A method of performing digital beam forming on the radiation pattern of an array antenna using a plurality of antenna elements, each antenna element being coupled to a signal processing chain. A weighting phase is used in which at least a complex weight coefficient is applied to a digital signal in a corresponding signal processing chain. The digital signal is an intermediate frequency digital signal, and the weighting phase has the following steps: a) duplicating the digital signal into a first and a second digital signal; b) processing the first and second digital signals by multiplying the first and second digital signals respectively by a real and an imaginary part of the complex weight coefficient; applying a Hilbert transform to that signal which is multiplied by the imaginary part of the complex weight coefficient; and c) combining the processed first and second digital signals into a weighted digital intermediate frequency signal by subtracting the second signal from the first signal.

Nowadays cell size adjustment can be obtained by typically changing the beam tilt of the antenna through electro-mechanical actuators that control passive devices performing analogue Radio Frequency (RF) processing. This solution, however, presents many drawbacks, as its beam-shaping capability is poorly versatile.
In order to overcome the limitations of the previous approach, digital beamforming techniques can be applied.
According to classical electromagnetic theory, the shape of the beam radiated by planar or linear array antenna can be written as
            E      _                  (              r        _            )        =                              E          _                0                          (                  r          _                )                        F                    (                  r          ^                )
where E0(r) is the electromagnetic field radiated by each antenna element, r is the spatial vector, {circumflex over (r)} is the unity-module vector with direction corresponding to spatial vector r and F({circumflex over (r)}) is the array factor of the antenna. Once the basic radiating element is chosen (E0(r)), the shape of the radiation pattern can be fully controlled by operating on the array factor only.
For a Uniform Linear Array (ULA), composed by equally spaced elements, the array factor has the following expression:
      F              (      α      )        =            ∑              n        =        0                    N        -        1                                w        n                          exp                          [                      j                                                                                k              0                                    nd                                                                                cos                                            (                α                )                                              ]
where k0=2π/λ is the wave number, λ is the wavelength, d is the inter-element spacing, α is the observation direction and wn=wrn+jwin=|wn|exp (j<wn), which is the n-th feed coefficient or weight of the array, allows full control over the array factor shape (hence the beam shape of the field radiated by the antenna).
Techniques devoted to implementing beam forming can be classified into two main approaches: radio frequency (RF) processing and base band (BB) processing.
If radio frequency (RF), typically analogue, processing is considered, weights are applied through RF components which are able to modify both amplitude (RF amplifiers) and phase (RF phase shifters) of RF signal to/from each radiating element.
Document WO 03/015212 illustrates an active phased array antenna system in which a beam former is operable to process an analogue radio frequency signal or an analogue intermediate frequency signal. Programmable electronic power splitters and phase shifters, operating on analogue signals, are used for controlling both the amplitude and phase of each element of the antenna. Phase shifter in particular, which are implemented as Butler matrices, are quite complex systems, whose realization and integration into base stations or transceiver terminals can be complicated.
On the other hand, if baseband (BB), typically digital, signal processing is considered, beam forming is usually realized by multiplying digitised base-band complex signals at each array element by suitable complex coefficients (both in up-link and down-link). An example of a prior art digital beam forming baseband processing (down-link) is shown in FIG. 1.
In down-link, if a generic n-th array element is considered, the complex envelope signal related to it issBBnw=wn{tilde over (s)}(t)
where {tilde over (s)}(t)=i(t)+jq(t) is the complex envelope of the input signal.
Hence, with reference to the scheme of FIG. 1, base-band digital processing just operates a multiplication 2 of a complex input signal {tilde over (s)}(t) by a complex coefficient wn. Once the signal input to the antenna has been weighted, it follows the standard steps through the down-link radio chain: up-conversion 6 to radio frequency (RF), through an intermediate frequency (IF) conversion 4, and high power amplification, not shown in FIG. 1.
The block diagram in FIG. 1 is also valid for the so-called zero-IF technique where the baseband signal is directly up-converted to RF (f0), assuming that fIF=f0 and fΔ=0.
Digital beam forming techniques applied to base-band signals are illustrated for example in documents U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,085 and US 2002/154687.
The techniques illustrated in the above-mentioned documents, operating on baseband signals, imply a good knowledge of how data corresponding to the base-band signals are organized and dealt with in the processing chain. In fact, usually, and particularly with regard to telecommunication apparatuses, this is a confidential and restricted information of the manufacturer. Moreover, if a remote control has to be implemented, apparatuses of the same manufacturer must be necessarily used.
The Applicant has tackled the problem of efficiently performing beam shaping on the radiation pattern of an array antenna, operating exclusively on digital signals.
The Applicant observes that digital beam-forming techniques are much more efficient and cost-effective than analogue ones.
In view of the above, it is an object of the invention to provide an efficient beam shaping technique which can be applied to digitised intermediate frequency signals.

Method and system for performing digital beam forming at intermediate frequency on the radiation pattern of an array antenna


A method and system is disclosed for automatically detecting the state of a drilling rig during the drilling process of a wellbore. Two or more, but preferably four independent input data channels are received, each input data channel representing a series of measurements made over time during the drilling process. Based on the input channels the most likely state of the drilling rig is detected from at least three possible rig states. The detection method is preferably probabilistic and even more preferably based on particle filtering techniques. The preferred systems and methods disclosed are also capable of detecting events and displaying or notifying drilling personnel of the detected events and suggesting corrective action.

In oilfield applications, the drilling process can be impeded by a wide variety of problems. Accurate measurements of downhole conditions, rock properties and surface equipment allow many drilling risks to be minimized, but they are also crucial for detecting that a problem has occurred. At present, most problem detection is the result of human vigilance, but detection probability is often degraded by fatigue, high workload or lack of experience.
Some limited techniques have been used for detecting one of two possible rig states, but generally these have only used a single input channel. In one example, a technique is used to automatically detect if the drill pipe is "in slips" or "not in slips". This information is used in gaining accurate control of depth estimates, for example in conjunction with activities such as measurement-while-drilling (MWD or mud logging. To tell whether the drill pipe is "in slips" the known technique generally only uses a single input channel measured on the surface: Hookload. Another example is a technique used to predict if the drill bit is "on bottom" or "not on bottom." Similarly, this method makes use of only a single input channel, namely block position, and is only used to detect one of two "states" of the drilling rig.
Known event detection systems have depended upon the drilling personnel to identify the rig state. For example see, "The MDS System: Computers Transform Drilling", Bourgois, Burgess, Rike, Unsworth, Oilfield Review Vol. 2, No. 1, 1990, pp.4–15, and "Managing Drilling Risk" Aldred et al., Oilfield Review, Summer 1999, pp. 219.

System and method for rig state detection


A humidification apparatus, comprising a container and a set of heating tube; wherein water (liquid) can be introduced from a container to one end of said heating tube, and an steam outlet is provided in another end so that the steams generated by heating liquid (water) flowed out or spurted; said heating tube is an electric film where the external surface of the quartz tube is electrified for heating. Steams will be generated when liquid (water) introduced and reserved in the tube is electrified and heated by the electric film and then boiled. Therefore, it is necessary to heat partial liquid depending on the amount of steamed needed, and thus power saving can be achieved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a humidification apparatus, particular to a humidification apparatus capable of reducing power consumption by using a quartz heating tube to heat liquid.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, devices for generating steams or vapors dispersed in the air to ensure the air contains a certain degree of humidity are used to increase air humidity and alleviate the uncomfortableness caused by dry air, particular to the relief of symptoms such as cough or dried and rifted nasal septum owing to over dried air.
Conventional devices for generating steams use an oscillator or ultrasonic oscillator provided in a water tank for high-speed oscillation of water molecules to generate steams. However, this only produces cold vapors and is not suitable for the place that requires raising the air temperature.
Conventional humidification apparatus for producing steams that require certain temperature mainly uses a container for water storage and adds a set of electrothermal tube in the container for generating steams by producing electric heat to heat liquid (i.e. water) until boiling. The generated steams are dispersed to the air via a steam pipe, which increases air temperature and humidity. This not only increases humidification but stabilizes air temperature, which is extremely important to medical places or nursing homes for unhealthy elders.
However, using an electrothermal tube to heat and generate steams may cause high power consumption. Moreover, all liquid in the container need to be continuously heated to the boiling point to generate steams, which consumes more power.
Accordingly, the humidification apparatus according to the present invention has been made based on various experiences and techniques of fabricating heating devices to solve the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art.


A driving assistance device is provided with a turning state detection unit, an imaging unit, a solid object detection unit and a detection region modification unit. When the turning state detection unit detects that a host vehicle is in a turning state, the detection region modification unit alters a position of a detection region with respect to the host vehicle, or alters a shape or an area of the detection region based on the turning state of the host vehicle. For example, the detection region modification unit sets a shorter region length of the detection region as the turning radius of the host vehicle becomes smaller. Hereby, the region closest to the host vehicle is set, to a limited extent, as the detection regions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driving assistance device and a driving assistance method.
2. Background Information
There is known a driving assistance device that performs driving assistance by detecting a solid object around the vehicle. For example, this kind of driving assistance device processes the captured image output chronologically from an imaging unit to detect the solid object.
For instance, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-227646 discloses an obstacle detection device capable of realizing the detection of solid objects. The obstacle detection device is provided with a real camera that photographs the surroundings of the vehicle, and an obstacle detection means for detecting a solid object using the image of the surroundings of the vehicle input from the real camera. The obstacle detection means converts the viewpoint of the image of the surroundings of the vehicle from the real camera, and detects the solid object using a difference image which corresponds to the difference between two chronologically different bird's-eye view images.

Detection region modification for driving assistance apparatus and driving assistance method


Apparatus and method is described for depositing salt-based materials upon highway pavements at practical speeds in a manner significantly reducing scatter. This is achieved through the expression of the materials from an impeller at a lower level of the vehicle at a material velocity commensurate with the speed of the vehicle itself. Projection of the material is in a direction or vector directly opposite that of the forward direction of the vehicle. Implementation of the method is provided with a rotating impeller having sidewalls defined by an endless belt which partially surrounds it. That portion of the impeller which is not surrounded by the endless belt forms an outlet opening from which the material is propelled. Introduction of the material to the impeller is at its center portion and is directed to those peripheral regions of the impeller which extend from a location adjacent the outlet opening and thence about a predetermined arcuate region of the rotating impeller. A plurality of rotationally rearwardly canted vanes are mounted within the impeller to aid in the acceleration and expulsion of the snow-ice control materials.

Highway snow and ice control typically is carried out by governmental authorities with the use of dump trucks which are seasonally modified by the addition of snow-ice treatment components. These components will include a forwardly-mounted plow and rearwardly-mounted mechanisms for broadcasting materials such as salt-aggregate mixtures. Such mechanisms conventionally include a feed auger extending across the back edge of the dump bed of the truck. This hydraulically driven auger effects a metered movement of material from the bed of the truck onto a rotating spreader disk or "spinner" which broadcasts or spreads the salt or salt-aggregate mixture across the pavement being treated.
In snow-ice control procedures heretofore undertaken, salt containing materials are spread during snow-ice build-up on interstate or principal highways at a rate of about 600 lbs per mile as a first or initial application. Secondary highways are treated at deposition rates of about 400 lbs per mile for such an initial application. Thereafter, the salt carrying trucks may follow-up with a reapplication of the selected treatment material at deposition rates of about 200 lbs per mile.
The speed of the snow-ice control vehicles necessarily is constrained during inclement weather conditions to about 15 miles per hour. This lower speed permits the broadcasting of salt-aggregate materials without undue loss to roadside regions. Additionally, the inclement conditions will generally cause traveling motorists to lower average speeds on the highway such that the slow, 15 mph trucks do not pose a severe slow moving hazard. Environmentalists have expressed concern with respect to the quantity of salt-based materials distributed into run-off channels by this treatment procedure. This concern has developed to an extent that investigators are looking for procedures which remain effective in snow-ice control while lessening the amount of control materials which must be used. One improvement in the controlled deposition of these materials has been achieved through the utilization of microprocessor driven controls over the hydraulics employed with the seasonally modified trucks. Kime, et al., in U.S. Pat. No. Re.33,835 entitled "Hydraulic System for Use with Snow-Ice Removal Vehicles", reissued Mar. 3, 1992, describe a microprocessor driven hydraulic system for such trucks with a provision for digital hydraulic valving control which is responsive to the instantaneous speed of the truck. With the hydraulic system, improved controls over the extent of deposition of snow-ice materials is achieved. This patent is expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Other techniques for improving snow-ice control have looked to selection of the timing of controlled material deposition. For example, the amount of material required for initial deposition can be reduced significantly where it is laid down prior to the commencement of storm generated precipitation. By so pre-treating highways, a brine is formed at the pavement surface at the onset of precipitation which prevents ice from bonding to the pavement surface. Additionally, this "pre-treating" procedure facilitates the removal of accumulated snow-ice by plowing procedures. By laying down the material, for example an hour before the commencement of storm precipitation, the amount of material required for an initial application may be, for example, 1/6th of that required after precipitation has commenced and snow-ice build-up is present on the highway. While such pre-treatment may be effective, the problem now becomes one of the technique of depositing it properly upon the highway surface. Snow-ice materials, utilized in conventional equipment, will remain on the highway surface at the time of deposition only where the depositing vehicles are traveling at dangerously slow speeds for dry pavement, for example, about 15 miles per hour. Above those slow speeds, the material is essentially lost to the roadside. Observation of materials attempted to be deposited at higher speeds shows the aggregates bouncing forwardly, upwardly, and being broadcast over the pavement sides such that the deposition at higher speeds is ineffective as well as dangerous and potentially damaging to approaching vehicles. However, the depositing trucks themselves constitute a serious hazard when traveling, for example at 15 mph, on dry pavement which simultaneously is accommodating vehicles traveling, for example at 65 mph. The danger posed is such as to preclude the practicality of pre-treating deposition. A practical technique is called for which controls the deposition of snow-ice materials while permitting the trucks to operate at those higher speeds which are reasonably safe with respect to approaching traffic on major interstate highways.

Deposition of snow-ice treatment material from a vehicle with controlled scatter


A system and method to evaluate characteristics of notches in sine wave type electrical signals. An example method includes measuring a voltage waveform. A reference waveform is derived from the measured voltage waveform. A series of threshold voltage values is determined based on corresponding voltages of the reference waveform. The voltages of the voltage waveform are compared with the corresponding threshold voltages. The presence of a notch is indicated when a voltage of the voltage waveform is lesser in magnitude than the corresponding threshold voltage.

Voltage notches are defined by IEEE 1195-1995 Standard, which states that a notch is "A switching (or other) disturbance of the normal power voltage waveform, lasting less than 0.5 cycles, which is initially of opposite polarity than the waveform and is thus subtracted from the normal waveform in terms of the peak value of the disturbance voltage. This includes complete loss of voltage for up to 0.5 cycles." This standard categorizes notching as a type of waveform distortion as it occurs periodically and "is principally characterized by the spectral content of deviation." As stated in IEEE 1195-1995, "the frequency components associated with notching can be quite high and may not be readily characterized with measurement equipment normally used for harmonic analysis." Notching is generally caused by electrical power devices when current is commutated from one phase to another such as by sudden switching. During this period, there is a momentary short circuit between phases which results in the voltage notch. Notches primarily apply to switched loads such as those from adjustable speed drives. For example, when there is a sudden demand for voltage by a silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) in an adjustable speed drive and a rapid draw on the overall voltage demand will be seen which typically shows up as a notch in the output waveform.
Thus, a notch can represent a steady-state power characteristic, which may occur on a normal sine wave signal. A normal sine wave electrical signal typically experiences two zero-axis crossings per cycle (henceforth referred to as zero-crossings). In some cases, these zero-crossings are a reference point for the control schemes of some equipment. Thus, severe notching may result in equipment misoperation, malfunction, lockups, and even equipment damage. Excess zero-crossings and/or deep voltage notches that do not cross the zero-axis may result in malfunction or misoperation of some equipment ultimately leading to premature equipment failures. For example, if a clock for a device depends on zero-crossing for timing, excess zero-crossings can cause malfunctions in the device operation.
Thus, detection of voltage notching in input signals is necessary to protect equipment that depends on accurate zero-crossings. Further, detection of voltage notching may be needed to protect equipment from malfunctions or damage. Existing systems do not allow for the efficient detection of voltage notching or the evaluation of voltage notching, which is necessary to diagnose and address the notching source.
What is needed, therefore, is a system to allow users to determine the occurrence of a voltage notch in an electrical system. There is also a need for a system to quantify the characteristics (including severity) of a voltage notch in an electrical system. There is a further need for a system and method to evaluate voltage notches and provide mitigation solutions. Aspects of the present invention are directed at addressing these and other needs.

Method and apparatus to evaluate notches in an electrical power system


The present invention relates to a rosamine derivative compound, as described herein, having the following structure:

Fluorescent compounds have been excellent tools for the sensitive and specific detection of a variety of analytes (De Silva et al., "Signaling Recognition Events with Fluorescent Sensors and Switches," Chem Rev 97:1515-1566 (1997)). While the rational approach in designing the fluorescent sensors was successful toward diverse small molecule analytes (Gabe et al., "Highly Sensitive Fluorescence Probes for Nitric Oxide Based on Boron Dipyrromethene Chromophore-Rational Design of Potentially Useful Bioimaging Fluorescence Probe," J Am Chem Soc 126:3357-3367 (2004); Chang et al., "A Selective, Cell-Permeable Optical Probe for Hydrogen Peroxide in Living Cells," J Am Chem Soc 126:15392-15393 (2004); Burdette et al., "Fluorescent Sensors for Zn(2+) Based on a Fluorescein Platform: Synthesis, Properties and Intracellular Distribution," J Am Chem Soc 123:7831-7841 (2001); Schneider et al., "Coupling Rational Design with Libraries Leads to the Production of an ATP Selective Chemosensor," J Am Chem Soc 122:542-543 (2000)), the combinatorial approach to fluorescent dyes has shown powerful advantages owing to a wide range of spectral and structural diversity, developing specific binders for macromolecule structures with a concomitant change of fluorescence properties (Rosania et al., "Combinatorial Approach to Organelle-Targeted Fluorescent Library Based on the Styryl Scaffold," J Am Chem Soc 125:1130-1131 (2003); Lee et al., "Development of Novel Cell-Permeable DNA Sensitive Dyes Using Combinatorial Synthesis and Cell-Based Screening," Chem Commun (Camb) 15:1852-1853 (2003); Li et al., "Solid-Phase Synthesis of Styryl Dyes and Their Application as Amyloid Sensors," Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 43(46):6331-6335 (2004); Li et al., "RNA-Selective, Live Cell Imaging Probes for Studying Nuclear Structure and Function," Chem Biol 13(6):615-623 (2006)).
The present invention is directed to an improved class of fluorescent compounds.

Combinatorial rosamine library and uses thereof

Abstract: Also disclosed are methods of making such compounds and for using them for detection and imaging.


A refrigerator includes a cabinet and a door. The door includes a gasket which, when the door is closed, is held by magnetic force against the cabinet. A handle assembly mounted on the door includes a finger-actuated lever which can be actuated by a user's finger to displace a slide which initially pushes open the door by a predetermined distance sufficient to separate the gasket from the cabinet. Then the door can be opened by pulling easily on a rigid part of the handle that is fixed to the door.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a door handle apparatus for a refrigerator in which freezing and cooling chamber doors are held closed by magnetic force.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional refrigerator, as illustrated in FIG. 1, includes: a door 30A hinged on one side of a cabinet 20 for opening and closing a front opening of the refrigerator chamber 10; a gasket 40A mounted at an inner edge of the door and being in contact with the cabinet 20 to prevent the cold air in the refrigerator chamber 10 from leaking outside the refrigerator when the door is closed; a rubber encased magnet 50A mounted within the gasket 40A to stick the gasket fast to the cabinet 20 by its magnetic force; and a gripping door handle 60 mounted at one side of the door for opening and closing the door.
However, there is a problem in the conventional refrigerator thus constructed in that as the door handle 60 is fixedly installed on an outer side of the door, a strong pull is required in order for the gasket 40A and the cabinet 20 to be separated from one another to thereby open the door because they stick fast together due to a magnetic force of the magnet 50A.
Further, there is another problem in the conventional refrigerator thus constructed in that vibration is generated as the door snaps opened, so that various foods stored in an inner guard of the door collide with each other to thereby drop from the guard.

Door opening/closing handle apparatus for a refrigerator


The invention relates to a system for powering the driving actuator of an aircraft undercarriage, the system including a hydraulic generator capable of delivering fluid under pressure to one or the other of two chambers of the driving actuator. According to the invention, the power supply system includes a safety device enabling any overloading of the actuator rod under the effect of pressure peaks to be avoided: said device comprises two pressure relief valves, the first valve limiting the pressure delivered to the annular chamber and being under the control of the pressure in the full-section chamber, and the second pressure relief valve being of the differential type and continuously controlling the pressure difference between the two chambers of the actuator. The invention is applicable to providing very safe power supply systems for aircraft undercarriages.

Known power systems generally include damping members that act when the piston reaches an end-of-stroke region, both at the end of raising the undercarriage and at the end of lowering it. The actuators also include end-of-stroke dampers having pressure-control valves.
Nevertheless, under certain situations, the rod of the actuator can be subjected to high stresses. This applies, for example, at the end of a raising operation where the inertia of the undercarriage, together with the increase of pressure obtained in the end-of-stroke damping chamber and the driving force in the annular chamber generate high compression forces on the actuator rod. These forces are taken into account when dimensioning the actuator. Furthermore, when the undercarriage is lowered, it is desired to implement a sequence comprising, in succession: pressurizing the annular chamber, releasing the mechanical latch, and pressurizing the full section chamber, while simultaneously avoiding pressure peaks in the annular chamber.
The problem of the invention sets out to solve is that of designing a power system capable of avoiding the actuator rod being subjected to dangerous stresses, in particular at the end of raising the undercarriage.
Another object of the invention is to provide a power system whose structure is both simple and extremely reliable, and which can easily be added to existing installations.
Another object of the invention is to design a power system enabling pressure peaks to be avoided in the annular chamber of the actuator when lowering the undercarriage, and consequently making it possible to obtain a saving on the dimensioning of the actuator cylinder, and which also allows the undercarriage to be lowered in an emergency in the event of the hydraulic generator failing.

System for powering the driving actuator of an aircraft undercarriage


A formulation and process for making a formulation for leather tanning using highly complexed Chrome III salts coupled with polymer complexing agents of medium and low molecular weight in the range of 500 to 10,000. Complexing polymers can contain vinylic acid/ester co-polymers, polyamine/polyamide co-polymers and polymers condensed from saturated carbon linked aromatic groups based on phenol and naphthalene sulfonates or other aromatic rings.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of leather tanning and more particularly to a formulation and process using chromium III salts with polymer complexing agents to tan leather.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The tanning of animal hides using various chemicals to produce leather and other products is known in the art. Animal hides must be treated in order to preserve them from decay since they contain a high content of degradable protein, as well as water and other matter. To prevent decay, hides are subjected to various treatments.
The hides are usually first subjected to processes such as liming, de-liming, bating and pickling. In addition, an oxidation step can be employed for whitening the hides using agents like sodium chlorite (or other bleaching agents). Pickling is done using mineral salts like sodium chloride in sulphuric acid and possibly formic acid.
The actual tanning step consists of treatment by ether vegetable extracts or mineral tanning agents. One very common type of mineral salt tanning is to subject the hide to a treatment employing a chromium III sulfate or chloride which, under acidic conditions, penetrates into the leather structure. The chromium salts form a complex with the carboxyl groups of protein during the subsequent step of basification. Chrome treatment is known to impart superior chemical and physical properties to the leather than tanning with vegetable agents.
The tanning process normally consists of the steps of treating the hide with chromium salts, basification where cross-linking of the chromium with the carboxyl group of the collagen occurs, re-chroming where with more chromium salts to improve chromium fixation and re-basification. The product is than neutralized to PH 4.5–5.6 to make it ready for the dyeing and other processes. Chrome tannage involves a cross-linking reaction between carboxyl groups of the collagen molecules and the chromium III salt. The carboxyl groups, when ionized, are attracted to the chromium III tanning complex, and a reaction takes place. The following diagram shows a possible structure for the chrome/hydroxyl/sulfate complex.

Formulation and process for making formulation for preservation of animal and vegetable tissues


A stereoscopic display apparatus includes a display having pixels arrayed in a longitudinal direction and a lateral direction to form a matrix, each pixel including sub-pixels with color components, and a control element opposed to the display and having linear openings extending in the longitudinal direction and arrayed in the lateral direction. The openings of any two sub-pixels adjacent in the lateral direction always overlap regardless of a position in the lateral direction. The sum of the longitudinal components of the opening ratios of s adjacent in the lateral direction is constant.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stereoscopic display apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A stereoscopic image display apparatus capable of displaying a motion image, i.e., a so-called 3D display, is available in a variety of schemes. Particularly, in recent years, a demand increases for a scheme of a flat panel type that does not require exclusive eyeglasses. Among stereoscopic motion image display apparatuses of this type, a scheme that utilizes the principle of hologram is difficult to display a full color motion image. Another scheme in which a beam control element controlling a beam from the display panel and directing the beam toward the observer is set immediately in front of a pixel position-fixed display panel (display device) such as a direct viewing type or projection type liquid crystal display apparatus, or a plasma display apparatus allows to display a full color motion image comparatively easily.
Generally, the beam control element is also called a parallax barrier, and controls the beam so that different images can be seen depending on the angle even at one position of the beam control element. More specifically, when providing only right-and-left parallax (horizontal parallax), a slit or a lenticular sheet (cylindrical lens array) is used. When including top-and-bottom parallax (vertical parallax) as well, a pinhole array or a lens array is used. Schemes that employ a parallax barrier are further classified into a binocular scheme, a multi-view scheme, a super-multi-view scheme (the super-multi-view conditions for the multi-view scheme), and integral photography (to be also referred to as IP hereinafter). These basic principles are almost identical to those invented about 100 years ago and have been employed in stereoscopic photography.
Among these schemes, the characteristic feature of the IP scheme resides in that it provides high degrees of freedom for the viewpoint position and enables stereoscopic vision easily. The 1D IP scheme that includes only horizontal parallax and does hot include vertical parallax can implement a high-resolution display apparatus comparatively easily, as is described in SID04 Digest 1438 (2004). In contrast to this, with the binocular scheme or the multi-view scheme, the range of the viewpoint position where stereoscopic vision is possible, i.e., the viewing area, is narrow, and the observer cannot see the image well. However, the binocular scheme or the multi-view scheme has the simplest arrangement as the stereoscopic image display apparatus, and can generate a display image readily.
In a direct viewing type autostereoscopic display apparatus using such a slit or a lenticular sheet, the periodic structure of the openings of the beam control element interferes with that of the pixels of the flat panel display apparatus to generate moiré or color moiré easily. As a countermeasure for this, a method of obliquely inclining the extending directions of the openings of the beam control element, i.e., a slanted lens, is known. This method, however, displays longitudinal lines in a zigzag manner when displaying a stereoscopic image to particularly result in poor character display quality. A vertical lens in which the extending directions of the openings of the beam control element are not inclined has no problem in the character display quality. To solve the color moiré, however, the color arrangement of the elemental image display must comprise a mosaic array or a lateral stripe array. To solve the moiré, the beam from an adjacent sub-pixel must be fused appropriately by, e.g., a method of adding a diffusion film between the elemental image display and the lenticular lens (JP-A 2005-86414 (KOKAI)). Addition of the diffusion film, however, scatters the external light to decrease the brightness contrast. Known methods of appropriately fusing the beam from the adjacent sub-pixel in the case of the vertical lens include a method of arraying sub-pixels to form a delta array (Japanese Patent No. 3027506), a method of forming parallelogrammic sub-pixel openings so that adjacent pixels overlap (PCT(WO) 10-505689), and a method of making the sum of the opening ratios of the sub-pixels in the longitudinal direction to a constant value (Japanese Patent No. 3525995). However, not only to solve the moiré but also to achieve continuous motion parallax as in the 1D IP scheme, with the conventional methods, the fusion of the beam from the sub-pixel is insufficient.
As described above, in the conventional stereoscopic display apparatus in which the beam control element is set vertically, moiré that interferes with display tends to occur readily to make it difficult to obtain continuous motion parallax.


When an entertaining electronic game is played, it is interrupted by an educational game, and can be resumed only after a problem of the educational game is solved by a player. Otherwise, it is interrupted again by the educational game, until the problem is solved.

The present invention relates to a method of playing electronic game, and also to a new electronic game.
Electronic games are widely known and played by children and adults. The majority of the electronic games are generally entertaining games. Children play such games for hours, frequently to certain frustration of their parents. There are of course some education games; however, as expected, children are not willing to play them for a long time since as a rule they are nor sufficiently entertaining.

Method of playing electronic game, and electronic game


In a base station, a signal allocating unit allocates downlink control signals (DCI) to a control channel region (CORESET) constituted by a plurality of control channel elements (CCEs), and a transmitting unit transmits the downlink control signals. In this case, the number of resource element groups (REGs) that constitute the CCE is a power of 2, and a bundling size indicating the number of REGs included in the REGs that constitute the CCE and arranged in adjacent resource blocks is a power of 2.

A study is being conducted on a communication system called the fifth-generation mobile communication system (5G). In 5G, a study is being conducted on flexibly providing functions for each of use cases in which an increase in communication traffic, an increase in the number of terminals to be connected, high reliability, and low latency are respectively needed. Three use cases, that is, a use case for enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB: enhanced Mobile Broadband), a use case for large-scale communications/massive connection (mMTC: massive Machine Type Communications), and a use case for ultra-reliable and low-latency communication (URLLC: Ultra Reliable and Low Latency Communication), are available as typical use cases. 3GPP (the 3rd Generation Partnership Project), which is an international standardization group, is studying sophisticating a communication system from two embodiments of sophisticating an LTE system and a new RAT (Radio Access Technology) (see, for example, NPL 1).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Base station, terminal, and communication method

Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America


A rotary walk behind lawn mower has a wheeled cutting deck with a downwardly facing cutting chamber. A rotatable cutting blade is contained inside the cutting chamber above a lower edge of a peripheral sidewall and beneath a central hub, an annular channel being formed between the sidewall and the hub of the cutting chamber for receiving grass clippings from the cutting blade. A portion of the peripheral sidewall of the cutting chamber above the level of the cutting blade and a portion of a top wall of the cutting chamber form a pivotal mulch door for opening and closing the annular channel in which the grass clippings are moving.

Walk behind lawn mowers are well known outdoor power equipment units for mowing grass. Such mowers comprise a movable cutting deck having a cutting chamber that carries a substantially horizontal rotary cutting blade. A handle extends upwardly and rearwardly from the cutting deck. An operator grips a handle grip on the handle and walks behind the mower to guide and control the mower.
The cutting chamber is formed on the underside of the cutting deck and includes a top wall and a downwardly extending, peripheral side wall. The cutting chamber has an open bottom facing the ground so that the blade rotating inside the cutting chamber can contact and sever grass as the cutting chamber moves over the ground. The cutting chamber often includes a central hub that defines an annular channel between the hub and the sidewall of the cutting chamber. The grass clippings created by the blade will circulate through at least a portion of this annular channel before exiting the cutting chamber through an exit tunnel.
The exit tunnel is typically U-shaped having a top wall and spaced apart side walls. The exit tunnel rises in height from a front end thereof to a rear end thereof. The exit tunnel receives the grass clippings from the cutting chamber and conducts the grass clippings to a rear discharge opening on the exit tunnel. The grass clippings can be discharged through the discharge opening onto the ground or can be collected in a grass collection container when such a container is connected to the discharge opening. This is the discharge/collection mode of operation of the lawn mower.
The rear discharge opening of the exit tunnel can be selectively closed by a pivotal door which pivots about a substantially horizontal pivot axis adjacent the top wall at the rear of the exit tunnel. Thus, the door can be pivoted upwardly and forwardly inside the exit tunnel to lie flat against the top wall of the exit tunnel to open the rear discharge opening when the mower is in the aforementioned discharge/collection mode of operation. Alternatively, the door can be pivoted rearwardly and downwardly to hang generally vertically downwardly from its pivot axis to block or close the rear discharge opening of the exit tunnel. This places the mower in a mulching mode of operation.
When a mower is placed into its mulching mode simply by closing the pivotal door at the rear of the exit tunnel, this leaves the length of the exit tunnel forward of the door open to the cutting chamber. Thus, grass clippings can still enter the exit tunnel and will quickly pack inside the exit tunnel against the closed door. This will detract from the mulching performance of the mower since grass clippings can dribble or fall out of the front of the tunnel in an unpredictable manner and leave clumps of clippings on the ground. In addition, the packed clippings have to be cleaned out of the exit tunnel from the inside of the cutting chamber in order to open the pivotal door to place the mower into its discharge/collection mode of operation.
Some mowers of this type use a grass plug that can be inserted into the exit tunnel through the rear discharge opening when the pivotal door is open. The grass plug extends the length of the tunnel and keeps grass from entering the tunnel when the plug is in place. The insertion of the plug places the mower into its mulching mode of operation without having to close the pivotal door. U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,449 to Thorud, which is assigned to The Toro Company, the assignee of this invention, shows a mower of this type, i.e. a mower with a grass plug insertable into the exit tunnel to place the mower into its mulching mode of operation.
The grass plug approach to blocking the exit tunnel has a number of disadvantages. First, the grass plug can be quite difficult to remove from the exit tunnel after it has been in place for a period of time because dirt and grass clippings wedge between the walls of the plug and the walls of the exit tunnel. Thus, some users may not use the grass plug and instead may use only the pivotal door to block off the exit tunnel in the mulching mode of operation, thereby leading to the tunnel plugging difficulties which use of the grass plug was intended to overcome. Secondly, the grass plug is a separate part and is prone to being lost or misplaced. If the grass plug is misplaced or not readily at hand, the mower can be placed into the mulching mode of operation only by closing the pivotal door at the rear of the exit tunnel.
Moreover, using an exit tunnel to lead grass clippings out of a cutting chamber inherently detracts from the mulching performance of a lawn mower because the clippings are intended to travel in a path that leads out of the cutting chamber rather than encouraging the clippings to remain in the cutting chamber and being driven down into the cut grass path. Some mulching mowers are dedicated mowers in which the cutting chamber has no exits and whose shape is optimized to permit recirculation of the grass clippings and their eventual deposition in the cut grass path. However, such dedicated mulching mowers are not as desirable to many consumers as mowers which can be converted between a discharge/collection mode and a mulching mode of operation since such mowers cannot be used to bag the clippings. Accordingly, there is a need in the mower art for a mower which can be easily converted between the discharge/collection and mulching modes of operation and whose performance in the mulching mode of operation approaches that of a dedicated mulching mower.

Rotary lawn mower with pivotal mulch door


Disclosed is a system and method for performing reconstruction or on-line capacity expansion, background tasks, on a disk group configured on a controller with minimal impact on the other disk groups configured on the same controller. A user is enabled to continuously experience increased performance on all source virtual disks configured on the controller since the DRAM is always dedicated for I/O performance.

Mass storage systems continue to provide increased storage capacities to satisfy user demands. Photo and movie storage, and photo and movie sharing are examples of applications that fuel the growth in demand for larger and larger storage systems. A solution to these increasing demands is the use of redundant arrays of multiple inexpensive disks (RAID).
Multiple disk drive components may be combined into logical units. Data may then be distributed across the drives in one of several ways. RAID is an umbrella term for computer storage schemes that can divide and replicate data among multiple physical drives. The physical drives are considered to be in groups of drives, or disks. Typically the array can be accessed by an operating system, or controller, as a single drive.
In disk groups, typically, all virtual disks configured on other disk groups are moved to write-through mode when a reconstruction or on-line capacity expansion is in progress. All disk groups use DRAM resources during Reconstruction or On-line Capacity Expansion . During such operations, every Virtual Disk configured on the Controller is invariably moved to write-through mode.

Method and system to maintain maximum performance levels in all disk groups by using controller VDs for background tasks

Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) Pte Ltd


A method, tool, and machine for hardening a photoresist image while the photoresist image is immersed in a liquid.

FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art method of making a semiconductor device including providing a semiconductor device 10 with a first layer 6 such as a dielectric layer having an upper surface 8. A photoresist layer 26 is deposited over the upper surface 8 of the first layer 6 and patterned and a development composition 22 is flowed over the photoresist layer 26 so that individual photoresist features are defined, such as a first photoresist feature 12 and a second photoresist feature 14 with a gap 16 therebetween. The first photoresist feature 12 includes an inside wall 18 facing an inside wall 20 of the second photoresist feature 14. The photoresist features 12 and 14 have an outside wall 19 and 21 respectively. FIG. 2 illustrates a prior art step in the semiconductor manufacturing wherein the development fluid or rinse fluid is spun dry in an effort to leave the individual photoresist features 12, 14. However, the photoresist features 12, 14 can collapse as illustrated in FIG. 2. The collapsing becomes more prevalent in situations where the aspect ratio, that is the photoresist thickness (height)/photoresist width ratio is greater than 3. The collapse problem is also prevalent when small photoresist features such as line widths less than 150 nm are formed.
As will be appreciated from FIG. 2, when the photoresist collapses typically the inner side wall 18 of the first photoresist feature 12 engages the inner side wall 20 of the second photoresist feature 14 to close off the gap 16 that was therebetween. FIG. 4 is a plan illustration of the collapsed photoresist features 12 and 14. It will be appreciated that there is no opening or gap 16 between the first photoresist feature 12 and the second photoresist feature 14 and therefore wet or dry etching materials, or other material cannot pass between the photoresist features.
Messick et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,451,510, discloses one solution to preventing photoresist collapse. Messick et al. discloses a method of developing photoresist patterns on electronic component substrates such as semiconductor wafers using specially defined developer compositions in sequence with a specially defined rinse composition to develop an exposed photoresist pattern and then the developed pattern is rinsed. Both the developer composition and the rinse composition contain an anionic surfactant and, when these solutions are used in sequence, they form a photoresist pattern which avoids pattern collapse even with small features such as line widths less than 150 nm and with aspect ratios greater than about 3. Disclosed as suitable anionic surfactants are ammonium perfluoroalkyl sulfonate and ammonium perfluoroalkyl carboxylate.
The present invention provides alternatives to the prior art.

Resist collapse prevention using immersed hardening

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


A brass-wind musical instrument mouthpiece. A plurality of nodal enhancers is provided externally about the portion of the mouthpiece between its rim and shank. In an exemplary embodiment for a trumpet, a total of six rings and seven interspersed grooves in the outer wall of the cup barrel region of the mouthpiece are integrally provided. Better intonation is also achieved with the present invention.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to musical instruments, more particularly to mouthpieces for brass-wind musical instruments, and, more specifically to a mouthpiece having external features-such as dampers or fins-to enhance produced sounds.
2. Description of Related Art
Brass-wind musical instruments, often referred to as simply brass instruments, are the group of instruments generally characterized by a long cylindrical or conical metal tube commonly curved two or more times and ending in a flared bell. Brass instruments produce tones by passage of air through and vibrations of the player's lips against a usually cup shaped mouthpiece. Brass instruments usually have valves or a slide by which the player may produce all the tones within the instrument's range. Commonly known brass instruments are the trumpet and cornet, the trombone, the French horn, and the tuba; less well known are the fluegelhorn, the euphoniums or baritones, and the marching horns, like the mellophoniums, and the like.
In order to accommodate the nearly infinite variety of embouchures among individual players and the different types of music, a large variety of mouthpieces have been developed for brass-wind instruments. In fact, the brass-wind instrument player is faced with hundreds of choices of mouthpieces in various manufacture and design as demonstrated in The Brasswind Catalog, Fall/Winter 96-07, copr. The Woodwind & The Brasswind Company, South Bend, Ind., pages 48-56.
Different design specifications for the mouthpiece's rim, cup dimensions, throat entrance, venturi, backbore and shank are used to change or adjust the performance of the mouthpiece and hence the sounds made by the brass instrument with which it is used. For example, the shallower the cup, the brighter the sound that will be produced. The average player will select a standardized, medium performance, mouthpiece to play his instrument comfortably and accurately across the entire musical register of the instruments range. Performance quality is thus partially sacrificed for comfort, endurance, and control.
Adjustments and modifications to rim, cup, throat, backbore, and overall mass features of brass-wind mouthpieces have been used in the past in attempts to produce mouthpieces that are both true to pitch across the entire range of a brass-wind instrument's range. However, the change of one feature to affect a different result in one aspect, e.g., endurance, often conversely affects another aspect, e.g., flexibility. Generally, manufacturer's provide an assortment of combinations from which a player can pick and choose that which provides him the best average performance level. Many serious musicians use more than one mouthpiece to optimize performance based on their individual embouchure and on the particular musical piece being performed. For example, for a musical piece having many notes at the high end of the register in an instrument' range, the musician may switch to a mouthpiece having design specifications facilitating high register note production.
In order to obtain what is known as a "dark" (less piercing, less brilliant) sound, some manufacturers have introduced "heavy wall" mouthpieces, having a thick cup barrel section. A common problem with heavy wall mouthpieces is that they limit the number of harmonics resonating from the instrument; higher frequency harmonics are virtually non-existent. However, certain selected ones of such higher harmonics are desirable as they can interface and blend with notes of surrounding instruments of a music ensemble and produce a much richer quality in the overall sound, adding "life" or "color" to the performance of the group.
Another common problem with brass instruments is that mouthpieces tend not to be true to pitch for all notes throughout the chromatic scales within their range. For example, in using a B-flat, Bb, trumpet high range notes, such as the second-C above piano middle-C and higher tend to go flatter than the true octave pitch; some mouthpiece designs exaggerate this effect more than others. Backbore and throat size adjustments are generally used to compensate for this problem.
There have been a variety of attempts to improve the tone or quality or pitch of the notes produced by changing mouthpiece designs. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,395,933 (Shepley) for a Mouthpiece for Brass-Wind Instruments, an assembled mouthpiece having a cup formed of four wall sections 42-48 of differing angularity is said to allow improved player performance.
There is a need for a mouthpiece designed to produce a better and more stable sound made by a brass-wind instrument throughout its musical register range, particularly in heavy wall mouthpiece designs that are intended to produce rich, dark, symphonic sounds.

Brass-wind musical instrument mouthpiece


A guitar stand specially adapted to attach to existing stage amplification equipment thereby providing a stable support for an acoustic or electric guitar while maximizing the stage space available to the performer. The guitar stand includes a yoke, a support arm and a base, and a clamping mechanism. In operation, the guitar stand is detachably clamped to amplification equipment and supports the guitar above the floor. The unique structure of the stand balances the weight of the guitar against the weight of the equipment for stability.

Guitar stands and other musical supports have been used for many years. Typically, guitar stands rest on the floor and support the guitar from the base and/or the tuning head of the guitar. Floor guitar stands rely on the stability of three legs in a tripod to keep the guitar in a safe, upright position. However, traditional guitar stands tip over quite easily, risking damage to the guitars. In addition, the stage floor space available to the performer is reduced by the size of the floor area encompassed by the tripod legs.
An invention that would provide a stable guitar stand that maximizes the performer's usable stage space would be greatly appreciated.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a guitar stand which is strong, lightweight and easily installed or removed.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a guitar stand which is adjustable for varying shapes of tuning heads of guitars.


A positive resist composition comprising a base polymer comprising recurring units (a) of an ammonium salt of a carboxylic acid having an iodized or brominated hydrocarbyl group and recurring units (b1) having an acid labile group-substituted carboxyl group and/or recurring units (b2) having an acid labile group-substituted phenolic hydroxyl group has a high sensitivity and resolution and forms a pattern of good profile with reduced edge roughness and improved dimensional uniformity.

To meet the demand for higher integration density and operating speed of LSIs, the effort to reduce the pattern rule is in rapid progress. The logic devices used in smart phones or the like drive forward the miniaturization technology. Logic devices of 10-nm node are manufactured in a large scale using a multi-patterning lithography process based on ArF lithography.
In the application of lithography to next 7-nm or 5-nm node devices, the increased expense and overlay accuracy of multi-patterning lithography become tangible. The advent of EUV lithography capable of reducing the number of exposures is desired.
Since the wavelength (13.5 nm) of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) is shorter than 1/10 of the wavelength (193 nm) of ArF excimer laser, the EUV lithography achieves a high light contrast, from which a high resolution is expectable. Because of the short wavelength and high energy density of EUV, an acid generator is sensitive to a small dose of photons. It is believed that the number of photons available with EUV exposure is 1/14 of that of ArF exposure. In the EUV lithography, the phenomenon that the edge roughness (LER, LWR) of line patterns or the critical dimension uniformity (CDU) of hole patterns is degraded by a variation of photon number is considered a problem.
Aiming to reduce a photon number variation, an attempt was made to render the resist film more absorptive so that the number of photons absorbed in the resist film is increased. For example, among halogens, iodine is highly absorptive to EUV of wavelength 13.5 nm. Patent Documents 1 to 3 disclose to use iodized resins as the EUV resist material.
Patent Document 4 discloses an iodonium carboxylate quencher consisting of a carboxylate anion and an iodonium cation. Patent Documents 5 and 6 propose to use hypervalent iodine compounds as the quencher. Patent Document 7 describes a sulfonium salt of iodine-substituted benzoic acid. Because of the large atomic weight of iodine, quenchers in the form of iodized compounds are highly effective for suppressing acid diffusion.
For the purpose of suppressing acid diffusion, Patent Documents 8 and 9 use resist compositions comprising a polymer comprising amino-containing recurring units. The polymeric amine is effective for suppressing acid diffusion. Patent Document 10 discloses a resist material comprising a base polymer comprising recurring units of an acid generator and recurring units of an amine. It is a single-component resist material in which an acid generator and a quencher are incorporated in a common polymer and able to minimize the impact of acid diffusion.
The suppression of acid diffusion can lead to a reduction of LER or LWR. It is believed that such a reduction is caused by the uneven diffusion of acid. The suppression of acid diffusion can also lead to a lowering of the sensitivity of resist material. These bring about the belief that the EUV lithography has a tradeoff relation between LWR and sensitivity. It is desired to develop a resist material having a higher sensitivity and reduced LER or LWR by overcoming the tradeoff relation.
Non-Patent Document 1 reports that a sulfonium salt is decomposed with radicals. Besides the decomposition upon light exposure, a possibility of decomposition with radicals is indicated.

Positive resist composition and patterning process


The present invention provides a device and a method for displaying appropriately on the display area for each processing unit such as an application according to the applied equipment. The CPU 12 processes display area acquisition requests from a plurality of processing units R1-Rn according to a display management program. The display management program decides whether use of the display area is allowed to each processing unit, considering the relationship of the plurality of display areas requested from each processing unit R1-Rn. Each processing unit R1-Rn executes display processing for the display area for which use is allowed. In this way, whether use is allowed is notified from the display management program to each processing unit R1-Rn after each processing unit R1-Rn sends the display area acquisition request. As a consequence, display in a plurality of areas by each processing unit R1-Rn can be controlled appropriately.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for control display on a screen by a plurality of processing units (tasks and applications), and more particularly to an allocation of the display area.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a plurality of applications display on one screen, a window system, such as X-Window System, has been used. In these window systems, each application displays acquiring the respective window (multi-window).
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application HEI4-274289 discloses a device which groups windows acquired by each application, and displays or does not display in group units.
Also in accordance with Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-100662, when contents displayed on a plurality of windows are inter-related, these plurality of windows are simultaneously displayed so that the user can easily understand the display contents.
However, with the conventional display based on a multi-window, what application displays on what display area basically depends on the application. Therefore it is possible for an application to display a window which overlaps with the window displayed by another application. When such a problem occurs, the user must change the position of the window which is overlapped by another window in order to view the display of the window, which is troublesome.
In satellite broadcasting TV, where users need not change the positions of windows, different applications must be used to prevent the overlapping display of windows. For such devices, a conventional window system cannot be used.
In accordance with the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application HEI4-274289, multiple windows specified by an application are grouped so as to improve the operability of each window, but the handling of overlapping of windows depends on the application. In other words, an undesired display of multi-windows is inevitable, and the above mentioned problems are not solved.
In accordance with the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application HEI1-100662, the handling of overlapping windows also depends on the application, where an undesired display of multi-windows is still inevitable, and the above mentioned problems are not solved.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Composite materials are provided that include one or more CNT yarns embedded in a matrix material. The composite materials may be transparent. Methods for making the composite materials are also provided. The composite materials may be made by arranging at least one CNT yarn into a desired pattern and embedding the at least one CNT yarn into a matrix material.

CNTs are cylindrical molecules of carbon atoms, wherein the carbon atoms are arranged in a hexagonal lattice. High-quality CNTs are several times stronger than steel piano wire, despite the fact that piano wire is roughly four times as dense. CNTs are also at least five times more thermally conductive than copper, and have very high electrical conductivity and current-carrying capacity.
As a result, CNTs belong to a class of nanomaterials that have remarkable physical and mechanical properties. Their superlative mechanical properties make them a desirable filler material for composite reinforcement. Attempts have been made to disperse CNTs into a polymer matrix as a filler, thereby reinforcing the polymer. To apply the superior properties of CNTs to composites, it is sometimes desirable to disperse CNTs in matrix materials uniformly, and increase the coherence at the interfaces of CNTs and matrix materials.
When using CNTs to reinforce poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), several dispersion methods such as melt blending (Z. Jin, et al. CHEMICAL PHYSICS LETTERS, 337, 43-47 (2001)), in-situ polymerization (Z. Jia, et al. MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, A271, 395-400 (1999)), solution mixing (solvent evaporation) (C. Stéphan, et al., SYNTHETIC METALS, 108, 139-149 (2000); and K. H. Kim, et al. COMPOSITES SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 68, 2120-2124 (2008)), and mold injection (W. J. Lee, et al. COMPOSITE STRUCTURES, 76, 406-410 (2006)) have been proposed. While these methods show some improvement in the mechanical properties of the composite material, the reinforcement effect of the CNTs is relatively small. Furthermore, the composite materials produced by these methods generally are not transparent. In some instances, the composite materials produced by these methods is black.
At least in certain instances, these properties are due to the difficulties associated with one or more of the following: uniformly dispersing a high concentration of CNTs in matrix materials (especially when long CNTs are used), aligning CNTs in a composite, and the weak interactions between CNTs and a matrix material. Furthermore, the dispersion methods described in the prior art typically cause the resulting composite materials to lose transparency when transparent materials are used as the matrix material. This problem occurs—in some instances—even when the content of CNTs is less than 1 wt %.
Methods are needed that allow CNTs to be used as filler in a composite material that reduces or avoids one or more of these difficulties.

Composite materials reinforced with carbon nanotube yarns

Florida State University Research Foundation, Inc.


Provided is a radiation detector including a scintillator which generates, when a radial ray enters, scintillation light having light intensity according to energy of the radial ray, and then supplies a photon of the scintillation light to each of a plurality of pixels, a radial ray detection unit which detects whether or not the radial ray is made to enter based on a number of the photons supplied in an exposure period whenever the plurality of pixels are exposed by the scintillation light over the exposure period, and an exposure period adjusting unit which adjusts the exposure period based on an incident frequency of the detected radial ray.

In recent years, medical diagnostic devices employing photon counting of radial rays typified by a Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT: gamma camera) and a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) have been increasingly introduced. In the photon counting of radial rays, a detector is required to have high time resolution and also perform detection of the energy intensity of each single-photon radial ray, and count filtering according to the energy intensity is carried out.
For example, a slight amount of a gamma-ray source, such as technetium, is introduced into the inside of the living body, and then a gamma-ray source distribution in the living body is determined from position information of gamma rays to be emitted, whereby associated diseases, such as a blood-flow state in the living body and ischemia, are diagnosed. For the detection, a SPECT (gamma camera) device is used and a scintillator and a photomultiplier are usually used as a detector of gamma rays.
The basic configuration of the SPECT device is introduced in FIG. 25 and the like, for example, in a prior art of Patent Literature 1 (JP 2006-242958A). A specific example of signal processing for determining the incident position and the energy intensity of the gamma rays entering the detector is described in Patent Literature 2 (JP 2006-508344T), for example.
FIG. 1 is a view for explaining the outline of gamma ray detection. In the gamma ray detection, when a gamma ray 2 generated from a gamma-ray source 1 in the living body enters a scintillator 4 passing through a collimator 3, the scintillator 4 exhibits a fluorescence, and then the fluorescence is detected by photomultipliers 5 disposed in the shape of an array. The photomultipliers 5 amplify the same to produce current pulses, and then the current pulses are output to an arithmetic unit 7 as an incident light quantity value to each photodetection element through a converter 6 containing a voltage converter, an amplifier, and an A/D converter.
On the other hand, a gamma ray 8 which undergoes Compton scattering in the living body to be attenuated passes the collimator 3, and then detected in some cases. The signal is a noise which has lost the original position information. Or, a noise emitted as an unusually high signal caused by cosmic rays or the like is mentioned. The SPECT device filters these noises by energy discrimination from primary gamma rays which are not subjected to scattering. The arithmetic unit 7 performs the noise discrimination and the position determination of each gamma ray based on an output from the converter 6 connected to each photomultiplier. When the scintillator 4 is formed with a solid plate, the light emission is simultaneously detected by the plurality of photomultipliers 5. The arithmetic unit 7 specifies the gamma ray energy from the total output and specifies the incident position of the gamma rays from the center of gravity of the output, for example. In order to determine each gamma ray incidence as an independent event, these operation need to be performed at very high speed. Thus, the number of times of events of the gamma rays which are determined to be a primary (not a noise) is counted, and then the gamma-ray source distribution in the living body is identified.
The photon counting of radial rays involving such energy discrimination has been adopted also for X-ray transmission imaging in addition to transmission imaging using gamma rays having high transmission ability in recent years, and the effect has been increasingly recognized. For example, Patent Literature 3 (JP 2011-24773A) and Patent Literature 4 (JP 2004-77132A) each describe one example of such devices, and the application thereof to a mammography and an X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) has been expected. However, since the frequency of the incident radial rays is high in the case of X-rays, the photon counting has been demanded to have time resolution higher than that of gamma rays for medical treatment.
On the other hand, in Patent Literature 5 (JP 2011-97581A), the applicant suggests a new image pickup device by photon counting in which the dynamic range is increased using time division and screen division by a plurality of pixels in combination while following the circuit configuration of a Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) imager. Such a device can also be used as a device for photon counting in which the entire pixel array in a chip is one light receiving surface.
When detecting radial rays using such a semiconductor image pickup device and a scintillator, the number of photons emitted from the scintillator with the incidence of the radial rays reflects the energy intensity of the radial rays. By performing photon counting thereof, the detection sensitivity comparable to that of a photomultiplier can be achieved. However, the scintillation light is subjected to the photon counting herein and the number of photons of the radial rays is not counted.

Semiconductor photodetector and radial ray detector

SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION


In a process for generating a stereoscopic video picture by using partial images for the left eye and the right eye of an observer, which partial images emit light with different polarization states oriented orthogonally relative to one another, wherein the observer perceives the stereoscopic video picture through spectacles with eyepieces which filter the respective polarization state of the light. At least one light source is used for generating every partial image. This light source emits a substantially parallel, polarized light bundle which can be controlled with respect to intensity and whose polarization state is identical to one of the two orthogonal polarization states or can be converted into this polarization state with low loss and is raster-scanned on a screen to generate at least one partial image. A corresponding device comprises at least one light source which emits a polarized, substantially parallel light bundle which is controllable with respect to intensity and at least one raster scanning device for the left-to-right, top-to-bottom, line-by-line deflection of the light bundle on a screen for displaying at least one of the two partial images.

a) Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a process for generating a stereoscopic video picture by means of partial images for the left eye and for the right eye of an observer, these partial images emitting light with different polarization states oriented orthogonally relative to one another, wherein the observer perceives the stereoscopic video picture through spectacles with eyepieces which filter the respective polarization state of the light. The invention is further directed to a device for generating a stereoscopic video picture by means of partial images for the left eye and for the right eye of an observer, these partial images emitting light with different polarization states oriented orthogonally relative to one another, wherein the observer perceives the stereoscopic video picture through spectacles with two eyepieces which filter the respective polarization state of the light.
b) Description of the Related Art
The representation of three-dimensional images is desired for the future development of video technology not only because of increased entertainment value in television, but also because three-dimensional pictures can be used as design aids in computer aided design, since the designed element can be observed directly and two-dimensional views with auxiliary lines for hidden edges are dispensed with.
There are essentially two methods to be distinguished in the known prior art for representing three-dimensional video pictures. In the first method, the three-dimensional pictures are imaged as plane sectional images in a plurality of planes arranged one behind the other. The second method makes use of the fact that an observer only recognizes a three-dimensional picture in that he observes an object through both eyes from different viewing angles. By using this second method (stereoscopy, as it is called), two pictures detected from different viewing angles are presented to the left eye or right eye so that the object shown on the pictures is perceived three-dimensionally by the observer's brain as is customary in normal vision. The stereoscopic process uses special spectacles which filter the two pictures out of an overall picture and present these pictures to the left eye or right eye of the observer.
The imaging of three-dimensional pictures in a plurality of picture planes in accordance with the first method is described in WO 79/00308 A1 and EP 0 311 843 A2. Special spectacles are not used in this type of image generation. However, three-dimensional pictures shown in this way require a substantially greater amount of information than would be required for the transmission of only two pictures separately for the left eye and right eye. Therefore, it is not expected that these devices will be put to general use in video and television technology in the near future.
The second method, that of generating stereoscopic images, is also used in the process and device mentioned in the introduction. Two partial images are generated with different polarization states orthogonal to one another and are superimposed. Spectacles worn by the observer then filter out the partial image for the left eye and the partial image for the right eye via polarizing filters.
Processes and devices of this type are known from DE 39 10 420 A1, EP 0 328 357 A2, DE 36 07 629 C2, DE 32 01 837 A1, and DE 32 14 327 A1. In order to represent two pictures, one for each eye of the observer, picture tubes are used as is conventional in television technology. By means of polarizing filters located in front of a picture tube, the polarization of the image emanating from the light, depending upon the partial image represented, is either changed alternately or partial images generated on two picture tubes are projected upon one another after filtering the picture with different polarization. The observer wears spectacles with two polarizing filters filtering out different polarization states; the polarizing filters allow one of the partial images to pass through for each eye. If two partial images are taken by different cameras spaced apart at a defined distance, for example, this results in a stereoscopic image for the observer.
However, using polarizing filters in the spectacles and acting upon the superposed partial images with additional polarization leads to energy losses which must be taken into account in generating pictures. In very large-picture screen surfaces, the increased energy necessitated by this loss can result in heat problems requiring cooling. Thus, the undesirably high energy consumption is compounded by increased constructional expense.
In accordance with DE 31 34 649 A1, DE 32 26 703 A1, EP 0 076 015 A1, EP 0253 121 A2 and WO 80/1447 A1, the two pictures are represented in different colors for the left eye and right eye. Spectacles provide for the selection of the pictures generated for the left eye and right eye by means of color filters. Large energy losses are also inevitable when filtering out colors.
In addition to the large intensity losses caused by color filters, this technique also has the disadvantage that high-quality stereoscopic color pictures are rendered impossible because the color information already in use for allocating the pictures to the respective eyes is thus not fully available for showing colors.
Another device (DE 37 29 521 A1) does not need to use polarized light because the partial images for the left eye and right eye are generated in alternating cycles, wherein the information for the left eye and right eye is screened out synchronously with the presentation of the corresponding partial image with the aid of spectacles. This technique would appear suitable for reducing energy losses compared with the prior art indicated above. However, this assumption has proved wrong in practice. Because of the rapidity of the observer's eye, the switching frequencies for opening and closing the shutters contained in the spectacles must be very high. Moreover, in order to avoid possible disturbing noise which is to be expected in the mechanical execution of this shutter mechanism, only LCD arrays can be used as shutters in practice. However, these LCD arrays also pass only a small portion of the light and thus likewise result in large energy losses.
This technique using spectacles provided with shutters was used in connection with film projection for the Sony Theater in Lincoln Square, New York ("SPIEGEL", no. 48, 1994, page 213). Although this method of cinematic projection uses low-loss 15,000-watt xenon lamps such as those developed by NASA for illuminating nighttime space launches, large individual pictures must be used for projection so that the thermal loading of the film remains within acceptable ranges. The article cited above mentions that rolls of film can only be changed with forklifts. This example is a particularly clear illustration of the large energy requirement especially in stereoscopic large-picture representation in accordance with the present state of the art and the resulting impractical handling.
Further, this technique has the disadvantage that a signal must be fed to the shutter-controlled spectacles in order to open the shutter in front of the respective eye. The only alternative to an unmanageable wiring of the spectacles is a remote control, e.g., via infrared light, which sharply increases the cost per set of spectacles.
Arrangements for generating stereoscopic video pictures in which two pictures are presented directly to both eyes are described in DE 34 21 652 A1, DE 31 34 646 A1, EP 0 282 955 A1, EP 0336 628 A1, EP 0262 955 A1, WO 83/02706 A1, and WO 84/01680 A1. These arrangements either use special spectacles in which two stereoscopic partial images are sent to the eyes via prisms or mirrors or the partial images are generated directly by small monitor tubes in the spectacles for each eye.
DE 31 40 404 A1 discloses a projection and recording apparatus in which two pictures are written on different LCD arrays by an individual laser beam making use of the two polarization states of the laser beam and can be projected in a superimposed manner by light from different light sources. Arranged in the path of the laser beam is a controllable polarizing device which passes the light of one polarizing device or the other, depending upon the picture to be written. Although this reference teaches the recording and/or projection of two pictures, the person skilled in the art will not make use of this teaching to generate stereoscopic video pictures, because at least two light sources must be used to display only one picture and also because a large portion of the energy of the two utilized light sources is converted into heat either at the polarizer or at the LCD arrays.

Process and device for generating a stereoscopic video picture

LDT GmbH & Co. Laser-Display Technologie KG


An engine wall structure includes an inner wall to which hot gas is admitted during engine operation, an outer wall, which is colder than the inner wall during engine operation, and at least two webs that connect the inner wall with the outer wall and delimit a cooling duct between the walls. The webs are mainly formed by a first material and the inner wall is mainly formed by a second material of other composition and other heat conductivity than the first material.

The present invention relates to an engine wall structure and to a method of producing an engine wall structure that comprises an inner wall, to which hot gas is admitted during engine operation, an outer wall, which is colder than the inner wall during engine operation, and at least two webs that connect the inner wall with the outer wall and delimit a cooling duct between said walls.
During engine operation, any cooling medium may flow through the ducts. However, in particular, the invention relates to engine wall structures and a process for manufacturing engine wall structures in which there is a plurality of such webs dividing the space between the walls into a plurality of ducts, in particular for cooling the firing chamber walls and the thrust nozzle walls of rocket engines driven with hydrogen as a fuel or a hydrocarbon, i.e. kerosene, wherein the fuel is introduced in the cold state into the wall structure, is delivered through the cooling ducts while absorbing heat via the inner wall, and is subsequently used to generate the thrust. Heat is transferred from the hot gases to the inner wall, further on to the fuel, from the fuel to the outer wall, and, finally, from the outer wall to any medium surrounding it. Heat is also transported away by the coolant media as the coolant temperature increases by the cooling. The hot gases may comprise a flame generated by combustion of gases and/or fuel.
Accordingly, the engine wall structure is preferably a thrust nozzle wall, preferably of a rocket engine.
According to prior art, the engine wall structures of regeneratively cooled combustion chambers for liquid propellant rocket engines, cooling channels or ducts are machined, for example by milling, in a sheet or core that will form the inner wall, or at least part of an inner wall. In the case of regenerative cooling, this inner wall sheet may mainly comprise copper or a copper alloy. However, other materials such as steel may also be used as the core. The resulting ducts are delimited by remaining webs, and may subsequently be filled with a filler material such as a conductive resin.
Subsequently, an outer cover, defining the outer wall, is applied to and attached to the projecting webs, for example by means of electro-deposition. The outer wall may comprise plural layers of a material such as nickel or a nickel-alloy. The outer cover may, possibly, also be attached to the inside of the inner wall sheet, thereby fully sur-rounding the core. The filler material, transformed by means of heating into a liquid state, is then drained off through an end of the respective duct.
However, prior art results in an insufficient control of the exact thickness of the remaining inner wall, due to the inherent problem of obtaining an exact milling depth in the inner wall sheet. As a result, the control of the heat transfer becomes less predictable than it would have been if the exact inner wall thickness had been known. Also the area of the cross section of the ducts depends of the milling depth. Since alterations of that area will result in correspondingly altered flow conditions in the duct, this will also affect the effective heat transfer and the possibility of predicting the latter.
Moreover, the requirements on the thermal conductivity of the inner wall and the webs may differ substantially. By regenerative cooling of an engine wall structure, by which the cooling medium has a high heat absorption capacity by the large coolant mass flow and largely comprises fuel to be used in a subsequent combustion process, the conductivity of the inner wall is much more decisive for the outcome of the cooling than is the conductivity of the webs. By so called dump cooling, by which the cooling medium has a low heat absorption capacity by a low coolant mass flow, the heat conductivity of the webs may be more decisive for the outcome of the cooling than will the conductivity of the inner wall. This insight has not been mentioned at all by prior art.
It is desirable to provide an engine wall structure and a method of producing an engine wall structure as initially defined, by which heat is effectively and predictably transferred from the inner wall to the outer wall through a cooling medium, preferably a fuel, in one or more ducts and through the material of the webs that delimit said duct or ducts and that connect the inner and outer walls.
The invention shall also present an engine wall structure the construction of which is such that it promotes the obtaining of a very precisely controlled inner wall thickness upon generation of the webs as well as a facilitated subsequent attachment of the outer wall to the webs, especially when the inner wall material is different from the outer wall material and not easily connected by any metal fusion process. The design of the engine wall structure should also be such that it takes into consideration the different heat conductivity requirements of the inner wall and the webs.
According to an aspect of the present invention, the webs are formed by application of a first material onto the inner wall, said inner wall being comprised by a second material of other composition and other heat conductivity than said first material.
Any suitable technique for applying the webs to the inner wall may be used, such as welding of solid pieces of the first material onto the inner wall. However, deposition of the first material, preferably electro-deposition, is preferred.
By building the webs by means of application thereof onto the inner wall, preferably by deposition and most preferably by means of electro-deposition, the thickness of that wall will not be affected like when the webs are produced through machining of the inner wall, while, at the same time, the height of the web can be very finely adjusted, for example by means of a final milling of the web top. By using materials of different composition and heat conductivity, the webs may be tailored for their individual, specific functions, especially regarding the conductivity. Subsequent to the formation of the webs, the outer wall is attached to the webs.
Preferably, a removable mask is placed onto said inner wall before the deposition of the webs is begun, said mask defining spaces in which the webs are deposited onto the inner wall. Thereby, a precise deposition of the web material is promoted.
According to a preferred embodiment the outer wall is connected to the webs by means of a metal fusion operation, preferably welding, and most preferably laser welding. Accordingly, the outer wall comprises a sheet or the like that is connected to the webs.
Preferably, the composition of the material of the webs is substantially equal to the composition of the material of the outer wall. Thereby, any metal fusion process for attaching the second wall to the webs is facilitated.
Preferably, the material of the inner wall has higher heat conductivity than the material used for the webs. This is typically an advantage in those cases when there is a regenerative cooling with a high coolant flow rate or when the cooling medium has a high density, such as when in liquid state, resulting in a high heat absorption, but still a relatively low temperature of the cooling medium and, accordingly, in a relatively low temperature of the webs and the outer wall. The heat conductivity of the material of the inner wall will be decisive for the amount of heat that will be transferred to the cooling medium. The webs and the outer wall may then, preferably, be made of a material of higher mechanical strength than the material of the inner wall, while their conductivity is of less importance. Preferably, regenerative cooling is applied to stage combustion cycle rocket engine nozzles or expander cycle rocket engine nozzles.
In a preferred embodiment, with rapidly flowing cooling medium or a cooling medium of high density, preferably liquid fuel, the inner wall comprises a copper or a copper-based alloy, and the webs comprise steel. Typically, this is preferred for a so-called regenerative cooling when hydrogen or kerosene to be used as fuel is also used as the cooling medium. The flow of the cooling medium should be such that a temperature well below the melting point of copper or copper alloy is obtained in the inner wall, preferably below 800 K. The use of a material with a remarkably lower heat conductivity, such as steel, for the inner wall, would result in a build up of a too high temperature in the inner wall and, as a result, a deterioration of the inner wall material.
Several materials, such as steel, used for inner walls and webs have relatively low heat conductivity at low temperatures. A low temperature of the cooling medium, for instance at the cooling duct inlet, will result in a low temperature of the engine wall webs, and a low heat conductivity thereof. Also, if the heat transferability of the cooling medium is poor, for example due to a low flow rate or due to a low cooling medium density, it would be desired to compensate this by the use of a highly heat conductive material, such as aluminum, for the webs, and possibly also for the outer wall. Therefore, according to one aspect of the invention, the material of the webs has higher heat conductivity than the material of the inner wall. This feature is preferred for so called dump cooling. Preferably, dump cooling is applied to gas generator cycle rocket engine nozzles.
If the cooling ability of the engine wall structure, including the cooling medium, is poor due to a low cooling medium flow rate or a low cooling medium density, the temperature of the inner wall might be to high for permitting the use of a highly heat-conducting material such as aluminum for the inner wall. In such cases it is preferred that the temperature resistance of the material of the inner wall is better than that of the web material. Thus, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the inner wall comprises steel or copper and the webs comprise aluminum or an aluminum-based alloy.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an engine wall structure comprises an inner wall, to which hot gas is admitted during engine operation, an outer wall, which is colder than the inner wall during engine operation, and at least two webs that connect the inner wall with the outer wall and delimit a cooling duct between said walls, characterised in that the webs are mainly comprised by a first material and that the inner wall is mainly comprised by a second material of other composition and other heat conductivity than said first material. Preferred embodiments of the engine wall structure of the invention include those embodiments that have been described above with regard to the inventive method, especially with regard to the specific compositions of the first and second materials.

Engine wall structure and a method of producing an engine wall structure