A transfer assembly includes a transfer starwheel having recesses to receive an article. Each recess includes a vacuum port and at least one insert formed from a compliant material. The at least one insert at least partially defines a shape of the recess, which corresponds to an aspect of the article. The transfer assembly includes a mounting hub including a plurality of circumferential sets of vacuum openings extending axially along the mounting hub and coupled to a vacuum source. A vacuum is delivered to the vacuum openings. The transfer starwheel is mounted on a mounting hub to align the vacuum ports of the transfer starwheel with a selected set of vacuum openings on the mounting hub. The mounting hub rotates so that the transfer starwheel receives the article into one of the recesses at a first position and rotates to a second position while holding the article with the vacuum.

In the can making industry, different approaches exist for transferring cans between processing turrets in continuous motion machinery. One approach employs a vacuum transfer starwheel, an example of which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,418,852, titled "Quick Change over Apparatus for Machine Line" and issued on Sep. 2, 2008, the contents of which are incorporated entirely herein by reference.
The vacuum transfer starwheel receives a can from a first processing turret into a recess and rotates to move the can to a position where it can be transferred to another processing turret. Vacuum is used to secure the can in the recess against gravity and/or centrifugal force as the starwheel rotates. The recess is typically designed with a diametric clearance that makes it easier for the can to enter and exit the recess as it is transferred between processing turrets.
Conventional transfer starwheels can generally handle a range of can lengths as long as the center of gravity of the can remains inside the recess. Depending on the rotational speed of the transfer, the weight of the can, and the vacuum supply, the center of gravity may also reside outside the conventional location provided that the article remains under control during rotation. Thus, when one wants to use a particular can processing machine to handle a can with a different length, the transfer starwheel may need to be repositioned in the machine or may need to be completely replaced with another transfer starwheel to ensure that the center of gravity of the new can remains in the recess or under control. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,418,852, a can processing machine may be reconfigured with the addition/replacement of a starwheel segment on quick-change machinery.
When transferring a can between processing turrets, the position where the can is received into the recess (pick-up position) and the position where the can is released (drop-off position) are important, especially as the speed of the machine increases. At high speeds, however, the can may have a tendency to migrate axially in position due to windage, external forces, a slick interface between the can and the starwheel, etc. A transfer starwheel can minimize such migration by applying a sufficient vacuum to the can.
To minimize vacuum leakage between the can and the transfer starwheel and to apply a sufficient vacuum to the can, the can must be properly seated in the recess of the transfer starwheel. In other words, the transfer starwheel must receive the can into the recess with reasonable accuracy to apply the vacuum and maintain control across the full speed range of the machine. An accurate fit between the can and the recess is more easily achieved when the can is substantially cylindrical. Substantially cylindrical cans, for example, include cans where the outside diameter of the sidewall of a middle section is substantially uniform except for the uppermost section and lowermost section of the can. The substantially cylindrical shape of the starwheel recess and the internal vacuum cavity geometry accommodate the substantially cylindrical can for effective transfer between processing turrets. In general, conventional starwheel designs are better suited to handle substantially cylindrical cans.
On the other hand, conventional transfer starwheels may be less effective when handling "shaped" cans. A "shaped can" or "shaped container," as used herein, refers to a can or container whose sidewall at its middle section does not have a substantially uniform diameter (non-cylindrical). When the non-uniform sidewall of the shaped can is received into the starwheel recess, it is more difficult to position the shaped can accurately within the recess and to minimize vacuum leakage. To address this problem, the starwheel recess may be machined to match the can profile more exactly. Such a solution, however, is far from cost effective. In particular, if any aspect of the can geometry is changed, a replacement starwheel must be machined to accommodate the new geometry. Moreover, even if a profiled recess is employed, seating problems may still occur if the can migrates axially in position or if the shape becomes non-asymmetric due to process variabilities. Such seating problems may require the application of a greater vacuum which undesirably increases operating costs. In addition, the profiled recess does not completely address the inherent instability of the shaped can over the full range of machine speeds.
In general, the process of making a can must provide a degree of latitude in product form, as cans vary in material structure, grain direction and material flow. Furthermore, the process of making a can must be sufficiently flexible to accommodate changes in shape for branding or other purposes without incurring unacceptable costs and requiring significant time and effort.


An information transmission method and equipment based on CoMP transmission are described. A user equipment determines a main transmission point. The user equipment determines RANK information of the main transmission point as well as channel state information corresponding to the RANK information. The user equipment sends the RANK information of the main transmission point and the channel state information to a network side equipment. The UE reports channel state information of limited RANK of every transmission point, channel state information of unlimited RANK of the main transmission point, and relative phase information between the transmission points, etc., to the network side equipment.

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Coordinated multiple point transmission (CoMP) technology is a coordination between multiple geographically separated transmission points. The multiple transmission points can be base stations of different cells or can be multiple separated transmission equipment within a single cell. The CoMP technology can be mainly divided into two categories: CS/CB (Coordinated Scheduling/Beamforming) and JP (Joint Processing).
CS/CB uses the coordination of time, frequency, and space resources between cells to distribute mutually orthogonal resources for different user equipments (UEs), in order to prevent interference between each other. Because the interference between cells is the main reason limiting the performance of edge UEs of the cells, CS/CB can improve the performance of the edge UEs of the cells through lowering the interference between the cells.
FIG. 1 is a diagram of CS/CB. Through joint scheduling of three cells, three possible interfering UEs can be dispatched onto mutually orthogonal resources (namely, onto different resources which include time, frequency, and space etc.), thereby effectively preventing interference between the cells.
The difference between the JP scheme and the CS/CB scheme is that the JP scheme can send data to a UE from multiple cells simultaneously in order to enhance the received signal of the UE. As shown in FIG. 2, which is a diagram of JP, three cells send data to a UE on the same resource, and the UE simultaneously receives signals from the multiple cells. If all of the coordinating cells send the same data to the UE, then the useful signal from the multiple cells will be superimposed to improve signal reception quality of the UE. Thus, demodulation performance of UEs, especially the performance of edge UEs of the cells, may be improved.
In the current technology, a special form of the JP scheme is dynamic transmission point selection. That is, a transmission point for sending data to a UE is dynamically selected based on channel conditions between the UE and the transmission point, and each time one transmission point sends data to the UE. FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams of the dynamic transmission point selection. In FIG. 3A, transmission point 1 is selected as the transmission point from which to send data to the UE. In FIG. 3B, transmission point 2 is selected as the transmission point from which to send data to the UE.
In the process of implementing the present disclosure, it was discovered that at least the following issues exist in the current technology: there is not a suitable method by which to send feedback for every scheme (CS/CB, JP, dynamic transmission point selection, etc.) in the current technology.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and equipment for information transmission based on coordinated multiple point transmission

CHINA ACADEMY OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY


A method and system provides an increased robustness and protection against the occurrence of soft errors in parallel connect functional redundancy checking processors. This is achieved by predicting in advance the likely occurrence of a soft error and its impact on the resulting instruction flow and using already existing circuit implementations to hide the transient error.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a processor system methodology. It particularly relates to a method and apparatus for providing an early indication of a processor soft error being propagated through a computing system.
2. Background
Modern semiconductor process technology is creating processors with smaller sizes to reduce hardware space and increase processor efficiency. However, the smaller sizes make the modern processor more susceptible to single event upsets that are transient errors (temporary or soft errors) caused by exposure to cosmic rays and/or alpha particles. Alpha particles, via atmospheric radiation or exposure to trace levels of radioactive materials in packaging, may permeate the computing processor and cause state devices (e.g., flip-flops) to make unplanned transitions from one state to another (e.g., bit value changes from 1 to 0). Also, for computing processors designed with domino logic (a type of circuit design of cascaded logic that are pre-biased), these transient errors may propagate throughout the entire system logic causing further instability and ultimately a hard failure (e.g., device taken out of service).
Additionally, "silent data corruption" may develop in processor computing systems where errors occur but are not detected by error checking logic. A hypothetical example may be a misplacement of the decimal point when performing accounting operations. Although a definite error has occurred (e.g., $10,000.00 instead of $100.00 payment), the accounting operations continue to completion and the system believes all operations were completed successfully. This type of "silent error" encourages the design of parallel processing to ensure that all computing elements calculate the same result (answer).
Several methods may be used for error detection/correction where one common method is the use of error detecting bits (e.g., parity bits) to help detect errors when they occur. Using this technique, a bit error may be detected when a parity bit is commonly applied to an 8-bit data field (one of the nine bits is in error). For this simple use of parity bits, the error is ambiguous as all that is known is that there is an error, and there is no information about what kind of error or what recovery mechanism can be implemented. Another technique uses error correcting code (ECC) memory to actually correct errors. This technique uses multiple parity bits, each having a different definition, to help uniquely specify and correct the error. Each parity bit used indicates an error in a subset of the data field which helps narrow down the possibilities of exactly which bit is in error. An additional technique uses parity syndrome bits where the unambiguous errors occurring may be detected and also corrected since this method identifies the bits in error.
Modern processor systems commonly employ a multiple processor structure where parallel processing is performed using a plurality of processors (usually linked in lockstep) to execute instructions and compute answers simultaneously. These processing systems typically use ECC logic and parity syndrome logic to detect and correct constant errors occurring along critical data paths (paths tied to memory arrays). However, soft (transient) errors may occur along the non-critical data paths (paths along which the instruction steam is processed and executed) within the processor that use random logic.
For these parallel processing systems that are commonly connected in a functional redundancy check, both processors execute the instruction stream, along these non-critical data paths, on a clock by clock basis and compare the resulting architectural state updates. If the architectural states (computed answers) differ, an ambiguous error has occurred (similar to the simple use of parity bits). There is enough information to determine that there is a problem, but unless there is sufficiently redundant information, logic or software cannot determine which information is the correct one. The appearance of soft errors where only the architectural state is being compared will corrupt the program flow being currently executed. If this is a restartable transaction in a database system, the operating system software may simply restart the program flow. Alternatively, however, if the operating system (OS) is performing critical system table updates, the error may cause an OS panic and system crash. Somewhere between these two extreme responses would be a system application that just suddenly terminates, leaving the system application user in an unknown state and clearly without his work finished. To prevent these undesirable responses from occurring, there is a need to protect the non-critical data paths of the processor system with a mechanism that provides early detection of soft errors within stages of a multiple stage, pipelined processor system before they propagate to ambiguous error detection.

Method and apparatus for improving reliability in microprocessors


An impact fastening tool may include a motor; a hammer configured to be rotationally driven by the motor; an anvil configured to be hit in a rotational direction by the hammer; a signal obtainer configured to obtain a variable signal which varies in accordance with a hit to the anvil by the hammer; and a seating determiner configured to determine whether or not a fastener has been seated based on the variable signal obtained by the signal obtainer, wherein the seating determiner is configured to determine whether or not the fastener has been seated based on a signal component of the variable signal obtained by the signal obtainer, the signal component corresponding to a predetermined reference frequency.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005418911 describes an impact fastening tool provided with a motor, a hammer configured to be rotationally driven by the motor, an anvil configured to be hit in a rotational direction by the hammer, and a seating determiner configured to determine whether a fastener has been seated or not.


The present invention is a method for producing a single crystal with pulling the single crystal from a raw material melt in a chamber by CZ method, wherein when growing the single crystal, where a pulling rate is defined as V and a temperature gradient of the crystal is defined as G during growing the single crystal, the temperature gradient G of the crystal is controlled by changing at least two or more of pulling conditions. Thereby, there is provided a method for producing a single crystal in which when the single crystal is grown by CZ method, V/G can be controlled without lowering a pulling rate V, and thus the single crystal including a desired defect region can be produced effectively for a short time.

A single crystal used as a substrate of semiconductor devices is, for example, a silicon single-crystal. It is mainly produced by Czochralski Method (referred to as CZ method for short hereafter). In recent years, semiconductor devices have come to be integrated higher and devices have come to be decreased in size. Along with that, a problem of Grown-in defects introduced during growth of a single crystal has become more important.
Hereafter, Grown-in defects will be explained with reference to FIG. 7.
Generally, in the case of growing a silicon single crystal, when a growth rate V of the crystal (a pulling rate of the crystal) is relatively high, there exist Grown-in defects such as FPD (Flow Pattern Defect) and COP (Crystal Originated Particle), which are considered due to voids consisting of agglomerated vacancy-type point defects, at a high density over the entire radial direction of the crystal. The region containing these defects due to voids is referred to as V (Vacancy) region.
Furthermore, when the growth rate of the crystal is lowered, along with lowering of the growth rate, an OSF (Oxidation Induced Stacking Fault) region is generated from the periphery of the crystal in a ring shape. When the growth rate is further lowered, the OSF ring shrinks to the center of the wafer and disappears. When the growth rate is further lowered, there exist defects such as LSEPD (Large Secco Etch Pit Defect) and LFPD (Large Flow Pattern Defect), which are considered due to dislocation loops consisting of agglomerated interstitial silicon atoms, at a low density. The region where these defects exist is referred to as I (Interstitial) region.
In recent years, a region containing no defects like FPD and COP due to voids as well as no defects like LSEPD and LFPD due to interstitial silicon atoms has been found between the V region and the I region and also outside the OSF ring. This region is referred to as N (Neutral) region. In addition, it has been found that when further classifying the N region, there exist Nv region (the region where a lot of vacancies exist) adjacent to the outside of the OSF ring and Ni region (the region where a lot of interstitial silicon atoms exist) adjacent to the I region, and that when performing thermal oxidation treatment, a lot of oxide precipitates are generated in the Nv region and little oxide precipitates are generated in the Ni region.
Furthermore, it has been found that, after performing the thermal oxidation treatment, there exist a region where defects detected by Cu deposition treatment are particularly generated (hereinafter referred to as Cu deposition defect region) in a portion of the Nv region where oxygen precipitation tends to be generated, and the Cu deposition defect region causes degradation of electric property like oxide dielectric breakdown voltage characteristics.
It is considered that introduction amount of these Grown-in defects is determined by a parameter of V/G (mm2/° C.·min) which is a ratio of a pulling rate V (mm/min) when a single crystal is grown and a temperature gradient G (° C./mm) of the crystal in the direction of pulling axis from melting point of silicon to 1400° C. at the vicinity of solid-liquid interface (for example, see V. V. Voronkov, Journal of Crystal Growth, 59 (1982), 625-643). Therefore, a single crystal is grown with controlling V/G to be a determined value constantly, and thus a single crystal including a desired defect region or a desired defect-free region can be produced.
For example, in Japanese Patent Laid-open (Kokai) No. H11-147786, it is disclosed that, when a silicon single crystal is grown, the single crystal is pulled with controlling V/G in a determined range (for example, 0.112-0.142 mm2/° C.·min) at the center of the crystal, and thus a silicon single crystal wafer without defects due to voids and defects due to dislocation loops can be obtained. Furthermore, in recent years, the demand for a defect-free crystal of N region without Cu deposition defect region has become higher. And it has been demanded a production of a single crystal in which the single crystal is pulled with controlling V/G to be a desired defect-free region with high precision.
Generally, temperature gradient G of a crystal in a direction of a pulling axis is considered to be determined only by HZ (hot zone: a furnace structure) of an apparatus for pulling a single crystal in which the single crystal is grown. However, it is extremely difficult to change HZ while pulling a single crystal. Therefore, when a single crystal is grown with controlling V/G as described above, the temperature gradient G of the crystal isn't controlled during pulling the single crystal. However, V/G is controlled by adjusting the pulling rate V and a single crystal including a desired defect region is produced.
In addition, it has been known that the temperature gradient G of the crystal generally tends to lower as a single crystal grows, and thus the temperature gradient G of the crystal becomes smaller at the end of growing the straight body of the single crystal than at the start of growing the straight body of the single crystal. Therefore, in order to control V/G to be a desired value almost constantly, as the single crystal grows, a pulling rate V has to be changed to be a lower rate according to fluctuation (decline) of the temperature gradient G of the crystal. As a result, time for growing a straight body of a single crystal lengthens, and thus there is a problem that productivity is lowered.
Furthermore, the pulling rate at the end of growing a straight body of a single crystal influences a pulling rate and pulling time of the single crystal at the subsequent tailing process to form a tail of the single crystal. Therefore, if the pulling rate is lowered at the end of growing a straight body of a single crystal as described above, the pulling rate at the tailing process is also lowered and pulling time is further drawn out. Accordingly, there is a problem that productivity in producing a single crystal is extremely lowered and it leads to raise of production cost.

Method for producing a single crystal and a single crystal


A data warehouse solution system comprises a metadata model, a user interface and an engine. The metadata model has an information needs model including metadata regarding information needs for building reports by users, and a data information model including metadata describing data that is available for building reports. The user interface has a customer user interface for presenting the information needs model to the users for report generation, and a modeling user interface for presenting the data information model to the users for manipulating data warehouse objects. The engine has a report management service unit for providing report management service using the information needs model, and a data management service unit for providing data management service including generation of a data warehouse using the data information model.

Many organizations use enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to manage their databases. It is common that each of various sections in an organization developed and selected its own ERP system, suitable to the section to manage the database used by the section. Thus, within a single organization, various databases and ERP systems are used. In order to gain the overall business view, many organizations felt a need to have a system that integrates those ERP systems existing within the organizations.
One approach to this problem, also called data driven approach, is to extract data from the ERP systems, and build a data warehouse for the entire organization to store the extracted data. Managers of organizations use business intelligence tools to extract desired data from the data warehouse and view the data through reports. Business Intelligence tools expose a business view of available information and allow users to select information and format reports. While business intelligence tools typically provide predefined reports along with transaction processing systems, most business intelligence reports are custom written.
This data driven approach provides a simple solution in theory. In reality, however, it involves various problems in getting data from ERP systems, putting it in a data warehouse, and then getting the data out from the data warehouse. It is often difficult to get the right information to the right people at the right time. It is therefore desirable to provide a mechanism that makes it easier to extract data out of ERP systems and deliver it to the right people at the right time.
Existing data warehouses are customary made based on the existing ERP systems in individual organizations. It is a costly process that involves multiple specialists for many months to only create an application for a single one of many functional areas of the organization. Once a data warehouse is created, it is often difficult to adapt to changes.
In view of the problems relating to the data driven approach, it is proposed to adopt a model driven approach in managing data warehouses and business intelligence tools. In an article "A model-driven approach to Bl and data warehousing puts analytical power back in step with business requirements" (by Neil Raden; Intelligent Enterprise, The New Deal, March 2004), Raden proposes to use conceptual models based on metadata that describes transparent data structure. Extract-transform-load (ETL) processes are specified at a level of abstraction and directed at the conceptual models. Bl queries are framed in the conceptual models.
There exist some tools that employ the concept of the model driven approach as described in the article. However, those tools are limited to specific tasks, e.g., ETL. It is desirable to provide a packaged solution that allows efficient construction and management of both data warehouse and business intelligence capabilities.
In an article "The 38 Subsystems of ETL" (by Ralph Kimball; Intelligent Enterprise, December 2004), Kimball describes 38 subsystems that are needed in almost every ETL system in holding and maintaining a data warehouse. Existing ETL tools are not satisfactory at automating the best practice for implementation of those subsystems.
It is desirable to provide a mechanism that implements and substantiates the best practice as an integrated packaged system.

Method of generating and maintaining a data warehouse

International Business Machines Corporation


A connector which makes it easy to view light from a light source. A light guide 7 guides light from LEDs 21 forward of the housing 5 in a fitting direction. The light guide 7 is configured to be mounted on the housing 5 that hold contacts 3, in a manner covering the same.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been proposed a connector with a display function, which is comprised of a housing, a terminal unit, a shield member, and two light guides (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2007-287350).
The housing includes a bottom plate portion and side wall portions. Connecting portions for connecting the bottom plate portion and the side wall portions are formed with light guide-accommodating portions that accommodate the respective light guides. The light guide-accommodating portions extend in a direction in which the connector with the display function is fitted to a mating connector. One end of each light guide-accommodating portion reaches the front surface of the housing, and the other end thereof reaches the bottom surface of the housing. Therefore, the front end of the light guide-accommodating portion opens in the front surface of the housing, and the rear end thereof opens in the bottom surface of the housing.
The terminal unit includes a unit body, a terminal supporting portion, a plurality of terminals, a plurality of connecting pins, and a plurality of conductive wires. The unit body is made of an insulating material, such as a synthetic resin, and is substantially square in shape. The terminal supporting portion is shade-shaped, and protrudes from an upper portion of the front surface of the unit body. The terminals are bent such that they are generally V-shaped. Each terminal has one end supported by the terminal supporting portion, and the other end supported by the unit body. The connecting pins are supported by the unit body, and protrude from the bottom of the unit body. The connecting pins are inserted into a through hole of a printed circuit board, for being electrically connected to the printed circuit board. The conductive wires electrically connect the terminals and associated ones of the connecting pins. The terminal unit is accommodated in the housing between the side wall portions, and is fixed to the housing.
The shield member is made of metal, and covers the housing and the terminal unit. The shield member has a front surface formed with light guide openings that are opposed to openings each formed in one end of the light guide-accommodating portion.
Each light guide is generally prism-shaped, and is accommodated in the light guide-accommodating portion. A recess for accommodating an LED, which is a light source mounted on the printed circuit board, is formed in the rear end of the light guide in the direction of the length thereof. When the connector with the display function is mounted on the printed circuit board, the LEDs are accommodated in the associated recesses of the light guides via the openings formed in the rear ends of the light guide-accommodating portions, respectively.
The LED emits light, e.g. when the connector with the display function is connected to the mating connector, or when a signal is flowing through the connector with the display function and the mating connector. Light emitted from the LED enters the recess of the light guide, and is emitted from the foremost end face of the light guide in the direction of the length thereof. This makes it possible to detect connection between the connector with the display function and the mating connector, or detect that a signal is flowing.
In the above-described connector, since light is emitted from the foremost end face of the prism-shaped light guide in the direction of the length thereof, the area from which light is emitted is small, and hence the visibility of emitted light is low.


A decking clip to allow a plurality of decking members to be attached relative to a support assembly, the decking clip including an elongate plastic body strip having a body length, the body provided with a number of openings to receive fasteners there through to attach the body relative to the support assembly; a number of upstands spaced over the body length and extending substantially perpendicularly from the body strip, substantially transversely to the body length; each upstand having at least two opposed decking board engagement arms, a first decking board engagement arm extending from a first lateral side of each upstand at an acute angle and a second decking board engagement arm extending from a second lateral side of each upstand at an acute angle, each upstand and/or engagement arm being resiliently deformable to allow portion of a decking board to pass and to retain the decking board relative to the support assembly in a spaced apart, non-overlapping configuration.

Wood-Plastic Composite (WPC) decking boards have been in the marketplace around the world since the mid 1990's and arguably account for approximately 10% of the world decking market.
Despite the fact that the WPC's are generally more expensive than all but the most expensive timber, they have achieved huge inroads due to their perceived advantages—being: —                Low maintenance (very good "life cost" value)        Very stable (won't warp or twist)        Environmentally friendly        Long lasting        splinter and rot resistant
Being a man made "extruded" product, it is possible to make any shape that may be made via conventional plastics profile extrusion. Whilst most decking boards are substantially rectangular in the shape of a standard decking board, because of the inherent stability of the board it has become fairly standard to extrude boards with grooves in the side of the board such as that illustrated in FIG. 2 to allow a "biscuit-type" fixing to be used to hold down the boards from the sides—thus eliminating the need for screws and nails to be used through the top of the board. This makes for a very aesthetically pleasing look to the deck as the fixing is substantially "hidden". Biscuit clips are generally made from some type of plastic—they come in a large range of "proprietary" shapes and sizes but substantially have a centre section where the screw goes through, and a wing on each side that sits into the groove of the decking-board on either side of the clip. One example of a biscuit clip is shown in FIG. 3 and the general arrangement of the attachment is illustrated in FIG. 1.
However, biscuit clips tend to be quite fiddly due to having to fit the "biscuit" into the groove in the board and the drive a very small headed screw in between the boards. It is a two-part process as the screws cannot be fully tightened until the following board is laid.
Most screws used in the biscuit clip systems are specific, and are not suitable for use with either hardwood or steel joist systems making them very difficult to use in at least one of these environments depending on which screw is fitted to the biscuit clip in the manufacturing process.
Biscuit clips generally require "double joist" to be used at butt joins due to the minimal holding length of the biscuit.
It will be clearly understood that, if a prior art publication is referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms part of the common general knowledge in the art in Australia or in any other country.


A new and distinct cultivar of Kalanchoe plant named ‘Mount Rushmore’, characterized by its red purple-colored flowers; upright and uniform plant habit; freely branching growth habit; early and freely flowering habit; and excellent postproduction longevity.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Kalanchoe plant, botanically known as Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, and hereinafter referred to by the name 'Mount Rushmore'.
The new Kalanchoe is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Aalsmeer and Middelburg, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program was to create new compact and freely-branching Kalanchoe cultivars with attractive foliage and flower coloration.
The new Kalanchoe originated from a cross made by the Inventor in October, 2000 in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands of a proprietary selection of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana identified as code number 97012, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana identified as code number 99102-12, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Mount Rushmore was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in Middelburg, The Netherlands in August, 2001.
Asexual reproduction of the new Kalanchoe by terminal vegetative cuttings taken at Aalsmeer, The Netherlands, since August, 2001 has shown that the unique features of this new Kalanchoe are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


An assembly for mounting a nipple to a baby bottle including an adapter supporting the nipple against free movement through the bottle mouth, and a mounting collar with threaded fasteners engaging complementary fasteners on the bottle and clamping the nipple and adapter to the bottle. The position of the threads allows free rotating of the collar relative to the bottle threads in the absence of the adapter.

Baby Bottles of the type intended for reuse, that is of glass or an equivalent rigid synthetic resinous material capable of being washed and sterilized, have conventionally been provided with rather narrow mouths.
The narrow mouth, or more particularly the mouth rim, directly receives the annular flange of a conventional nipple which is in turn sealed to the rim by a mounting collar.
In order to facilitate cleaning of the bottles, it has been proposed to provide bottles with wide mouths, that is mouths with a diametric dimension only slightly less than that of the bottle itself. A bottle so formed is easily cleaned and sterilized, with the interior of the bottle readily visible through the wide mouth and with the actual filling of the bottle greatly simplified.
However, a problem arises in accommodating the conventionally sized nipples to the wide mouth bottles. One solution to this problem involves the use of removable adapters which can overlie and project inwardly of the mouth rim to provide a support for the conventional nipples.
The provision of an adapter, while allowing use of a conventional size nipple, also gives rise to problems. Most particularly, it is not an infrequent occurrence that the nipple is mounted to the bottle without first positioning the adapter. Basically, the nipple is lightly frictionally retained within the mounting cap and the cap and nipple mounted as a unit. As such, the nipple will appear to be properly seated even in the absence of the adapter. However, the absence of the adapter will become immediately apparent in that as the bottle is inverted or as soon as any pressure is applied to the nipple, the nipple will retract into the bottle through the wide mouth and the liquid in the bottle will discharge in an uncontrolled manner. Thus, the proper positioning of the adapter is essential.


Various embodiments utilize geometric hashing to automatically recognize and track and an object. For example, a user can capture an image of a product, or other object, and a point detection algorithm can identify particular features of the product and designate feature points of the product within the captured image. Hash values are then determined for each feature point by determining a basis for the image and determining the location of each feature point relative to that basis. A hash table including the identified hash values is then created and compared to hash values for either a stored product when performing object recognition or from a reference image when performing object tracking.

Users are increasingly utilizing electronic devices to obtain various types of information. For example, a user wanting to learn the name of a song playing in the background can cause a sample of that song to be recorded by an electronic device and uploaded to a song identification service for analysis. Similarly, a user wanting to determine the availability of a book can capture an image of the book and upload that image to a book identification service for analysis. Accordingly, automated object recognition systems to recognize and track objects in an image or multiple frames of an image are ever becoming more sophisticated. Conventional systems have utilized feature-based object tracking algorithms, such as Scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT) or Speeded Up Robust Feature (SURF) algorithm, to identify distinguishing features (which are usually corners) and calculate descriptors (unique fingerprints) for each feature point. These systems identify hundreds of feature points and their corresponding descriptors are computed for each frame in a sequence of video, for example, and a computationally intensive algorithm, such as brute force matching or Random Sample Consensus (RANSAC) algorithm, is used to track these points from frame to frame. On many electronic devices, such as mobile device, CPU and memory resources are tightly constrained, making the use of computationally expensive feature-based object tracking algorithms impractical. The most computationally demanding aspect of these algorithms is calculating the descriptors. It would, therefore, be advantageous to devise an object tracking method that obviates the need to calculate these descriptors.


In a method and a device for monitoring a brake system, e.g., a wheel pressure sensor suite of a brake system of a motor vehicle, the fault detection is implemented on the basis of a differential threshold being exceeded by a signal that is representative for the difference of the brake pressures at the individual wheel brakes of a wheel axle. In the process, the differential threshold is set as a function of the averaged rate of increase of the individual pressures at the wheel brakes. Fault detection is carried out on the basis of a model, which takes the instantaneous operating state of the brake system into account.

In active steering systems, described, for example, in German Published Patent Application No. 38 26 982, the brake pressures are able to be detected at the separately controlled wheels of an axle and, sparing a dead zone, their difference ΔP may be utilized at low ΔP to obtain an additional steering angle δ. This considerably increases the driving stability during braking, in particular on uneven roadways.

Method and device for monitoring a brake system


The present invention includes systems and methods for improving vision by reshaping the cornea of an eye. The systems and methods include two or more contact lenses configured to be at least temporarily worn on the cornea at the same time, and to exert force on the cornea to change its shape. After the shape of the cornea has been appropriately changed, a contact lens with the appropriate configuration may be worn as needed to maintain the new shape of the cornea.

In the treatment of visual acuity deficiencies, correction by means of eyeglasses or contact lenses is used by a large percentage of the population. Such visual acuity deficiencies include hyperopia or far-sightedness, myopia or near-sightedness, astigmatisms (caused by asymmetry of a patient's eye) and presbyopia (caused by loss of accommodation by the crystalline lens). To alleviate the burden of wearing eyeglasses and/or contact lenses, surgical techniques have been developed for altering the shape of a patient's cornea in an attempt to correct refractive errors of the eye. Such surgical techniques include photorefractive keratectomy (PRK), LASIK (laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis), as well as procedures such as automated lamellar keratoplasty (ALK) or implanted corneal rings, implanted contact lenses, and radial keratotomy (RK). These procedures are intended to surgically modify the curvature of the cornea to reduce or eliminate visual defects. The popularity of such techniques has increased greatly, but such techniques still carry risk in both the procedures themselves, as well as post-surgical complications.
Alternatives to permanent surgical procedures to alter the shape of the cornea include corneal refractive therapy (CRT) and orthokeratology (also known as "ortho-K"), in which a modified contact lens is applied to the eye to alter the shape or curvature of the cornea by compression of the corneal surface imparted by the corrective lens.


A method is described for the closed-loop control of a time-delayed process having compensation, in particular for temperature control. After a setpoint value step-change, the manipulated variable is set at a first constant value in an open-loop controlled operation, an IT1 model is identified on the basis of the step-change response and a PI controller is parametrized, which closed-loop controls the process into a second steady state. Subsequently, a more exact process model having compensation is determined and is used for the control adjustment.

The present invention relates to a method for the closed-loop control of a time-delayed process having compensation, in particular for temperature control, as well as a control device for carrying out the method.
An adaptive controller for time-delayed processes having compensation is described in German Patent No. 39 29 615. The controller has the capacity to adjust its parameters autonomously to the characteristics, changing over time, of a controlled system. For this purpose, the response of the process to a step-like shift of the setpoint value is recorded and, in an iterative method, a PTn model is sought, using the Ptn model, this step-response can be simulated with the greatest possible accuracy. The PTn model is viewed as optimal if the error, calculated according to the method of the least error squares, between the step-responses of the PTn model and the real process is minimal. After the process identification is concluded, a controller is designed in accordance with the absolute-value optimum on the basis of the process model established. In German Patent No. 39 29 615, consideration is given to single-loop closed-loop control circuits having controllers of the PID type. The processes to be controlled demonstrate a method having compensation, i.e., they represent a controlled system in which the step-response flows into a new steady state.
A disadvantage of this method is that when the conventional adaptive controller is placed into operation, an often time-consuming step-change test must be carried out before the controller can be optimized. Also disadvantageous are the creeping time constants, i.e., poles that are located very close to the origin of the Laplace plane and which lead to an integrator-like behavior of the process, so that after a manipulated-variable step-change, no steady state can be achieved for a long time.
In the German Patent Application No. 195 48 909.8, a method for closed-loop controlling a time-delayed process having compensation is described along with a control device for carrying out the method, in which, when a controller is placed into operation, the time-consuming step-change test can be dispensed with. In this context, however, it is disadvantageous that storage of the measuring data and a time-discrete parameter estimator, which uses a cumbersome calculation method, are necessary.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method for the closed-loop control of a time-delayed process having compensation, in particular for temperature control, using which the above-mentioned disadvantages are avoided. Another object of the present invention is to provide a control device for carrying out the method.
To achieve this objective, the new method of the type mentioned above has the features indicated in the characterizing part of Claim 1. Refinements of the method are described in Claims 2 through 7. A control device having the features mentioned in Claim 8 is suited for carrying out the method.
An advantage of the present invention is that when placing a controller into operation, a time-consuming step-change test can be completely dispensed with. During the first phase of an adjustment procedure in accordance with a setpoint value step-change, a simple IT1 model approximates the process, and the first setpoint value can be started in a manner that is virtually time-optimal and without overshooting. This has a particular advantageous effect in the closed-loop control of temperatures at a specified setpoint value using an adjustable heating system, in which a controller is to maintain the temperature at a constant value against external influences and, in the event of changes in the setpoint value entry, e.g., in a chemical process, is to set the desired new temperature as rapidly as possible. The adaptive controller adapts itself automatically to any time-delayed processes having compensation without manual parametrization and without prior knowledge of the process. The controller is optimized during the first start-up after the control device has been installed in the control circuit, without it being necessary that the operator provide inputs for this purpose. As criterion for reaching a steady state after the setpoint value step-change, the speed of the controlled variable changes and the system deviation are evaluated and monitored when the latter are below a specifiable limiting value using a PI controller that is parametrized for an IT1 model. Subsequently, the process is identified on the basis of a more exact model, in particular a PT2 model. This model is therefore available after the first adjustment procedure and can, at this point, be retrieved for setting the controller.
The systems that come into question in temperature control processes can generally be controlled using simple PI or PID controllers, which demonstrate very good performance with respect to interference. In response to setpoint value changes, they can be supported, for example, by the following supplemental open-loop control measures: in the event of positive setpoint value step-changes beginning from a specifiable minimum value, a switchover in the structure takes place in which the integral-action component of the PI or the PID controller is switched off, i.e., a P or a PD controller is used; in the vicinity of the setpoint value, the integral-action component is again connected to the controller in a surge-free manner. For systems having very large delay times, in the event of setpoint value step-changes the following control measure can advantageously be applied: after the setpoint value step-change in an open-loop controlled operation, the manipulated variable that is required to be steady for the new setpoint value is output (read out) constantly until the setpoint value is nearly reached; subsequently, there is again a switchover to the PI or PID controller. Although this strategy is less than optimal with respect to time, it is not dependent on the precision of estimation in the system time constants, unlike the time-optimal open-loop control.
By using an IT1 model for identifying the process in an early phase of a first step-change response, the disadvantage of more exact models having compensation is avoided in that at this time point no dependable estimations regarding the steady process gain are yet possible. Rather, the maximum rate of rise is dependent on the ratio of the gain to the dominating time constant, for example, of a PT2 model. However, the IT1 model contains a reference to the delay time, which corresponds to the small time constant of a PT2 model, and a reference to the rate of rise. Thus, sufficient information is made available to parametrize a PI controller using an initially cautious setting, in which overshoots are substantially avoided and yet a sufficiently rapid control performance is obtained.
A control device for carrying out the method can be realized advantageously using an internal sequence control system having a plurality of different phases, which are differentiated in structures of the controller as well as in the models upon which the process identification is based. The control device can be implemented equally as a hardware circuit or as a processor having a program memory into which a suitable operating program has been loaded.
Physical models for temperature control systems can be designed on the basis of elementary PT1 models for the individual partial systems having their heat capacity and their corresponding heat transfers. On the whole, in this way PTn models are obtained of a usually low order. With real processes, it is seldom that more than three relevant time constants can be demonstrated. The typical gains of the processes, depending on the design of the heating system, are between 0.5 and 30, the time constants being between one and several thousand seconds. In general, temperature control systems are themselves not capable of overshoots, i.e., in the open closed-loop control circuit, they only have real pole positions and they usually have only insignificant dead times. Transmission zero positions, i.e., counter terms of a high order in the transmission function, arise if the output temperature is not picked off as the controlled variable at the end of the heat flow chain, e.g., in the case of an oven heated from inside, if the heat capacity of the insulation or of the oven wall plays a role. Zero positions can cause overshooting control behavior. Active cooling is often missing, and very many smaller negative temperature gradients can be observed, than positive. This effect can be clarified using a linear model, to which no negative manipulated variables are available. Nonlinearities of temperature control systems arise in some instances as a result of phase transitions, for example, of evaporation, or actuators having non-linear characteristic curves, e.g., valves.
Further advantages of the new control device in large measure correspond to those of the control device described in the German patent application described above. However, these advantages are attained in the new control device on the basis of significantly reduced computational work.

Method for controlling a time-lagged process with compensation, and a controlling device for carrying out said method


A compression ring that is configured to be disposed between a bearing and a stem of a bicycle head parts assembly. The compression ring includes a central opening for receiving a steering column, a cut out portion, a first cable passing part disposed radially outwardly from the central opening, and a first positioning part for positioning the compression ring with respect to the stem so that the first cable passing part is aligned with a second cable passing part defined in the stem.

Brake cables and shift cables often run through the tubular part of bicycles. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,983,949 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,770, both of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. In particular, the cables often run through the head parts assembly, which may include a compression ring associated with the bearing. A need exists for a novel compression ring that allows cables to pass therethrough and into the stem.


In detecting the time at which a rotating object passes a given angular position, a value range of an angular position sensor output signal which varies relatively rapidly with angular position acts as a trip threshold that, when exceeded, indicates the object has achieved the detected angular position. A relatively rapid change as a function of angular position is determined by reference to the functional dependence of the detection signal level on the angular position of the object. Assuming the sensor signal varies sinusoidally with the object's angular position, the ranges in which the level of the sensor output signal varies rapidly with angular position lie in the vicinity of the angular positions at which the sensor output signal crosses its own mean value, the threshold value being chosen near this mean value.

This invention relates in general to a device and a method for detecting an angular position of a rotating object, and in particular to a device and method for detecting the time at which the rotating object passes a given angular position.
Motor vehicle engines often use sensors to detect the angular position of a crankshaft or a valve position, for example, to control the combustion in a cylinder of the motor vehicle engine with reference to the detected position. The pollutant content in the exhaust gases that result from the combustion process depends on the time of ignition. Accurately detecting the crankshaft or valve position allows the combustion process to occur relatively more efficiently, resulting in less pollutants.
Numerous devices are known that can be used for detecting an angular position. There are generally two types of detection errors that occur in such a device for detecting angular position. These include constant angular errors associated with inaccuracies in the positioning of such a device in the vicinity of the object whose angular position is to be detected, or in the positioning of the components of the device relative to one another. The second type of error are those that vary with time, and may, for example, be caused stochastically, as a function of speed of rotation, or thermally. These errors are the result of a number of different causes. Present-day angular position detection devices include inductive magnetic sensors or Hall sensors that interact with magnets attached to the object to be detected. These sensors produce a sensor output signal that changes constantly with the position of the magnet to be detected. The amplitude of the output signal depends to a relatively strong degree on the distance between the object to be detected and the sensor. Changes in the speed of rotation of the object change both the frequency and the shape of the sensor output signal, so that in general no unequivocal conclusion can be drawn about a definite angular position from the level of the sensor output signal.
Two techniques are known for correcting this problem. The first depends on the use of an automatically regulated amplifier to which the sensor output signal is fed and that produces from this a signal with a fixed amplitude. From this it is then assumed that a certain value of the amplifier-controlled signal always corresponds to the same angular position of the object to be detected. This method has the drawback that the regulation reacts to disturbances or eccentricity of the emitter wheel and introduces additional measurement errors in such situations.
The second known technique depends on detecting each signal peak of the sensor output signal, and determining from them the angular position of the object to be detected. It is assumed that the sensor output signal always reaches its maximum level—even when this value fluctuates—at the same angular position of the object to be detected. The problem arises that the output signals of the known inductive magnetic sensors or Hall sensors are primarily sinusoidal and consequently have very flat signal peaks, which are relatively sensitive to noise and interference.
What is needed is a device and a method for detecting an angular position of a rotating object that make possible relatively precise angular detection without automatic amplification control and without detecting the peaks of the sensor output signal, thereby avoiding the problems of the aforementioned two techniques.

Device and method for detecting an angular position of a rotating object


The disclosure has a configuration including: a supporting substrate having a cavity; at least one bridge section extending directly above the cavity and having at least one end supported by the supporting substrate and an other end; and a thermopile wiring formed in the bridge section and including hot junctions in the bridge section and cold junctions directly above the supporting substrate, the hot junctions being connected to the cold junctions. The bridge section is provided with: at least one breakage detection wiring for detecting breakage of the bridge section; and at least one heater wiring. The breakage detection wiring is wired along the thermopile wiring. The heater wiring is wired such that part of the heater wiring is in an area between the other end of the bridge section and the hot junctions.

An infrared sensor has been known which includes an infrared detection element provided with a heater wiring to be able to detect breakage of a wire (Patent Literature 1).
In Patent Literature 1, however, even when breakage occurs or starts to occur in part of a bridge of the infrared detection element, the breakage cannot be accurately detected if an output of the infrared detection element does not decrease. Therefore, Patent Literature 1 has a problem that a sufficient self-diagnostic function cannot be obtained.

Infrared sensor chip, and infrared sensor employing same

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


A system and method for exposing a radiation sensitive layer to one or more repetitious design cells. Each design cell includes at least one design shape on at least one buildlevel. Each shape represents a circuit shape, or part of a circuit shape on an integrated circuit layer in a circuit on an integrated circuit chip. For each buildlevel: the design is parceled into units that contain approximately the same optimum number of vertices; and for each parcel: Each design cell occurrence, or transform, is examined to determine whether it has proximity effect commonality with other cell transforms (a common environment) and, based on that determination, the cell transform is placed into one of three groups, Macro Candidates, Nested Candidates, and Unnested Candidates. In each Macro Candidate and Nested Candidate any overlapping shapes are combined, or unioned, to form a single shape and, then, the shapes are reconstructed (filled) with rectangles (fill rectangles). Each Macro Candidate design cell is proximity corrected for forward and backward scattering, and the result is placed in a Macro Buffer. Each Nested Candidate design cell is proximity corrected for forward scattering. Nested Candidates are unnested and merged with the Unnested Candidates. The unnested shapes are proximity corrected, former Nested Candidates are proximity corrected for backward scattering and former Unnested Candidates are proximity Corrected for forward and backward scattering. The proximity corrected unnested shapes are stored in a pattern buffer. Finally, the proximity corrected shapes are passed from the pattern buffer and the macro buffer to an electron beam (E-beam) tool as Numerical Control (NC) data.

Integrated circuit shapes can be patterned on a semiconductor wafer entirely by means of direct writing, electron beam (E-beam) lithography. Methods of using an E-beam to write microcircuit patterns in integrated circuit fabrication are well known in the art.
The intended pattern can be written directly onto a semiconductor wafer by first exposing a thin layer of radiation sensitive material on the wafer with a beam of electrons. Alternatively, a thin layer of photoresist on the semiconductor wafer may be exposed optically, using a mask made with an E-beam tool. Whether the pattern is directly written with an E-beam or indirectly written with a mask made with an E-beam, the E-beam tool control remains the same. See generally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,259,724 for an example of an E-beam lithography system for direct writing to expose an entire wafer. The use of a computer to generate control data and to control the E-beam is also well known. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,928 for an example of a computer controlled microcircuit fabrication system. E-beam lithography provides the advantage of very sharply defined patterns for very small geometric shapes. However, transferring those computer designed to a physical image on a photoresistive, or radiation sensitive layer (resist), can be both expensive and time consuming. Most of the expense associated with transforming the shape is computer operating cost, which is also generally time dependent.
Therefore, reducing computer operating time will reduce the expense associated with E-beam lithography. Several approaches have been used to reduce the time required to expose a wafer with an E-beam tool. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,147,937 for an example of a method and an apparatus for exposing a wafer by raster scan writing, i.e., a single line at a time. See also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,914,304 for an example of an E-beam exposure system that uses a shaped beam to improve exposure of different shapes. Although these prior art approaches may have reduced wafer exposure time, they did not appreciably reduce the shape conversion time, i.e., the computer time required to prepare the shapes in a design for use on the E-beam tool. Converting the design data to Numerical Control (NC) data is called postprocessing the design. NC data is used to control an E-beam tool in exposing a radiation sensitive layer. Prior art methods of postprocessing design shapes may need several hundreds of Central Processing Unit (CPU) minutes to convert one design layer into NC data. So, postprocessing a design, converting the graphics representation of design shapes to control for the E-beam tool, is a major computer bottleneck.
The flow diagram of FIG. 1 shows the steps typically taken in the prior art to convert design data into E-beam tool control data and to expose a semiconductor wafer. Each design shape is represented in a graphics language by lines, rectangles, circles, and polygons. Such a representation is characteristic of the particular shape and graphics language. It is the graphics representation of the shape that is postprocessed, converting the graphics representation to Numerical Control (NC) data for an E-beam tool. The E-beam tool uses the converted, or postprocessed, information to direct the electron beam onto the radiation sensitive layer, which writes, or exposes, the design shape into the layer. The computer running the postprocessing program (called the postprocessor) combines the graphics design 30 and key E-beam tool processing parameters 32 (called keywords) to produce NC data.
Before postprocessing the design data, the graphics language representation of the design data 30 and the keywords 32 are checked 34 for syntax errors. After verifying that there are no syntax errors, the post processor decomposes 36 each design shape into a series of edges and then labels 38 each edge. An edge is part of the shape's perimeter and is normally a straight line connecting two vertices on the shape. Each converted edge is labeled 38 according to its position on a shape as a top, bottom, right or left edge. The postprocessor then applies 40 keywords that describe shape compensation, known as etch biases, to the edges. An etch bias is a compensation for the distortion to a design shape that occurs while writing and forming the final shape. Next, the postprocessor transforms 42 the edges from the graphics language grid (a unit of measure) to the E-beam tool grid. The postprocessor combines any butting or overlapping transformed edges (called unioning 44 the shapes or edges). When two edges are unioned, the unioned edges form a single, common edge.
After unioning the edges, the postprocessor fills 46 the shapes. Reconstructing a shape out of one or more types of basic polygons, e.g., rectangles, such that the reconstructed shape is, as nearly as possible, identical to the design shape is called "filling the shape." The reconstructed design shape is said to be filled with fill polygons or fill rectangles. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,554,625 for an example of a method of producing nonoverlapping rectangles to fill a shape.
The fill rectangles generated during the fill 46 provide the E-beam tool with control data to direct the E-beam to expose a rectangular area. For examples of rectangle generators, see, "Method and Apparatus for Digital Control of E-Beam Pattern Writing as Applied to Subfield and Vector Equipment," in the March 1980 IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin page 4583, and see, "Method and Apparatus to Provide Rapid Interpretation of Digital Source Information During Electron-Beam Pattern Writing of Rectangular Shapes," in the April 1982 IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin page 5681.
After the fill 46, the filled shapes, i.e. the fill rectangles, are proximity corrected 48 for proximity effects. Proximity effects are created by electrons being scattered while traveling to, from and in the resist. These scattered and reflected electrons partially expose the resist up to several micrometers from their intended point of impact (called the scattering radius) causing over exposure of surrounding shapes. Proximity correction 48 means adding control information to the fill rectangles to adjust the length of time that the E-beam exposes the resist. For example, a fill rectangle, when exposed, may cause interference with adjacent fill rectangles known as blooming. Blooming causes "fuzzy" edges and unintentionally filled notches because rectangles become overexposed. Blooming can be reduced by reducing beam exposure time for adjacent rectangles. Since proximity correction may require calculating a value for each fill rectangle with respect to each fill rectangle within its scattering radius, there may be several calculations required for each fill rectangle. Consequently, calculating proximity correction values may require as much or more CPU time as filling the design shapes.
After proximity correction, the fill data is gray-spliced 50. Gray-splicing is done because the E-beam deflection field is much smaller than an integrated circuit chip. So, the integrated circuit chip is divided into subfields, which are slightly smaller than the E-beam's deflection field. When the shapes in a subfield are written, any shapes lying on or spanning subfield boundaries may be partially written. To maintain a spanning shape's edge definition, the exposure from each subfield is overlapped into its adjacent subfield and the exposure time in the overlap is reduced. Thus, because a spanning shape is partially exposed in the overlap from each subfield, it is said to be grayed. Since the result of overlapping the grayed portions of a spanning shape splices the shape's pieces together, the shape is said to be gray-spliced.
Once gray-splicing (also spelled grey-splicing) is complete, the fill data is encoded and passed 52 to the E-beam tool as NC data. NC data is a series of commands used to control an E-beam tool, directing the tool to expose the radiation sensitive layer in a predetermined set of steps, at a predetermined exposure level. In one prior art method, fill rectangles are further reduced into one or more sub-areas called spots, each of which will be written by a vertical or horizontal raster scan. When the fill data is encoded as NC data, each fill rectangle is stored as NC data in a storage area called the pattern buffer. The exposure level is the proximity corrected value from 48 and is part of this NC data.
After the design data is converted to NC data, the E-beam tool writes 54 the design onto a wafer by exposing each fill rectangle onto a radiation sensitive layer. Once every fill rectangle has been exposed, the design shape will have been written onto the layer. The exposed pattern can be developed similarly to photodeveloping. After developing the resist, the wafer is etched, implanted or otherwise similarly altered to imprint the pattern onto the wafer. So, the NC data for E-beam tool is encoded from the data generated in the fill 46, proximity correction 48 and gray-splice 50. Since, during the fill, the computer must treat every shape as a puzzle in which the computer must both create the pieces and then fit them together; the fill 46 often accounts for a large portion of CPU time and may produce a large volume of data. Because the pieces created in the fill must be examined and, when necessary, corrected for proximity effects, proximity correction 48 may account for more CPU time and produce more data than the fill 46. Gray-splicing, which is done after proximity correction, may result in still a larger data volume and may account for the largest usage of CPU time.
A semiconductor chip, typically, has several layers of shapes, commonly known as levels that are overlaid to form micro circuits. These layers are commonly called mask levels because of the way the layers' patterns were transferred onto the chip, i.e. optically, by exposing photoresist with light directed through a mask. Although some mask levels may still be made with an optical tool, a single design may also require several levels that must be independently converted to E-beam control data. Additionally masks for optically exposed levels may be created using the same E-beam tool. Mask levels are also classified as positive or negative (also called reverse image) levels. The design shape is the intended image on a positive mask. Thus, a rectangle in the design would be an opaque rectangle on a positive mask. Conversely, a negative mask has a negative image of the design. So, a rectangle on the design would be a transparent rectangle in an opaque field on a negative mask.
The steps of filling, proximity correcting and gray-splicing each mask level are major CPU bottlenecks that may take several CPU hours each. The CPU through-put times tend to increase with N.sup.2, where N is the number of shape edges. Since each circuit has several design shapes, and since the number of edges is directly related to the number of design shapes, CPU through-put is related to the number of circuits in the design. For a complex design, the time required to fill, to proximity correct or to gray-splice a single mask level exceeds the average time between CPU failures, known as the CPU's mean time to fail. Thus, the number of circuits allowed on an integrated circuit chip could be limited by factors such as the CPU's mean time to fail rather than the E-beam tool's other physical limitations. Reducing the time required in these bottlenecks would provide a significant improvement over slow prior art post processing methods. A prior art approach to reducing the data volume has been to add a data compaction subsystem called the E-beam system's macro buffer. The macro buffer is part of the E-beam tool's storage, dedicated to storing NC data for repetitive patterns known as "User Defined Macros" (UDMs). An occurrence of a cell in a design is called the cell's transform because the cell is transformed from the cell's coordinate system to the design's coordinate system. Thus, an occurrence of a UDM in a design is called the UDM's transform. When a macro buffer is employed, the macro transforms are replaced with macro read commands that are merged with the NC data for the remaining design (non-macro) shapes in the pattern buffer. When the E-beam tool encounters the macro read command in the pattern buffer, the tool retrieves the UDM from the macro buffer and executes the NC data on the UDM.
The macro buffer takes advantage of a repetitive characteristic inherent in most designs. That repetitive characteristic results from a basic precept of logic design that any logic function can be carried out entirely in NOR gates (or NAND gates). Designers follow this basic precept by limiting the number of unique circuits they create in designing a complex integrated circuit chip. Even on a very complex chip, the number of unique circuits may be less than 100. Usually each circuit is created once ("laid out") as a cell. Shapes on each layer within that cell may be repeated as a UDM for each macro transform. By maintaining the design's nesting (reusing macros), each cell is postprocessed once and the UDM placed in the macro buffer. Whenever the E-beam tool is to write the cell, the UDM is retrieved from the Macro buffer. For a chip such as a 1 Mbit Random Access Memory (RAM), storing one million occurrences each of a RAM cell with, say, 15 fill rectangles requires a large pattern buffer. For the same 1 Mbit RAM, a macro read command to call the RAM memory cell UDM would need a much smaller pattern buffer. Thus, the macro buffer provided a significant data compaction advantage.
However, very often in the prior art, proximity effects disrupted the uniformity of a repeated UDM because the proximity effects on fill rectangles in a macro depend not only on shapes within the macro, but also on the macro's placement with respect to adjacent rectangles and Macros. So, some UDMs have proximity effects that depend on placement and, therefore, require placement dependant proximity correction.
Gray-splicing also is placement dependent for each UDM. Some UDM transforms may not require gray-splicing, while other transforms have unique placement or gray-splicing requirements. In prior art postprocessors, these placement dependent UDMs were not left in the Macro buffer. Instead, they were unnested before fill and, the unnested, former UDM shapes were filled, proximity corrected, gray-spliced individually and placed in the pattern buffer, causing the pattern buffer to swell.
One method of data compaction that addressed varying proximity correction for a UDM is disclosed in "Scheme for Proximity Correcting Repetitive Design Features," in the October 1987 IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin pages 436-7. The disclosed scheme or method was to strip out of the UDMs all rectangles requiring proximity correction. The stripped UDMs were then placed in the Macro buffer, and the stripped rectangles were proximity corrected and placed in the pattern buffer. This was an improvement over unnesting every UDM transform and placing the unnested data in the pattern buffer, but, it still resulted in high data volume and correspondingly awkward data handling problems.
Compounding these obstacles to maintaining data compaction are the additional problems that occur on a negative mask. Making a negative mask requires filling the area around the design shapes instead of filling the design shapes. While the design shapes themselves may be identical for two transforms of a cell, the fill for the area around the shapes may not be. If, for example a repetitive array cell has transforms along the array edge with shapes that intrude into the cell area, but do not touch any of the cell's rectangles, then the fill for the transforms of the cell along that edge will not be identical to the fill for other array cell transforms.
Additionally, proximity effects may not be identical even between array edge cell transforms. Usually, these edge cells are unnested and converted to NC data as non macros. The more the unnesting of Memory array cells that is required, the more the efficiency of the macro buffer is reduced, as is the advantage provided by the macro buffer.

E-beam control data compaction system and method

International Business Machines Corporation


An image forming apparatus includes an image forming portion, a storage portion, a density measurement portion, a calibration portion, and a correction portion. The image forming portion is configured to form an image by using a developer. The storage portion is configured to store a relationship between a number of pixels formed by the image forming portion and a usage amount of the developer. The density measurement portion is configured to perform measurement of a density of a patch image formed by the image forming portion. The calibration portion is configured to perform calibration based on the measured density. The correction portion is configured to perform correction of the relationship between the number of pixels and the usage amount of the developer, the relationship being stored in the storage portion, by using differences in number of pixels at a plurality of previously set densities between before and after the calibration.

The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet by using a developer such as toner and ink.
In an image forming apparatus using toner, ink, etc. as a developer, an image is printed on a sheet by using a developer accommodated in a cartridge. In such an image forming apparatus, it is necessary to calculate a remaining amount of developer accommodated in the cartridge and urge a user to replace the cartridge with a new one when the remaining amount falls below a predetermined value. If this calculation of the remaining amount is not accurate, it may affect the replacement of cartridges, etc. and invite degradation of reliability of the apparatus.
In conventional technologies, for example, a number of pixels is used to calculate a toner consumption amount, and a toner remaining amount in a cartridge is calculated from the toner consumption amount.

Image forming apparatus that corrects relationship between number of pixels and usage amount of developer


The invention includes a nonformulated, low-dose hypocholesterolemic composition comprising soya proteins and β-sitosterol, wherein the soya proteins and the β-sitosterol are present in a weight ratio of about 6±1.5 of the soya proteins to about 1±0.2 of the β-sitosterol; and wherein the composition is made up as an optimal daily dose of only the two components for adults or for children.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention involves a hypocholesterolemic composition for oral administration comprising an association of soya proteins with sitosterols. The soya proteins and the sitosterols may be of natural origin.
The types of vascular damage that can be caused by a hypocholesterolemic condition are numerous; and a balanced diet plays a role of primary importance in the prevention of such alternations. The populations that are more exposed to this type of pathology are the richer ones whose normal everyday diet, apart from being unbalanced, often exceeds daily requirements.
Hypercholesterolemia can be treated either pharmacologically or by undertaking preventative action in terms of modifying or integrating the usual nutritional intake.
The influence of soya proteins on nutrition is observable both in normal cholesterol level and in hypocholesterolemic conditions.
Sitosterols, β-sitosterols in particular, are substances that are used extensively in hypocholesterolemic treatments. Their chemical structure, similar to cholesterol, differs because of an ethyl group bound to the carbon in position 24, provides these substances with an absorption behavior which is very different from that of cholesterol.
These substances, contrary to the cholesterol contained in food, are not absorbed and interfere with the absorption of the cholesterol taken in. The limited food absorption causes a consequent and significant hypocholesterolemic effect.
2. Description of Related Art
GB-A 2 028 341 describes the use of a composition containing soya protein and pectin for reducing cholesterol level. The daily dose is 60–90 g/day soya protein and 1.5–3 g/day pectin.
GB-A 1 427 253 discloses an antilipemic composition comprising a nonsaponifiable fraction of soybean oil, said fraction containing about 45% by weight of plant sterols (campesterol, stigmasterol, and β-sitosterol) and about 20% by weight tocopherols. The use of this fraction allows the user to reduce dramatically the daily dose of sitosterol compared to the prior art. It is shown that 1200–1800 mg/day of this composition significantly lowers the cholesterol level in patients.
In GB-A 1 427 253 the problem is solved or ameliorated by the use of a nonsaponifiable fraction of soybean oil. Although the hypocholesterolemic effect of soya protein is disclosed in GB-A 2 028 341, there is nothing in either GB-A 2 028 341 or in GB-A 1 427 253 that would suggest that soya protein and sitosterols could have a synergistic effect that would lead to a significant decrease in t he daily dose of both compounds.
EP-B 669 835 describes hypocholesterolemic compositions with soya proteins associated synergistically with sitosterol. These compositions contain from 50 mg to 2000 mg of Soya proteins and from 10 mg to 1000 mg of sitosterols per unit, both of natural origin.

Hypocholesterolemic composition and methods of use


The invention is directed towards a method of removing mercury bearing species from a hydrocarbon containing fluid. The method comprises the steps of: i) adding dithiocarbamate polymer to the fluid in an amount such that the number of mercury bonding sites on the polymer exceeds the amount of mercury atoms by at least 10% and ii) removing the mercury bearing dithiocarbamate polymer with a water/oil separation device. The invention relies upon an unexpected reversal in the solubility of dithiocarbamate polymer at very high concentrations. Because of the high solubility the polymer remains within the water phase of the hydrocarbon fluid and can be removed without the need for cumbersome precipitation methods and complicated solid liquid separation devices.

This invention applies to methods and compositions for the removal of mercury species from crude oil streams, hydrocarbons, and/or gas condensates using dithiocarbamates with or without electrostatic coalescence. In many forms of crude oil a variety of mercury-containing species are present. These include but may not be limited to elemental mercury, mercuric chloride, mercuric sulfide, mercuric selenide, and various combinations thereof. Also the mercury can be a chemical component of a variety of asphaltic and sulfur containing complexes and compounds. As an example, crude oils from the Austral Basin region of Argentina frequently contain well over 2000 ppb of mercury. Changes in the economics of the oil industry have resulted in such mercury bearing crude oils to be more commonly used.
It is important that these mercury-containing species be removed from the crude oil as they pose significant product quality and environmental and safety issues. As volatile compounds, the presence of mercury-containing species make processing and handling of the crude oil hazardous and unpredictable. Because the species are often toxic they render whatever hydrocarbons they end up in either unsafe to handle or beyond various established, safety, pollution, and/or legal standards. Also the species tend to have unwanted side reactions with various additives used in the refining process or used to enhance the performance of the final hydrocarbon product. For example mercury species are known to destroy hydrotreating and other catalysts used to make the oil refining process economical.
Mercury bearing species are particularly odious to naphtha. In the crude oil refining process, naphtha is produced as a fraction of a distillation step. Mercury bearing species congregate within this fraction resulting in naphtha that is concentrated with unwanted mercury. This greatly reduces the value and use of this naphtha.
Currently, adsorbents, gas stripping and chemical precipitation methods are being used to remove mercury from crudes and other hydrocarbon liquids prior to their processing in order to avoid catalyst poisoning problems. The use of fixed bed adsorbents, such as 30 activated carbon, molecular sieves, metal oxide-based adsorbents and activated alumina, to remove the mercury is a potentially simple approach but has several disadvantages. For example, solids in the crude oil tend to plug the adsorbent bed, and the cost of the adsorbent may be excessive when mercury levels are greater than 100 to 300 ppb. Also, large quantities of spent adsorbent are produced when treating hydrocarbon liquids having high levels of mercury, thereby making it imperative to process the spent adsorbent to remove adsorbed mercury before either recycle or disposal of the adsorbent.
Gas stripping also has drawbacks. To be effective the stripping must be conducted at high temperature with relatively large amounts of stripping gas. Since crudes contain a substantial amount of light hydrocarbons that are stripped with the mercury, these hydrocarbons must be condensed and recovered to avoid substantial product loss. Moreover, the stripping gas must either be disposed of or recycled, both of which options require the stripped mercury to be removed from the stripping gas.
Chemical precipitation includes the use of sodium sulfide or other sulfur containing compounds to convert mercury in the liquid hydrocarbons into solid mercury sulfide, which is then separated from the hydrocarbon liquids through filtration (U.S. Pat. No. 6,537,443). As taught in the prior art, this method requires significant volumes of aqueous sodium sulfide solutions to be mixed with the liquid hydrocarbons. The drawbacks of this requirement include the necessity to maintain significant volumes of two liquid phases in an agitated state to promote contact between the aqueous sodium sulfide solution and the hydrocarbon liquids, which in turn can lead to the formation of an oil-water emulsion that is difficult to separate.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,537,443 and 6,685,824 documents the use of polymeric dithiocarbamate, monomeric dithiocarbamates, sulfurized olefins, and diatomaceous earth or zeolites impregnated with sulfur bearing compounds to remove mercury bearing species. They add the sulfur-containing compounds to the hydrocarbon to form a solid sulfur-mercury complex that requires removal using a hydrocarbon-water separation step following filtration of the hydrocarbon. U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,341,667, 7,449,118, and 7,479,230 describe the use of used alumina to reduce the level of inorganic contaminants, such as mercury and arsenic, from waste fluid streams. The alumina in this process is used Claus catalyst, which is used to recover elemental sulfur from hydrogen sulfide in gases. The waste fluid streams are passed through a filter containing the used Claus catalyst removing both elemental and ionic mercury. U.S. Pat. No. 7,476,3659 discloses a method and apparatus to remove elemental mercury from natural gas by condensing the mercury and gas via a cooler. The elemental mercury is collected at the bottom of the vessel. None of these methods however allow for the mercury removal processes to occur with an in situ method using commonly available oilfield water/oil separation equipment or refinery water/oil equipment. As a result because they require additional cumbersome steps with more costly equipment they are unsatisfactory solutions to the problem. Thus there is clear utility in compositions, methods, and apparatuses that remove mercury species from crude oil streams, hydrocarbons, and/or gas condensates.
The art described in this section is not intended to constitute an admission that any patent, publication or other information referred to herein is "Prior Art" with respect to this invention, unless specifically designated as such. In addition, this section should not be construed to mean that a search has been made or that no other pertinent information as defined in 37 CFR §1.56(a) exists.

Removal of mercury and mercuric compounds from crude oil streams


The present invention is a method for applying a gradient magnetic field to a paramagnetic supporting liquid containing a mixture of first particles and second particles to separate the mixture by particle type. A magnetic susceptibility of the first particles is lower than that of the liquid, and a magnetic susceptibility of the second particles is higher than that of the liquid. A gradient magnetic field is applied to the liquid in a separation tank provided with a magnetic filter and the liquid is stirred. The first particles float in the liquid by a magneto-Archimedes effect. A horizontal magnetic force acts on the first particles by the gradient magnetic field, so that the first particles travel to a region lateral to or outward from the magnetic filter and are gathered in the region. The magnetic filter is excited by the gradient magnetic field to catch the second particles.

JP 2002-59026A (Patent Document 1) discloses a mixture separation method using a magneto-Archimedes effect. The mixture separation method disclosed in Patent Document 1 is characterized in that a magnetic field having a magnetic field gradient (referred to as "gradient magnetic field" hereinafter) is applied to a plastic mixture including a plurality of types of diamagnetic solid plastic particles that floats or sinks in a paramagnetic supporting liquid to float the plastic particles at positions corresponding to the types of particle.
On the other hand, a high gradient magnetic separation (HGMS) method as disclosed in JP 2004-533915A (Patent Document 2) is known as a method for adsorbing and separating particles of paramagnetic materials (feeble magnetic materials) in liquid or gas. In the HGMS method, a high gradient magnetic field is generated by applying a high magnetic field to a magnetic filter formed of fine wires of a ferromagnetic material to adsorb paramagnetic particles in liquid or gas on the magnetic filter.

Method and apparatus for separation of mixture


A control system and a control method of fuel cell stacks are provided. The control system includes a set of fuel cell stacks, a secondary battery, a monitoring device, and a control device. Each fuel cell stack has a power output that can be independently started up or shut down. The secondary battery is connected to power output terminals of the fuel cell stacks via a power transmission path. The monitoring device is configured to monitor an electrical parameter of the power transmission path. The control device receives an electrical parameter signal from the monitoring device, and outputs a control signal to shut down or start up the power output of at least one of the fuel cell stacks if the electrical parameter's value is higher than a predetermined upper limit or lower than a predetermined lower limit.

In a fuel cell-based power supply system, by directly supplying a load with demanded electric power, not only energy loss through a power converter can be reduced, but also the burden of thermal management can be eased. In the case of using the power supply system in a DC power system of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), energy density may be significantly increased. However, in such a power supply method, an output voltage of the fuel cell varies greatly with the electric power demand of the load and may exceed an input voltage range of the load. Particularly, depending on different UAV payloads, the electric power demand may vary greatly, making it difficult to maintain the output voltage of the fuel cell within a desired range.
In the power supply system in which the fuel cell directly supplies the demanded electric power to the load, a key factor in maintaining a load voltage within an expected range is control of output power of the fuel cell. As one method, the output power is dynamically adjusted in accordance with a variation in the demand of the load by individual start-up and shutdown of power supply of a multi-module stack.
Nonetheless, techniques for instantly adjusting the number of stacks for power supply in response to a load variation and easing the burden associated with a load power demand on a secondary battery during start-up or shutdown of a fuel cell while ensuring smooth power supply have been under research.

Control system and method of fuel cell stacks

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A wire bonding method includes bonding a tip of a wire provided through a clamp and a capillary onto a bonding pad of a chip, moving the capillary to a connection pad of a substrate corresponding to the bonding pad, bonding the wire to the connection pad to form a bonding wire connecting the bonding pad to the connection pad, before the capillary is raised from the connection pad, applying a electrical signal to the wire to detect whether the wire and the connection pad are in contact with each other, changing a state of the clamp to a closed state when the wire is not in contact with the connection pad and maintaining the state of the clamp in an open state when the wire is in contact with the connection pad, and raising the capillary from the connection pad while maintaining the state of the clamp.

The inventive concept relates to a wire bonding method for a semiconductor package, and more particularly, to a method of forming a bonding wire connecting a package substrate included in a semiconductor package to a semiconductor chip.
A semiconductor package may include a package substrate and a semiconductor chip mounted on the package substrate. The semiconductor chip may be mounted on the package substrate by using an adhesive member. In addition, a bonding wire may be formed to electrically connect the package substrate to the semiconductor chip. As the degree of integration of semiconductor chips required by electronic devices has increased, the number of bonding wires included in semiconductor packages also has increased. As such, faster speed bonding equipment for forming bonding wires may be required.

Wire bonding method for semiconductor package


A mounting unit and a method are provided for mounting a mounting rail to a mounting plate for a switch cabinet. The mounting unit acts for mounting a mounting rail for electrical devices on a mounting plate for a switch cabinet and comprises a coupling element for coupling the mounting unit by a form closure with the mounting rail.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a mounting unit and a method for mounting a mounting rail to a mounting plate for a switch cabinet.
Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, electrical devices placed in a switch cabinet are used for an electrical control of machines. The electrical devices in the switch cabinet are usually mounted on mounting rails like for example cap rails or C-rails. Herein, the electrical devices, in particular, terminal blocks, relays, contactors, etc., shall be clamped on the mounting rail, initially. Thereafter, the cap rails are mounted on a mounting plate of the switch cabinet.
DE 296 02 505 U1 discloses a cap rail as a part of a component part carrier system, wherein by means of the cap rail a stronger connection should be created between a cap rail and a mounting plate to be attached thereto.
For simplification and therewith the reduction in time of the mounting of a switch cabinet it is desirable to equip mounting rails entirely with electrical devices before the mounting rails are actually fastened to the mounting plate of the switch cabinet. Presently, however, according to the specific equipment of the mounting rails with electrical devices, some of the electrical devices have to be dismounted again so that the mounting rail can be screwed together with the mounting plate. Thereby, partially no preassembly of the terminals to the mounting rail is possible or many work steps are to be executed twice. Such a course of action increases on the one hand the mounting costs and on the other hand the space requirements for the electrical devices in the switch cabinet. Thus, the space requirements for the switch cabinet augment which increases in turn the costs for material and space.

Mounting unit and method for mounting a mounting rail to a mounting plate for a switch cabinet