The present invention preferably relates to a casino card game played with a standard fifty-two card deck. The game is divided into a bonus round, progressive bonus round, and a challenge round. Each player places an ante and a bonus wager and, if desired, an optional progressive bonus wager at the start of the game and must place an additional wager to continue into the challenge round. The dealer pays winning hands at three points in the game, at the end of the bonus round, at the end of the progressive bonus round, and at the end of the challenge round. The bonus round is paid according to each player's two card hand plus a third (bonus) community card. The progressive bonus round is paid according to each player's two card hand plus a third (bonus) and fourth (progressive bonus) community card. The challenge round is played one-on-one with each player two card hand versus the dealer's. The player has the option to buy a new card and surrender a card of his choice during the challenge round for a predetermined price.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a card game which can be played with a physical standard deck of cards or electronically. It is a wagering game preferably played in a casino environment. The game involves multiple wagers and three playing segments, the segments being a bonus round, an optional progressive bonus round, and a challenge round.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Many different wagering games involving cards are played by individuals. These games may involve the individuals playing individually against a dealer or against each other. For example, in the game black jack or 21, each player plays against a dealer's hand. All players at a table can win if they individually beat the dealer's hand without going bust or having their cards add up to more than 21. In many poker type games, the players at a table are generally playing against all of the other players at the table with only one player winning each hand.
These wagering games can be played using one or more standard decks of cards, normally a 52 card deck with 13 cards in each of four suits (clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades), the 13 cards being cards numbered 2-10, plus a jack, queen, king, and ace. Some of the games involve one or more additional cards, generally referred to as a joker or wild card.
Further, these games can be played using actual cards or electronically. Electronic card wagering games can involve a machine, such as a video poker machine, where an individual is playing against that machine, or a computer where an individual may access a virtual casino over the internet and play similar to a video poker machine or play against a virtual or real dealer or against other individuals connected to the same virtual casino.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Apparatus for masking (center and peripheral) the microscope condenser lens to simultaneously maximize resolution, contrast and depth of field utilizing, at a conjugate plane of the aperture plane where an image of the rear aperture of the condenser lens has been created, a plurality of light sources to illuminate two or more of the faces of a multi-faced mirror in the shape of a pyramid which moves relative to the light sources to vary the amount of center masking continuously over a range including zero while directing multiple oblique beams of light onto the objective lens including such apparatus for connection to the illumination port of a light microscope in place of a standard light source.

The present invention relates to illumination systems and, in particular, to an illuminator for light microscopes which provides center masking (masking the central area of the condenser) apparatus. The terms "mask" and "masking" as used herein refer to any method or device which has the effect of permitting or directing illumination light onto some areas of a condenser lens and preventing other areas of the condenser lens from receiving all or some of the available illumination light. When using the term "condenser lens," it will be understood that, in the context of a reflection microscope in which the present invention is operable, the condenser lens and the objective lens refer to the same focusing lens.
The idea of improving resolution and contrast in a light microscope by preventing areas of a condenser lens from receiving full illumination (center masking) has been discussed for many years, but has never been successfully incorporated into a commercial microscope. The two main reasons for the lack of commercialization of center masking are the absence of a practical device for producing such center masking and the lack of physical space at the rear aperture of a condenser of a high power microscope in which to locate center masking apparatus.
In order for center masking to be effective, it is necessary that the size of the area of the condenser masked be carefully matched to both the objective lens being used and the specimen under investigation. Too much or too little center masking can have a noticeable effect and, in some cases, even degrade the image relative to conventional axial illumination. Thus, to be fully effective, a center masking illumination system should provide continuous masking over a significant range, from very little masking (preferably zero) to a significant amount of masking, and be useful with a wide variety of commonly used condensers including high power condensers, as well as condensers with physically inaccessible rear apertures.
Mechanical devices are known which can provide center masking by expanding or contracting an opaque mask disposed at the center of the rear aperture of a condenser. These devices, which have been designed to occlude all illumination on a path directly to the objective to provide dark-field illumination, at their minimum possible occlusion, still provide too much center occlusion which, in many cases, can degrade the image rather than produce image enhancement. These prior art devices are also incompatible with condensers with either too little or no space available at the rear aperture to accommodate the masking mechanism.


A method of producing at least one compound comprising an alkenyl group from at least one compound comprising an alkyl group having two or more carbon atoms, the method comprising: (i) Providing a mixture comprising carbon dioxide and at least one compound comprising an alkyl group having two or more carbon atoms; and (ii) Contacting said mixture with a catalyst comprising one or both of palladium and platinum and one or more lanthanide, thereby converting at least a portion of the at least one compound comprising an alkyl group having two or more carbon atoms into a compound comprising an alkenyl group, the total of the weight of the palladium and/or platinum being more than 0.1 wt % of the catalyst.

The present disclosure relates to a method of producing a compound comprising an alkenyl group (such as an alkene, for example a C2-12alkene, or an alkenyl aryl or alkenyl heteroaryl compound, for example styrene) and a catalyst used in such a method.
The present invention concerns the production of compounds comprising an alkenyl group. More particularly, but not exclusively, this invention concerns the production of compounds comprising an alkenyl group from compounds comprising alkyl groups. The invention also concerns a catalyst for use in such methods.
The production of alkenes (such as propene) from alkanes (such as propane) is known to those skilled in the art. For example, the alkene may be merely dehydrogenated, producing the alkene and hydrogen. This is a strongly endothermic reaction and it is equilibrium limited, therefore, it has to be performed at a high temperature, which may lead to low selectivity to propene and to coking. This dehydrogenation reaction may be catalysed using a chromia catalyst, a platinum-tin catalyst or a Zn catalyst on a calcium-aluminium support. Due to coke deposition, the catalyst typically needs to be periodically regenerated.
Alternatively, oxygen may be used to facilitate an oxidative dehydrogenation of the alkane to form the alkene and water, typically in the presence of a V2O5 catalyst. This reaction is strongly exothermic, and there is a significant risk of the alkane oxidising to unwanted products, such as carbon dioxide. There may be significant safety issues associated with this process if operated close to the explosive limits of either the reactants or products.
CO2 has also been used in the oxidative dehydrogenation of alkanes. The reaction temperature at which the process operates is typically 600-650° C., which can lead to coking.
The present invention seeks to mitigate one or more of the above-mentioned problems. Alternatively or additionally, the present invention seeks to provide an improved method of producing alkenes and an improved catalyst for use in such methods.

Method of producing compound comprising alkenyl group

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CARDIFF CONSULTANTS LIMITED


A biplane line array speaker includes a line array of tweeters mounted substantially directly in front of a line array of woofers. The tweeter line array is arcuately shaped to provide controlled vertical dispersion above and below the boundaries of the speaker cabinet. The woofers are displaced from the tweeters in stepped manner. The speaker cabinet is a rectangular box, allowing efficient wall mounting in single or multiple unit columns. In multiple unit columns, the individual units acoustically couple to each other.

Controlling directivity of loudspeakers has always been one of the most important problems in commercial sound reproduction. Being able to aim and deliver sound energy precisely to one area and prevent the sound energy from falling onto another is one of the challenges of sound system designers. A speaker system with well controlled directivity will have precise and even SPL (sound pressure level) coverage of the audience area, providing desired speech intelligibility and balanced reproduction. In addition, controlled directivity helps avoid reflective surfaces, insuring controlled reverberation and minimum interference with direct sound.
Various devices have been used to control sound dispersion. The horn is one of the methods that is quite effective for mid and high frequency transducers. Another effective method that is known from antenna theory is using multiple drivers arranged in a line source or array.
The directive properties of such line sources or arrays are known. If transducers are spaced very close to each other in long line with a length that is comparable to or larger than a wavelength of radiated sound, then such a system generally exhibits rather directive properties on its axis and would project sound without wasting too much energy on off-axis radiation.
A line array system concept is derived from line source theory. An ideal line source is an infinite, thin (narrow) and continuous vibrating element, which radiates cylindrical waves. Such a line source has an important radiation property, which is that its SPL level decreases inversely proportionately to the distance from the source, losing only 3 dB with each doubling of the distance. A point source radiator (common loudspeakers are considered to be point source radiators) generates a spherical wave. Its SPL decreases inversely proportionately to the square of the distance from the source, losing 6 dB with each doubling of the distance.
This phenomenon can be understood, considering that expansion of a cylindrical wavefront results in a surface area gain being proportionate to increasing distance, while expansion of a spherical wavefront produces an area gain, which is proportionate to the square of the distance.
Unlike the infinite ideal line radiator, a line source with limited length has limited extension of its cylindrical wavefront zone (near field). Beyond a certain distance, the cylindrical wavefront gradually transforms into the spherical wavefront (far field) and the system becomes a point source device. The distance, defining a border between the near and far field zones, depends on the line source length and frequency. Generally, the near field extends from the line source to a distance D=L2f/636, where L is the length of the line array, and f is the relevant frequency. Within the near field the SPL loss is about 3 dB and the intensity is proportional to about l/r, where is the listener's distance from the line source. In the far field, the SPL loss is about 6 dB, and the intensity is proportional to l/r2.
The benefits of a line source in comparison to a point source system can be stated as follows. First, a significantly smaller SPL reduction with distance allows for delivering higher sound volume levels further to the audience. Second, at a given sound level at the back of a venue a line source would produce much smaller difference in SPL levels throughout the venue, with SPL being significantly lower in close proximity to the source. This provides very comfortable listening conditions without the danger of overpowering the audience in the front rows. Third, the cylindrical wavefront provides very controlled energy dispersion in the plane, which coincides with the line source (in most applications this would be the vertical plane), resulting in excellent intelligibility even in a very reverberant environment.
Multiple transducers have been used to build column speakers to deliver direct sound further to the audience. However the problem is that conventional transducers or compression drivers do not work well in such applications at high frequencies. A true line array system is different from a line source in that it consists of a discrete array of transducers and has limited length. In this case, the notion of a continuous line source should be considered in the relationship between line array geometry and the wavelength of reproduced sound. The primary question defining the proper operation of a line array is whether the array can be considered as a continuous line source over the reproduced frequency range.
Consider a line array system comprising a number of linearly placed, spaced apart drivers on a length L, where P is an equivalent radiating piston height (diameter for a circular piston) of a driver, and H is a space taken by each driver or distance between driver centers. The condition that defines a discrete line array as a line source can be related to two different shapes of the radiating element. For circular drivers, proper line source behavior, or "coupling", can be achieved in a frequency range where:H<λ,
where λ is a wavelength at a given frequency.
For example, to fulfill this condition at 10 kHz and above, drivers must be spaced with less than 1.33″ (3.4 cm) between driver centers.
This spacing requirement is a completely unrealistic condition for a practical design using 1″ or even 0.75″ dome tweeters, which would obviously require a greater spacing. This means that conventional line arrays using conventional cone drivers cannot properly perform as a line source at high frequencies. If a line array is not properly coupled, the resulting dispersion is far from consistent and exhibits severe lobing along with significant SPL irregularities within the coverage area.
As noted above, a line source system where drivers are positioned in a line and are driven with the same signal possesses very narrow vertical dispersion. Depending on the system's length and frequency, the vertical dispersion beyond the array's upper and lower limits approaches zero degrees. This means that a straight array radiates sound strictly between upper and lower planes limited with its physical dimensions. In applications where the audience is located on a flat floor such configuration is acceptable.
However, for many environments (e.g., large halls, venues, etc.) such controlled dispersion is a disadvantage since the audience may be located on elevated/tiered floor with height gradient M at the back. Some conventional solutions simply try to use more straight columns. In order for a system of straight columns to cover the audience in such venue it would be necessary to install a straight system of the exact height M. This increases the cost and complexity of such an installation. Another existing option is to use discrete arrays where each driver set is installed in a physically separate box and all the boxes are connected through elaborate system of hinges and pins; the boxes are then usually mounted on a special bumper bar, and metal chains and motors are used to attach the speaker array to the ceiling. Such installations tend to be prohibitively expensive for many applications, and certainly is not capable of being wall mounted in most medium size venues.

Biplane line array speaker with arcuate tweeter array providing controlled directivity


The present invention is directed to a process for preparing single crystal silicon, in ingot or wafer form, wherein crucible rotation is utilized to control the average axial temperature gradient in the crystal, G0, as a function of radius (i.e., G0(r)), particularly at or near the central axis. Additionally, crucible rotation modulation is utilized to obtain an axially uniform oxygen content therein.

The present invention generally relates to the preparation of semiconductor grade single crystal silicon which is used in the manufacture of electronic components. More particularly, the present invention relates to a process for preparing single crystal silicon, in ingot or wafer form, wherein crucible rotation is utilized to control the average axial temperature gradient in the crystal, G0, as a function of radius (i.e., G0(r)), particularly at or near the central axis. Additionally, crucible rotation modulation is utilized to obtain an axially uniform oxygen content. In one particular embodiment, the present invention is directed to a process for preparing single crystal silicon having an axially symmetric region which is substantially devoid of agglomerated intrinsic point defects using crucible rotation to improve radial uniformity of G0.
Single crystal silicon, which is the starting material in most processes for the fabrication of semiconductor electronic components, is commonly prepared by the so-called Czochralski ("Cz") method. In this method, polycrystalline silicon ("polysilicon") is charged to a crucible and melted, a seed crystal is brought into contact with the molten silicon and a single crystal is grown by slow extraction. After formation of a neck is complete, the diameter of the crystal is enlarged by, for example, decreasing the pulling rate and/or the melt temperature until the desired or target diameter is reached. The cylindrical main body of the crystal which has an approximately constant diameter is then grown by controlling the pull rate and the melt temperature while compensating for the decreasing melt level. Near the end of the growth process but before the crucible is emptied of molten silicon, the crystal diameter must be reduced gradually to form an end-cone. Typically, the end-cone is formed by increasing the crystal pull rate and heat supplied to the crucible. When the diameter becomes small enough, the crystal is then separated from the melt.
It is now recognized that a number of defects in single crystal silicon form in the growth chamber as the ingot cools from the temperature of solidification. More specifically, as the ingot cools intrinsic point defects, such as crystal lattice vacancies or silicon self-interstitials, remain soluble in the silicon lattice until some threshold temperature is reached, below which the given concentration of intrinsic point defects becomes critically supersaturated. Upon cooling to below this threshold temperature, a reaction or agglomeration event occurs, resulting in the formation of agglomerated intrinsic point defects.
As has been reported elsewhere (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,919,302; 6,254,672; 6,287,380; 6,328,795; and, 6,312,516, all of which are incorporated herein by reference), the type and initial concentration of these point defects in the silicon are determined as the ingot cools from the temperature of solidification (i.e., about 1410° C.) to a temperature greater than about 1300° C. (i.e., about 1325° C., 1350° C. or more); that is, the type and initial concentration of these defects are controlled by the ratio v/G0, where v is the growth velocity and G0 is the average axial temperature gradient in the crystal over this temperature range. Specifically, referring now to FIG. 1, for increasing values of v/G0, a transition from decreasingly self-interstitial dominated growth to increasingly vacancy dominated growth occurs near a critical value of v/G0 which, based upon currently available information, appears to be about 2.1×10−5 cm2/sK, where G0 is determined under conditions in which the axial temperature gradient is constant within the temperature range defined above. Accordingly, process conditions, such as growth rate (which affect v), as well as hot zone configurations (which affect G0), can be controlled to determine whether the intrinsic point defects within the single crystal silicon will be predominantly vacancies (where v/G0 is generally greater than the critical value) or self-interstitials (where v/G0 is generally less than the critical value).
Agglomerated defect formation generally occurs in two steps; first, defect "nucleation" occurs, which is the result of the intrinsic point defects being supersaturated at a given temperature. Once this "nucleation threshold" temperature is reached, intrinsic point defects agglomerate. The intrinsic point defects will continue to diffuse through the silicon lattice as long as the temperature of the portion of the ingot in which they are present remains above a second threshold temperature (i.e., a "diffusivity threshold"), below which intrinsic point defects are no longer mobile within commercially practical periods of time. While the ingot remains above this temperature, vacancy or interstitial intrinsic point defects diffuse through the crystal lattice to sites where agglomerated vacancy defects or interstitial defects, respectively, are already present, causing a given agglomerated defect to grow in size. Growth occurs because these agglomerated defect sites essentially act as "sinks," attracting and collecting intrinsic point defects because of the more favorable energy state of the agglomeration.
Accordingly, the formation and size of agglomerated defects are dependent upon the growth conditions, including v/G0 (which impacts the initial concentration of such point defects), as well as the cooling rate or residence time of the main body of the ingot over the range of temperatures bound by the "nucleation threshold" at the upper end and the "diffusivity threshold" (which impacts the size and density of such defects) at the lower end. As has been previously reported (see, e.g., the U.S. patents referenced above), control of the cooling rate or residence time enables the formation of agglomerated intrinsic point defects to be suppressed over much larger ranges of values for v/G0; that is, controlled cooling allows for a much larger "window" of acceptable v/G0 values to be employed while still enabling the growth of substantially defect-free silicon.
However, with respect to the type and initial concentration of intrinsic point defects, it is recognized that at the time of solidification the pull rate, and thus essentially v, is substantially constant as a function of radius at that particular axial position; that is, v is essentially constant radially at each axial position in the ingot. It is further recognized that typically the concentration, and possibly the type, of intrinsic point defects is not constant along the radius due to the heat-loss at the outer or lateral surface of the ingot, which therefore causes G0 to increase along the radius moving from the center of the ingot outward. In general, this is due to the limitations on hot zone design (i.e., the inability to sufficiently limit heat loss at the crystal surface). This inability to control G0(r) becomes more pronounced as the actual value of G0 increases. As a result, increasing the throughput of substantially defect-free silicon becomes more difficult (an increase in v typically requiring an increase in G0 in order to maintain the desired type and initial concentration of point defects).

Process for preparing single crystal silicon using crucible rotation to control temperature gradient


A method of magnetic-abrasive machining of parts has the steps of supporting a part, generating a magnetic field by magnetic means located at one side of the part, placing a magnetic-abrasive powder on a surface located at another, opposite side of the part, so that the magnetic-abrasive powder is attracted by the magnetic means and pressed to the surface of the part, and providing a relative movement of the parts and the magnetic abrasive powder retained by the magnetic means relative to one another so as to machine the surface of the part which is therefore open for observation and supply of the magnetic abrasive powder; and an apparatus is proposed as well.

The present invention relates to a method of and apparatus for abrasive machining of parts, for example of wafers.
Semiconductor circuit manufacturers require two qualities of crystalline silicon wafers: "prime" and "test". Prime quality wafers are used in construction of semiconductors products, while test quality wafers are used to pre-qualify manufacturing processes. Further, two types of test wafers exist: prime test wafers with higher quality and reclaim-test wafers with standard quality. For example a candidate reclaim-test or simply "reclaim" wafer may consist of a silicon substrate with semiconductor components implanted and/or diffused into one wafer surface. Reclaiming than involves removing the layers and portions of the underlying silicon, which have been implanted or diffused.
Machining is a part of the wafer manufacture or "wafering". Both general and specific machining processes are used for prime, prime-test and reclaim wafers. The objective of prime and reclaim wafering is to remove as little silicon as possible, while producing as little (SSD) subsurface damage) as possible. The amount of SSD directly corresponds to the time and amount of stock removal of silicon in a chemical-mechanical polishing "CMP" operation. CMP is the most expensive process of all the operations in wafer manufacturing. The less silicon removed (by lapping/etching/polishing or chemical stripping) the more times a customer can reclaim the same wafer and re-use it. Chemical stripping is the most hazardous operation in the reclaim wafering.
During machining of prime wafers a substantial layer of silicon is removed since it is necessary to obtain parallel location of its sides which is equal or less than one micron. After slicing, the non-parallelism is substantial and therefore a lapping process is utilized which provides the parallelism within given limits by removal of a substantial layer of silicon. CMP (polishing) removes then a significant layer of silicon since the subsurface damage reaches a high value after the lapping process. Here there is a contradiction since CMP itself can provide the required TTV (total thickness variation).
During a reclaiming process in order to remove films a chemical stripping is utilized which is very hazardous, and/or lapping processes are used. Both processes remove up to 50 μm of silicon in order to remove 2–5 μm of films. With the use of these processes, the operator does not see the films which are being removed and therefore the layer to be removed is substantially greater than the thickness of the film, so as not to again machine the same. Moreover, SSD is very high. As a result the removed layer of silicon reaches 50 μm.
Magnetic-abrasive machining is known in the art. One of the methods of magnetic-abrasive machining is disclosed in our U.S. Pat. No. 6,146,245. This method however has the disadvantage in that the machining zone is closed due to the fact that two permanent magnets are used which are located at opposite sides of a workpiece, and also there is a weak magnetic field and gradient between the poles, since with such a magnetic field the pressing and retaining forces which act on the grains of the magnetic abrasive powder between two magnets are smaller than in the case of the use of one magnet.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,735 discloses a process for recovering substrates. It has the disadvantages of including microfractures in the surface, which require removal of them from the surface. Edge materials are removed by abrasive tape. Wafer thickness reduction during recycling is 30 microns and less per cycle. These processes use chemicals and abrasive slurry, which are environmentally not friendly and require expensive recovery.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,466 discloses a method of grinding a workpiece, in which the magnets are located at one side of the workpiece. However, in this case also the machining zone is closed by the workpiece which is held in the device and faces toward the magnets. Abrasive grains are located between the surface to be machined and the magnets. The magnets include a group of magnets placed side by side, in which adjoined poles have different polarity with respect to one another.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,449,313; 5,616,066 and 5,577,948 disclose further methods of polishing of an object. In these methods the surface of the workpiece to be machined is also closed by the workpiece which is held in a device and a magnet, despite the fact that the magnets are located at one side of the workpiece.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,735 discloses a magnetic barrel finishing machine which has a rotary disc made of a non ferromagnetic material, a plurality of permanent magnets radially mounted and irregularly arranged on the rotary disk, and magnets located at the one side of a part to be machined. The axis of the rotary magnets coincide with the axis of one immovable container. In this reference the plurality of permanent magnets provide magnetic lines of force which acts in a circumferential direction of the rotary disk and in a radial direction of the rotary disk inwardly or outwardly. Such different motions or flows of the work pieces and abrasive media do not provide a mutually perpendicular pattern of scratches. It is also believed that the machine disclosed in this reference does not operate in practice as described, since different polarity of the magnets and their arrangement does not generate an alternating magnetic field that cause the workpieces and the abrasive medium to flow in an irregular fashion in two different groups. In fact, when a mixture of abrasive medium and workpieces is located in the container, a magnetic component of abrasive medium and/or workpieces is pressed to the bottom of the container after the locations where the permanent magnets are arranged. The polarity of the magnets and their arrangement does not influence this. This is done by those elements which can be attracted or pressed to the magnets. A part of them is not pressed directly against the bottom, but is pressed to non magnetic elements which lien the bottom. If the magnetic elements contain a magnetic abrasive, then an abrasive cutting takes place. If they do not contain a magnetic abrasive, or in other words the abrasive component is not magnetic, then the abrasive cutting does not take place since the abrasive elements are rotated together with the non magnetic elements.
It is believed that the magnetic-abrasive machining, in particular of wafers can be further improved.

Method of and apparatus for magnetic-abrasive machining of wafers


Authentication information is generated for a group where members within a group are able to communicate with each other, but a non-members is not able to participate in that communication. The authentication information provides the determination of whether the member belongs to the group.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to apparatus and methods for securing communication in a network medium.
2. Description of Related Art
Arbitrary connections can be used to connect various devices, such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), handheld computers, laptop computers, desktop computers, cellular phones, wireless phones, sensors with measuring devices, securing devices, and home entertainment, automation, and security devices, for example. However, authorizing communication between certain devices while disallowing others may require an infrastructure that provides globally trusted certification authorities, up-to-date certificate revocation lists, and sound certificate issuing policies.
These elaborate systems for securing wireless and hard-wired communication are not well suited to environments where ease of use and accessibility are important. For example, in an environment where users are likely to be unsophisticated or are unwilling to deal with the challenges of security configurations, security may be breached because the users may not know how to use the security measures. Users may even deliberately turn off the security measures if they find the security measures to be confusing or to be interfering with the tasks that they are attempting to complete.

Apparatus and methods for providing secured communication


An adjustable fender vehicle has an upper wall with inner and outer side walls. The inner side wall includes an elongated longitudinal clamping edge and an interior wall depends from the underside of upper wall between the inner and outer walls. The interior wall has an elongated longitudinal opening in registry with the elongated longitudinal clamping edge in the inner side wall for receiving a fastener for adjustable mounting of the fender to a vehicle. The inner side wall includes an elongated longitudinal opening in registry with the elongated longitudinal opening in the interior wall and the elongated longitudinal clamping edge is formed in the elongated longitudinal opening in the inner side wall. The elongated longitudinal opening is configured to receive a mounting arm that is adapted to extend through the elongated longitudinal opening to the interior wall. Fasteners on the mounting arm clamp the fender to the mounting arm.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fender for covering the wheels of a heavy-duty vehicle. In one of its aspects, the invention relates to a fender that is configured to mount to a truck chassis through a mounting arm that extends beneath the upper panel or the fender. In another of its aspects, the invention relates a fender that is configured to mount to a truck chassis through an adjustable connection to a mounting arm.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heavy-duty vehicles, such as a tractor-trailer, use fender assemblies to cover the otherwise exposed drive wheels of the tractor. As illustrated in FIG. 1, a typical prior art fender assemblies A comprises a mounting arm B that extends laterally from the vehicle frame C, mounting brackets D, and a fender E. The mounting brackets D are fixed to the fender E and receive the mounting arm B. The mounting arm B bears a preponderance of the weight of the fender E and maintains the fender E in a desirable position above the drive wheels F. At one end, the mounting arm B can be fixed or rotatably mounted to the vehicle frame C. When the mounting arm B is rotatably mounted, the fender assembly A is rotationally adjustable relative to the vehicle frame C. The other end of the mounting arm B is secured to the fender E by the mounting brackets D.
In the exemplary prior art fender assembly A in FIG. 1, the mounting brackets D are secured to the fender E by traditional mechanical fasteners, which are shown as bolts G, that extend through the fender E. These and other conventional mechanical means typically require permanent alteration of the fender. For example, to mount the fender assembly to the vehicle frame, the mounting arm, the mounting brackets, and the fender are aligned relative to each other and to the vehicle frame, holes are drilled through the fender in locations to accomplish the desired alignment, and then the bolts or other mechanical fasteners are inserted through the mounting brackets and the holes in the fender. Because this process is very labor intensive and the working area near the vehicle frame is usually limited, it is often difficult to accurately mount the fender in the desired position. Typically, the fender is placed in proper location with respect to the wheels. This location is critical and cannot be altered. Then, the mounting arm B is mounted to the frame and the position of the mounting brackets on the fender is observed and the hole locations are marked. Often, there is very limited maneuvering room for the mounting arm and there is not much room to adjust the position of the mounting arm B with respect to the fender. If the holes are drilled in incorrect locations, the fender can be improperly positioned or the mounting brackets D might not align with the holes. Frequently, the fender must be marked again and new holes drilled in the fender. Other means of fixing the mounting brackets to the fender include welding, soldering, or other chemical bonding means. While chemical bonding methods securely fix the mounting brackets to the fender, they permanently alter the fender and have deficiencies similar to those of mechanical fastening means, especially if the brackets are improperly mounted.
Examples of prior art mounting brackets are disclosed in several patents. U.S. Pat. No. 5,950,975 to Zieske (Zieske '975) discloses a fender mounting assembly comprising a fender mounting plate having traditional circular clamps for receiving a mounting arm. The clamps include bolts that can be tightened to securely grasp the arm, and the fender mounting plate is coupled to a lower surface of a fender. Alternatively, the arm can be directly attached to the fender by bolts and nuts. Another fender assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,591,178 to Mortvedt et al. (Mortvedt '178). In Mortvedt '178, U-shaped clamps sized to receive mounting tubes are secured to an upper surface of the fender with bolts that extend through the clamps and holes in the fender. U.S. Pat. No. 4,377,294 to Lockwood et al. (Lockwood '294) discloses a fender assembly comprising a mounting arm that sits within a support seat formed in an upper surface of the fender panel. Clamping plates are positioned inside the mounting arm and against the bottom surface of the fender panel. Threaded bolts extend through the clamping plates, the mounting arm, and the fender panel to securely couple the mounting arm to the fender panel. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 1,094,134 to Dickerson (Dickerson '134) discloses a fender assembly with a bent tubular arm having an inner horizontal portion and an outer horizontal portion that is received by brackets, which are positioned under the fender and fastened thereto with bolts.
Fender bracing assemblies were commonly used on early passenger automobiles to hold fenders under tension and to lift fenders to their proper positions. Such assemblies commonly comprised a rod or wire that connects clamps or brackets coupled to fenders on both sides of the automobile. The clamps typically wrap around the edges of the fenders and include means for retaining the rod or wire. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,489,062 to Burnam (Burnam '062) discloses a fender brace comprising a flexible wire cable disposed between two front fenders. A pair of bifurcated hook clamps, each having a hook portion and an eye portion, is mounted to each fender such that the hook portions wrap around the edges of the fenders. The wire cable is threaded through the eyes and secured in place with nuts and bolts. Similar braces are described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,434,477 to Bury (Bury '477) and U.S. Pat. No. 1,511,813 to Dunn (Dunn '813). The clamps in the Bury '477 and the Dunn '813 devices are single-piece components that wrap around both the inside and outside edges of the fenders. Fender bracing assemblies differ from fender mounting assemblies in that the latter bear a preponderance of the fender weight while the former merely hold a pair of fenders under tension to prevent vibration and to assist in holding them above the automobile wheels.
French Demande No. 2 690 125 to Doyen discloses an adjustable mounting between a bicycle fender and a bicycle frame in which the fender of U-shaped configuration in cross-section has in a central portion on the bottom of the side walls a series of detents. A U-shaped clamping member that is attached to the bicycle straddles the fender and has inturned ends that fit below the bottom edges of fender side walls and have several bosses interface with the detents on the bottom edge of the fender side walls to clamp the fender to the bicycle frame.


A multi-layer structured golf ball having high initial velocity at low head speed region and excellent flight performance, while maintaining the characteristics inherent in conventional thread wound golf balls, i.e. good shot feel, wherein the multi-layer structured golf ball has (a) a solid core having a diameter of 23 to 37 mm, and a deformation amount of 2.5-10 mm with a load of 10 kgf to 130 kgf (b) an intermediate cover having a thickness of 0.5 to 5.0 mm and formed from a thermoplastic resin on the solid core, (c) a thread rubber layer having a thickness of 1.0 to 5.0 mm, formed on the intermediate cover, and (d) an outer cover covering the thread rubber layer, formed from a thermoplastic resin.

Many golf balls are commercially selling, but they are typically classified into solid golf balls such as two-piece golf balls, three-piece golf balls and the like, and also thread wound golf balls. The solid golf balls consists of a solid core of molded rubber material and a cover of a thermoplastic resin (e.g. ionomer resin) covering on the solid core. The thread wound golf ball consists of a solid or liquid center, a thread wound layer formed on the center and a cover make of an ionomer resin or balata etc. having a thickness of 1 to 2 mm covering the thread wound layer. The solid golf balls which are selling commercially are mainly two-piece golf balls because they are easy to produce. The two-piece solid golf ball, when compared with the thread wound golf ball, has better durability and better flight performance because of a larger initial velocity when hitting and longer flight distance. The two-piece solid golf ball is generally approved or employed by many golfers, especially amateur golfers. On the other hand, the two-piece solid golf ball has a poor shot feel at the time of hitting and poor controllability on approach shots because of less spin.
Recently, in order to provide a golf ball having good shot feel in addition to excellent flight distance, a golf ball having a multi-layer structure has been proposed. However, the flight distance was degraded in the excessive pursuit of a good shot feel.


Methods and systems for reducing overhead paging are described. One example of such a method includes generating a compressed traffic indication map (TIM) element, the compressed TIM element comprising a partial virtual bitmap field constructed from at least one encoded block field that includes an encoded block information field identifying at least one encoding mode for encoded block information, and sending the compressed TIM element to an at least one station (STA) associated with the access point that supports at least one multiple basic service set identifier (BSSID). The method may also include, in response to the at least one encoding mode comprising an offset, length, bitmap (OLB) mode, encoding the encoded block information field to include a length subfield followed by contiguous subblock subfields, each subblock subfield including a corresponding subblock of a partial virtual map.

In the last several decades, the use of electronic devices has become common. In particular, advances in electronic technology have reduced the cost of increasingly complex and useful electronic devices. Cost reduction and consumer demand have proliferated the use of electronic devices such that they are practically ubiquitous in modern society. As the use of electronic devices has expanded, so has the demand for new and improved features of electronic devices. More specifically, electronic devices that perform functions faster, more efficiently or with higher quality are often sought after.
Some electronic devices (e.g., cellular phones, smart phones, computers, etc.) communicate with other electronic devices. These electronic devices may be referred to as communication devices. These electronic devices may generate and transmit data to other electronic devices. For example, a laptop computer may format data into packets and wirelessly transmit the packets to an access point.
In many telecommunication systems, communications networks are used to exchange messages among several interacting spatially separated devices. Networks may be classified according to geographic scope, which could be, for example, a metropolitan area, a local area, or a personal area. Such networks would be designated respectively as a wide area network (WAN), metropolitan area network (MAN), local area network (LAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), or personal area network (PAN). Networks also differ according to the switching/routing technique used to interconnect the various network nodes and devices (e.g. circuit switching vs. packet switching), the type of physical media employed for transmission (e.g. wired vs. wireless), and the set of communication protocols used (e.g., Internet protocol suite, SONET (Synchronous Optical Networking), Ethernet, etc.).
Wireless networks are often preferred when the network elements are mobile and thus have dynamic connectivity needs, or if the network architecture is formed in an ad hoc, rather than fixed, topology. Wireless networks employ intangible physical media in an unguided propagation mode using electromagnetic waves in the radio, microwave, infra-red, optical, etc., frequency bands. Wireless networks advantageously facilitate user mobility and rapid field deployment when compared to fixed wired networks.
Some aspects of network control may require overhead signaling. However, known approaches to network control may be inefficient, often requiring excess amounts of bandwidth, time and/or power to operate. As can be observed from this discussion, systems and methods that improve network control efficiency may be beneficial.

Devices for title of invention reduced overhead paging


A storage rack assembly includes a base detachably secured to the storage rack. The base has a recessed bottom portion closest to the aisle to protect the front legs from accidentally being hit by a forklift truck.

Since warehouse space for storage of goods is expensive, there are many advantages to an efficient and well organized vertical storage rack system which will allow the storage of goods in an orderly fashion. Since the products are stacked vertically, optimum use of the floor space may be achieved. The disadvantage is that the goods to be stored must now be raised to the height of the rack where they are to be stored. The moving and especially the raising of the goods is most efficiently accomplished via fork trucks.
In as much as fork trucks require aisles to travel to the desired location to either store or retrieve goods from a particular rack, this aisle space is not available for storage. To maximize the storage area given a limited number of square feet in a building or warehouse, one must minimize the area reserved for aisle space for the fork trucks.
Unfortunately, as one reduces the size of these aisles, the room to maneuver for the fork trucks is also reduced, and the end result is that the fork trucks sometimes hit the storage racks, damaging the fork trucks as well as the storage racks.
Prior art (Konstant U.S. Pat. No. 3,785,502; Klein U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,938) has taught the use of recessed legs towards the bottom of the rack in order to give more room to maneuver to the fork trucks at the ground level. This has typically been accomplished by angling back the front legs (the legs closest to the aisles), which puts these legs out of harm's way. However, the weight of the storage rack and of the goods stacked thereupon is then concentrated on this angled leg, and substantial use of struts and reinforcing members is required. This makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to retrofit existing storage racks in the field. The retrofit, if possible, is difficult, expensive, and time consuming, and requires specialized skills, such as a good welder to complete the task. Furthermore, while the bottom of the angled legs is far removed from the aisles, the closer one gets to the top portion of the angled legs, the closer one is to the aisle and to the distinct possibility of having a fork truck run into the angled leg. Also, since the prior art designs use the same upright members for the entire storage rack, the only way to beef up one portion of the upright is to beef up the entire height of the rack.


In order to provide a film-forming powder using hydroxyapatite which is a main component of teeth, or hydroxyapatite in which a color tone adjuster is blended, the powder being used in a jet-device for forming a film on a surface of a tooth by spraying the powder on the tooth, and being suitable for forming a film having a high hardness and extremely low solubility in acid in a short period of time, and suitable for forming a film of a powder conforming to the color tone of a tooth in a short period of time; a hydroxyapatite powder calcined in an inert gas atmosphere at 600 to 1350° C., a powder obtained by applying to the hydroxyapatite powder calcined at 600 to 1350° C. plasma irradiation, or plasma irradiation and mechanical energy, and additionally a film-forming powders obtained by blending color tone adjusters into these hydroxyapatite powders are produced.

Since apatite, particularly hydroxyapatite is a main component constituting teeth and bones, has excellent biocompatibility and is a suitable material for replacing and restoring damaged hard tissue, dental and medical materials comprising hydroxyapatite have been developed in recent years. In dentistry, for the prevention and the treatment of tooth decay and the whitening of teeth, a dentifrice comprising hydroxyapatite (Patent Documents 1 and 2), a glass powder for glass ionomer cement, comprising hydroxyapatite (Patent Document 3) and a whitening agent of teeth that is applied as a dental paste by mixing a hydroxyapatite powder and a strong acid aqueous solution (Patent Document 4) have been developed.
Although plasma spraying (Patent Document 5), sputtering (Patent Document 6), and a thermal decomposition method (Patent Documents 7 and 8) are disclosed as a method for forming calcium phosphate compound layers, these are not methods enabling coating directly teeth in the mouth.
Meanwhile, devices for spraying powders of hydroxyapatite, which is the main component of enamel or dentine, on the surfaces of teeth at high speeds and forming a hydroxyapatite film on the surface of enamel or dentine (Patent Documents 9 to 12) are proposed as methods enabling integrating the hydroxyapatite film with enamel or dentine.
It is recognized that the use of techniques in which a powder like the present invention is sprayed on a target enables forming a layer of hydroxyapatite powder also on the surface of a metal. For example, the uniform coating of the surface of an implant body with hydroxyapatite enables improving the biocompatibility and also contributes adequately to the prevention of inflammation around the implant, long-term stabilization in the convalescence of a treatment, and improvement in maintainability.
As described above, methods for spraying powders of hydroxyapatite, which is the main component of enamel or dentine, on the surfaces of teeth at high speeds and forming hydroxyapatite films on the surface of enamel or dentine have been investigated as methods for integrating with enamel or dentine. However, since the efficiency of film formation is not enough to form hydroxyapatite films on the surface of enamel or dentine and integrate the hydroxyapatite films with the enamel or the dentine relative to the amount of sprayed powder and it takes a long time to form a film, and the formed films are highly soluble in acid, the methods have not been put in practical use yet.
There are patient demands for aesthetic dental treatments that are growing in recent years behind the background of the present invention. There are treatments by a bleaching method or a porcelain lamination veneer method as methods for treatment. However, heavy burdens of patients due to these invasive treatments of healthy dentine are regarded as a problem. Meanwhile, since forming films on teeth by spraying a hydroxyapatite powder enables adjusting the color tones of tooth crowns with the same component as teeth, this enables treatments without invasion of healthy dentine, and conversely reinforcing dentine, with which the burdens of patients can be greatly reduced.
However, although devices and methods for spraying hydroxyapatite powders on the surfaces of teeth at high speeds and forming hydroxyapatite films on the surface of enamel or dentine have been proposed until now, apatite powders for forming films having a high hardness and extremely low solubility in acid in a short period of time or hydroxyapatite powders as color tone adjusting materials to use for aesthetic treatments, that are suitable to the color tones of various teeth have not been proposed.
Additionally, apatite powders for forming films having a high hardness and extremely low solubility in acid in a short period of time and these color tone adjusting materials have been produced only by common calcining, grinding, mixing, and the like. The production methods thereof have not been investigated in detail. In particular, methods for producing color tone adjusting materials have been performed by mixing powders by a powder-mixing machine or the like. However, in the case of methods involving mixing operation alone, when the composition varies due to insufficient mixing of powders or the like, it is considered that problems such as the color tones of formed films becoming uneven and the occurrence of color deterioration occur.
The Vickers hardness of the enamel of teeth is reported to be 270 to 366 Hv according to Dental Tools and Materials Investigation and Research Committee of The Japanese Society for Dental Materials and Devices. Moreover, it is reported that the properties of tooth crown restorations are required to be equivalent to the physical properties of dentine or better than the physical properties of dentine (Non-patent Document 1). In addition, there is also a report of plasma irradiation (Non-patent Documents 2 to 4).

Tooth-surface-membrane-forming powder containing sintered apatite


A window pour mold has an outer wall mounted against a front wall and a back wall of a wall mold for a concrete wall. The outer wall has a top that extends from the front wall horizontally for a short length and obliquely downward on a curve for a longer length.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to forms for use in casting concrete walls, and more particularly to a removable casting frame or window pour mold for forming a window opening through a concrete wall such as a basement wall, for receiving a window, wherein the window can be installed by its frame or a flange on the frame, sealingly in the wall without need for a window sub-frame precast in the concrete.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 is a cross section partial schematic view of a PRIOR ART window pour mold.
FIG. 2 is a cross section partial schematic view of the PRIOR ART window pour mold of FIG. 1. Cross hatch is omitted for clarity.
FIG. 3 is a cross section partial schematic view of the PRIOR ART wall opening formed by the window pour mold of FIG. 1.
In FIG. 1, PRIOR ART window pour mold 100 is mounted to wooden wall mold 102 that is used to cast a basement wall so that when the concrete is poured, a concrete wall is created with the window pour mold set in the concrete wall. Window pour mold 100 is attached to wall mold 102 by nails 106 which extend through metal mounting brackets 110 into the wood.
When the window pour mold is removed from the hardened or set concrete wall, it leaves behind wall opening 126 in concrete wall 130. Outer wall 120 of pour mold 100 establishes the final shape of inner wall 124 of wall opening 126.
Outer wall 120 is a one piece aluminum extrusion having a fixed shape for a predetermined wall thickness. Outer wall 120 extends around all four sides, top, bottom, left and right, of window pour mold 100. For clarity of description, only the top side is shown. Step 136 forms step 138 on inner wall 124 for seating a window sealing flange so that the window is set into opening 126 almost midway between front face 140 and back face 142 of concrete wall 130, where front face 140 is the outside of the building and back face 142 is the face on the inner room side of the building.
Referring to FIGS. 2, and 3, PRIOR ART pour mold 100 is withdrawn 132 from opening 126. During removal, friction between the concrete inner wall 124 and the window pour mold outer wall 120 extends almost the length 128 of opening 126, because the mass of the fluid concrete presses on outer wall 120 from all four sides, top, bottom, left and right, so that the pour mold springs in slightly. When the concrete hardens it grips the outer walls of the pour mold.
Friction is especially high for window mounting area 162 which includes the space in which main frame 164 of window assembly 160 locates at one end of the window mounting area and its distance from back face 142. The friction also extends along back leg 144 length 146, 146a, and most of front leg 148 length 150, 150a.
In FIG. 3, window assembly 160 is installed in PRIOR ART opening 126 through concrete wall 130. It is set back by distances 166 and 168 respectively from front and back face 140 and 142 of wall 130. The ratio of distance 166 to 168 in prior art constructions ranges from 0.75 to 1.5.
Rain water 170 with dirt washes down face 140, and moves along under inner wall 124 PRIOR ART shape formed by PRIOR ART pour mold 100, and down over window glass 174 as shown by direction arrow 176. From inside a room of the building, an upward angle 172 view must be taken from a very low 178 vantage point 180 compared to level view 184 vantage point 186.

M & G Manufacturing Company Incorporated


An applicator device (10) is provided for applying a patch (44) having an array of microprotrusions (90) to the stratum corneum. The applicator device (10) includes a device body (12) and a piston moveable within the device body (12). A cap (16) is provided on the device body (12) for activating the device (10) to impact the stratum corneum with a microprotrusion array (44, 90). The device (10) is capable of being cocked by one handed operation of the user which allows the device (10) to be used by patients having neither the strength nor the manual dexterity to cock other types of applicator devices.

Interest in the percutaneous or transdermal delivery of peptides and proteins to the human body continues to grow with the increasing number of medically useful peptides and proteins becoming available in large quantities and pure form. The transdermal delivery of peptides and proteins still faces significant problems. In many instances, the rate of delivery or flux of polypeptides through the skin is insufficient to produce a desired therapeutic effect due to their large size and molecular weight. In addition, polypeptides and proteins are easily degraded during and after penetration into the skin, prior to reaching target cells. Likewise, the passive transdermal flux of many low molecular weight compounds is too limited to be therapeutically effective.
One method of increasing the transdermal delivery of agents relies on pre-treating the skin with, or co-delivering with the beneficial agent, a skin permeation enhancer. A permeation enhancer substance, when applied to a body surface through which the agent is delivered, enhances the transdermal flux of the agent such as by increasing the permselectivity and/or permeability of the body surface, and/or reducing the degradation of the agent.
Another method of increasing the agent flux involves the application of an electric current across the body surface referred to as "electrotransport." "Electrotransport" refers generally to the passage of a beneficial agent, e.g., a drug or drug precursor, through a body surface, such as skin, mucous membranes, nails, and the like. The transport of the agent is induced or enhanced by the application of an electrical potential, which results in the application of electric current, which delivers or enhances delivery of the agent. Electrotransport delivery generally increases agent delivery and reduces polypeptide degradation during transdermal delivery.
There also have been many attempts to mechanically penetrate or disrupt the skin in order to enhance the transdermal flux. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,326 issue to Godshall, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,814,097 issued to Ganderton, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,544 issued to Gross, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,250,023 issued to Lee, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,482 issued to Gerstel, et al., Reissue 25,637 issued to Kravitz, et al., and PCT Publication Nos. WO 96/37155, WO 96/37256, WO 96/17648, WO 97/03718, WO 98/11937, WO 98/00193, WO 97/48440, WO 97/48441, WO 97/48442, WO 98/00193, WO 99/64580, WO 98/28037, WO 98/29298, and WO 98/29365. These devices use piercing elements of various shapes and sizes to pierce the outermost layer (i.e., the stratum corneum) of the skin. The penetrating elements disclosed in these references generally extend perpendicularly from a thin, flat member, such as a pad or sheet. The penetrating elements in some of these devices are extremely small, some having dimensions (i.e., a microblade length and width) of only about 25-400 μm and a microblade thickness of only about 5-50 μm. Other penetrating elements are hollow needles having diameters of about 10 μm or less and lengths of about 50-100 μm. These tiny stratum corneum piercing/cutting elements are meant to make correspondingly small microslits/microcuts in the stratum corneum for enhanced transdermal agent delivery therethrough. In many instances, the microslits/microcuts in the stratum corneum have a length of less than 150 μm and a width which is substantially smaller than their length.
Skin penetrating devices are used to penetrate the outermost layer of the skin, i.e., stratum corneum, with a plurality of microprotrusions to form pathways through which an agent such as a drug can be introduced, i.e., delivered, or an agent such as a body analyte can be withdrawn, i.e., sampled. The perforated skin provides improved flux for sustained agent delivery or sampling through the skin.
When microprotrusion arrays are used to improve delivery or sampling of agents through the skin, consistent, complete, and repeatable penetration is desired. Manual application of a skin patch having microprotrusions protruding from its skin-contacting side often results in significant variation in puncture depth across the length and width of the patch. In addition, manual application results in large variations in puncture depth between applications due to the manner in which the user applies the array. Accordingly, it would be desirable to be able to apply a microprotrusion array to the stratum corneum with an automatic device, which provides in a consistent and repeatable manner, stratum corneum piercing not only over the length and width of the microprotrusion array but also from application of one microprotrusion array to the next.
Some known spring loaded applicator devices for delivery of lancets for body fluid (e.g., blood) sampling are described in WO 99/26539 and WO 97/42886. However, these devices are difficult to use because they require two handed cocking of the applicator device prior to application. In particular, the known spring loaded lancet applicators require either two sections of the device to be pulled apart for cocking or require one part of the device to be twisted with respect to another part of the device for cocking. In both of these motions two handed cocking operation is required. Many of the patients using these devices possess neither the strength nor the manual dexterity to cock these known applicator devices.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a spring loaded applicator for a skin penetrating member which is cocked by one handed operation of the user and which requires a minimal hand strength for cocking.


A single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) device comprises:                a silicon layer;        an active region in said silicon layer for detecting incident light; and        a blocking structure overlapping said active region for blocking incident light having a wavelength at least in the range of 200 nm to 400 nm, so that light having said wavelength can only be detected by said SPAD device when incident upon a region of said silicon layer outside of said active region.

Single Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPADs) are photodiodes that are operated by applying a reverse bias that is greater than the breakdown voltage of the diode. A single charge carrier in the depletion region can thereby cause a self-sustaining avalanche through impact ionization, which enables the detection of a single photon.
After the SPAD has been triggered a current will continue to flow until the bias voltage is reduced to the breakdown voltage or below. To reduce the bias voltage, and thereby reset the SPAD, the diode can be loaded with a resistor over which the voltage drops. This is referred to as a Passive Quenching Circuit (PQC). The voltage drop V across the quenching resistor is measured and the voltage pulse is used as information that an avalanche event has happened. Without an event, the voltage of the source drops nearly completely across the diode (in reverse bias). An active quenching circuit can alternatively be used, which actively reduces the bias voltage after the SPAD has been triggered.
FIG. 1 shows a cross-section of a SPAD device 2 on a silicon substrate 4. The device has an active region 6 (also referred to as the detection region) defined by a pn-junction. Photons incident on and absorbed in the active region 6 can release charge carriers and thereby be detected. Vias 8 connect the silicon substrate 4 and the active region 6 to the first metal layer 10 of the backend stack 12 of the device 2. Further vias 14 connect the first metal layer 10 to the second metal layer 16 of the backend stack 12. The metal layers 10 and 16 are isolated from each other and from the underlying silicon substrate 4 by layers of silicon oxide 18.
After the absorbing of a photon, a SPAD cannot be activated again for a certain time (known as the "dead time"). The counting rate of a SPAD, at a low rate of absorbed photons, is substantially linear (i.e. proportional to the photon absorption rate). At high light intensities, where the photon absorption rate is close to the inverse dead time, the SPAD starts to saturate and the response becomes non-linear. Hence, the efficiency of a SPAD can decrease greatly at high light intensities, and SPAD devices therefore have a limited dynamic range (over which it generates a linear response), typically about 4 orders of magnitude. Other photodiodes can have a dynamic range of about 12 orders of magnitude, and the human eye has 14 orders (5-6 without adaption). Natural light conditions have 15 orders of magnitude and artificial light can reach even more than that.
As SPADs can detect single photons, the lower limit is typically not an issue in terms of working range, but the higher light intensities lead to saturation, because of the limited count cycles (dead time). To address this problem, a less sensitive SPAD can be used to extend the usable dynamic range. Two (or more) SPAD devices that have shifted working ranges can be built together (e.g. in a silicon photomultiplier, SiPM) to allow operation with a higher dynamic range.
US2016/064579 describes a SPAD device having radiation blocking ring surrounding the active area of the SPAD and a radiation blocking cover configured to shield part of the active region from the incident radiation. The blocking cover may be a metal layer with apertures, wherein only photons that pass through the apertures are detected. The effect of this attenuation is to reduce the number of photons detected by the SPAD, so that the SPAD does not need to reset as often and thereby maintaining linearity at higher incident light intensities.
US2012/0261547 describes the use of a transmission element with variable photon absorption properties arranged upstream in the light path of a photon-sensitive element. This allows the intensity of light reaching the element to be varied, thereby extending the working range of the device.
Using the known techniques, a reduction of the sensitivity (i.e. the photon detection probability, PDP) of a SPAD device by more than 1 to 2 orders of magnitude is difficult to achieve practically. For example, to achieve a 2 order of magnitude reduction of PDP, the aperture opening must be 1% of the optical active area of the device, which can be difficult to manufacture.


Disclosed is, as a high-strength steel plate of API X80 grade or higher with a thickness of 38 mm or more, a thick steel plate for structural pipes or tubes that exhibits high strength in the rolling direction and excellent Charpy properties at its mid-thickness part without addition of large amounts of alloying elements. The thick steel plate for structural pipes or tubes disclosed herein has: a specific chemical composition; a microstructure at its mid-thickness part that is a dual-phase microstructure of ferrite and bainite with an area fraction of the ferrite being less than 50%, and that contains ferrite grains with a grain size of 15 μm or less in an area fraction of 80% or more with respect to the whole area of the ferrite; a tensile strength of 620 MPa or more; and a Charpy absorption energy vE−20+ C. at −20° C. at the mid-thickness part of 100 J or more.

For excavation of oil and gas by seabed resource drilling ships and the like, structural pipes or tubes such as conductor casing steel pipes or tubes, riser steel pipes or tubes, and the like are used. In these applications, there has been an increasing demand for high-strength thick steel pipes or tubes of no lower than American Petroleum Institute (API) X80 grade from the perspectives of improving operation efficiency with increased pressure and reducing material costs.
Such structural pipes or tubes are often used with forged products containing alloying elements in very large amounts (such as connectors) subjected to girth welding. For a forged product subjected to welding, post weld heat treatment (PWHT) is performed to remove the residual stress caused by the welding from the forged product. In this case, there may be a concern about deterioration of mechanical properties such as strength after heat treatment. Accordingly, structural pipes or tubes are required to retain excellent mechanical properties, in particular high strength, in their longitudinal direction, that is, rolling direction, even after subjection to PWHT in order to prevent fractures during excavation by external pressure on the seabed.
Thus, for example, JPH1150188A (PTL 1) proposes a process for producing a high-strength steel plate for riser steel pipes or tubes that can exhibit excellent strength even after subjection to stress relief (SR) annealing, which is one type of PWHT, at a high temperature of 600° C. or higher, by hot rolling a steel to which 0.30% to 1.00% of Cr, 0.005% to 0.0030% of Ti, and 0.060% or less of Nb are added, and then subjecting it to accelerated cooling.
In addition, JP2001158939A (PTL 2) proposes a welded steel pipe or tube that has a base steel portion and weld metal with chemical compositions in specific ranges and both having a yield strength of 551 MPa or more. PTL 2 describes that the welded steel pipe or tube has excellent toughness before and after SR in the weld zone.

Thick steel plate for structural pipes or tubes, method of producing thick steel plate for structural pipes or tubes, and structural pipes and tubes


Mechanisms are provided for implementing a personalized training recommendation system. A request is received from a user to generate a personalized training regimen for a specified athletic event and event information is identified comprising characteristics of one or more geographical segments of the specified athletic event. Based on the event information, one or more portions of a geographical region are identified that approximate one or more characteristics of the one or more geographical segments within a predetermined tolerance. A training course is generated at least by combining a selected set of the portions of the geographical region based on an evaluation of a level of matching, for each portion, of characteristics of the portion to the one or more physical characteristics associated with the one or more geographical segments of the specified athletic event, which is then presented to the user as the personalized training regimen for the user.

The present application relates generally to an improved data processing apparatus and method and more specifically to mechanisms for personalizing training based on a planned course and individual personal assessment.
Athletes and other individuals that participate in athletic events or even personal physical training, typically perform training in gyms using specialized training equipment. In addition, for some physical training, the training may take place in various physical environments, such as in the case of training of a race, a marathon, an obstacle course, or the like. For example, a bicyclist or runner may train by riding their bicycle or running in areas of their physical environment, e.g., along a route or track.
The training is generally directed to helping the individual increase their endurance, strengthen the individual, increase lung capacity, become faster, and the like, in a generalized manner. Even custom training regimens, or working with a training expert one on one, will focus on general areas of weakness of the individual.

Personalized training based on planned course and personal assessment

International Business Machines Corporation


Plural reserve servo sectors are provided to the outside of the outside and inside circumferences of the data recording track area of a sector servo type magnetic disk. Plural reserve tracks are likewise provided in this area. Using these reserve servo sectors and tracks, the position of the magnetic head is recognized even if the head skips outside the data recording track area due to magnetic head overshoot during track access, and seek errors are quickly determined and the disk re-accessed if the magnetic head is positioned in the reserve track due to a seek error or other cause. Sectors to which data relating to the protection of the magnetic disk itself or to the data files written to the data recording track area of the disk are also provided in the reserve tracks, and these sectors are referenced for data protection.

The present invention relates to a magnetic disk and a magnetic disk device for reading and writing data, and specifically to a magnetic disk with a special format providing reserve servo sectors and reserve tracks, and to a magnetic disk device which uses this magnetic disk for improved track access performance and data protection functions.
Magnetic disk devices have become widely used in primary data storage systems due to their ability to store large volumes of data and to randomly access this data at high speed. Furthermore, unlike tape drive devices, high speed data access can be implemented because the data is recorded to plural concentric data recording tracks on the surface of the disk platter.
Many common hard disk devices today comprise plural circular hard disk platters, produced by forming a magnetic film on an aluminum or glass substrate, assembled on a common spindle in a disk assembly, a head carriage assembly of plural magnetic heads providing one magnetic head for each surface of the disk platters, and a positioning device which drives the head carriage radially to the disk platters for track access. In this hard disk device, one side of each of the stacked disks is not used for data storage, but instead is used to store the servo signal pattern required to position the head carriage. The magnetic head is thus positioned at the selected track by reading this servo signal pattern. This access control method is known as the dedicated servo method. Because the data signal recording surface and the servo signal recording surface are physically separated in this type of hard disk device, the data recording tracks and data sectors of the data signal surface can be formatted in any way. In addition, the head can be positioned at high speed to any desired track regardless of the disk format. This type of device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,731,177.
However, it is difficult to implement this dedicated servo method in a hard disk device having only one or two disk platters rather than plural stacked disks because it is inefficient to use one whole side for storing the servo signal pattern. In hard disk devices in which only one disk platter is used, this dedicated servo design has been replaced by a embedded servo method in which the servo signal pattern is inserted between data sectors (an extremely narrow servo sector is inserted). This method is also known as the sector servo or embedded servo method. Basically this is a hybrid design in which the servo signal patterns required for head positioning are dispersed across the data signal surface.
Flexible magnetic disk devices using a polyethylene terephthalate or similar flexible medium coated with a magnetic film as the magnetic disk are the most commonly used type of removable magnetic disk devices. These so-called "floppy" disks present a problem similar to the disk access control problem of a hard disk device with few disk platters. There have been recent attempts to develop large capacity floppy disks with a storage capacity of 10 MB or more. Such disks have a very high track density and small track pitch, thus requiring a high precision servo positioning mechanism. As a result, this sector servo design is also used on these high capacity floppy disks. An example of such a device is described in Japanese patent laid-open publication No. S63-173282.
In this sector servo method the servo signal pattern can only be detected at a constant sampling time (the scatter time) no matter where the head is located because the servo sectors are scattered between the data sectors. Therefore, the controller loses track of which track the head is crossing during track access. A method by which an absolute track number is written to the servo signal pattern as described in Japanese patent laid-open publication No. S54-45113 attempts to resolve this problem. However, with this method the servo signal pattern length increases, the servo sector length thus becomes too long and the data storage area is reduced, and the servo sector is not very resistant to defects in the magnetic film. In addition, the decoder required to interpret the absolute track number is complex.
Another sector servo method whereby all of the tracks are allocated to plural small track groups, a signal pattern or number which identifies each track in the small track group is written to the servo signal pattern, and these small track groups are repeated for the disk is also known, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,032,984. With this method the length of the servo sectors is reduced and the data storage area is increased, and a complicated decoder is not required.
In a sector servo-type disk device using disks in which the servo sectors have servo signal patterns by which the data recording tracks are divided into plural small track groups repeated at a regular cycle, it is possible to detect from the servo signal pattern where in the small track group the magnetic head passed during track access, but it is not possible to detect which small track group was passed. However, if the time between servo sectors, i.e., the sampling time, is reduced, the maximum track access speed is appropriately limited, and the number of tracks in each small track group is increased, and thus it is not difficult to estimate which small track group is passed at each sampling time during track access, if the track position when track access is started is known.
However, there is the possibility that a seek error causing the magnetic head to be positioned at the track of the same number or type in an adjacent small track group will occur when accessing a track in any small track group. This error will not be known until the magnetic head is positioned, the track number in the identification region at the beginning of the data sector is read, and this is referenced, but when the error is confirmed as a result of this operation a re-access is executed. However, if a seek error occurs or magnetic head overshoot occurs when accessing a small track group at the extreme outside or inside circumference of the data recording tracks, there is no way to confirm the magnetic head location because there are no tracks beyond the area being accessed. Normal servo operation cannot be applied in these areas. The normal access control sequence cannot be used to move the head from an unknown disk location, and a separate special re-access control sequence is necessary. This control sequence requires preparation of a separate microprocessor program, and results in an unavoidable and extreme drop in access speed.
This problem is particularly severe with removable floppy disk drives, and especially with high capacity floppy disk drives. Temperature and humidity can cause the flexible medium in the floppy disk to expand and contract, and there is an avoidable degree of track eccentricity resulting from loading and unloading the disk, causing the track positions to vary widely with disk speed. Because the track density is high and the track pitch is narrow, the possibility of the head being positioned in an adjacent small track group is high with large capacity floppy disks. In addition, there is also a high possibility that the magnetic head will temporarily overlap the adjacent small track group due to overshoot and track eccentricity during track access.
Furthermore, protecting the data written to the data recording tracks has become an important consideration for magnetic disks, and particularly for removable disks, but the standard floppy disk formats conventionally used do not provide for any special data protection. Therefore, irregular methods have been unavoidably used to protect the data by the disk itself. Normally, an irregular format which cannot be read by the normal disk operating system for file control is used to inhibit easy file copying and thereby protect data, but these irregular methods are not guaranteed as a way to use the disks.
In addition, the security of data stored to conventional floppy disks has conventionally been a function of the system software, and has not been protected by the disk itself.

Magnetic disk having reserve servo sectors and plural reserve tracks

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A paper roll feed mechanism rotates a paper roll including recording paper wound in a cylindrical shape to unwind the paper. The paper roll feed mechanism includes the following components. A supporting mechanism rotatably supports the paper roll. At least one paper feed roller unwinds the paper, serving as the outer surface of the paper roll supported by the supporting mechanism, in the lengthwise direction of the paper. A skew correcting member presses a side surface of the paper roll, supported by the supporting mechanism, in the widthwise direction of the paper. The skew correcting member presses outer part of the side surface of the paper roll in a paper unwinding region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paper roll feed mechanism capable of correcting skew of paper unwound from a paper roll, a paper roll feed cassette using the paper roll feed mechanism, and an image forming apparatus using the paper roll feed mechanism and the paper roll feed cassette.
2. Description of the Related Art
A thermal printer using a thermal head opposed to a platen is known as one of image forming apparatuses. As digital cameras become increasingly popular, rolls of paper are widely used as recording paper serving as printing media for thermal printers. A roll of paper (i.e., a paper roll) is cost-effective in high-quality photographic printing.
A paper roll includes a long sheet of recording paper wound in a cylindrical shape. Paper rolls are classified into two types: The first type is a paper roll including paper wound on a paper tube, serving as a winding core. The second type is a paper roll including paper wound with no winding core (the second type paper roll will be called a core-free paper roll hereinafter). Both the types are used as follows: A necessary amount of paper is unwounded from a paper roll and is moved to a thermal head every printing. After printing, the printed paper is cut into a sheet having a predetermined size.
In a thermal recording technique of directly printing an image onto thermosensitive paper of a paper roll, respective colors of thermosensitive color-developing layers formed in the paper are sequentially developed, thus forming a full-color image.
In a thermal transfer recording technique of printing an image on a paper roll using ink ribbons of three colors, i.e., yellow, magenta, and cyan, solid inks on the respective ink ribbons are thermally transferred to paper, thus forming a full-color image.
Such color-capable thermal printers include a three-pass one-head type and a one-pass three-head type. In the three-pass one-head type thermal printer, paper feed and return is repeated three times in such a manner that paper unwound from a paper roll is moved forward and backward so as to pass through nip between one thermal head and a platen, thus printing a color image on the paper. In the one-pass three-head type thermal printer, paper unwound from a paper roll is moved once so as to pass through nip between each thermal head and a platen, thus printing a color image. As for monochrome printing, a one-pass one-head type thermal printer may be used.
In printing using a thermal printer, therefore, paper unwounded from a paper roll by a paper feed roller is allowed to pass through nip between a thermal head and a platen three times or once. To allow the paper to pass therethrough, it is necessary to move the thermal head away from the platen, i.e., retract the thermal head. In other words, in the thermal printer, the thermal head is temporarily retracted and the paper is fed. After the paper reaches under the thermal head, the thermal head is pressed against the paper (or the ink ribbon on the paper) on the platen and the paper (or the ink ribbon on the paper) is conveyed while heating elements of the thermal head are generating heat, thus printing an image on the paper.
After printing, the thermal head is again retracted, the printed paper is fed and cut into a sheet with a predetermined size, and the sheet is ejected. In the three-pass one-head type, after printing, the thermal head is retracted, the paper is returned, and printing is again performed. This operation is repeated.
As described above, paper unwound from the paper roll is fed to the thermal head every printing, and after printing, the printed paper is cut into a sheet. Disadvantageously, if paper is not unwounded straight from a paper roll, i.e., the paper is skewed, the skew affects subsequent operations, causing paper jamming or poor printing.
To overcome the disadvantages, various techniques of preventing skew are proposed. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-262585 (Patent Document 1) discloses a printer using one of the various techniques. In this printer, a spring-urged pressure aligning plate is brought into contact with one side edge of paper unwounded from a paper roll to press the paper against an opposed fixed aligning plate, thus correcting skew.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-255196 (Patent Document 2) discloses a deskewing structure using a U-shaped bar. This bar is put on the outer surface of a paper roll such that both sides of the bar control the position of the paper roll in the widthwise direction thereof. In this deskewing structure, if the outer diameter of the paper roll is changed, the bar is swung in response to the change in outer diameter. The position of the paper roll in the widthwise direction, therefore, is continuously controlled, thus preventing skew of paper.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-53231 (Patent Document 3) discloses a paper feed cassette capable of deskewing sheets. A pressure contact member having an inclined contact surface is spring-urged against side edges of cut sheets stacked in the cassette, thus preventing skew of each sheet. Since the pressure contact member is in contact with the uppermost cut sheet, the sheet is prevented from skewing even when the amount of remaining sheets is small.

Paper roll feed mechanism, paper roll feed cassette, and image forming apparatus


The roof tile system of the present invention includes parallel patterns of channels or features which when viewed in a large pattern of identical tiles create the illusion of a surface made using a costly three dimensional roofing material such as Spanish tile. The patterns of channels or features may also function to direct the flow of water in a manner that is consistent with the apparent contour of the surface. The patterns of channels or features may also be arranged to direct the flow of rain water from a first area of a roof to a second area of a roof. An added water directing feature in the tiles of a bottom course of tiles can be used to direct rain water into an enclosed rain gutter.

Expensive roofing materials are often curved or contoured and generally provide an esthetically pleasing, contoured appearance. Manufacturers of relatively inexpensive, composite roofing shingles have, in the past, shaded adjacent composite shingles in a contrasting manner to create the impression of a uneven, textured surface. However, the prior art does not teach substantially flat roofing shingles or tiles that present the appearance of a regular, contoured appearance similar to that which is created by Spanish tile or such other varied contoured arrangements. Still further, contoured Spanish tile requires increase amounts of material per unit area of roof. This adds to roofing loads. Thus, it would be desirable to have an inexpensive tile system that is generally flat but which has the appearance of a contoured surface.