In a hierarchical micro/macro-cell network, a mobile station will be handed over from a microcell to a macrocell if a number of microcells recognize the mobile station as fast, so that the fast moving mobile stations do not cause a considerable number of handovers between microcells, which make the call control difficult. However, in order to avoid unnecessary switches up to macrocells, a mobile station and the call are handed over to a macrocell only when the mobile station is recognized as fast in a sufficient number of microcells.

The geographical area covered by cellular mobile systems is divided into smaller radio coverage areas, cells, to achieve a more efficient utilization of the frequency band through frequency re-use. The size of cells varies from one mobile system to another, as well as geographically within a mobile system depending on a multitude of factors, such as the capacity required (number of channels, terrain, transmitting power levels, etc.). One factor which influences cell size is the maximum transmitting power of a mobile station. In the recent past, the mobile stations in conventional mobile systems were vehicle-mounted high-power radio stations whose transmitting power made large cell sizes possible. In addition to these, small hand-held mobile stations have emerged; these latter mobile stations have a considerably lower transmitting power than the vehicle-mounted stations in order to reduce current consumption, for example. These hand-held mobile stations have a considerably smaller range of operation and, as a result, the cell size must also be smaller.
In modern mobile systems, both low-power hand-held mobile stations and vehicle-mounted mobile stations that have a higher output power are used side by side. Further, two geographically overlaying types of cell, large macrocells and small microcells, have been employed. High-power mobile stations are thus assigned to a macrocell network, and low-power hand-held mobile stations to a microcell network. Because the high-power vehicle-mounted stations, moreover, move in the network with higher speed than the hand-held mobile phones, the use of macrocells results in a smaller number of handovers. The hand-held mobile stations are, in turn, relatively immobile and thus the number of handovers will not be unreasonable even in a dense microcell network. Decision on a handover of a mobile station between two microcells is made on the basis of radio connection, usually on the basis of the level or quality of the received signal.
In a hierarchical network divided to microcells and macrocells, a problem occurs regarding hand-held mobile stations that move fast in relation to cell size. As far as the network is concerned, a mobile station can be considered fast moving, if it is used, for example, in a moving vehicle such as train, tram, bus or car. In modern mobile systems, this kind of a fast moving hand-held mobile station may cause a considerable number of handovers, which may make controlling of the call very difficult. It would be advantageous if the fast moving mobile stations were served by macrocells, so that the number of handovers would not increase remarkably. On the other hand, slow moving hand-held mobile stations should be served by microcells so that macrocell capacity might be saved. For this reason it would be advantageous to be able to detect a fast moving hand-held mobile station in a microcell, and hand it up to an overlaying macrocell. In present systems, however, there are no means to detect a fast moving mobile station in a microcell network.

Handover with fast moving mobile station detection between a microcell and a macrocell


A polarization conversion element with four phase plates laminated on a substrate plate, in the order of first, second, third and fourth phase plates from a light incident side. The first and fourth phase plates have substantially same retardation values, while the second and third phase plate have substantially same retardation values. Ratio of the retardation value of the first phase plate to the retardation value of the second phase plate is in the range of 1:1 to 1:3. Relative to optical axis of the first phase plate, the second to fourth phase plates are set at the angles of 45 degrees, 90 degrees and 45 degrees, respectively.

1. Field of the Art
This invention relates to a polarization conversion element to be used on various optical appliances, and to an optical system containing such a polarization conversion element.
2. Prior Art
A beam splitter is used on various optical appliances as an optical element for splitting an incident light flux into two or more light paths. A certain type of beam splitter functions to split incident light into a number of light paths on the basis of diffraction of light, while another type of beam splitter functions to split incident light by transmission and reflection of light. An optical element which splits light by transmission and reflection of light is generally known as a half mirror. In this regard, half mirrors are not necessary made to split light equally into a number of light paths. Certain half mirrors are adapted to split light at an arbitrary ratio.
A half mirror is fabricated by laminating an optical film on a transparent material like optical glass. The laminating optical film can be a semi-transmitting type which is adapted to reflect incident light at a predetermined rate while transmitting the remainder, or a polarizing type which is adapted to reflect one of two polarized components with perpendicularly intersecting planes of polarization while transmitting the other component. Therefore, optical elements which are called "a half mirror" in a broad sense include a semi-transmitting film type and a polarizing film type which should be called "a half mirror" and "a polarizing beam splitter" in a narrow sense, respectively. In splitting incident light by reflection and transmission, the half mirror in the narrow sense can reflect and transmit light at an arbitrary ratio by controlling the transmission rate through the semi-transmitting film. On the other hand, of two polarized components with rectangularly intersecting planes of polarization, certain polarizing beam splitters are arranged to have such properties as to transmit one polarized component 100% while reflecting the other polarized component 100%. In this regard, it is possible to hold the transmission rate of one polarized component and the reflection rate of the other polarized component at a value less than 100%. The former can be classified as "complete beam splitter" and the latter can be classified as "incomplete beam splitter."
Polarized components of incident light, which is cast on a half mirror for splitting a light path, include linearly polarized light, circularly polarized light and elliptically polarized light. Even linearly polarized light may contain not only a component having a plane of polarization in perpendicularly intersecting relation relative to a certain plane of polarization but also components having a plane of polarization at an arbitrary angle relative to the certain plane of polarization. Further, elliptically polarized light includes a wide range of components from a component akin to circular polarization to a component of flat elliptic polarization which can be almost regard as linear polarization. Besides, the line of apsides lies in an arbitrary direction.
Gathering from the foregoing, normally a half mirror of the narrow sense is used as an optical element which transmits and reflect incident light in a controlled ratio. On the other hand, it has been the general practice to use a polarizing beam splitter particularly for splitting incident light having perpendicularly intersecting polarized components which are called p- and s-polarized components.
In the case of the half mirror, a beam splitter in a narrow sense, as a semi-transmitting film a metal film is laminated on a transparent member like optical glass. In order to control the transmission and reflection ratio, the metal film is formed by the use of metals such as silver (Ag), aluminum (Al), gold (Au) and chromium (Cr). Of these metals, silver and aluminum are low in wavelength dependency. That is to say, in order to split light of a broad wavelength range, it is necessary to use silver or aluminum. Comparing semi-transmitting films of the same transmission rate, it is preferable to employ a semi-transmitting film of silver rather than aluminum for the control of transmission rate, taking into account the effort which is required in making the aluminum film thinner. However, due to dependency on polarized components of incident light in addition to dependency on wavelength, it is difficult even for silver to split incident light strictly in a desired transmission and reflection ratio over a wide wavelength range. Above all, in the fields of optical pickups and other recently developed high precision optical devices like photo-computing devices, one faces difficulties in getting accurate light splitting characteristics by the use of a half mirror laminated with a silver semi-transmitting film.
In connection with a half mirror using a semi-transmitting film of silver, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 2001-13308 discloses a half mirror with a function of correcting variations in transmission-reflection ratio attributable to wavelength dependency and polarized components of incident light. According to this published patent literature, as a semi-transmitting film to be laminated on a half mirror (in a narrow sense), a metal film of silver is combined with a dielectric layer of low or medium refraction material and a dielectric layer of high refraction material to solve the problem of variations in transmission-reflection ratio due to wavelength dependency and polarized components.
Further, silver is problematic in weather resistance, namely, characteristics of a silver semi-transmitting film changes over a long period of time, with progress of corrosion which occurs under the influence of temperature and humidity. Besides, if incident light is of a wide range in wavelength, it may become difficult in some cases to prevent marked variations in transmission-reflection ratio and to guarantee sufficient reliability. In the case of the half mirror of the above-mentioned published patent literature, three films of different materials, i.e., a metal film and two dielectric films, have to be formed to stabilize the transmission-reflection ratio. In addition, considering the necessity for laminating a protective film layer on the metal film for the improvement of the weather resistance, it is likely that the fabrication process will become difficult and result in an expensive optical element.
Polarizing beam splitters, i.e., another type of half mirror in a broad sense, are stabilized in optical characteristics because no metallic films are used as optical films, and can maintain a predetermined transmission-reflection ratio accurately over a wide wavelength range by providing a suitable number of polarizing films of an adequate thickness. However, it is difficult to split incident light in a desired ratio without controlling polarized components in the incident light flux.
In splitting incident light in a controlled ratio, optical characteristics of the above-mentioned polarizing beam splitters do not necessarily require that the incident light be composed of two perpendicularly intersecting linearly polarized components. Namely, according to optical characteristics of polarizing beam splitters, it is possible to accurately control the transmission-reflection ratio for two perpendicularly intersecting polarized components of the same energy profile even if the two components are not linearly polarized in a strict sense. That is, in case two perpendicularly intersecting components of incident light on a polarizing beam splitter are of the same energy profile, the polarizing beam splitter can split the incident light substantially in the same way as incident light consisting of two perpendicularly intersecting linearly polarized components. Accordingly, if it becomes possible for a polarizing beam splitter to convert incident light into perpendicularly intersecting polarized components with the same energy profiles in an initiatory or introductory stage, the polarizing beam splitter can find a wide range of applications because it is reliable in weather resistance and stable in optical characteristics as a light splitting means.

Polarization conversion element and optical system containing such polarization conversion element


A folding unit for corrugated cardboard sheets, the folding unit comprising an inlet and an outlet, a pair of parallel and laterally dispiaceable folding beams, a pair of folding rules arranged under respective folding beams, a par of folding rods fixedly positioned outside respective folding rules and at angle to the respective folding rules, a pair of folding belts arranged under and cooperating with a respective pair of folding rules, a means for supplying and folding two outermost panels of the corrugated cardboard sheet from 0°-90° at the inlet of the folding unit and 90°-180° at the outlet of the folding unit, a pair of wheel stands engaged with respective folding belts, a means for adjusting an angle of said wheel stands to ihe associated conveying belt, and a means for fine adjustment of the angular settings of the wheel stands.

1. Field
The present invention relates to a folding unit for corrugated cardboard sheets in inline production of corrugated cardboard boxes, comprising a pair of parallel and laterally displaceable folding beams each with an endless conveying belt, which folding beams extend from the inlet of the folding unit to the outlet of the folding unit, a pair of folding rules which are arranged under the respective folding beams and which extend from the inlet of the folding unit and towards, but not all the way to, the outlet of the folding unit, a pair of folding rods fixedly positioned outside the respective folding rules and at angle to the respective folding rules, said folding rods being arranged in the folding unit front portion, seen in the conveying direction of the corrugated cardboard sheets, a pair of folding belts which are arranged under and cooperate with a respective folding rule and extend from an associated guide roller with a vertical shaft at the terminal end of the folding rods in the conveying direction to an associated guide roller with a horizontal shaft substantially adjacent to the outlet, and a pair of wheel stands which are each engaged with the respective folding belts in a position in the conveying direction of the corrugated cardboard sheets after the terminal end of the folding rules and substantially adjacent to the respective folding beams, whereby a corrugated cardboard sheet supplied at the inlet of the folding unit is grasped by the pair of conveying belts and conveyed along the folding rules and the two outermost panels of the corrugated cardboard sheet being successively folded from 0° to 90° by the respective folding rods in cooperation with the associated folding rule, after which each panel folded 90° is engaged with the associated folding belt and the folding rule cooperating with said folding belt for continued folding and then leaves the associated folding rule to be contacted with the associated wheel stand and is finally delivered from the pair of guide rollers with a horizontal shaft, the panels folded 180°, at the outlet.
The invention also relates to a method of folding corrugated cardboard sheets in inline production of corrugated cardboard boxes, comprising the steps of intermittently feeding corrugated cardboard sheets into a folding unit during application of glue; in the folding unit first portion, seen in the conveying direction of the corrugated cardboard sheet, successively folding the two outermost panels of the corrugated cardboard sheet from 0° to 90° by means of a pair of folding rules and a pair of folding rods cooperating with the same; in the folding unit second portion, seen in the conveying direction of the corrugated cardboard sheet, successively folding the two outermost panels of the corrugated cardboard sheet from 90° to 180° by means of a pair of folding belts and said pair of folding rules as well as a pair of wheel stands, by means of which the angle of each folding belt to the horizontal plane is set, and by means of a guide rod guiding the folded corrugated cardboard sheet between a pair of rolls for gluing the glue flap of one folded panel to the other folded panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern production of corrugated cardboard boxes takes place in what is referred to as inline machines. These machines are characterised in that all operations occur in line in one and the same machine. Corrugated cardboard sheets or blanks, which are adjusted to the format of the intended boxes, are intermittently fed one by one by means of a feeding unit in the inline machine.
After that the sheets are printed in one or more printing units which are located after the feeding unit. Then follow scoring, slitting and cutting of the glue flap which take place in the slitting unit of the machine. The next operation is optional punching of air holes, handle holes or any other punching depending on the construction of the boxes. This takes place in what is referred to as the punching unit. The folding unit is positioned after the punching unit. In the folding unit, glue is applied to the glue flap of the sheet, after which 180° folding of the outer panels of the sheet takes place. The glue flap is glued to the outer part of the panel on the opposite side of the sheet.

Folding unit and method of folding corrugated cardboard sheet


Exposure control apparatus, and various accompanying methods, for use in a photographic camera for improving the overall quality of photographed images, i.e. increasing the number of acceptable and higher quality images, that are produced by the camera for user-selected non-standard display sizes and/or different focal length photographing modes over that obtainable by adherence to ISO/ANSI exposure standards. The quality improvement is attained through user selection of a desired display size and/or focal length photographing mode for each image to be captured followed by an optimization, for that size and mode, of various photographic exposure parameters (exposure settings and, where appropriate, flash parameters). The invention violates the ISO/ANSI exposure standards where necessary to improve image quality, for the desired display size and focal length photographing mode, beyond that which would result from adherence to these standards.

Photographic cameras have been in widespread use for quite some time. Basically, such a camera operates by exposing a portion of a light sensitive media, i.e. a frame of film, for a pre-defined period of time to scene illumination. The light is focused on the frame through a lens that has an aperture of a given, often variable, size. A shutter, situated behind the lens and in front of the film, opens for a selected period of time in order to permit the light to transit therethrough, illuminate and expose the film. As a result of being properly exposed and subsequently developed, the film undergoes a photochemical process, on a two-dimensional basis throughout the frame, that locally varies the optical transmissivity of each portion of the frame in proportion to the amount of illumination that reaches that portion of the frame from a corresponding portion of the scene, thereby producing, depending upon whether reversal or negative film is used, either a two-dimensional positive or negative optical image of the scene. As such, tonal variations that appeared in the scene are captured in the frame of the film. Photographic prints are often made from negatives, while transparencies (commonly referred to as "slides") are made from positives.
Though this overall process, which relies on the use of silver halide as a photosensitive reagent in film, has basically remained unchanged over many years, this process is highly non-linear and subject to a great many variables which significantly complicate its use. In particular, exposure (E) is defined, under a standardized definition, as being a product of the illuminance (I) multiplied by the time (t) during which the film is exposed to this illumination. In this regard, see specifically ANSI (American National Standards Institute) standard PH 3.49-1971 "American National Standard for General Purpose Photographic Exposure Meters" (re-affirmed in its entirety with no modifications in 1987 as ANSI standard PH 3.49-1987) [hereinafter referred to as ANSI standard 3.49-1987], and also ANSI standard PH 2.7-1986 "American National Standard for Photography--Photographic Exposure Guide" and specifically page 13 thereof. In a camera, the combination of two settings, namely lens aperture (size of the lens opening) and shutter speed (time during which the shutter remains open), primarily defines a particular exposure. Unfortunately, lens aperture and shutter speed define more than just an amount of exposure, these settings also dramatically affect picture (hereinafter including both prints and transparencies) quality and hence must be judiciously chosen in each photographic situation; otherwise, a picture (also referred to hereinafter as an image) having inferior quality will result.
Skilled photographers often experience difficulties in choosing the proper photographic settings under certain lighting conditions, e.g. lens aperture and shutter speed settings, selection of lens focal length, use and amount of flash illumination. These situations include, e.g. photographing a scene with a relatively thick subject (i.e. one necessitating a lens aperture setting that provides a sufficiently wide depth-of-field) under relatively low-light and particularly without the aid of either a flash unit or a tripod (or other similar device to hold the camera steady during an exposure). While certain lighting conditions are so extreme that they simply can not be handled by even a professional photographer--such as the above low-light condition but also with use of a telephoto lens that has a relatively long focal length, the vast majority of scene lighting conditions fortunately do not fall in this category. Nevertheless, from time-to-time actual photographic conditions may present sufficient difficulties to effectively frustrate the ability of an amateur photographer to take a picture of acceptable quality. In fact, for many inexperienced amateurs, choosing lens aperture size and shutter speed settings amounts to little more than mere guesswork, through which the probability is high that an amateur will select wrong settings and quickly become frustrated. Frustration, if it occurs sufficiently often, leads to dis-satisfaction, which in the context of an amateur photographer often means that that photographer will simply stop taking pictures and turn to other leisure activities which he or she believes to be less trying and more satisfying than photography. Since amateur photographers constitute a major portion of the photographic market, including both equipment and film, their continued satisfaction is essential to the photographic industry.
Having recognized this fact, the art has for many years pursued a goal of developing a camera that, over its lifetime, will produce more pictures that exhibit at least an acceptable and preferably higher level of quality than those resulting from cameras heretofore in use while, at the same time, relieving the photographer of the tedium and difficulty associated with choosing the photographic settings appropriate to a current lighting condition.
Hence, over the years, considerable activity has occurred in the art to provide cameras that automatically select a lens aperture size and/or shutter speed appropriate for a current scene being photographed. However, many of these automated cameras have uniformly based their exposure settings on strict adherence to the ISO/ANSI exposure standards. By doing so, these cameras provide a level of quality that, for a number of photographic conditions, is simply unacceptable. For ease of reference, these automated cameras will be referred to hereinafter as "ISO/ANSI" based automated cameras.
In essence, with such ISO/ANSI based automated cameras, once the value of one exposure parameter (such as shutter speed) is selected, a value of the other parameter (e.g. lens aperture) is dictated by that which would be required to produce a so-called ISO "normal" exposure of the scene being photographed. For example, in many inexpensive single mode and expensive multi-mode ISO/ANSI based automated cameras known in the art [the latter including those which can operate in shutter priority mode (where the photographer manually selects the shutter speed and the camera selects the lens aperture size), aperture priority mode (where the photographer manually selects the lens aperture size and the camera selects the shutter speed), and/or program mode (where the camera selects both the shutter speed and lens aperture size)], once one exposure parameter setting is fixed, the other parameter setting (e.g. lens aperture size or shutter speed, respectively) is selected by substituting the former parameter setting, along with the ISO (ASA) film speed, into a standard ISO metering equation and solving for a value of the latter parameter. The camera then simply sets the shutter speed and lens aperture mechanisms to the corresponding parameter values and then activates the shutter to capture an image of the scene.
In this regard, a "normal" exposure is defined by the ISO/ANSI standards as the lowest log exposure value, i.e. a single point--the so-called "normal" exposure point, on an exposure vs. density characteristic curve for each layer of a film in use that, in terms of faithful tone reproduction, produces an "excellent" quality image on that layer. By contrast, the ISO (ASA) film speed is defined from the exposure necessary to produce a specific value of image density on each layer of the film. Given the value of the "normal" exposure point for each such layer and associated standard exposure definitions for the film as a whole, then pairs of lens aperture and shutter speed settings that will each produce an ISO "normal" exposure can be readily determined by substituting the values for ISO (ASA) film speed and scene luminance into the ISO standard metering equation and calculating the results. See, specifically, ANSI standard PH 2.27-1988 "American National Standard for Determination of ISO (ASA) Speed of Color Negative Films for Still Photography" and ISO standard 588-1979, with the former ANSI standard adopting the latter ISO standard for determining the film speed; and the ANSI standard 3.49-1987, particularly page 21 thereof for the ISO standard metering equation; as well as D. M. Zwick, "The Technical Basis of Photographic Speed Determination or What is a Normal Exposure", SMPTE Journal, Vol. 88, No. 8, August 1979, pages 533-573 (hereinafter referred to as the Zwick publication). For ease of reference, the pertinent standards will be referred to hereinafter as the "ISO/ANSI exposure standards" with an exposure defined by these standards being referred to hereinafter as synonymously either an ISO "standard" or normal exposure and the normal exposure point being referred to as the ISO normal exposure point. From these definitions and use of the standard metering equation, the ISO normal exposure point occurs at higher density and exposure values on the log exposure vs. density curve than those associated with the ISO (ASA) speed point.
Since the ISO/ANSI standards are not predicated upon actual scene content, but rather for example on scene luminance, the resulting exposure settings, in certain instances, will not coincide with the actual requirements of the scene; consequently producing a rather poor quality image in these instances. For example, if a photographer were to select a shutter speed (such as through operation of an ISO/ANSI based automated camera in a shutter priority mode) to photograph a scene with a relatively thick subject, then the camera, though use of an ISO/ANSI standard metering equation and the speed of the film, would select a lens aperture that will produce an ISO normal exposure. Unfortunately, since this aperture selection is made without consideration of the actual scene content, the resulting lens aperture may not provide sufficient depth-of-field to properly cover the entire subject thickness. Hence, in the resulting photographed image, peripheral portions of the subject may appear out-of-focus and blurred. Moreover, if the photographer were to manually select a lens aperture (such as through operation of the camera in an aperture priority mode), then the resulting shutter speed for an ISO normal exposure may be inadequate to fully compensate for actual or expected camera shake given the size of the lens in use and the actual steadiness (or lack thereof) of the photographer--thereby resulting in a completely blurred and hence ruined image. In addition, owing to simple inexperience, an amateur photographer, when operating the camera in either the aperture priority or shutter priority mode, may often respectively select either a lens aperture size that simply provides insufficient depth-of-field for a given subject thickness or a shutter speed that is insufficient to fully accommodate actual or expected camera shake; in either case, such an errant setting would produce a poor quality image.
In view of the poor attendant image quality that often results from strict adherence to the ISO/ANSI standards under certain photographic conditions, efforts underway at the present assignee have resulted in the recognition that, contrary to long-standing and widely held conventional wisdom, these standards are not sacrosanct and should be intentionally violated where, based upon actual scene requirements and film quality characteristics, improved image quality will likely result. In this regard, U.S. Pat. No. 5,049,916 (issued Sep. 17, 1991 to W. R. O'Such et al--hereinafter referred to as the O'Such '916 patent and commonly assigned to the present assignee hereof) describes an automated exposure control system that, where necessary, intentionally violates the ISO/ANSI exposure standards to provide exposure (and, where suitable, flash) parameter settings that, based upon meeting actual scene requirements and use of film quality characteristics, will yield highly acceptable images under a wide variety of photographic conditions. In fact, the resulting image quality produced by this system is consistently much higher than that attainable through strict adherence to the ISO/ANSI exposure standards.
Specifically, for a scene being photographed, the exposure control system described in the O'Such '916 patent: (a) determines initial exposure settings (e.g. shutter speed and lens aperture and, where appropriate, flash parameters) that are necessary to provide a baseline, typically ISO normal, exposure of that scene; (b) ascertains corresponding exposure settings (and again, where appropriate, flash parameters) that actually meet the scene requirements, such as, e.g., expected or actual camera shake induced image blur and required depth-of-field given actual subject thickness in the scene; (c) assesses, in response to differences between the initial and corresponding exposure settings, whether any extra system speed exists and, if so, the amount of extra system speed which is available for use in photographing the scene; and (d) finally, where possible, properly utilizes that extra system speed in a pre-defined prioritized incremental manner to vary the baseline exposure settings (and again, where appropriate, flash parameters) to provide an exposure of the scene that produces a desired level of quality--e.g. in excess of the quality that would result from strict adherence to the ISO/ANSI standards.
By utilizing the ISO/ANSI exposure settings as effectively a baseline point from which to diverge (rather than as final settings as in conventional "ISO/ANSI" based automated cameras) and then properly deviating from these settings where necessary to satisfy actual scene requirements, the system described in the O'Such '916 patent advantageously yields a greater number of images with an acceptable and generally higher level of quality than does adherence to the ISO/ANSI standards.
However, we have discovered that the system described in the O'Such '916 patent contains an implicit underlying assumption that, if ignored, can artificially limit the quality improvement attainable through use of this system.
Specifically, as with most imaging systems, the system described in the O'Such '916 patent assumes that an output image will be viewed on a single standard display size, e.g. a 31/2" by 5" (approximately 8.9 cm by 12.7 cm) photographic print, and at a standard viewing distance therefrom. The exposure settings are then optimized using parameter values that are based upon this assumption. However, in practice, photographic images are not necessarily enlarged to just one standard display size.
In this regard, images situated on photographic negatives are often enlarged across a variety of different display sizes. Oftentimes, prior to photo-finishing, an individual may elect to have an image on a particular negative enlarged from one standard size, e.g. such as 31/2" by 5", to another, such as 8" by 10" (the latter being approximately 20.3 cm by 25.4 cm), or even to a non-standard size. Furthermore, with the possible advent of non-standard (pseudo) focal length photographing modes, i.e. pseudo-panoramic and pseudo-telephoto, we foresee an increased demand for non-standard sized prints in the near future. In particular, through various information exchange processes that have recently been developed in the art to exchange data recorded by the camera with downstream photo-finishing equipment, a photographer should be able to store data on the film that, at the time of image capture, will specify the desired display type and/or focal length photographing mode of a resulting print. This data will likely be stored on the film in the vicinity of each frame and will specify the desired display size and/or the focal length photographing mode to use in enlarging the image, i.e. as a normal print or as either a pseudo-panoramic or pseudo-telephoto image. In use, once the film is developed and then ready to be printed, this data will be subsequently read during enlargement by a photo-printer and will appropriately control its operation (e.g. setting a proper reproduction magnification ratio) to yield the desired display size and focal length photographing mode. With respect to the photographing mode, for a pseudo-panoramic image, the image on the negative could be enlarged (with or without vertical cropping) using a particular aspect ratio that greatly favors a horizontal direction to form, for example, a 3.5" by 10" (approximately 8.9 cm by 25.4 cm) print; while for a pseudo-telephoto image, the image on the negative could be cropped both horizontally and vertically to yield a central portion of the image that, in turn, could be appropriately enlarged to a specific size. The appropriate cropping could also occur through the lens at the time of image capture. For further details of cameras that have pseudo-panoramic and pseudo-telephoto capabilities, see illustratively U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,025,275 (issued to N. Taniguchi et al on Jun. 18, 1991--hereinafter referred to as the Taniguchi '275 patent); 5,003,340 (issued to D. M. Harvey on Mar. 26, 1991) and also assigned to the present assignee hereof); 4,860,039 (issued to Y. Hata et al on Aug. 22, 1989); 4,583,831 (issued on Apr. 22, 1986); and Re. 32,797 (issued on Dec. 6, 1988--the latter two patents both being issued to D. M. Harvey and assigned to the present assignee hereof). While both pseudo-panoramic or pseudo-telephoto type images represent just one exemplary situation that may yield non-standard display sizes we expect that the increasing ease with which enlarging equipment will be able to generate a wide variety of different print sizes (both standard and non-standard) will only heighten the demand for producing images across a broad range of display sizes.
Unfortunately, while use of non-standard display sizes does affect perceptual image quality, this factor is not taken into account through the optimization process described in the O'Such '916 patent. Consequently, we have determined that, while the resulting image quality that is attained through this optimization process for non-standard display sizes and viewing distances is still quite acceptable, i.e. at least equaling and usually exceeding that which would result from adherence to the ISO/ANSI standards, further improvements in image quality may well be possible if this optimization process could be modified to properly account for this factor.
In particular, to determine a lens aperture size that meets the scene requirements, that aperture size must, at a minimum, impart sufficient depth-of-field to a resulting photograph to clearly capture the entire thickness of a subject. As described in the O'Such '916 patent, near and far subject distance measurements (or e.g. statistical assumptions therefor) are used to determine the required depth-of-field to faithfully photograph an image of a scene. Thereafter, an appropriate maximum lens aperture opening is determined as a well known function of not only the measured near and far subject distances and the focal length of the lens in use, but also of a so-called "blur circle criteria" (also commonly known as the "permissible circle of confusion"). As is well known, for any focal length lens and an aperture setting therefor, there is only one distance from the lens at which that lens will perfectly focus light emanating from any point in the object field onto a resulting focal plane. Given this, the blur circle criteria (when multiplied by an appropriate reproduction magnification ratio) defines a diameter of a circle on a print that when viewed at a given, e.g. standard, viewing distance, will generally appear as a single point to a human observer. Hence, any blur that extends over an area on the print equal to or less than that which is encompassed by this circle is not likely to be visible at the standard viewing distance to a naked eye. In essence, through use of the blur circle criteria and the measured near and far subject distances, a lens aperture setting can be defined as that which will capture an image with tolerable amounts of blur across the full extent of the required depth-of-field. Accordingly, the resulting portions of the image that are situated within the required depth-of-field will appear, at the standard viewing distance, clear and sharply focused.
Generally in camera design and in the exposure control system described in the O'Such '916 patent, the blur circle criteria itself, for e.g. amateur photographic cameras, is taken to be a fixed value, for example 0.002" (approximately 0.005 cm) on a negative for type 135 film. For images with increased sharpness, such as those taken with professional cameras, this criteria may be taken to be 0.001" (approximately 0.0025 cm). In any event, for a standard 31/2" by 5" print taken with an amateur type camera, a negative is enlarged typically by a printing magnification factor (also referred to herein as a "reproduction magnification ratio") of 3.9-4.times. resulting in an 0.008" (approximately 0.020 cm) blur circle on the print. For a 0.001" blur circle on the negative, the resulting blur circle on this standard sized print would be 004" (approximately 0.010 cm). Image blur of this magnitude is generally not visible to a human observer when this print is held at a standard viewing distance, such as for example 10" (25.4 cm) or so. In this regard, see pages 160-161 of L. Stroebel et al, Photographic Materials and Processes (.RTM.1986: Focal Press, Boston) for further details. Now, as the reproduction magnification ratio increases (such as through use of relatively small sized negatives, e.g. type 110 film which requires a ratio of approximately 7.2.times. for a 31/2" by 5" print rather than type 135 film which requires a ratio of 3.9-4.times., or by producing increasingly large prints from a common sized, e.g. type 135, negative), then to maintain the same size blur circle and hence image sharpness on the print, the blur circle criteria for the negative must decrease accordingly.
Unfortunately, a fixed number is used as the blur circle criteria used in the O'Such '916 patent regardless of the actual display size. Accordingly, the exposure control system described in this patent may not always produce optimum exposure (and, where suitable, flash) settings for prints that have a non-standard display size, which, in turn, will limit the quality improvement attainable through use of this system.
While an attempt has been made in the art, specifically that shown in the Taniguchi '275 patent, to limit image degradation (though in an entirely different exposure control system than that described in the O'Such '916 patent) attributable to increased image noise (graininess) at relatively high reproduction magnification ratios, this attempt does not appear to fully counter the adverse affects on changes in image quality that result from changes in display size. In particular, the Taniguchi '275 patent teaches limiting the reproduction magnification ratio, whenever a photographer, using a relatively high speed film (such as over ISO (ASA) 400 speed) with correspondingly relatively coarse particles, selects a relatively large "pseudo focal length".
Consequently, a need still exists in the art to provide an automatic exposure control system for use in a camera that not only further reduces the tedium, difficulty and guesswork, associated with using currently available automated cameras, to take pictures under a wide variety of different lighting conditions but also provides pictures that possess a further increase in their overall level of quality than that attainable through such exposure control systems now known in the art. In that regard, a specific need now exists for an exposure control system that, not only automatically selects appropriate exposure settings based upon scene requirements and film quality characteristics for an image being captured, such as the methodology which occurs in the system described in the O'Such '916 patent, but also properly compensates these settings for changes in the resulting display size of that image and/or in the focal length photographing mode associated therewith.

Automatic optimization of photographic exposure parameters for non-standard display sizes and/or different focal length photographing modes through determination and utilization of extra system speed


The present invention provides an apparatus which is engageable with at least a portion of a rim portion of an open paint can for holding a paint brush in a predetermined position which is at least one of over and within an opening of such paint can when such paint brush is not in use. Such apparatus comprises an arcuately shaped member having a predetermined length and a predetermined degree of curvature for securing such apparatus to such rim portion of such paint can in an operable position. Such arcuately shaped member includes a first portion having an arcuate shape in a length dimension and having a generally inverted U-shape in a depth dimension. Such first portion being engageable with such rim portion of such paint can. Such apparatus further includes an inverted L-shaped rod like member having a generally vertically disposed leg portion and a generally horizontally disposed leg portion positionable over an open paint can during use of such apparatus. Such apparatus also has a securing mechanism connected to an outwardly facing portion of such arcuately shaped member for securing such inverted L-shaped rod like member into an operating position during such use of such apparatus.

The art or occupation of painting has been with us for countless years. Whether its a person painting the rooms in his own house or a painter who works for his livelihood by painting, there is a common problem that is encountered. This is a problem of what to do with the paintbrush that contains paint when one must stop painting for whatever reason. There are countless interruptions that occur during a painting operation.
These interruptions can be the same interruptions that frequently occur when doing any chore or work such as answering the telephone, responding to the door bell, getting a drink of water or whatever. However, in painting there is always the aforementioned problem of what to do with the paintbrush. Normally a painter lays his brush across the top of the can when there is an interruption that forces him to stop painting. In doing so he must be certain that most of the paint is removed from the brush so it will not drip anywhere but in the can. Or the painter may lay the brush on its side in a roller tray, if a paint roller is also being used. None of these are ideal answers to "what to do with the paint brush" problem.
There is also the problem of what to do with the brush when one has to move from one location to another. A painter can hold the brush in one hand and the paint can in the other or he can lay the brush across the top of the can and use one hand to carry the can and brush and risk having the brush slip off the can and possibly fall and get paint on a surface not intended to be painted.
Thus, there is a need for a device or apparatus that could hold the brush without a danger of dropping the brush or spilling paint when an interruption occurs during a painting operation.


A digital data slicer which can allow the digital sum value (DSV) of the sliced signal to approach zero is provided. The digital data slicer includes a comparator for comparing the input signal with an analog reference slice level to thereby generate the sliced signal. A DSV calculator is used to obtain the DSV of the sliced signal. A DSV processor is used to compare the DSV with a predefined tolerance window to thereby generate a digital correcting signal. A digital-to-analog (D/A) converter is then used to convert the digital correcting signal into an analog form which either raises or lowers the reference slice level to the comparator. This feedback control goes on until the DSV is within the range defined by the tolerance window.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to digital data transmission systems, and more particularly, to a digital data transmission system of the type that might include a digital data slicer whose output sliced signal is based on feedback control using a digital sum value (DSV) of the output sliced signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
In digital data transmission systems, such as those used in transferring data within computers and over data networks, the appearance of a DC (direct current) component in the transmitted binary signal is highly undesirable. The DC component is the result of an unequal number of 1's and 0's in the transmitted binary signal. To minimize the DC component in the transmitted binary signal, a number of coding methods have been proposed which substitute symbols in the data stream with other symbols so that the number of 1's and 0's in the modified data stream is more nearly equal on a running basis. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,833,471 discloses a coding method which can make the digital sum value (DSV) of the encoded binary data to approach zero before being transmitted. Additionally, the Red Book IEC-908 for CD-ROM data transmission specifies several standards that can make the DSV of encoded binary data approach zero.
Various conventional digital data slicers are available. Three conventional digital data slicers are illustrated and described in detail respectively in the following with reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3. FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a first conventional digital data slicer which includes a comparator 10 and a low-pass filter (LPF) 12. The comparator 10 has two input terminals: a first terminal receiving an input signal X.sub.I1 and a second input terminal receiving a reference slice level V.sub.C1. The reference slice level V.sub.C1, is obtained by passing the output X.sub.O1, of the comparator 10 through the LPF 12. The output X.sub.O1, of the comparator 10 is referred to as a sliced signal and is the output of the digital data slicer. When the input signal X.sub.I1 is greater than the reference slice level V.sub.C1, the comparator 10 outputs a high voltage level representing a first binary logic value; when X.sub.I1 is lower than V.sub.C1, the comparator 10 outputs a low voltage level representing a second binary logic value.
FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a second conventional digital slicer which also includes a comparator 20 having two input terminals: a first terminal receiving an input signal X.sub.I2 and a second input terminal receiving a reference slice level V.sub.C2. This digital data slicer differs from the previous one shown in FIG. 1 in that the reference slice level V.sub.C2 is obtained by processing the output of the comparator 20, here designated by X.sub.O2, through a phase-locked loop (PLL) 22 and a digital-to-analog (D/A) converter 24. The output X.sub.O2 of the digital data slicer is once again the sliced signal. Under control of the clock signal K.sub.2, the phase-locked circuit 22 converts the sliced signal X.sub.O2 into a phase error 23. This phase error 23 is then converted by the D/A converter 24 into the reference slice level V.sub.C2 which is provided to the comparator 20. When the input signal X.sub.I2 is greater than the reference slice level V.sub.C2, the comparator 20 outputs a high voltage level representing a first binary logic value; when X.sub.I2 is lower than V.sub.C2, the comparator 20 outputs a low voltage level representing a second binary logic value. In an alternate embodiment of the digital slicer of FIG. 2, the D/A converter 24 can be replaced by an integrator or a current source.
For the two conventional digital data slicers shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, if the data rate of the input signal is changed, the working bandwidth of the digital data slicers should be adjusted accordingly to provide optimal performance. If the digital data slicer is based on analog circuitry, the bandwidth adjustment is difficult to carry out and the selection of an appropriate bandwidth is limited because only a limited range of bandwidths are available for the adjustment. If the digital data slicer is based on digital circuitry, the hardware required to allow for adjustment of the bandwidth is costly to implement. In most practical applications, the accuracy of the output of the digital data slicer will be degraded when the bandwidth of the input signal varies from its nominal design range.
FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a third conventional digital data slicer which is based on a comparator 30 having two input terminals: a first terminal receiving an input signal X.sub.I3 and a second input terminal receiving a reference slice level V.sub.C3. This digital data slicer differs from the previous two shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in that the output of the comparator 30, here designated by X.sub.O3, is processed by an up/down counter 32, a digital-to-analog (D/A) converter 34, and a frequency divider 36 to obtain the reference slice level V.sub.C3. The sliced signal X.sub.O3 is fed to the up/down counter 32 which is controlled by a clock signal K.sub.3 output by the frequency divider 36. The clock signal K.sub.3 is the output of the frequency divider 36 which divides an input clock signal NK.sub.3 by a factor of N. The up/down counter 32 operates in such a manner that when the sliced signal X.sub.O3 is at a first binary value (for example, 0) upon clock signal K.sub.3 switching, the stored content of the up/down counter 32 is decreased by one. When the sliced signal X.sub.O3 is at a second binary value (for example, 1) upon clock signal K.sub.3 switching, the stored content of the up/down counter 32 is increased by one. The content of the up/down counter 32, which is a digital value, is output to the D/A converter 34 where the digital value is converted into an analog signal. The analog signal from the D/A converter 34 then serves as the reference slice level V.sub.C3 provided as an input to the comparator 30. When the input signal X.sub.I3 is greater than the reference slice level V.sub.C3, the comparator 30 outputs a high voltage level represent a first binary logic value; when X.sub.I3 is lower than V.sub.C3, the comparator 20 outputs a low voltage level representing a second binary logic value.
In the digital data slicer of FIG. 3, the frequency divider 36 must be used to reduce the source frequency NK.sub.3 to the frequency output K.sub.3 because the D/A converter 34 has a limited bandwidth. One drawback to the use of the frequency divider is that it causes a delay and thus reduces the processing speed. Use of the frequency divider also reduces the accuracy of the digital data slicer.


The invention aims to provide a cured film that is high in sensitivity, able to form a pattern having a small-tapered shape after a development step and after a heat curing step, helpful to depress the difference in the width of patterned openings between before and after the heat curing step, and high in light-shielding capability and also aims to provide a negative type photosensitive resin composition that serves for the production thereof. The negative type photosensitive resin composition includes an alkali-soluble resin (A), a radical polymerizable compound (B), a photo initiator (C1), and a black colorant (Da); the alkali-soluble resin (A) including a first resin (A1) containing one or more selected from the group consisting of polyimide (A1-1), polyimide precursor (A1-2), polybenzoxazole (A1-3), polybenzoxazole precursor (A1-4), and polysiloxane (A1-5); and the radical polymerizable compound (B) including one or more selected from the group consisting of a fluorene backbone-containing radical polymerizable compound (B1) and an indane backbone-containing radical polymerizable compound (B2).

In recent years, many display instruments having thin display devices, such as mobile phones, tablet PCs, and TV sets, have been developed by using organic electroluminescence (hereinafter abbreviated as "EL") display devices.
In general, an organic EL display device has a transparent electrode of, for example, indium tin oxide (hereinafter abbreviated as ITO) on the light extraction side of the light emitting element and a metal electrode of, for example, an alloy of magnesium and silver on the other side than the light extraction side of the light emitting element. Furthermore, in order to divide pixels of the light emitting element, an insulation layer called a pixel dividing layer is formed between the transparent electrode layer and the metal electrode layer. After forming the pixel dividing layer, a film of a light emitting material is formed by vapor deposition through a deposition mask to produce a light emitting layer in a region, which will act as a pixel region, where an opening is formed in the pixel dividing layer to expose the underlying layer which is either a transparent electrode or a metal electrode. The transparent electrode or the metal electrode is normally formed by sputtering, but in order to prevent disconnection of the transparent electrode or the metal electrode formed, the pixel dividing layer is required to have a small-tapered pattern shape.
An organic EL display contains a self-luminous element that emits light using energy generated from recombination of electrons injected from the cathode and holes injected from the anode. Therefore, if there exists a substance that inhibits the movement of the electrons or holes or a substance working to form an energy level that inhibits the recombination of the electrons and holes, the luminous efficiency of the light emitting element will deteriorate or the light emitting material will be deactivated, leading to a shortened life of the light emitting element. The pixel dividing layer is formed at a position neighboring to the light emitting element, and accordingly degassing from the pixel dividing layer or an outflow of ion components can cause a decrease in the life of the organic EL display. Therefore, the pixel dividing layer needs to have high heat resistance. Generally known photosensitive resin compositions having high heat resistance include negative type photosensitive resin compositions prepared by using highly heat resistant polysiloxane or a radical polymerizable compound having a highly heat resistant fluorene skeleton (see, for example, Patent document 1). The use of such a negative type photosensitive resin composition serves to produce a highly heat resistant pixel dividing layer having a small-tapered pattern.
An organic EL display contains a self-luminous element and accordingly, if outside light such as sunlight enters outdoors, the reflection of the outside light acts to reduce the visibility and contrast. Thus, a good technique is required to reduce the reflection of outside light.
A known technique to reduce the reflection of outside light by blocking outside light is the use of a photosensitive resin composition that contains an alkali-soluble polyimide and a coloring agent (see, for example, Patent document 2). This technique intends to reduce the reflection of outside light by forming a highly heat resistant, light-shielding pixel dividing layer from polyimide and a photosensitive resin composition containing a coloring agent such as pigment.

Negative photosensitive resin composition, cured film, element provided with cured film, organic EL display provided with cured film, and method for producing same


A pneumatic impact tool includes a spindle extending along an X-axis, an output shaft extending along a Z-axis, and a spindle positioning device that includes a bushing and a stop pin. The bushing is threaded in a housing, and has a stop surface and a frustoconical outer surface. The stop surface obstructs the spindle from moving away from the output shaft. The frustoconical outer surface has opposite first and second ends. The first end is nearer to the X-axis and farther away from the Z-axis than the second end. The stop pin is disposed removably in the housing, and has an engaging surface abutting against the frustoconical outer surface, so as to prevent the bushing from moving in the housing in a direction away from the output shaft.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a positioning device, and more particularly to a spindle positioning device for a pneumatic impact tool.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional pneumatic impact tool 1 disclosed in US2011/0139474A1 includes: a housing 11; a spindle 12 disposed rotatably in the housing 11 and extending along an X-axis for power transmission; an output shaft 13 disposed rotatably in the housing 11, geared to the spindle 12, and extending along a Z-axis perpendicular to the X-axis for outputting a power; and a bushing 14. The spindle 12 has a position-limiting surface 121 parallel to the Z-axis. The bushing 14 is threaded in the housing 11, and has an end surface or stop surface 141 abutting against the position-limiting surface 121.
As such, when the spindle 12 is driven by a power source (not shown), such as a pneumatic cylinder, to rotate, due to the geared connection between the spindle 12 and the output shaft 13, the output shaft 13 is rotated to output the power. At the same time, the stop surface 141 of the bushing 14 obstructs the position-limiting surface 121 of the spindle 12 to prevent the spindle 12 from moving away from the output shaft 13 along the X-axis.
However, since the bushing 14 is just threaded to the housing 11, during power transmission, the spindle 12 pushes the bushing 14 to move in the housing 11 in a direction away from the output shaft 13 due to reaction force coming from the output shaft 13, thereby resulting in a change to the distance between the spindle 12 and the output shaft 13, which affects adversely smooth rotation of the spindle 12 and the output shaft 13 and reduces the service life of the pneumatic impact tool 1.
To overcome such drawbacks, glue is applied between the bushing 14 and the housing 11 to prevent movement of the bushing 14 in the housing 11. As a result, the spindle 12 and the output shaft 13 cannot be removed for replacement, repair, and maintenance.

Pneumatic impact tool with a spindle positioning device


A system for processing data packets in a data packet network has at least one input port for receiving data packets, at least one output port for sending out data packets, a processor for processing packet data, and a packet predictor for predicting a future packet based on a received packet, such that at least some processing for the predicted packet may be accomplished before the predicted packet actually arrives at the system. The system is used in preferred embodiments in Internet routers.

In data packet networks, of which the well-known Internet is a prime example, information is prepared and sent in the form of separate data packets over a data packet network from source to destination. Such a network comprises an elaborate interconnection of nodes, and data packets may take various paths from source to destination, accomplishing a number of separate hops along a particular network path. At each computerized node, packets are processed and forwarded on to a next node or to a final destination.
Each node that is a router in a data packet network comprises processors that receive incoming data packets and processes them according to forwarding information before sending them on. In current art, as one might expect, processors operate only on received data packets.
It has occurred to the inventor that if certain characteristics of soon-to-arrive data packets can be predicted before these packets actually arrive to a packet processor, then latency in normal packet processing may be reduced. Reduction could be in proportion to successful prediction of packet characteristics.
What is clearly needed is a method and apparatus for enabling a processor to predict certain characteristics of incoming data packets before they actually arrive for processing. A system such as this would reduce overall latency in the art of packet processing.

Method and apparatus for predicting characteristics of incoming data packets to enable speculative processing to reduce processor latency


A display system includes a repairable memory that re-routes data when a defect exists in the memory. A significant bit in the display memory that would otherwise be corrupted by a bad memory cell is re-routed to a least significant bit position in the memory, and the least significant information is discarded. The repairable memory includes a memory device and two repair routers. One repair router is on the input of the memory, and one repair router is on the output of the memory. One or more least significant bits can be sacrificed to preserve more significant bit information.

"Silicon Light Modulator" (SLM) is a term used to describe display devices that include a layer of liquid crystal (LC) sandwiched between a reflective electrode and a transparent top plane. The electrode and the layer of LC are organized as an array of pixels. When a voltage is changed on a pixel of the electrode, liquid crystals in the LC layer change their orientation and allow varying amounts of light to pass through. Each pixel can be controlled separately, and large displays can be made from large pixel arrays. Example SLMs are manufactured by Three-Five Systems Inc. of Tempe, Ariz.
Individual pixels in SLMs can be controlled by voltages that are generated using digital data. When 8 bits of digital data are used to control a single pixel, a gray scale with 256 levels can be created for each pixel. Memory devices such as random access memories can be used to hold digital information to influence the display. For example, a Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) device can be used to hold eight bits of information for each pixel in an array, and create 256 levels of gray scale for each pixel in the array.
As display sizes increase, the size of memory storage also increases. For example, a display having a resolution of 1280×1024 has approximately 1.3 million pixels, and the memory for storing pixel information is similarly large. Performance can be improved and costs of production can be lowered by coupling large memories more closely with the display devices that they drive, but one problem with coupling large memories too closely with display devices is that large memories often have defects introduced during manufacture. If a defective memory is coupled too closely with a display device, the display device may have to be discarded along with the defective memory after the memory defect is discovered.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for improved memories and display devices that can be closely coupled.


A ground supported single drum power boiler is described combining a refractory lined and insulated V-Cell floor; refractory lined and insulated combustion chamber; integrated fuel chutes configured to pre-dry wet solid fuel; top mounted fuel bin; internal chamber walls; configurable combustion air systems; and a back pass with after-burner ports and cross flow superheaters. The boiler can be configured in pre-assembled modules to minimize the field construction time and cost. An alternative embodiment is adaptable as a gasifier.

Power boilers have long been used by industries and utilities to produce steam for power production and process requirements. These boilers come in many types and sizes but embodiments of the present invention are an improvement on bed-fired water tube boilers ranging in steam production from 25 tons per hour to 300 tons per hour or more. The fuel may consist of bark, sawdust, wood chips, biomass trimmings, wood or other biomass pellets, urban waste, tire derived fuel (TDF), crushed coal, pet coke, sludge, fiber line rejects, straw based fuels, or other solid fuel, or a combination of fuels, and may have moisture content as high as 60%. These boilers are typically constructed of heavy wall steel tubes welded side by side into wall panels that form the front, rear and side walls of the boiler. The lower portion of this box forms the combustion chamber of the boiler and is sometimes called the furnace. The tubes are typically 2½″ to 3″ in outside diameter with a wall thickness from 0.18″ to 0.25″ and spaced apart 3″ to 4″ center to center. The gaps between the tubes are filled with steel strips about ¼″ thick by the width of the gap. The entire panel is seal-welded air tight. The lower ends of the wall tubes are welded into larger diameter horizontal header pipes that feed water to the walls. The tops of the wall tubes are also connected to larger diameter horizontal collector pipes that carry the water away from the walls to the steam drum, located at the top of the boiler. The front wall tubes are typically bent over to form the roof of the boiler and those tubes can terminate in a collector pipe or directly to the steam drum. Similarly the rear wall tubes are typically bent to create a "bullnose" or "nose arch" to direct combustion gasses across the convective section of the boiler and then terminate in a water drum, steam drum, or collector pipe at the top of the boiler. The top of the bullnose is usually at the elevation of the water drum. The convective section generally consists of a set of superheaters, located at the top of the boiler, that are heated predominantly through convection. Downcomer pipes connect the steam drum or water drum at the top of the boiler to the header pipes at the bottom of the tube walls and feed water from the drum to the walls. The bottom of the boiler can be a travelling or vibrating grate, tilting grate, sloping grate, step grate, fluidized bed, or a stepped floor as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/557,085. Fuel enters the boiler through a chute or chutes penetrating one or more walls of the boiler and may be broadcast into the boiler by a fuel distributor, for example, as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/406,035. The fuel falls to the floor or grate where it is mixed with air and burns. The heat released by the burning fuel is absorbed by the wall tubes and heats the water in the walls, where the water expands thermally and starts to boil. The heated and boiling water is less dense than the water in the downcomer pipes, therefore a natural circulation is created with hotter water rising in the tube walls and cooler water descending in the downcomer pipes. The natural circulation is an inherent safety feature of these boilers as the circulation rate increases as more fuel is burned and more heat released in the combustion chamber.
As the water circulates from the steam drum, down through the downcomers, up through the walls, and back to the steam drum, some of the water may boil but most of the boiling occurs in the steam generating bank, sometimes called the boiler bank. In older two drum boilers, the generating bank is a set of tubes connecting the bottom of the steam drum to the top of a water drum, sometimes called a mud drum, located up to thirty feet or so directly below the steam drum. There are generally hundreds of tubes connecting the two drums. The generating bank is arranged so that hot gasses from the furnace flow across the tubes and heat the water circulating inside. About half of the tubes in the generating bank of a two drum boiler are up flow tubes and the remainders are down flow tubes. The gas cools as it passes through the generating bank, therefore the first tubes the gas contacts (the front tubes as the gas flow through a boiler is generally front to back) are hotter and more boiling occurs in those tubes. The boiling water is less dense therefore the water circulates from the steam drum down through the rear tubes to the water drum then up through the front tubes back to the steam drum. The steam drum is generally about half full of water with saturated steam being released at the surface. The steam goes through a set of moisture separators and then to the superheaters. In newer single drum boilers there is no water drum, instead, the generating bank is fed by external (non-heated) downcomers from the steam drum and the water circulates down the downcomers and back up through all of the generating bank tubes to the steam drum. Single drum boilers are less expensive to build because the drums, especially with hundreds of tube penetrations, are the most expensive components. They also have other advantages including more flexible arrangements for locating the steam drum.
Some boilers also have sets of tubes located just at the furnace exit and arranged to cross the boiler at the top of the combustion chamber. These are called screen tubes or screens, and are often arrayed as platens in which several tubes are in close parallel arrangement, one on top of another, extending from the front or rear wall of the boiler through the opposite wall. These platens are generally separated 12″-15″ apart side to side and slope upward slightly to the other side of the boiler, or they may bend part way across the boiler and rise up vertically through the roof. The screen tubes are fed by external (non-heated) downcomers from the steam drum or water drum at their lower end and relieved back to the steam drum at their upper end. Water circulates from the steam drum or water drum through the screens and back up to the steam drum. The screens are located where the gasses are very hot and absorb heat predominantly by radiation.
After the steam leaves the steam drum it goes to the superheaters. These are sets of tubes typically located at the top of the boiler, above the screen tubes and in front of the generating bank. The superheaters increase the temperature of the steam from the saturation temperature in the steam drum to the final temperature desired for the process or power plant. The superheater tubes are typically arranged as vertical platens with up to a dozen tubes or more in close parallel arrangement front to back in each platen. There are many platens located across the width of the boiler with a spacing of 6″-15″ between platens. There are frequently three or more superheater sections with external (unheated) connecting pipes and/or desuperheaters between the sections. Desuperheaters or attemporators control the final steam temperature by spraying water into the steam, or other means. The superheater tubes start at the top of the boiler and drop vertically to just above the bullnose then run up and down a number of times before exiting back through the roof. The steam passes through the superheaters just once therefore the superheaters are not part of the boiler circulation circuits.
After the combustion gasses exit the generating bank they typically flow through an economizer or an air heater. Economizers are tube bundles either in cross flow or parallel flow to the gas stream through which the feedwater passes once and is heated and then goes to the steam drum. The feedwater flow is controlled to maintain the water level in the steam drum. Feedwater makes up for the steam that is produced and exits the boiler. Upon entry into the drum, feedwater is baffled and mixes with some of the water already within the steam drum to flow to the downcomer pipes or downcomer tubes. This feedwater mixed zone is colder and has higher density, which provides the driving head for the natural circulation in the boiler. The economizer may be located immediately after the generating bank (relative to the gas flow) integral with the boiler, or it may be located downstream from a tubular air heater or a dust collector.
Some of these boilers are supported from underneath (ground supported) but most, especially larger boilers, are hung from the top and expand downward as they heat up. A "hung" boiler typically may require a very strong and expensive structure to support the boiler. One of the biggest problems with current boiler design is the cost of erection. Smaller boilers are often supplied as a single unit or "package" boiler but larger boilers typically may be erected in the field. This frequently takes much longer and may be much more expensive than anticipated, driving up the actual cost of the boiler. To partially address this problem, some boilers have been "modularized" to speed up the construction and reduce the risk associated with assembling the boiler in the field. Embodiments of present invention incorporate some specific modular features to minimize the time and cost to erect the boiler.
Boilers as described above have been in use for many years and the technology is very mature, but they are very expensive and have significant operational limitations. Grate fired boilers and fluidized bed boilers are limited in the temperatures they can tolerate in the lower furnace otherwise they will over heat the grate or sand bed. They also do a poor job of mixing the combustion air and pyrolysis gasses above the bed because the air flow arrangement is dictated by the requirements to cool the grate or fluidize the sand bend. This leaves little setup flexibility to improve combustion in the boiler. Mechanical grates suffer from poor reliability and fluidized bed boilers suffer from excessive sand erosion and sand agglomeration. These deficiencies are addressed with the introduction of stepped floor and fuel drying chute technologies as described in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 12/557,085 and 12/471,081 respectively, and provisional application 61/522,939. Aspects of those technologies are incorporated into embodiments of the present invention to improve the combustion of difficult to burn fuels.

Method and apparatus for improved firing of biomass and other solid fuels for steam production and gasification


The present invention is directed to a method and thin film transistor having a linear doping profile between the gate and drain regions. This is constructed in a particular manner in order to achieve a thin film transistor having a significantly high breakdown voltage of the order of 700 to 900 volts, much greater than that achieved in the prior art.

The instant invention relates to integrated circuit devices which are particularly adapted for high voltage applications. The invention particularly relates to integrated circuit devices which are manufactured by the use of semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) technology and which devices exhibit improved voltage breakdown properties.
A major problem in high voltage integrated circuit technology is to find a satisfactory solution for the problem of isolation of components and subcircuit sections.
The usual method of electrically isolating components within an integrated circuit and, more particularly, within a power integrated circuit (PIC) or a high voltage integrated circuit (HVIC) is by what is called "junction isolation". In such a method p-type diffusions may be used to isolate various devices formed in a n-type epitaxial layer on top of a silicon substrate. Such a method is described in Rumennik, IEEE Spectrum, Vol. 22, pp. 42-48, July 1985.
Another method of electrical isolation of such components is the so-called "dielectric isolation". In this method, an electrically-insulating material, such as silicon dioxide is used to isolate the individual components such as devices operating at very different electrical potentials. SOI technology when the semiconductor is silicon and the insulator is silicon dioxide (hereinafter referred to as "oxide") is an example of a dielectric isolation method. In this technology the devices are built in a layer of silicon, approximately 0.1-2 .mu.m thick which is separated from the silicon substrate by a dielectric layer such as silicon oxide typically 0.1-5 .mu.m thick.
Several methods are known for producing the SOI starting material. In one of these methods "SIMOX", silicon oxide is formed by ion implantation of oxygen ions into a silicon wafer.
In another method, zone-melt-recrystallized (ZMR) material is prepared by depositing a polycrystalline silicon layer over an oxide-coated silicon wafer and converting the polycrystalline silicon into a monocrystalline silicon film by irradiating the polycrystalline silicon with a power source such as a laser or a graphite-strip heater.
Another method is the bonding and etchback or direct bonding method in which two oxide-coated silicon wafers are joined together to form a strong bond and one of these wafers is thinned to the desired thickness.
Lateral transistor structures for high voltage applications may be seen by way of a lateral n-channel DMOS (LDMOS) transistor, such as that seen in the article by Rumennik, IEEE Spectrum, Volume 22, July, 1985, pages 42-48. In this article, discussing power integrated circuits, the arrangement of a lateral double-diffused MOS transistor is illustrated in FIG. 4C. It is noted that such lateral MOS transistor enables epitaxial layer thicknesses much smaller than those of vertical devices, and that increasing the distance between the source and drain leads to an increase in the breakdown voltage.
The use of nominally high voltage thin film structures has been previously discussed in the art. For example, the Tuan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,814, discusses high voltage thin film transistors using amorphous silicon. In such a structure, a gate electrode and source electrode are vertically superimposed while a drain electrode is displaced laterally from both although at a different vertical level with respect to each. An undoped or lightly doped amorphous silicon layer is provided between the source and drain electrodes to conduct current to the drain electrode under control of the gate electrode. A second gate electrode, also vertically below the first gate electrode and extending laterally closer toward the drain electrode, is provided to increase breakdown voltage. However, the patent is completely silent as to the amount of breakdown voltage.
Several methods have been proposed for improving the breakdown voltage of devices formed in the SOI material.
An offset-gate SOI MOS transistor is described in C. I. Drowley et al (Mat. Res. Symp. Proc., Vol. 33, p. 133, 1984). This article indicates that with the structure shown a breakdown voltage of 38V is achieved.
A method of increasing the breakdown voltage that applies specifically to SIMOX devices is shown in S. Nakashima, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Volume ED-33, No. 1,
January, 1986, pages 126-132. By this technique, only a moderately high breakdown voltage is achieved, generally of about 180V.
In each of these prior art structures forming the background to the present invention, various problems and difficulties occur. Especially high breakdown voltages have not been obtained in the prior art.

High voltage thin film transistor having a linear doping profile and method for making


The method comprises the following steps: a terminal sending an acquisition request for acquiring data to a server, wherein the acquisition request comprises identification information for identifying the terminal;

With rapid improvement of the performance of handheld terminals such as mobile phones, more and more functions can be achieved. A database used for these functions, or an algorithm library used to realize these functions, is the achievement of the intelligence of developers. What developers expect is that these algorithm libraries are used by terminals through authorization, not used unauthorizedly. There are some loopholes in existing algorithm library protection methods, which can be cracked by simple attack means, which makes the algorithm library likely to be used in an unreasonable way without cost.

Method for a terminal to acquire and access data

Abstract: the server judging whether the terminal is a serviceable terminal according to the identification information; the server sending a request for the terminal to provide a first information when the judgment result is that the terminal is a serviceable terminal; the terminal sending the first information after receiving the request; the server receiving the first information and generating an encryption key for a configuration file based on at least the first information; the server processing the identification information by using a digest algorithm and writing the processing result into the configuration file; the server encrypting the configuration file with the encryption key; and the server sending the encrypted configuration file and the data to the terminal.


A tamper evident closure for a container opening including a substantially cylindrical end cap closed at a first end by a top surface, open at a second opposite end and including an annular side wall having a predetermined width extending between the first and second ends, a tamper band member frangibly connected about the second opposite end of the end cap for detaching from the end cap and remaining affixed to the container upon removal of the end cap from the container, an engagement member integrally formed with a first portion of an inside surface of the tamper band for providing gripping contact between the tamper band and a substantially cylindrical or rectilinear neck portion of the container, for restricting axial movement of the tamper band with respect to the end cap and the neck portion and for preventing removal of the tamper band from the container upon severing of the frangible connection and removal of the end cap, and stop members integrally formed with a second portion of, and at a plurality of predetermined positions about, the inside surface of the tamper band for reinforcing the engagement member during contact with the rectilinear neck portion of the container.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to tamper bands for container end caps, and more particularly to a tamper band having an engagement member on its interior surface which is flexible and provides gripping of a substantially cylindrical or rectilinear portion of the container neck during removal of the end cap to restrict axial movement of the tamper band, enable severing of a frangible connection between the tamper band and the end cap and retain the tamper band on the container after removal of the end cap to provide evidence of tampering.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to sever a frangible connection between a tamper band and an end cap affixed to a container neck, axial movement of the tamper band with respect to the end cap must be restricted as the end cap is removed. To restrict such axial movement, the container neck typically requires modification to include a tamper band engagement flange about its periphery which abuts the tamper band during removal of the end cap.
Examples of such tamper bands are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,470,513 and 4,478,343 each of which discloses a tamper-indicating closure having an annular lower portion which includes a plurality of spaced apart tabs connected by way of flexible webs and having a projection on each tab. The container includes a neck portion having an annular flange below the threads on the neck including an upper annular surface which is sloped downwardly to meet an essentially horizontal lower annular surface. During removal of the closure, the projections of the tabs interfere with the horizontal lower annular surface of the annular flange to prevent removal of the tamper band and provide severing of the frangible connection. To ensure that the tabs of the annular lower portion make good interfering contact with the annular container flange, the closure can be modified to vary the positioning of the annular lower portion with respect to the annular upper portion of the tamper band or by providing projections on the tabs and/or on the lower inside part of the annular upper portion of the tamper band.
It therefore is desirable to provide a tamper band having an engagement member on its interior surface which engages a substantially cylindrical or rectilinear portion of the container neck to restrict axial movement of the tamper band, enable severing of the frangible connection between the tamper band and the end cap and retain the tamper band on the container neck to provide visible indication of tampering to a user after the end cap is removed.

Tamper band with flexible engagement member


Embodiments herein present a structure, method, etc. for a self-alignment scheme for a heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT). An HBT is provided, comprising an extrinsic base, a first self-aligned silicide layer over the extrinsic base, and a nitride etch stop layer above the first self-aligned silicide layer. A continuous layer is also included between the first self-aligned silicide layer and the nitride etch stop layer, wherein the continuous layer can comprise oxide. The HBT further includes spacers adjacent the continuous layer, wherein the spacers and the continuous layer separate the extrinsic base from an emitter contact. In addition, an emitter is provided, wherein the height of the emitter is less than or equal to the height of the extrinsic base. Moreover, a second self-aligned silicide layer is over the emitter, wherein the height of the second silicide layer is less than or equal to the height of the first silicide layer.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments herein present a device, method, etc. for a self-alignment scheme for a heterojunction bipolar transistor.
2. Description of the Related Art
For heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) with a blanket silicon germanium (SiGe) layer, protecting the low temperature epitaxy (LTE) layer from reactive ion etching (RIE) is necessary to control vertical doping profile of the intrinsic part of the device. One approach is to use an etch stop layer on which an emitter opening land upon. This leads to a non-self-aligned emitter/extrinsic-base.
Another approach uses a sacrificial pedestal to define the extrinsic-base. The sacrificial pedestal is later removed to be replaced by the emitter poly. This approach is self-aligned but the final emitter dimension is determined by several process steps (pedestal, spacers, gap created by the removal of the sacrificial pedestal, a second set of spacers) which makes control and scaling of the emitter difficult.
To reduce base resistance, it is advantageous to silicide the extrinsic-base up to the spacer separating the emitter to the extrinsic-base. The resulting emitter plug is of minimum dimension and is difficult to contact by metallization without creating shorts between the emitter contact and the near-by extrinsic-base.

Self-alignment scheme for a heterojunction bipolar transistor

International Business Machines Corporation


There may be provided a method for detecting a cyberattack or an operational issue, the method may include generating, by an IOT device or by an intermediate device located upstream to the IOT device and downstream to a computerized system, a first core-set, wherein the core-set comprises weighted records that are an approximation of a first data set related to a behavior of the IOT device; sending to the computerized system the first core-set; and finding, by the computerized system, outliers in the first core-set, and labeling the outliers as cyber attacks or operational events by the relations between the outliers and a second dataset of cluster centroid indicative of cyber attacks or operational events.

With the growth of networked computer systems, multiple devices have been coupled over a network to control, manage and operate computerized tasks. In multiple cases, holding one system which controls and manages the security in an inspected network with multiple inspected computers seemed to be a good approach. The approach of employing one dedicated system for large network of critical machines for offloading the security operational tasks to this system has multiple benefits. Yet, in some cases, the security operational tasks conducted by a dedicated system required involvement of the inspected computerized devices communicating over the network. One of the challenges manifested by this approach is with the number of devices a single and central system manages. In some cases, with such an approach, the detection of a security issue may take a long time which can jeopardize the health of the network and the devices communicating over this network.
The use case of IoT devices, wherein a single and light device provided in a small form factor can be dedicated to a relatively narrow set of tasks, led to a requirement of multiple devices controlling a large set of industrial devices such as sensors, cameras, recorders, and more. With IoT devices, the security central systems controlling and enforcing the security policies are required to detect security issues by managing an enormously growing number of tasks, operations, and alerts. In many cases, detecting a security issue requires receiving information, conducting probation on the data, communicating with the suspect device, and more. In some cases, a network may comprise a large number of devices communicating with each other, or with the central system. Thus, the task to complete a security detection in a reasonable time window in order to minimize the impact of the security issue, becomes challenging.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Detection of cyberattacks and operational issues of internet of things devices


Methods and systems are provided for processing natural language queries. Such methods and systems may receive a natural language query from a user and generate corresponding semantic tokens. Information may be retrieved from a knowledge base using the semantic tokens. Methods and systems may leverage an interpretation module to process and analyze the retrieved information in order to determine an intention associated with the natural language query. Methods and systems may leverage an actuation module to provide results to the user, which may be based on the determined intention.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to information systems, and more particularly, to methods and systems for processing natural language queries for information in a structured knowledge base. In one example, the present invention may provide an interface through which information can be retrieved from a data archive in response to natural language queries.
2. Description of the Related Art
The advent of high performance data processing systems has greatly improved information accessibility. Using modern computers and processors, information from various sources can be almost instantaneously obtained. However, the value of information access is often frustrated by an inability to effectively cope with and exploit it. For example, given the vast amount of accessible information, it is often difficult and cumbersome to discern relevant data from extraneous information. Although information access is advancing, tools which facilitate the conversion of such information into useful and profitable knowledge are lacking.
Search engines represent one tool commonly used with Internet and other computer applications to provide information access. Typically, search engines index the content of a given system, and provide users with results by comparing queries with entries in the index. Conventional searching systems, however, cannot be tailored to a plurality of users having distinctive vernaculars and/or language preferences. Further, typical search engines are unable to dynamically learn by user feedback. That is, the utility of conventional searching tools does not improve with increased use. Moreover, conventional searching mechanisms are limited by a user's ability to articulate the query. For example, the user will not obtain useful results if the searching system fails to recognize the inputted query or the inputted query does not properly relate to the information sought.
Certain information access tools allow users to enter natural language queries, such as "How many German cars were sold in the US last year?" However, such systems are not easily personalized for different users. Further, these systems often lack the ability to dynamically incorporate and utilize user feedback to improve performance and efficiency. Thus, like other systems, the utility of these tools are not readily improved by way of increased use. Moreover, like other conventional systems, these tools are unable to effectively deal with ambiguities resulting from query terms. These systems also lack the ability to effectively deal with freeform and non-grammatical language queries. In addition, such natural language search tools are limited in their ability to effectively filter relevant information based on natural language input.
Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture consistent with certain embodiments of the present invention are directed to obviating one or more of the problems set forth above.

Systems and methods for processing natural language queries


A modular nut assembly includes a substantially cylindrical body portion having a threaded interior surface and an exterior surface. The exterior surface includes a first portion configured for engagement by a mechanical tool and a second portion. A textured ring is configured for engagement by a hand of a user, wherein the second portion is configured to receive the textured ring.

Connectors are used to connect coaxial cables to various electronic devices, such as televisions, antennas, set-top boxes, satellite television receivers, etc. Conventional coaxial connectors generally include a connector body having an annular collar for accommodating a coaxial cable, an annular nut rotatably coupled to the collar for providing mechanical attachment of the connector to an external device, and an annular post interposed between the collar and the nut. The annular collar that receives the coaxial cable includes a cable receiving end for insertably receiving a coaxial cable and the annular nut includes an internally threaded end that permits screw threaded attachment of the body to an external device.
Conventional coaxial cables typically include a center conductor surrounded by an insulator. A conductive foil is disposed over the insulator and a braided conductive shield surrounds the foil-covered insulator. An outer insulative jacket surrounds the shield. In order to prepare the coaxial cable for termination with a connector, the outer jacket is stripped back exposing a portion of the braided conductive shield. The exposed braided conductive shield is folded back over the jacket. A portion of the insulator covered by the conductive foil extends outwardly from the jacket and a portion of the center conductor extends outwardly from within the insulator.
Upon assembly, a coaxial cable is inserted into the cable receiving end of the connector body and the annular post is forced between the foil covered insulator and the conductive shield of the cable. A locking sleeve is then moved axially into the connector body to clamp the cable jacket against the post. The connector can then be attached to an external device by tightening the internally threaded nut to an externally threaded terminal or port of the external device.

Modular nut assembly having textured ring