Disclosed is a semiconductor memory having a main memory cell array and redundant memory cells, with a plurality of fuses that can be physically separated from their associated fuse latches. Physical separation is possible by incorporating serial transfer circuitry to serially transfer fuse data from the fuses towards the latches. As a result, only a small number of wires are needed to connect the fuses to the fuse latches, allowing for flexible fuse placement within the memory.

Due to the increasing density and complexity of contemporary random access memories (RAMs), it is difficult to fabricate RAMs that are completely free of defects within the memory cell array. Accordingly, to increase the yield of these devices, a portion of the memory cell array is designated as a redundant memory section. Memory cells of the redundant memory are accessed whenever it is determined that an incoming address corresponds to a defective portion of the main memory. On-chip logic circuitry is employed to store defective main memory addresses and facilitate writing and reading of data to the redundant memory. This logic circuitry includes multiple fuse groups wherein individual fuses within a fuse group are either open or closed to represent a logic state. Each fuse group thus forms a logic word corresponding to an address of a defective cell or group of cells in the main memory.
Referring to FIG. 1, a simplified block diagram of a conventional dynamic random access memory (DRAM) integrated circuit 10 is shown. DRAM 10 includes a DRAM memory block 12 having a MxN array of memory cells 15, forming M rows R.sub.1 -R.sub.M by N columns C.sub.1 -C.sub.N. Although only one memory block 12 and associated circuitry are shown in FIG. 1, there are typically several memory blocks fabricated onto a single DRAM chip. Within each MxN array, K redundant columns, C.sub.N-J to C.sub.N (where J=K-1) and Z redundant rows R.sub.M-Y to R.sub.M (where Y=Z-1) are designated for redundant memory. Row decoder logic 13 decodes a parallel row address input signal RA to enable one or more of the rows R.sub.1 to R.sub.M-Z corresponding to the row address. Likewise, one or more columns C.sub.1 to C.sub.N-K are enabled by column decoder logic 11 in response to a column address input CA. Data is either written to or read from the particular memory cell or cells 15 enabled by both row decoder 13 and column decoder 11. Data flows on bit lines BL connected to each cell, with the direction controlled by read/write signal R/W.
Column and row fuse banks 18 and 18', respectively, include multiple groups of fuses where each fuse group stores a column or row address corresponding to a defective column or row. Each fuse is a laser fusible link which is typically composed of polysilicon or metal and covered by a uniform layer of dielectric, such as silicon dioxide. After DRAM fabrication, tests are performed on the memory array to determine which rows and/or columns contain defective cells. The corresponding addresses are then written into the fuse groups by laser destruction of selective fuse links to create electrical opens. Each fuse group may contain about ten fuses to store a column or row address.
When the DRAM chip is powered up, the fuse information in the column and row fuse banks is written as parallel data into respective column and row fuse latches 16 and 16'. The fuse latches are read during the course of chip operation by associated column and row fuse decoders 14, 14'. Incoming column addresses CA to column decoder logic 11 are dynamically provided to column fuse decoder 14 which compares the address to those stored in the fuse latches 16. If there is a match, the column decoder logic 11 will not enable the column select line CSL.sub.i corresponding to the address. Instead, the column fuse decoder 14 will enable a specific one of column select lines CSL.sub.N-J to CSL.sub.N to activate a redundant column for data storage. Row fuse decoder 14' operates in conjunction with row decoder logic 13 in analogous fashion to enable any of redundant row select lines RSL.sub.M-Y to RSL.sub.M.
FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary architecture of a prior art DRAM chip such as a 64M chip. Four 16M memory blocks 12a-12d are disposed in a region 20, with respective decoders/fuse decoders 24a-24d adjacent the respective memory blocks in a central area therebetween. Each of decoders/fuse decoders 24a-24d (hereafter, decoders 24a-24d) includes column decoder logic 11 with associated column fuse decoder 14, and/or row decoder logic 13 and associated row fuse decoder 14' discussed above. Fuse latches 26a-26d and fuse banks 28a-28d are adjacent respective decoders 24a-24d. A typical DRAM contains thousands of fuses, with each fuse connected to an associated fuse latch. As such, the fuse banks are placed close to the fuse latches and fuse decoding logic to minimize the necessary wiring. Other circuitry such as timing and control logic 31a, 31b and address buffers 41 are situated, e.g., in regions 30a and 30b away from the memory blocks.
A type of packaging technology often used for DRAM chips is known as leadframe on chip (LOC) technology, in which a leadframe is bonded to the chip surface by means of an LOC "tape". The leadframe supports connection of conductive leads or terminals to the internal electronics of the chip. The LOC tape serves as a physical connection between chip and leadframe as well as a "soft buffer" when a bondwire is connected to the tip of a lead. Bonding is only permitted on lead areas supported by the tape.
As shown in FIG. 2, LOC tape 32 runs across DRAM 10, overlaying two of the memory blocks 12a, 12b. A row of electrical contact pads 34 are disposed between top and bottom halves of the layout. Bondwires 23 electrically connect contact pads 34 to leads 33. The circuit connections to contact pads 34 include the address input lines, the R/W line, and so forth. The placement of LOC tape 32 is restricted by the fuse banks 28a-28d for reliability reasons. The LOC tape attracts moisture and therefore would be a concern for the unprotected fuse region if the tape were to run too close to the fuses. Consequently, LOC tape 32 needs to be cut to avoid running over the fuse banks. Typical tape design rules require a tape break of at least one millimeter. This reduction in overall tape length results in the lead pitch becoming smaller. A reduced lead pitch is problematic for memories in which a large number of leads need to be accommodated on a small die size, such as a 64M DRAM design based on 0.25 um technology. For instance, with chip lengths on the order of 10 mm, a 1 mm tape break tightens the lead pitch by about 10%.
As an alternative to cutting the LOC tape, the fuses could hypothetically be moved to another area of the chip, such as region 30a or 30b. Moving the fuses to one of regions 30a, 30b or elsewhere on the chip would require a large number of connecting wires to connect the fuses to the fuse latches to implement parallel fuse blow data transfer. Alternatively, the fuses could principally be moved together with the fuse latches and decode logic; however, this would also result in a prohibitively large number of connecting wires or in speed penalties. Therefore, prior art architectures place fuses close to the associated latches and decode logic and there is only a limited flexibility in moving the fuses.
Accordingly, there is a need for a memory architecture which avoids the necessity of cutting the LOC tape along with the associated reduction in lead pitch, and which does not employ an overly-complex wiring arrangement.

Flexible fuse placement in redundant semiconductor memory


An organic light emitting display device comprising a display panel and a panel driver is disclosed. The display panel includes pixels and sensing lines respectively coupled to the pixels. Each pixel includes an organic light emitting device and a driving transistor to control a current flow in the organic light emitting device. The panel driver is configured to receive an input image data, to generate a sensing data by sensing a characteristic variation of the driving transistor, to generate a peak luminance data to limit peak luminance of an input image, to generate a corrected data by correcting the input image data based on the sensing data, to convert the corrected data to a data voltage based on a plurality of reference gamma voltages set based on the peak luminance data, and to supply the data voltage to the pixels.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic light emitting display device and a method for driving the same.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, an organic light emitting display device is a self light-emitting device that displays images by allowing an organic light emitting device to emit light through recombination of electrons and holes. This organic light emitting display device has received much attention as a next generation flat panel display device, owing to its advantages of fast response speed, low power consumption, and excellent viewing angle characteristic based on self-light emission.
The organic light emitting display device of the related art includes a plurality of pixels formed in pixel regions defined by the crossings between a plurality of scan control lines and a plurality of data lines. Each of the plurality of pixels includes an organic light emitting device and a driving transistor for controlling a current flowing in the organic light emitting device.
According to the organic light emitting display device of the related art, as such characteristic deviations as a threshold voltage Vth and mobility of the driving transistor are generated for each pixel due to a process deviation, the amount of current for driving the organic light emitting device is varied. For this reason, a luminance deviation is generated between the pixels. To solve this problem, the Korean laid-open patent No. 10-2013-0066449 having a counterpart of US 2013/0147694 A1 (hereinafter, collectively referred to as the "related art reference") discloses the external compensation technology for compensating for a characteristic variation of a driving transistor included in each pixel through a data correction. In other words, according to the related art reference, the characteristic variation of the driving transistor is compensated for by externally sensing a characteristic variation of the driving transistor included in each pixel, generating a sensing data, calculating a compensation value corresponding to the sensing data, and then using the compensation value in determining the pixel data to be supplied to the corresponding pixel.
However, the external compensation technology disclosed in the related art reference has a problem in that a characteristic variation of the driving transistor cannot be compensated for if the compensation value based on the characteristic variation of the driving transistor is more than a set threshold compensation value. In other words, since there is a set limit in the compensation value for compensating for the characteristic variation of the driving transistor through data correction, as shown in graph (a) of FIG. 1, the characteristic variation of the driving transistor may be compensated for to the extent that the compensation value for each pixel is less than a threshold compensation value VLimit. However, as shown in graph (b) of FIG. 1, the compensation value for each pixel exceeding the threshold compensation value VLimit is limited by the threshold compensation value VLimit, whereby the characteristic variation of the driving transistor may not be adequately compensated for.
Accordingly, the organic light emitting display device disclosed in the related art reference has a problem in that the driving transistor is degraded when the organic light emitting display device is driven for a long period of time.

Organic light emitting display device and method for driving the same


The present invention is to provide a demolition utility tool which includes a bar-shaped handle provided with a first tool portion and a second tool portion at two ends thereof, respectively. The first tool portion is formed with a gas shut-off feature for rotating and thereby turning off a gas valve switch, and has one side provided with an axe blade for chopping or breaking apart an object and another side provided with a pike for cutting into an object by a striking action. The second tool portion is U-shaped and configured to rotate a toothed locking element with ease while holding the handle. Therefore, instead of carrying a good number of demolition tools around, a firefighter only needs to bring the demolition utility tool for performing all kinds of demolition operations while in firefighting.

According to statistics, death in a fire results far more frequently from choking or suffocation than from burning. The main reason for this lies in the fact that fire tends to break out at night or while people are asleep, during which time the doors and windows of the fire scene are often shut and therefore keep the heavy smoke from dissipating. Closed doors and windows also hinder evacuation and make it difficult for firefighters to advance fire hoses into a building to put out fire. As a result, firefighters or rescue team members must break the closed doors or windows with axes or other tools to enable water application to the interior of the building or help those trapped in the building to escape.
In order not to lose time in firefighting or rescuing, forced entry by demolition is typically required; hence, the removal of obstacles is practically a standard operation. For example, doors or windows must be destroyed; wood panels or walls, knocked down; or bolts or nails, unfastened. To effectively remove the foregoing and other obstacles, the corresponding tools are called for, which include axes, wrenches, chisels, and so on. A firefighter, therefore, must bring several tools with him so that different demolition operations can be executed to save people from danger without delay.
However, the ways in which the demolition operations are performed give rise to various problems. First of all, a firefighter wishing to carry multiple tools with him must put each tool in a proper place, and because of that, the firefighter's clothes must have the corresponding receiving spaces (e.g., pockets) or elements (e.g., a belt or waist bag). Consequently, not only are costs incurred for purchasing the tools and modifying the clothes, but also the firefighter may be inconvenienced by the tools carried. Second, the total weight of the tools can be considerable and will add to the already heavy burden on a firefighter. As firefighters tend to run in order to save time, the extra weight of the tools is very likely to accelerate the consumption of physical energy or even lead to premature fatigue, which will in turn delay the firefighting or rescue operation, if not putting the firefighters themselves in danger. Last but not least, a firefighter carrying several tools with him must choose the right tool for the type of demolition operation on hand (e.g., to destroy a door or window, to knock down a wood panel or wall, or to unfasten a bolt or screw), and yet choosing the right tool can be time-consuming or difficult if the firefighter's vision is compromised by smoke or darkness at the site.
Hence, it is an important issue in the demolition tool industry to improve the existing products so that firefighters and rescue team members can carry fewer tools with them but are still capable of effectively performing various demolition operations and saving people or objects from danger as quickly as possible.


A method, computer program product, and computing system for monitoring one or more machine vision sensors to obtain perception information concerning one or more third-party vehicles proximate an autonomous vehicle; identifying one or more vehicle shapes within the perception information, thus defining one or more detected vehicles shapes; generating proximate object display information that locates the one or more detected vehicles shapes with respect to the autonomous vehicle; and rendering the proximate object display information on a visual display system, thus confirming the perception of the one or more third-party vehicles by the autonomous vehicle.

As transportation moves towards autonomous (i.e., driverless) vehicles, the manufactures and designers of these autonomous vehicles must address issues that are not a concern in traditional vehicles. Unfortunately, autonomous vehicles are still a rarity on the streets and people are still unsure of the manner in which they operate.
For example, when a person is waiting to cross a street at a crosswalk and a vehicle is approaching the same crosswalk, the person would normally wait until there is a signal that the driver of the vehicle sees them. For example, the person may wait until the driver of the other vehicle stares at them . . . or waves them on . . . or flashes their headlights at them.
However, an autonomous vehicle does not have a driver. Accordingly, there is no one in the vehicle that can provide the signal to the person waiting the cross the street at the crosswalk.


An embodiment method of command of an electronic device comprises controlling a screen to alternate periodically between a first phase in which the screen emits light and a second phase in which no light is emitted by the screen, and precharging a charge pump of an ambient light sensor during the first phases, the ambient light sensor comprising at least a single photon avalanche diode powered by the charge pump.

Electronic devices such as mobile telephones or tablet or computers comprising screens permit the display information and/or images destined for a user of the device.
In such devices, the light power emitted by the screen can be adapted at least partially as a function of the level of ambient light, this level of ambient light being measured by means of an ambient light sensor (ALS). For example, this ambient light measurement is used to adjust the light power emitted by the screen as a function of the level of ambient light for a better perception of image displayed on the screen by the human eye, as well as to save energy, and thus extend the battery life of a battery supplying the screen.
In known electronic devices comprising a screen and an ambient light sensor for measuring the intensity of the surrounding or ambient light, the sensor is disposed under a protective glass covering the screen, under a dedicated opening in the screen. It would be desirable to position the sensor under the screen, without a dedicated opening in the screen, the sensor capturing the weak transmission of the light through the screen. However, it is then difficult for the sensor to distinguish with precision from the ambient light passing through the screen from the exterior to the sensor the light emitted by the screen in the direction of the sensor.

Method and device for ambient light measurement

STMicroelectronics (Research & Development) Limited


The present invention relates to novel methods and devices for detecting non-complexed prostate specific antigen (free PSA), which is used in conjunction with total PSA tests to identify patients having either benign prostatic diseases (BPD), such as benign prostatic hyperplasia, prostatitis, or glandular atrophy or prostatic adenocarcinoma (CAP). In a biological sample, one can find not only free PSA, but also prsotate specific antigen (PSA) which has formed a complex with .alpha.1-antichymotrypsin (ACT). The present invention removes complexed PSA (PSA-ACT) from a fluid sample, thereby removing any possible interference due to binding of complexed PSA to an allegedly free PSA specific antibody in an immunoassay for free PSA. The method requires contacting a biological fluid sample possibly containing a mixture of complexed PSA and free PSA with a device which specifically binds only complexed PSA, leaving any free PSA unbound, prior to exposing the sample to assay reagents and conditions for detecting free PSA in a specific binding reaction. The device can be a filter having a modified filter media that permits the sample to flow or be pulled through the filter media and into assay reagents. Alternatively, the device can be a removable media that is placed into a sample, allowed to remain long enough to bind any complexed PSA present, and then withdrawn from the sample prior to running a free PSA specific binding assay.

PSA is recognized as a molecular marker for CAP. Blood or serum based immunoassays measuring the total PSA level have been commercially available for a number of years. However, the detection of total PSA does not necessarily mean that a patient has CAP. In order to distinguish CAP, a total PSA test has to satisfy two elements: a high sensitivity--the ability to detect disease when present, and a high specificity--the ability to detect true negatives and avoid false positives. From clinical experience, total PSA tests have become generally accepted as being predictive of CAP if the total PSA level is greater than 10.0 ng/ml. Total PSA values between 0.0 ng/ml and about 3.9 ng/ml have been considered generally predictive of no disease being present, with a value of about 3.5 ng/ml being used for men under 60 years old and about 2.5 ng/ml being used for men under 50 years old. (See Oesterling, J. E., Cooner, W. H., Jacobsen, S. J., Guess H. A., and Lieber, M. M.: "Influence of Patient Age on the Serum PSA Concentration and Important Clinical Observations": Urol. Clin. North Am.; Vol. 20: 671-680, 1993.)
PSA is primarily organ-specific, not cancer specific. Thus, PSA in blood or serum can result not only from CAP, but also from normal or hyperplastic prostate tissues. Historically, a total PSA test cannot reliably distinguish BPD from CAP at less than 10.0 ng/ml. Studies have found that 43% (136/319) of patients with organ-confined CAP have a total PSA value within the normal range of less than 4.0 ng/ml. Moreover, about 25% (148/597) of men with BPD have a total PSA value above 4.0 ng/ml. (See Oesterling, J. E.: "Prostate Specific Antigen: A Critical Assessment of the Most Useful Tumor Marker for Adenocarcinoma of the Prostate", J. Urol., Vol: 145: 907-923, 1991.) Standard medical practice is to biopsy patients over 60 years old having total PSA levels of between 4.0 ng/ml and 10.0 ng/ml because about 30% of those patients have CAP. Likewise, patients between 50 years and 60 years old whose total PSA falls between 3.5 ng/ml and 10.0 ng/ml and patients under 50 years old whose total PSA falls between 2.5 ng/ml and 10.0 ng/ml are also biopsied under current medical practice.
One proposed method for detecting CAP is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,983 to Hans Lilja et alia. In general, the Lilja patent discloses using immunoassays to measure free PSA and a complexed form of PSA. Free PSA is a 33 kDa single chain glycoenzyme that is produced by the epithelial cells lining the acini and prostatic ducts of the prostate gland. Complexed PSA refers primarily to a 90 kDa complex of PSA bound to .alpha.1-antichymotrypsin (ACT) protein. Free PSA and complexed PSA, and their proportions are applied in the diagnosis of patients with CAP. Throughout, the specification discloses using a combination of a free PSA to total PSA (F/T) proportion and a complexed PSA to total PSA (C/T) proportion for use in diagnosing CAP. No prostate needle biopsy were performed on the patients, and the patients covered a full range of total PSA values. The text provides no guidance as to specifically how one uses these proportions.
A significant advance in diagnosing BPD in a male human patient without requiring a biopsy is disclosed by Luderer, A. A., et alia in "Measurement of the Proportion of Free to Total Prostate-Specific Antigen Improves Diagnostic Performance of Prostate-Specific Antigen in The Diagnostic Gray Zone of Total Prostate-Specific Antigen", Urol., Vol. 46: 187-194, 1995. This reflex method eliminates the need for about one-third of those patients to undergo such a biopsy. For those patients in the gray diagnostic zone, the method comprises four steps. First, one measures the total PSA level in the blood or serum of the patient. Second, one measures the free PSA level in the blood or serum of a patient, but only if he has a total PSA level of between about 2.5 ng/ml and about 10.0 ng/ml. If the patient has a total PSA level below 2.5 ng/ml, then he is diagnosed to have BPD. If the patient has a total PSA level above 10.0 ng/ml, then he is presumed to have CAP and must be biopsied. Third, one calculates the proportion of free PSA to total PSA. Fourth and finally, one diagnoses the patient as having BPD if the calculated proportion of free PSA to total PSA is equal to or greater than about 25%.
The removal of an unwanted component from a biological sample is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,745 to James F. Ollington et alia. When assaying for a cholesterol analyte in a targeted lipoprotein class, there can be present in a sample at least one cholesterol-containing interfering substance in another liporotein class. This interfering substance is removed by binding the interfering substance with immobilized antibodies.

Methods and devices for detecting non-complexed prostate specific antigen


Disclosed is a computer system including a computer body operated according to a predetermined operating system, and a display device having a display section for receiving a video signal from the computer body to display images on the screen thereof in response to the received video signal. The computer body includes a language information-providing section adapted to provide the display device with information about the kind of language used in the operating system. The display device includes an OSD generating section adapted to generate an OSD for setting a display environment of the display device, a memory adapted to store a plurality of languages that can be used in the OSD therein and to store the language information received from the computer body, and an OSD control section adapted to control the OSD generating section to display the OSD on the display section by means of the same language as that used in the operating system in accordance with language information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer system and OSD displaying method for the computer system, and more particularly, a computer system and OSD displaying method for the computer system in which an OSD is automatically set to be displayed by means of the same language as that used in an operating system.
2. Description of the Related Art
An on screen display (OSD) menu is displayed on a display device, such as a monitor, by means of a specific language set by a user regardless of the language used in an operating system, such as an English window or a Korean window, of a computer system.
In general, the computer system includes a computer body operated according to the predetermined operating system, and a display device having a display section for receiving a video signal from the computer body to display images in response to the received video signal on the screen thereof.
Such a display device includes an OSD menu for setting a display environment of the display section. The OSD menu is activated and displayed on the display section by the selection of a menu key of a key inputting section formed at one front edge side the display device. The OSD menu displayed on the display section includes a plurality of menu icons for adjusting display environment-setting parameters, such as a shape, a color, a display language, etc., of the display section. Also, the display section includes a menu display section for displaying detailed information associated with a function description of a selected one of the menu icons or sub-menus of the selected menu icon, etc. Accordingly, a user changes or adjusts a desired display environment-setting parameter of the display device through the detailed information displayed on the menu display section.
However, the conventional display device displays the OSD menu and the detailed information in English or a specific language set by the user in the display device while the computer system is operated by an operating system such as Windows and the like supported in a language different from the language of the display device. Therefore, the display device is operated irrespective of the operating system. Accordingly, the display device needs to store a plurality of languages being used in the OSD menu including the detailed information. In order to modify a language parameter among the display environment-setting parameters, it is very inconvenient for the user to select one of the menu icons of the OSD menu and to change one language to the other language with the detailed information of the selected menu regardless of the language used in the operating system of the computer system.

Computer system and OSD displaying method for the same


In the present process for producing a toner, previous to the melt-kneading process, the binder resin particles and colorant particles are mixed and treated to application of shear, compression and impact forces to fasten, or fix, the colorant particles to the binder resin particles.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a process for preparing a toner for developing an electrostatic image, used in an image forming process such as electrophotography, electrostatic recording or electrostatic printing. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with a process for producing a toner in which toner components such as a colorant and a charge control agent are uniformly dispersed in a binder resin.
2. Related Background Art
In electrophotography, it is common to employ a process comprising forming an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive member, utilizing a photoconductive material and according to various means, subsequently developing the latent image by the use of a toner, and transferring the toner image to a transfer medium such as paper if necessary, followed by fixing by various methods to obtain copies.
In general, toners are grouped into dry process toners and wet process toners. As the wet process have the problems such as evaporation of solvents, toner recovery and smell generation, and hence in recent years the dry process toners have become more prevalent.
Toner is a powder that forms an image. For the accurate image formation, toner particles must carry a number of functions, for example, chargability, transportability or fluidity, fixabiity, coloring power, storage stability and so forth. Hence, a toner is prepared in the form of a composite comprised of various kinds of materials.
The dry process toners are produced by various methods such as a pulverization process, a polymerization process and an encapsulation process. Among these methods, the pulverization process is most prevalent. When a toner is prepared by conventional pulverization method, various materials such as a binder resin that participates in the fixing of toner to transfer mediums, various colorants that give tints required for toner, as well as materials such as a charge control agent, a magnetic material, a release agent and a fluidity-providing agent, are mixed by a dry process, and thereafter melt-kneaded with shear force at a given temperature using a general-purpose kneading machine such as a kneader, an extruder or a roll mill. The kneaded product is cooled to solidify, and optionally crushed to give a crushed product material, and thereafter pulverized using a pulverizer such as a jet mill to bestow a particle diameter suitable for a toner. Thereafter, the pulverized product is classified according to the requirement, using a classifier of various types, to give desirable particle size distribution that enables the toner to exhibit satisfactory performances. Further, if necessary, functional additives such as a fluidity improving agent, a lubricant, and an abrasive can be added in a dry process to give a toner. When the toner is used as a two-component developer, the toner is mixed with a carrier of various types to prepare a two-component developer, which is used for the formation of images.
Among the factors determining the performance of the toner, there are coloring power and light transmission properties. The coloring power and light transmission properties are influenced by the amount of a colorant, and are also greatly influenced by the dispersion state of the colorant
When the toner is produced by pulverization, the dispersion states of the materials in toner particles are almost determined by the steps of mixing materials and kneading the mixed materials . As an apparatus used for the mixing of materials, a planetary-screw mixing apparatus such as a Nauta mixer as shown in FIG. 8 or a blade agitating type mixing apparatus such as a Henschel mixer as shown in FIG. 7 is usually used. A mixture obtained by such a mixing apparatus is then melt-kneaded. Although there are various types of agitators, extruders feasible for continuous kneading are usually used for mass production.
In recent years, however, as the performance of electrophotographic apparatuses such as copying machines and printers increases, the requirements for the toner performance have become much higher. It is not easy to produce toners of such high performance by the conventional process described above, in respect of, for example, fine dispersion of colorants, wetting of colorants or dispersion of other internal additives. As a result, toners unsatisfactory in dispersion or wetting of colorants tend to cause lowering of image density, unsteady performance under varying conditions, soil of developer sleeves or carriers, as well as scratches or filming on photosensitive drums.
In the kneaded product obtained in the conventional production process described above, the dispersion of the colorant in the binder resin, in particular, is unsatisfactory and hence the coloring power and light transmission properties required for toners become poor.
Now, a partly improved production process to overcome these problems is proposed, comprising a first kneading step and a second kneading step as shown in the prior art in FIG. 10. More specifically, in the first step a resin containing a colorant in a higher concentration than the final product is kneaded, and then in the second kneading step, other additives such as a binder resin and a charge control agent are further added and mixed, and the mixture is kneaded using a kneading machine such as a kneader or an extruder to give a kneaded product. A mixer used in the step of mixing materials for the first kneading step, however, is a tumbling mixer such as a V-type blender or a double-cone mixer, or a high-speed agitating mixer (FIG. 7) such as a Henschel mixer, which cannot achieve micrdispersion of materials. Hence in many instances no good dispersion or wetting of the materials can be obtained even if conditions for mixing and kneading are carefully managed. Moreover, although smaller particle size of materials may provide better wetting in principle, in practice, the agglomeration of material particles becomes too strong to achieve sufficient dispersion with ease in the course of premixing. In addition, finer particles tend to contain more air making sufficient kneading and dispersion difficult.
A typical kneading machine used in the first kneading step is a three-roll mill (FIG. 11), in which the kneading is batch-wise operation and an operator must constantly take care of the kneading process, delicately changing conditions such as kneading temperature, roll rotational speed, roll clearance, roll rotational ratio and pass frequency (frequency of treatment) to make the dispersion of colorants in the kneaded product as uniform as possible. Hence, it requires great skill. In addition, batch treatment should be repeated at least twice manually, and preferably four times or more. Thus, considering the structural safety of the machine, further improvement is required for this production process.


A display element includes a display substrate that comprises a liquid crystal; and a plurality of diffraction gratings having different diffraction modes, arranged in regions of the single display substrate that are different from one another.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display element that utilizes a liquid crystal, to a display device that is equipped with such a display element, and to a camera.
2. Description of Related Art
From the prior art, there is known an in-viewfinder display device that utilizes a liquid crystal panel such as the one described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 2004-191415.
However in order to use a combination of different diffraction modes in this display device such as a liquid crystal diffraction grating panel and a liquid crystal hologram, the size of the display device comes to be undesirably increased.

Display element, display device, and camera


Image data is displayed on an image display unit. An information input unit specifies a characteristic extracting range corresponding to the image data. An image-characteristic extracting unit extracts a representative characteristic from the specified range within the image data. The extracted representative characteristic are associated with the image data and stored in a storage device. The representative characteristic associated with the image data are also retrieved when retrieving the image data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an image processing apparatus and particularly relates to an image processing apparatus that stores therein input document image data, retrieves and outputs it as needed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, there is a method that, when a user checks stored data in a system of inputting and storing image data, and retrieving stored image data as needed, information such as a title, date, registrant, and file size is displayed as a list. There is another method in which data can be selected by intuition by use of a reduced image such as a thumbnail. However, when a reduced image is used, images that are apparently similar in structure can not be distinguished. As a method of addressing this problem, there is a method of extracting a specific characteristic (here, referred to a representative characteristic) when inputting image data and adding the representative characteristic as attribute information. According to the method, part of image data can be used instead of a reduced image to more specifically display contents of image. Therefore, ambiguity among images when using reduced images can be distinguished. An example of a conventional technology associated with the method is cited as follows.
In "document management system" disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-178071, document images can be classified in an efficient manner by extracting an area image of a figure or a photograph and using it as an attribute. When an image receiving sub-unit receives a document image, an area discriminating sub-unit performs area discriminating processing of the document image. An image cutting sub-unit classifies a figure area or a photograph area as "figure area" among a sentence area, a table area, lines, a figure area, a photograph area and the like divided by the area discriminating sub-unit and cuts a partial image of such area. A document image managing sub-unit adds the cut partial image as attribute information to management information of the document image and stores the image in a document image storing sub-unit. The image cutting sub-unit, when there exist plural figure areas or photograph areas in the input document image, can cut all of the figure areas as partial areas or cut a representative figure area or photograph area as a partial area among these figure areas or photograph areas.
However, the conventional image characteristic extracting method has the following problem. To extract and display a characteristic of image data is required in a digital multifunction product having a display unit; however, a digital multifunction product does not include a powerful computing unit such as a personal computer. Therefore, when processing is performed to discriminate area information with respect to the whole image data, the resulting heavy load may cause processing to take a long time. Even if an image processing apparatus is implemented in a digital multifunction product that has a powerful computing unit, it is desirable that the processing load is small. The whole image data may include plural figures or photographs, possibly mixed with noise, and an error occurs that an unexpected area can be extracted.

Image processing apparatus for extracting representative characteristic from image data and storing image data to be associated with representative characteristic


An apparatus includes an interface and a processor. The interface may be configured to receive pixel data. The processor may be configured to (i) generate a reference image and a target image from said pixel data, (ii) perform disparity operations on the reference image and the target image, and (iii) build a disparity angle map in response to the disparity operations. The disparity operations may comprise (a) selecting a plurality of grid pixels, (b) measuring a disparity angle for each grid pixel, (c) calculating a plurality of coefficients by resolving a surface formulation for a disparity angle map of the grid pixels, and (d) generating values in a disparity angle map for the pixel data utilizing the coefficients.

A structured light projector is a dot light that scatters light speckles to an object. The speckle pattern captured by a camera sensor will shift horizontally when the object moves toward the camera or away from the camera. If a reference image of a speckle pattern on an object is captured at a certain distance (R) and the object is moved from the distance R to a second distance (X), the moving distance (M=X−R) can be calculated by measuring the shift of speckle pattern captured by the camera sensor. The measurement of the shift of the speckle pattern between two captured images is the principle on which a mono camera stereo system operates. The shift offset of the speckle pattern is generally referred to as disparity.
Compared to a stereo solution utilizing dual cameras, the mono camera stereo system often performs with lower costs, smaller size, and lower power. Although the mono camera stereo system has the above advantages, the mono camera stereo system restricts the mounting position of the structured light projector relative to the camera.
It would be desirable to implement a mounting calibration of a structured light projector in a mono camera stereo system.

Mounting calibration of structured light projector in mono camera stereo system


A turnover device, a substrate cell-assembling apparatus and a substrate cell-assembling method are provided. The turnover device comprises: a fixed support and a turnover platform connected with the fixed support by a first rotary shaft, the turnover platform having a first suction surface and a second suction surface which are oppositely arranged and are configured to suction a substrate; a second rotary shaft and a third rotary shaft, configured to respectively drive the first suction surface and the second suction surface to rotate in an in-plane direction, axial directions of the second rotary shaft and the third rotary shaft being basically perpendicular to that of the first rotary shaft. The turnover platform is configured to turn over the first suction surface and the second suction surface by the first rotary shaft.

With development of a liquid crystal display technology, a liquid crystal display device has been widely applied to various electronic products due to advantages such as light weight and small size. The liquid crystal display device comprises a liquid crystal display panel and a backlight module, wherein the liquid crystal display panel comprises two substrates and a liquid crystal layer positioned between the two substrates. The two substrates need to be cell-assembled to form a liquid crystal cell to contain liquid crystal molecules. One of the substrates needs to be turned over by a turnover device in a cell-assembling process and then is cell-assembled with the other substrate.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, an existing turnover device comprises a fixed support 10 and a turnover platform 20. The turnover platform 20 is connected with the fixed support 10 by a rotary shaft 30. One surface of the turnover platform 20 is a suction surface 21 with a plurality of suction units, for suctioning the substrate. Upon the suction surface 21 of the turnover platform 20 suctions the substrate and the turnover platform 20 is turned over by 180 degrees along a preset direction, the substrate suctioned by the turnover platform 20 is also turned over by 180 degrees along with the turnover platform, then the substrate is taken down by a mechanical arm and is cell-assembled with the other substrate, so as to form the liquid crystal display panel.

Turnover device, substrate cell-assembling apparatus and substrate cell-assembling method

HEFEI BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A selective call terminal receives selective call information from a message originator. A transmission time is scheduled for the selective call message by a selective call system controller. A plurality of simulcast schedulers coupled to the controller receive and store the selective call message and the transmission time. The simulcast schedulers have an equalization time stored therein, the equalization times for each of the simulcast schedulers calculated by the system controller using simulcast receivers for measuring signal time differences between transmitters. The simulcast schedulers provide the selective call message to corresponding transmitters at a time to transmit the selective call message, the time determined by the transmission time and the equalization time. Transmitter settings and code types defining signalling protocol, data bit rate, carrier frequency and transmitter power, for each message are varied in accordance with information received from the system controller. Each simulcast scheduler can also function as a selective call terminal for a local selective call system.

As selective call network coverage areas grow to meet consumer demand in larger metropolitan areas, the selective call network service provider must necessarily add additional transmitters to provide a larger coverage area. Interference between signals sent from the various transmitters causes difficulty in reception. This interference occurs in areas which can receive transmissions from two or more transmitters.
As pictured in FIG. 1, a selective call terminal 10 encodes a selective call signal and provides the signal to system controller 12 for distribution to multiple transmitting antennas 15, each transmitting antenna having an associated coverage area 20. The system coverage area comprises all of the coverage areas 20. The signal may be provided from the controller 12 to the antennas 15 via radio frequency (RF) link or via hard-wired links, for example the public switched telephone network (PSTN), or a mixture thereof. Therefore, due to differing path lengths and switching equipment, the transmission of the signal from one transmitting antenna 15 may be delayed from the transmission of the signal from another antenna 15 because the signal arrived at the second antenna later than it arrived at the first antenna 15. It is this delay which causes interference in the overlapping coverage areas 25.
To overcome the signal interference due to staggered transmitting times, solutions have been proposed to provide for simultaneous transmission from the transmitting antennas 15. This process is called simulcast transmission.
One simulcast solution, described in European Patent Application 86105017.7, filed Apr. 11, 1986 and published as Publication Number 0 198 448 on Oct. 22, 1986, involves placing large coils called equalization coils in the transmission path from the controller to each transmitter. By manually varying the amount of coil inserted into the transmission path while monitoring the reception in the area of overlapping coverage, the delay between the signal leaving the terminal 10 and arriving a transmitting antenna 15 is adjusted until the signal arrives at all of the transmitting antennas 15 simultaneously. Once the coils have been set to a preferable length utilized, the reception in the overlapping coverage areas should be improved. Yet, the equalization coils do not take into affect the variations in the length of the transmission path when the PSTN is utilized. As is well known in the art, the PSTN service provider can route the call in any manner, at the providers option, as long as it originates and ends at the required locations. Such random rerouting may increase the length of the transmission path from the terminal 10 to the transmitting antenna 15 and/or may insert additional equipment into the transmission path further varying the time the signal arrives at the transmitter.
Another simulcast solution described in European Patent Application 86104869.2, filed Apr. 9, 1986 and published as Publication Number 0 197 556 on Oct. 15, 1986 (Technomen), maintains a relative time between transmissions from base stations by periodic communication between the base stations. The simulcast transmission method of Technomen synchronizes the transmission of the signals from the transmitters by accurate atomic clocks which are periodically adjusted for the relative time. Regrettably, such a system is extremely costly due to the atomic clocks and extremely difficult to maintain simulcast transmission conditions because of the variation of the delay. Periodic correction of the relative time does not improve the transmission of the signal between corrections. Furthermore, the Technomen simulcast transmission system must be periodically shut down for relative time determinations.
Thus, what is needed is a simulcast system capable of synchronizing the transmission of the signal from the transmitters without regard to variations in the length of the terminal-to-transmitter transmission path, yet not requiring highly accurate measure of terminal-to-transmitter delay times requiring expensive atomic clocks.


A disc toss game that comprises a ball placed in the center of a ring that can be knocked out of the ring to score points, with additional points and bonuses being awarded if the disc stays within the ring is disclosed in various embodiments of the present invention. The game of the present invention comprises a plurality of parts and can be adapted for indoor as well as outdoor enjoyment.

Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with pitching and tossing games. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,590, entitled "Pitch Game," (hereinafter the '590 patent) discloses a portable pitch game that is a self -contained target/toss-type game having 2 multi apertured rectangular platforms. The '590 patent issued to Palmer (1990), comprises colored apertured disc projectiles supplied in sets of six, one set for each player. A player stands on the edge of one platform and tosses discs in an attempt drop them through one of the apertures in the second platform. The apertures are scored 1, 2, 3 according to distance away from the thrower. Separable hinges and latches are included for attaching the 2 rectangular platforms together into a storage or carrying case.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,880, entitled "Tossing Game Apparatus," issued to Gettemeier and Gettemeier (1991), (hereinafter the '880 patent) discloses an improved portable target assembly for toss type games having a cup shaped target member centrally located on one side of a flexible mat, the flexible mat having a centrally located portion with a plurality of peripheral edge portions around said center portion and extending outwardly therefrom, the edge portions being foldable and having end portions which are cooperatively engageable in a variety of ways to form alternative configurations of upstanding side walls for containing playing pieces tossed thereat so as to enable changing the degree of difficulty and skill level required to play the game, the cup shaped target member being detachable from the flexible mat and the mat being reliable into a cylindrical shape for convenient handling and storage. The present target assembly optionally including an open ended tubular container for holding one or more flexible mats and a plurality of playing pieces and the cup shaped target member being cooperatively engageable with one of the open ends to close the container, or alternatively, locatable in the container with the flexible mats and playing pieces.
Floyd (1980) in U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,682, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Outdoor Tossing Game," (hereinafter the '682 patent) discloses a method of playing a game and has a plurality of groups of distinguishably identified markers which are tossed from behind a throwing line at a receptacle in an attempt to put the marker in the receptacle. The receptacle is recessed into the ground or other playing surface and is approximately thirty feet to fifty feet away from the throwing line, which may be another receptacle. A protective cover may be provided to enclose the receptacle when not in use to avoid any accidents or the accumulation of contamination therein. The marker may be shaped as a disc or washer and may be sufficiently heavy to be substantially unaffected by all but the strongest wind during play.
A horseshoe type game device in which annular disks or rings are pitched or tossed at targets provided on each of 2 similar game mats is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,203,592, entitled "Horseshoe Type Game Device," (hereinafter the '592 patent) issued to Quatkemeyer (1980). Each game mat comprises a small piece of carpet-like material having a stake extending above it and disposed immediately behind a circular aperture of greater diameter than the annular disks or rings. The game mats are spaced by approximately 20 feet and the rings are tossed from behind one game mat toward the other game mat. Points are given according to the proximity of the ring to the aperture after the ring has landed. If a player is able to produce a "ringer" by having the ring land directly over the stake, he wins automatically. Otherwise, the first player to reach a given number of points in his point score is the winner.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,173,957, entitled "Tossing Game," (hereinafter the '957 patent) describes a tossing game including a plurality of moveable targets having an upward facing opening and a plurality of projectiles for being tossed for accuracy into the opening. The '957 patent issued to James (2001) comprises indicia on the projectiles that match respective indicia on the targets. The target may be constructed as a tube or similar shape. The target is inflatable for portability and flotation.
A disc tossing game is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,780, issued to Pant and Pant (2002), (hereinafter the '780 patent). The Pant invention includes a first board, a second board and a plurality of discs. The first board has three bores therein. The bores are generally aligned. The second board is substantially identical to the first board. Point indicia are located on the first and second boards and are adjacent to each of the bores. The indicia adjacent to a first outside bore indicating five points. The indicia adjacent to the middle bore indicating three points. The indicia adjacent to the second outside bore indicating one point. Multiple discs are used for tossing into the bores. Two players or two pairs of players may play.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 6,669,200, issued to Knetsch et al. (2003) (hereinafter the '200 patent) relates to a disc toss game which includes a target box or receiver with a false bottom interposed between the top and bottom edges, with the elevation of the false bottom being positionably adjustable relative to the plane of the top edges of the target box. A standpipe or tube is mounted within the target box coaxially with the center of the square target box. The target box has an outer perimeter defined by chamfered edges, with the plane of the top edge of the open standpipe or tube being positionably adjustable within the target box from an upper position which is coplanar with the edges of the target box, into one or more lower positions in which the top edge of the standpipe is recessed from the plane of the top edges of the target box.


The present invention provides an isolated nucleic acid comprising the nucleotides set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ ID NO: 1. SEQ ID NO: 1 is an example of GP64-6His nucleic acid. The invention further provides polypeptides encoded by GP64-6His nucleic acids as well as the polypeptide encoded by SEQ ID NO: 2. The invention also provides liposomes comprising GP64-6His polypeptides as well as liposomes comprising GP64-6His polypeptides and biological molecules. The invention further provides a method of increasing the solubility of polypeptides comprising linking a 6His tag to a polypeptide and measuring the solubility of the 6His-tagged polypeptide, whereby an increase in solubility of the 6His-tagged polypeptide can be detected. The invention also provides a method of solubilizing a viral fusion polypeptide comprising linking a 6His tag to a viral fusion polypeptide. Further provided is a method of delivering a biological molecule to a cell comprising, administering the liposome comprising a GP64-6His polypeptide to a cell. This invention also provides a method of delivering a viral vaccine to a cell comprising administering the liposome comprising a GP64-6His polypeptide to a cell. Also provided is a method of delivering a DNA vaccine to a cell comprising administering the liposome comprising a GP64-6His polypeptide to a cell. Further provided is a GP64-6His polypeptide further comprising a binding site for a cell surface molecule. Also provided by this invention are chimeric proteins comprising GP64-6His.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the addition of histidine amino acids to the cytoplasmic domains of membrane and viral envelope proteins for the purposes of solubilizing, and/or reconstituting viral envelope proteins in lipid containing vesicles. The invention further relates to the use of GP64-6His to catalyze delivery of therapeutic, genetic, or antigenic compounds via fusion of lipid membranes or bilayers
2. Background Art
Enveloped viruses infect cells by one of two membrane fusogenic processes. The first is direct cell surface membrane fusion or pH-independent membrane fusion. Briefly, contact with the appropriate cell surface receptor activates viral envelope proteins to catalyze membrane fusion of the virus with the cytoplasmic membrane resulting in deposition of the infectious nucleocapsid inside the cell. A second class of enveloped viruses enters by receptor-mediated endocytosis or pH-dependent processes. pH dependent viruses also target their host cell by interaction with a specific receptor. However rather than fusing directly at the cell surface, these viruses remain attached to the receptor which is subsequently internalized within an endosomal vacuole derived from the cell surface lipids. This vacuole, termed an endosome, enters the lysosome. The lysosome is an acidic (low pH) cellular compartment which metabolizes, recycles, and breaks down endosomal contents. When pH-dependent enveloped viral proteins are exposed to the low pH of the lysosome, a conformational change occurs resulting in the activation of membrane fusion. These proteins then mediate fusion of the viral envelope with the lipid membrane to escape the lysosome. As a result, the virus is then free to replicate within the host cell.
Liposomes are small vesicles composed of phospholipid bilayers of varying compositions. As such they can be used to encapsulate, protect, and deliver therapeutic compounds, DNA, RNA (sense or antisense), or proteins to cells. Currently liposomal encapsulation systems have been of limited utility. There are two primary reasons for this: 1) While liposomes do in fact enter cells, they do so primarily by endocytosis. As discussed previously this process results in deposition of endosomal vacuoles within the lysosome. The acidic nature of the lysosome results in degradation or destruction of the liposomal contents, in most cases, 2) Liposomes, unlike viruses, lack the ability to discriminate between different cell and tissue targets, since they do not bind to specific receptors on the cell surface.
GP64 is a class I membrane glycoprotein, which constitutes the major envelope protein of the AcMNPV budded baculovirus virion (Volkman and Goldsmith, 1984; Volkman et al., 1984). This protein is both necessary and sufficient for mediating pH-dependent membrane fusion (Blissard and Wenz, 1992), and is essential for cell-cell transmission of the enveloped virion (Monsma et al., 1996).
When GP64 (or GP64-6His) is expressed on the cell surface of Sf9 insect cells, host and target cell membranes can be fused (syncytia formation) simply by application of acidic buffer solution (phosphate buffer saline or citrate buffer pH 5.5-4.8) This invention provides functionally competent GP64-6His protein to create acid-activated fusion competent liposomes for various biomedical and research purposes.

Sol-fusin: use of GP64-6His to catalyze membrane fusion

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services


An endpoint processing device is provided for dynamically controlling latency tolerance reporting (LTR) values. The endpoint processing device comprises memory configured to store data and a processor. The processor is configured to execute a program and send, to a root point processing device via a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) link, a plurality of messages each comprising a memory access request and a LTR value indicating an amount of time to service the memory access request. The processor is also configured to, for each of the plurality of messages, determine, during execution of the program, a LTR value setting and set the LTR value as the determined LTR value setting.

Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) is an expansion bus standard for high bandwidth communication between the internal hardware (e.g., CPU and RAM) of a computer and endpoint devices (e.g., graphics devices, Ethernet devices and USB devices) in communication with the internal hardware. PCIe architecture includes a root complex (e.g., root point device) which includes root points or root ports connecting the CPU and memory to the endpoint devices.
Latency tolerance reporting (LTR) is a PCIe feature used to improve system allocation of time and resources based on performance requirements of an endpoint (e.g., a GPU core of an endpoint device). For example, end points report memory latency (e.g., read latency and write latency) tolerances to the root point device. Allocation of system time and resources (e.g., power saving states) are determined based on the memory latency tolerances reported by the end points to manage power consumption while maintaining endpoint performance.

Dynamic control of latency tolerance reporting values


An optical element array includes a first optical element and a second optical element that is further away from a center of an array region than the first optical element. Orthogonal projections of the first and second optical elements include first and second ends and third and fourth ends, respectively, and vertices thereof are at first and second positions. An interval between the third end and the second position is smaller than that between the first end and the first position and that between the fourth end and that second position. The first and second optical elements respectively include first and second outer edges extending from the vertices thereof to the second and fourth ends. A radius of curvature, or a median value of the radius of curvature, of the second outer edge is in the range of 80% to 120% of that of the first outer edge.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical element array, a photoelectric conversion apparatus including the optical element array, and an image pickup system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Photoelectric conversion apparatuses include optical element arrays, such as microlens arrays. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-049721 discloses a photoelectric conversion apparatus in which the maximum curvature of convex surfaces of microlenses in an outer (peripheral) region of the photoelectric conversion apparatus is greater than that of convex surfaces of microlenses in a central region of the photoelectric conversion apparatus, so that light that is obliquely incident on the photoelectric conversion apparatus can be efficiently collected.

Optical element array, photoelectric conversion apparatus, and image pickup system


Methods and apparatuses for identifying objects in a digital image include a thresholding unit and a threshold calculation unit. The thresholding unit is designed to receive the digital image and compare the luminance values of the digital image with threshold values of a threshold matrix in order to create a binary image on the basis of the comparison. The threshold calculation unit is designed to estimate, on the basis of a first and second division of a reference image which corresponds to the digital image into first and second subareas, a background luminance value for each first subarea and an object luminance value for each second subarea. The apparatuses and the methods permit quick and memory-efficient identification of the individual objects, even if the digital image contains variation in the luminance and/or sharpness.

In digital image processing, it is sometimes desirable to separate some form of structure from a background in a digital image. This can be achieved by so-called thresholding or binarization, in which the luminance values of the pixels of the digital image are compared to a threshold value. More particularly, luminance values above the threshold value are set to 1, while luminance values below the threshold value are set to 0, or vice versa. With a well-selected threshold value, the thresholding results in a binary image with defined, real structures.
In many cases, a sequence of images is processed in a number of steps. One of the introductory steps can be the above-mentioned thresholding, which aims on the one hand to locate relevant structures and, on the other, to reduce the amount of data that is processed in subsequent steps. Of course, it is desirable for the thresholding to be carried out with high precision, as errors will otherwise propagate in the subsequent processing steps.
It its simplest form, the thresholding means that the luminance value of each pixel in a current image is compared with a global threshold value. Such so-called global thresholding requires, however, extensive control of the image recording so as to avoid luminance variations and noise. In practical applications there are often variations within each image, for example with regard to the background luminance, signal-to-noise ratio and sharpness. With global thresholding such variations can lead to structures being missed or to fictitious structures being identified, particularly at the periphery of the images.
In order to solve these problems, so-called local thresholding is used, in which a threshold value is calculated for each pixel in an image on the basis of the luminance values of the surrounding pixels. This is, however, a time-consuming operation that, in addition, requires intermediate storage of the digital image.
An example where the above considerations arise is in calculating a position based on images of a pattern on a base. The pattern contains individual symbols, the shape and/or relative location of which code said position. The images can, for example, be recorded optically by a sensor in a hand-held apparatus, for example in the form of a pen. Such a pen for position determination is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,736, U.S. Pat. No. 5,477,012 and WO 00/73983 and can be used to record handwritten information digitally.
The above-mentioned images can be processed in a data processing unit, such as a suitably programmed microprocessor, an ASIC, an FPGA, etc, which receives a sequence of digital grayscale images, converts these to binary for identification of the above-mentioned symbols, and calculates a position on the basis of each binarized image. During the binarization, a threshold matrix is used that contains a threshold value for each pixel in the grayscale image. The recording of handwritten information should be carried out at high temporal resolution, typically approximately 50–100 images per second, for which reason it is difficult to combine the requirements for high precision in the thresholding with the require-ments for rapid processing and small memory requirement, even in a specially-adapted data processing unit.
In the article "Threshold Selection Based on a Simple Image Statistic", published in 1985 in the periodical Computer Vision, Graphics and Image Processing, No. 30, pp 125–147, examples are given of various local thresholding methods. One such method is based on the fact that an adequate threshold value can be calculated based on a derivative value for each pixel in the original grayscale image. More particularly, a derivative matrix is calculated by convolution of the grayscale image with a suitable derivative mask, whereupon the pixel values of the derivative matrix are multiplied by the pixel values of the grayscale image to create a product matrix. Thereafter the derivative matrix and the product matrix are divided into subareas, within which a respective sum of the pixel values is calculated. Finally, local threshold values are obtained for the various subareas from the quotient between the subarea sums for the product matrix and the derivative matrix. The method is, however, time-consuming, among other things as a result of the calculation of the derivative matrix by convolution and the calculation of the threshold matrix by division. The method is also undesirably memory-intensive, as it requires the intermediate storage of the grayscale image, the derivative matrix and the product matrix.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,764,611 describes a thresholding method to be applied to grayscale images containing a pattern of dark dots against a bright background. In this method, the grayscale image is divided into subareas, within which the pixel values are summed to create a sum matrix. A low-pass filter is then applied to this sum matrix to create a background matrix, which after multiplication by a suitable fraction value is considered to form a matrix of local threshold values. In addition to a time-consuming low-pass filtering, this thresholding method is hampered by being sensitive to lack of sharpness in the grayscale image. Such lack of sharpness must be eliminated by extensive pre-processing of the grayscale image. This is achieved by high-pass filtering of the incoming grayscale image, whereupon the resulting luminance values are summed within the above-mentioned subareas to create a contrast matrix. The contrast matrix is then used to produce coefficients for a subarea-specific contrast function, which is finally allowed to operate on the grayscale image in order to eliminate the lack of sharpness in the same. This pre-processing comprises several time-consuming operations and is, in addition, memory-intensive in that it requires the intermediate storage of both the grayscale image and the result of the high-pass filtering.
Prior-art technique also includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,325, which describes a method for adaptive thresholding of a grayscale image prior to binary duplication of the same.


A composite insert has at least one metallic contact element which is extrusion-coated with the aid of a premolded part which has a first three-dimensional sealing surface to an injection mold, a stiffener of the contact element being formed beyond a transition region of the premolded part to the injection mold.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a composite insert. The present invention also relates to a method for manufacturing a thermoplastic device having a plug cavity.
2. Description of the Related Art
The "2K direct extrusion coating" technique is known in more recent sensor generations in the automobile sector. An electronic system of the sensor makes contact with inserts in a separate manufacturing station, these inserts simultaneously forming plug-in contacts. A composite made up of a sensor and an insert (composite insert) is enclosed using an elastomer shell and then extrusion-coated using thermoplastic material with the aid of a forming tool. In order to ensure trouble-free operation of the sensor, a sensor element must be situated in a precisely defined position within the overall sensor.
Extrusion-coating with thermoplastic material may exert high forces on the composite insert, possibly causing deflections of the plug-in contacts and thus deviations from the target position. Although a specific design of the composite insert may in principle reduce the deflection of the composite insert, the plug area generally constitutes a weak point of a sensor manufactured in such a way.
A housing having a metallic insert is known from published German patent application document DE 10 2006 062 311 A1, the metallic insert being at least partially enclosed by the housing. An electrically non-conducting enclosure directly and at least partially encloses the metallic insert.


A receptacle connector includes an insulation housing bracket, a first flat grounding contact and a shielding member. The housing base has a first outer surface, and the first flat grounding contact is combined with the insulation housing bracket. The shielding member includes a shielding body and a first connecting portion. The shielding body is installed inside the insulation housing bracket, and the first flat grounding contact is located between the first outer surface and the shielding member. The first connecting portion protrudes from the shielding body and is securely fixed on the first grounding contact in a laser welding manner, such that the shielding body is electrically connected to the first grounding contact.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical receptacle connector, and more particularly, to an electrical receptacle connector adapted for a Universal Serial Bus interface and capable of reducing electromagnetic interference.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the development of computer and peripheral equipment industry, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface has become one of important interfaces for communication and data transmission between a computer and peripheral equipment. A conventional USB electrical receptacle connector usually has an electromagnetic interference issue due to improper shielding between flat signal contacts, so as to impact on performance of high frequency transmission of the conventional USB electrical connector. Accordingly, it results in abnormal performance of electronic devices, such as a wireless mouse, a Bluetooth device, a hard disc drive and so on. Therefore, it has become an important topic to design a new USB electrical receptacle connector with shielding configuration for reducing electromagnetic interference.


An antenna unit is disclosed. The antenna unit includes a wire antenna element and a patch antenna element. The wire antenna element creates a null at low-elevation angles to provide directional antenna patterns in azimuth planes. Nulls of the terrestrial signal pattern are directed toward the passenger compartment of a vehicle to create a larger spatial region for reception of terrestrial signals.

It is known in the art that automotive vehicles are commonly equipped with audio radios that receive and process signals relating to amplitude modulation/frequency modulation (AM/FM) antennas, satellite digital audio radio systems (SDARS) antennas, global positioning system (GPS) antennas, digital audio broadcast (DAB) antennas, dual-band personal communication systems digital/analog mobile phone service (PCS/AMPS) antennas, Remote Keyless Entry (RKE) antennas, Tire Pressure Monitoring System antennas, and other wireless systems.
Currently, it is known that patch antennas are employed for reception of GPS [i.e. right-hand-circular-polarization (RHCP) waves] and SDARS [i.e. left-hand-circular-polarization (LHCP) waves]. SDARS patch antennas may be considered to be a 'single element' antenna that incorporates performance characteristics of 'dual element' antennas that essentially receives terrestrial and satellite signals. SDARS—offer digital radio service covering a large geographic area, such as North America. Satellite-based digital audio radio services generally employ either geo-stationary orbit satellites or highly elliptical orbit satellites that receive uplinked programming, which, in turn, is re-broadcasted directly to digital radios in vehicles on the ground that subscribe to the service. SDARS also use terrestrial repeater networks via ground-based towers using different modulation and transmission techniques in urban areas to supplement the availability of satellite broadcasting service by terrestrially broadcasting the same information. The reception of signals from ground-based broadcast stations is termed as terrestrial coverage. Hence, an SDARS antenna is required to have satellite and terrestrial coverage with reception quality determined by the service providers, and each vehicle subscribing to the digital service generally includes a digital radio having a receiver and one or more antennas for receiving the digital broadcast. GPS antennas, on the other hand, have a broad hemispherical coverage with a maximum antenna gain at the zenith (i.e. hemispherical coverage includes signals from 0° elevation at the earth's surface to signals from 90° elevation up at the sky). Emergency systems that utilize GPS, such as OnStar™, tend to have more stringent antenna specifications as they also incorporate cellular phone communication antennas.
Unlike GPS antennas which track multiple satellites at a given time, SDARS patch antennas are operated at higher frequency bands and presently track only two satellites at a time. Thus, the mounting location for SDARS patch antennas makes antenna reception a sensitive issue with respect to the position of the antenna on the vehicle. As a result, SDARS patch antennas are typically mounted exterior to the vehicle, usually on the roof, or alternatively, inside the vehicle in a hidden location. Even further, although patch antenna circular polarization patterns are generally omni-directional in the azimuth plane so that reception does not favor any particular direction, antenna reception may be limited due to antenna position relative to the vehicle.
Having a null in a certain direction reduces the signal reception to a smaller spatial region. As a result, some portion of the antenna's reception becomes useless and thereby limits the functionality of the antenna. In one scenario, orientation of a patch antenna in a diversity application may lead to the deployment of additional antennas positioned throughout the vehicle to cover all directions of possible signal reception.
Thus, when mounted inside a vehicle, conventional patch antennas have inherent performance issues relating to directionality of the reception. Accordingly, it is therefore desirable to provide an antenna unit that improves the directionality of patch antenna gains at low elevation angles to improve the terrestrial reception, and, in a diversity application, reduce the number of patch antennas needed to compensate for nulls in the pattern.


An apparatus for controlling a musical tone in an electronic musical instrument which has a plurality of keys and a plurality of tone generation channels, the apparatus includes a detecting device for detecting a depression state of the plurality of keys, a counter for counting number of key which are simultaneously depressed when key depression is detected, an assigning device for assigning predetermined number of the tone generation channels to each of depressed keys so as to substantially stabilize number of entire assigned generation channels, in accordance with a counted value of the counter, a loudspeaker for generating tone signal from the predetermined number of tone generation channels assigned by the assigning device. In the apparatus, even if the number of keys to be depressed is changed, the number of tones to be simultaneously produced is not greatly changed.

The present invention relates to a method of controlling a musical tone in an electronic musical instrument and, more particularly, to a method of controlling musical tones for an ensemble simulation in which a plurality of tone generation channels are assigned to depression of one key and a plurality of musical tones are simultaneously produced.
A conventional electronic musical instrument can simultaneously produce a plurality of tones upon depression of each key to obtain an ensemble effect as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,590,838.
In a conventional electronic musical instrument, since the number of tones to be produced in correspondence with depression of one key is predetermined as fixed data, the number of tones to be simultaneously produced greatly varies depending on the number of depressed keys. An ensemble effect obtained upon depression of a large number of keys is different from that obtained upon depression of a small number of keys. As a result, a sufficiently effective ensemble effect cannot be obtained.

Method of controlling musical tone generation channels in an electronic musical instrument


Disclosed herein is a cantilever-type PLC optical attenuator. The optical attenuator includes a base substrate made of silicon, an input waveguide, and output waveguide. Front portions of the upper and lower silicon substrates around the output waveguide are thinner than rear portions of the upper and lower silicon substrates around the output waveguide to provide a cantilever part having upper and lower cantilever substrate parts. A first electrode is provided on a bottom of the lower cantilever substrate part, and a second electrode is provided on the base substrate to electromagnetically correspond to the first electrode. When a voltage is applied between the first and second electrodes, the cantilever part moves up and down by an electromagnetic force, thus controlling the output light.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to optical attenuators, and more particularly, to an optical attenuator and a manufacturing method thereof, capable of controlling output light, using a micro electro mechanical system (referred to 'MEMS' hereinafter) technology and an electromagnetic force.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an optical attenuator is an element that reduces an intensity of an optical power received at a receiving end of an optical communication system, thus preventing malfunction of the system.
The combination of a super highway network with a multimedia system, namely, a super highway information telecommunication service is realized on the basis of a wire or wireless super highway broadband communication technology. Particularly, as an important point of the wire technology, research has been conducted on an optical communication technology which deals with the transmission of broadband signals including picture signals as well as aural signals. Components constituting such an optical communication system are divided into active elements to constitute a light transmitting end of the system, and passive elements to control transmitted light in the system. Of the passive elements, a variable optical attenuator (VOA) that variably attenuates optical signals is commonly used.
The methods of attenuating light are classified as follows: 1) a method of attenuating light by inserting a thin-film filter made of metal, such as Cr, between optical fibers to absorb light; 2) a method of attenuating light by spacing optical fibers; 3) a method of attenuating light by splicing optical fibers so that the optical fibers cross each other; and 4) a method of attenuating light by adjusting the curvatures of optical fibers.
Recently, there has been manufactured an optical attenuator which blocks an optical path by driving a structure comprising a shutter or mirror by a micro-actuator, using the MEMS technology to meet a demand for the integration or miniaturization of an element. Further, in order to accomplish a multi-channel system, research has been conducted on applying a method of forming a waveguide using the Planar Lightwave Circuit (PLC) technology and changing a path of light which passes through the waveguide, to an optical attenuator.
FIGS. 1a and 1b are views to show a conventional PLC optical attenuator and operation of the attenuator, respectively.
FIG. 1a is a view to show an initial state of the conventional PLC optical attenuator. In the conventional PLC optical attenuator shown in FIG. 1a, optical waveguides 11, 12, and 13 are provided on a silicon substrate 10 to correspond to the MEMS structure, and the optical waveguides 11, 12, and 13 define a path to transmit optical signals. In the initial state of the optical attenuator, the optical waveguides 11, 12, and 13 are aligned in a row, and the optical signal is transmitted via the optical waveguides 11, 12, and 13.
FIG. 1b is a view to show the operation of the conventional PLC optical attenuator. Referring to FIG. 1b, the optical waveguides 11, 12, and 13 comprise an input waveguide 11, a movable waveguide 12, and an output waveguide 13. In an operated state, the movable waveguide 12 moves to be perpendicular to the optical path, so that an optical power is not fully transmitted from an input terminal to an output terminal. In this case, the optical power transmitted to the output terminal is varied, according to moving extent of the movable waveguide 12 relative to the input and output waveguides 11 and 13. In this way, the optical attenuator can attenuate a power of the optical signal. The movable waveguide 12 is coupled to an actuator (not shown) to be moved by driving the actuator.
When the conventional PLC optical attenuator is changed from the initial state to the operated state, the movable waveguide 12 moves to be perpendicular to the input and output waveguides 11 and 13 while being on a same plane with the input and output waveguides 11 and 13. However, the conventional PLC optical attenuator has a problem in that a space for the movement of the movable waveguide 12 and a space for installing the actuator coupled to the movable waveguide 12 are additionally required, so that a reduction in size of the optical attenuator is restricted. Further, when the conventional PLC optical attenuator is applied to each of multi-channel elements in order to control optical powers of the multi-channel elements having a plurality of optical paths, a larger space is required. Since the movable waveguide 12 is made of silica and arranged on the thin silicon substrate 10, the movable waveguide 12 and the silicon substrate 10 may be undesirably deformed due to a difference in stress between materials of the movable waveguide 12 and the silicon substrate 10. When the elements are deformed due to the difference in stress between the materials of the elements, it is difficult to obtain accurate attenuation characteristics.

Cantilever-type PLC optical attenuator and manufacturing method thereof


A molybdenum disilicide composite comprising ceramic reinforcing fibers and sufficient particulate silicon carbide, silicon nitride, boron nitride or silica to modify the coefficient of thermal expansion of the matrix to match that of the fiber is found to have improved high temperature strength, creep resistance, toughness, and resistance to matrix cracking during thermal cycling.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to reinforced intermetallic matrix composites, and particularly to ceramic fiber reinforced molybdenum disilicide matrices having improved high temperature strength, creep resistance, and toughness.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Molybdenum disilicide is an intermetallic compound with a melting temperature in excess of 2000.degree. C., excellent high temperature oxidation resistance, and high thermal conductivity. Several problems, however, limit the use of molybdenum disilicide as a high temperature material, such as insufficient high temperature strength, creep resistance, and toughness. Accordingly, fiber reinforcement of molybdenum disilicide has been attempted, using high strength continuous ceramic fibers such as aluminum oxide, and silicon carbide. During thermal cycling, however, ceramic fiber reinforced molybdenum disilicide matrices experience cracking caused by thermal stresses resulting from differences of coefficients of thermal expansion of the matrix and the reinforcing fiber. As disclosed herein, applicants have now formulated a ceramic fiber reinforced molybdenum disilicide composite capable of withstanding such thermal stresses, due to the presence of a particulate material which modifies the coefficient of thermal expansion of the matrix.
Attempts have been made previously to improve the high temperature capability of molybdenum disilicide matrix materials, such as by addition of silicon carbide whiskers. For example, Petrovic et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,792, disclose a molybdenum disilicide matrix composite which is reinforced with SiC whiskers throughout the matrix, to improve strength at high temperatures. The patentees' approach to overcoming matrix cracking during thermal cycling is to have the fibers in tension, and the surrounding matrix under compression, thus requiring a relatively high density of uniformly spaced fibers. Petrovic et al do not, however, suggest the inclusion of particulates to reduce the differences between the coefficient of thermal expansion of the MoSi.sub.2 matrix and the reinforcing fibers.
Petrovic et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,179, disclose a modified MoSi.sub.2 alloy matrix composite wherein the matrix contains from about 10 to about 30 percent SiC in the form of whiskers or submicron powder. In order to achieve increased strength at high temperatures, a portion of the MoSi.sub.2 in the matrix is replaced with one or more refractory metal silicides, selected from tungsten disilicide, niobium disilicide, tantalum disilicide, molybdenum trisilicide, tungsten trisilicide, etc. Petrovic et al do not, however, suggest the inclusion of particulates to reduce the differences between the coefficient of thermal expansion of the MoSi.sub.2 matrix and reinforcing fibers, and in fact do not suggest the inclusion of continuous ceramic reinforcing fibers to strengthen the matrix.
Washburn, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,045,237, discloses a refractory electrical device for use as a heating element, ignitor, and heat sensor, which contains fine powders of molybdenum disilicide, silicon carbide, and aluminum nitride which are sintered or hot pressed into rigid structures. The patent does not teach, however, the use of ceramic reinforcing fibers.
Agarwal et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,118, disclose a self-heated oxygen sensor package having a heating element comprising silicon carbide, silicon nitride, or molybdenum disilicide, or mixtures thereof. The reference teaches the addition of silicon nitride to avoid false readings of oxygen content, but makes no disclosure of modifying thermal expansion coefficients or adding ceramic reinforcing fibers.
Schrewelius, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,016,313, discloses a heat resistant material for use in kilns, and attempts to overcome decreased strength due to oxidation by filling the pores of the silicon carbide matrix material with an impregnate containing molybdenum disilicide and silicon. The reference, however, does not attempt to strengthen the matrix by the addition of ceramic fibers, or to modify the thermal expansion coefficient of the matrix.
In summary, while the prior art has disclosed the addition of particulate materials to molybdenum disilicide matrices to modify the high temperature properties thereof, and the use of reinforcing fibers in matrices, the references have not taught molybdenum disilicide matrices having modified coefficients of thermal expansion which thereby reduce stress between the matrices and continuous ceramic reinforcing fibers encompassed therein. Thus, the references have not overcome the problem of stress induced by thermal cycling of ceramic fiber reinforced molybdenum disilicide matrices.

Molybdenum disilicide matrix composites reinforced with continuous ceramic fibers