The procedure consists in incorporating in the actual process of conforming a roof lining, determined by the securing to each other of a previously conformed lining support and the positioning and securing thereon of a coating, of one or more electroluminescent strips which will constitute a lighting system of the roof lining, which electroluminescent strips are integrated between such lining support and coating, each of them with a ribbon cable and a connector which are made to pass through a hole of the support of the lining and is finished in a connector, which is hidden by the rear face of the actual lining for its connection to the power supply of the roof of the vehicle in which the lining is applied.

The present invention relates to a procedure for obtaining a roof lining/paneling with integrated lighting system, the fundamental characteristic of which is that in the actual process of forming the lining, applicable with its coating on the roof of vehicles, it incorporates a lighting system based on electroluminescent light strips, defining a single assembly for its definitive installation on the roof of a vehicle without the necessity of having to mount the lighting system independently, since it is integrated in the lining itself.
The roof lining for vehicles is likewise an object of the invention, this lining being obtained by way of the procedure of the invention, which lining incorporates a lighting system constituted by one or several electroluminescent strips, each one of them with its corresponding ribbon cable and connector for the supply of electric power to this strip or these strips and a connector for the connection to the general roof wiring system.
At the present time, some roof linings are known which incorporate different accessories such as loudspeakers, head airbags, etc., their purpose being to increase the added value of the roof lining, incorporating therein different accessories which typically constitute elements independent of the lining.
Regarding the accessories which constitute the interior lighting systems of a motor vehicle, these accessories are presently constituted by assemblies of pieces independent of the roof lining, and they are mounted thereon in a different and subsequent phase to that of forming the lining.
Traditionally, the mounting of these lighting systems was carried out in a stage different to that of mounting the roof lining, although at the present time alternatives exist in which modular roofs are marketed wherein the mounting of some components, like those, for example, associated with the lighting system of the interior of the vehicle, is carried out on the roof lining on the lining supplier's premises, whereby the modular assembly is subsequently mounted on the vehicle in a single step.
In any case, the assembly of pieces which form the interior lighting systems of vehicles corresponds to: a source of light emission; a diffuser element of the light emitted by the source; a supporting element for the assembly; and a system of cables which feeds the light source with the necessary electric power.
These systems present a series of drawbacks, including:                The traditional sources of light emit heat to the consequent detriment of user comfort, as well as of the life of other components in the vehicle which can be mounted near to them.        The traditional light sources produce very localized lighting creating areas of shadow inside the compartment, that is, they cannot be used as ambient lighting which produces a general or more diffuse illumination of the compartment without it being very harsh. Nor is it possible to resolve this problem of lighting by increasing the number of points of light, due to the aforementioned problem of heat emission.        The light intensity cannot be varied as a function of the quantity of external light or of the requirements at any given moment.        The traditional lighting systems are, on occasion, a nuisance for the drivers of other vehicles.        The traditional lighting systems, or at least the light diffusers, remain visible at times when their operation is not required, which affects the development of the complete vehicle and the aesthetic function of the interior thereof.        The traditional systems require space for their location and assembly, affecting the habitability of the interior of the vehicle.

Method of producing roof panelling with an integrated lighting system and the panelling thus obtained


An improved pressure-compensated hydraulic system for feeding hydraulic fluid from a variable displacement pump to multiple hydraulic actuators. A separate valve section controls the fluid flow between the pump and a different actuator. Each valve section has a pressure compensating valve with a valve member and poppet within a bore and biased apart by a spring. The poppet acts as a check valve which prevents fluid flow from the actuator through the valve section to the pump when the back pressure from the load exceeds the pump supply pressure. A pressure differential between the load-dependent pressure and the actuator pressure determines a position of the valve member which controls the pressure applied to the pump pressure control input.

The speed of a hydraulically driven working member on a machine depends upon the cross-sectional area of principal narrowed orifices of the hydraulic system and the pressure drop across those orifices. To facilitate control, pressure compensating hydraulic control systems have been designed to set and maintain the pressure drop. These previous control systems include sense lines which transmit the pressure at the valve workports to the input of a variable displacement hydraulic pump which supplies pressurized hydraulic fluid in the system. The resulting self-adjustment of the pump output provides an approximately constant pressure drop across a control orifice whose cross-sectional area can be controlled by the machine operator. This facilitates control because, with the pressure drop held constant, the speed of movement of the working member is determined only by the cross-sectional area of the orifice. One such system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,272 entitled "Post Pressure Compensated Unitary Hydraulic Valve", the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Because the control valves and hydraulic pump in such a system normally are not immediately adjacent to each other, the changing load pressure information must be transmitted to the remote pump input through hoses or other conduits which can be relatively long. Some hydraulic fluid tends to drain out of these conduits while the machine is in a stopped, neutral state. When the operator again calls for motion, these conduits must refill before the pressure compensation system can be fully effective. Due to the length of these conduits, the response of the pump may lag, and a slight dipping of the loads can occur, which characteristics may be referred to as the "lag time" and "start-up dipping" problems.
In some types of hydraulic systems, the "bottoming out" of a piston drive a load could cause the entire system to "hang up". This could occur in such systems which used the greatest of the workport pressures to motivate the pressure compensation system. In that case, the bottomed out load has the greatest workport pressure and the pump is unable to provide a greater pressure; thus there would no longer be a pressure drop across the control orifice. As a remedy, such systems may include a pressure relief valve in a load sensing circuit of the hydraulic control system. In the bottomed out situation, the relief valve opens to drop the sensed pressure to the load sense relief pressure, enabling the pump to provide a pressure drop across the control orifice.
While this solution is effective, it may have an undesirable side effect in systems which use a pressure compensating check valve as part of the means of holding substantially constant the pressure drop across the control orifice. The pressure relief valve could open even when no piston was bottomed out if a workport pressure exceeded the set-point of the load sense relief valve. In that case, some fluid could flow from the workport backwards through the pressure compensating check valve into the pump chamber. As a result, the load could dip, which condition may be referred to as a "backflow" problem.
Another drawback of previous pressure compensating hydraulic control systems is the large number of components. For example the system described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,642 provides a chain of shuttle valves which sense the pressure at every powered workport of each valve section. The output pressure of that chain is applied to an isolator valve which connects the control input of the pump to either the pump output or to the tank depending upon the sensed workport pressure. It is desirable to simplify the structure of the pressure compensating hydraulic control system and reduce manufacturing complexity.

Hydraulic control valve system with non-shuttle pressure compensator


A flyback converter includes a primary-side circuit to receive an input voltage, a secondary-side circuit to generate an output voltage, a transformer coupling the primary-side circuit to the secondary-side circuit, a main switch coupled to a primary winding of the transformer, and a converter controller having a primary-side controller in signal communication with the main switch to control an on time and an off time of the main switch and to detect one or more valleys of a resonant waveform developed at the main switch during the off time of the main switch. The primary-side controller is configured to operate in a valley reduction mode of operation upon determining that the output voltage is less than a reference voltage minus a predetermined threshold value. The valley reduction mode of operation includes decrementing, for each switching cycle of the main switch, a number of valleys occurring during that switching cycle.

Switch-mode power supplies (SMPSs) ("power converters") are widely utilized in consumer, industrial and medical applications to provide well-regulated power while maintaining high power processing efficiency, tight-output voltage regulation, and reduced conducted and radiated electromagnetic interference (EMI).
To meet these conflicting goals, state-of-the-art power converters (flyback converters, forward converters, boost converters, buck converters, and so on) commonly utilize quasi-resonant control methods. Quasi-resonant control methods induce a resonant waveform having sinusoidal voltage oscillations at the drains of one or more semiconductor switches of the power converter. Through well-timed control actions, the semiconductor switches are turned on at the instants where the drain voltage is minimum (i.e., valley switching), thus minimizing the semiconductor switching losses and drain-source dv/dt slope, leading to increased power processing efficiency and reduced electromagnetic interference (EMI).
In some instances, a typical flyback converter may have a slow dynamic response during output load transients and output voltage reference changes. In order to compensate for this slow dynamic response and ensure tight output voltage regulation during load transients, an oversized output capacitor is typically needed, contributing to increased flyback converter cost and volume. Unfortunately, the larger output capacitor capacitance increases the output voltage rise time during output voltage reference changes, potentially affecting output voltage step transition-time compliance in programmable output voltage applications.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Quasi-resonant flyback converter controller


An apparatus and method are provided which preferably combines temperature sensing and prediction for more accurate temperature control of integrated circuits. An IC temperature sensing and prediction device includes a current sensing device that measures current passing through an IC, and a temperature control apparatus that measures a surface temperature of the IC. The device further includes an electronic controller that calculates the power consumed by the IC according to the measured current and adjusts the temperature of a heater or cooler responsive to the measured surface temperature and power consumption.

Integrated circuit (IC) packages must be tested after their manufacture, normally at elevated temperatures, which is typically a burn-in process. During that process, it is often necessary to control the temperature of ICs, sensors, and other elements. Techniques for doing so have been widely practiced for many years. The system normally consists of a heater (or cooler), a temperature sensor, and a comparator which applies energy to a heater in proportion to the difference in voltage measured on the temperature sensor as compared to a reference voltage. The energy is applied in the proper direction to cause the difference voltage to be reduced. Temperature control modules and temperature sensors of many types are widely sold for these purposes. A typical application is the control of the temperature of ICs for a burn-in process because of the temperature sensitivity of the ICs.
To achieve more accurate testing results, it is desirable to control the temperature of each individual IC being tested. Within a testing oven without individual temperature control, the actual temperature of each IC can vary due to different rates of convection, heat dissipation, or radiation within the oven. Individual temperature control can be achieved by sensing the temperature of each IC and varying the heat directed to each IC through the use of individual heaters.
Two such examples of sensing and heating individual ICs can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,164,661 to Jones and U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,897 to Hamilton. Both Jones and Hamilton disclose a testing socket with a sensor in direct contact with an IC that senses the case temperature of the IC.
As shown in FIG. 10, in Hamilton, a temperature sensor 110 is positioned within an insulated sensor housing 112 such that the sensor 110 protrudes from the housing 112 to contact the outer casing of the integrated circuit being tested. Hamilton discloses measuring the surface temperature (the case temperature) of the IC under test and does not disclose any apparatus or method for determining the temperature of the center of the IC (the junction temperature).
Jones discloses determining the junction temperature of the IC under test by calculating that junction temperature from the sensed case temperature and a predetermined thermal profile of the IC. The determination of the junction temperature of the IC is subject to time delays caused by the thermal time constants of the materials between the temperature sensor on the case surface of the IC and the junction of the IC.
Thus, it would be advantageous to have a system and method for more quickly determining the junction temperature of an IC under test.

Temperature sensing and prediction in IC sockets


Technologies are generally described for processes, compositions and systems for waste sludge dewatering. In an example, the process may include receiving a waste sludge including a water component and an initial content of suspended particulates. The process may include treating the waste sludge with a combination of flocculant produced by Proteus mirabilis and a flocculant including chloride. The combination may be sufficient to flocculate at least some of the suspended particulates in the water component of the waste sludge and sufficient to produce treated waste sludge. The treated waste sludge may have a water component with a reduced content of suspended particulates. The process may include separating at least some of the water component with a reduced content of suspended particulates from the treated waste sludge to produce dewatered waste sludge.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
In waste sludge dewatering, waste sludge may be treated to obtain a dry product. The dry product may provide a substantial reduction in storage volume, facilitate transportation, and reduce energy in instances where incineration of the product is performed. Chemical conditioning may be utilized to facilitate dewatering of waste sludge. The conditioning may cause the flocculation of suspended particulates in the waste sludge.


The present invention aims to provide a continuous forming method and apparatus for functional deposited films having excellent characteristics while preventing any mutual mixture of gases between film forming chambers having different pressures, wherein semiconductor layers of desired conductivity type are deposited on a strip-like substrate within a plurality of film forming chambers, by plasma CVD, while the strip-like substrate is moved continuously in a longitudinal direction thereof through the plurality of film forming chambers connected via gas gates having means for introducing a scavenging gas into a slit-like separation passage, characterized in that at least one of the gas gates connecting the i-type layer film forming chamber for forming the semiconductor junction and the n- or p-type layer film forming chamber having higher pressure than the i-type layer film forming chamber has the scavenging gas introducing position disposed on the n- or p-type layer film forming chamber side off from the center of the separation chamber of the gas gate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for continuously forming functional deposited films such as for a photovoltaic element and a deposition apparatus, and more particularly to a method for continuously forming functional deposited films such as for a large area photovoltaic element on a substrate and a deposition apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, deposited film forming apparatuses of three chamber separation type have been well known in which functional deposited films such as for a photovoltaic element are formed on a substrate by passing them consecutively through film forming chambers completely separated by a gate valve to form a semiconductor in order to improve the characteristics of the semiconductor. These film forming chambers completely separated were superior in the respect of preventing contamination with impurities but resulted in less productivity. Therefore, to form a semiconductor device such as a photovoltaic element on a strip-like substrate, a continuous film forming apparatus for continuously forming predetermined functional deposited films has been proposed in which the strip-like substrate is continuously conveyed from a strip-like substrate container to a plurality of reaction chambers in each of which a predetermined semiconductor film is formed thereon, and then received within another strip-like substrate container.
In Japanese Patent Application No. 62-36633, for example, a continuous plasma CVD method adopting the roll-to-roll method has been disclosed. According to this method, a photovoltaic element having semiconductor junctions can be continuously formed in which a plurality of glow discharge regions are provided, a longitudinally extending strip-like substrate of desired width is arranged along a passage passing through the plurality of glow discharge regions in sequence, and then a semiconductor of a desired conductivity type is deposited in each glow discharge region while the substrate is continuously conveyed in its longitudinal direction. In this Japanese Patent Publication, a gas gate is used for preventing the diffusion or contamination of impurity gases for the formation of a doped semiconductor layer into other glow discharge regions. Specifically, the plurality of glow discharge regions as above described are separated by a slit-like separation passage, and means is further provided for forming a flow of a scavenging gas such as Ar or H.sub.2 in the separation passage.
In this case, however, when a pressure difference is present from one film forming chamber to another in the gas gate, the problem arises that a film forming gas is prone to migrate from a higher pressure film forming chamber to a lower pressure film forming chamber.
To counter this problem, a conventionally adopted solution was such that the adjacent film forming chambers were equalized in pressure to eliminate such pressure difference, or the film forming chamber was placed at higher pressure to prevent the inflow of a gas from the adjacent film forming chamber, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,723.
This apparatus is a continuous film forming apparatus for continuously forming semiconductor layers having p-, i-, or n-type conductivity (hereinafter referred to as a p-type layer, an i-type layer, and an n-type layer), for example, on a strip-like substrate, comprising a first reaction chamber for forming the p-type semiconductor layer, a second reaction chamber for forming the i-type semiconductor layer, and a third reaction chamber for forming the n-type semiconductor layer, wherein between the first and second reaction chambers, and between the second and third reaction chambers, separating means is provided for preventing an element constituting the p-type semiconductor layer and an element constituting the n-type semiconductor layer from mixing into the second reaction chamber, respectively, with the pressure of the second reaction chamber made higher than those of the first and third reaction chamber to effect the operation. The use of such continuous film forming apparatus allows a plurality of semiconductor layers having different compositions to be continuously deposited one over the other. The separating means is to isolate the adjacent reaction chamber from each other by providing a predetermined difference in internal pressure between the adjacent reaction chamber, thereby preventing the mutual diffusion of source gases for use in the reaction chamber. In this case, however, the separating means has a problem that there is a passage for the strip-like substrate provided through the adjacent reaction chamber, through which a source gas within the reaction chamber of the higher internal pressure inevitably mixes into the reaction chamber of the lower internal pressure, causing variations in the internal pressure within the latter reaction chamber, as well as in the plasma excited within the reaction chamber, so that it is difficult to form desired deposited films.
As a proposal for solving these problems in the continuous film forming apparatus as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,723 as above cited, a continuous film forming apparatus having gas gate means has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,462,332. The apparatus comprises a plurality of reaction chamber(i.e., a p-type semiconductor layer forming reaction chamber, an i-type semiconductor layer forming reaction chamber and an n-type semiconductor layer forming reaction chamber) wherein the gas gate means is provided between the adjacent reaction chambers, adjacent the i-type semiconductor layer forming reaction chamber. This gas gate means is to prevent the mutual diffusion of film forming source gases for use in the respective reaction chamber, having a structure such that a gate gas is introduced in only one direction to flow toward the p-type or n-type semiconductor layer forming reaction chamber. Also, the continuous film forming apparatus is provided with a magnet at an upper wall of the passage for the strip-like substrate through the gas gate means, whereby the strip-like substrate is brought into contact with the upper wall of the passage to reduce the size of the passage. This continuous film forming apparatus can solve some of the problems with the continuous film forming apparatus as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,723, to some extent, but it is required to precisely control relevant parameters such as the conductance of the gas gate means or the flow rate of the gate gas to prevent the mutual diffusion of the source gases used across the adjacent reaction chamber. That is, for example, when a semiconductor photoelectric conversion element having a pin junction with high conversion efficiency is fabricated, it is necessary that the p-type and n-type semiconductor layers are relatively thin, and the i-type semiconductor layer is relatively thick, wherein each of the p-type and n-type semiconductors is formed by RF plasma CVD, for example, and the i-type semiconductor is formed by microwave plasma CVD which is capable of effecting fast film formation. In this case, the internal pressure of the i-type semiconductor forming reaction chamber during at the film formation is significantly lower than that of the p-type and n-type semiconductor forming reaction chambers during film formation. Therefore, it is required to prevent the inflow of impurities introducing source gases for use in the p-type and n-type semiconductor forming reaction chambers into the i-type semiconductor layer forming reaction chamber. However, this requirement is quite difficult to with the continuous film forming apparatus as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,723. That is, in the continuous film forming apparatus as above described, the gas gate means is provided on either side of an i-type semiconductor forming chamber, causing the gate gas to flow via the gate gas means in the directions toward the p-type and n-type semiconductor forming reaction chambers. When the internal pressure of the i-type semiconductor forming reaction chamber is significantly lower than that of the p-type and n-type semiconductor forming reaction chambers, a reverse flow of a gas is caused, so that p- or n-type dopants containing source gas for use in the p-type or n-type semiconductor forming reaction chamber may mix into the i-type semiconductor forming reaction chamber. To solve this problem, a proposal has been made in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 3-30419 in which the gas gate means is provided centrally between the adjacent reaction chambers, so that the gate gas is introduced from the above and exhausted downward. A continuous film forming apparatus, according to this proposal, is comprised of a p-type semiconductor forming reaction chamber utilizing RF plasma CVD, an i-type semiconductor forming reaction chamber utilizing microwave plasma CVD, and an n-type semiconductor forming reaction chamber utilizing RF plasma CVD, wherein the gas gate means is provided centrally between the p-type semiconductor forming reaction chamber and the i-type semiconductor forming reaction chamber, and another gas gate means is provided centrally between the i-type semiconductor forming reaction chamber and the n-type semiconductor forming reaction chamber. However, in order that the gas gate means provided in the continuous film forming apparatus may sufficiently prevent the diffusion of source gases into the adjacent reaction chambers, it is necessary to decrease the conductance of a slit portion of the gas gate means, and/or increase the flow rate of the gate gas. However, in doing so, there is still left a problem to be solved. That is, the problem with the conductance of the slit portion is such that the conductance of the slit portion is governed by the shape of the slit portion so as to decrease in proportion to the length of the slit portion in the conveying direction of the strip-like substrate, and increases in proportion to the square of the height of the slit portion in the thickness direction of the strip-like substrate. Further, the size of the slit in the width direction of the strip-like substrate cannot be narrowed more than necessary due to the width of the strip-like substrate. Additionally, if the conductance of the slit portion is to be decreased, a problem arises that the strip-like substrate will inevitably vibrate or fluctuate in conveying the strip-like substrate. Therefore, in order to convey the strip-like substrate without contact of the film formation face with the wall face of the slit portion, it is necessary to provide a clearance of at least about 1 mm or more between the film formation face of the strip-like substrate and the wall face of the slit portion opposed to the film formation face. However, the provision of such clearance is naturally limited. Also, to decrease the conductance of the slit portion, it is conceived that the slit portion may be lengthened, but as the conductance only decreases in proportion to its length, the slit portion becomes quite longer, and the gas gate means becomes quite bulky so as to be impracticable. Also, the problem with the flow rate of the gate gas is such that when the flow rate of the gate gas is increased, the inflow rate of the gate gas into each reaction chamber correspondingly increases. In this case, a problem arises that the desired deposited film is difficult to form since variations are caused in the film forming conditions for each reaction chamber, including, for example, the internal pressure, the rate of dilution of the source gas, and the plasma state. To solve such problem, it is conceived that the exhausting ability of the vacuum pump used may be enhanced, but the vacuum pump may necessarily become larger in such event. Accordingly, this continuous film forming apparatus also has a problem to be improved in this respect.

Continuous forming method for functional deposited films and deposition apparatus


A musical hoop toy may be provided with a hoop structure, a sensing mechanism coupled to the hoop structure and being disposed on an interior side of the hoop structure such that, when the hoop structure is spun around a person""s waist, the sensing mechanism will be periodically activated by a portion of the person""s waist, an audio speaker coupled to the hoop structure, and a controller operatively coupled to the sensing mechanism and the audio speaker. The controller may include a processor, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory. The computer program may have a computer program portion that causes a music sequence to be generated and a computer program portion that causes an audio sound effect to be generated in response to each activation of the sensing mechanism.

The present invention is directed to a musical hula hoop, and more particularly to a musical hula hoop that selectively generates music based on use of the hula hoop.
Hula hoops are well-known toys and have been marketed for many years. Various different designs of hula hoops have been made. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,964 to Arad, et al. discloses a hula hoop having a counter mechanism that counts the number of rotations of the hula hoop when being used. The counter mechanism is operatively coupled to an actuator that causes indexing of the counter mechanism in response to displacement of the actuator mechanism due to contact between the actuator mechanism and the person using the hula hoop.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,340 to Farrow discloses a hula hoop having a sound system that generates music and a lighting system. The Farrow patent discloses that the lighting system may include a plurality of light bulbs and a plurality of pressure switches that are positioned in an interior portion of the hula hoop so to make contact with the person using the hula hoop.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,443 to Vaisnys, et al. discloses a hula hoop that is provided with a sound-generating system for generating a tone, a steady simple beat, a rhythmic beat, or a tune. The hula hoop is provided with a switch which may be in the form of a motion detector that senses motion of the hula hoop so that the sound generating system only operates when the hula hoop is being used.
In one aspect, the invention is directed to a musical hoop toy that may include a first hoop section comprising a hollow tube, a second hoop section comprising a hollow tube, a first hoop connector that is capable of joining the second hoop section to the first hoop section, a third hoop section comprising a hollow tube, a second hoop connector that is capable of joining the third hoop section to the second hoop section, a fourth hoop section comprising a hollow tube, and a third hoop connector that is capable of joining the fourth hoop section to the third hoop section. The hoop sections may form at least part of a circular hoop structure having a diameter in the range of about 25 inches to about 40 inches when the hoop sections are joined by the connectors.
The musical hoop toy may also include a housing coupled to one of the hoop sections, one or more batteries disposed in the housing, a counterweight disposed in one of the hoop sections other than the hoop section to which the housing is coupled, a music button associated with the housing, and a contact button associated with the housing and being disposed on an interior side of the toy hoop such that, when the toy hoop sections are connected together and when the toy hoop is spun around a person""s waist, the contact button will be periodically activated by contact with a portion of the person""s waist.
The musical hoop toy may also include an audio speaker and a controller operatively coupled to the music button, the contact button and the audio speaker. The controller may include a processor, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory. The computer program may include a computer program portion that causes a music sequence to be started in response to the music button being pressed, the music sequence having a possible duration of at least about three seconds, a computer program portion that causes the time period to be restarted each time the contact button is activated, a computer program portion that causes the music sequence to be terminated if the contact button is not activated before the time period elapses, and a computer program portion that causes an audio sound effect to be generated in response to each activation of the contact button.
In another aspect, the invention is directed to a musical hoop toy that may include a hoop structure having a diameter in the range of between about 25 inches and about 40 inches, a sensing mechanism disposed on an interior side of the hoop toy such that, when the hoop toy is spun around a person""s waist, the sensing mechanism will be periodically activated by a portion of the person""s waist, an audio speaker, and a controller operatively coupled to the sensing mechanism and the audio speaker. The controller may include a processor, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory. The computer program may include a computer program portion that causes a music sequence to be started and a computer program portion that causes the music sequence to be terminated if the sensing mechanism is not activated before a given time period elapses.
In another aspect, the invention is directed to a musical hoop toy that may include a hoop structure, a sensing mechanism disposed on an interior side of the hoop toy such that, when the hoop toy is spun around a person""s waist, the sensing mechanism will be periodically activated by a portion of the person""s waist, an audio speaker, and a controller operatively coupled to the sensing mechanism and the audio speaker. The controller may include a processor, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory. The computer program may have a computer program portion that causes a music sequence to be generated and a computer program portion that causes an audio sound effect to be generated in response to each activation of the sensing mechanism.


A fixing exit guide plate for use in a fixing device, which supports the conveyance of a paper while being curved in a direction opposite to a curl direction of the paper in a paper conveyance path downstream of conveyance support rollers, includes a conveyance downstream portion having a paper conveyance plane and a conveyance upstream portion having a paper conveyance plane, wherein the fixing exit guide plate is retracted in a paper jam process to move such that the paper conveyance plane of the conveyance downstream portion rotates about a rotation axis of the conveyance support driving roller to be substantially parallel to the paper conveyance plane of a conveyance upstream portion.

Technical Field
The present invention relates to a fixing exit guide plate for use in a fixing device, a fixing device, and an image forming apparatus using the same.
Description of Related Art
A fixing device includes a fixing member and a pressure member. Both of the members have contact with each other to form a fixing nip. A recording sheet on which a toner image is transferred is fed to the fixing member, and the toner image is thermally fixed on the recording sheet by heating while being pressed onto a periphery of the fixing member by the pressure member at the fixing nip.
The fixing member and the pressure member have a temperature difference. Due to such a temperature difference, the front and the back of the recording sheet (front on fixing member side and back on pressure member side) also have a temperature difference when the recording sheet passes through the fixing nip between the fixing member and the pressure member in the thermal fixing. More specifically, the temperature of the recording sheet, which has contact with the fixing member, is higher than that of the back of recording sheet, which has contact with the pressure member.
As a result, after the recording sheet passes through the fixing nip, much moisture contained in the recording sheet evaporates from the front of the recording sheet. The amount of moisture to be moved to the front of the recording sheet is increased. The amount of moisture is increased in the front of the recording sheet to be larger than that of the back of the recording sheet. As a result, the amount of extension is increased in the front of the recording sheet to be larger than that of the back of the recording sheet, causing curl of the recording sheet toward the back (hereinafter referred to as back curl).
A fixing device including a fixing member having a reduced heat capacity to increase a temperature increase speed has been recently developed in view of energy saving and a high warming up speed. Such a fixing device has a large temperature difference between the fixing member and the pressure member and also has a large temperature difference between the front and the back of the recording sheet in fixing since the recording sheet passes between the fixing member and the pressure member before the pressure member is warmed up. For this reason, large back curl of the recording sheet is generated in the fixing device. When the recording sheet having such large back curl is ejected, a predetermined number of the recording sheets cannot be stacked on a paper ejection tray, or the recording sheet cannot be appropriately stacked on the paper ejection tray.
To solve such a problem, a technique that corrects such curl of the recording sheet by pressing the recording sheet onto a guide plate has been proposed.
For example, in an image forming apparatus described in Patent Literature 1 (Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. 2001-48399), a first conveyance roller is disposed downstream of a fixing unit, and a second conveyance roller is disposed downstream of the first conveyance roller. A guide plate that curves a sheet in the direction opposite to the curl direction of the sheet is provided in a conveyance path from the first to second conveyance rollers. The conveyance speed of the sheet by the second conveyance roller is set to be faster than the conveyance speed of the sheet by the first conveyance roller. The sheet is thereby fed while being pressed onto the guide plate that curves the sheet in the direction opposite to the curl direction of the sheet, and thus, the curl of the sheet is corrected.
An image forming apparatus described in Patent Literature 2 (Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. H09-188456) includes a pair of rollers provided downstream of a fixing device, and a guide plate provided just after the rollers. The guide plate conveys a sheet ejected from the rollers while curving the sheet toward the opposite side, so that the curl of the sheet is corrected by curving the sheet in the direction opposite to the direction of the curl generated in the fixing device.
In a fixing device described in Patent Literature 3 (Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. 2012-91891, a guide plate is movably disposed between a fixing nip and an ejection nip to have contact with the back of a sheet, so as to curve the sheet in the direction opposite to direction of the curl generated in a fixing unit, and change a contact force by the strength of the sheet.

Fixing exit guide plate, fixing device, and image forming apparatus


A joystick mechanism includes a housing, a substantially spherical magnetic ball rotatably mounted on the housing, a joystick shaft attached to the magnetic ball, and a pair of magnetic effect sensors operatively positioned adjacent the magnetic ball. The sensors, which are positioned along the x and y axes, are aimed perpendicular to each other and the z axis. Thereby, movement of the joystick and the ball causes a change in the magnetic field which is measured and indicated by the sensors.

The present invention relates to the field of joysticks used for control purposes. More particularly, this invention provides a joystick mechanism having a substantially spherical magnetic ball.
Joystick controls have been known and available in the field of control devices for some time. Joysticks are used on various equipment, including aerial lifting devices having pivotal booms. Conventional joystick controls typically utilize a plurality of temporary or permanent magnets. However, these conventional joystick mechanisms have typically been complex, costly, difficult to manufacture, less than reliable, or some combination of these undesirable characteristics.
Therefore, a primary objective of the present invention is the provision of an improved joystick mechanism.
A further objective of this invention is the provision of a joystick mechanism which has relatively few parts.
A further objective of this invention is the provision of a joystick mechanism which has a simple sensing mechanism for measuring rotation of the joystick with respect to two perpendicular planes.
A further objective of this invention is the provision of a joystick mechanism which is more reliable than conventional joystick mechanisms.
A further objective of this invention is the provision of a joystick mechanism which is simple, economical to produce, and durable in use.
These and other objectives will be apparent from the drawings, description and claims which follow.


A mechanism is disclosed for enabling new task types to be added to a management server without changing the source code of the management server. To add a new task type, a descriptor file is provided. This descriptor file specifies all of the particulars of the new task type. Any mechanisms referred to in the descriptor file are also provided. At startup time, the management server processes the descriptor file and forms associations between the various aspects of the task type with the mechanisms that are responsible for implementing those various aspects. At runtime, these associations are used to manage the definition and execution of tasks of that task type. By doing so, the management server enables new task types to be added, and enables task instances of the new task types to be defined and executed, without changing the source code of the management server.

Many of today's computing systems are implemented as distributed systems, with a plurality of nodes spread across a diverse geographical area, all coupled together via one or more networks. With a distributed system, it is quite desirable to be able to manage a node remotely. That way, a system administrator sitting at a single console can manage the entire system. A variety of remote management systems have been developed for this purpose.
Even with a remote management system, however, the task of managing an entire distributed system can still be quite tedious and daunting. For example, if a distributed system comprises a large number of nodes, and a particular action (e.g. installing a set of software) has to be performed on each node, it may still take the administrator an enormous amount of time to perform the action on every node, even if that action can be carried out remotely.
To ease this burden, a management server has been developed, which allows the performance of tasks on multiple nodes to be automated. With this management server, an administrator creates a job, which includes a task, a set of node selection criteria, and a specified schedule. Using the node selection criteria, the management server determines on which node(s) of the distributed system the task is to be performed. Then, based upon the specified schedule, the management server automatically causes the task to be performed on the selected node(s) at the proper time(s). Such a server greatly eases the burden on a system administrator.
Currently, the management server allows a variety of different types of tasks to be defined and performed. These task types include, for example: (1) a module task type which enables a module on a node to be loaded and unloaded, and enabled and disabled; (2) a module table task type which enables rows on module tables to be created, deleted, and modified; (3) a property task type which allows properties on modules to be modified (e.g. set value, set alarm threshold, set alarm actions, etc.); and (4) a module configuration propagation task type which enables module configuration information to be distributed to multiple modules on multiple nodes. While the currently available task types are quite varied, they are not comprehensive. As new hardware, software, functionalities, etc. are added to the distributed system, new task types may need to be added to enable the management server to manage and control the new components and functionalities.
Currently, the task types are hard-coded into the software of the management server. Thus, to add new task types, the source code of the management server has to be changed, the updated source code has to be compiled, and the management server has to be reinstalled and re-setup.

Mechanism for enabling new task types to be added to a system for managing distributed nodes


A stopper apparatus for a spinning reel has a first stopper mechanism for stopping a rotary frame in a fixed phase, a second stopper mechanism for stopping the rotary frame in a plurality of phases, and a stopper switching mechanism for switching the first and second stopper mechanisms. The first stopper mechanism includes a first pawl, and a tooth formed on a rotary element rotatably mounted on a spool shaft. The second stopper mechanism includes a second pawl, and teeth formed on an inner peripheral wall of the rotary frame. The stopper switching mechanism includes a cam plate disposed between and engageable with the first pawl and second pawl and attached to a forward end of a shaft rotatable by a control knob. The cam plate is rotatable between a first position to operate only the first stopper mechanism, a second position to operate at least the second stopper mechanism, and a third position to render the first and second stopper mechanisms inoperative.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a stopper apparatus for a spinning reel, and more particularly to a stopper apparatus having a first stopper mechanism for stopping a rotary frame in a fixed phase, a second stopper mechanism for stopping the rotary frame in a plurality of phases, and a stopper switching mechanism for switching the first and second stopper mechanisms, wherein the stopper switching mechanism has a first position to operate only the first stopper mechanism, a second position to operate only the second stopper mechanism or operate both the first and second stopper mechanisms, and a third position to render both the first and second stopper mechanisms inoperative.
2. Description of the Related Art
With this type of stopper apparatus for a spinning reel, when the above second position is established, the rotary frame may be stopped in a plurality of phases for normal fishing action. When the first position is established, the rotary frame is stopped in a fixed phase. That is, the rotary frame has an arm cam having a switching arm attached thereto for switching a bail arm to a line unwinding position. When the rotary frame is stopped in the above fixed phase, this switching arm lies close to a hand of the angler holding the fishing rod. The third position is effective for unwinding the fishing line to a small extent by turning the spool in a line unwinding direction with the bail arm maintained in a line winding position to check excessive unwinding of the fishing line.
In a conventional stopper apparatus having the above feature, two rotary elements forming part of a rotary frame drive system are loosely mounted adjacent to each other on a spool shaft. One of the rotary elements defines a plurality of engaging teeth peripherally thereof. The other rotary element defines a single engaging tooth peripherally thereof. A single pawl is provided which includes two engaging portions for engaging the teeth of one rotary element and the tooth of the other rotary element, respectively. However, since the single pawl acts on the teeth of the two rotary elements, the conventional stopper apparatus tends to break down easily and fails to assure a steady and reliable operation.
Further, since the rotary elements are rotatably mounted on the spool shaft, these elements must have limited diameters. As a result, the teeth of one of the rotary elements are formed at limited intervals to impair finely defined stopping phases of the rotary frame. Play occurring until the rotary frame stops sometimes allows escape of fish having struck.


A pilot controlled servo-valve has four main flow connections, an axially sliding main control piston with four control edges and a front restoring spring that defines a spring-centered middle position of the main control piston. A control sleeve has ring shaped openings for the first, second and third main flow connections and a front opening for the fourth main flow connection. A first front face of the main control piston is axially opposed to the front opening. A pressure compensation surface is formed by the second front face of the main control piston in a spring chamber. The main control piston applies the pressure in the fourth main flow connection on said pressure compensating surface through a pressure relief channel. A traverse bore connects said pressure relief channel to an auxiliary connection chamber connected to the third main flow connection by the forth control edge. This valve may be space-savingly integrated in a hydraulic block and has a clearly defined middle position, as well as a remarkable dynamic performance.

The invention generally relates to hydraulic servo valves and specifically to a pilot-operated servo valve with four main- stream ports for mounting into a control block.
Pilot-operated electrohydraulic servo valves of twin- and multi-stage design with four main-stream ports are used as 4-way valves to control the position, speed and force in cylinders for linear movements or position, rotational speed and torque in hydraulic motors for rotary movements.
They are conventionally designed as plate-stack valves, i.e. they have a prismatic valve housing for mounting on a connection surface of a hydraulic block. The four main-stream ports of the valve lie in a planar connection surface of the valve housing, and their openings into the control bore of a main control piston are designed symmetrically. Control chambers are arranged in end caps flange-mounted on the valve housing on both sides. These control chambers are connected via control bores to a pilot servo valve. The symmetrical main control piston is hydraulically actuated by applying pressure to its two end surfaces in the end control chambers. Pilot-operated 4-way servo valves with valve housing for mounting on a connection surface of a hydraulic block are highly space-consuming and require complicated bores in the hydraulic block for the four main-stream ports.
Prior art pilot-operated 4-way servo valves have a spring-centered rest position. In most cases the main control piston is centered via two opposite return springs arranged in the end control chambers and acting against each other.
A pilot-operated 4-way proportional valve with one-sided spring centering is described in the German hydraulic handbook "Der Hydraulik Trainer Band 2", published by Mannesmann Rexroth GmbH, DE-8770 Lohr am Main (Germany), 3rd edition 1989, page 31, FIG. 33. The disclosed valve is conceived for mounting on a connection surface of a hydraulic block. The control chambers of the valve are disposed in end caps, which are flange-mounted on opposite sides of a valve body. DE-A-4011908 discloses a 5-way valve with one-sided spring centering and an actuating piston disposed at the opposite end of the main control piston. This valve too is conceived for mounting on a connection surface of a hydraulic block.


Methods of using resistivity ahead of a drill bit measurements obtained while drilling a subterranean well using a drilling mud. Resistivity data ahead of the bit is gathered during drilling and prior to penetrating a region of interest of a known subterranean formation using the drill bit and the drilling mud. The drill string progresses at known dip and azimuth angles toward the subterranean formation. The resistivity data is used to determine pore pressure ahead of the drill bit in the formation as a function of resistivity ahead of the drill bit in the formation while the drill bit advances toward but before the bit penetrates the formation while drilling.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates in general to methods of drilling wellbores, for example, but not limited to, wellbores for producing hydrocarbons from subterranean formations, and more particularly to methods of using resistivity data ahead of the drill bit to determine pore pressure in the formation as a function of resistivity while the drill bit advances toward but before the bit penetrates a desired region in the formation while drilling.
2. Background Art
Hubbert et al., "Role of Fluid Pressure in Mechanics of Overthrust Faulting, Part I", Bull., GSA (February 1959) 70, published a comprehensive treatment of the theory of compaction of clay soils by overburden pressure. They showed that as the overburden stress is increased as a result of burial depth, the porosity of a given sedimentary rock is decreased. Therefore, some fluid that was once in the pores of a given formation was later squeezed out by compaction. In many such cases, there is no escape route for the fluid, and thus the fluid becomes overpressured. This happens in many areas, and such generated overpressured zones are often called "abnormal" pressure zones or "geopressure" zones. Geopressure is often referred to as pore pressure.
Formation resistivity measurements are commonly made in oil and gas wells and then used to make decisions about the presence of hydrocarbons, the magnitude of pore pressure, the correlation to formations observed in offset wells, the salinity of formation fluids, porosity of formations, and the presence of permeability. FIG. 1 illustrates graphically the prior art concept of measuring resistivity as a function of depth, showing a typical decrease in resistivity at a depth where increased geopressure (pore pressure) exists (from Eaton, "The Effect of Overburden Stress on Geopressure Prediction From Well Logs", SPE 3719 (1972)). In shale rocks, resistivity data points diverge from the normal trend toward lower resistivity values, owing to high porosity, overpressured formations.
Existing techniques to measure resistivity are made after the bit penetrates the formation using either electric line logging methods or logging while drilling methods. In either case the formation of interest has already been exposed to the well in order to make the resistivity measurement. This exposure presents problems, including the fact that the condition of the borehole itself and surrounding disturbed formation will have an effect on the very resistivity values being sought, as noted by Hottman et al., "Estimation of Formation Pressures From Log-Derived Shale Properties", SPE 1110 (1965).
Banning et al. discuss a theoretical application of time-domain electromagnetics (TEM) in a borehole-conveyed logging tool. Banning et al., "Imaging of a subsurface conductivity distribution using a time-domain electromagnetic borehole conveyed logging tool", Society of Exploration Geophysicists, San Antonio Annual Meeting (2007). See also Published U.S. Patent applications numbers 2005/0092487; 2005/0093546; 2006/003857; 2006/0055411; 2006/0061363; 2006/0061364, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,856,909. Banning et al. state that, theoretically, such a tool may be used to image the conductivity distribution around and ahead of the drill bit at comparatively large distances from the borehole. However, Banning et al. do not disclose or suggest use of resistivity measurements in front of a drilling bit to detect the magnitude of formation pore pressure before the formation is exposed to the well, allowing mud parameters to be adjusted to minimize the risk of a well kick (uncontrolled flow into the well) and/or to reduce the risk of the formation collapsing into the well and sticking the drillpipe (from an overbalanced mud weight condition) and potential loss of the well.
To avoid or reduce undesirable consequences, it would be advantageous if resistivity measurements could be used to make drilling decisions on pore pressure and other formation properties in front of the bit before the bit exposes the formation. In addition, there may be safety and economic advantages gained if a resistivity measurement could be made before the formation was actually exposed to the well. The methods of the present disclosure are directed to these needs.

Method to detect formation pore pressure from resistivity measurements ahead of the bit during drilling of a well


A diverter valve device (10) including a body (12), in which a chamber (14) is defined, which is able to be flown through by a pressurized fluid flow; a rotatory plug (16), which is mounted on the body (12) and is adapted to rotate about a rotation axis (X-X); at least one inlet (18), which is provided in the body (12) and is fluidly arranged upstream of the chamber (14); and a pair of outlets (20a, 20b), which stem from the body (12) and are fluidly arranged downstream of the chamber (14). The body (12) has a substantially axial seat (22a) and a substantially radial seat (22b), which are fluidly arranged between the chamber (14) and one outlet (20a) and the other outlet (20b), respectively. The plug (16) is suited to assume a first and a second operating condition, in which it (16) respectively frees and obstructs the substantially axial seat (22a) as well as respectively obstructs and frees the substantially radial seat (22b).

More precisely, the present invention is relative to a diverter valve device, namely a diverter valve device comprising:                a valve body, in which a chamber is defined, which is able to be flown through by a pressurized fluid flow;        a rotatory plug, which is mounted on said body and is adapted to rotate about a rotation axis;        at least one inlet for said fluid flow, which is provided in said body and is fluidly arranged upstream of said chamber; and        at least one pair of outlets for said fluid flow, which stem from said body and are fluidly arranged downstream of said chamber.

Diverter valve device, in particular for a washing machine, such as a dishwasher


Various embodiments provide a Phase Interpolator (PI) that receives input clocks, and outputs intersymbol interference-equalized, phase-shifted output clocks. In one embodiment, the Phase Interpolator comprises two PI Conditioners and a PI Mixer. In one embodiment, a PI Conditioner receives input clocks and is controlled by a different phase-shifted input clock by using a suitable circuit element, such as a flip-flop. Collectively, the input clock-controlled PI Conditioner and Mixer act in concert to control the band limiting effect of the PI Conditioner which, in turn, equalizes intersymbol interference.

Phase interpolator based data recovery circuits are commonly used in high speed serial I/O links to recover data signals that have become distorted due to noise or attenuation. In a typical data recovery circuit, three identical phase interpolator circuits are often used. Thus, in order to minimize the layout area, segmented phase interpolator circuits, consisting of two circuit stages, are often implemented to allow for high-resolution phase interpolation. However, this segmented phase interpolator circuit design has shown a high level of non-linearity during what is known as inter-quadrant switching. Specifically, some existing segmented phase interpolator circuits have shown 30 ps phase non-linearity during inter-quadrant switching which is high when compared to a desirable step adjustment target of 6.6 ps. This high non-linearity caused by inter-quadrant switching has been shown to introduce a significant amount of jitter into the phase interpolator based data recovery circuit.

Phase deglitch circuit for phase interpolator for high-speed serial I/O applications


A personalized content recommendation system includes a client interface configured to automatically monitor a user's information data stream transmitted on the Internet. A hybrid contextual behavioral and collaborative personal interest inference engine resident to a non-transient media generates automatic predictions about the interests of individual users of the system. A database server retains the user's personal interest profile based on a plurality of monitored information. The system also includes a server programmed to filter items in an incoming information stream with the personal interest profile and is further programmed to identify only those items of the incoming information stream that substantially match the personal interest profile.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to text mining and content recommendations through an automated analysis.
2. Related Art
Search engine rankings may provide information about selected topics or answer specific questions. Unfortunately some search engines cannot return the latest information about a topic or question when that information has not had sufficient time to establish its cyber reputation or recognition of relevance to users' information needs. Additionally, many Web search services require users to compose their own Web queries. To receive sought-after information, the search engines require the users to ask the right questions and convey those questions using a pre-chosen query language following a specific query structure. Besides its counter-intuitive nature, such queries directed to sought-after information may not exist.
Unfortunately, most of the search engines do not offer an integrated experience of one stop information shop for any user. Unlike known technologies, the technology disclosed in the Detailed Description that follows, un-intrusively observes the user's own information consumption behaviors in time, automatically infers that user's information interests, and proactively recommends personally high-value content for the user under a given context of a certain information consumption mode of the user (such as 9 am Monday morning, later Sunday afternoon, or during Christmas holidays). Some of the systems described in the Detailed Description do not require a more tactic query formulation or manual information searching and end-user filtering. The new technology discloses recommendation techniques and focuses on proactively delivering relevant content to an end user in a personalized way.
Appendices 1-6 describe a personalized re-ranking algorithm.

Personalized professional content recommendation


Disclosed is a semiconductor device comprising a semiconductor substrate, a porous insulating film formed above the semiconductor substrate, the porous insulating film having a relative dielectric constant of 2.5 or less and including a first insulating material, at least a portion of pores in the porous insulating film having on the inner wall thereof a layer of a second insulating material which differs in nature from the first insulating material, and a plug and/or a wiring layer buried in the porous insulating film.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a semiconductor device and to the manufacturing method thereof, and in particular, to a semiconductor device having a low dielectric constant film as an interlayer insulating film and to the manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to minimize any delay of wiring portions in a semiconductor device, it is highly desirable to minimize the relative dielectric constant of an interlayer insulating film. In order to secure a sufficiently low relative dielectric constant, it is possible to employ a method wherein the interlayer insulating film is made into a porous insulating film by incorporating voids or pores into the interlayer insulating film. In this regard, it is possible, in the case of an organic silicone film to reduce the relative dielectric constant of the film to 2.5 or less if the average diameter of the pores is within the range of about 2 to 3 nm.
The larger the diameter of pores is, the lower the relative dielectric constant of the insulating film would become. However, even if it is possible to lower the relative dielectric constant of insulating film in this manner, the reliability of wirings may be badly affected by this. For example, in the case of a porous insulating film whose maximum pore diameter is 4 nm or more, the following inconveniences would be brought about on the occasion of forming a metal wiring by a damascene method. Namely, if such an insulating film is worked to form a trench therein, pores of relatively large size are exposed from the sidewall of the trench, thus producing hollows thereon. As a result, it becomes difficult to form a continuous barrier metal film thereon. As a result, the reliability of wirings may be badly deteriorated.
On the other hand, if the average diameter of pores in the porous insulating film is to 1 nm or less, it may become difficult to sufficiently minimize the relative dielectric constant of interlayer insulating film.


The data cache features an improved mechanism for accessing data from the data memory array of a data cache, by generating a predicted address and using it to access the data cache array in parallel with the effective address computation. The logic circuitry consists of elements which are capable of performing a carry-free addition (logical or arithmetic) of a predetermined number of base register address bits with the same number of offset register address bits. Methods to generate and verify the predicted index are also provided.

Successful high-performance processor implementations require a high instruction completion rate. To achieve this goal, pipeline hazards must be minimized, allowing instructions to flow uninterrupted in the pipeline. Data hazards, an impediment to performance caused by instructions stalling for results from executing instructions, can be minimized by reducing or tolerating functional unit latencies. A need exists for a pipeline optimization scheme that reduces the latency of load instructions, resulting in fewer data hazards and better program performance.
There are many contributing factors to the latency of a load instruction. If a load hits in the data cache, the latency of the operation on many modern microprocessor architectures is 2 cycles: one cycle to compute the effective address of the load, and one cycle to access the data cache. If the load does not hit in the data cache, the latency is further increased by delays incurred with accessing lower levels of the data memory hierarchy, e.g., cache misses or page faults.
Much has been done to reduce the performance impact of load latencies. The approaches can be broadly classified into two areas: techniques which assist programs in tolerating load latencies, and techniques which reduce load latencies. Tolerating load latencies involves moving independent instructions into unused pipeline delay slots. This reallocation of processor resources can be done either at compile-time, via instruction scheduling, or at run-time with some form of dynamic processor scheduling, such as decoupled, dataflow or multi-threaded. For a given data memory hierarchy, a good approach to reducing load latencies is through better register allocation. Once placed into a register, load instructions are no longer required to access data.
There are, however, limits to the extent to which existing approaches can reduce the impact of load latencies. Tolerating techniques require independent work, which is finite and usually quite small in the basic blocks of control intensive codes, e.g., many integer codes. The current trend to increase processor issue widths further amplifies load latencies because exploitation of instruction level parallelism decreases the amount of work between load instructions. In addition, tolerating these latencies becomes more difficult since more independent instructions are required to fill pipeline delay slots. Global scheduling techniques have been developed as a way to mitigate this effect. Latency reduction techniques are also limited in their potential use. Latency reduction in the form of register allocation is limited by the size and addressability of register files, forcing many program variables into memory.
A solution to the problem of load latencies on performance impact is needed which additionally avoids the problems occurring in the prior art approaches. The present invention provides a solution to these and other problems, offering advantages over the prior art.

Data cache fast address calculation system and method


Provided is a mechanism capable of sharing frequency resources and network resources while balancing each other. Provided is a device including: a determination unit that determines one of a use setting of a frequency resources by a wireless communication device, and a use setting of a network resource by a logical network deployed on a physical network to which the wireless communication device connects, for providing a wireless communication service by the wireless communication device; and a request unit that requests another device to determine a use setting of a resource that is not determined on the basis of a determination result by the determination unit.

Radio access scheme for cellular mobile communication and radio network (hereinafter, also referred to as "long term evolution (LTE)", "LTE-advanced (LTE-A)", "LTE-advanced pro (LTE-A Pro)", "fifth generation (5G)", "new radio (NR)", "new radio access technology (NRAT)", "evolved universal terrestrial radio access (EUTRA)", or "further EUTRA (FEUTRA)", have been considered in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). Note that, in the following description, the LTE includes the LTE-A, the LTE-A Pro, and the EUTRA, and the NR includes the NRAT and the FEUTRA. In the LTE and the NR, a base station device (base station) is also referred to as an evolved Node B (eNodeB), and a terminal device (mobile station, mobile station device, terminal) is also referred to as a user equipment (UE). The LTE and the NR are cellular communication systems in which a plurality of areas covered by the base station device is arranged in a cell. A single base station device may manage a plurality of cells.
The NR is a radio access technology (RAT) different from the LTE as a next-generation radio access scheme for the LTE. The NR is an access technology that can support various use cases including the enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), the massive machine type communications (mMTC), and the ultra reliable and low latency communications (URLLC). The NR is considered aiming at a technical framework corresponding to use scenarios, requirements, deployment scenarios, and the like in those use cases.
For example, in the NR, a slicing technology is being considered for accommodating a plurality of forms of communication corresponding to various use cases such as low delay, high reliability, or high security in one network. According to the slicing technology, it is possible to coexist logical networks called slices or network slices in one physical network. This makes it possible to efficiently provide a network in accordance with the requirements of the service used by the user.
On the other hand, in order to secure frequency resources which are becoming increasingly severe in recent years, legislation and standardization of spectrum sharing are being promoted worldwide. For example, in the United States in recent years, citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) utilizing a frequency sharing technology is legalized to aim to open the federal use band (3.55 to 3.70 GHz) overlapping the frequency band that is worldwide 3GPP band 42, 43 to the general public, and standardization thereof is accelerating. Note that, at this point, it is assumed that LTE will be the mainstream as a radio access scheme to be operated.
With regard to frequency sharing technology, many techniques have been developed for efficiently using frequency resources. For example, in Patent Document 1 below, a technology is disclosed in which, among frequency resources corresponding to position information, frequency resources according to communication demand are used by a user.

Device and method for balancing frequency and network resources


A color filter manufacturing method manufactures a high-quality color filter by greatly reducing color irregularity in the respective pixels. This is accomplished by manufacturing a color filter by coloring each pixel with a plurality of discharged inks arrayed in the scanning direction while relatively scanning an ink-jet head over a substrate a plurality of times, wherein a coloring operation is performed by changing the discharging positions of inks onto the respective pixels in at least one of a plurality of scanning operations are changed with respect to those in other scanning operations.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color filter manufacturing method and apparatus for manufacturing a color filter by discharging inks onto a substrate using ink-jet heads and coloring each pixel of the color filter, a color filter, a display device, and an apparatus having the display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
With recent advances in personal computers, especially portable personal computers, the demand tends to arise for liquid crystal displays, especially color liquid crystal displays. However, in order to further popularize the use of liquid crystal displays, a reduction in cost must be achieved. Especially, it is required to reduce the cost of a color filter which occupies a large proportion of the total cost. Various methods have been tried to satisfy the required characteristics of color filters while meeting the above requirements. However, any method capable of satisfying all the requirements has not been established. The respective methods will be described below.
The first method is a pigment dispersion method, which is currently replacing a dyeing method. In this method, a pigment-dispersed photosensitive resin layer is formed on a substrate and patterned into a single-color pattern. This process is repeated three times to obtain R, G, and B color filter layers.
The second method is the dyeing method. In the dyeing method, a water-soluble polymer material as a dyeable material is coated on a glass substrate, and the coating is patterned into a desired shape by a photolithography process. The obtained pattern is dipped in a dye bath to obtain a colored pattern. This process is repeated three times to form R, G, and B color filter layers.
The third method is an electrodeposition method. In this method, a transparent electrode is patterned on a substrate, and the resultant structure is dipped in an electrodeposition coating fluid containing a pigment, a resin, an electrolyte, and the like to be colored in the first color by electrodeposition. This process is repeated three times to form R, G, and B color filter layers. Finally, these layers are calcined.
The fourth method is a print method. In this method, a pigment is dispersed in a thermosetting resin, a print operation is performed three times to form R, G, and B coatings separately, and the resins are thermoset, thereby forming colored layers. In either of the above methods, a protective layer is generally formed on the colored layers.
The point common to these methods is that the same process must be repeated three times to obtain layers colored in three colors, i.e., R, G, and B. This causes an increase in cost. In addition, as the number of processes increases, the yield decreases. In the electrodeposition method, limitations are imposed on pattern shapes which can be formed. For this reason, with the existing techniques, it is difficult to apply this method to TFTs. In the print method, a pattern with a fine pitch is difficult to form because of poor resolution and poor evenness.
In order to eliminate these drawbacks, methods of manufacturing color filters by an ink-jet system are disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 59-75205, 63-235901, and 1-217320. In these methods, coloring solutions containing coloring agents of three colors, i.e., R (red), G (green), and B (blue), are sprayed on a transparent substrate by an ink-jet system, and the respective coloring solutions are dried to form colored image portions. In such an ink-jet system, R, G, and B filter elements (pixels) can be formed at once, allowing great simplification of the manufacturing process and a great reduction in cost.
In a color filter used for a general liquid crystal display device or the like, the opening portions (i.e., pixels) of the black matrix which partition off the respective pixels are rectangular, whereas the shapes of inks discharged from ink-jet heads are almost spherical. It is therefore difficult to discharge a required amount of ink for one pixel at once and uniformly spread the ink over the entire opening portion of the black matrix. For this reason, a plurality of inks are discharged onto each pixel while the ink-jet head is scanned with respect to the substrate, thereby coloring each pixel. In this case, if a plurality of inks are simply discharged into each pixel by one scanning operation, the respective pixels are difficult to color uniformly.
The present invention has been, therefore, made in consideration of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a color filter manufacturing method and apparatus which can manufacture a high-quality color filter by greatly reducing color irregularity in the respective pixels.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a color filter manufactured by the above manufacturing method and apparatus, a display device using the color filter, and an apparatus having the display device.
In order to solve the above problems and achieve the above objects, according to the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a color filter by coloring each pixel with a plurality of discharged inks arrayed in a scanning direction while relatively scanning an ink-jet head over a substrate a plurality of numbers of times, comprising performing a coloring operation while changing discharging positions of inks onto the respective pixels in at least one of a plurality of scanning operations with respect to those in other scanning operations.
According to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for manufacturing a color filter by coloring each pixel with a plurality of discharged inks arrayed in a scanning direction while relatively scanning an ink-jet head over a substrate a plurality of numbers of times, comprising control means for controlling the ink-jet head to perform a coloring operation while changing discharging positions of inks onto the respective pixels in at least one of a plurality of scanning operations with respect to those in other scanning operations.
In addition, according to the present invention, there is provided a color filter manufactured by coloring each pixel with a plurality of discharged inks arrayed in a scanning direction while relatively scanning an ink-jet head over a substrate a plurality of numbers of times, wherein a coloring operation is performed while discharging positions of inks onto the respective pixels in at least one of a plurality of scanning operations are changed with respect to those in other scanning operations.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is provided a display device having a color filter manufactured by coloring each pixel with a plurality of discharged inks arrayed in a scanning direction while relatively scanning an ink-jet head over a substrate a plurality of numbers of times, integrally comprising a color filter colored by changing discharging positions of inks onto the respective pixels in at least one of a plurality of scanning operations with respect to those in other scanning operations, and light amount changing means for changing a light amount.
According to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus including a display device having a color filter manufactured by coloring each pixel with a plurality of discharged inks arrayed in a scanning direction while relatively scanning an ink-jet head over a substrate a plurality of numbers of times, integrally comprising a display device integrally including a color filter colored by changing discharging positions of inks onto the respective pixels in at least one of a plurality of scanning operations with respect to those in other scanning operations, and light amount changing means for changing a light amount, and image signal supply means for supplying an image signal to the display device.
Other objects and advantages besides those discussed above shall be apparent to those skilled in the art from the description of a preferred embodiment of the invention which follows. In the description, reference is made to accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof, and which illustrate an example of the invention. Such example, however, is not exhaustive of the various embodiments of the invention, and therefore reference is made to the claims which follow the description for determining the scope of the invention.

Color filter manufacturing method and apparatus, color filter, display device, and apparatus having display device


A Node-B/base station receiver comprises at least one antenna for receiving signals. Each finger of a pool of reconfigurable Rake fingers recovers a multipath component of a user and is assigned a code of the user, a code phase of the multipath component and an antenna of the at least one antenna. An antenna/Rake finger pool interface provides each finger of the Rake pool an output of the antenna assigned to that Rake finger. A combiner combines the recovered multipath components for a user to produce data of the user.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a simplified wireless code division multiple access communication system. Each base station 201–204 (20) communicates with user equipments (UEs) 221–2221 (22) in its cell 241–242. To illustrate as shown in FIG. 1, base station 201 communicates with UEs 221–229 in its cell 24.
Each cell 24 may also be divided into sectors 261–266 (26), such as six sectors 26 as shown in FIG. 1. Typically, the base station 20 communicates with each sector 26 using one or multiple antennas assigned to that sector 26. Each UE 22 in a sector 26 communicates with that sector's antennas.
The distribution of UEs 22 in a cell 24 and sector 26 as well as cell and sector loading may vary. FIGS. 2a, 2b and 2c illustrate varieties in a cell and sector loading. FIG. 2a illustrates a lightly loaded three sector cell with even distribution. The UEs 22 in each sector 26 are relatively even. FIG. 2b illustrates a lightly loaded cell 24 with uneven UE distribution. One sector 263 has no users (no UEs) and one sector 262 has many users. FIG. 2C is a heavily loaded cell 24 with uneven distribution. One sector 263 has a few users and other sectors 261 and 262 have a large number of users. The base station/Node-B receiver preferably needs to accommodate all of these various loadings.
Furthermore, a UE 22 may move between sectors 26, such as from sector 262 to sector 261, as shown in FIG. 3. One approach to transfer the handing of the UE 22 between the two sectors 261 and 262 is softer handover. In softer handover, during the transition period, the UE 22 communicates with the antennas' of both sectors 261 and 262 simultaneously. To improve signal quality during softer handover, it is desirable for the Node-B/base station receiver to accommodate the combining of the communications received by each sector 26.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have a Node-B/base station receiver capable of handling these varying conditions.


In the case of a product (1) having a first product sub-part (4) and a second product sub-part (3), the two product sub-parts (3, 4) each comprise two connection zones (8, 9, 10, 11) consisting of metal and of suitably thin construction for a crimping process and the connection zones (8, 9, 10, 11) are connected together in pairs by means in each case of a crimp connection, in which the connection zones (10, 11) of at least one product sub-part (3) exhibit the remnants (16), remaining after performance of the crimping process, of elevations (17) present prior to performance of the crimping process.

The invention relates to a product having a first product sub-part and a second product sub-part, which two product sub-parts each consist of metal and each comprise a connection zone of suitably thin construction for a crimping process, which connection zones are connected together by means of a crimp connection.
Such a product has been sold commercially in the form of an electronic article surveillance label (EAS label) and is therefore known. With the known label, a backing film is accommodated between two protective layers consisting of paper, in which a transmission coil formed of etched or printed conductive tracks is provided on one main face of the backing film and in which, on the other main face of the backing film, there is provided a foil-type metal bridge serving to bridge the conductive tracks of the transmission coil and in which the transmission coil constitutes a first product sub-part and the metal bridge constitutes a second product sub-part. Furthermore, the transmission coil is provided with two connection zones, each of which is connected, through the backing film, with a counter-connection zone of the metal bridge by means in each case of a crimp connection. In the known configuration, the connection zones of the transmission coil and the counter-connection zones of the metal bridge are each of flat construction, which entails the problem that mechanical connection and also electrical connection of the connection zones of the transmission coil and the counter-connection zones of the metal bridge cannot always be perfectly achieved by the crimping process performed to produce the respective crimp connection, such that crimp connections which are defect-free and operational do not always exist.

Product comprising product sub-parts connected to each other by a crimp connection


Disclosed is a unique system and method that facilitates cursor control based in part on computer vision activated by a capacitive touch sensor. When turned on, user hand gestures or movements can be tracked by a monitoring component and those movements can be converted in real-time to control or drive cursor movements and/or position on a user interface. The system comprises a monitoring component or camera that can be activated by touch or pressure applied to a capacitive touch sensor. A circuit within the sensor determines when the user is touching a button (e.g., on keyboard or mouse) that activates the monitoring component and cursor control mechanism. Thus, intentional hand movements by the user can readily be determined.

In the last decade, computer usage has increased exponentially. Such significant increases have given rise to a vast amount of new computing technologies that facilitate such activities as making telephone calls, video gaming between different computer users, publishing, and conducting business meetings. In addition, computer shapes and sizes have gone from large and bulky to smaller and sleeker designs. Some are in tablet-form or hand-held dimensions that allow data input via voice and/or hand-writing recognition. Thus, the overall computing experience continues to advance as consumers become more demanding and as their needs evolve.
More recently, further developments continue in the area of navigating through content. Much work has been done to find new ways of condensing less important material on screen while expanding other more important material. Different scrolling techniques have also been proposed using hard-wired and wireless pointing devices. In addition, numerous amounts of research have been conducted on the subject of applying computer vision and other sensing techniques to navigation devices. In general, this can involve sensing a user's action or movement to determine the user's desired viewing location or position. Thus, ascertaining the intent of a user's action can be determinative of one technique's success over another. Unfortunately, some previous proposals remain problematic and ineffective in distinguishing a user's intentional movement from an unintentional movement while others have difficulty in determining when the user's action is intentionally directed to the sensing system and not to some other task.

Systems and methods using computer vision and capacitive sensing for cursor control


A display device may include a display panel, a backlight unit including a plurality of blocks for providing light to the display panel, each of the plurality of blocks comprising a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs), and a controller configured to obtain backlight control information and to activate a duty ratio control function for controlling a duty ratio and current flowing in a block during a cycle of one frame, when a low current condition is satisfied based on the obtained backlight control information.

The present disclosure relates to a display device and a method of operating the same, and more particularly, to a display device, which performs local dimming, and a method of controlling local dimming thereof.
An active matrix liquid crystal display device displays moving images using a thin film transistor (hereafter, referred to as a "TFT") that is a switching element.
A liquid crystal display device can be manufactured in a small size, as compared with a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), so it is used for not only a portable information device, an office device, and a display device such as a computer, but also a television. Accordingly, the liquid crystal display device has rapidly replaced the CRT.
A transmissive liquid crystal display device that occupies most of liquid crystal display devices displays an image by modulating light from a backlight unit by controlling an electric field that is applied to a liquid crystal layer.
Meanwhile, backlight dimming methods have been proposed to reduce power consumption of a backlight unit. Local dimming, which is one of the backlight dimming methods, may improve contrast by locally controlling luminance of a display surface within one frame cycle.
The local dimming method may be a method for separating input image data according to virtual blocks divided in a matrix form on a display screen of a liquid crystal display panel, deriving a representative value of the input image data for each block, and adjusting a dimming value for each block according to the representative value for each block so as to control the brightness of light sources of a backlight unit for each block.
Conventionally, since local dimming data is converted into analog data and received, low voltage control is required to control LED current in a low grayscale region.
In particular, at a low voltage of 0.5 V or less, external noise is easily introduced and accurate control is difficult.

Display device and local method of controlling local dimming thereof


A display panel and an electro-optical device thereof are provided. The display panel comprises a pair of substrates, at least one data line, at least three common lines, at least one scan line, at least one switch element, a common electrode, and a display media layer. The pair of substrates comprises a first substrate and a second substrate. The data line and the three common lines are formed on the first substrate. The data line and the common lines interlace to form a plurality of areas. Each of the areas comprises an electrode. The electrodes are connected to each other to form a pixel electrode. The scan line is formed on the first substrate and under an electrode of one of the areas. The switch element is formed under an electrode of one of the areas, and comprises a source connected to the pixel electrode, a drain connected to the data line, and a gate\ connected to the scan line. The common electrode is formed on the second substrate, with a display media layer disposed between the two substrates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display panel, an electro-optical device, and a method for fabricating the same and, more particularly, to improve the tilt conditions of the liquid crystal molecules in a display panel which eliminates the dark-state light leakage.
2. Descriptions of the Related Art
With the continuous advancement of technologies, a wide variety of electronic products have become indispensable. Particularly, the display devices play an important role in multimedia electronic products. Among various displays, the thin film transistor liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCDs) have some advantages, such as low power consumption, no radiation, small size, a flat panel profile, high resolution, and stable display quality. As a result, TFT-LCDs are being widely used in place of conventional cathode ray tube (CRT) displays in many electronic products, such as mobile phones, display screens, digital TV sets, and notebook computers.
With the rapid development of technologies related to TFT-LCDs, improvements to the image displaying quality thereof have become targeted in this field. For example, the technology of the multi-domain vertical alignment (MVA) developed by FUJITSU Corporation has extended the viewing angle in the vertical direction to about 120°, which enhanced the viewing angle of LCDs.
An LCD which displays an image in a mode where light from a backlight module is transmitted through a color filter is known as a "transmissive type LCD", in which a substantial portion of the power consumption is attributed to the backlight module. The brighter the LCD display, the more power the backlight module consumes. Moreover, under bright environments, the displayed images are prone to interference from ambient light, which may render the images unclear. In contrast, a reflective type LCD displays an image by reflecting ambient light, which, may be consumer less power, but exhibits a poor contrast ratio, a degraded color saturation, and cannot display images clearly in dark conditions. To overcome these problems, the transflective type LCD comes up as a compromise between the transmissive type LCD and the reflective type LCD. Since it uses both backlight and natural light or artificial light, the transflective type LCD is used in many circumstances, and consumes less power than the transmissive type LCD.
Currently, the transflective type LCD with a MVA design has a protrusion disposed in the transmissive area and the reflective area on the side with the color filter. Such a protrusion may change the distribution of the electric field, making liquid crystal molecules tilt towards the protrusion at a pre-tilt angle, i.e., perpendicular to the surface of the protrusion in different directions. With such a protrusion, the multi-domains of liquid crystal molecules can be achieved, which resulting in a wide viewing angle range and further improving the gray-scale inversion problem as found in single-domain cases.
In the prior art designs of LCD pixels, each sub-pixel has only one common line and only one scan line (i.e. a gate line) disposed therein. In this case, a potential on the scan line will go higher than that on the common line when the TFT is switched off in micro-second (μsec). For example, in a low temperature polysilicon (LTPS) technology, a scan line is exposed to an 11 V potential when TFT is switched off in micro-second (μsec), while the common line stays at 0 V A higher electric potential difference between the common line and the scan line tends to cause uneven an electric field distribution on both sides, which may result in different tilt degrees of the liquid crystals and an irregular arrangement of liquid crystals near the scan line, thus leading to a dark-state leakage and degraded contrast ratio.
In summary, the existing TFT-LCDs with the MVA design exhibit an irregular arrangement of liquid crystal molecules when powered on, which may result in a low efficiency of liquid crystal molecules and affect the brightness distribution. Furthermore, there is a dark-state light leakage and degraded contrast ratio, thereby adversely affecting the image displaying quality. Therefore, it is highly desirable in the art to find a way to improve the liquid crystal arrangement, thereby to eliminate light leakage.

Display panel, electro-optical device, and methods for fabricating the same