A medium transport device includes a medium transport pathway that inverts a medium that is supplied from a processing unit and is capable of transporting the medium to the processing unit again, a plurality of supply units that supply media, and a plurality of convergence units at which the plurality of supply units and the medium transport route converge. A transport roller is provided in each convergence unit.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a medium transport device and recording apparatus that is provided with the medium transport device.
In the present application, a recording apparatus includes kinds such as ink jet printers, line printers, copy machines and facsimiles.
2. Related Art
In ink jet printers of the related art, a medium is transported from a medium accommodation cassette, which is attached to a printer main body in a detachable manner, to a position that is opposite to a recording head, and recording is executed on the medium at the position that is opposite to the recording head. Among ink jet printers, other than the medium accommodation cassette, there are printers that are provided with a medium accommodation tray above a back surface side of the printer main body (refer to JP-A-10-129860), and there are printers that are provided with a manual insertion pathway that supplies a medium to the printer one sheet at a time, and transports the medium to a position that is opposite to the recording head (refer to JP-A-2001-122528).
The recording apparatus that is disclosed in JP-A-10-129860 is configured to be provided with an auto-sheet feeder (ASF), which is a first sheet supporting means that is disposed above a rear portion of an apparatus main body, and a sheet cassette, which is a second sheet supporting means that is disposed below the front of the apparatus main body. In the recording apparatus, sheets (media) that are supported by the first sheet supporting means pass through a first sheet feeding route that is provided inside the apparatus main body, and are transported to a position that is opposite to the recording head through a common transport route that is positioned on an upstream side of the recording head in a sheet transport direction. In addition, sheets that are supported by the second sheet supporting means pass through a second sheet feeding route that is provided inside the apparatus main body, and are transported to a position that is opposite to the recording head through the common transport route that is positioned on an upstream side of the recording head in a sheet transport direction.
In the recording apparatus, in addition to the common transport route being formed inside the apparatus main body, the sheet feeding routes (the first sheet feeding route and the second sheet feeding route) are respectively formed in the first sheet supporting means that supplies sheets from an upper side with respect to the common transport route and the second sheet supporting means that supplies sheets from a lower side with respect to the common transport route. Therefore, inside the apparatus main body, the common transport route, the first sheet feeding route and the second sheet feeding route are provided separately, and there is a concern that the amount of space that the sheet feeding routes occupy in the recording apparatus may increase, and that the size of the recording apparatus may be increased as a result.
In addition, the recording apparatus that is disclosed in JP-A-2001-122528 is configured to be provided with an auto-sheet feeder (ASF), which is disposed above a rear portion of an apparatus main body, a cassette, which is a feeding unit that is disposed below the front of the apparatus main body, a manual insertion feeding opening that is disposed in a rear portion of the apparatus main body, an image processing unit that forms images on a medium, and a transport roller that transports sheets (media) that are supplied from the auto-sheet feeder, the cassette and the manual insertion feeding opening to the image processing unit using the outer peripheral surfaces thereof.
In the recording apparatus, the transport roller configures an upper transport route and a lower transport route. Sheets that are supported by the cassette are transported along the outer peripheral surface of the transport roller after being delivered from the cassette, and are transported to the image processing unit through the upper transport route. In addition, sheets that are supported by the auto-sheet feeder are transported to the image processing unit through the upper transport route. On the other hand, sheets that are supplied from the manual insertion feeding opening are transported to the image processing unit through the lower transport route using the transport roller, which rotates in a direction that is opposite to the direction of rotation during transport of sheets that are supported by the cassette and sheets that are supported by the auto-sheet feeder.
In addition, in the recording apparatus, sheets that are supported by the cassette and sheets that are supported by the auto-sheet feeder are transported to an upper position of the upper transport route that is positioned above the transport roller. In addition, sheets that are supplied from the manual insertion feeding opening are transported to a lower position of the lower transport route that is positioned below the transport roller. Further, the image processing unit is configured to be capable of swinging between the upper position and the lower position.
Therefore, in the recording apparatus, since a plurality of pathways that transport media to the image processing unit are formed in the transport pathway that has a plurality of sheet feeding pathways, the configuration of the transport pathway is complicated. As a result of this, there is a concern that the amount of space that the transport pathway occupies in the recording apparatus may increase, and that the size of the recording apparatus may be increased as a result.

Medium transport device and recording apparatus with a shared transport path


A process and apparatus for upgrading heavy hydrocarbons such as asphaltenes to lighter oil and gas components is disclosed. The process provides a reaction environment that promotes fast and selective cracking of heavy hydrocarbons, while minimizing coke formation and fouling and enhancing product yields.

Upgrading of heavy oil refers to any process of fractionation or treatment of bitumen to increase its value. About one-half of bitumen can be recovered by atmospheric and vacuum distillations, leaving heavy residual hydrocarbons with contaminants. These residual hydrocarbons and other heavy hydrocarbons from various sources can be cracked to give smaller molecules which are more valuable products.
Conventional upgrading technologies include catalytic cracking and thermal cracking or pyrolysis. Catalytic cracking of residual hydrocarbons, particularly asphaltenic hydrocarbons, is difficult as large molecular weight hydrocarbons have low diffusivity into catalyst pores and channels. As well, residual hydrocarbons are rich in coke precursors and catalyst poisons, which severely restrict effective utilization of catalysts. As a result, catalytic methods are less common, and pyrolytic methods are more commonplace in residue upgrading.
Thermal cracking is the oldest and, in a way, the simplest cracking process. It basically aims at the reduction of molecular size by application of heat without any additional sophistication such as catalyst or hydrogen. At temperature levels exceeding about 370° C., the larger hydrocarbon molecules become unstable and tend to break into smaller molecules. By varying the reaction time, temperature and pressure under which a particular feedstock remains under cracking conditions, the desired degree of cracking (conversion) can be controlled.
Coking is a widely-implemented form of thermal cracking, where light products are formed together with significant amounts of coke. Coking, like all pyrolytic methods, is an endothermic process and it is well known that the rate of reaction increases rapidly with increased temperature. However, because coke formation and fouling of heat transfer surfaces also increase rapidly with temperature, viable operating temperatures are conventionally limited to a lower range. Therefore, reaction rates and effectiveness of conventional pyrolytic methods, such as thermal cracking and coking processes are limited.
Additionally, the rate of heating affects coke production. If a feedstock is gradually heated to a pyrolytic temperature, coke formation is significantly higher than if the feedstock is rapidly brought to the same temperature. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,481,720 issued to Bennett on Dec. 2, 1969, a method of pyrolysis of oil shale or oil sands in a concentric reactor-combustor unit is disclosed. Hot "spent" oil shale or oil sands is combined with cold feed oil shale or oil sands to recover heat energy and preheat the feedstock. With oil shale or oil sands, a significant amount of energy is required to heat the shale or sands to reaction temperatures; therefore, heat exchange between the hot "spent" shale or sands with the cold feedstock is essential for energy economy. However, such gradual heating of the feedstock drastically increases coke formation and fouling when processing residual hydrocarbon feedstock, and would be impractical for asphaltenes or residues with high asphaltene contents.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a process that can achieve fast and selective pyrolysis of heavy hydrocarbons, with high yields of valuable light oils and gases, while significantly reducing coke formation and fouling that constrain conventional pyrolysis.


This invention provides a viscous heater which can attain an improvement in heat generating efficiency while preventing leakage caused by expansion of a viscous fluid. For this purpose, a disk-shaped rotor is employed, and a front housing body, a front plate, a rear plate, and a rear housing body constitute housings, and these are stacked and fastened together by through bolts. Surplus spaces in the shape of concaves are formed in the front plate between the respective through bolts and water passages so as to communicate with the heat generating chamber in their outer circumference.

Conventionally, a viscous heater used in a vehicular heating apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No.2-246,823. In regard to this viscous heater, a front housing and a rear housing are disposed so as to face each other, and fastened together by through bolts, thereby forming therein a heat-generating chamber, and a water jacket which is disposed around an outer region of the heat-generating chamber. In the water jacket, circulating water is circulated so that it is taken in through a water inlet port and that it is delivered out to an external heating circuit through a water outlet port. In the front housing, a driving shaft is held rotatably via a bearing device. On this driving shaft, a rotor is fixed so that it can rotate in the heat-generating chamber. A wall surface of the heat-generating chamber and an outer surface of the rotor constitute labyrinth grooves which approach to each other. In a space between the wall surface of the heat-generating chamber and the outer surface of the rotor, a viscous fluid, such as a silicone oil, is disposed.
In this viscous heater assembled into a vehicular heating apparatus, when the driving shaft is driven by an engine, the rotor is rotated in the heat-generating chamber. Accordingly, the viscous fluid is caused to generate heat by shearing in the space between the wall surface of the heat-generating chamber and the outer surface of the rotor. The heat thus generated is transferred to the circulating water in the water jacket, and the heated circulating water is used in the heating circuit, to heat a cabin of a vehicle or the like.
In the above conventional viscous heater, however, when a sufficient volume of viscous fluid to make a rotor completely immersed therein is contained in order to improve heat generating efficiency by using the rotor with a certain radius effectively, the viscous fluid is expanded in generating heat and tends to leak from the heat-generating chamber to the outside of the housing.
In this respect, it is conceivable to employ a construction in which the heat-generating chamber communicates with the atmosphere in order to allow expanded viscous fluid to be absorbed by the atmosphere. In this case, however, because moisture in the atmosphere tends to be supplied to the viscous fluid and degrade the viscous fluid, a decrease in heat-generating efficiency is expected. Therefore, it is not preferable to employ this type of construction.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a viscous heater which can attain an improvement in heat-generating efficiency, while preventing leakage caused by expansion of the viscous fluid.

Kabushiki Kaisha Toyoda Jidoshokki Seisakusho


A backlight unit with high thermal dissipation. The back light unit includes a light source generator positioned in a backside of a display panel for providing light beams to the display panel, a diffuser positioned between the light source generator and the display panel for uniformly scattering light beams from the light source generator to the display panel, and a housing enclosing the light source generator and connecting to the diffuser for reflecting the light beams to the diffuser. The housing further includes a heat pipe for being a heat transfer interface between the back light unit and an external environment.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a back light unit, and more particularly, to a back light unit with high thermal dissipation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A back light unit is one of the key elements of liquid crystal display (LCD) panel and is applied to many modern electric devices, such as a digital camera, mobile phone, person digital assistant (PDA), computer monitor, and flat television. In general, the back light unit is set in the backside of a display panel. The back light unit comprises a light source generator, a diffuser positioned on the light source generator for uniformly scattering the light beams from the light source generator, and a plurality of prisms positioned on the diffuser to raise the brightness and make the lightness of the whole display panel uniform. There are two types of back light units: direct-underlying type and edge light type. In a direct-underlying type, the light source generator is positioned in the backside of the display panel. Because there are more spaces in the back-side of the display panel, the light source generator may contain more than two florescent tubes to increase the lightness. As a result, a display panel requiring higher lightness or larger size, such as LCD monitor or LCD television used outside, adopts the direct-underlying type being its back light unit. On the other hand, an edge type back light unit comprises a light resource set in a flank of the display panel so as to reduce the thickness of the display panel. Therefore an edge type back light unit can satisfy the requirements of being thin, light, and saving power when applied to an LCD monitor or notebook.
FIG. 1 is a section view of a direct-underlying type back light unit 10 according to the prior art. The direct-underlying type back light unit 10, which is set in a back-side of a display panel 20, comprises a light source generator 12, a diffuser 16 set between the light source generator 12 and the display panel 20, a housing 18 enclosing the light source generator 12, and a reflecting sheet 14 set under the light source generator 12 and fixed on the inside surface of the housing 18. The light source generator 12 is used to supply a light source to emit light beams to the display panel 20. The reflecting sheet 14 is used for reflecting light beams from the light source generator 12 up to the diffuser 16 to raise the utility of the light beams. The diffuser 16 can further scatter the light beams to provide uniformly scattered light beams to the display panel 20. The housing 18 is used to position the diffuser 16, reflecting sheet 14, and the light source generator 12. The direct-underlying type back light unit 10 according to the prior art usually further comprises a diffusion film and a plurality of prisms (not shown) set on the diffuser 16 to correct the lightness and uniformity of the back light unit, wherein the amount and position of the diffusion film and the prism is different according to the design and requirements of the display panel.
For achieving the goal of high lightness and thinness, the light source generator of a back light unit is usually set in an airtight chamber, thus it is hard to radiate the heat produced by the display panel and the back light unit to the external environment when the display panel is operated. As the operation time becomes longer, the heat in the back light unit is accumulated and it results in the temperature around the fluorescent tubes being too high to maintain normal operation, so that the performance of the display panel will be reduced (for example, a portion of the image may flash) and the lifetime of the elements of the back light unit will be shortened.
For improving the heat dissipation of a back light unit, JPN 2001-297623 disclosed using vent holes and a fan to be the heat transferring device of the back light unit. It taught setting a plurality of small holes on the housing of the back light unit to serve as vent holes, and to set a fan outside the vent holes to create a heat convection between the back light unit and the external environment. However, as the vent holes and the fan are set, the noise of the van occurs and the dust easily intrudes into the back light unit to reduce the utility of the light. In JPN 2001-216870, a radiating area of the back light unit is increased to improve the heat dissipation of the back light unit, which means the housing of the fluorescent tubes electrodes is made as bended shapes. However, there is still a limitation of increasing the radiating area according to JPN 2001-216870, thus only a small amount of heat can be dissipated, and the heat accumulation problem of the back light unit is not solved yet. Therefore how to improve the heat dissipation of the back light unit and simultaneously raise the utility of light of the display panel, and furthermore to improve the display performance and extend the lifetime of the device is an important issue for manufactures of back light units.

Direct back light unit with heat exchange


A device is disclosed for storing a stream of a plurality of thin flexible objects, such as newspapers or similar printed materials, which is constructed from a number of generally parallel conveyor sections arranged in a number of vertical columns. The conveyor sections in each column are connected to one another by diverter belts located at the ends of the columns and the last conveyor section in one column is connected to the first conveyor section in an adjacent column by an offset transfer conveyor. In operation, a lapped stream of objects is fed into the input of the storage device travels in a serpentine manner along all of the interconnected conveyor sections in a first column, across the transfer conveyor to a second column where the process is repeated. The remaining columns are traversed in the same manner until the stream reaches the end of the last conveyor. Selected numbers of objects can be dispensed by operating the full unit for short periods of time to cause objects to exit from the discharge end of the unit. A control system for controlling the unit and an input system for creating a suitable lapped stream of papers are also disclosed.

Newspapers go through three basic stages before reaching the consumer. These stages are commonly referred to as the press room stage, the mailroom stage, and the circulation stage. During the press room or printing stage, the newspapers are printed, cut and folded into complete papers at very high speeds. Typically the papers travel from the press stage to the mailroom stage as a high-speed stream of partially overlapped newspapers.
Since the uninterrupted operation of the printing press is of premium importance, there may be additional equipment, for instance, between the pressroom and mailroom stage to provide a buffer between the two. For example, if the stacking and bundling equipment stopped operating, the printing press could continue to operate provided that the stream of papers could be diverted to a buffer. Heretofore, the buffer system included a helical ramp with vertical shaft. The succession of newspapers was caused to run up the ramp. This was problematic because the newspapers would slide and turn resulting in ink becoming smudged and papers becoming creased.
Another buffer system comprises a drum onto which papers are rolled with the aid of a strap. This system was disadvantageous in that it only provided minimal storage capacity and required a large amount of floor space.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,618 discusses a system that requires significantly less floor space than the operating space required for the drum. This system comprises a vertically rising shelf unit that straddles the conveyed stream of newspapers and engages the outside edges of the newspapers. This shelf unit lifts the papers vertically and holds them in storage. The unit requires an upstream device to divide the succession of newspapers into longitudinal sections so that stacks of newspapers can be positioned on each shelf.
Once the papers arrive at the mailroom stage, either directly or from an intermediate storage device, the newspapers are arranged in stacks and bundled for distribution to various locations. The stacking and bundling operation is an expensive procedure that employs complex equipment. The bundles may be stacked in either fixed quantities for general distribution or in selected quantities for distribution to a particular distribution point. The variable size of these bundles complicates the bundling operation because the bundling machines must be able to accommodate the different bundles, and the stacking operation because the differently sized bundles will result in stacks of different sizes. The need to individually track each of the unique bundles complicates the circulation stage as well.
Complete bundles are delivered from the mailroom facility to the circulation stage by a conveyor or a cart or a similar transportation device. Typically, the bundles are taken to trucks, manually removed from the conveyor or cart, and loaded into the cargo space on the truck. This manual loading operation is slow and tedious, taking 45 minutes to an hour to fill a average truck. Because of the labor-intensive nature of this activity, the circulation stage adds significantly to the cost of newspaper printing and distribution.
In order to address this industry problem, systems were developed to automate the circulation stage. Such systems comprise loading carts and automatic cart loaders, such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,181,820 and 5,437,537, that were used to receive bundles from the mailroom and place bundles into the carts. The carts were then manually wheeled into the cargo space of the truck. The carts were dimensioned so as to make the most economic use of the total cargo space volume. When the trucks reached their destination the carts were removed from the cargo space and unloaded.
Although automated systems help make better use of the cargo space and reduce some of the manual operations, these systems still involve the manual loading and unloading and do nothing to simplify the stacking and bundling operation in the mailroom stage. Furthermore, the newspapers were still in stacked bundles when delivered to retailers, door-to-door delivery people, and honor boxes. This meant that either 1) individual bundles of predetermined quantities of newspapers had to be prepared, individually tracked through the circulation stage, and delivered to a distribution point, or 2) the bundles had to be broken apart and separated at the distribution point in order to provide the required number of newspapers. In addition, many attempts have been made to provide a buffer for receiving the output of a printing press when problems occur downstream from the press, but these solutions have been expensive, and generally ineffective. It would therefore be desirable to provide a storage device for holding newspapers and the like that could be used as a component in a buffer system or that was movable and could be transported to delivery locations.

Method and apparatus for storing and dispensing thin flexible objects


An apparatus is provided for identifying trace amounts of substances of interest in an air flow. The apparatus includes an inlet for receiving the air flow and an outlet for exhausting major portions of the air flow. The outlet is offset from the inlet. A porous impactor is disposed in alignment with the inlet and is impacted by particles entrained in the air flow. The porous impactor is heated sufficiently to vaporize particles impinging thereon. A detector communicates with the porous impactor and is operative for identifying substances of interest in the vaporized particles.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to detectors for detecting trace amounts of particles of interest.
2. Description of the Related Art
Terrorism risks continue to exist at transportation facilities, government buildings and other high profile locations where there is a significant flow of pedestrian or vehicular traffic. As a result, most airports and many government buildings now include apparatus for detecting trace amounts of explosives. These devices typically operate on the principle that small amounts of the explosive materials will be transferred to the body, clothing and luggage of people who had handled the explosive.
Some detectors employ small flexible fabric-like traps that can be wiped across a package or piece of luggage. The trap removes residue from the surface of the package or luggage. The trap then is placed in an apparatus, such as an ion trap mobility spectrometer, that tests the residue on the trap for trace amounts of explosive materials. A device of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,491,337 and is marketed by the GE Ion Track. These devices typically are employed in proximity to metal detectors at airports, and security personnel will perform screening on some of the passengers based on a random sampling or based on a determination that the passenger has met certain criteria for enhanced screening.
The ion trap mobility spectrometer disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,491,337 also can operate in a mode for detecting trace amounts of narcotics. Narcotics are illegal and insidious. Furthermore, it is known that many terrorists organizations fund their terrorism through the lucrative sale of narcotics.
Only a fraction of airline passengers have their carry-on baggage checked for trace amounts of explosives or narcotics using fabric-like traps and the available ion trap mobility spectrometers or similar devices. Efforts to use such devices to check all carry-on bags for trace amounts of explosives or narcotics would impose greater time and cost penalties on the airline industry. Additionally, the above-described explosive detectors typically are used only on luggage and other parcels. An apparatus of this type would not identify plastic explosives worn by a passenger who had no carry-on luggage.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,499 discloses a walk-through detector. The detector shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,499 operates under the principle that a boundary layer of air adjacent to a person is heated by the person. This heated air adjacent a person is less dense than air farther from the person. Less dense air rises. Accordingly, a thermal plume of air referred to as a human convection plume flows up adjacent to the person at a rate of about 50 liters per second. Minute particles, including particles of explosives or narcotics that may have been handled by the person, will be entrained in this human convection plume of air and will flow up from the person. U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,572 shows a walk-through detector with a plurality of high-pressure air jets that direct small puffs of air towards the torso of the person in the portal. These jets of air help to stimulate a release of particles from the clothing and hands of the person so that a greater concentration of particles can become entrained in the human convection plume.
The above-described walk-through detector has a metallic screen incorporated into the ceiling of the portal. A vacuum pump or fan above the screen generates an airflow that is intended to match the volumetric flow of air generated by the human convection plume (e.g., about 50 liters/second). An airflow generated by the vacuum pump or fan that is too low will permit particles entrained in the human convection plume to dissipate into the ambient air on currents of ambient air near the detector. A flow rate generated by the vacuum pump or fan that is too high will draw additional air through the screen and hence will dilute the concentration of particles of interest. Some of the particles entrained in the thermal plume will attach to the screen. The screen in the ceiling of the portal is moved into a desorber after a sufficient sampling time (e.g., 5 seconds) and is heated to temperatures in the range of 220° C.–250° C. so that particles thereon are vaporized. The vaporized particles then are drawn into the inlet of the ion mobility spectrometer, the ion trap mobility spectrometer or other such detecting device to determine whether any particles of interest were entrained in the human convection plume. An alarm or other signal will be triggered if a particle of interest is detected. The above-described walk-through detector typically operates at an overall average sampling efficiency of about 1% at mid-torso level. This level of efficiency typically meets government standards for detection and offers low false alarm rates. Thus, the walk-through detector disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,499 and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,572 is very effective for detecting whether a person is carrying explosives or narcotics and whether the person has recently handled explosives or narcotics. However, improved efficiencies would be received well and could be even more effective for detecting even smaller amounts of particles of interest without increasing the false alarm rate.
The walk-through detector disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,499 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,572 is marketed by GE Ion Track as the EntryScan3® and currently operates at about a fifteen second cycle to sample, desorb and analyze a passenger. The person being screened must pause in the portal of the walk-through detector for at least the sampling phase of that cycle, and typically at least about 5 seconds. A system that achieves a shorter cycle time would be well received in the industry.
Inertial impactors use principles enunciated in Stokes Law and function to collect particles entrained in a gas. Such impactors have been used, for example, in the analysis of air quality and are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,435,043 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,732,569. Inertial impactors have not been used to identify extremely small particles (e.g., 1 micron) of explosives or narcotics that may exist at low concentration in an air stream of 50–100 liters per second.
In view of the above, it is an object of the subject invention to provide a detector with improved sample collection efficiency.
Another object of the invention is to provide a detector with a shorter cycle time from sample collection to analysis, and hence a detector with a higher passenger throughput.
A further object of the invention is to provide a detector with fewer or no moving parts.


In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a request from a user computing device associated with a user for one or more items from an in-vehicle vending apparatus during a ride. The method also includes sending information associated with the user to start a vending session using the in-vehicle vending apparatus. The method also includes receiving an indication that the user associated with the user computer device accessed the in-vehicle vending apparatus. The method also includes determining that the user associated with the user computing device is the only user associated with the ride, determining that the user associated with the user computing device is one of a plurality of users associated with the ride, or determining that the user associated with the user computing device is associated with the in-vehicle vending apparatus.

Transportation and related services by trains and airplanes typically provide various amenities free of charge or for sale to their users. These amenities, including food, blankets, ear buds, and other useful items, provide many benefits to travelers by making their trip more comfortable and enjoyable. However, other transportation services such as ride services, which have substantially increased in popularity and convenience over the last couple of years, usually do not provide as many amenities to their users during their ride. Because the driver of the ride service must focus on driving, they are unlikely to have the time or resources to also sell amenities to the users during the ride, even though various amenities may be very useful or popular to the users (e.g., energy bars during longer trips, energy drinks during a late-night trip, etc.). Unfortunately, this may decrease overall user experience and satisfaction with the ride services and drivers.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


In a temperature sensor, between a first power supply and a second power supply, there are disposed a resistor group consisting of a plurality of resistors connected in series and a MOS transistor in the form of a temperature transducer, the resistor group being connected in series with the MOS transistor having a drain connected to the resistor group and having a source and a bulk which are connected to the first power supply. The temperature sensor further comprises a switch group consisting of switches for opening and closing the connections between the connection points of the adjacent resistors of the resistor group and the second power supply, an external terminal connected to the drain of the MOS transistor, a temperature-compensated constant voltage generating circuit for generating a gate voltage as an output voltage to the MOS transistor, and a non-volatile memory which stores therein data for adjusting the output voltage from the temperature-compensated constant voltage generating circuit and the state of opening and closing of the switches of the switch group. With the voltage at the second power supply as the reference, the drain voltage at the MOS transistor is output as temperature information to the external terminal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a temperature sensor provided with adjusting means for modifying manufacturing variations and a method of adjusting the same, and more particularly to a temperature sensor for use in a temperature-compensated crystal oscillator intended to be mounted on small-sized electronic equipment such as cellular phones and a method of adjusting the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic equipment having a temperature compensating function, such as a temperature-compensated crystal oscillator intended to be mounted on cellular phones, has to be provided with a temperature sensor which detects a variation in temperature to provide an output in the form of a variation in an electrical characteristic.
A typical temperature sensor is one using the pn junction of a diode for example, which has a satisfactory detection accuracy but entails a problem in that it must be used as an external component due to its inability to be incorporated into an IC.
Therefore, another type of temperature sensor is also available which detects temperature through the provision, in analog representation, of an output from an oscillating circuit having a temperature-dependent oscillating frequency. However, this method may result in increased costs and in generation of phase noises.
A temperature sensor used in a conventional temperature-compensated type crystal oscillator comprises, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Pub. No. 61-88119 for example, a constant current circuit and a ring oscillating circuit driven by an output from the constant current circuit, the ring oscillating circuit including a plurality of integral delay circuits and a plurality of inverters connected in series with the integral delay circuits, each integral delay circuit consisting of a plurality of resistors and capacitors having certain temperature coefficients.
In order to ensure the output of accurate temperature information by use of such a conventional temperature sensor, it is necessary to keep the temperatures of the resistors and capacitors of the integral delay circuits the same, with the same temperature coefficients.
Although various types of temperature sensors for use in the temperature-compensated crystal oscillator have been put to practical use without being limited to the above example, the temperature coefficients of the resistors and capacitors suffer from manufacturing variations since they are industrial products.
Further, in the case where the temperature coefficients of the resistors and capacitors have deviated from the standards due to manufacturing variations, it is impossible to make the temperature sensors conform with each other through adjustment, resulting in reduced yield and in increased production costs because of severe manufacturing conditions.
Furthermore, the temperature sensor used in such a temperature-compensated type crystal oscillator has often subjected the electronic equipment mounted with the same to an excessive load, namely, a fingerprinting of the temperature sensor using a thermostatic bath, which brings about a further increased cost.
In addition, due to strict phase noise restrictions in the case of an oscillator mounted on a cellular phone, such an oscillating-type temperature sensor is difficult to use as the temperature sensor for temperature compensation therein, since it generates phase noise.
The present invention was conceived in order to solve the above problems. It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a temperature sensor allowing the detection of temperature without providing the oscillating circuit which is capable of outputting accurate analog temperature information through the adjustment of the manufacturing variations without adding to production costs, and to provide a method of adjusting the same.

Temperature sensor and method of adjusting the same


An apparatus and method are provided for ensuring good coupling and vertically planting of seismic receivers while substantially reducing the need for interconnecting wires and costly surveys. The apparatus includes an acquisition unit (AU) 20 for measuring seismic energy and a planting member 12 for engaging and planting the AU 20. An electronic surveying instrument 14 is coupled to the planting member 12 for determining the location of the AU 20. An installer 16 plants the AU 20 in the terrain 22 in near vertical alignment using the planting member 12. Once the AU 20 is planted in near vertical alignment, coordinates are downloaded from the electronic survey unit to locate the planted AU 20.

The present invention relates in general to seismic sensors and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for planting the seismic sensors in the ground in a vertical orientation.
Present methods of seismic data acquisition require surveying a field prior to installation of seismic receivers. The user surveys the field in order to determine the precise location for each of the seismic receivers. A field surveying crew selects positions for each of the seismic receivers. An installer manually plants the seismic receivers according to the locations determined by the crew. The installer must plant each of the seismic receivers in the ground in near vertical position. Failure to plant the seismic receivers in near vertical position results in faulty readings. Thus, a great deal of time and effort are expended in surveying the field and ensuring near vertical planting.
Other known methods of surveying include locating the receivers in relation to known coordinates, such as the location of an acquisition box. The location of the acquisition box is determined with a survey receiver at a relatively high cost. Once the location of the acquisition box is known, the installer measures a certain distance in a specific direction and plants the seismic receiver. Consequently, the actual location of each seismic receiver is inferred based on spatial relation to the acquisition box's location, which reduces accuracy.
Current methods require the installer to stoop down in order to plant the seismic receivers. This increases work time and costs, while reducing accuracy, because vertical alignment is difficult to determine until testing the adequacy of the vertical plant. If testing shows that the seismic receivers are not vertical, then the installer must spend more time replanting and repositioning the seismic receivers until the seismic receivers are in near vertical alignment.
Once the installation is complete, the installer runs remote tests to verify that the receivers are vertically aligned within a certain tolerance. The remote tests involve using a pulse to determine if the receiver has proper vertical alignment. The pulse moves the geophone element and the response is checked for free movement. These remote tests indicate only that a problem exists. These tests do not indicate the cause of the problem or the location of the seismic receiver causing the problem.
In addition to vertical alignment, the seismic receivers must also be planted firmly in the ground to ensure adequate coupling of the seismic energy to the seismic receivers. It is difficult for an installer to firmly plant the seismic receiver. The installer can not determine the adequacy of the coupling using known methods. The installer can not wiggle or rock the seismic receiver to determine if it has been firmly planted because wiggling or rocking the seismic receiver wallows out the surrounding ground. Wallowing causes gaps between the ground and the seismic receiver resulting in poor coupling between the ground and the receiver, which causes inaccuracy in measuring due to attenuation of the seismic energy.
Furthermore, known methods utilize a multi-channel acquisition unit to collect and transfer data collected by each of the geophones. The geophones are connected using multiple wires, which increases cost and labor effort for deployment. Additionally, the interconnecting wires can be easily damaged. If a wire is damaged the user is informed that there is a problem with the receiver. However, when a problem with the receiver is indicated, without field testing and inspection, the user can not determine whether the problem is caused by a damaged wire or a problematic geophone. Accordingly, more time and money must be spent to distinguish between errors due to the damaged wire or the problematic geophone.
Therefore, what is needed is an apparatus and a method for planting seismic receivers for both good coupling to the ground for data acquisition, and vertical planting, while substantially eliminating the need for interconnecting wires and costly surveys.

Apparatus and method for planting seismic sensors


This invention relates to a video signal processing apparatus using a low frequency oscillator to obtain high resolution. This invention comprises a dividing counter 16, an oscillator 17, CRTC 11, two RAM's 12 and 14, and two shift registers 13 and 15.

This invention relates to a video signal processing apparatus for processing the video signal of high resolution, using a low frequency oscillator.
FIG. 1 shows the construction of the conventional video signal processing apparatus, and in this drawing, the reference number 1 shows CRTC (Cathode Ray Tube Controller), 2 a video memory, 3 a shift register, 4 an oscillator, 5 a counter, and 6 a monitor, respectively.
The CRTC 1 inputs a vertical synchronizing signal (Vsync) and a horizontal synchronizing signal (Hsync), and outputs a row address (RAO to RAn) and a memory address (MAO to MAn) to the video memory 2. The row address is counted as scan line number forming a pixel per one row, according to the clock outputted from the counter 5, and the memory address (MAO to MAn) is also counted according to the clock (CCLK). One pixel is formed as 40 dots.times.32 scan lines, the maximum character number on one picture is 32.times.32, that is, 1024 characters. Accordingly, the memory address (MAO to MAn) for displaying 1024 characters is to be counted in order to display 1024 characters each horizontal synchronizing signal period.
Therefore, the data written into the video memory 2 according to the memory address (MAO to MAN) and the row address (RAO to RAn) of the CRTC 1 is loaded in parallel from the video memory output terminal (DO to Dn) to the shift register 3 each clock of the load clock signal, and the shift register 3 converts the inputted parallel stream video data to the serial stream video data each clock of the dot clock signal and outputs them to the monitor 6.
Accordingly, if a high resolution corresponding to more than 1280.times.1024 is required, the high frequency clock oscillator is also required to provide the clock signal to the shift register. That is, in case of 1280 dots.times.1024 scan lines, the high frequency oscillator of 100 to 120 MHz is required. And also the fast processing apparatus is needed and this has a problems of using more expensive apparatus, and of causing a signal interference and noises.

Video signal processing apparatus for processing a high resolution video signal using a low frequency oscillator

Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd.


A new cultivar of shrub rose, Rosa ‘BAIrift’, characterized by its flowers that are very full, colored white with an apricot center, and fragrant flowers, its uniformly upright and arching plant habit and its recurrent blooming habit. The new variety has medium green glossy foliage that is resistant to black spot and powdery mildew, is readily propagated on its own roots and is hardy in U.S.D.A. Zones 4 to 9.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Rosa hybrida. The new cultivar will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, 'BAIrift'. 'BAIrift' is a shrub rose suitable for landscape plantings.
The new cultivar of shrub rose is a selection from a controlled breeding program conducted by the inventor in Yamhill, Oreg. with a focus to create cultivars of roses with greater winter hardiness and improvements in disease resistance combined with good flower quality.
The new variety of shrub rose, 'BAIrift', designated as seedling No 99A796 was selected among seedlings derived from a cross made in Yamhill, Oreg. in 1999 between the female parent, 'MACrexy' (U.S. Plant No. 6,713) and the male parent, 'MEIpotal' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 8,841) as the male parent. 'BAIrift' was selected as unique and budded onto understock in August 2000 and reselected by the inventors for its distinct characteristics in 2005.
The new cultivar has been asexually propagated by rooting of softwood cuttings from a plant grown on its own roots in Yamhill, Oreg. Asexual propagation determined that the characteristics of this cultivar are stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.


The glass ceramic panels are non-transparent and have at least one decoration. In order to fulfill the requirements for a glass ceramic panel that provides a cooking surface for a cooking unit in a variety of different pleasing colors, especially a creamy white color shade (BISQUE), in an economical manner, the glass ceramic panel has a predominant crystalline phase of keatite mixed crystals and a full-surface decorative coating that covers at least 80 percent of the upper smooth surface of the glass ceramic substrate. The full-surface decorative coating is provided in a different color from,the glass ceramic panel. Methods for making these glass ceramic panels are described.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooking device or unit with a glass-ceramic panel providing a cooking surface, which is not transparent and which has at least one decoration, on it. The invention also relates to a method of making this glass-ceramic panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cooking units or devices for modern kitchens including glass-ceramic panels providing cooking surfaces have been known for years and have proven completely satisfactory to customers. They are heated by a variety of different heating devices, including electrically heated radiant heating bodies, atmospheric gas burners, halogen radiators, gas heated burner units and induction heating devices.
These glass ceramic panels have a series of requirements, apart from their heating specifications. Especially the heating and operating parts under the glass ceramic panel in the cooking unit should not be observable from above the glass ceramic panel. Marks or streaks made during usage should not be conspicuous. Decorations, should be applied for aesthetic reasons and to demark functional areas, such as cooking zones, from other regions with different appealing colors.
The prior art provides a series of solutions for these requirements, which however have specific disadvantages.
In a typical known solution, like that described in EP 0 220 333, a colored glass-ceramic panel with high quartz mixed crystals as the predominant crystalline phase is employed. These glass-ceramic panels acting as cooking surfaces have been marketed for a long time, for example under the trademark CERAN® by Schott Glas. These cooking surfaces appear dark to black to the eye and thus prevent observation of the cooking unit interior.
The very smooth, lustrous aesthetically pleasing surfaces of the glass ceramic panels have certain susceptibilities for conspicuous marks or scratches on their surfaces that are caused by pots, metal abrasion and scrapes. Also fingerprints are conspicuous and noticeable. There is always an effort made of course to reduce the conspicuousness of marks on the glass ceramic panel by means of some type of decoration, for example an impervious decoration or even a full-surface decoration.
Thus EP 0 693 464 B1 describes a glass ceramic panel that is darkly colored and decorated on its upper surface, i.e. the cooking surface, with ceramic paints or pigments, on which at least one additional colored coating is arranged over a first colored coating, which at least partially overlaps the first colored coating. This first colored coating acts as a base decoration that coats a large area of the surface of the glass ceramic panel to form a uniform scratch-protecting layer. The other different colored coatings are marking decorations, e.g. for cooking zones, and simplify the confusion-free identification of the operating regions of the glass ceramic panel by means of the different colors.
Both decorations or colored coatings may overlap partially only in edge regions, because otherwise the colored coatings have difficulty adhering on each other, i.e. they have adherence problems. That is because of the different thermal expansion coefficients of the glass ceramic panel (which varies between 0±0.3×10−6/K from 20 to 700° C.) and of the decorations, i.e. colored coatings (>about 5×10−6/K). Only thin colored coatings having a thickness of up to about 7 μm allow the dark background of the glass ceramic panel to tube covered. Coatings with a larger thickness crack or split because of the differing thermal expansion coefficients, and/or poor adherence of the decorative coatings on these regions. Generally the possible colored embodiments are limited in the decoration of "black" glass ceramic panels because of the limited color coating thickness. The decorative paint produces only pale, less intense color shades and preferably only dark color shades. A bright decoration print is achievable by a full-surface printing only to a limited extent. Each screen-printing fault, local variation or removal of the bright decorative paint in usage is exceptionally conspicuous because of the underlying black glass-ceramic panel.
A coating for solution of these problems in the manufacture of a full-surface decorative coating with ceramic paints on a cooking surface provided by a darkly colored glass ceramic panel is described in German Patent Document DE 197 28 881 C1. This coating is made by applying at least two grid-like or raster-like structural patterns corresponding to each other and in a side-by-side relationship on the glass ceramic panel to form a closed full-surface covering coating. In order to obtain a full-surface completely covering coating the respective screens used in the printing process must fit exactly together (positive and negative structures). Even so, an arduous positioning must take place in this printing process. Two printing processes are required in order to obtain a full-surface completely covered appearance covering the "black" glass ceramic panel. The possible embodiments are limited by overlap of the decorative paints because of differing thermal expansion coefficients.
In order to avoid limitations during application of the decorative coating due to the dark color of the glass ceramic panel, attempts have been made to use a colorless, i.e. transparent glass ceramic panel with high quartz mixed crystals as the predominant crystalline phase. The non-transparency of the glass ceramic panel required to prevent observation of the interior of the cooking unit from above is provided by a printed colored coating.
German Patent Document DE 200 05 461 U1 discloses a colorless transparent glass ceramic panel that provides a cooking surface and is printed on its underside with a single layer or multi-layer coating of temperature-resistant paint. This colored coating provides the non-transparency, i.e. it replaces the otherwise usual coloring of the panel, so that the panel appears dark from above. Also the bottom-side coating on the glass ceramic panel is formed as a color-imparting decoration. In contrast, the upper side of the glass ceramic panel is decoration-free, in as much as it is not coated. However dirt, stains and the like, e.g. fingerprints, are conspicuous to some extent on this known cooking unit and there is no protection of the top surface from superficial scratches, metal rub-off and marks due to usage because there is only a single coating on the underside of the glass ceramic panel.
German Patent Document DE 200 19 210.8 U1 describes a cooking unit with a colorless transparent glass ceramic panel that provides a cooking surface, which has a single colored coating on its underside and a full-surface decorative coating on its upper side. To prove an acceptable full-surface appearance a coating must be provided on both the top and bottom sides of the glass ceramic panel because of its transparency. Screen printing errors or variations of the upper side full-surface decorative coating are partially compensated by the bottom side single colored coating. Printing both sides however is very expensive and special requirements exist for the coating on the bottom side of the glass ceramic panel. Also the embodiments are limited by overlap of the decorative paints because of the differing thermal expansion coefficients.
Beside the described dark-colored glass ceramic panels or transparent glass ceramic panels provided with a dark colored coating, opaque white glass ceramic panels and translucent white glass ceramic panels providing cooking surfaces are known in the art. These latter glass ceramic panels have keatite mixed crystals as the predominant crystalline phase and are usually available with higher thermal expansion coefficients of about 0.8 to 1.5×10−6/K between 20 to 700° C. A multi-colored marking decoration is usually printed on the cooking surface side and burned in.
The phenomenon known as conspicuous staining, namely dirt, overflowing cooking materials and cleaning material residues necessarily collecting in scratches on the cooking surface during cooking, which are conspicuous on the white panel surface disadvantageously appear on these opaque white and translucent white glass ceramic panels.
An additional disadvantage is that the white glass ceramic panel becomes yellow colored in the vicinity of the heated cooking zone after shutting off the heating body. This coloring, designated thermochromism, is based on the thermal widening of the absorption band of TiO2, a required ingredient of the glass ceramic material.
The already described German Patent Document DE 200 19 210.8 U1 discloses a translucent bright glass ceramic panel. In this special embodiment the colored pigments of the full-surface decorative coating on the topside and the single color coating on the underside are selected, so that the glass ceramic panel appears white or creamy white or weakly colored from above. This creamy white or weakly colored coating in connection with the upper side full-surface decorative coating reduces the conspicuousness of dirt, stains and the like, especially fingerprints, in a special manner. The topside full-surface decorative coating provides further protection from upper surface scratches, metal rub off and usage marks. However the other disadvantages described above remain.
To avoid the above-described disadvantages it is also known to provide the glass ceramic panel with a bright appearance, especially a bright beige or creamy white color shade, designated "BISQUE" in the following, by suitably coloring the glass ceramic panel in the starting glass melt. German Patent Document DE 198 57 117 A1 describes cooking unit with a opaque uniformly colored glass ceramic panel with keatite mixed crystals as the predominant crystalline phase, in which the cooking surface of ceramicizable glass is ceramicized in a color range in the lab system with a lightness value L<85. The cooking surface has minimal dirt and stain conspicuousness in usage because of this coloring.
It is disadvantageous for coloring the glass ceramic material in bulk by pigment oxides that this coloring must occur in the melt. It is not economical for the manufacturer to make different color shades according to customer choices because of the size of the melt vessel, since the material obtained cannot be used for making a new color shade by re-melting. Also a costly storage unit is required for the various color tones. The desire of the customer for individual color shades and comparatively small lots cannot be satisfied economically. This flexibility is lost because of the large-scale coloring by pigment oxides in the melt. Paint or pigment feeders are not available currently for the high temperatures, which are required in the glass ceramic melts.

Cooking device with a glass-ceramic panel providing a cooking surface in a variety of different colors and method of making same


An insulation assembly for insulating buildings is disclosed. The insulation assembly includes a low density, binderless, mineral fiber mat, such as a binderless fibrous glass batt which is covered by a layer to form a package. The batt is joined to the package by an adhesive and air passageway is defined by the package for directing atmospheric air to the batt. The insulation assembly is lightweight and has a compression ratio in excess of 6:1.

The invention relates to an insulation assembly which is used to insulate buildings and, for examples, to insulate floors, ceilings and the like of such buildings.
It is well known in the art to insulate buildings using various types of insulating materials including mineral fibers such as fibrous glass wool.
Prior art fibrous glass wool insulation often included combining a binder, such as a phenolic resin with glass wool subsequent to the fiberizing process. The resultant insulating material assembly had sufficient strength to support itself in long strips so that it could be, for example, placed between adjacent wall studs or ceiling trusses in a commercial or residential building.
Glass fiber insulation is generally made by laying down a blanket of multiple horizontal layers of glass fibers onto a moving belt. Very early on, in the industry, no binder was used. However, by the late 1930's and early 1940's the industry began to use an organic binder, such as the above-mentioned phenolic resin, which was thought to be necessary to give the insulation material structural integrity for handling, and to enable the blanket to recover its thickness and insulating value after being compressed during packaging and transportion. Thus, it is the current practice in the prior art to apply such binder materials to the fibers as the insulation blanket is being formed, and to partially compress and heat the resulting blanket to cure the binder and set the loft. The blanket is thereafter cut into batts or rolls and tightly compressed for packaging and transport.
Numerous types of binder compositions have been developed over the years as necessary components in prior art insulation assemblies.
The prior art teaches that a high recovery ratio in a fibrous glass batt having a low density is unexpected and not inherently found in binderless products of the past. McMillin and Sakarash U.S. Pat. No. 2,610,337 teaches the use of ultra-fine glass fibers to form soft, resilient mats for use as filling in cushions and the like. This prior art patent indicates that with such ultra-fine glass fibers, as much as 25 to 30% bonding agent may be used without causing undue stiffness. The patent states "although the bat becomes less resilient with decreased amounts of binder, as little as 5% by weight of the binder, when calculated on the weight of the finished product, has been successfully employed."


A resin molded type semiconductor device has an inner portion sandwiched between two outer surfaces. The device includes a chip support with a first, inwardly facing surface and a second, outwardly facing surface. The device also includes a semiconductor element with a first, inwardly facing surface and a second, outwardly facing surface. The respective first surfaces of the chip support and semiconductor element are fixed to each other. A mold resin is provided to seal the entire semiconductor device except for the respective second surfaces of the chip support and semiconductor element which remain exposed as part of the two outer surfaces of the device, in order to keep the semiconductor device thin.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a structure of a resin molded type semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
An IC card and a memory card have been rapidly developed in recent years. With its rapid development, there has been a demand for a thin plastic or resin molded type semiconductor device mounted in the IC or memory card. A vast number of methods of making the resin molded type semiconductor device thinner have been also proposed. As one of the methods, there is known a structure of a semiconductor device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-317360, for example, wherein lower surfaces of die pads are exposed without being covered with a mold resin. According to such structure, the semiconductor device can be made thin with a thickness ranging from about 0.2 mm to 0.3 mm if the entire thickness of a package is regarded as about 1.0 mm.

Structure of resin molded type semiconductor device with embedded thermal dissipator


The invention provides a solution for registering a terminal having a packet-switched and circuit-switched functionality in a packet-switched service domain, such as the IMS over a circuit-switched access domain. In particular it is proposed to send a packet-switched registration message packed in a circuit-switched transport bearer (USSD) to a circuit node (HLR, MSC, dispatcher) which selects an adapter node (IA) being responsible for performing a registration in the packet-switched service domain on behalf of the user using the information provided with the packet-switched registration message and by deriving and adding additional information.

Third Generation (3G) Networks such as UMTS (Universal Telecommunication Network) and CDMA 2000 provide high-speed wireless Internet access to mobile users over a wide coverage area. For the 3G networks the IP Multimedia Subsystem IMS, standardised by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), has been defined to support voice and multimedia services. The strength of IMS is the provision of enhanced services, for example multimedia services combining voice and data over packet-switched technology, in particular IP-network. The usage of IP-network as a single underlying standard allows an easy and fast service deployment. Furthermore the IMS is also a network architecture, servicing both fixed and mobile terminals which seamlessly integrates into the ubiquitous IP environment, including the Internet and other packet-switched based networks.
A number of mobile communication networks, such as GSM, are based on a circuit-switched technology, wherein both the access domain and the service domain are based on circuit-switched technology.
Due to the fact that service providers shift their core network infrastructure from the circuit switched domain to a consolidated common packet switched infrastructure, the need occurs to enable the consistent provision of services to subscribers over a variety of accesses domains including circuit-switched CS and packet switched PS accesses and different service domains. Therefore common controlling platforms are introduced, like the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) for providing enhanced services for the multitude of different service domains that may be available for an individual call and between which the user might be switched, wherein it is to be ensured that choice of a service domain remains transparent to the user.
A solution for consistently routing calls from a CS network access through the IMS network to the IMS service domain is currently investigated by the 3GPP. The work item is called IMS Centralized Services (ICS) and aims at moving all subscribers to the IMS for a harmonization of the service (see 3GPP TSG SA WG2 Architecture—SA2#5, Sophia Antipolis, France, 28 Aug. to 1 Sep. 2006, Tdoc S2-063335).
The aim of the ICS is to be able to handle users accessing or being served by different service domains, like for example to handle a user having a subscription in a first domain, like IMS, and being in a coverage of a second domain, like for example circuit-switched domain.
The ICS concept requires the installation of the so called ICS client application providing the functionality for routing between domains. Currently, two alternatives for the placing of the ICS client application are investigated. According to the first approach, network-centric concept, the ICS client application is introduced in the network, for example on a Mobile Switching Centre (MSC) or on an MSC server (MSC-S). The second approach proposes to introduce the ICS client application in the terminal.
In 3GPP TSG SA WG2 Architecture, 28-30 Mar., 2006 in Munich, "USSD based call flows" a mechanism for attaching an IMS user via a legacy network is mentioned. It describes to use a Voice Call Continuity VCC application, for combining CS and PS functionality. The VCC application is an IMS functionality located in an IMS node in the IMS domain. Therefore the cited document proposes to integrate the functionality for the translation between the CS domain and the IMS domain into an internal node of the IMS domain. Consequently the IMS has to distinguish whether a user is an IMS or a CS user in order to handle them in a different manner. Further therein it is described to use Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) in the CS domain for attaching an end terminal to the VCC application. However the cited document does not provide a complete solution for performing IMS registration after a CS attached procedure is finished.

Methods and apparatuses for registering a terminal in the IMS over a circuit-switched access domain


A method by which the illumination radiation to be coupled into the illumination beam path of a microscope can be exactly monitored and/or adjusted. In the method for adjusting a light source for a microscope, an imaging optical reflection unit, instead of the objective, is coupled to the microscope in order to image the light of the light source on a detector in such a way that a monitoring of the focus position and/or the position and/or an adjustment of the laser light source with respect to the focus position and/or the position can be carried out. Provided is an approach for monitoring and adjusting a laser beam to be coupled into the illumination beam path of a microscope particularly for using TIRF effects. It can also be used in principle for other solutions in which the parallelism of illumination beams must be monitored and/or adjusted.

a) Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to method by which the laser radiation to be coupled into the illumination beam path of a microscope can be exactly monitored and/or adjusted.
b) Description of the Related Art
In TIRF (Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence) microscopy, for example, a high axial resolution is achieved by emitting illumination radiation into a high-aperture objective in such a way that total internal reflection occurs at the surface of the specimen. The radiated power is introduced into the optically thinner specimen medium only as an evanescent field. In this way, near-interface molecules are excited to fluorescence. For this purpose, the aperture of the objective that is used must be greater than the refractive index of the specimen to be examined. Since biological specimens typically have a refractive index from 1.33 to 1.38, objectives with numerical apertures greater than 1.4 are used in practice. The penetration depth of the evanescent field depends on the aperture of the objective; the greater the aperture, the smaller the penetration depth.
The total reflection of the extremely small light point of the exciting light at defined interfaces makes it possible to observe individual molecules, which was formerly only possible with an electron microscope. Accordingly, high-contrast images of the flagged molecules, cell membranes or cell walls can be generated in real time. The researcher can observe dynamic processes such as the movements of molecules in the cell membrane, the exchange of molecules between membrane and liquid, or the movement of cell organelles. Therefore, TIRF systems open up completely new dimensions in light microscopy.
An important condition for achieving TIRF effects is the parallelism of the polarized laser radiation at the location of the specimen. This can be achieved by moving a waist of the laser beam into the entrance pupil of the objective by means of an adjusting device.
It was formerly conventional to observe the laser beam in the far field and to adjust the adjustment device in such a way that the diameter of the laser beam is minimal in the far field, which is equivalent to a parallel bundle propagation at the location of the object. In the laboratory, the ceiling of the laboratory was usually used for this purpose. However, this type of method is not permissible if the required safety guidelines for the use of lasers are to be obeyed.
Aside from the parallelism of the laser beam at the location of the specimen, the adjustment of the angle at which the laser radiation strikes the specimen is critically important. This angle, which corresponds to the position of the focus in the exit pupil, determines whether or not total reflection occurs, and the extent of the penetration depth of the evanescent field also depends upon this angle. The position of the focus in the exit pupil is imaged on the camera by the adjustment device. Accordingly, it is possible to determine this position by means of the adjustment device and also to calculate the penetration depth of the evanescent field.
There are also known prior art solutions by which the characteristics of laser beams can be exactly determined and corrected before impinging on a specimen.
DE 198 22 924 C2 describes a method and a device for measuring the distribution of the energy field density of a pulsed laser beam. For this purpose, a measurement beam is extracted at different points in time and imaged on a CCD chip so as to be locally separated. The measured energy densities in the processing focus of the laser beam can be compared with one another and correct when needed. The described solution is provided particularly for process monitoring in laser machining of workpieces.
DE 102 08 781 A1 discloses a solution for determining the intensity distribution when a laser beam impinges on a surface. For this purpose, the intensity distributions are detected in a plurality of planes of the laser beam and arranged as digital image data in a computerized manner, and the intensity distribution on the surface is calculated therefrom by interpolation. Intensity distributions can be determined for non-planar surfaces and for surfaces not extending perpendicular to the beam axis. This solution is also particularly suited to process monitoring in laser machining of workpieces and is applicable for continuous laser sources as well as pulsed laser sources.
DE 102 17 098 A1 describes an incident illumination device for a microscope, particularly a TIRF microscope. It places particular emphasis on achieving a high polarization of the laser beam. In addition to the exact radiating angle, a high polarization of the laser radiation is also an important criterion for achieving a high efficiency. The radiating angle substantially corresponds to the critical angle of the total reflection at the specimen. The illumination device allows the radiating angle to be changed so as to ensure that the excitation beam is coupled in optimally.
A microscope in which at least one illumination beam can be displaced radially with respect to the optical axis is described in DE 101 43 481 A1. The greater the distance of the incident illumination beam from the optical axis in radial direction when impinging through the objective, the greater the reflection angle of the illumination beam at the interface between the object carrier and the object. The reflected proportion of the illumination beam is absorbed so as not to interfere with microscopic examination of the object. A deliberate adjustment of the arrangement is made possible in that the light reflected at the interface is guided to a detector and correspondingly evaluated.
In the fluorescence-based optical object examination device, particularly for TIRF microscopy, according to DE 102 58 945 A1, the light that is reflected from the interface is directed to a light trap arrangement. This defined beam trap arrangement prevents interfering scattered light and accordingly makes it possible to detect very weak fluorescent signals by preventing interfering background fluorescence on the one hand and by improving the signal-to-noise ratio at the detector on the other hand.
In the TIRF microscope described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,819,484 A, the light that is reflected from the interface is directed to a light trap arrangement which is arranged outside the microscope in a special construction. The synchronous movement of the optical elements which couple in and couple out the illumination light ensures that the light reflected at the interface is directed in its entirety to the light trap arrangement, even with altered radiating angles.
Another device for coupling light into a microscope is described in DE 102 29 935 A1. This devices makes use of an access for coupling in the light of a second light source, e.g., of a laser, without having to make further changes in the illumination beam path. The access is standard on most microscopes and is provided, as such, for receiving special devices for contrasting (e.g., DIC slides). The light beam can be directed to the edge area of the exit pupil of a high-aperture objective in a particularly simple manner because of the provided possibility for tilting the coupled-in light beam relative to the optical axis, and the TIRF method can accordingly be realized.
Also, the microscope described in JP 2003-215 462 A discloses a solution in which none of the optical elements required for imaging need be removed. Instead, a mirror is swiveled into the beam path in front of the object for adjusting the illumination of the microscope, which mirror images the illumination light on the detector via the elements needed for imaging and a Bertrand lens which is added into the beam path in front of the detector. The light spot that is formed is correspondingly evaluated for adjusting the microscope.
The solutions mentioned above are too involved to be used for adjustment for TIRF. An important condition for the TIRF effect is that the laser radiation is parallel at the location of the specimen. This is achieved by moving a waist of the laser beam into the entrance pupil of the objective by an adjusting device.

Method for the adjustment of a light source in a microscope


A color image processing apparatus which processes an original image data line-by-line. The color image processing apparatus includes a detector for detecting a portion in a line where an original image exists. In accordance with an output of the detector, a line-by-line determination is made as to whether the original image is a color image or a monochromatic image. The apparatus further includes a processor for processing the image of the original image in accordance with the result of the determination.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color image processing apparatus, and more particularly to a color image processing apparatus capable of automatically discriminating whether the original image is a black-and-white original or a color original.
2. Related Background Art
The present applicant already proposed, for example in the U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 271,362 (now U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,012 issued Aug. 28, 1990) and Ser. No. 416,587, (now abandoned) a technology for use in a color copying apparatus, for automatically discriminating whether the original image is a black-and-white original or a color original, and executing black monochromic copying in case of a black-and-white original, or color copying with four colors of yellow, magenta, cyan and black in case of a color original. This technology allows to reduce the copying time and the copying cost.
However such conventional technology is incapable of exact discrimination for originals or areas of undefinite shape, because the discrimination is conducted over the entire area of the original.
Also in a structure in which the original image is pre-scanned prior to the image reading and the black monochromic copying or color copying is conducted according to the result of discrimination conducted on the output of said pre-scanning, the pre-scanning occupies a consideration portion of the operating time and deteriorates the efficiency of operation, particularly in case of handling plural original documents with an automatic document feeder, because the pre-scanning is conducted over the entire area of the original.
Also since the discrimination is conducted over the entire area of the original, in case of dividedly copying an original containing both a color image and a black-and-white image, reduction in the copying time or the copying cost cannot be achieved because a color process is conducted also on the black-and-white image.

Color image processing apparatus capable of detecting a color or monochromatic image


A lithium-ion battery includes: 1) an anode; 2) a cathode; and 3) an electrolyte disposed between the anode and the cathode and including lithium ions. The anode includes a graphene framework film including interconnected graphene sheets, and the graphene framework film has a specific surface area of 600 m2 g−1 or more.

Electrochemical energy storage has becoming a core technology for sustainable, clean and efficient energy supply. In this regard, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) with high energy and power densities are highly desired for advanced portable electronic devices and electric vehicles, among other applications. Electrode materials are central components of LIBs and can largely dictate their ultimate performance. Although graphite has been widely used as anode materials in current commercial LIBs, its low theoretical capacity (about 372 mAh g−1) and poor rate capability cannot meet the increasing demands for developing next-generation LIBs. Graphene has been considered as a promising alternative electrode material for LIBs due to its superior intrinsic electrical conductivity, high specific surface area, excellent mechanical flexibility and broad electrochemical window. However, the strong van der Waals and π-π stacking interactions between graphene sheets make them prone to aggregate to form graphite-like powders or films with dense layered microstructures when the graphene sheets are processed into bulk electrode materials, leading to a severely decreased surface area and much higher Li ion diffusion resistance and therefore inefficient utilization of graphene sheets for Li storage. Furthermore, either, or both, polymer binder and conductive additives are generally included in electrode preparation, which increases the complexity of electrode preparation and also increases the weight of passive component and imposes an adverse effect on the electrochemical performance.
It is against this background that a need arose to develop the embodiments described herein.

Solvated graphene frameworks as high-performance anodes for lithium-ion batteries

THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA


An embodiment of the present invention provides a wireless charging apparatus and a method, in which a reception unit can charge even when an inner coil of the reception unit and an inner coil of a transmission unit are not positioned in parallel. An embodiment of the present invention provides a wireless charging apparatus and a method including: a transmission unit that includes a first coil that generates a magnetic field when power is applied; a reception unit that includes a second coil, and that charges a battery using induced current that is induced in the second coil when the magnetic field of the first coil is generated; a position sensing unit that measures position information for the first coil and the second coil; and a conversion unit that converts a direction of the magnetic field according to the position information for the first coil and the second coil.

Mobile devices, such as cellular phones, smartphones, or the like, offer not only a basic communication function but a variety of functions including wireless internet connectivity, an electronic organizer function, multimedia shots, a playback function, a game function, digital broadcasting, and so on. For portability, the mobile device is generally equipped with a battery, so that recharging the battery periodically is required. In general, wired charging using a cable has been commonly used in charging a battery. However, with the recent advances in wireless power transfer (WPT) technology, wireless charging apparatuses capable of wirelessly charging a battery are becoming commercialized and distributed.
The WPT can be roughly divided into an electromagnetic inductive method and a resonance method. The electromagnetic inductive method enables power transmission/reception when electrodes are located very close to each other even if there is no direct contact between the electrodes. Therefore, charging can be performed only when a transmission unit of transmitting energy (also generally referred to as a wireless charging pad) and a reception unit of receiving energy (e.g., an electronic device, such as a smartphone) are brought into contact with each other. The resonance method enables charging by supplying power to an electronic device located a predetermined distance away from a power source even if a transmission unit and a reception unit are not in contact with each other.
Meanwhile, the electromagnetic inductive method is problematic in that charging in a reception unit can be performed only when an inner coil of the reception unit and an inner coil of a transmission unit are positioned in parallel.

Wireless charging apparatus using electromagnetic induction and wireless charging method using electromagnetic induction


An optical funnel evenly distributes light from an array of LEDs to a bar code. A support member with a central aperture holds the LEDs. A shroud with an angled reflective interior surface spreads the light from the LEDs to the bar code. The funnel also optically isolates the LEDs from the photodector in the scanner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to bar code scanners and more particularly pertains to CCD-based bar code scanners and to illumination apparatus and to methods of illumination.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various optical readers and optical scanning systems have been developed heretofore for reading bar code symbols appearing on a label or on the surface of an article. The bar code symbol itself is a coded pattern of indicia comprised of a series of bars of various widths spaced apart from one another to bound spaces of various widths, the bars and spaces having different light reflecting characteristics. The readers and scanning systems electro-optically transform the graphic indicia into electrical signals, which are decoded into alphanumeric characters that are intended to be descriptive of the article or some characteristic thereof. Such characters are typically represented in digital form and utilized as an input to a data processing system for applications in point-of-sale processing. Inventory control, and the like scanning systems of this general type have been disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,251,798; 4,369,361; 4,387,297, 4,409,470; 4,760,248; and 4,896,026, all of which have been assigned to the same assignee as the instant application.
As disclosed in some of the above patents, one embodiment of such a scanning system resides, inter alia, in a hand-held, portable scanning head supported by a user, which is configured to allow the user to aim the head, and more particularly, a light beam, at a target and a symbol to be read.
Bar code symbols are formed from bars or elements that are typically rectangular in shape with a variety of possible widths. The specific arrangement of elements defines the character represented according to a set of rules and definitions specified by the code or "symbology" used. The relative size of the bars and spaces is determined by the type of coding used, as is the actual size of the bars and spaces. The number of characters per inch represented by the bar code symbol is referred to as the density of the symbol. To encode a desired sequence of characters, element arrangements are concatenated together to form the complete bar code symbol, with each character of the message being represented by its own corresponding group of elements. In some symbologies a unique "start" and "stop" character is used to indicate where the bar code begins and ends. A number of different bar code symbologies exist. These symbologies include UPC/EAN, Code 39, Code 128, Codabar, and Interleaved 2 of 5.
A further known symbology is known as two-dimensional (2D) symbology and is discussed in detail in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,243,655 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,786, which are incorporated herein by this reference thereto. Briefly, that symbology involves a variable number of component symbols or "codewords" per row of a nonvolatile electro-optical read-only memory imprinted on a substrate. Codewords in alternating rows are selected from mutually exclusive subsets of a mark pattern, the subsets being defined in terms of particular values of a discriminator function which is illustrated in the referenced patents as being a function of the widths of bars and spaces in a given codeword.
In the scanning systems known in the art, the light beam is directed by a lens or similar optical components along a light path toward a target that includes a bar code symbol on the surface. The scanning systems function by repetitively scanning the light beam in a line or series of lines across the symbol. The scanning component may either sweep the beam spot across the symbol and trace a scan line across the past the symbol, or scan the field of view of the scanner, or do both.
Scanning systems also include a sensor or photodetector which functions to detect light reflected from the symbol. The photodetector is therefore positioned in the scanner or in an optical path in which it has a field of view which extends across and slightly past the symbol. A portion of the reflected light which is reflected off the symbol is detected and converted into an electrical signal, and electronic circuitry or software decodes the electrical signal into a digital representation of the data represented by the symbol that has been scanned. For example, the analog electrical signal from the photodetector may typically be converted into a pulse width modulated digital signal, with the widths corresponding to the physical widths of the bars and spaces. Such a signal is then decoded according to the specific symbology into a binary representation of the data encoded in the symbol, and to the alphanumeric character so represented.
The decoding process in known scanning systems usually works in the following way. The decoder receives the pulse width modulated digital signal from the scanner, and an algorithm implemented in software attempts to decode the scan. If the start and stop characters and the characters between them in the scan were decoded successfully and completely, the decoding process terminates and an indicator of a successful read (such as a green light and/or an audible beep) is provided to the user. Otherwise, the decoder receives the next scan, performs another decode attempt on that scan, and so on, until a completely decoded scan is achieved or no more scans are available.
Such a signal is then decoded according to the specific symbology into a binary representation of the data encoded in the symbol, and to the alphanumeric characters so represented.
Decoding in 2D symbology is discussed particularly and shown in various flow charts set forth in the 2D symbology patents incorporated by reference and above identified.
Another type of bar code reader is one which incorporates a detector based upon charge coupled device (CCD) technology. CCDs are an array of many detectors. The entire symbol is flooded with light from the reader or ambient light, and each CCD detector is sequentially read out to determine the presence of a bar or a space. Such readers are light-weight and easy to use, but require substantially direct contact or placement of the reader on the symbol to enable the symbol to be properly read. Such physical contact of the reader with the symbol is a referred mode of operation for many applications, or as a matter of personal preference by the user. However, where contact or near contact reading is not required or desired, the prior art CCD based bar code readers lack in proper illumination mechanisms.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a CCD-based bar code scanner with improved means fo illuminating the target bar code.

CCD-based bar code scanner with optical funnel