19 while the condenser lens 16 is pressed to the internal surface of the container chamber 12. Thus, in addition to the assembling work of the reflection case 14 and the LED array 15, the LED array 15 must be mounted to the case body 11 by using the double-coated adhesive tape 18 and further the condenser lens 16 must be fixed to the container chamber 12 by using the screw 19. Hence, in the construction of the line image sensor, there are many parts and many assembly steps and thus the cost of the product is largely increased.

Line image sensor and facsimile machine including the same


A tank that may be used in combination with an actuating means such as a pneumatic door actuator includes a first, inner, enclosure positioned and enclosed within a second, outer, enclosure, to provide an enclosed chamber between the inner enclosure and outer enclosure. The pressure in the chamber may be measured with a gauge that does not extend into the inner enclosure. The measured pressure may then be monitored and compared in order to detect a change in pressure and thereby also detect a leak through a wall from the inner enclosure. The tank may also be used to inflate and/or deploy an emergency evacuation slide in an aircraft.

Known pressurized gas tanks that may, for example, be used in an actuator of a door mechanism of an aircraft often use a manometer for measuring and indicating pressure within the tank. Such tanks are not fail-safe and so if there is a failure in the tank, the tank will empty meaning that it would then not be possible to open the aircraft door or evacuation slide in an emergency situation. Due to this disadvantage with known systems, the cabin crew or maintenance crew (or aircraft monitoring system) must always check before flight that the manometer indicates the correct pressure before take off. If there is a crack in the tank during the flight, however, the tank will empty and the pressure will reduce. This may well result in it being impossible to open the door or actuate the evacuation slide in an emergency situation. The new and improved pressurized gas tanks described herein therefore aim to overcome such disadvantages with known devices.

Fail-safe tank with integrated sensor and methods for detecting a leak in a wall of the tank


In the representative embodiments described in the specification, a pendent sprinkler has a sprinkler body with an axial passage for fire extinguishing liquid and a pair of frame arms supporting a deflector at a location spaced from the end of the axial passage. In order to provide high density water with uniform distribution throughout an area to be protected, the deflector is formed with a circumferential array of slots, each of which is oriented at an angle with respect to a radius line extending through the inner end of the slot. Preferably the angle of orientation of each slot is about 35.degree..

This invention relates to fire prevention sprinklers for distributing liquid in an environment which is subject to a fire hazard.
Most conventional fire prevention sprinklers consist of a sprinkler body connected to a liquid supply pipe to receive fire extinguishing liquids such as water and having a heat-responsive valve arrangement blocking a passage in the sprinkler body which is set to open the passage when the temperature in the vicinity of the sprinkler exceeds a selected value. In order to distribute the water emerging from the sprinkler passage throughout the area to be protected, the sprinkler includes a deflector supported from the sprinkler body, usually by a frame consisting of two arms projecting beyond the sprinkler passage on opposite sides of the path of emerging water. Alternatively, the deflector may be supported from the sprinkler body by sliding pins rather than fixed arms, allowing the deflector to be optimally positioned automatically and concurrently with the operation of the sprinkler as is required with certain types of concealed sprinklers.
In many cases, the sprinkler deflector consists of a substantially planar disk positioned perpendicularly to the sprinkler passage to distribute water impinging on the deflector radially outwardly in the direction parallel to the plane of the disk. The deflector is usually formed with radially extending slots which permit a portion of the impinging water to pass through the disk, i.e., downwardly toward the floor of the protected area when the sprinkler is of the pendent type suspended from a ceiling. Deflectors of this type are described, for example, in the Meyer et al. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,366,022 and 5,579,846. In many instances, however, it is desirable to provide a higher water density over the region to be protected by the sprinkler than can be provided by such sprinklers in order to assure adequate protection in particular situations such as, for example, rack storage of items such as plastics and other flammable items in corrugated containers.

The Reliable Automatic Sprinkler Co., Inc.