An event bookmarking device detects input signals corresponding to events of interest, generates event bookmarks in response to receiving the input signals so that the event bookmark identifies the event of interest, and broadcasts the event bookmarks. An image capture device detects the broadcasted event bookmarks, captures images of interest, and associates the captured images with the detected event bookmarks. An image data manager collects the captured images from at least one image capture device, receives a specified event bookmark, and identifies from the plurality of captured images those captured images that correspond to the specified event bookmark. An alternative embodiment of the event bookmarking device generates and stores an event bookmark with a time. An image capture device provides images with time stamps. An image data manager identifies captured images that correspond to the specified event bookmark based upon the time stamps and the event bookmark time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to capturing and processing digital images and, in particular, to a system and method for bookmarking digital images.
2. Related Art
With the advent of digitally-based image capturing devices capable of "photographing" an image and providing the image in a digital data format, a digital "photograph" of the image may be processed using computer systems that execute logic configured to manipulate the digital data corresponding to the image. Such computer systems include readily available commercial processors, such as the well-known personal computer (PC), or proprietary processing systems specially dedicated to the processing of digital images.
For example, an individual may capture still images of a special event, such as a wedding, using a commercially available digital camera. The individual typically would, at a later time, process the image on their PC using a commercially-available digital image processing program. The individual would download the images captured and stored in the digital camera into the PC memory. The individual then selectively orders the images, such as in a time sequence or event occurrence sequence. Also, the individual may optionally perform various image processing functions, such as, but not limited to, resizing the image, adding borders to the image, cropping out portions of the image, adding meta-data to the image, etc. After the digital images have been downloaded to the PC memory, and processed if desired, one or more images may be transmitted to others via e-mail or uploaded onto another media, such as a floppy disk.
If, for example, at the wedding, several individuals captured digital still images, each using their own digital still camera, the individuals could choose to download all of the captured digital images (or selected images) into the memory of one PC. Then, the group of digital still images could be processed as a coherent grouping of images to memorialize the wedding. Such a coherent grouping of still images could then be published into a wedding album or e-mailed to others for viewing.
However, processing the aggregation of the many digital still images, particularly when the images are captured by different individuals at different times using their own cameras, is a tedious, time-consuming manual process. The person processing the aggregation of digital still images typically would, at some point in the process of creating the desired coherent grouping of images, time order the images and/or order the digital still images according to event occurrences. For example, the person may manually select all digital still images of the bride walking down the aisle, and then arrange in a time order each of the selected digital still images. Then, the most desirable images of the bride walking down the aisle could be selected to best memorialize that portion of the wedding.
Unfortunately, such a process of selecting all of the relevant digital still images from a large data base of digital still images, and then time ordering the digital still images, requires a considerable amount of time and concentration on the part of the person processing the digital still images. Furthermore, the process is subject to a great degree of error in that the digital still images may not be correctly sequenced. Also, some digital still images may be inadvertently omitted during the initial identification and selection of images memorializing the predefined occurrence when there are a great number of images to consider, and/or if the visual queues associating the digital still image(s) to the predefined occurrence are not readily discernible to the person organizing the images.
Furthermore, digital image capturing and processing technology has advanced such that image capturing devices are able to capture video information. For example, a plurality of digital video capturing devices are typically used to capture images of a special event, such as a football game, using commercially available video cameras or specially fabricated digital motion picture cameras. When the digital video images are rapidly processed for a television broadcast of the football game, the ability to quickly identify and retrieve specific images, video or still, associated with a predefined occurrence in the event, such as a touchdown, is desirable.
For example, the broadcaster may desire to compare the just-completed touchdown by a famous player with a video clip of similar touchdown made by that player in a game three weeks ago. Finding, and then retrieving, the video clips of the two touchdowns must be made accurately and quickly if such video clips are to be useful to the viewing audience.

Bookmarking captured digital images at an event to all present devices


The invention relates to an electronic power system (1) comprising at least one electronic power module (2). The electronic power module (2) comprises a base plate (3) and at least one heat generating component arranged on a first side of the base plate (3). The electronic power module (2) comprises a cooling structure (4) transporting heat away from the electronic power module (2) via a coolant that is guided by the cooling structure (4). The cooling structure (4) is arranged on a second side (5) of the base plate (3) opposite to the first side. Task of the invention is to provide an electronic power system (1) with an improved cooling. According to the present invention this task is solved in that the cooling structure (4) is integrally formed with the base plate (3).

The coolant can be any of a number of different fluids known in the field. Typically, water, with or without minor additives to control corrosion or conductivity, may be used. Alternatively, a material which is designed to undergo a phase transition during the cooling cycle may be used, to form a phase-change or two-phase cooling system. Such a system is a very efficient method of cooling, and comprises some form of compressor to compress the coolant from a gas into a liquid. This liquid is led through a heat dissipation device, such as a condenser, which removes heat from the liquid, and then on to the cooling structure after it passes through an expansion device which vaporises the liquid. The evaporating liquid undergoes a phase change and absorbs heat from the cooling structure in the process. The gas is then led through the compressor and the cycle begins again.

Electronic power system and method for manufacturing the same


Improved adjustable intraocular lenses are disclosed, in which the optic(s) can be rotated post-operatively using manual methods; controlled pulses of laser radiation or micromotors to achieve improved focus and astigmatic correction.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improved intraocular lenses which can be adjusted to correct both spherical and cylindrical refractive errors following implantation. The intraocular lens assemblies (IOL's) of this invention may be foldable to enable implantation with minimal trauma to the eye.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The lens of a normal human eye is situated more or less centrally behind the pupil. A normal lens is substantially symmetrical, with opposed convex surfaces. Both the lens and cornea which protects it refract incoming light to focus it on the retina. The total refraction of the eye is approximately 60 diopters. The lens supplies approximately 20 diopters of correction, while the cornea provides about 40 diopters.
When a cataract forms, the lens becomes progressively opaque and eventually has to be surgically removed, typically through a horizontal incision on the sclera or the cornea itself. Removal of the lens, however, drastically changes the focal point of the light impinging on the retina, resulting in inability to focus a clear image. Correction of focus using eyeglasses and contact lenses, or a combination thereof, is often not fully satisfactory. Eyeglasses can lead to double vision, while contact lenses require periodic replacement which may be beyond the manual skills of elderly patients in whom cataracts most frequently appear.
Prior art intraocular lenses provide a partial solution to these problems. Such lenses in the past have comprised fixed focus devices made of rigid plastic or soft, foldable materials. They are implanted via the corneal or scleral incision through which the cataract was removed, by folding the IOL (in the case of foldable designs) and inserting it into the eye behind the pupil. The IOL may then unfold and is maneuvered into place through the incision. Typically, the fixed focus IOL comprises a central optic fitted with hook-shaped haptics which attach the IOL to the walls of the posterior chamber of the eye. (Placement of the IOL within the anterior chamber is also possible in some instances). The simplest optic surface is a spherical section. IOL's also may be made having optics with asymmetrical curvature designed to correct for astigmatism. This is accomplished by creating an optic in which the curvature is different along axes at 90.degree. apart.
Since the shapes of individual eyes vary, fixed focus IOL's must be custom made for each patient. This requires pre-operative measurement of the axial length of the eye and the curvature of the cornea; prediction of the position of the IOL in the eye after implantation, and pre-operative calculation of the proper IOL power using available formulas. Such predictions, however, are not always accurate. The shape of the eye may be changed as a result of the surgical procedure and subsequent post-operative healing process. Moreover, in the case of asymmetrically curved optic surfaces that are designed to correct for astigmatism, the desired angular orientation of the IOL within the eye may not be perfectly achieved during implantation. In fact, the desired angular orientation can change during the post-operative healing period. So can the placement of the IOL along the optical axis of the eye, which changes the effective focus of the optic. These factors are aggravated in pediatric patients, whose eyes are still changing shape as the patient grows.
Various techniques, both extracorporeal and inside the eye, have been suggested for post-operative adjustment of focus. Small adjustments of the angular orientation of the IOL may be made shortly after surgery using a needle inserted through the paracentesis incision at the corneo-scleral limbus before the IOL has been fully fixated within the capsular bag via capsular fibrosis. But, the IOL may subsequently rotate away from the revised position and at this point in time the post-operative keratometric axis typically has not yet stabilized.
Eyeglasses or contact lenses can correct for residual spherical and/or cylindrical error, thereby allowing the post-operative cataract surgery patient to achieve optimal vision. In extreme cases invasive secondary surgical procedures such as radial, astigmatic or photorefractive keratotomy may be required. Sometimes, the IOL must be replaced, or secondary IOL's must be implanted.
The three types of post-operative adjustments of an IOL that may be desired are (1) changes of the axis of astigmatic correction, which is determined by the angular orientation of the IOL; (2) changes of the cylinder magnitude accompanying the astigmatism correction; and (3) changes of the spherical power due to imprecise prediction of the power of the IOL for a particular patient's eye. Adjustment of spherical power can be accomplished by movement of the optic along the axis of the eye; by changing the curvature of the optic, or by adjusting the index of refraction of the optic material.
Various techniques have been suggested for altering the sphero-cylindrical corrective power of IOL's. U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,506 (Garabet), for example, discloses an IOL comprising a fluid-filled lens whose focus can be changed by pumping fluids of differing refractive indices into and out of the central optic; pumping is effected by the response of various types of ioric fluids to electrical potentials generated when the ciliary body expands or contracts. U.S. Pat. No. 5,066,301 (Wiley) describes a variable focus intraocular lens comprising an envelope filled with a transparent gel in which are suspended a plurality of light-reflective particles. The orientation of the particles is said to be controllable by application of an electromagnetic or other force field, thus providing both variable spherical power and some post-operatively adjustable correction for astigmatism.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,903 (Grendahl) describes an IOL comprising a fresnel-type lens overlaid by a crystalline or other material that changes index of refraction when excited by electrical power or radiant energy, thus providing a post-operative adjustment function. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,031 (Pfoff), an IOL assembly comprising a hard PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate) optic overlain by a soft silicon optic is disclosed. The focal length of the optic assembly is adjustable by microfluid pumps that adjust the volume of clear fluid encapsulated between the PMMA optic and the silicon optic, thus changing the distance between the two optics and thereby altering the focus of the optic assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,429 (Wiley) discloses a non-foldable IOL assembly in which a rigid hoop surrounds a fixed-focus optic. The hoop is fixed in the eye by means of external haptics; the optic is attached to the hoop by a plurality of micromotor devices illustrated as pistons which are said to be able to move the optic back and forth with respect to the hoop in response to computer-controlled electrical signals. U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,788 (Wiley) describes a non-foldable IOL assembly in which a rigid outer ring or hoop surrounds an inner optic; the optic is operatively attached to a helical groove in the outer ring via a plurality of micromotors which are said to be operable to adjust the focus or power of the IOL assembly by changing the distance of the optic from the retina.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,082 (Richards, et al.) discloses an IOL assembly comprising a pair of optics hinged at one portion of their circumferences and operatively attached to the ciliary muscle at an opposing portion of their circumferences, so that expansion or contraction of the ciliary muscle changes the distance between the optics and thereby the focus of the assembly. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,847 (Woods), a capsule assembly surrounds an optic which is attached to the ciliary muscle. Movement of the muscle urges the optic against the anterior wall of the capsule with more or less force, thus changing the focus of the overall assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,293 (O'Donnell) discloses an intraocular lens comprising a layer or series of layers of materials which respond to the application of laser energy, forming microfenestrations by collapsing, thus altering the front curvature of the lens. And U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,373 (Johnson) discloses a laser adjustable IOL especially designed for post-operative correction of astigmatism, in which the lens comprises an outer ring made of heat-shrinkable plastic. The plastic is colored to permit selective absorption of laser energy. The IOL is adjusted post-operatively by focusing laser energy on parts of the outer ring, causing selective shrinkage and warping the optic to create the desired variation between curvatures along the vertical and horizontal meridians.
Generally speaking, therefore, prior art approaches to achieving post-operative adjustment of the focussing capability of an IOL, therefore, have required movement of fluid into, out of or within an IOL assembly; micromotor-actuated adjustment of the position of optics operatively mounted within rigid hoops or rings; refractive index adjustment in response to externally-applied energy, or one-time, irreversible warping of an optic held inside a rigid ring by selective application of laser energy to parts of the surrounding ring.


The method includes modifying a routing rule of a load balancer of the system, the rule representing at least one parameter for communications between a client device and the first VM to specify that data from the client device destined for the first VM instance is queued, suspending processing, at the first VM instance, of pending requests from the client device, transmitting data, from the first VM instance, to the load balancer representing the state of the or each suspended request, modifying the routing rule to specify that the endpoint for a communication channel from the second VM instance is the client device, transmitting the or each suspended request to the second VM instance, and modifying the routing rule to specify transmission of data from the client device directly to the second VM instance.

Cloud components and services in a cloud-based or virtualized system (all of which are referred to as service, from hereon in, without loss of generality) can grow and shrink their allocated resources dynamically based on instantaneous workload conditions.
For example, virtual machine (VM) instances of the system that are used to provide the service can be spawned or deleted. Such VM instances will typically execute an application for a service, or an application part that, in conjunction with other VM instances executing application parts, can process data to provide a service.
A load-balancer (LB) element can be used to spread incoming requests across the available VMs of the service for clients. That is, client requests (and processed data to be passed to a client) can be distributed using an LB element of the system. The LB will typically distribute requests between VMs according to some policy (e.g., weighted round-robin or least-loaded or based on the source IP address and/or other IP header fields, or others).

Method and system for migrating a data session, a network element and a computer program product


An electronic component module includes: electronic components mounted on a substrate, each of the electronic components having terminals located on a side, upper, and/or lower surface thereof; and a shield that is located on the substrate, has side plates surrounding the electronic components, and is supplied with a ground potential, wherein in an electronic component closest to one side plate of the side plates among one or more electronic components, in each of which at least one terminal of the terminals is located on the side and/or upper surface, a terminal a first distance of which to the one side plate is shortest among the at least one terminal is a first terminal supplied with the ground potential, and a second distance each of second terminals not supplied with the ground potential to the one side plate is greater than the first distance.

It has been known that a conductive shield is provided to a module, in which an electronic component is mounted, so as to cover the electronic component as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication Nos. 2004-172176, 2009-33114, 2013-74289, and 2015-195398 (hereinafter, referred to as Patent Documents 1 through 4).


An apparatus for microwave assisted solid phase synthesis using solid-phase resin beads mixed with a liquid solvent comprising a generally cylindrical reactor made of microwave transparent material and having a central axis, the reactor having an inlet and an outlet; a porous frit associated with the outlet of the reactor, the porous frit preventing discharge of beads and allowing discharge of the solvent from the reactor; and means for concentric rotation of the reactor around the central axis in alternating clockwise and anti-clockwise directions. A method for microwave assisted solid phase synthesis using the apparatus is also disclosed.

Solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) is now the accepted method for creating peptides and proteins in the laboratory in a synthetic manner. Small porous solid beads (typically resin) are treated with functional units, or linkers, on which peptide chains can be built. The peptide will remain covalently attached to the bead until cleaved from it by a reagent, such as trifluoroacetic acid.
The general principle of solid-phase peptide synthesis involves repeated cycles of coupling, wash, deprotection, and wash steps (Chan and White, "Fmoc solid phase peptide synthesis: A practical approach", Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, 2000). The free N-terminal amine of a solid-phase attached peptide is coupled to a single N-protected amino acid unit. The formed unit is then deprotected, revealing a new N-terminal amine to which a further amino acid may be attached. The superiority of this technique partially lies in the ability to perform wash cycles after each reaction, removing excess reagent with all of the growing peptide of interest remaining covalently attached to the insoluble beads.
The use of microwave irradiation in peptide synthesis has reduced coupling reaction times substantially, and also permitted preparation of long peptide sequences with high degrees of yield and low degrees of racemization (Pedersen, S. L., et al. Microwave heating in solid-phase peptide synthesis. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2012, 41, 1826-1844).
In solid phase synthesis, the mass transfer around the resin beads is of great importance. To achieve this, different kinds of mixing techniques are used in today's solid phase peptide synthesis instruments, including, for instance, vortex mixers (sometimes described as variable oscillating mixers), N2 bubbling, recirculation, and inversion mixers.
In a microwave based instrument for peptide synthesis, the microwave cavity of the instrument has a limited volume which determines the maximum size of the reaction vial, the filling degree of which is in turn determined by the mixing technique used.
Since using a magnetic stirrer, a paddle or some other mechanical device for mixing might damage the peptide synthesis resin beads, vortex mixing has typically been used in commercial instruments.
WO 99/56863 discloses a mixing device for mixing liquids and/or solids wherein a container, typically a cylindrical vessel, which is received in a holder can be rotated alternately in clockwise and anti-clockwise direction about the axis of the container by means of a drive mechanism. The angular displacement of the container is regulated by a control unit. In addition to providing for efficient mixing, the device enables the meniscus deflection to be kept small such that mixing is also possible in almost completely filled vessels without a closure.

Apparatus and method for solid phase synthesis


In a photographing apparatus and a photographing control system, an image sensor drive controller drives an image sensor in a direction which is different from the direction of an optical axis of a photographing optical system via an electromagnetic drive system in accordance with a first drive signal, which is generated by a first drive signal generator, and a second drive signal, which is generated by a second drive signal, during a period of exposure of the image sensor, and drives the image sensor in the direction which is different from the direction of the optical axis of the photographing optical system via the electromagnetic drive system in accordance with the first drive signal, which is generated by the first drive signal generator, during the period of signal readout of the image sensor.

In this type of photographing apparatus and photographing control system, a single (shared) electromagnetic drive system is known in the art in which a movable stage to which an image sensor is mounted is supported onto a fixed stage in a slidable manner, in which a magnet and a coil are supported to one and the other of the fixed stage and the movable stage, respectively, and in which the movable stage (the image sensor) is driven relative to the fixed stage in directions different from the direction of an optical axis of a photographing optical system (e.g., in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis) by passing an alternating drive signal through the coil.
It is ideal for the alternating drive signal that is passed through the coil to be in synchronization with the horizontal synchronizing signal (horizontal synchronizing signal of an image sensor) which is for an image sensor to read out one line of pixel signal in the horizontal direction. However, since a very small high frequency component for obtaining an optical low-pass filter effect enters the alternating drive signal that is passed through the coil, it is extremely difficult to make the alternating drive signal that is passed through the coil synchronized with the horizontal synchronizing signal of an image sensor. Therefore, during the period of signal readout of the image sensor, so-called magnetic fog phenomenon occurs, in which near-field magnetic field varies in accordance with variations of the alternating drive signal that is passed through the coil, an induced current flows through the loop between a power supply and a GND (ground) in the image sensor in accordance with variations of the aforementioned magnetic field, and the power supply level of the image sensor varies in accordance with variations of the alternating drive signal that is passed through the coil. If magnetic fog phenomenon occurs, patterned noise occurs in the image data that is read out of the image sensor, thus deteriorating image quality.

Photographing apparatus and photographing control system


Disclosed is an electrically conductive member, comprising a substrate of a metal or a resin and an electrically conductive elastic layer formed to cover the substrate, wherein the electrically conductive elastic layer is formed of a rubber elastic body prepared by dispersing at least an electrically conductive powder used as a conductive agent into a rubber compound, followed by vulcanizing the rubber compound, the electrically conductive powder being obtained by curing and powdering an electrically conductive rubber compound or an electrically conductive resin mixture.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrically conductive member, particularly, to an electrically conductive member used in at least one of the transfer roll, the charging roll, the developing roll, the cleaning roll, the transfer belt, the intermediate transfer belt and the intermediate transfer drum arranged around the photosensitive drum (image carrier) included in an electrophotographic printing apparatus such as a copier, a printer, or a facsimile machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
As known in the art, an electrophotographic printing apparatus such as a copier, a printer or a facsimile machine is constructed as shown in FIG. 1. Reference numeral 1 shown in the drawing denotes a photosensitive drum. Arranged around the photosensitive drum 1 are a charging roll 2, a laser beam irradiating section 3, a developing section 4, a primary transfer roll 5 and a cleaning roll 6. An intermediate transfer belt 8 supported by a plurality of support rolls 7a, 7b, 7c extends through the clearance between the photosensitive drum 1 and the primary transfer roll 5. Also, a blade 9 for removing the toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 8 is arranged in the vicinity of the intermediate transfer belt 8. Further, a secondary transfer roll 10 is arranged at the position facing the support roll 7b such that a paper sheet 11 is transferred through the clearance between the secondary transfer roll 10 and the support roll 7b. The paper sheet 11 having the toner transferred thereonto is thermally fixed by a fixing device 12, thereby obtaining a printed matter.
The electrophotographic printing apparatus constructed as shown in FIG. 1 is operated as follows. In the first step, an electric field is applied to the charging roll 2 so as to charge the charging roll 2, followed by forming a latent image in the laser beam irradiating section 3 formed on the photosensitive drum 1 and subsequently transferring the toner onto the photosensitive drum 1. Then, a bias is applied to the primary transfer roll 5 so as to transfer the toner attached to the photosensitive drum 1 onto the intermediate transfer belt 8. Further, a bias is applied to the secondary transfer roll 10 so as to transfer the toner attached to the intermediate transfer belt 8 onto the paper sheet 11. Still further, the paper sheet 11 having the toner image transferred thereonto is transferred to the fixing device 12. As a result, the toner image transferred onto the paper sheet 11 is thermally fixed, thereby obtaining desired printed matter.
An electrically conductive member prepared by imparting electric conductivity to an elastic rubber or resin is used in any of the charging roll 2, the primary transfer roll 5, the cleaning roll 6, the intermediate transfer belt 8, and the secondary transfer roll 10. The electrical characteristics required for the electrically conductive members arranged around the photosensitive drum 1 include, for example, the characteristics that nonuniformity of resistance should be small, that the dependency of the resistance on the environment should be low, and that the dependency of the resistance on the voltage should be low. Further, the electrically conductive member is required to exhibit elasticity and, particularly, low hardness and a small compression set. A material prepared by imparting electrical conductivity to an elastic rubber having a high molecular weight is used in general as the electrically conductive member.
The high molecular weight elastic rubber is made electrically conductive by dispersing an ionic conductive agent or an electronic conductive agent into the high molecular weight elastic rubber. However, the ionic conductivity and the electronic conductivity are exactly opposite to each other in their electric characteristics, as shown in Table 1 below. For example, in the case of the electrically conductive member prepared by using an ionic conductive agent, the resistance of the electrically conductive member is lowered under a high-temperature, high-humidity (HH) environment so as to make it impossible to obtain an appropriate current even if the resistance of the electrically conductive member is set at an appropriate value under a normal-temperature, normal-humidity (NN) environment, as shown in FIG. 6. It follows that an image defect is brought about. Also, under a low-temperature, low-humidity (LL) environment, the resistance is increased so as to make it impossible to obtain an appropriate current. An image defect is brought about in this case, too. Incidentally, line a in FIG. 6 denotes the use of an electronic conductive agent, and line b denotes the use of an ionic conductive agent.
TABLE 1DependencyType ofDeterminationCurrentNonuniformityDependencyonResistanceconductivityof resistancespeedin resistanceon voltageenvironmentelevationIonicIonSlowSmallSmallLargeSmallconductivityconcentrationElectronicDistanceFastLargeLargeSmallLargeconductivitybetweenadjacentparticleshavingelectronicconductivity
Also, as shown in FIG. 7, in the case of the electrically conductive member prepared by using an electronic conductive agent, the electrically conductive member is characterized in that the resistance is increased under a low voltage so as to make it difficult to obtain an appropriate current under a low voltage. Incidentally, line a shown in FIG. 7 denotes the use of an electronic conductive agent, and line b denotes the use of an ionic conductive agent. Further, in the case of electronic conductive agent, as shown in FIG. 8, the resistance is varied depending on the mixing amount of the conductive rapidly agent in the region of the intermediate resistance. Still further, as shown in FIG. 9, nonuniformity in resistance is increased among the different parts within one product or among several products due to nonuniform dispersion of the electronic conductive agent in the manufacturing stage. Incidentally, curve a shown in FIG. 9 denotes the volume resistance, and curve b denotes the nonuniformity in resistances. Recently, it has been attempted to moderate the defects of the ionic conductivity and the electronic conductivity by means of hybridization, in which both the ionic conductive agent and the electronic conductive agent are dispersed in, for example, an elastic rubber material. Incidentally, the term "hybridization" denotes complex conductivity including the ionic conductivity and the electronic conductivity.
In general, the hybridization of the ionic conductivity and the electronic conductivity is intended to manufacture an electrically conductive member having a small dependency of the resistance on the voltage and a small dependency of the resistance on the environment. The hybridization is achieved by dispersing an electronic conductive agent such as electrically conductive carbon black or particles of a metal oxide into a rubber compound or resin that has been made conductive in advance by the mixing of an ionic conductive agent, followed by vulcanizing or thermally setting the resin.
However, the electronic conductive agent is unsatisfactory in its dispersion capability and gives rise to a large variation in resistance of the electrically conductive member in the middle resistance region. As a result, it is difficult to achieve subtle control of the resistance relying on the electronic conductivity. Such being the situation, it has been difficult to moderate the defects in the characteristics of the ionic conductivity and the defects in the characteristics of the electronic conductivity by the hybridization.
FIGS. 10A to 10D show the resistance distribution of the press sheets of size 1.5 mm (thickness)×200 mm (width)×300 mm (length), which were prepared by using conductive agents of different conductivity systems. Specifically, shown is the comparison of the nonuniformity in the resistances (the logarithm of resistance: unit of (Ω·cm) depending on the difference in the conductivity system under voltage application of 100V. FIG. 10A covers the case of using an ionic conductive agent. As shown in the drawing, the logarithm of the maximum resistance was 8.05 log(Ω·cm) and the minimum resistance was 7.94 log(Ω·cm). It follows that the difference between the maximum resistance and the minimum resistance was 0.11 log(Ω·cm), supporting that the nonuniformity of resistance was small. FIG. 10B covers the case of using an electronic conductive agent. As shown in the drawing, the maximum resistance was 8.49 log(Ω·cm) and the minimum resistance was 7.81 log(Ω·cm). It follows that the difference between the maximum resistance and the minimum resistance was 0.68 log(Ω·cm), supporting that nonuniformity of the resistance was large. FIG. 10C covers the case of the hybridization performed by the above general method of using both an ionic conductive agent and an electronic conductive agent. As shown in the drawing, the maximum resistance was 7.43 log(Ω·cm) and the minimum resistance was 6.86 log(Ω·cm). It follows that the difference between the maximum resistance and the minimum resistance was 0.57 log(Ω·cm), supporting that the nonuniformity of resistance was not small. Further, FIG. 10D covers the case of the hybridization performed by using an electrically conductive powder according to the present invention. As shown in the drawing, the maximum resistance was 7.88 log(Ω·cm) and the minimum resistance was 7.70 log(Ω·cm). It follows that the difference between the maximum resistance and the minimum resistance was 0.18 log(Ω·cm), supporting that the nonuniformity of resistance was small.
As pointed out above, it is impossible to secure a stable resistance by using an electronic conductive agent or an ionic conductive agent or by the general hybridization using both an ionic conductive agent and an electronic conductive agent, leading to an image defect.
The electrically conductive members are disclosed in patent documents 1 to 5 given below:
Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Disclosure (Kokai) No. 4-85341):
Patent document 1 discloses an electrically conductive silicone rubber sponge prepared by mixing an electrically conductive rubber powder obtained from a vulcanized conductive silicone rubber into an unvulcanized silicone rubber. In this case, carbon black is contained as a conductivity imparting agent in the electrically conductive powder.
In general, if carbon black is mixed with an unvulcanized silicone rubber, the vulcanization is retarded, resulting in failure to obtain a uniform sponge. Such being the situation, the technology disclosed in patent document 1 is intended to obtain an electrically conductive silicone rubber sponge having uniform sponge properties by mixing the electrically conductive rubber powder containing carbon black into the unvulcanized silicone rubber. However, patent document 1 does not teach the technical idea of stabilizing the electrical characteristics by the hybridization of the ionic conductivity and the electronic conductivity.
Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Disclosure No. 2001-242725):
Patent document 2 discloses an intermediate transfer member comprising a substrate and at least a surface layer of the substrate. It is taught that the intermediate transfer member is characterized in that the surface layer contains both a conductive agent serving to impart electronic conductivity and another conductive agent serving to impart ionic conductivity. Patent document 2 also teaches that carbon black having the fluorination treated surface acts as a conductive agent serving to impart electronic conductivity, and that the conductive agent serving to impart ionic conductivity is selected from the group consisting of a cationic surfactant, an anionic surfactant, an amphoteric surfactant, and a nonionic surfactant.
Patent Document 3 (Japanese Patent Disclosure No. 2002-116638):
Patent document 3 discloses an electrically conductive roller comprising a roller core and an elastic polymer layer formed to cover the roller core. It is taught that the elastic polymer is prepared by dispersing a conductive substance having electronic conductive mechanism into an electrically conductive material to which is imparted a conductive substance having ionic conductive mechanism, and that the elastic polymer has a hardness of 5 to 70° (Asker C hardness).
Each of patent documents 2 and 3 pointed out above refers to the hybridization of the electronic conductivity and the ionic conductivity, which is carried out in general. However, in the method disclosed in each of patent documents 2 and 3, the resistance tends to be varied in the middle resistance region of 6 to 9 log(Ω·cm) as pointed out previously. It should be noted that it is difficult to obtain a stable resistance because of nonuniform dispersion of the electronic conductive agent and the error in the mixing amount of the electronic conductive agent.
Patent Document 4 (Japanese Patent Disclosure No. 2002-229350):
Patent document 4 discloses an electrically conductive transfer roller comprising a first conductive elastic layer formed to cover a core metal, a second conductive elastic layer formed on the first conductive elastic layer, and a coated layer having release property formed on the second conductive elastic layer. According to this patent document, the conductive transfer roller is characterized in that the conductivity by the electronic conductivity, by the ionic conductivity or by the hybrid conductivity of the electronic conductivity and the ionic conductivity is imparted to each of the first conductive elastic layer and the second conductive elastic layer. Concerning the conductive agent, patent document 4 also teaches that it is possible to employ the electronic conductivity produced by electrically conductive carbon, the ionic conductivity produced by, for example, lithium perchlorate, or the hybrid conductivity including both the electronic conductivity and the ionic conductivity.
Patent Document 5 (Japanese Patent Disclosure No. 2002-3651):
Patent document 5 discloses a semiconductive rubber composition of an island-ocean structure comprising a polymer consecutive phase consisting of a rubber material having ionic conductivity and a polymer grain phase consisting of a rubber material having electronic conductivity. It is taught that the rubber material having the ionic conductivity contains mainly a raw material rubber A having a volume resistivity not higher than 1×1012Ω·cm. It is also taught that electrically conductive particles are mixed into a raw material rubber B so as to make conductive the rubber material having the electronic conductivity.
Patent document 5 also teaches that a master batch is prepared by adding electrically conductive particles such as electrically conductive carbon black to the raw material rubber B alone, followed by blending the resultant master batch with the raw material rubber A so as to prepare a semiconductive rubber composition. In addition, patent document 5 teaches that the raw material rubber A is a polar rubber, and that the raw material rubber B is incompatible with the raw material rubber A. What should be noted is that the raw material rubber B forming the polymer grain phase in blended with the raw material rubber A forming a polymer consecutive phase in the unvulcanized state, followed by vulcanizing the mixture of the raw material rubbers A and B. It follows that the island-ocean structure of the polymer consecutive phase and the grain phase is formed by utilizing the incompatibility between the raw material rubbers A and B.
In the semiconductive rubber composition disclosed in patent document 5, however, it is necessary for the raw material rubbers A and B to differ from each other in polarity and to be incompatible with each other in order to form the island-ocean structure. Also, in order to form the island-ocean structure, it is necessary for the Sp value of the raw material rubber B to be smaller than that of the raw material rubber A, and it is necessary for the difference in the Sp value to be large. It follows that the range of selection of the polymers used is limited. It should also be noted that, since the island-ocean structure is formed by applying vulcanization to the raw material rubber after blending of the unvulcanized raw material rubber, the process conditions such as the viscosity and the blending ratio of the raw material rubbers A and B as well as the temperature and the time in the mixing process are much restricted in order to obtain a prescribed island-ocean structure. Further, patent document 5 teaches the phenomenon that some electrically conductive particles are allowed to migrate into the polymer consecutive layer, indicating that the semiconductive rubber composition disclosed in this patent document is insufficient for the control and stabilization of the electrical characteristics.


A carriage drive control device is provided which moves a carriage at a constant speed in a recording area for recording operation and which moves the carriage to a target stop position in a better way for non-recording operation. A controlled variable of actuator is calculated based on a speed error between a target speed and a moving speed of the carriage. The target speed is set based on a position error between the target stop position and a current position of the carriage, and is not more than a predetermined first speed. When the actuator starts moving the carriage for recording operation, a control rule used for calculation of the controlled is set to a first control rule, and when the actuator starts moving the carriage for non-recording operation, the control rule is set to a second control rule.

This invention relates to a device and method for carriage drive control in an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium by moving a carriage which mounts a recording head thereon in a main scanning direction. The device and method for carriage drive control is used in moving the carriage in the main scanning direction.
Conventionally, a known image forming apparatus moves a recording sheet in a sub-scanning direction while a carriage which mounts a recording head thereon is moved in a main scanning direction, so that an image is formed on the recording sheet.
In this type of the image forming apparatus, it is necessary to move the recording head (and the carriage) at a constant speed when the recording head is operated to form an image on the recording sheet. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11, the conventional carriage drive control device accelerates the carriage, per scanning of the carriage, from a stop position (driving start position) so that the moving speed of the carriage goes up to a constant target speed Vt at a recording start position Xs where the recording operation by the recording head is started. When the carriage reaches the recording start position Xs, the carriage is moved at the constant target speed Vt till a recording termination position Xe where the recoding operation by the recording head is ended. When the carriage reaches the recording termination position Xe, the carriage is decelerated, and stopped at a stop position (target stop position) Xt from which the carriage can be accelerated to the constant target speed before reaching the recording start position at the next scanning.

Device and method for carriage drive control


A method is provided for determining a concentration of a target nucleic acid by using a nucleic acid probe labeled with a fluorescent dye. The method comprises:                providing, as the probe, a nucleic acid probe capable of reducing fluorescence emission from the fluorescent dye when hybridized with the target nucleic acid;        hybridizing the probe to the target nucleic acid; and measuring a decrease in fluorescence emission from the fluorescent dye after the hybridization relative to fluorescence emission from the fluorescent dye before the hybridization.

a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for determining a concentration of a target nucleic acid, a nucleic acid probe for the process, and a method for analyzing data obtained by the method. Specifically, the present invention is concerned with various methods for determining concentrations of diverse nucleic acids on the basis of a principle that fluorescence emission from of a fluorescent dye decreases when a nucleic acid probe labeled with the fluorescent dye is hybridized to a target nucleic acid, that is, by measuring decreases in fluorescence emissions from fluorescent dyes after hybridization of nucleic acid probes labeled with the fluorescent dyes to target nucleic acids relative to fluorescence emissions from the fluorescent dyes before the hybridization, nucleic acid probes and devices useful for the practice of the methods, methods for analyzing data obtained by PCR which is one of the determination methods, systems provided with means for practicing the analysis methods, and computer-readable recording media with individual procedures of the analysis methods stored therein as programs.
b) Description of the Related Art
A variety of methods are conventionally known to determine a concentration of a nucleic acid by using a nucleic acid probe labeled with a fluorescent-dye. These methods include:
(1) Dot Blotting Assay
After a target nucleic acid and a nucleic acid probe labeled with a fluorescent dye are hybridized on a membrane, unreacted nucleic probe is washed off. The intensity of fluorescence only from fluorescent dye molecules, by which the nucleic acid probe hybridized with the target nucleic acid is labeled, is measured.
(2) Method Making Use of an Intercalator: Glazer et al., Nature, 359, 959, 1992
A certain specific fluorescent dye called "intercalator" emits strong fluorescence upon its insertion into a double strand of a nucleic acid. This method measures an increase in fluorescence from the fluorescent dye. Examples of the fluorescent dye can include ethidium bromide [Jikken Igaku (Laboratory Medicine), 15(7), 46-51, Yodosha (1997)] and SYBR R Green I (LightCycler™ System, Apr. 5, 1999; pamphlet distributed by Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany).
(3) Method Making Use of FRET (Fluorescence Energy Transfer): Mergny et al., Nucleic Acid Res., 22, 920-928, 1994
This method comprises hybridizing two nucleic acid probes to a target nucleic acid. These two nucleic acid probes are labeled by different fluorescent dyes, respectively. The fluorescent dye of one of the two probes can transfer energy to the fluorescent dye of the other probe such that the latter fluorescent dye is caused to emit fluorescence. These two probes are designed such that they hybridize with their fluorescent dyes being located opposite each other and apart from each other by 1 to 9 bases. When these two nucleic acid probes hybridize to the target nucleic acid, emission of fluorescence from the latter fluorescent dye takes place. The intensity of this fluorescence emission is proportional to the number of replications of the target nucleic acid.
(4) Molecular Beacon Method: Tyagi et al., Nature Biotech., 14, 303-308, 1996
A nucleic acid probe for use in this method is labeled at an end thereof with a reporter dye and at an opposite end thereof with a quencher dye. As both end portions of the probe are complementary with each other in their base sequences, the overall base sequence of the probe is designed to form a hairpin stem. Owing to this structure, emission from the reporter dye is suppressed by the quencher dye under Forster resonant energy in a state suspended in a liquid. When the probe hybridizes to a target nucleic acid, the hairpin stem structure is broken. This leads to an increase in the distance between the reporter pigment and the quencher pigment, so that the transfer of Forster resonant energy no longer takes place. This allows the reporter dye to make emission.
(5) Davis's Method: Davis et al., Nucleic Acids Res., 24, 702-706, 1996
This method uses DNA constructs containing one or two fluorescein molecules in flow cytometry. The fluorescein molecules were attached to the 3′ end of a DNA probe through an 18-atom spacer arm that resulted in a 10-fold increase in fluorescence intensity compared to the DNA probe to which fluorescein was directly attached to the 3′ end of the probe.
Applied to various determination methods for nucleic acids, fluorescent in situ hybridization assays, PCR, lighase chain reactions, strand displacement assays, competitive hybridization and the like, significant developments have been made on these methods.
Although these methods are now widely used, they include a disadvantageous step that, subsequent to hybridization reaction between a nucleic acid probe labeled with a fluorescent dye and a target nucleic acid, an unhybridized portion of the nucleic acid probe has to be washed out of the reaction system. Obviation of this step can apparently bring about shorter determination time, simplified determination, and accurate determination. There is, accordingly, a long-standing desire for the development of a nucleic acid determination method which does not include such a step.

Methods for monitoring PCR amplification with fluorescently labeled probes or primers for which fluorescence changes upon hybridization to a target

Japan as represented by Secretary of Agency of Industrial Science and Technology


An over-the-range type oven incorporating a bottom plate having substantially triangular shaped openings, or inlets, is described. In one embodiment, the bottom plate has a first, interior surface and a second, range-facing surface. First and second triangular shaped openings, or inlets, extend through the bottom plate, and each triangular shaped opening has a first leg, a second leg and a third leg. The bottom plate may further include a first air guide positioned adjacent at least one of the first opening legs and extending from the bottom plate first, interior surface for directing air flow through the first opening and into the oven cabinet, and a second air guide positioned adjacent at least one of the second opening legs and extending from the bottom plate first, interior surface for directing air flow through the second opening and into the oven cabinet.

Known cooking apparatus include an eye-level oven, e.g., an over-the-range microwave oven, mounted over a range. An over-the-range microwave oven typically includes an exhaust system for removal of gases and cooking fumes in the range burner vicinity. Known exhaust systems include filters located over square or rectangular shaped openings in a bottom plate of the oven. The bottom plate is spaced from the microwave oven cooking chamber lower wall, and the bottom plate and cooking chamber define a lower, substantially horizontal air channel. The oven cabinet side walls and the cooking chamber side walls define substantially vertical air channels, and the oven cabinet top wall and the cooking chamber top wall define an upper, substantially horizontal air channel in flow communication with an air outlet. A blower motor is located in the upper horizontal air channel, and the blower motor is in flow communication with all the above described air channels.
When the blower motor is energized, the blower draws air through the filters and bottom plate openings into the lower horizontal channel. The air is then drawn through the vertical air channels, and through the upper horizontal channel. Air drawn through the oven as described above is discharged from the oven through the air outlet.
The above described exhaust system removes gases and fumes over the range. Removal of such gases and fumes is important in that any gases and fumes that are not effectively removed through the exhaust system typically will dissipate throughout the entire room. Also, unremoved fumes tend to deposit grease and carbon on the bottom and front exterior walls of the over-the-range oven.
Although known exhaust systems are generally effective at removal of gases and fumes, it would be desirable to even further improve such gas and fume removal. It also would be desirable to provide such improved gas and fume removal without increasing the cost of the oven.

Triangular shaped air inlet for an over-the-range type oven


An aerial toy is disclosed that is adapted to be launched into the air using an elastomeric band. The toy includes a nose portion that is generally in the shape of an elongate ellipsoid that has a front end and a rear end. An elongate rib depends from the rear end of the nose portion in a direction generally along the long axis of the nose portion. This rib has a first end adjacent to the nose portion and a second end. The aerial toy also includes a pair of generally planar wing portions which are arranged so that the plane of the first wing portion is generally parallel to and spaced apart from the plane of the second wing portion. The first wing portion depends from the rear end of the nose portion and from the rib, and has a tapered outer edge. The second wing portion depends from the rib and has a surface area approximately 20-80% as large as the surface area of the first wing portion.

Aerial toys that are adapted to be launched or catapulted into the air generally have been of one of two types. Some such toys are adapted to glide down from their maximum altitude, while others are adapted to descend in some type of spinning motion. Each type has its peculiar characteristics and deficiencies. The gliding toys are not generally intended to be launched or catapulted to a high altitude, because their flight characteristics will dictate a descent that is unpredictable or that takes them far away from the launch point. On the other hand, spin flight toys are generally difficult to launch to a high altitude, because the characteristics that permit a spinning descent will generally interfere with a launch to a high altitude. In addition, the mass of the toy, especially a spin flight toy, will have a significant effect on its flight characteristics. Generally, the ascending flight of a more massive toy will be easier to control than that of a less massive toy. However, the heavier toy will also tend to descend more rapidly than a lighter toy. Various techniques have been employed in attempts to take advantage of favorable flight characteristics, while addressing these and other physical deficiencies.
One type of spinning toy is designed to have descending flight characteristics that are similar to that of a helicopter. Examples of such toys are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,399,487 of Siegler and U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,454 of Randolph. Each of these toys is provided with a generally planar body portion having a pair of folding wings that are adapted for unfolding from a closed position that is in alignment with the body portion to an open position that is perpendicular thereto. Each such toy is adapted to be launched vertically in a folded configuration using an elastomeric band. After launch and as the toy begins to fall, however, the wings unfold to the perpendicular configuration and the toy spins down in the manner of a helicopter.
Other types of spinning toys are designed to spin about any of several axes defined by their structural configurations. Thus, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,221 of Savage describes a flat, thin, lightweight toy that is adapted for being launched vertically using an elastomeric band. This toy has a flat elliptical-shaped head portion and a flat depending tail portion which together resemble an oval intersecting a triangle. The Savage toy is comprised of a planar, rigid material such as expanded or extruded polystyrene that is overlain with a flexible, protective outer surface member such as polypropylene packaging tape. The outer surface member overlaps the underlying rigid member so as to form an aerodynamic edge around the periphery of the rigid member. Because the Savage toy has a height greater than its width and a surface area of the head that is greater than that of the tail, it will spin, upon being launched vertically, in a flat plane about its shortest axis, and it will descend in a spiral path, accompanied by a spin about its longest axis. The Savage toy is of fairly simple construction, but it is intended to be constructed of very lightweight materials. Therefore, it may be quite fragile and not as durable as desired. In addition, since the Savage toy is designed to rotate about the short axis of its flat surface upon launch, it seems unlikely that it could attain a high altitude. Finally, the rotation about the short axis of this toy during the ascent stage of its flight presents a large surface area to any wind that may be present. This coupled with its low weight would seem to preclude ready control of its launch path.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,665,641 of Henderson describes a toy that may be more durable than the Savage toy. The Henderson toy is generally shaped like a tear-drop, having a flat upper side and a substantially flat lower side. The rear end of the toy is rounded and the side edges are diagonally tapered to a point at the front end. The lower side is provided with a rearwardly bent hook at the front end and an arcuate bulge that extends from behind the hook to approximately the longitudinal center of the body. The rear portion of the lower side of the toy is flat like the upper side. The toy of Henderson ascends upon launch in a flat plane, but as it descends, it travels in a helical path while spinning about its long axis. The Henderson toy is a rigid toy, preferably made of aluminum, wood or plastic. Such a toy might pose a danger of injury to a bystander, if it is launched in his direction.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,947,993 of Hoppe describes a flying toy in the form of an airfoil having an extremely complicated surface architecture. This toy comprises an elongated body having a nose portion, a mid-section and a trailing edge portion, and it includes a plurality of curved surfaces which vary more-or-less constantly in configuration from the nose portion rearwardly along the full longitudinal length of the elongated body. Certain of these surfaces promote spinning of the toy about its long axis during both its ascending and its descending flight, while other surfaces cooperate to spin the toy, as it descends, about its center of gravity along a second axis which traverses the long axis.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,013,277 of Hufeld describes an aerial toy having a spine with a counterweight at the front end. Attached to the spine is a flat wing in the general shape of an isosceles triangle having a rounded end opposite the front end of the spine. The toy also includes a pair of small stabilizer fins that are located in a common plane on either side of the spine at the end away from the front end, and a flap on the wing opposite the stabilizer fins. The toy of Hufeld is adapted to be launched vertically upwardly by a rubberband-type launcher, and as it descends, it apparently spins about the axis of the spine as well as about a vertical axis through its center of mass. The Hufeld toy is of a somewhat complicated design, being comprised of several different components that must be assembled together.
Several aerial toys are designed to simulate the appearance and/or the descending flight characteristics of a maple seed pod, which spins in a generally flat plane about a vertical axis through its center of mass as it descends. Among these are toys that are designed to be thrown, such as the aerial toy described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,173,069 of Litos et al. or the toy shown in U.S. Pat. No. D338,245 of Litos. Because these toys are thrown into the air, they are unlikely to reach a high altitude. Other toys of similar design are intended to be launched with an elastomeric launcher, including those shown in U.S. Pat. No. D263,247 of Harris and in U.S. Pat. No. D121,924 of Kerezi, and the toy described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,353,295 of Downey. The Downey toy includes a square bulbous nose and a wing having a substantially straight leading edge, a curved tip and a trailing edge that is curved so as to give the wing a generally triangular shape. Upon launch, the Downey toy will climb like an arrow or bullet to a high altitude, where it will assume a horizontal attitude and begin to spin about a vertical axis through its center of mass. Because of the relatively large bulbous nose of the Downey toy, it seems unlikely that it may be launched to as high an altitude as a more streamlined toy.
All of these toys have certain undesirable characteristics, and it would be desirable if a toy could be developed that would overcome these and other failings of previously known toys.


A method for monitoring the state of health (SOH) of a solenoid powered by a battery includes measuring a voltage and a current supplied to the solenoid by the battery, using a processor to determine each of an equivalent resistance and inductance of the solenoid using the voltage and the current, comparing the equivalent resistance and the equivalent inductance to a corresponding calibrated threshold, and recording deviations from the corresponding calibrated thresholds as a pair of SOH values. A trend of the SOH values is continuously monitored, and an appropriate control action is taken when either SOH value drops below a calibrated lower limit. A solenoid monitoring system includes a solenoid, voltage and current sensors, and a controller having an algorithm for continuously monitoring a state of health (SOH) of the solenoid as set forth above.

Solenoid devices or solenoids are linear actuator devices having a host of useful applications. For example, solenoids typically serve as a reliable type of on/off switch for precise operational control of various devices, e.g., electrical motors, valves, assembly robots, etc. Solenoids are ordinarily configured as electromechanical devices, although hydraulic and pneumatic variants exist that provide similar utility using different motive forces. A typical solenoid of the electromagnetic variety includes one or more coils of conductive wire surrounding a moveable piston portion or plunger, all of which is positioned within a solid ferromagnetic core. That is, a single-coil solenoid can be used in conjunction with a return spring, while a dual-coil solenoid can include each of a pull-in coil and a hold-in coil, with each coil dedicated to the specified function.
As with an electric motor, the passage of an electrical current though the solenoid coil induces a magnetic field around the coil. Selective application of the magnetic field thus moves the plunger in a particular and controllable manner, either by pushing or pulling the coil in a desired direction. That is, the induced magnetic field either attracts or repels the plunger, which is ordinarily constructed of iron or steel to facilitate this response. When the electrical current supplied to the solenoid is terminated, the induced magnetic field likewise terminates, thus allowing a return spring to move the plunger back to its original or de-energized position.
While the operational diagnosis of a solenoid can be provided using various means, such as by detecting the rate of a rise and fall in a measured solenoid current to determine if the solenoid is presently operating within specification, conventional methods can require the commitment of substantial computational resources, and/or the use of complex waveform or pattern recognition techniques. Additionally, such methods can be relatively expensive to implement due to the need for analog circuitry dedicated to the detection of electrical current transitions. Moreover, a determination of whether or not a particular solenoid is presently performing to specification does not provide a prognostic or predictive capability, and therefore can be less than optimal when used to predict remaining life of a solenoid. Such predictive value can be particularly useful when used in certain applications, such as but not limited to the monitoring of a solenoid used for controlling a vehicular starter motor.

Method and apparatus for monitoring solenoid health


According to a circuit board creation program presented herein, a simulation assuming a case in which an addition of a bypass capacitor near a another bypass capacitor provided between a pin and via of an LSI part can be performed, simply by adding a bypass capacitor property model and changing the value of a coefficient parameter by which the property value of an element of a line part is to be multiplied or divided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for creating an analysis model and a technique for creating a circuit board model. The present invention particularly relates to techniques for creating an analysis model and a circuit board model for which a bypass capacitor can be added with a light workload that does not involve any change to CAD data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Development of a circuit board such as a printed circuit board (PCB), a multi-tip module (MCM) and an LSI package involves creation of CAD data by performing the circuit board packaging design utilizing circuit board design CAD, and creation of an analysis model from the CAD data and property data of parts. Then, the circuit operation is analyzed by performing a simulation with using a circuit simulator in accordance with the analysis model.
The result of the analysis includes, for example, the impedance in each band and the result of the analysis is then evaluated by the user. When it is rated as power-supply noise is large, certain means needs to be adopted to reduce the power-supply noise. The means for noise reduction is assumed herein as the use of a bypass capacitor.
The addition of a bypass capacitor, however, requires a significantly long time (from a few hours to more than a hundred and several tens of hours) for a series of processes including the change of the circuit board design and creation of the analysis model.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-228252 "SEMICONDUCTOR INTEGRATED CIRCUIT DESIGNING APPARATUS, SEMICONDUCTOR INTEGRATED CIRCUIT DESIGNING METHOD, SEMICONDUCTOR INTEGRATED CIRCUIT MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND READABLE RECORDING MEDIA" presents a technique for adding a bypass capacitor near the noise source within a circuit block in order to reduce power-supply noise on a circuit board.
However, the technique presented in the patent document still does not solve the above-mentioned problem that the development requires a significantly long time.

Technique for creating analysis model and technique for creating circuit board model


A data system for work machines is disclosed. The data system has a first communication device associated with a first work machine, and a second communication device associated with a second work machine. The data system also has an offboard system in communication with the first and second communication devices. The offboard system is configured to request a first data transmission from the first work machine in response to a second data transmission being received from the second work machine.

Work machines such as, for example, wheel loaders, track type tractors, on-highway trucks, and other types of machinery are often equipped with sensors for measuring various operating conditions of the work machine. These operating conditions could include, for example, engine RPM, oil pressure, water temperature, boost pressure, oil contamination levels, electric motor current, hydraulic pressures, system voltage, fuel consumption, payload, ground speed, transmission ratio, cycle time, global position, and the like. Processors and communications devices may be provided on the work machine for receiving the operating conditions, processing data associated with the operating conditions, and communicating the processed data to an offboard system for evaluation of machine performance.
One such system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,751,541 (the '541 patent) by Komatsu et al., issued on Jun. 15, 2004. In particular, the '541 patent describes a system for transmitting operational data of a working machine. The system includes a CPU arranged on a working machine to produce operation data in accordance with signals output from various sensors. This data is stored in a memory unit on the basis of time, depending upon the day. The data is then outputted via a satellite from the working machine to an earth station. It is possible to set different transmitting times for individual working machines so that the operation data can be transmitted from individual working machines to the earth station without overlapping.
Although the transmitting system of the '541 patent may sufficiently transmit operational data for a particular working machine, it may do so inefficiently. Specifically, a transmission of data from one working machine may only be desired or useful based on a transmission of data from another working machine or when the working machine is in a specific geographical region. Because the transmitting system of the '541 patent always transmits at the preset time regardless of these other conditions, it may occasionally transmit unnecessarily or undesirably.
The disclosed system is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.

Machine operational data collection and reporting system


A system and method for the resynchronization of a sequential decoder that decodes received signal samples stored within an input buffer is disclosed. The system comprises two auxiliary decoders coupled to the sequential decoder for running a simplified MAP decoding process when the input buffer reaches a threshold saturation level. Control of the respective increments of a read pointer and a write pointer allows one to detect the saturation of the input buffer and to derive a sequence of signal samples to the appropriate auxiliary decoder. The selected auxiliary decoder estimates a resynchronization state for the sequential decoder based on the sequence of signal samples. According to the read and the write pointers value, normal sequential decoding is resumed, otherwise, the second auxiliary decoder is selected. The selected auxiliary decoder estimates a resynchronization state for the sequential decoder based on a new sequence of signal samples.

Coding techniques are of fundamental importance for the reliable transmission of information over physical channels. The redundancy introduced by an encoder at the transmitter allows the decoder at the receiver to recover the sequence of information bits with a probability of error significantly smaller than that achieved by transmission systems that do not resort to coding techniques. An example of a technology that employs coding to achieve reliable data transmission is given by the contemporary Single-Pair High-Speed Digital Subscriber Line (SHDSL), for transmission at data rates of up to 2.32 Mbit/s over standard telephone lines in customer service areas.
We usually distinguish two broad classes of coding techniques, each with several subclasses, one employing block codes and the other convolutional codes. All coding techniques add redundancy, in the form of additional bits, to the information bits that must be transmitted. Redundancy makes possible the recovery of information bits with high reliability. The effectiveness of a coding technique is expressed in terms of the coding gain, given by the difference between the signal-to-noise ratios, in dB, that are required to achieve a certain bit error probability for transmission without and with coding.
Convolutional codes are a subclass of the class of tree codes, so named because their code words can be conveniently represented as sequences of nodes in a tree. A convolutional code may be described in terms of a tree, trellis, or state diagram. Tree codes are of great interest because decoding algorithms have been found that are easy to implement, and can be applied to the entire class of tree codes, in contrast to decoding algorithms for block codes, each designed for a specific class of codes, as for example Reed-Solomon codes.
Convolutional codes are usually characterized by two parameters, the code rate RC and the constraint length v. The code rate is given by the ratio between the number of information bits k and the number of code bits n that are generated per encoder cycle. Therefore the code rate is given by RC=k/n. A convolutional encoder may be represented as a finite state machine that determines the output bits and the next state depending on the input bits and the current state. The current state is identified by the bits input to the encoder during the previous v cycles. Therefore the constraint length v is proportional to the number of binary storage elements of the encoder, and the number of states of the encoder is 2kv. The encoder output bits generated per encoder cycle may be transmitted using a binary modulation scheme, for example binary phase shift keying (BPSK), or mapped to a symbol of a multilevel constellation prior to transmission by a multilevel modulation scheme, for example pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) or quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). The time interval required for the transmission of a symbol is usually denoted as modulation interval.
At the receiving side, the sequence of transmitted code symbols, or equivalently the sequence of encoder states, is detected using a decoding algorithm. The most widely used decoding algorithms are the Fano algorithm for sequential decoding, the Viterbi algorithm for maximum likelihood decoding, and the forward-backward algorithm, also known as the BCJR algorithm, for maximum a posteriori (MAP) probability decoding. The information bits are then recovered from the detected sequence.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,457,562 to Robert M. Fano, there is disclosed a basic sequential decoder implementing the Fano algorithm. Sequential decoding represents an attractive technique for the decoding of convolutional codes or trellis codes in case the number of states of the encoder is large. In the Fano algorithm, the sequential decoder explores one path of a decoder tree at a time. The decoder tree is developed using the knowledge of the encoder finite state machine. In particular, each branch is labeled with the code bits or code symbol that would be transmitted in case of a transition of the encoder finite state machine from the state corresponding to the node at which the branch originates to the state corresponding to the node at which the branch ends. Three types of moves are allowed: forward, lateral, and backward. On a forward move, the decoder goes one branch to the right in the decoder tree from the previously hypothesized node. On a lateral move, the decoder goes from a node on the tree to another node differing only in the last branch. The ordering among the nodes is arbitrary, and a lateral move takes place to the next node in order after the current one. A backward move is a move one branch to the left on the tree. To determine which move needs to be made after reaching a certain node, it is necessary to compute the metric Γl of the current node being hypothesized, and consider the value of the metric Γl−1 of the node one branch to the left of the current node, as well as the current value of a threshold Tl, which can assume values that are multiple of a given constant Δ. The metric of a node is obtained by summing the metrics of the branches on the path leading to that node. The branch metric represents the distance between the noisy received signal and the code symbol with which a branch is labeled.
The Viterbi algorithm was proposed by Andrew J. Viterbi, as described in "Error bounds for convolutional codes and an asymptotically optimum decoding algorithm" published in the IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, volume IT-13, April 1967, pp. 260–269. The Viterbi algorithm is a maximum-likelihood decoding procedure that explores in parallel every possible code sequence. Metrics are given by the Euclidean distances between the received signal and the code symbol sequences.
A solution to the general problem of estimating the a posteriori probabilities of the states and transitions of a finite state machine observed through a noisy channel is obtained by the forward-backward algorithm proposed by L. R. Bahl, J. Cocke, F. Jelinek, and J. Raviv in "Optimal decoding of linear codes for minimizing symbol error rate," published in the IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, vol. IT-20, pp. 284–287, March 1974. The forward-backward algorithm can thus be applied for MAP decoding of linear block and convolutional codes.
The three aforementioned documents are hereby incorporated by reference.
On one hand, a drawback of the maximum-likelihood and MAP decoders is that the complexity to implement such decoders grows exponentially with the number of encoder states. Various solutions have appeared in the literature to reduce the complexity of the decoder trellis diagram, see, e.g., the reduced-state forward-backward algorithms described by G. Colavolpe, G. Ferrari, and R. Raheli in "Reduced-State BCJR-Type Algorithms," published in the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, vol. 19, pp. 848–859, May 2001. In particular, an approximation of the a posteriori probabilities of the states and transitions in the decoder trellis diagram can be obtained at the end of the forward recursion of a reduced-state BCJR-type algorithm, with a substantial reduction of complexity, but such an approach would lead to a non negligible loss in performance. On the other hand, sequential decoders present the drawback that the number of computations C required for the decoding process to advance by one branch in the decoder tree is a random variable having a Pareto distribution; in other words, the probability that the number of computations C is larger than N is given by the following equation:P[C>N]=AN−p,  (1)where A and p are constants that depend on the channel characteristics and on the specific code and the specific version of the sequential decoding algorithm used.
As the number of computations per decoded symbol is not deterministic, real-time applications of sequential decoders require buffering of the received signal samples. Furthermore, as practical sequential decoders can perform only a finite number of operations in a given time interval, it is necessary to make provisions to avoid buffer overflow, which would have as a consequence incomplete decoding (erasures). If the buffer nears saturation, to avoid erasures it is necessary to reliably compute a state for restarting the sequential decoder, a procedure also known as resynchronization. In other words, resynchronization of the decoder must take place if the maximum number of operations that is allowed for decoding without incurring buffer saturation is exceeded.
Some solutions for resynchronization of the decoder are known, for example the buffer looking algorithm (BLA). In the BLA, the buffer is divided into L sections, each section having a size equal to Bj,j=1, . . . ,L. One conventional sequential decoder, generally named the primary decoder, and L−1 secondary decoders are used. The secondary decoders run fast algorithms, such as the so-called M-algorithm or variations of the Fano algorithm. For an in-depth description of the M-algorithm, someone skilled in the art may refer to the article "M-algorithm decoding of channel convolutional codes, " by C. F. Lin and J. B. Anderson, published in the Conference Records of the Princeton Conf. Inform. Sci. Syst., Princeton, N.J., March 1986, pp. 362–365. In systems employing the BLA, the (L−1)-th secondary decoder, which is used to resynchronize the sequential decoder as the buffer nears saturation, is a hard-decision decoder. However, the BLA does not address satisfactorily the problem of possible errors in the resynchronization of the primary decoder. In fact, using a hard-decision decoder as a secondary decoder yields a low reliability of the recovered state. As a consequence, the sequential decoder will need with high probability a long sequence of received signal samples to resynchronize successfully, with the result of increasing the probability of repeated buffer saturation events and hence long erasures. Furthermore, sequential decoder resynchronization based on hard decisions is well suited only for the decoding of code sequences generated by encoders in systematic form, whereas this method cannot be applied if the encoders are in nonsystematic form. A definition of systematic and nonsystematic encoders is given in "Convolutional codes I: Algebraic structure," by G. D. Forney, Jr., published in the IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, vol. IT-16, pp. 720–738, November 1970.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,710,785 to T. Yagi describes a sequential decoder having short synchronization recovery time. Convolutional code symbols are sequentially stored into a first buffer at a transmission rate and read therefrom into a decoder where the symbols are decoded at a rate higher than the transmission rate and stored into a second buffer. A controller determines the likelihood of each decoded symbol in accordance with a predetermined likelihood algorithm and causes the decoded symbols to be read out of the second buffer in a backward direction into the decoder when the determination indicates a low likelihood value. When the first buffer is overflowed, the controller causes symbols to be read out of the first buffer into the decoder starting with a symbol which is k symbols older than the most recently received symbol and causes the decoder to shift its symbol timing by one clock interval, where k is an integer ranging from zero to a predetermined number which is smaller than the maximum number of symbols that can be stored in the first buffer. The method by Yagi, however, does not address the problem of reliably determining an initial state for the sequential decoder to restart operations. If the state to which the decoder is resynchronized is not correct, several consecutive overflows of the first buffer may occur, thus determining long erasures.
Thus there is still a need for a reliable solution to solve the problem of resynchronization of sequential decoders. Other coding techniques based on parallel concatenated convolutional codes or on low density parity check codes lead to better system performance in terms of bit error probability, however at the expense of significantly higher computational complexity, see for example the turbo code decoder with controlled probability estimate feedback described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,223,319 to J. A. F. Ross, S. M. Hladik, N. A. Van Stralen, and J. B. Anderson. Therefore several transmission systems of practical interest, such as the aforementioned SHDSL system, still employ convolutional codes or trellis codes that allow the application of low-complexity decoding techniques, such as sequential decoding.

Method and apparatus for reliable resynchronization of sequential decoders

International Business Machines Corporation


Structural health monitoring apparatuses and methods are disclosed. One or more structural health sensors may be used to disconnect and/or connect one or more RFID chips to an antenna such that wireless communication with the one or more RFID chips (or the absence of wireless communication) through the antenna indicates the structural health status. Example structural health sensors may be moisture detecting or fracture detecting. A remote reader may be used to establish the wireless communication with the one or more RFID chips to determine the structural health. The sensors and RFID chips may be passive and powered through the wireless communication from the remote reader. Such apparatuses and methods may be applied to any large structures requiring regular inspection, such as aircraft, ships, automobiles or buildings.

1. Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure relates to structural testing. Particularly, this disclosure relates to techniques for monitoring the health of structural elements over time in service.
2. Description of the Related Art
The need to monitor the integrity of structural elements arises in many different applications. For example, it is necessary to monitor the structures of aircraft. The aircraft stay in service for many years and may experience environments that may exceed design limits resulting in different failure modes, e.g., fatigue, fracture, corrosion. Therefore, it is necessary to regularly check the structural integrity of the vehicle as part of any prudent maintenance program. Similarly, other types of structures may also require regular monitoring. Highway structures such as overpasses and bridges must be regularly checked. Some building structures may also require regular testing. Conventional testing techniques such as visual inspection, x-ray, dye penetrant, and electrical field techniques (e.g., eddy current testing, etc.) for testing structural elements have many drawbacks.
Visual inspection of structural members often requires some degree of disassembly of the structure. This adds greatly to the overall testing cost. Commercial aircraft must be regularly inspected for structural integrity. However, visual inspection of aircraft structures often requires substantial disassembly of structure and removal of installed equipment in order to provide the access needed to view the areas of interest at a distance adequate to detect corrosion visually. For example, regular visual inspections to detect the presence of corrosion of metallic floor structure in wet areas of aircraft, such as under lavatories, galleys, and entry doors can be burdensome. These time-consuming and costly inspections often reveal that the structure has no corrosion. Additionally, floor panel removal requires that factory seals are broken. Moreover, since there is a risk that the quality of the resealing may not be as high as the original factory seals, initial inspections may actually make the structure more susceptible to corrosion thereafter.
In one example, a micro-borescope has been proposed to inspect the structure from the cargo compartment, in an attempt to visually inspect the top surface of the floor beam upper chord while eliminating the requirement to remove structure. However, the micro-borescope technique requires time to visually inspect all of the surface of the floor beams. In addition, cargo liners must be removed to perform the inspection and trained inspectors must operate the equipment and interpret the images seen through the borescope. Furthermore, the probe of the micro-borescope may not be inserted where insufficient clearance exists and inserting the metal end of the borescope in between the floor structure and the floor panel may sometimes scratch the primer and corrosion inhibiting compound on the floor structure, making the structure susceptible to corrosion.
In another example inspection technique X-Ray testing, under the broader heading of radiographic testing, requires specialized facilities and government licenses. The technique employs the ability of short wavelength electromagnetic radiation to penetrate various materials. Either an X-ray machine or a radioactive source can be used as a source of photons. Because the amount of radiation emerging from the opposite side of an examined material can be detected and measured, variations in the intensity of radiation are used to determine thickness or composition of material and reveal any defects. Due to safety issues, X-ray testing also typically requires a complete work stoppage on all other tasks while the testing is being performed.
Dye penetrant testing is also time consuming and messy. Dye penetrant inspection is used to reveal surface breaking flaws through the bleedout of a colored or fluorescent dye from the flaw. The technique is based on the ability of a liquid to be drawn into a surface breaking flaw by capillary action. After a period of time, excess surface penetrant is removed and a developer is applied. This acts as a blotter. It draws the penetrant from the flaw to reveal its presence. The constituent penetrant and developer may and their by-products may be identified as hazardous (HAZMAT), requiring costly disposal means.
Finally, inspection methods using the application of electrical fields (e.g., eddy current testing, etc.) are exceptionally time consuming and difficult to read reliably in this type of application and may require alterations to structure. In typical eddy current testing for example, a circular coil carrying an AC current is placed in close proximity to an electrically conductive specimen to be tested. The alternating current in the coil yields a changing magnetic field, which interacts with the test object and induces eddy currents in it. Variations in the phase and magnitude of these eddy currents can be monitored using a second coil, or by measuring changes to the current flowing in the primary coil. The presence of any flaws or variations in the electrical conductivity or magnetic permeability of the test object, will cause a change in eddy current flow and a corresponding change in the phase and amplitude of the measured current. The technique is generally limited to detecting surface breaks or near surface cracking and variations in material composition.
Some newer technology has also been developed by Intel and the University of Washington. In this approach, RFID chips are augmented with sensing capability such as accelerometers. By incorporating two separate RFID chips on one platform (tag), the accelerometer acts as a switch and controls the communication. If the tag is affixed to an object and continuously interrogated, motion of the object can be inferred by the varying RFID response. However, none of this related technology is directed to environmental structural sensing on aircraft, and are not capable of sensing failures over extended areas on the aircraft. There is a need for a simplified RFID-sensing approach that can be uniquely applied to the aircraft. See, e.g., Greene, K., "Sensors Without Batteries," Technology Review published by MIT, http://www.technologyreview.com/, May 15, 2006; and "Design of an RFID-Based Battery-Free Programmable Sensing Platform" IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, Vol. 57 No. 11, November 2008.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need in the art for apparatuses and methods for efficiently monitoring the integrity of structural elements. In particular, there is a need for such apparatuses and methods to monitor structural elements without requiring time-consuming disassembly. There is also a need for such apparatuses and methods to be light weight and inexpensive to use. There is particularly a need for such apparatuses and methods in aircraft applications. These and other needs are met by the present disclosure as detailed hereafter.

RFID-based corrosion and moisture detection