A continuous casting apparatus includes a first belt carried by a first upstream pulley and a first downstream pulley, a second belt carried by a second upstream pulley and a second downstream pulley, and a mold region defined by a first mold support section arranged behind the first belt and a second mold support section arranged behind the second belt. The first mold support section supports the first belt and defines a shape of the first belt in the mold region and the second mold support section supports the second belt and defines a shape of the second belt in the mold region. At least one of the first mold support section and the second mold support section includes a transition portion and a generally planar portion downstream from the transition portion. The transition portion has a variable radius configured to receive molten metal from a metal feeding device.

Continuous casting of light metal alloys such as, for example, aluminum alloys, has typically been performed in continuous casters, such as twin roll casters and twin belt casters. Twin roll casters generally include a pair of opposed, rotating rolls against which molten metal is fed. The centerlines of the rolls are in a vertical or generally vertical plane that passes though a region of minimum clearance between the rolls, referred to as the "nip", such that the cast strip forms in a generally horizontal path, although other twin roll casting apparatuses exist that produce strips in an angled or vertical direction.
As shown in FIG. 1, twin belt casters, on the other hand, such as twin belt casting apparatus 10, generally include a pair of endless belts 12, 14 carried by a pair of upper pulleys 16, 18 and a corresponding pair of lower pulleys 20, 22. (Pulleys 16 and 20 are also referred to herein as nip pulleys or nip rolls. Pulleys 18 and 22 are also referred to herein as downstream pulleys or downstream rolls.) The arrangement of the nip rolls 16, 18 and 20, 22 one above the other defines a mold zone, A, bounded by the belts 12, 14. The gap between the belts 12, 14 determines the thickness of the cast strip 24. Molten metal 26 fed directly via a feeding apparatus 28 having a nozzle 30 into the nip is confined between the moving belts 12, 14 and is solidified as it is carried along. Heat from the solidifying metal is withdrawn into the portions of the belts 12, 14 which are adjacent to the metal being cast by various means known in the art.
While existing twin roll casting systems and twin belt casting systems are generally suitable for what can be regarded as ordinary performance, improvements in terms of minimum strip thickness and metallurgical quality, including surface quality, are desired without sacrificing productivity. For example, with twin roll casting, where metal is cast against the opposed nip rolls, the length of the mold is limited to a short distance prior to the tangent point of the opposed rolls, the diameters of which are limited by practical considerations such as the space that must be made available for the feeding apparatus. These upper limits on the diameter and circumference of the rolls limits casting speed, roll life and metallurgical quality.
With twin belt casting, as discussed above, molten metal is typically fed onto the belt at or just after the tangent point where the belts transition from the curved path defined by the nip rolls or pulleys to the planar path of the mold region. Although the belts allow for an extended mold length as compared to twin roll casting, initial solidification occurs in the zone immediately following the nip, where the belts are the most unstable. In particular, with reference to FIG. 2, a phenomenon known as belt "take-off" can occur in this zone 34 (referred to as belt take-off zone) as the belt 14 transitions from a curved path of travel around the nip roll 20 to a planar path of travel in the mold zone where the belts 12, 14 are supported by backup rolls 32. As used herein, "belt take-off" refers to the natural tendency of a tensioned belt to come away from its radiused or planar guide surface when subjected to a bending moment or other force. As will be readily appreciated, metallurgical quality may be negatively impacted in regions of belt instability, such as in this zone immediately following the nip, particularly when casting alloys having broad freezing ranges.
Moreover, in twin belt casting, wherein molten metal is fed into the substantially parallel section of the mold, casting thicknesses are also confined to thicker sections, typically over 15 millimeters thick. Accordingly, additional post-casting operations such as rolling are often required to achieve thicknesses less than 15 millimeters, which increases overall cost. In addition, the solidification of the internal layers of these relatively thick cast sections is slowed considerably by the thermal resistance of the surface layers, which can be particularly detrimental when casting alloys having a broad freezing range.
In view of the above, there is a need for a system and method for twin belt continuous casting of metals that enables thinner metal strips to be produced and achieves improved metallurgical quality, including surface quality, of the cast strip than has heretofore been possible with existing systems and apparatuses, without sacrificing productivity.

System and method for continuous casting


A ceramic composition is herein disclosed, which is a lead-type perovskite compound capable of being subjected to low temperature-sintering among ceramic compositions for use in making capacitors, which has a high dielectric constant at room temperature of not less than 10000, a low temperature-dependency of the dielectric constant and a low decrease in capacitance upon application of a DC bias and which comprises, as a main constituent, a ternary system comprising lead magnesium niobate: [Pb(Mg.sub.1/3 Nb.sub.2/3)O.sub.3 ], lead nickel niobate: [Pb(Ni.sub.1/3 Nb.sub.2/3)O.sub.3 ] and lead titanate: [PbTiO.sub.3 ] in which part of the Pb.sup.2+ ions present in the ternary system are substituted with a desired amount of Sr.sup.2+ ions, Ba.sup.2+ ions or Ca.sup.2+ ions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ceramic composition and in particular to a ceramic composition which has a high dielectric constant and insulation resistance, a low rate of variation in dielectric constant with temperature and a low decrease in dielectric constant upon application of a DC bias.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When a multilayer capacitor is produced from a ceramic composition, the ceramic composition should be selected so that it satisfies several requirements. The composition should have a dielectric constant and a specific resistivity as high as possible and that a rate of variation in dielectric constant with temperature, dielectric loss and drop in dielectric constant due to DC bias application should be as low as possible. Among ceramic compositions having high dielectric constants, those mainly comprising barium titanate (BaTiO.sub.3) are well known. However, these compositions require a high sintering temperature. Accordingly, an additive such as calcium titanate (CaTiO.sub.3) or lead titanate (PbTiO.sub.3) is incorporated to improve temperature-dependent characteristics. However the sintering temperature thereof is still on the order of not less than 1300.degree. C. For this reason, when the ceramic composition mainly comprising barium titanate is used in making a multilayer ceramic capacitor, materials for internal electrodes thereof are limited to, for example, noble metals (e.g., platinum and palladium) which can withstand such a high sintering temperature. Further, the dielectric constant achieved by these dielectric ceramic compositions is at highest about 8000. The dielectric constant thereof may be increased, but, at a cost of temperature stability. More specifically, these ceramic compositions simply satisfy Y5V characteristics (-30.degree. to 85.degree. C.; +22%, -82%) as defined in the EIA Standards.
Although a ceramic material showing a low rate of variation in dielectric constant with temperature can be produced from the conventional material, the dielectric constant of the resulting ceramic composition is too low (on the order of about 2000) to use as a material for capacitors.
To reduce the expenses for producing multilayer ceramic capacitors, it is necessary to develop a ceramic composition capable of being sintered at a low temperature on the order of not more than 1150.degree. C., and which uses less expensive materials for internal electrodes of capacitors such as those mainly comprising silver or nickel. Recently, there have been proposed various lead-based composite perovskite type compounds having low sintering temperatures and high dielectric constants. For instance, a ternary composition comprising lead magnesium niobate [Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O.sub.3 ], lead nickel niobate [Pb(Ni1/3Nb2/3)O.sub.3 ] and lead titanate (PbTiO.sub.3) can achieve a dielectric constant at room temperature of not less than 10000 (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,156). However, this three-component system suffers from a problem of high temperature-dependency of the dielectric constant. Moreover, the capacitances thereof are greatly reduced upon application of a DC bias and correspondingly, the resulting capacitors are greatly limited in their practical applications.


In a communication terminal equipment and in a method of controlling call incoming, unnecessary noises in a period from the start of an alert sound to carrying out of the next operation can be reduced. When a predetermined operation is effected under the condition that an alert sound is ringing, the alert sound is stopped or the volume of the alert sound is reduced at least over a duration of call incoming. Thus, such a fear that persons in the surroundings may be troubled by the continuous ringing of the alert sound can be remarkably reduced. Further, since the situation that a power supply is cut off forcibly during call origination can be avoided, the fear that a person on the call origination side may be given an unpleasant feeling can be eliminated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication terminal equipment, and is applicable to, for example, a portable telephone (such as GSM.multidot.USDC.multidot.PDC) and a digital cordless telephone (such as PHS.multidot.DECT.multidot.CT-2).
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, call incoming to a telephone is informed by means of an alert sound. Generally, such an alert sound is designed so that it does not stop ringing before a user effects next operation. Accordingly, when the user cannot give any quick response to the call incoming, there is no way other than the user breaks off the alert sound forcibly by means of going off-hook or leaves the alert sound to continue ringing.
In this case, in the method to forcibly break off the alert sound by means of the off-hook operation, there is a fear that the person on the other side is given an unpleasant feeling because the person on the other side can notice that the circuit was broken off intentionally. On the other hand, in the method to wait until the alert sound stops ringing, there is a fear that persons in the surroundings may be troubled by the alert sound.
Another method is therefore considered in which generation of an alert sound is stopped by a user's operation to intentionally break off power supply while to call is incoming. In this method, however, the turning-on of the power supply again is apt to be forgotten, and there is a possibility of missing the next incoming call. Further, there is a fear that long-time turn-off of power supply may be regarded as a failure in an telephone network. Accordingly, this method is a not so preferable measure.
In view of the foregoing, an object of this invention is to provide a communication terminal equipment which is superior in selecting and handling properties for users in comparison with conventional one.
The nature, principle and utility of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like parts are designated by like reference numerals or characters.

Communication terminal equipment and call incoming control method


A liquid treatment system includes a housing and a lamp system formed from at least one wall, the lamp system in the housing together defining a flow path for liquid that passes between a housing wall and the wall with the lamp, and then between another side wall of the lamp housing and another wall of the housing.

Ultraviolet (UV) light, continuous or pulsed, can be used to treat water, including to disinfect water and deactivate pathogens therein.
Known pulse light systems for various uses generally include a power supply, a capacitor bank charged by the power supply, a pulse configuration circuit for shaping the height and width of a pulse, and a pulse lamp, which can include xenon or mercury.

Systems and methods for treating liquids


A method of managing the allocation to TCP connections of memory blocks of a TCP re-assembly buffer in a TCP network device including a TCP Processing unit, comprises computing a function r(t) on a per connection basis, that measures the occupancy rate of the re-assembly buffer for the relevant TCP connection, and that is updated upon reception of any packet belonging to said TCP connection; and allowing the TCP connection to be closed and the corresponding memory blocks to be released based on a decision scheme that includes at least a first trigger set on the corresponding function r(t), which defines two different states for said function r(t).

Modern data transmission systems are subject to increasingly sophisticated attacks, such as for instance attacks of the buffer oversizing type. This kind of attack consists in exhausting the resources of network systems.
Indeed, a possible attack against a TCP network device is to open a large number of fake TCP connections and send segments with inconsistent sequence numbers. For instance, an attacker can send a set of very small segments with non-consecutive sequence numbers throughout the TCP window, and never send the packet located at the Bottom of Window (BoW), or more subtly, send BoW segments at a very low rate. In that context, the TCP network device allocates a set of re-assembly buffers so that it can observe the whole TCP window, but never releases them. By doing that, the attacker forces the TCP network device to allocate a large volume of memory per controlled TCP connection.
Many efforts have been made to prevent or at least limit damages from that kind of attacks, which have let to various types of answers.
Nevertheless, none of the known techniques of protection proves entirely satisfactory in all types of situations. The resource allocation must result from a trade-off between the need to provide the equipment with some level of resilience to attacks at which they may be targeted and the necessity not to degrade too much their operation when they are not under attack.

Protection of data transmission network systems against buffer oversizing


An automatic gain control circuit includes a first voltage dividing resistor, a filter circuit, a switch circuit, and an amplifying circuit. The first voltage dividing resistor divides a voltage of the automatic gain control circuit using an internal impedance of the audio device to produce a divided DC voltage, wherein the first voltage dividing resistor is connected between a first power source and an output of the audio device. The filter circuit filters audio signals outputted from the audio device to produce filtered audio signals, and wherein the filter circuit receives the divided DC voltage, wherein the filter circuit is connected to the output of the audio device. The switch circuit outputs controlling signals according to the divided DC voltage from the filter circuit. The amplifying circuit amplifies the filtered audio signals according to the controlling signals. An electronic device using the automatic gain control circuit is also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to electronic circuit and, more particularly to an automatic gain control circuit.
2. Description of Related Art
Electric devices may comprise two major types of microphones, including an electret condenser microphone and a dynamic microphone. Sensitivity difference between these two types of microphones may be at least 10 dB, in one example. In order to support these microphones simultaneously, such electronic devices need an additional circuit for tuning a voice output.
However, when the type of microphones has been changed from one to another, electronic devices typically need to provide a button or a digital display on a panel for volume configuration. If different types of microphones are simultaneously used with the electronic devices, these microphones may produce audio signals with volumes that significantly differ from each other, which may be difficult for users to adjust to.


An optical adapter for secure and adjustable mounting of a mobile media device having a camera lens to an optical eyepiece of an optical device. The adapter having the ability to quickly and reliably attach a mobile media device such as smart phone, iPhone, Droid, etc. to a wide range of various diameter optical devices such as binoculars, birding scopes, excavation scopes, microscopes and telescopes. The optical adapter comprises a flat base plate having a central aperture for passing light and a plurality of aligned openings, an adjustable strap which is woven within the plurality of aligned openings in order to secure the mobile media device, and an adjustable optical eyepiece attachment assembly which provides secure attachment to an optical eyepiece.

The present invention pertains to optical accessories and, in particular, an adapter that can be utilized to attach a mobile media device with a camera to an optical eyepiece of an optical device.
Optical instruments process light waves to enhance an image for viewing—such as a microscope or telescope. A telescope is used for magnification of distant images and a microscope is used for magnifying very small images. Optical instruments are widely utilized for many recreational purposes such as star gazing at night, hunting wild game, or bird watching. On the other hand, optical instruments are well utilized within the scientific community in order to make new discoveries and advance the progress of science.
Mobile media devices, such as an iPhone, Droid, etc., have the ability to capture still images and video by an integrated camera within the mobile media device. These devices have the ability to point and shoot and capture a variety of images and video for storage on the device which later can be transferred and stored on other computer devices.
However, these mobile media devices with cameras are not well suited to capture images from an eyepiece of an optical device. The camera lens of the mobile media device must be carefully and accurately aligned with the optical eyepiece in order to receive an optimal image. This can make aligning the mobile media device with the optical eyepiece by hand an awkward task. The user must first make the proper alignment, hold the position, and then record the picture without moving. The user may have to carry out this process several times before getting a successful picture of the subject matter.
Moreover, optical eyepieces range in diameter and size—forcing the user to make small adjustments when aligning the camera lens with the optical eyepiece.
The present invention provides an apparatus for reducing these problems. The difficulties inherent in the art are therefore overcome in a way which is simple, user friendly, and efficient—which will provide better and more advantageous results.

Optical adapter for mobile media devices with a camera


The present disclosure provides a circle drive assembly for a motor grader. The circle drive assembly includes a circle member being rotatable about a rotation axis, a first hydraulic cylinder and a second hydraulic cylinder for rotatably driving the circle member, and a first and second coupling mechanisms. The first hydraulic cylinder has a first end coupled to the first coupling mechanism and the second hydraulic has a second end coupled to the second coupling mechanism. The first coupling mechanism and second coupling mechanism can be controllably moved between a clamped position and an unclamped position. The first hydraulic cylinder rotatably drives the circle member when the first coupling mechanism is in the clamped position and the second hydraulic cylinder rotatably drives the circle member when the second coupling mechanism is in the clamped position.

Work vehicles, such as a motor grader, can be used in construction and maintenance for creating a flat surface. When paving a road, a motor grader can be used to prepare a base foundation to create a wide flat surface for asphalt to be placed on. A motor grader can include two or more axles, with an engine and cab disposed above the axles at the rear end of the vehicle and another axle disposed at the front end of the vehicle. A blade is attached to the vehicle between the front axle and rear axle.
Motorgraders include a drawbar assembly attached near the nose of the grader which is pulled by the grader as it moves forward. The drawbar rotatably supports a circle drive member at a free end of the drawbar and the circle drive member supports a work implement such as the blade. The angle of the work implement beneath the drawbar can be adjusted by the rotation of the circle drive member relative to the drawbar assembly.
In some conventional motorgraders, the circle drive members are supported by a series of bearings attached to the drawbar and the circle drive member includes a series of gear teeth disposed to the exterior circle member or disposed to the interior of the circle member. These gear teeth cooperate with one or more drive gears associated with drive motors attached to the drawbar. In other conventional motorgraders, a worm driven gear box can be mounted to a draft frame of the grader and which rotates pinion gears which mesh with the large ring gear of the circle drive member.
In conventional motor graders, the use of a gear box has limitations. For instance, the gear box can be inefficient and thereby limiting the amount of available power to the drive the work implement. Some alternative solutions have incorporated a hydraulic cylinder, which is more efficient than the gear box. The use of multiple hydraulic cylinders, however, has limitations as well since the cylinders can only rotate the circle so far before the cylinders either crossover one another or cannot continue rotation. Occasionally, the cylinders are not operating in optimal positions and thus need to be repositioned during operation to achieve their full mechanical advantage over the conventional gear box arrangement.
Therefore, a need exists for a circle drive assembly of a motor grader to be driven by hydraulic cylinders. In addition, a need exists for the capability of repositioning the hydraulic cylinders to achieve the full 360° rotation of the circle drive assembly.


The present invention provides new photoresist compositions that comprise a resin binder, a photoactive component, particularly an acid generator, and a low molecular weight anthracene dye compounds. It has been found that these dye compounds can significantly reduce or even eliminate undesired reflections of exposure radiation, particularly deep U.V. exposure radiation such as 248 nm, as well as function as effective sensitizer compounds, enabling effective imaging at higher wavelengths, particularly I-line exposures.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to new photoresist compositions especially for deep U.V. (particularly 248 nm) and I-line (365 nm) exposures and having the capability of forming highly resolved features.
2. Background Art
Photoresists are photosensitive films for transfer of images to a substrate. They form negative or positive images. After coating a photoresist on a substrate, the coating is exposed through a patterned photomask to a source of activating energy such as ultraviolet light to form a latent image in the photoresist coating. The photomask has areas opaque and transparent to activating radiation that define a desired image to be transferred to the underlying substrate. A relief image is provided by development of the latent image pattern in the resist coating. The use of photoresists is generally described, for example, by Deforest, Photoresist Materials and Processes, McGraw Hill Book Company, New York (1975), and by Moreau, Semiconductor Lithography, Principals, Practices and Materials, Plenum Press, New York (1988).
An important property of a photoresist is image resolution. A developed photoresist image of fine line definition, including lines of sub-micron and sub-half micron dimensions and having vertical or essentially vertical sidewalls is highly desirable to permit accurate transfer of circuit patterns to an underlying substrate. However, many current photoresists are not capable of providing such highly resolved fine line images.
For example, reflection of activating radiation used to expose a photoresist often poses limits on resolution of the image patterned in the photoresist layer. Reflection of radiation from the substrate/photoresist interface can produce variations in the radiation intensity in the photoresist during exposure, resulting in non-uniform photoresist linewidth upon development. Radiation also can scatter from the substrate/photoresist interface into regions of the photoresist where exposure is not intended, again resulting in linewidth variations. The amount of scattering and reflection will typically vary from region to region, resulting in further linewidth non-uniformity.
Variations in substrate topography also give rise to resolution-limiting reflection problems. Any image on a substrate can cause impinging radiation to scatter or reflect in various uncontrolled directions, affecting the uniformity of photoresist development. As substrate topography becomes more complex with efforts to design more complex circuits, the effects of reflected radiation become more critical. For example, metal interconnects used on many microelectronic substrates are particularly problematic due to their topography and regions of high reflectivity.
With recent trends towards high-density semiconductor devices, there is a movement in the industry to shorten the wavelength of exposure sources to deep ultraviolet (DUV) light (300 nm or less in wavelength) including excimer laser light (ca. 248 nm) and ArF excimer laser light (193 nm). The use of shortened wavelengths of light for imaging a photoresist coating has resulted in greater penetration of the photoresist layer and increased reflection of the exposing energy back into the photoresist layer. Thus, the use of the shorter wavelengths has exacerbated the problems of reflection from a substrate surface.
Many existing exposure tools are designed for imaging with relatively longer wavelengths, e.g. I-line (ca. 365 nm) wavelengths. However, advanced resists designed for imaging at shorter wavelengths such as 248 nm often can not be effectively exposed with an I-line exposure because the resist's photoactive component is not activated at 365 nm or other higher wavelengths. This requires design and supply of additional resist compositions that can be effectively imaged at selected wavelengths.
It thus would be desirable to have new photoresist compositions that could provide highly resolved fine line images, including images of sub-micron and sub-half micron dimensions. It would be further desirable to have such new photoresist compositions that could be imaged with deep U.V. radiation as well as other wavelengths, particularly 365 nm. It would be particularly desirable to have such photoresists that reduce undesired reflections of exposure radiation.

Dyed photoresists and methods and articles of manufacture comprising same


A suck back valve is equipped with a second valve by which a flow amount of a pressurized fluid, which is sucked by a third diaphragm, is electrically controlled based on an output of activation and deactivation signals from a main controller. The suck back valve further includes an encoder which detects a displacement amount of the third diaphragm, and outputs a detection signal thereof to the main controller.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a suck back valve capable of preventing liquid drip of a fluid from occurring at a supply port, by sucking a prescribed amount of fluid flowing through a fluid passage based on a displacement operation of a diaphragm.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has hitherto been known, for example, a semiconductor wafer manufacturing process in which a suck back valve is employed. In the suck back valve, when supply of a coating liquid to the semiconductor wafer is halted, there is a function for preventing so called liquid drip, wherein minute amounts of coating liquid drip from a supply port onto the semiconductor wafer.
The suck back valve according to such a conventional technique is shown in FIG. 6 and is disclosed, for example, by Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 8-10399.
Such a suck back valve 1 comprises a main valve body 5 formed with a fluid passage 4 interconnecting a fluid inlet port 2 and a fluid outlet port 3, and includes a bonnet 6 connected to an upper portion of the main valve body 5. A diaphragm 7 made up of a thick-walled portion and a thin-walled portion is disposed in the center of the fluid passage 4. An unillustrated pressurized fluid supply source is connected to the bonnet 6, the bonnet further being formed with a pressurized fluid supply port 8 for supplying pressurized air for operating a diaphragm under a switch-over action of a directional control valve (not shown).
A piston 9 is fitted to the diaphragm 7, with a v-packing 10 installed in the piston 9 and slidable along an inner wall surface of the main valve body 5 and serving a sealing function. Further, a spring 11 which normally presses the piston in a upward direction, is disposed in the main valve body 5.
An adjusting screw 12 is disposed on the top of the bonnet 6, which, by increasing or decreasing a screw-in amount thereof, abuts against the piston 9 and adjusts a displacement amount of the piston 9, whereby the amount of coating liquid sucked by the diaphragm 7 is adjusted.
A coating liquid supply source 13 storing therein a coating liquid is connected to the fluid inlet port 2 through a pipe 14. Further, between the coating liquid supply source 13 and the fluid inlet port 2, and ON/OFF valve 15, which is constructed as a separate body apart from suck back valve 1, is connected. The ON/OFF valve undertakes a function for switching between a supply condition and a supply-halted condition of the coating liquid to the suck back valve 1, based on energizing and de-energizing actions of the ON/OFF valve 15.
Operation of the suck back valve 1 shall now be explained in outline. In an ordinary state in which the fluid is supplied from the fluid-inlet port 2 to the fluid-outlet ports, the piston 9 and diaphragm 7 are displaced downwardly in an integrated manner in accordance with action of the pressurized fluid supplied from the pressurized fluid supply port 8. The diaphragm 7, which is coupled to the piston 9, protrudes into the fluid passage 4 as shown in FIG. 5 by the two-dot chain lines.
When flow of fluid through the fluid passage 4 is halted, the piston 9 and diaphragm 7 are raised in unison under the action of an elastic force exerted by the spring 11, by stopping the supply of pressurized fluid from the pressurized fluid supply port 8. A predetermined amount of fluid remaining in the fluid passage 4 is sucked under action of a negative pressure produced by the diaphragm 7. Thus, dripping of liquid, which would otherwise be caused at an unillustrated fluid supply port, is prevented.
In this instance, the suck back amount of the coating liquid corresponds with displacement of the piston 9, wherein a displacement amount of the piston 9 is adjusted by the screw element 12.
Incidentally, using the suck back valve 1 according to the conventional technique, in order to adjust with high precision the flow amount of pressurized air which is supplied to the pressurized fluid supply port 8, a fluid pressure control apparatus 17 is connected to the pressurized fluid supply port 8 through a pipe 16 such as tube or the like. The fluid pressure control apparatus 17 is formed as a separate body apart from the suck back valve 1, and comprises a piezoelectric element bimorph cell arranged therein which converts an electric signal into air pressure.
However, in the suck back valve 1 according to the conventional technique, because adjustment of the coating liquid suck back amount is performed by manually increasing/decreasing the screw-in amount of the screw member 12, there is the inconvenience that precise control of the coating liquid suck back amount cannot be achieved. In this case, it becomes necessary to readjust each time the amount at which the preset screw member 12 is screwed in, corresponding with the amount of supply of the coating liquid, resulting in further complexity.
Further, with the suck back valve according to the conventional technique, because there is some difficulty in reproducing the displacement amount, with respect to a voltage imposed by a hysteresis action possessed by the piezoelectric element bimorph cell disposed in the fluid pressure control apparatus, it becomes difficult to control with precision the flow rate of pressurized air supplied to the pressurized fluid supply port 8, with the further inconvenience that displacement speed of the piston when the coating liquid is sucked cannot be precisely controlled.
Further, when the suck back valve 1 according to the conventional technique Is used, complications arise in that it becomes necessary to undertake pipe connecting operations between the suck back valve 1 and the fluid pressure control apparatus 17, as well as between the suck back valve 1 and the ON/OFF valve 15. In addition, because the fluid pressure control apparatus 17 and ON/OFF valve 15 are respectively installed externally of the suck back valve 1, dedicated space for such elements must be provided, increasing the installation space overall.
Further still, flow passage resistance increases as a result of piping connected between the fluid pressure control apparatus 17 and the suck back valve 1, with the inconvenience that responsiveness and precision of the diaphragm becomes deteriorated.
Even further, a driving device (not shown) for switching between ON and OFF states of the ON/OFF valve 15 must be separately provided, wherein in addition to the complexity of further pipe connecting operations for the ON/OFF valve 15 and the driving apparatus, soaring costs for the apparatus are incurred.

Suck back valve with sucking amount control mechanism


In a liquid crystal display device of a lateral electric field mode including a first substrate (50) and a second substrate (60) having a liquid crystal layer (70) therebetween, a first electrode (18) and a second electrode (16) located in the first substrate, and an alignment film (28) provided to be in contact with the liquid crystal layer; the alignment film (28) includes a first alignment region that aligns liquid crystal molecules in a first domain (P1) in a first alignment axis azimuth (D1), a second alignment region that aligns liquid crystal molecules in a second domain (P2) in a second alignment axis azimuth (D2), a third alignment region that aligns liquid crystal molecules in a third domain (P3) in the first alignment axis azimuth (D1), and a fourth alignment region that aligns liquid crystal molecules in a fourth domain (P4) in the second alignment axis azimuth (D2). The liquid crystal molecules in the first domain, the second domain, the third domain and the fourth domain are all rotated in the same direction.

Liquid crystal display devices are improving in performance with expansion of their applications. In particular, display modes with wide viewing angle characteristics, for example, MVA (Multi-domain Vertical Alignment) and IPS (In Plane Switching), have been developed, and are undergoing further improvements.
In recent years, liquid crystal display devices of an FFS (Fringe Field Switching) mode, which is an extended form of the IPS mode, have also been developed. In the IPS mode and the FFS mode, an electric field is generated in an in-plane direction (or an oblique direction) by using electrodes which are provided on one of the substrates between which a liquid crystal layer is interposed, and this electric field causes liquid crystal molecules to be rotated in the substrate plane to provide display. These display modes are also referred to as a lateral electric field mode (lateral electric field method).
According to a known driving method for a liquid crystal display device of a lateral electric field mode, liquid crystal molecules in each pixel are rotated uniformly such that major axes thereof are aligned in the same direction in the presence of an applied voltage. However, in the state where the liquid crystal molecules are aligned in the same direction, the difference in the refractive index between the major axis direction and the minor axis direction of a liquid crystal molecule results in a so-called color shift. This is a phenomenon that the color of display appears different when viewed from an oblique direction, as compared with when viewed from the front.
As a device that suppresses such a color shift, a liquid crystal display device of a dual domain mode, in which two domains are provided in each pixel, is known. In such a liquid crystal display device, two sub pixel regions which are different in terms of the electrode structure (specifically, the direction in which slits made in a pixel electrode extend, etc.) are provided in each pixel. In the presence of an applied voltage, liquid crystal molecules are rotated in opposite directions in the two different sub pixel regions. As a result, two liquid crystal domains are formed in correspondence with the two sub pixel regions.
In a typical liquid crystal display device of a dual domain mode, when a maximum voltage is applied, two domains are formed in which directors of liquid crystal molecules are substantially orthogonal to each other. In the state where the directors are substantially orthogonal to each other, the liquid crystal molecules are prevented from being viewed only in a specific direction thereof (e.g., direction which is parallel to the major axis direction). As a result, deviating apparent retardations are mutually compensated for, and thus a color shift is suppressed.
Patent Document 1 discloses a liquid crystal display device of an IPS mode in which a plurality of domains are formed. In this liquid crystal display device, the initial alignment direction of liquid crystal molecules is set to be 45° in all pixels, and elongated electrodes in two adjacent pixels extend in different directions from each other. For example, the elongated electrode in one pixel is set to extend in a direction parallel to gate bus lines (horizontal direction) whereas the elongated electrode in a pixel adjacent to the one pixel is set to extend in a direction parallel to source bus lines (vertical direction). When a voltage is applied to these two pixels, the directions of electric fields generated by the elongated electrodes in these two pixels are different from each other by 90°. Therefore, the liquid crystal molecules in these pixels are aligned in opposite directions to each other. Namely, in two adjacent pixels, the alignment directions of the liquid crystal molecules in the presence of an applied voltage are different from each other, which suppresses a color shift.
Patent Document 1 also discloses a structure in which the pixel electrode structure is different as described above between two pixels adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction and also between two pixels adjacent to each other in the vertical direction. Two pixels adjacent to each other in an oblique direction have the same pixel electrode structure. In such a structure, the liquid crystal molecules are rotated in the same direction in the two pixels adjacent to each other in an oblique direction. By contrast, pixels in which the liquid crystal molecules are rotated in different directions from each other are arrayed alternately in the horizontal direction and in the vertical direction.
Patent Document 2 discloses a liquid crystal display device of an IPS mode or an FFS mode in which four liquid crystal domains are formed in each pixel in the presence of an applied voltage. In this liquid crystal display device, four regions in which the directions of the electric fields are different are provided in each pixel. In two predetermined regions among the four regions, the directions of the electric fields are symmetrical with respect to the rubbing direction, and the liquid crystal molecules are rotated in opposite directions to each other. In the other two regions, the directions of the electric fields are symmetrical with respect to the rubbing direction although the angle of the directions of the electric fields with respect to the rubbing direction is different from that in the above two regions, and the liquid crystal molecules are rotated in opposite directions to each other. Namely, two types of regions each including two regions in which the liquid crystal molecules are rotated in opposite directions to each other are provided.


A process for producing a bale of crimped staple fibers includes the repeated steps of cutting continuous filament crimped nylon tow into segments, maintaining the integrity of the segments while tramping charges of the segments under pressure to form a compacted layer, holding the layer to retain layer compaction and then pressing the layers and strapping the pressed layers.

This invention relates to an apparatus and method for baling crimped nylon staple fibers.
The known practice or air doffing or air conveying cut 4 to 8 inch length tufts of crimped staple carpet fibers from a rotary cutter causes entangling of the fibers to a degree that the cut tufts combine into large clumps of randomly oriented fibers which greatly increases the force required to compress a bale of such fibers to its desired final size and also increases the amount of rebound or bloom experienced on opening the bale. This problem is also experienced in gravity dolling systems from rotary cutters where the fibers are allowed to condense by twisting during removal from the cutter. In addition, the conventional practice of pushing large volumes of such cut entangled fibers into a baling chamber or allowing them to free fall a long distance into a tramping chamber promotes further mixing and entangling of the fibers. When bales of these cut staple fibers are then processed in a mill using opening, blending and carding systems, the staple fibers, because of the entanglement, are difficult to process. For example, when such fibers are carded to comb them to parallelism, they may, because of entanglement, be snarled into neps, stretched until crimp is permanently removed or the filaments break.

Apparatus and method for baling cut fibers and product


An artificial chordae tendineae includes a chordae tendineae main body with at least one end connected to a fixing member. A side of the fixing member facing away from the chordae tendineae main body is provided with a puncturing connection member. An artificial chordae tendineae implantion system includes a clamping device, a puncturing device including a puncture needle, the artificial chordae tendineae, and a pushing device including a pushing shaft. The puncturing device and the clamping device are received in the pushing shaft. A proximal clamp of the clamping device is provided at a distal end of the pushing shaft. A distal clamp of the clamping device is provided at a distal end of the clamping push rod. A distal end of the puncture needle is provided with a tapped straight tip. The artificial chordae tendineae is received in the clamping device. The fixing member corresponds to the puncture needle.

The mitral valve is a one-way "valve" between the left atrium (LA) and the left ventricle (LV), which ensures blood flow from the left atrium to the left ventricle. As illustrated in FIG. 1, a normal healthy mitral valve has multiple chordae tendineae (CT). The mitral valve includes an anterior leaflet and a posterior leaflet. When the left ventricle is in a diastolic state, the anterior leaflet and the posterior leaflet are in an open state, and blood flows from the left atrium to the left ventricle. When the left ventricle is in a contracted state, the chordae tendineae are stretched, such that the leaflets will not be rushed into the left atrium by the blood flow. At this time, the anterior leaflet and the posterior leaflet both are well closed, thereby ensuring that blood flows from the left ventricle to the aorta via the aortic valve (AV). If there is a lesion in the chordae tendineae or papillary muscles, such as a rupture of the chordae tendineae of the posterior leaflet as illustrated in FIG. 2, when the left ventricle is in the contracted state, the mitral valve cannot return to a closed state as normal, and the impulse of the blood flow will further cause the leaflet to be rushed into the left atrium, causing blood reflux.
At present, lesions in the chordae tendineae are generally treated by surgically implanting artificial chordae tendineae. However, this requires adopting invasive open thoracotomy approaches, under general anesthesia, and moderate hypothermia cardiopulmonary bypass as an auxiliary support. Such surgical operations have the disadvantages of complicated surgical procedures, high surgical cost, high surgical costs, high degrees of patient trauma, high risks of complications, long hospitalization, and painful recovery processes.
Another treatment is to implant an artificial chordae tendineae in a minimally invasive manner. In prior art, medical devices for implanting the artificial chordae tendineae include a handle assembly, a capture assembly, and a needle. After leaflets are captured by the capture assembly, a needle with a hook-shaped end is used to pass through the leaflet to pick a suture as the artificial chordate as. The needle is then retracted to drive the artificial chordae tendineae to pass through the leaflet, and one end of the artificial chordae tendineae is fixed to a ventricular wall. However, the above medical device has the disadvantages of low probability of the needle picking the artificial chordae tendineae, a low success rate of surgery, and a long surgery time.

Artificial chordae tendineae and artificial chordae tendineae implantation system


A motor control circuit includes a driver which amplifies a drive signal and outputs a drive current to a coil of a motor ; a detection circuit which detects a drive waveform of the drive current and outputs a detection pulse representing a rotating condition of the motor as a detection signal ; and a drive signal generating circuit which generates in response to the detection pulse a trapezoidal wave having a linear inclination at front and rear parts thereof as the drive signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motor control circuit and a motor drive system using the same and, more particularly, relates to a motor control circuit which smoothly controls rotation of a motor incorporated in electronic devices such as a floppy disk drive (FDD) and a hard disk drive (HDD), imaging devices such as a video camera and a video recording and reproducing device, and many kinds of office automation devices, and further, is suitable for making a portion a motor drive unit thin and small sized.
2. Description of Related Art
When roughly classified, methods of driving a motor and controlling the rotation thereof include a so-called open control method which controls motor rotation independently of actual motor rotating conditions, and a so-called feedback control method which detects motor rotating condition and controls the motor rotation based upon the detected signal.
Corresponding to methods of detecting the rotating condition, the feedback control methods include method of performing a control by detecting rotating condition of a rotor by means of a detection sensor such as a Hall element, and a method of performing a control by detecting a state of drive current and drive voltage, for example, constituting an input to the motor without using a sensor such as a Hall element.
The latter feedback motor control method is called a Hall-less motor method, because the method cases such sensors as a Hall element which are adapted to directly detect motor rotating condition. This Hall-less motor method is adapted to detect a state of, for example, drive current and drive voltage, which reflect a rotating condition of a motor, for example, an influence due to a counter-electromotive force from a coil of the motor, which is indirectly detected from the drive voltage. A detection signal representing the motor rotating condition is obtained therefrom.
FIG. 6 (a) shows a block diagram of a motor control circuit according to a conventional Hall-less motor method.
Herein, numerals 11 , 12 and 13 are detection circuits which generate pulses having a pulse: width dependent upon a rotating condition, numeral 2 drive signal producing circuit which produces signal, numeral s 31 , 32 and 33 are drivers and numeral 4 is a three phase motor.
The drive signal producing circuit 20, which is usually composed of a logic circuit and, depending upon necessity, a phase shift circuit, produces pulse-like (including pulse-like waveforms in both positive and negative directions) driving signals Ud, Vd and Wd response to the detection signals Up, Vp, Wp, having different respective phases, which serve as models of output waveform to the motor 40.
The drive signals Ud, Vd and Wd are respectively applied to the drivers 31, 32 and 33 and are amplified an amplifier in the respective drivers to produce output currents Iu, Iv and Iw having waveforms according those o f the drive signals Ud, Vd and Wd . These currents are fed to respective coils in a star connection to drive and rotate the motor 40. A waveform of the output current Iu is illustrated in FIG. 6 (b) as a representative of output currents Iu, Iv and Iw. Phases of the output currents Iu, Iv and Iw deviate successively by 120.degree. from each other. However, the actual current flowing through the motor coil varies in relation to a load applied thereto.
At the output sides of the drivers 31, 32 and 33 output voltages Vu, Vv and Vw are generated depending upon the output currents Iu, Iv and Iw. These output voltages vary dependent upon the variation of a counter-electromotive force generated in the coils in response to a motor rotating condition. Accordingly, these voltages reflect a rotating condition of the motor 40.
Therefore, using comparators for the detection circuits 11 , 12 and 13, the output voltages from the respective drivers 31 , 32 and 33 are compared with a neutral point voltage at the star connected coils . Thereby, a rotating condition of the motor 40 can be detected in a form of a pulse width. The detection results are respectively outputted from the detection circuits 11 , 12 and 13 as the detection pulses Up, Vp and Wp of which leading and trailing edges are determined in response to the rotating condition. In case of three phase motor control, the phases of the detection pulses usually deviate by 120.degree. , from each other and the duty ratio of the respective pulses is about 50% .
Based upon these detection pulses Up, Vp and Wp the above drive signals Ud, Vd and Wd, which reflect a rotating condition of the motor 40, are produced through logical processing, for example, by the drive signal producing circuit 20 .
Thereby, control loops starting from the outputs of the drivers and returning to the inputs of the drivers via the detection circuits are formed. With the function of these feedback loops a control in response to a rotating condition of the motor 40 is carried out and the rotating speed thereof is maintained at a predetermined speed.
In this kind of conventional motor control circuit the detection signal is obtained in a form of a pulse and logical processing is applied to the detection pulse to produce a pulse-like drive signal .
However, since the waveform of the drive signal which serves as a model waveform of a drive current or drive voltage for the motor is one as illustrated in FIG. 6 (b) , the waveform of a drive current or drive voltage for the motor is also a pulse shape. Therefore, the motor drive torque is also generated in a pulsing manner, and a sufficiently smooth rotating condition of the motor cannot be obtained.
On the other hand, triggered by an improvement such as in recording density on a recording medium to and from which information is written and read in the field of HDD and FDD, the motor which controls the rotation of the medium is required to be controlled to rotate smoothly in accordance with the improvement in recording density The same tendency exists in such fields as video devices, wherein a recording density on a magnetic tape has been also improved such that it is desirable to rotate a motor as smoothly as possible.

Motor control circuit and motor drive system using the same


A system and method of adding hyperlinked information to a television broadcast. The broadcast material is analyzed and one or more regions within a frame are identified. Additional information can be associated with a region, and can be transmitted in encoded form, using timing information to identify the frame with which the information is associated. The system comprising a video source and an encoder that produces a transport stream in communication with the video source, an annotation source, a data packet stream generator that produces encoded annotation data packets in communication with the annotation source and the encoder, and a multiplexer system in communication with the encoder and the data packet stream generator. The encoder provides timestamp information to the data packet stream generator and the data packet stream generator synchronizes annotation data from the annotation source with a video signal from the video source in response to the timestamp information. The multiplexer generates a digital broadcast signal that includes an augmented transport stream from the transport stream and the encoded data packets. A receiver displays the annotation information associated with the video signal in response to a viewer request on a frame by frame basis. A viewer can respond interactively to the material, including performing commercial transactions, by using a backchannel that is provided for interactive communication.

Broadcasts of information via television signals are well known in the prior art. Television broadcasts are unidirectional, and do not afford a viewer an opportunity to interact with the material that appears on a television display. Viewer response to material displayed using a remote control is known but is generally limited to selecting a program for viewing from a listing of available broadcasts. In particular, it has proven difficult to create hyperlinked television programs in which information is associated with one or more regions of a screen. The present invention addresses this need.

Method and apparatus for generating data structures for a hyperlinked television broadcast


Systems and methods of overriding a conventional trailer emergency brake system to preclude and alert others as to inadvertent or premature movement of the trailer are described herein. One implementation includes a safety valve operatively positioned in the emergency braking system of a trailer that may be engaged to override the brake valve located in a tractor to prevent a truck driver from prematurely or inadvertently moving the trailer. In addition, the system may include a one way check valve to allow air upstream of the safety valve to bleed out of the brake system when the safety valve is closed (to prevent movement of the trailer) before the emergency brakes for the trailer are set by the driver. A communication system may also be provided to alert the driver via a remotely located computing device that the emergency brakes for the trailer need to be set.

Tractor trailer or "semi" trailer trucks are well known and widely used to haul a wide range of goods across great distances. A conventional tractor trailer truck includes a tractor that pulls a trailer. A conventional tractor includes an engine, a cabin for the driver, and, in some instances, a sleeper compartment. A conventional trailer is used to haul a variety of goods and may take various forms, ranging from a box-like container with an enclosed cargo space to a flatbed to a car hauler. The prior art also includes box trucks that provide a truck with an attached bed. As described herein, the various implementations of the invention are applicable to all trucks and vehicles that utilize air brakes and hydraulic fluid brakes.
Due to their substantial size and weight, tractor trailer trucks conventionally use air pressure, rather than standard hydraulic fluid, to actuate the brakes. Not only does an air pressure brake system provide greater braking power, it reduces the potential for certain problems with conventional hydraulic brake systems such as leakage or vaporization of the hydraulic brake fluid. Further, because the tractor brake system may be connected with the trailer brake system, it is more convenient to use an air pressure system because it allows for a tractor to be connected to multiple trailers.
The parking brake of the tractor and the emergency brake of the trailer are conventionally spring brakes that also operate on air pressure. The springs cause the brakes to be applied. More particularly, the tractor's parking brake and the trailer's emergency brake require air pressure in order to be released. When air pressure is applied to the tractor trailer truck braking system, the parking brake and the emergency brake are released. In contrast, when air pressure is released from the tractor trailer truck braking system, the parking brake and the emergency brake are applied by action of the springs. In this way, the truck driver may be assured that if air pressure is inadvertently released or lost from the braking system, the trailer will brake to a stop instead of not being braked and, perhaps, becoming uncontrollable.
Further, a truck driver conventionally applies tractor and trailer parking brakes by operating valves that either deliver or release compressed air to the brake system. More particularly, a tractor conventionally includes a tractor parking brake valve and a trailer parking brake valve. Once the driver has positioned the tractor and trailer as desired, the driver will manipulate the tractor parking brake valve to release compressed air from the tractor brake system and thereby apply the tractor parking brakes. Similarly, the driver will manipulate the trailer parking brake valve to release compressed air from the trailer brake system and thereby apply the trailer parking brakes. It is also known to provide for the two valves to cooperate such that when the truck driver manipulates the tractor parking brake valve, the trailer parking brake valve is simultaneously activated so that both the tractor and trailer parking brakes are applied.
With specific reference to the parking or emergency brake for the trailer, the valve is manipulated by the truck driver to supply compressed air to the trailer emergency brake system and release the brakes. In this manner, the truck driver can release the trailer emergency brake in order to pull the trailer away from the dock. By virtue of the foregoing arrangement, the truck driver is also able to release the tractor parking brake and pull the tractor away from the trailer without releasing the trailer parking brakes. Once the truck driver re-connects the tractor to the trailer and seeks to again move the trailer, the driver can manipulate the trailer emergency brake valve (in the tractor) to deliver compressed air to the trailer brake system and release the parking brakes.
In use, a trailer is conventionally loaded and unloaded at a loading dock. The tractor trailer truck operator maneuvers the trailer into position by backing the tractor and trailer up against the loading dock in such a way that the dock surface is substantially level with the surface of the trailer. The rearward most portion of the trailer is positioned adjacent to the loading dock so that a forklift or like equipment may be driven onto the trailers floor surface to unload or load the trailer.
A safety problem exists in the loading or unloading of trailers. For example, if a trailer is moved away from the dock before the forklift operator or other dock worker completes loading or unloading of the trailer, the dock worker or equipment may be jeopardized. The worker or product or forklift may fall between the rear edge of the trailer and the loading dock, causing harm to the worker or damage to the goods or the equipment. The truck driver may inadvertently pull the trailer away from the dock without knowing or realizing that the loading or unloading process is not complete. For these and other reasons, it is preferable that a trailer not be prematurely or inadvertently pulled away from the dock, or that the truck driver be alerted to the fact that the trailer is in use. There is a need in the art for a device and method that addresses premature or inadvertent movement of a trailer from a dock.


A method and apparatus for burning in a semiconductor wafer having a plurality of active devices utilizes temporary conductive interconnect layers to separately couple at least a portion of the anodes of the active devices together as well as at least a portion of the cathodes of the devices together. A simplified probed pad, having a reduced number of contacts may then be utilized to apply a substantially constant voltage or current to the devices. The temporary conductive interconnect layer may be patterned to include device level resistors or array level resistors that may be used to mitigate the effects of short circuits or open circuits on the processing of the devices.

Semiconductor lasers are widely used in applications such as optical communications. The edge emitting laser diode is a semiconductor laser that emits light from a plane that is a continuation of the p-n junction of the diode. Cleaved surfaces at the ends of the diode act as mirrors that together define an optical cavity. Optical feedback provided by the cleaved mirrors creates a resonance of the emitted light that results in lasing. Because of this, the wafer must be cleaved prior to testing or stressing of the devices.
The vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) is another type of semiconductor laser in which the optical cavity is normal to the p-n junction of the semiconductor wafer from which it was fabricated. Ordinarily VCSELs are manufactured with many layers of semiconductor material deposited upon the substrate. VCSELs typically include highly reflective optical mirrors above and below the active layer which, in contrast to the edge emitting laser, enable laser output normal to the surface of the wafer. As a result, a VCSEL may be tested or stressed while the wafer is intact. VCSELs are also efficient, small in size, readily assembled into arrays, and easy to manufacture.
Therefore, VCSELs have become preferred in today's optoelectronics. Because of their complexity, however, existing processes for manufacturing edge emitters or VCSELs do not always yield devices with consistent characteristics. The process involves many layers that depend on numerous parameters including, but not limited to, doping concentration, substrate temperature, material sources, and growth rate.
Therefore, manufacturers of semiconductor lasers often use a burn-in procedure to cause device performance characteristics to stabilize and to induce early failure of weak devices. Both of these effects usually occur sometime after power has been applied to the device under operating conditions. Burn-in testing is typically conducted on individual active devices at elevated temperatures for prolonged periods of time (e.g., 40–80 hours). This requires the expenditure of additional time to fully verify each of a large number of active devices on a wafer or the development of a relatively complicated and costly probe assembly with numerous contact electrodes that may individually contacting each of the active devices on the wafer.
Ideally, burn-in stressing is conducted prior to integrating the device into a sub-assembly, module or system. This is because at each higher level of integration, the cost of a latent failure increases. For example, a latent failure on single device results in only a minor cost. However the failure of a single device in a subassembly may result in the rejection of the entire subassembly, at a cost many times that of the VCSEL die. Likewise, the failure of a single device in a module results in the rejection or rework of the entire module, at a cost many times that of the subassembly.

Method and apparatus for performing whole wafer burn-in


A contact material for a vacuum valve including, a conductive constituent including at least copper, an arc-proof constituent including at least chromium and an auxiliary constituent including at least one selected from the group consisting of tungsten, molybdenum, tantalum and niobium. The contact material is manufactured by quench solidification of a composite body of the conductive constituent, the arc-proof constituent and the anxiliary constituent.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a contact material for a vacuum valve and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
The most important properties which a contact material for vacuum valve is required to have are the three basic requirements of anti-welding property, voltage withstanding capability and current interrupting property. Further important requirements are to show low and stable rise in temperature and low and stable contact resistance. However, it is not possible to satisfy all these requirements by a single metal, as some of them are contradictory. Consequently, many of the contact materials that have been developed for practical use consist of combinations of two or more elements so as to complement their mutual deficiencies in performance, and to match specific applications such as large-current use or high voltage-withstanding use. Contact materials have been developed possessing excellent properties in their own way. However, performance requirements have become increasingly severe and the present situation is that these materials are unsatisfactory in some respects.
There has been a marked tendency in recent years to expand the range of circuits to which these materials are applied to reactor circuits and capacitor circuits etc., and development and improvement of the contact materials corresponding to these application has become an urgent task. In particular, regarding capacitor circuits, due to the application of twice the voltage of an ordinary circuit, problems have arisen in respect of the withstand voltage characteristic of the contacts, in particular of suppressing occurrence of restriking. In order to cope with this, conventionally, Cu--Cr contact material has been employed, which has excellent current interrupting property and comparatively good withstand voltage characteristics.
However, such Cu--Cr contact material can cope to some extent in the high withstand voltage field. But in more severe high withstand voltage regions and in circuits that are subject to inrush current, there is a problem of occurrence of restriking. One of the reasons why Cu--Cr contact material does not necessarily exhibit sufficient performance in the high withstand voltage region is considered to be as follows. Opening and closing of the contacts results in the formation of Cu--Cr finely dispersed layer at the contact surface, which is of mechanically higher strength than the contact material. It is believed that micro-welding locally produced by the inrush current causes the exfoliation from the contact material portion, with the formation of severe surface irregularity, causing field concentration and clump. Consequently, it is believed that the probability of occurrence of restriking should be able to be reduced by increasing the strength of the contact material.
Infiltrated Cu--Cr contact obtained by infiltrating Cu into a Cr skeleton manufactured by sintering Cr powder show a lower rate of occurrence of restriking than solid-phase sintered Cu--Cr contacts manufactured by mixing and sintering Cr powder and Cu powder. Furthermore, Cu--Cr contacts made by arc melting of a consumable electrode manufactured of Cu--Cr show even lower rate of occurrence of restriking.
However, in the Cu--Cr contacts manufactured by the consumable arc melting method, local non-uniformity in the contact micro structure is formed by the occurrence of two-phase separation of a Cu-rich liquid phase and Cr-rich liquid phase that are produced during solidification and cooling steps of the consumable arc melting method. Since this Cr-rich portion is brittle in terms of material, cracking and breaking away occur during opening and closing of the contacts, causing restriking to occur.
Hereinafter another problem of the conventional contact material will be described. The present situation is that contact materials for a vacuum valve which are able to fully satisfy increasingly severe requirements in respect of high withstand voltage property and large current interrupting capability have not yet been developed.
In recent years therefore some use has been made of contact materials combining arc-proof constituents of excellent withstand voltage performance and arc-proof constituents having excellent current interrupting performance. For example, Japanese Patent Disclosures (kokai) No. Sho. 59-81816 and No. Sho. 59-91617 disclose contact materials having prescribed contents of Ta and Nb in a Cu--Cr contact material, which have excellent current interruption performance and also improved voltage withstanding characteristics.
However, regarding contact materials for a vacuum valve as described above, with contact materials manufactured by a solid-phase sintering process, in which the conductive constituent and other arc-proof constituents are simply mixed and sintered, it can hardly be said that fully satisfactory contact materials (i.e. contact materials wherein both these characteristics are improved and stabilized) have been obtained.
Means for improving the withstand voltage characteristic and current interruption performance, in particular, a method of manufacture whereby the withstand voltage characteristic is improved are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Disclosure (Kokai) No. Sho. 63-158022. However, it cannot necessarily be said that this can satisfy the requirements.

Contact material for vacuum valve and method of manufacturing the same


The invention is directed to the use of imatinib mesylate for treating polycythemia vera. Imatinib mesylate is surprisingly effective at controlling the symptoms of polycythemia vera and reducing the need for phlebotomy.

Polycythemia vera is a chronic myeloproliferative disorder. Typically, the disease is characterized by panmyelosis, splenomegaly and a predisposition to venous/arterial thrombosis, myelofibrosis and acute leukemia. Principal tests used in the diagnosis of polycythemia vera include determining the red cell volume, the serum erythropoietin level, the arterial blood gas, the leukocyte alkaline phosphatase score, the serum vitamin B12 level, bone marrow biopsy, cytogenetics, and molecular markers. Further diagnostic means that can be employed are an abdominal computed tomography scan or a chest x-ray.
Phlebotomy alone or phlebotomy in combination with the administration of hydroxyurea or interferon currently constitute preferred approaches for treating polycythemia vera. However, newer, more effective drugs are needed to treat polycythemia vera in order to prevent progression of the illness to its inexorable end, severe fibrosis of the marrow ("marrow exhaustion") or less commonly, acute leukemia.


A universal angle wheel assembly has a wheel holder plate, a main seat disposed on the wheel holder plate, a cover plate disposed on the main seat, a shaft extending from a top portion of the wheel holder plate, and a pivot pin fastening a wheel in the wheel holder plate. A positioning block is disposed in the main seat defining an upper hollow interior and a lower hollow interior. A guide hole is formed on the positioning block. A through hole is formed on a bottom of the main seat. A coiled spring, a bearing, and a cushion ring are inserted in the lower hollow interior. The shaft passes through the through hole, the cushion ring, the bearing, the coiled spring, and the guide hole. A round hole is formed on the shaft. A first positioning pin passes through the cushion ring and the round hole.

The present invention relates to a universal angle wheel assembly. More particularly, the present invention relates to a universal angle wheel assembly which can be rotated freely.
A suitcase often has two front wheels and two rear wheels. However, the height of the rear wheels cannot be adjusted. When the user slants the suitcase, the front wheels will be lifted. If the ground is not smooth, the rear wheels which cannot adjust their heights will not be in balance. Therefore, the suitcase may be overturned.


A test system for a medical system that has a central control unit to control medical system components dependent on received operating commands, has an interface for setting up a data connection to the central control unit, a data storage, and a transmission device that provides a sequence of date packets that correspond to operating commands for controlling the system components, coded for the central control unit of the medical system, according to the specification of a test file readout from the data storage, and for monitored transfer of the sequence of data packets to the central control unit. The present test system allows automated function tests of medical systems to be reproducibly implemented without effort by personnel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a test system for medical systems of the type having a central control unit to control the system components dependent on received operating commands, in particular for x-ray systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In medical diagnostics, different medical systems such as, for example, x-ray systems or magnetic resonance tomography systems are used in order to acquire data from inside the body of a patient. These medical systems must undergo function tests before their delivery to the customer as well as subsequently at specific time intervals, in order to ensure the correct operation. These tests are presently implemented manually using informal test plans. Test procedures are specified that are test cases for all requirements. A test case includes a sequence of individual operation commands that are entered by the tester into the system via operating units in the temporal sequence specified in the test plans. For example, a digital x-ray system normally includes (as operating units for the image system) a keyboard for the input of key codes, as well as a mouse for the input of screen positions, and, for the x-ray system, a generator console for the input of the acquisition parameters as well as a remote control for the input of the primary functions during an examination. The x-ray system has a central control unit that is networked with all system components, receives the corresponding operating commands from the operating units, and controls the individual components dependent on the received operating commands.
Since the functionality of digital x-ray systems continually grows and the test expenditure super-proportionally increases with the number of the functions, the function tests require an ever-greater expenditure. A further problem in the operation of medical systems exists in the reproduction of error situations that occur during the operation at the client. Thus, in x-ray systems, relevant events during the operation are recorded in log files in order to be able to subsequently analyze occurred errors. The log files are interpreted by the tester, who attempts to reproduce the error procedure via manual generation of the events, by entering corresponding operating commands, in order to then generate significant analysis data. This procedure, however, is very complex in terms of personnel.
A device for remote maintenance of a medical system is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,381,557 that concerns interactivity with the user of the system. Using screen menus, given occurrence of an incident or a disruption the user of the system can contact a service center connected via a network request service. The printout for the implementation of this service, however, includes only the request or the retrieval of data (for example log files or image data) stored in the system over preceding operation, which are subsequently evaluated in the service center in order to detect a possible error or a possible error function. The user of the system is apprised of this in a report that is transmitted back. Dependent on the type of the service request, the service technician involved in the respective cases in the service center actively participate in a different manner in each case. The information necessary for the evaluation can be either transmitted directly to the service center with the service request or can be retrieved upon the request for service by the service center itself via the network.
European Application 0 697 661 concerns a device for technical diagnosis of errors in a medical device. The medical device is fashioned such that the individual components can respectively implement self-tests independently of one another that can be activated by the connected diagnosis device. This device has a first module with a commercial diagnosis software component and a second module that transmits the translation of service commands (that must be input by specialist experts) to the device components to be diagnosed. The error diagnosis ensues by activation of the self-test of the individual components and evaluation of the results of the self-tests as well as further status information.


A magnetooptical information recording-reproducing apparatus is adapted to function for any card-like optical recording media having different properties. A light beam is applied to a predetermined location of the recording medium and a reflected light caused upon the application of the light beam is detected so as to detect the property of the recording medium such as a reflectance. The gains of a signal reproducing system, a tracking control system and a focusing control system are controlled to vary according to the detection result concerning the property of the recording medium so that a reproduction signal, a tracking error signal and a focusing error signal assume predetermined levels, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an optical information recording apparatus and method for recording and/or reproducing information on an optical information recording medium, and particularly to an optical information recording-reproducing apparatus and method for optical cards for effecting the recording and reproduction of information while an optical head and various optical cards are reciprocally moved relative to each other.
2. Related Background Art
Various mediums such as optical discs, optical cards and optical tapes are known as the forms of a medium for recording and reproducing information thereon by the use of light. These have their respective features and are used properly depending on purposes and uses, and above all, optical cards are expected to widen their use more and more in the future because of their features such as the ease of manufacture, good portability and good accessibility.
In each of these optical cards, it is usual that a plurality of tracking tracks are provided in parallel with to the longer sides of the card and the space between two adjacent tracking tracks is used as an information track for recording information thereon, and the tracking tracks are utilized as a guide for auto-tracking (AT) which controls an information recording-reproducing light spot so as not to deviate from a predetermined information track when the light spot scans the information track during the recording and reproduction of information. In the actual recording and reproduction of information, utilization is also made of auto-focusing (AF) which controls the light spot so as to be properly focused on the surface of the recording medium. Such AT and AF are popular techniques which have heretofore been often used in apparatuses using light to effect the recording and reproduction of information.
FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings is a schematic plan view of such an optical card 101. Reference numeral 102 designates an information recording area, reference numeral 103 denotes an information track, reference numerals 104 and 104' designate track selection areas, and reference numeral 105 denotes the home position of a light spot. Reference numeral 106 designates an area in which a recording layer exists, and the home position 105 is included in this area.
Referring to FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings, which is a block diagram showing an optical card information recording-reproducing apparatus according to the prior art, reference numeral 19 denotes an optical card information recording-reproducing apparatus (hereinafter referred to as the drive), and reference numeral 9 designates a CPU, which is a host control apparatus. The drive 19 is connected to the CPU 9 and executes recording and reproduction on the basis of a command issued from the CPU 9. The construction of the drive 19 is as follows. First, reference numeral 14 denotes a motor for introducing an optical card 1 into the drive 19 through a conveying mechanism, not shown, reciprocally moving the optical card 1 in the direction of arrow R at a predetermined location, and further ejecting the optical card outwardly of the drive 19. A sensor 50, for example, for optically detecting the optical card 1 is provided near the card insertion port (not shown) of the drive 19, and when the insertion of the optical card 1 is detected by the sensor 50, the optical card 1 is conveyed to a predetermined location in the drive, as previously described. Reference numeral 17 denotes a light beam applying optical system including a light source. During information recording and information reproduction, a light beam is applied from the light beam applying optical system 17 onto the optical card 1 and the light beam is reciprocally moved relative to the optical card 1 by the reciprocal movement of the optical card 1, and the light beam scans on the information track.
Reference numerals 28-30 designate photodetectors for receiving the reflected light of the light beam applied to the optical card 1, and recorded information is reproduced on the basis of the detection signals of these photodetectors. Reference numeral 15 denotes an AF actuator for driving a portion of the light beam applying optical system 17 to thereby move the focal position of the light beam spot on the surface of the optical card in the direction of arrow Z, i.e., the direction perpendicular to the surface of the optical card, and effect auto-focusing control, and reference numeral 16 designates an AT actuator for driving a portion of the light beam applying optical system 17 to thereby move the light beam spot on the surface of the optical card in a direction Y, i.e., a direction orthogonal to both of the direction R and the direction Z, and effect auto-tracking control. The light beam applying optical system 17, photodetectors 28-30, AF actuator 15 and AT actuator 16 are made integral with one another to constitute an optical head 18. Reference numeral 13 denotes a driving motor for moving this optical head 18 in the direction Y to thereby permit the light beam spot to have access to a desired track on the optical card 1.
Reference numeral 10 designates an MPU containing a ROM and a RAM therein. The MPU 10 controls various portions such as a card feeding motor 14 and a head feeding motor 13 and effects the communication and control of data with the CPU 9 under the control of the CPU 9. Reference numeral 11 denotes an AT/AF control circuit for driving the AF actuator 15 and the AT actuator 16 on the basis of the detection signals of the photodetectors 28-30 to thereby effect AF control and AT control. Reference numeral 12 designates a modulation-demodulation circuit for reproducing the detection signals of the photodetectors and demodulating the reproduced signals and reproducing them into original recording data. The thus obtained reproduced data are sent to the MPU 10, and are further transferred from the MPU 10 to the CPU 9. Also, during information recording, the recording data are sent from the MPU 10 to the modulation-demodulation circuit 12, in which the recording data are modulated by a predetermined modulation system. At this time, in the light beam applying optical system 17, the intensity of light of the semiconductor laser (not shown) of the light source is modulated in accordance with a modulation signal, and information by light modulation is recorded on the information track.
Reference numeral 71 denotes an encoder coupled to the driving motor 14. The encoder 71 outputs a pulse each time the driving motor 14 rotates by a predetermined angle. There is a predetermined relation between the angle of rotation of the driving motor 14 and the amount of movement of the optical card 1 in the direction R and therefore, by counting the output pulses of the encoder 71, the position of the light spot on the optical card 1 in the direction R can be detected. Reference numeral 72 designates a waveform shaping circuit for shaping the output pulses of the encoder 71 into a shape that can be received by the MPU 10. The CPU 9 instructs the drive 19 to record and reproduce the information of each sector, and in the drive 19, recording and reproduction are executed on the basis of these instructions.
FIG. 3 of the accompanying drawings is an exploded perspective view showing the internal construction of the optical head 18 in detail. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 20 denotes a light source for recording and reproduction such as a semiconductor laser. A light beam emitted from the light source is collimated by a collimator lens 21, whereafter it is divided into three light beams by a diffraction grating 23. These light beams are focused as light spots S1, S2 and S3 on the tracking track 37, the information track 39 and the tracking track 38, respectively, of the optical card 1 by an objective lens 26, as shown in FIG. 4 of the accompanying drawings.
The optical card 1 is reciprocally driven in the direction R indicated in FIG. 2, and the light spot and the optical card 1 are reciprocally moved relative to each other, whereby the light spot scans on the information track. The reflected lights of the light tracks S1, S2 and S3 again pass through the objective lens 26 and are reflected by a polarizing beam splitter 24, and are projected onto the photodetectors 28, 29 and 30, respectively, by a condensing lens system 27.
The condensing lens system 27 is an astigmatism system, and auto-focusing control by the astigmatism system is effected on the basis of the outputs of the photodetectors 28-30. FIG. 5 of the accompanying drawings shows the detecting surfaces of these photodetectors 28-30. The middle photodetectors 29 is a four-division sensor of which the detecting surface is divided into four detecting pieces A, B, C and D, and the photodetectors 28 and 30 on both sides thereof are ordinary sensors. Also, in FIG. 3, reference numeral 22 designates a prism for converting the cross-sectional distribution of the collimated light beam from an ellipse into a circle, and reference numeral 25 denotes a mirror for directing the light beam from the polarizing beam splitter 24 to the objective lens 26.
Referring now to FIG. 6 of the accompanying drawings which is a diagram for illustrating the control loops of auto-tracking control and auto-focusing control, reference numerals 28-30 designate the photodetectors shown in FIG. 3, and reference numeral 112 denotes a photoelectric converting part for converting the output currents of the photodetectors into electrical signals. Reference numeral 11 designates an AT/AF control circuit comprising a tracking control circuit 110 and a focusing control circuit 111. The photodetectors 28 and 30 detect light beams reflected from the tracking tracks 37 and 38 shown in FIG. 4, and the output currents of the photodetectors 28 and 30 are converted into voltage signals by current-voltage converters 5 and 6, respectively, in the photoelectric converting portion 112, and thereafter are sent to the tracking control circuit 110. In the tracking control circuit 110, the difference between said two output signals is taken, and that tracking error signal is applied to the AT actuator 16 shown in FIG. 2. That is, the AT actuator 16 is driven by the use of the tracking error signal having the tracking control loop from photodetectors 28 and 30 to the AT actuator 16 and indicative of the amount of deviation of the light spot relative to the track, and the objective lens 26 is moved in the tracking direction to thereby effect tracking control which causes the light spot to follow the information track.
The photodetector 29 is a four-division sensor as described in connection with FIG. 5, and the sum signal of the detecting pieces A and D thereof and the sum signal of the detecting pieces B and C thereof are converted into voltage signals by current-voltage converters 3 and 4, respectively, and thereafter are sent to the focusing control circuit 111. Here, the difference between the two signals is taken and is applied as a so-called focusing error signal to the AF actuator 15 shown in FIG. 2. Accordingly, the focusing control loop from the photodetector 29 to the AF actuator 15 is formed, and the AF actuator 15 is driven on the basis of the focusing error signal, whereby focusing control for focusing the light spot is effected.
The current-voltage converters 3-6 are designed such that two feedback resistors R.sub.R and R.sub.W are changed over by a switch Sw, and the feedback resistors R.sub.R and R.sub.W are changed over in conformity with a recording information signal output from the modulation-demodulation circuit 12. That is, during recording, the feedback resistors are changed over in conformity with the information signal to thereby changeover-control the gain in conformity with intensity-modulated recording light, and level control is effected so that the output of each current-voltage converter may become constant. When recorded information is to be reproduced, the light spot S2 of the three light spots shown in FIG. 4 scans the information track, and the reflected light thereof is detected by the four-division photodetector 29, whereby the recorded information is reproduced as the difference in the light intensity thereof. Although the photodetector 29 is of the four-division type, the sum total signal of the four detecting pieces thereof is used for reproduction.
Now, heretofore, the recording medium used in an information recording-reproducing apparatus has usually been limited to one kind. Therefore, the control gains of AF and AT and the reproduction gain are fixed values. Also, the driving of the semiconductor laser used as the light source is binary driving of recording power and reproduction power, and the injection current of the reproduction power and the injection current of the recording power are fixed, and these are changeover-controlled, whereby the semiconductor laser is driven.
On the other hand, there are known various information recording mediums usable in information recording-reproducing apparatuses, and for example, as a recording layer, mention may be made of metallic film such as tellurium or bismuth, organic film such as polystyrene or nitrocellulose, pigment film such as cyanin, or tellurium low oxide film utilizing phase transition. These recording materials are so-called DRAW (direct read after write) mediums which do not require the developing process after the recording of information, but permit "reading immediately after writing", and are capable of high density recording and additional recording.
However, these recording mediums are useful in their optical or chemical characteristic, but not all of them are useful when the combination thereof with an information recording-reproducing apparatus is considered. That is, as regards the optical characteristic of those recording mediums, they have a wavelength characteristic to light and even if light of the same wavelength is applied thereto, it may affect a servo control system or the like, which will thus not function normally, because they differ in reflectance. Also, the chemical characteristic will appear as a difference in reflectance because they differ in the degree of deformation or discoloration by heat. Thus, it is the present situation that the recording medium is restricted as previously described and apparatuses matching the characteristic of that medium are developed, and it has been the real situation that apparatuses cannot cope with various recording mediums.
Description will now specifically be made of the operation of an apparatus when a recording medium having other optical characteristic designated for that apparatus is set. It is to be understood that the reflectance of the recording medium is n times that of the designated recording medium. When such a recording medium is inserted into the apparatus, the quantity of light received by each photodetector becomes n times and therefore, as a matter of course, the level of each control signal subsequent to the current-voltage converter also becomes n times. However, each control gain of the apparatus is fixed and thus, each control sensitivity becomes n times. This will hereinafter be described in detail with reference to FIG. 7 of the accompanying drawings. FIG. 7 shows signals for AF AF control which are generally called S-shaped signals, signal A being the AF S-shaped signal of the recording medium designated for the apparatus, and signal B being the AF S-shaped signal of other recording medium having a reflectance of n times than the recording medium designated for the apparatus. The amplitude of the signal B is n times as great as the amplitude of the signal A because the reflectance is n times. As regards AF control, an AF actuator is controlled on the basis of this signal, but since the control gains are fixed as previously mentioned, the amount of movement of an objective lens of the signal B for the same voltage value is 1/n times the signal A, i.e., n times in terms of control sensitivity, and there occurs a phenomenon that focusing control does not function normally. Such a phenomenon occurs in an AT control system and a reproducing system as well. When a recording medium of different reflectance is thus set, control sensitivity varies, and this has led to the problem that stable AT control and AF control and reproduction become difficult and in the worst case, AT and AF are not applied at all. Also, the fact that access cannot be conducted to other recording mediums than the designated one means that the versatility as a system is spoiled, and it has been desired to solve this problem.

Optical information recording apparatus and method capable of coping with a plurality of card-like recording mediums of different reflectances


The present disclosure provides a method, an apparatus and a device for detecting a fatigue state. In this method, by receiving an initial image sent by a 3D sensor, where the initial image includes depth information containing an eye contour, extracting eye state information from the initial image, and determining whether a user is currently in the fatigue state according to the eye state information, detecting whether the user is in the fatigue state through the eye state information is thereby achieved, with high detection efficiency and more accurate detection results.

When a user is in a fatigue state, the attention of the user may be dispersed and the strain capacity may be lowered. For example, the speed of observing and reacting to the road condition and the surrounding environment will significantly slow down when the user is in a state of fatigue driving, and lack of appropriate rest will increase the possibility of causing a traffic accident. Therefore, it is necessary to detect the fatigue state of the user and remind the user timely.
At present, generally whether a user is currently in the fatigue state is determined by detecting information such as heart rates and behaviors of a human body via a wearable electronic device and then comparing the detected information with a preset index.
However, detection efficiency in this way is low, which requires the user to keep wearing the electronic device for a certain period of time, and the detection result is easily interfered by external factors, thus the detection accuracy is low.

Method, apparatus and device for detecting fatigue state