An image processing apparatus that provides multiple services for users who issue various requests on a network, while maintaining the real-time nature of the apparatus. The image processing apparatus includes a developing unit for developing image data to time-varying image data, an image processing unit for performing image processing of the time-varying image data, a network interface for sending out the time-varying image data processed by the image processing unit onto a network, and a network control unit for controlling the time-varying image data for which multiple different image processing operations have been performed by the image processing unit, to be outputted to the network interface within one picture period.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image capturing apparatus and an image capturing method for sending out time-varying image data onto a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, the Internet has widely spread, and transmission of information by WWW (World Wide Web) and the like is commonly performed. In such a situation, there has appeared an image capturing apparatus provided with a function of capturing an image in real time and transmitting the picture (a time-varying image) onto a network. Network Camera Server VB-C10 by Canon Inc. is a good example thereof.
When it is attempted to provide services for users via a network, there may be a case where encoded data which have been processed with multiple different parameters are requested, for one input image taken at some time point, because users' requests are varied. As a first example of an image processing apparatus attempting to respond to such requests, there exists an image processing apparatus attempting to respond to the requests by having multiple encoding processing units (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-309853 (p. 19; FIGS. 1 and 6; p. 20; FIG. 3)).
Thus, in the case of attempting to respond to multiple image processing requests by having multiple encoding processing units, the content of services which can be provided is restricted by the number of the processing units. By increasing the number of the processing units, the restriction may be loosened. However, a network camera server and the like, which has an image capturing function, are generally required to be small-sized, and the number of processing units which can be implemented therein is restricted by the board/chip area or the heat value thereof. Therefore, there is a problem that the number of processing units is actually limited.
Meanwhile, in the case of capturing an image in real time and accumulating images for the purpose of monitoring or delivery, it is never allowed to drop an image inputted from an image capturing apparatus. For example, in the case of acquiring a picture input from a video camera for capturing images at a rate of 30 frames per second, the time allowed for processing any given frame is 1/30 second in principle, which is the time required for inputting one frame image. The time required for inputting one frame image is hereinafter referred to as "one picture period". A system is required to respond to a wide variety of users' requests described above within the picture period. A network camera capable of remotely operating a picture taking unit is required to operate in real-time and have little delay.
As a second example of an image processing apparatus, there exists an image processing apparatus attempting to respond to various users' requests by reading various conversion algorithms stored in a ROM in advance as necessary, and causing a DSP to perform the processing of the algorithms (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-125411 (p. 8; FIG. 1; p. 10; FIG. 4)).
In this technique, multiple image processing operations are simply performed by the DSP in parallel in a time-sharing manner in accordance with the algorithms, and there is a problem that the processings are not assured to be completed within one picture period.
That is, a prior-art image capturing apparatus that sends out time-varying image data onto a network has a difficulty providing multiple services for users who issue various requests on a network while maintaining a real-time operation.

Image capturing apparatus and image capturing method


Provided are a color film substrate and manufacturing method thereof, and a display panel and manufacturing method thereof. The color film substrate is divided into a display region, and a non-display region around a periphery of the display region and including an edge region at an edge of the color film substrate. The color film substrate includes base, color resist layer on the base and black matrix layer on the base at least in the display region. In the edge region, the color resist layer includes first sub color resist layer on the base and second sub color resist layer on the first sub color resist layer, the first sub color resist layer allows light in first wavelength range to transmit therethrough, the second sub color resist layer allows light in a second wavelength range to transmit therethrough, and the first wavelength range does not overlap the second wavelength range.

A liquid crystal display panel is generally manufactured by arranging a color film substrate to be opposite to and aligned with a liquid crystal array substrate, and a target liquid crystal display panel of a target size is obtained by cutting the liquid crystal display panel. The color film substrate generally includes a black matrix (BM) for blocking light. Since the black matrix includes carbon particles having conductive capability, the black matrix is not generally formed at an edge region of the color film substrate in order to prevent static electricity produced in the cutting of the liquid crystal display panel from being transmitted to an inside of the liquid crystal display panel through the black matrix and thus affecting the inside of the liquid crystal display panel. Generally, a distance for a cutting tolerance is reserved between the black matrix and an edge of the color film substrate, which results in that a region without coverage of the black matrix at the edge of the liquid crystal display pane is light-transmitting. For a bezel-less liquid crystal display panel, user experience will be greatly influenced by a screen white edge (namely an edge bright line), a metal bright edge and the like caused by light leakage at the edge of the liquid crystal display panel. The metal bright edge refers to a phenomenon that light irradiated to a metal line extending from a display region of an array substrate to a region without coverage of the black matrix at the edge of the liquid crystal display panel is reflected by the metal line, and the reflected light emitted from the region without coverage of the black matrix at the edge of the liquid crystal display panel presents the metal bright edge.

Color film substrate and manufacturing method thereof, and display panel

FUZHOU BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A refrigerator door handle carries a contact sensor which, when touched by user, causes an interior lamp of the refrigerator to be illuminated. Thereafter, the illumination of the lamp is controlled by a conventional switch which senses when the door is open or closed, whereby the lamp remains on until the door is sensed to be closed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for turning on and off a lamp installed in a refrigerator.
2. Description of the Related Art
A refrigerator generally includes a lamp for lighting the inside thereof as for a user to easily distinguish foods stored therein. The lamp is turned on when a door of the refrigerator is opened. Conversely, it is turned off when the door is closed.
A conventional method for turning on and off the lamp according to the state of the door will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional lamp turning on and off unit for turning on and off the lamp depending on the open and closed state of the door. As shown, the conventional lamp turning on and off unit includes a microcomputer 1 for performing a predetermined program. The microcomputer 1 is connected to a switch SW that is operated by the door of the refrigerator, and the microcomputer 1 is also connected to a lamp driving unit 2 for turning on and off the lamp L.
Referring to FIG. 2, the lamp L is controlled according to the operation of the switch SW which is turned on when the door of the refrigerator is opened and turned off when the door is closed. In other words the microcomputer 1 makes a determination as to whether the door is opened or closed depending upon a contact signal from the switch SW. When the door is opened, i.e., if it is determined that the switch SW is on, the microcomputer 1 causes the lamp to be turned on by means of the lamp driving unit 2. Otherwise, when the door is closed. i.e., if it is determined that the switch SW is off, the microcomputer 1 causes the lamp to be turned off through the lamp driving, unit 2.
According to the aforementioned conventional method, the switch SW is actually turned on when the door is nearly half opened. Thus some amount of time is delayed for the microcomputer 1 to recognize that the door is opened. Moreover, such a lamp driving unit is generally composed of a relay circuit. Accordingly, another amount of time may be taken for a relay contact point to be operated after the microcomputer 1 commands the lamp to be turned on.
As a result, the user has felt inconvenience in use of the refrigerator because the lamp is not turned on when he opens the door of the refrigerator. In particular, a fluorescent lamp that is more widely used for the refrigerator than a glow lamp also causes a delay. The fluorescent lamp rarely influences temperature in the refrigerator, however requires more time to be illuminated when compared to the glow lamp.

Method and apparatus for turning on and off a lamp in a refrigerator


The device is used in conjunction with a step-driven conveyor featuring an upper surface where seats for receiving blister packs are placed with transverse portions of each blister packs protruding symmetrically from the relative seat. At a station where these seats stop one after the other, there is a vertical magazine, open below, centered with respect to the station and containing a stack of blister packs supported by spring-operated retaining means. Below the magazine, there are two arms one on each side of the upper surface, equipped above with suction cups, and vertically movable in a synchronous manner. Actuation of the arms, combined with action of the suction cups, enables a blister pack to be transferred from a seat present at the station to the magazine, and vice versa.

This invention concerns a device to be used in conjunction with a part of machine placed between a machine for packing various products in strips of blistered tape, commonly known as blister packs, and a device designed to stack these blister packs and then insert them into suitable containers, such as cartons.
The packaging machine is of the type which, observed from upstream to downstream, comprises a station where the blisters are formed out of thermoformable material, a station where the blisters are filled with a product (e.g., capsules pills and similar objects), a station where the presence of the product in the blisters is detected and/or where it is verified that the product placed in the blisters is not defective, a station where a film of aluminium foil is applied to seal the surface of the said tape where the blisters have their openings, and a station where the tape with the sealed blisters is cut up into blister packs.
The said section of the machine comprises a closed loop conveyor, whose upper surface is downstream with respect to the said cutting station.
The said conveyor is preferably formed of two adjacent belts, there being, on the outer side of each belt, crosspieces protruding right across the adjacent belt.
The crosspieces of the two belts form seats which receive the blister packs.
Transfer of the blister packs from the cutting station to the seats is effected by means of a technical solution, protected by Italian patent application No. 3544A/90 filed on the same date by the same applicant, which enables the blister packs to be oriented with their blisters facing upwards.

Device for transferring flat articles, in particular blister packs, from a conveyor of tablets to a magazine and vice-versa

I.M.A. Industria Macchine Automatiche S.p.A.


A tape back-up drive having a head assembly. The head assembly includes a head configured to read data from a tape and to write data to the tape. The head assembly also includes at least one tape guide disposed adjacent to the head.

This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art, which may be related to various aspects of the present invention that are described and claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
The loss of computer data can be a serious threat to any business. Backing up computer data can provide some measure of protection against data loss. One technique for backing up data is to record the data onto magnetic tapes. For example, a magnetic tape configured to operate under the Linear-Tape Open ("LTO") standard may be used to back-up the data. Under the LTO format and other formats, data may be recorded on and read from a moving magnetic tape with an electromagnetic read/write head positioned next to the magnetic tape. Unfortunately, the electromagnetic head may be a relatively expensive component of the back-up drive. In addition, the head may need to be replaced due to wear during the life of the back-up drive.
Moreover, many personal computers and servers are provided with expansion slots where add-on units may be added inside the case or housing of the computer. However, the space available for each expansion slot may be limited, and therefore tape back-up systems designed to plug into such expansion slots benefit from a relatively thin aspect ratio. Indeed, there may be significant constraints on the thickness dimension of such back-up tape drives.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


In one exemplary aspect, a core network (CN) (20) sets a shared CNB (30) shared for user packet transfer of a plurality of mobile terminals (1) connected to a base station (2) between a transfer node (4) and an external gateway (5). When an arbitrary one of the plurality of mobile terminals (1) performs communication, the CN (20) uses the shared CNB (20) and first RAB (40 and 50) for the arbitrary one of the plurality of mobile terminals. The CN (20) uses, when a first mobile terminal and a second mobile terminal of the plurality of mobile terminals (1) simultaneously perform communication, the shared CNB (30) and the first RAB (40 and 50) for the first mobile terminal and a second CNB (31) and second RAB (41 and 51) for the second mobile terminal, the second CNB (31) and the second RAB (41 and 51) being additionally set.

A multiple access mobile communication system enables mobile terminals to perform radio communication substantially simultaneously, by sharing radio resources including at least one of time, frequency, and transmission power among the mobile terminals. Typical examples of multiple access schemes include a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), a Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), and any combination thereof. Unless otherwise stated, the term "mobile communication system" used in this specification means a multiple access mobile communication system.
A mobile communication system includes at least one mobile terminal and a network. The network includes a radio access network (RAN) and a core network (Mobile Core Network (CN)). The mobile terminal communicates with an external network (e.g., the Internet, packet data network, or Public Switched Telephone Networks (PSTN)) through the RAN and the CN. The mobile communication system is, for example, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) or an Evolved Packet System (EPS) of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The RAN is, for example, a Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) or an Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN). The CN is, for example, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) packet core or an Evolved Packet Core (EPC).
In the mobile communication system, in general, it is required to create a data bearer to transfer user packets between the external network and the mobile terminal per mobile terminal basis. This is because it is required to promptly switch and relocate a packet transfer route to provide mobile terminals with mobility. The data bearer is, for example, a UMTS bearer (General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) bearer), or an EPS bearer. The data bearer includes a radio access bearer (hereinafter referred to as a RAB) that is set in the RAN and a core network bearer (hereinafter referred to as a CNB) that is set in the CN.
The CNB is a tunnel that is set between a transfer node and an external gateway arranged in the CN, or a logical transmission path. The external gateway is a gateway node that is arranged in a boundary with the external network. The transfer node is a node that is arranged in a boundary with the RAN. The CNB is, for example, a CNB of the UMTS (i.e., GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) tunnel), or an S5/S8 bearer of the EPS (i.e., GTP tunnel). Further, the external gateway is, for example, a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) or a Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW). The transfer node is, for example, a user plane function of a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) or a Serving Gateway (S-GW).
The RAB is a bearer between the mobile terminal and the transfer node of the CN. The RAB includes a radio bearer and a bearer between the RAN and the CN. The bearer between the RAN and the CN is set between a transfer node of the CN and a RAN node that performs a Radio Link Control (RLC) and a Radio Resource Control (RRC). The radio bearer is set between the mobile terminal and the RAN node described above in the RAN. The RAN node that performs the RLC and the RRC is, for example, a Radio Network Controller (RNC) of the UMTS or a base station (evolved NodeB (eNB)) of the EPS. The bearer set between the RAN and the CN is, for example, an Iu bearer (i.e., GTP tunnel) of the UMTS or an S1 bearer (i.e., GTP tunnel) of the EPS. The radio bearer is, for example, a Uu bearer of the UMTS or an LTE-Uu bearer of the EPS.
In summary, the CN need to create the CNB for each mobile terminal. The transfer node needs to store and manage a tunnel configuration regarding the CNB including a tunnel identifier (tunnel endpoint identifier) and an address of the external gateway (e.g., Internet Protocol (IP) address). The external gateway allocates a mobile terminal that attaches to the CN an address (e.g., IP address) to communicate with an external network, and performs, for the CNB, tunnel set up, charging control, and Quality of Service (QoS) control and the like.
For example, Non-patent literature 1 discloses procedures for establishing and recovering a data bearer (i.e., EPS bearer) to transfer user packets of a mobile terminal in response to an attach of the mobile terminal to a CN, a service request or the like in the EPS.

Mobile communication system, control apparatus, communication control method, and non-transitory computer readable medium


A control apparatus capable of efficiently detecting a target object even when the target object is shielded by other objects is provided. An object recognition unit 114 recognizes a target object 80 present in a 3D environment 4 by using measurement data acquired from a sensor 12. An information generation unit 116 generates 3D environmental information by integrating a plurality of measurement data. A position determination unit 120 determines an optimal position of the sensor 12 for performing the next measurement. A sensor control unit 140 moves the sensor 12 to the determined optimal position. The position determination unit 120 determines, by using the 3D environmental information, a position of the sensor 12 where the sensor 12 can take an image in which a size of an area shielded by at least one first object is larger as the optimal position.

The present disclosure relates to a control apparatus, an object detection system, an object detection method and a program. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a control apparatus, an object detection system, an object detection method and a program for detecting an object by controlling a sensor.
There is a technique for detecting a target object, which is an object to be detected, by operating a sensor such as a range sensor. In such techniques, it is necessary to consider that the target object may be shielded by other objects (obstacles). In relation to this technique, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2015-190818 discloses a work support system for improving efficiency of work for completion of the whole work. The work support system disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2015-190818 includes a measurement apparatus that measures (i.e., obtains) three-dimensional (3D) shape data of an object to be measured, a transfer apparatus that moves at least one of the objects to be measured and the measurement apparatus and thereby changes a measurement position where the measurement apparatus measures the object to be measured, and a work support apparatus that controls the transfer apparatus. A candidate position setting unit sets, on a surface of the object to be measured, candidate measurement positions for the entire area of a measurement target range designated as a measurement target range. An available surface calculation unit calculates, for each of the set measurement positions, the number of measurable surfaces of the object to be measured or an area (i.e., a size) of the measurable surfaces. A ranking determination unit determines, for each measurement direction, a priority order of measurement according to the calculated number or the area (i.e., the size) of the surfaces. A measurement control unit instructs the transfer apparatus to perform measurement in each measurement direction according to the determined priority order.

Control apparatus, object detection system, object detection method and program


In a print system which processes a print job on the basis of a print instruction in which request items in print processes for obtaining a printed matter are described in a predetermined description format, a print management device manages print processings for the printed matter. The print management device includes a detection unit that detects a connection state of a processing device for executing a predetermined process among the request items included in the print instructions, and a selection unit that selects a print instruction of a description format corresponding to the connected processing device to output the print instruction to the processing device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a print management device, a print management method, a print management storage medium, and a print system. More specifically, the invention relates to a print management device, a print management method, a print management storage medium, and a print system in a system which performs printing including plural print processes using, e.g., a machine (press) plate or an image forming device having a so-called print function for forming an image on a recording medium by a printer or the like of an electrophotographic scheme or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional printing (for example, offset printing), intermediate products such as printing paper for a photo composition or the like (photographic printing paper), a block copy, a halftone negative, halftone positive, and a PS plate (printing plate) are generated. On the basis of the intermediate products, printing, book binding, and the like are performed.
As shown in FIG. 7, for example, print processes are constituted by an imposition process, an RIP process, a CTP process, a printing machine process, a folding machine process, a cutting machine process, and a binding machine process. The imposition process is a process of determining an image position obtained by a layout, and the RIP process is a process of forming image data for printing on the basis of layout data. The CTP process is a process of forming a printing plate from image data, and the printing machine process is a process of performing printing using a printing plate. The folding machine process is a process of folding a printed medium depending on specifications, the cutting machine process is a process of cutting the printed and folded medium according to the specifications, and the binding machine process is a process of binding the printed, folded, and cut medium depending on the specifications. These print processes are independently performed, and include independent processes performed in the steps.
In recent years, along with the popularization of DTP (DeskTop Publishing/Plate-making), "direct printing" or "on-demand printing" which directly performs printing from DTP data is known. In DTP, the following print processing is prevalent. That is, print data obtained by processing a page layout on a computer is formed on photographic printing paper, a process film, or the like, and, on the basis of these papers or films, a printing plate is formed to perform printing. Further, a CTP (Computer To Plate) process which directly forms a printing plate by electronic data without generating intermediate products is attracting attention. As a device which can be used in such print processing, an image forming device such as a printer or a copying machine having a print function is known.
However, although this DTP makes it possible to perform some processes of printing of peripheral devices of the image forming device by circulation of electronic data, it cannot be used in all processes of the print processing. In addition, DTP cannot be easily applied to conventional print processes.
As a control method for automating a print work flow, CIP4 proposed by Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG is known. Not only a printer vender but also prepress and postpress processes have been compatible with CIP4. In this manner, abstract instruction to detailed instruction for a device, image processing, and operations are given to half-automate print processes which are manually performed in a conventional technique.
In recent years, as shown in digital color proofing or on-demand printing, merging of printing techniques and electrophotographic techniques is observed. However, since work flows of these techniques are different from each other, at present, instructions are given to the devices by independent standards when these techniques are automated.

Print management device, print management method, print management storage medium, and print system


A toner for developing electrostatic images in a single component development (SCD) system free of carrier and including emulsion aggregation toner particles of a styrene acrylate polymer binder, at least one release agent and at least one colorant, wherein the toner particles have a volume average particle size of from about 5 μm to about 10 μm, an average circularity of about 0.95 to about 0.99, a volume and number geometric standard deviation (GSDv and n) of from about 1.10 to about 1.30, and an onset glass transition temperature of from about 45° C. to about 65° C., is ideally suited for forming an image using a single component image forming device.

Described herein are toners, and single component developers containing the toners, for use in forming and developing images of good quality and gloss, and in particular to a toner having a novel combination of properties ideally suited for use in image forming devices utilizing single component development.
Emulsion aggregation toners are excellent toners to use in forming print and/or xerographic images in that the toners can be made to have uniform sizes and in that the toners are environmentally friendly. U.S. patents describing emulsion aggregation toners include, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,370,963, 5,418,108, 5,290,654, 5,278,020, 5,308,734, 5,344,738, 5,403,693, 5,364,729, 5,346,797, 5,348,832, 5,405,728, 5,366,841, 5,496,676, 5,527,658, 5,585,215, 5,650,255, 5,650,256, 5,501,935, 5,744,520, 5,763,133, 5,766,818, 5,747,215, 5,827,633, 5,853,944, 5,804,349, 5,840,462, and 5,869,215, each incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
One main type of emulsion aggregation toners includes emulsion aggregation toners that are acrylate based, e.g., styrene acrylate toner particles. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,967, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, as one example.
Emulsion aggregation techniques typically involve the formation of an emulsion latex of the resin particles, which particles have a small size of from, for example, about 5 to about 500 nanometers in diameter, by heating the resin, optionally with solvent if needed, in water, or by making a latex in water using an emulsion polymerization. A colorant dispersion, for example of a pigment dispersed in water, optionally also with additional resin, is separately formed. The colorant dispersion is added to the emulsion latex mixture, and an aggregating agent or complexing agent is then added to form aggregated toner particles. The aggregated toner particles are optionally heated to enable coalescence/fusing, thereby achieving aggregated, fused toner particles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,828 describes a toner composition that includes a styrene/n-butyl acrylate copolymer resin having a number average molecular weight of less than about 5,000, a weight average molecular weight of from about 10,000 to about 40,000 and a molecular weight distribution of greater than 6 that provides excellent gloss and high fix properties at a low fusing temperature.
What is still desired is a styrene acrylate emulsion aggregation toner that can achieve excellent print quality, particularly for use in single component developer image forming devices.

Single component developer of emulsion aggregation toner


In a laser receiver receiving a laser beam from a laser transmitter and a laser receiving system composed of a plurality of laser receivers, a plurality of photo devices are arranged on an acceptance surface so that acceptance angles of the laser beam thereof are mutually different in order to detect distances between an acceptance position of a center point of a received laser beam on an acceptance surface and a reference point and an elevation angle of the received laser beam from a reference surface. Also, distance detection means respectively compare acceptance levels of the photo devices detected by the level detection means with thresholds, thereby detecting distance between the center point of the laser beam and the reference point of the acceptance surface by combination of comparison results thereof. Elevation angle detection means respectively compare acceptance levels of the photo devices detected by the level detection means with thresholds, thereby detecting elevation angles from the reference surface by combination of comparison results thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laser receiver and a laser receiving system, and in particular to a laser receiver receiving a laser beam from a laser transmitter and a laser receiving system composed of a plurality of laser receivers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some conventional laser receivers have a single photo device (photoreceptor device or receiving optics) while others have a plurality of photo devices. Any of the laser receivers has the photo devices arranged therein so that a directivity and an acceptance sensitivity suitable for the purposes of the systems may be achieved in consideration of the directivities of the photo devices.
FIG. 29 shows directivity of a general photo device. When a photo device 10 is arranged on an acceptance surface L as shown in FIG. 29, the acceptance sensitivity in a vertical direction (zenithal direction) with respect to the acceptance surface L is maximum and the acceptance sensitivity decreases as an angle (elevation angle) is lowered from the zenith. As shown in FIG. 29, when the acceptance sensitivity in the zenithal direction is supposed to be 100%, the acceptance sensitivity near a horizontal direction to the acceptance surface L assumes the order of 30%.
Thus, general photo devices have the maximum acceptance sensitivity in the zenithal direction with respect to the acceptance surface, the acceptance sensitivity thereof decreasing as the angle is lowered from the zenith.
FIGS. 30A and 30B show an example of a single photo device arranged on a conventional laser receiver. FIG. 30A is a plan view of a laser receiver 20, and FIG. 30B is a side view thereof. The laser receiver 20 shown in FIGS. 30A and 30B has a photo device 21 with a large acceptance area arranged on the acceptance surface L. The acceptance sensitivity of this laser receiver 20 is directly affected by the directivity of the photo device 21, so that the acceptance sensitivity is maximum in the zenithal direction, decreasing as the angle is lowered from the zenith. Therefore, it has not been possible to accept a laser beam from the horizontal direction with respect to the acceptance surface L.
FIG. 31 is a circuit arrangement of the laser receiver 20 shown in FIGS. 30A and 30B. As shown in FIG. 31, the laser receiver 20 is composed of the photo device 21, a level detection circuit 30 and a controller 33. The level detection circuit 30 has an amplifier 31 for amplifying a signal accepted (received) by the photo device 21, and comparators 32_H and 32_L for comparing the signal amplified by the amplifier 31 with reference voltages VH and VL, respectively.
It is supposed that there is a relationship of VH>VL between the reference voltages VH and VL. Therefore, the comparator 32_H detects a signal of a higher reference, voltage. The outputs of the comparators 32_H and 32_L are provided to the controller 33 as signals 301 and 302, respectively.
Thus, the level detection circuit 30 has been able to shape the signal received by the photo device 21 and obtain information indicating a level at which the laser beam is received by using the comparators 32_H and 32_L.
Thus, the laser receiver having a single photo device has been able to detect a level of the laser beam received. However, even if the center of the laser beam hits a position off the laser receiver, it has not been able to detect how off the center of the laser beam hits the laser receiver. Also, it has not been able to detect an acceptance angle at which the laser beam is received.
On the other hand, as an example of a laser receiver having a plurality of photo devices, Japanese examined patent application publication No. 7-26808 discloses a method of detecting an acceptance position of a pulse laser light by arranging numerous photo devices all over the acceptance surface.
By this method, it is made possible to detect the acceptance position of the laser beam within the area where the photo devices are arranged. However, since it is required to arrange numerous photo devices to the entire area where the acceptance position is to be detected, a massive number of photo devices are required for the detection of the acceptance position of the laser beam within a large area.
Also, it has not been able to detect an acceptance angle at which the laser beam is received by this method.
In a communication system performing data transmission/reception by using a laser beam, it is usually required to perform an optical axis adjustment between a laser transmitter and a laser receiver before starting the data transmission/reception.
It is ideal that the center of the laser beam from the laser transmitter hits the center of the laser receiver vertically. Therefore, if the laser receiver can detect the distance between the center of the received laser beam and the center of the laser receiver as well as the acceptance angle, it is made possible to perform an optical axis adjustment by using the results thereof.
Also, the laser receiver can be used as a target for determining whether a laser beam as a dummy bullet hits or misses in e.g. a simulant target training system.
In this case, if the acceptance position of the center point of the received laser beam on the acceptance surface is detected by using the conventional laser receiver, it is required to arrange numerous laser receivers in order to cover the surface of the target object in case the target is a large object such as a human body. Also in case of the laser receiver having a plurality of photo devices, it is required to arrange a massive number of photo devices in order to cover the surface of the target object, so that it is unrealistic.

Laser receiver and laser receiving system


A membrane electrode assembly includes a first electrode, a second electrode, and an anion exchange membrane disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode. The first electrode includes a first metal mesh, a first catalyst layer wrapping the first metal mesh, a second metal mesh, and a second catalyst layer wrapping the second metal mesh. The first metal mesh is disposed between the anion exchange membrane and the second metal mesh. The second metal mesh is thicker than the first metal mesh, and the first catalyst layer is thicker than the second catalyst layer. The second catalyst layer is iron, cobalt, manganese, zinc, niobium, molybdenum, ruthenium, platinum, gold, or aluminum. The second catalyst layer is crystalline.

Seeking alternative energy is imperative now due to energy shortages, and hydrogen energy is the best choice. Hydrogen gas serving as fuel meets the requirements of environmental protection, and electrolysis of water is the easiest way to generate hydrogen and oxygen. In the future development of green hydrogen source technologies for carbon neutrality, the hydrogen evolution by electrolysis of alkaline water has the advantages of low construction cost and long component durability, thereby being a promising technology and attracting international attention.
The use of clean renewable energy is an international future development trend. The current focus of global development is on improving the efficiency of renewable energy, especially surplus power. Hydrogen evolution by electrolysis of water is beneficial to regulating the excess surplus electricity of renewable electricity. Therefore, improving the cost and efficiency of hydrogen evolution by electrolysis of water is an important basis of the industrialization of future technologies. Efficiently integrating various components to improve electrolysis efficiency and reduce costs is the critical core. Conventional electrolysis needs a flow channel layer to import alkaline aqueous solution and export the hydrogen and oxygen generated by electrolysis. However, the flow channel layer is manufactured by mechanical processing, which is expensive and increases the cost of electrolysis. Accordingly, a novel membrane electrode assembly is called for to omit the flow channel layer.

Membrane electrode assembly and method for hydrogen evolution by electrolysis

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE


An ice container for an ice-storage type air conditioning system includes a sealed plastic housing containing water therein. The housing has a plurality of elongated slots formed uniformly in the entire outer surface thereof. When the water in the housing is frozen, the bottom walls of the slots expand to increase the capacity of the housing. The bottom walls of the slots are arranged and sized so that the slots can remain in the outer surface of the housing when the water in the outer housing is frozen. The housing has a groove formed in one end surface thereof, and a tongue projecting outward from the other end surface thereof. The tongue of one housing can be inserted into the groove of another housing so that a plurality of the housings can be arranged in a row.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a variable-capacity ice container for an ice-storage type air conditioning system, and more particularly to an ice container with a plurality of elongated slots formed in the outer surface thereof, which slots prevent substantial volumetric expansion of the ice container when the water in the ice container is frozen.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional ice container includes a spherical plastic housing (10) with a plurality of circular depressions (11) formed uniformly in the entire outer surface thereof. Referring to FIG. 2, another conventional ice container includes an elongated plastic housing (12) having a bellows-like portion (13). A plurality of the spherical ice containers or the elongated ice containers are placed in a large container through which the circulating coolant of the ice-storage air conditioning system flows to interact with the ice containers so as to perform heat exchange. When the air conditioning system is not in use, the ice containers are cooled to freeze the water in the ice containers. When the air conditioning system is in use, heat is transferred from the circulating coolant to the ice in the ice containers and melts the ice. When the water in the ice container of FIG. 1 is frozen, the ice pushes against the wall of the ice container at the circular depressions (11) to form protrusions on the outer surface of the housing (10). When the water in the ice container of FIG. 2 is frozen, the small-diameter portions of the bellows-like portion (13) expand so that two ends of the housing (12) extend outward, thereby increasing the length of the ice container. As a result, the solidification of the water in the ice container causes substantial capacity increment and volumetric expansion of the ice container. Subsequently, when the ice in the ice container melts, the housing returns to the original shape, thereby reducing the capacity and volume of the ice container.
Substantial volumetric periodic expansion and contraction of the ice containers cause difficulties in positioning the ice containers within the large container and result in frequent friction between the ice containers, thereby damaging or even breaking the ice containers. Because it is difficult to position the ice containers in an orderly manner in the large container, the circulating coolant cannot flow uniformly over all of the ice containers, the water in many of the ice containers might not be frozen, thus decreasing the heat transfer efficiency between the ice containers and the circulating coolant.

Ice container for an ice-storage type air conditioning system


Congestion control in connection-oriented packet-switching networks is accomplished by rerouting any misbehaving non-real-time connection over an alternative path, if network resources permit. In one exemplary methodological implementation, a congestion notification is received by a node in a network indicating that there is traffic congestion in a path connecting the node to a destination node. The node ascertains whether an alternative path exists with better throughput for rerouting traffic between it and the destination node. The node selects the alternative path to route traffic between it and the destination node, if such an alternative path exists.

Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is a very high-speed transmission protocol developed for transferring traffic (i.e., data) in networks. ATM uses data packets, called cells, for transporting and routing traffic through a network. The fixed size of ATM cells make networks that utilize ATM (hereinafter ATM networks) very versatile, supporting the transfer of a wide variety of different types of data, including raw data, voice data, video data, image data, multimedia data, and other types of data.
As data enters an ATM network, it is typically segmented (i.e., formed) into ATM cells by the ATM Adaptation Layer (AAL) present in either an ATM device, such as a switch or router, which are devices that relay and route traffic in the network. The cells travel through the ATM network in a cell stream. As the cells exit the ATM network, they are reassembled (i.e., reformed) into a native data format. ATM networks allocate bandwidth on demand, which is particularly important for traffic that has very little predictability such as telecommunication networks. For instance, when an end system device (i.e., source node) attempts to send data to another end system (i.e., a destination node) in an ATM network, the source node typically requests the establishment of a Virtual Connection (VC), which is referred to as a call. Before the call is accepted a determination is made by the network whether or not to accept the call by examining available network resources.
The objective of the network when establishing a call is to ensure that a requested Quality of Service (QoS) is maintained for a connection between a source node and a destination node (it is noted that while the terms 'source' and 'destination' denote a traffic flow direction, it is appreciated that ATM connections support bidirectional traffic flow, and accordingly the terms 'source node' and 'destination node' can be used interchangeably). Providing the desired QoS for various traffic types involves proper traffic management. If the call is accepted, the network forms an agreement with the source node. The agreement typically stipulates that the source node shall not to exceed the specified Peak Cell Rate (PCR) for the call. The amount of bandwidth allocated depends on the connection's specified traffic parameters (a.k.a. descriptors) and the type of QoS, and can vary from the Minimum Cell Rate (MCR) to the (PCR) of the call. Broadly ATM connections can be classified into Real time and Non-real time service categories. Real Time Service categories include Constant Bit Rate (CBR) and Variable Bit Rate Real Time (VBRrt), while Non-real time service categories include Variable Bit Rate Non-Real Time (VBRnrt), Available Bit Rate (ABR) and Unspecified Bit Rate (UBR).
Typical bandwidth allocation for Non-real time services is much less than its specified PCR and close to it's MCR, which allows for accommodating a lot more VC than the actual capacity of the link/node. This is known as oversubscription of a link/node. However, not all VCs may use network resources at the same time, which results in unused bandwidth (i.e. resource). Over-subscription thus allows some VCs now to burst traffic up to their PCR and utilize the statistical fluctuation of each VCs traffic load, and thus save bandwidth. Thus, over-subscription allows the non-real time connections to burst traffic at a rate higher than its assigned bandwidth or cell rate. In other words it is possible for a non-real time connection to burst traffic up to their PCR without suffering discard at their ingress due to Usage Parameter Control (UPC).
However, if all non-real time connections start sending traffic close to their PCR, then this may lead to congestion by overloading some network link/node egress. In such congested situations, connections that are sending traffic (intentionally or unintentionally) more than their Available Cell Rate (ACR) are considered misbehaving. Though it is not mentioned explicitly, it should be appreciated that each non-real time connection needs to be individually tracked and monitored using some form of per-VC queuing architecture in the ATM node, in order to analyze which connection is misbehaving and which is not.
Traffic congestion can prevent traffic from reaching its destination and cause significant degradation to the performance on the network. For example, cells sent by the source node can be dropped during transmission. If the destination node detects errors, such as recognizing the dropped cells, it will request that the source node rebroadcast the transmission. This has a recursive effect as it results in more traffic being sent across the ATM network, creating even more congestion, which can make the congestion problem worse. Eventually, a disruptive phenomenon can propagate across the ATM network, overloading available resources with traffic cells, which are dropped as retransmissions occur. Eventually cells are retransmitted onto the network and may overlap with previous retransmissions, which causes further data backup and more cells to be dropped, yet again. Accordingly, traffic congestion can cause a network to fail if not dealt with through proper traffic management, and in particular proper congestion control.
Attempts have been made to control congestion in ATM networks. Congestion control can be applied at the call level and cell level. At the call level, Connection Admission Control (CAC) is applied to perform access admission control in deciding whether or not accept the call into the network by evaluating the resources required carefully to meet the QoS objective of the call by examining available network resources. Congestion control schemes applied at the cell level can be applied both at the "ingress" of the node and at the egress of each ATM node.
Usage Parameter Control (UPC), or in other words, traffic enforcement or policing, is a set of defined corrective actions (i.e. selective discard of the violating cells or tagging violating cells that could be discarded in downstream nodes if necessary) taken by an ATM network at the ingress of the virtual circuit or virtual path level to protect network resources from malicious as well as unintentional misbehavior, by detecting violations of negotiated traffic contracts, such as sending traffic more than the specified PCR. However, as discussed previously in context of network node oversubscription, a connection may be sending traffic within the connection's PCR and thus may be conforming to the connection's UPC but may still contribute to congestion at some intermediate network node egress. In such situations congestion control is applied at the congested egress.
Open Loop Flow Control is one such approach used to regulate the traffic locally by decreasing (a.k.a. throttling) the outgoing (i.e. egressing) traffic rate of the misbehaving connection by restricting the egressing (i.e. outgoing) traffic for that connection and discarding the excess traffic at the congested node. Though this mechanism is useful in preventing congestion from further percolation in the downstream direction, it lacks the ability to regulate traffic flow at the very source of the connection.
Closed Loop Flow Control addresses the limitation of the Open Loop Flow Control as in this mechanism sources of congestion are informed about the congestive state of the network through feedback and are requested to decrease their input rate. The main advantage of a feedback mechanism is that if a certain node in a network is congested, then the congestion can be moved from the node experiencing traffic congestion (referred to as the "point-of-congestion") back to the source of the congestion.
Often to relieve a point of congestion in a faster manner, certain congestion control techniques do not discriminate between conforming and non-conforming connections and may force overall reduction in cell transfer rate at the congested node. This penalizes the non-misbehaving connections by forcing them to reduce their overall cell transfer rates, even though they may not be misbehaving.
Other congestion control mechanisms for ATM networks have been developed or proposed to perform congestion control, such as cell buffering techniques, cell disposal policing techniques, artificial intelligence prediction techniques, and various other congestion control techniques. Most, if not all of these congestion mechanisms, either reduce the cell rate of nodes in a call's particular connection path or link to alleviate congestion or perform other procedures that degrade the overall performance of networks and do not consider unutilized resources across the entire network.


A dose of arsenic for an extension region in an NMOS transistor is in a range from 5×1014 to 2×1015 ions/cm2 and preferably in a range from 1.1×1015 to 1.5×1015 ions/cm2. Also, in addition to arsenic, a low concentration of phosphorus is doped into the extension region by ion implantation. Consequently, with a semiconductor device of the CMOS structure, it is possible to prevent unwanted creeping of silicide that occurs often in the shallow junction region depending on a concentration of an impurity having a low diffusion coefficient as represented by arsenic. Further, not only can the resistance in the shallow junction region be lowered, but also an amount of overlaps can be optimized in each transistor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a manufacturing method thereof, which are particularly suitable for salicide CMOS transistor applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
Advancements in miniaturization and speedups of a semiconductor device in recent years have been increasing the need for a high-performance and low-power-consumption transistor. In order to meet such a need, it is crucial to solve a problem of wiring delay by lowering the resistance of various wires. To this end, for example, a so-called silicide structure, and further, a so-called salicide structure are adopted in a CMOS transistor or the like.
The salicide structure is achieved by depositing metal, which is commonly W or Co, on the gate and the impurity diffusion layer followed by sintering, thereby allowing silicon and the metal to react with each other. In this case, in order to prevent shorting the gate to the impurity diffusion layer through the silicide film, a sidewall is formed to electrically isolate the gate and the impurity diffusion layer. Also, the impurity diffusion layer is formed so that a shallow junction region (extension region) and a deep junction region (source/drain region) overlap by performing ion implantation twice before and after the formation of the sidewall.
According to the salicide structure described above, an impurity concentration in the extension region tends to increase to meet the need to further lower the resistance. A CMOS transistor commonly uses boron (B) having a high diffusion coefficient as an impurity for a PMOS transistor, and arsenic (As) having a low diffusion coefficient for an NMOS transistor. When a dose of arsenic is increased to lower the resistance in the extension region and to ensure the overlaps with the gate in the NMOS transistor, it becomes difficult to optimize an amount of overlaps in each transistor. Further, a higher concentration of arsenic in the extension region of the NMOS transistor gives rise to unwanted creeping of metal silicide into the semiconductor substrate, which poses a problem that the gate shorts to the source/drain.


A liquid processing apparatus according to the present disclosure includes: a substrate holding unit configured to horizontally hold a substrate; a rotation driving unit configured to rotate the substrate holding unit about a vertical axis; a processing liquid supply unit configured to supply a processing liquid to the substrate while the substrate is being rotated; an upper guide ring and a lower guide ring which are configured to be rotated together with the substrate holding unit, to surround the substrate, to be arranged vertically to overlap each other with a gap therebetween, and to guide the processing liquid scattered from the substrate; and a rotating cup configured to be rotated together with the substrate holding unit, and to receive and downwardly guide the guided processing liquid.

In manufacturing processes of a semiconductor device, in which a stacked structure of an integrated circuit is formed on the surface of a substrate, such as for example, a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as a "wafer"), there is known a single wafer liquid processing apparatus for removing, for example, dusts and native oxides by supplying an alkaline or acidic chemical liquid to the front surface (top surface) or the rear surface (bottom surface) of a rotating wafer.
As an example of such a liquid processing apparatus, there is an apparatus including an annular guide (hereinafter, referred to as a "guide ring") provided in the circumference of a wafer in such a manner that the guide leads to the height positions of front and rear surfaces of the wafer. See, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-108732: paragraphs [0031] to [0032], and FIG. 4. The guide ring is rotated together with the wafer so that the processing liquid scattered from the front surface (the top surface) of the wafer is guided to the outside through the top surface of the guide ring, and also the processing liquid scattered from the rear surface (the bottom surface) of the wafer is guided to the outside through the bottom surface of the guide ring. As the processing liquid is guided to the outside of the wafer by the guide ring in this manner, the processing liquid may be suppressed from forming mists by being entrained to turbulent flow formed around the rotating wafer, and, after the liquid processing, the mists adhered to the wafer may be reduced.
However, on the peripheral edge of the wafer, an area chamfered to be slanted, called a bevel, is formed. In some cases, a processing liquid discharged along the bevel may not flow along the guide ring. Also, when flexure occurs in a wafer due to the large size of the wafer, the scattering direction of the processing liquid may be considerably changed. Thus, in some cases, the processing liquid may not flow along the guide ring. When the processing liquid does not flow along the guide ring, the processing liquid may collide with, for example, a liquid drain cup provided in the outside of the guide ring, thereby producing mists. Further, there is a possibility that the formed mists cannot be guided to the outside of the wafer, and thus may be a cause of polluting the wafer.


A method of predicting a scaffold of a protein comprising a query sequence, using a database which contains environmental information on the side chain of each amino acid residue contained in the amino acid sequence of each reference protein whose three-dimensional structure is known or predictable, and comprising: conducting matching based on the environmental information of each amino acid residue of each reference protein and hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity property of the side chain of each amino acid residue of the query sequence, choosing at least one template protein among the reference proteins that has high similarity in three-dimensional structure to the protein comprising the query sequence, and predicting the scaffold of the protein comprising a query sequence.

Prediction of three-dimensional structures of proteins from their amino acid sequences is not believed to be theoretically impossible. However, at present, any means to reliably predict the three-dimensional structures of proteins from sequence information has not been developed, and the means to know the three-dimensional structure of proteins are limited to experimental methods such as X-ray crystallographic analysis and NMR analysis. The information on the three-dimensional structure of proteins is essential for understanding their functions on atomic level, as well as for designing medicinal molecules targeting that protein or useful proteins with excellent functions. Recently, as the result of rapid progresses of analytical means of genetic information, numbers of proteins are increasing whose sequence information are elucidated without isolation. Therefore, development of effective means to predict three-dimensional structure and functions from sequence information is desired earnestly at present.
When the existence of a protein with a certain amino acid sequence is revealed, it is a common practice to search for proteins with homology from sequence databases. In case a protein having reasonable degree of identity in amino acid sequence is found, alignments are performed by considering homology and gaps with the protein, and alignments of higher homology are further searched. It can be assumed that when the homology of the sequence of the target protein with a protein with known function is high, its function resembles that of the known protein, and when the homology of the target protein with a protein of a known three-dimensional structure is high, its three-dimensional structure resembles that of the known protein. As the homology is higher, the possibility of the resemblance in functions or three-dimensional structure is also higher, and the reliability of predictions is believed to be high.
When the homology to the protein sequence with known three-dimensional structure is recognized to a certain extent (generally about 30%) or more, homology modeling methods are performed to construct a three-dimensional structure using the three-dimensional structure as a template. When the residues differ from those corresponded in the template in view of its three-dimensional structure, the three-dimensional structure can be constructed virtually by substituting side chains. Gaps in the alignment need to be treated separately because no corresponding amino acid residues exists in the template three-dimensional structure or the template has excess amino acid residues. Since the existence of gaps makes the template-based modeling difficult, and since it also lowers reliability, alignment methods giving some penalty to the gaps are recommended in order to reduce the number of gaps as small as possible.
When any protein with known three-dimensional structure is not found which has a fairly high sequence homology with the amino acid sequence in question, homology modeling is impossible. On the other hand, as the crystal structure information on proteins is accumulated, there have been revealed by a lot of researches that plural proteins with little homology and completely different functions to each other have similar three-dimensional structures. This fact indicates a possibility that a three-dimensional structure fitting as a template can be chosen from proteins with known three-dimensional structures, even though homology of amino acid sequence is low, by consideration of physicochemical factors for proteins to form stable three-dimensional structures.
Recently, by using scores considering the coincidence of physical properties such as hydrophobicity for each amino acid residue, methods have been developed for choosing template proteins from proteins with known three-dimensional structures, which template proteins have high similarity in three-dimensional structure even though they have low homology in amino acid sequence. A typical method includes the 3D-1D method (R. Luthy, J. U. Bowie and D. Eisenberg, Nature, 356, 83, 1992) by Eisenberg et al. This method, in addition to the consideration of homology of amino acid sequences, contains the calculating process of similarity scores between the corresponded amino acid residues using parameters expressing the secondary structure to which each amino acid residue belongs, and the environment of the location of the residues in proteins with known three-dimensional structure, together with parameters given to each amino acid residue in each secondary structure in the query sequence. This method can avoid the problem of huge degrees of freedom in folding peptide chains of proteins by utilizing the known crystal structures as the template, and thus a modeling is enabled by including the physical parameter such as hydrophobicity as a factor of estimation even when the homology in sequence is low.
However, even in case the three-dimensional structure is similar, since there are few proteins in which the number of amino acid residues, a secondary structure, or the lengths of or loops are the same, a lot of problems will arise when the 3D-1D method are practically applied based on the correspondence between the amino acid sequences. For example, although it is necessary to correspond amino acid residues by considering the deletion of partial sequences (gaps) in either sequence, as well as the simple slide between the amino acid sequences (threading), the introduction of gaps reduces the reliability as similarly observed in the homology-modeling. When the homology in sequence is low, how to make the correspondence of the sequences with consideration of the necessary and minimum gap is a problem. Furthermore, in the aforementioned method, no advancement of predictability is expected by improving parameters because it depends on numerous parameters such as hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity, as well as parameters given for each of twenty amino acid residue in each secondary structure.
The history of study to predict the three-dimensional structure of proteins from amino acid sequences started with the prediction of which fragment of the sequence would be in what secondary structure. That is, by employing parameters which shows the susceptibility of adopting α-helix or β-sheet for each amino acid residue or each set of several amino acid residues, obtained statistically from crystallographic information a lot of proteins, the continuous region is detected which shows remarkable tendency from the query amino acid sequence, and the secondary structure is chosen for each region. A typical example include a secondary structure prediction method by Chou and Fasman (P. Y. Chou, & G. D. Fasman, Adv. Enzymol. 47, 45, 1978). However, this sort of method gives no information about three dimensional assemblies of secondary structures, and since the average coincidence between secondary structures predicted from amino acid sequences and those found in crystal structures is approximately 60%, it has almost no value as a prediction method of three-dimensional structures.
Methods of predicting stable folding structures of proteins by pure calculation without preconception (so-called ab initio prediction method) have been attempted. However, since proteins are molecules with extremely huge degrees of freedom (even for the protein with about 100 residues, the number of parameters to be considered for the degrees of freedom is more than 400), it is impossible to search possible structures sufficiently considering all degrees of freedom by means of presently available computers. Moreover, from the reasons that studies for the factors related to the stabilization of protein structure (for example, physicochemical properties of water, hydrophobic interaction, electrostatic interaction) are not advanced enough to estimate the stability of possible three-dimensional structures correctly, success of this kind of structure prediction is not expected at present.
In recent years, three-dimensional structures of a lot of proteins have been analyzed, and the results are available from Protein Data Bank. At present, structures of about 6,000 proteins and nucleic acids are stored, however, independent proteins with different functions are approximately 400. From the three-dimensional structures of these proteins, many proteins have been revealed to have the same structural motif, although they have no homology and seem to have no relation evolutionally and functionally to each other.

Method of inferring three-dimensional structure of protein


The present invention relates to an apparatus for preventing overcharge of a battery, and more particularly, to an apparatus for preventing overcharge of a battery, which interrupts power of the battery by inducing a fracture of a busbar to prevent overcharge and to this end, provided is an apparatus for preventing overcharge of a battery, including: a battery cell; an electrode tab extended from both sides of the battery cell and constituted by a negative tab and a positive tab; and a busbar connecting the negative tab and the positive tab, wherein the busbar has a cut part fractured by expansion of the battery cell.

In general, a high-voltage battery is used in an electric vehicle or a fuel battery vehicle as well as a hybrid vehicle to supply electric energy for driving a vehicle.
In the high-voltage battery, a battery package is configured, which may generate high voltage by connecting a plurality of unit batteries or modules and high power is generated by using the configured battery package.
A rectangular or pouch type battery which may be stacked with high integration and has a small weight compared to a capacity is primarily used for the battery pack, and lithium ion batteries that provide high power compared to the capacity are a lot used as the unit battery (battery cell) of the battery package.
However, the lithium ion battery has a problem that safety is fundamentally low, and the pouch type battery has a problem that mechanical rigidity of a battery case is low and when a sealed part is separated, an ignitable substance such as an electrolyte leaks, and as a result, a risk of fire is high.
In particular, since the electrolyte is injected into the cell, when the battery is overcharged, voltage is increased and the electrolyte in the cell is resolved due to overheat and combustible gas is thus internally generated in the cell, and as a result, a swelling phenomenon in which a pouch itself is expanded occurs. Therefore, ignition and explosion risks of the battery are increased.
Therefore, a technology for forcibly cutting off the power of the battery is proposed when the swelling phenomenon occurs due to the overcharge of the battery.

Apparatus for preventing overcharge of battery


A system for treating human waste in remote or portable toilet facilities, including a holding tank that stores waste; a heat reservoir that receives waste from the holding tank, heats the waste to kill fecal coliform bacteria therein present, and routes the heated bacteria-free waste back through the holding tank. The holding tank maintains the heated bacteria-free waste separate from the contaminated waste but passes residual heat from the bacteria-free waste to the untreated waste. In one embodiment, a centrifuge receives the bacteria-free waste from the holding tank, separates the liquid waste from the solid waste, and discharges the liquid waste from the system. In one embodiment, the waste is pumped through the system to be heated in incremental portions.

The present invention relates to a waste treatment system, and more particularly to a waste treatment system for processing human waste on boats, recreational vehicles, and other remote toilet facilities where traditional sewers and septic systems are impractical or unavailable.
Waste treatment systems designed for use with toilets in remote or portable facilities such as in vehicles, aircraft, watercraft, and railroad cars must ultimately dump collected waste to another system or to the environment. In some known systems the waste is merely accumulated in large tanks and pumped off for processing elsewhere when the boat or other vehicle reaches a waste receiving station. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,007. However, it is desirable to discharge the waste into the environment when it is not practical to hold the amounts of waste that will accumulate before a collection station can be reached. But government regulations prohibit discharging of raw human bodily waste directly into the environment because the raw waste has bacteria, particularly fecal coliform bacteria, that may pose a health hazard in excess concentration.
For example, in the case of watercraft, federal regulations (33 C.F.R. .sctn. 159) require that human waste discharged into the water from boats in certain circumstances have a live fecal coliform bacteria count of not greater than 1,000 bacteria per 100 milliliters of discharge and no visible floating solids. Marine waste treatment systems that meet these standards are generally called "Type I" devices. In certain circumstances, the discharged waste, or "effluent," is required to have a fecal coliform bacteria count not greater than 200 parts per 100 milliliters and suspended solids not greater than 150 milligrams per liter. Marine waste systems that meet this standard are called "Type II" devices.
In other known systems, the raw waste is collected in a tank and treated in that tank prior to discharge of the tank contents to the environment. The tank can then accept more waste. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,842. Typically, these known types of waste treatment systems employ large holding tanks that receive raw waste directly from the toilets. The holding tanks include heaters that heat the collected waste to a temperature above about 155.degree. Fahrenheit to kill fecal coliform bacteria. These known sewage treatment systems suffer from a disadvantage in that the holding tanks are very large, 40 gallons or more, and require a substantial amount of time and energy to heat the collected waste to a sufficient temperature to kill the fecal coliform bacteria. Moreover, as the waste in the tank is being heated, new waste piped in from the toilets cools the waste and causes further delays. If the tank fills before the water has rendered a sufficient temperature to kill the coliform bacteria, then the toilet cannot be used until the processing is finished. Moreover, placement of the large tank can be difficult in uses where there is limited space, such as on boats and other vehicles.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for waste treatment systems for remote facilities that eliminate fecal coliform bacteria and visible solids from human waste in a manner which conserves space and energy resources.


A steering lock device including a sleeve assembly, a rear shaft rotated when a steering wheel is operated, and a lock bar for locking the steering shaft when engaged with a seat member fixed to the rear shaft. A sleeve assembly including an outer sleeve and an inner sleeve is shortened when the outer sleeve moves along the inner sleeve. The distal portion of the lock bar includes a slope that is abut against an open end of the inner sleeve. When the open end pushes the slope, the lock bar smoothly moves away from the steering shaft.

The present invention relates to a steering lock device for vehicles.
In a conventional steering lock device, the drive force of a motor to electrically rotate a key cylinder or the force applied by a user to manually rotate the key cylinder moves a lock bar so that the lock bar is engaged with and disengaged from a steering shaft. The steering shaft is locked when engaged with the lock bar.
FIGS. 8A and 8B show a steering lock system 101 described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-276564. The steering lock system 101 includes a sleeve assembly 102, a steering shaft assembly 103, a steering wheel 104, and a steering lock device 105. When a force (impact force) pushing the steering wheel 104 toward the front of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined value, the sleeve assembly 102 and steering shaft assembly 103 collapse to absorb the force.
The sleeve assembly 102 is formed by an inner sleeve 102a and an outer sleeve 102b. The inner sleeve 102a is arranged forward to the outer sleeve 102b in the vehicle. The basal portion (front end) of the inner sleeve 102a is connected to a base 106 fixed to the vehicle. The distal portion (rear end) of the inner sleeve 102a is received by the basal portion (front end) of the outer sleeve 102b.
A breakaway bracket 107 is arranged on the distal portion (rear end) of the outer sleeve 102b. The breakaway bracket 107 is formed by an engagement ring 108, which is fixed to the outer surface of the outer sleeve 102b, and a fixed hook 109, which is engaged with the engagement ring 108 and fixed to the vehicle body. When force pushing the outer sleeve 102b toward the front of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined value, the force is transmitted to the fixed hook 109 via the engagement ring 108 thereby breaking the fixed hook 109. This disengages the fixed hook 109 from the engagement ring 108 and enables the outer sleeve 102b to move toward the front of the vehicle.
Bearings 110 and 111 support the steering shaft assembly 103 in a manner rotatable relative to the sleeve assembly 102. The steering shaft assembly 103 includes a front shaft 103a, a rear shaft 103b, and a seat member 118 fixed to the rear shaft 103b. Part of the front shaft 103a is a spline shaft 112. The rear end of the spline shaft 112 is received in a spline boss 113 formed at the front end of the rear shaft 103b (see FIG. 9). The engagement between the spline shaft 112 and the spline boss 113 integrally rotates the shafts 103a and 103b. The shaft 103b is axially movable relative to the shaft 103a. A steering wheel 104 is fixed to the rear end of the rear shaft 103b.
The steering lock device 105 will now be described with reference to FIG. 10. The steering lock device 105 includes a main body portion 114 having a housing, a lock bar 115 arranged in the housing and moved by an actuator, and a mounting portion 116 for mounting the main body portion 114 to the outer sleeve 102b.
The mounting portion 116 has a curved surface 116a extending along the outer surface of the outer sleeve 102b. The steering lock device 105 is fixed to the outer sleeve 102b by fastening a fastening member 117 to the mounting portion 116.
The seat member 118, which is fixed to the rear shaft 103b, resembles a spur gear or the steering wheel of a vessel and has a plurality of radially extending projections 118a. The seat member 118 rotates integrally with the steering shaft assembly 103. A plurality of engaging recesses are defined between the projections 118a of the seat member 118. Rotation of the steering shaft assembly 103 is restricted when the distal portion of the lock bar 115 is received in one of the engaging recesses.
The distal portion of the lock bar 115 is box-shaped. FIG. 10 shows the lock bar 115 in a state located at a lock position. When moved to the lock position, the lock bar 115 extends through the outer sleeve 102b, and the distal portion of the lock bar 115 is arranged in an engaging recess defined between two adjacent projections 118a of the seat member 118. Abutment between the distal portion of the lock bar 115 and the two projections 118a defining the engaging recess restricts the rotatable angle range of the steering wheel 104. This locks the steering wheel 104.
When the lock bar 115 is located at an unlock position, the distal portion of the lock bar 115 is separated from the engaging recesses of the seat member 118. Thus, the steering wheel 104 is unlocked and rotatable.
As shown in FIG. 11A, the main body portion 114 includes a support member 120, for supporting the lock bar 115, and a coil spring 121, for resiliently connecting the lock bar 115 and the support member 120.
The support member 120 is moved by a drive device (not shown). The movement amount (amount of protrusion from the main body portion 114) of the lock bar 115 varies in accordance with the movement amount of the support member 120. The coil spring 121 is compressed when the lock bar 115 is forced towards the main body portion 114. The compression of the coil spring 121 enables the lock bar 115 to be moved towards the main body portion 114 without changing the movement amount of the support member 120.
FIG. 11A shows the lock bar 115 in a state located at the unlock position and the distal portion of the lock bar 115 facing towards an engaging recess between the projections 118a of the seat member 118. When the support member 120 moves from the state of FIG. 11A until the lock bar 115 reaches the lock position, the steering wheel 104 is locked, as shown in the state of FIG. 11B.
FIG. 11C shows a state in which the lock bar 115 is located at the unlock position and the distal portion of the lock bar 115 faces towards one of the projections 118a of the seat member 118. When the support member 120 moves from the state of FIG. 11C until the lock bar 115 stops at a position where it abuts against the projection 118a, the coil spring 121 is compressed, as shown in the state of FIG. 11D. In the state of FIG. 11D, the lock bar 115 is not located at the lock position. Thus, the steering wheel 104 is not locked. When the steering wheel 104 is rotated from the state of FIG. 11D, the biasing force of the coil spring 121 moves the lock bar 115 to the lock position. Thus, the distal portion of the lock bar 115 is received in an engaging recess between the projections 118a to lock the steering wheel 104. In this state, as shown in FIG. 11B, the coil spring 121 is extended and the protrusion amount of the lock bar 115 becomes maximal. In this manner, even if the lock bar 115 faces one of the projections 118a, the coil spring 121 moves the support member 120 in a preferable manner.
The steering wheel 104, the rear shaft 103b, the seat member 118, the bearing 111, the outer sleeve 102b, the steering lock device 105, the fastening member 117, and the engagement ring 108 form a movable component group Mz, which moves integrally along the axis of the steering shaft assembly 103. When a force pushing the steering wheel 104 towards the front of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined value, the force is transmitted to the fixed hook 109 via the engagement ring 108 and breaks the fixed hook 109. This moves the movable component group Mz toward the front of the vehicle.
In the conventional steering lock system 101, a problem may occur unless a distal end face 115a of the lock bar 115 is accurately positioned at the unlock position. That is, the minimum amount of protrusion of the lock bar 115 from the main body portion 114 must be accurately determined as described below. FIG. 12 shows an example in which, when the lock bar 115 is in the unlock position, the distal end face 115a of the lock bar 115 protrudes inwards from the inner surface S of the outer sleeve 102b. If such a case, the collapse of the sleeve assembly 102 would be interfered when the lock bar 115 abuts against the open end 43 of the inner sleeve 102a.
Therefore, as shown in the state of FIG. 13, when the lock bar 115 is located at the unlock position, the distal end face 115a of the lock bar 115 is arranged at an unlock level P1, which is outwards from the inner surface S of the outer sleeve 102b. When locking the steering wheel 104, the distal end face 115a of the lock bar 115 is located at a lock level P2. Accordingly, the lock bar 115 is moved by a distance corresponding to that between the unlock level P1 and the lock level P2 (drive distance L).
The steering lock device 105 becomes larger as the drive distance L of the lock bar 115 becomes longer. Accordingly, there is a demand for a compact steering lock device that shortens the drive distance L.

Kabushiki Kaisha Tokai Rika Denki Seisakusho


A signal transmission structure is disclosed. The signal transmission structure is adapted for a circuit substrate, including at least a signal line, a plating bar and a reference plane. The plating bar is disposed on a side of the reference plane and connected to the signal line. In addition, the plating bar is disposed on the side of the reference plane, and the reference plane has a non-reference area corresponding to the plating bar. The signal transmission structure can reduce the impedance mismatch at the conjunction of the signal line and the plating bar, and the resonant frequency of the plating bar can be improved as to generate a desired transmission quality of the signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a signal transmission structure, and more particularly to a signal transmission structure adapted to reduce impedance mismatch on signal lines resulting from the plating bar and to enhance the resonant frequency thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In circuit substrates, signal lines applied thereon to couple two ports or components and used for transmitting signals, especially high frequency or speed, signals should be kept at a constant width for maintaining characteristic impedance thereof. Moreover, the impedance mismatch of the signal lines for transmitting the signals should be improved to reduce the reflection of signals stemming therefrom. Therefore, to reduce the insertion loss of the signal transmission and to enhance the return loss of the signals can improve the transmission quality thereof.
In a prior art circuit substrate, such as a chip carrier for chip package, after the formations of the transmission circuit and the solder mask layer, an anti-oxidation layer, such as a Ni/Au layer, is electroplated on bonding pads of the transmission circuit for avoiding the oxidation of Cu therein. Therefore, the adhesion of the bonding pads is enhanced. For electroplating the anti-oxidation layer, the bonding pads of the transmission circuit are coupled to an external power via a plating bar.
As to wire bonding technology, die bonding, wire bonding, molding and trimming processes are sequentially performed after the formation of the anti-oxidation layer. During the trimming process, the plating bar is trimmed thereby for forming a plurality of chip packages. It should be noted that the plating bar cannot be completely removed during the trimming and resides thereon.
FIG. 1 is a schematic stereo configuration of a prior art signal transmission structure. The signal transmission structure 100 is adapted for a circuit substrate, such as a chip carrier. The signal transmission structure 100 comprises a signal line 110, a plating bar 120, a ground plane 130 and a power plane 140. The ground plane 130 is over the power plane 140. The signal line 110 is composed of a first signal line 110a, a via 110b and a second signal line 110c. The first signal line 110a is disposed on the ground plane 130, and the second signal line 110c is disposed under the power plane 140. The first signal line 110a, the ground plane 130, the power plane 140 and the second signal line 110c can be sequentially formed on each layer of the four-layer patterned circuit substrate. In addition, the via 110b, through the ground plane 130 and the power plane 140, electrically connects the first signal line 110a and the second signal line 110b.
Referring to FIG. 1, the plating bar 120 and the first signal line 110a are on the ground surface 130. One end of the plating bar 120 connects with the first signal line 110a which results in an induced capacitance between the plating bar 120 and the ground plane 130. Therefore, the characteristic impedance at the conjunction of the signal line 110 and the plating bar 120 varies. Because of the impedance mismatch of the signal line 110 resulting from the plating bar 120, a big insertion loss or a small return loss occurs which results in the incompletion of the transmission of signals from one end to the other of the signal line 110.
To resolve the issue of impedance mismatch, the prior art reduces the width of the plating bar for enhancing the impedance thereof. Although the issue can be resolved by the approach, it still cannot efficiently reduce the effective permittivity of the plating bar and enhance the resonant frequency thereof for the high frequency or speed signal transmission structures. Therefore, under this circumstance, the transmission quality of high frequency signals cannot be substantially improved.


A dynamic sealing arrangement for preventing leakage of a fluid along a shaft includes multiple seals and pressurized barrier sealant is presented. According to one aspect, at least three seals are arranged along the shaft with pressurized barrier sealant between the first and second seals and a collection area is provided between the second and third seals to collect any leakage that might occur. Collected leakage, if any, is ported to an output port. According to another aspect, a unitary seal block member is provided that supports the dynamic sealing arrangement for the shaft and defines a piston chamber and a drilled passageway connecting the piston chamber and barrier sealant pressurization chamber between two seals. A substantial amount of plumbing is self contained in a single body minimizing the need for additional components or complexity.

The dynamic sealing arrangement described herein pertains to seal assemblies and more particularly to pressurized dynamic seal arrangements.
The proposed use of a pressurized barrier sealant fluid between two seals for fluid control apparatus such as pumps, valves and the like is generally known. For example, pressurized dynamic shaft sealing arrangements are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,435 to Arbuckle, U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,835 to Arbuckle, U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,216 to Bredemeyer and U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,165 to Bredemeyer. Such pressurized dynamic sealing arrangements may be used in the process gas industry for valves and the like to better ensure that process gas (e.g. natural gas, gaseous fuel, etc.) does not leak or cause a hazardous external environment.
These patents disclose that use of pressurized barrier sealant provides opposing axial fluid forces on two spaced apart seals. In these arrangements, the barrier sealant fluid pressure is typically greater than the process gas pressure such that if leakage is to occur, most or all of the leakage would be the barrier sealant rather than process gas. Indicating mechanisms are disclosed in these patents that indicate whether sealant leakage is occurring.
The problem with the concepts disclosed in the foregoing patents is that the concepts appear to be complex and costly to implement. More specifically, these proposals have complex plumbing arrangements, are not practical to structurally implement, and/or require numerous complex components for establishing a preload barrier. Further, the indicating mechanism disclosed in at least some of these patents may have accuracy problems, may not readily indicate the exact source of the problem and/or may be difficult or impractical to implement in the field or across different applications. Finally as will be appreciated by the present invention, these prior art concepts are subject to potential premature failure or leakage.

Dynamic sealing arrangement for movable shaft