A method and technique for verifying bus protocol in the design of integrated circuits. A correctness evaluator receives simulation results from a monitor file and prediction information generated from protocol templates. The correctness evaluator operates according to a "clean bus" theory that an error includes those events not specified by the circuit specification, including spurious transitions. Protocol templates define the elements within the circuit, and are provided to a prediction generator which creates a prediction file. The correctness evaluator compares a simulation monitor file to the prediction file, and outputs a pass or fail result. The present invention offers a flexible method to separate protocol-defined timing constraints from implementation-dependent timing constraints. The present invention allows input from a test program to tailor bus signal change predictions and verify that the test program performs as it is programmed to perform.

There is a continuing trend in the semiconductor industry towards higher circuit complexities within chips. These higher complexities are fueled by the progressive in reduction of feature sizes and the demand for ever more powerful microprocessors. As chip complexity increases the bus interfaces connecting chips to the outside world become more complicated. Additionally, many chips have an internal bus allowing communication between the various internal modules. It is important to ensure all the buses in a chip function correctly, as a single defect is almost certain to be encountered sometime during the operation of the chip. For example, one defect affecting some corner case of the bus protocol may result in a non-recoverable error. It is especially important to verify internal buses prior to the production of silicon. Internal buses are subject to all the problems of external buses with the additional constraint that they are by definition not visible from the outside. Therefore, the facilities for debugging them once the chip has been reduced to silicon are limited. Redesigns to fix problems are extremely costly, as they incur mask costs, fabrication costs, and delays in business.
Buses are inherently difficult to verify functionally because they usually contain a large number of signals. Many of these signals are bi-directional, so the possibility of a conflict due to poorly timed Bus Interface Units (BIUs) is probabilistically quite large. Counting all the address, data, and control signals, it is not unusual for a modern bus to have 100 or more bits of information. Considering the state space for the bus to be the Cartesian product of the states of the individual bits that compose it and the internal protocol state machines of all the agents that connect to it, it is obvious that trying to verify a bus by doing a complete state space search is untenable. Even viewing the address and data buses as representing a single state, the remaining state space is still impracticably large. It is therefore necessary to have a formal methodology for bus protocol verification that limits the testing to those states that are realizable within the protocol space.
One of the problems faced by the designer of a hardware chip or board is ensuring that devices attached to a bus conform to the bus protocol, where a bus is a set of signals that must be driven according to a specifiable protocol in order to achieve a desired result. Commonly, buses are used for transferring data, and the protocol specifies how read and write transactions may occur on the bus. The typical way a bus interface controller is verified is to create a behavioral model that exercises all supported transactions across the bus. If the operation completed without hanging the bus, it has passed the first level of test. A second level of test would then perform data compares of data written to a specific memory or address space. A third level of test would further include register read/write operations to check the integrity of the bus interface controller's registers. This strategy only checks to see if the bus is functional and does not verify compliance to the protocol.
Another method includes a bus monitor in the similation. The bus monitor deduces what transactions are taking place on the bus based on sampling signals at times of relevance to the protocol. These deduced transactions can then be compared against the intended ones to determine correctness at some level.
Many design solutions implement a graph-based representation, and make predictions based on the relations described therein. One alternative to using a graph-based representation for predictions is to do a cycle accurate prediction based on the test and compare the exact wave forms with those output by the simulation. These methods do not address issues such as noise detection, optional transitions, prediction of expected signal transitions, the modularity of the protocol, and operation outside of a strict cycle accurate approach. These methods lack the ability to check the correct behavior of other bus agents such as a bus arbiter or a pipe depth controller. Such agents may appear to function correctly but may in fact be designed differently from the specification. Additionally, the bus interface controller logic may deviate from specification while appearing to function properly in most cases. If such misbehavior is not flagged, the unintended logic feature goes undetected in design. Other methods use prediction where the bus interface controller is verified by predicting register results or data values at memory address locations. The results are predicted based on the test program to be executed. These methods are known as data prediction and data integrity methods.
A method referred to as resilient bus system has the receiving bus interface unit check the validity of certain pertinent signals. If any one of the signals is not valid the receiving bus unit rejects the request. The resilient bus system method does not verify the correct behavior of the rejection logic nor does it identify the source of the invalid bus signals.
Verification methods typically lack a way to verify whether the bus master device correctly requested a read or write as indicated by the test program. For example, if the test program asked for a read but the master requested a write, most verification programs would not detect this inconsistency. Additionally, if the master correctly asks for a read but performs a non-burst instead of an expected burst operation, these methods would not detect this inconsistency either.
It is desirable to have a bus verification method that is applicable to many different buses and is able to predict future transitions. Additionally, such a method should not employ strict cycle accuracy but be able to allow for implementation-dependent variances in transition times where allowed by protocol. It is also critical that a verification program identify noise on the specifically, unpredicted transitions. Ideally, a verification method would be modular to comprehend the complexities of a variety of buses.
The present invention offers a method of verifying bus protocol conformance employing a prediction scheme in a second stage correctness evaluator. This methodology provides a way to detect noise on a bus occurring at times other than when the protocol specifies the signal should be sampled, to handle all contingencies in a consistent manner, to determine the correct coverage information, and reduce the complexity of bus monitoring. The present invention employs a modular approach to bus protocol verification.

Method for verifying protocol conformance of an electrical interface


Non-intrusive monitoring and analysis of real-time facsimile transmissions is accomplished. Analog impairment measurements are made on the high speed page signal in those transmissions and protocol analysis is made on the low speed control messages in those transmissions. These measurements and analysis are a powerful tool for trouble shooting service problems afflicting facsimile transmissions. Actual customer traffic can be monitored to detect circuit impairments and to evaluate service being provided. Customer complaints can be handled by providing them with a special phone number which may be called to provide the ability to have the facsimile transmission experiencing a problem specially directed through the facsimile analyzer and forwarded to the intended destination while it is being non-intrusively monitored by service personnel who then can quickly provide the customer with a diagnosis of the problem.

Communication by facsimile is becoming increasingly important in many areas, particularly, in business communications, because documents may be sent by facsimile from point to point virtually instantaneously. The delays experienced in using other modes of sending documents, such as the postal service, are avoided in transmitting documents by facsimile. The speed with which documents can be sent from one place to another has resulted in greatly increased use of facsimile, which makes it increasingly important that an uninterrupted and reliable level of service be provided on public switched telephone networks so that successful facsimile transmission of an increasing number of documents may be accomplished without significant degrees of impairment. It, therefore, has become increasingly important that the facsimile traffic through a public switched telephone network be accurately characterized. It also has become increasingly important that any impairments of facsimile transmissions be rapidly identified and the source of those impairments be accurately determined so that corrective action may be taken.
Until now, there has been no way to monitor and diagnose actual facsimile transmissions. There is no available monitoring equipment which obtains convenient switched access to desired portions of the traffic flowing through a public switched telephone network to measure and characterize facsimile transmissions. There is nothing available which analyzes the protocols present in facsimile transmissions and ties that analysis to impairment measurements of the page data in those transmissions. There is no currently available capability of accurately identifying network and customer premises impairments during facsimile transmissions.
Prior techniques of measuring impairments affecting facsimile transmissions involve intrusive techniques which use special test signals which are monitored to ascertain any problems with the transmissions path. This results in test conditions which do not duplicate or simulate the actual conditions experienced during real facsimile transmissions. Thus, the results obtained from these intrusive techniques may not accurately reflect the situation experienced in the course of making a facsimile call. Actual customer premises equipment is not involved in making intrusive tests. Therefore, problems in completing facsimile transmissions caused by the customer premises equipment will not be identified as such with these techniques. The sources of impairment, therefore, may not be accurately identified by intrusive techniques. In addition to the fact that different equipment is connected to the network, the source of those impairments may also not be found due to the artificial nature of intrusive testing. Moreover, a portion of a communications network being tested must be taken out of service to accomplish the testing in accordance with prior techniques, and thus this part of the network will be unavailable for normal use.
Prior devices which measure communications signals are not able to adequately characterize a facsimile transmission non-intrusively as the transmission takes place. Moreover, if it were attempted to use this equipment for characterizing facsimile transmissions, the equipment only would be able to obtain dedicated access to a single facsimile apparatus at a time. Thus, identification of all the possible problems in a large communications network, such as a public switched telephone network, are impossible or impractical. There has been no equipment available which is capable of conveniently measuring in any meaningful fashion facsimile traffic in a public switched telephone network so that sources of impairment to those transmissions could be effectively identified and rapid and effective corrective action could be taken. There is no way for a subscriber of a public switched telephone network experiencing a problem in successfully completing a given facsimile transmission to conveniently receive a diagnosis of why the transmission is not being successfully completed.
Accordingly, there is a significant and long-standing unsatisfied need for equipment which can properly analyze facsimile transmissions in a public switched network in general and can conveniently diagnose problems experienced by individual network subscribers.

Subscriber initiated non-intrusive network-based analysis of facsimile transmissions


A 3-stack floorplan for a floating point unit includes: an aligner located in the center of the floating point unit; a frontend located directly above the aligner; a multiplier located directly below the frontend and next to the aligner; an adder located directly next to the multiplier and directly below the aligner; a normalizer located directly above the adder; and a rounder located directly above the normalizer.

This disclosure relates generally to the field of computer hardware design, and more specifically to a floorplan of a floating point unit.
A floating point unit (FPU) is a part of a computer system designed to carry out operations on floating point numbers. Operations may include addition, subtraction, multiplication, fused multiplication and addition, fused multiplication and subtraction, division, square root, and/or exponential or trigonometric calculations. A FPU may comprise a plurality of functional blocks, including but not limited to a frontend, an aligner, a multiplier, an adder, a normalizer, and a rounder. The speed of the FPU may significantly affect the speed of the computer system as a whole, and the speed of the FPU is determined in part by the physical layout, or floorplan, of the functional blocks.
Optimizing a high-frequency FPU floorplan for speed and size presents various challenges, such as minimizing wire delay between functional blocks (i.e., minimizing the length of time it takes for a signal to propagate from one block to another) and avoiding wire congestion. Functional blocks may be connected by default wires or by good wires. The width of a default wire is the minimum wire width suitable for technology. A good wire has a width which is an integer multiple of the width of a default wire. Signals may take a whole cycle to propagate from one corner of the FPU to the opposite corner on a default wire; a good wire provides a significantly faster connection. However, a default wire is smaller and consumes less power than a good wire. Paths between the major functional blocks of the FPU may require good wires to maximize speed of operation of the FPU, but the number and length of good wires that may be used in the FPU floorplan is limited, due to wire congestion and space constraints. Also, longer wires of either type may require buffering, while shorter wires may not; therefore, shorter wires are desirable when possible.
There is therefore a need for an optimized floorplan for a FPU, and a method of making an FPU with an optimized floorplan.

3-stack floorplan for floating point unit

International Business Machines Corporation


A slider 1 for engaging at least two fasteners provided inside of opposed edge portions of a bag defining an opening. The fasteners each includes a male fastener member strip and provided on the inner surface of one of the edge portions and a female fastener member strip and provided on the inner surface of the other edge portion in opposed relation with the male fastener member. The slider 1 includes a slider body 2 and a clamp member 3 for the slider body 3. The slider body 2 includes two opposite plates 2a, 2a interconnected by a base portion 4 and foldable over each other at the base portion. At least one of plates 2a is formed in an inner surface thereof with at least two grooves 5, 5 arranged in parallel for fitting therein respective fastener portions of the bag for the plates 5, 5 to press and engage the fasteners from outside. A tonguelike stopper 6 is positioned inwardly of the plates 2a, 2a and extends from base portion 4 to a position closer to the base portion 4 than the groove 5 immediately adjacent to the base portion when the plates 2a, 2a are folded over each other.

The present invention relates to improvements in sliders for engaging fasteners provided at the opening portions of bags, and more particularly to improvements in a slider for engaging at least two fasteners provided inside of opposed edge portions of an article- enclosing bag defining an opening thereof, the fasteners each comprising a male fastener member extending on the inner surface of one of the edge portion and a female fastener member extending on the inner surface of the other edge portion and opposed to the male fastener member, the slider being improved so that the fasteners can be readily and reliably engaged by a single sliding movement of the slider as fitted around the opening-defining edge portions of the bag in clamping engagement therewith.
Sliders have been proposed for engaging fasteners of the type mentioned. For example, fastener engaging sliders are known which are disposed in Unexamined Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 77518/1994, and Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 137607/1993.
The disclosed sliders are each fitted around the opening portion of a bag provided with fasteners, and have the advantage that the fasteners can be easily and reliably engaged to close the bag opening portion merely by slidingly moving the slider once along the opening edge of the bag, but have the following drawbacks.
The slider disclosed in the former publication is very likely to slip off from the bag beyond the side edge portion of the bag when completely moved slidingly, and is accordingly likely to become lost or requires the cumbersome procedure of fitting the slider accurately around the opening portion of the bag every time the slider becomes released from the bag.
In the case of the slider disclosed in the latter publication, the fastener end is provided with a clamp or like slipping-off preventing member for precluding the slider from slipping off the bag upon completion of sliding movement, whereas provision of such preventing member at the opening portion of the bag is not desirable because of an increased number of steps required for making bags and also entails the problem of impairing the appearance of the bag.


The present invention is directed to a heating resistor including a conducting oxide having an electric conductivity and a nonconducting oxide having insulation or nonconductivity, liquid ejecting heads and apparatus comprising the heating resistors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to heating resistors comprising a conducting oxide and a nonconducting oxide and liquid ejecting heads and other devices comprising the heating resistors.
2. Background Art
FIG. 1 provides a schematic representation of the process of liquid ejection from a conventional representative liquid ejecting head. The process of liquid ejecting included the following steps: i) a heating resistor is heated by applying an electric signal to the exterior of the heating resistor, thereby temporarily heating an adjoining printing liquid above a boiling point of the liquid to form bubble cores; ii) the bubble cores grow or coalesce to form a super bubble, and as a result the printing liquid fills the chamber of the liquid ejecting head and becomes pressurized; iii) the printing liquid in the vicinity of a nozzle or outlet is dispensed to the outside of the chamber in the shape of a droplet, and the supper bubble collapses; and iv) the printing chamber is recharged with additional printing liquid via a capillary vessel. During the ink-dispensing process collapse of the super bubbles causes a strong pressure to be locally applied to the surface of the heating resistor, the pressure being called a cavitation force. The cavitation force can create defects in the heating resistor and may be a reason for a reduced lifetime observed in many printing devices that operate by this process of liquid ejection (see, e.g., Aden, J. S. et al., "The Third-Generation HP Thermal InkJet Printhead," Hewlett-Packard Journal 45:41-45 (1994) and Lim, J. et al., "Failure mechanisms in thermal inkjet printhead analyzed by experiments and numerical simulation," Microelectronics Reliability 45:473-478 (2005)).
FIG. 2 provides a schematic cross-sectional view of the major parts of a conventional substrate used in a liquid ejecting head. Referring to FIG. 2, the conventional liquid ejecting typically comprises a silicon substrate (201) having deposited thereon a plurality of layers that provide a driving circuit and a heating resistor. The heating resistor (203) heats a printing liquid when an electrical signal is applied to the heating resistor by an electrode (204). Typically, an insulating layer (202) is formed between the silicon substrate (201) and heating resistor (203) to provide thermal and electric insulation between the heating resistor (203) and the silicon substrate (201). A patterned electrode layer (204) is formed adjacent to the heating resistor (203) and applies an electric signal to the heating resistor. The electrode layer typically comprises a metal conductor. Protection layers (205, 206) are formed on the surface of the electrode (204) and heating resistor (203) to protect the electronically active elements from chemical and/or mechanical damage associated with thermal cycling of the heating resistor (203) and also to electrically insulate the heating resistor (203) and electrode layer (204) from the printing liquid.
In general, the heating resistor should have the following properties:                (1) a controlled electrical resistivity within a proper scope to be applied to liquid ejecting systems;        (2) a low temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) so that the change of the electrical resistance in accordance with a temperature is minimized; and        (3) chemical, mechanical and electrical stability during thermal cycling.
Materials for use in heating resistors for liquid ejecting head that have been conventionally used include: HfB2 (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,375,312 and 6,013,160), TaAl (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,852,563, 4,513,298 and 4,965,611), poly-Si (U.S. Pat. No. 4,532,530), Ti/TiNx (U.S. Pat. No. 5,870,121), α-Ta (U.S. Pat. No. 6,395,148), TaN0.8 (Korean patent laid-open publication 10-1994-0014946 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,375,312 and 6,382,775), and TaSiN (U.S. Pat. No. 6,527,813). However, these materials can exhibit degradation during thermal cycling. Moreover, no other materials complying with the above requirements except the conventional materials have been reported. Therefore, what is needed are new materials for use in thermal resistor elements and ink ejecting devices that integrate these new materials to enable the manufacture of printing devices having longer lifetimes and greater reliability.

High efficiency heating resistor comprising an oxide, liquid ejecting head and apparatus using the same

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology


A method to change the color of hair. The method includes measuring an initial reflectance spectrum of a sample of the hair and analyzing a contribution of a plurality of natural hair factors to the initial reflectance spectrum. The method also includes calculating a hair treatment based on another reflectance spectrum. A system to measure a reflectance spectrum of a sample includes an integrating sphere having a sampling port and an inner surface and a window disposed near to the sampling port. The window is configured for being placed in close contact with the sample. The system also includes a light source configured to project light onto the sample via the window and a light detector configured to analyze light reflected from the inner surface to produce the reflectance spectrum of the sample.

The present invention relates to a hair treatment and, in particular, it concerns an apparatus to measure a hair reflectance spectrum and a method to determine an appropriate hair treatment based directly upon a hair reflectance spectrum.
By way of introduction, each strand of hair consists of three layers, namely, the medulla, cortex and cuticle. The medulla is the innermost layer of the hair and is composed of a softer keratin-rich material and its occurrence in human hair appears to be variable, usually being present in large thick hairs. The cuticle is the outermost surface of the hair shaft and is composed of a very hard keratinous substance. It consists of flattened platelets of amorphous keratin, wrapped around the hair shaft in several layers, each layer overlapping the adjacent one, progressing from the root to the tip of the hair. Lastly, the cortex is the inner bulk of the hair, which forms the main body of the hair. The cortex is disposed between the medulla and the cuticle. It is composed of a much softer, fibrous, crystalline keratin. It provides strength, color and texture to the hair. Human hair gets its colors from specialized cells in the hair follicle called melanocytes that produce the pigment for hair. Humans normally produce two type of melanin, namely, Eumelanin and Pheomelanin. Eumelanin is associated with a dark brown color and Pheomelanin is associated with an orange color. Brown and black hair is given its color primarily by Eumelanin. Red hair is given its color primarily by Pheomelanin. Blond hair and hair that has gone white with age have very few of either pigment.
A hair treatment to change an initial hair color to a final hair color normally involves bleaching and/or dyeing. The hair may need to be bleached to reduce the natural Eumelanin and Pheomelanin pigments. The extent of the bleaching depends upon the initial and final hair color. A diluted solution of hydrogen peroxide is generally used as the bleaching agent. The oxygen in the diluted solution of hydrogen peroxide opens up the cuticle of the hair so that the bleaching agent can enter into the cortex to remove the Eumelanin and Pheomelanin pigments. Once bleaching is complete, the hair dye is applied to the hair, if necessary. The hair dye also includes oxygen, which opens up the cuticle of the hair so that the coloring agent can enter into the cortex.
Therefore, the accuracy of the hair coloring process relies upon the skill of the hairdresser to determine how much bleaching is required and which hair dye or combination of hair dyes should be applied to provide the customer with the desired final color. Part of the hairdresser's skill is based upon accumulated experience as well as guidelines issued by the dye manufacturer. However, the final color is often a matter of surprise to both the hairdresser and the customer.
Of relevance to the present invention is U.S. Pat. No. 4,434,467 to Scott. The patent to Scott describes a method whereby the customer chooses a color from a database that is the closest match to his or her own hair color. The customer then chooses a desired final color from the database. The computer then suggests a treatment based on the manufacturer instructions. A shortcoming of the aforementioned system is that the customer has to determine by visual comparison, the closest match to his or her own hair color. A further shortcoming of the aforementioned system is that the system is limited to hair treatments, which are based upon a fixed selection of initial hair colors, thereby not taking into account the individual's hair color.
Also of relevance to the present invention is U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,484 to Hawiuk. Hawuik teaches the use of color filament swatches to recreate the initial hair color and then to add color filament swatches, which are related to a known hair dye, to see how the initial hair color is affected by the hair dye. A shortcoming of the aforementioned system is that the system is not accurate. A further shortcoming of the aforementioned system is that determining the initial color involves a high degree of estimation. An additional shortcoming of the aforementioned system is that this system does not address bleaching of the initial hair color.
Of most relevance to the present invention is U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,067,504, 6,157,445, 6,308,088, 6,314,372 and 6,330,341 to MacFarlane, et el. These patents discuss a method, which first includes obtaining a reflectance spectrum from a sample of hair. The coefficients of the Hunter L, a and b color coordinates of the reflectance spectrum of the hair sample are then analyzed by a computer. The initial hair color is then classified by the computer according to a range of coefficients of the color coordinates stored in a lookup table. A user then chooses a desired hair color from a choice of possible final colors. The computer then determines the appropriate hair treatment based upon a hair treatment stored in a lookup table for the initial hair color and the desired final hair color. A shortcoming of the aforementioned system is due to the initial hair color being classified according to an artificial color, which fits into a range of possible colors. Therefore, the suggested hair treatment does not accurately reflect the users initial hair color. A further shortcoming of the aforementioned system is that the creation and maintenance of the hair treatment lookup table requires a vast number of experiments. For example, for each hair dye, experiments are needed for all the possible initial and final hair colors that can be achieved for that dye. Additionally, the use of the L, a, b color coordinate system can be misleading in certain cases. For example, two samples of hair, which look substantially the same to the human eye may have the same L, a, b color coordinate values even though they have different spectrums of reflectance. For example, one natural blond hair sample which is colored with dye A, may have the same color coordinates as another hair sample, say, a brown hair colored with a dye B. Therefore, simply looking at the L, a, b color coordinates may lead to spurious results.
There is therefore a need for a method to determine a hair treatment based directly upon a person's initial hair color.
Additionally, a large sample of hair is typically required to produce a usable reflectance spectrum of hair. Therefore, there is a need for a system and method to produce a usable reflectance spectrum of hair without having to remove the hair from the customer's head.


A soundproofing material for vehicle having a laminated structure comprising two sound absorbing layers and an interlayer interposed therebetween, characterized in that the interlayer is formed by bonding and laminating on the respective side of an air-impermeable film made of a thermoplastic resin film having a thickness of from 7μ to 50μ heat-fusible films having a thickness of from 7μ to 50μ made of a thermoplastic resin film having a lower melting point than that of the air-impermeable film using a multi-layer inflation method and the soundproofing material is heat pressure-molded so that the heat-fusible film is melted to cause the sound absorbing layers to be bonded to the respective side of the air-impermeable film.

With the recent demand for soundproofing material for vehicle having a lighter weight, felt-based light weight soundproofing materials have been mainly used in place of related art heavy sheets made of EPDM, olefin or the like. Felt has excellent sound absorbing properties but has poor sound barrier properties. In order to eliminate this shortcoming, it has heretofore been practiced to compress felt so that it becomes less air-permeable.
On the other hand, Japanese Patent No. 3498085 cited below discloses a soundproofing material having an ultralight weight obtained by bonding a sound absorbing layer such as felt and a resonance layer such as film to each other with an adhesive at a predetermined adhesion. However, this soundproofing material is disadvantageous in that it has a two-layer structure and thus can difficultly absorb noise in the cabinet. Further, this soundproofing material is also disadvantageous in that its rigidity is too small for dash silencer to attain required shape stability.
Further, Japanese Patent Publication No. Patent No. 2001-347900 and Japanese Patent No. 3264230 each disclose a three-layer soundproofing material comprising a sound absorbing layer such as felt provided on the both sides of an air-impermeable film. However, since this kind of a multi-layer soundproofing material is obtained by bonding a film and a sound absorbing layer to each other with either of these layers impregnated or coated with an adhesive, it is disadvantageous in that the production method involves additional steps that add to the cost and the resulting soundproofing material can be difficultly formed into a free three-dimensional shape following the shape of the vehicle body.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a soundproofing material for vehicle having a light weight, a small thickness and excellent soundproofing properties which can be easily formed into a free three-dimensional shape and can be produced at reduced cost.


Apparatus and methods are disclosed by which a closed ventilating system accommodates multiple access to the respiratory system of an intubated medical patient without compromising the closed character of the system. Access to the respiratory system through one or more access sites of the closed system apparatus is provided at proximal adapter ports to ventilate the lungs of the patient with gas or gases, to aspirate secretions from the lungs, to oxygenate the lungs to eliminate or reduce residual co2 therefrom, to visually inspect selected parts of the respiratory system, to sample sputum and gases, to sense parameters such as flow rates, pressure, and temperature, to flush with washing solution, and/or to administer medication, gases, and/or lavage. A distal swivel fitting provides multiple sealing sites by which entry of atmosphere is prevented.

The inventions disclosed herein relate generally to improved medical care for intubated patients, and more particularly to novel low dead space improvements, and related methods, for ventilating, aspirating, monitoring, sampling, and providing therapeutic delivery to the respiratory tract of intubated medical patients, including infants, adolescents, and adults.
Respiratory patient care is a dynamically developing field in medicine, ranging in its needs from infants to the aged. The range of respiratory ailments, both temporary and permanent, to which such patients are subjected are many and varied. The frontier of medical knowledge is advancing and recommended treatments have become a blend of old and more recent discoveries.
Most problems now center or focus on multiple needs of the patient and accommodation of multiple treatments, some to be performed at the same time. The lack of equipment to facilely, efficiently, and safely accomplish the multiple therapies in the best interest of the patient has been and continues to be a concern. Other equipment problems also exist which concern preventing cost-oriented, unsafe extended use of ventilating, aspirating, and other respiratory access apparatus, reliability during use, quick and reliable removal and exchange of spent aspirating and ventilating devices without comprising the quality of health care provided to the patient, avoiding intentional or inadvertent conversion from a closed system to an open system, prevention of stress and/or occlusion of flow passageways to and from the patient""s respiratory system, avoidance of a large inventory of a variety of incompatible products, providing easy, fail-safe access for multiple purposes.
By way of an example only, with low lung capacity patients, such as premature babies and adults suffering from emphysema, is the removal of accumulated lung secretions without starving the patient for oxygen (thereby causing undesirable side effects) during the secretion removal process.
Sight must not be lost as to the deficiencies in prior proposals in terms of risks created for the health care provider. Largely, proposals of the past have ignored the needs of the health care provider to attain a reasonable measure of protection from contamination by the patient.
Providing apparatus and methodology having the capacity to promptly, efficiently, safety, and cost effectively address the health care needs of intubated patients across the entire spectrum of respiratory ailments comprises, prior to the present invention, a largely unresolved need. The range of procedures comprise: ventilating, aspiration, oxygenation, sampling, visual inspection, in-line sensing, pressure monitoring, flushing, and medication and/or lavage. Better protection for the health care provider has been a long-term unsatisfied need.
In brief summary, the present invention substantially alleviates the aforesaid problems of the prior art and comprises apparatus and methods by which a closed ventilating system accommodates multiple access to the respiratory system of an intubated medical patient without compromising the closed character of the system. Access to the respiratory system through one or more access sites of the closed system apparatus is provided to ventilate the lungs of the patient with gas or gases, to aspirate secretions from the lungs, to oxygenate the lungs to eliminate or reduce residual co2 therefrom, to visually inspect selected parts of the respiratory system, to sample sputum and gases, to sense parameters such as flow rates, pressure, and temperature, to flush with washing solution, and/or to administer medication, gases, and/or lavage.
The system can be unitized into severable and disposable components which are cost effective and accommodate good health care practices while promoting limitations on duration of use well within appropriate medical tolerances. Quick removal and replacement of discarded components is accommodated without introduction of additional risks to the patient. The technology of the present invention has substantial universal application to all respiratory patients, ranging from infants to the aged. Swivel fittings or adapters, in the form of an elbow or other configuration, provide dual or multiple fail safe sealing structure.
With the foregoing in mind, it is a primary object of the present invention to substantially alleviate problems of the prior art in the field of respiratory care for medical patients.
It is an additional dominant object of the present invention to provide apparatus and related methods by which a closed ventilating system is able to accommodate multiple access to the respiratory system of an intubated medical patient.
An additional paramount object is the provision of novel apparatus and related methods by which a closed ventilating system accommodates multiple access to the respiratory system of an intubated medical patient without compromising the closed character of the system.
An additional object of the present invention is the provision of access through one or more access sites in a closed system respiratory apparatus to accommodate ventilating of the lungs of the patient with gas or gases, to aspirate secretions from the lungs, to oxygenate the lungs to eliminate or reduce residual carbon dioxide therefrom, to visually inspect selected parts of the respiratory system, to sample sputum and gases, to sense parameters such as flow rates, pressure, and temperature, to flush with washing solution and/or to administer medication, gases, and/or lavage, and related methods.
An additional significant object is the provision of a closed respiratory health care system unitized into severable and disposable components which are cost effective and accommodate good health care practices while promoting limitations on duration of use well within appropriate medical tolerances.
It is an additional valuable object to provide for quick removal and replacement of discardable components toward the end of their useful life in a respiratory health care system and to accommodate such without introduction of additional risks to the patient.
It is another dominant object to provide a respiratory health care system and related methods which has substantial universal application to all respiratory patients ranging from infants to the aged.
A further important object of the present invention is to provide features in a respiratory health care system which avoid imposition of stress on the components and prohibit occlusion of flow pathways.
It is a prominent object of the present invention to provide respiratory health care systems and related methods which accommodate simultaneous access to and treatment within the respiratory system of a medical patient.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide novel respiratory health care systems and related methods having minimal dead space.
It is another paramount object to provide novel fittings and/or adapters which accommodate stress relief rotation and/or structure dual or multiple fail safe sealing between the closed interior of the fitting or adapter and the atmosphere, and related methods.
These and other objects and features of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description taken with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Medical aspirating/ventilating closed system improvements and methods


A seed camera disposed a first location is manually calibrated. A second camera, disposed at a second location, detects a physical marker based on predefined characteristics of the physical marker. The physical marker is located within an overlapping field of view between the seed camera and the second camera. The second camera is calibrated based on a combination of the physical location of the physical marker, the first location of the seed camera, the second location of the second camera, a first image of the physical marker generated with the seed camera, and a second image of the physical marker generated with the second camera.

The present application generally relates to the field of camera, and in particular, relates to methods and systems for multiple camera calibration in a distributed camera system.
A camera model is a function that maps pixels with known Z-coordinate to the real-world coordinates. For example, the function takes (Xpx, Ypx) with given Zft and maps it to (Xft, Yft). The camera model can be further described with other parameters such as lens characteristics, camera height and horizon, camera location and orientation. The parameters are used to calibrate a camera. Typically, a user provides a correspondence between pixels and real-world points. A calibration algorithm determines the model parameters based on the correspondence. However, large facilities can include many cameras (e.g., over 100 cameras). Manual calibration for each camera can be labor intensive especially for many cameras.


Apparatuses, systems, and techniques to receive, at one or more processor associated with an image signal processing (ISP) pipeline, a compressed image generated by an image sensor, wherein the compressed image is captured at a first bit-depth associated with the image sensor and is compressed to a second bit-depth that is lower than the first bit-depth, and wherein the ISP is associated with a third bit-depth that is lower than the first bit-depth and higher than the second bit-depth; and decompress the compressed image according to a power curve to generate a partially decompressed image having the third bit-depth, wherein a plurality of regions of the partially decompressed image are decompressed at separate decompression amounts based on a corresponding pixel value of each region of the plurality of regions.

High dynamic range (HDR) image sensors capture data with a large dynamic range often exceeding the memory, hardware and data bandwidth available to process them. Accordingly, raw image data at image sensors is commonly compressed to reduce the bandwidth requirements during transmission to an ISP pipeline. The data is then de-compressed at the ISP to process the data. Modern image sensors (e.g., automotive sensors) are often HDR image sensors that support high bit-depths of images in order to provide a large dynamic illumination range when capturing images, for example at 24 bit resolution. The ISP hardware, on the other hand, may not be capable of supporting such a high bit depth as the image sensor, resulting in potential degradation in image quality after recovering the image at the ISP due to the difference in bit depth resolution between the sensor and the ISP.

Image signal processing pipelines for high dynamic range sensors


A system that allows inductive connectors to be electrically coupled without having to mechanical align the same. The connectors have a primary coil coupled to a secondary coil. The primary coil transmits either power or digital signals to the secondary coil. The power induced onto the secondary coil is a function of the distance between coils. The farther apart the coils are, the less power is transmitted to the secondary coil. To insure that the proper level of power is received by the secondary coil, a feedback circuit is incorporated to vary the output of power on the primary coil as a function of the voltage induced onto the secondary connectors. If connectors are spaced apart beyond a predetermined distance, the feedback system increases the power on the primary coil.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer systems and inductive connectors for coupling the same.
2. Description of Related Art
Small "laptop" computers are becoming increasingly popular among users who work outside of an office setting. A typical laptop will contain batteries that power the portable, so that the computer does not have to be plugged into an external power source. The batteries themselves are quite small, thereby limiting the amount of time that the laptop can be operated. Most portable computers are rechargeable so that the same batteries can be used again and again.
Because of the size of a laptop computer, the portables have restricted memory capacity and limited graphic capabilities. For instance, most portables have small liquid crystal display monitors that typically project black and white images. There are times when the user may want to connect the portable to a color monitor. Additionally, many personal computers are incorporated into a network, which allows communication between computer stations. Such a system is particularly useful for relaying messages or transferring electronically stored documents. It is particularly advantageous for the user to hook up the portable into the network, so that data can be transferred from the laptop to the system. For example, a user may have typed in a lengthy report on the laptop while travelling. He may then want to directly transmit the document onto a mainframe or another personal computer, without having to load the information on a floppy disk, or another external storage device. Connecting a portable to such a network would require the attachment of a mechanical connector, typically of the card edge or pin variety. If a monitor and power are to be attached to the laptop, additional connectors must also be plugged into the portable. Attaching the connectors can be time consuming and confusing to a person unfamiliar with computer devices. Mechanical connectors also have a limited insertion life, such that the connectors must be replaced after a certain number of connections. It would therefore be desirable to have a portable computer that can be connected to power and external electrical devices, without the user having to mechanically connect the same. It would also be desirable to have wireless connectors that can be coupled together without aligning the same.


Recombinant mycobacterial strains which overproduce essential biosynthetic enzymes of pathogenic mycobateria are provided. These strains overproduce enzymes involved in the synthesis and incorporation of D-alanine into mycobacterial peptidoglycan, the backbone of the mycobacterial cell wall. These overproducing strains may be used as reference strains in in vitro screening methods to identify antimycobacterial agents.

The present invention relates to recombinant mycobacterial strains overexpressing essential biosynthetic enzymes of pathogenic mycobacteria and to methods for using these strains. More specifically, the present invention relates to recombinant mycobacteria strains overexpressing D-alanine ligase (Ddl) and the use of such strains in in vitro methods for identifying antimycobacterial agents directed against Ddl.
The bacterial cell wall is an ideal target for drug design since similar structures and biosynthetic pathways are absent from mammalian hosts. The lipid-rich mycobacterial cell wall acts as an efficient permeability barrier (Brennan and Nikaido, 1995). Peptidoglycan, the backbone of this structure, contains the D-amino acids D-alanine, D-glutamate, and diaminopimelate, which may contribute to its stability against proteolytic degradation. D-Alanine is one of the central molecules of the cross-linking step of peptidoglycan assembly. Peptidoglycan biosynthesis in mycobacteria follows pathways similar to those in other eubacteria (Belanger and Inamine, 2000). There are three enzymes involved in the D-alanine branch of peptidoglycan biosynthesis: the pyridoxal phosphate-dependent D-alanine racemase (Alr), the ATP-dependent D-alanine:D-alanine ligase (Ddl), and the ATP-dependent D-alanine:D-alanine-adding enzyme (MurF) (Walsh, 1989). D-Cycloserine (DCS; 4-amino-3-isoxazolidinone) is a rigid analog of D-alanine and targets both Alr and Ddl in Escherichia coli (Lambert and Neuhaus, 1992; Neuhaus, 1967). DCS also inhibits Mycobacterium tuberculosis Alr and Ddl enzymes (David et al., 1969; Strych et al., 2001), suggesting that both Alr and Ddl are targets of DCS in mycobacteria.
DCS is effective against mycobacteria and is recommended to treat multidrug-resistant M. tuberculosis in the DOTS-Plus management plan (Farmer, 2001; World Health Organization, 2000). However, undesirable side effects restrict its use in human chemotherapy (Yew et al., 1993). Nonetheless, the potent bactericidal effect of DCS against mycobacteria makes this drug an attractive prototype compound to develop novel antimycobacterial agents. In addition, identification of the lethal target(s) of DCS action would allow for the rational design of new antimycobacterial drugs, structurally related or unrelated to DCS, targeting enzymes of the D-alanine pathway of peptidoglycan biosynthesis. Moreover, these types of inhibitors may weaken the cell wall and act synergistically with other antimicrobial agents (Rastogi et al., 1990). In the early 1970s, David (1971) isolated and characterized step-wise DCS-resistant M. tuberculosis mutants that showed either normal or reduced cellular permeability to DCS and speculated that Alr plays only a minor role in the mechanism of action of DCS. Mycobacterium smegmatis, a nonpathogenic species, is a useful model to study drug resistance mechanisms in pathogenic mycobacteria, especially when conserved cellular processes are involved (Reyrat and Kahn, 2001; Tyagi and Sharma, 2002). Peteroy et al. (2000) described the isolation and characterization of an M. smegmatis mutant resistant to both DCS and vancomycin though the molecular basis of the resistance mechanism remains unknown. In previous studies, we identified a spontaneous DCS-resistant M. smegmatis mutant with a promoter-up mutation in the alr gene, resulting in the overproduction of the Alr enzyme (Caceres et al., 1997). Alr was shown to be inhibited by DCS in a concentration-dependent manner, and DCS resistance could be conferred to pathogenic mycobacteria carrying the M. smegmatis alr gene in a multicopy plasmid. In addition, DCS was shown to competitively inhibit the native Ddl enzyme from M. tuberculosis (David et al., 1969). Belanger et al. (2000) reported the characterization of a temperature-sensitive M. smegmatis mutant with a single amino acid substitution in Ddl. The mutant was more susceptible to DCS, and the temperature sensitivity phenotype was due to the decreased activity of the mutated enzyme.
Recently, we observed that M. smegmatis alr null mutants are not dependent on D-alanine for growth, suggesting the existence of another pathway for D-alanine biosynthesis (Chacon et al., 2002). In addition, the alr null mutant is hypersusceptible to DCS, suggesting that a lethal target other than Alr is responsible for the bactericidal effect of DCS.
In order to develop novel antimicrobial agents structurally related to DCS, the lethal target(s) of DCS need to be identified and methods of screening for inhibition need to be developed.

Recombinant mycobacteria overexpressing D-alanine ligase gene and uses therefore

Board of Regents University of Nebraska - Lincoln


The production process includes starting suspension polymerization of vinyl chloride-based monomer in a polymerization vessel in the presence of a particular combination of suspending agents; and, at the time when a polymerization conversion has reached 5 to 60%, further adding to the reaction mixture a partially saponified polyvinyl alcohol having an average polymerization degree of 1,500 to 4,000 and a saponification degree of 75 to 98 mole %, wherein a carboxylic acid ester of polyhydric alcohol is further added to at least one one selected from a content inside the polymerization vessel prior to the start of the polymerization, a content inside the polymerization vessel during the polymerization, and the resulting polymer. According to the process, there is obtained a vinyl chloride polymer having a large bulk specific gravity and a fast gelation rate, and from the polymer, a formed part small in both the number of fish eyes and the amount of residual monomer can be obtained.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for producing a vinyl chloride polymer having a large bulk specific gravity.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Vinyl chloride polymers are resins excellent in physical properties and are broadly employed as a rigid polyvinyl chloride or a flexible polyvinyl chloride. In recent years, there are demanded a vinyl chloride polymer having a large bulk specific gravity capable of increasing an extrusion rate in extruders in order to improve the productivity of polyvinyl chloride products when extrusion molding rigid polyvinyl chlorides. Conventionally known suspension polymerization methods for the purpose of obtaining a vinyl chloride polymer having a large bulk specific gravity include, for example, a method charging an additional monomer during polymerization see Japanese Pre-examination Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 59-168008!, a method using a highly saponified polyvinyl alcohol as a suspending agent see Japanese Pre-examination Patent Publication (Kokai) Nos. 57-7600 and 4-323204, and Japanese Patent Publication (Kokoku) No. 1-27088! and a method charging an additional suspending agent during polymerization see Japanese Pre-examination Patent Publication (Kokai) Nos. 3-70703 and 5-39309!. These methods can increase the bulk specific gravity of the resulting polymer to some extent, while to the contrary, they have the problems that the gelation rate of the polymer is slow and fish eyes increase in formed parts obtained from the polymer. Further, especially when a so-called nontoxic stabilizer such as Ca-Zn stabilizer is added to a compound, in which various additives have been compounded in the resulting polymer, for use in producing formed parts, there are problems in that the bulk specific gravity of the compound is not so large and also the extrusion rate of the compound in extruders does not increase. Furthermore, since such a nontoxic stabilizer is weak in stabilizing action for polymers, there are also problems in that products (formed parts) from the resulting polymer are unsatisfactory in thermal stability, initial coloration, etc.

Vinyl chloride polymerization with carboxylic acid ester of polyol and suspension agents


A mold locking system is provided for a glass molding machine. The machine has first and second mold hanger support arms for moving respectively first and second mold halves. The arms are pivotally cantilever-mounted at their ends for rotation about a vertical axis between a retracted station where the mold halves are separated and a forming station where the mold halves are brought into contact. The locking system includes a pressure system for exerting an upward force on the free ends of the support arms and includes surfaces configured to pressingly engage specially configured portions of the free arm ends so that operation of the pressure system forces the free ends towards each other to ensure closure of the mold, and to force the free ends up against a limit stop to terminate upward travel to compensate for sag and mounting system wear.

Glass containers, including glass bottles, are formed in a process that is well-known in the art. The various components of the glass (i.e. the batch) are heated until they have melted. A gob of this melted glass is next formed into a parison in a so-called blanking or parison mold. The parison formed is moved from the blanking mold to a finishing or blow mold, where the finished bottle is shaped.
Mass production of glass bottles is generally carried out in a well-known IS (individual section) glass forming machine which has a plurality of glass forming means integrated into a single plural-section machine fed by a single source of molten glass. The sections are operated in synchronism in such relative phase relationship to permit the several sections to acquire gobs of molten glass in ordered sequence from the single source.
Thus, as one of the sections is receiving a gob from the feeding means, another section is delivering a finished article to an output conveyor and other sections are engaged in various forming steps between receipt of the gob and production of the finished article. The sequence of operation is controlled by a timing mechanism that may be either mechanically or electronically controlled. This timing mechanism sequentially initiates mechanical devices in a predetermined synchronized sequence through automatic control systems.
The IS machines have two molds in each individual mold section, whereby a gob is received in a first mold, called a parison mold, for the initial process of forming a parison, followed by transfer of the parison to a second mold, called the blow or finishing mold, for blowing the parison to its final configuration. A transfer arm is pivoted between the parison mold and the finishing mold, and the parison is formed in an inverted position in the parison mold and is transferred to the finishing mold in an upright position. This process is generally disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,907, incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,983,203 issued to Erb et al., also incorporated herein by reference, discloses a glass forming system wherein parison mold halves are mounted on a pair of mold hanger arms movable between a retracted position and a closed position at a parison-forming station. Pairs of neck ring mold halves forming neck ring molds are held together at the parison-forming station and are configured for nesting surrounding engagement by the parison mold halves when the parison mold halves are brought together.
The opening and closing of the molds are accomplished typically by operation of an air cylinder acting through a series of linkages, typically involving shafts, pins and levers. The mold hanger arms are each cantilever-mounted at one end for pivotal rotation about a post, and the linkages serve to move the arms in an arcuate motion between closed and open positions. The air cylinder and linkages also provide the clamping forces necessary to hold the mold halves closed during the pressing of the glass at the parison-forming station or the blowing of the glass at the finishing mold station. This system has many wear points, and as the wear increases, it causes misalignment of parts and causes the mold halves to fail to close tightly. Moreover, particularly in the case of systems having long hanger arms, such wear will cause the hanger arms to sag downward from a horizontal position, causing misalignment of the neck ring mold halves with respect to the parison mold halves. As a result, defective products are formed. Additionally, particularly in multi-mold assemblies, relatively massive hanger arms are necessary to maintain clamping forces to hold the molds in proper alignment. This increased mass in turn reduces the operating speed of the system.
Various older designs eliminate the sagging problem of the hanger arm outer ends by physically supporting the lower surfaces of the hanger arms by means of substrate plates against which the lower faces of the hanger arms are frictionally supported. Examples of such systems are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,213,853 issued to Ferngren on Jan. 30, 1917; U.S. Pat. No. 1,331,471 issued to Peiler, et. al., on Feb. 17, 1920 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,304,736 issued to Louden et al on Dec. 8, 1942. The mold halves shown therein are provided with terminal projections or jaws disposed in general prolongation of the major direction of the hanger. In the Ferngren and Peiler systems a wedge is provided to be driven between the jaws, the jaws and wedge mating surfaces causing the mold halves to be pressed together. A similar function is provided in the Louden patent by forcing camming surfaces to engage such projections when a pair of cams are forced towards the general vicinity of the mold halves. These patents appear to show adequate mold closure systems, but since they are all used in conjunction with table-supported hangers, the alignment problem does not arise.
On the other hand, U.S. Pat. No. 3,528,796, issued to Trahan on Sep. 15, 1970 shows a true cantilever dual mold hanger system and locking mechanism. As in the Ferngren and Peiler patents, a wedge is configured to engage forwardly extending projections on each mold hanger, the wedge being driven horizontally towards the hanger support pivot 18 (FIG. 1). This action, while securely closing the hanger arms and their associated mold halves, does not provide a solution to the removal of cantilever sag in such systems.

Mold clamping mechanism for glass container forming machine


A line-imaging lens condenses a light beam from a light-source unit in one direction to form a line image. An optical deflecting unit deflects the light beam passing through the line-imaging lens. An imaging optical unit images the light beam deflected by the optical deflecting unit in a spot shape on a scanning surface to be scanned. An adjusting unit adjusts a position of irradiation of the light beam from the light-source unit on the optical deflecting unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light-source device and optical scanning device having a light-source angle adjusting function and for use in an image forming apparatus, such as a digital copier, facsimile, or laser printer, and also relates to an image forming apparatus having incorporated therein the light-source device or optical scanning device.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus, such as a digital copier, facsimile, and laser printer, is provided with various optical scanning devices for scanning a photosensitive member with a light beam. In the optical scanning devices that have been conventionally used, a polygon mirror or galvanometer mirror has been used as a deflector that deflects a light beam from a light source. However, to form an image with higher resolution within a short time, such a polygon mirror or galvanometer mirror has to be rotated at higher speed. Rotation of the polygon mirror or galvanometer mirror with high speed has a limitation due to durability of a bearing rotatably supporting the polygon mirror or galvanometer mirror explained above, heating at the time of rotation, noise, and other factors.
To get around this problem, for use as deflectors in the optical scanning device, deflectors using silicon micromachining have been suggested in recent years in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 2924200, Japanese Patent No. 3011144, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-82303, Japanese Patent No. 3445691, and Japanese Patent No. 3543473. In a deflector 501 of this type, as depicted in FIG. 54, a vibrating mirror 502 with its surface serving as a deflector plane 502a and a torsional bar 503 pivotally supporting the vibrating mirror 502 are integrally formed in the deflector 501. With the deflector 501, the vibrating mirror 502 can be downsized, thereby downsizing the deflector itself. In addition, since the vibrating mirror 502 is vibrated in a reciprocating manner by using the resonance of the vibrating mirror 502, a high-speed operation can be advantageously performed with low noise and power consumption.
Furthermore, with low vibration and little heating, the housing that accommodates the optical scanning device and others can be made thinner. Therefore, even if the housing is configured of a low-cost resin molding material with a small ratio of mixture of glass fiber, it is an advantage that an influence on image quality hardly occurs. In particular, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-82303 discloses an example in which the deflector 501 explained above is used in place of a polygon mirror. Also, Japanese Patent No. 3445691 and Japanese Patent No. 3543473 disclose image forming apparatuses in which a vibrating mirror is used in place of a polygon mirror to achieve low noise and power consumption, which is suitable for office environment and also earth environment.
However, when the vibrating mirror 502 explained above is driven, a deformation in active plane occurs as explained below, due to the moment of inertia and resilience of the vibrating mirror 502.
When the dimension of the vibrating mirror 502 depicted in FIG. 54 is such that its length is 2a, its width is 2b, and its thickness is d, the length of the torsional bar 503 is L and its width is c, the density of Si is ρ, and the material constant is G, a moment of inertia I of the vibrating mirror 502 is represented by Equation (1).I=(4abρd/3)×a2  (1)
As represented in Equation (1) above, the local moment of inertial I of the vibrating mirror 502 is a function of a distance from a rotational axis of the vibrating mirror 502, and it can be found that, as the distance from the rotational axis is increased, the moment of inertia is increased. Furthermore, since the thickness of the vibrating mirror 502 itself is as thin as several hundred micrometers, with a change in rotation speed associated with the reciprocating movement and an inertial force on the vibrating mirror 502, forces in opposite directions are exerted at a position near the torsional bar 503 of the vibrating mirror 502 and an end away from the torsional bar 503, thereby causing, as depicted in FIG. 55, the vibrating mirror 502 to be deformed to become wavy. Therefore, wave aberration of a bundle of light beams reflected by the vibrating mirror 502 is increased, thereby making the optical beam thick.
FIG. 55 depicts a deformed state of the vibrating mirror 502 with a simple plate shape. In FIG. 55, a deterioration in wave aberration of light beams and also a shift in an incident position in a direction orthogonal to the torsional bar 503 (a main scanning direction) as represented by a broken line occur at the same time. In this case, since an apparent curvature differs, a shift (shift in focus) occurs in an image-forming position of the light beams. In particular, as depicted in FIGS. 56 and 57, when the light beams converge on an edge of the vibrating mirror 502 due to assembling error of the deflector, the light source, and other components, the light beams may become thick (see FIG. 57), or a shift in focus may occurs (see FIG. 56).
Also, the light beams converging on the edge of the vibrating mirror 502 become a light-gathered bundle in the main scanning direction (see FIG. 56) or a diffused light bundle (see FIG. 57), and therefore the light beams cannot be uniformly gathered at the image-forming position. For this reason, a desired beam spot size cannot be achieved. Therefore, in conventional examples, light beams cannot be gathered over the entire scanned plane, thereby making it impossible to uniformly keep the beam spot size and, as a result, disadvantageously leading to image deterioration.
Moreover, as for the resonant frequency, there is a problem in which a change in spring constant of the torsional bar due to temperature or a change in viscosity resistance of air due to atmospheric pressure may change a deflection angle.
To get around this problem, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-279947, one suggested control is such that the deflection angle is detected by detecting a beam for use in scanning, thereby adjusting a current applied to the vibrating mirror 502 and stably keeping the deflection angle.
However, as a method of reducing deformation of the vibrating mirror 502, if the flexural rigidity of the board of the vibrating mirror 502 is increased, that is, if the thickness of the board of the vibrating mirror 502 is increased, the mass of the vibrating mirror 502 is also increased. Therefore, with comparison in the deflection angle of the vibrating mirror 502 with the same scanning frequency, the deflection angle of the vibrating mirror 502 with an increased thickness is disadvantageously decreased. For this reason, simply increasing the thickness cannot solve the problem.

Light-source device, optical scanning device, and image forming apparatus