The invention provides a method of using machine vision to recognize text and symbols, and more particularly traffic signs.

1. Field of the Invention
Computer recognition of text and symbols, including the recognition of traffic signs.
2. Description of the Related Art
I have been working on the problem of recognizing traffic signs seen by a camera installed behind a windshield of a car. The main application is an automotive system ADAS (advanced driver assistance system) that helps a driver make decisions. For example, it can show the current speed limit together with the current speed, it can warn a driver about approaching stop, school, pedestrian crossing and other warning signs. It is important for the automotive industry that ADAS algorithms work on low power computing hardware. There are many algorithms for recognizing traffic signs that use shape and color features to recognize the signs, but the number of operations needed to find these features in an image is large and the resulting detection algorithms are slow. The goal of this research was to find a detection algorithm that would pick only a few areas that look like text or a traffic symbol, and do it within a very small amount of time.

Fast single-pass interest operator for text and object detection


A method and system for selecting potential bidders or suppliers for a current electronic auction by using quantitative models to create a prioritized list of potential suppliers. A prioritization software analyzes a supplier's bidding participation history and bidding competitiveness history from the bidding data collected for all prior auctions in which the supplier participated or was requested by the auction coordinator to participate. Using the prior bid data, the software generates a participation score and a competitiveness score for the supplier. The participation and competitiveness scores may be combined to generate a combined score. All potential suppliers may be prioritized based on any of these scores individually or a combination of two or more of these scores. The prioritization list generated using quantitative values instead of subjective values minimizes the amount of unnecessary calls to potential suppliers and maximizes the likelihood that a called supplier will place a competitive bid in the current auction, thereby increasing the bidding yield per supplier selected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to conducting online electronic auctions, and, more particularly, to a method and system for selecting potential bidders or suppliers for an electronic auction by using quantitative models to create a prioritized list of potential suppliers.
2. Description of Related Art
Procurement of goods and services have traditionally involved high transaction costs. The cost of finding and qualifying potential bidders has been particularly high. The advent of electronic commerce has introduced new methods of procurement that lower some of the transaction costs associated with procurement. Electronic procurement, in particular business-to-business electronic procurement, matches buyers and suppliers and facilitates transactions that take place on networked processors.
Four models of electronic procurement have been developed: catalog, buyer-bidding auctions, seller-bidding auctions, and exchange marketplaces.
The "catalog" model was an early form of online electronic procurement. Initially, electronic catalogs were developed primarily by sellers, typically suppliers, to help customers obtain information about products, and order supplies electronically. Those first electronic catalogs were single-source; i.e. they only allowed customers to obtain information and products from a specific supplier.
Although the first electronic catalogs reduced the information search cost associated with procurement, customers were disadvantageously "locked in" to one supplier at each electronic catalog. Customers were thus unable to compare a number of competing products in a single catalog. Therefore, certain suppliers with single-source catalogs began including competitors' products in their systems. The inclusion of competing products in electronic catalogs reduced procurement information search costs even further. By offering competing products, electronic catalogs became "electronic markets."
Many electronic catalogs, however, were biased toward the supplier offering the electronic catalog, and it was thought that procurement costs could be lowered further through an unbiased market. Therefore, third-party "market makers" have developed markets for many standard products and services, which were intended to be unbiased markets. For example, Inventory Locator Services has compiled a database that lists all airplane parts suppliers that have a certain item in stock. Buyers dial into the database to get information on the parts they need. Here, it is a third party, Inventory Locator Service, not a supplier, that is creating the unbiased electronic market.
Electronic commerce using the electronic catalog model typically involves one buyer and one seller at a time. When many buyers compete for the right to buy from one seller, a buyer-bidding auction model, or forward auction, is created. Catalog and buyer-bidding auction models, however, have limitations and do not work well in every situation. For example, it is difficult for a supplier to publish set prices in a catalog for custom products. Therefore, when a buyer requires a custom product, pricing for that product typically will not be found in a catalog. Likewise, it is difficult to specify a custom product and identify buyers who might use that custom product for a buyer-bidding auction. Additionally, there may be only one buyer interested in a custom product, such that a buyer-bidding auction may not be applicable in all cases. Thus, few suppliers can typically provide custom goods and services and standard product and pricing information is typically not available for buyers of custom industrial products.
Referring again to the cost of traditional procurement, and particularly procurement of custom products and services, when a company requires a custom product, a buyer/purchaser for the company would typically procure the product by searching for potential suppliers and then acquiring price quotes from the potential suppliers for the needed custom product. The search tends to be slow and random, and typically relies heavily on personal relationships. The costs associated with locating vendors, comparing prices, and negotiating a deal are therefore large.
As a solution to reduce the cost associated with procurement of custom products and services, supplier-bidding auctions for products and services defined by a buyer have been developed. The assignee of the present application has developed a system in which sellers downwardly bid against one another to achieve the lowest market price in a supplier-bidding auction. The auction marketplace is one-sided, i.e., one buyer and many potential suppliers or sellers, although multiple-buyer auctions are possible. Typically, the products being purchased are components or materials; however, services may also be purchased through auction. "Components" may typically include fabricated tangible pieces or parts that become part of assemblies of durable products. Example components include gears, bearings, appliance shelves, door handles, etc. "Materials" may typically include bulk quantities of raw materials that are further transformed into products. Example materials include corn syrup or sheet metal.
Even in a supplier-bidding auction, the search for potential suppliers may still remain slow and random and the possibility of obtaining price quotes from the potential suppliers with some degree of certainty remains illusive because of the subjective nature of supplier selection. The subjective evaluation factors may include, for example, the buyer's personal impression about the potential supplier, the frequency of prior auction participation by that supplier, etc. Because of such subjective evaluation, many potentially promising suppliers may get overlooked and not contacted by the buyer. It is therefore desirable to reduce the transaction cost involved in supplier selection by devising a scheme wherein potential suppliers are selected objectively and the number of suppliers required at the beginning of a competitive bidding event is dramatically reduced. In other words, it is desirable that suppliers who do not appear objectively promising for a bidding event may not get invited to participate in the auction. It is further desirable to minimize the amount of unnecessary calls to potential suppliers and to maximize the likelihood that a called supplier will place a competitive bid, thereby increasing the bidding yield per supplier selected.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for selecting a group of bidders for a current bidding event using prioritization


A stack (11) of fuel cells have water flow channels receiving water through a pump (33) from an accumulator (29) having double walls (63, 66) with vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) (65, 68) therebetween, auxiliary DC power source (80) (battery or supercapacitor) is disposed in a container (43) having double walls (81, 86) with VIPs (65, 68) encapsulated therebetween. A keep-warm heater (51) keeps the source warm enough for at least half power capacity, the source driving its own heater as well as a keep-warm heater (50) in the accumulator to keep the accumulator above freezing. A microwave heater (58) disposed in the accumulator distributes energy to melt ice using fuel cell stack power upon startup.

A fuel cell power plant, particularly one suited to operate electric vehicles, may typically require approximately twelve liters of water, which is stored in an accumulator when the fuel cell power plant is shut down. Many utilizations of fuel cell power plants cause them to be shut down during sub-freezing temperatures. Prior attempts to insulate the water accumulator of a fuel cell power plant so that it will not freeze for several days at −20° C. (−36° F.) resulted in volumes on the order of 40 liters, which is excessive for many applications of fuel cell power plants, particularly in vehicles. As an alternative, the water accumulator in a fuel cell power plant may be provided with a rapid thaw heater. Since a rapid thaw internal heater requires distributing heating elements throughout the accumulator, a 12 liter accumulator with rapid thaw internal heating elements would require a volume on the order of 40 liters, which is excessive. Furthermore, the so-called rapid thaw heaters require several minutes to thaw the ice in the accumulator, which is unacceptable in vehicles, in the general case.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,108,937, there is disclosed a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell stack utilizing vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) to insulate the entire stack, including providing external reactant gas manifolds and pressure plates with VIP insulation. However, the fuel cell power plant, even with an insulated stack, is still subject to rapid freezing at below freezing temperatures, and slow recovery.

Managing water and auxiliary power in fuel cell power plant below freezing temperatures


A polyolefin woven fabric extrusion coating with superior soft tactile characteristic is disclosed comprising ethylenic elastomer and thermoplastic vulcanizate. The combination performs in a synergistic fashion to obtain more pleasing soft tactile characteristic than is available with either elastomer or thermoplastic vulcanizate alone. The inclusion of additives may enhance properties and include plastomer, UV stabilizers, flame retardant, antiblock, colorant, printable additives and polar additives.

The present invention relates to soft feel coatings suitable for coating multi-filament woven fabric and products comprising fabrics coated with soft-feel coatings as well as methods of producing such products.
Soft feel woven-coated fabrics are suitable for use in applications such as clothing textiles, furniture textiles, pool covers, banners and billboard fabrics, rental tent fabrics, truck tarps, cargo container covers and water tank or reservoir covers. Desirable properties include, pleasing tactile finish, good adhesion between the coating and fabric, strength, durability, flexibility, chemical and temperature resistance and recyclability.
Prior soft feel woven-coated fabrics comprised poly vinyl chloride (PVC) coated fabrics. As landfill sites are becoming less common, there is a greater tendency to dispose of articles that contain PVC through incineration. The incineration of PVC can produce hydrochloric acid. It is feared that the hydrochloric acid enters the atmosphere and produces acid rain. It also is feared that dioxins and furans are liberated when PVC is burned at municipal incinerators. Discussions are underway in many nations to ban PVC because of its potentially harmful effect on the environment.
In addition to its environmental problems, flexible PVC-containing articles also pose the problem of having a low molecular weight plasticizer migrate to the surface of the PVC layer. The PVC layer typically contains a low molecular weight plasticizer to impart flexibility to the layer over a wide range of temperatures. This plasticizer is fairly mobile in the PVC layer and usually migrates out of the article, leaving it with a semi-tacky outer surface onto which dirt and other particles can adhere. The migration of the plasticizer also can cause the PVC article to be less flexible, it can allow the plasticizer to enter other articles that are adjacent to the PVC article, and it can interfere with the application of ink on the surface of the article. Further, the most common plasticizer for flexible PVC is carcinogenic to laboratory animals, although a direct link to humans has not been proved. Although high molecular weight plasticizers may be used, which do not migrate out from the interior of the PVC layer, these plasticizers do not impart good flex crack resistance to the PVC-containing article.
Articles are known which comprise fabrics secured to polymeric layers that contain polymers other than PVC. Examples of such articles have been disclosed in the following documents: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,844,958, 4,636,427, 4,531,994, 4,471,018, 4,351,876, 3,125,462, and 2,299,807. However, none of these patents disclose that such products have good flex-crack resistance so as to be a suitable alternative for a plasticized, PVC-containing article.
Roll-up signs are well known in the outdoor display and traffic control materials art. These signs are portable and can be folded or rolled up for transport and storage until being used again in a non-rolled up or extended condition. Examples of roll-up signs are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,175,646, 5,016,372, 4,999,938, 4,980,984, 4,694,601, 4,592,158, and 4,490,934. The signs typically comprise a reflective layer having an indicia on the front side and a PVC coated fabric on the back side. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,372, a roll-up sign is disclosed that is made of polyethylene plastic.
Other approaches to eliminate PVC include use of polyolefins that are selected for being recyclable and nonpolluting. The polyolefins include, low-density polyethylene, high-density polyethylene linear low-density polyethylene, polypropylene homopolymer, and copolymers of such polyolefins. Polyolefins may be used for both the coating materials and for woven fabric. Particularly preferred for the woven fabric are polypropylene homopolymer and copolymers. Polypropylene has the advantages of flexibility, light weight, low cost and stain resistance. Polypropylene has the disadvantage of poor adhesion to many coating materials.
Of the hundreds of potential polyolefin coatings, very few have produce soft feel products with flexibility and good adhesion to polyolefin woven fabrics. Polyolefin elastomers offer a reasonable chance of success for a desired coating. Traditional polyolefin elastomers include ethylene elastomers such as ADVANTECH® brand elastomer from DuPont, ENGAGE® brand elastomers from Dupont Dow elastomers, and FLEXOMER® brand elastomers from Union Carbide.
An alternate to polyolefin elastomer is SANTOPRENE® brand bondable thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV). SANTOPRENE® is available in many grades from Advanced Elastomer Systems (AES) of Akron, Ohio. SANTOPRENE® is described as fully dynamically vulcanized EPDM rubber particles in a thermoplastic matrix of polypropylene.
Difficulties are encountered in using elastomer or thermoplastic vulcanizates as fabric coating. Such coatings are often of low abrasion resistance, low adhesion or sticky or tacky. Further such coatings are unable to attain the desired soft tactile characteristic of the present invention.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a soft tactile coating for polyolefin fabrics with superior tactile, abrasion resistance, flexibility and adhesion characteristics. Another object of the present invention is to provide a soft tactile woven polyolefin fabric of recyclable materials utilizing such coatings.

Soft tactile coating for multi-filament woven fabric


An apparatus for harvesting solar power includes a photovoltaic array for generating a DC voltage; a discharge circuit for causing the DC voltage to decay from a first value to a second value; and an inverter circuit for transforming an output voltage from the discharge circuit into an AC voltage.

A photovoltaic array outputs DC voltage. This voltage depends on such factors as solar irradiance, temperature, and the electrical load presented to the array.
To be more commercially useful, one provides this DC voltage to a utility class solar photovoltaic inverter. The inverter converts the DC photovoltaic array output into an AC voltage, which is then stepped up with a transformer and provided to a typical AC utility grid. In addition, the inverter maintains a maximum power point tracker (MPPT) for causing the photovoltaic array to operate at its maximum power point.
Occasionally, the inverter may fail and require maintenance. Or an alarm may trip, and the inverter protections will have to be reset. In either case, the inverter is disabled, and therefore no longer interacts with the photovoltaic array. Once this occurs, the inverter no longer controls the load. As a result, the photovoltaic array's output DC voltage increases.
Eventually, the inverter must be re-enabled so that the photovoltaic array can be put back into service. A difficulty can arise, however, if the output voltage of the array is higher than the maximum operating voltage of the inverter's switching elements. This is particularly likely at cold ambient temperatures. In such cases, re-enabling the inverter may expose the switching elements to excessively high voltage, and thus cause them to fail.
Another problem arises when, at the time the inverter is to be re-enabled, the ambient air temperature is at or near the minimum operating temperature of the switching elements. This arises because as the temperature falls, the breakdown voltage associated with the switching elements also falls. For example, at −40° C., the breakdown voltage of a switching element may be 5%-15% below its breakdown voltage at 25° C.
One solution is to reduce the array's DC voltage output. However, the output voltage depends on factors that are difficult to control, such as solar irradiance and outdoor temperature. It is difficult to temporarily shield the array from the sun, or to change the outdoor temperature so that the inverter can be re-enabled.
A known way to safely re-enable the inverter is to wait until dark, or until the temperature rises sufficiently. However, this is often inconvenient both because of the delay, the resulting lost revenue from electricity production, and the need to employ personnel after normal working hours. Moreover, in extreme latitudes, where days are long, it may be weeks or months until the sky is dark enough to reduce the voltage sufficiently to re-enable the inverter. And at those times when the sky is dark for extended periods, it may be weeks or months before the temperature rises enough to safely re-enable the inverter.

Reducing photovoltaic array voltage during inverter re-enablement


A program method of nonvolatile memory devices, which can solve an under program problem by preventing a drop of a verify voltage in the program, and verify operations. According to an aspect of the method, a program operation is performed on a selected memory cell block. Electric charges charged to a channel of memory cell strings included in unselected memory cell blocks are discharged. A verify operation is performed on the selected memory cell block.

The present invention relates to a method of programming nonvolatile memory devices.
In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for nonvolatile memory devices that can be electrically programmed and erased and do not need the refresh function of rewriting data at specific intervals.
The nonvolatile memory cell is an element enabling electrical program/erase operations and is configured to perform the program and erase operations by changing its threshold voltage as electrons are migrated by a strong electric field applied to a thin oxide layer.
The nonvolatile memory device generally includes a memory cell array in which cells for storing data are arranged in matrix form, and a page buffer for writing memory into specific cells of the memory cell array or reading memory stored in specific cells. The page buffer includes a bit line pair connected to a specific memory cell, a register for temporarily storing data to be written into a memory cell array, or reading data of a specific cell from the memory cell array and temporarily storing the read data therein. The page buffer further includes a sensing node for sensing the voltage level of a specific bit line or a specific register, and a bit line selection unit for controlling whether or not to connect a specific bit line to the sensing node.
In the program and verify operations of this nonvolatile memory device, a problem arises because leakage current is generated by a memory cell block on which the program operation has not been performed. Consequently, an under program phenomenon occurs, in which the level of a verify voltage applied to a memory cell block on which the verify operation has been performed is lowered, and, therefore, the threshold voltage of a target program cell is lowered.

Program method of nonvolatile memory device


A differential limiting control apparatus for a vehicle has: clutch unit interposed between one rotational shaft and the other rotational shaft for variably transmitting a driving force between the one rotational shaft and the other rotational shaft; target differential speed setting unit for setting a target differential speed between the one rotational shaft and the other rotational shaft, actual differential speed detecting unit for detecting an actual differential speed between the one rotational shaft and the other rotational shaft, and clutch torque computing unit for computing an engagement force of the clutch unit by obtaining a deviation between the target differential speed and the actual differential speed, configuring a switching function by using at least a polarity related to an integral term of the deviation, and applying a sliding mode control.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a differential limiting control apparatus for a vehicle installed between a front axle and a rear axle of a four wheel drive vehicle, particularly to a differential limiting a differential motion between rotational shafts of front and rear wheel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as a differential limiting control between one rotational shaft and the other rotational shaft, in particular, between front and rear axles of a four wheel drive vehicle, a technique has been known in which an actual differential speed between the rotational shafts is detected is caused to converge to a target differential speed by a feedback control through a PID (proportional Integration and Differentiation) control.
Under various kinetic conditions of the vehicle, however, there may be caused a risk that a simple PID control causes response and hunting problems, and to cope with this, a countermeasure is adopted in which respective gains in the PID control are interlocked with other parameters (such as lateral acceleration, acceleration, yaw rate). For example, JP-A-6-211063 discloses a technique in which a proportional term gain, a differential term gain and an integral term gain are variably set in accordance with a speed differential between one rotating shaft and another rotating shaft when a yawing momentum is feedback controlled through a PD control or PID control by distributing the driving force between left and right wheels or front and rear wheels.
In the technique in which the aforesaid gains are interlocked with the other parameters to be set, however, to deal with the respective parameters which change every moment while the vehicle is running, highly accurate sensors and high-speed computation processing functions are required. However, when attempting to realize a highly accurate and good-response traction performance, there are caused problems that the costs of a whole system are increased and that the system becomes complicated.

Differential limiting control apparatus for a vehicle and the method thereof


A front derailleur is attachable to a bicycle with a frame in which a fixing bore is provided. The front derailleur basically includes a base member, a chain guide and a link mechanism. The base member has an attaching bore for attaching the base member to a fixing bore of a frame by a fastening member. The chain guide configured to guide a chain. The link mechanism movably couples the chain guide to the base member. The base member is disposed with respect to the chain guide such that at least a part of the attaching bore is disposed in front of the chain guide and above the chain guide while the front derailleur is in a state in which the base member is attached to the frame.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a front derailleur. More specifically, the present invention relates to a front derailleur which is attachable to a bicycle with a crank axis.
2. Background Information
Generally, a front derailleur has a base member which is attachable to a frame of a bicycle, a chain guide which guides a chain, and a link mechanism which movably couples the chain guide to the base member (for example, see Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. S57-57194 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-186176). In this conventional front derailleur, a rear wheel of the bicycle is disposed rearward of the base member. In recent years, it has been proposed that a rear wheel of a larger diameter is used for a bicycle in terms of the traveling performance.


A semiconductor device including a semiconductor substrate having trenches oriented in a predetermined direction; a gate insulating film overlaying the semiconductor substrate interposed between the trenches; and floating gate electrodes formed on the gate insulating film aligned in a predetermined direction and in a direction intersecting thereto, an element isolation insulating film filling the trenches such that an upper surface thereof is higher than an upper surface of the adjoining gate insulating film, wherein the element isolation insulating film includes a first element isolation insulator interposed between neighboring floating gate electrodes in the intersecting direction and a second element isolation insulator interposed between neighboring first element isolation insulators in the predetermined direction. The second element isolation insulator has a sidewall oriented in the predetermined direction, a height thereof from the gate insulating film upper surface being lower than a boundary between the first and the second isolation insulators.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device provided with element isolation regions filled with element isolation insulating films, and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a semiconductor device, particularly a non-volatile semiconductor storage device is manufactured by employing a process in which a gate electrode is formed prior to forming an element isolation region of STI (Shallow Trench Isolation) configuration. As disclosed in JP-A-2002-110822, such process forms a gate insulating film on a semiconductor substrate whereupon a film (a floating gate, for example) is further formed that constitutes a gate electrode. Thereafter an element isolation trench filled with an element isolation insulation film is formed in a predetermined direction in the substrate surface. Thus, the gate insulating film and gate electrode are processed.
The method disclosed in JP-A-2002-110822 involves the following steps. A tunnel insulating film (corresponding to gate insulating film) is formed by thermal oxidation process over a silicon substrate (corresponding to a semiconductor substrate). Formed thereafter is a polycrystalline silicon layer (corresponding to a floating gate electrode film) doped with impurities. Then, a silicon nitride film serving as a stopper for CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polish) process is formed whereafter a silicon oxide film used as a mask in RIE process is formed by LPCVD (Low-Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition). Subsequently, the silicon oxide film, silicon nitride film, polycrystalline silicon layer, and tunnel insulating film are etched sequentially. Then, the silicon substrate is etched to form the element isolation trench.
After several successions of steps, the element isolation trench is completely filled with silicon oxide film deposited by plasma CVD process and the silicon oxide film overlaying the silicon nitride film is planarized by CMP process. Finally, the silicon nitride film serving as a stopper film is removed. The floating gate electrode, the gate insulating film and the element isolation insulating film are formed by the above described process.
In employing the manufacturing method disclosed in JP-A-2002-110822, each film is deposited over the semiconductor substrate surface in a predetermined film thickness. Trenches oriented in a predetermined direction are formed on the substrate surface and the element isolation insulating film is filled therein. Then, an impurity-doped polycrystalline silicon layer having high electrical conductivity is removed in an intersecting direction that intersects the predetermined direction in the substrate surface. Subsequently, by isolating the adjoining floating gate electrodes, two-dimensional floating gate electrodes are formed over the semiconductor substrate surface.
Thus, floating gate electrodes of high spatial efficiency can be formed on the semiconductor substrate surface. This method isolates the floating gate electrode films in two dimensions namely in the predetermined direction and the intersecting direction by removing the floating gate electrode film formed over the semiconductor substrate surface. However, the upper surface of the element isolation insulating film needs to be formed higher than the gate insulating film upper surface. Therefore, the attempt to completely remove the floating gate electrode film formed between the element isolation insulating films fails, leaving remainder floating gate electrode film along the sidewall of the element isolation insulating film in the trench forming direction (predetermined direction). This leads to an electrical conductive connection between the neighboring floating gates in the predetermined direction, which requires defective influence on the device.
Nowadays, subject to the increasing need to scale-down the circuit design rules, the width of the floating gate electrode film interposed between the element isolation insulating films is becoming narrower. This leads to an increase in the trench aspect ratio, requiring critical etching conditions upon removing the floating gate electrode film formed in the gate electrode isolation region.

Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same


An apparatus comprises a ferromagnetic free layer having a first magnetic moment and having a magnetization that rotates in response to an external magnetic field, a first ferromagnetic reference layer positioned adjacent to a first side of the ferromagnetic free layer and having a second magnetic moment that is greater than the first magnetic moment of the ferromagnetic free layer, a second ferromagnetic reference layer positioned adjacent to a second side of the ferromagnetic free layer and having a third magnetic moment that is greater than the first magnetic moment of the ferromagnetic free layer, a first non-magnetic spacer layer positioned between the ferromagnetic free layer and the first ferromagnetic reference layer, a second non-magnetic spacer layer positioned between the ferromagnetic free layer and the second ferromagnetic reference layer, and a source of magnetic field for biasing the first and second ferromagnetic reference layers.

Devices utilizing the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effect have utility as magnetic sensors, especially as read sensors in recording heads used in magnetic disc storage systems. The GMR effect is observed in thin, electrically conductive multi-layer systems having multiple magnetic layers. One sensor type that utilizes the GMR effect is the GMR multi-layer. The GMR multi-layer typically comprises a series of bi-layers, each of which includes a thin sheet of a ferromagnetic material and a thin sheet of a non-magnetic material. The bi-layers are stacked to form a multi-layer device. The multi-layer device is usually mounted in the read head so that the layers are perpendicular to the plane of the disc.
In operation, a sense current is caused to flow through the read head and therefore through the sensor. Magnetic flux from the disc causes a rotation of the magnetization vector in at least one of the layers, which in turn causes a change in the overall resistance of the sensor. As the resistance of the sensor changes, the voltage across the sensor changes, thereby producing an output voltage.
The output voltage produced by the sensor is affected by various characteristics of the sensor. The sense current can flow through the sensor in a direction that is parallel to the planes of the layers or stacked strips. This is known as a current-in-plane or CIP configuration. Alternatively, the sense current can flow through the sensor in a direction that is perpendicular to the planes of the layers or stacked strips that comprise the sensor. This configuration is known as a current-perpendicular-to-plane or CPP configuration.
The CPP sensor is interesting because of its potentially larger giant magnetoresistance (GMR) or change in resistance when a magnetic field is applied. The CPP sensor is therefore capable of producing a higher output voltage than the CIP sensor, which results in a more precise and sensitive read head. The larger change in resistance comes about because all of the current needs to pass through every ferromagnetic/non-magnetic/ferromagnetic (FM/NM/FM) series of interfaces. Because every film and interface leads to additional resistance, it is desirable to have all of the layers and interfaces contribute to the overall change in resistance ΔR of the device.
GMR devices having the described CPP configuration have the potential to be used as read back sensors in data storage systems operating at areal densities on the order of about 1 Tbit/in2. CPP GMR devices offer the prospect of relatively large magnetoresistance ratios, ΔR/R. However, it has been observed that CPP read back sensors produce a significant amount of noise that limits the practical application of CPP GMR devices in recording heads. It has been determined that a major source of this noise results from a phenomenon called spin momentum transfer, which generally refers to the exchange of spin angular momentum between conduction electrons and the magnetic moment of a ferromagnet. This spin momentum transfer effect leads to torques that act on the ferromagnetic layers within a CPP device, consequently leading to unintended magnetization dynamics or noise. This effect will occur between any two adjacent ferromagnetic layers such that every layer within a CPP GMR multi-layer device will fluctuate and contribute to device noise. Therefore, CPP devices that fail to account for spin momentum transfer will inevitably be noisy.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved CPP configuration that overcomes the limitations, disadvantages, or shortcomings of known CPP configurations.

Suppression of spin momentum transfer and related torques in magnetoresistive elements


A method for manufacturing an IGBT device includes: forming a source of the IGBT device in a substrate, wherein the substrate is an MCZ substrate; performing annealing processing on the substrate, wherein a layer of oxide is formed on the surface of the source during an annealing process; forming an interlayer dielectric layer on the substrate, wherein the interlayer dielectric layer is comprised of a silicon nitride layer, a first type oxide layer, and a second type oxide layer, and a material used to form the first type oxide layer is different from a material used to form the second type oxide layer; and performing nitrogen annealing processing on the substrate.

With the development of technologies, the insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) has become a power device widely applied in the field of power electronics. The types of IGBT devices include a punch through (PT) type, a non-punch through (NPT) type, a field stop (FS) type, etc. An FS layer in the FS-type IGBT device is mainly used to block the electric field such that the electric field in an N-type drift region is in a trapezoid distribution, so as to reduce the thickness and doping concentration of the N-type drift region and reduce the break-over voltage drop.
Currently, the FS-type IGBT device manufactured on an 8-inch substrate adopts a floating zone method (FZ) substrate, while a 12-inch substrate device can only adopt a magnetic field applied Czochralski method (MCZ) substrate due to the limitations on the substrate manufacturing technology. In wafer processing factories, power devices and IC products generally share the production line, and phosphosilicate glass (PSG) or borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG) cannot be used for manufacturing FS-type IGBT devices on 12-inch wafers.
Under the influence of the above two factors, the FS-type IGBT device manufactured using a 12-inch substrate has a more serious breakdown voltage walk out phenomenon than the FS-type IGBT device manufactured using an 8-inch substrate.

Shanghai Huahong Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation


In one presently preferred embodiment a stratified scavenging carburetor has a scavenging air passage with an air control valve and a fuel and air mixing passage with a throttle control valve, and a lost motion coupling associated with the valves to delay opening of the closed air valve until the throttle valve has partially opened from its idle position to an off idle position and preferably thereafter to open the air valve in phased relationship with the throttle valve so that the valves become wide open at substantially the same time. Preferably the coupling has reels associated with the valve and connected by a flexible cord.

In a 2-stroke engine, stratified scavenging arrangements have been used to reduce or prevent the blow-through or loss of fuel through exhaust ports at the time of a fuel and air mixture entering the combustion chamber. Some such arrangements use an air passage that is separate from a fuel and air mixture passage, and scavenging is done with a layer of air provided from the air passage at the outset of scavenging, after which scavenging is done with a fuel and air mixture, and at the same time, new air is taken into a crankcase chamber.
In this stratified scavenging arrangement, the fuel to air mixture ratio within a combustion chamber of the engine can become too lean with the addition of air from the air passage at idle and other low speed and low load engine operating conditions resulting in unstable engine operation under these conditions. Further, for improved cold starting and warming up of the engine, it can be desirable to provide a somewhat rich fuel and air mixture to the engine. Scavenging air flow through the air passage at this time can make the fuel and air mixture leaner than desired resulting in difficulty in starting and warming up the engine.


A timbre selector includes a first signal processing unit, a second signal processing unit and a first switch. The first signal processing unit includes a first input terminal, a first filter and a first output terminal. The first input terminal receives a first tone signal. The first filter processes the first tone signal to generate a first processed signal. The second signal processing unit includes a second input terminal, a second filter and a second output terminal. The second input terminal receives a second tone signal. The second filter processes the second tone signal to generate a second processed signal. The first switch is connected to the first output terminal at the first position. The first switch is connected to the first and second output terminals at the second position. The first switch is connected to the second output terminal at the third position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device that selects a timbre.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-080149, filed Apr. 8, 2013, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
In electric musical instruments such as an electric bass (hereinbelow simply called a bass), a timbre selector is sometimes provided that changes the timbre of a tone presented by a signal detected by a pickup (hereinbelow called a pickup signal) to various timbres (for example, a timbre that suppresses the high range and emphasizes the low range).
FIG. 9A is a circuit diagram that shows the constitution of a timbre selector of related art. The timbre selector shown in FIG. 9A includes filters 41, 42, and 43 that change the timbre of the tone that the pickup signal presents, and a switch 50 that has three fixed contacts 51, 52, and 53 and one moving contact 54. The output terminals of the filters 41 to 43 are respectively connected to the fixed contacts 51 to 53 of the switch 50. The switch 50 is for example a lever switch (see, U.S. Pat. No. 2,503,885) in which a moving contact 54 moves together with a lever not shown. The lever of this switch 50 has a position at which the moving contact 54 is connected to the fixed contact 51, a position at which it is connected to the fixed contact 52, and a position at which it is connected to the fixed contact 53. In this timbre selector, a pickup signal is supplied to the filters 41 to 43, and the output signals of the filters 41 to 43 are respectively supplied to the fixed contacts 51 to 53 of the switch 50. The user connects the moving contact 54 with a desired contact among the fixed contacts 51 to 53 by moving the moving contact 54 by operation of the lever. The moving contact 54 outputs the output signal of the filter supplied to that desired fixed contact.
FIG. 9B shows another constitution that changes the timbre of a tone that a pickup signal presents. The device that is shown in FIG. 9B includes filters 61 and 62 that change the timbre of a tone that the pickup signal presents, and a variable resistor 70. The variable resistor 70 has a fixed resistor 71, and a slider 72 that makes contact with the fixed resistor 71 and that enables a user to slide the contact position. The output terminals of the filters 61 and 62 are connected to both ends of the fixed resistor 71. With this constitution, the pickup signal is supplied to the filters 61 and 62, and a signal that is a composite of the signal that has passed through the filter 61 and the signal that has passed through the filter 62 is output from the slider 72 of the variable resistor 70. By sliding the slider 72 between both ends of the fixed resistor 71 to change its position, it is possible to change the composition ratio of the signal that has passed through the filter 61 and the signal that has passed through the filter 62. As a result, it is possible to steplessly alter the timbre of the tone that the signal output from the slider 72 presents in a range between the timbre of the tone that the signal that has passed through the filter 61 presents and the timbre of the tone that the signal that has passed through the filter 62 presents.
However, in a timbre selector that has the switch 50 shown in FIG. 9A, there is the problem that it is not possible to obtain a greater variety of timbres than the number of filters 41 to 43 that are connected to the fixed contacts 51 to 53 of the switch 50.
The device that is shown in FIG. 9B has the problem in which, when the position of the slider 72 of the variable resistor 70 is changed to another position, it is difficult to correctly return it to the original position, and so the reproducibility of a timbre is poor. Also, this device has a constitution that connects the filters 61 and 62 to both ends of the fixed resistor 71 in the variable resistor 70. For this reason, there is the problem of the number of filters being limited to two, and increasing the number of filters being difficult.

Timbre selector, musical instrument, and timbre selecting method


The invention discloses a method of processing Antrodia cinnamomea for producing a processed sample of Antrodia cinnamomea, which easily releases antcin K in a following extraction process. The method includes the steps of: soaking a raw sample of Antrodia cinnamomea with a processing reagent comprising 25-83.3 wt % of rice vinegar and 16.7-75 wt % of yellow wine at 22-28° C. for 22-26 hours; and steaming the soaked product at 1-3 kg/cm2, 110-150° C. for 10-50 minutes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method of processing Antrodia cinnamomea and, more particularly, to a method of processing Antrodia cinnamomea for producing a processed sample of Antrodia cinnamomea, which easily releases antcin K in a following extraction process.
2. Description of the Related Art
Antrodia cinnamomea, a precious traditional Chinese medicine in Taiwan, grows only on inner rotten walls of hollow materials from a conserving species of Cinnamomum kanehirai. Wild species Antrodia cinnamomea is rich in triterpenoids, which are believed to possess effects such as anti-tumor, liver-protective, anti-dotal, anti-high blood lipid and pressure and immuno-modulating activities.
Antcin K (as shown in FIG. 1), one of particular triterpenoids of Antrodia cinnamomea, belongs to ergosterols and shows a similar structure with cholesterol. In this way, antcin K is easy to interfere with the biochemical paths of metabolism of cholesterol and generation of cell membrane, and therefore plays a critical role in cell cycle and physiological metabolism. Also, it is reported that antcin K can lead to apoptosis of liver cancer cells, thereby being dramatically effective in treating of liver cancer.
A conventional method of processing Antrodia cinnamomea is recited in Taiwan patent No. 1471161, which soaks a raw sample of Antrodia cinnamomea with a salt solution, followed by steaming the soaked sample to obtain a conventional processed sample. The conventional processed sample can be further extracted to obtain an extract with an increased dehydrosulphurenic acid level. As such, the obtained extract can be applied to manufacturing the medication for pancreas cancer and/or acute myeloid leukemia.
However, the said obtained extract has a low antcin K level, and therefore shows a decreased effect on treating liver cancer. In light of this, it is necessary to provide a method of processing Antrodia cinnamomea.


Detection of a defect (18) on the surface (15) of an article (10), such as a semiconductor chip, is accomplished by illuminating the chip in a bright field and then capturing the image thereof with a television camera (30) coupled to a machine vision processor (32). To detect the defect (18), the vision processor first adaptively thresholds the captured image to effectively eliminate areas in the image brighter than those associated with the defect (18) which are usually dark. Thereafter, the vision processor (32) erodes and then dilates the dark areas within the image remaining after binarization to isolate those dark areas associated with the defect. The existence of a defect can then be established by the existence of a now-isolated dark area.

There are many articles, such as semiconductors chips for example, which, during manufacture, become damaged and are either immediately rendered inoperative or have their operating lifetime reduced when their exposed surface(s) becomes scratched or stained. Thus, during the manufacture of such articles, one or more visual inspections are commonly performed to detect any surface defects, so that articles bearing a defect can be repaired, if possible, or if not, they can be scrapped prior to any subsequent processing. Detection of defects at an early stage of manufacture helps to reduce manufacturing costs and improve manufacturing yields.
Visual detection of surface defects is a relatively easy task when the article has relatively large surface features. Detection of defects becomes more difficult when the surface features are small, as in the case of a semiconductor chip having an exposed surface whose features have a linewidth often no larger than several microns. The small linewidth of the features on the exposed surface of the semiconductor chip has heretofore made it impractical to employ present day automated vision equipment to detect defects on the exposed chip surface. This is because most automated vision equipment accomplishes inspection by the technique of "pattern matching," which involves matching the image of the pattern of the article undergoing inspection to that of a perfect or "golden" pattern.
The process of detecting defects by the technique of pattern matching requires that the image of the pattern on the article undergoing inspection be accurately registered with the golden pattern. Otherwise, a match between the pattern on the article and the golden pattern becomes practically impossible to obtain. Registration of the pattern of the exposed surface on each of a plurality of chips, formed on a wafer, with a golden pattern, representing a set of perfectly formed chip features, is possible because one or more fiducials are usually present on the wafer. However, once the wafer is diced to separate the chips, it is difficult to register the pattern on each chip with the golden pattern because of the extremely small size of the features and the absence of any fiducials on the chip.
There is a need for a technique for visually detecting very small surface defects, such as scratches or stains, on a semiconductor chip, because often, such defects do not manifest themselves during electrical testing of the chip. As a result, when a semiconductor chip bearing a stain or crack is packaged to form an integrated circuit, there is the likelihood that the integrated circuit may prematurely fail in the field as a result of vibration and thermal cycling.

Method and apparatus for surface inspection


Automated Provisioning of radiotelephone handsets at a fulfillment center and automated quality assurance are disclosed. The provisioning uses a computer database of specifications for authentication and activation from multiple handset manufacturing vendors, radiotelephone service providers, and distributors. A universal interface system is provided to efficiently access diverse makes and models of handsets. The handsets are attached to the interface system in accordance with a build request, checked to see if the attached handset matches the build request, and automatically provisioned via the interface in accordance with the build request.

This invention relates generally to automating the provisioning process for distribution of wireless radiotelephone handsets, and particularly to methods and apparatus for provisioning handsets to meet customer specifications for handsets and communication services. The methods especially limit the need for human interfacing in the process and provide automated quality assurance to control product quality.
Rapid growth has characterized various telecommunication industries, most especially the mobile telephone industry. Because of this rapid growth, there are now many different manufacturers of the radiotelephone handsets used in the mobile phone industry. In addition to the multiple manufacturers, there are also multiple service providers or carriers. To further complicate matters, each carrier can use a different and incompatible mobile phone technology to power its network. Today, there are approximately 10 radiotelephone handset manufacturers, at least 4 major service providers, and at least 4 different technologies for mobile phones. This makes it especially complicated to get phones provisioned properly such that all necessary information required by either the radiotelephone handset seller or the service provider. Manufacturing technology steadily expands the numbers of handset models and arrays of selectable handset features. Similarly, telecommunication service providers adapt features of broadcast systems and business practices to accommodate available hardware features, including differentiating services based on geographic and temporal factors. The services must address both legacy hardware and newly emerging hardware. And distributors of handset packages and service agreements order a wide diversity of handsets and service options to sell, based on marketing needs.
Radiotelephone handsets are typically provisioned at different stages in manufacture, distribution, and use to install data for phone operation with diverse service network functions. A provisioning process is, in part, a sequence of operations for encoding reference data and program routines into radiotelephone handsets (hardware). This enables and authorizes the handsets to communicate via one or more telecommunication systems (services), and makes available handset features for the user to access service features. Provisioning typically requires different processes specific to many different hardware types and service systems, and each provisioning process is typically done piecemeal. Therefore, the work of provisioning is complex and demanding of key resources, especially of human direction and input. Provisioning steps typically occur in vendor factories, in service centers, and at distributor outlets, culminating in some tasks required of the user, i.e. the ultimate customer.
Accordingly, methods and systems are highly valued that can improve provisioning efficiencies while accommodating ongoing changes in the process. U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,084 to Henry, U.S. Pat. No. 6,223,028 to Chang, U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,191 to Gerszberg, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,754,954 to Cannon each teach systems for remote, one-on-one programming of radiophones, for use at point-of-sale by a retailer or post-sale by an end-user.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,491,740 to Ellis provides a mechanical device programmed to physically enter key strokes into handsets for selecting phone and carrier features.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,926,756 to Piosenka, U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,311 to Lipsit, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,487,403 to Carroll each provide computer-controlled, one-on-one programming of telecommunication devices for network operation at their points-of-sale.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,029,143 and 6,393,408 to Mosher and U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,253 to O''Neil teach systems to inventory and distribute pre-packaged and/or pre-programmed phone sets for various manufacturing vendors and cellular service providers. Additionally, the Mosher patents disclose the possibility of a programming step as part of the inventory and distribution system.
There remains in the field a need for an improved method of provisioning radiophone handset with data and programs for activation and operation. The improved method encompasses more automation and less human interaction while still maintaining the ability to provision handsets made by a variety of manufacturers for use by many different service providers.


A confocal microscope uses fluorescent or reflected light obtained by irradiating a plurality of beam spots to a sample so as to observe the sample. The confocal microscope has a phase modulator element which modulates phase of laser light to form the beam spots, a liquid crystal element which forms a plurality of pinholes through which only the fluorescent or the reflected light is transmitted, and a control section which controls the phase modulator element and the liquid crystal element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a confocal microscope, more particularly to a confocal microscope which enables to programmably vary the number of illumination spots and the pinhole sizes.
2. Description of the Related Art
A confocal microscope is used to observe a sample by scanning an optical spot focused onto the sample and bringing fluorescent light or reflected light emanating from the sample into a focus to obtain an image. Confocal microscopes are used for observation of physiological reactions in living cells in the biological and biotechnological fields, observation of morphologies, and observation of surfaces of LSIs in the semiconductor industry.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a related art confocal microscope.
In FIG. 2, a confocal scanner 110 is connected with an aperture 122 of the microscope 120. Laser light 111 is collected into individual light beams by microlenses 117 in a microlens array disk 112. After passage through a dichroic mirror 113, the beams are transmitted through individual pinholes 116 in a pinhole array disk 114 (hereinafter, referred to as "Nipkow disk") and are collected onto a sample 140 on a stage 123 by an objective lens 121 equipped to the microscope 120.
A fluorescent signal emanating from the sample 140 again passes through the objective lens 121 and is collected onto the individual pinholes in the Nipkow disk 114. The beams of the fluorescent signal passed through the individual pinholes are emitted from the confocal scanner 110 such that the beams are reflected by the dichroic mirror 113 and that the beams are collected onto an image sensor 131 via a relay lens 115. In this confocal microscope, the Nipkow disk 114 is rotated at a constant speed by a motor (not shown). Movement of the pinholes 116 caused by the rotation scans the focal points on the sample 140.
Since the plane at which the pinholes of the Nipkow disk 114 are arrayed, the surface of the sample 140 to be observed, and the photosensitive surface of the image sensor 131 are placed in an optically conjugate relationship, an optically sectioned image of the sample 140 (i.e., confocal image) is collected onto the image sensor 131 (see, for example, JP-A-5-60980).
JP-A-5-60980 is referred to as a related art.
In such a confocal microscope, there are about 1,000 pinholes within the field of view. It follows that 1,000 beams are illuminated simultaneously.
Only with this configuration, however, only information about multiple points is derived. Therefore, it is necessary to scan the laser beams in order to accept an image, i.e., planar information. Consequently, a two-dimensional image is constructed in 1 msec (at the highest speed) by rotating a Nipkow disk equipped with microlenses and raster-scanning a plurality of beams.
The related art confocal microscope described above uses the multi-beam scanning technique relying on individual pinholes in a Nipkow disk. In this Nipkow disk, the pinhole sizes are fixed. The illuminating light has a Gaussian distribution obtained by collimating diffused laser light. In principle, the light intensity is not uniform between the center and surrounding portions of the illuminating light. Rather, shading has occurred. Furthermore, the area of the Nipkow disk limits the number of beams hitting the sample and so there is the problem that the field of view is narrowed.


A method of increasing the bioavailability of balsalazide by administration of an oral dosage form with food is provided, as well as an article of manufacture comprising an oral dosage form of balsalazide in a suitable container and associated with printed labeling which describes the increased bioavailability of the medication in the container when taken with food.

Balsalazide disodium is the drug substance of the reference branded drug, COLAZAL®. COLAZAL is indicated for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases, for example mild to moderately active ulcerative colitis, radiation protosigmoidits, and colon cancer (see WO 95/18622). Balsalazide is a colon-specific, non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory aminosalicylate derivative. Balsalazide is also a prodrug containing 5-ASA, linked to 4-amino benzoyl-β-alanine ("4-ABA") by a diazo bond. While 5-ASA is the active therapeutic moiety of balsalazide, it is rapidly converted to the metabolite N-acetyl-5-ASA (NASA) in the mucosa (Allgayer H, Ahnfelt N O, Kruis W et al. Gastroenterology. 1989; 97:38-41). Approximately, 12% of the oral dose can be measured in the blood as this metabolite as compared to <2% of the oral dose of 5-ASA that is systemically absorbed (COLAZAL Package Insert, September 2006). NASA is known to be of lower anti-inflammatory activity in the colon (van Hogezand R A, van Hees P A, van Gorp J P, van Lier H J, Bakker J H, Double-blind comparison of 5-aminosalicylic acid and acetyl-5-aminosalicylic acid suppositories in subjects with idiopathic proctitis. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 1988 February; 2(1):33-40), and is therefore thought to be less toxic when in the systemic circulation.
Pharmacokinetic studies have not previously been conducted to evaluate the effect of food on the pharmacokinetics of balsalazides, e.g., balsalazide. More bioavailability of the drug substance and less systemic adsorption has been sought to increase both speed of onset and amount of therapeutic effect.
Thus, there is a need in the art for dose regimens that decrease the systemic level of total mesalamine (5-ASA and NASA) and increase the systemic level of NASA at the expense of decreasing the level of 5-ASA (e.g., the ratio of NASA to 5-ASA) in the systemic circulation. There is also a need in the art for dose regimens that delay the transit of 5-ASA in the colon, as this will also result in an increase in contact time with the colonic mucosa, and increase efficacy of the drug.

Formulations and uses of 2-hydroxy-5-phenylazobenzoic acid derivatives


A bandgap reference circuit is disclosed operating under a predetermined low voltage source. The circuit has a first circuit with a first differential amplifier for generating a first current, a second circuit with a second differential amplifier for generating a second current, and a bandgap reference voltage output module for combining the first current and the second current to output a bandgap reference voltage, wherein the first circuit and the second circuit complement each other for offsetting variations of the bandgap reference voltage due to temperature changes.

The present invention relates generally to an integrated circuit (IC) design, and more particularly to a system of bandgap reference circuit that is capable of below 1 volt operations and designed for providing other ICs with a reference voltage.
Voltage reference is a necessary functional block for the operation of mixed-mode and analog integrated circuits (ICs) such as data converters, phase lock-loops (PLL), oscillators, power management circuitries, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), flash memory, and much more. A voltage reference must be, at least inherently, well-defined and insensitive to temperature, power supply and load variations. The resolutions of the ICs mentioned above, such as the data converters, are limited by the precision of its reference voltage over the circuit's supply voltage and operating temperature ranges. The bandgap reference voltage is required to exhibit both high power supply rejection and low temperature coefficient, and is probably the most popular high performance voltage reference used in ICs today. IC design is now predominated by low power, low voltage objectives, making complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) the technology of choice.
An early attempt for the solution is a conventional bandgap reference circuit that uses conventional bipolar technology to create a stable low reference voltage at around 1.2 volts. This conventional bandgap reference circuit is designed to provide a stable reference voltage at a targeted operation point, i.e. 1.2 volts. However, a zero-current state is also a stable operating point, and the reference voltage may stay at the zero-current state even after the current of the bandgap reference circuit is built up. Therefore, this convention bandgap reference circuit is typically equipped with an additional start-up circuit. The start-up circuit is designed to provide a start-up current to initiate the current of the bandgap reference circuit to be built up. Once the current of the bandgap reference circuit is built up, the start-up current is turned off and the bandgap reference circuit will provide a stable reference voltage at the targeted operation point.
However, recent IC design typically requires sub-1 volt operation regions, thereby rendering conventional systems as discussed above not so satisfactory. While there exists other conventional bandgap reference circuits that can operate below 1 volt, there are still start-up issues. While start-up issues can be overcome by equipping these conventional circuits with start-up circuits, the existence of the interface between these conventional circuits and the start-up circuits often makes these conventional circuits unreliable.
Therefore, it is desirable to design a new bandgap reference circuit without start-up problems that can also operate at below 1 volt.


A display device that can prevent the thermal destruction and screen burn-in caused by display patterns has been disclosed. In this device, the display luminance is determined by the number of light emissions, and there are provided a sustain frequency control section that controls the sustain frequency, a load ratio calculation section that calculates the load ratio for each frame of display data, plural counters, a load ratio counter control section that controls so as to increase the counts of the counters corresponding to the load ratio level calculated by the load ratio calculation section, and a first judgment section that outputs a first control signal when any of the counts exceeds a first reference value, wherein the sustain frequency control section decreases the sustain frequency according to the first control signal.

The present invention relates to a display device such as a plasma display (PD) device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a display device in which the display luminance is determined by the number of light emissions and the total number of light emissions in each cell of a display frame can be altered.
Recently, a display device has been required to be thinner with a larger screen size and to have a finer resolution, plus being capable of coping with the diversification of information to be displayed and conditions under which the product is installed. Types of a thin display devices include types such as LCD, fluorescent display tube, EL and PDP (plasma display panel). In a fluorescent display tube, EL or PDP, a gradation display is generally obtained by composing a display frame of plural subframes, weighting each subframe period in order to be different from each other, and expressing each bit of the gradation data by the corresponding subframe. A description is given below with a PDP as an example. As the PDP device is widely known, a detailed description of a PDP device itself is not given here but only a general description of a general PDP device is given.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram that shows the general configuration of a general PDP device. On a panel 10, plural X electrodes and Y electrodes are arranged adjacently by turns and plural address electrodes are arranged in the direction perpendicular to them. The plural X electrodes are connected commonly and an identical drive signal is applied thereto by an X side common driver 11. The plural Y electrodes are connected to a Y side scan driver 12 individually, and a scan pulse is applied sequentially during an address period. To the Y side scan driver 12, a Y side common driver 13 is connected and an identical drive signal is applied to the Y electrode during a reset period and sustain discharge period. The address electrode is connected to an address driver 14, an address pulse is applied during the address period in synchronization with the scan pulse, and the display cell in the line selected by the scan pulse is selected to be lit or not. A control section 15 internally comprises a display data control section 16, a scan driver control section 17 and a display/power control section 18, and a vertical synchronization signal Vsync, a dot clock and display data are supplied from the outside. The control section 15 comprises a CPU and each part mentioned above can be realized by hardware and by software run by the CPU. To the address driver 14, address pulse data is supplied from the display data control section 16. The X side common driver 11, the Y side scan driver 12 and the Y side common driver 13 are controlled by a scan driver control section 17.
As the method for driving a PDP device, the gradated display by the subframe method and power control have been disclosed, as in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2002-99242, no basic description is given here.
As only two-value states are allowed, that is, a state of being lit and a state of being unlit, gradation is expressed by varying the numbers of light emissions in a PDP device. Therefore, the subframe method is employed, in which a frame is divided into plural subframes and the subframes to be lit are combined for display. The number of light emissions (the number of sustain pulses) in each subframe is adequately determined in advance and the maximum number of light emissions in each display cell is the total number of light emissions of all the subframes. As the maximum number of light emissions in each display cell is generally called the sustain frequency, the term is also used here.
When a bright picture is displayed, the total number of light emission pulses in a display frame is increased and the power consumption, that is, the consumed current is increased. The number of light emission pulses in a display frame over the entire screen becomes a maximum when all the cells are lit at the sustain frequency. The display load ratio is used as an index that shows the level of brightness of the entire picture. The display load ratio is a ratio of the total number of light emission pulses in all the cells in a display frame to the maximum number of light emission pulses. The display load ratio is 0% when all the cells are displayed in black, and 100%, when all the cells are displayed at the maximum luminance.
As the current that flows during the sustain period stand predominant as regards the consumed current, if the number of light emission pulses in a display frame is increased, the consumed current is also increased. If the number of sustain pulses in each subframe is assumed to be constant, that is, the sustain frequency is constant, the power consumption P (or consumed current) increases as the display load ratio increases.
A limit is set to the power consumption in the PDP device. It is possible to set the sustain frequency so that the power consumption is below the limit even when the display load ratio is maximum, that is, all the cells are displayed at the maximum luminance. However, the display load ratio of a normal picture is in the range from about 10% to about 30%, so it is highly unlikely that the display load ratio approaches 100% and, as a result, a problem occurs that a normal display becomes dark. Therefore, the power control is taken so that a display as bright as possible is obtained in the range in which the power consumption P is below the limit, by varying the sustain frequency according to the display load ratio. This power control is taken by the display/power control section 18 shown in FIG. 1. Conventional power controls have been disclosed in, for example, the above-mentioned Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2002-99242.
In the plasma display (PDP) device, heat is produced by light emission and discharge in each cell and the amount of produced heat is in proportion to the number of light emissions in a unit of time. Due to this, a large amount of heat is produced locally depending on the display pattern, the distribution of temperature appears on the panel surface, and thermal destruction may be caused at portions where the temperature gradient is large.
In order to solve these problems, the above-mentioned Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2002-99242 has disclosed a technology that can reduce the sustain frequency when a state in which the sustain frequency is large continues and there is the possibility that a thermal destruction will occur, the technology being developed by focusing on the fact that such a problem occurs only when the sustain frequency is large in the case where the sustain frequency is controlled according to the display load ratio.
One of the patterns that cause thermal destruction is, for example, a still picture with high contrast. If such a pattern is displayed for a long time, the phosphors and the like at the pattern are deteriorated and a phenomenon called the burn-in occurs, even if the thermal destruction is not caused. The technology disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2002-99242 is simple, but a problem occurs that the brightness is lowered due to the reduction in the sustain frequency even when there is no problem of thermal destruction or burn-in in the case of video.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publishing (Kokai) No. 10-207423 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publishing (Kokai) No. 2000-10522 have disclosed a configuration in which control is done so that the luminance is lowered when a display pattern that will cause thermal destruction or burn-in is detected by comparing the display data in successive frames.


A tube coupling includes a body having a cylindrical projection to engage in a tube to be secured to the body. A grab ring is mounted by arms having openings to snap onto abutments on the coupling body. The grab ring encircles with a clearance the projection and engages an outer surface of a tube pushed onto the projection to grip and resist withdrawal of the tube from the projection.

1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to tube couplings and in particular to tube couplings comprising coupling bodies to which a tube is connected.
2. The Relevant Technology
A number of arrangements are known for securing tubes to tube coupling bodies. For example our UK Patent Specification No. 1520742 discloses a coupling body having a throughway open at one end to receive a tube with a collet having resilient fingers located in the open end of the coupling body and cooperating with an internal cam surface in the coupling body to cause, with movement of the collet outwardly of the coupling body, the collet arms to be forced inwardly into gripping engagement with the tube to lock the tube in the coupling body. We have a number of subsequent patent specifications disclosing further development of this arrangement including UK patent specification no. 1573757, UK patent specification no. 2131903, UK patent specification no. 2167147 and UK patent specification no. 2172948. These arrangements all deploy a collet of one form or another to lock the tube in the coupling body. Arrangements have also been devised in which the tube is locked in the coupling body by a grab ring such as the arrangement shown in our European patent publication no. 0751329. In this arrangement a grab ring is mounted internally in a coupling body to engage the outer surface of a tube in the coupling body to resist withdrawal of the tube.
The object of the present invention is to provide a simple arrangement for securing a tube to a coupling body which can easily be disconnected and reassembled when required and also allows the user to see the tube has been correctly secured to the coupling body.


An elongated body, capable of serving as a length of drill string, has two major portions with each portion providing an end for connection to the drill string with drilling fluid channels extending from end to end. One portion extends into the other and is hinged therein for deflection of the center lines of opposite ends. A piston in the body responds to drilling fluid flow to actuate the deflection of a few degrees. A turret carried by the body has a cam and groove relationship with the structure carried by the piston such that it turns one increment each time the piston makes a round trip of axial excursions. On alternate round trips of excursions, the piston is stopped short of the movement needed to deflect the body and instead holds the body straight until the fluid flow is reduced to begin another piston excursion. An internal valve is operated by the piston to cause a pressure rise in the drilling fluid stream when the piston moves enough to deflect the body. The fluid pressure change is detectable at the surface to indicate to the driller that the deflected state then exists.

In recent years the use of active deviation control tools in the drill string bottom hole assembly has been commonplace. Whether to cause deliberate well bore deviation or to prevent unwanted deviation, elements of the down hole assembly are commonly used for the control purpose. Selective placement of stabilizers can sometimes be used by the skillful driller but results at best are somewhat uncertain. Rigid bent subs can be used above drilling motors, or within the motor body. These are not active in that the bend cannot be controlled from the surface but when used with down hole steering instruments to control rotational orientation they are reliable with the application of moderate driller skill and experience. Active deflection tools can be supplied to apply lateral force on the well bore wall to deflect the bit but these tools tend to be complicated and, hence, tend to be troublesome. Active tools to deflect the drill string centerline at a pivot point can be about the most simple of the active class. Adding the ability to operate as a straight tool or a deflected tool by choice of the driller at the surface adds little to the complexity and it is that tool to which this invention is directed.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide apparatus responsive to the manipulation of the rate of flow of drilling fluid through the drill string to selectively cause the drill string centerline to deviate near the drill head of a down hole assembly.
It is another object of this invention to provide apparatus for use in the drill string near the drill head to respond to selected manipulation of the drilling fluid flow to maintain the centerline of the drill string in a straight configuration.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide apparatus near the drill head to respond to repeated selected manipulations of the drilling fluid flow rate to change the down hole assembly between bent and straight configuration each time the flow rate is selectively manipulated.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide a drilling fluid pressure signal, detectable at the surface, to indicate which configuration exists down hole.
These and other objects, advantages, and features of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of this specification, including the attached claims and appended drawings.


An organizer device for holding and concealing a firearm within the main interior compartment of a bag includes a bag insert for being received by and fitting within the main compartment of the bag. The insert includes a peripheral wall surrounding a main receptacle of the insert. A holster is attached to the peripheral wall and has an interior holster chamber and a closure for selectively closing and opening the holster chamber. A holster pouch is removably received and supported within the holster chamber. The holster pouch has an interior space for receiving the firearm. The interior space is configured to generally conform to a peripheral shape of the firearm such that movement of the firearm within the interior cavity of the holder insert is constrained.

Personal safety and security concerns have caused many persons to carry concealed firearms and other types of crime deterrent devices such as chemical mace. In particular, women have been increasingly apt to carry a concealed weapon on their person. However, often times the construction or style of a woman's clothing does not permit proper concealment of the firearm. In addition, a concealed handgun cannot be safely or comfortably carried in many if not most types of women's apparel. Such a weapon is also likely to be awkward, time consuming and inconvenient to access when needed.
Many women carry a bag of some sort, such as a purse, handbag, pocketbook, etc. to store and carry items such as keys, money, a driver's license, credit cards and assorted personal items. However, these types of containers are usually inappropriate for carrying a concealed firearm. Many handbags are sizeable and filled with a variety of items. A handgun or similar weapon is typically fairly heavy and is likely to fall to the bottom of the bag. It can also become mixed with and potentially misplaced within other items carried in the bag. As a result, the firearm may be difficult and time consuming to locate, which is very undesirable in an emergency situation. The owner of the firearm may have to fumble around and search through the bag in order to locate and retrieve the weapon.
Although many purses and handbags do include individual pockets and compartments, these remain largely unsatisfactory for use in storing a concealed firearm. For one thing, the pockets and compartments in conventional handbags and purses are not specially designed or dedicated for use in holding a concealed firearm. They may be filled with change and other miscellaneous items that again can interfere with prompt location and retrieval of the firearm. Moreover, it is quite significant that the storage compartments in existing bags and purses are not properly configured to secure the firearm in a static orientation within the bag. Rather, the position of the firearm is likely to shift and move as the bag or purse is being carried. Not only can this further disorganize the contents of the purse, it can also impede the owner's ready access to the firearm in the event of an emergency. Moreover, if the firearm is not held in a perfectly static condition within the purse, with the barrel of the firearm pointing in a downward direction, serious and potentially deadly safety hazard may result. If the firearm shifts position while the bag is carried, the barrel of the firearm may turn and point upwardly or at some other angle that may be extremely dangerous to the owner or passersby in the event that the firearm accidentally discharges inside the bag.
I have determined that a significant need exists for a means to conveniently carry firearms of various sizes in a concealed, yet secure, safe and organized manner within virtually any conventional purse, handbag or similar item. I have further determined that it is critical that the firearm be constrained in a static position within the handbag so that it does not move during transport and create the safety hazard described above. The organizer should be constructed so that the firearm may be quickly, conveniently and effectively accessed in the event of an emergency.

Purse and handbag organizer with integral firearm holster


An outer ring of a clamp-type joint for vacuum apparatus is disclosed. The joint includes a base forming an outer circumferential side and a pair of brims respectively extending from the top and bottom of the base toward the center axis of the joint, the inner side of the brims on which the brims come into contact with the O-ring being in the form of a convex sector, of which the arc faces the O-ring. The radius r of the circle forming the sector is 0.6-2.5 mm and the thickness (t0) satisfies the following formula: t1−0.2≦t0≦t1+0.4. In the formula, t1 is a thickness (mm) of the center ring at the point at which the center ring engages with the O-ring. The clamp-type joint can exhibit stable sealing performance at a high temperature of 250° C. or more without cracking of the O-ring.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an outer ring and a clamp-type joint for vacuum apparatus using the outer ring, which does not cause cracking of an O-ring during use at a high temperature.
2. Background Art
A typical example of a conventional clamp-type joint for vacuum apparatus specified in JIS B8365 (ISO 2861/1) ("Dimensions and shapes of clamp-type joint for vacuum apparatus", 1988, hereinafter referred to as "JIS standard") is shown in FIG. 3. The clamp-type joint for vacuum apparatus 100 has a coupling 101 having a pair of parallel flat planes 111 and 111, a center ring 102, of which the outer circumference is a concave groove 112, inserted between the pair of flat planes 111 and 111 of the coupling 101, an O-ring 103 engaged with the concave groove 112 of the center ring 102, and a brim 113 of the coupling 101 which is fastened by clamps (not shown) to seal fluids in the planes 111 and 111 of the coupling 101 and the face of the O-ring 103.
A slight internal pressure (positive pressure) may be applied to the clamp-type joint for vacuum apparatus 100, even in the case in which the sealing object is a vacuum pipe. If an internal pressure is applied, the O-ring of the clamp-type joint expands outwardly, thereby inhibiting stable sealing performance and causing a fluid to leak. In the worst case, the O-ring may come off from the clamp-type joint, thereby inhibiting sealing. In order to obviate this problem and to inhibit outward expansion of the O-ring 103 due to internal pressure, an outer ring 105 with a U-shaped cross-section made of metal is provided around the circumference of the O-ring 103 in a manner to cause the O-ring 103 to be engaged therewith, as shown in FIG. 4. A clamp-type joint for vacuum apparatus 200 having this structure can inhibit outward expansion of the O-ring when internal pressure is applied in a pipe of a vacuum apparatus, thereby ensuring stable sealing performance. In addition, since O-rings used for clamp-type joints have improved heat resistance in recent years, the clamp-type joint used in pipes of vacuum apparatuses are used at a high temperature of 200° C. or more in certain occasions.
However, if the clamp-type joint for vacuum apparatus 200 equipped with an outer ring is used at a high temperature of 200° C. or more, the O-ring 103 may crack, resulting in sealing failure in the worst case.
An object of the present invention is, therefore, to provide a clamp-type joint for vacuum apparatus which can exhibit stable sealing performance at a high temperature of 200° C. or more without cracking of the O-ring and an outer ring used with the clamp-type joint.
In view of this situation, the inventors of the present invention have conducted extensive studies. As a result, the inventors have found that (1) the O-ring cracks at the parts in which a pair of top and bottom brims forming a U-shaped outer ring contacts (X in FIG. 5), (2) analysis using a finite element method (FEM) taking into consideration the coefficient of thermal expansion at a high temperature of 250° C. confirmed, based on the internal stress distribution of the O-ring as shown in FIG. 5, that a maximum large stress of 54 MPa is concentrated in the X parts, (3) due to the greater coefficient of thermal expansion of the rubber used for the O-ring than the coefficient of thermal expansion of metal used for the outer ring by several digits, the O-ring significantly expands outwardly, is pressed against the outer ring, and strongly pushes the brim of the outer ring at high temperatures, creating a large stress concentration, which results in cracking of the O-ring, and therefore, (4) if the brim has a shape of a convex sector on the side coming in contact with the O-ring, the stress concentration to that part can be reduced and the problem of O-ring cracking can be solved. These findings have led to the completion of the present invention.

Outer ring and clamp-type joint for vacuum apparatus


A device for detecting absence of a Plain Old Telephony Service or POTS splitter on a Digital Subscriber Line, includes a device for collecting channel transfer function data or the Digital Subscriber Line, and a device for detecting a single hole in the channel transfer function data.

It is well known that DSL technology is not compatible with POTS devices such as a telephone or fax apparatus concurrently using the same wiring. In order to guarantee a reliable and stable DSL service, a POTS splitter, i.e. a dedicated device filtering the POTS frequency band from the frequency bands used for upstream and downstream DSL service, is installed. Such POTS splitter has to be installed centrally or on each POTS device at the customer premises. The installation of such POTS splitter(s) is often done by the end-user.
Absence or improper installation of a POTS splitter leads to interference between POTS and DSL signals, resulting in DSL service degradation or service instability through transmission errors and resynchronizations. A DSL operator faced with service degradation or instability on a particular DSL line must determine the cause of the service degradation in order to be able to repair the service. In addition, the DSL operator must determine the responsible party of the service degradation in order to be able to charge the intervention or reparation costs to that party. Absence or improper installation of a POTS splitter may result in the end-user being charged for the intervention, whereas service degradation resulting from impairments in the DSL operator's domain are paid for by the DSL operator.
Several tools and mechanisms have been developed already to assist DSL operators in detecting the absence or improper installation of POTS splitters, but these existing methods are slow, complex, have limited reliability and/or require the presence of the customer as will be explained in the following paragraphs.
A straightforward solution consists in dispatching a technician to the customer premises in order to verify if all POTS devices have been configured properly with POTS splitters. Such solution is expensive and time consuming, and access is required to the customer premises, i.e. the end-user's home or office.
An alternative solution, the so-called time segmentation algorithm, relies on detection of parameter changes resulting from a transition between the on-hook and off-hook states of a telephone. In the absence of a POTS splitter, such a transition exhibits an impedance change that is so severe that the DSL line has to resynchronize. After the transition between on-hook and off-hook state, the operational line parameters of the DSL line, like bit rate, noise margin, signal-to-noise ratio or SNR, etc. have changed completely. By monitoring the parameter variations at the transition from on-hook to off-hook state, the time segmentation algorithm can detect absence of a POTS splitter.
The time segmentation algorithm is disadvantageous in that it requires at least one phone call to happen on the monitored line. Detection of the absence of a POTS splitter consequently is slow because typical monitoring periods of 1 day are required in order to capture a phone call. Moreover, the end-user must be present at the customer premises to pick up the phone.
The time-segmentation algorithm may be improved by inducing a phone event, e.g. sending a ringing signal in the POTS frequency band, while monitoring the DSL operational line parameter changes. The ringing signal however may be insufficient to cause detectable parameter variations. The best results are obtained when the phone transits from on-hook to off-hook status, but this so called interactive test requires presence of the end-user at the customer premises to pick up the phone. This improved time-segmentation algorithm is further disadvantageous in that it requires access to both DSL and telephone switch infrastructure. This involves complex Operation Support System (OSS) integration.
Another existing solution relies on detection of leakage of signal power from the upstream DSL band into the downstream DSL band as a result of inter-modulation induced by a POTS device in the absence of a POTS splitter. The inter-modulation phenomenon is not linear. As a result, a small variation in the upstream transmitted power may result in large variation of for instance the SNR in the downstream band. This existing test therefore consist in varying the upstream transmitted power and monitoring the operational line parameter changes in the downstream band.
Although no access is required to POTS equipment and the presence of a person at the customer premises is no longer needed, this method still involves complex OSS integration because a change in the line configuration parameters is needed. The test based on inter-modulation is further poorly reliable because not all POTS devices induce an inter-modulation level that is sufficiently to make POTS splitter absence detectable. Further, the test is plagued by false positive detection because other impairments, like for instance oxidized contacts, can also create inter-modulation.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a device and method for detection of absence of a POTS splitter on a DSL line that resolves the above mentioned shortcomings of existing solutions. More precisely, it is an objective of the present invention to disclose a device and method that detects the absence of a POTS splitter without dispatching technicians, without requiring lengthy monitoring periods, without requiring presence of a human being at the customer premises, without complex OSS integration involving access to POTS equipment, and with improved reliability.

Device and method for detecting absence of a POTS splitter in a digital subscriber line


A feeder for orienting and aligning disorderly incoming articles includes a table having a peripheral wall, a rotary surface surrounded by the peripheral wall, and a discharge substantially tangential to the peripheral wall, the discharge being sized to receive one article at a time from the rotary surface in a predetermined orientation; and at least one pile eliminating member extending above the rotary surface and defining a gap with the rotary surface, the gap being sized to solely permit passage of non-superposed articles laying in the predetermined orientation on the rotary surface. It also relates to a method for doing same and a method and an apparatus for removing obstructing blocks from the discharge.

1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a feeder for orienting items from a disorderly block supply and, more particularly, it relates to a feeder having a rotary table and an apparatus for breaking up superposition of items on the rotary table and mechanisms for unjamming the block discharge.
2) Description of the Prior Art
Rotary disk feeders are commonly used for orienting and aligning items from a disorderly bulk supply, mainly in the food industry (See for instance U.S. Pat. No. 3,224,554; U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,487; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,852). Typically they include a disk turning about its axis and are designed to receive the product to be aligned in bulk. The rotary disk is surrounded by a peripheral wall which has a discharge aperture substantially tangential to the peripheral wall. The items oriented and aligned are discharged through the discharge aperture in a single file.
These rotary tables perform well for uniformly sized and mostly short and uniform length items. However, the performance of these rotary tables with blocks having different lengths and/or with relative long items are often inadequate. Several problems typically occur such as blocks wedging at the discharge because the items are pilled on top of each other or are not tangent to the peripheral wall.
These problems often occur in the wood industries where wood blocks need to be aligned and oriented for feeding wood working machines such as finger jointers or scanning equipment, for instance.
Some methods have been tried to prevent the obstruction such as wipers or deflectors to wipe off any portion of the items that exceeds the thickness of the items being processed. However, these methods are inefficient for long items and items having a length dispersion, i.e. having non-uniform or random lengths.
Moreover, for some applications, it is desirable to have a predetermined spacing between two consecutive aligned and oriented blocks.