A method and apparatus to dynamically and adaptively demodulate induction motor instantaneous rotor slot harmonic frequency for line-connected squirrel-cage polyphase induction motors. The instantaneous rotor slot harmonic frequency carries essential information on the instantaneous rotor speed. Based on a correlation between the motor's input power and its rotor slot harmonic frequency, a dynamically varying carrier frequency is computed and used in a rotor slot harmonic frequency detector. The rotor slot harmonic frequency detector is based on a superheterodyne principle. It contains a generalized linear-phase low-pass filter, whose bandwidth is estimated dynamically by a filter bandwidth estimator. The rotor slot harmonic frequency detector also includes a latency compensator, which receives the dynamically varying carrier frequency signal and synchronizes it with the output of a frequency demodulator.

Squirrel-cage induction motors are widely used in the agricultural, commercial, municipal, and residential sectors due to their high energy efficiency, reliability, and good controllability. As induction motors become more involved in critical tasks, such as heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems used in places like hospital intensive-care units (ICU) and energy-efficient buildings, accurate and reliable condition monitoring of their status is assuming a greater importance.
Many induction motor condition monitoring applications require accurate knowledge of instantaneous rotor speed. For example, precise knowledge of the instantaneous rotor speed can be essential for real-time tracking of an induction motor's rotor temperature. The instantaneous rotor speed information may also be required when estimating induction motor electrical parameters, such as stator inductance and total leakage factor. Furthermore, instantaneous rotor speed information can also be used when assessing in-service induction motor's energy efficiency in a non-intrusive manner.
In the absence of dedicated speed sensors, the instantaneous rotor speed can be estimated by extracting a rotor-speed-dependent instantaneous rotor slot harmonic frequency from electrical current measurements. For example, some approaches are based on a superheterodyne principle and use a fixed nominal rotor slot harmonic frequency as a carrier frequency, and a predetermined filter bandwidth when demodulating the instantaneous rotor slot harmonic frequency signal. This approach is generally limited to motor applications involving a fixed average load and hence fixed average rotor speed, or motor applications with moderate rotor speed oscillation superimposed on the fixed average rotor speed.
However, many motor applications, such as conveyor belt applications in postal sorting offices and airport terminals, involve significant rotor speed fluctuations. In these types of applications, the average rotor speed is no longer a constant value. Rotor speed fluctuations may cause rotor-speed-dependent instantaneous rotor slot harmonic frequency to deviate considerably from the fixed nominal rotor slot harmonic frequency. In addition, many other motor applications, such as applications in refrigeration and industrial processes with reciprocating compressors, may contain pulsating speed components whose frequencies are larger than the predetermined filter bandwidth in the rotor slot harmonics. Use of digital filters with predetermined filter bandwidth may result in the exclusion of these pulsating components in the rotor slot harmonics. Both rotor speed fluctuations and load-induced rotor speed pulsations lead to distortions in the estimated instantaneous rotor slot harmonic frequency, and hence distortions in an estimated instantaneous rotor speed.

Systems, methods, and devices for demodulating induction motor instantaneous rotor slot harmonic frequency


A method and apparatus are disclosed for measuring the usage of a communications network, based on a two level sampling and measuring technique. A sampling interval, T, represents the intervals at which the network resource is observed. In addition, during each sampling interval, a measurement window of length, τ, is utilized. Generally, while the values for the sampling interval, T, and the measurement window, τ, are calibrated, actual measurements are only taken for the smaller measurement window, τ, and the actual measurements are extrapolated to estimate the usage over the larger sampling interval, T. The sampling interval, T, and measurement window, τ, values may be periodically recalibrated. An extrapolation process consists of two phases: (i) a “learning period” (LP) during which both exact and extrapolated measurements are performed, the error is determined, and, if necessary, adjustments are made to the values of the sampling interval, T, and the measurement window, τ; and (ii) a “measurement and extrapolation period” (MEP) during which only measurements during the sampling interval, T, continue and the sampled measurements are extrapolated without performing the exact measurements. Several learning periods, LPs, may be interleaved during a communication session with larger measurement and extrapolation period, MEP, intervals.

In a communications network, such as an ATM network or the Internet, users should be charged for use of the network based on the amount of network resources utilized. The network resources that are consumed for each network connection include a number of processing cycles at various network processors, such as the routers or call processors of switching equipment or bandwidth usage on transmission facilities, as well as overhead services required to operate the networks, such as operations, maintenance and administration. Generally, costs associated with such overhead services are included in the total network capital, then pro-rated and amortized before being applied to individual users.
Typically, resource usage is measured in terms of the number of units of information that are sent and received by the user during a given connection and the duration of the connection. These measures provide an appropriate basis for charging a user since they represent the amount of processing performed by the network and the amount of bandwidth consumed by the network. Measuring resource usage by counting the number of units of information that is exchanged and possibly the connection time is an exact method but requires large processing power, especially for broadband networks having transmission rates in the range of several gigabits per second or higher.
In addition to the pricing of network usage, resource measurement also has important applications for short-term and long-term network planning, where the allocation and adjustment of network resources is of concern. Furthermore, resource measurements may also help develop accurate models for real-time control and management of networks, such as for quality of service control, call admission, resource usage management, distribution and control.
The bandwidth requirements of network applications vary significantly, from applications having relatively low requirements, such as telemetry and voice, to applications with much higher bandwidth requirements, such as video and large file transfers. Users of the World Wide Web (WWW), for example, access web servers for information. Such web server accesses result in one or more exchanges between web proxies and servers and the end user client machine until the original user request is satisfied.
Recent networking techniques advocate the "participation" of network routers and switches in applications, thus going beyond the traditional transmission of information units between end users and computers. For example, B. Li et al., "On the Optimal Placement of Web Proxies in the Internet," Proc. of the 8th IFIP Conf. on High Performance Networking (HPN'98), Vienna, Austria (September 1998), suggests that processing and applications be included in Internet routers (or in servers and proxies co-located with routers) optimally distributed over the network. For applications that are frequently accessed by the end users, such as stock quotes and on-line auctions, D. Wetherall et al., "Introducing New Internet Services: Why and How," IEEE Network Magazine (July/August 1998), suggests distributing such applications at the routers/servers (or at servers/proxies).
A number of statistical methods have been proposed or suggested for measuring the usage of a communications network. A technique for measuring the usage of a communications network based on equivalent bandwidth was proposed, for example, in C. Courcoubetis et al., "A Study of Simple Usage-Based Charging Schemes for Broadband Networks," submitted August, 1998. While these measurement techniques may be adequate for current network applications, new methods for measuring the usage of a communications network are needed as the speed and diversity of applications increase and less is known about the effective bandwidth of new applications.
For example, applying the equivalent bandwidth measurement technique in an ATM network for real-time video conferencing between end users, accurately measures network resources as long as statistical characteristics of the video traffic is properly represented in the equivalent bandwidth model. The equivalent bandwidth measurement technique may not work, however, on the Internet, where a mix of text, audio and video clips are obtained from one or more web servers following a search and less is known about their statistical characteristics. The mix of such entities, and the bandwidth and processing that are required to deliver such entities to the end user, vary based on the application, the type of search (such as research, informational or entertainment), and the time of day when the search is performed. For example, searches performed during periods of time when the network is experiencing congestion may not last as long as searches performed when there is relatively little or no congestion. Thus, it is hard for users and service providers to predict the bandwidth and other resource needs ahead of a connection.

Resource usage measurement technique for pricing in a communications network


A roller wheel guard for in-line roller skates, is formed of an envelope-shaped body of flexible material such as woven nylon, open at the top, with a rubbery bottom. The envelope-like body receives the series of aligned wheels and extends up to just below the boot of the skate. Side panels of the guard have rear extensions forming at least one strap to be wrapped tightly around the rearmost wheel or the brake when the guard is installed. A further, vertical strap is included, secured to the body and of an adjustable length so as to extend to the top of the back edge of the boot, with an attachment such as a clip for securing to the back of the boot, thus forming a handle when the guard is in place. Preferably a pull ring is included on the strap, enabling the user to pull upward on the back of the wheel guard body, to tightly position the guard over the wheels when installed and to adjust the length of the vertical strap to accommodate the particular size of wheel assembly.

The invention relates to roller skating apparatus, and more specifically to a guard or cover for the wheels of an in-line roller skate. The wheel cover acts as a protective device when the skates are not being used, keeping moisture or dirt out of the wheels and wheel bearings, and serves as a stabilizing support for walking on inclines or steps when the skates are being worn.
In-line roller skates are a relatively recent development and have assumed much of the popularity of traditional roller skates. The in-line rollers or wheels in part act to simulate ice skating.
One problem encountered by in-line roller skate users is the problem of going up inclines or up or down steps. The wheels make the user unstable in these and related situations.
In addition, when a set of in-line roller skates are not in use, it is sometimes desirable to cover the wheels because of accumulated dirt, dust and grit and also to protect the wheels and wheel bearings during periods of non-use.
It is an object of this invention to provide a solution to both of the above problems with in-line roller skating, through a guard and cover device which both protects the wheels and wheel bearings and can be worn on the skates when steps, inclines or similar situations are to be negotiated, as well as providing a carrying means for the skates.


A vacuum valve including a valve housing two valve openings, a closure member having two closure plates, a transverse drive unit for adjusting the closure member between an open position and an intermediate position where the closure plates cover the valve openings, a first longitudinal drive unit for adjusting the closure member between the intermediate position and a first closed position, and a second longitudinal drive unit for adjusting the closure member between the intermediate position and a second closed. Each longitudinal drive unit includes a plurality of actuating elements which are guided into the vacuum area of the valve housing. These actuating elements are adjustable by driving elements between a retracted, passive position where their actuating ends are raised from the closure member and an advanced, active position where their actuating ends are pressed against the closure member and press the respective closure plate against the respective valve seat.

a) Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a vacuum valve comprising a valve housing with an interior space which forms a vacuum area of the vacuum valve and with first and second valve openings which have parallel longitudinal axes and which are surrounded by first and second valve seats, a closure member comprising first and second closure plates, a transverse drive for adjusting the closure member in an actuation direction transverse to the longitudinal axes of the valve openings between an open position, in which the closure plates free the valve openings, and an intermediate position in which the closure plates cover the valve openings but are raised from the valve seat, a first longitudinal drive for adjusting the closure member between the intermediate position and a first closed position in which the first closure plate is pressed against the first valve seat, and a second longitudinal drive for adjusting the closure member between the intermediate position and a second closed position in which the second closure plate is pressed against the second valve seat.
b) Description of the Related Art
A vacuum valve of the type mentioned above is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,390,448 B1. A closure member of this vacuum valve has first and second closure plates which can be pressed alternately against first and second valve seats surrounding first and second valve openings. By means of a transverse drive unit, the closure member is adjustable transverse to the longitudinal axes of the valve openings between an open position and an intermediate position in which the closure plates cover the valve openings but are raised from the valve seats. The transverse drive unit is arranged at a swiveling part which is swivelable around a pin. By means of a driving element, the swiveling part can be swiveled around its swiveling axis in order to press the first closure plate against the first valve seat. The driving element and the swiveling pin for the swiveling part are arranged at another swiveling part which is swivelable around another swiveling axis by means of another driving element. By swiveling the additional swiveling part around the additional swiveling axis, the second closure plate can be pressed against the second valve seat. This design is relatively complicated. Also, this vacuum valve is designed for relatively small valve openings.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,776,394 B2 discloses a vacuum valve in which a valve disk is arranged at a swiveling arm. The swiveling arm is arranged at a shaft which is swivelable around an axis of rotation and which is displaceable in direction of the axis of rotation. The shaft is guided relative to the valve housing by means of a slotted guide. A pin which acts in connection with the slotted guide, is screwed into an internal thread of the shaft and is rotatable by means of a driving element serves to displace the shaft in direction of the axis of rotation and to rotate the shaft around the axis of rotation. Further, driving elements in the form of piston-cylinder units which cooperate with tappet-like actuating elements guided into the vacuum area are provided in the valve housing. The closure plate can be pressed against the valve seat with additional force by these driving elements in the closed position of the closure plate.
In the vacuum valve known from US 2004/0079915 A1, the closure member has a carrying part at which a closure plate is arranged, this closure plate being displaceable by means of piston-cylinder units. In the position of the closure member in which it covers the valve opening, the closure plate can be pressed against the valve seat surrounding the valve opening by means of the piston-cylinder units. Also preferably provided is a supporting plate which is displaceable relative to the carrying part by means of piston-cylinder units. In the closed position of the closure plate, the supporting plate is pressed against an opposite wall of the valve housing in an area surrounding another valve opening. Elastomer rings are arranged at the closure plate and at the supporting plate for cooperating with the wall of the valve housing.
FR 2 283 375 discloses a nongeneric vacuum valve in which only one valve opening can be closed by the closure member. Contact pressing cylinders are used as a longitudinal drive to press the closure member against the valve seat of the valve opening, this closure member being guided in the lateral guide grooves. Additional contact pressing cylinders acting in the opposite direction are needed to open the closure member so as to move the closure member back in the guide grooves sufficiently to allow the valve opening to be fully freed subsequently by means of a transverse drive unit.


An arrangement is provided for attaching a downcomer which is in the form of a square tube to a weld stud of smaller dimension to provide a tight vibration free connection. Included is an adapter having an end wall and two opposed side walls defining a receptacle having one open end. The weld stud is received in the receptacle with apertures in the side walls of the adapter aligned with those of the stud. The open end of the square tube extends over the adapter with openings in the tube walls aligned with the openings in the adapter in the stud. The openings receive fasteners to make the attachment. One end of the adapter is slotted so that the adapter can be deflected and made to grip the stud frictionally during assembly.

In the construction of ships it is a common practice to attach a downcomer for supporting electrical hardware to a stud welded to a deck. A stud that has become used for this purpose includes one end that is adapted to be welded to the deck and an opposite end which has four flat surfaces interconnected by rounded corners. Two openings extend through the latter end of the stud interconnecting two opposite flat surfaces. The downcomer typically is a square tube with spaced openings extending the length of two opposite walls. Wireways are attached to the downcomer by fasteners that extend through these openings. One end of the downcomer can be extended over the end of the stud and attached to it by means of bolts that extend through openings in the downcomer and those in the end portion of the stud.
This makes a satisfactory attachment when the interior of the downcomer fits snugly over the weld stud. However, in some instances, because of the number of wireways that must be accommodated on the downcomer and the load that they must carry, it is necessary to use a square tube of a larger size which has an internal transverse dimension greater than the transverse dimension of the stud. In that event, the tight connection cannot be made and vibration between the stud and downcomer cannot be prevented. This results in objectionable noise. Also the connection may not be as secure as that where a tight fit can be obtained. This type of connection is not acceptable. Therefore, there has existed a need for a suitable means for connecting downcomers of larger dimension to weld studs of smaller dimension.

Arrangement for attaching a downcomer or the like


A method and system of providing postage wherein delivery fee discounts are provided based on one or more sorting levels in which mail pieces are run through the system twice. In the first run, postal codes are obtained from the mail pieces, a running tally for each participating sorting level code in each sorting level is kept, and for each code in the highest sorting level that has a tally that reaches a predetermined minimum, an indicium reflecting the highest discount is printed on: (i) the mail piece whose postal code caused the tally to reach the minimum, and (ii) any mail pieces to that postal code that are processed thereafter. In the second run, for each mail piece not having a printed indicium, an indicium is printed which reflects a proper sorting level discount, if any, based on the postal code obtained therefrom and one or more of the tallies.

Mail processing systems, such as, for example, a mailing machine, often include different modules that automate the processes of producing mail pieces. The typical mailing machine includes a variety of different modules or sub-systems each of which performs a different task on the mail piece. The mail piece is conveyed downstream utilizing a transport mechanism, such as rollers or a belt, to each of the modules. Such modules could include, for example, a singulating module for separating a stack of mail pieces such that the mail pieces are conveyed one at a time along the transport path, a stripping/moistening module for stripping open the flap of an envelope and wetting and sealing the glued flap of an envelope, a weighing module for weighing the mail piece, and a metering/printing module for computing postage amounts and applying evidence of postage either directly to the mail piece or to a label to be applied to the mail piece. The mailing machine is controlled by a central processing unit that executes software stored in memory provided in the mailing machine. The exact configuration of the mailing machine is, of course, particular to the needs of the user.
The proper postage amount for delivery of mail pieces is dependent upon characteristics of each mail piece (e.g., weight, dimensions) and may also be dependent upon the properties of a batch of mail pieces to which each mail piece belongs. For example, delivery fee discounts are available for batches of mail pieces that meet certain predetermined criteria, e.g., mail that is presorted based on three or five digits of the postal code of the destination address of the mail piece. Typically, for such discounts to apply, a minimum number of mail pieces must meet the special criteria established by the carrier (sometimes referred to as presort criteria or qualification). Usually, presort criteria are classified into several categories. For example, a simple presort criterion would require mail to be sorted into fairly large chunks associated with large processing facilities making up the carrier's network. An example of such a category is presort to three digit level postal codes or zip codes in the United States. Other presort criterion may require grouping mail pieces into classes associated with smaller facilities such as delivery post offices or certain compact geographical areas such as a given street or block.
If mail pieces are already presorted before they are processed in a mail processing system, such as a mailing machine, to apply postage thereto, the applicable discounts are already known and can therefore be applied during the mail processing (finishing). If, however, the mail is not presorted before processing, the applicability of any presort discounts that are available will not be known prior to processing. In such cases, the mail batch must either be presorted prior to processing, such that the appropriate discount, if any, can be applied during processing, or be processed using an expected discount, with verification and confirmation being made after the batch of mail has been processed to confirm that the expected discount was appropriate. Any mail pieces that are determined to not qualify for the presort discount that was applied (referred to as short paid or residual mail) must then have the postage thereon corrected to apply the proper rate.
For large mailers that typically have batches of mail in the thousands or tens of thousands of mail pieces, such presorting is typically done automatically when the batches of mail are generated using mail creation equipment (e.g., inserters, address printers, etc.). For smaller mailers that may not have very large batches of mail to process, e.g., batches that consist of hundreds of pieces or less, such presorting before processing or confirmation after processing must typically be done by hand, which is time consuming. In addition, corrected mail pieces (i.e., residual mail that has had additional postage applied thereto) require additional processing by the carrier, which may include reading more than one indicia or a certification mark to confirm that the proper amount of postage has actually been paid by the sender.
It would thus be advantageous to be able to automatically process batches of mail pieces using a mail processing system wherein any applicable presort discounts are determined automatically and proper indicia (based upon a discount if applicable) are applied to each mail piece.

System and method for printing correct postage for batches of mail with presort discounts


An improved manner of marking concrete is provided by an embedded concrete marking. The embedded concrete marking is made of concrete that is different than the concrete into which the marking is embedded. A method of creating an embedded concrete marking comprises identifying a location on the surface of concrete where an embedded concrete marking is to be created, cutting a trench into the surface of the concrete at the identified location, pouring a concrete mixture into the trench to a level where a float height of the concrete mixture is above the surface of the concrete, the concrete mixture being different when dry than the concrete into which the trench has been cut, letting the concrete mixture at least partially harden, and removing a portion of the hardened concrete mixture to create a top surface of the concrete mixture that will form an embedded concrete marking.

The desire to safeguard workers and other individuals in various environments has led to an increasing use of safety features. Such safety features include line markings on floors that help identify certain areas within certain environments.
Line markings on floors can be used in warehouses and manufacturing facilities to identify walkways and hazardous areas. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires colored markings on floors to identify certain hazards. In addition, it can be desirable to provide markings on floors to help identify certain areas for convenience purposes. For example, line markings are often used for sectioning off storage areas or for organizing traffic flow.
The provision of line markings can pose challenges when the floor to be marked is concrete. Typically, concrete floors are marked by painting onto the concrete floor with tinted floor paint and/or epoxies. The process can be laborious. First, the concrete floor must be cleaned to remove any dirt or laitance from the concrete floor surface. This cleaning is typically done by acid etching, diamond grinding, and/or steel shot blasting. Next the edges of the line marking are taped off with masking tape. A pigmented paint or epoxy is then applied, and after it has dried or cured, the masking tape is removed. In another conventional process, adhesive-backed tape products are used to make the line markings.
Unfortunately, these conventional processes have been less than ideal. Painted or epoxy lines applied in the typical manner do not wear well and soon begin to fade. This is particularly true in areas of high traffic, in areas where fork trucks drive, and in areas where items, such as wood or metal pallets, slide across the floor. Thus, markings applied directly onto the concrete floor can become scratched and/or abraded off over a short period of time. This is even more true for adhesive-backed tape products.
There is therefore a need for an improved process for providing markings on a concrete floor. There is further a need for a concrete floor marking process that is easier to perform than conventional processes. There is still further a need for a concrete floor marking that provides improved durability.


Methods are disclosed for making semipermeable membranes from cellulose acetate and for making medical devices therefrom. In the process, a molten liquid comprising cellulose acetate (CA) is extruded to produce a membrane. The solvent and non-solvent are removed from the membrane to produce a semipermeable membrane having a water permeability. The semipermeable membrane is impregnated with a liquid consisting essentially of water to render the semipermeable membrane capable of being stored until time of use without undergoing a substantial loss in water permeability. The semipermeable membrane can be incorporated in a casing in order to produce a medical product, wherein the membrane is impregnated in the product.

Conventional methods for manufacturing cellulose acetate membranes and hollow fibers suitable for medical use include a step in which the membranes are impregnated with an aqueous solution comprising a substantial concentration of glycerin (also termed "glycerol") to maintain hydration of the cellulose acetate until time for their intended use. Because glycerin is conventionally believed to be critical to the maintenance of CA-membrane permeability, medical devices (such as hemodialyzers, hemofilters, hemodiafilters, and the like) are conventionally packaged, shipped, and stored while impregnated with substantial amounts of glycerin. Elimination of the glycerin or replacement of the glycerin with any other substance is conventionally believed to cause an unacceptable degradation of permeability and, hence, membrane performance.
Unfortunately, according to conventional practice, the glycerin impregnant is at a concentration in the membrane that conventionally requires thorough rinsing to remove substantially all the glycerin before use. Having to perform such a pre-use rinse is cumbersome and inconvenient and consumes valuable time and resources in busy clinics.
Thus, there is a need for methods for manufacturing cellulose acetate membranes, and for manufacturing medical devices incorporating such membranes, that eliminate the need to maintain a substantial concentration of glycerin in the membranes from time of manufacture until time for their intended use.
There is also a need for methods for manufacturing cellulose acetate membranes, and for manufacturing medical devices incorporating such membranes, that contain an impregnant consisting substantially of water serving to maintain membrane permeability from time of manufacture until time of medical use of the membranes and devices.
There is also a need for cellulose acetate membranes, as well as medical devices comprising such membranes, that can be infused with a priming solution in preparation for medical use without having to discard the priming solution.

Process for making a medical device from a cellulose acetate hollow fiber semipermeable membrane


The present invention relates to a risk information collection device which includes: a degree of risk calculator to calculate a degree of risk of a travel state of the vehicle based on travel information of the vehicle, a visually-recognized object specifier to combine visual line information of a driver of the vehicle and object information around the vehicle and specify a name of a visually-recognized object of the driver to set a visually-recognized object candidate, a passenger information acquirer to acquire passenger information including at least words pronounced by a passenger, a risk-inducing factor candidate setter to set a risk-inducing factor candidate for specifying a risk-inducing factor based on the passenger information, and a risk-inducing factor specifier to specify a risk-inducing factor based on the degree of risk, the visually-recognized object candidate, and the risk-inducing factor candidate.

A driver or a passenger feels "near miss", which is a scene in which the driver or the passenger feels a sense of danger directly linked to a traffic accident, in some cases when a vehicle travels along a road. There is an example of collecting and organizing information of "near miss", thereby creating a map indicating an area inducing the traffic accident, and sharing the map for use in preventing the traffic accident. However, questionnaires are conventionally used for collecting the information of "near miss", so that it takes effort and time to organize and input a result of the questionnaires. Thus, Patent Documents 1 and 2 propose a system of automatically collecting the information of "near miss" from travel information.

Risk information collection device mounted on a vehicle


Methods for preparing a biological tissue specimen for examination, such as microscopic examination, that involves applying acoustic pressure wave/shock wave (APW/SW) energy to the tissue specimen. The APW/SW energy can be applied to the tissue specimen to augment any one or more steps of processing the tissue specimen. In one example, the APW/SW energy is applied to enhance histotechnological processing of the tissue specimen. Apparatuses and systems that include APW/SW generators and that are specifically configured for processing biological tissue specimens are also disclosed.

A multitude of methods is known in the art for processing biological tissue for microscopic examination, often collectively referred to as "histotechnology." Such methods are in worldwide use nowadays and have become of paramount importance for countless applications of microscopy in basic science, clinical science, clinical routine, toxicology, and pharmaceutical and biotechnological research and development. For instance, staining tissue specimens/sections with dyes and/or processing them with immunohistochemistry (IHC) is used in virtually every clinical pathology laboratory for the diagnosis of abnormal cells such as those found in cancerous tumors. IHC is also used in almost every biomedical research laboratory to understand the distribution and localization of biomarkers and differentially expressed proteins in different parts of a biological tissue. For instance, specific molecular markers are characteristic of particular cell types, such as CD8 for cytotoxic T cells and NeuN for neurons (to mention only a few). Other molecular markers are characteristic of particular cellular events, such as proliferation (addressing the cell cycle) or cell death (apoptosis). RNA in situ hybridization (ISH) can be used to localize and measure messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and other DNA transcripts within tissue sections or whole mounts of tissue specimens. DNA ISH can be used to determine the structure of chromosomes. A common application of fluorescent DNA ISH (FISH) is the assessment of chromosomal integrity in medical diagnostics. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the present description of applications of the methods for processing biological tissue for microscopic examination is intended in an illustrative rather than in a limiting sense.
Despite their worldwide use in countless applications of microscopic analysis, none of the conventional methods known in the art for processing biological tissue for microscopic examination can be considered perfect. For instance, washing tissue specimens/sections can result in incomplete and/or uneven cleaning; fixing tissue specimens/sections can result in incomplete and/or uneven fixation and/or even or uneven over-fixation; dehydrating tissue specimens/sections can result in incomplete and/or uneven dehydration and/or even or uneven over-dehydration; hydrating tissue specimens/sections can result in incomplete and/or uneven hydration and/or even or uneven over-hydration; clearing tissue specimens/sections can result in incomplete and/or uneven clearing and/or even or uneven over-clearing; embedding tissue specimens/sections into an embedding medium can result in incomplete and/or uneven embedding and/or even or uneven over-embedding; mounting tissue specimens/sections with a mounting medium can result in incomplete and/or uneven mounting and/or even or uneven overmounting; cryoprotecting tissue specimens/sections can result in incomplete and/or uneven cryoprotection and/or even or uneven over-cryoprotection; freezing tissue specimens/sections can result in incomplete and/or uneven freezing and/or even or uneven over-freezing; thawing tissue specimens/sections can result in incomplete and/or uneven thawing and/or even or uneven over-heating; removing embedding medium from tissue specimens/sections can result in incomplete and/or uneven removing of the embedding medium and/or even or uneven removing of more than just the embedding medium; staining tissue specimens/sections can result in incomplete and/or uneven staining and/or even or uneven over-staining; processing tissue specimens/sections with histochemistry can result in incomplete and/or uneven histochemical processing and/or even or uneven over-processing; processing tissue specimens/sections with immunohistochemistry (IHC) and/or fluorescence immunohistochemistry/immunofluorescence (IF) can result in incomplete and/or uneven detection of antigens and/or even or uneven cross-reactions with other antigens to which the applied antibodies and/or antibody mimetics do not bind specifically, as well as in incomplete and/or uneven counterstaining and/or even or uneven over-counterstaining in IHC and IF, and processing tissue specimens/sections with in situ hybridization (ISH) and/or fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) can result in incomplete and/or uneven hybridization of labeled complementary DNA or RNA strands to specific DNA or RNA sequences and/or even or uneven cross-reactions with other DNA or RNA sequences to which the applied labeled complementary DNA or RNA strands do not hybridize specifically, as well as in incomplete and/or uneven counterstaining and/or even or uneven over-counterstaining in ISH and FISH.
Moreover, the various sub-steps of washing, fixing, dehydrating, hydrating, clearing, embedding, mounting, cryoprotecting, freezing, thawing, and/or staining tissue specimens/sections, removing embedding medium from tissue specimens/sections, and/or processing tissue specimens/sections with histochemistry, IHC, IF, ISH and/or FISH can last between a few seconds and several months and are, thus, very time-consuming as well as tedious and cumbersome. Besides this, the various sub-steps require the use of various chemicals, media, antibodies, antibody mimetics, and labeled DNA or RNA strands, many of which cost between a few dollars and thousands of dollars and, thus, are very expensive. Additionally, many of the chemicals used in the various sub-steps are regarded as being toxic and, thus, pose a potential threat not only to the health and life of those performing the methods for processing biological tissue for microscopic examination, but also to the environment. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the present description of shortcomings, time requirements, costs, and hazard potential of the conventional methods for processing biological tissue for microscopic examination is intended in an illustrative rather than in a limiting sense.
Several methods are known that aim at improving individual histotechnological procedures for these various sub-steps for microscopic examination. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,787 to Key et al., issued on Sep. 14, 1993, teaches a method of immunologically staining a formalin-fixed tissue specimen that comprises subjecting a formalin-fixed tissue specimen to microwave energy while the tissue specimen is submersed in water for a time sufficient to increase immunostaining efficiency (known in the art as "antigen retrieval"), removing the tissue specimen from the water and cooling, and contacting the tissue specimen with an immunological staining reagent. U.S. Pat. No. 5,578,452 to Shi et al., issued on Nov. 26, 1996, teaches a method for restoring immunoreactivity of a tissue specimen fixed with an aldehyde fixing agent and embedded in an embedding medium by contacting the tissue specimen with a solvent for the embedding medium and an aldehyde releasing reagent, which reagent releases aldehyde from the tissue by reacting the aldehyde in a substantially irreversible manner to form a non-aldehyde derivative, and removing or neutralizing excess aldehyde releasing reagent from the tissue specimen. U.S. Pat. No. 7,067,325 to Christensen et al., issued on Jun. 27, 2006, teaches an automated method of removing paraffin based embedding medium from tissue specimens without the dependence on organic solvents by applying a deparaffinizing and antigen retrieval reagent that includes a detergent to the tissue specimen, and applying heat to the tissue specimen to melt the paraffin based embedding medium, to mention only a few.
However, none of these methods have addressed known histotechnology procedures, such as the sub-steps listed above, as a whole, and the application of certain chemicals and particularly the application of heat during tissue processing can challenge tissue integrity substantially and, thus, clarity and detectability of microscopic details when examining tissue specimens/sections under a microscope.
Recently, a number of ultrasound-based methods were described that aim at improving one or more of the known histotechnology procedures. The term "ultrasound" usually refers in the art to cyclic sound pressure/acoustic waves having a frequency greater than the upper limit of human hearing, i.e., typically above 20 KHz. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,097 to Gravlee, issued on Jun. 1, 1976, teaches a method for preparing tissue specimens for microscopic examination, including the steps of fixing, dehydrating, clearing, and impregnating tissue specimens with paraffin, and applying low frequency ultrasound (50 KHz) to tissue specimens in each of these processing steps in order to reduce the total preparation time. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,288 to Berger, issued on Feb. 18, 1992, teaches a method for impregnating tissue specimens with paraffin, including the steps of fixing, dehydrating, and embedding tissue specimens in paraffin, with exposure of the tissue specimen to low frequency ultrasound (35-50 KHz) during paraffin embedding in a closed, evacuated working chamber. However, these methods suffer from potential tissue damage due to the low frequency of the applied ultrasound, as demonstrated in many studies reviewed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,090,974 to Chu, issued on Aug. 15, 2006 ("the '974 patent").
The '974 patent is part of a series of related U.S. patents issued to Chu, all entitled "Ultrasound-mediated high-speed biological reaction and tissue processing" (U.S. Pat. No. 6,291,180 issued on Sep. 18, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 7,090,974 issued on Aug. 15, 2006; U.S. Pat. No. 7,262,022 issued on Aug. 28, 2007; U.S. Pat. No. 7,687,255 issued on Mar. 30, 2010; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,767,434 issued on Aug. 3, 2010), and teaches a method that is directed to using high intensity, high frequency, nondestructive, wide-band ultrasound for tissue fixation and processing in conjunction with well-known techniques to decrease the time required to perform the techniques, including immunological reactions, hybridizations, tissue fixation and processing. According to the Chu method, the tissue specimens/sections must receive at least 10 W/cm2 of fairly even distributed ultrasound using a single high frequency or using wide-band frequencies within the range of 0.1-50 MHz.
However, the Chu method suffers from several drawbacks. First, it requires very special and presumably very expensive technology to produce ultrasound transducers that are capable of delivering such high-frequency, high-intensity ultrasound. Second, the '974 patent discloses that the high-frequency, high-intensity ultrasound exposes tissue specimens/sections to heat and, thus, can challenge tissue integrity substantially and, thus, clarity and detectability of microscopic details when examining tissue specimens/sections under a microscope. Third, the Chu method does not disclose any improvement over prior art with respect to reducing the amount of media and/or chemicals necessary to carry out one or more or all steps of the procedures of histotechnology (except of dyes, antibodies and/or antibody mimetics, and/or labeled DNA and/or RNA strands), with many of these media and chemicals regarded being toxic. Fourth, the method does not disclose any improvement over prior art with respect to increasing the penetration depth of dyes, antibodies and/or antibody mimetics, and/or labeled DNA and/or RNA strands into the thickness of a tissue specimen/section.

Acoustic pressure wave/shock wave mediated processing of biological tissue, and systems, apparatuses, and methods therefor


A portable electronic device (100) includes a housing cover (110) having a faceplate location (145), an electronic circuit (115), and a first faceplate (140). The location comprises a generic controls cutout (135) and a generic display cutout (130). The electronic circuit includes a specific set of controls (125) fitting within the generic controls cutout and a specific display (120) fitting within the generic display cutout. The first faceplate (140) is mounted in the faceplate and has a specific controls cutout (155) that is conformal to the set of specific controls (125) and a specific display lens (150) that is conformal to the specific display (120) and is one of a set of faceplates, wherein the first faceplate (140) is incompatible with another faceplate in the set of faceplates.

Today, many electronic devices include both a display and controls. In many of these devices, environmental sealing is provided to prevent damage to the device when exposed to a wet environment, such as a water splash or brief exposure to rain. In portable electronic devices such as pagers and compact disk players, there is typically a liquid crystal display and several buttons. To improve customer appeal, portable devices (such as some pagers) having a common housing shape and significant common electronics are altered by, for example, changing the size of a display, the shape or number of controls, or legends identifying functions of button controls or legends providing the meaning of display icons that are only distinguished by position on the display. Such alterations provide multiple user interface configurations that are desirable for marketing reasons. This can be particularly important in a global marketplace where cultural differences emphasize a need for differently shaped buttons, and in differing markets within a country wherein the same electronics are used but different functions are provided by different programming instructions.
Techniques commonly employed to provide such differences are adhesive attached labels having different legends for a given display and set of buttons, or a changed housing cover to accommodate differing quantities or shapes of buttons that have legends on them. The use of an adhesive attached label having different legends works well with a fixed arrangement of display and unlegended buttons, but what is needed is a technique to accommodate differing sizes, shapes and locations of buttons and displays that avoids expensive and lengthy housing tooling changes, and provides for easy repair and yet maintains the water resistance integrity desired for the market.

Electronic device having multiple user interface configurations


Providing access to digitally published data includes creating a note having at least a portion that is handwritten by a first user, converting handwriting of the note into a content access identifier that varies according to the portion that is handwritten by the first user, associating the content access identifier with the digitally published data, and making the digitally published data available to a second user by making the note available to the second user. The digitally published data may be written to a public database and/or a private database. A portion of the note may be pre-printed. A pre-printed distinguishing pattern on the note may indicate that handwritten content corresponds to a content access identifier. The pre-printed portion may be a regular dotted pattern. The note may have a known identifiable color and size.

As of the third quarter of 2012, over one billion people are using smartphones worldwide, and the number is expected to double by 2015. A significant percent of these users are combining their everyday digital lifestyle with paper habits at their work, home and leisure time. One of the main advantages offered by the traditional pen & paper paradigm is the ability of quick, high resolution handwriting on a compact physical medium resulting in a persistent original note with a limited and targeted distribution. Because of the high ink capturing resolution, the density of handwritten information entered even on a small paper sticker or a card may exceed by a great margin the same on existing tablets or smartphones with much larger screens. While graphical resolution of modern displays, such as Apple Retina Display, is approaching physiological limits and makes these displays, in terms of content rendering, virtually as good as high quality paper publications, this may not apply to a relatively low tablet resolution for capturing handwriting, especially on capacitive mass market screens. Additionally, user writing on tablet screens suffers from glossy surfaces, unwieldy pens with imprecise positioning, etc. This is contrasted by a satisfying experience of writing on paper. Additionally, paper documents possess trusted authentication and authorization capabilities due to unique biometric parameters of human handwriting. This includes personal signatures, such as found on paper checks and on many important forms.
Numerous attempts have been made to bridge traditional note capturing with the electronic culture. Companies like Acecad, Anoto, EPOS, Wacom, Waltop and many other technology and product vendors have developed devices and methods for instant digitizing of handwriting and drawings from a traditional paper and for capturing handwritten documents in the electronic form using a variety of acoustic, infra-red, optical, electromagnetic and other technologies. Still, in spite of significant advances, interactive digital pen and paper technologies have found a limited market adoption.
Growing shipment volumes of camera-enabled smartphones and the proliferation of personal content management systems and software with storing, advanced processing and search capabilities for digital images, such as implemented in the Evernote service and software developed by Evernote Corporation of Redwood City, Calif., make photographing handwritten documents a ubiquitous and preferred method of synthesis of paper based materials with the paperless lifestyle. The combination of paper supply recognizable from photographs with handwritten notes taken on such paper brings new ways of interaction between physical and digital worlds. The question remains, however, whether such interactions could, on the one hand, facilitate access to published digital materials from the physical world of paper-based handwritten notes and, on the other hand, prevent unwanted access to published materials.
Accordingly, it is desirable to develop advanced methods of interactive uses of handwritten pages photographed on smartphones for access to digital materials.

Custom drawings as content access identifiers


A doubler assembly repairs at least one damaged aperture of a composite flange. The doubler assembly includes an insert, an adhesive, and a support. The insert is positioned in the damaged aperture to provide compressive load transfer through the composite flange. The adhesive is positioned directly on at least a portion of the composite flange proximate the damaged aperture. The support is positioned over the adhesive.

The present invention generally relates to the field of repairing composite structures. In particular, the invention relates to doubler repair assemblies for composite arcuate flanges.
Composite structures that are formed of a thermoplastic material such as polyamideimide or polyetherimide are resistant to high temperatures and engine fluids. Thus, these composite structures can be exposed to extreme environments, such as hot engine oils in aircraft engines, which typically cause degradation of mechanical properties of most other elastomeric materials. However, while the composite structure may be temperature resistant, the composite structure and its parts are subjected to thermal stresses when rigidly attached to metal structures with significantly different coefficients of thermal expansion, causing cracks in the weaker composite structure. For example, arcuate flanges formed of composite materials can easily form cracks radiating from apertures in the flanges where the bolts are positioned. If left unattended, the thermal stresses of the environment may cause the crack to continue to extend to the edge of the flange and cause the entire flange to break.
Traditional repair techniques are limited to flange reconstruction techniques using fiberglass/epoxy laminates or either solvent or thermal welded replacement sections. Most of these current repair techniques result in a repair assembly that has inferior mechanical properties when compared to the original structure and also do not account for thermal disparity between parts. One method of repairing the damaged composite structure is to replace the entire structure. However, this can be a costly process, particularly if only a single aperture or only a small percentage of the composite structure is damaged. Another option is to restore only a piece or segment of the flange to a workable condition using a splint or doubler assembly that is applied to the damaged portion of the structure. Additional methods of repairing a damaged composite structure are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,876,651 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,965,240, issued to Blackburn et al.

Metallic double repair of composite arcuate flanges


A programmed material consolidation apparatus includes at least one fabrication site and a material consolidation system associated with the at least one fabrication site. The at least one fabrication site may be configured to receive one or more fabrication substrates, such as semiconductor substrates. A machine vision system with a translatable or locationally fixed camera may be associated with the at least one fabrication site and the material consolidation system. A cleaning component may also be associated with the at least one fabrication site. The cleaning component may share one or more elements with the at least one fabrication site, or may be separate therefrom. The programmed material consolidation apparatus may also include a substrate handling system, which places fabrication substrates at appropriate locations of the programmed material consolidation apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to apparatus for effecting programmed material consolidation techniques, such as stereolithography, and, more particularly, to apparatus that are configured to fabricate features on semiconductor devices and related components. The present invention also relates to programmed material consolidation methods that include use of such apparatus.
2. Background of Related Art
Over the past decade or so, a manufacturing technique which has become known as "stereolithography" and which is also known as "layered manufacturing" has evolved to a degree where it is employed in many industries.
Basically, stereolithography, as conventionally practiced, involves utilizing a computer, typically under control of three-dimensional (3-D) computer-aided design (CAD) software, to generate a 3-D mathematical simulation or model of an object to be fabricated. The computer mathematically separates or "slices" the simulation or model into a large number of relatively thin, parallel, usually vertically superimposed layers. Each layer has defined boundaries and other features that correspond to a substantially planar section of the simulation or model and, thus, of the actual object to be fabricated. A complete assembly or stack of all of the layers defines the entire simulation or model. A simulation or model which has been manipulated in this manner is typically stored and, thus, embodied as a CAD computer file. The simulation or model is then employed to fabricate an actual, physical object by building the object, layer by superimposed layer. Surface resolution of the fabricated object is, in part, dependent upon the thickness of the layers.
A wide variety of approaches to stereolithography by different companies has resulted in techniques for fabricating objects from various types of materials. Regardless of the material employed to fabricate an object, stereolithographic techniques usually involve disposition of a layer of unconsolidated or unfixed material corresponding to each layer of the simulation or model. Next, the material of a layer is selectively consolidated or fixed to at least a partially consolidated, partially fixed, or semisolid state in those areas of a given layer that correspond to solid areas of the corresponding section of the simulation or model. Also, while the material of a layer is being consolidated or fixed, that layer may be bonded to a lower layer of the object which is being fabricated.
The unconsolidated material employed to build an object may be supplied in particulate or liquid form. The material may itself be consolidated or fixed. Alternatively, when the unconsolidated material comprises particles, a separate binder material mixed therein or coating the particles may facilitate bonding of the particles to one another, as well as to the particles of a previously formed layer.
Surface resolution of the features of a fabricated object depends, at least in part, upon the material being used. For example, when particulate materials are employed, resolution of object surfaces is highly dependent upon particle size, whereas when a liquid is employed, surface resolution is highly dependent upon the minimum surface area of the liquid which can be consolidated or fixed and the minimum thickness of a material layer that can be generated. Of course, in either case, resolution and accuracy of the features of an object being produced from the simulation or model are also dependent upon the ability of the apparatus used to consolidate or fix the material to precisely track the mathematical instructions indicating solid areas and boundaries for each layer of material.
Toward that end, and depending upon the type and form of material to be fixed, stereolithographic fabrication processes have employed various fixation approaches. For example, particles have been selectively consolidated by particle bombardment (e.g., with electron beams), disposition of a binder or other fixative in a manner similar to ink-jet printing techniques, and focused irradiation using heat or specific wavelength ranges. In some instances, thin, preformed sheets of material may be superimposed to build an object, each sheet being fixed to a next-lower sheet and unwanted portions of each sheet removed, a stack of such sheets defining the completed object.
Early on in its development, stereolithography was used to rapidly fabricate prototypes of objects from CAD files. Prototypes of objects might be built to verify the accuracy of the CAD file defining the object (e.g., an object or negative of a mold to be machined) and to detect any design deficiencies and possible fabrication problems before a design was committed to large-scale production. Stereolithographic techniques have also been used in the fabrication of molds. Using stereolithographic techniques, either male or female forms on which mold material might be disposed could be rapidly generated.
In more recent years, stereolithography has been employed to develop and refine object designs in relatively inexpensive materials. Stereolithography has also been used to fabricate small quantities of objects for which the cost of conventional fabrication techniques is prohibitive, such as in the case of plastic objects that have conventionally been formed by injection molding techniques. It is also known to employ stereolithography in the custom fabrication of products generally built in small quantities or where a product design is rendered only once. Finally, it has been appreciated in some industries that stereolithography provides a capability to fabricate products, such as those including closed interior chambers or convoluted passageways, which cannot be fabricated satisfactorily using conventional manufacturing techniques. It has also been recognized in some industries that a stereolithographic object or component may be formed or built around another, pre-existing object or component to create a larger product.
Conventionally, stereolithographic apparatus have been used to fabricate freestanding structures. Such structures have been formed directly on a platen or other support system of the stereolithographic fabrication apparatus, which is located within the fabrication tank of the stereolithographic apparatus. As the freestanding structures are fabricated directly on the support system, there is typically no need to precisely and accurately position features of the stereolithographically fabricated structure. As such, conventional stereolithographic apparatus lack machine vision systems for ensuring that structures are fabricated at certain locations.
Moreover, conventional stereolithographic apparatus lack support systems, handling systems, and cleaning equipment which are suitable for use with relatively delicate structures, such as semiconductor substrates and semiconductor devices that have been fabricated thereon.
Accordingly, there is a need for stereolithography apparatus which are configured to form structures on fabrication substrates, such as semiconductor substrates and semiconductor device components and which include systems for accurately positioning the fabricated structures, supporting and handling the fabrication substrates, and cleaning excess and residual material from the fabrication substrates.

Substrate supports for use with programmable material consolidation apparatus and systems


A method of provisioning databases in a telecommunications system includes storing data for a telephony service in a plurality of redundant database nodes. An operation to be performed in the redundant database nodes is received and broadcast to the redundant database nodes for execution. Responses are received from the redundant database nodes. Each response includes an identification of the redundant database node transmitting the response and a result of executing the operation in the redundant database node. The results of the responses are automatically stored. In response to an event, the stored results are automatically queried to determine a status of the operation. The status of the operation is automatically reported.

Consumers of telecommunications services are constantly demanding new and more advanced services to facilitate their personal communications. Examples of such services are free phone (FPH) services such as time dependent routing, calling card (CCD) services and virtual private network (VPN) services. Information associated with these services such as telephone and calling card numbers is typically stored in one or more databases.
Advanced telecommunications systems often include a service control point (SCP) that contains the databases. The service control point accesses the databases to provide routing and other information for the advanced services demanded by telephone users. For example, a service switching point (SSP) may transmit a dialed 1-800 number to the service control point to receive the actual routing number associated with the dialed 1-800 number. The actual routing number may vary depending on, for example, the time the dialed 1-800 number call was placed or the originating location of the dialed 1-800 number. A database in the service control point is accessed with the dialed 1-800 number, and information associated with the 1-800 number and an appropriate routing number is selected from the database for transmission back to the service switching point.
A customer of a telecommunications system such as, for example, MCI, Sprint, AT&T, or GTE, may provision the databases by accessing the service control point. Examples of provisioning the databases includes adding subscriber names and information to the databases, deleting subscriber names and information from the databases and updating current entries to reflect changes in data associated with a subscriber.
Conventional methods for provisioning databases suffer several disadvantages. For example, the databases are serially provisioned by sending an operation to a first database, waiting for a response from the first database, and then sending the operation to the second database and so on until all relevant databases have been provisioned. Because the provisioning is serial, provisioning times are prolonged and result in an inefficient use system resources.

Method and system for provisioning databases in an advanced intelligent network


A phase-change optical information recording medium including a substrate and a recording layer provided on the substrate, the recording layer including a phase-change recording material capable of recording information, reproducing recorded information, and erasing recorded information reversibly with reversible phase changes in the phase-change recording material, with successive formation of a recording mark with a low reflectivity and a length of at least one unit extending in an optical recording scanning direction, and a space with a high reflectivity and a length of at least one unit extending in the optical recording scanning direction, wherein information is recorded by a plurality of signals being recorded in the recording layer, each signal constituting a recording mark area including a recording initiation marking portion with (a) a length of at least two times a minimum length of the recording mark and (b) a width (W1) of at least 1.1 times an average width (W2) of the other portion of the recording mark area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a phase-change optical information recording medium, which can be employed in optical memory appliances, more particularly to a phase-change optical information recording medium in the form of a rewritable compact disk, which is generally referred to as compact disk CD-RW.
2. Discussion of Background
As one of optical information memory media capable of recording information, reproducing recorded information and erasing the same with the application of magnetic waves such as laser beam thereto, the so-called phase-change optical information recording medium is known, which utilizes reversible phase changes from a crystalline state to an amorphous state and vice versa, or from one crystalline state to another crystalline state and vice versa.
Of such optical information memory media, the phase-change optical information recording media have been particularly subjected to vigorous research and development activities, since xe2x80x9coverwritexe2x80x9d, which would be extremely difficult to perform in the case of magneto-optical memory media, can be carried out by the phase-change optical information recording media with the application of a single beam thereto, and accordingly the optical system on a drive side for the phase-change optical information is simpler in mechanism than that for the magneto-optical memory media.
Conventionally, CDs (compact disks) have been recording media exclusively for reproducing for use with audio appliances or used as reproducing computer software. However, there have been placed on the market CD-Rewritable (usually abbreviated to CD-R), which is an optical information recording medium in which information can be recorded in the CD format, and CD-ReWritable (usually abbreviated to CD-RW), in which the above-mentioned phase-change material is employed, so that they find a variety of applications in the recording media for computers.
Previously, the standards for the phase-change optical recording media CD-RW (hereinafter simply referred to as DC-RW) were limited only to the recording at 2.4 to 2.8 m/s (2xc3x97line velocity recording), corresponding to double speed. As a matter of course, a long recording time is required at such a slow speed line velocity, so that there has been a demand for a rewritable CD capable of recording at much higher speed.
On the other hand, it has also been expected that CD-RW could be used as a 1xc3x97line velocity recording medium for use with audio appliances or the like.
In order to meet such various demands for recording applications, there have been demanded and in fact have been developed CD-RW media capable of performing multi-speed recording at a plurality of different line velocities on the same medium, namely, which are capable of performing recording at 2xc3x97line velocity and 4xc3x97line velocity, and also at 1xc3x97line velocity.
However, there is still a strong demand for further the enlargement of an effective range of the recording line velocities, and improvements, in particular, with respect to high quality recording at a low line velocity, and excellent compatibility with recording apparatus.
Furthermore, in the course of such various demands for recording applications, recently there has been developed a CD recorder for audio use. In accordance with the development of the CD recorder, there is increasing a demand for a recording medium which has high overwrite durability at low line velocity recording and is capable of attaining high quality recording.
Conventionally a storage capacity of 74 minutes or less has been mainly used. However, recently, CDs with a storage capacity of more than 74 minutes are increasing, which are for audio use. Under such circumstances, the demand for a recording medium with a larger storage capacity is increasing for backing up such long time recorded CDs.
In view of the above-mentioned status of the prior art in the field of this technology, a first object of the present invention is to provide a phase-change multi-speed optical information recording medium which is capable of recording at different line velocities, has excellent overwrite durability, with minimized reproduction errors, and which is also capable of attaining high quality signal recordings at low line velocities.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a phase-change multi-speed optical information recording medium which has a larger storage capacity than that in general use, namely, a larger memory capacity than that of a. phase-change optical information recording CD-RW currently in general use.
By use of the phase-change multi-speed optical information recording medium of the present invention, an unconventionally effective recording method can be carried out at a low line velocity recording, with excellent durability to overwrite, and appropriate suitability for recording apparatus used in practice. Furthermore, in the present invention, the layer structure of the recording medium including a substrate structure is so optimized that the storage capacity is maximized.
The above-mentioned objects of-the present invention can be achieved by a phase-change optical information recording medium which comprises a substrate and a recording layer provided on the substrate, the recording layer comprising a phase-change recording material capable of recording information, reproducing recorded information, and erasing recorded information reversibly with reversible phase changes in the phase-change recording material, with successive formation of a recording mark with a low reflectivity and a length of at least one unit extending in an optical recording scanning direction, and a space with a high reflectivity and a length of at least one unit extending in the optical recording scanning direction, wherein information is recorded by a plurality of signals being recorded in the recording layer, each signal constituting a recording mark area including a recording initiation marking portion with (a) a length of at least two times a minimum length of the recording mark and (b) a width (W1) of at least 1.1 times an average width (W2) of the other portion of the recording mark area.
In the above phase-change optical information recording medium, the space, when having a maximum length in terms of the unit, may have a signal level Itop, the recording initiation marking portion may have a signal level Ibtmf, and the other portion of the recording mark area may have a signal level Ibtme, which signal levels rtop, Ibtmf and Ibtme satisfy the formula I:
Itopxe2x88x92Ibtmfxe2x89xa7(Itopxe2x88x92Ibtme)
By the thus formed recording mark, recording can be attained with high quality signals with excellent overwrite durability.
Further, in the above phase-change optical information recording medium, the phase-change recording material for the recording layer may comprise constituent elements Ag, In, Sb, Te, and N or O, with the respective composition ratios xcex1, xcex2, xcex3, xcex4 and xcex5, in terms of atomic % being:
0 less than xcex1xe2x89xa610
3xe2x89xa6xcex2xe2x89xa615
50xe2x89xa665 xe2x89xa665
20xe2x89xa6xcex4xe2x89xa635
0xe2x89xa6xcex5xe2x89xa610, wherein xcex1+xcex2+xcex3+xcex4+xcex5=100.
By the provision of the recording layer with the above-mentioned-composition, signal recording performance at low line velocity can be further improved, and the compatibility of this recording medium with other recording apparatus and the range of the corresponding line velocities can be significantly enlarged.
In the above-mentioned phase-change optical information recording medium, the information can be recorded in the phase-change recording material with a different recording line velocity which is either a high recording line velocity or a low recording line velocity, the high recording line velocity being at least 1.2 times the low recording line velocity, the low recording line velocity being any of (1) 1.2 m/s to 1.4 m/s, (2) 2.4 m/s to 2.8 m/s, or (3) 4.8 m/s to 5.6 m/s.
By the above-mentioned recording line velocities, high quality recbrding.at low line velocity can be attained, while maintaining the compatibility with conventional CD-RW recording apparatus. Furthermore, the range of the recording velocity corresponding to the CD-RW can be enlarged.
Further, in the above-mentioned phase-change optical information recording medium, the phase-change optical information recording medium may be in the shape of a disk, including a disk-shaped signal recordable area with a diameter of 120 mm or less, which is rotatable round a central rotation axis, with a difference between (1) a displacement in the vertical direction of the central rotation axis of an innermost circumference of the disk-shaped signal recordable area and (2) a displacement in the vertical direction of the central rotation axis of an outermost circumference of the disk-shaped signal recordable area being in a range of 10 xcexcm to 160 xcexcm.
Further, in the above-mentioned phase-change optical information recording medium, the phase-change optical information recording medium may be in the shape of a disk, including a disk-shaped signal recordable area with a diameter of 120 mm or less, which is rotatable round a central rotation axis, wherein when there is formed a TILT angle (xcex81) is formed between (1) a flat surface which is positioned with a right angle with respect to the central rotation axis, passing through an inner tangent point on one external surface of the disk-shaped recording medium, which inner tangent point corresponds to a point at the innermost circumference of the disk-shaped signal recordable area, and (2) a tangent at the inner tangent point externally directed in a radius direction of the disk-shaped recording medium, and also when there is formed a TILT angle (xcex82) is formed between (1) the flat surface and (3) a tangent at an outer tangent point, which outer tangent point corresponds to a point at the outermost circumference of the disk-shaped signal recordable area, externally directed in the same radius direction as mentioned above of the disk-shaped recording medium, it is preferable that an average difference between the TILT angle (xcex81 ) and the TILT angle (xcex82) be in a range of xe2x88x920.050xc2x0 to 0.320xc2x0, provided at least one of the TILT angle (xcex81) or the TILT angle (xcex82) may also be at zero.
By the above-mentioned mechanical characteristics of the phase-change optical information recording medium, the recording and reproducing suitability of the recording medium for currently commercially available recording apparatus can be improved, and recording can be performed with high quality signals.
Further, in the above-mentioned phase-change optical information recording medium, it is preferable that the substrate comprise guide grooves with a pitch having a pitch of 1.43xc2x10.3 xcexcm for recording signals in the phase-change recording material.
Further, in the above-mentioned phase-change optical information recording medium, it is preferable that the disk-shaped recording medium have a read-in radius in a range of 45.6 mm to 46.2 mm, and a read-out radius of 116.2 mm or less.
By the formation of the above-mentioned guide grooves, the storage capacity of the phase-change optical information recording medium can be significantly increased, and also the recording and reproducing suitability of the recording medium for currently commercially available recording apparatus can be secured.
Further, in the above-mentioned phase-change optical information recording medium, it is preferable that the substrate comprise guide grooves with a depth of 180 xc3x85 to 250 xc3x85 for recording signals in the phase-change recording material.
By the above depth of the guide grooves, the storage capacity of the recording medium can be increased, and the deterioration of signals can be prevented.
Further, in the above-mentioned phase-change optical information recording medium, it is preferable that the substrate further comprise guide grooves for recording signals in the phase-change recording material, and that the recording medium further comprise a first protective layer on the substrate, on which first protective layer, there are successively overlaid the recording layer, a second protective layer and a reflection layer, and that the recording layer have a thickness of 180 xc3x85 to 250 xc3x85.
By the provision of the recording layer with the above thickness, excellent recording and reproducing performance can be attained at low line velocity recording by use of the currently employed recording and reproducing apparatus.
In the above-mentioned phase-change optical information recording medium, it is preferable that the information be recorded in the phase-change recording material with a different recording line velocity which is either a high recording line velocity or a low recording line velocity, the recording with the low recording line velocity being carried out with such a ratio of an erasing power Pe1 to a recording power Pwl, that is, Pel/Pwl, being smaller than a ratio of an erasing power Peh to a recording power Pwh, that is, Peh/Pwh, at the time of recording carried out with the high recording line velocity.
Finally, in the above-mentioned phase-change optical information recording medium, it is preferable that the ratio of Pel/Pwl at the low recording line velocity be in the range of 0.3 to 0.5 (0.3xe2x89xa6Pel/Pwlxe2x89xa60.5).
By setting the ratio of Pel/Pwl at the low line velocity as mentioned above and also by making the ratio of Peh/Pwh smaller than the ratio of Pel/Pwl, the remaining heat in the erased area can be reduced and appropriate mark recording can be attained. As a result, the signal characteristics at low line recording velocity can be improved. Furthermore, excess laser power is not applied to the recording medium, the overwrite characteristics can be appropriately maintained or improved.

Phase-change optical information recording medium


A method of executing a downshift in a fixed-gear powertrain having an input node and an output node related by a starting speed ratio before the downshift and a finishing speed ratio after is provided. The downshift includes a torque phase and an inertia phase. A starting output torque is calculated as a function of a starting driver request. An electric machine applies a starting regenerative input torque which is calculated as substantially equal to the starting output torque divided by the starting speed ratio. A finishing output torque is calculated as a function of a finishing driver request. The electric machine applies a finishing regenerative input torque which is calculated as substantially equal to the finishing output torque divided by the finishing speed ratio.

Vehicle transmissions transfer power and torque from an engine to the vehicle output (axles or wheels). When the vehicle is equipped with an additional primary mover, such as an electric machine, the transmission may also transfer torque and power from the electric machine to provide traction for the vehicle. Fixed-gear transmissions allow the engine to operate within a narrow range of speeds while providing a wide range of output speeds.
Different gears or modes of the transmission provide different, selectable speed ratios or gear ratios, and also different levels of torque multiplication. Changing the speed ratio of the transmission changes the ratio of input speed to the output speed and changes the torque multiplication between the input and the output. Hybrid powertrains include both an internal combustion engine and an alternative power source, such as one or more electric machines coupled with an energy storage device.

Negative-torque downshift execution for fixed-gear transmissions


A system includes a vehicle cover, a mechanical tensioning device, a memory device, storing instructions, and one or more processors configured to execute instructions to perform the steps of a method to secure a vehicle. The mechanical tensioning device may include attachment means to attach the device to a wheel of the vehicle and means to attach a security cable of the vehicle cover integrated into a bottom edge of the vehicle cover to the mechanical tensioning device. The mechanical tensioning device may include a rotational reel connected to either a tensioning motor or a tensioning crank and optionally including either a mechanical bi-stable device or one or more sensors configured to monitor the tension of the security cable when engaged to the mechanical tensioning device. The processor may monitor for a change in tension and execute one or more security measures in response.

Vehicle covers are known to be an effective solution for protecting a vehicle from the elements. However, traditional vehicle covers are ineffective at preventing unauthorized tampering with a vehicle because vehicle covers provide little to no security from unwanted access to the vehicle.
The present invention is aimed at improving the security that is provided by traditional vehicle covers with a reinforced vehicle cover that is fastened by a tensioning device that securely fastens to the vehicle and secures the vehicle cover to the vehicle. Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to this and other considerations.

Vehicle cover and integrated security system


A semiconductor light-emitting device has a first principal surface, a second principal surface formed on a side opposite to the first principal surface, and a light-emitting layer. A p-electrode on the second principal surface is in the region of the light-emitting layer and surrounds an n-electrode. An insulating layer on the side of the semiconductor layer surrounds the p-and the n-electrodes. A p-metal pillar creates an electrical connection for the p-electrode, and an n-metal pillar creates an electrical connection for the n-electrode. A resin layer surrounds the end portions of the p-and the n-metal pillars, and also covers the side surface of the semiconductor layer, the second principal surface, the p-electrode, the n-electrode, the insulating layer, the p-metal pillar and the n-metal pillar.

It is well known that there is a structure in which a p-electrode and an n-electrode are on one principal side of a semiconductor layer containing a light-emitting layer. In this structure, the electrodes do not impede output from the light-emitting surface, allowing for variable electrode shapes and layouts. However, there will be a more preferred, optimal design for them because the electrode shape and layout affect the electrical characteristics and the light-emitting efficiency.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Semiconductor light-emitting device and method of forming the same


A reference voltage generating circuit is provided with a reference voltage output terminal, a voltage dividing circuit that divides a voltage supplied from a power source, and an integrating circuit having a given time constant, for integrating a voltage of the divided voltage output terminal of the voltage dividing circuit and generating a reference voltage as a result of integration to the reference voltage output terminal. A high-speed charging circuit is connected to the reference voltage output terminal, for charging the integrating circuit at a high speed when the power source is turned on, to elevate a voltage of the reference voltage output terminal at a speed higher than a speed determined by the time constant of the integrating circuit. A comparator circuit compares the voltage of the divided voltage output terminal with the voltage of the reference voltage output terminal, and turns off the high-speed charging circuit when a difference between the voltage of the divided voltage output terminal and the voltage of the reference voltage output terminal becomes equal to or smaller than a predetermined level.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reference voltage generating circuit for generating a stable reference voltage with low power consumption, which voltage is suitable for use in an integrated circuit.
2. Prior Art
An example of known reference voltage generating circuit used in an integrated circuit is shown in FIG. 1. This reference voltage generating circuit is comprised of a voltage dividing circuit formed of a series circuit of resistors R51 and R52 provided between a power source VDD and a power source VSS, and a low-pass filter formed of a resistor R53 and a capacitor C. The low-pass filter integrates the output voltage of the voltage dividing circuit to provide a reference voltage output VREF. In order to reduce the power consumption, resistors having large resistance values are used as the voltage dividing resistors R51, R52. The low-pass filter serves to produce a stable reference voltage VREF from the output voltage of the voltage dividing circuit. To this end, the time constants of the resistor R53 and capacitor C are set to large values.
In the reference voltage generating circuit described above, it is necessary to set the time constant of the low-pass filter to be sufficiently large so as to obtain a stable reference voltage VREF. More specifically, a resistor having a large resistance value of 50 k.OMEGA. may be used as the resistor R53, and a capacitor having a large capacitance of 22 .mu.F may be used as the capacitor C. This may cause a problem of a delay in the rise of the reference voltage VREF when the power is turned on. The capacitor C is located outside the integrated circuit, and connected to the interior of the integrated circuit.
Although the rising speed of the reference voltage VREF may be increased by reducing the time constant of the low-pass filter, this would make the reference voltage VREF unstable.

Reference voltage generating circuit having an integrator


An operator designates an image of equipment or a device using a pointing device and touch coordinate detector which detects touch coordinates of the designated equipment or device on a graphic screen. A specifier compares the display coordinates on the image of each equipment or device sent from a display coordinate detector to the touch coordinates on the graphic screen output from the touch coordinate detector and outputs data specifying the equipment or device touched by the operator to a camera switching section. The camera switching section switches from a plant equipment and device monitor camera to an operating board monitor camera. The image of the operating board is displayed in a window in a predetermined area on the graphic screen. A CRT display controller causes an operating window to be displayed for the specified equipment or device displayed in a window on the CRT display unit. The operator manipulates the plant equipment and devices on the operating window corresponding to the operating board displayed on the display unit. Data indicating any specific operation is sent to a controller through an output data transmitter together with data representing the equipment or device specified by the pointing device to thereby control the specified equipment or device.

The present invention relates to a monitor control apparatus for monitoring the normal operation and fault conditions of the equipments and devices of water and sewage plants, building and factory equipments, and various production plants.
Generally, in a monitor control apparatus for monitoring the normal operation and fault conditions of plant equipments and devices, the normal operation and fault conditions of the plant equipments and devices including pumps and motors are monitored and controlled by displaying a graphic screen and the images of the equipments and devices of the plant on a CRT display unit.
The graphic screen is defined as a screen on which the plant equipments and devices are modeled and displayed in symbols, and the operation and fault conditions of a given plant equipments or devices are indicated by changing the color of or flickering the symbol of the particular equipment or device.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional monitor control apparatus.
This monitor control apparatus comprises a controller 2, a monitor camera 3, a data processing unit 4 and a CRT display unit 6.
The controller 2 retrieves operating condition signals indicating the operating conditions of a plurality of equipments and devices including pumps and valves of the plant 1, and outputs by converting them into the operating condition data a in the state of "1" for normal or "0" for a fault, for example. Also, the controller 2 retrieves a control signal from a host system and thereby operates the equipments and devices of the plant 1.
The monitor camera 3 takes an image of each equipment or device of the plant 1.
The data processing unit 4 retrieves and processes the operating condition data a as required of each equipment or device of the plant 1, and thus supplies the control data required for the controller 2.
The CRT display unit 6 includes a pointing device 5 such as a touch panel or a mouse.
The data processing unit 4 displays the graphic image of the plant over the entire screen of the CRT display unit 6, and has the function of displaying the image of each equipment or device of the plant 1 supplied from the monitor camera 3 in a window in a predetermined area on the graphic screen.
Now, the operation of this monitor control apparatus will be explained.
An input data receiver 11 is for receiving the operating condition data a sent from each equipment or device of the plant 1 through the controller 2 and sends the operating condition data a to an input data/display collation section 12.
The input data/display collation section 12 retrieves the operating condition data a sent from the input data receiver 11, and collates the operating condition data a with the graphic screen display data such as shown in FIG. 2 stored in the graphic screen display data base 13. On the basis of the result of this collation, an equipment or device (a pump, a valve, etc.) of the plant 1 is specified and the operating condition of the specified equipment or device is discriminated. The result of this discrimination of the operating condition together with the symbol data and the symbol coordinate data of the equipment or device shown in FIG. 2 is sent to the graphic screen display section 14.
On the basis of the symbol data and the symbol coordinate data sent from the input data/display collation section 12, the graphic screen display section 14 changes the display condition of the symbols of the equipment or device of the plant 1 appearing on the graphic screen and stores them in an image memory 15. The CRT display controller 16 is for reading the graphic screen stored in the image memory 15 and displaying it on the CRT display unit 6.
The image of each equipment or device of the plant 1 taken by the monitor camera 3, on the other hand, is converted into an image data at an image conversion means 17, sent to the CRT display controller 16, stored in a predetermined area of the image memory 15 in accordance with a window display program, and displayed similarly in a window on the CRT display unit 6.
Then, on the basis of the result of monitoring on the graphic screen, the following operation is performed using the pointing device 5 such as a touch panel.
Specifically, the operator designates a symbol of an appropriate plant equipment or device on the graphic screen of the CRT display unit by the pointing device 5. Then, a touch coordinate detector 18 detects the coordinate of the designated portion on the graphic screen and sends out the coordinate to a touch coordinate/display data collation section 19.
The touch coordinate/display data collation section 19 collates the designated coordinate data on the graphic screen with the graphic screen display data stored in the data base 13, and on the basis of this collation, specifies an equipment or device. At the same time, the touch coordinate/display data collation section 19 controls the CRT display controller 16 thereby to display operation and stop icons shown in FIG. 3 or the like icons stored in the image memory 15 on the graphic screen of the CRT display unit 6.
Upon designation of any one of the icons by the operator, the content of operation selected for the specified equipment or device is sent out to the controller 2 through an output data transmitter 20. As a result, the related plant device is controlled by the controller 2.
Since the graphic screen of the CRT display unit 6 displays each equipment or device of the plant 1 in a simplified form, however, the operator is required to operate the system while watching the image of the monitor camera 3.
After determining which equipment or device of the plant displayed as an image corresponds to which symbol on the graphic screen, the symbol displayed on the graphic screen is required to be manipulated.
Also, the change in the operating condition from a fault to the normal state of each equipment or device of the plant 1 as a result of monitoring operation is required to be ascertained on the graphic screen or the image of the plant. With the increase in the scale of the plant and the number of equipments and devices to be monitored, therefore, the problem has been posed that an increased burden is imposed on the operator monitoring the plant.
Specifically, in the above-mentioned the monitor control apparatus, the image and the graphic screen are displayed separately, and the monitoring by image and the manipulation by the graphic screen are carried out separately from each other. Even in the case where a fault is found by the operator on the image, therefore, comparison with the symbols on the graphic screen takes considerable time, thereby making it impossible to quickly accommodate the fault of the plant equipment or device 1. Also, the possibility of erroneous operation of the equipments and devices of the plant 1 is liable to occur due to the error in comparison between each equipment or device of the plant 1 and the corresponding symbol on the graphic screen.


The present invention is directed to a foam soap delivery system. In accordance with the present invention, the system includes a paperboard core with a plurality of sheets of paper or tissue wound around the paperboard core. A dispenser is removably disposed within the paperboard core, and a water-soluble sheet soap is disposed within the dispenser.

Proper hygiene aides in preventing the transmission of bacteria, viruses, soils, and other contaminants. Frequent use of hand soaps, shampoos, body washes, facial cleansers, shave foams, makeup removers, and the like help to maintain personal hygiene. Conventional product forms for personal cleansing include, among others, bars, liquids, gels, foams, and powders.
Conventional products have disadvantages. For example, bar soaps are inconvenient for travel because they must be dried or stored in a portable case. Aerosols are restricted from airplanes, and liquid soap containers are cumbersome and can leak. Further, liquids are subject to postal restrictions. Finally, conventional liquid soaps have limited shelf-lives, which begin at the time of production and can expire long before a consumer uses the product.
Frequently, dispensing appropriate amounts from these product forms is not predictable without repeated use and experimentation. Often a consumer misgauges and over-dispenses, resulting in product waste. In contrast, dispensing an insufficient amount of soap can be ineffective.
Based on the foregoing, there still exists a need for a soap product that is lightweight, can dispense a metered amount of a personal cleansing product, is not susceptible to leakage during travel or shipment, and is not limited by shelf-life. Accordingly, it is to solving this and other needs the present invention is directed.

Water soluble sheet soap in a waterless pump bottle, ready to make a foam cleanser by adding water