Disclosed therein a method of driving a plasma display panel, which can improve display quality. The method is separately driven by a data driving period for supplying a driving waveform and a preliminary period for raising voltages for supplying the driving waveform up to a desired voltage, in order to display an image in each discharge cell, wherein a waveform supplied to electrodes during a sustain period of the data driving period is different from a waveform supplied to the electrodes during a sustain period of the preliminary period. The method does not create a sustain discharge during a sustain period and prevents an afterimage caused by a previous state when the PDP is turned on from being displayed, improving display quality. Moreover, charges within a discharge cell are eliminated by supplying a ground voltage to electrodes for 1 to 3 seconds, preferably 2 seconds, before a data driving waveform is supplied. Therefore, an afterimage is prevented from being displayed on the entire screen, and display quality can be improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma display panel, and more particularly to a method of driving a plasma display panel, which can improve display quality.
2. Description of the Background Art
In the recent information society, the importance of a display device as a visual information transmission medium has been stressed than ever. A cathode-ray tube or a Braun tube which is being widely used is heavy and bulky. Hence, various types of flat panel display devices which are capable of overcoming the disadvantages of the cathode-ray tube are being developed.
These flat panel display devices include a plasma display panel (PDP), a field emission display, an electro-luminescence, etc.
The PDP out of these devices displays images and moving pictures, including characters or graphics, by irradiating phosphors by ultraviolet rays of 147 nm generated during a discharge of a mixed gas of He+Xe, Ne+Xe or He+Xe+Ne. The PDP is not only easy to make its thickness thin and its size large but also feasible to greatly improve picture quality thanks to the recent development of technology.
Especially, a tri-electrode AC (Alternative Current) surface-discharge PDP lowers a voltage necessary for a discharge by accumulating barrier charges using a dielectric layer, and has the advantages of a low-voltage driving operation and long life.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a discharge cell of a general tri-electrode AC surface-discharge PDP.
Referring to FIG. 1, a discharge cell of the PDP includes a scan electrode Y and a sustain electrode Z formed both on an upper substrate 10, and an address electrode X formed on a lower substrate 18. The scan and sustain electrodes Y and Z include transparent electrodes 12Y and 12Z, respectively, and includes metal bus electrodes 13Y and 13Z, respectively, which are narrower in line width than the transparent electrodes 12Y and 12Z and formed at the edges of the transparent electrodes 12Y and 12Z.
The transparent electrodes 12Y and 12Z formed on the upper substrate 10 are made of Indium-Tin-Oxide (ITO). The metal bus electrodes 13Y and 13Z formed on the transparent electrodes 12Y and 12Z are made of metal, such as chrome (Cr), serving to reduce a drop in a voltage caused by the transparent electrodes 12Y and 12Z having high resistance. An upper dielectric layer 14 and a protective layer 16 are formed on the upper substrate 10 on which the scan and sustain electrodes are formed in parallel. Barrier charges generated during a plasma discharge are formed on the upper dielectric layer 14. The protective layer 16 protects the upper dielectric layer 14 from damaging by a sputtering generated during the plasma discharge and also increases the efficiency of secondary electron emission. A magnesium oxide (MgO) is usually used as the protective layer 16.
A lower dielectric layer 22 and a barrier rib 24 are formed on the lower substrate 18 on which the address electrode X is formed. A phosphor layer 26 is coated over the surfaces of the lower dielectric layer 22 and the barrier rib 24. The address electrode X is perpendicular to the scan and sustain electrodes Y and Z. The barrier rib 24 is formed in parallel to the address electrode X and prevents ultraviolet rays and visual rays generated by a discharge from leaking to an adjacent cell. The phosphor layer 26 is excited by ultraviolet rays generated during a plasma discharge and generates any one visual ray among red, green and blue. An inert mixed gas is injected into a discharge space provided between the upper and lower substrates 10 and 18 and the barrier rib 24.
In order to achieve a gray scale of an image, the PDP is driven on a time-division basis by dividing one frame into subfields each having the different number of irradiations. Each subfield has a reset period for resetting the entire screen, an address period for selecting a scan line and selecting a cell in the selected scan line, and a sustain period for achieving a gray scale according to the number of discharges.
The reset period is further divided into a set-up period for supplying a ramp-up waveform and a set-down period for supplying a ramp-down waveform. For example, if it is desired to display an image by 256 gradations, one frame period corresponding to 1/60 seconds (16.67 ms) is divided into 8 subfields SF1 to SF9, as shown in FIG. 2. Each of the 8 subframes SF1 to SF8 is further divided into the reset period, the address period and the sustain period as described above. The reset and address periods in each subfield are identical with respect to the respective subfields, while the sustain period increases at the rate of 2n (where n is 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7).
FIG. 3 is a waveform diagram illustrating a driving method of the PDP.
Referring to FIG. 3, the PDP is separately driven according to a reset period for resetting the entire screen, an address period for selecting a cell, and a sustain period for sustaining a discharge of the selected cell.
During the reset period, a ramp-up waveform is simultaneously applied to all the scan electrodes Y during a set-up period. In this case, the scan electrodes Y are raised up to a voltage Vp for discharging cells. By this ramp-up waveform, a weak discharge occurs within the cells of the entire screen and wall charges are created within the cells. During a set-down period after the ramp-up waveform is supplied, a ramp-down waveform falling from a positive-polarity voltage lower than the peak voltage of the ramp-up waveform is simultaneously applied to all the scan electrodes Y. The ramp-down waveform creates a weak erase discharge within the cells, erasing unnecessary charges out of the wall charges and space charges generated by the set-up discharge and uniformly sustaining the wall charges necessary for an address discharge within the cells of the entire screen.
During the address period, a negative-polarity scan pulse Scan is sequentially applied to the scan electrodes Y and at the same time a positive-polarity data pulse is applied to the address electrodes. A difference between a voltage Vy of the scan pulse and a voltage Va of the data pulse is added to a wall voltage generated during the reset period to create the address discharge within the cells. The wall charges are generated within the selected cells by the address discharge.
Meanwhile, during the set-down period and the address period, a positive-polarity direct current (DC) voltage of a sustain voltage level Vs is supplied to the sustain electrodes Z.
During the sustain period, a sustain pulse Sus of the sustain voltage level Vs is alternatively applied to the scan electrodes Y and the sustain electrodes Z. Then the wall voltage within the cell is added to the sustain pulse Sus by the address discharge, and a sustain discharge is created between the scan and sustain electrodes Y and Z as a form of a surface discharge whenever each sustain pulse Sus is applied. Finally, after the sustain discharge is completed, an erase ramp waveform having a narrow pulse width is supplied to the sustain electrodes Z, erasing the wall charges within the cell.
In the above-described PDP, a preliminary waveform is supplied during a preliminary period as shown in FIG. 4 in order to ensure time to raise a plurality of voltage sources Vp, Vs, Vy and Va to desired voltages when a power source is turned on.
In this case, the data pulse is not supplied during the address period so as not to create a discharge during the preliminary period. During the reset and sustain periods, the same waveforms as FIG. 3 are applied and thus a detailed description thereof will not be given.
During the preliminary period, however, an undesired sustain discharge occurs, and an afterimage is displayed on the panel. In more detail, the power source of the PDP is randomly turned off by a user at any time, the wall charges remain within the discharge cells. Especially, such wall charges remain largely within the discharge cells displaying bright luminescence before the power source of the PDP is turned off and the undesired sustain discharge occurs during the sustain period of the preliminary period by these remaining charges. Consequently, the afterimage is displayed in a part of the discharge cells which have displayed a bright screen when the power source of the PDP is turned off.


A hummingbird feeder having a cover portion and a bottom portion of a base, as well as a nectar reservoir, is disclosed. The cover portion includes a reservoir coupling region, a feeding region, and a first mating region. The reservoir coupling region is configured to be coupled to the nectar reservoir. The feeding region is configured to accommodate a beak of a hummingbird to access nectar. The a bottom portion includes a second mating region, which is configured to mate with the first mating region of the cover portion. Preferably, the bottom portion further includes a retaining wall located within an outer ridge of the bottom portion. The retaining wall retains liquid within an inner region of the bottom portion and restricts liquid from flowing to an outer region of the bottom portion, providing easier maintenance and less mechanical force on the cover portion during feeder use. The reservoir optionally contains a wide opening for easy maintenance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a bird feeder and, more particularly, to a hummingbird feeder.
2. Background of the Invention
A conventional hummingbird feeder typically includes a small-mouth bottle and a base. Due to presence of high sugar content in hummingbird nectar, which results in accumulation of solids and growth of mold inside the bottle and base, cleaning of the feeder must be frequent to maintain a desirable level of performance. Such frequent cleaning is considered by many users to be difficult for several reasons. For example, the users must use a variety of brushes that can fit into the small mouth of the bottle to clean the interior. Cleaning using a rag or sponge is generally impractical.
Accordingly, there is a clear need for novel hummingbird feeders that are easy to clean. Preferred embodiments of the invention are configured to provide a base that can easily be separated for cleaning.


The present invention relates to pre-formulations comprising:                a) at least one di-acyl lipid;        b) at least one phospholipid;        c) at least one biocompatible, organic solvent;        d) an alkyl ammonium EDTA salt; and        e) at least one somatostatin receptor agonist;wherein the pre-formulation has a water content in the range of 0 to 1.0 wt %.

Many bioactive agents including pharmaceuticals, nutrients, vitamins and so forth have a "functional window". That is to say that there is a range of concentrations over which these agents can be observed to provide some biological effect. Where the concentration in the appropriate part of the body (e.g. locally or as demonstrated by serum concentration) falls below a certain level, no beneficial effect can be attributed to the agent. Similarly, there is generally an upper concentration level above which no further benefit is derived by increasing the concentration. In some cases increasing the concentration above a particular level results in undesirable or even dangerous effects.
Some bioactive agents have a long biological half-life and/or a wide functional window and thus may be administered occasionally, maintaining a functional biological concentration over a substantial period of time (e.g. 6 hours to several days). In other cases the rate of clearance is high and/or the functional window is narrow and thus to maintain a biological concentration within this window regular (or even continuous) doses of a small amount are required. This can be particularly difficult where non-oral routes of administration (e.g. parenteral administration) are desirable or necessary, since self-administration may be difficult and thus cause inconvenience and/or poor compliance. In such cases it would be advantageous for a single administration to provide active agent at a therapeutic level over the whole period during which activity is needed.
Some patients undergoing treatment will typically require a therapeutic dose to be maintained for a considerable period and/or ongoing treatment for many months or years. Thus a depot system allowing loading and controlled release of a larger dose over a longer period would offer a considerable advantage over conventional delivery systems.
Certain of the formulations of the present invention generate a non-lamellar liquid crystalline phase following administration. The use of non-lamellar phase structures (such as liquid crystalline phases) in the delivery of bioactive agents is now relatively well established. A most effective lipid depot system is described in WO2005/117830, and a highly preferred lipid depot is described in that document. However, there remains scope for achieving depot formulations having improved performance in several respects.
Lipid controlled-release delivery systems have been developed with active agents including GLP-1 (WO2006/131730), somatostatin analogues (WO2006/075124), LHRH analogues (WO2006/075125), as well as non-peptides such as buprenorphine (WO2014/016428). Lipid systems are also of value in treatment in their own right and need not include active agents. For example, the FDA approved oral liquid Episil® alleviates the pain caused by oral mucositis and other inflammatory conditions of the mouth by forming a lipid barrier in the oral cavity, but does not require any active agent.
A particularly versatile combination of lipids is glycerol dioleate (GDO) and phosphatidyl choline (PC). However, sustained released formulations can be produced with a wide variety of other lipid components including tocopherol (WO2006/075123), derivatives of sorbitol (WO2016/102683), triglycerides (WO2016/066655), and a variety of phospholipid components including phosphatidyl ethanolamines (WO2013/083459 and WO2013/083460).
Both the lipid components, particularly unsaturated lipids, and any active agent contained in the pre-formulation or sustained release composition are susceptible to oxidation, either during storage or in vivo. It is desirable to decrease the extent of oxidation since oxidation processes may reduce the content of active agent and/or contribute to the formation of unwanted decomposition products. This in turn reduces the shelf life of a product.
One particular factor contributing to oxidation in lipid compositions is the presence of trace amounts of metal ions, particularly transition metals such as iron (Fe). Even when the lipid components are of high purity grade it is often difficult to entirely remove traces of such ions. It is thought that equipment used for the manufacture of lipid formulations commonly includes stainless steel which can leach small amounts of metal ions (particularly Fe) into the mixture. It is therefore common to include an antioxidant in lipid formulations. These generally function by chelating any metal ions, thereby hindering their participation in oxidation processes.
It is a prerequisite that any antioxidant must be soluble in the lipid pre-formulation. It is described in WO2012/160213 that a carefully controlled amount of water can be included in lipid pre-formulations without causing a phase change into a liquid crystalline phase. In pre-formulations containing an appreciable aqueous content, it may be possible to include an effective amount of a water-soluble antioxidant such as ascorbic acid, inorganic salts of metal chelators, such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) (e.g. sodium or calcium salts) and citric acid. However, for certain active agents it may be necessary to avoid prolonged exposure to water during storage (e.g. because the active agent is moisture sensitive), or a more desirable release profile may be obtained without the inclusion of water in the pre-formulation. The present inventors have established that certain somatostatin receptor agonists are less stable in formulations containing water. The avoidance of water may also reduce the amount of trace metals which may be present, since metal ions are generally more soluble in water than in an organic solvent or lipid environment. In lipid formulations having a low water content it is not possible to use conventional water-soluble antioxidants since these may not have the requisite solubility in a substantially water-free lipid environment. It would therefore be advantageous to provide an antioxidant which is soluble in a substantially water-free lipid environment and which limits or prevents the oxidative degradation of the lipid components of the pre-formulation, and any active agent contained within. This is particularly the case for metal chelating agents such as EDTA where the standard inorganic salts (sodium or calcium) are non-soluble or have negligible solubility in non-aqueous environments (e.g. lipid matrices).
WO2010/020794 describes thiolated antioxidants as offering particular advantages in lipid systems and suggests that these are also suitable in non-aqueous lipid systems. However, for certain end uses the presence of a thiolated antioxidant may not be acceptable. This particularly applies, for example, to peptides or proteins having thiolated groups or disulphide bridges. WO2010/020794 also mentions the possibility of including EDTA or the sodium, disodium and calcium disodium salts of EDTA as chelating agent although this is not an option which is exemplified. The present inventors have established that EDTA or the common salts thereof are not soluble to any appreciable extent in the types of lipid formulations described in WO2010/020794, i.e. those based on GDO, SPC and an organic solvent such as ethanol.
It has now surprisingly been established that effective amounts of alkylammonium salts of EDTA can be dissolved in a non-aqueous lipid environment, and that the resulting pre-formulations are highly resistant to oxidative decomposition during storage. Furthermore, although alkylammonium EDTA salts are believed to have an effect on decreasing the decomposition by the expected mechanism of sequestering metal ions, the present invention may in some embodiments improve oxidation resistance above the level that can be accounted for solely by this mechanism.
The inventors have established that the inclusion of alkylammonium EDTA salts can prevent, or substantially decrease the rate of, oxidation of a wide variety of lipid components and/or active agents contained therein. The inventors have found that the inclusion of alkylammonium EDTA can substantially reduce the loss of assay of somatostatin receptor agonists in drug samples tested in stability studies and thus increases shelf-life of the drug product. EDTA salts have the advantage that they are inexpensive, easily produced with a wide variety of countercations, and are generally regarded as safe (and are widely used e.g. in pharmaceutical applications).
The stabilizing and shelf-life extending effect of alkylammonium EDTA as found by the inventors may be not only related to the prevention or reduction of oxidation reactions but may be also related to the prevention or reduction of other chemical degradation reactions, e.g. hydrolysis, acylation, deamidation.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Formulations containing a somatostatin receptor agonist

Abstract: The invention further relates to methods of treatment comprising administration of such pre-formulations, to pre-filled administration devices and kits containing the formulations, to the use of an alkylammonium EDTA salt to reduce the decomposition of the lipid components and/or any active agent contained within the pre-formulation.


A document reading device includes a document transport and, for reading a document image, an optical reader having a movable exposure which stops at a predetermined reading position and emits light onto the document. A guide member guides the document to the reading position to form a predetermined inclination angle with respect to a flat-plate face of a support, which supports the document being transported when it passes over the reading position. A transport path is formed with the support so that the document passing over the reading position is transported along the flat-plate face. A detection member detects a leading end position of the guide member, the predetermined reading position being set to within a predetermined distance in a transport direction from the leading end of the guide member, which is known beforehand to be stain-free.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a document reading device for reading an image of a document while transporting the document.
1. Description of Related Art
In recent years, a document reading device, which automatically transports a sheet document inside the device and reads an image of the document at a predetermined position, is typically mounted to an image forming device and other devices. With such a document reading device, the image forming device becomes capable of performing image reading and image forming operations in efficient manner. Further, with advanced digital technology, such processes as reading document, converting an image data into electronic data, forming an image from the electronic data, etc., can be performed at higher speed, and the document reading device becomes capable of processing a greater number of sheets of document at once, so as to perform reading processing of more sheets of document at a high speed. In addition, enhanced reading performance and improved document transport technology allow the document reading devices to read various kinds of documents.
As one example of the above document reading device, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-261625 (Tokukai 2000-261625; published on Sep. 22, 2000) discloses a document reading device for reading an image of a document while transporting the document, wherein the position of an exposure member for use in reading a document image by optical reading means is adjusted according to a thickness of a sheet document, so as to read the document image at the position where the document contacts a document platen.
Incidentally, in the case of reading an image of a document while transporting the document as described above, the document reading device reads an image of a document in the state where the exposure member stops at a determined position, i.e., with the optical reading means at a stop. Therefore, the document reading device generally has transparent support means (known as platen glass, contact glass, or the like), provided between the document and the exposure member, which serves as a reference in keeping a distance between the document and the exposure member constant.
With a greater variation in kinds of documents that can be processed by the document reading device, and improved reading performances, it becomes general to process documents written in a ballpoint pen, a pencil, or documents corrected in white-out by the document reading device. Therefore, the document reading device for reading an image of a document while transporting the document often faces the problem that the support means is stained with rubbed ink, powders of a pencil lead, white-out not completely hardened, and others, when the document is being transported over the support means, which adversely affects the reading operation by the optical reading means, resulting in lower quality of the read image. Furthermore, since the optical reading means and the support means do not move, if such stains appear in a read area of the support means where reading is carried out by the optical reading means, the problem of missing some part of read data and black lines would occur for each document, resulting in a significant deterioration in quality of the read image.
Further, with a certain distance above the support means provided is a transport path forming member which forms a document transport path with the support means in the vicinity of a reading position. This transport path forming member guides a document passing over the reading position to be transported along a flat-plate face of the support means, to regulate movement of the document in the direction orthogonal to the flat-plate face of the support means. The transport path forming member also serves as a background member for returning the reflected light to the optical reading means in an area where the document is not present. In response to the above problem of stains appeared on the support means, it may be arranged so as to increase the distance between the support means and the transport path forming member to 1.0 mm to 1.5 mm to resist rubbing of a document against the support means. However, even although the optical reading means, which is a reduced optical system, have a great depth of focus, the document reading device in which the distance between the support means and the transport path forming member is increased to 1.0 mm to 1.5 mm tends to cause more deterioration in read image quality due to insufficient area of the focus position, compared with the document reading device in which the above distance is set with a range of 0.5 mm and 1.0 mm.


Copolymers are produced when a 4-vinyl-1,3-dioxolane monomer is copolymerized with an imidized maleic anhydride (for example, maleimide) monomer in the presence of a free radical initiator. Alternatively, a maleamic acid or maleimide functionality may be introduced into a copolymer containing a 4-vinyl-1,3-dioxolane and maleic anhydride by introducing a primary amine into the reaction mixture. Also, the dioxolane reactant may be introduced into the polymer by reacting 3,4-epoxy-1-butene in a ketone reaction solvent. The structure and composition of the product copolymer are controlled by both the sequence and conditions of the reaction. Products of this invention can be cast as clear films and can also be used as reactive polymers.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,013,806; 5,077,365; and 5,071,932 (issued to Blevins and Turner in 1991) disclose copolymers of 4-vinyl-1,3-dioxolane with maleic anhydrides. Other than the compounds and processes described in these commonly-owned patents, no other known reference discloses copolymers of a 4-vinyl-1,3-dioxolane with maleic anhydride or its derivatives. While the copolymers of Blevins and Turner are useful, it would be desirable to have copolymers that are more resistant to moisture and hydrolysis.

Copolymers of vinyl dioxolanes and maleimides


This invention relates to an image forming apparatus for forming an image using a pulse modulated signal based on an input image signal. A circuit for pulse-modulating an image signal and a circuit for driving a recording element are integrally formed on a single circuit board, or a circuit means for isolating a signal level of another circuit, e.g., a circuit for digitally processing an image signal or a circuit for generating a control signal from that of the pulse modulation circuit is arranged, so that a pulse modulation signal to be applied to the recording element is stabilized, and a high-frequency operation is allowed.

In a conventional apparatus of this type, a pulse-width modulated signal according to an image density is formed, and a laser is caused to emit light on the basis of the pulse-width modulated signal, thereby forming a dot latent image on a photosensitive drum.
However, if transmission or drive lines among a circuit for generating the pulse-width modulated signal, a laser driver, and a laser diode are long, a halftone pattern cannot be satisfactorily reproduced.
More specifically, a laser ON time for a low-density portion of a halftone portion is, e.g., 5 nsec, and ultra-high-speed driving must be performed. In a conventional circuit, when a semiconductor laser is driven, since a pulse signal must be transmitted to a semiconductor laser element over a certain distance, the waveform of the pulse signal is distorted, and small pulses are made unstable. As a result, the laser cannot accurately emit light.

Image forming apparatus with TTL to ECL conversion between reading and printing circuits


A method of making a circuitized substrate in which a commoning bar, used during the plating of the circuitry on the substrate and coupled to a second set of conductors which in turn are coupled to a first set of conductors, is terminated from the second set of conductors.

Various types of circuitized substrates having plated, e.g., electroplated, circuitry thereon or as part thereof are known in the art, including those made and sold by the assignee of this invention. Examples of such substrates, including those of the integrated circuit (or semiconductor chip or device) category and various methods of manufacturing same are described in the following U.S. Letters Patents:
4,865,873Cole, Jr., et al4,877,644Wu et al5,018,164Brewer et al5,310,624Ehrlich5,264,108Mayer et al5,843,806Tsai5,968,847Ye et al6,488,862 B1Ye et al
One particularly attractive circuitized substrate made and sold by the assignee of the invention is called the HyperBGA chip carrier, which includes a laminate substrate-conductor layer structure on which is positioned one or more semiconductor chips. (HyperBGA is a registered trademark of Endicott Interconnect Technologies, Inc.). The carrier is then positione on and electrically coupled to a printed circuit board (PCB) or other suitable substrate and this entire subassembly in then utilized in an electronic assembly such as a personal computer, server, etc. The latter assemblies are often referred to generically in the industry as "information handling systems".
Examples of such a chip carrier are defined in filed application Ser. No. 10/394,135 and Ser. No. 10/394,107, both filed Mar. 24, 2003 and assigned to the same assignee as the invention.
Yet another chip carrier made and sold by the assignee of this invention is referred to as a wirebond, laminate chip carrier in which the chip is coupled to surface conductors by wirebonds. In the typical HyperBGA carrier, the chip is coupled to the surface conductors on the substrate by solder ball connections.
In the formation of such laminate substrates, if electroplating is utilized, a "commoning bar" is typically used as part of the circuitry to form a common connection to the desired circuit elements, e.g., pads or lines, being plated up with the desired metal, e.g., copper. Such a process requires the use of various masking steps in combination with photolithographic processing, both adding cost to the final product.
The present invention overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages associated with such substrate manufacture (applicable not only to chip carriers but also to larger PCBs and the like substrates) by eliminating these additional steps while still providing an efficient, less complex process that will still assure an excellent final substrate product. Because of this, the resulting assembly using same will also inherit the beneficial advantages, especially reduced cost, thereof. It is believed that a method of making a circuitized substrate that will provide such advantages will constitute a significant advancement in the art, as will the resulting substrate and the information handling systems which utilize said product.


An autonomous driving controller includes: a processor to collect driving data when a vehicle is traveling and calculate a steering override reference value, which is a criterion of determining an override mode, based on the collected driving data; and a storage to store the collected driving data and a set of instructions executed by the processor to calculate the steering override reference value. In particular, the processor controls autonomous driving by varying the steering override reference value based on the collected driving data or information regarding a driver of the vehicle.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
In general, an autonomous driving controller is a device for assisting a driver to drive his or her vehicle and is a system which instructs a steering actuator of the vehicle to continuously generate a steering torque, such that the vehicle drives in the center of the lane.
In other words, when a motor driven power steering (MDPS) is used as the actuator, a steering torque continuously occurs. In this case, a steering torque of the system is delivered to a steering wheel of the driver to show lane keeping performance. Thus, the driver feels a sense of difference in steering.
Herein, when the steering intention of the driver is measured as a constant value or more by a torque sensor, while a current mode changes from a lane keeping mode to an override mode, a steering torque is reduced or a required torque value is changed to zero ('0') to hand over control authority to the driver.
Meanwhile, with the development of an autonomous driving device, while the rate of driving environment determination and control responsibility has been increased, the importance of precise control rather than steering assistance has been emphasized. Thus, instead of a steering torque, a steering angle has been used as control input.
When the steering angle is used as the control input, because it is able to perform feedback control for a steering angle of a wheel, which has a direct influence on a lateral behavior of the vehicle compared with a steering torque, it is more robust to disturbance.
However, because the autonomous driving device based on the steering angle input should perform steering override depending on a specific condition, a sense of difference becomes large. We have discovered that even though learning the driving tendency of the driver is not necessary for assisting in torque for the steering torque override, when a steering angle is controlled, it is desired to consider the driving tendency of the driver to reduce the driver's unsmooth steering feeling.

Autonomous driving controller, system including the same, and method thereof


An assembly for managing heat and noise generated by an engine comprises a dash panel, an acoustic absorbing layer, a scrim, and a heat reflective coating. The acoustic absorbing layer comprises a plurality of fibers secure in a resin, where the acoustic absorbing layer is positioned proximate to the dash panel. The scrim is positioned proximate to the acoustic absorbing layer. The heat reflective coating comprises a polymer material and heat reflecting additives dispersed in the polymer material. The heat reflective coating is applied to the scrim as a solution of the polymer material and heat reflecting additives.

Many conventional vehicles are powered by an internal combustion engine. Examples of such vehicles include automobiles, trucks, buses, off-road vehicles, boats, personal watercrafts, recreational vehicles, and aircrafts. Such internal combustion engines are typically positioned in a vehicle's engine compartment. Heat and noise generated by internal combustion engines can radiate outside the engine compartment and affect other components of the vehicle or passengers seated in the vehicle. Engine compartments can be equipped with materials or elements designed to absorb noise or deflect heat generated by the engine. For example, a vehicle compartment can include acoustic insulating material that absorbs noises generated by the engine to provide a quieter environment in and around the vehicle. Engine compartments can also be equipped with heat baffles that are positioned to deflect heat away from the passenger compartment to provide a more comfortable environment in the passenger compartment.


Methods and systems monitor a state of a fluid-distribution system. Sensors are distributed spatially within the fluid-distribution system. Each sensor is in peer-to-peer communication with another sensor to define a dynamically networked arrangement of sensors within the fluid-distribution system. The sensors have an illumination source, a light detector, and a controller to measure a photometric parameter. A base station is provided in communication with the sensors to access the networked arrangement of sensors. A central system is provided in communication with the base station and has programming instructions to identify an abnormality in the fluid-distribution system from data collected by the sensors.

This application relates generally to fluid distribution systems. More specifically, this application relates to optical measurements in fluid distribution systems using distributed sensor networks.
Recent events worldwide have precipitated a generally heightened awareness of security issues in a diverse array of environments. Both citizens and governments have become more sensitive to ways in which systems may be vulnerable to attack, particularly systems that are used for distribution to large numbers of individuals. This includes, for example, fluid distribution systems like water-distribution systems that reach thousands or millions of people and air distribution systems in venues with large concentrations of people like sporting arenas and shopping centers. The ability for terrorists to introduce toxic agents into these systems provides an opportunity to cause widespread panic among a populace, even if the efforts do not result in widespread illness or death.
The problem of preventing the use of fluid and other distribution systems as a mechanism for terrorist activity is a challenging one. Currently, most efforts at addressing the issue center on control of centralized aspects of the distribution system. For example, efforts are being initiated to improve access control of water-treatment plants and the like by verifying the identity of those given access. These efforts are usually coupled with efforts to improve control over what materials are brought into such plants. These efforts are by no means being implemented uniformly and, even if they are successful will address only a part of the problem.
In particular, centralized parts of a distribution system do not represent the only mechanisms by which it may be accessed. For example, a water-distribution system could be accessed at any outlet of the system and toxic agents could be introduced into the system with a pump that provides sufficient back pressure. A terrorist could, for instance, introduce a toxic agent into a water-distribution system by renting an apartment in a metropolitan city and using a pump arrangement to force the toxic agent into the system for distribution to millions of others in the city. Even if security at the centralized water-treatment plant were perfect, it would still fail to prevent this type of activity.
There is accordingly a general need in the art for improved methods and systems for monitoring fluid distribution systems.

Optical measurements in fluids using distributed sensor networks


A solid state switch, with reverse conducting thyristors, is designed to operate at 20 kV hold-off voltage, 1500 A peak, 1.0 .mu.s pulsewidth, and 4500 pps, to replace thyratrons. The solid state switch is more reliable, more economical, and more easily repaired. The switch includes a stack of circuit card assemblies, a magnetic assist and a trigger chassis. Each circuit card assembly contains a reverse conducting thyristor, a resistor capacitor network, and triggering circuitry.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the present invention is generally directed to a solid-state switch. More specifically, the field of the present invention is directed to a solid-state switch for discharging an intermediate energy storage capacitor into a magnetic compression circuit for powering a laser, or for other applications requiring high current pulses.
2. Description of Related Art
Applications requiring very high current pulses of extremely short duration have steadily increased in number. One such application is a power supply for laser systems used in both industry and research. For the generation of high power pulses, voltages up to 20 kV generally must be switched in fractions of a microsecond.
Previously, this extremely short duration switching has been almost the exclusive domain of the electron tube or thyratron. Thyratrons, however, suffer from a number of disadvantages. Chief among these disadvantages is their limited effective lifespan. In applications to discharge a storage capacitor, such as into a magnetic compression circuit for high voltage applications, e.g. a laser, a thyratron experiences a characteristic operating life of some 1200 hours with a maximum lifespan of some 2500 hours.
A resultant second disadvantage of the thyratron therefore relates to its operating cost per unit-hour. The per unit cost of a conventional thyratron for high voltage applications is quite expensive and generally falls in the range of $6,000-$7,000 per unit. Once the thyratron fails which as noted above occurs often within a median operating life of some 1200 hours, the operating cost of a thyratron measured on a per hour basis averages approximately $5.50 per hour. This comparatively high per hour operating cost limits the applications for which the thyratron may be considered.
The use of thyristor switches for pulse generation is known. For example, Vitins, et al. Power Semiconductor Devices For Submicrosecond Laser Pulse Generation, ASEA Brown Boveri, Ltd. (1988); Vitins, et al. Reverse Conducting Thyristors Replace Thyratrons In Sub-microsecond Pulse Generation, BBC Brown Boveri, Ltd. (1987); Steiner, et al., Thyratrons In High-Current Pulse Applications, BBC Brown Boveri, AG (1988) and references cited therein disclose the use of thyristors with interdigitated, amplifying gate structures to provide very short high current pulses.
However, the conventional devices described in the foregoing references fail to address the problem of switch jitter. The elimination of jitter is crucial to ensure constant operation over a virtually unlimited number of current pulses for laser applications. The elimination of switch jitter is especially important as one increases the generation of high power pulses. If firing jitter is not controlled, circuit performance is degraded particularly when using magnetic compression techniques.
In addition, conventional RCT devices require overvoltage protection to protect the RCTs, particularly when RCTs are configured in a series stack. The importance of limiting jitter and providing overvoltage protection to prevent the literal burnout of the SCR portion of a conventional RCT device at extremely high frequencies may be explained as follows. Conventional devices which use RCTs to produce submicrosecond pulses discharge a high voltage capacitor to drive a load such as a laser. In conventional devices, RCTs are linked together in series and are triggered simultaneously. A high voltage capacitor then discharges through a magnetic assist and through all the RCTs in series and into the load. Prior art has not been demonstrated at more than four RCTs in series, nor has the problem of switch jitter been addressed.
One aspect of the present invention incorporates overvoltage protection through the use of break-over diodes (BODs). Known prior art devices have identified the use of BODs for this application. However, the present invention solves the problem of a subtle noise induced failure mechanism of the BOD due to stray capacitance, which is not addressed by the prior art. It has been found that when using a relatively large number of RCTs in series, the stray capacitance associated with each RCT can result in false triggering effects caused by BOD failure.

The United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy


The invention relates to a bladder for an inflatable ball including structure for receiving an electronic device therein. The structure facilitates at least one of cushioning, positioning, locating, and supporting the electronic device. The structure cushions reaction forces arising from a foot strike to the bladder and/or provides a restoring force to the electronic device subsequent to a foot strike to maintain the device in its predetermined position.

In many sports, such as soccer, handball, or volleyball, it is desirable to provide additional information regarding various parameters of the sport to individuals watching the game. This concerns, for example, the position of the players and the ball at any time during the game, information concerning the velocity of the ball, and the speed and performance of individual players. Also, referees and other persons monitoring the game for compliance with the rules may benefit from such information and control the game more reliably. Additionally, it is also reasonable from a trainer's or an athlete's medical attendant's point of view not only to observe the events on the field, but also to obtain reliable data on the exact course of the game.
Therefore, several methods have been suggested in recent years wherein a transmitter is arranged in the ball and possibly further transmitters are arranged on the players, which emit or reflect electromagnetic waves or other signals. These signals can be captured by suitably arranged receivers and provide the desired information concerning the position and velocity of an object, for example the ball, at any arbitrary point in time during the game. Examples of such tracking systems are disclosed in German patent publication Nos. DE 42 33 341 C2, DE 100 55 289 A1, DE 100 29 464 A1, DE 100 29 456 A1, DE 100 29 463 A1, and DE 200 04 174 U1, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
An absolute necessity for the optimal operation of such a tracking system is a reliable and permanent arrangement of a transmitter or reflector within the ball. This is a considerable problem, in particular in the case of larger balls with an inflatable bladder, such as a soccer ball. Suspension of the transmitter should cushion all of the mechanical loads arising under deformations or accelerations of the ball to avoid damage to the electronic components. Moreover, the inserted transmitter should preferably not influence the mechanical properties and the trajectory of the ball. Further, many applications require an exact determination as to when the center of the ball has passed a certain line, for example the goal line of a soccer goal. Therefore, the transmitter should take an exactly defined position within the ball and maintain it permanently.
The approaches known from the prior art for the solution of this problem concern until now only constructions wherein the transmitter or a corresponding device is freely suspended by several elastic wires or similar devices within the bladder of the ball. Such arrangements are, for example, disclosed in the already mentioned DE 200 04 174 U1 and DE 100 29 459 A1, and in PCT application no. WO 97/20449 and French Patent No. 2 667 510, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein. Similar constructions are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,251,035 B1 and German patent publication no. DE 829 109, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein. The last two documents concern objects that are positioned in the interior of the ball.
Presently known solutions, however, have several disadvantages: It is very difficult and requires a multitude of manual process steps to produce the bladders disclosed in the prior art and the corresponding balls; and the bladders known until now do not have the required stability to permanently protect the sensitive electronic components against damages. Moreover, to date, a reliable and permanent positioning of electronic components in the center of the ball could not be achieved.
Measures for increasing the stability of a bladder per se are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,177 and German Patent No. DE 39 18 038 C2, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein. These documents, however, concern only the shape stability of the ball (for example of a cubic ball or an exactly round ball with the common spherical shape, respectively) and do not provide any suggestions for improving the stability within the interior of the bladder or for a suitable suspension of a sensitive device.
There is, therefore, a need for a bladder for an inflatable ball, in particular a soccer ball, which is capable of maintaining a transmitter or other electronic device in a predetermined position and which sufficiently cushions arising loads to avoid damage to the device. There is a further need for such a bladder to be cost-efficient to manufacture and to not negatively affect the other properties of the ball.


A safety interlock for an intermodal train has a locking pin shiftable for locking a coupling pin in a coupling position. An air valve is associated with the locking pin for providing an air pressure signal when the locking pin is retracted, which signal actuates another air valve for venting the brake pipe of a braking system.

The present invention relates to a safety brake system for railroad trains and, more specifically, to a novel safety interlock between a coupler for adjacent sections of a train and an air brake.
Bimodal semi-trailers have been proposed for transportation either over highways or on railway lines. When connected for use on railway lines, successive trailers are coupled either to each other or to a railway bogie adapter in a train. In either event, a coupling mechanism is provided. Safety considerations demand that the coupling mechanism be fully engaged so as to ensure proper connection with a trailer.
Various suggestions have been made for ensuring proper positioning of the coupling mechanism. For example, it has been suggested to provide visual signals int he form of mechanically operated flags or handles interconnected with a coupling pin or other coupling mechanism, so that a trainman can see whether or not the coupling mechanism is properly positioned. It has also been suggested to install means, such as a whistle, providing an audible signal, which whistle is operated by air under the control of a valve responsive to the position of the coupling mechanism. Such prior suggested safety mechanisms have required the presence of a trainman to detect the signal, and subsequent action by the trainman to correct an improper coupling situation.


A method includes capturing images at a device and analyzing the images at the device using a first analysis model to obtain information regarding an observed object that corresponds to a predetermined object. The method also includes determining whether the information regarding the observed object is consistent with stored mapping information, and, in response to determining that the information regarding the observed object is not consistent with the stored mapping information, modifying the stored mapping information based on the observed object.

Digital maps serve many of the same functions as traditional paper maps but are able to be stored and viewed using computing devices, such as personal computers or smartphones. Digital maps are comprised of mapping information that is stored in a computer-interpretable format. Features included in digital maps can include geographical features, topographical features, political boundaries, attractions, and transportation networks, as might be found on paper maps. Transportation network features that can be displayed on maps include roadways, transit routes, walking paths, and biking paths. Digital maps may also be annotated with other types of information, such as descriptions or photographs that relate to specific locations.
Digital maps are created using various methods, and on-site data collection may be necessary to obtain high quality information. After a digital map is created, the features that it describes may change over time, and the digital map can be modified to reflect these changes.

Distributed collection and verification of map information


It has been discovered that a cause of a transfer member winding on an image carrier at the time of transfer is attributable to a discharge in a gap formed between a forward end of the image carrier and a transfer member transporter and is characterized in that the discharge in that gap is ineffectuated by being controlled. An image-forming apparatus capable of preventing not only the winding on the image carrier, but also the fouling of the forward end even when the transfer member is changed in size, is provided by controlling the discharge in the gap. The gap may be ineffectuated by being pressed physically using a guide, thereby preventing the discharge in the gap. As an alternative, the transfer charge amount is controlled in accordance with the position where the forward end of the image carrier passes the transfer element.

Conventionally, an apparatus using a transfer member transport belt as transfer member transfer means is well known as an image-forming apparatus of this type as shown in FIG. 1.
In FIG. 1, numeral 1 designates a photosensitive drum, numeral 2 a charger, numeral 3 an exposure device, numeral 4 a developer, numeral 5 a transfer charger, numeral 6 an erase lamp, numeral 7 a cleaner, numeral 8 a belt cleaner, numeral 9 a transfer member, numeral 10 a transfer member transport belt, and numerals 11, 12 a belt roller.
The photosensitive drum 1 has arranged therearound various parts including the charger 2, the exposure device 3, the developer 4, the transfer charger 5, the erase lamp 6 and the cleaner 7. The transfer member 9, which is transported by the transfer member transport belt 10, is supplied to a nip region where the photosensitive drum 1 is in contact with the transfer member transport belt 10.
This image-forming apparatus performs the operation described below.
First, the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 is uniformly charged by the charger 2, and is irradiated with light corresponding to the desired image to be formed at the exposure device 3 thereby to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1. In the next step, toner is attached on the electrostatic latent image in the developer 4, so that a visible image is formed on the photosensitive drum 1. This visible image is moved to the nip region. The transfer member 9, on the other hand, is supplied from the direction A as indicated by arrow, and disposed on the transfer member transport belt 10 followed by being transported to the nip region by the transfer member transport belt 10. In the nip region, since the charge of a polarity opposite to that of the visible image is applied to the transfer member transport belt 10 from the transfer charger 5, the visible image on the photosensitive drum 1 is transferred onto the transfer member 9 in the nip region. The transfer member 9 with a visible image transferred onto the surface thereof, after being transported over a predetermined distance by the transfer member transport belt 10, is moved along the direction B as indicated by arrow separated from the transfer member transport belt 10, followed by an image being fixed on the surface of the transfer member 9 by means of a fixer (not shown).
The residual charges on the photosensitive drum 1 are erased by the erase lamp 6, and then the residual toner on the photosensitive drum 1 is removed by the cleaner 7 in preparation for a new image-forming cycle. The toner attached on the transfer member transport belt 10, on the other hand, is removed by the belt cleaner 8.
In the image-forming apparatus as mentioned above, by the way, the transfer member 9 that has passed a transfer point may usually be undesirably wound on the photosentive drum 1 due to various causes as a result of a phenomenon of what is called drum trap.
In the prior art, type, means for preventing drum trap is added. A typical one of such means is an eraser such as an AC corotron disposed at the boundary between the transfer member 9 and the transfer member transport belt 10 to enable the transfer member 9 to easily come off from the transfer member transport belt 10.
Further, as shown in FIG. 1, before transferring a visible image onto the transfer member 9, the transfer member transport belt 10 and the transfer member 9 thereon are charged into opposite polarities by a spare charger 14 and a conductive brush 15 conductively connected with the spare charger 14. As a result, the transfer member 9 is adsorbed electrostatically to the transfer member transport belt 10, thereby preventing the transfer member 9 from being wound on the photosentive drum 1, i.e., the drum trap from occurring. This function is disclosed in JP-A-1-274173.
To achieve the same object, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, a holder 16 with or without a conductive brush 18 grounded conductively through a constant-voltage element 17 is arranged in contact with the transfer member transport belt 10. When the transfer member 9 is supplied, the holder 16 with or without the conductive brush 18 is operated to press the transfer member 9 onto the transfer member transport belt 10. This apparatus is disclosed in JP-A(U)-62-127561.
Another apparatus whose object is different from that of the above-mentioned apparatuses and is to clean the transfer member transport belt is disclosed in JP-A-62-275942, in which a scratch-off blade is arranged in the direction perpendicular to the progress of the transfer member transport belt over the whole belt width thereof to remove paper dust attached on the transfer member transport belt. Still another apparatus having the same object of cleaning the transfer member transport belt is described in JP-A(U)-63-78964 in which a blade element is arranged at an angle to the joint of the transfer member transport belt over the whole effective belt width thereby to clean the surface of the transfer member transport belt.
The means disclosed in JP-A-1-274173 and the one disclosed in JP-A(U)-62-127561 have the problem mentioned below in spite of the fact that both of them have the function to prevent drum trap, i.e., the transfer member 9 from winding on the photosensitive drum 1.
More specifically, in an image-forming apparatus of this type, the transfer member 9 of various sizes or shapes is often selected in accordance with the image to be transferred. Since the transfer member transport belt 10 is preliminarily charged over the whole width thereof regardless of the shape or size of the transfer member 9, the toner which may drop on the transfer member transport belt 10 is stored uniformly over the whole width thereof.
In this case, the toner stored on the transfer member transport belt 10 is attached to the transfer member 9 that has been transported on the transfer member transport belt 10, and with each movement of the transfer member 9, is removed from the surface of the transfer member transport belt 10. If a large transfer member 9 is used after continuous use of a comparatively small transfer member 9, the toner portion that has failed to be removed from the surface of the transfer member transport belt 10 adheres to the forward end of the large transfer member 9 at once, thereby contaminating the the image to be formed.
Conventionally, an electrophotographic recording apparatus equipped with means for preventing the occurrence of the drum trap phenomenon (hereinafter referred to as "the anti-trap means"), as disclosed in JP-A-1-121879, JP-A-1-121878 and JP-A-1-172986, has a separate close-contacting corona charger arranged on a recording paper transporter upstream of the location of a transfer corona charger. The recording paper is brought into close contact with the recording paper transporter immediately before transfer to the recording paper by the close-contacting corona charger (hereinafter referred to as "the close-contact type"). According to another well-known electrophotographic recording apparatus disclosed in JP-A-55-9505, the recording paper is charged to the polarity opposite to that of the recording paper transporter immediately before being placed on the recording paper transporter, so that the recording paper and the recording paper transporter are adsorbed to each other when the former is placed on the latter (hereinafter referred to as "the quasi-close-contact type"). Still another conventional electrophotographic recording apparatus is disclosed in JP-A-61-5256, according to which a recording paper transporter is formed with a plurality of pores, and the recording paper is adsorbed to the recording paper transporter through the pores by a vacuum adsorber after transfer to the recording paper (hereinafter referred to as "the adsorption type"). The recording paper transporter used in the above-mentioned conventional apparatuses is required to hold the charges generated at a corona charger and is comprised of a single- or plural-layer member of plastic film such as urethane rubber or PVDF.
Investigation by the present inventors has revealed that the drum trap occurred in an electrophotographic recording apparatus is caused by the following factors:
First, in the case where no toner image is formed at the forward end portion of the recording paper or especially in the region within at least 20 to 30 mm of the forward end, i.e., when the same region is a blank printing region, the drum trap is liable to occur. When a toner image is formed in the same region, in contrast, the drum trap phenomenon rarely occurs as the result of interposition of toner between the photosensitive member and the recording paper.
Secondly, in the-case where the recording paper is cut paper in the size of A4 or A3 which is obtained by cutting a larger paper into predetermined sizes of paper, what is called a burr occurs with the cut portion (forward end) of the recording paper bent in the cut direction. Also, the forward end at other than the cut portion of the recording paper may be bent or folded for some reason or other. A large burr or bend at the forward end of the recording paper is liable to cause the drum trap. Especially when a burr or bend is transported directed toward the recording paper transporter, the probability of occurrence of the drum trap is considerable.
Thirdly, the frequency of occurrence of the drum trap phenomenon depends on the type of the recording paper, e.g., thickness or quality thereof (whether a high quality paper or recycled paper), the size of a burr or bend being almost the same. Drum trap is liable to occur especially easily with weak paper such as thin or recycled paper. This is also the case with the OHP (overhead projector) sheet such as plastic film used as transfer paper as well as ordinary paper.
Fourthly, the occurrence of drum trap depends on the environmental conditions, and is liable to occur more frequently with a decrease in humidity. Especially when humidity is as low as less than 30% RH, the probability of drum trap is high.
As explained above, the probability of occurrence of the drum trap depends on various factors. In view of this, recent demand is for anti-trap means which is free of the effects of variations in these factors.
All the conventional anti-trap means described above are not designed paying due consideration to these factors. Also, the above-mentioned conventional anti-trap means of close-contact or quasi-close-contact type requires a close-contacting corona charger or a charging roller in addition to a transfer corona charger. Further, the anti-trap means of close-contact type has the problem that a visible image corresponding to a predetermined region at the forward end of the recording paper cannot be transferred. Furthermore, the conventional anti-trap means of adsorption type requires a vacuum adsorber, and has the problem that it is difficult to set the timing of adsorbing the recording paper.

Image forming apparatus capable of preventing the winding on the image carrier


A dry shaver unit includes a housing and a cutter blade assembly mounted in the housing. The cutter blade assembly includes a cutter blade and cooperating shear blade arrangement. The thickness of the shear blade varies over its surface, such that the spacing between a portion of the skin engaging surface of the shear blade and the opposite face thereof is increased as compared with the spacing required to achieve a “close shave”. The cutter blade assembly is mounted in the housing such that a plurality of portions of the shear blade having different thicknesses are simultaneously available for application to a surface to be shaved.

The invention relates to dry shavers having a cutter blade and co-operating shear blade arrangement. The invention relates at least both to electric dry shavers of the type having a reciprocating cutter and a shear blade arrangement in the form of a perforated foil with a plurality of perforations, and also to dry shavers of the type having a rotary cutter member or blade underlying an external shear member provided with apertures for entry of the hairs to be cut. The invention also relates to cutter blade assemblies for such dry shavers.
The history of shaving to date has been the search for the ever-closer shave. However, certain skin and hair types develop "shaving bumps" or pseudofolliculitis barbae (PFB) in certain areas of the beard when a close shave is effected. This can occur where obliquely exiting hairs are cut tangentially too close to the skin surface causing them to re-enter into the skin where they may occasion inflammation. In shaving close, certain skin and hair types thus experience or develop inflammation due to re-entry into the skin of the closely shaved hairs.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,003,390 discloses the use of apertured guides or spacers between the razor head and the skin in order to cut or trim hairs at a predetermined distance from the skin.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,908 describes a rotary razor external cutting member having apertures of varying width in order to cut longer and shorter hairs more effectively and with less irritation, but ultimately achieving a "close" shave.
International Published Patent Application No. WO 98/35794 describes different shaving fields provided on an external cutting member, oriented in a fashion so that the longer hairs are cut first, or pre-shaved, by the outside fields before being properly close shaved by the inside fields.
European Patent No. 1 231 034 granted to the current applicant describes a rotary razor giving a variable height of cut, a specific embodiment of such envisaged using interchangeable shaving heads of different thicknesses and, in a further embodiment, a double shaving head containing an outer displaceable "dummy" shield so as to achieve a variable height of cut.
EP 1 231 034 also relates to a dry shaver having a variable thickness moveably shear foil mounted in a shaver head. An adjustment mechanism is provided to allow the user to select the required length of shave.
It is believed that none of the above razors and shavers completely addresses the inflammation problem discussed above. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a cutter blade assembly and dry shaver directed to overcoming the inflammation problems discussed hereinabove. It would further be desirable to provide a cutter blade assembly directed to achieving a variable height of cut by varying the thickness of the shear blade so as to achieve selectively a short or a long hair shave by using the same shear blade. In addition, it would be desirable to provide a rotary dry shaver which allows for a close shave in certain areas and a "longer" shave in other areas. Still further, it would be desirable to provide a dry shaver unit having an elongate flexible shear foil which allows for a variable height of cut.

Cutter blade assembly and dry shaver for variable height of cut


A generic service management system is disclosed. The generic service management system comprises a registration scheme; a search-and-execution scheme; and a detection-and-replacement scheme, used for detecting and replacing the invalid service provider, such as a semiconductor equipment manager. The present invention provides a GEV (Generic Evaluator) having the capabilities of error-detecting and data backup, and further combines Jini infrastructure and the programming technology of design by contract. The GEV archives the credit values of all the service providers for letting a client (such as a factory manager) to select a service provider having a higher credit value. The GEV periodically backups the execution status and parameters of service providers, so that, in case a service provider has errors, its backup information of execution status and parameters can be assigned to another service provider for continuously executing the unfinished job, thereby enhancing the reliability of distributed object-oriented systems. The present invention can detect abnormal behaviors, such as system crash, errors in transmitting information and degradation of performance, etc., and is suitable for use in production systems that are connected by networks, such as semiconductor manufacturing systems, optical telecommunication production systems, etc.

With the advent of network age, it has been becoming more and more popular to build software systems based on distributed object-oriented technology. Software system developers have been making great efforts towards the objectives of increasing the reliability of software systems; detecting abnormal service providers; and replacing the abnormal service providers in time with others, such as spare service providers, so as to continuously execute the unfinished job. With the increasing precision and equipment cost in production systems, such as semiconductor production systems, a service provider, such as a semiconductor equipment manager, usually control a plurality of equipment at the same time, and the entire semiconductor manufacturing process is a continuous process. Hence, if the abnormal semiconductor equipment managers are not replaced in time so as to continuously execute the unfinished job from the point right after errors occurring, it will cause huge production loss.
So far, several researchers have reported methods for improving the reliability of individual application software, such as Meyer ("Applying "Design by Contract"", IEEE Computer, vol.25, no.10, pp.40-51, October 1992; "Object-Oriented Software Construction", NJ: Prentice Hall, 1997.) proposed to use the method of design by contract to represent the mutual agreement between clients and service providers, thereby substituting the traditional defensive programming so as to facilitate exception handling and reduce bugs. In the subsequent studies, many researchers applied the concept of contract to the current software development environment, for example using unified modeling language (UML) to describe contracts in the application of object-oriented analysis and design; practicing contracts by Java in the application of Java programs; and applying contracts to the design of framework, etc. Mitchell, Howse and Hamie (R. Mitchell, J. Howse, and A. Hamie, "Contract-Oriented Specifications", IEEE Proceedings of Technology of Object-Oriented Languages, pp.131-140, 1998.) provided a method for converting a specification to a contract, wherein a contract-oriented specification is used to represent the conventional equational specification, and is directly mapped to the method for representing a contract in a program, so that an ordinary specification can be directly converted to a contract. Moreover, several other studies have also developed methods for increasing the reliability and recoverability of application processes. For example, Firstwatch (Veritas, "Veritas FirstWatch"), Watchd (Y. Huang and C. Kintala, "Software Implemented Fault Tolerance: Technologies and Experience," in the 23rd International Symposium on Fault-tolerance Computing (FTCS), Toulouse, France, pp.2-10, June 1993.), and Wolfpack (MSCS, "Microsoft NT Server Edition") all provided tools for increasing the reliability of individual application program, but not the overall reliability of a software system built by distributed object-oriented technology.
In the field of increasing the overall reliability and stability of distributed object-oriented systems, Osman and Bargiela (T. Osman and A. Bargiela, "FADI: A Fault Tolerant Environment for Open Distributed Computing," IEE Proceedings of Software, vol.147, no.3, pp.91-99, June 2000.) provided a FADI environment for promoting the execution reliability of the distributed application program, wherein FADI can detect the occurrence of errors by monitoring user-process failures and node crashes, and a non-blocking checkpoint mechanism is provided for recovery operation to retrieve the backup data stored before the occurrence of errors. Although FADI is suitable for use in any distributed object-oriented technologies, yet only processor node crashes and hardware transient failures can be detected, certain faults in the communication link cannot be detected, such as delivering wrong messages, or transmitting messages to wrong nodes, etc. Also, the non-blocking checkpoint police was implemented in FADI to backup and restore the state of the application process before an error occurred. This backup is used when the faulty node is repaired. However, FADI does not prepare spare nodes to replace a faulty one. Therefore, unless the faulty node can be recovered by itself, the system cannot continue to work.
The Jini technology (K. Arnold, B. O'Sullivan, R. W. Scheifler, J. Waldo, and A. Wollrath, The Jini Specification, Addison-Wesley, 1999.) is software to federate groups of service providers. Federation implies a loose coordination among parts, such that service providers may be freely added to or removed from a network. If a service provider is present, it can be used by any interested party. If, however, a service provider terminates unexpectedly, this does not cause any kind of catastrophic failure of the other service providers, but rather removes that service provider from use. Jini provides Discovery, Lookup, Leasing, and Event services. The Discovery service supports Jini's spontaneous community-building capability. The Lookup service enables clients to search for desired service providers. The Leasing service supports Jini's self-healing. However, Jini still requires some functional enhancements to meet the requirements of the desired service management system. These enhancements are described below. Although the Leasing service can be used to detect whether a service provider has crashed, other kinds of abnormal behavior (such as degradation of performance and the delivery of messages with erroneous content) cannot be detected by Leasing. The Lookup service can be applied to search for the desired service providers, but it cannot distinguish levels of confidence among the service providers. Jini does not have a backup scheme to record the execution status and parameters before a failure.
As to the existing patents, U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,649 proposes an intelligent agent to detect whether the message transmitted inside a distributed system is correct, and if the message is incorrect, then the transmitting end is asked to re-transmit the message so as to enhance the system reliability. However, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,649, if the member at the receiving end has already had faults, such as system crash, etc., it cannot recover back to normal by itself even when the transmitting end re-transmits the message; and in the distributed object system or environment built in accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,649, no functions of backup and replacing abnormal members exist, therefore, in case that a service provider in the system is abnormal, the clients cannot freely select another normal service provider in the system to replace the faulty one.
In the other existing patents, U.S. Pat. No. 5,812,757, applied in the operation of motherboard, provides a method for recovering an invalid hardware inside a computer main unit. It is stated that many processing boards exist in a system bus, so that, when one of the processing boards has errors, another processing board will be found to replace the invalid processing board. U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,812, applied in a computer hardware system, proposes a method comprising: implementing one to several backup members on each member of a data processing system; determining if the member in execution is abnormal according to the message sent from the watchdog circuit; and then transferring the job to a backup member for continuous execution. U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,555, applied in a spacecraft technology, proposes a method using software to replace an invalid hardware so as to partially replace the abnormal elements in a spacecraft, so that the spacecraft can accomplish the mission. U.S. Pat. No. 6,122,753, applied in a network transmission technology, proposes a method automatically selecting a less crowded path to replace a faulty path so as to let message transmission continue. U.S. Pat. No. 5,848,229 states how to use a disk array system to make multiple backups for the data stored in a hard disk, thereby promoting the error tolerance for accessing data. However, the aforementioned patents are not designed for increasing the overall reliability of a distributed object-oriented system.
Hence, there is an urgent need to develop a generic service management system having the capabilities of error-detecting and function-replacing, so as to detect and replace an invalid service provider in a system, wherein the unfinished job can be continued from the point where the invalid one left off.


In a dosing device of the type suitable for human implantation for delivering a liquid medicament, a piston of a pump is accelerated against a detent by energization of an electromagnetic actuation system, with the electromagnetic actuation system being controlled so that it is de-energized slightly before the piston reaches the detent, with the inertia of the piston carrying the piston against the detent to complete the piston stroke. By shortening the amount of time during which the electromagnetic actuation system is energized, energy is saved. Control of the electromagnetic actuation system is undertaken by identifying a nominal stroke time for the piston by detecting the impact of the piston against the detent, and calculating an on time for the electromagnetic actuation system which is so short that the impact of the piston against the detent can still be just barely detected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a dosing device for the controlled deliver of a liquid from a reservoir, and in particular to such a device which is suitable for human implantation for delivering liquid medication.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A dosing device is disclosed in European Application 0 317 705 for injecting insulin from a reservoir into the body of a patient. This known device has a piston pump having a piston which can be moved through a stroke from a quiescent position to a position against a detent of a cylindrical housing surrounding the piston by means of an electromagnetic actuation system which can be switched on and off (energized and deenergized). A pump rate generator generates an "on signal" for energizing the electromagnetic actuation system for a time during each piston stroke. A detector generates an output signal when the piston strikes against the detent, the output signal being used in an evaluation means for generating an "off signal" for de-energizing the electromagnetic actuation system.
This known device is a battery operated implant, and in order to be able to monitor the course of the pump function, a detector is provided which indirectly acquires a signal corresponding to the motion course (such as an acceleration curve) of the piston, and detects when the piston strikes against the detent. The output signal generated by this detector is used for de-energizing the electromagnetic actuation system, so that it is assured that the pump is switched off at the end of each pump stroke, and further energy is thus not drawn from the battery.

Dosing device for the controlled delivery of a liquid


Provided are a material feeding mechanism, a multi-material unit and a 3D printing system. The material feeding mechanism includes a main body, an unloading clutch assembly connected to the main body, and a driver assembly configured to drive the unloading clutch assembly to be switchable between a first position relative to the main body and a second position relative to the main body. In the first position, the unloading clutch assembly is drivingly coupled to a reel to rotate the reel under driving of the driver assembly to wind a wire around the reel. In the second position, the unloading clutch assembly is drivingly separated from the reel.

3D printing systems are also known as three-dimensional printers, namely devices capable of implementing rapid prototyping, and the 3D printers can use bonding materials, such as special wax materials, powdered metals or plastics, to manufacture three-dimensional objects by printing layers of bonding materials. Currently, the 3D printing system comprises a 3D printer and a multi-material unit (referred to as "MMU") which can automatically switch the type or color of a wire according to printing requirements and deliver the wire to the 3D printer.

Material feeding mechanism, multi-material unit and 3D printing system


Apparatus for processing a substrate in a physical vapor deposition chamber is provided herein. In one embodiment, apparatus for processing a substrate in a physical vapor deposition chamber having a target disposed in a lid assembly and a grounded chamber wall includes a ground frame and a ground shield. The ground frame is configured to be insulatively coupled to the lid assembly and has an electrically conductive lower surface. The ground shield has an electrically conductive wall that is adjustably and electrically coupled to the conductive lower surface of the ground frame. The ground shield is configured to circumscribe the target and has an upper edge configured to provide a gap between the upper edge and a peripheral edge of the target when installed.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to substrate processing systems. More specifically, the invention relates to a physical vapor deposition chamber of a substrate processing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Physical vapor deposition (PVD), or sputtering, is one of the most commonly used processes in fabrication of electronic devices. PVD is a plasma process performed in a vacuum chamber where a negatively biased target is exposed to a plasma of an inert gas having relatively heavy atoms (e.g., argon (Ar)) or a gas mixture comprising such inert gas. Bombardment of the target by ions of the inert gas results in ejection of atoms of the target material. The ejected atoms accumulate as a deposited film on a substrate placed on a substrate pedestal disposed within the chamber.
A ground shield may be disposed in the chamber to help define a processing region in a desired region within the chamber with respect to the substrate. The ground shield helps confine the plasma within the processing region. Confining the plasma and the ejected atoms to the processing region helps maintain other components in the chamber free from deposited materials and promotes more efficient use of target materials, as a higher percentage of the ejected atoms are deposited on the substrate.
The ground shield is electrically coupled to the vacuum chamber walls and is electrically isolated from the target. As such, the ground shield is typically attached to the walls, or body, of the vacuum chamber. In addition, a small gap is maintained between the edge of the ground shield and the target to prevent the plasma from forming outside of the processing region. However, it is difficult to align the ground shield and the target to maintain the small gap therebetween, resulting in time consuming set-up and maintenance costs for proper operation of the apparatus. This effect is exacerbated by the use of larger targets, required for processing larger substrates. For example, substrates for use in the manufacture of flat panel displays have grown to about 15,000 cm2 and above. In addition, even larger substrates are envisioned in the future.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved ground shield for use in a PVD chamber.


A wave transmission medium includes an input port 3-1 and an output port 3-2. A field distribution 1 and a field distribution 2 are obtained by numerical calculations. The field distribution 1 is a field distribution of the propagation light (forward propagation light) launched into the input port 3-1. The field distribution 2 is a field distribution of the phase conjugate light (reverse propagation light) resulting from reversely transmitting from the output port side an output field that is expected to be output from the output port 3-2 when an optical signal is launched into the input port 3-1. According to the field distributions 1 and 2, a spatial refractive index distribution is calculated such that the phase difference between the propagation light and reverse propagation light is eliminated at individual points (x, z) in the medium.

In a technical field such as optical communication, integrated optical components utilizing an optical waveguide structure have been developed to construct optical circuits for easily implementing optical splitting and interference. The integrated optical components utilizing the property of waves make it to adjust optical path length and to facilitate fabrication of interferometers. In addition, applying the semiconductor circuit processing technique enables integration of optical components.
However, since these optical waveguide circuits construct individual components of optical circuits using an "optical confinement structure" that carries out the spatial optical confinement of light propagating through an optical waveguide by utilizing the spatial distribution of refractive index, a cascaded circuit design using optical wiring is required. Consequently, it is inevitable that optical path length of the optical waveguide circuit becomes longer than the optical path length required for bringing about interference in the optical circuit. This presents a problem of sharply increasing the size of the optical circuit.
For example, take a typical arrayed waveguide grating as an example. The light including a plurality of wavelengths (λj) input to an input port repeats demultiplexing/multiplexing through star couplers using slab waveguides, and demultiplexed optical waves are output from an output port. In this case, an optical path length required to demultiplex the optical waves at a resolution of an order of one thousandth of the wavelength becomes several tens of thousands of the wavelength of the light propagating through the waveguide. Furthermore, it is necessary not only to carry out waveguide patterning of the optical circuit, but also to perform such processing as providing a wave plate for correcting the circuit characteristics that depend on the polarization state (see, for example, Y. Hibino, "Passive optical devices for photonic networks", IEIC Trans. Commun., Vol. E83-B No. 10, (2000)).
In addition, since it is necessary to closely confine the light within the waveguide to miniaturize the optical circuit, the optical waveguide must have a very large refractive index difference to control the optical confinement state by the spatial distribution of the refractive index. For example, a conventional step-index optical waveguide is designed such that it has the spatial distribution of the refractive index that will make the refractive index difference greater than 0.1%. The optical confinement utilizing such a large refractive index difference presents a problem of reducing the flexibility of a circuit configuration. In particular, when implementing the refractive index difference in optical waveguide by local ultraviolet irradiation, thermooptic effect or electrooptic effect, the amount of change in the resultant refractive index is about 0.1% at best. Accordingly, to change the propagation direction of light, it must be gradually varied along the optical waveguide. Thus, the optical circuit inevitably becomes long, which makes it difficult to miniaturize the optical circuit.
Furthermore, an optical circuit including a grating-like circuit in addition to an optical waveguide circuit is built on a basis of a periodic structure that is substantially parallel to the propagation direction of light, or of the periodic variation in a dielectric refractive index. In addition, in an actual design, the characteristics of the optical circuit are usually achieved by a strictly periodic structure evaluable by Fourier transform, or by a chirped structure that distorts the periodicity slightly. Consequently, the optical circuit has a substantially uniform structure for a wavefront, thereby making it difficult to control the light in the direction perpendicular to the propagation direction (in the direction of the wavefront). For example, an optical circuit disclosed in T. W. Mossberg, "Planar holographic optical processing", Optics Letters, Vol. 26, No. 7, pp. 414-416 (2001) cannot utilize the light that propagates through the optical circuit without reflection as signal light because it spreads in the circuit. In addition, as for a circuit that varies a spot position sharply in a direction perpendicular to the propagation direction, such as a branching circuit, since the optical field must be greatly expanded in the direction perpendicular to the propagation direction, the size of the circuit inevitably becomes large. Furthermore, in the actual circuit design, only a design method is applicable which is nearly equivalent to the design method of a conventional linear grating circuit such as a fiber grating. Thus, the design is limited to a circuit with a strictly periodic structure (that is, an optical circuit depending on the wave number in the propagation direction). This increases the circuit scale, makes the circuit sensitive to the wavelength, and has the  input/output positions distributed sequentially in accordance with the wavelengths, thereby presenting a problem of limiting the design to circuits with little flexibility.
On the other hand, optical wavelength division multiplexing communication systems using a plurality of optical wavelengths have been developed actively to increase communication capacity. Such an optical wavelength division multiplexing communication system employs an arrayed waveguide grating type optical multi/demultiplexing circuit as an optical wavelength multi/demultiplexing circuit for multiplexing optical signals with a plurality of wavelengths at a transmitter side, and for demultiplexing the plurality of optical signals propagating through an optical fiber to different ports at a receiver side.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a conventional arrayed waveguide grating type optical multi/demultiplexing circuit (see, for example, K. Okamoto, "Fundamentals of Optical Waveguides", Academic Press (2000)). The circuit comprises on a substrate 100 an input waveguide 101, a first slab waveguide 102, arrayed waveguides 103, a second slab waveguide 104 and output waveguides 105, which are connected in this order.
The light launched into the input waveguide 101 is expanded by the first slab waveguide 102, and is demultiplexed to the arrayed waveguides 103 composed of waveguides configured based on individual wavelengths. Then, the outputs of the arrayed waveguides 103 are multiplexed by the second slab waveguide 104 again to be led to the output waveguides 105. Here, the optical field pattern projected to the end of the first slab waveguide 102 on the side of the arrayed waveguides 103 is basically reproduced (copied) at the end of the second slab waveguide 104 on the side of the arrayed waveguides 103. However, since the arrayed waveguides 103 are designed such that the optical path lengths of their adjacent optical waveguides differ by ΔL, the optical field has an inclination depending on the wavelength of the input light. The inclination causes the positions of the focuses the optical field forms on the end of the second slab waveguide 104 on the side of the output waveguides 105 to be changed for the respective wavelengths, thereby enabling the wavelength demultiplexing.
Such an arrayed waveguide grating type optical multi/demultiplexing circuit has become an indispensable optical component for an optical multiplexing communication system that transmits an optical signal with a plurality of wavelengths through a single optical fiber. In addition, a variety of extended-passband arrayed waveguide grating type optical multi/demultiplexing circuits have been proposed which increase the transmission wavelength bandwidth of the arrayed waveguide grating type optical multi/demultiplexing circuit as shown in FIG. 1.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating a configuration of a conventionally proposed extended-passband arrayed waveguide grating type optical multi/demultiplexing circuit (see, for example, K. Okamoto and A. Sugita, "Flat spectral response arrayed-waveguide grating multiplexer with parabolic waveguide horns", Electronics Letters, Vol. 32, No. 18, pp. 1661-1662 (1996)).
As shown in FIG. 2A, the circuit is configured by adding to the circuit as shown in FIG. 1 a parabolic waveguide 106 as illustrated in FIG. 2B, which is placed between the input waveguide 101 and the first slab waveguide 102. In FIG. 2B, z denotes the propagation direction of light.
FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating optical field distribution at an interface between the parabolic waveguide 106 and slab waveguide 102a in the configuration of FIG. 2A, in which z denotes the propagation direction of light, and x denotes the direction of a cross section of the waveguide perpendicular to the z direction. As shown in FIG. 3B, the optical field distribution has a double-peak profile. The double-peak optical field is regenerated at the output waveguide side of the second slab waveguide 104, and is coupled to the output waveguides 105, thereby implementing the extended transmission wavelength band.
The extended-passband arrayed waveguide grating type optical multi/demultiplexing circuit with the above-mentioned conventional configuration, however, has a large chromatic dispersion value due to the phase distribution in the parabolic waveguide as illustrated in FIG. 4. Since the chromatic dispersion provides different delay times to signal spectral components, the conventional extended-passband arrayed waveguide grating type optical multi/demultiplexing circuit with the large chromatic dispersion has a problem of bringing about considerable optical pulse degradation.

Wave transmission medium and waveguide circuit

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation


An air core power reactor (10) having a noise mitigating sound shield (40). In one embodiment the sound shield includes a plurality of sound absorbing panels (42p) configured for positioning about an outermost reactor layer (12′) so that the panels reduce radiation of acoustic energy when the reactor coil layers carry current. One or more flexible members (48) are attached along the first side of each sound absorbing panel for contact with the outermost reactor layer. Sound barrier material (44) is positioned along the second side of each panel. When the flexible members are attached to a panel and the panel is installed about the outermost first layer of the reactor, the flexible members are positioned against the outermost first layer and the flexible members provide a gap between the first side of the panel and the outermost first layer of the reactor.

Air core reactors are inductive devices used in high voltage power transmission, distribution and industrial applications. Configurations and designs include devices which have a number of applications, including filtering out harmonics, shunt devices which compensate for introduction of capacitive reactive power, and devices which limit short circuit currents. Air core reactors, typically placed in outdoor environments, are formed with a series of concentrically positioned, spaced-apart winding layers, referred to as packages, each having a cylindrical configuration. These designs allow for some cooling of the winding layers by movement of air convection currents between the spaced-apart winding layers. The winding layers are positioned between upper and lower current carrying members, sometimes referred to as spider units. The spider units comprise a series of arms radiating along a plane and away from a central position in a star configuration.
Among other functions, the spider units may serve as line terminals for connecting power lines and for connecting the winding layers in an electrically parallel configuration. The reactors are normally installed with the spider units occupying a horizontal orientation with respect to an underlying horizontal ground plane so that the major axis of the cylindrical configuration extends vertically upward from the ground plane. For a single reactor, or for the lower-most reactor in a stacked configuration of two or more reactors, the winding layers are supported above the ground by the lower spider unit and a series of insulators and structural leg members which extend from the lower spider unit to the ground.
Sound radiated from air core reactors can be a serious irritant to population groups living nearby. In the past, these sound levels have been reduced with sound shields, typically in the form of self-supporting fiberglass enclosures, that completely surround one or more reactors. To effectively mitigate the sound, these shields must be substantially larger than the reactors and utilize sound absorbing material, e.g., acoustically insulating foam. Consequently, the cost of the shield could exceed the cost of the reactor it surrounds.

Integrated sound shield for air core reactor