A charge pump circuit includes initialization units, each of which initializes a boost node to an initialization voltage. Boosting units each boost the boost node to a higher voltage than the initialization voltage in response to an input voltage. First and second pump circuits each include a transfer unit for transferring a voltage of the boost node to an output node and sharing the output node. The transfer unit of the first pump circuit includes two transfer transistors that are switched in response to a voltage of a control node of the first pump circuit and the voltage of the boost node of the second pump circuit. The transfer unit of the second pump circuit includes two transfer transistors that are switched in response to a voltage of a control node of the second pump circuit and the voltage of the boost node of the first pump circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a charge pump circuit, and more particularly, to a charge pump circuit for generating a boosted voltage that is higher than a low internal voltage.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the rapid development of micromachining technology, a power supply voltage is being continuously decreased to reduce power consumption. In order to meet demand for high-speed systems capable of high-speed digital communication, high-quality/high-speed display, and high-capacity storage, an analog block and a digital block within a system use a plurality of power supply voltages.
However, since some semiconductor devices or some circuits thereof require a high voltage, depending on their operation characteristics, the need exists for a charge pump circuit or a voltage boosting circuit for generating a higher voltage than a power supply voltage within a semiconductor device.
The charge pump circuit can obtain a high voltage by performing a boosting operation based on the law of conservation of electric charge after charging a voltage in an initialization state and transferring the charged voltage to an output stage. The charge pump circuit is divided into two types, which include an N-type Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (NMOS) voltage-doubler type for sequentially performing initialization, boosting, and transfer operations using NMOS transistors as charge transfer transistors and a cross-couple type for boosting one of two inputs having opposite phases, automatically initializing the other input, and transferring a boosted input voltage using an initialized low level of the other input.
There is a large difference between the two types. That is, the NMOS voltage-doubler type charge pump circuit additionally boosts a gate voltage using the NMOS transfer transistor in order to smoothly transfer the electric charge of an input stage to the output stage, whereas the cross-coupled charge pump circuit uses a P-type Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (PMOS) transfer transistor, performs a control operation using another input stage in order to improve the transfer efficiency per area and obtain a high output voltage, and constantly maintains a bulk voltage of the PMOS transistor at a maximum level.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a conventional NMOS voltage-doubler type charge pump circuit. The charge pump circuit includes an inverter IN, an initialization transistor N_in, an initialization control transistor N_inc, a transfer transistor N_tr, a transfer control transistor N_trc, an initialization control capacitor Cb1, a transfer control capacitor Cb2, a pump capacitor Cp, and an output capacitor Co. The initialization transistor N_in, the initialization control transistor N_inc, the transfer transistor N_tr, and the transfer control transistor N_trc are all NMOS transistors.
Operation of the conventional NMOS voltage-doubler charge pump circuit will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
First, the initialization control capacitor Cb1 and the initialization control transistor N_inc function to initialize the pump capacitor Cp at as high a voltage as possible upon initialization. The transfer control capacitor Cb2 and the transfer control transistor N_trc function to transfer as much electric charge as possible from the pump capacitor Cp to an output terminal when a transfer operation is performed.
When a positive input voltage VIN having a low level is initially applied to an input terminal, a phase is inverted to a high level through the inverter IN and the voltage of the initialization control capacitor Cb1 is raised. Since the initialization transistor N_in is turned on by raising the voltage of the gate terminal thereof, one side of the pump capacitor Cp is grounded by VIN and an internal voltage VINT is transferred to the other side of the pump capacitor Cp, such that the initialization operation is performed.
When a level of the internal voltage VINT applied to the gate terminal of the initialization control transistor N_inc is lower than a difference between a gate voltage and a threshold voltage, the initialization control transistor N_inc is turned off. When an inverted level of the positive input voltage VIN applied to the gate terminal of the transfer control transistor N_trc is higher than the difference between the gate voltage and the threshold voltage, the transfer control transistor N_trc is turned on.
When the initialized internal voltage VINT at the other side of the pump capacitor Cp is applied to the gate terminal of the transfer transistor N_tr through the transfer control transistor N_trc, the transfer transistor N_tr is turned off.
When the input voltage is increased after the initialization operation, the level at the one side of the pump capacitor Cp is raised from the ground voltage by the increased voltage. According to the law of conservation of electric charge, the level at the other side of the pump capacitor Cp is also raised from the initialized internal voltage VINT by the increased voltage, such that a boosted voltage VPP is generated by the pumping operation.
Since the boosted voltage applied to the gate terminal of the initialization control transistor N_inc is higher than the difference between the gate voltage and the threshold voltage, the initialization control transistor N_inc is turned on and the initialization transistor N_in is turned off by applying the internal voltage VINT to its gate terminal.
In contrast, when the increased input voltage VIN is applied to the gate terminal of the transfer transistor N_tr, the transfer transistor N_tr is turned on. The boosted voltage is transferred to the output terminal and is charged in the output capacitor Co.
However, in the conventional NMOS voltage-doubler type charge pump circuit, a maximum value of an output voltage capable of being generated by an NMOS gate voltage becomes the difference (Vg−Vth) between the gate voltage and the threshold voltage. Since an NMOS bias voltage is low, the charge pump circuit approaches a cut-off region where no current flows and current supply capability thereof is degraded.
In general, the charge pump circuit may use a multi-stage charge pump structure to easily control the internal voltage and the timing at which a target boosted-voltage is output. When an initialization time and a boosting and transfer time overlap in the same stage of the conventional NMOS voltage-doubler type charge pump circuit, unwanted electrical discharge occurs and efficiency rapidly deteriorates. Since the associated times are conventionally controlled using a delay unit, a precise control operation should be performed in consideration of voltage variation. However, it becomes difficult to control the timing when the number of stages increases.
FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a conventional cross-coupled charge pump circuit. The charge pump circuit includes first and second initialization transistors N_in1 and N_in2, first and second transfer transistors P_tr1 and P_tr2, first and second boost capacitors Cb1 and Cb2, and an output capacitor Co. The first and second initialization transistors N_in1 and N_in2 are NMOS transistors, and the first and second transfer transistors P_tr1 and P_tr2 are PMOS transistors.
Operation of the conventional cross-coupled charge pump circuit will be described with reference to FIG. 2.
When a positive input voltage VIN having a low level is initially applied to a first input terminal, one side of the first boost capacitor Cb1 is grounded and, simultaneously, the second transfer transistor P_tr2 is turned on. When a negative input voltage VINB having a high level is applied to a second input terminal, one side of the second boost capacitor Cb2 is at a high voltage and, simultaneously, the first initialization transistor N_in1 serving as the NMOS transistor is turned on when the voltage is applied to its gate terminal. An internal voltage VINT is transferred to the other side of the first boost capacitor Cb1 so that the first input terminal side is initialized.
At this time, since the negative input voltage VINB having a high level is applied to the gate terminal of the first transfer transistor P_tr1, the first transfer transistor P_tr1 is turned off.
When the first initialization transistor N_in1 is turned off after initialization of the first input terminal side, and the positive input voltage VIN is increased, the voltage at the one side of the first boost capacitor Cb1 is raised from the ground voltage by the increased voltage. According to the law of conservation of electric charge, the voltage at the other side of the first boost capacitor Cb1 is also raised from the initialized internal voltage VINT by the increased voltage, such that a boosted voltage is generated by the pumping operation.
When the negative input voltage VINB is decreased to a relatively low level and is applied to the gate terminal of the first transfer transistor P_tr1, the first transfer transistor P_tr1 is turned on and the pumped boosted voltage is transferred to the output terminal and charged in the output capacitor Co.
In contrast, when the positive input voltage VIN is increased, the negative input voltage VINB is decreased to a relatively low level. The first transfer transistor P_tr1 is turned on simultaneously when one side of the second boost capacitor Cb2 is grounded. When the input voltage having the high level is applied to the gate terminal of the second initialization transistor N_in2, the second initialization transistor N_in2 serving as the NMOS transistor is turned on and the internal voltage VINT is transferred to the other side of the second boost capacitor Cb2, such that the second input terminal side is initialized.
However, when the conventional cross-coupled charge pump circuit boosts one of the two input voltages having opposite phases, the other voltage is automatically initialized. Since the charge pump circuit has a structure for transferring the electric charge of the boosted voltage with another initialized voltage, waveforms of the two input voltages cross over and a shoot-through current is generated in an interval of the same phase. When the waveforms of the two input voltages overlap in the same phase, the electric charge of the output terminal flows backward to an internal power supply terminal, such that efficiency may be significantly lowered by a leakage current.
For example, if a time when the positive input voltage VIN transitions from the high level to the low level overlaps a time when the negative input voltage VINB transitions from the low level to the high level, the second initialization transistor N_in2 at the negative input voltage VINB side is turned on, such that the electric charge stored in the second boost capacitor Cb2 at the second input terminal side is not transferred to the output terminal and flows into the internal power supply terminal.
When the positive input voltage VIN does not transition to the high level due to a signal delay and the negative input voltage VINB transitions to the low level, voltages of first and second boost nodes NO1 and NO2 are partially decreased by the effect of bulk forward-bias. Accordingly, the first and second transfer transistors P_tr1 and P_tr2 are weakly turned on. The electric charge stored in the output capacitor Co partially flows backward to the first and second boost nodes NO1 and NO2.
Therefore, a voltage charged in the output capacitor Co is charged in the first and second boost capacitors Cb1 and Cb2. Since the voltage has a high level, the first and second initialization transistors N_in1 and N_in2 are turned on. In this case, since a leakage current is generated, the voltage of the output terminal is not maintained at a pumped boosted voltage.
In contrast, since the conventional cross-coupled charge pump circuit uses two inputs having opposite phases, transistor characteristics are irregularly degraded due to a high electric field.
That is, when the output voltage VOUT reaches a target voltage, a charge pumping operation is stopped and an increase of the output voltage VOUT is stopped. Since the positive input voltage VIN and the negative input voltage VINB conventionally have opposite phases, the charge pumping operation at one input terminal is stopped and the other input terminal is maintained at the high level. Also in a standby state in which the internal power supply voltage is applied but a semiconductor circuit itself does not operate, one input terminal of the positive input voltage VIN and the negative input voltage VINB should be maintained at the high level.
Specifically, since a direct current (DC) generator selectively operates only in a required interval, this state may continue for a long time. Since a transistor to which the high electric field is applied is fixed and the degradation effect is focused on the transistor, mismatch may be caused by degradation in a circuit, like the cross-coupled charge pump circuit, in which matching between both input terminals is important. Consequently, the performance of the charge pump circuit may be degraded.


Provided are a relocation system and a relocation method capable of relocating a virtual volume that is formed based on thin provisioning while ensuring security against exhaustion of pools. A database stores attribute information for pools and virtual volumes for thin provisioning that exist in a storage device as well as parameters for predicting time period till exhaustion of the pools. When a virtual volume is to be relocated between a plurality of pools, a relocation control section predicts time periods till exhaustion of the pools before and after relocation based on information in the database and determines the relocation is possible or not based on the result of prediction or determines an appropriate relocation plan. This enables control of relocation of virtual volumes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a relocation system and a relocation method capable of relocating a virtual volume that is formed based on thin provisioning while ensuring security against exhaustion of pools.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, data managed in an organization such as a company is stored in a storage device called a disk array subsystem or the like. This storage device has a plurality of storage units such as hard disk drives to form Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID) on which logical storage areas called volumes are formed. A host computer (hereinafter referred to as "host") accesses the storage units via these volumes to read/write data.
In recent years, amount of data managed in organizations such as companies continues to increase year after year and effective utilization of storage devices has become an issue of great importance. To address this issue, there are conventional techniques like tiered storage management and thin provisioning, and thin provisioning has become a technique for increasing efficiency of utilization of storage device capacity.
JP-A-2006-99748 discloses a method for tiered storage management that classifies volumes into groups called tiers according to their characteristics and appropriately positions data in a volume that has characteristics appropriate for the value of the data so as to effectively utilize storage.
For a general volume not based on thin provisioning (hereinafter called "general volume"), an area equivalent to the total capacity of the volume is allocated in a storage unit when creating volumes. On the other hand, in thin provisioning, a plurality of general volumes are pooled and virtualized volumes (hereinafter "virtual volume") are formed thereon. The virtual volumes are then exposed to the host and a physical storage area is allocated from a general volume in the pools and assigned only to a data block in which data is actually written.
Its advantage is that, even when virtual volumes of a large capacity are created, only general volumes that are actually used by the host have to be prepared, which increases efficiency of utilization of storage device capacity. A drawback is that when available space in general volumes within a pool runs out, it is no longer possible to write data to all virtual volumes formed in that pool. Thus, a user (or a manager of the storage device) needs to estimate increase in usage of a pool and perform maintenance operations as necessary such as addition of general volumes to the pool so that the pool does not run out during operation.
Use of thin provisioning and tiered storage management in combination would promote effective utilization of storage. That is, it is expected that, by classifying pools into tiers according to their characteristics and relocating virtual volumes among a plurality of pools that belong to different tiers, users can enjoy advantages of both thin provisioning and tiered storage management.
The conventional technique mentioned above has problems as described below and is far from being able to adequately support effective utilization of storage by users when applied to thin provisioning.
A first problem is that risk of pool exhaustion increases. This is because it is difficult to estimate increase in usage amount of pools after relocation since trend in usage amount of the individual pools largely changes as a result of relocating a virtual volume among the pools. In the worst case, it is possible that, as a result of executing relocation, a time period before a destination pool runs out (hereinafter referred to as "remaining operation period") becomes short and a user cannot take action in time.
A second problem is that relocation is difficult to utilize as means for adjusting available space in pools. For example, if the user finds a pool that is likely to run out soon and tries to extend the time before its exhaustion by moving a virtual volume formed in that pool to another pool, it is difficult to determine which virtual volume should be relocated to which pool in order to extend the time before its exhaustion most effectively.

Relocation system and a relocation method


The transparent resin substrate has a light-transmitting thermoplastic resin underlying sheet 1 and a hard coating formed on one surface of the underlying sheet, wherein the hard coating includes a resin component obtained by curing an urethane acrylate that contains a tri-functional or less functional urethane acrylate and a tetra-functional or more functional urethane acrylate; a silane coupling agent or a hydrolyzed product thereof, a silica sol having a grain size of 5 to 500 nm and a refractive index in a range of 1.44 to 1.5; and a metal chelate compound. A low refractive index layer is formed on the hard coating, the low refractive index layer includes a low refractive index hollow silica sol having a grain size of 10 to 150 nm and a refractive index of not more than 1.44, the silane coupling agent or the hydrolyzed product thereof, and a metal chelate compound.

So far, when a hard coating is to be formed on the surface of a formed body such as injection-formed body, means is usually employed in which a formed body obtained in advance is coated by dipping with a coating solution for forming hard coating followed by curing to form the hard coating. This means is free of problem if the formed body is of a flat shape such as a sheet. If the formed body has a solid shape including dents and protuberances on the surfaces thereof, however, the coating solution cannot be uniformly applied or the liquid cannot be cut well from the formed body arousing such a problem that the thickness of the coated solution becomes uneven giving rise to the formation of striped patterns.
To avoid the above problem, in recent years, there has been employed means (also called insert forming or in-mold forming) according to which a transparent thermoplastic resin sheet forming a hard coating on the surface thereof is used as a substrate for forming, the substrate for forming is placed in a forming metal mold such as for injection forming, the substrate is shaped in a predetermined shape while being heated and, thereafter, a predetermined resin is injected into the metal mold and is cured (patent documents 1 to 3).


A lower electrode 60 in a region opposite each of pressure generation chambers 12 is formed to have a width smaller than the width of the corresponding pressure generation chamber 12, and an upper surface and an end surface of the lower electrode 60 in a region corresponding to each of the pressure generation chambers 12 is covered with a piezoelectric material layer 70. An end surface of the piezoelectric material layer 70 forms a slope surface sloping downward toward the outside, an upper surface and an end surface of the piezoelectric material layer 70 in the region opposite each of the pressure generation chambers 12 are covered with an upper electrode 80, and a distance D1 between the upper surface of the lower electrode 60 and the upper surface of the piezoelectric material layer 70 and a distance D2 between the end surface of the lower electrode 60 and the end surface of the piezoelectric material layer 70 satisfy the relationship D2≧D1.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid jet head that jets liquid droplets from nozzles by displacement of piezoelectric elements, and a liquid jet apparatus, and in particular, to an ink jet type recording head that jets ink droplets as liquid droplets, and an ink jet type recording apparatus.
Invention of Related Art
An ink jet type recording head, which is an example of a liquid jet head jetting liquid droplets, includes a flow channel forming plate having pressure generation chambers, and piezoelectric elements provided on one surface of the flow channel forming plate, each of the piezoelectric elements having a lower electrode, a piezoelectric material layer, and an upper electrode. Pressure is given into the pressure generation chambers by displacement of the piezoelectric elements, and ink droplets are jetted from nozzles. The piezoelectric elements, which are used in such an ink jet type recording head, are liable to be broken due to external environment, such as humidity or the like. In order to solve this problem, for example, the outer circumferential surface of the piezoelectric material layer is covered with the upper electrode (for example, see JP-A-2005-88441).
As described in Patent Document 1, if the piezoelectric material layer is covered with the upper electrode, the piezoelectric material layer can be prevented from being broken due to humidity. In this case, however, the upper electrode and the lower electrode at the end surface of the piezoelectric material layer become very close to each other. For this reason, insulation breakdown may occur between both electrodes, and the piezoelectric element may be broken.

Liquid jet head and a liquid jet apparatus including a piezoelectric material having an upper electrode and a lower electrode


Disclosed are an apparatus and method of exchanging data between a first computing device and a second computing device using a customized data transfer protocol. One example of operation may include establishing a control channel between the first computing device and the second computing device to exchange control information, negotiating a data transfer between the first and second computing devices, establishing a data channel between the first and second computing devices to transfer data, and transferring data from the first computing device to the second computing device over the data channel in parallel with control information being transferred over the control channel. The client devices may be a client and server configuration transferring data via a point-to-point data connection.

User workstations or managed machines (clients) operate in a data communication network by communicating with other managed machines and/or administrative machines (servers). Regardless of the status of the machine, administrative machines operate to support the ongoing communication and applications operating on the managed machines.
Data file transfers between a client and server computer may be performed for a variety of different purposes. The protocol or agreed communication standard used to communicate between the client and server may also vary. Before a data file can be transmitted, certain setup procedures may be necessary to ensure proper file transfer. For example, compression, encryption, bandwidth or data transfer rate, etc., are all examples of communication standards and protocol-based parameters that may be required for certain communication environments.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus of performing remote computer file exchange


A piston for an air pump is disclosed. The piston has a piston rod having a connecting axle hole for positioning a bearing, which is protected with a bearing protection cap. The bearing is firmly secured within the axle hole.

(a) Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to piston, and in particular, to a piston mounted within a cylinder.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Pistons used in conventional small size or portable pump employ TEFLON, a high temperature resistance, wear-resistance material as a material for rings of the pistons TEFLON is an extremely high plasticizing material and the rings are mounted or secured at the outer surface of the piston. The drawbacks of such structure are that, for example, stability of the structure is not sufficient, and air-sealing is poor, which causes non-smooth rotating, air leakage, air compression ratio being insufficient. Additionally, the longevity of the piston is affected.
Currently, another type of conventional piston, as shown in FIG. 1 has a recessed circular slot A2 at the external edge of the piston A1, and the recessed circular slot A2 is mounted with a circular gas ring A3. There is a seal between the ring A3 and the cylinder wall such that high speed reciprocation operation of the piston will achieve the objective of the air compression and air-filling. However, the drawbacks of this conventional structure are that    (1) the binding force between the circular ring and the piston slot is weak and therefore, the circular ring is dislocated or biased;    (2) the tolerance and precision between the circular ring and the piston circular slot has to be accurate. Thus, the inaccurately of the tolerance will affect the stability of the reciprocation process;    (3) if the tolerance is too great motor may be affected and high heat and expansion will occur;    (4) if the tolerance is too small, the air compression is insufficient and air leakage will occur; and    (5) as shown in FIG. 1, if the bearing A4 is dislocated or biased, the air pump will be damaged and the longevity of the pump is affected.


A metering valve for controlling fluid flow is provided which includes a piston assembly disposed between a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet and mounted for relative movement within a tubular unit between a first open mode, a second open mode connecting the fluid inlet and outlet and a close mode. The assembly is biased to assume the close mode and assumes the first open mode when a predetermined first external form is applied to a valve actuating element forming a component of the metering valve. The assembly assumes the second open mode when the first external force is enhanced by a predetermined second external force applied to the valve actuating element. When the external forces are released, the piston assembly automatically returns to the close mode upon successively moving through first and second segments of travel relative to the tubular unit. The rate of travel during the first segment is substantially less than the rate of travel during the second segment. During the second segment of travel the relative motion of the piston assembly is substantially instantaneous to the close mode. The valve actuating element includes an elongate member having an exposed one end portion on which the predetermined external forces are applied, and a second end portion having a first valve component mounted thereon and actuated to a first open position when the first external force is applied. A second valve component is also mounted on the second end portion of the elongate member and is actuated to a second open position when the second external force is applied.

The use of metering valves in such installations is widespread and is intended to reduce the amount of water wasted when such valves are actuated. Conservation of water, particularly in certain geographic areas, is of paramount importance where there is a scarcity of water and/or the cost of water is inordinately high.
Various metering valves have heretofore been used for such installations, however, such valves have been beset with one or more of the following shortcomings: a) they are highly susceptible to malfunction; b) they are difficult to service and maintain; c) they are of costly and complex construction; d) they are awkward and difficult to install and require numerous special fittings and the need for special tools; e) replacement of the piston assembly requires substantial disassembly of the valve component; and f) substantial manual force is required to actuate the valve.
While my prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,819, dated Feb. 12, 1991, avoids most, if not all, of the foregoing shortcomings, it nevertheless embodies numerous components which increase the initial costs of manufacture and assembly. Furthermore, because of such components, the installer and supplier are frequently required to maintain a large inventory of spare components. Alignment and relative adjustment of the valve components sometimes become a frustrating and time-consuming operation particularly to an untrained installer.


Variable speed conveying apparatus includes a conveyor (16) having a plurality of conveying surfaces (18) for engaging a stream (10) of articles along a path, and elements for progressively changing the speed of the surfaces as they progress along the path. The conveyor may include a series of pivotally interconnected links (18), the angular disposition of the links being controlled as they move along the path. Typically the conveyor may be used for changing the height of a multi-layer stream of rod-like articles such as cigarettes. Similar conveyor arrangements may be used to convey articles or people by providing slats (322,324) carried by conveyor links (318) or by providing independently-controllable carrier members (218) movable on an endless track (236).

This invention relates to variable speed conveying apparatus. In one form the invention is concerned with conveying rod-like articles, particularly articles of the tobacco industry such as cigarettes.
Cigarette packing machines generally assemble cigarettes in groups prior to forming a packet around each group. The groups of cigarettes usually comprise two or three rows of cigarettes. Cigarettes are commonly transferred to the packing machine in a multi-layer stream, often having a depth corresponding to ten cigarettes or more. Conventional cigarette packing machine hoppers are capable of receiving such a stream and providing an output of one or more rows of cigarettes or forming a group suitable for packing. Such hoppers operate intermittently, however, and can be a source of damage and/or is degradation to cigarettes. British patent specification No. 2175268A discloses one form of apparatus for continuously converting a multi-layer stream of cigarettes into a single row stream from which groups for use in a packing machine may be obtained: this apparatus may also be damaging to cigarettes, however, because the stream tends to be squeezed between narrowing side walls.


A universal serial bus plug includes a blade having terminals, and a pop-up shell. The pop-up shell includes an active position when spaced from the blade and a storage position when depressed towards the blade.

Various local peripheral devices are coupled to computer systems via a variety of recently developed technologies, such as USB, FireWire, Bluetooth, and other protocols and interfaces. Perhaps the most common of these is the Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, which provides connectivity to one or more peripheral devices at significantly higher speed than traditional serial ports.
The USB may have a plug-and-play interface to search for and load an appropriate device driver for the coupled peripheral device, if such a driver is available.
Some peripheral devices, such as flash memory modules, may include a USB plug. The physical size of the flash memory module may be determined, at least in part, by the size of the industry standard USB plug.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A seat reclining mechanism has a protective device at the shell. The shell has an inner cover and an outer cover with a support plate set therein. The upper part of the shell has a gap for accommodating the rotation of an arm of a rotating plate extends out of the gap. A fence plate cooperates with the arm to keep the gap closed.

A seat reclining mechanism is a part which is installed on the car seat to lock, unlock and adjust the angle of the back of the car seat. For the seat reclining mechanism with the current technology, as there is a need of rotation for the rotating plate, a gap is provided on the shell to accommodate rotation of the rotating plate. However, during the actual use process, the gap is easy to cause foreign matter fall into, so that the reclining mechanism function cannot be realized, or a finger may become stuck and cause injury.
Publication date Apr. 17, 2018, shows publication number CN207241496U for China patent documents having a car seat reclining mechanism device, including the lower connection plate, block, small gearing plate, large gearing plate, moving pieces, upper connecting plate, cover plate, connecting rod, lever, spring, torsion spring, main axis, and limit axis, the lower connecting plate is provided with an integrated arc upper convex, a front limit boss and a rear limit boss, the cover plate is provided with an integrated arc lower convex, and the lever is provided with an integrated lever boss. The seat reclining mechanism is provided with a front limit boss and a rear limit boss, so that the limit axis and their coordination control the range of adjustment angle, and because of the arrangement of upper arc convex and lower arc convex, so that the small gearing plate will not get stuck in motion.
However, this prior art seat reclining mechanism is provided with a gap on the shell to accommodate the rotation of the rotating plate. In the actual use process, the gap is easy to cause foreign matter fall into, so that the reclining mechanism function cannot be realized, or the finger becomes stuck and causes injury.

Seat reclining mechanism with protective cover


Personal cleansing compositions, especially body washes and shampoos, are disclosed comprising surfactant, fragrance oil and less than about 7.5% non-fragrance oil, wherein the surfactant and fragrance oil form:                a) a first micellar phase; and        b) a second phase which rotates polarized light.

Soap-like material found in clay cylinders during the excavation of ancient Babylon is evidence that soap making was known as early as 2800 B.C. Inscriptions on the cylinders teach us that the contents had been made by boiling fats with ashes—a method of making soap. Later on, particularly in the 19th Century, it became common to add fragrances to soap to mask the natural smell of some of the fats used, particularly if these were animal fats, and for other aesthetic reasons.
The personal cleansing compositions used today may still include natural soaps, such as those described above, as well as synthetic soaps, which were developed during the First World War. Such cleansing compositions may take a number of forms including liquid soaps, soap bars, shampoos and body washes. The overwhelming majority of these compositions now comprise some kind of fragrance—indeed, nowadays, the fragrance is one of the key parameters driving consumer acceptance of these products.
A difficulty encountered with fragranced personal cleansing compositions is that the fragrance oils are solubilized within the surfactant micelles such that they either remain micellised or enter the continuous aqueous phase. Either way, the result is that they are typically rinsed away during the washing process rather than being deposited onto the skin as intended.
Previous researchers have employed a number of methods to counter this effect. One approach discussed in EP 0 554 024 has been to reduce solubilization of the perfume oil in the surfactant phase by adding an oil phase in which the perfume oils may reside. As a result of the oil's natural hydrophobicity, that oil phase, including the perfume oil, may deposit relatively well onto skin. A similar approach is discussed in WO 03/015736, which relates to the dissolution of the perfumes in a water-immiscible silicone phase. Again, the naturally hydrophobic silicone phase may lead to improved deposition of the fragrance oil onto skin. These approaches involve the inclusion of an additional material to the formulation to enhance fragrance delivery. That additional material may, however, have negative implications for the overall performance of the formulation, such as the lather profile.
An alternative approach discussed in WO 97/48374, WO 97/48375 and WO 97/48378, has been to form coacervates between anionic surfactant and cationic polymers, which coacervates are allegedly capable of entrapping the perfume, depositing on the skin and thus enhancing perfume deposition. The benefit of this approach is, however, limited by the nature of the surfactant and the cationic polymer, because only a few surfactant-polymer combinations will actually form coacervates, and the surfactants and polymers concerned may not be particularly suitable for personal cleansing applications (they do not necessarily give good lathering and are not necessarily mild enough).
A further alternative discussed in US 2003/166497, US 2003/166498 and US 2003/166499 has been to design the perfume/surfactant system such that, on dilution, micelles are designed to disappear due to their high Critical Micelle Concentration (CMC), and deliver fragrance bloom. After blooming from the micelles, the perfume materials enter the water continuous phase and may be washed away during rinsing. Once again, the surfactant phase is essentially a micellar phase. As discussed hereinbelow, it is believed that perfume does not deposit sufficiently well via a micellar phase.
It would be desirable to design fragranced personal cleansing products having improved perfume deposition on skin. Furthermore, it would be desirable to achieve that without adding new materials to the composition which might have negative implications for other aspects of the products' performance.


There is provided disconnecting circuit for disconnecting an internal boosted power supply from a word line. At the time of testing, one of a plurality of word lines is selected therefrom and data on the "Low" level is written in a plurality of memory cells connected to the selected word line. Thereafter, the disconnecting circuit is activated such that the selected word line has high impedance. When there is a leakage current flowing from the word line due to a defect, the potential on the word line lowers rapidly after the word line is disconnected from the internal boosted power supply. Consequently, the data cannot be written properly in the memory cells any more. After a specified period of time has elapsed, data on the "High" level is written sequentially in the memory cells connected to the selected word line. Then, the same word line is selected again such that the data written in the memory cells connected to the word line is read therefrom. If the read data is on the "Low" level and erroneous, it follows that the data on the "High" level has not been written successfully. Therefore, it is judged that there is a leakage current flowing from the word line. In this manner, both testing time and testing cost can be reduced. Since a minimal leakage current that has conventionally been difficult to detect can be detected, testing ensures the removal of a potential defect becoming more evident as the semiconductor memory deteriorates with time.

The present invention relates to an improved semiconductor memory and to an improved testing method therefor.
A typical semiconductor memory as shown in FIG. 2 has a memory cell array 1 consisting of a large number of memory cells 2 (though only four are shown in the drawing) arranged in rows and columns. Each of the memory cells 2 has a memory cell transistor 2a and a memory cell capacitor 2b. In a DRAM (Dynamic RAM), the memory cell transistor 2a is composed of an N-channel MOS transistor. Word lines 3 (only two are shown in the drawing) are provided for the individual rows of the memory cell array 1 such that the memory cells 2 aligned in each of the rows are connected to the corresponding one of the word lines 3. Bit lines 4 (only two are shown in the drawing) are provided for the individual columns of the memory cell array 1 such that the memory cells 2 aligned in each of the columns are connected to the corresponding one of the bit lines 4. A row decoder 5 selects among the word lines 3, while a column decoder 6 selects among the bit lines 4. An I/O interface 7 is connected to each of the decoders 5 and 6 to receive an address signal for specifying the word line 3 and bit line 4 to be selected and a control signal such as /RAS (Row Address Strobe).
The DRAM has used a circuit for boosting a potential on the selected word line over an external power-supply voltage to prevent a write voltage supplied to the memory cell from lowering due to the threshold voltage of the gate of the N-channel MOS memory cell transistor 2a.
To boost the potential on the selected word line over the power-supply voltage, there has been used a conventional method wherein a voltage is boosted by using a capacitor in activating the word line, i.e., in generating a word-line drive signal so that the voltage level of the word-line drive signal is thereby boosted over the power-supply voltage.
In accordance with the conventional method wherein the voltage is boosted by using the capacitor only when the word-line drive signal is generated, the word-line drive signal is disconnected from a power supply and placed in a floating state when the voltage level of the word-line drive signal has been boosted over the power-supply voltage as a result of voltage boosting performed by using the capacitor. However, if there is a leakage current resulting from a defect and allowed to flow from the word line to another node, the potential on the word line lowers, which prevents the writing of data in the memory cell. To avoid this, an additional word-line-potential holding circuit may also be provided to hold the word-line potential on the "High" level by pumping the word-line drive signal to such a degree as to compensate for the leakage current.
In this case, if the leakage current is slightly larger in quantity than the current supplied by pumping for holding the potential on the word line, the voltage on the word line may gradually lower since pumping is constantly performed when the word line is active. Although such a memory should be judged faulty and removed as a result of testing, testing requires a cycle time equal to or longer than a maximum cycle time defined in specifications, which increases a testing time as well as testing cost. Even when the leakage current is slightly smaller in quantity than the supplied current, if the leakage current has been caused by a defect resulting from a broken oxide film or the like, the defect has the potential to increase the leakage current, cause malfunction, and degrade the reliability of the product as it deteriorates with time.
To overcome the problem, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-252488, for example, has proposed a method wherein the operation of the word-line-potential holding circuit is halted at the time of testing by an additional circuit which uses a test signal to halt the operation of an oscillator for pumping.
On the other hand, there has recently been adopted a method wherein a word-line drive signal is generated by using an internal boosted power supply obtained by preliminary pumping, which is for eliminating a delay in operating speed resulting from voltage boosting performed by using a capacitor on the rising edge of the word-line drive signal. The method provides an increased operating speed, since voltage boosting has been performed by using the capacitor prior to the rising edge of the word-line drive signal and hence it is no more necessary to perform voltage boosting by using the capacitor on the rising edge of the word-line drive signal.
In accordance with the method wherein the word-line drive signal is generated by using the internal boosted power supply obtained by preliminarily generating a boosted voltage by pumping, the boosted power supply may have sufficiently high current drive capability so that a defect resulting from the leakage current flowing from the word line as described above need not be considered conventionally.

Semiconductor memory device capable of disconnecting an internal booster power supply from a selected word line in response to a test signal and testing method therefor

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An improved solution for designing and/or evaluating a circuit is provided. A rule violation can be detected in design data for the circuit and a prediction can be generated based on an adjustment to the design data. For example, multiple predictions can be generated based on an adjustment window for an adjustable parameter in the design data. The predictions can be displayed to a user, who can determine a desired modification to the design data. The modification can be implemented by the user and/or automatically implemented by a circuit design tool.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to circuit design, and more particularly, to a solution that detects a rule violation in a circuit and generates a set of predictions based on one or more adjustments.
2. Background Art
Printed circuit boards used in computing devices typically must pass one or more electromagnetic compliance tests before being sold in a country. The use of good design practices in designing each printed circuit board is one of the most cost-effective solutions for increasing the probability that a manufactured circuit board will subsequently pass the test(s). To this extent, it is preferred to check design data for a new printed circuit board against these good design practices to determine any violations. Subsequently, the circuit board design can be altered, if possible, to conform to these design practices before the circuit board is manufactured.
Currently, most checking of design data for circuits is conducted manually. In particular, an individual may visually review the design data using circuit design software to identify any violations. Due to the complexity of this task, some software tools exist to check the design data against a previously-specified set of physical design parameters to detect a violation. Even so, once a violation is identified, the individual must assess the relative benefit of  modifying the design data to conform to the design parameter versus the relative risk of not modifying the design data. To assist in this assessment, the individual can use full-wave simulation software. In a full-wave simulation, a model representative of a particular problem is generated and a simulator processes the model to yield a result. However, due to the complexity of even a simple problem, actual processing time of the full-wave simulation can be long (perhaps 24 hours). As a result, full-wave simulation is limited to evaluating specific simple problems, making some circuit designs too large to be simulated.
In light of this situation, a need exists for an improved solution for designing and/or evaluating a circuit. In particular, a need exists for a solution by which a rule violation can be identified in the circuit and one or more predictions as to the anticipated benefit of modifying the circuit to remove/partially remove the rule violation can be efficiently generated.

Method, system and program product for evaluating a circuit

International Business Machines Corporation


An LED based emergency lighting system is described. Unlike a typical approach in which one lighting system provides normal ambient lighting and a second different system provides auxiliary emergency lighting, a common integrated system can be satisfactorily employed.

LED lighting systems are becoming more prevalent as replacements for existing lighting systems. LEDs are an example of solid state lighting and are superior to traditional lighting solutions such as incandescent and fluorescent lighting because they use far less energy, are far more durable, operate longer, can be combined in red-blue-green arrays that can be controlled to deliver virtually any color light, and contain no lead or mercury. As LEDs replace the typical fluorescent light fixtures found in many workplaces, as well as elsewhere, the present invention recognizes that an LED fixture in accordance with the present invention can be utilized to replace such fixtures, as well as, the separate emergency lighting fixture often employed in certain environments in conjunction with such fixtures.
One common fluorescent lighting fixture is a luminaire fixture 100 shown illustratively in FIG. 1. Fixture 100 may suitably comprise a 2′ by 4′ metal box or compartment 102 having a plurality of fluorescent bulbs 104, 106 and 108. While a 2′ by 4′ fluorescent fixture is discussed here as exemplary, it will be recognized that many other sizes of fluorescent fixture and various incandescent fixtures are also common. Each fluorescent bulb, such as bulb 108, is inserted in an electrical socket, and located within a reflective subassembly 110. The compartment 102 also typically has a reflective back surface, such as a white painted interior surface and a plastic cover mounted in a hinged door (not shown) which swings open to allow the bulbs to be easily accessed and changed. A typical office may have several such fixtures mounted to the ceiling of each room to provide room lighting. By way of example, an approximately 12′×20′ office might have three such fixtures mounted to its ceiling to provide ambient room lighting. Other facilities will employ a wide variety of known arrangements of lighting fixtures selected to meet the context and the environment to be lighted.
Taking our 12′×20′ office example, however, FIG. 2 shows a cutaway portion of a corner of such a room 200 having a door 202, and a luminaire fixture 204 mounted in the ceiling. Where the office is an interior office without windows or in a variety of other circumstances, an emergency lighting fixture such as fixture 206 of FIG. 2 may be required to be mounted above an exit door, such as the door 202 so that when power is lost during a power outage, a battery in fixture 206 will cause halogen lamps 207 and 208 to light allowing any occupants of room 200 to safely find the door 202 and leave the room. Halogen lamps typically have lighting characteristics very different from the light sources that light the room under normal conditions. While the room 200 is discussed as exemplary, it will be recognized that door 202 could be an exit door at the end of a long hallway, the door to leave an office, the door of a large interior conference room, a gymnasium, a mailroom or other work area, or the like. Similarly, an auxiliary lighting fixture could be mounted along an interior hallway, in a basement, or elsewhere, in addition to near an exit door. Regardless, in an arrangement like that shown in FIG. 2, the main light source goes off when power is lost and a separate auxiliary emergency backup goes on. Such an arrangement has several disadvantages including the extra cost of a separate auxiliary system, maintenance of such a system and the poor aesthetic appearance of some such systems, for example.

Light emitting diode emergency lighting methods and apparatus


A low-compaction method of making an absorbent cellulosic web includes: forming a nascent web from a papermaking furnish; dewatering the nascent web to a consistency of from about 10 to about 30 percent on a foraminous forming support traveling at a first speed; rush-transferring the web at a consistency of from 10 to about 30 percent to an open texture fabric traveling at a second speed slower than the first speed of the forming support; further dewatering the web on the impression fabric to a consistency of from about 30 to about 60 percent by way of (i) combining the open texture fabric bearing said web with a fluid distribution membrane and an anti-rewet felt as the three pass through a nip into a pressure chamber defined in part by a plurality of nip rolls, the fluid distribution membrane bearing against the side of the open texture fabric away from the web, with the anti-rewet felt bearing against the web, and (ii) applying a pneumatic pressure gradient from the distributor membrane through the web thereby dewatering the web; and drying the web. Preferably the process includes the steps of selecting the papermaking furnish and controlling the process such that the dried web has a void volume fraction of at least 0.7, a hydraulic diameter in the range of from about 3 to about 20 microns and a Wet Springback Ratio of at least about 0.65. Optionally provided is a high solids fabric crepe in a pressure nip.

Methods of making paper tissue, towel, and the like are well known, including various features such as Yankee drying, throughdrying, fabric creping, dry creping, wet creping and so forth. Conventional wet pressing processes have certain advantages over conventional through-air drying processes including: (1) lower energy costs associated with the mechanical removal of water rather than transpiration drying with hot air; and (2) higher production speeds which are more readily achieved with processes which utilize wet pressing to form a web. On the other hand, through-air drying processing has been widely adopted for new capital investment, particularly for the production of soft, bulky, premium quality tissue and towel products.
Fabric creping has been employed in connection with papermaking processes as a means to influence product properties. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,689,119 and 4,551,199 of Weldon; U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,849,054 and 4,834,838 of Klowak; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,287,426 of Edwards et al. Operation of fabric creping processes wherein the creping is carried out at elevated web consistencies has been hampered by the difficulty of effectively transferring a web of high or intermediate consistency (30-60%) to a dryer. Note also U.S. Pat. No. 6,350,349 to Hermans et al. which discloses wet transfer of a web from a rotating transfer surface to a fabric. Further patents relating to fabric creping more generally including rush transfer or low consistency (i.e. 10-30%) fabric creping the following: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,834,838; 4,482,429 4,445,638 as well as 4,440,597 to Wells et al. where rush transfer of a web at consistencies of about 10 to 30 percent is described.
Throughdried, creped products are disclosed in the following patents: U.S. Pat. No. 3,994,771 to Morgan, Jr. et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,102,737 to Morton; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,529,480 to Trokhan. The processes described in these patents comprise, very generally, forming a web on a foraminous support, thermally pre-drying the web, applying the web to a Yankee dryer with a nip defined, in part, by an impression fabric, and creping the product from the Yankee dryer. A relatively permeable web is typically required, making it difficult to employ recycle furnish at levels which may be desired. Transfer to the Yankee typically takes place at web consistencies of from about 60% to about 70%.
As noted in the above, throughdried products tend to exhibit enhanced bulk and softness; however, thermal dewatering with hot air tends to be energy intensive and requires a relatively permeable web, such that recycle fiber is difficult to process in this manner. Wet-press operations wherein the webs are mechanically dewatered are preferable from an energy perspective and are more readily applied to furnishes containing recycle fiber which tends to form webs with less permeability than virgin fiber. Wet press/wet or dry crepe processes have been employed widely as is seen throughout the papermaking literature. Many improvements of wet-press processes relate to increasing the bulk and absorbency of compactively dewatered products.
As an alternative to conventional wet-press and throughdrying processes, attempts have been made to incorporate air-pressing technology into papermaking machines. See, for example, the following patents of Hermans et al.; U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,497,789; 6,454,904; 6,096,169; and 6,083,346. Note, also, the following patents: U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,579,418; 6,318,727; 6,306,258; 6,306,257; 6,280,573; 6,338,220; 6,143,135; 6,093,284; and 6,080,279.
However, it is found that sealing of the press and/or channeling of the web limits the utility of proposed systems. Moreover, wet pressing in connection with air pressing during production may result in relatively dense webs unless great care is taken to avoid densification.

Low compaction, pneumatic dewatering process for producing absorbent sheet


A robot base assembly that supports a robot assembly above a floor. The robot assembly engages with a work piece having a locating component. The robot base assembly includes a base plate coupled to the floor, a support member slidably coupled to the base plate for linear displacement, a clamp assembly coupled to the support member, and a lock mechanism. The clamp assembly is movable between an engaged state and a disengaged state. In the engaged state the clamp assembly engages with the locating component. The lock mechanism is movable between a locked state and an unlocked state. In the locked state the support member is inhibited from linear displacement, and in the unlocked state the support member is permitted for linear displacement. The lock mechanism switches from the unlocked state to the locked state in response to the clamp assembly moving from the disengaged state to the engaged state.

It is known to use vision guided systems to locate a work piece relative to a robotic arm. Specifically, these vision guided systems use vision systems that calculate a distance between the work piece and the robotic arm. The robotic arm compensates for a difference in distance by adjusting the robotic arm movements. However, these systems include drawbacks such as requiring additional training for manufacturing workers to use the vision systems. Additionally, these systems can increase downtime of the manufacturing line when the camera or sensor used with the system is obscured.
Accordingly, a need exists for robot base assemblies that locate a robotic arm relative to a work piece without the need of complicated vision guided systems.

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.


The present invention relates to an instrumentation apparatus for receiving and recording acoustic signals in a range of depths of approximately 5–100 m beneath the ocean surface and for providing a set of data outputs from which wind velocity and rainfall rate at the surface may be derived. The apparatus includes an omnidirectional hydrophone for substantially isotropical reception of acoustic energy from its upper hemisphere and for producing an output signal representative of the wind velocity and the rainfall rate at the surface. The apparatus further includes a preamplifier connected to the output of the hydrophone and a circuit for processing the amplified signal and recording data derived therefrom. This circuit includes a microprocessor and a data storage device.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to instrumentation apparatus for receiving acoustic signals in a range of depths of approximately 5 to 100 meters beneath the ocean surface and providing a set of data outputs from which wind velocity and rainfall rate at the surface may be derived.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
The traditional torpedo-launching submarine has historically operated relatively independently of sea surface conditions. Although high sea states can cause severe rolling when the keelless submarine attains periscope depth, sea surface conditions interfere less with torpedo launch at deeper depths. With the advent of submarine-launched missiles, environmental parameters, sea state and wind speed have become much more relevant and can adversely impact these newer submarine operations. High sea states are a concern when the submarine requires near-surface launch, because severe rolling can limit or prevent missile deployment, i.e., problems arise which are associated with manipulating, loading and possible launcher jamming of these large weapon systems.
Certain classes of missiles can be vulnerable to the effect of high sea and wind conditions immediately after exiting launcher tubes as they ascend and exit through the sea surface. The Harpoon missile for example has suffered fatal damage to control surfaces by dynamic pressures associated with the orbital motions of larger waves. The Tomahawk cruise missile can also suffer launch failure as a direct result of inadequate knowledge of wind conditions. This missile, during its in-water, rapid, rocket-driven ascension, is relatively unaffected by wave dynamics, but upon exiting the sea surface, it becomes a light aircraft, whose lift is determined by its relative air speed. An inadvertent downwind launch in a greater than 20 m/s (40-knot) wind speed could mean loss of critical lift and a sudden, unplanned return to the sea. Thus, it is important to establish a viable method for submarines to monitor sea conditions prior to launch operations.
One such technique entails acoustic sensing of sea surface conditions. Wind, wave whitecaps and precipitation are important sources of the ambient sound in the ocean and each of these phenomenon has a unique acoustic signature which can be recorded and used as a basis to develop models to predict sea surface conditions.
Establishing a viable submarine monitoring capability requires a clear understanding of the sound spectrum and intensity levels produced by the various sea surface phenomena. The sources of sound in the ocean are both natural and man-made, displaying large variations in frequency, geographic location, and time. The ambient sound spectrum can be conveniently divided into three bands. In each, the acoustic energy tends to be supplied by a dominant source with overlap at the edges. The low band from 10 to 400 Hz is mostly associated with machinery of shipping or small boat traffic and coastal industry. The mid band from 400 Hz to 40 kHz is contributed principally by oceanographic/meteorological (i.e., geophysical) phenomena at the sea surface. The high band above 40 kHz is mostly low level energy associated with high wave number turbulence and molecular motions. To a lesser extent, in certain local areas, there is a contribution into the mid and high bands by fish noises and cavitation from high speed propellers.
The focus is on the mid range of frequencies for the monitoring of sea surface conditions. The sound spectrum in this mid band (400 Hz to 40 kHz) appears to be produced by the following phenomena:
a) interactions of wind pressure fluctuations at the sea surface;
b) splash impact and bubble formation associated with whitecapping; and
c) rain, hail, or snow impacting the sea surface.
Each of the above phenomena are by themselves complex, dynamical processes, largely turbulent in nature. Portraying the associated sound-producing mechanisms requires precise measurements and analysis to sort out the effects.
Studies of geophysical ambient sound have attempted to obtain relationships between the sound and wind speed, whitecapping (i.e., bubble formation) and rain rate. Results, however, are largely empirical and far from quantitative due to the inaccurate data obtained from the hydrophones. The general empirical relation is given as:log10U,log10R=a(Nsl)+B  (1) where                U is the observed wind speed,        R is the observed rainfall rate,        Nsl is the recorded sound pressure level (in dB) obtained
from the hydrophones, and
A and B are quasi constants depending on the sound source, range of frequencies and the range of intensities for either U or R.
The value A (a slope) may vary with wind/wave conditions, e.g., at wind speeds below 6–7 m per second, wind pressure fluctuations should be the prime sound source; at higher speeds, multiple contributions occur from whitecap splashing and bubbles, hence increased slope is expected.
In general, the wind and wave sound falls off with frequency at about 6 dB per octave, but the rolloff is not necessarily monatonic because new spectral peaks are seen when whitecaps form. Rain sound falls off with frequency, except for a distinct resonant peak occurring around 15 kHz, owing to a droplet/bubble formation at impact. Wind shows the strongest correlation with sound, showing records from 4.3–14.5 kHz with correlation coefficients of the sound pressure levels with log-wind speed ranged from 0.92–0.96. Rain, on the other hand, generates the highest/loudest signals in its normal ranges attaining up to 60 dB for heavy downpour.
Assessment of the true correlation of the ambient sound with its sources (i.e., wind speed, waves and rainfall) requires precise measurement of the surface phenomena made at the immediate location of the sound observations. A significant obstacle quantifying relationships, such as equation 1, has been the lack of a suitable system for obtaining field measurements relating sound to surface effects with the full range of intensities of wind and wave conditions.
A wide variety of devices have been used to monitor and measure sea conditions such as wave height and wave direction. U.S. Pat. No. 3,336,800 to Appleby, Jr. et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,375,715 to Hodges et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,765,236 to Erdely; U.S. Pat. No. 3,769,838 to Buckler; U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,668 to Tucker, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,983,750 to Kirkland; U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,013 to Hue; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,885 to Lindstrom illustrate various devices for measuring waves.
The Appleby, Jr. et al. patent discloses a submarine-based acoustic system for measuring wave height and direction. The system employs continuous upward echo ranging to obtain distance measurements from the submarine to the sea surface to provide an indication of wave height and direction. The Hodges et al. patent uses a similar system where acoustic signals are directed toward the sea surface from below the sea surface. The return acoustic signals are used to indicate the slope of the sea surface above the transducers generating the acoustic signals.
The Erdley patent relates to an apparatus for measuring swell frequency and propagation direction of an ocean wave. The apparatus includes a water level indicator which is partially submerged and a ballast. A flexible connection is provided to an anchoring device. The data logger incorporates a magnetic compass and a counter.
The Buckler patent, illustrating yet another device for determining wave height, includes a buoy having an antenna which when oscillating on the wavy sea surface, causes its electronic circuitry to transmit bursts of RF signals, the pulse repetition rate varying directly in proportion to the accelerations of the buoy. Ship-borne apparatus is provided to receive the RF signals and analyze them to determine wave height. The Tucker patent, similar in principle to the Buckley system, relates to a device for electronically analyzing waves.
The Kirkland patent illustrates a water-wave height or fluid level measuring system having a partially submerged support capacitance mast attached to a float on the water surface. A radio frequency transmitter is mounted on the mast and its signals, being analogs of the wave height or other fluid level, are communicated to remote locations.
The Hue patent relates to a buoy having accelerometers and magnetometers for measuring characteristics of an ocean swell.
The Lindstrom patent relates to a submerged small angle field-of-view optical radiometer which passively measures ocean surface wave heights and statistics remotely. The radiometer measures varying underwater radiant light field and correlates that light field to surface wave heights. The device is connected to onshore or inboard electronics. The sensors can be mounted on the sea floor or on a submerged platform such as a submarine.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,255 to Barrick et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,221,128 to Lawson et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,533 to May et al. relate to devices for measuring and/or monitoring surface motions associated with waves. The Barrick device uses radar to remotely sense near surface ocean currents in coastal regions. In operation, the radar detects velocity fluctuations associated with ocean waves. The Lawson patent describes an acoustic current meter in which two channels have acoustic paths oriented at right angles to each other to measure orthogonal components of current velocity associated with wave arbital motions. The May patent relates to a device for mapping ocean currents with a single radar.
Still other devices illustrate systems for measuring environmental conditions such as wind and rainfall. U.S. Pat. No. 4,143,547 to Balser and U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,268 to Caron illustrate such devices. U.S. Pat. No. 3,455,159 to Gies illustrates a nautical weather station which includes an instrumented buoy, a weighted cable attached to each buoy, and one or more submerged pressure cases attached at various depths to the cable. Both the submerged sensor package and buoys are equipped with weather and other environmental sensors. The weather data is FM transmitted from each buoy to remote receiving stations on interrogation.
Still other devices for measuring environmental and oceanographic data are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,743 to Clifford et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,895 to Talkington; U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,207 to Brady et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,160 to Ishii et al.
Field measurements relating sound to surface-generating effects of wind, waves and rainfall has produced chiefly, only empirical relations (such as equation 1) devoid of physics. The lack of accurate field measurements has been due in part to the fact that the sound measurements taken to correlate with surface effects are made at relatively large distances, of often several kilometers, from the bottom-mounted or mid-depth hydrophones. The acoustic signal is thus obtained at a point in the ocean relatively distant from the surface area of generation, which itself is ill defined. Because of this "far-field geometry", individual surface effects are spatially smoothed out, i.e., such measurements fail to spatially resolve noise radiated from small-scale phenomena such as breaking wave crests and turbulent wind gusts and hence produce low or questionable correlations. As a result, little can be inferred about the physical sound-generating mechanism at the surface or the geometry of the generating area.
Another obstacle to obtaining the true correlations has been that most acoustic time series data obtained from near-surface hydrophones have been heavily smoothed over periods of at least one to several hours. As happens with deep hydrophone records, this smoothing can suppress/filter or mask possibly important smaller-scale fluctuations of sound sources associated with wind gusts, breaking waves or passages of wind squalls or rain cells. Moreover, the analysis of the time variability of the ambient sound field associated with the sea surface effects has perhaps been neglected in favor of establishing smooth predictive relationships from averaged data and hence high resolution sampling has been neglected or sacrificed. This results in analyses that have been relatively crude and often lacking in precise spectral characterization of acoustical signatures of the individual sound generators.
Clearly, the correlation of ambient sound with its generating sources is meaningful only to the degree that the true local source producing the sound is identified and simultaneously monitored. The problem of proximity of the sound sources from the hydrophone occurs with wind, and especially, rainfall noise correlations. To wit, due to the difficulty of measuring rainfall at sea, its measurement is often made on land many kilometers from the hydrophones. This can render the correlations at best, biased, and at worst meaningless, since the rainfall is seldom uniform over such separation distances. Rain and sound comparison measurements have been made with hydrophones at 5–35 m depths with rain locally measured, but these were in shallow lakes, thereby placing bottom-mounted hydrophones close to the source of the noise generating mechanisms.
Thus, more appropriate measurements are needed to better understand the physical mechanisms of the generation of ambient sound at the sea surface. A prior art apparatus for doing this is an inexpensive, totally self-contained, stand alone unit, which constitute an easily deployed ambient sound-recording system for taking rapidly sampled near-surface measurements of ambient sound. More particularly, it takes measurements of sound associated with rapidly changing wind and rainfall events measured in close proximity. This is disclosed in a paper by David Shooting and Foster Middleton entitled "Near-Surface Observations of Wind and Rain-Generated Sound Using the SCANR: An Autonomous Acoustic Recorder" in the Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, Vol. 5, No. 2, April, 1988.
The totally self-contained, stand alone unit disclosed in the Shooting and Middleton paper is an acoustic monitoring system used by oceanographic personnel of the Department of the Navy, which is hereinafter referred to as the First Generation, Self-Contained Ambient Noise Recorder Unit 10, (or simply "SCANR-I unit 10"), which is shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. FIG. 1 depicts the externally visible components of SCANR-I unit 10, which incorporates a low-noise hydrophone 12 configured for suspension from a surface buoy. The hydrophone 10, enclosed in a neoprene boot, is attached to a stainless steel support bridle 14 and mounted upright with its cable 16 leading to a pressure case 18, which in turn houses recording electronics and a battery pack. The pressure case 18 is connected to the hydrophone cable 16 by a 4-pin, water-tight connector 20.
The hydrophone employed in the SCANR has a free-field voltage sensitivity of −174 db//1 v/uPa over the temperature range of 3–20° C., remaining very flat from 0.1 to 35 kHz. The directivity response in the plane about the hydrophone's longitudinal axis over 15–22 kHz was omnidirectional to within 0.5 dB; hence, its longitudinal axis was mounted vertically to provide horizontal receiving symmetry. The hydrophone and pressure case were capable of withstanding static pressures up to 1700 m depth (70 atm).
The signal processing (including recording) components of SCANR-I unit 10, shown in FIG. 3, depict the output from a hydrophone preamplifier 22 delivered to three bandpass filters 23, 24 and 25, centered at 15, 20, and 25 kHz respectively, with the 20 kHz band convertible to a broad bandpass from 5–40 kHz. The frequencies were chosen because they occur in bands of efficient wind, wave and rain noise generation, as well as being above most ship traffic and coastal industrial noise frequencies.
The output of each filter 23, 24, and 25 was passed through an ac/rms converter chip 26, 27, and 28 with an 800 ms integration time. The voltages were sampled at 1 minute intervals, digitized as 10-bit words (i.e., 1/1024 resolution) and recorded on a Memodyne digital cassette deck 30. The SCANR-I unit 10 was powered by 24 D-cells which sustained the three channels at a 1 minute sampling rate for 7–8 days. Upon retrieval of the unit 10, data from the Memodyne cassette 30 is transferred to a portable computer and stored on disk for subsequent processing and analysis.
A mooring arrangement for suspending a SCANR-I unit 10 at mid-depths on the continental shelf from a moored buoy is depicted in FIG. 2. Unit 10 is suspended from a standard strobe float 32 via a 5–100 m stainless steel cable 34. This permits the contained hydrophone 12 to receive a near-surface acoustic energy isotropically from the upper hemisphere. A 20 m buoyant polypropylene line 36 enables the strobe float 32, a second tethered wave or meteorological buoy 38, and a third float 40 to remain afloat at a desired distance. The buoy 38 shown in FIG. 2 is an Endeco direction wave buoy 956 which provides a complete set of wave height, wave direction and ambient sound data at a single location. However, this buoy 38 can be eliminated if so desired. The strobe float 32 and buoy 38 are maintained in a desired location through the attachment of the third float 40 to a 2 cm diameter nylon 2-1 scope line 42 and a Danforth chain 44. The third float 40 prevents the SCANR-I unit 10 from becoming tangled around the nylon scope line 42 by positioning the line 42 at a distance from the unit 10. All metal shackles connecting the vertical stainless steel tether cable are taped so as to minimize surface noise as the surface float bobs up and down in the wave field. As an alternative to this mooring arrangement, the SCANR-I unit 10 can be suspended from a fixed platform or a free-drifting surface float.
Investigations of correlation between natural surface phenomenon and underwater ambient sound were conducted over the period November 1984 and May 1986 in Narragansett Bay, R.I. during which both wind and rainfall data were obtained. A SCANR-I unit 10 was suspended at 3–4 m depths from the end of 75 m long pier which extended north-westward from a sloping beach on Aquidneck Island. This point of observation had a depth of 12 m and maximum wind fetches of 12–15 km from the northwest and 6–7 km from the southwest. Wind and rainfall were monitored simultaneously with the ambient noise recordings at narrow bands centered at 15 and 25 kHz and a broadband. Wind speed and direction were directly recorded continuously with an R.M. Young Aerovane, while rainfall rate was measured with an AES tipping bucket system on a rooftop tower located 2.2 km south of the observation pier. The wind data was obtained on a strip chart recorder while the rainfall rate was logged on a period processor and digitally recorded on a Compaq computer disk memory.
A correlation of 0.97 of the 15 kHz band with wind-speed was obtained for a 24 hour period with winds ranging from 0.2–15 m/s. At higher sustained winds (12–15 m/s), a pronounced decrease occurred in sound pressure, which decrease appears due to increased absorption of the sound generated at the surfaces by the whitecap-produced bubble layer. Use of direct sound pressure output, in lieu of logarithmic sound levels, best showed the immediate acoustic response to changes of the wind field and rainfall rates associated with passing squalls. On the other hand, the correlation coefficient between the 15 kHz band and rain rate was only 0.068. The rain-noise correlations were rendered imprecise, in part, due to the horizontal separation of the rain gauge from the hydrophone (over 2 km) and, in part, because of the differences in the sampling of the rain gauge (at a point location) vis-a-vis the SCANR hydrophone collecting acoustic energy over a large area. Rain-produced sound attained 35 dB increase within 2–3 minutes during a passing line squall, which was tracked with an MIT weather radar at Cambridge, Mass. some 100 km distance.
The SCANR-I unit 10 system proved useful for observing the near-surface ambient sound field at both broad and narrow bands up to 30 kHz. It is easily deployed and retrieved while nearby observations are made of wind speed, whitecapping intensity and rainfall rate. By means of the foregoing correlation technique, it was found that the prior art SCANR-I had three major drawbacks. First, the filter network of the sound recording system for measurement of ambient sound associated with rapidly changing wind and rainfall events requires improved spectral resolution since certain phenomenon causing the ambient sound may produce more spectral peaks, e.g., rainfall causing 15 kHz maximum peak. This high resolution is needed for a better exploration of the various sound sources in the ocean. Second, the longevity of the battery needs to be improved to allow a longer sampling life. Third, the data memory capacity needs to be increased to accommodate a larger supply of data.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


Provided is a peptide selectively binding to a volatile organic compound, in which the peptide has excellent selectivity for the volatile organic compound and has stability at room temperature so as to effectively collect and detect or eliminate the volatile organic compound.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a novel peptide selectively binding to a volatile organic compound.
2. Description of the Related Art
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are environmental factors highly dangerous to health, and for example, continuous inhalation of excessive benzene is known to cause leukemia.
A variety of gas sensors have been studied to detect such dangerous volatile organic compounds. The developed gas sensors work at room temperature with high sensitivity, but have a problem of very low selectivity. To overcome this problem, various molecules have been developed. As a receptor for detecting volatile organic compounds, metal ligand molecules have been reported. The metal ligand molecules, metalloporphyrins are used in fabrication of various metal array sensors to detect fluorescence image patterns which are observed during reaction. This type of sensor is developed not by using selective receptors but by applying the principle of previous thin film sensors, and its selectivity is low.
In a selective receptor screening method, a target molecule is immobilized on the surface, and thus it is difficult to apply this method to screening of gas molecules. Until now, there have been no reports of selective receptors for volatile organic compounds such as benzene or toluene molecules. Accordingly, there is a demand for a technique which has excellent selectivity for volatile organic compounds and has stability at room temperature to effectively collect volatile organic compounds in air, such as benzene or toluene.

Peptide selectively binding to volatile organic compounds

KOREA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


Embodiments of the invention relate to methods of generating and using an image-based derived key. In various embodiments, the image-based derived key may be used to facilitate user authentication and data encryption. For some embodiments, a method is disclosed comprising determining an image-based derived key, wherein the image-based derived key is generated from a selection of authentication images chosen by a user, encrypting data using the image-based derived key, and transmitting the encrypted data.

A longstanding goal in computer security is to enable highly secure transmission of data. Passwords are a commonly used technique for user authentication whereby a user may enter a sequence of alphabetic, numeric, or other characters. The password may be directly compared with a password at a server computer, or hashed and compared with a hash stored at the server computer. Once the password is verified, an encryption key may be established between the user and the server computer. However, typical passwords chosen by users are often low-entropy: they have few characters and common patterns. Thus, brute force attacks such as general purpose graphical processing unit (GPGPU) based attacks may be used to crack passwords. In some cases, minimum password length and complexity requirements may be defined to force users to choose complex passwords. However, increasing a password's complexity increases a user's difficulty in remembering the password, which may lead to yet other sources of vulnerability (e.g., the user writing down the password on a notepad or saving it in an electronic document).
Embodiments of the present invention address these problems and other problems individually and collectively.


It is known to isolate MHA from a reaction mixture obtained by the addition of hydrocyanic acid (HCN) to methyl mercaptopropionic aldehyde (MMP) and the hydrolysis of the methyl mercapto propionic aldehyde cyanohydrine (MMP-CH) obtained thereby with sulphuric acid, in which the reaction mixture is brought into contact with a substantially non-water-miscible organic solvent, in order to form an extraction solution having the solvent and MHA transferred from the reaction mixture, and the MHA is obtained as an extract from this extraction solution by concentration. The simplest and most economical process of the invention concerning the processing of the reaction product which facilitates the production of a highly concentrated product with an extremely low dimer, oligomer and by-product content, is characterised in that the concentration is conducted in such a way that the remaining extract contains less than 4 wt % and preferably less than 2 wt % of water. Animal feed supplement, mixtures for supplementing animal feed, e.g. with methionine or ammonium-MHA.

2-hydroxy-4-methylthiobutyric acid (MHA) is the hydroxyl analogue of the essential amino acid methionin in racemic form and like the latter is an important additive in animal nutrition. When rearing poultry, MHA shows similar growth stimulating properties to those of the amino acid recognised for this purpose. The additive is also being used increasingly in other areas of animal nutrition.
MHA is mostly used in the form of aqueous concentrates, wherein these contain, in addition to the monomer, a certain proportion of oligomers, mainly dimeric and trimeric linear ester acids. The actual amount of these oligomers depends on the conditions of preparation and the concentration selected. Due to their low nutritive action and the inconvenient effect on the flow properties, due to an increase in viscosity, it is desirable, however, to keep their percentage proportion as low as possible. Commercial formulations preferably have, for a total concentration of 88-90 wt. %, up to 24 wt. %, corresponding to ca. 27 mol. % in total of oligomers, corresponding to a monomer/oligomer ratio of .about.3:1.
Use of the calcium salt and mixed calcium ammonium salt of MHA as an animal feed additive is also known. Production of these salts, however, is associated with higher production costs. In addition, as powdered solids they are less easy to incorporate into the feedstuff formulation than readily sprayed aqueous concentrates of the free acids with low proportions of oligomers.
The synthetic route to MHA consists of 3 reactions.
The general process for preparing MHA starts from 3-methylthiopropionaldehyde, also called methylmercaptopropionaldehyde or MMP, which is reacted with hydrogen cyanide to give 2-hydroxy-4-methylthiobutyronitrile, also called MMP-cyanohydrin or MMP-CH (equation 1). ##STR1##
The MMP-cyanohydrin produced is then usually hydrolysed with strong inorganic acids via the intermediate stage of 2-hydroxy-4-methylthiobutyramide, also called MHA-amide (equation II), ##STR2## to give the methionin hydroxy analogue (MHA) (equation III). ##STR3##
This hydrolysis can be performed in either one or two stages, wherein "stages" is understood to mean that inorganic acid and/or water is added either once or twice to hydrolyse the MMP-CH, i.e. the number of stages corresponds to the number of addition processes.
A two-stage method of working starting from MMP-cyanohydrin is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,745,745, 2,938,053 and 3,175,000. There, the cyanohydrin is initially reacted at relatively low temperatures with concentrated inorganic acids, e.g. with 50-85% strength sulphuric acid, to give MHA-amide, whereupon hydrolysis to give MHA is then performed at elevated temperature after the addition of water. The calcium or calcium ammonium salt of MHA and the coupled product calcium sulphate is obtained from this by treating the saponification mixture with calcium hydroxide or carbonate. To avoid the inevitable production of unwanted secondary products, the first two patents mentioned recommend using the hydrolysis reagent sulphuric acid in a sub-stoichiometric ratio to MMP-cyanohydrin of, for example, 0.55-0.8:1. British patent 722 024, which describes a similar method of forming the MHA salts from MHA-amide, also implies the two-stage method of working.
A two-stage hydrolysis is also used in the methods disclosed in European patents 0 142 488 (using sulphuric acid) and 0 143 100 (using inorganic acids), the object of which is the recovery of MHA in a liquid form, that is in highly concentrated aqueous solutions. These are obtained after the hydrolysis reaction, performed under defined concentration and temperature conditions via the amide stage using excess inorganic acids, by means of solvent extraction, wherein specific solvents which are partially miscible with water are used.
According to the data in these patents, the characterising feature of the method described therein is regarded as the recovery of MHA from the extraction solution, which is performed in such a way that recovery includes removal of the organic solvent in the presence of at least about 5 wt. % of water, with respect to the remaining extract (MHA). MHA is recovered from the extraction solution by distillation (see the examples), wherein steam distillation is preferred. By removing the solvent from the extraction solution during steam distillation, the bottom product obtained is a mixture of MHA and water. Steam distillation is therefore performed in such a way that the bottom product contains at least 5 wt. % of water.
At another point, the patents in question specify that the column conditions during distillation are controlled in such a way that throughout the column, at least, however, in the bottom fraction, the liquid phase contains about 5 wt. % of water.
From this, it follows that without the presence of a sufficient amount of water during recovery of MHA from the extraction solution the increasing formation of unwanted secondary products (dimers and oligomers) is to be feared.
Furthermore, the steam is used during distillation as a driving agent for complete removal of the extraction agent from the MHA solution, e.g. by forming a low-boiling azeotropic mixture with the corresponding extraction agent.
Concentrated MHA solutions without the use of a solvent are obtained according to U.S. Pat. No. 3,773,927 by means of a two-stage hydrolysis of MMP-cyanohydrin using excess aqueous hydrochloric acid, subsequent concentration of the saponification mixture and separation of the crystallised-out ammonium chloride. The MHA concentrates obtained in this way, however, smell of oligomers and are dark coloured. Also, the isolated ammonium chloride is heavily contaminated.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,924, the excess inorganic acid, after two-stage hydrolysis using hydrochloric acid, is neutralised with ammonia or another alkaline substance. Concentrated MHA solutions with very few corrosive properties are obtained in this way.
A process is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,690 in which, after hydrolysis with hydrochloric acid the mixture is neutralised with caustic soda solution under precisely defined conditions and the ammonium chloride is converted into common salt and ammonia. During subsequent treatment with slaked lime, the MHA calcium salt is obtained as a slurry in a virtually saturated solution of common salt. After solid/liquid separation, the majority of the filtrate is recycled to prepare the slaked lime slurries. In this way, pollution of the effluent is reduced and the co-production of unwanted or environmentally polluting impurities is avoided.
One-stage hydrolysis methods are also described in the patent literature. Thus, the process according to British patent 915 193 is aimed at the recovery of the MHA calcium salt, wherein after saponification of MMP-cyanohydrin with excess dilute sulphuric acid, the MHA formed is separated from the saponification solution by means of extraction with high-boiling ethers and the MHA calcium salt is obtained by subsequent treatment of the extract with calcium hydroxide. Return of the aqueous raffinate to the saponification stage which is provided in this continuous process, however, leads to an accumulation of inorganic minor constituents.
European patent 0 330 527 discloses a further one-stage hydrolysis process using sulphuric acid as the saponification agent, which takes place without solvents and leads directly to concentrated aqueous MHA solutions, wherein crystalline ammonium sulphate in saleable form is obtained as the co-product. This objective is achieved by neutralising the saponification mixture with ammonium hydroxide solution until the excess inorganic acid and the ammonium bisulphate produced have been converted into the neutral sulphate, wherein two liquid phases are produced, which for their part can be separated and evaporated down in order to obtain MHA on the one hand and crystalline ammonium sulphate on the other hand. In this case, the various filtration and recovery steps are combined in such a way that virtually no product is lost and no salt-polluted effluent is produced. The resulting MHA is of similar quality to the product obtained according to EP 0 142 488.
However, even this environmentally friendly process has various disadvantages. As the applicant of the present invention established when reworking this process, as a result of the comparatively high dilution of the sulphuric acid (20-50%) a considerably higher excess of acid than stated has to be used in order to achieve complete cyanohydrin conversion. Also, to avoid the deposition of salt during neutralisation, high dilutions have to be used in order to be able to separate the two liquid phases cleanly. Next, the ammonium sulphate obtained is of a sticky consistency and associated with a penetrating odour so that aftertreatment, such as e.g. wash-filtration or recrystallisation is required, which increases the costs of the process. Again, the process consumes more energy in the evaporation steps than the process in EP-A 0 142 488 which is cited for comparison, differently than is asserted. Solids handling, arranged in two separate lines with filtering/centrifuging and, not shown in the flow-chart, drying of the ammonium sulphate, is also very costly and utilises complex equipment.

Process for recovering 2-hydroxy-4-methylthiobutyric acid (MHA), MHA and its use