A method of labeling, authenticating and/or identifying a paper, credit/identification card, bank note, article or any other object using both nuclear magnetic resonance in magnetically ordered materials and nuclear quardrupole resonance phenomena as well as other phenomena of electric/magnetic dipole or tunnel transitions between Stark-Zeeman sub-levels, frequencies of which belong to the radio-frequency band. A minor amount of at least one authenticating substance is added to the object, the substance having a strong unique and identifiable response in radio-frequency domain at room temperature, with the spectroscopy being performed in the absence of any supported external static field, and with any specific response (intensity, line width, line shape, splittings, free induction decay, spin echoes or their combinations) being used as a criterion for discrimination.

Numerous techniques are already known for authenticating papers of value, or the like, with the aid of spot reactions (Dutch patent application No. 6613250) or fluorescence (French Pat. No. 2,289,976; U.S. Pat. No. 4,146,792).
A variety of electronic surveillance of goods or personnel verification systems currently exists. They involve detection of macroscopic magnetic properties (U.S. Pat. No. 5,146,204) or macroscopic resonance associated with LC electrical circuit resonance (U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,391; Japanese Patent No. 4,800,369; Dutch Patent No. 5,068,641; U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,045; Dutch Patent NO. 5,051,727), or bulk mechanical vibration resonance, or nonlinear electrical transponders or high permeability magnetically saturated soft magnetic elements.
A first patent which claimed the application of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR, also know as electron spin resonance--ESR) to the problems of authenticating or identifying papers of value was U.S. Pat. No. 4,376,264. It teaches the use of substances having EPR characteristics detected by high field EPR in microwave band (from 9 GHz). U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,946 claims the use of ESR in radio-frequency band for solving the same problem. U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,499 claims resolution of the authenticating problem with the help of such magnetic resonance phenomena as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), electron spin resonance (ESR), ferromagnetic resonance (FR), ferrimagnetic resonance (FER), antiferrimagnetic resonance (AFER), domain wall resonance (DWR), spin wave resonance (SWR), spin-echoes (SER).
All of the aforementioned patents are based on a variety of magnetic resonance phenomena. These phenomena are associated with nuclear, electron, atomic or molecular magnetic dipole moments acting individually or cooperatively in the presence of external magnetic fields to give nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), electron spin/paramagnetic resonance (ESR, EPR), ferromagnetic resonance etc. The magnetic resonance is exhibited when the dipole moments precessing in the magnetic fields absorb and re-radiate microwave or radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation at or very close to the precession frequency. The serious disadvantage of applying aforementioned phenomena to the purposes of authenticating and/or identifying objects is necessity of an external static magnetic field for the excitation and detection of a resonance response. This magnetic field can be supplied either as a large field over the entire interrogation volume, or by a small permanent or semi-permanent magnet placed close to the resonant material and carried around with it and the object. For getting resonance responses with high sensitivity and high resolution the said field should be strong (about or more than 0.01 T) and homogeneous. These demands make both the marker/label and instrument design complicated. Further, the presence of a strong external magnetic field within the interrogation volume or near the marker runs the risk of health damage (pacemakers etc.) as well as the risk of wiping out data contained on magnetic media; all this makes it impossible for identifying credit or bank cards.

Method for labeling, verification and/or identifying and device for implementing the method


A security structure of portable hard disk drive is disclosed to include a bracket fixedly mounted in a computer case, a plurality of portable hard disk drives inserted into respective sliding grooves inside the bracket at different elevations, and a locking rod, for example, a long screw for insertiing through a through hole on the top panel of the bracket and a respective through hole on each portable hard disk drive and threading into a nut at the bottom panel of the bracket to affix the portable hard disk drives to the bracket. The locking rod is kept from sight after installation of the portable hard disk drives in the bracket and closing of the computer case.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a security structure and more particularly, to a security structure of portable hard disk drive.
2. Description of Related Art
A computer may be quipped with a cap and a lock for locking portable hard disk drive(s) to the inside of the computer case. However, this arrangement does not guarantee a high security. Because the cap and the lock are exposed to the outside of the computer case, a person can access to storage data in the portable hard disk drive(s) easily by using a tool to damage the lock and open the cap.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a security structure of portable hard disk drive that eliminates the aforesaid problem.

Security structure of portable hard disk drive


A power transmission belt with a body made from a first rubber composition in which at least one load carrying member is embedded. The body has a plurality of laterally spaced ribs with exposed surfaces on the inside of the body. The ribs are made from a second rubber composition in which: a) a plasticizer of 8.3 to 10.7 (cal/cm3)1/2 in solubility parameter; and b) solid lubricant are respectively blended in an amount: i) 5 to 25 pts.wt.; and ii) 5 to 50 pts.wt. per 100 pts.wt. ethylene-α-olefin elastomer. The body further has short fibers fixed at the exposed, pulley engaging rib surfaces.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to power transmission belts and, more particularly, to a power transmission belt with a plurality of ribs extending lengthwise of the belt.
2. Background Art
Power transmission belts are used on a wide range of vehicles in many different environments. As an example, power transmission belts are used to drive auxiliary components such as air compressors, alternators, or the like, on such vehicles. Over the years, the performance expectations for such belts have increased.
There is a growing emphasis on minimizing noise generation during operation of such vehicles. Efforts have been made to eliminate, to the extent possible, all noise other than that generated by the engine of the vehicle itself, during operation. To achieve this end, measures have been taken to minimize sound generation caused by the interaction between power transmission belts and complementary pulleys that drive and/or are driven by such belts.
Sound tends to generate when belts slip relative to cooperating pulleys, as may be caused by variations in the rotational speed of the engine and/or operation under high load conditions. Additionally, noise generates as belt ribs wear during normal operation, as an incident of which the ribs tend to adhere to the bottom of cooperating grooves, particularly with a V-ribbed belt construction.
Noise also tends to generate in systems wherein there is misalignment of system pulleys that causes the belts to twist and/or skew as they move in their respective paths. Sound generates based upon disproportional loading. All of these conditions may generate noise that is audible to occupants of the vehicles.
Rubber belts are generally required to transmit relatively large forces not only under dry conditions, but also in humid conditions and in conditions wherein water, as in the form of rain, is in contact with the belts and pulleys. As one example, with an engine operating, water entering the engine compartment in rainy weather tends to migrate into gaps between the belts and cooperating pulleys. As a result, the slip rate of the belts increases, which compromises their performance by reducing their ability to transmit forces. This condition also is responsible for noise generation.
To address the above problems, it is known in the art to incorporate into the rubber, defining ribs of a V-ribbed belt, cotton short fibers, together with nylon short fibers having an intermediate elasticity modulus between the elasticity modulus of the belt body rubber and that of the cotton short fibers. This construction is disclosed in JP-A-2003-202055.
In this construction, the cotton and nylon short fibers suppress the rapid slip phenomenon that tends to generate unwanted noise during operation.
To effectively control the slip phenomenon and noise generation, the cotton and nylon short fibers must be exposed at the surfaces of the belt, such as those on a V-ribbed belt, that engage cooperating pulley surfaces. To accomplish this, the fibers are fully embedded in the belt rubber during formation. The fibers are oriented laterally in the ribs. To form the ribs, the rubber layer in which the fibers are embedded is cut. This results in potentially relatively high manufacturing costs and also produces rubber waste that must be handled after the belt formation.
With this construction, most of the short fibers in the ribs are fully embedded in the rib rubber. The portion of the fibers exposed at the pulley-engaging surfaces is relatively small compared with the overall blended quantity of the short fibers within the rubber. As a result, the exposed fiber portions may not effectively suppress slippage and avoid unwanted sound emission.
To address this concern, the amount of short fibers within the rubber may be increased. However, by so doing, the flexibility of the belt may be significantly compromised. Alternatively, the degree of exposure of the embedded fibers may be increased by deforming the projecting portions thereof, as through a polishing process. As a practical matter, the deformation of the short fibers caused by the polishing is relatively insignificant. It is practically impossible to significantly increase the amount of exposure of the short fibers by this process, or other processes, without detrimentally increasing the density of fibers within the rubber composition.
By increasing the quantity of fibers, aside from decreasing belt flexibility, the lifetime of the belt may be significantly reduced due to the non-uniform dispersal of the short fibers in the rubber. This condition commonly occurs with a greater density of the fibers. Thus, these prior art attempts to suppress slippage and unwanted noise are lacking in terms of their overall effectiveness.
The industry continues to seek out designs that adequately address the above issues without compromising other performance aspects of the belt.


A method for producing a correlation between a first state of a piezoelectric component (1, 20) comprising a piezoceramic element and a second state of the component comprises the following steps: a) a first group of components respectively in the first state is prepared (101), b) at least one defined characteristic of each component of the first group is determined (102), c) the piezoceramic element of the components of the first group is polarised, and a corresponding component of a second group in the second state is thus created from each component of the first group (103), d) at least one defined characteristic of each component of the second group is determined (104), and e) the correlation is produced by comparing the defined characteristics of each component of the first group with the defined characteristic of the corresponding component of the second group (105).

The piezoelectric component is for example a piezoelectric actuator with a monolithic actuator body. The actuator body for example comprises a number of piezoelements arranged one on top of the other. A single piezoelement has at least two electrode layers arranged one on top of the other in a stacking direction and at least one piezoelectric layer containing the piezoceramic element (piezoceramic layer) arranged between the electrode layers. The piezoelements are arranged such that electrode layers and piezoelectric layers are arranged in an alternating manner one on top of the other. Each of the electrode layers, referred to as internal electrodes, functions as the electrode layer of adjacent piezoelements. For the purposes of electric contact with the electrode layers, adjacent electrode layers are guided in an alternating manner to two lateral surface sections of the actuator body, which are insulated electrically from each other. The actuator body has strips of metallic coating on each of these surface sections.
A piezoelectrically active region of the piezoceramic layer is located between the electrode layers of the respective piezoelement. Electrical activation of the electrodes causes a relatively homogeneous electric field to be induced in this region of the piezoceramic layer. Homogeneous deflection of the piezoceramic layer results over the entire piezoelectrically active region. In contrast every piezoceramic layer is piezoelectrically inactive in the region of the described surface sections. The alternating guiding of the electrode layers to the surface sections causes an electric field to be injected into the piezoelectrically inactive region of the piezoceramic layer, which is significantly different from the electric field injected into the piezoelectrically active region of the piezoceramic layer. During electrical activation of the electrode layers, in other words during polarization and/or during operation of the piezoactuator, the different electric (polarization) fields cause different deflections of the piezoceramic layer in the piezoelectrically active region and in the piezoelectrically inactive region. As a result mechanical stresses occur in the piezoelement, which can lead to what is known as a poling fissure at right angles to the stacking direction. This poling fissure can continue into the metallic coating attached to the surface sections of the actuator body. This causes a break in the electric contact of at least some of the electrode layers of the actuator body.
To reduce the probability of poling fissures occurring during polarization of a monolithic actuator body, a specific polarization method is specified in DE 197 56 182 C2 for the piezoactuator described above. The actuator body comprises several hundred piezoceramic layers and electrode layers arranged in an alternating manner. The piezoceramic layers are made of a lead zirconate titanate (PZT). The electrode layers are made of a silver-palladium alloy. To produce the actuator body, ceramic green films are printed with a silver-palladium paste, stacked one on top of the other, separated from the binder and sintered in a common manner.
According to the polarization method, during the application of a polarization field a mechanical compressive stress is applied at the actuator body, counteracting the elongating effect of the polarization field. This reduces the degree of the change in expansion of the piezoceramic layer in the piezoelectrically active region. A lower level of mechanical stress results in the actuator body. The probability of the occurrence of poling fissures in the actuator body is thus reduced by the method described.
The poling of the actuator body is however only one of a number of work steps required to obtain a piezoactuator that is suitable for corresponding applications. One application of the piezoactuator is for example the activation of an injection valve in an engine in a motor vehicle. The further work steps are carried out before or after polarization. For example electrical connector elements are attached to the metallic coating strips. The actuator body is generally also sealed with a plastic compound. This protects the surface of the actuator body against mechanical destruction or against electrical arcing between adjacent electrode layers. Furthermore the actuator body is not only poled under a mechanical compressive stress, it is also operated under a mechanical compressive stress. This means that the actuator body is pretensioned. To this end the actuator body (sealed with a plastic compound) is for example welded into a Bourdon spring.
At the end of the production chain described above, it must be verified whether the piezoactuator can be used in the required manner. The quality of the piezoactuator must be determined. The quality relates in particular to piezoelectric parameters of the piezoactuator, for example its d33 coefficients. It often turns out that the piezoactuator produced has piezoelectric parameters that exclude the use of the piezoactuator. Such an exclusion is frequently due to defects that occur due to sintering.

Method for establishing a correlation between a first state of a piezoelectric component and a second state of the component and use of said correlation


A plush toy that has a spinning nose construction. The plush toy includes a plush character form made of a sewn body shell that is filled with soft stuffing. The sewn body shell terminates along open seam edges in a head section. The open seam edges define an opening. A motor is positioned in the head section of the plush character form. The motor is positioned so that the shaft protrudes out of the head section through the opening. To prevent the motor from moving, the open seam edges of the sewn body shell are fastened directly to the motor. A nose structure is provided that is coupled to the motor. The nose structure includes a proboscis and a plurality of elongated elements that radially extend from the proboscis. An array of lights can be attached to at least one of the elongated elements.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to novelty devices that have small electric motors that cause parts of the novelty device to spin, such as spinning toy wands and novelty fans.
2. Prior Art Statement
In the prior art, there are many different types of novelty devices that contain small electric motors that cause elements on the novelty device to spin when activated. For instance, there are ballerina dolls that spin on a platform when activated. There are toy airplanes and helicopters that have blades that spin when activated.
One particular type of novelty device that has a spinning element is the battery operated personal fan. There are many different types of personal fans that are used to create a forced breeze when activated. There are also many types of fans that have LED arrays on their blades. In this manner, a pattern of lights can be observed as the fan blade spins. Such prior art novelty fans are exemplified by co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/944,646, entitled, Spring Supported Illuminated Novelty Device With Spinning Light Sources, which has the same inventors as this application.
The present invention is a new type of novelty device that contains spinning elements. In this invention, the spinning elements are incorporated into the face structure of a plush doll, therein producing a new type of plush doll. The details of the improved plush doll design are described and claimed below.

Plush character having spinning nose elements


A system and method are disclosed which provide visual representations of information related to source code, in the form of annotations, to users who are viewing the source code. In an example system, information related to source code may be provided by multiple sources. This information may be displayed as an annotation related to the information in close proximity to the associated source code. When a user selects the annotation, related additional information may be displayed.

Source code for software projects can often be difficult for people to understand if they are reading the source code independently of information that may provide an explanation of the code. When viewing code, additional information related to the code may be relevant for understanding the code's purpose, functionality, or for finding a way to modify the code or fix broken code. For example, when handling a software issue in the codebase, it may be helpful to have information about the issue in addition to the source code. This information may include recent file changes, whether an automated tool detected the code issue, and any data that was collected at runtime of the code including how many central processing unit (CPU) cycles or memory a specific method uses during runtime. Not only can additional information help with code fixes, but this additional information related to the code may also help highlight things about the code that are noteworthy or that should be brought to the attention of a user viewing the code.
Some conventional Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) include information related to code within the development environments. However, this information is limited to certain information that can be derived directly from the code. Furthermore, although this additional information may be available, it is not often readily accessible to software engineers working in a codebase or other users viewing the source code. In conventional systems, users have to explicitly know about the existence of this information, understand how to retrieve the information, and possibly know how to use the information. Information related to the code, but not derived from the code, should be readily accessible to users so that the users have a clear understanding regarding codebases' functionality and purposes.

System to visualize additional information on source code


A method for updating a ROM BIOS includes the following steps: a step for reading an image data of a ROM BIOS which is to be updated; a step for reading a ROM BIOS image data from a ROM BIOS; a step for reading a new ROM BIOS image data from an auxiliary memory; a step for reading a new user information; a step for converting the new user information into an image data; a step for updating the new ROM BIOS image data and user information in the ROM BIOS. Since the user updates a ROM BIOS image data for oneself, the user information displayed during a POST operation can be displayed in the user's characteristic message. Therefore, the user can recognize one's computer through unique characteristics that are displayed on a monitor and easily identify one's computer among many different computers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for updating a ROM BIOS (read only memory basic input/output system). More particularly, the present invention relates to the method which updates a ROM BIOS image data corresponding to user information and then displays the updated image data while performing a power-on-self-test (POST) after a power-on reset operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
A ROM BIOS, or BIOS-ROM, is programmed by predetermined regulations so that sign on messages are displayed during a POST procedure when booting a computer. The sign on message typically includes the computer producer, information about the manufacturer of the ROM BIOS and the current version of the ROM BIOS. The conventional art concerning the ROM BIOS update has been limited to improving the ROM BIOS by updating only the function of the ROM BIOS without changing a previously made particular image. In order to change or update the BIOS it is known to use a flash memory which comprises write protected memory blocks and memory blocks which can be erased and rewritten. The following patents, incorporated herein by reference, discribe the use of flash memories as ROM BIOS: U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,267 to Wai-Ming R. Chan, et al. entitled Method And Apparatus For Updating And Restoring System BIOS Functions While Maintaining BIOS Integrrity; U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,775 to Makoto Sakai entitled Personal Computer Using Flash Memory As BIOS-ROM; U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,843 to Dov Moran, et al. entitled Flash Memory System Providing Both BIOS And User Storage Capability; U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,076 to Koichi Dewa, et al. entitled Computer System Having BIOS (Basic Input/Output System)-ROM (Read Only Memory) Writing Function; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,357 to Dov Moran, et al. entitled Flash Memory System Providing Both BIOS And User Storage Capability.
Accordingly, for computers produced by the same company the conventional ROM BIOS update art has a disadvantage in that the sign on messages do not contain user information to be displayed during the POST procedure.


Systems and devices adapted to retain dovetail components (e.g., buckets) in a turbine drum rotor and reduce rotor component displacement are disclosed. In one embodiment, a turbine bucket includes: a bucket base portion shaped to complement a bucket shank slot in a rotor of a turbine, the bucket base portion including: a forward portion shaped to extend upstream of a first stage circumferential slot of the rotor in to a first rotor post of the rotor; a circumferential protrusion formed in an aft end of the bucket base portion and shaped to connect to the rotor, and a set of axial protrusions formed on tangential sides of the bucket base portion and shaped to connect to the rotor; and a bucket platform extending radially outboard from the bucket base portion, the bucket platform configured to complement a vane.

Some power plant systems, for example certain nuclear, simple cycle and combined cycle power plant systems, employ turbines in their design and operation. Some of these turbines operate at high temperatures and include rotors (e.g., a drum rotor, a wheel and diaphragm rotor, etc.) that are in direct contact with high temperature steam which may reduce the lifespan of the rotor and rotor components (e.g., buckets). These buckets are installed circumferentially about the rotor via a set of entry slots in the rotor posts and/or rims. One area of the rotor that experiences severe environmental conditions (e.g., temperatures, pressures, etc.) during operation, is the forward rotor post which is located forward of the first stage bucket. During turbine operation, the forward rotor post may creep away from the first stage bucket due to centrifugal and bending loads exerted by the first stage bucket. This creep effect may open a dovetail slot in the rotor which restrains the first stage buckets, possibly resulting in the first stage buckets becoming loose.
FIGS. 1-3 show schematic cut-away views of prior art turbine systems. FIGS. 1-2 show a prior art turbine system 50 including a stator 52 and a rotor 54 substantially defining a working fluid flow path 7 (e.g., steam flow path). Rotor 54 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a plurality of buckets 70 disposed between a plurality of vanes 78, the buckets 70 including a first stage bucket 72 disposed in a dovetail slot 80 between a first rotor post 82 and a second rotor post 84. During operation, as shown in FIG. 2, a force imbalance 41 (e.g., a bending moment) may be exerted on first rotor post 82 as a first side 92 of first rotor post 82 is not acted upon by a bucket load and a second side 94 of first rotor post 82 is acted upon by a bucket load from first stage bucket 72. Some prior art systems, as shown in FIG. 3, increase an axial length 1′ of first rotor post 82 in order to compensate for force imbalance 41 (indicated in FIG. 2), this increased length guarding against creep deflection and axial opening of dovetail slot 80. During operation, fluid flow through working fluid flow path 7 (shown in FIG. 1) may contact first stage bucket 72 and impart a force on the rotor. However, increasing length L of first rotor post 82 to counter the forces imparted on the rotor by first stage bucket 72 may require increased axial rotor span and other design considerations which may place constraints on turbine design and manufacture.

Drum rotor dovetail component and related drum rotor system


The present invention is an under-pad placed between a polishing pad and a platen of a planarizing machine used in chemical-mechanical planarization of semiconductor wafers. The under-pad has a body and a plurality of thermal conductors positioned in the body to conduct heat through the body. The body has a top face upon which the polishing pad is positionable and a bottom face engageable with the platen. In operation, heat from the platen and polishing pad flows through the thermal conductors to reduce temperature gradients across the planarizing surface of the polishing pad.

Chemical-mechanical planarization ("CMP") processes remove materials from the surface layer of a wafer in the production of ultra-high density integrated circuits. In a typical CMP process, a wafer is exposed to an abrasive medium under controlled chemical, pressure, velocity, and temperature conditions. The abrasive medium has abrasive particles that abrade the surface of the wafer, and chemicals that oxidize and/or etch the surface of the wafer. Thus, when relative motion is imparted between the wafer and the abrasive medium, material is removed from the surface of the wafer.
FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a conventional CMP machine 10 with a platen 20, a wafer carrier 30, a polishing pad 40, and a slurry 44 on the polishing pad. The platen 20 has a surface 22 to which an under-pad 25 is attached, and the polishing pad 40 is positioned on the under-pad 25. The primary function of the under-pad 25 is to provide a compressible, resilient medium to equalize the pressure between the wafer 12 and the polishing pad 40 across the face of the wafer 12. The under-pad 25 also protects the platen 20 from caustic chemicals in the slurry 44 and from abrasive particles in both the polishing pad 40 and the slurry 44. A drive assembly 26 rotates the platen 20 as indicated by arrow "A" and/or reciprocates the platen back and forth as indicated by arrow "B". The motion of the platen 20 is imparted to the pad 40 because the polishing pad 40 frictionally engages the under-pad 25. The wafer carrier 30 has a lower surface 32 to which a wafer 12 may be attached, or the wafer 12 may be attached to a resilient pad 34 positioned between the wafer 12 and the lower surface 32. The wafer carrier 30 may be a weighted, free-floating wafer carrier, or an actuator assembly 36 may be attached to the wafer carrier 30 to impart axial and rotational motion, as indicated by arrows "C" and "D", respectively.
In the operation of the conventional planarizer 10, the wafer 12 is positioned face-downward against the polishing pad 40, and then the platen 20 and the wafer carrier 30 move relative to one another. As the face of the wafer 12 moves across the planarizing surface 42 of the polishing pad 40, the polishing pad 40 and the slurry 44 remove material from the wafer 12.
CMP processes must consistently and accurately produce a uniform, planar surface on the wafer because it is important to accurately focus circuit patterns on the wafer. As the density of integrated circuits increases, current lithographic techniques must accurately focus the critical dimensions of photo-patterns to within a tolerance of approximately 0.10-0.5 .mu.m. Focusing the photo-patterns to such small tolerances, however, is very difficult when the distance between the emission source and the surface of the wafer varies because the surface of the wafer is not uniformly planar. In fact, when the surface of the wafer is not uniformly planar, several devices on the wafer may be defective. Thus, CMP processes must create a highly uniform, planar surface.
The surface of the wafer, however, may not be uniformly planar because the rate at which the thickness of the wafer decreases as it is being planarized (the "polishing rate") often varies from one area on the wafer to another. The polishing rate is a function of several factors, one of which is the temperature at the interface between the polishing pad 40 and the wafer 12. The temperature at the pad-wafer interface typically varies from one area on the pad to another for several reasons, some of which are as follows: (1) the surface contact rate between the polishing pad and the wafer generally varies positionally from one area of the polishing pad to another; (2) high points on the planarizing surface of the polishing pad have a higher temperature than other areas on the pad because the wafer contacts such high points with more pressure; (3) the abrasiveness of the pad may vary from one area on the pad to another; and (4) the cooling/heating rate of the pad varies from one area of the pad to another. Although the above-listed factors can be adjusted, altering these parameters to control the pad-wafer interface temperature may adversely impact the polishing rate or uniformity of the finished surface of the wafer.
One desirable solution to control the pad-wafer interface temperature is to adjust the temperature of the platen to heat or cool the polishing pad as needed. Controlling the polishing pad temperature with the platen, however, is difficult because the under-pad substantially prevents heat transfer between the platen and the pad. To date, heat transfer properties have been a low priority for under-pads; instead, the properties of compressibility and resiliency have influenced the development of under-pads. Under-pads must be sufficiently compressible to compensate for wafer bow and thickness variations, and they must be sufficiently resilient to resist wear. Conventional under-pads are accordingly made from a compressible matrix material and reinforcement fibers of glass, nylon or other non-conductive materials. Although the glass or non-metal fibers control the resiliency and compressibility of under-pads, they are thermal insulators that prevent heat transfer between the polishing pad and the platen. Thus, conventional under-pads make it difficult to use the platen to control the regional temperature variances across the surface of the polishing pad.
In light of the problems with conventional under-pads, it would be desirable to develop a thermally conductive under-pad that has appropriate compressibility and resiliency characteristics.

Under-pad for chemical-mechanical planarization of semiconductor wafers


Methods for performing periodic plasma annealing during atomic layer deposition are provided along with structures produced by such methods. The methods include contacting a substrate with a vapor-phase pulse of a metal source chemical and one or more plasma-excited reducing species for a period of time. Periodically, the substrate is contacted with a vapor phase pulse of one or more plasma-excited reducing species for a longer period of time. The steps are repeated until a metal thin film of a desired thickness is formed over the substrate.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to deposition of metals and metal nitride thin films. In particular, the disclosure concerns methods of using periodic plasma annealing during an atomic layer deposition process.
2. Description of the Related Art
The integration level of components in integrated circuits is increasing rapidly, which demands a decrease of the size of integrated circuit (IC) components and interconnects. The trend of decreasing feature size is evident, for example, in memory circuits or devices such as dynamic random access memories (DRAMs), flash memory, static random access memories (SRAMs), ferroelectric (FE) memories, and integrated circuit components, such as gate electrodes and diffusion barriers in complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices.
Deposition methods available for forming metal and metal nitride films include atomic layer deposition (ALD), sometimes called atomic layer epitaxy (ALE). ALD processes include, without limitation, thermal ALD processes and plasma enhanced ALD (PEALD) processes, wherein plasma-excited species of a source material are used during certain processing steps. In some cases, an ALD process may include both thermal and PEALD processes.
In a typical thermal ALD process, a substrate is sequentially and alternately contacted with vapor phase pulses of two or more reactants. The reactants are alternately and sequentially pulsed into a reaction space comprising the substrate, which is maintained at an elevated temperature. The substrate temperature is high enough to overcome an energy barrier, such as, for example, the activation energy, during collisions between chemisorbed species on the surface and reactant molecules in the gas phase but low enough to avoid decomposition of the reactants. The pulsing sequence is repeated to form a metal film of desired thickness. Due to the self-limiting nature of ALD, films are grown at rate of about one monolayer (ML) per deposition cycle.
Existing thermal ALD techniques can typically achieve good step-coverage deposition or conformality of metal and metal nitride films, but they can result in high film resistivity and high impurity levels. For example, oxygen and halide impurities can be introduced into ALD films, especially at low deposition temperatures. High oxygen and halide incorporation in metal films can have a negative impact on film resistivity and/or other electrical properties, such as work function.
Existing PEALD techniques can achieve metal and metal nitride film deposition with comparatively good film properties, such as, for example, low resistivity and low impurity levels. However, PEALD typically produces low resistivity and low impurity films at the expense of poorer step coverage relative to thermal ALD. PEALD techniques also typically call for a long period of plasma exposure or plasma-on time during ALD cycles.

Periodic plasma annealing in an ALD-type process


A CATV head end, terminal unit, and system permits time reservation of selected programs by the simple process of entering a program number at the terminal unit. At the head end selected programs are transmitted via cable to the terminal units and include a timer start command located at the start of a program, and a timer end command located at the end of a program. The commands identify the program by a program number, and the start command also identifies the channel on which the program is transmitted. At the terminal unit, the received commands are compared with the program number entered at the terminal unit. If the program numbers match, the power is turned on and the channel is selected, for a start command, or the power is turned off, for an end command.

This invention relates to a CATV system and a CATV terminal unit for use therein, comprising a head end (center) which re-transmits broadcast waves of existing stations or transmits independently produced programs and a number of terminal units connected to the center via cables.
Conventionally, a center (head end) apparatus in the CATV system of this type comprises a VHF antenna, a UHF antenna, and a BS antenna for receiving broadcast waves of existing stations. The broadcasting signals received by these antennas are respectively processed and mixed before being transmitted via a transmission line, e.g., a coaxial cable.
The center apparatus also comprises sources for independently produced original programs, such sources including a video camera, a video cassette recorder (VCR) or the like. The system selects such sources for transmission of the produced signals via the cable.
The center apparatus determines, according to a broadcasting schedule of programs, from which source the signal is obtained, modulates a TV signal from the selected source to have a specific channel frequency, and mixes the TV signal with other signals before transmitting them via the transmission line.
Further, the center apparatus transmits data, such as a channel and permission or prohibition for receiving a specific program, to a subscriber terminal unit in the form of an FSK signal on a channel prepared in advance.
On the other hand, each CATV terminal unit has an address unique to itself, by which only the terminal unit belonging to a subscriber having a contract to receive chargeable programs is allowed to receive the chargeable programs. Such a terminal unit selects a desired signal from signals transmitted via the transmission line, descrambles the selected signal if the selected signal carries a chargeable program and was scrambled by the center apparatus, and modulates the descrambled signal to have a specific channel frequency of a television receiver, e.g., channel 3 or channel 4, before outputting the signal. The FSK signal transmitted as out-of-band data from the center apparatus is subjected to a predetermined process and then is used to generate a control signal for a control of a descrambling operation.
The CATV terminal unit further comprises an input unit provided in the main body and a remote control unit separately supplied as an input unit. Operation of either input unit activates execution of channel selection, setting operation of a timer (a time at which the terminal unit power is turned on), or the like.
In the above-mentioned general arrangement of a CATV system, the timer function of the CATV terminal unit may sometimes be used as a VCR recording timer, an alarm timer, or a sleep timer.
In the above-mentioned CATV system and CATV terminal unit therefor, when the subscriber uses the timer function of the terminal unit to reserve a program, it is necessary to input such data as the channel number of the program, the date, the turning-on time, and the turning-off time. This is a cumbersome operation involving a number of steps.
On the other hand, the actual broadcasting time of a "realtime" program such as a sporting event or other live programming may be subject to change due to a change of the start time or end time of the event. If a timer reservation has been set to such a program, but the actual starting or ending time is different from what was scheduled, it may occur that the timer-on function will be activated when the reserved program has not yet started. In this case, the subscriber typically waits before the TV receiver for the reserved program to start. Alternatively, it may occur that a part of the program will be missed because of the difference between the times selected by the timer unit and the actual broadcast time of the program.

Programmable CATV system and terminal unit therefor


The present invention is directed to a process for preparing certain cysteine protease inhibitors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a novel processes for preparing certain cysteine protease inhibitors.
2. State of the Art
WO 03/075836 and Applicant's provisional application Ser. No. 60/504,680 filed on Sep. 18, 2003, disclose certain cysteine protease inhibitors that are useful in the treatment of diseases such as osteoporosis, certain autoimmune disorders, including, but not limited to juvenile onset diabetes, multiple sclerosis, pemphigus vulgaris, Graves' disease, myasthenia gravis, systemic lupus erythemotasus, rheumatoid arthritis and Hashimoto's thyroiditis, allergic disorders, including, but not limited to asthma; and allogeneic immune responses, including, but not limited to, rejection of organ transplants or tissue grafts.
The processes disclosed to prepare the compounds in these applications are unattractive for large scale synthesis of these compounds since they are lengthy and/or involve harsh reaction conditions which are unsuitable for a wide variety of substitutents. Accordingly, there is a need for synthetic processes that are facile and/or utilize reaction conditions that are amenable to a variety of substituents and therefore attractive on commercial scale. The present invention fulfills this and related needs.

Processes and intermediates preparing cysteine protease inhibitors


This disclosure relates to a method for controlling a system for regenerating a diesel particulate filter. The method includes monitoring an engine run time that has lapsed since a previous regeneration event. The method also includes monitoring backpressure behind the diesel particulate filter. The method further includes triggering a regeneration flag if the engine run time that lapsed since the previous regeneration event reaches a predetermined time limit and the backpressure exceeds a minimum value.

Engine emission regulations have become increasingly stringent and more widely applicable. For example, recent regulations implemented by the California Air Resources Board have required auxiliary power units provided on 2007 or newer trucks to comply with the level 3 emissions standard. The level 3 emissions standard requires an 85 percent reduction in particulate material as compared to baseline emissions generated by the source of exhaust emissions.
Engine exhaust filters suitable for removing particulate material from an exhaust stream can have a variety of constructions. One type of exhaust filter includes a cellular ceramic core defining a honeycomb of channels having plugged ends. Filters having this construction are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,276,071 and 4,851,015. Other exhaust filters include a filter media defined by a plug of wire mesh. Filters having this construction are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,499,269 and 4,902,487.
While existing exhaust filters can be effective at removing particulate material from diesel engine exhaust, such filters have a tendency to become over loaded with particulate material overtime thereby causing excessive amounts of backpressure to be generated behind the filters. To overcome this problem, different types of regeneration systems have been developed. Some regeneration systems rely on heat present in the exhaust gas from the engine to combust particulate material accumulated on the exhaust filter. However, such systems are not ideal for smaller diesel engines of the type typically used for auxiliary power units because such diesel engines generally do not emit exhaust having a high enough temperature to reliably regenerate an exhaust filter. Other systems include heaters (e.g., gas burners or electrical resistance type heaters) the provide sufficient heat to actively regenerate an exhaust filter. However, such systems can be difficult to control and are often quite expensive. Therefore, improvements are needed in exhaust filter regeneration systems.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for regenerating an auxiliary power unit exhaust filter


An auto-iris method for an imaging device includes the steps of obtaining a first signal indicating brightness of an object from a signal output from an imaging element; comparing a level of the first signal with a level of a reference signal; and enhancing a level of the reference signal more as the object becomes brighter and controlling an iris to path more quantity of light to the imaging element, based on the compared result.

The present invention relates to an auto-iris method and apparatus which are suitable to a video camera.
In general, a video camera for domestic use provides an auto-iris mechanism as shown in JP-A-56-19274, for example. This mechanism serves to automatically change an iris depending on quantity of incident light so that it can constantly keep an amplitude of a resulting video signal constant against change of brightness of an object to be imaged and the background of the object. Now, the description will be directed to the conventional auto-iris mechanism with reference to FIG. 1, in which 1 is a lens, 2 is an iris, 3 is an imaging element, 4 is a signal processing circuit, 5 is an output terminal, 6 is an image detecting circuit, 7 is a level comparing circuit, 8 is a reference voltage source, and 9 is an iris driving motor.
A ray of light is reflected on an object and is incident to the lens 1 and the iris 2. Then, the ray of light is applied to the imaging element 3 on which the image of the object is formed. The imaging element 3 picks up the formed image and generates an electric signal corresponding to the image. The electric signal is sent to the signal processing circuit 4 in which the video signal corresponding to the image is generated. Then, the video signal is supplied as an imaging output at the output terminal 5.
In the process for generating the video signal in the signal processing circuit 4, a luminance signal is supplied to the image detecting circuit 6. The image detecting circuit 6 serves to weight the luminance signal at each spot on a screen, detect an amplitude of the luminance signal, and output a detected voltage V1 having a level corresponding to the amplitude. The level comparing circuit 7 serves to compare the level of the detected voltage V1 with the level of a constant reference voltage V.sub.ref fed from the reference voltage source 8 and control the iris driving motor 9 depending on the compared result so that the iris 2 may be adjusted so as to match the detected voltage V1 to the reference voltage V.sub.ref. It results in keeping the amplitude of the video signal output at the output terminal 5 constant independently of the brightness of the object and the background thereof.
As set forth above, the conventional auto-iris mechanism serves to keep the amplitude of a video signal obtained from an object constant however variable the brightness of the object and the background thereof are. It was the essential function. This function, however, may bring about the following disadvantages.
(1) Considering that an object to be images is blue sky on the overall screen and another object is lawn on the overall screen, the amplitudes of the video signals for both objects are kept constant, though the blue sky is brighter than the lawn. The auto-iris operation is done to keep the brightness of a regenerative screen equal in each of the objects. Hence, the blue sky on the regenerative screen is dimmer than the actual blue sky and the lawn on the regenerative screen is far more luminous than the actual sky, resulting in inclining the color of the lawn to white. It is thus impossible to represent the difference of brightness between the objects on the regenerative screen. PA1 (2) The brightness of the background of an object is different at respective times such as early morning, midday, and evening and on the weather conditions such as fine, cloudy, and rainy ones. The foregoing conventional auto-iris mechanism, however, keeps the brightness of the regenerative screens equal in respective backgrounds, resulting in disallowing the difference of the brightness between respective backgrounds to appear on the regenerative screen.

Auto-iris method and apparatus for imaging device

Hitachi Video & Information System, Inc.


A truss for use as support for a sloped roof of a building. The truss can be a collapsible metal truss. A method for assembling the truss is described. Each of the of the rafter and beam can include a metal chord all which chords lie in a first plane. Each of struts can include a metal chord located in a second plane parallel to the first plane. There are pivotal connections between various members. The chords of the truss can be moved into a collapsed position for storage and transport of the truss. The chords can be hollow tubes of generally rectangular cross section. The pivotal connections can be nut and bolt connections. The rafter and beam chords can be connected at an eave end to each other by a metal member, and the truss can include an eave extension member. The truss can have chords which are coplanar with each other, each chord of the beam and rafter having a "U"-shaped cross section defining a trough, which trough of the beam opens upwardly and which trough of the rafter opens downwardly, opposing legs of each "U" forming outer walls of the chord on either side of a central plane of the truss.

Trusses that provide structural support for a sloped roof of a building are well known. Traditionally, such trusses have been fabricated on-site, but it is also known to construct a truss in a factory and transport the prefabricated truss to the building site.
A disadvantage of off-site truss fabrication is the problem of storing and transporting such a bulky item. A truss is often designed to span the width of a building and so can be fifteen feet to twenty-five feet or more in length and have a height of three to five feet or more.
Metal building trusses are known, two previous designs being described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,435,940 issued to Jeanne Davenport et al. on Mar. 13, 1994, and 4,982,545 issued to Gustav Stromback on Jan. 8, 1991. The specifications of these two patents are incorporated herein by reference.
In a general sense, metal trusses might be preferred over wood in order to avoid a negative impact on forests. More particularly, Davenport et al., have found that a metal truss can be light weight in comparison to a wood truss having comparable load and size specifications. Of course, the overall cost of a truss, including manufacturing costs, shipping, ease of assembly and installation, labor costs, etc., must all be taken into account when evaluating the effectiveness of the truss.
Davenport et al. describe a roof truss having chord members of generally "U"-shaped cross-section. There is a horizontal bottom chord member oriented with the "U" in the upright position and two top chord members having an inverted "U". A truss having a king post and diagonal members of "C"-shaped cross-section connecting the top and bottom chords is shown. For assembly, a length of bottom chord material is cut and positioned atop metal caps to span supporting wall studs and secured to the caps by suitable fasteners, such as screws or nails, depending upon the nature of the caps. The top chords are assembled onto the bottom chord, the legs of the "U" of the bottom chord being received within the channel of the "U" of the top chords and the chords are affixed together by screws, or adhesive or welding. The ends of the top chords at the apex of the truss are affixed together by a plate which straddles the butted ends, again by screws, or adhesive or welding. The top chords extend beyond the ends of the bottom chord to create eaves. Diagonal members are eventually assembled and affixed within the truss structure. A pair of elongate ridge caps are affixed to run between truss apices along the roof peak.
Stromback describes a steel roof truss, developed more recently, which can be assembled on-site. Stromback also shows "U"-shaped chords, which in this case are of roll-formed metal. Each of the chords shown has lengthwise reinforcing ridges formed in the legs and bottom of the "U". Each top chord has a rolled-out flange at the free end of each leg of the "U". Each bottom chord has a rolled flat reinforcing flange at the free end of each leg of the "U". For assembly, the legs of the bottom chord are slipped into the bight of the "U" of the top chord and self-tapping screws are installed in abutting legs for fastening. Web members of "C"-shaped cross-section are installed to run between the top and bottom chords. Shorter vertical segments having a "C"-shaped cross-section are also installed and fastened by self-tapping screws between the top and bottom chords so as to form a load bearing joint located above the wall studs upon which the truss is installed.


A radiation imaging apparatus acquires information on a scattered radiation distribution at each rotation angle preliminarily determined for a rotation unit, based on images respectively obtained from a first radiation detection sensor having no grid, and a second radiation detection sensor having a grid. Then, the radiation imaging apparatus corrects the image obtained from the second radiation detection sensor based on the information on the scattered radiation distribution so as to reduce influence of scattered radiation thereon. Next, the radiation imaging apparatus performs reconstruction processing based on the image corrected by the correction unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radiation imaging apparatus using a radiation detection sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a two-dimensional flat type radiation detection sensor using semiconductor type photoelectric conversion elements has been developed. A cone-beam type computed tomography (CT) imaging apparatus, which uses such a radiation detection sensor and three-dimensional radiation, has been developed.
The cone-beam type CT imaging apparatus has a problem that an amount of generation of scattered radiation of X-rays is larger, as compared with a narrow-beam type CT imaging apparatus, which irradiates X-rays two-dimensionally.
On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-121446 discusses that when X-rays irradiated from a plurality of X-ray generation units are detected using X-ray detection units respectively facing the X-ray generation units, scattered radiation of X-rays irradiated from an X-ray generation unit and received by an X-ray detection unit that is not opposed to the X-ray generation unit is detected by the X-ray detection unit that is not opposed to the X-ray generation unit and corrected.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-121446 discusses that influence of X-rays, which is irradiated from an X-ray generation unit, on an X-ray detection unit that does not face the X-ray generation unit is suppressed. However, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-121446 does not discuss technology for detecting a distribution of scattered radiation due to the influence of a subject and that is incident on a two-dimensional flat type X-ray detection sensor in a cone-beam type CT imaging apparatus.

Radiation imaging apparatus and processing method therefor


A color cathode ray tube in which an aperture grill is provided having a large number of slits extended in the extending direction of fluorescent stripes bored through the grill in parallel. The slits are provided in an opposing relation to a color fluorescent screen in which the fluorescent stripes of respective colors are arranged in a predetermined order in parallel. The aperture grill is composed of a thin plate having the slits. This a frame on which the thin plate is extended with a predetermined tension in the extending direction of the slits and this thin plate is formed of a high purity iron thin plate having a thickness of equal to or less than 0.05 mm. Since the thickness of the thin plate is selected as described above, controllability of the width of the slit in the manufacturing process can be improved. Therefore, the accuracy of the aperture grill can be increased, the productivity thereof can be increased, the weight thereof can be reduced, and further, the color cathode ray tube can be formed as a high definition color cathode ray tube.

In a color cathode ray tube, a color selecting mechanism is provided in opposing relation to a color fluorescent screen to thereby cause an electron beam to land on predetermined fluorescent patterns.
In an ordinary color cathode ray tube, a shadow mask in which a single circular beam aperture, for example, is bored through a metal plate for a dot-shaped red, green and blue fluorescent triplet, for example, is provided in opposing relation to the color fluorescent screen as a color selecting mechanism. Such a shadow mask is supported to a frame by welding a circumferential portion of the metal plate molded as a dome shape by a press-treatment or the like. In this case, the shadow mask is supported to the frame without the application of tension so that, when a temperature of the shadow mask rises due to the electron beam scanned thereon, a so-called doming phenomenon which gives rise to a color misregistration is caused by the thermal expansion. To solve this problem, an Invar material having a low coefficient of thermal expansion is utilized as a mask material and the plate thickness thereof tends to increase in order to increase strength.
On the other hand, in the color cathode ray tube of the Trinitron type, three electron beams corresponding to red, green and blue colors are arranged on the horizontal plane and a color fluorescent screen is formed by arranging red, green and blue fluorescent stripes, each extending in the vertical direction, in a predetermined order in parallel. Also, an aperture grill, in which a large number of slits extended along the extending direction of the fluorescent stripes are formed, is disposed in an opposing relation to the fluorescent stripes as a color selecting mechanism.
In the ordinary aperture grill, as shown in FIG. 6 which is a schematic perspective view of an example of the ordinary aperture grill, a large number of slits 4 are bored through a metal plate 42 formed of a high purity iron thin plate having a thickness of 0.08 to 0.15 mm. This metal plate 42 is stretched over a frame 3. The frame 3 composed of a pair of opposing frame side members 3A, 3B an members 3C, 3D disposed across these frame side members 3A, 3B. The front end faces of the frame side members 3A, 3B are formed as curved surfaces forming the same cylindrical surface, and the metal plate 42 is stretched over these frame side members 3A and 3B.
When this metal plate 42 is stretched over and attached to the frame 3, the frame side members 3A and 3B of the frame 3 are drawn closer to each other by a turnbuckle. Then, under this condition, the metal plate 42 is secured at its edge portions corresponding to the respective ends of each slit 4 to the front end faces of the frame side members 3A and 3B by the welding-process. Thereafter, the external force applied to the frame 3 is released, whereby the band-shaped portions between the slits 4 on the metal plate 42 are extended in the extending direction of the slit 4 with a predetermined tension by a restitution force.
On the other hand, since the color cathode ray tube has recently become larger in size, the length of the band-shaped portion between the slits 4 of the metal plate 42 of the aperture grill 10 is increased so that, when an electron beam strikes the fluorescent screen, the band-shaped portion tends to vibrate due to vibration caused by sound, impulses or the like, which gives rise to problems such as occurrence of color misregistration or the like. Therefore, in order to suppress the vibration of the band-shaped portion, the thickness of the metal plate 42 is increased to increase rigidity, or the thickness of the material forming the frame 3 is increased to increase a resilient force which removes the above-mentioned distortion, thereby suppressing the vibration of the band-shaped portion.
The slits 4 are formed on the relatively thick metal plate 42 by etching both surfaces 42A and 42B of the metal plate 42 according to the photolithography technique. That is, as shown in FIG. 7A, a photoresist is coated on one surface 42A of the metal plate 42, is subjected to the pattern exposure, is developed, and is removed by the photolithography technique to form a predetermined stripe pattern through which openings 42AC are opened, an etching mask 11A being thus formed. Then, in a like manner, an etching mask 11B having openings 42BC, whose opening width is made large as compared with the width of the openings 42AC, is formed on the rear surface 42B in opposing relation to the pattern of the former etching mask 11A. Then, as shown in FIG. 7B, the first etching process is carried out, in which stripe-shaped grooves are formed on the two surfaces 42A and 42B by the etching process which uses an etchant such as FeCl.sub.3 (ferric chloride) or the like.
Then, as shown in FIG. 7C, a protecting film 12 such as a varnish or the like is coated on the stripe-shaped groove on the surface 42A side, and is used as an etching mask to carry out for the other surface 42B a relatively gentle etching with an etchant such as FeCl.sub.3 having a relatively low concentration until the protecting film 12 is exposed, as shown in FIG. 7D.
Thereafter, by removing the protecting film 12, the slit 4, whose cross section is substantially in an "8" letter shape, is formed as shown in FIG. 8. When the etching is carried out twice and the slit 4 is formed by the second etching whose etching rate is slow as compared with the case when the groove is formed by one etching-process, the etching time can be controlled with ease in reliable fashion so that an excess proceeding or the etching can be prevented. As a consequence, each etching depth can be formed with accuracy and therefore an effective width of the slit 4, i.e., a distance SW between the edges 7 produced by the etching process of the two surfaces, can be formed with excellent controllability and with high accuracy, even when the metal plate 42 is thick. However, this technique cannot avoid the problem that a workability is deteriorated as compared with the case where the groove is formed by one etching process.
When the edge 7 is formed as described above, a tapered portion 8 of a gentle curved shape is formed from the respective surfaces 42A, 42B to the edge 7. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 9 which is a cross-sectional view illustrating that electron beams impinge upon a color fluorescent screen 5 when this aperture grill 10 is used, an incident electron beam Ei becomes incident on the color fluorescent screen 5 through the slit 4 to make the fluorescent dots of stripe shapes luminous. On the other hand, a reflected electron beam Er.sub.1 from the color fluorescent screen 5 due to the secondary emission is reflected on the surface of the aperture grill 10 and on the tapered portion 8 to cause scattered electron beams Es or a reflected electron beam Er.sub.2 to occur. As a result, the light emission of the color fluorescent screen 5 becomes inaccurate, which gives rise to the deterioration of color contrast and color purity. Further, when the slits 4 of the aperture grill 10 are formed through the thick metal plate 42 by one etching process, the surface area of the tapered portion 8 is increased more, which makes the problem of the deterioration of the color contrast and color purity more remarkable.
As described above, in the conventional color cathode ray tube of the Trinitron type, it is preferable that the aperture grill thereof uses the relatively thick metal plate 42. In this case, however, since the weight of the aperture grill 10 is increased because the resilient force must be increased in order to suppress the vibration as earlier noted, there is the problem that the total weight of the color cathode ray tube is unavoidably increased.
Furthermore, the width SW of the slit 4 which can be formed in the above-mentioned etching process is about 50% of a thickness t of the metal plate 42 due to the restrictions from an etching characteristic standpoint. For this reason, if the thickness of the metal plate 42 is increased, the width SW of the slit 4 is increased in proportion to the thickness t of the metal plate. There is then the problem that the slits cannot be densified, that is, the color cathode ray tube cannot be formed as a high definition color cathode ray tube.


A cover of an electronic appliance capable of receiving infrared type signals from a remote monitoring device, the cover including a receiving area intended to be placed facing an infrared receiver of the electronic appliance, wherein the receiving area includes, placed at least partially in or on the receiving area, a filtering element configured to reduce the intensity of infrared signals received by the electronic appliance, the filtering element being constituted of an ink covering at least partially other areas of the cover.

Several years ago, new types of television sets appeared, and have met with great success. They are essentially LCD type television sets or plasma type television sets. Such television sets offer, in particular, significant esthetic differences with relation to cathode type television sets, in particular due to their thin thickness and due to the rendering quality of the video images that they offer.
However, since their appearance in homes, malfunctions in electronic appliances situated near these new types of television sets have been observed, particularly in digital television decoders that are associated with them. The malfunctions in question are linked to the use of the remote control: typically, a remote control causes, after a user presses an appropriate key of the remote control under consideration, an infrared type signal to be sent, whose frequency is associated with the command sent. This signal is received by an appropriate sensor situated on an accessible cover of the relevant electronic appliance. Generally, efficient remote controls today are designed so that an infrared signal that they transmit may be received up to a distance of twenty-five meters by the associated receiver, which is more than sufficient for domestic use.
A problem encountered with the use of new types of television sets is that they emit radiation, a relatively high amount in terms of intensity, in infrared frequencies. This radiation, which is random in terms of frequency, is then at least partially received by the infrared sensors of the electronic appliance, or electronic appliances, placed near the television sets under consideration.
But the intensity of this radiation is sometimes sufficient to saturate, at least occasionally, the infrared sensor under consideration. The infrared signal transmitted by the remote control may then no longer be correctly received and interpreted by the sensor under consideration; thus a malfunction of the remote control, which no longer correctly responds to commands transmitted by the remote control, is observed.
In the prior art, various solutions for remedying this problem are proposed. A first family of solutions consists, of a specific treatment on the glass of the television set under consideration such that the television no longer produces, or produces fewer, signals in infrared frequencies. Some solutions proposed even suggest adding a layer of glass type material onto the television set glass. The cost, non-esthetic character and complexity of such solutions make them inappropriate.
A second family of solutions consists of making electronic filters intended to be placed in the electronic appliance under consideration; but such solutions are particularly costly and complex to achieve, particularly due to the random character of the infrared signals transmitted by the television set under consideration. In addition, they are not effective when the intensity of infrared signals radiated by the television set saturates the infrared sensor of the appliance under consideration.

Electronic appliance cover adapted against infrared radiation


A process including providing at least two support members maintained at a predetermined distance from each other, encircling the support members with at least one loosely hanging preformed flexible seamless carrier support sleeve having a predetermined outer circumference, encircling the seamless carrier support sleeve with a flexible belt having an inner circumference substantially same as or less than the predetermined outer circumference of the seamless carrier support sleeve, and increasing the distance between the support members to stretch the flexible belt, the size of the inner circumference of the stretched flexible belt being substantially equal to the outer circumference of the seamless carrier support sleeve after stretching the flexible belt. The resulting flexible belt assembly fabricated by this process may be utilized in various systems including electrostatographic imaging systems.

This invention relates in general to flexible assembly devices comprising a flexible belt supported by a flexible seamless carrier support sleeve and methods of using the assembly devices.
Coated flexible belts or tubes are commonly utilized for numerous purposes such as electrostatographic imaging members, conveyor belts, drive belts, intermediate image transfer belts, sheet transport belts, document handling belts, and the like.
Flexible electrostatographic imaging members, e.g. belts, are well known in the art. Typical electrostatographic flexible imaging members include, for example, photoreceptors for electrophotographic imaging systems, and electroreceptors or ionographic imaging members for electrographic imaging systems. Both electrophotographic and ionographic imaging members are commonly utilized in a belt configuration. These electrostatographic imaging member belts may be seamless or seamed. For electrophotographic applications, the imaging members preferably have a belt configuration. These belts often comprise a flexible substrate coated with one or more layers of photoconductive material. The substrates are usually organic materials such as a film forming polymer. The photoconductive coatings applied to these substrates may be inorganic such as selenium or selenium alloys or organic. The organic photoconductive layers may comprise, for example, single binder layers in which photoconductive particles are dispersed in a film forming binder or multilayers comprising, for example, a charge generating layer and a charge transport layer.
Electrophotographic imaging members having a belt configuration are normally entrained around and supported by at least two belt rollers in an electrophotographic imaging machine. Generally, one of the rollers is driven by a motor to transport the belt around the rollers during electrophotographic imaging cycles. Since electrophotographic imaging belts, particularly welded seam belts, are not perfectly cylindrical and, more specifically, tend to be slightly cone shaped, these flexible belts tend to "walk" axially along the support rollers. Belt walking causes one edge of the belt to strike one or more edge guides positioned adjacent the ends of the rollers to limit axial movement. Friction between the edge guide and the edge of the imaging belt can cause the belt to wear, rip, buckle, delaminate and otherwise damage the belt.
Imaging belts driven around supporting rollers can slip relative to the surface of the roller during stop and go operations. Belt slipping has been a serious problem when the surface contact friction between the backside of the imaging belt and the elastomeric outer surface of the drive roll is substantially reduced as a result of aging of the elastomeric material or deposition and accumulation of undesirable foreign material on the surface of the drive roll. This slippage can adversely affect registration of images, particularly where multiple, sequentially formed and transferred images must be precisely registered with each other in demanding applications such as color imaging process. Further, when welded imaging belt seams encounter slippage, sophisticated detection systems are required to ensure that images are not formed on the seam when the position of the seam shifts due to slippage. Also, there are other serious drawbacks in terms of belt tracking and problems with good image registration. Welded imaging belts, because of the difficulties associated with perfectly aligning overlapping ends during seam welding, are not as concentric as desired.
Often, the supporting rollers for an electrophotographic imaging belt have a tendency to accumulate dirt or particulates on their surfaces to cause localized particle protrusions and form stress concentration spots in the imaging belt, thereby exacerbating the development of premature mechanical failure. Constant flexing of the belt around these support rollers during machine function can result in imaging belt surface cracking. Cracking of the outer imaging layer leads to copy print defects.
Moreover, the region of a belt located between supporting rollers can vibrate and undesirably alter the often critical distances between the belt imaging surface and devices such as optical exposure means, charging corotrons, development applicators, transfer stations and the like.
In addition, the anti-curl back coating on an imaging belt tends to wear during machine cycling and such wear reduces the effectiveness of the anti-curl back coating from preventing curling of the edges of the belt. Curling of the belt also adversely affects the critical distances between the belt imaging surface and adjacent processing stations.
Attempts to prepare electrostatographic imaging belts using a thick supporting substrate to provide satisfactory beam rigidity and eliminate the need of an anti-curl back coating have been seen to accelerate the onset of dynamic fatigue outer imaging layer cracking, since the added imaging member thickness increases its bending stress when flexed over the machine belt module rollers.
When cycled in a machine, an imaging belt is constantly subjected to an applied 1 lb/in (178.6 gms/cm) belt tension. Belt creep, as a function of time in service and the applied tension, is very undesirable because it promotes imaging belt cracking and shortens its service life.

Flexible belt supported by flexible substrate carrier sleeve


In a power generation system of this invention, the outputs from power generation layers electrically connected in series are input to corresponding power conversion devices, and boosted outputs are connected in parallel and fed to a load. Alternatively, the output from one of power generation layers electrically connected in series is input to a first power conversion device, and the serial output and the boosted output from the first power conversion device are connected in parallel, input to a second power conversion device, boosted, and fed to the load. Since the two power generation layers can be individually output-controlled, each power generation layer can be optimized basically without considering current balance. Since the optical spectrum utilization efficiency increases, the power generation efficiency increases. In addition, since the power can be fed not to separate loads but to one load, the convenience largely increases.

In recent years, awareness of ecological problems is growing on a worldwide scale. Especially, the deepening concern for global warming by CO2 emission is increasing the demand for clean energies more than ever. At the moment, a solar battery is expected as a clean energy source because of its safety and good manageability.
Typical structures of a photovoltaic element used in a solar battery are as follows.
As the first structure, one power generation layer 101 is formed, and electrodes 102 and 103 are attached to both surfaces of the power generation layer to output electricity, as indicated by the sectional view shown in FIG. 10. Various materials are used for the power generation layer 101, including single-crystal silicon, polysilicon, crystallite silicon, amorphous silicon, and a compound semiconductor. This structure needs to have only one power generation layer and can be formed with a small number of manufacturing processes.
A transparent conductive layer is normally used as the electrode 102 on the light-receiving surface side. A metal electrode bus is sometimes used partially. The other electrode 103 has the same structure as that of the electrode 102. Alternatively, the electrode 103 may have a metal conductive layer on the entire surface or use a metal substrate as the metal conductive layer.
The output from the power generation layer 101 is supplied to a load 21 through the electrodes 102 and 103.
As the second structure, two power generation layers 111 and 112 are stacked and electrically connected in series with each other, and electrodes 113 and 114 are attached to the surfaces of the two power generation layers to output electricity, as indicated by the sectional view shown in FIG. 11.
The same material as that in the first structure can be used for the two power generation layers 111 and 112. However, when materials having different optical wavelength sensitivities are used for the power generation layers 111 and 112, the optical spectrum utilization efficiency increases, resulting in an increase in conversion efficiency. The two power generation layers 111 and 112 are connected in series. For this reason, the current balance between the two power generation layers 111 and 112 is designed not to cause IV mismatch. The electrodes 113 and 114 are the same as in the first structure.
The output from the power generation layers 111 and 112 connected in series is supplied to the load 21 through the electrodes 113 and 114.
FIG. 11 shows an example with two power generation layers. A structure having three or more power generation layers which are stacked and electrically connected in series to output electricity is also known.
As the third structure, two power generation layers 121 and 122 are formed, electrodes 123 and 124 are formed on both surfaces of the power generation layer 121 while electrodes 125 and 126 are formed on both surfaces of the power generation layer 122, and an insulating layer 127 is inserted between the electrodes 124 and 125, as indicated by the sectional view shown in FIG. 12. The power generation layers, 121 and 122 are electrically insulated from each other by the insulating layer 127.
The material of the two power generation layers 121 and 122 is the same as in the second structure. As in the second structure, when materials having different optical wavelength sensitivities are used, the optical spectrum can be effectively used. In the third structure, however, the two power generation layers 121 and 122 can be independently used because they are not electrically connected in series. Since no IV mismatch occurs, the current balance between the two power generation layers 121 and 122 need not be taken into consideration.
The uppermost electrode 123 and lowermost electrode 126 are the same as in the first structure. Each of the electrodes 124 and 125, which are located on both surfaces of the insulating layer 127, has a transparent conductive layer or may be designed to partially use a metal electrode bus, like the electrode 102 of the first structure. However, the design needs to take account of stacking the insulating layer 127 and the power generation layers 121 and 122.
The output from the power generation layer 121 is supplied to the load 21 through the electrodes 123 and 124. The output from the power generation layer 122 is supplied to a load 22 through the electrodes 125 and 126. That is, the outputs from the two power generation layers are supplied to the separate loads.
As the fourth structure, two power generation layers 131 and 132 are formed, electrodes 133 and 134 are formed on both surfaces of the power generation layer 131, and the electrode 134 and an electrode 135 are arranged on both surfaces of the power generation layer 132 such that the electrode 134 is shared by the two power generation layers 131 and 132, as indicated by the sectional view shown in FIG. 13. The power generation layers 131 and 132 are electrically connected in series (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-153478).
The output from the power generation layer 131 is supplied to the load 21 through the electrodes 133 and 134. The output from the power generation layer 132 is supplied to the load 22 through the electrodes 134 and 135. That is, the outputs from the two power generation layers are supplied to the separate loads.
The material of the two power generation layers 131 and 132 is the same as in the second and third structures. As in the second and third structures, when materials having different optical wavelength sensitivities are used, the optical spectrum can be effectively used. In the fourth structure, however, the two power generation layers 131 and 132 can be connected to separate loads and independently used although they are electrically connected in series. Since no IV mismatch occurs, the current balance between the two power generation layers need not be taken into consideration. In addition, unlike the third structure, one electrode and one insulating layer between the two power generation layers can be omitted.
The above photovoltaic elements however have the following problems.
In the first structure, since only one material is used for the power generation layer, the optical wavelength sensitivity is limited, and the optical spectrum cannot be effectively used.
In the second structure, if the current balance between the two power generation layers should be ensured, each power generation layer cannot always effectively use the optical spectrum.
In the third structure, since the two electrodes that come into contact with the both surfaces of the insulating layer 127 must be formed to have a sufficiently low resistance with respect to the generated current, the transparent conductive layer of each of the electrodes 124 and 125 must be thick. The transmission loss of a transparent conductive layer is not 0%, though it is transparent. Hence, when the transparent conductive layer becomes thick, the light amount to the power generation layer 122 on the lower side decreases. In addition, to form a thick transparent conductive layer is expensive. When a metal electrode bus is partially used, the transparent conductive layer can be thinned to some extent. Even in this case, however, the decrease in light amount and the increase in cost due to the thick transparent conductive layer are inevitable. The presence of the insulating layer 127 also poses the problems of smaller light amount and higher cost.
In the fourth structure, no insulating layer is necessary between the two power generation layers, and only one common electrode suffices between them, unlike the third structure. Hence, the decrease in light amount can be suppressed, and the cost can be reduced. However, since the two power generation layers are electrically connected in series, only loads that are usable in an electrically serial state can be used. In addition, since the two power generation layers are electrically connected in series, only a low voltage corresponding to one power generation layer can be supplied to the load. Since usable loads are limited, the application range is limited, too. Furthermore, since the feed voltage to the load is low, the wiring loss tends to be large.

Power generation system and power generation apparatus


A backlight device includes a first substrate having optical transparency and having first and second surfaces opposite to each other. An LED thin-film is fixed to the first surface of the first substrate. An anode electrode and a cathode electrode are formed on the LED thin-film. An anode driver IC and a cathode driver IC are provided for driving the LED thin-film to emit light. An anode wiring and a cathode wiring are provided on the first surface of the first substrate. A second substrate has optical transparency, and has first and second surfaces opposite to each other. The second surface of the second substrate faces the first surface of the first substrate. A reflection film is provided on the first surface of the second substrate. A light diffusion plate is provided so as to face the second surface of the first substrate and has a function to diffuse incident light.

The present invention relates to an LED backlight device and an LCD device using the LED backlight device.
In a general LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) device, an LCD panel is irradiated with light emitted by a light source. By changing molecular alignments of liquid crystals (pixels) arranged on the LCD panel, an image is displayed using the light passing through the LCD panel.
The light source used in such an LCD device is called as a backlight, since the light source is disposed on the backside of the LCD panel (i.e., the side opposite to a display surface of the LCD panel). The conventional light source is composed of a cold cathode ray tube or a semiconductor light emitting element. The light source using the semiconductor light emitting element has been broadly used, since such a light source has a long lifetime and contributes to reduction of power consumption.
In this regard, there is known a surface-emitting light source that uses an LED (Light Emitting Diode) as the above described semiconductor light emitting element. Such a surface-emitting light source has a plate-like member called as a light guiding plate or a light diffusion plate for guiding the light emitted by the LED. The light emitted by the LED is incident on an end surface of the light guiding plate. The light guiding plate reflects and diffuses the incident light in the direction perpendicular to the surface of the light guiding plate, and emits the light from a surface thereof (see Patent Document No. 1).
Patent Document No. 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-232920.


An organic electroluminescent device having at least one organic layer containing a light-emitting layer between a pair of electrodes, wherein the organic electroluminescent device contains a compound emitting fluorescence at a time that voltage is applied, and the light emission at the time that voltage is applied is mainly derived from the light emission of a fluorescent compound, and the external quantum efficiency of the device is 6% or more. It is preferable that the organic electroluminescent device contain an amplifying agent performing the function of amplifying the number of singlet excitons generated at the time that voltage is applied, thus amplifying the intensity of the light emission. The amplifying agent is a transition metal complex, in particular, an iridium complex, a platinum complex, a rhenium complex, a ruthenium complex, a palladium complex, a rhodium complex, a copper complex or a rare earth device complex. The compound emitting fluorescence is preferably a fused aromatic compound.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a light-emitting device capable of converting electric energy to light, particularly an organic electroluminescent device, hereinafter on occasion referred to as a "device", a "light-emitting device", an "EL device" or an "organic EL device".
2. Related Art
Organic electroluminescent (EL) devices have been attracting attention as promising display devices for obtaining luminescence of a high intensity at a low driving voltage. An important characteristic value of an organic electroluminescent device is external quantum efficiency. External quantum efficiency is calculated by "external quantum efficiency φ=number of photons discharged from a device/number of electrons injected into a device". The higher the value of external quantum efficiency, the lower the power consumption of the device, and thereby a device having a higher value of external quantum efficiency is advantageous.
The external quantum efficiency of the organic electroluminescent device is determined by "external quantum efficiency φ=internal quantum efficiency×light extraction efficiency". In an organic EL device which uses fluorescence from an organic compound, the limit value of the external quantum efficiency is considered to be about 5% since the limit value of internal quantum efficiency is 25% and light extraction efficiency is about 20%.
A device which uses a triplet light-emitting material (phosphorescent light emitting material) has been reported as a method for improving the external quantum efficiency of the device by enhancing the internal quantum efficiency of the organic electroluminescent device (for instance, see WO 00/70655). In comparison with a conventional device using fluorescence (singlet light-emitting device), this device can enhance external quantum efficiency and a maximum value of external quantum efficiency of 8% has been attained (external quantum efficiency at 100 cd/m2 is 7.5%). However, since a phosphorescent light emission from a heavy atomic metal complex is used, the response of light emission has been slow, and an improvement in durability also remains to be desired.
A singlet light-emitting device that uses energy translation from triplet excitons to singlet excitons has been reported as a method for alleviating this problem (for instance, see WO 01/8230).
However, the maximum value of external quantum efficiency of the device described in the document is 3.3%, and this does not exceed the external quantum efficiency (φ=5%) of a conventional singlet light-emitting device. There is, therefore, scope for further improvement in the device.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a light-emitting device with a superior light-emitting efficiency.


A low power, lightweight, collapsible and rugged antenna positioner for use in communicating with geostationary, geosynchronous and low earth orbit satellite. By collapsing, invention may be easily carried or shipped in a compact container. May be used in remote locations with simple or automated setup and orientation. Azimuth is adjusted by rotating an antenna in relation to a positioner base and elevation is adjusted by rotating an elevation motor coupled with the antenna. Manual orientation of antenna for linear polarized satellites yields lower weight and power usage. Updates ephemeris or TLE data via satellite. Algorithms used for search including Clarke Belt fallback, transponder/beacon searching switch, azimuth priority searching and tracking including uneven re-peak scheduling yield lower power usage. Orientation aid via user interface allows for smaller azimuth motor, simplifies wiring and lowers weight. Tilt compensation, bump detection and failure contingency provide robustness.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention described herein pertain to the field of antenna positioning systems. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, these embodiments enable the positioning of antennas by way of a compact, lightweight, portable, self-aligning antenna positioner that is easily moved by a single user and allows for rapid setup and alignment.
2. Description of the Related Art
An antenna positioner is an apparatus that allows for an antenna to be pointed in a desired direction, such as towards a satellite. Many satellites are placed in geosynchronous orbit at approximately 22,300 miles above the surface of the earth. Other satellites may be placed in low earth orbit and traverse the sky relatively quickly. Generally, pointing may be performed by adjusting the azimuth and elevation or alternatively by rotating the positioner about the X and Y axes. Once oriented in the proper direction, the antenna is then best able to receive a given satellite signal.
Existing antenna positioners are heavy structures that are bulky and require many workers to manually setup and initially orient. These systems fail to satisfactorily achieve the full spectrum of compact storage, ease of transport and rapid setup. For example, currently fielded antenna systems capable of receiving Global Broadcast System transmissions comprise an antenna, support, positioner, battery, cables, receiver, decoder and PC. These antenna systems require over a half dozen storage containers that each require 2 or more workers to lift. Other antenna systems are mounted on trucks and are generally heavy and not easily shipped.

Portable antenna positioner apparatus and method


An electromagnetic driving device for driving a print needle of a printer employing an E-shaped magnetic yoke. In order to improve print speed, the armature and arms of the yoke are specifically dimensioned. The precise lengths and widths of the armature and yoke provide an inductive circuit that minimizes both magnetic losses and inductance.

Dot matrix print heads are used in electric printers and produce mosaic-like symbols that are compiled from printed dots produced by several printing pins. The quality of the symbols depends on the number of printing pins and/or on the frequency of their activation. The more printing pins are contained in a dot matrix print head, the better the ability of the printing dots to produce a symbol and the better the ability to read the same.
A dot matrix print head should contain the highest possible number of printing pins. In addition to this it should work at high speed and execute the movement of the printing pins with the highest possible impact, so that duplicates in the form of carbon copies can be produced during the printing process. These demands should also be fulfilled during long term use, which means that the dot matrix print head should have a high continuous output.
It has thus far not been possible to fulfill simultaneously the demands set for a dot matrix print head, which are high printing speeds, high impact and high continuous output. The main reason for this fact is the heat produced by the electromagnetic drive mechanisms for the printing pins, because one proceeded from the premise that a high activation frequency of a printing pin and a high impact force can only be obtained with strong energizing currents and/or a high number of ampere turns in large ferromagnetic circuits. A dot matrix print head constructed according to this principle has very high magnetic frame limbs with a large number of drive mechanisms in order to realize the large volume of iron and the large number of ampere turns. This fact was thus far predetermined by a circular arrangement of the drive mechanisms with printing pins that are arranged in the area of the center of the circle.

Electromagnetic drive mechanism for the printing pin of a print head


An exercise bar includes a cylindrical center piece and cylindrical end pieces for selective threaded connection to the center piece. The pieces are of selected weights, chosen from a group of such pieces. Each end piece includes an off center handgrip so that reversing the end pieces relative to the center piece changes the distance between handgrips. Rubber tipped end caps are threaded to the outer ends of the end pieces.

Aerobic exercise programs typically include the use of some type of dowel or stick to promote extension of various movements, and weights for development of strength and muscle tone. Dumbbells are the weights generally used, but exercise bars of various forms are known in the prior art.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,714,391 to McWhirter; 4,440,391 to Saenz et al; and 5,029,847 to Ross show different forms of collapsible exercise bars. They are only generally relevant, but they are the closest prior art that I know of.