The present disclosure relates to a user interface module for a building control system that has flexible mounting options to address mounting constraints that are often encountered in utility rooms and/or equipment panels. In some cases, the user interface module may be provided with interchangeable mounting bases from which an installer can select depending on the mounting constraints presented at a particular installation.

Building control systems are used to control systems of a building, and often include one or more building control devices that control one or more building control components. Such building control systems can include Heating, Ventilation and/or Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems, building security systems, building lighting control systems and/or any other suitable building control system. In many instances, a building control system includes a main controller that receives sensor and/or other data, and in response, provides control signals to control various building control components in the building in accordance with a control algorithm. In some cases, the main controller may be operatively coupled to one or more input/output modules, which may be wired or otherwise connected to the one or more building control components. In some case, a user interface may be integrated into the main controller. In other cases, a separate user interface module may be provided for interfacing with the building control devices.
In many cases, the building control devices may be mounted in a utility room or the like of the building. The available mounting options are often dependent on that particular characteristics of the utility room. In many cases, there are significant constraints on where the building control devices can be mounted. Often, the building control devices must be mounted in cramped quarters, such as on a wall between other equipment, or in an equipment panel or cabinet. Equipment panels and cabinets have limited size, and often house various equipment such as power supplies, terminal strips, wiring, and in some cases the building control devices. In some cases, an equipment panel or cabinet may include a DIN rail for mounting DIN rail compatible equipment including DIN rail compatible building control devices. When an equipment panel or cabinet can accommodate a separate user interface module, such as on a DIN rail or the like of the equipment panel or cabinet, the separate user interface module may be located at a position that is too high or too low and not convenient for a user to read or comfortably operate. In many instances, an equipment panels or cabinet will not be able to accommodate a separate user interface module. In such instances, the user interface module may need to be mounted outside of the equipment panel or cabinet and be operatively connected to the building control devices within the equipment panel or cabinet.
There is a need in the building control industry for a building control system with a separate user interface module that has flexible mounting options to address the various constraints on mounting the user interface module found in many utility rooms.

User interface module for a building control system with an interchangeable mounting base


The invention relates to an MRI system, comprising: an examination table including a cradle in which a patient may be positioned; a magnetic assembly disposed in the examination table and including first and second electrode assemblies, the respective electrode surfaces of which are disposed so as to be perpendicularly spaced apart by a certain distance and opposite each other such that space for imaging may be formed therebetween; and an RF coil unit contactingly or contactlessly attached to a part of a patient to be examined or an attached part corresponding to the part to be examined, applying an RF pulse to the part of the patient to be examined, and detecting an MR signal from the examined part.

In general, CT (Computed Tomography) capturing systems, panoramic radiography equipment, cephalo imaging apparatuses, and so on are widely known as dental examination apparatuses used for diagnosing defects of teeth. Such imaging apparatuses are widely used as the basic examination apparatuses for diagnosing defects of teeth because they can rapidly make images of teeth conditions. However, because the imaging apparatuses all use X-rays, they can obtain excellent anatomical images about conditions of bones and horny tissues, such as teeth or pubic bones, but cannot obtain sufficient anatomical images about soft tissues, such as gums, and dental nerve tissues.
As an examination apparatus for obtaining higher image resolution and contrast about the soft tissues or the dental nerve tissues, an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) system using magnetic field is known. However, such an MRI system carries out examination while horizontally moving over a patient, who lies on a cradle, in a state where a magnetic field is shielded by a shielding device during the examination, and hence, the examination procedures are complicated and the patient may feel a fear of the examination in a closed space. Particularly, patients, who have claustrophobia, may refuse examination itself. Moreover, because conventional MRI system is designed to move over the whole body of the patient and requires the shielding device for shielding harmfulness by the magnetic field, the system is big in size and is very expensive. Furthermore, because the conventional MRI system uses a superconductive magnet and is designed to have a large imaging space so that the MRI system moves over the whole body of the patient, it is large in output quantity for operating the superconductive magnet, a gradient coil, an RF coil and so on, and hence, its maintenance fees and management fees are increased. Accordingly, the conventional MRI system is used only for emergencies or critical diseases, such as brain tumor and is rarely used for dental diagnosis, such as examinations of soft tissues, such as gums, and dental nerve tissues. For instance, MR images of soft tissues, such as gums, and dental nerve tissues for dental diagnosis are incidentally obtained and used when brain tumor or one of other critical diseases is examined.
Therefore, in order to conduct dental diagnosis to judge defects in the soft tissues, such as gums, and dental nerve tissues, development of a dental MRI system, which can easily and simply obtain MR images at lower costs, is demanded.

Dental RF coil, head-fixing unit, and magnetic resonance imaging system including same

Catholic University Industry Academic Cooperation Foundation


A process for automatically welding parts consisting of a number of tubular members (2, 3, 4 and/or 5) cut out and welded together to form a pipe (1). A previously welded part is positioned and secured using a securing jaw. The part is suspended every time from its center of gravity (G) using the securing jaw (50) and a cable (52) stretched between the two securing points, as well as a suspension joint (37), so that the part lifted by means of a lifting apparatus can be moved along about its center of gravity (G). The previously welded part and as standardized spare part are then welded using a welding robot (30) along the contact line between the two tubular parts.

The present invention relates to a process and a device for automatically welding workpieces consisting of a certain number of tubular components which are cut and joined together by welding in order to form piping, in which process the component already joined by welding and the standardized separate component are welded, after positioning and securing by securing jaws, by means of a welding robot along the line of contact between the two workpieces to be joined.
It finds its main application in assemblies in the chemical and petrochemical industries, metal construction workshops and assembly workshops.
Automation of the welding process is currently possible in very many branches of industry, in particular in metal construction and the automobile industry. Automatic welding processes are also applied in chemical factories but their applications are limited to the production of relatively simple components which can still be manipulated manually.
There are three methods for automatically making a weld by means of a welding robot:
1) the workpiece is secured and the torch moves along the weld seam, during which the automaton performs a precise movement. Bodywork accessories are produced in this way in the automobile industry; PA1 2) the torch occupies a fixed position and the workpiece is able to perform the necessary movement, for example a revolution about a horizontal axis at a suitable speed; PA1 3) a combination of the above two methods. As a result of recent developments in electronics, open control systems which are easy to employ have now been commercialized, by means of which it is possible to synchronize the movements of the workpiece and the torch.
When welding piping, one is confronted with the problem of complicated programming for the movement of the torch, because the weld seam lies every time at various inaccessible points. A program has to be written for each seam.
On the other hand, the welding machine in which the torch occupies a fixed place and the workpiece is moved has the drawback that, if the piping is of unusual shape and dimensions, the workpiece is complicated to manipulate. The movement of the piping is different for each weld seam and consequently impossible to program.
The problem consists in proposing accessories for a suspension and/or welding machine, as well as in developing a welding method by means of which certain workpieces of complicated shape and dimensions can be produced automatically without any manual intervention using standardized elementary tubular components. The workpiece thus obtained may be manipulated and moved at any time without the acceptable limit values, imposed by the directives for the manual handling of loads and the manipulation of merchandise, being transgressed, in accordance with the Royal Decree of Aug. 12, 1993 relating to the manual handling of loads. This Royal Decree transposes into Belgian Law the fourth Special Directive, 90/269/EEC, of the Council of the European Communities of May 29, 1990 relating to the minimum health and safety regulations relating to the manual handling of loads involving risks, especially dorso-lumbar risks, for workers.

Process and device for automatically welding pipes


The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a transistor device, and a method for manufacturing an integrated circuit including the same. The method for manufacturing the transistor device, among other elements, includes forming a gate structure over a substrate, implanting an atom selected from the group consisting of fluorine, silicon, or germanium into the substrate proximate the gate structure to cause at least a portion of the substrate to be in a sub-amorphous state, and implanting a dopant into the substrate having the implanted atom therein, thereby forming source/drain regions in the substrate, wherein the transistor device does not have a halo/pocket implant.

It is often necessary in linear mixed-signal CMOS and BiCMOS integrated circuit devices to merge low-voltage (0.8-1.5 volts, for example) and high-voltage (1.8-5 volts, for example) CMOS devices. Generally, the low-voltage CMOS devices are used for digital logic, while the high-voltage CMOS devices are used in the analog portion of the circuit design, including providing power to flash memory devices. There is currently a desire that the high-voltage CMOS devices have a high breakdown voltage for system on a chip applications, for example greater than 10-volt breakdown voltages, to support programming and writing functions.
A problem currently exists with the high-voltage CMOS devices, in that as the low-voltage CMOS device technology scales in size, the breakdown voltages attainable by the high-voltage CMOS devices decreases due to process changes. Namely, as the gate length of the low-voltage CMOS devices decreases, and in turn the poly gate thickness of the high-voltage CMOS devices decreases, the manufacturing process is limited to lower source/drain implant energies and less effective anneal processes for low-voltage CMOS devices. Because high-voltage CMOS devices and low-voltage CMOS devices are on the same chip, what results is a more abrupt PN junction between the source/drain regions and the channel region, which in turn results in a higher electrical field, and thus lower breakdown voltage for the high-voltage CMOS devices. Unfortunately, the breakdown voltages achievable for the high-voltage CMOS devices having the abrupt PN junction are often insufficient.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a method for manufacturing CMOS devices that accommodates the continued desire to scale while providing improved breakdown voltage characteristics.

Method for manufacturing a transistor device having an improved breakdown voltage and a method for manufacturing an integrated circuit using the same


To provide an ink set capable of recording images with good ozone fastness on a recording medium, an ink set of the present invention comprises at least a yellow ink composition, a magenta ink composition, and a cyan ink composition. The cyan ink composition contains at least one of the compounds expressed by formula (1) below as a cyan dye:

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink set, particularly to an ink set capable of forming images with excellent ozone fastness.
2. Description of Prior Art
In recent years inkjet recording methods have been receiving attention. An inkjet recording method is a printing method whereby ink compositions are jetted as droplets and adhered to a recording medium such as paper. The method has the advantage that, with relatively inexpensive apparatus, high-resolution and high-quality images can be printed at high speed. Ink-jet recording apparatuses employing this method have gained wide market acceptance for their excellent print quality, low cost, relatively quiet performance and excellent graphic-forming capability. Among such inkjet recording apparatuses, a thermal (Bubble Jet (registered trademark)) printer and a piezoelectric drop-on-demand printer, in particular, have been commercially successful and widely used as printers for personal computers in the office and home.
In recent years, a plurality of color ink compositions have been used in inkjet recording methods to form color images and obtain recorded matters. Generally, color images are formed with three colors of ink compositions, yellow, magenta, and cyan or, if desired, four colors including a black ink composition. There are cases where color images are formed with six colors of ink compositions including a light cyan ink composition and a light magenta ink composition, or seven colors by adding a dark yellow ink composition. An ink set is a combination of two or more ink compositions.
In addition to having good coloring properties, it is desirable that the respective ink compositions for forming color images form favorable neutral colors when two or more ink compositions are combined, and cause no discoloration or fading in color of the obtained recorded matters during storage.
In the field of "photo quality" printing using color inkjet printers, improvements have been constantly made to inkjet heads, ink compositions, recording methods and media, and accordingly, the "photo" level has been reached, with images as good in quality as "silver halide photos" being obtained. Moreover, as the ink compositions and the media have been improved, attempts have also been made to enhance the storage stability of the images of the recorded matters obtained by using color inkjet printers. Light fastness of the images, in particular, has been improved to a practical level (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publications 2000-290559 and 2001-288392). However, an image does not deteriorate only due to the effect of light, but also due to oxidation caused by oxidizing gases in the environment (for example, ozone), which further escalates fading and discoloration of the images. Accordingly, in order to further enhance storage stability, enhancement of the ozone fastness as well as the light fastness of the image formed with ink compositions on the recorded matter is desired. For that purpose, various studies have been conducted to enhance the ozone fastness of inkjet recorded matters, especially the ozone fastness of colorants (coloring materials) used in ink compositions (for example, see International Publication WO02/060994 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication 2002-371214).
When the ozone fastness of a certain ink composition is remarkably inferior to that of the other ink compositions, colors formed with that certain ink composition fade or change earlier than the other colors, and the color tones of the entire image become unbalanced. As a result, an observer notices the quality deterioration of the image earlier than he or she would notice the color fading of an image formed solely with a single ink composition. Accordingly, in addition to enhancing the ozone fastness of the respective ink compositions constituting an ink set, it is desirable to equalize as much as possible the ozone fastness levels among the respective ink compositions, that is, to have the ozone-caused deterioration rates (for example, color fading rates) preferably as similar as possible between images formed with each respective ink composition. In other words, it is preferable that the respective ink compositions constituting the ink set have excellent ozone fastness and, at the same time, there is little difference in ozone fastness between them.
When an ink set includes two types, dark and light, of ink compositions of different color densities for the same color, images can be formed with various color densities with no granularity. Ink sets including two types of ink compositions of different color densities are mainly used in photo printing, but in most cases with photo printing, ink compositions of low color densities are generally used so that the granularity of the images can be mitigated or eliminated. Even patterns with an optical density of approximately 1.0 used as samples in ozone fastness evaluations are formed with ink compositions of low color densities. Accordingly, it is important to improve the ozone fastness of low color density ink compositions in order to enhance the ozone fastness of photo images in recorded matters as well as the ozone fastness of the entire ink set. High color density ink compositions, on the other hand, are used for printing full-color images and graphic art patterns, so it is also necessary to improve the ozone fastness of these ink compositions.
A black ink composition is often included in an ink set because it has the important role of providing contrast in images. If a black ink composition is included in an ink set, it is necessary that the black ink composition have excellent ozone fastness, and also that the ozone-caused deterioration rate of the black ink composition be not remarkably different from that of the other ink compositions in the ink set.
As described above, it is required that the respective ink compositions constituting an ink set have good ozone fastness, that there is a good balance of ozone fastness between the ink compositions, and that some colors do not fade or change earlier than other colors when exposed to ozone. Meanwhile, because improving ozone fastness of the respective ink compositions in the ink set may sometimes causes bronzing, it becomes necessary to reduce any bronzing. Bronzing refers to a phenomenon in which, when high duty printing is conducted, printed parts look reddish and floating. This phenomenon tends to occur when solid printing (daubing printing at 100% duty) is conducted with an ink composition containing a metal phtalocyanine dye as a coloring material (colorant). Bronzing may upset the color balance of an entire image and degrade the image quality.

Abstract: and the magenta ink composition contains, as a colorant, at least one substance selected from the group consisting of compounds expressed by formula (2) below:

Abstract: and salts thereof(in formula (2), A represents an alkylene group, an alkylene group containing a phenylene group, or a group expressed by formula (3) below:

Abstract: and X represents a group selected from the group consisting of NH2, OH, and Cl).


A method for inspecting the surface of an inspection object with a picked-up image obtained by entering light from the inspection object into an annular prism, and picking-up the light emitted from the prism, and an apparatus used for execution thereof. Also a prism composed of a columnar light permeable material, having a space of a circular truncated cone or a truncated pyramid opened at both axial end sides in its inside, to be used in this apparatus.

The present invention relates to a surface inspection method, surface inspection apparatus, and prism for inspecting the surface of an object of inspection.
When manufacturing small pieces such as short columnar or cylindrical parts, inspections are performed for performed for the presence of defects such as flaw, stain and uneven color on the inner and outer surface of the small pieces, and the defect rate of small pieces is lowered. In such inspection of the inner and outer surface, small pieces to be inspected are supported by proper means, rotated about the axial center, and the surface of the rotating small pieces is inspected visually or by camera, and the quality of surfaces of small pieces is evaluated on the basis of the visual or photographic results.
In such conventional inspection method, however, the small pieces to be inspected must be rotated, and a rotating mechanism is needed, which increases the inspection cost. Besides, since the small pieces must be rotated at least one revolution, the inspection time is longer, or some pieces may elude inspection if a slip occurs in rotation. Moreover, to inspect the surface of small pieces, a mechanism for conveying small pieces is needed, which also adds to the cost, and increases inspection time.

Surface inspection method, surface inspection apparatus, and prism


A high efficiency lamp apparatus for producing a light beam of polarized light includes an electrodeless lamp body that defines a chamber. A gas is contained within the chamber such as sulfur or selenium or a compound thereof that can be excited to form a plasma. Electrodes are positioned externally of the lamp chamber for producing radio frequency energy that excites the gas, forming a plasma light source of intense heat that emits a light beam. Electrodes are not subjected to the intense heat generated by the plasma as they are placed externally of the lamp body. A reflector is positioned next to the lamp body for redirecting some of the light emitted by the light source back to the lamp using the reflector so that the lamp reabsorbs light energy to intensify the light source. The reflector includes a polarizing filter that is positioned to receive and polarize the light beam. An insulator prevents heat intensity of the plasma from damaging the polarizing filter as it has a low operating temperature range.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to high temperature lamp apparatus with high efficiency that produces a beam of polarized light using a lamp bulb containing a fill under pressure that is energized with externally placed electrodes for vaporizing the gas. More particularly, the present invention relates to high power, high temperature electrodeless lamp in which light energy is polarized with a low temperature reflecting polarizer material and an insulator is positioned in between the vaporized gas and polarizing film material to prevent heat damage to the film.
2. Description of the Related Art
High power lamps are used for illumination applications beyond typical incandescent and fluorescent lamps. One type of lamp known as a high intensity discharge (HID) lamp consists of a glass envelope which contains electrodes and a fill which vaporizes and becomes a gas when the lamp is operated.
Recently, a patent issued for a high power lamp that utilizes a lamp fill containing sulfur or selenium or compounds of these substances. U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,076, issued to Dolan, et al., and entitled "Lamp Including Sulfur" discloses an electrodeless lamp utilizing an excited fill. The Dolan, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,076 is incorporated herein by reference.
Projecting systems are used to display images on large surfaces, such as movie or television screens and computer displays. For example, in a front projection system, an image beam is projected from an image source onto the front side of a reflection-type angle transforming screen, which then reflects the light toward a viewer positioned in front of the screen. In a rear projection system, the image beam is projected onto the rear side of a transmission-type angle transforming screen and transmitted toward a viewer located in front of the screen.
In prior co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/581,108, entitled "Projecting Images," to Knox, filed Dec. 29, 1995, there is disclosed a method of displaying an optical image by projecting the image along an optical path and at an optical device interposed across the optical path, at one time reflecting the image from the optical device and at a different time permitting the image to pass through the optical device to be displayed. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/581,108, filed Dec. 29, 1995, is incorporated herein by reference. A projection system for such a display is disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 08/730,818, entitled "Image Projection System Engine Assembly," to Knox, filed Oct. 17, 1996, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The image source for a projection system employs a light that must be of high intensity and preferably very efficient. Such a light is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/747,190, entitled "High Efficiency Lamp Apparatus for Producing a Beam of Polarized Light," to Knox, et al., filed Nov. 12, 1995, which is hereby incorporated by reference. If an optical image is to be displayed by projection, it sometimes passes through an optical device interposed across the optical path. In the projection system of prior co-pending application Ser. No. 08/581,108, filed Dec. 29, 1995, one or more optical devices reflect the image at one time from the optical device and at a different time permit the image to pass through the optical device to be displayed. There will be a decrease in light intensity once the optical image strikes the optical device interposed across the optical path. Therefore, in projection systems where an optical device is interposed across the optical path there is a need for a projection engine with a high intensity light of improved efficiency.
One type of linear reflecting polarizer that is discussed in the above-referenced copending application is a reflecting polarizing film material is "DBEF" film material that can be obtained from Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Company. DBEF (double brightness enhancement film) material is useful as an optical device for projecting video systems because it reflects substantially all light that does not pass through it. For example, it transmits substantially all light waves polarized to ninety degrees (i.e., "vertically" polarized light) and reflects substantially all light waves polarized to zero degrees (i.e., "horizontally" polarized light).
One of the problems of using a high intensity lamps (e.g., Dolan U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,076) with film type polarizers (e.g., 3M DBEF) is that of heat damage. Such lamps can generate heat of thousands of degrees (e.g., 3000.degree. F.) while the reflecting polarizer film material can have a low temperature operating range of below 80.degree. C. or as is typical for plastic (acrylics).

Polarized light producing lamp apparatus that uses low temperature polarizing film


This invention relates to a device for reducing the reaction force of the supporting booms positioning cylinder of an earthmoving machine, comprising a braking system applied between the supporting booms of the machine which is operated during the time in which the positioning cylinder remains inactive, thereby unloading part of the reaction force of the cylinder, hence reducing the stress.

Different types of earthmoving machines are known in the prior art, with different functions related to the type of performance and power required. For instance, there are single-boom or multi-boom excavators, depending on the number of knuckle booms which connect the bucket to the machine body. A multi-boom excavator generally allows more flexibility of use compared to the single-boom type. A multi-boom excavator is generally equipped with at least one specific knuckle between two consecutive booms having a supporting boom function, wherein the relative angle of inclination between the two booms is fixed during operation but can be adjusted—generally in a standstill position—by one or more positioning cylinders connected between the two booms operated by the operator. There is also an excavation boom to which the excavating bucket is attached; the angle of the bucket can usually be changed during the excavation operations.
A multi-boom excavator with more flexibility may give rise to reliability problems. In particular, the positioning cylinder operates as a large-sized sprag, since it must withstand a strong reaction force which can cause resistance problems in the cylinder supports, in the cylinder thereof, and in its lock valve, if any. The cylinder is strongly stressed because during particularly heavy-duty excavation operations—for example when working on hard ground—the pressure of the fluid inside of it may be very high, as it is proportional to the reaction force that the cylinder needs to exert to keep the two booms in a relative fixed position. In these conditions, the cylinder supports are subjected to high stress, so much so that it could even lead to their rupture.

Device and method for braking the supporting booms of an earthmoving machine


A method and system for remote operation of at least one electric fishing reel by radio communication with a communication terminal having a radio communication module. The at least one electric fishing reel includes a radio communication module compatible with the command terminal radio communication module. The communication terminal carries an application that transmits a command through a user interface to control the at least one electric fishing reel. The at least one electric fishing reel transmits to the communication terminal a connection request signal. together with a device ID, at startup of the program. The communication terminal transmits to the electric fishing reel having the device ID a connection permit signal upon receiving the connection request signal such that a communication protocol connection is established between the communication terminal and the electric fishing reel.

Electric fishing reels in which the reel is controlled by a remote control are known. For example, such electric fishing reels having a radio link between the reel and a remote control are described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publications Nos. 7-87864, 2001-161235, 2004-65071, and 2005-218354, the disclosures of each being incorporated herein by reference.
Wirelessly remote operating an electric fishing reel is especially advantageous when a fisherman goes fishing alone. In a professional fishing operation, a fisherman must do everything, including operating a reel, steering a fishing boat, and watching a fish finder. The use of a remote controllable reel allows the fisherman to focus on fishing while performing other operations.
The advantage of a radio remote control operation is more apparent when multiple reels are used simultaneously. For example, the aforementioned Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-65071 discloses the technique in which a single remote control operates multiple reels.
The aforementioned Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-218354 discloses a technique in which a remote control terminal displays a variety of information on a real-time basis, including an operational status of a reel and a warning to the fisherman, alerting him to anything that could possibly reduce a fish catch. The fisherman may timely learn the operational status of the reel by watching an image displayed on the remote control terminal at hand. If any problem takes place, the fisherman may take appropriate action to control it.
It is known to provide a remote control that displays the status of a reel as necessary by remote controlling an electric fishing reel. In such systems, a specialized remote control is used. Manufacturers of electric fishing reels are obliged to invest capital to build a facility to manufacture the specialized remote control separate from the fishing reel body. If the specialized remote controls are respectively supplied together with the reel bodies, production yield increases, and costs per remote control are decreased. However, a person fishing as a hobby may not necessarily use a remote control. In general selling practice, the specialized remote control is sold separately from the reel body.
The specialized remote control is typically different from reel type to reel type, and from manufacture to manufacturer. Users may be satisfied with the reel body, but may not be satisfied with the user-friendliness of the remote control. This limits the option of the user in the selection of reels.
Cellular phones or a smart phones, currently in widespread use as a mobile communication terminal, commonly are provided with not only a basic communication function but also a Wi-Fi module and/or Bluetooth module. The cellar phone or the smart phone may thus communicate with external devices, such as PC peripheral devices including a personal computer, and external devices including a headphone or a microphone wirelessly by radio communication. In particular, the smart phone or a tablet terminal, each having an OS and programs called "applications" installed thereon, may process data at speeds comparable to that of a personal computer. Recent efforts have been made to develop a system in which even home appliances and automobiles are remote operated using a smart phone.

System and method for remote operation of electric fishing reels


A device to protect a reproduction of a disk, a method of protecting the reproduction of the disk, and a recording medium for the method. The device includes a key setting unit to generate a key to encode lead-in region information of the disk desired to be reproduced and a key storing unit to store the key. A key storing unit in the device stores the key generated by the key setting unit, and a reproduction determining unit determines whether to reproduce the disk using the key.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device to protect a reproduction of a disk, a method of protecting the reproduction of the disk, and a recording medium for the method and more particularly, to a device to protect a reproduction of a disk using a lead-in region of the disk, a method of protecting reproduction of the disk, and a recording medium for the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
"Parental control," which has been mentioned regarding conventional DVD systems, makes it possible to automatically reproduce only images and sounds that are determined as appropriate to provide to viewers. Parental control is achieved by comparing a parental level of a disk with an upper limit of the parental level of a disk player. The parental control can be set up on every title or part of a title, i.e., on some scenes which are considered inappropriate or controversial. In this case, only scenes in a certain parental control block, within the parental level that is allowable, are sequentially reproduced.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a conventional parental lock function of a DVD 100. The DVD 100 has presentation data 104, such as audio data or video data, and navigation data 101 which controls the presentation data 104. The navigation data 101 has Parental_ID_Field 103 as a system parameter 102. A DVD reproducing unit 110 includes a navigation manager 111, which manages the navigation data 101 of the DVD 100, and a presentation engine 113, which displays the presentation data 104 of the DVD 100. The parental control to reproduce the DVD 100 is performed comparing the Parental_ID_Field 103 stored in the DVD 100 with Player_Parental_ID 112 included in the DVD reproducing unit 110. In other words, the DVD reproducing unit 110 checks if the Player_Parental_ID 112 matches with the Parental_ID field 130 of a PGC for playback, and if the Player_Parental_ID 112 and the Parental_ID field 130 do not match with each other, or if no valid Parental ID is specified, the DVD reproducing unit 110 prevents a reproduction of the DVD 100.
Such a parental lock function can be performed in the DVD reproducing unit 110 only when the disk 100 supports the same function. However, in conventional readable optical recording media, a reproduction prevention lock can be set up on a DVD player so that recording media can possibly be prevented from being reproduced in the DVD player according to a user's preference, even though the recording media do not support a parental lock function.

Device to selectively protect a reproduction of a disk, method of selectively protecting reproduction of the disk, and recording medium for the method


A timing-control circuit device, which uses a synchronous mirror delay circuit, for keeping the synchronization between clock signals in phase even at a load change. A reference clock signal (clkin 11) is entered to a timing-control circuit (SMDF 14) and used to generate an internal clock (dclk 12), then generates an external clock (clkout 13) through a buffer (BUF 15). The external clock signal is fed back to the timing-control circuit (SMDF 14) and used to generate an internal clock signal so as to synchronize the external clock signal in phase with the reference clock signal. The timing-control circuit is provided with a circuit (FDA 21, MCC 22) for detecting a phase difference between the internal clock signal and the external clock signal, as well as a delay circuit (DCL 24) for controlling a delay time, so that the delay circuit (DCL 24) can change the delay time according to the detected phase difference.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit, more particularly to a timing-control circuit and a clock distribution system which can generate and transmit or distribute a synchronous signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a phase-locked loop (PLL) has been used for a semiconductor integrated circuit which handles a clock signal. The PLL circuit, as shown in FIG. 45, comprises a phase frequency detector 280, a loop filter 281, and a voltage controlled oscillator 282. The PLL circuit detects a phase difference between the reference clock signal clkref 271 and the inner clock signal 277 entered to the phase frequency detector 280 and outputs a clock error signal clkerr 272. The loop filter 281 rectifies the clock error signal clkerr 272 to a DC voltage and outputs the voltage as a control signal cntsig 273. The voltage controlled oscillator 282 generates an output clock signal clkout 276, which has a frequency determined by the voltage of the control signal cntsig 273. The output clock signal clkout 276 is supplied to the phase frequency detector 280 as an inner clock signal clkin 277. The phase frequency detector 280 stops the output if no difference is detected between input signals, thereby the PLL operation is stabilized. At this time, the reference clock signal clkref 271 and the output clock signal clkout 276 are synchronized with each other in phase. The PLL circuit takes a long time (several xcexcm sec) until the output clock signal clkout 276 generation is stabilized. Usually, when the subject system stands by, the PLL operation is stopped, thereby saving the power consumption.
However, the PLL circuit has a problem that the circuits needs a long settling time before it is restarted. In order to avoid such a long settling time, therefore, some systems are provided with a sleep mode respectively, which avoids stopping the PLL circuit even at the stand-by time. The PLL circuit thus consumes the power at its stand-by time.
The official gazette of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-237091 has disclosed a synchronous mirror delay circuit for solving the disadvantages peculiar to such the PLL circuit. This synchronous mirror delay circuit does not multiply a frequency of any input clock signal. The circuit is dedicated just for phase synchronization. When compared with the PLL circuit, its power consumption is lower and its circuit size is smaller.
FIG. 44 shows a configuration of such a synchronous mirror delay circuit. The synchronous mirror delay circuit 260 comprises a forward delay array 261, a backward delay array 263, and a delay detect circuit 262. The input clock signal clkin 251, passing the replica of buffer 264 having a delay time of Tbuf2, becomes a delayed clock signal clkbuf 252, then entered to the forward delay array 261. The forward delay array 261 outputs a plurality of clock signals, each having a different delay time from the delayed clock signal clkbuf 252. The clock signals are transmitted to the delay detect circuit 262. Some of those signals from the forward delay array 261 have a delay time of (Tclkxe2x88x92Tbuf2). The delay detect circuit 262 detects the output positions of those (tclkxe2x88x92Tbuf2) signals using the input clock signal clkin 251 as a control signal. The Tclk indicates an cycle time of the input clock signal clkin 251. The Tbuf2 indicates an operation delay time of the replica of buffer 264. The delay detect circuit 262 transfers the detected signal to the backward delay array 263. The clock signal is transmitted in the reverse direction of the forward delay array 261 from the detected position in the backward delay array 263, so as to output a clock signal clksmd 253. The clock signal clksmd 253 has a delay time of (Tclkxe2x88x92Tbuf2) from the input clock signal clkin 251. The clock signal clksmd 253 from the synchronous mirror delay circuit is distributed to a predetermined circuit as a distribution clock signal clkout 254 at the clock buffer 265. If the delay time of the clock buffer 265 is Tbuf1, the delay time difference (Tdel1) between the input clock signal clkin 251 and the distribution clock signal clkout 254 becomes (Tclkxe2x88x92Tbuf2+Tbuf1). If the delay time difference Tbuf1 is the same between the replica of buffer 264 and the clock buffer 265, the delay time difference between them becomes Tdel=Tclk. A signal synchronized with the input clock signal can thus be supplied as a distribution clock signal. This distribution clock signal can be settled within several clock cycles after the operation is started.
In order to equalize both delay times (Tbuf2 of the replica of buffer 264 and Tbuf1 of the clock buffer 265) as shown in FIG. 44, the replica of buffer 264 shouldbe designed according to the clock buffer 265. If the load of the clock buffer 265 is unknown or if the load of the clock buffer 265 is changed after the circuit is designed or if the load 266 is unknown or undefined, therefore, the replica of buffer 264 cannot compensate the delay time at this portion. In addition, no synchronous signal can be generated when the delay time of the clock buffer 265 is changed due to a change of the circuit characteristics caused by a manufacturing process and a temperature change during an operation.
The technique for considering changes of a load in the synchronous mirror delay circuit is described in xe2x80x9cThe Direct Detect Synchronous Mirror Delay (Direct SMD) for ASICsxe2x80x9d IEEE CUSTOM INTEGRATED CIRCUITS CONFERENCE, pp511-514, 1998. In other words, the synchronous mirror delay circuit is not provided with any feed-back circuit, but provided two delay lines and one replica of delay circuit. The clock driver dummy circuit is omitted in the replica of delay circuit and a feed-back circuit is employed instead of the dummy circuit. However, the document does not describe any concrete configuration of the synchronous mirror delay circuit. In addition, the synchronous mirror delay circuit can obtain output clock signals whose duty ratio is only 1/10 or so respectively. This is why the circuit cannot be employed for a system which uses both rising and falling of each clock signal.
Under such the circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to solve the problems of the conventional synchronous mirror delay circuit described above and provide a timing-control circuit device and a clock distribution system which can correspond to changes of an output load. More concretely, it is an object of the present invention to provide a timing-control circuit device and a clock distribution system which can supply a clock distribution signal kept synchronized in phase with an input clock signal even when the delay time of the clock signal is changed due to such a load as a clock buffer. The timing-control circuit device uses a synchronous mirror delay circuit.
Hereunder, some representative inventions disclosed in this specification will be described briefly.
The timing-control circuit (SMDF 14) of the present invention receives such a first transfer signal (clkin 11) as a reference clock signal, etc., thereby generating such a second transfer signal (clk 12) as an internal clock, and further generating such a third transfer signal (clkout 13) as an external clock, etc. through a buffer (BUF 15). At this time, the timing-control circuit (SMDF 14) receives a fed-back external clock signal, thereby generating an internal clock signal so as to establish the synchronization of phase between the external clock signal and the reference clock signal. Inside the timing-control circuit (SMDF 14) are provided circuits (FDA 21, MCC 22, and REG 23) for detecting a phase difference between internal clock and external clock, as well as a delay circuit (DCL 24) for controlling the delay time. The delay circuit can change the delay time according to the detected phase difference. Consequently, the same phase can be assumed between external and internal clock signals.
According to the means described above, the settling time within which a clock output is stabilized is such short. For example, therefore, the timing-control circuit can be started only when a clock is needed in the object semiconductor circuit device, thereby saving the power consumption, as well as suppressing degradation of the accuracy of an output signal, which is caused by a drop of the supply voltage. Since the fast settling characteristics of the synchronous mirror delay circuit are kept as are such way, the present invention can cope easily with load changes of a clock output in a load.
Hereunder, the present invention will be described more in detail. The timing-control circuit device is provided with a logic circuit (SMDF 14) for receiving the first transfer signal (clkin 11) and outputting the second transfer signal (dclk 12) and a load circuit (BUF 15, LD 16) for receiving the second transfer signal and outputting the third transfer signal (clkout 13). The logic circuit receives the fed-back third transfer signal, thereby generating the second transfer signal so as to synchronize the phase of the first transfer signal with the phase of the third transfer signal. The logic circuit comprises a first delay circuit array (FDA 21, MCC 22, and REG 23) for generating a control signal according to the phase difference and a second delay circuit array (DCL 24) which can change the delay time of the third transfer signal with respect to the first transfer signal according to a control signal.
The first delay circuit array comprises a forward delay circuit (FDA 21) for enabling a delayed signal from a plurality of positions respectively while transferring the third transfer signal with a little delay in one direction, and a detecting circuit (MCC 22) for generating a plurality of control signals (mcout) according to the phase difference between each delayed signal output from the forward delay circuit and the second transfer signal, so that any of generated control signals, which are regarded not to have a phase difference, indicates the output position of the delayed signal corresponding to itself so as to be distinguished from other output positions. The second delay circuit array (DCL 24) receives the plural control signals and gives a delay time to the first transfer signal corresponding to the delay time of the third transfer signal in a section up to the output position distinguished from other output positions in the forward delay circuit according to the control signal, thereby generating the second transfer signal.
In the above configuration, the timing-control circuit device can further be provided with a register (REG 23), which latches a control signal output from the control circuit synchronously with the second transfer signal and supplies the latched control signal to the second delay circuit array. At this time, the cycle of the second transfer signal is used to update the cycle of the control signal. In this case, however, a malfunction might occur between the detection timing of the detecting circuit (MCC 22) and the timing for latching the control signal by the register (REG 23). In order to avoid such a malfunction, therefore, the updating cycle (latching cycle) of the control signal in the storing circuit should be set longer. And for this purpose, the timing-control circuit device can further be provided with a divider (DFF 61) for receiving the second transfer signal (dclk 12) and outputting a divided signal; a buffer (BUF 65) for giving a delay time to the output signal from the divider, and another register (REG 23) for latching the control signal output from the control circuit synchronously with the cycle of the signal output from the buffer, then supplying the latched control signal to the second delay circuit array.
An operation delay can be reduced by reducing an input load capacity component recognizable from the second transfer signal. In order to achieve this reduction of such an operation delay, the first to third signal distribution circuits (BUFT 41, 42, and 43) should be employed, thereby branching an input signal in a plurality of buffers so that a distribution signal is supplied to each of the plural output terminals. At this time, the first signal distribution circuit is composed so as to receive the first transfer signal and output a distribution signal to the second delay circuit array (DCL 24), the second signal distribution circuit is composed so as to receive the second transfer signal and output a distribution signal to the control circuit (MCC 22), and the third signal distribution circuit is composed so as to receive the second transfer signal and output a distribution signal to the storing circuit (REG 23).
Gnerally, the state of the control signal is not stabilized while the phase of the third transfer signal is not synchronized with the phase of the first transfer signal. Such an unstable state must be prevented in order to stabilize the operation of a circuit. One of measures to be taken to prevent such a problem is employing the following configuration for the timing-control circuit device. At first, the timing-control circuit device is provided with a gate circuit (NOR 51) so that the plural control signals are set on the first level while the phase of the third transfer signal is not synchronized with the phase of the first transfer signal, and the control signals are then set on the second level when the above phase synchronization is established. And, when all the control signals are set on the first level, a pseudo control signal is generated on the second level, so that at least one control signal is set on the second level and the pseudo control signal is set on the first level. The second delay circuit array can also be composed so as to receive the pseudo signal and output the first transfer signal to a predetermined circuit as the second transfer signal according to the second level of the pseudo control signal.
The load circuit, as shown in FIG. 22, can branch the second transfer signal in a plurality of buffers, so that a branched signal is dispersed into those loads. A signal distributed to a load is assumed to become the third transfer signal at this time.
And furthermore, the timing-control circuit device is provided with a coarse timing-control circuit and a fine timing-control circuit. The coarse timing-control circuit synchronizes the phase of an output signal with the phase of a reference clock signal at a low accuracy, then the fine timing-control circuit synchronizes the phase of the output clock signal with the phase of the reference clock signal at a high accuracy. The size of a skew to be generated in an output clock signal is decided by the delay element in the fine timing-control circuit. The skew can be reduced by reducing the delay time per delay element stage in the fine timing-control circuit. The scale of the timing-control circuit can be adjusted freely by a delay time ratio between the delay element in the coarse timing-control circuit and the delay time in the fine timing-control circuit. The use of an optimized ratio will thus reduce the size, area, and power consumption of the circuit.
The clock distribution system, as shown in FIG. 23, comprises a semiconductor integrated circuit (LSI 81) provided with a timing-control circuit (SMDF 14); a clock generator (CPG 82); andaclockdistributor (CDB 83); aswell as a load connected to the semiconductor integrated circuit. The clock generator has a plurality of internal loads (LD 84), each of which is operated synchronously with the first clock signal (clkin 11) and the clock distribution circuit generates the fourth clock signal (clk 85) obtained by branching the fourth clock signal in a plurality of buffers. The timing-control circuit receives the first clock signal (clkin 11) and the third clock signal (clkfb 86) and outputs the second clock signal (clkout 13). The second clock signal is output outside the semiconductor integrated circuit and fed back as the third clock signal through a load. The fed-back third clock signal is then used to generate the second clock signal, thereby synchronizing the phase of the first clock signal with the phase of the third clock signal. The timing-control circuit thus comes to comprise the first delaycircuit array for detecting aphase difference between the third clock signal and the second clock signal, thereby generating a control signal according to the detected phase difference; and the second delay circuit array, which can change the delay time of the third clock signal with respect to the first clock signal according to the control signal. Consequently, this configuration makes it possible to synchronize the clock signal (clkin 11) distributed in the semiconductor integrated circuit (LSI 81) with the clock signal (clkfb 86) distributed in the semiconductor integrated circuit (LSI 81) without using any external load.
As shown in FIG. 24, the second clock signal can be fed back directly to the timing-control circuit as the third clock signal in the semiconductor integrated circuit. If the signal is fed back so, one external terminal can be reduced from the semiconductor integrated circuit. In this case, however, it is expected that the follow-up property of the external load is a little more degraded than that of the above configuration of the timing-control circuit device.
Another clock distribution system, as shown in FIG. 25, includes the first semiconductor integrated circuit (LSI 91) provided with a timing-control circuit (SMDF 14); and the second semiconductor integrated circuits (LSI 92 to 94) operated synchronously with a clock signal respectively. The timing-control circuit receives the first clock signal (clkin 11) generated in the first semiconductor integrated circuit and the third clock signal (clkfb 95) supplied from outside the first semiconductor integrated circuit and outputs the second clock signal (clkout 13). The second clock signal is supplied to and fed back from the first semiconductor integrated circuit as the third clock signal. The fed-back third clock signal is used to generate the second clock signal so as to synchronize the phase of the first clock signal with the phase of the third clock signal. The timing-control circuit thus comes to comprise the first delay circuit array for detecting a phase difference between the third clock signal and the second clock signal, thereby generating a control signal according to the detected phase difference; and the second delay circuit array, which can change the delay time of the third clock signal according to the control signal with respect to the first clock signal. Consequently, the present invention can provide a clock distribution system which can keep supplying of a clock signal (clkfb 95) synchronously with an internal clock signal (clkin 11) even when a clock signal is supplied outside the semiconductor integrated circuit (LSI 91). In addition, the clock distribution system can supply a synchronous signal even when a clock signal is supplied to external using a long distance cable.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent in view of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments in conjunction with accompanying drawings.

Timing-control circuit device and clock distribution system


Inverting pocket lighters are described herein. An example pocket lighter includes a body having a first side wall, a second side wall opposite the first side wall, an end wall between the first side and the second side, and an opening extending through the body between the first side wall and the second side wall. The opening is dimensioned to receive a finger of a person. The example pocket lighter also includes a lighter assembly at least partially disposed in the body. The lighter assembly includes a nozzle and a button to open the nozzle when activated.

Pocket lighters are available in many shapes, sizes, and styles. Most pocket lighters have an elongated body or housing containing lighter fluid and a button or trigger located at one end of the housing that is used to activate the lighter to produce a flame. To use the pocket lighter, the pocket lighter is typically grasped in the hand of a person and the person uses his/her finger (e.g., thumb) to press the button or trigger to produce the flame.
The figures are not to scale. Instead, to clarify multiple layers and regions, the thickness of the layers may be enlarged in the drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying written description to refer to the same or like parts. As used in this patent, stating that any part (e.g., a layer, film, area, or plate) is in any way positioned on (e.g., positioned on, located on, disposed on, or formed on, etc.) another part, indicates that the referenced part is either in contact with the other part, or that the referenced part is above the other part with one or more intermediate part(s) located therebetween. Stating that any part is in contact with another part means that there is no intermediate part between the two parts.


A single-use dispensing device for dispensing liquid, pasty and other flowable and fluid substances includes a fillable and sealable plastic container for receiving a substance. The container has a neck end, a filling end opposite to the neck end, and lateral sealing seams defining a lateral contour of the container. An opening provided in the neck end extends through the neck end for dispensing the substance. A plug-like closure means for closing the opening extends throughout the neck end toward an outer portion of the neck end. A first transversal sealing seam extends transversely through the lateral sealing seams of the container at the outer portion of the neck end sealing the closure means from all sides. A tearable perforation seam provided in a portion of the neck end extends transversely through the lateral sealing seams. The perforation seam being displaced relative to the first transversal sealing seam towards the filling end of the container.

Single-use dispensing devices for the substances referred to are used to a substantial extent in cosmetics and in medicine. They should be manufactured as economical as possible, on one hand, but should be reliable and easy to handle, on the other. In addition, the substance should be resistant in storage and transport and should remain leak proof.
A large variety of single-use containers having applicators are in existence (for instance U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,838, DE 100 09 629) comprising a reservoir for flowable substances, a discharge chamber to be opened by perforation or peeling means, and an applicator located in the discharge chamber. In some of the cases, the discharge chamber does not initially contain any substance and is filled with the substance only if, and when, a connection between a substance storage chamber and the discharge chamber is opened. Opening the connection, such as by the peeling or stripping-off a barrier or breaking of a perforation, often results in undesired spilling of the substance. In addition, if from the very beginning the substance is in a chamber in which the applicator is provided, a similar undesirable effect may be experienced.

Single-use Dispensing device and method of manufacture

Dentaco Dentalindustrie-und Marketing GmbH


Apparatus and methods for controlling an aircraft are described. A computing device can receive a flight plan from an origin to a destination via waypoint(s) and can calculate a flight trajectory for the flight plan. While controlling the aircraft to fly along the flight trajectory, the computing device can receive inputs that change the flight plan resulting in trajectory recalculation. After determining that the inputs include the inputs to change the flight plan resulting in trajectory recalculation, the computing device can calculate a new flight trajectory for the new flight plan. After calculating the new flight trajectory, the computing device can switch from the flight trajectory to the new flight trajectory, where the aircraft maintains continuous flight along the flight trajectory during the switch.

Guidance, navigation, and control systems for aircraft include avionics on the aircraft and associated support systems. The avionics on the aircraft can include an autopilot, perhaps as part of a flight management system. The autopilot can be used to control the aircraft without constant hands-on control by a human operator; e.g., an aircraft pilot or co-pilot. Autopilots do not replace human operators; rather, autopilots assist human operators in controlling the aircraft. In some cases, autopilots can enable human operators to focus on broader aspects of aircraft operations, such as monitoring weather and/or other aspects of the aircraft.

Methods and apparatus for providing continuous flight trajectories for aircraft


A hearing aid system is enabled for binaural microphone adjustment by way of the wearer's own voice. The hearing aid system has a first and a second hearing aid having a first and a second acousto-electric converter. The converters have a signal link with a signal processing unit which determines and compensates for signal deviations caused by the first and second acousto-electric converters on the basis of signals from the wearer's own voice. The wearer's own voice is recognized by a special facility.

Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a hearing aid system that includes a first hearing aid and a second hearing aid. The first hearing aid has a first acousto-electric converter and the second hearing aid has a second acousto-electric converter. The converters are configured to convert incoming acoustic signals into first and second electrical signals. Furthermore, the hearing aid system has a signal processing unit, wherein the signal processing unit has a signal link with the first and the second acousto-electric converters.
Hearing aids are wearable hearing apparatuses which are used for providing care for the hard of hearing. In order to meet the numerous individual needs, different designs of hearing aids such as behind-the-ear hearing aids (BTE), hearing aids with an external earpiece (RIC: receiver in the canal) and in-the-ear hearing aids (ITE), for example also concha hearing aids or completely-in-canal hearing aids (ITE, CIC), are made available. The hearing aids cited by way of example are worn on the outer ear or in the auditory canal. In addition, bone conduction hearing aids, implantable or vibrotactile hearing aids are however also available on the market. In this situation the stimulation of the damaged hearing takes place either mechanically or electrically.
In principle, hearing aids have as their essential components an input converter, an amplifier and an output converter. The input converter is as a rule an acousto-electric converter, for example a microphone, and/or an electromagnetic receiver, for example an induction coil. The output converter is implemented for the most part as an electroacoustic converter, for example a miniature loudspeaker, or as an electromechanical converter, for example a bone conductor. The amplifier is usually integrated in a signal processing unit.
It is known that hearing with two ears enables a person to more easily understand speech in background noise or in an echoey environment. Furthermore, binaural hearing is a primarily important prerequisite for spatial hearing and sound wave localization. Because of the significance of the binaural processes in the analysis of hearing situations it is understandable that hearing impaired persons benefit more from two hearing aids for a binaural fitting than from one single hearing aid for a monaural fitting.
The binaural signal processing reacts particularly sensitively to differences between the signals because the natural variations in the signals from both sides of the head differ only slightly in their amplitude, phase and/or frequency distribution. It is therefore in particular important that deviations are not artificially added by the signal processing in the hearing aids. In this situation the microphones first and foremost are particularly susceptible because small mechanical manufacturing tolerances can result in large deviations on account of their small dimensions. For the same reason the properties may also change during actual operation, for example as a result of contamination or material ageing. Since this effect mostly occurs unsymmetrically the impact is particularly serious.
Pairs of microphones which have almost identical properties are therefore normally assembled together during the production process. This process is however elaborate and does not prevent changes during operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,588,441 B2 and its counterpart European published patent application EP 2 360 951 A1 describe that, for microphones which have matching properties in a frequency range, the direction of a source is determined in that frequency range. By means of said identified source having a predefined direction it is then possible to acquire and compensate for deviations in other frequency ranges.
It is known from U.S. Pat. No. 7,340,231 B2 and its counterpart international patent application publication WO 2003/032681 A1 that hearing aids recognize the voice of the wearer in order to process it with changed parameters compared with other tones and thus to convey to the wearer of the hearing aid a familiar sound of the wearer's own voice. To this end U.S. Pat. No. 7,512,245 B2 specifies different possible ways of recognizing the wearer's own voice.
However, the problem remains that differences in the microphone properties which arise during operation are not compensated for.

Binaural hearing aid system for compensation of microphone deviations based on the wearer's own voice


Pattern transfer from a resist to an underlying layer is accomplished by etching the underlying layer in a plasma comprising hydrogen bromide and oxygen. Accuracy of pattern transfer is obtained by using first and second materials underneath the resist. The first and second materials may be, e.g., polysilicon and a photoresist. Etching of the resist is performed under conditions designed to minimize changes in the horizontal dimensions.

Integrated circuit fabrication sequences typically have a plurality of pattern delineation steps. In such steps, the substrate is coated with a radiation sensitive material, commonly termed a resist, and selected portions of the resist are exposed to radiation which induces reactions within the resist that yield to differential removal rates between the exposed and unexposed portions of the resist. After portions of the resist have been removed, the now exposed portions of the underlying substrate are removed by etching. Various materials, such as an organic antireflection coating, silicon dioxide, silicide, polysilicon, and metal may be part of the substrate underneath the resist. If present, the antireflection coating may also have a planarizing function.
The pattern is typically transferred from a mask to the resist by exposing selected portions of the resist to radiation which passes through portions of the mask. The transfer must be accurate, but unfortunately, it is a function of many parameters including resist thickness. Variations in parameters such as resist thickness and substrate reflectivity tend to create resist images that differ from the intended size. Variations that might be tolerated at 1.25 .mu.m device dimensions become unacceptable at 0.35 .mu.m device dimensions. For example, a 0.1 .mu.m variation in field effect transistor gate width may be acceptable for channel lengths of 1.25 .mu.m but will be unacceptable for channel lengths of 0.35 .mu.m.
In attempts to insure accurate pattern transfer from mask to substrate, multilayer resists have been developed. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,799 issued on Jan. 13, 1981 for a description of a trilayer structure. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,521,274 issued on Jun. 4, 1985 to Reichmanis et al. and 4,657,629 issued on Apr. 14, 1987 to Bigelow for descriptions of bilayer structures. Of course, accurate exposure of the resist is not sufficient for accurate pattern transfer into the planarizing layer; the planarizing layer must also be accurately etched. This is not a trivial endeavor for small features; the resist must be etched in the vertical direction but not in the horizontal direction. Etching in the horizontal direction will, of course, inevitably lead to a change in feature size.
Additional methods for accurate etching of the planarizing layer under the resist are desirable.

Method for integrated circuit fabrication including linewidth control during etching


A magnetic tape cassette comprises a cassette casing, a pair of reels, on which a magnetic tape is wound, which are received in the cassette casing in a rotatable manner, and an interlocking plate for stopping the feeding of the magnetic tape, mounted on either one of said pair of reels, which is provided with an adjusting button and a control pin, wherein the interlocking plate and the adjusting button are formed integrally of a flexible material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic tape cassette in which an interlocking plate is provided to adjust a recording time or a reproducing time for a magnetic tape such as an audio tape wound around a pair of reels rotatably held in the tape cassette.
2. Discussion of Background
There is proposed a magnetic tape cassette capable of adjusting a recording/reproducing time by itself (Japanese Utility Model Application No. 72496/1990 published on Mar. 13, 1992). Namely, an interlocking plate provided with an adjusting button and a magnetic tape control pin is loosely fitted to a concave portion in a winding reel for a magnetic tape, so that the winding reel and the interlocking plate are caused to rotate in one piece or relatively by engaging the adjusting button with a connecting projection formed in the concave portion or by separating the adjusting button from the connecting projection, whereby the feeding operation of the magnetic tape is stopped at a predetermined position.
A conventional structure to stop the feeding operation of the tape at a predetermined position in the longitudinal direction of the tape wherein the adjusting button is attached to the interlocking plate through a spring had the following disadvantages. Assembling work for assembling the interlocking plate, the spring and the adjusting button was troublesome; assembling operations in an automatic assembling line for a large scale production was difficult; the production and finishing these parts were complex and manufacturing costs were increased; the cost performance was inferior because there are a number of structural elements, and efficiency of production could not be improved.


A halftone pixel detection unit detects pixels near center pixels of halftone pixels by comparing a density difference between a target pixel and each of neighboring pixels of image data with a predetermined threshold. A halftone pixel rearranging unit rearranges the halftone pixels detected by the halftone pixel detection unit relative to the target pixel and a halftone-area detection unit detects a halftone area based upon a pattern of the halftone pixels that is rearranged.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a computer program product.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image processing apparatuses that digitalize image data acquired with a scanner by scanning an original are known in the art. Some of such image processing apparatuses include a halftone detection unit that extracts halftone detection area, which can have various sizes, from the digital image data and then decide whether a target pixel, which is a target of processing, is inside any of those halftone areas. Such an image processing apparatus has been disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-46772. Because such image processing apparatuses employ a plurality of pixels of various sizes, they can detect halftone areas containing various number of lines ranging from low number of screen lines of about 65 lines per inch to high number of screen lines of about 200 lines per inch. Especially, for halftone dots that contain low number of screen lines; i.e., 100 or less lines per inch, a cycle of pixels included therein is larger, so that a halftone detection filter that is larger in size than that needed for detecting halftone dots that contain high number of screen lines. Thus, the image processing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-46772 is suitable for detecting halftone dots that contain only low number of screen lines.
Complicated small characters, such as kanji characters, in digital image data can have areas where density-difference pattern are partially similar to that of a reference halftone pattern. Pixels in such an area are often erroneously detected as belonging to a halftone dot. Generally, not all the pixels that are detected as belonging to a halftone dot belong to a true halftone area. Pixels belonging to a halftone dot in a true halftone area are characterized in that they are present in high density and are lined up in a regular pattern. On the other hand, the pixels in the areas where density-difference pattern are partially similar to that of a reference halftone pattern are relatively scattered and are not lined up in a regular pattern. However, if a situation occurs where the pixels in the areas where density-difference pattern are partially similar to that of a reference halftone pattern show the same characteristics as the pixels belonging to a halftone dot in a true halftone area, it can lead to erroneous determination.

Image processing apparatus, method, computer program product, and image forming apparatus, detecting a halftone area based on a rearranged halftone dot detection result


Provided is an oil, gas and/or petrochemical ferrous or non-ferrous material component including two or more segments of ferrous or non-ferrous components for joining, wherein the two or more segments are of the same or different materials, and laser metal deposition weldments bonding adjacent segments of said components together. Also provided are methods of making laser metal deposition weldments and their uses in the oil, gas and petrochemical industry.

Welding is a process which two materials are permanently joined together through localized bonding, resulting from a suitable combination of temperature, pressure and metallurgical conditions. By far the most prevalent technique used in welding construction is arc or fusion welding. In fusion welding, the joints are made by melting the metal and welding consumable at the joint gap, so that upon solidification, the components are fused, or joined together. Fusion welding is classified according to the nature of heat source. An electric arc is used in gas metal arc welding, gas-tungsten arc welding and submerged arc welding. In electron beam welding, very high energy density beams are used as an energy source. Resistive heating is utilized in the electroslag welding process.
Fusion welding is used for the joining of metal parts such as formed shapes, forgings, castings, or plates to construct any number of structures or components for a variety of industries. For example, construction using pipes and tubes to form pipelines for oil, gas and geothermal wells and the like is largely performed by conventional arc or fusion welding. For decades, the pipeline industry has made wide use of several fusion welding technologies such as shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) and mechanized gas metal arc welding (GMAW) for pipeline construction. There have been considerable efforts for developing weld consumables and welding procedures that provide suitable properties of the weldment (e.g., overmatch, toughness).
In the fusion welding process, the larger the pipe diameter, or the thicker the wall of the pipe, the slower the welding becomes because a greater volume of metal must be melted and deposited in the weld joint. For onshore pipelines, particularly in remote areas, it is important that the welding be as economic as possible because of the large expense related to deployment of workers and equipment to the pipeline right of way (ROW). For offshore pipelines, it is important that the welding be as economic as possible because of the substantial costs associated with the laybarge. In welding and placing into service pipes for either onshore or offshore pipelines, there can be significant stresses resulting from many sources. For example, during laybarge operations, the completed pipeline hanging from the laybarge can produce large bending stresses. Pipelines may have to support ground movements in addition to containing the internal pressure. In addition, conventional fusion welded joints can suffer heat related damage that degrades the mechanical integrity of the joints. Examples of such attributes are tensile residual stress, hydrogen cracking, lack of fusion defects and low toughness.
Girth welds of linepipe steels using the well-established fusion welding processes typically consists of 3-20 passes of weld beads depending on the thickness of the pipe. During a standard onshore pipeline construction process, joining is accomplished by having about as many welding stations as there are number of weld passes, each station designed to produce one or two specific weld passes, which limits the welding speed. The entire process, therefore, requires considerable manpower and associated expenses to house them, particularly in remote locations and also time, which impacts pipeline construction costs.
In the case of high carbon content steels, such as casing steels that have a CE in the range of about 0.48 to 1.00, current welding practice requires preheating the work pieces to 100-400° C. and forming the weld with low hydrogen practices. Such procedures are necessary to minimize the formation of a hard HAZ and absorption of weld related hydrogen which cause susceptibility to cracking. Because of the difficulties associated with such a welding technique, often high carbon steel work pieces are mechanically joined instead using various types of couplings.
Conventional fusion welds can exhibit cracks in both the weld metal or in the HAZ, these cracks being created during welding or after some period of service. Hard and low toughness regions of the weldment, especially the HAZ, can be prone to develop cracks in service particularly when the welded component is used in sour service or other aggressive process environments. In the case of the petrochemical industry where thousands of miles of pipes are installed each year to transport gas, oil and fluids, the costs for repairs are significant. It is essential that these cracks are repaired before they grow to a critical dimension when they can propagate catastrophically.
In the fusion welding process, there are three distinct regions in the weldment: 1) fusion zone, also known as the weld metal, which undergoes melting and solidification, 2) the heat-affected zone (HAZ), which experiences significant thermal exposure but no melting and may undergo solid-state transformation and 3) the unaffected base metal. There are significant limitations with the fusion welding process.
One of these limitations is that the HAZ is the most common region of weld failures. While weld metal composition is variable, depending on welding consumable, the HAZ composition is the same as that of base metal. The HAZ has complex metallurgical reactions that can degrade the HAZ mechanical properties. HAZ usually has the lowest toughness in the entire joint. Given that the heat input is limited by the size and properties of HAZ, the welding productivity is physically bounded by the dimension of gaps to be joined, which has to fit the size of energy sources. Another limitation is that applying fusion welding to dissimilar or exotic metals is particularly challenging. Another limitation of fusion welding is the combination of high strength and toughness that can be achieved.
A need exists for an improved process for joining metal parts for improving weld reliability through reducing/practically eliminating HAZ while yielding composite weld metal design for step-out performance, and in particular, a combination of high strength and toughness. A need also exists for an improved process for joining metal parts for providing a gradient weld metal structure to connect dissimilar metallic pieces while also permitting a narrower groove between the parts being joined to improve productivity and reduce distortion after welding. A need also exists for an improved process for joining metal parts that allows for a single feedstock to join a variety of steels from carbon steel to stainless steel.

Laser metal deposition welding process, parts formed therefrom and uses in oil, gas and petrochemical applications

ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company


A hubcap for a wheel end assembly of a heavy-duty vehicle seals an outboard end of the wheel end assembly. The wheel end assembly includes a wheel hub formed with a cavity that contains lubricant, and the hubcap positively engages and mounts on the outboard end of the wheel hub to prevent the escape of lubricant and the ingress of contaminants. The integrally-formed hubcap includes a generally cylindrical sidewall and an outboard wall that extends generally perpendicular to the sidewall. A lip extends inboardly from and a shoulder extends radially outwardly from an inboard end of the sidewall, and the lip and shoulder cooperate to positively mechanically engage the outboard end of the wheel hub. An O-ring is disposed between the lip and the wheel hub to provide a seal. The hubcap also is adapted to accommodate components of a tire inflation system and other auxiliary components.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to wheel end assemblies, and in particular to wheel end assemblies for heavy-duty vehicles, such as tractor-trailers. More particularly, the invention is directed to a hubcap of a wheel end assembly for a heavy-duty vehicle, which is connected to a wheel hub to seal the outboard end of the assembly, and includes an O-ring to provide improved sealing engagement with the hub, a lip and a shoulder that enable convenient alignment with the hub, an exterior cylindrical cavity that enables easy axial alignment of auxiliary devices, an opening that facilitates the mounting of components of a tire inflation system, and a step that improves impact resistance of the hubcap and the mounting of tire inflation system components.
2. Background Art
For many years, the heavy-duty vehicle industry has utilized wheel end assemblies which typically are mounted on each end of one or more non-drive axles. Each wheel end assembly typically includes a hub rotatably mounted on a bearing assembly that in turn is immovably mounted on the outboard end of the axle, commonly known as an axle spindle. As is well known to those skilled in the art, for normal operation of the wheel end assembly to occur, the bearing assembly and surrounding components must be lubricated with grease or oil. Therefore, the wheel end assembly must be sealed to prevent leakage of the lubricant, and also to prevent contaminants from entering the assembly, both of which could be detrimental to its performance. More specifically, a hubcap is mounted on an outboard end of the wheel hub, and a main seal is rotatably mounted on an inboard end of the hub and the bearing assembly in abutment with the axle spindle, resulting in a closed or sealed wheel end assembly.
While most wheel end assemblies include these general features, the design and arrangement of the hub, bearing assembly, hubcap, main seal, and other components, as well as the axle spindle, vary according to the specific vehicle design and its anticipated uses. For example, hubcaps of the prior art typically include a flat outboard surface, and a gasket that is disposed between a flange formed on the inboard end of the hubcap and the outboard surface of the hub to prevent bearing lubricant from leaking out of the wheel end assembly, and to prevent contaminants from entering the assembly. Such hubcaps, while adequate for some applications, include certain disadvantages.
For example, as mentioned above, the hubcap must provide an effective seal to prevent the bearing lubricant from leaking out of the outboard end of the wheel end assembly, and to prevent water and contaminants from entering the wheel end assembly. In the prior art, a gasket disposed between the hubcap and the outboard surface of the hub typically has been used to provide this seal. However, several potential issues may arise during reassembly after servicing of the wheel end assembly. For example, human error can result in failure to reinstall the gasket since it is a discrete component, and may thereby allow lubricant to leak out of the assembly, or may allow water and contaminants to enter the assembly. The gasket might also be under-tightened and may thus be loose, which could reduce the seal it provides and again potentially allow lubricant to leak out, or possibly allow water and contaminants to enter. The gasket could be over-tightened, which may crush it, again potentially reducing the seal it provides, which may allow lubricant to leak out, or may allow water and contaminants to enter. In addition, the gasket simply may degrade over time, potentially allowing lubricant to leak out of the wheel end assembly or potentially allowing water and contaminants to enter the assembly.
Moreover, the flat outboard surface of prior art hubcaps complicates the retrofit of devices that may be secured to the outboard end of the axle spindle and/or wheel end assembly. For example, a hub odometer is often attached to the hubcap. One type of hub odometer attaches to a prior art hubcap via a bracket, and for attachment uses the same bolts that attach the hubcap to the wheel hub. It is possible, during installation of the hub odometer, to overtighten these bolts in order to secure the bracket, which may crush the prior art gasket and cause it to leak.
Another type of hub odometer does not rely on bolts for attachment, and is secured directly to the hubcap. However, such odometers typically are installed on prior art hubcaps that threadably engage the wheel hub and are not intended by the manufacturer to be removed from the wheel hub. The flat outboard surface of the prior art hubcap, however, necessitates removal of the hubcap so that the axial center of the hubcap may be located and a hole drilled for the odometer. Since the seal between the hubcap and the wheel hub must be broken, lubricant may be lost and/or components may become contaminated.
In addition, devices used to measure axle alignment, such as a trammel bar or a wheel extender, typically are secured to the outboard end of the axle spindle and/or wheel end assembly and must be aligned with the axial centerline of the wheel end assembly near the outboard end of the axle spindle. The design of prior art hubcaps causes the users of some trammel bars and wheel extenders to remove the hubcap to align the trammel bar or the wheel extender, which could also result in undesirable loss and/or contamination of lubricant.
To overcome the disadvantage of a lack of an axial alignment point on prior art hubcaps having a flat outboard surface, other prior art hubcaps have been developed that include a dimple formed on the outboard surface of the hubcap. However, such hubcaps typically bolt onto the wheel hub, and the bolt holes of the hubcaps include bolt holes that are larger than the bolts, which can allow the hubcap to shift as it is installed. Thus, the dimple of such a prior art hubcap may not always be aligned with the axial centerline of the axle spindle and wheel end assembly.
Another disadvantage of prior art hubcaps is the potential for the hubcap to be subject to damage from impacts. More particularly, when an axle with a pair of wheel end assemblies is shipped from a manufacturer, the bearing assembly and hub of each wheel end assembly typically are installed on each respective axle spindle, without wheels or tires. The hubcap usually is assembled onto the hub, and without wheels in place, the hubcap extends outboardly past the remainder of the wheel end assembly. As the axle with the wheel end assemblies is prepared for shipment, loaded for shipment, and unloaded from shipment, the hubcaps thus are particularly susceptible to contact with other items and may undergo impacts, which is undesirable.
Prior art hubcaps required a significant number of bolts, such as six (6) or more, to enable the hubcap to maintain a sealed connection with the hub throughout such impacts. In addition, the straight-walled design of prior art hubcaps sometimes developed a crack under such impacts, requiring replacement of the hubcap. Moreover, the relatively large outer diameter of prior art hubcaps increased the possibility of contact with another object during transport, thereby increasing the potential that an impact might occur.
In addition, prior art hubcaps that are used with tire inflation systems include disadvantages associated with the mounting of components of the tire inflation systems. More particularly, tire inflation systems necessitate the mounting of additional components inside and/or proximate the hubcap, such as a rotary union assembly and air tubes. In order to mount such tire inflation system components, the hubcap typically must be removed from the wheel hub, but prior art hubcaps are designed to be sealed to the wheel hub and not removed, thereby undesirably making the component mounting process more complex and potentially problematic. Also, the relatively large outer diameter of prior art hubcaps often causes air tubes of a tire inflation system mounted on the hubcap to extend a significant distance in a radially outward direction, which may then cause a wheel to contact the air tubes when the wheel is removed from the hub for tire repair or replacement. Such contact with the air tubes may lead to damage of the tubes, or the need to remove the air tubes when the wheel is removed.
Moreover, prior art hubcaps lack the ability to accommodate the mounting of multiple separate components, which is inconvenient for some heavy-duty vehicle users. For example, components such as the rotary union assembly, which is mounted in an outboard end of the axle spindle, prevents centering of a trammel bar in the end of the axle spindle in certain prior art hubcaps. As a result, a heavy-duty vehicle user would have to remove the rotary union assembly to obtain a centering hole for the trammel bar, or would have to refrain from utilizing the trammel bar altogether. Therefore, such prior art hubcaps undesirably limit the components that may be installed or used on the axle spindle and the wheel end assembly.
These disadvantages of prior art hubcaps make it desirable to develop a hubcap for a heavy-duty wheel end assembly that provides a more effective seal, readily and accurately accommodates an odometer, a trammel bar or a wheel extender without disturbing the sealing connection between the hubcap and the wheel hub, resists damage from impacts, accommodates a protective plug, facilitates the mounting of certain tire inflation system components either alone or in combination with other components such as odometers, trammel bars, wheel extenders, and the like, and enables tire inflation system components to be mounted in a manner that allows a wheel to be easily removed without damage to the system components. The present invention satisfies these needs.