The object of the invention is to extend the life of the light source while uniformizing the illuminance intensity in the main scanning direction. The invention is based on a light source of image reading apparatus comprised of film layers laminated on a transparent substrate in the order of a transparent electrode, an area light emitter and a metal electrode, and emitting light by impressing a specific voltage on these two electrodes. And an area light emitter column configured by arranging area light emitters corresponding to each color of R (red), G (green) and B (blue) in the sub scanning direction, or a monochrome area light emitter is arranged repeatedly in the main scanning direction. Accordingly, even when somewhere in the light emitting element has a defect like the film thickness is thin, the current gathering at this point with the low resistance value becomes a very small volume. Therefore, it would not occur that the film burns out from here.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a light source of the image reading apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
The multifunctional printer combining functions of the copying machine, the scanner, the printer, and the facsimile machine, is provided with an image reading apparatus that optically reads images illustrated on an original.
The reduction optical system (the reduction CCD System) has been well known as the above-mentioned image reading apparatus. The reduction optical system has a merit that it is possible to obtain clear images by making the focal depth of the lens large even in case where the original is lifted from the original plate, and meanwhile, there is a demerit that such mechanism made the apparatus large. Therefore, in case of considering the downsizing and thin body of the apparatus, the contact type optical system is adopted in general wherein the information of the original is led to a sensor 108 with the same magnification of the erected image, as shown in FIG. 22.
Specifically, two LED arrays 112 are placed symmetrically each other over the original surface 106 at a specific oblique angle. At the position over a center between two LED arrays 112, a rod lens array 121 is placed. The rod lens array 121 receives light emitted on the original surface 106.
The LED array 112 is formed by arranging plural LED elements 125 on a substrate 124 as shown in FIG. 23. The rod lens array 121 is formed by arranging a specific number of a cylindrical rod lens 122 adjacently and holding them by the substrate 124 as shown in FIG. 24.
Using such contract type optical system configured as above makes the distance between the original surface 106 and the rod lens 122 short, therefore it is possible to downsize the apparatus appreciably.
In order to downsize the apparatus, this is also an important thing that the light source is placed at a position as closer to the original surface as possible. However, since the conventional type of the LED array is an aggregate of point sources, this light source must have a specific distance from the original surface in order to ensure the luminance uniformity. That is to say, there is a limit to promote the downsizing of the apparatus by using the conventional LED array.
Therefore, the applicants of this invention have disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-217561 that the following electro luminescence film is used as the area light emitting source.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 25, a transparent electrode film 103 is formed in the main scanning direction on the transparent substrate 101 of a long glass or transparent resin, on which the electro luminescence film 100 as the light medium is formed, and finally a metal electrode 102 is laminated on the upper surface.
In addition, in case where such area light emitting source is carried out in color, since the illuminance must be uniformized in the main scanning direction, the electro luminescence films 100r, 100g and 100b in the same width corresponding to each color of R (red), G (green), and B (blue) are formed in the sub scanning direction, as shown in FIG. 26.
As shown in FIG. 27, two area light emitting source 5 are arranged symmetrically over the original 9 with keeping a specific interval. Thereby the light emitted on the original is led to the sensor 1 through the lens 14 placed over the center between two area light emitting sources 5.
Even if the area light emitting source comes up to a reading position Pa, the uniform illuminance can be obtained at this reading position Pa. Therefore, it is possible to promote the downsizing of the apparatus by using the area light emitting source 5 proposed by the applicants instead of the conventional LED array.
However, there is a problem that the area light emitting source adopting the electro luminescence film 100r, 100g and 100b has a short life. As shown in FIG. 26, if somewhere, a point X, has a defect like the film thickness is thin, the current gathering at this point X of which the resistance value is low, and the electro luminescence film 100b burns out from this point.
The invention is proposed based on the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has an object to extend the life span of the light source of the image reading apparatus while uniformizing the illuminance in the main scanning direction.

Light source of image reading apparatus and driving device of light source

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


In some embodiments, a stent includes an elongate member and a distal retention member. The elongate member is configured to be disposed within a ureter of a patient and has a first portion, a second portion and a plurality of beads bonded together. The plurality of beads define a plurality of spaces between the plurality of beads. The plurality of spaces are configured to allow fluid to flow from the first portion of the elongate member to the second portion of the elongate member. The distal retention member is configured to help maintain a portion of the stent within a kidney of the patient.

The invention relates generally to a medical implant and more particularly to a stent configured to be implanted within a ureter of a patient.
A ureter is a tubular passageway in a body that carries urine from a kidney to a bladder. Ureteral stents are used to assist drainage of urine and/or other fluids from the kidney to the urinary bladder in patients with a ureteral obstruction and/or injury; or to protect the integrity of the ureter during a variety of surgical manipulations. Stents may be used to treat and/or avoid ureteral obstructions (such as ureteral stones or ureteral tumors), which disrupt the flow of urine from the kidneys to the bladder. Serious obstructions may cause urine to back up into the kidneys. Ureteral stents may also be used after endoscopic inspection of the ureter to prevent obstruction of the ureter by swelling of the ureteral wall caused by the surgical procedure. Ureteral stents typically are tubular in shape and terminate in two opposing ends: a kidney-end and a bladder-end.
Known stents, typically include a lumen extending through a tubular passageway. Such known stents, however, do not allow for maximum drainage from the kidney to the bladder. Additionally, known stents are typically rigid to allow for easy placement in a ureter of a patient. Such rigidity, however, can cause patient discomfort and can make the stent more difficult to remove.
A need exists for a stent that provides increased drainage of urine from the kidney to the bladder of a patient. Further, a need exists for a stent that is sufficiently rigid when inserted but causes less patient discomfort after implementation and is easily removable.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A method for processing digital video data intended for normal mode display to obtain corresponding digital video data for trick-mode display includes modifying the normal mode digital video data to achieve a substantially uniform delivery rate to a video client. This results in smoother trick-mode playback. The modified normal mode digital video data is saved as a trick-mode file. When trick-mode playback is requested, a video-server retrieves data from the trick-mode file.

When viewing a film, it is often desirable to skip over uninteresting scenes or, conversely, to rewind the film to repeat certain scenes. As a result, virtually all video playback units include fast-forward and rewind controls that enable the viewer to rapidly move forward or backward along the film.
However, without the ability to identify selected portions of the film, it is difficult for a viewer to determine how long to operate in fast-forward or rewind mode. To address this difficulty, virtually all video playback units provide some position-indicating feedback to the viewer. A particularly useful method of providing such feedback is to continue displaying the film when operating in fast-forward or rewind. These two types of displays are collectively referred to in the industry as "trick-mode" displays.
In both analog and digital video delivery systems, an ordered sequence of images is shown to the viewer at a rate (approximately 24 images per second) that is fast enough to give the user the illusion of motion. Aside from the improved image and sound quality associated with digital video, there is little noticeable difference between these delivery systems so long as they operate in normal mode. The difference between analog and digital video delivery systems becomes quite apparent, however, when one switches to trick-mode display.
When operating in trick-mode, an analog video delivery system, such as a video tape recorder, simply speeds up the rate at which the medium containing the video signal slides past a read head. To a first approximation, this results in a uniform compression of the temporal axis. A viewer thus sees all the action in the film being performed at a uniformly accelerated pace.
In contrast, a digital video delivery system operating in trick-mode generally does not show each image from the sequence of images making up the film. Instead, a trick-mode processor selects a subset of images from the film and transmits those images to a decoder for display to the viewer. Since these selected images are generally represented by differing amounts of data, they take varying amounts of time to reach the decoder and varying amounts of time to be processed by the decoder. The sum of the transmission time and the processing time is referred to as the "delivery interval."
When the decoder receives a first selected image, it decodes it and provides the resulting signal to the video input of a television for display to the viewer. The decoder repeatedly provides this signal to the video input until a second selected image becomes available for display. The viewer thus sees the first selected image while the decoder processes the second selected image. When the decoder completes processing the second selected image, it provides this new signal to the video input. The viewer then sees the second selected image.
The length of the time interval during which the viewer sees the first selected image thus depends on the time required to have the second selected image ready for display. Since the selected images can have very different sizes, this time interval can vary significantly. For example, if the second image is represented using only a very small amount of data, only a short time elapses before it is ready for display. Consequently, the viewer will see the first image for only a very short time before it is replaced by the second image. Conversely, if the second image requires considerable data for representation, a long time elapses before it is ready for display. Consequently, the viewer will see the first image for an extended period before it is finally replaced by the second image.
A digital video delivery system operating in trick-mode thus displays selected images for varying amounts of time. As a result, a viewer who activates trick-mode for a fixed number of seconds will advance or rewind the film by unpredictable amounts of time. This makes it difficult to judge, by watching the sequence of images go by, how much time has elapsed in the film. In addition, the subjective experience of watching a sequence of images in which each image is displayed for a seemingly random time can be unpleasant.


Souvenir kits are disclosed, the kits including an assortment of multiple parts including a front member, a rear member, and at least one side member. At least the front member is thematically representative of an aspect of a particular travel destination. At least the front member is configured for connection to one or more other parts in the kit in multiple respective ways so as to make a selected souvenir assembly of at least three possible souvenir assemblies, each having a different use, that can be made from the parts in the kit. Exemplary assemblies include bookends, wall-hangings, enclosures (e.g., planters), light-switch covers, object-holding devices, and wind chimes, and combinations thereof.

Many tourists purchase souvenirs when traveling, especially when traveling to a popular location or to a location proximal to a particular natural or man-made feature that is famous or well-recognized. Even persons who say they do not buy souvenirs will readily admit that they do not buy them for themselves but rather for others. Usually, a person traveling to a famous destination on business or vacation while leaving a spouse or other loved one at home frequently would be found greatly remiss if he or she returned home without a souvenir of the location to present to the person who stayed home.
Unfortunately, souvenirs are often large and bulky and, when purchased early during the trip, must be lugged around until the end of the trip and ultimately packed into the traveler's luggage, which increases the bulk and weight of the luggage and poses a substantial risk that the souvenir will be damaged during the trip home.


An information transmission method, a network device and a terminal are provided. The method includes: sending configuration information of a first configuration of a physical uplink shared channel or a physical downlink shared channel; determining RVs corresponding to TOs in a second configuration of the physical uplink shared channel or the physical downlink shared channel according to the configuration information, wherein, RVs corresponding to TOs overlapped in time domain in the first configuration and in the second configuration are the same; transmitting the physical uplink shared channel or the physical downlink shared channel according to the RVs.

With development and evolution of requirements on a mobile communication service, a new radio communication system (i.e., Fifth Generation New RAT (5G NR)) is being studied as a next-generation mobile communication system. In a 5G NR system, an important requirement is communication having a low-latency and a high-reliability. Transmission schemes such as Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC) have emerged. For example, in an uplink transmission scheme of the URLLC, in order to reduce the latency, a scheduling-free scheme is adopted, and in order to increase the reliability, a repetitive transmission scheme is adopted.
Since data arrival at a terminal side is random, a configuration period is defined in the scheduling-free repetitive transmission scheme in uplink, and in this case, it is required that after the terminal starts transmission within one period, the terminal must end transmission within the period, the transmission cannot cross the period. This requirement will cause the actual number of repetitive transmissions to be less than the configured number of repetitive transmissions, which will also affect the reliability. On a premise that data is transmitted as soon as possible after arrival of the data, multiple parallel configurations, i.e., a multi-configuration scheme in which starting positions of the configurations in the period are staggered, are adopted in order to improve the reliability.
In the relate art, different ones of the configurations are distinguished by different frequency-domain positions or Demodulation Reference Signals (DMRS), and the base station determines a configuration used for transmission by performing blind detection on a resource location or a Demodulation Reference Signals (DMRS), and accordingly, a Redundancy Version (RV) corresponding to any transmission occasion (TO) is determined based on a position of a first TO in the used configuration. This mode needs to consume a large amount of frequency-domain resources or DMRSs, which affects the efficiency.

Information transmission method, network device, and terminal

DATANG MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT CO., LTD.


The present invention relates an improved process for the preparation of tetrahydro-β-carboline derivative of formula (V) which is useful as an intermediate for the preparation of Tadalafil of formula (I). Moreover, the present invention relates to the process for the preparation of Tadalafil of formula (I)

The chemical name of Tadalafil is (6R, 12aR)-2, 3, 6, 7, 12, 12a-hexahydro-2-methyl 6-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)-pyrazino[2′, 1′: 6,1]pyrido [3,4-b]indole-1, 4-dione and molecular formula is C22H19N3O4 and molecular weight is 389.41. The current pharmaceutical product contaning this drug is being sold by Icos-Lilly using tradename CIALIS, in the form of tablets.
Tadalafil of formula (I) is a tetra cyclic derivative, potent and selective inhibitor of cyclic guanosine 3,5-monophosphate-(cGMP)-specific phosphodiesterase type 5(PDE5) having utility in a variety of therapeutic area where such inhibition is thought to be beneficial. Therefore, it has utility in the treatment of various disorders, including stable, unstable and variant (Prinzmetal) angina, hypertension pulmonary hypertension, congestive heart failure, renal failure, arteiosclerosis, conditions of reduced blood vessel potency (post-PTCA) etc. Tadalafil is potent drug useful for treatment of erectile dysfunction.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,859,006 describes a process for the preparation of Tadalafil and its intermediate of formula (V) which involves reacting D-Tryptophan methyl ester of formula

With a piperonal of formula
in the presence of dichloromethane and trifluoroacetic acid which provides cis and trans isomers of compound of formula (V). The isomers are separated by chromatography. The cis isomer is then reacted with chloroacetyl chloride and methylamine to give Tadalafil of formula (I). The product of the reaction was purified by chromatography.
The above process has the certain disadvantages such as:    (a) The above process is time consuming and requiring 4–5 days at 0–5° C. for the completion of reaction.    (b) Overall yield obtained is low, with 37–42% cis isomer of (V), which is desired, and 27–47% trans isomer of (V) (undesired).    (c) It uses highly corrosive and toxic material Trifluoroacetic acid.    (d) All these processes require either fractional crystallization or column chromatography of the reaction mixture in order to separate the isomers before epimerization to form pure cis isomer of (V).    (e) The process requires 24–72 hours for epimerization in a volatile solvent like dichloromethane.
WO2004/011463 discloses process of preparation of Tadalafil via modified pictate-spengler reaction in which D-Tryptophan methyl ester hydrochloride and piperonal is condensed in anhydrous IPA to provide hydrochloride of compound of formula (V). The product further is reacted with chloroacetyl chloride and then with methyl amine to give Tadalafil of formula (I).
However this process requires anhydrous IPA specifically 0.1% or less water which is practically difficult thing.
WO2005/068464 discloses process of preparation in which D-Tryptophan methyl ester and piperonal is condensed in the presence of TFA, solvent and molecular sieves to give mixture of compound of formula (V) as cis and trans isomers which is treated with aq HCl to form hydrochloride salt of cis isomer which inturn is reacted with chloroacetyl chloride and then methylamine to give Tadalafil of formula (I).
However, in this process highly toxic and corrosive reagent trifloroacetic acid is used which should be avoided normally for regulatory compliance purpose.
In summary, the prior art relating to the process for the preparation of Tadalafil suffers with several drawbacks such as:    (a) The processes given in are time consuming and requiring 4–5days at 0–5° C. for the completion of reaction.    (b) Overall yield obtained is low, with 37–42% cis isomer of (V), which is desired, and 27–47% trans isomer of (V) (undesired).    (c) Highly corrosive and toxic material Trifluoroacetic acid is used in several patents.    (d) The processes require either fractional crystallization or column chromatography of the reaction mixture in order to separate the isomers before epimerization to form pure cis isomer of (V). The process also requires 24–72 hours for epimerization in a volatile solvent like dichloromethane.    (e) The process requires critical moisture check of the solvent like IPA in some patent.
The present inventors have directed their research work toward developing a process which solves above mentioned problems that is associated with the existing process.
Hence, there is need to overcome problems by developing an improved process, particularly processes that directly synthesize desired stereoisomer of the compound.

Process for preparing Tadalafil and its intermediate


An apparatus includes a packet encryption circuit that uses an encryption keys to encrypt each of two or more portions of a data packet. Each portion is encrypted with a different encryption key and includes one or more layers of the data packet. A first portion includes a layer of the data packet with MAC information. The apparatus includes a packet transmitter that transmits, from a source router, an encrypted data packet to an intermediate router between the source router and a destination router. The encrypted data packet includes an encrypted version of the data packet encrypted using the encryption keys. The intermediate router has encryption keys sufficient for a service level agreement of the intermediate router and lacks a portion of the encryption keys. The source and destination routers use a MAC security standard for encryption and decryption of the data packet using the encryption keys.

Critical Wide Area Network ("WAN") connections, like a data center interconnect, need security solutions in order to mitigate various attack vectors. The critical WAN connections typically use layer 2 encryption protocols, like the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ("IEEE") media access control ("MAC") security standard, called MACSec, in order to provide confidentiality and integrity of the entire network packet. While adding security, layer 2 encryption represents a drawback from the functionality perspective because intermediary WAN devices are not able to inspect the packet fields in order to respect a custom Service Level Agreement ("SLA").

Selectively disclosing content of data center interconnect encrypted links

LENOVO Enterprise Solutions (Singapore) PTE. LTD.


A radio transmitter having a RF signal source. A splitter receives an input signal from the signal source and divides that input signal into two output signals. These output signals are fed into two phase shifters. A phase control signal is applied to each phase shifter so that the vector sum of the output signals represents the desired amplitude and phase of the desired transmitted signal. The outputs of both phase shifters are both frequency multiplied and amplified before recombining to form the transmitter output signal.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to high frequency transmitters and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for modulating the transmission signal utilizing phase shifters.
II. Description of Related Art
For electromagnetic radiation, the length of an antenna radiator is inversely proportional to the frequency of the electromagnetic transmission. Consequently, it is very difficult to transmit low frequency signals, such as voice or video, as electromagnetic waves at their original frequencies. In order to do so, would render the necessary antenna radiators unacceptably long.
Consequently, in communication radio, a low frequency signal, also known as a baseband signal, is typically upconverted in frequency to the carrier frequency. For example, in AM radio voice signals having a bandwidth of about 5 kilohertz are typically upconverted to 531-1611 kilohertz for commercial medium wave AM radio, or to 2.5-26.1 megahertz for shortwave AM radio. By upconverting the low frequency of the voice signal, transmission of the radio signal can be accomplished with a practical sized antenna.
The process of upconversion is done through the use of a mixer which mixes a desired baseband signal, known as the IF or intermediate frequency signal, with a high frequency signal known as the LO (local oscillator) signal. The mixer, however, does not simply add the LO and IF signals together. Instead, the output from the mixer contains both the sum and the difference of the LO and IF frequencies, as well as the LO signal. For example, assuming an LO signal of 10 megahertz and an IF signal of 5 kilohertz, the output from the mixer would contain not only the LO signal of 10 megahertz, but also two sideband signals that are modulated by the IF frequency. These signals would be centered at 9.995 megahertz and at 10.005 megahertz.
Although it is possible to amplify both the LO signal and both sideband signals for transmission from the appropriate antenna, to do so is very power inefficient. This power inefficiency arises since each sideband signal contains the same modulation information and the LO signal contains no useful information at all. Consequently, in order to increase the power efficiency of the transmitter, it is necessary to remove one of the sideband signals as well as the LO signal prior to amplification and transmission. However, this requires very narrow band filters to filter out the undesired signal. The remaining signal is then amplified and transmitted. Such filters, however, add distortion to the output signal.
While the previously known practice of using upconversion optionally followed by filtering of the upconverted signal has proven effective for relatively low frequency radio transmitters, i.e. radio transmitters transmitting at a frequency of less than 10 gigahertz, such radio communications transmitters have proven impractical for high frequency radio transmitters, i.e. radio transmitters in the range of 0.1 to 10 terahertz, for a number of different reasons.
First, solid-state frequency sources at such high frequencies, i.e. greater than 100 gigahertz, are necessarily low powered, typically generating 1 watt or less in power. Furthermore, for low distortion, the LO signal power must be at least 10 times the power of the IF signal desired to be upconverted and ultimately transmitted. Consequently, with an LO signal source having a 1 watt output and used as a carrier wave input to the radio mixer, the input from the RF signal to be modulated cannot be greater than 0.1 watt. Otherwise, excessive distortion of the modulated sideband signal would occur.
In order to improve the overall power efficiency of the transmitter, the carrier signal and one sideband should be removed from the output signal from the RF mixer. However, to do so requires a very narrow band filter. Such narrow band filters, particularly at high frequencies, are not only lossy but do not provide flat group delay. Such narrow band filters also distort the signal and this distortion becomes worse as the filter bandwidth becomes narrower. All these factors thus result in distortion of the signal desired for transmission as well as a very low output power for the modulated signal. This, in turn, requires excessive amplification in order to reach an acceptable power level, e.g. a few watts, for practical applications.
For all the foregoing reasons, the use of RF mixers which mix IF sources with the LO mixer input, even when followed by frequency multipliers which also add distortion, results in excessive distortion and power loss for the RF signal.

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


Selection items which can be executed by an ophthalmologic application are displayed on a display portion on an ophthalmologic apparatus, and can be selected and executed by an operation portion on the ophthalmologic apparatus, thereby providing an ophthalmologic information process system and program which can reduce load on the operator and increase the overall throughput of examination. An ophthalmologic application transmits executable selection item information to the ophthalmologic apparatus and causes the ophthalmologic apparatus to display the information. Selection of one of the displayed selection items is executed by operation on the ophthalmologic apparatus. The behavior of the application is then controlled in accordance with the selection item.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ophthalmologic information process system and an ophthalmologic application.
Description of the Related Art
It has been possible to transfer the images photographed by an ophthalmologic apparatus to an image filing system (for example, a system which manages photographed images during examination by the ophthalmologic apparatus), store the images in a computer, database, or the like, display the stored photographed images, and use them for diagnosis. In addition, some ophthalmologic apparatus (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-113334) can change settings on the ophthalmologic apparatus by opening a menu screen on the display of the ophthalmologic apparatus in order to change settings on the ophthalmologic apparatus during examination. Furthermore, some image filing system automatically shifts to a screen for the registration of the next object at the end of an examination in order to improve the examination efficiency (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-045218).
According to the related art, however, since there is no means for causing an ophthalmologic apparatus to execute the function of an image filing system by operating the apparatus, the operability is poor. For example, after the operator terminates photographing operation with the operation portion of the ophthalmologic apparatus, the operator terminates the examination with the operation portion of the image filing system.
Providing a dedicated switch on the ophthalmologic apparatus side to solve the above problem makes it necessary to widen the operation portion, resulting in inconvenience.
In addition, a dedicated switch provided on an ophthalmologic apparatus is an unnecessary switch for an image filing system having no corresponding function. This may degrade the operability.
Instead of providing a dedicated switch, it is conceivable to make an image filing system execute its function by displaying a menu screen or the like on the display of an ophthalmologic apparatus. It is, however, necessary to implement this operation in consideration of both a process on the ophthalmologic apparatus side and the image filing system function. With an increase in the types of ophthalmologic apparatuses and image filing systems, it is difficult to manage combinations.

Ophthalmologic information process system and ophthalmologic application


A thermal probe system has a Wollaston thermal sensor connected in one arm of a bridge. The other arms of the bridge are provided by resistors and a voltage is applied from a low-noise source via several op-amps. The output of the bridge is connected with a primary winding of a step-up transformer, the output of which connects with the input of an output amplifier, which, in turn, provides an output to a display.

This invention relates to thermal probe systems.
There are several well-known spectroscopy techniques that can be used to make localized infra-red examination of a sample, such as Fourier transform-infrared microspectroscopy and micro-attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy. Recently an alternative technique known as photothermal microspectroscopy has been proposed. This employs a modified form of the probe used in atomic force microscopy to contact and measure the temperature of a localized region on the surface of the sample. The probe employs a small diameter platinum-rhodium wire bent into a V shape with its apex providing the sensing point. As well as sensing the temperature, the probe also acts as a heater to warm the sample where it is contacted. Alternatively, the heating can be achieved by focussing a beam of infrared radiation into a small spot 2 mm in diameter. This can give information about the topography of the sample as well as sub-surface detail resulting from local variations in the thermal conductivity of the sample. Further information about this form of spectroscopy is given in "Mid-infrared Microscopy of Difficult Samples Using Near-Field Photothermal Microspectroscopy" by A Hammiche et al, pps 20-42, Spectroscopy 19(2), February 2004. A problem with this form of spectroscopy is that the noise produced in semiconductor device preamplifiers is high compared with the signal from the probe and makes it very difficult to extract useful information.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an alternative thermal probe system.
According to the present invention there is provided a thermal probe system including a thermal sensing probe and a preamplifier connected with the probe and having an output arranged for connection to an amplifier, the preamplifier including a transformer arranged to increase the signal from the probe.
The system preferably includes a bridge circuit, the probe being connected in an arm of the bridge circuit. The output of the bridge circuit is preferably connected to an input of the transformer. The system may include a voltage source and a plurality of amplifiers connected between the voltage source and resistors of the bridge circuit. The bridge circuit may include adjustable means, such as a potentiometer, for balancing the bridge. The system may include an output amplifier having its input connected with the output of the transformer. The system may include a display arranged to indicate the output of the probe. The probe is preferably a Wollaston thermal sensor. The preamplifier is preferably enclosed within a screened enclosure.
A photothermal system according to the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing.


A process for the production of high-purity melamine by pyrolysis of urea at high pressure, wherein the liquid phase output from the pyrolysis reactor is sent to a downstream post-reactor, and wherein the anhydrous gaseous phase from the pyrolysis reactor and from the post-reactor are subjected to washing with molten urea for the recovery of the melamine. The purified liquid exiting the post-reactor is treated in a quenching column, in order to eliminate polycondensates, while the quenching column output is cooled. A high purity melamine is then separated by crystallization from a mother liquor, the greater part of which is recycled to the quenching column, thereby enabling a costless recovery of ammonia and melamine. The remaining mother liquor is treated for the separation of oxidized products of pyrolysis and is then sent back to the quenching column, thereby realizing the complete recovery of the melamine.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved procedure for the production of high-purity melamine according to a process based on the pyrolysis of urea under high pressure.
In greater detail, the present invention refers to the process that provides for the collection and purification in aqueous solution of melamine produced in a reactor and its separation by crystallization.
2. Description of Related Art
The reaction transforming urea into melamine follows the stoichiometry shown in the following equation:
                              6                                NH            2                                          CONH            2                          →                                                            (                CN                )                            3                                                                  (                                  NH                  2                                )                            3                                +                      6                                      NH              3                                +                      3                                      CO              2                                                              urea                                                  melamine                                                  ammonia                                                  carbon                                                  dioxide            according to which approximately 1.86 kilograms of a gaseous mixture of NH3 and CO2 (collectively called off-gas) are formed for every kilogram of melamine produced.
The most widely used process based on the pyrolysis of urea under high pressure is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,161,638 to Allied. The basis of this process is that all effluents from the melamine synthesis reactor are cooled and collected in aqueous ammonia medium. The presence of ammonia as alkaline medium prevents the precipitation of the intermediate oxidation products of the pyrolysis reaction, called oxyaminotriazines (OAT) and enables the transformation into melamine of the de-ammoniating condensation by-products of the same (polycondensates), thus assuring a high degree of purity of the product.
According to this process, a stream of off-gas is also produced containing water vapor derived from the aforementioned treatment of the entire effluent of the reactor with an aqueous medium. This gaseous phase is normally returned to the urea synthesis plant in order to recover the NH3 and the CO2 contained in it. However, the presence of water vapor in the off-gas stream can constitute a problem for the urea plant.
Furthermore, the residual aqueous solution (mother liquor) separated from the crystallized melamine according to this process cannot be directly recycled and reused to dissolve the melamine coming out of the reactor, because the concentration of OAT would increase continuously and, once the aqueous medium becomes saturated, OAT would precipitate together with the melamine crystals contaminating the product. For this reason, the mother liquor must be suitably treated before being recycled, in order to separate OAT and maintain their concentration in the mother liquor at a constant level below the solubility limit.
The aforesaid treatment not only renders the aqueous cycle of collection and purification of the melamine more complex, but also adds a source of costs, both in terms of investment and of energy consumption.
A schematic illustration of an embodiment of the process according to the above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,161,638 is shown in FIG. 1, representing the state of the art for the present invention, in order to demonstrate the advantages of the improvements to the aforesaid process brought about by the present invention.
According to the outline in FIG. 1, the urea is fed as a liquid at a temperature of 135–140° C. to a pyrolysis vat Reactor that works continuously and in which a suitable heating system supplies the necessary calories to the reacting system, maintaining it at a temperature of 360–420° C. The reaction pressure is maintained at a value above 7 MPa. The reactor is single-stage, and the reacting mass is maintained in strong circulation by the gases that are formed during the pyrolysis of the urea. The reacted mass (liquid and gas) is continuously discharged into an apparatus (Quench) where its temperature is lowered to approximately 160° C. in the presence of a water solution.
Under these conditions, all the melamine, the non-reacted urea and the various impurities, pass into solution and are sent downstream to be processed, while a gaseous phase, consisting substantially of NH3 and CO2, is separated and recycled to the urea synthesis plant, together with the amount of water vapor corresponding to the thermodynamic equilibrium in the Quench condition.
The aqueous solution from the Quench also contains a certain amount of dissolved ammonia and CO2 that is eliminated in the following CO2 Stripper. The elimination of the CO2 is necessary in order to get a high degree of purity of melamine in the down-stream treatment.
The aqueous stream from the bottom of the CO2 Stripper, containing a residual amount of CO2 of 0.3–0.5% by weight, contains melamine at a concentration of 6–12% by weight, together with OAT and the polycondensates. The polycondensates, given their low solubility, must be eliminated before sending said aqueous stream to the Crystallizer for the recovery of the melamine.
In order to eliminate the polycondensates, the solution is heated to approximately 170° C. in the presence of ammonia in a suitable column, called Hydrolizer, in which ammonia is added to the warm solution until it reaches the level of 12–15% by weight. During the stay in the Hydrolizer under these conditions, the polycondensates are almost totally transformed into melamine and, to a lesser extent, into OAT.
The purified ammoniacal solution from the Hydrolizer is fed to the Crystallizer where the temperature is lowered to 40–50° C., thus allowing the crystallization of the greater part of the melamine. The presence of ammonia in the Crystallizer serves to maintain OAT in solution and thus to separate a product characterized by a high degree of purity (+99.9% weight). In the following operation of Liquid/Solid Separation, the crystallized melamine is separated from an aqueous stream containing the OAT formed in reaction and in the various pieces of equipment of the aqueous circuit due to the hydrolysis of melamine.
This aqueous stream (called mother liquor), in which the residual melamine is present at a concentration of 0.8–1% by weight, cannot be recycled directly to the Quench because, otherwise, the OAT content would continue to increase and, once the saturation concentration is reached, they would precipitate in the Crystallizer contaminating the product. On the other hand, the mother liquor cannot be discharged into the ambient because of the presence of large amounts of ammonia and other organic materials. Other than that, dumping the mother liquor would correspond to a heavy economic loss because of its melamine and ammonia content.
Therefore, the process according to U.S. Pat. No. 3,161,368 provides for the treatment of the mother liquor in De-Ammoniating Column. Here the ammonia is completely recovered and an ammonia-free solution is produced; this solution contains almost exclusively melamine and OAT. Cooling this solution to room temperature causes the Precipitation and Separation of OAT, which are thus eliminated from the aqueous cycle, allowing the re-circulation of the purified mother liquor and the recovery of the melamine contained in the mother liquor.
The process illustrated here above is currently in use industrially in numerous plants, but requires a certain consumption of steam, because almost the entire amount of the OAT-containing mother liquor must be heated. Furthermore, the presence of water in the stream of ammonia and carbon dioxide (off-gas) that are returned to the urea synthesis plant requires some adjustments in the operative conditions of the plant.

Procedure for the production of high-purity melamine with high yields

Eurotecnica Melamine Luxembourg Zweigniederlassung in Ittigen


A bed 14 has a base frame 32, an elevatable frame 34 and a telescopable column 36 having a base segment 36a connected to the base frame 32 and a terminal segment 36e connected to the elevate able frame 34. Each column circumscribes a lift chain assembly 100 which includes a magazine 102 and a lift chain 160 with a terminal link 240. The magazine 102 is connected to either the base frame 32 or the elevate able frame 34 and the terminal link 240 is connected to the other of the base frame 32 and the elevate able frame 34. The magazine 102 comprises left and right magazine covers 104, 106 each having an outer face and an inner face 112, 114 with grooves 120. The lift chain 160 has left and right rollers 238 that project into the grooves. The lift chain assembly 100 also includes a gear train 320 extending from a gear train drive shaft 334 to a gear train output shaft 338 and a motor 278 having an output shaft 314 connected to the gear train drive shaft 334.

Patient beds used in health care facilities and home care settings often include a lift system allowing a patient or caregiver to adjust the height of the bed. The lift system must satisfy a number of potentially conflicting constraints. For example, the lift system should be quiet, dependable, safe and damage resistant. It should also be inexpensive to manufacture and should be adaptable to different bed models with no more than simple, inexpensive modifications. Because the lift system typically resides underneath the elevateable components of the bed, it must be compact enough to allow the bed to be positioned at very low elevations and yet must also have enough reach to position the bed at elevations high enough to be satisfactory for the caregiver. Compactness also makes space available for other under-bed components.

Height adjustable bed with a lift chain assembly and components thereof


A transponder which does not require a power source used in an in-wheel motor system and a wheel therewith. The transponder comprises a data transmit/receive antenna, a data transmit/receive section, a sensor circuit, and a sensor power circuit. The sensor power circuit is constituted of a rectification circuit (energy converting means), a storage device and a charging coil and the input side of the rectification circuit is connected to a charging coil and the output side of the rectification circuit is connected to the storage device. The transponder is mounted on a motor rotor provided on an internal surface of a rim section in a tire constituting the wheel, and the charging coil is fixed so as to penetrate through a magnetic field produced by a motor stator.

To identify a tire or obtain information such as inner pressure, temperature and rotational speed of a tire, there is known a technique of such a type as to receive electric oscillating energy from a position distant from a specific tire and to transmit a signal from a transponder mounted on a wheel including the tire.
The transponder consists of an integrated circuit and a case for protecting the integrated circuit and the shape thereof is small coin-shaped or columnar or the like.
As this type of technique, there is conventionally proposed a transponder of which embedding position is set at the central portion of a front end level of carcass ply winding section or on a carcass ply outer surface of a pat-less section (for example, refer to Patent Literature 1).
Furthermore, a pneumatic tire fitted with a transponder formed by improving a foregoing technique is proposed (for example, refer to patent Literature 2).
That is, the transponder in the foregoing technique is a foreign substance for a tire and, if embedded into the tire, has a concern of some failure in the transponder itself due to high temperature and pressure received by the transponder during a vulcanization process for tire manufacture, an external force received by the transponder during tire load rolling, and heat or the like generated. To solve these problems, the pneumatic tire includes a pocket for transponder storage at a swelling section provided on an inner-periphery surface of a beads section of a toroidal tire.
Since the swelling section having the pocket for transponder storage is provided at the beads section having little movement during running in the inner-periphery surface of the tire, there is no adverse effect on the tire and the transponder can freely advance and retreat from/into the pocket, therefore the stored transponder can be inspected or freely replaced as needed.    Patent Literature 1: Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. H2-123404    Patent Literature 2: Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. H7-13505

Transponder for in-wheel motor system and wheel therewith


The present invention includes a system and method for generating variable-length timing signals in an electronic imaging device. A digital camera device includes an electronic image sensor which requires a complex set of timing signals to effectively capture image data. The digital camera therefore also includes timing generation circuitry which generates a set of precise timing signals for a variable-length frame time necessary to control and synchronize the electronic image sensor within the digital camera. The present invention includes a transfer substrate charge (Xsub) source circuit and a frame time source circuit, each containing a downcounter. The point in time when the downcounters reach zero is available as a precise and programmable timing reference. Both the Xsub time and frame time source circuits are loaded from registers under software control.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to electronic imaging devices and more particularly to a system and method for generating timing signals in an electronic imaging device.
2. Description of the Background Art
The efficient operation of electronic imaging devices provides computer users with new and effective ways to capture and process various types of image data. Electronic imaging devices typically include special electronic image sensors that convert a selected image into electronic data. These electronic image sensors conventionally include a series of discrete picture elements (or pixels) which convert light reflected from a photographic target into electrical energy that is then shifted out of the image sensor device. Due to the complexity of the high-speed process involved in shifting captured image data out of the image sensor, electronic imaging devices require a series of precise timing pulses to successfully gate the image data from the image sensor. Electronic imaging devices (such as digital cameras) typically include a timing generator device that effectively generates and provides the precise timing pulses to the electronic image sensor.
Referring now to FIG. 1, a timing diagram of frame timing for a conventional digital camera is shown. Electronic imaging devices using image sensors, such as charge-coupled devices (CCDs), were traditionally used in video applications. The National Television Standard Committee (NTSC) video used in North America is typically displayed at 60 fields per second, and interlaced at 2 fields per video frame. Thus standard video is typically implemented at a fixed rate of 30 frames per second. The Sequential Couleur Avec Memoire (SECAM) video used in France and the Phase Alternating Line (PAL) video used in other parts of Europe is typically displayed at 50 fields per second, for a fixed rate of 25 frames per second. Hereinafter video in compliance with the NTSC standard will be addressed, but it is to be understood that the discussion will also apply to SECAM and PAL.
When electronic imaging devices were initially used for purposes other than video, the existing circuitry was adapted for this new use. Hence, conventional electronic imaging devices typically use a fixed frame rate of 30 frames per second. FIG. 1 shows a series of fixed time period frames each having a length of {fraction (1/30)}th of a second, which corresponds to a frame rate of 30 frames per second.
Image sensors such as CCDs operate as an array of photodiodes. Each photodiode generates electrons from the incident light photons. The electrons are stored in a corresponding capacitive element whose voltage output is proportionate to the stored charge. Prior to capturing an image, the image sensor is kept in a discharged state. When the image sensor is set to capture an image, the charge is allowed to build up in each element of the array for the period of the exposure in proportion to the intensity of the incident light. The voltage resulting from this charge may then be read from each element of the array and subsequently changed into digital form.
This sequence of events is shown in the timing diagram of FIG. 1. The fixed frame time is set to {fraction (1/30)}th of a second. The transfer substrate charge time period, called the Xsub time, is the period in which the image sensor is kept in a discharged state. The Xsub time begins simultaneously with the beginning of the frame time 70. At the end of the Xsub time 72 the exposure time begins. When the exposure is complete, at the end of the exposure time 74, the charge from the array of photodiodes is transferred simultaneously into a parallel array of analog storage locations, and then the photodiode array is discharged during the next Xsub time. As the next Xsub time begins, at the beginning of the next frame time 74, the image analog signals in the parallel array of analog storage locations are separately converted to digital form and shifted into a digital input buffer during the data shift time. When the data shifting is complete, at time 76, the digital processing circuits are ready to convert another exposure. This process of data shifting must be complete prior to the beginning of the next frame, which initiates analog transferring of the charges from the photodiode array to the parallel array of analog storage elements. Otherwise the next exposure""s charges would overwrite the analog data from the previous exposure.
There are at least two significant problems that arise from the frame time being fixed at 30 frames per second. A first problem is that in low light conditions the exposure may ideally need to be longer than {fraction (1/30)}th of a second (a conventional frame period). A second problem is that the digital camera may not be able to complete data shifting prior to the beginning of the next frame period. Since the frame period is fixed, these situations require the skipping of frames. Skipping every other frame allows for an effective frame time of {fraction (1/15)}th of a second, and skipping two out of every three frames allows for an effective frame time of {fraction (1/10)}th second.
Frame skipping allows both exposure times and data shifting times to be longer than the fixed frame time of {fraction (1/30)}th of a second. The drawback of frame skipping is that it may cause unsteady motion in the viewfinder of the electronic imaging device if the rate is too low. Human perception of image motion becomes sensitive to frame rate changes in the range below approximately 20 frames per second. As an example, one of the reasons that Super 8 mm motion picture film quickly supplanted standard 8 mm film is that the frame rate was increased from 16 frames per second to 18 frames per second. This numerically small difference is enough to make the resulting motions appear much more smooth and lifelike. Current theatrical motion picture film uses 24 frames per second, and video, as mentioned above, typically uses 30 frames per second.
Electronic image sensor devices are currently evolving to become increasingly more complex and thus require timing generators with more advanced capabilities and greater flexibility. Therefore, an improved system and method are needed for generating timing signals in an electronic imaging device.
In accordance with the present invention, a system and method are disclosed for generating variable-length timing signals in an electronic imaging device. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a digital camera device includes an electronic image sensor that requires a complex set of timing signals to effectively capture image data. The digital camera therefore also includes timing source circuitry which generates a set of precise timing signals for a variable-length frame time necessary to control and synchronize the electronic image sensor within the digital camera.
Three timing components are necessary to control and synchronize the electronic image sensor: a frame time, an exposure time, and a transfer substrate charge (Xsub) time. Any two of these time periods may be selected as independent variables, the third time period being dependent on the selected two time periods. In the preferred embodiment, the present invention includes an Xsub time source circuit and a frame time source circuit. The Xsub time source circuit and frame time source circuit each contain a downcounter. These devices decrement internal binary values every time a clock pulse is applied. When loaded with a specified binary value, they decrement to the value zero after a time period equal to the specified value multiplied by the clock pulse period. The points in time when the downcounters reach zero are thus available as precise and programmable timing references.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the Xsub time downcounter and frame time downcounter are clocked by the horizontal drive (HD) pulses. These HD pulses are sufficiently short in duration to give a high resolution to the programmed time intervals. Both the Xsub time downcounter and frame time downcounter are loaded from registers under software control. The contents of these registers determine the length of the Xsub time and frame time, and when the software changes the values contained in the registers the next Xsub time and frame time will reflect the changed values. The contents of these registers may be selected to minimize the frame time, consistent with the operation of the electronic image sensor, which will maximize the frame rate. This maximized frame rate allows the smoothest perceived motion possible in the digital camera""s viewfinder. The present invention thus allows improved operator convenience consistent with the timing requirements of the electronic image sensor of the digital camera.

System and method for generating variable-length timing signals in an electronic imaging device


The present invention is directed a method of color trapping. In one embodiment, the color trapping is performed during the rasterization process. The color trapping comprises identifying page objects into a variety of different categories. Color trapping for each of the page objects is then performed based on specific procedures for the category. In one embodiment, the categories include identifying the page objects as rectangles, characters, and non-rectangular shapes. In one embodiment, specific page objects may be identified as being of a type that color trapping is not to be performed.

In describing the position of objects on a page, objects are often superimposed over a background color. In the area a foreground object will occupy, the background color is removed leaving a knockout. A typical case is black text placed on top of a colored background. Since the black character is in the foreground, the background color behind it is knocked out. When printed, misalignment of the black plane can shift the character relative to its background knockout and allow the bare media sheet to show through the gap. This produces objectionable outlines around one or more sides of the character and even reduces legibility. Color trapping is a technique used to minimize the show through and may include spreading and choking. Spreading refers to expanding regions of a particular color beyond its normal boundaries. Choking refers to contracting a color region so that a small overlap exists between graphical regions where misregistration may occur.
Prior art patents disclose a color trapping technique that performs color trapping after the page was completely rendered. The methods include searching for boundaries between the various colors and using various trapping techniques. This is referred to as backend color trapping as the page is initially formed and then modified via color trapping. Backend color trapping requires an extra step because the color trapping is determined based on the initially formed page.
Prior art methods also trap different object types in the same manner. Therefore, a character is trapped in the same manner as other objects. The trapping simply identifies the boundaries between color and traps with one type of predetermined logic. This broad-brush approach may cause significant color shifts and irregularities in the halftone screens.

Color trapping for an image forming apparatus


To provide a simulation method of estimating deposition profile of a contact hole with a high-speed, a simulation method of the invention comprises a step of calculating a flux density incident directly from a gas phase onto each surface point of the contact hole making use of an analytical integration, and a step of calculating shape factors for each pair of two surface points of the contact hole describing flux exchange between the two surface point, making use of another analytical integration.

The present invention relates to a method of deposition profile simulation, and particularly to a simulation method to be applied for estimating microscopic profile of an axis-symmetrical structure, such as a contact hole, provided on VLSI (Very Large Scale Integrated) circuits after deposition processing, with a calculation time comparatively short making use of analytical integration.
There have been proposed several simulation methods for estimating profile evolution of trenches and contact holes in CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) processes. Examples of them are described in a paper entitled "A 3-dimensional model for low-pressure chemical-vapor-deposition step coverage in trenches and circular vias", by M. M. IslamRaja et al., pp. 7137 to 7140, Journal of Applied Physics 70 (11), December 1991, and a paper entitled "Influence of surface-activated reaction kinetics on low-pressure chemical vapor deposition conformality over micro features", by J. J. Hsieh, pp. 78 to 86, Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A 11(1), January/February 1993.
In these papers, following assumptions are applied, considering that dimension of a mean-free path of a molecule in the rarefied species gas is sufficiently larger than dimension of the contact hole, for example, since inter-collision probability of the gas molecules is very small in the condition generally applied for metal CVD processes, and so, the gas molecules can be treated to arrive straight on the substrate surface from a region in a mean-free path length around the substrate surface.
1. There is but negligible inter-collisions of the gas molecules in the region of interest.
2. Molecules in the gas phase act as those of an ideal gas having a uniform molecule density with their speed following the Maxwellian distribution, and the internal freedom degree of the molecules can be neglected.
3. Directional distribution of the molecules re-emitted at the substrate surface is isotropic, since the molecules attain a thermal equilibrium on the substrate surface, losing information of their incident angles.
4. Diffusion from the substrate surface is negligible.
5. Value of the reactive sticking coefficient (hereafter abbreviated as Sc) is independent of location, that is, independent of flux density or surface conditions.
6. Sc of the incident flux is deposited and all of the other, that is (1-Sc) of the incident flux is re-emitted.
In the simulation methods of deposition profile described in the above papers, the deposition speed is obtained by calculating incident flux densities, regarding the deposition speed at a surface position to be proportional to the incident flux density at the surface position. Sc of the incident flux at a surface position, which is a sum of flux from the rarefied species gas and the flux re-emitted at the other surface positions, being deposited on the surface position, and the other of the incident flux being reflected to the other surface positions, the profile evolution at each surface position is calculated so that material income and expenses corresponding to the incident flux and the re-emitted flux should balance at each surface position in each time step.
However, as for the calculation method for obtaining value of the incident flux, there is no concrete description in the paper of M. M. IslamRaja et al., and in the paper of J. J. Hseih, there is described but a method applicable only for deposition profile of the trenches.
As for "shape factors" which describe the incident flux re-emitted from the other surface positions, they are represented by a following equation in the paper of M. M. IslamRaja et al., which can not be applied, however, directly to the trenches or the contact holes. EQU F.sub.ji=cos .psi..sub.j cos .psi..sub.i dA.sub.j dA.sub.i /.pi.r.sup.2.sub.ij
where;
F.sub.ji are shape factors describing the probability that a molecule emitted from a differential area element dA.sub.j at a surface position r.sub.j (from a suitable point of origin) strikes a region within the differential area dA.sub.i at another surface position r.sub.i,
cos .psi. represents the directional cosine, and
r.sub.ij is the magnitude of the vector represented by r.sub.j -r.sub.i.
In the paper of J. J. Hsieh, on the other hand, they are represented by a following equation, which is applicable, however, only to the trenches and furthermore, expressed only with visible angles S.sub.i,j inconvenient to be applied in actual calculation. ##EQU1## where;
.OMEGA..sub.i,j is the jth edge visibility on the ith edge,
.omega..sub.i is the surface normal angle on the ithe edge of the 2-dimensional cross section of a micro feature, and
.DELTA..sub.i,j is the Dirac Delta function.
In summary, there are disclosed fundamental equations concerning to the trenches and contact holes for defining the incident flux from gas phase and other surface positions in the prior arts, but they are not concrete in the paper of M. M. IslamRaja et al., or not convenient to be applied to the string model analysis, in the paper of J. J. Hsieh.
However, it is indispensable to calculate and integrate the flux density incident to each differential section of a 3-dimensional string model for estimating the deposition profile, and computational time depends deeply on the integration method.


Described herein are embodiments of systems, methods, apparatus and computer program products that accept student input and use a computer to process its mathematical meaning. The input can then be algorithmically tested for certain mathematical criteria. Those test results then allow the system to output immediate assessment, grades, and feedback.

One of the main applications of an online homework grading system such as, for example, WebAssign (Advanced Instructional Systems, Inc.; Raleigh, N.C.) is to grade so-called "free response" questions. Take, for example, the following exercise and corresponding answer key.
Exercise: Find the indefinite integral.
  ∫            -              1        χ                                ⅆ        χ            .
Answer Key: −ln(x)+C.
In order to deliver and grade this question with an online system, the software must be able to accept many different variations on the answer key. For instance, if a student wrote his or her response as
            ln                    1        χ              +    C    ,he or she should still be awarded credit. After all, the student has only applied the laws of logarithms to rewrite the expression in a mathematically valid way. Notice also that the student has not used parentheses to explicitly delimit the argument to the natural log function. If the student wanted to use parentheses, such as
            ln                    (                  1          χ                )              +    C    ,his or her answer should still be accepted. In general, there will be infinitely many ways to write equivalent forms of the required expression, and the homework system cannot predict what form the student's answer will take.
One traditional workaround for this problem is to force students to enter their answers in a specific form. Unfortunately, this introduces many new problems. Foremost, restricting responses to a specific form destroys the "free response" aspect of the question that is so important pedagogically. Also, a homework system that accepts only specific forms of a response may cause usability issues. Worse yet, this restriction may mislead students into believing their equivalent response is mathematically incorrect.
Taking the idea of equivalent and correct responses even further, it is possible that responses like
      ln              1      χ        +      2                          C  should be accepted as well. After all, this answer is no less general than the one shown in the answer key, since C is assumed to be any arbitrary real number. If answers like these are to be accepted, then
      ln              1      χ        +      ln                          C  should also be accepted, since any real number can be written as ln C for some number C. Therefore, even answers like
  ln        C    χ  should be accepted for the original answer key of
−ln(x)+C.
In situations like this, the student's response should be considered correct if and only if it satisfies some specific mathematical conditions. The original answer key is merely one example of many correct answers. Questions requiring this sort of grading occur frequently in all areas of mathematics instruction.
A similar problem arises when numerical approximations are allowed. Take, for example, the following question and answer.
Exercise: Use a graphing utility to approximate a sinusoidal function with period 4 which has a peak at (1, 3.7), and a valley at (3, 1.7).
Answer Key: (See FIG. 1)
      sin              (                        π          2                        χ            )        +      2.7    .
Students who use a calculator to approach this problem may obtain answers like
      sin                      3.14                χ            2        +  2.69
or even
2.7+sin 1.57x
Exercises involving long numerical calculations are common, especially in academic disciplines such as physics. The ability to accept expressions that are approximately right is crucial for an online homework system.
It would be desirable to develop systems and methods that overcome challenges present in the art, some of which are described above, including providing a general framework for effectively delivering and automatically grading these types of "open-ended" questions.

Freeform mathematical parsing and grading method and system


The optoelectronic coupling element is adjustable, during production, with regard to an optimal light path. A coupling part has a coupling device for coupling light out of a light path into at least one light guide element and/or for coupling light out of the at least one light guide element into the light path. A component carrier has one or more optical semiconductors. A first and a second optical deflector are sandwiched between the coupling part and the component carrier. The two optical deflectors, which are disposed parallel to one another, form a light path between the coupling device and the optical semiconductor(s). The light path is optimized by moving the second optical deflector relative to the first, parallel-mounted, optical deflector and by thereby minimizing a loss in conducting the light through. Then the elements are fixed relative to one another.

The invention relates to an optoelectronic coupling element and a method for its production. The optoelectronic coupling element comprises a coupling part, which has coupling device for coupling light out of a light path into at least one light guide element and/or for coupling light out of the at least one light guide element into the light path, a component carrier with at least one optical semiconductor and deflector, for forming the light path between the coupling device and the at least one optical semiconductor, disposed on it.
Optoelectronic coupling elements of this type are used to establish a coupling between light-generating or light-receiving optoelectronic components and light-guiding elements, in particular optical waveguides. Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,315,463 (German patent DE 197 43 992 C1) discloses a method for producing an optoelectronic plug connector element and an optoelectronic plug. The known plug connector element contains an assembly module with two alignment pins, which during the fitting together of the plug connector element with an optical plug are inserted into holes that are formed in the optical plug, in order to achieve an adjustment of the optical waveguides arranged in the plug with regard to the optoelectronic component arranged on the component carrier. For this purpose, the optical waveguides are arranged lying opposite coupling device which couple into the optical waveguides light which has been generated by the optoelectronic component and conducted to the coupling device with the aid of deflector, or couples light out of the optical waveguides into the light path in the deflector, in order to conduct the light coupled out of the optical waveguides to the optoelectronic part, which in this case is designed as a receiver element. The deflector in this case comprise optical elements or components for conducting the light through with little loss, for example lenses or total reflection surfaces.
To ensure transmission of the light with as little loss as possible from the optoelectronic component to the coupling device and back, it is necessary for the coupling device, the deflector and the optoelectronic component or the component carrier to be arranged in a certain way in relation to one another.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide an optoelectronic coupling element and a corresponding production method, which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices and methods of this general type and which provides for an improved possibility of optimizing the light path between the coupling device and the optical semiconductors.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a method of producing an optoelectronic coupling element, the method which comprises the following steps:
providing a coupling part having a coupling device for coupling light out of a light path into at least one light guide element and/or for coupling light out of the at least one light guide element into the light path;
providing a component carrier having at least one optical semiconductor arranged thereon;
disposing and fixing a first optical deflector between the coupling part and the component carrier;
arranging a second optical deflector parallel to the first optical deflector to form a light path between the coupling device and the at least one optical semiconductor;
adjusting the second optical deflector by moving the second optical deflector relative to the first optical deflector, for optimizing a light path between the coupling device and the at least one optical semiconductor by minimizing a loss in conducting the light through; and
fixing the second optical deflector relative to the coupling part, the at least one optical semiconductor, and the first optical deflector.
With the above and other objects in view there is also provided, in accordance with the invention, an optoelectronic coupling element, comprising:
a light guide device;
a coupling part having a coupling device for one of coupling light into the light guide device and coupling light out of the light guide device;
a component carrier carrying an optical semiconductor; and the light guide device forming a light path between the coupling device and the optical semiconductor, and having a
first optical deflector and a second optical deflector arranged parallel to the first optical deflector, the first and second deflectors being mountable separately from one another upon a production of the optoelectronic coupling element, whereby the light path is optimizable by adjustment of the second optical deflector relative to the parallel the first optical deflector.
The invention is based on the principal idea of designing the deflector used for forming the light path between the optical semiconductor and the coupling device in a multi-part form in such a way that, with the aid of an adjustment of the multi-part deflector, a light path optimized with regard to conducting the light through with little loss can be created when producing the optoelectronic coupling element.
In the case of the prior art optoelectronic coupling elements, usually the component carrier with the optical semiconductor is moved relative to the deflector to optimize the light path. However, this allows only a very restricted adjustment or optimization of the light path. The main advantage achieved by the invention in comparison with the prior art is that, with the aid of the relative movement of the optical deflector and the other optical deflector, a fine adjustment of the light path is made possible.
A major advantage is also that the proposed production method can be used in conjunction with customary component carriers, without the component carriers having to be modified in terms of structural design.
In addition, the multi-part form of the deflector makes it possible for the deflector to be used in conjunction with various coupling device and component carriers, certain parts of the deflector being usable for various coupling device or component carriers and other parts of the deflector being individually adaptable to the various coupling device or component carriers.
In accordance with an expedient development of the invention, after arranging the other optical deflector, a further optical deflector is disposed, in order to form a further light path between the coupling device and a further optical semiconductor on the component carrier, so that the optoelectronic coupling element can be designed as a transmitting/receiving element. This allows transceiver components to be produced with the aid of the proposed method.
A development of the invention provides that, after arranging the other and/or the further optical deflector, the component carrier is adjusted, in order to carry out a coarse adjustment of the light path between the coupling device and the at least one optical semiconductor and/or the further light path between the coupling device and the further optical semiconductor, whereby a further optimization of the light path or the further light path is made possible.
An embodiment of the invention preferred with regard to simple adjustment of the component carrier provides that the component carrier is passively adjusted with the aid of the projection arranged on the optical deflector, the projection being arranged in a recess formed on the component carrier.
In accordance with an advantageous feature of the invention, the other and/or the further optical deflector are displaced for adjustment substantially in one plane, whereby a greater accuracy of the adjustment can be achieved, since a relative movement of the other and/or the further optical deflector is restricted with respect to degrees of freedom which, when used in the adjustment, generally contribute only insignificantly to the optimization of the light path or the further light path.
An advantageous feature with regard to fixing the deflector which can be carried out with little effort and at low cost after the adjustment provides that an adhesive agent is applied for fixing the other and/or the further optical deflector in such a way that there is no impairment of the light path and/or the further light path.
An expedient development of the invention provides that, after the fixing of the other and/or the further optical deflector, adjusting means which are designed for adjusting the other and/or the further optical deflector are removed. The adjusting means have the effect on the one hand of creating the possibility of being able to move the other and/or the further optical deflector with sufficient accuracy during the adjustment. On the other hand, the adjusting means can be removed after completion of the adjustment and the fixing of the other and/or the further optical deflector, so that a design of the optoelectronic coupling element that is as compact as possible is enhanced.
An embodiment of the invention preferred with respect to least possible production effort provides that the adjusting means are removed by means of breaking off in the region of a predetermined breaking point from the other and/or the further optical deflector.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a optoelectronic coupling element and method for its production, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing figures.

Optoelectronic coupling element and production method


The present invention relates to partially fluorinated (meth)acrylic polymers that can be blended with other (meth)acrylic polymers to provide enhanced surface properties.

A highly optimized conventional 193 nm-ArF photolithography system has a resolution limit of 52 nm. By contrast, the resolution limit for 193 nm immersion lithography in water is about 35 nm. This difference is motivating the search for solutions to the many practical issues of implementing immersion lithography.
As described by Y. Wei et al., Advances in Resist Technology and Processing XXIII, edited by Q. Lin, Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6153, 615306, (2006), topcoats are being developed to reduce the leaching of photoresist components into the immersion fluid, which is most often water. Another function of the topcoat is to provide a very hydrophobic surface to reduce water droplets or water mark defects. But the topcoat approach requires a separate step to apply the topcoat, and the topcoat must also be cleanly and completely removed after the post-exposure bake step to avoid the formation of blob defects.
WO2002021213 discloses resins and photoresist compositions that comprise such resins. The resins include photoacid-labile deblocking groups, wherein the acid-labile moiety is substituted with one or more electron-withdrawing groups, e.g., perfluoroalkyl groups. The polymers are useful as a resin binder component of chemically-amplified positive-acting resists that can be effectively imaged at wavelengths below 300 nm.
RAFT (reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer) polymerization processes have been disclosed for the preparation of low-polydispersity polymers from acrylic, styrenic and selected other vinyl monomers. (WO 98/01478, WO 99/31144, WO05031462B1, WO05031461A1, and EP 0 910,587). Fields of application for these RAFT-derived polymers include imaging and electronics (e.g., photoresists).
T.-Y Lee et al., (Advances in Resist Technology and Processing XX, Theodore H. Fedynyshyn, Editor, Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 5039 (2003), pp 548-557) have disclosed the preparation of acrylate terpolymers using RAFT processes.
M. Mishra et al. have reviewed useful methods for the preparation of acrylate polymers ("Handbook of Radical Vinyl Polymerization", Marcel Dekker, Inc., 1998).
There is a continuing need to develop photoresist compositions that display high contact angles with water and other immersion fluids.

Fluorinated polymers for use in immersion lithography


A seal (40) includes an annular portion (41) to be fit externally on a housing main body (11) and resiliently sandwiched between the housing main body (11) and a receptacle (71) when two housings (10, 70) are connected and projections (42) protruding radially out after projecting back from the annular portion (41) and configured such that protruding parts thereof resiliently contact the tip of the receptacle (71) when the two housings (10, 70) are connected. The housing (10) includes deformation guides (24) configured to deform the seal (40) such that a radially outward protruding amount of the projections (42) gradually increases by sliding on the projections (42) in the process of moving the annular portion (41) externally fit on the housing main body (11) toward a proper mounted position.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a waterproof connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H07-288150 discloses a waterproof connector with a male housing that has an inner tube and an annular seal with an annular portion to be fit externally on the inner tube. The male housing is connectable to a mating female housing. Two locking projections are provided on both end parts of the annular seal. Each locking projection has an L-shaped locking piece that projects in the mounting direction and then protrudes radially out. The locking projections are inserted into and locked to through holes of the male housing to fix the annular seal to the male housing.
Backlash preventing projections could replace the locking projections of the aforementioned annular seal. Backlash preventing projections resiliently contact the tip of a mating receptacle when the two housings are connected and suppress backlash of housings in a front-back direction. Projections of this type have an L shape similar to the above-described locking projections. However, parts of the projections between protruding parts on tips of the projections and the annular portion from which the projections extend are long in the front-back direction and thin in transverse directions. Thus, these parts are difficult to mold and there is a problem with mass productivity.
The invention was completed based on the above situation and aims to provide a waterproof connector capable of improving the mass productivity of a seal.


Apparatus and method of assisting software emulation of hardware functions in a processor. During a read cycle on an address bus, an address that is within a predetermined address range is stored in a trap register and a Type-of-Cycle bit in the trap register is set to the read state. If an Issue-SMI-on-Next-Access bit in the trap register is set to the on state, a system management interrupt is issued to the processor. During a write cycle, data on the data bus is stored in a data field of the trap register, the address is stored in the address field of the trap register and the Type-of-Cycle bit is set to the write state. A system management interrupt is issued if the Issue-SMI-on-Next-Access bit is set to the on state. Then the Issue-SMI-on-Next-Access bit is set to the off state. The Type-of-Cycle bit of the trap register is set if the system management interrupt is detected at the processor. Data from the processor is placed into the data field of the trap register if the Type-of-Cycle bit is set to the read state. An I/O restart operation of the processor is then invoked. The Type-of-Cycle bit of the trap register is read if the system management interrupt is detected at the processor. Data from the processor is stored into the data field of the trap register if the Type-of-Cycle bit is set to the read state. An I/O restart operation of the processor is then invoked. The contents of the data field of the trap register are placed on the data bus if the Issue-SMI-on-Next-Access bit is set to the off state. Then the Issue-SMI-on-Next-Access bit is set to the on state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to personal computers and more specifically to an apparatus for software emulation of hardware tasks in an IBM personal computer (PC) architecture independent of and fully transparent to an operating system running on the PC.
2. Prior Art
The IBM personal computer (PC) architecture has become a de-facto standard for personal computers over the past decade. The main hardware part of the computer is called a mother board which is a large printed circuit board that has plugged into it the computer's central processing unit (CPU) which is an Intel brand microprocessor, random access memory (RAM), microprocessor support chips and has expansion slots that receive add-in cards. The IBM PC architecture uses a Microsoft brand disc operating system (DOS) as the software program that controls the overall operation of the computer. In the course of its development, an open system architecture of the IBM PC has allowed and fostered the development of several technologies as add-in card functions, such as sound cards. Increasingly, these functions are being absorbed onto the motherboard.
The pressure to reduce cost is upon all PC system manufacturers. At the same time, the processing power of the microprocessor is increasing rapidly. These circumstances make software emulation of certain previously hardware tasks very attractive. One of the problems in achieving this software emulation is the unruly nature of software written for the Microsoft DOS operating system. Application programs frequently bypass the operating system and some take over completely, addressing the hardware directly. This makes software emulation of tasks very difficult.
It is therefore desirable to provide a method and apparatus for software emulation of hardware tasks in an IBM personal computer (PC) architecture independent of and fully transparent to the operating system running on the PC.

Device to assist software emulation of hardware functions


A resin part such as an instrument panel, a console box or door trim has a substrate body made of hard resin and a skin mounted on a surface of the substrate. To produce the resin part, a preformed elastic sheet is set within a mold cavity. Then, a molten resin is injected into the cavity through gates. The molten resin is first injected into the cavity through gates that are opposed to the skin and after the passage of a predetermined time, the resin is injected through gates that are not opposed to the skin, thereby forming a substrate that has the skin thermally fused to a surface thereof.

Resin parts such as an instrumental panel, a console box or door trim are generally composed of a substrate made of a hard resin and a skin mounted on a surface of the substrate. Structurally, resin parts are classified into three major types: a "fully-padded type" having the skin mounted fully across a surface of the substrate; a "half-padded type" in which part of the substrate is exposed and part covered with skin; and a "padless type" which is solely composed of substrate.
Particularly, an instrument panel of the "half-padded type" is extensively used on low-price cars and is shown in FIGS. 12 (Prior Art) and 13 (Prior Art) indicated by reference numeral 51. The substrate 52 of the instrument panel 51 is required to have certain properties such as a specified rigidity and formability. To meet these requirements, the substrate is chiefly formed of ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene), PP (polypropylene), etc. The elastic sheet (skin) 53 comprises a cushion layer 54 typically made of a soft polyurethane foam, an insert 55 (optional) buried under the cushion layer 54 and made of a resin or an iron plate, and a skin layer 56 made of PVC (polyvinyl chloride).
The instrument panel 51 may typically be fabricated by the following procedure. First, the substrate 52 is formed by a known injection molding technique. A surface of a separately vacuum-formed elastic sheet 53 is heated by means of a heater or the like. Then, the substrate 52 is set up in a vacuum forming mold, with a surface of the substrate having been coated with a primer, an adhesive and any other desired agents for pre-treatment. Thereafter, the preheated elastic sheet 53 is placed above and in alignment with the substrate 52 as shown in FIG. 14 and the two members are bonded together.
A problem with this approach is that the substrate 52 and the elastic sheet 53 have to be formed separately and subsequently bonded together. To accomplish this, it has been necessary to provide separate steps and molds for forming the substrate 52 and the elastic sheet 53. A further problem is that the need to apply the primer and adhesive adds to the number of overall steps involved. There has thus been a strong need to improve the efficiency of automotive instrument panel production while reducing the production cost.

Method for molding resin to skin members