A packing wrap for enclosing an individual packed absorbent article, such as a sanitary towel, a panty liner or an incontinence pad, including a first material piece arranged over the first surface of the absorbent article and a second material piece arranged over the second surface of the absorbent article, an opening location having a longitudinal extent, and a region capable of tactile detection of the opening location, the region being arranged adjacent to the opening location. The region has a longitudinal extent, and is arranged essentially parallel to the longitudinal extent of the opening location.

It is advantageous for several reasons to pack single absorbent articles of the above-mentioned kind in the introduction in individual packing wraps. In this way, small, handy packs are obtained, which can easily and conveniently be carried, for example in a handbag, or in a pocket, and from which an article can be removed when necessary. Such individual packs ensure that the article is protected against soiling and crumpling until use and are therefore greatly appreciated by users. With suitable design of the packing wraps, these can also serve as wrappers for used articles, which can thus be disposed of in a hygienic and aesthetically acceptable way.
A common way of individually packing absorbent articles is first to fold them together into a smaller format and then to wrap them in a thin packing wrap made of plastic or paper. Such a packing wrap often consists of a rectangular material piece which has been folded in the transverse direction around the folded packing-configured absorbent article. The packing wrap is subsequently joined together along its open edges so that a more or less sealed bag-like container for the absorbent article is formed.
The absorbent article to be packed individually is usually folded once or twice before the packing wrap is folded around the article. Small absorbent articles such as, for example, panty liners are sometimes also packed in an unfolded state.
One type of individual packing is described in the document GB 2,221,667 A where an absorbent article is doubled in a first step, after which a packing wrap is folded around the article. The packing wrap is finally sealed around its three sides which are open after folding.
When an individual packing of the type described in GB 2,221,667 A is to be opened, this is usually effected by the seal along one or more of the edges being broken open, after which the absorbent article can be taken out of its packing.
Another type of individual packing has separate material pieces arranged on the upper side and the lower side of a folded or unfolded absorbent article. The two material pieces are then sealed along their entire periphery, a packing wrap then being formed. These individual packings normally have a rectangular or square shape, but packings profiled according to the contour of the absorbent article are also found. Profiled individual packings are most common for small absorbent articles such as panty liners and small sanitary towels. Individual packings of the kind described can be opened in a number of different ways. For individual packings made of paper, the commonest method is quite simply to tear off one edge when the packing is to be opened.
For individual packings made of plastic films, the opening problem has often been solved by arranging a weakening of the film material along one of the edges of the individual packing, it then being possible for the film material to be torn apart along the weakening. The commonest and simplest type of weakening consists of a perforation along a length of the periphery of the individual packing. It is usual to arrange the perforation parallel and adjacent to one of the edges of the packing wrap, so that an edge strip is quite simply torn off when the packing is opened. In this connection, the perforation should be arranged in both the front and rear material pieces of the packing wrap and also suitably extend all the way from one edge to the opposite edge of the packing.
Edge seals which can be broken open are also found. The edge seal along part of the periphery of the individual packing is then weaker than remaining parts of the edge seal, so that this part of the periphery can easily be broken open when the individual packing is to be opened.
A type of individual packing for absorbent articles is described in patent EP 0,865,264.
The packing in accordance with this document is rectangular and comprises a special opening tab. The opening tab is connected to the rest of the packing along one of its edges, while the opposite edge is free and constitutes the opening location of the packing. The free edge of the opening tab extends over one surface of the packing parallel to two of the edges of the packing.
The packing has a special openable tape tab arranged on the opening tab, intended to hold the free edge of the opening tab in place against the surface of the packing wrap. Such tape tabs are also arranged in order to facilitate closing of a used absorbent article placed inside the packing wrap before its disposal.
Tape tabs of the kind described can also serve as means for detection of the positioning of the opening. This detection possibility is advantageous when a person with reduced ability to see is to open the packing wrap as s/he can feel where the opening is located.
A tape tab on the packing wrap according to the description above nevertheless involves certain disadvantages, a first being the extra material cost the tape tab involves. A second disadvantage is that the manufacturing rate is reduced as the separate tape tabs have to be applied to the packing wrap, which also has a negative effect on the cost of the individually packed absorbent article. A third disadvantage is that tape tabs of the kind described are in principle suitable only for packings comprising an opening tab.
In spite of many improvements having been made as far as the openability of individual packings is concerned, the problem still remains of finding where on the packing the opening is located when it is to be opened.
This is a particularly irritating problem for people with impaired vision, which is not uncommon especially among elderly users of absorbent articles of the incontinence pad type.
Existing solutions using colour-markings which show where on the individual packing the opening is located are not a functional solution for weakly sighted users either.
Lastly, it is not an appropriate alternative for weakly sighted incontinent users of incontinence pads to ask another person for help with opening an individually packed absorbent article because incontinence is a particularly taboo complaint which sufferers are reluctant to reveal to people around them.


A revolvingly spraying device includes a sheath tube and a revolvingly spraying tube. The revolvingly spraying tube includes a transmitting tube and a curved tube connected with the transmitting tube. The transmitting tube is inserted within the sheath tube. A front bearing is provided in one end, near the curved tube, of the transmitting tube, and a rear bearing is provided in the other end of the transmitting tube. The revolvingly spraying tube has a front position limiting portion radially protruding therefrom to retain the front side of the front bearing, and a rear position limiting portion radially protruding therefrom to retain the rear side of the rear bearing. Thus, the revolvingly spraying device has fewer component parts and is convenient for assembly.

There are many conventional spraying guns used widely for cleaning dust and dirt from a surface of an object, for watering, for spraying paint, and the like. The spraying guns remove dust and dirt by spraying a high pressure fluid, and perform watering and spraying paint with the use of a high pressure fluid mixed with water or other spraying liquid.
In order to uniform the distribution of the spraying, a spraying tube of the spraying gun is usually bended curve and is assembled with a rotary means, so that a mixed fluid of a high pressured gas and a spraying liquid can be sprayed out in every direction while rotating the spraying tube.


A separator for a battery includes a first separating layer for preventing a short circuit between a positive electrode and a negative electrode and a second separating layer having higher electrolyte retaining power than the first separating layer. The second separating layer is attached on the first separating layer. The second separating layer is made of polyethylene terephtalate, and the first separating layer is selected from the group consisting of nylon and polypropylene. Preferably, the first separating layer is attached on the second separating layer through a thermal fusing process.

Generally, an electrode assembly of batteries comprises a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a separator disposed between the positive and negative electrodes. The separator is designed to be larger than the positive and negative electrodes to prevent a short circuit between the negative and positive electrodes. A nonwoven fabric made of a polyamide resin such as a nylon material or a polyolefin resin such as a polypropylene material has been used for the separator.
However, the use of the above materials for the separator has drawbacks. Namely, the separator using the nonwoven fabric made of nylon material may, when used in a nickel-metalhydride battery, cause charge retention of the battery to deteriorate. That is, NH.sub.4- of the nylon causes the battery to self-discharge. As a result, the separator using the nonwoven fabric made of polypropylene material has to go through a complicated hydrophilic treatment process.
In addition, separators made of the above two materials cannot provide sufficient electrolyte-retaining power.


An iontophoresis system includes an iontophoretic drug delivery device for placement against the skin of a patient and having at least one segmented electrode, and a circuit for controlling and equalizing current passing through each of a plurality of electrode segments. The current controlling circuit includes a plurality of constant current sources, each of which is electrically coupled to a corresponding one of the electrode segments. The constant current sources are selected such that substantially the same amount of current flows through each electrode segment independent of the impedance of the skin of the of the patient.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to iontophoretic devices for delivering a drug or medicant to a patient transdermally, i.e., through the patient's skin, and more specifically relates to an iontophoretic device having one or more segmented electrodes and current delivery circuits therefor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional iontophoretic devices, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,263 which issued to Richard Spevak et al., for delivering a drug or medicant transdermally, basically consists of two electrodes--an anode and a cathode. Electric current is driven from an external supply into the patient's skin at the anode, and back out at the cathode. Most modern iontophoretic devices are powered by a constant current source to ensure that the current is kept at a desired level despite differences in skin impedance among individuals.
Electrode structures for iontophoretic devices generally have an active electrode (for example, the anode) which delivers the ionic medication, and an indifferent electrode (for example, the cathode) with an electrolyte. The active and indifferent electrodes are connected to the skin forming a circuit. The current passes from a power source through one of the electrodes to the skin, through the skin and into the subdermal tissue, back out through the skin at a separate location and then through the other electrode. Regulation of the rate of drug delivery has been controlled by the amount of current flow.
It has been found in such iontophoretic devices that skin irritation is related to the current density of the applied current. Densities below 200 .mu.a/cm.sup.2 are considered as generally being non-irritating. Current densities above that figure are often associated with skin irritation.
A typical iontophoresis system may include electrodes (an anode and a cathode) which are each 5 square centimeters in size through which a total current of 1 milliamperes is driven. At such values, an average current density of 200 .mu.a/cm.sup.2 is applied to the skin.
If the skin varies considerably in resistance over the area of the electrodes, the peak current densities in different areas of the skin under the electrodes may be considerably higher than the average current density. It has been found that these variations in current density may be as much as 5 or 10 to 1, that is, a more conductive skin area can run at a current density of as much as 10 times the average current density, causing skin irritation or burns in that more conductive area of the skin.
Various electrode arrangements have been suggested to avoid burns and irritation where the iontophoresis or transdermal drug delivery takes place. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,222 which issued to Robert Tapper, discloses an iontophoretic electrode array for use in transdermal transport of ionic medicants which includes a plurality of positive and negative electrodes for establishing electric field lines in an area and for transmission of ions along the lines. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,274 which issued to Stephen C. Jacobsen et al. discloses an iontophoretic bioelectrode which includes a receptacle for holding an ionic medication formed with a plurality of separate cube-shaped compartments to help control the distribution of the medication or drug over the area of the bioelectrode. However, such conventional electrode arrays do not prevent excessive current from being drawn through the patient's skin from portions of the electrode contacting areas of the skin which have a significantly lower skin impedance than at other areas.

Iontophoretic drug delivery device and circuit therefor


A method for generating power in a wellbore includes moving an actuator; inducing an oscillating stress on a piezoelectric component with the actuator; and generating a voltage with the piezoelectric component in response to the induced stress on the piezoelectric component.

For nearly a century, pump jacks have been used in the production of hydrocarbons from downhole formations. Such jacks are seen atop many oil fields, their rhythmic movements common. It is well known how the pump jacks work, which is by moving sucker rods up and down within the wellbore. For the same near century, the pumps have worked very well doing precisely that, pumping.
More modern well systems while still employing pump jacks also are instrumented extensively downhole. This requires substantial amounts of available power in the downhole environment. Power is for the most part delivered from the surface but due to the small amount of available space in the hole, allocation of such space is a source of trepidation. Since the hydrocarbon recovery art is always in search of improved means to produce hydrocarbons, any reduction in components needed within the cross-section of the wellbore would be well received.


The invention relates to a drive system for moving walkways and stairs by means of horizontal drive chains, having a drive actuation mechanism and drive chains responsible for causing the movement of the plates of the walkway or steps of the stairs. The drive chains and the pallets or steps have direct mutual engagement devices which are opposite and coupled to one another along a straight section of the path of the belt or stairs. The devices have deformable rollers which are assembled in the links of the drive chain and engage in complementary cavities that the plates or links have at the back part.

Conventional passenger conveyor systems, such as mechanical stairs or moving walkways, include a chain of conveyor plates or steps moving in a circuit for the purpose of providing a continuous movement along a specific path. The conveyor plates or steps are connected to said chain circuit, which chain acts moved by a drive system. The drive system normally consists of a chain of conveyor plates, gear wheels, a shaft and an electric motor. The electric motor drives the shaft to which the gear wheels are integrally joined, which wheels transmit a movement to the links of the chain of conveyor plates or steps. Whenever the links of this chain move, the conveyor plates or steps move in the same way. The drive of the handrail in a conventional moving walkway or mechanical stairs takes power from the shaft to which the gear wheels driving the chain of conveyor plates or steps are integrally joined and drives, by means of several traction members, a wheel moving the mentioned handrail by friction.
To assure a small speed fluctuation and minimize the polygonization effect in a conventional conveyor system, a large number of teeth are required in the drive wheel and this gives rise to a large diameter increasing the size of the upper and lower heads of the system, making a very deep pit for locating the walkway necessary. The link between the plate and the chain of conveyor plates is conventionally located under the surface of the plate. Given that the gap between two consecutive conveyor plates is closed for safety reasons, the transition radius in inclined walkways must be limited.
Other types of drive mechanisms have been proposed which engage the belt at intermediate points such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,677,388, Int. Pat. WO2004/063078A1 and WO2004/054919A1. The common point of all the aforementioned inventions is that all of them propose using a linear drive system to move any type of chain joined to the conveyor plates or steps and, therefore, to drive the chains of conveyor plates or steps of the conveyor system. Nevertheless, the contact of metal with metal between the chain of the linear drive system and the links of chains joined to the conveyor plates or steps generates noise. The general configuration proposed in these documents does not allow reducing the dimensions of the walkway either. The general dimensions of conventional walkways are much larger than those that the present invention can offer.

Drive system for moving walkways and stairs

Thyssenkrupp Elevator Innovation Center, S.A.


A display panel is provided, including an organic electroluminescent device including an anode layer, a liquid crystal cell on a light exit side of the organic electroluminescent device. The liquid crystal cell includes a liquid crystal layer, a linear polarizer on a side of the liquid crystal cell facing away from the organic electroluminescent device and configured to convert ambient light into a first polarized light, and an electrode assembly configured to control deflection of liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer to convert reflected light from the anode layer into a second polarized light. A second polarization direction of the second polarized light is different from a first polarization direction of the first polarized light. The display panel may decrease the intensity of reflected light perceived by the user when viewing the displayed image in an ambient environment.

In recent years, OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode, organic electroluminescent device) display technology has developed rapidly, becoming a new generation display technology in place of liquid crystal display technology.
However, in an ambient environment with strong light, it is often difficult to see clearly content displayed by an OLED display. In order to view the displayed content more clearly, the user often needs to adjust the screen brightness to a high degree, which affects the service life of the display product.


The present invention selects a space-time encoding mode to use when transmitting with spatial diversity based on the receive diversity associated with a receiver device and the quality of the transmission channels based on information fed back from the receiver device. The selectable space-time encoding modes are preferably space-time transmit diversity encoding and a version of BLAST-type encoding. Further, modulation modes, error encoding rates, or a combination thereof, may also be based on the quality of the transmission channels and the available diversity of the receiver device.

Interference and fading are significant impediments to achieving high data rates in today's wireless communication systems. Given the tendency for channel conditions to sporadically and significantly fade, communication resources are conservatively allocated, leaving excessive amounts of communication resources unused most of the time. Efforts to combat the impact of fading include incorporating transmission diversity or controlling modulation and coding techniques in relation to channel conditions.
Spatial diversity is typically a function of the number and placement of transmit and receive antennas relative to a transmitter and receiver. Systems employing spatial diversity with multiple transmit and receive antennas are generally referred to as multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. Accordingly, a transmitting device will have N transmit antennas, and the receiving device will have M receive antennas. Space-time coding controls what data is transmitted from each of the N transmit antennas. A space-time encoding function at the transmitter processes data to be transmitted and creates unique information to transmit from the N transmit antennas. Each of the M receive antennas will receive signals transmitted from each of the N transmit antennas. A space-time decoding function at the receiving device will combine the information sent from the N transmit antennas to recover the data.
Space-time encoding is typically implemented using one of two techniques. The first technique encodes the same data in different formats for transmission from the different transmit antennas. Thus, the same data is transmitted in different formats from each of the N transmit antennas. The second technique transmits different data from different ones of the N transmit antennas wherein the redundancy of the second technique is avoided. The first technique, which is often referred to as space-time transmit diversity (STTD), is effective in maximizing diversity but inefficient due to the requisite redundancy. The second technique, which is often referred to as V-BLAST (Vertical—Bell Laboratories Layered Space Time), increases system throughput for systems having sufficient diversity available. Once a threshold amount of diversity is achieved, data rates increase linearly with the number of transmit and receive antennas for BLAST systems, whereas additional spatial diversity has little impact on data rates in STTD systems. Thus, STTD and BLAST systems have unique advantages and disadvantages. Historically, STTD and BLAST spatial encoding techniques have not been employed in the same system. Further information related to STTD and V-BLAST can be found in Siavash M. Alamouti, "A Simple Transmit Diversity Technique for Wireless Communications," IEEE J. Select. Areas Commun., vol. 16, pp. 1451–1458, Oct. 1998; G. J. Foschini, "Layered Space-time Architecture for Wireless Communications in a Fading Environment when Using Multi-element antennas," Bell Labs Tech. J., pp. 41–59, Autumn 1996; G. D. Golden, G. J. Foschini, R. A. Valenzuela, and P. W. Wolniansky, "Detection Algorithm and Initial Laboratory Results Using V-BLAST Space-time Communication Architecture," Electronics Letters, vol. 35, pp 14–16, January 1999; and P. W. Wolniansky, G. J., Foschini, G. D. Golden, and R. A. Valenzuela, "V-BLAST: An Architecture for Realizing Very High Data Rates Over the Rich-scattering Wireless Channel," Proc. IEEE ISSSE-98, Pisa, Italy, September 1998, pp. 295–300, which are incorporated herein by reference.
Prior to space-time coding, data to be transmitted is encoded to facilitate error correction and modulated or mapped into symbols using any number of available modulation techniques, such as quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) and x-quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). The type of encoding for error correction and modulation techniques greatly influences the data rates, and their applicability is a function of channel conditions.
Since STTD and BLAST space-time coding techniques are not traditionally combined, many systems are unable to take full advantage of available resources even when error encoding and modulation techniques are controlled based on channel conditions. Over time, the optimal space-coding technique in a communication environment is likely to change between STTD and BLAST. Further, for either STTD or BLAST space-time coding, the optimal type of error encoding or modulation techniques will also change over time. As such, there is a need to adaptively control space-time coding, error rate encoding, and modulation techniques to optimize communication efficiency between communicating devices over varying channel conditions.


The present invention provides a light-weighted backlight capable of ensuring a sufficient light quantity at a low cost. A backlight is arranged below a liquid crystal panel. A light source is arranged in the vertical direction with respect to a screen of the liquid crystal panel so that light from the light source is directed toward the liquid crystal panel by a reflector. Due to such a constitution, the reflector can also function as a back lid of the backlight. Further, the reflector plays a role of directing the light from the light source toward the liquid crystal panel and hence, a light guide plate can be omitted. Due to such a constitution, the present invention can realize the reduction of weight and cost of the backlight or the liquid crystal display panel.

The present invention relates to an illumination device, and more particularly to a backlight used in a liquid crystal display device.
A TFT (Thin Film Transistor) type liquid crystal display device has been popularly used as a display device of a liquid crystal television receiver set, a personal computer or the like. The liquid crystal display device is constituted of a liquid crystal panel having a drain driver and a gate driver arranged on a periphery thereof and a back light radiating light to the liquid crystal panel.
The backlight is classified into an edge-light-type backlight and a direct-type backlight. One of crucial tasks that both backlights possess is the acquisition of a uniform backlight by suppressing brightness irregularities.
As one of means for suppressing brightness irregularities, there has been proposed a technique which can reduce the brightness irregularities by forming a reflector mounted on a bottom surface of the backlight in an optically suitable shape different from a simple planar shape. Patent document 1 (JP-A-2003-31003) and Patent document 2 (JP-A-2006-260924) disclose such a technique.
An illumination device used in the backlight of the liquid crystal display device includes a reflector on a side thereof opposite to a light radiating surface (a bottom surface of the backlight). To enhance the uniformity of the light radiating surface of the backlight, it is preferable to form, not a usual planar shape but a surface having a bent shape such as a wave shape. As a simple method for forming the shape of the reflector into such a shape, it may be possible to mount a mold made of iron or resin and having such a shape on a bottom surface of the backlight and, then, to adhere a reflection sheet reflecting light to the mold. However, due to the adhesion of an extra material to the reflection sheet, there arises a drawback that the backlight becomes heavy.
It is an object of the present invention to provide, in a liquid crystal display device which includes a backlight, the simple structure of a backlight having a reflector of an arbitrary shape.
The above-mentioned and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of this specification and attached drawings.
The present invention has been made to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks. To briefly explain the summary of typical inventions among the inventions described in this specification, they are as follows.
(1) According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid crystal display device which includes: a liquid crystal panel; and a backlight arranged on a side opposite to a display screen of the liquid crystal panel, wherein the backlight includes a light source and a reflector for reflecting light radiated from the light source toward the liquid crystal panel, and the reflector has a shape thereof determined due to the fixing of the end portions of the reflector to the backlight.
(2) According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid crystal display device which includes: a liquid crystal panel; and a backlight arranged on a side opposite to a display screen of the liquid crystal panel, wherein the backlight includes a light source and a reflector for reflecting light radiated from the light source toward the liquid crystal panel, and the reflector forms a bottom surface of the backlight.
(3) According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid crystal display device which includes: a liquid crystal panel; and a backlight arranged on a side opposite to a display screen of the liquid crystal panel, wherein the backlight includes a light source and a reflector for reflecting light radiated from the light source toward the liquid crystal panel, the reflector has a shape thereof determined due to the fixing of the end portions of the reflector to the backlight, and the reflector forms a bottom surface of the backlight.
The present invention provides an illumination device having a simplified structure which can simply form a shape of a reflector and, at the same time, can acquire both the uniformity of brightness of the illumination device and the reduction of thickness of the illumination device.
To be more specific, according to the present invention, a back lid of a lower frame which houses a backlight device therein can be eliminated and hence, a weight of the backlight can be largely reduced. Particularly, the lower frame is often made of a metal and hence, the elimination of the back lid brings about a large weight reduction effect. Further, the elimination of the back lid also brings about the reduction of a part cost and an assembly cost.
Further, according to the present invention, even when an edge-light-type backlight is used, light from a light source can be directed toward a liquid crystal panel without using a so-called light guide plate thus realizing the reduction of weight and the reduction of cost of the backlight.

Panasonic Liquid Crystal Display Co., Ltd.


A method, executed by a computer, for splitting live register ranges includes identifying one or more H pathways comprising one or more H nodes having high register pressure, identifying an L pathway consisting of two or more L nodes, and inserting register splitting instructions for each symbolic register that is live in both the one or more H pathways and the L pathway, wherein the register splitting instructions are inserted at a starting node of the one or more H pathways. A computer program product and computer system corresponding to the above method are also disclosed herein.

The present invention relates generally to software compilers, and more specifically, to register allocation.
Two types of registers that are relevant to the field of software compiling are hardware registers and symbolic registers. Hardware registers store bits of information and are often tightly coupled to CPUs and referenced in software instructions. Hardware registers are physical entities, and as such a system is provided with a finite number of hardware registers. Symbolic registers, on the other hand, are virtual registers located in memory, and thus may be potentially limitless in number. Register assignment occurs when symbolic registers are assigned to the hardware registers on a system. One problem area in register assignment occurs when a program's demand for symbolic registers exceeds the number of hardware registers available.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method of splitting register live ranges

International Business Machines Corporation


An ultrasonic transceiver device for producing ultrasonic beams comprises a body vibratable at ultrasonic frequencies and an extensive surface for beam emanation, the device configured to produce an unfocused, or alternatively a focused, power beam for thermal tissue damage, the power beam being produced by vibration over the body of the transceiver and emanating from the extent of the surface, whereby the extensive surface becomes subject to convective cooling when immersed in a fluid by a chimney effect set up by said unfocused beam.

The present invention relates to an ultrasound transceiver device and cooling thereof and, more particularly, but not exclusively to the cooling of such a transceiver device within a small vessel which may be filled with fluid, such as a blood vessel or other body lumen.
Sverdlik et al, in PCT/IL2008/000234, filed Feb. 21, 2008 disclose a method of using ultrasonic energy for surgical procedures. In a procedure for stabilizing blood vessel wall abnormality, ultrasonic heating is carried out of at least a portion of the blood vessel wall having the abnormality. A parameter is monitored relating to a property of at least a portion of the heated portion of the blood vessel wall; and heating is stopped when the monitored parameter changes by a predetermined factor or after the monitored parameter changes at a slow enough rate.
Maguire and Peacock, in EP 1769759 disclose an air backed ultrasonic transceiver. Specifically they disclose an ultrasound transceiver mounted onto a delivery member, such as the elongate body of a catheter shaft, without a support structure bridging between a separation area between the transceiver and the shaft. Mounting flanges extend from either end of the transceiver and are mounted at first and second locations along the catheter shaft such that the transceiver is not in mechanical contact with the catheter shaft between those mounting locations to provide for air backing between the transceiver and the catheter shaft so as to isolate ultrasound transmission radially away from the catheter shaft and toward the tissue surrounding the shaft. In Maguire and Peacock, sealing of the transceiver ensures that body fluids such as blood do not displace the air.
An ultrasound transceiver can in principle be used to provide a high power ultrasound beam that can thermally damage tissues. However the transformation of electrical energy into ultrasound is inefficient and considerable heat is generated at the transceiver. The heat needs to be safely dissipated without causing damage to the blood vessel itself, and standard heat sink structures cannot be used in blood flow because heat exchange fins can damage platelets and cause clotting. In general the transceiver may be expected to heat the artery wall as well as the more distant features it is intended to damage thermally.
Furthermore, ultrasound transceivers are typically ceramics with piezoelectric properties. Ceramics have low thermal conductivity and thus operation at high power causes relatively large heat differentials across the transceiver which often causes cracking.

Ultrasound transceiver and cooling thereof


An amplifier circuit includes an pair of input transistors, the drains of which are connected to emitters of first and second cascode transistors. First and second controlled current sources are connected to the emitters of the first and second cascode transistors, respectively, and third and fourth controlled current sources are connected to the collectors thereof. A bias circuit controls the 4 controlled current sources in response to the emitter voltage of a pair of input transistors of an output stage the inputs of which are connected to the drains of the first and second cascode transistors.

The present invention relates generally to amplifiers employing folded cascode topology, and more particularly to improved low noise, low quiescent current, low offset operational amplifiers having a large common mode input voltage range.
One of the most frequently used input-stage topologies which provides wide input common-mode range is the folded cascode arrangement, shown as a generalized block diagram in FIG. 1. The amplifier in FIG. 1 includes a pair of input transistors (not shown) in block 30, the base or gate of one input transistor being coupled to Vin− and the base or gate of the other input transistor being coupled to Vin+. A tail current source I0 is coupled to the emitters or sources of the input transistors, and their collectors or drains are coupled to load resistors R1 and R2 and also to emitters or sources of a pair of cascode transistors (not shown), respectively, in block 31. The collectors or drains of the cascode transistors in block 31 are coupled by a load circuit 5 to VCC and to inputs of an output amplifier stage 9 which produces Vout. Compensation capacitor C1 is coupled between Vout and the (−) input of output stage 9, and compensation capacitor C2 is coupled between VEE and to the (+) input of output stage 9.
FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a different and simpler amplifier configuration, in which the differential input transistor pair includes a pair of JFET input transistors J0 and J1 having their sources coupled to a tail current source I0 and their gates coupled to Vin− and Vin+, respectively. The drains of input transistors J0 and J1 are coupled to VEE through NPN active load transistors Q17 and Q18 and degeneration resistors R1 and R2 as shown. The drains of input transistors J0 and J1 are connected to bases of the input transistors Q12 and Q13, respectively, of a second amplifier stage. The emitters of transistors Q12 and Q13 are connected to a tail current source I3 and to the bases of active load transistors Q17 and Q18. The collectors of transistors Q12 and Q13 are coupled to an active load circuit Q14, Q15 of the second amplifier stage. A compensation capacitor C1 is coupled between the base and collector of transistor Q13, and compensation capacitor C2 is connected between the base of transistor Q12 and VEE.
In the simpler differential pair topology shown in FIG. 2, the slew rate is determined simply by the magnitude of the tail current I0 and the size of the compensation capacitor C1.
However, in the more complex folded cascode topology of FIG. 1, the slew rate is determined not only by the magnitude of the tail current source I0 and the size of the compensation capacitor C1, but is additionally determined by the amount of current flowing through the cascode transistors in block 31.
Thus, when comparing the folded cascode topology of FIG. 1 to a simple differential pair topology as shown in FIG. 2, it can be seen that the folded cascode topology will need to have higher quiescent current to achieve comparable slewing performance.
In order to make the slew rate of an operational amplifier having the folded cascode circuitry of FIG. 1 comparable to the slew rate of a second stage or output stage that has the simple differential input pair Q12,Q13 in FIG. 2, the cascoding transistors in block 31 of FIG. 1 must conduct the same amount of current as the input pair transistors in block 30 of FIG. 1. Unfortunately, this not only causes higher quiescent current in the folded cascode amplifier in FIG. 1, but also approximately doubles the amount of current flowing into load resistors R1 and R2, and therefore approximately doubles the voltage drop across them. Consequently, the common mode input voltage range is substantially reduced in the folded cascode amplifier of FIG. 1 if it is designed to have slewing performance comparable to that of the simpler differential pair topology of FIG. 2.
As a practical matter, the resistances of load resistors R1 and R2 in the folded cascode amplifier of FIG. 1 cannot be substantially reduced because that would increase the folded cascode stage transconductance Gm presented to the cascoding transistors in block 31, which in turn would increase its noise and offset noise contribution. (It should be noted that folded cascode topology can also be implemented using current sources in place of resistors R1 and R2 in FIG. 1. However, although the cascode transistors in block 31 of FIG. 1 can be degenerated by very high output resistances of those current sources, in practice such current sources themselves become noise and offset contributors.)
In order to minimize the quiescent current and the noise contribution of the folded cascode transistors in block 31 of FIG. 1, the amount of current flowing through the folded cascode transistors can be reduced. Furthermore, deceasing the quiescent current through the cascode transistors in block 31 increases the output resistance of the folded cascode stage and that, in turn, increases the voltage gain of the amplifier. The improved voltage gain is useful to minimize the noise and offset voltage contributions of any following stages (if present) when the noise and offset voltage contributions are referred back to the input terminals of the pair of input transistors in block 30. Unfortunately, reducing the quiescent current through the folded cascode transistors in block 31 of FIG. 1 reduces the slew rate of the folded cascode amplifier, as explained above.
There are known "slew boost" techniques for improving slew rate when quiescent current in the folded cascode stage is reduced. However, the known slew boost techniques use nonlinear types of slew boost circuits that boost the current flowing through the folded cascode stage or bypassing it. However, employing a nonlinear slew boost circuit in an amplifier results in additional signal distortion.
There is an unmet need for a low noise, low offset operational amplifier which has improved common mode input voltage range and high slew rates.
There also is an unmet need for an operational amplifier using folded cascode topology with the folded cascode stage running lower current than the differential input stage for improved noise and offset performance and/or wider common mode input voltage range while providing slew rate performance determined by a full amount of output current of the differential input transistor pair, without substantial degradation of linearity when the operational amplifier approaches a slewing condition.

Class AB folded cascode stage and method for low noise, low power, low-offset operational amplifier


The present invention includes a protective sleeve assembly for cords having a longitudinal flexible sleeve for retaining the cords therein. The invention discloses various embodiments for obtaining a desired sleeve length. One such sleeve embodiment includes a pair of lengthwise fasteners affixed coterminously along its seam so that the sleeve and fasteners may be separated into a pair of sleeves. A method for protecting cords is provided as well.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to protective sleeves, more particularly to a protective sleeve assembly for cords.
2. Background Art
Various applications require a plurality of cords to route from one location to another. These cords may include cables for providing power, telecommunications, audio/video signals, or the like. These cords may also include flow lines such as air, pneumatics, hydraulics, fluids, water, sewage or the like. In such applications where a plurality of cords are required, it may be desired to provide a protective cover to the cords.
The prior art has appreciated this desire and has accordingly provided a protective fabric sleeve having a longitudinal fastener provided along the seam thereof for enclosing a plurality of cords therein. The protective sleeve protects the cords from wear, and from the elements, and maximizes safety while managing the bundle of cords. The prior art protective sleeve includes a plurality of hook and loop straps formed therealong for mounting the protective sleeve to a support structure or alternatively tightening the sleeve about the cords disposed therein. The prior art protective sleeve also includes straps oriented adjacent to distal ends thereof for retaining a surplus of length of the cord that extends from the sleeve. Additionally, the prior art protective sleeve includes hook and loop straps formed at distal ends thereof for interconnecting a pair of protective sleeves end to end.
A goal of the present invention is to provide a protective sleeve assembly that provides a desired protective sleeve length.


An operation part in a pattern inspection apparatus includes a defect candidate image generator for generating a binary defect candidate image representing a defect candidate area in an inspection image by comparing the inspection image with a reference image, in an inspection image masking part the inspection image is masked with the defect candidate image to obtain a masked inspection image. In a feature value calculation part, an autocorrelation feature value is obtained from the masked inspection image, and outputted to a classifying part. The classifying part comprises a classifier outputting a classification result on the basis of the autocorrelation feature value and a classifier construction part for constructing the classifier by learning. It is thereby possible to easily perform the high accurate classification of defect candidate using the autocorrelation feature value which is hard to characterize as compared with geometric feature value or feature value representing density.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for inspecting pattern on an object.
2. Description of the Background Art
A comparison check method has been mainly used, conventionally, in a field of inspection of pattern formed on a semiconductor substrate, a glass substrate, a printed circuit board or the like. For example, in binary image, an image of exclusive OR of an inspection image (an image to be inspected) and a reference image is obtained, and in grayscale image, an absolute difference value image which represents absolute values of the difference between pixel values in an inspection image and pixel values in a reference image is obtained and each pixel is binarized by a predetermined threshold value, to detect an area of a defect.
In the circuit formation process or the like of a semiconductor substrate, a pattern inspection apparatus with a function to classify a class of a detected defect automatically (i.e., to classify a defect automatically) is used to specify the cause of a low yield and improve manufacturing conditions in each operation. In general, classification of a defect is performed in accordance with classification conditions given by a user in advance (on a so-called rule base) or by using a method based on learning such as discriminant analysis or neural network on the basis of a feature value obtained from an area in an inspection image or a reference image corresponding to a defect.
Japanese Examined Patent Application Laid Open Gazette No. 5-13256 (Document 1) discloses a method where a binary image which represents defects is divided into partial areas by using a reference image divided into areas and a feature value of the defect is obtained in each partial area, to classify a class of the defect on a rule base. Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Gazette No. 9-186208 (Document 2) suggests a method where a grayscale inspection image is separated into a wire portion and a background portion, and a feature value representing density of defect is acquired in each portion, to classify the defect on the basis of the feature value. Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Gazette No. 8-21803 (Document 3) discloses a method where geometric feature values such as an area (i.e., the number of pixels), length of circumference, feret diameter, roundness, centroid position are mainly obtained and inputted to neural network, to perform a high-level classification of a defect.
Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Gazette No. 2001-99625 (Document 4) suggests a method where average density, an autocorrelation feature value or the like of an area in an inspection image or a reference image corresponding to a specified defect candidate is obtained, to classify whether the defect candidate is true or false on a rule base. Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Gazette No. 2002-22421 (Document 5) discloses a technique where two differential images between an inspection image and two reference images are generated, values of pixels in the two differential images are converted into error probability values by using a standard deviation of the pixel values to generate two error probability value images. Further, products of the values of corresponding pixels in the two error probability value images are obtained to generate a probability product image, and value of each pixel in the probability product image is compared with a predetermined threshold value to determine whether there is a defect or not on an object.
Recently, it is required to increase the accuracy of classification of defects, however, even if geometric feature values or feature values representing density are obtained as the methods disclosed in Documents 1 or 3, it is difficult to classify classes of defects with high accuracy in some cases. In this case, even if the method based on leaning such as neural network in Document 3 is used, since the accuracy of classification largely depends on a type of inputted feature value in general, it is not possible to meet the required accuracy.
On the contrary, by applying the method of Document 4 obtaining an autocorrelation feature value to classification of defects, it is expected to classify with certain accuracy, but depending on an object to be inspected, it is needed to increase the accuracy of classification. To classify by using an autocorrelation feature value on a rule base, normally, it needs to determine classification conditions by complicated operation. Thus, it is not possible to perform a classification of defects easily.

Apparatus and method for inspecting pattern


A braking force distribution control apparatus for a vehicle has a lateral acceleration detecting unit detecting lateral acceleration of the vehicle, a longitudinal acceleration detecting unit detecting longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle, a vehicle speed detecting unit detecting a vehicle speed, and a braking control unit adapted to select. When preset conditions for brake operating time are satisfied, the braking control unit executes one of select-low control and independent braking control in accordance with the lateral acceleration, the longitudinal acceleration and the vehicle speed, the select-low control controlling braking forces of left and right wheels depending on a wheel on the side with a large slipping condition. The independent braking control system independently controls the braking force for each wheel in dependency on the slipping condition of each of the wheels.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a braking force control system of a vehicle which adequately distributes the braking force in braking.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, there have been proposed various braking control systems which make use of constitutions of anti-lock braking systems (ABS) and control distribution of braking force in normal braking to be more adequate one.
For example, in JP-A-10-119744, there is disclosed one which, when deceleration of a vehicle reaches a specified value and a vehicle speed exceeds a specified speed, independently increases, reduces or holds braking oil pressure of each of right and left rear wheels so that braking force distribution between rear and front wheels becomes an approximately ideal one to perform independent braking control for carrying out sufficient braking.
During a braking operation, for example, road surface friction coefficients (road surface friction) with respect to left and right wheels are greatly asymmetric in some cases. Namely, when a wheel on one side of a vehicle is on a dry road surface (high friction road) and a wheel on the other side thereof is on, for example, an ice plate (low friction road), a very high yawing moment occurs in some cases when the vehicle is braked.
Therefore, in a related art ABS control operation, in order to prevent the stability of the vehicle from being lost by applying a large braking force to a wheel on the side of a high friction road, a select-low control, in which a brake on a high friction road side is controlled in accordance with a brake on a low friction road side, i.e., on the side of a large slipping condition, is employed in many cases.
In general, the above-described independent braking control is suitable for a case where the obtainment of a sufficient braking force is required, while the above-described select-low control is suitable for a case where the minimization of the occurrence of a yawing moment and the obtainment of a sufficient vehicle stability are required. Therefore, it is desired that these controls can be carried out in a suitably selected manner in accordance with the variously changing traveling condition of a vehicle.
Further, in a braking operation, also important is a method of generating a braking pressure for producing a braking force. Especially, when a braking pressure is rapidly increased on a split friction road or with a load on a vehicle greatly different at left and right parts thereof, and in other similar cases, a yawing moment occurs in the vehicle. This would cause the vehicle to become unstable, or an unpleasant rolling behavior to be left during the turning with a high lateral acceleration.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and provides a braking force distribution control apparatus for vehicles, capable of carrying out a reliable and stable braking operation finely and in a well-balanced manner by suitably selecting various braking controls in accordance with variously changing traveling condition of a vehicle, and executing a selected control, without adding a special complicated mechanism to the apparatus.
To attain the above object, according to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a braking force distribution control apparatus for a vehicle, including: a lateral acceleration detecting unit detecting a lateral acceleration of the vehicle; a longitudinal acceleration detecting unit detecting a longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle; a vehicle speed detecting unit detecting a vehicle speed; and a braking control unit adapted to select and execute, one of a select-low control and an independent braking control in accordance with the lateral acceleration, the longitudinal acceleration and the vehicle speed when preset conditions for brake operating time are satisfied, the select-low control controlling braking forces of left and right wheels depending on a wheel on the side with a large slipping condition, the independent braking control independently controlling the braking force for each wheel depending on the slipping condition of each wheel.
In the braking force distribution control apparatus according to the first aspect, the lateral acceleration of a vehicle is detected by the lateral acceleration detecting unit, the longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle by the longitudinal acceleration detecting unit, and a vehicle speed by the vehicle speed detecting unit. The braking control device is adapted to select, when preset conditions for a braking operation are satisfied, either of a select-low control in which a wheel braking force for a left wheel and a right wheel is controlled in accordance with lateral acceleration, longitudinal acceleration and vehicle speed and correspondingly to a wheel on the side with a large slipping condition, and an independent braking control in which the braking force for each wheel is controlled independently and correspondingly to the slipping condition of each wheel, and then execute a selected control.
In addition, in the above braking force distribution control apparatus, when the preset conditions for a braking operation are satisfied, the braking control unit is adapted to select, either of the select-low control and the independent braking control in accordance with the vehicle speed in a case where the lateral acceleration is in a preset high region and then execute the selected control; select either of the select-low control and the independent braking control in accordance with the vehicle speed and the longitudinal acceleration in a case where the lateral acceleration is in a preset intermediate region, and then execute the selected control; and select and execute the select-low control in a case where the lateral acceleration is in a preset low region.
This braking force distribution control apparatus is so constituted that, for example, when the lateral acceleration is in a preset high region with a vehicle speed being low, a sufficient braking operation can be carried out by selectively executing an independent braking control, and so that, when the lateral acceleration is in the same region with a vehicle speed being high, the safety can be secured by selectively executing a select-low control. The apparatus is also so constituted that, when the lateral acceleration is in a preset intermediate region with the longitudinal acceleration being high, a judgement that a vehicle is traveling on a high friction road is given; when a vehicle speed is low, a sufficient braking operation can be carried out by executing an independent braking control; and, when a vehicle speed is high, the stability can be secured by selectively executing a select-low control. The apparatus is also so constituted that, when the longitudinal acceleration is low in this case, the stability can be secured by selectively executing a select-low control. The apparatus is formed so that, when the lateral acceleration is in a preset low region, the stability can be secured by selectively executing a select-low control.
Further, in the above braking force distribution control apparatus according to the first aspect, the select-low control and the independent braking control are carried out for the rear wheels.
Moreover, according to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a braking force distribution control apparatus for a vehicle, including: a lateral acceleration detecting unit detecting a lateral acceleration of the vehicle; a longitudinal acceleration detecting unit detecting a longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle; and a braking control unit adapted to select and execute at least one of a select-low control, an independent braking control and a stepwise pressure increase control in accordance with the lateral acceleration and the longitudinal acceleration when preset conditions for brake operating time are satisfied, the select-low control controlling braking forces of left and right wheels depending on a wheel on the side with a large slipping condition, the independent braking control independently controlling the braking force for each wheel depending on the slipping condition of each wheel, and the stepwise pressure increase control stepwisely increasing a braking pressure to a predetermined value at the braking operation starting time.
Namely, in this braking force distribution control apparatus, the lateral acceleration of a vehicle is detected by the lateral acceleration detecting device, and the longitudinal acceleration thereof by the longitudinal acceleration detecting device. The braking control device is adapted to select one of, or to combine together such control operations in accordance with the lateral acceleration and longitudinal acceleration, when preset conditions for the brake operating time are satisfied, that include a select-low control in which a braking force for left and right wheels is controlled in accordance with a wheel on the side of a worse slipping condition, an independent braking control in which a braking force for each wheel is controlled independently in accordance with the slipping condition of each of these wheels, and a stepwise pressure increase control in which a braking pressure is stepwise increased to a value to be reached at the braking operation starting time, and execute a selected or combined control.
In addition, in the above braking force distribution control apparatus, the braking control device judges as to whether the detected lateral acceleration is in a high lateral acceleration region not lower than a predetermined value or in a low lateral acceleration region lower than the predetermined value, when the detected lateral acceleration is in the low lateral acceleration region, at least one of the select-low control, the independent braking control and the stepwise pressure increase control are selected in accordance with the lateral acceleration and the longitudinal acceleration, the selected control is then executed, and when the lateral acceleration is in the high lateral acceleration region, one of the independent braking control and a combination of the independent braking control and the stepwise pressure increase control is executed in accordance with the lateral acceleration.
When the lateral acceleration is in a low lateral acceleration region in this braking force distribution control apparatus for vehicles, the turning condition of a vehicle, the braking condition thereof and a road surface friction xcexc on which the vehicle travels are estimated on the basis of the lateral acceleration and longitudinal acceleration. For example, when the lateral acceleration is low with the longitudinal acceleration high, a result that the braking of the vehicle is done on a high friction road is drawn by inference, and both the front and rear wheels are subjected to an independent braking control, a reliable braking operation being thereby rendered practicable with a sufficient braking force. For example, in a case where the lateral acceleration is high with the longitudinal acceleration also high, the rear wheels and front wheels are subjected, when the possibility that the vehicle is traveling on a split friction road in an intermediate friction road can be assumed, to a select-low control and an independent control with which a stepwise pressure increase control is combined, respectively, the safety of the vehicle being thereby satisfactorily secured. For example, in a case where the lateral acceleration is low with the longitudinal acceleration also low, the rear wheels and front wheels are subjected, when the possibility that the vehicle is traveling on a split friction road in an intermediate friction road can be assumed, to a select-low control and an independent control with which a stepwise pressure increase control is combined, respectively, the safety of the vehicle being thereby satisfactorily secured. For example, when the lateral acceleration is high with the longitudinal acceleration low, a conclusion that the vehicle is turned with a gentle braking force on a high xcexc road or turned on an intermediate friction road is drawn by inference, and both the front and rear wheels are subjected to an independent braking control, a reliable braking operation being thereby rendered practicable with a sufficient braking force. In a case where the lateral acceleration is in a high lateral acceleration region, the turning condition of the vehicle is assumed in accordance with the lateral acceleration. For example, when the lateral acceleration is low with a conclusion that the vehicle is in a normal turning condition possible to be drawn by inference, both the front and rear wheels are subjected to an independent braking control, and a reliable braking operation can thereby be carried out with a sufficient braking force. Furthermore, when a quick turning is presumed with high lateral acceleration, the front wheels are subjected to an independent braking control while the rear wheels are subjected to an independent braking control combined with a stepwise pressure increase control to thereby suppress uncomfortable rolling impression.
Further, in the above braking force distribution control apparatus, the braking force control unit is adapted to execute the independent braking control for the front wheels, and further combine the independent braking control for the front wheels with the stepwise pressure increase control in accordance with the lateral acceleration and longitudinal acceleration. Namely, an independent braking control is carried out for the front wheels, and the reliable braking of the vehicle is thereby carried out with a sufficient braking force, while, in order to brake the vehicle with the stability thereof maintained by a combination of the lateral acceleration and longitudinal acceleration, a control of a combination of the independent braking control and a stepwise pressure increase control is carried out.
Moreover, in the above braking force distribution control apparatus, the braking control device is adapted to execute one of the select-low control and the independent braking control for the rear wheels in accordance with the lateral acceleration and longitudinal acceleration; and further combine the independent braking control for the rear wheels with the stepwise pressure increase control in accordance with the lateral acceleration and longitudinal acceleration. Namely, in order to brake the rear wheels with, for example, the stability of the vehicle maintained, a select-low control is selected, and, in order to brake the vehicle with the occurrence of unpleasant rolling behavior thereof held down, a stepwise pressure increase control is combined with the independent braking control.

Braking force control system for vehicle


Provided is a solar cell module having a reinforcing member integrally stacked by means of a covering material on a rear surface of a solar cell panel having a photovoltaic element that performs photoelectric conversion, wherein a bent portion is formed in each of opposing end portions of the reinforcing member, an output wire member having conductivity is extended from an output portion of the photovoltaic element disposed on a light-receiving surface side of the solar cell panel along a surface of the bent portion so as to get over the bent portion, and a tip end of the extended portion of the output wire member is exposed out of a surface opposite to the reinforcing member of the covering material to form an output terminal portion. Thereby, there is provided a solar cell module that is improved in the area efficiency and weather resistance as well as the workability of electrical wiring and electrical connection during manufacturing and is inexpensive.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solar cell module in which a reinforcing member is integrally stacked by use of a covering material on the rear surface of a solar cell panel having a photovoltaic element that performs photoelectric conversion.
2. Related Background Art
Solar cell modules have hitherto been installed in structures, such as roofs and walls, in large numbers and in various forms as photovoltaic power generation systems that compensate for household electric power supply. An improvement in area efficiency and weather resistance has hitherto been required of such solar cell modules. As means of improving area efficiency and weather resistance, it is effective that members that need not to be provided on a light-receiving surface of a solar cell module are provided on a non-light-receiving surface as far as possible. There is an output terminal, for example, as such members that need not to be provided on the light-receiving surface. By providing an output terminal on a non-light-receiving surface, which is a rear surface of a solar cell module, it becomes unnecessary to provide a dead space on a light-receiving surface and it becomes possible to improve the efficiency of the area occupied by a photovoltaic element (a solar cell) on the light-receiving surface.
Furthermore, because an output terminal is not directly exposed to sunlight, it becomes possible to prevent lowering in the insulating properties of members that constitute the output terminal due to photodegradation.
As a technique related to this, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-244001 there is disclosed a solar cell module of improved fire-preventive and fire-resistive performance having at least a solar cell and a rear surface covering material, which has such a construction that through a terminal takeout hole of the rear surface covering material provided in a portion not provided with the solar cell, the terminal is taken out by means of a conductive member electrically connected to the solar cell, and in which the conductive member covers the whole upper opening of the terminal takeout hole on the light-receiving surface of the terminal takeout hole.
Also, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-196129 there is proposed a solar-cell-integrated roofing member that is constituted by at least a solar cell and a roofing member main body. This solar-cell-integrated roofing member has a structure such that in a region where at least a photovoltaic element is not present, there is formed a step that provides a recess on a non-light-receiving surface, and terminal takeout parts of a solar cell (terminal takeout box, terminal takeout cable, connector for electrical connection) are formed in the recess of the non-light-receiving surface of the stepped part. Therefore, handling is good, installation is easy, and there is no fear of damage to the terminal takeout box during installation.
However, in the solar cell module described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-244001, a complicated step that involves providing the terminal takeout hole in the rear surface covering material and drawing out the conductive member therethrough is necessary. Therefore, workability is poor. Also, because a noncombustible member to improve fire-preventive and fire-resistive performance is provided in addition to the covering material of the solar cell module, the material cost increases. Furthermore, the step of disposing the noncombustible member is necessary during the manufacture of the solar cell module, posing the problem that the manufacturing cost also increases.
Further, in the solar cell module described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-196129, by providing the terminal takeout parts within the recess on the non-light-receiving surface of the solar cell module, damage to the terminal takeout parts is prevented and an increase in area efficiency is accomplished. However, because the terminal is taken out from the non-light-receiving surface, similarly as described above, a step becomes necessary which involves providing a through hole in a roof member, which is a rear surface reinforcing member, and component members thereof, and taking out a wiring member therethrough. Therefore, workability is poor. Also, a measure such as providing an insulating member to prevent short-circuiting in the portion where the wiring member is taken out via the through hole is necessary, posing the problem that the manufacturing cost increases.
The present inventors have conducted extensive studies for realization of a solar cell module that permits improvement in area efficiency and weather resistance and is inexpensive and considered that manufacturing a solar cell module that permits improvement in area efficiency and weather resistance at a low cost is difficult with the conventional type of solar cell modules in which the output terminal is disposed on the non-light-receiving surface.
The present invention has been accomplished in view of the above-described problems.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a solar cell module that is improved in the area efficiency and weather resistance as well as the workability of electrical wiring and electrical connection during manufacturing and is inexpensive.


An apparatus for controlling power generation of a vehicle includes an alternator for generating electricity using an engine torque. A controller is configured to calculate a difference between a first duty value and a second duty value and to transmit a control signal based on the difference. The first duty value is an output duty value of the alternator before reaching a predetermined time, and the second duty value is a current output duty value of the alternator. A regulator gradually increases the amount of power generated by the alternator during a delay time based on the control signal received from the controller.

Techniques for variably controlling power generation of an alternator have been applied to improve fuel efficiency of a vehicle by preventing the power generation during acceleration or by maximizing the power generation to charge a battery during deceleration. That is, during acceleration, a mechanical load applied to the vehicle is reduced by controlling the power generation of the alternator in order to improve acceleration performance. During deceleration, deceleration performance is improved by using torque generated by the maximum power generation of the alternator, thus improving the fuel efficiency of the vehicle.
Previously, in controlling power generation of a vehicle, an alternator and an engine control unit (ECU) control the power generation using analog waveform signals (pulse width modulation (PWM)) through multiple wires. The multiple wires include an FR-line for transmitting a signal indicative of a state of power generation of the alternator to the ECU, and a C-line for transmitting a signal relating to the control of power generation to the alternator.
However, recently, local interconnect network (LIN) communication, which transmits and controls digital values using a LIN communication line, for an alternator has been developed. Here, the alternator includes a regulator for controlling power generation. The regulator controls the power generation by transmitting and receiving information to and from an ECU. The regulator has a load response control (LRC) function, which prevents rapid variation in an electric load applied to a vehicle. When the electric load is generated rapidly while the vehicle travels, the alternator generates a torque for the power generation, and at this time, the engine revolutions per minute (RPM) changes rapidly. Therefore, the LRC function gradually increases the power generation of the alternator when the electric load is rapidly generated, thereby reducing variation of the engine RPM of the vehicle.
According to the related art, a constant LRC value is used for the LRC function. In other words, the duration for which the power generation of the alternator gradually increases is applied consistently. The LRC value is fixed as an optimized value by testing a vehicle and predicting variation in the engine RPM according to the variation in the electric load of the vehicle, and by predicting a state of illumination of a headlight or a dome light.
However, since a fixed LRC value is used, charging performance of a battery is unnecessarily deteriorates. Thus, using variable LRC values may increase efficient, for example, a battery can be stably charged using a lower LRC value regardless of variation in electric load and a vehicle RPM can be stably realized using a higher LRC value regardless of load variation according to increase in the power generation.
The foregoing is intended merely to aid in the understanding of the background of the present disclosure, and is not intended to mean that the present disclosure falls within the purview of the related art that is already known to those skilled in the art.

Apparatus and method for controlling power generation of vehicle


A flow control device for a compressible bottle may include a reservoir, the reservoir comprising an ophthalmic formulation disposed therein, the ophthalmic formulation comprising an ophthalmic agent and a preservative; a reservoir interface, disposed at a mouth of the reservoir, the reservoir interface comprising one or more apertures, the one or more apertures in the reservoir interface fluidically connecting an interior of the reservoir and an exterior of the reservoir; a nozzle, the nozzle comprising: an outlet and a nozzle cap, the nozzle cap comprising one or more apertures, the one or more apertures in the nozzle cap fluidically connecting the outlet and a reservoir-facing surface of the nozzle; and an axis of rotation, wherein rotation of the nozzle about the axis of rotation relative to the reservoir aligns the one or more apertures in the reservoir interface with the one or more apertures in the nozzle cap.

The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for removal of preservatives and removing a preservative from a fluid comprising a therapeutic agent.
Other approaches to removing a preservative from a fluid comprising a therapeutic agent to an eye may be less than ideal in at least some respects. Patients suffering from chronic diseases may use daily eye drop instillations, for example for the treatment of glaucoma. In order to prevent bacterial growth, commercially available eye drop formulations typically use a preservative, in order to address possible bacterial contamination.
Although preservative removal devices have been proposed, the such approaches can be less than ideal and overly complex in at least some instances. For example, the concentration of a preservative may not be stable over repeated use.

Device and methods for flow control of ophthalmic formulations


A representation of a user can move with respect to a graphical user interface based on input of a user. The graphical user interface comprises a central region and interaction elements disposed outside of the central region. The interaction elements are not shown until the representation of the user is aligned with the central region. A gesture of the user is recognized, and, based on the recognized gesture, the display of the graphical user interface is altered and an application control is outputted.

An input device or pointing device is a hardware component that allows a computer user to input data into a computer. A control (or widget) is an interface element that the computer user interacts with, such as by using an input device, to provide a single interaction point for the manipulation of data.

Enhanced input using recognized gestures


The present invention is a method and apparatus for the processing of images that have been compressed using a discrete cosine transform operation, and particularly JPEG compressed images. In a preferred embodiment, the rotation of image blocks is accomplished by sign inversion and transposition operations to accomplish intrablock operations. Subsequently, one of a number of alternative methods is employed to accomplish the same image processing on an interblock level, thereby enabling the rotation or mirroring of compressed images. The two stage process allows the use of either a standardized JPEG system with enhancements or a hybrid processing method, thereby accomplishing the image processing in conjunction with compression or decompression operations and minimizing the need for large memory buffers to accomplish the image processing. Accordingly, the technique has application to any number of systems, including digital printers and copiers where there may be a necessity to orthogonally rotate or mirror the digital image.

The present invention is directed to reducing the memory necessary to accomplish the processing of a digital image. In particular, this invention capitalizes on the need to store digitized images in a compressed format, and incorporates rotation, mirroring, and transposition operations with a JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) standard compression or decompression operation so as to accomplish rotation, mirroring and transposition on compressed images in a computationally efficient manner.
Data compression is required in data handling processes, where too much data is present for practical applications using the data. Commonly, compression is used in communication links, to reduce the transmission time or required bandwidth. Similarly, compression is preferred in image storage systems, including digital printers and copiers, where "pages" of a document to be printed are stored temporarily in precollation memory. Here the amount of media space on which the image data is stored can be substantially reduced with compression. Generally speaking, scanned images, i.e., electronic representations of hard copy documents, are often large, and thus make desirable candidates for compression.
The DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) and variable-length encoding standard, disseminated by the JPEG committee, is a lossy compression system which reduces data redundancies based on pixel to pixel correlations. Generally, an image does not change very much on a pixel to pixel basis and therefore has what is known as "natural spatial correlation". In natural scenes, correlation is generalized, but not exact. Noise makes each pixel somewhat different from its neighbors.
Generally, FIG. 1 illustrates a JPEG DCT compression and decompression system. A more complete discussion may be had by referencing the Encyclopedia of Graphics File Formats, by J. D. Murray and W. vanRyper, pp. 159-171 (1994, O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.) Further description of the JPEG standard may be found, for example, in JPEG Still Image Data Compression Standard, by W. Pennebaker and J. Mitchell, 1993 (Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York) or Discrete Cosine Transform: Algorithms, Advantages and Applications, by K. Rao and P. Yip, 1990 (Academic Press, San Diego).
Initially provided is tile or block memory 10 storing an M.times.M segment of the image. From the portion of the image stored in memory, the discrete cosine transform (DCT), a frequency space representation of the image, is formed at transformer 12. Hardware implementations of the compression engine are available, such as the C-Cube Microsystems CL550A JPEG image compression processor, which operates in either the compression or the decompression mode according to the JPEG standard. As described below, the embodiments of the present invention may include hardware and/or software processing operations. A divisor/quantization device 14 is used, from a set of values referred to as a Q-Table stored in a Q-Table memory 16, so that a distinct Q-Table value is divided into the DCT value, returning the integer portion of the value as the quantized DCT value. A Huffman encoder 18 uses statistical encoding applied to the quantized DCT values to generate the compressed image in a variable-length coded unit that is output for storage, transmission, etc.
To decompress compressed image data, and with continued reference to FIG. 1, a series of functions or steps are followed to reverse the compression process described above. The Huffman encoding is removed at decoder 20. The image signal now represents the quantized DCT coefficients, which are multiplied at signal multiplier 22 by the Q-Table values in memory 24 in a process inverse to the compression process. At inverse transformer 26, the inverse transform of the discrete cosine transform is derived, and the output image in the spatial domain is stored at image buffer 28.
As the processing of JPEG compressed images is typically accomplished in the spatial domain, such processes generally require the decompression of the image before processing and the re-compression after processing to minimize image size. An object of the present invention is to accomplish the orthogonal rotation and/or mirroring of the M.times.M blocks within a JPEG compressed image without having to completely decompress the coded units representing such blocks. The proposed invention employs a two-step process to accomplish orthogonal increment rotation or mirroring, requiring only an intermediate buffer having a storage capacity approximately on the order of the coded unit itself. Thus, for any image having a compression ratio of at least two, there is a memory savings with the processing technique of the present invention relative to accomplishing the processing in a spatial domain. Accordingly, the present invention enables the rotation and mirroring of an image by processing only the compressed data, with no a priori knowledge of the structure of the compressed image.
Heretofore, a number of patents and publications have disclosed image compression or rotation operations, the relevant portions of some may be briefly summarized as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,408,425 to H. S. Hou, issued Apr. 18, 1995, hereby incorporated by reference for its teachings, discloses a processor and method of computation for performing a discrete cosine transform. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,724 to S. M. Blonstein et al., issued Jun. 7, 1994, teaches an apparatus and corresponding method for compressing still images while remaining compatible with a JPEG transformation. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,113 to Chen et al., issued Oct. 26, 1993, discloses a video mixing technique that employs JPEG compressed data. Windows within a video image are each represented as JPEG coded data streams. The streams are then mixed using a data structure, based upon the overlay configuration of the windows, to produce a composite frame of video information. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,248 to Miller et al., issued Jul. 8, 1994, teaches a compressed image virtual editing system, where the compressed image is the result of JPEG compression techniques. The system enables a decoding of selected blocks in the JPEG compressed image to create a virtual image. Subsequently, the virtual image may be edited and re-encoded thereby allowing editing of the virtual image only and without decoding the entire compressed image.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method for performing an image processing operation on compressed digital image data comprising a plurality of coded units, wherein each coded unit is a variable-length representation of the coefficients of a discrete cosine transform for a segment of a digital image, the method including the steps of: retrieving from a memory a coded unit; at least partially variable-length decoding the coded unit to produce a quantized coefficient matrix; processing the quantized coefficient matrix in accordance with the image processing operation to produce a processed coefficient matrix; variable-length encoding the processed coefficient matrix to produce a processed coded unit; and repeating the above steps for each of the plurality of coded units in the compressed digital image data to produce coded units of a processed, compressed image.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for performing an image processing operation on compressed digital image data comprising a plurality of coded units, wherein each coded unit is a variable length representation of the coefficients of a discrete cosine transform for a segment of a digital image, the method including the steps of: retrieving from a memory a coded unit; variable-length decoding the coded unit to produce a quantized coefficient matrix, said decoding step further determining the size of the coded unit; storing, in memory, a pointer to each coded unit reflecting the storage location, in memory of the DC offset component for the coded unit processing the quantized coefficient matrix in accordance with the image processing operation to produce a processed matrix; dequantizing the processed matrix to produce a processed array of quantized coefficients; inverse discrete cosine transforming the processed array of quantized coefficients to produce a processed image segment; and repeating the above steps for each of the plurality of coded units in the compressed digital image data to produce a plurality of processed segments of image data.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for performing an image processing operation on digital image data, including the steps of: segmenting the digital image data into blocks of data; transforming, using a discrete cosine transform, each block of data to produce DCT coefficients representative thereof; quantizing the DCT coefficients to produce a quantized DCT coefficient matrix for each block of data; processing the quantized coefficient matrix in accordance with the image processing operation to produce a processed coefficient matrix for each block of data; scanning the processed coefficient matrix in accordance with a predefined path to produce a vector of quantized coefficients for each block of data; compressing the quantized coefficient vector using variable length encoding so as to produce a processed coded unit for each block of data; and storing the plurality of coded units in memory to produce a processed, compressed image
One aspect of the invention deals with a basic problem in digital image processing systems--the memory and computationally intensive operation of image processing, particularly image rotation. This aspect is further based on the discovery of a technique that alleviates this problem. The technique accomplishes the processing of an image segment or block while in a compressed form produced by a JPEG (e.g., discrete cosine transform) compression operation.
This technique can be implemented, for example, by the modification of a basic JPEG compression engine, where rotation operations are performed on the compressed image data (coded units). Accordingly, the technique has application to any number of systems, including digital printers and copiers where there may be a necessity to orthogonally rotate the digital image. A machine implementing the invention can include a data or image processing system having the capability of JPEG compression. The techniques and system described herein are advantageous because they are efficient and result in the ability to accomplish basic image processing with little additional hardware or processing as compared to other memory intensive approaches.

Method and apparatus for processing of a JPEG compressed image


A monolithic high frequency voltage controlled oscillator trimming circuit includes a plurality of capacitance loops selectively connected between a first and second differential input of a voltage oscillator active network. A plurality of diodes, connected in series with the respective plurality of capacitance loops, selectively connect respective capacitance loops between the first and second differential input when forward biased. In a similar fashion, the plurality of diodes selectively disconnect the respective capacitance loops from the first and second differential input when reverse biased. A controller applies a forward biasing voltage to the diode of the selected capacitance loop to connect the capacitance loop to the active network of the voltage controlled oscillator and applies a reverse biasing voltage to the diode of the selected capacitance loop to disconnect the capacitance loop from the active network. The diodes used in the capacitance loops form a switch operable at high frequencies and are formed from a bipolar complementary metal oxide semiconductor electro-static discharge protection diode.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains in general to trimming circuits for voltage controlled oscillators and, more particularly, to a trimming circuit operable at high frequencies and capable of integration with a voltage controlled oscillator on a single semiconductor integrated circuit chip.
2. Description of the Related Art
Trimming a center frequency of a voltage controlled oscillator is typically performed through the use of an external trimming circuit. The trimming circuit is located external to the voltage controlled oscillator on a discrete circuit to simplify adjustment of a resonance frequency. Today, however, there are increased demands to reduce the size and cost of radio equipment particularly in the radio telephone industry. To reduce the size and cost of the radio equipment, more and more functionality is being incorporated onto a single integrated circuit chip. For this reason it is desirable to integrate the trimming circuit onto a single integrated circuit chip together with the voltage controlled oscillator.
Trimming circuits currently can be placed on a single semiconductor chip with the voltage controlled oscillator through the use of a variable capacitor. A digital to analog converter is connected to a variable capacitor and a desired capacitance value associated with a desired center frequency is programmed into the digital to analog converter. The analog output of the digital to analog converter adjusts the variable capacitor in response to the programmed capacitance value thereby varying the resonance frequency of the trimming circuit. In turn, the new resonance frequency adjusts the center frequency of the voltage controlled oscillator.
Problems arise, however, as the supply voltage is decreased or when a wide trimming frequency range is desired. At low power supply voltages increasingly used in radio telephone equipment, for example two and seven tenths volts, it becomes very difficult to obtain the required trimming frequency range with currently available "on-chip" variable capacitors. Furthermore, as the desired trimming frequency range increases, noise created by the digital to analog converter used to adjust the variable capacitor becomes problematic. The inputs to the trimming circuit and the associated voltage controlled oscillator become increasingly sensitive as the trimming frequency range is increased requiring the level of noise created by the digital to analog converter to be kept extremely low. Therefore, as the trimming frequency range increases, it becomes increasingly difficult and expensive to design and manufacture the digital to analog circuit.
Another approach to varying the capacitance of the trimming circuit is through the use of diode switches. While diode switches have been used to connect and disconnect different capacitances to the trimming circuit, the diodes are constructed of discrete PIN diodes separate from the remaining oscillator functionality. The PIN diodes are not integrated onto a semiconductor chip with the oscillator since PIN diodes require a special process to fabricate which is not conducive to bulk integration.
It would be advantageous, therefore, to devise a trimming circuit operable at high frequencies and capable of integration with a voltage controlled oscillator on a single semiconductor chip. It would be further advantageous if such a circuit included a diode switch capable of operation at frequencies above two gigahertz and further capable of integration with the voltage controlled oscillator on a bipolar metal oxide semiconductor.

Monolithic high frequency voltage controlled oscillator trimming circuit


Methods for reducing line roughness of spacers and other features utilizing a non-plasma and non-wet etch fluoride processing technology are provided. Embodiments of the methods can be used for spacer or line reduction and/or smoothing the surfaces along the edges of such features through the reaction and subsequent removal of material.

There is a continuing trend toward decreasing feature sizes and dimensions at submicron levels in fabricating semiconductor devices. The narrow widths/diameters and close spacing of features such as interconnecting lines and contact openings requires small features sizes produced by high-resolution photolithography. When defining lines with small widths or critical dimensions (CD) and close pitch distances, variations that occur in patterning such features become problematic due to the small size and closeness of features. One such variation is known as "line edge roughness" (LER), which is a horizontal deviation or measurement of unwanted edges and bumps on a boundary such as a line edge or sidewall of a patterned feature, making it appear ragged rather than smooth. In addition, a line is ideally straight such that the width is approximately identical for the entire length of the feature (e.g., a critical dimension 25 nm wide line). "Line width roughness" (LWR) is a deviation in the width or CD of a line feature due to a variation in peak-to-valley amplitude of a non-uniform line edge along its length.
Line defects such as LWR and LER occurring in patterned features can be caused, for example, by a corresponding defect within an overlying photoresist or hard mask pattern that is transferred into an underlying material layer or film during a subsequent etch. Line defects introduced during patterning becomes more pronounced as device features continue to shrink in size, impacting process control by causing variations in channel and line dimensions beyond accepted limits and/or improper overlay or placement control of features, which presents a significant adverse effect on device performance and function including problems of leakage and short channel effect control. For example, lines that have a width of 70 nm or less, a peak-to-valley LWR of 3 nm or more can alter the subsequently patterned feature beyond acceptable tolerances.
Attempts have been made to reduce line defects on oxide-based mask lines by eliminating undesirable curves and protrusions such as whiskers. Treatments involving a wet etch, such as an HF wet chemistry, etch oxide features isotropically (i.e., equally in vertical and horizontal directions) resulting in an overall trimming (thinning) of the feature without eliminating unwanted curves or straightening the lines. Other treatments that involve depositing material (e.g., polymer) to smooth out a line feature followed by a plasma etch back to resize the feature, also reduce the vertical height or thickness of the line, which is undesirable in a mask structure.
It would be useful to provide a method for eliminating line roughness defects in features that overcome these or other problems.