In a solid-state image capturing device including a pixel array arranged in a row direction and a column direction orthogonal thereto, and a vertical register having a plurality of transfer electrodes which serves to read signal charges Qa, Qb, . . . generated by light receipt of each of pixels A, B, . . . and to sequentially transfer the signal charge in the column direction upon receipt of a transfer pulse, an electric potential well for a smear charge is generated and an unnecessary charge q in the vertical register is collected into the electric potential well for a smear charge before the signal charge is read from the pixels A, B, . . . onto the vertical register (a timing t707), an electric potential well for signal charge transfer is then generated and the signal charges Qa, Qb, . . . are read from the pixels A, B, . . . onto the electric potential well for signal charge transfer, and the electric potential well for a smear charge and the electric potential well for signal charge transfer are transferred in the direction of a horizontal register without mixing an unnecessary charge 3q with a signal charge Q.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital still camera having an electronic shutter function, and more particularly to a solid-state image capturing device capable of acquiring a captured image which is not influenced by a smear when releasing a high-speed shutter to capturing an image by the electronic shutter function, a smear charge removing method and a digital still camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 18 is a schematic plan view showing a conventional solid-state image capturing device having pixels arranged like a square grid. In a solid-state image capturing device 10, a photoreceptor group includes a photoreceptor 11b having a blue filter attached thereto and a photoreceptor 11g having a green filter attached thereto which are alternately arranged in a transverse row and a photoreceptor group includes the photoreceptor 11g having the green filter attached thereto and a photoreceptor 11r having a red filter attached thereto which are alternately arranged in a transverse row, and both of the groups are alternately arranged in a vertical direction.
A transfer electrode 16 is provided around each of the photoreceptors 11r, 11g and 11b, and a transfer electrode group in a vertical column which is constituted by the transfer electrode 16 forms a vertical CCD register 12 (only one column is shown in a dotted line). A first transfer electrode 16 group in a transverse row which is arranged in the upper side portions of the photoreceptors 11r, 11g and 11b is connected to an electrode terminal 21, a second transfer electrode 16 group in a transverse row which is arranged in the lower side portions of the photoreceptors 11r, 1g and 11b is connected to an electrode terminal 22, and a third transfer electrode 16 group in a transverse row which is provided between a photoreceptor group arranged in a transverse column and a photoreceptor group arranged in a next transverse row is connected to an electrode terminal 23.
When a reading potential is applied to a reading gate which is not shown in order to read image signals picked up by the solid-state image capturing device 10 (the received charges of the photoreceptors 11r, 11g and 11b), the received charges (signal charges) of the photoreceptors 11r, 11g and 11b are read onto the transfer electrode 16 of the vertical CCD register 12 as shown in an arrow on each of the photoreceptors 11r, 11g and 11b.
A transfer potential (a transfer pulse) is sequentially applied to each of the electrode terminals 21 to 23 so that a received charge is transferred in a vertical direction (a downward direction in the example shown in the drawing) and a signal charge is transferred to a horizontal register 13 provided in the lowest stage. The signal charge is transferred in a horizontal direction by the application of the transfer pulse to electrode terminals 25 and 26 and is output from an output section 14 of the horizontal register 13. Moreover, the solid-state image capturing device 10 is provided with an electrode terminal 28 for OFD pulse application which will be described below.
FIG. 19 is a diagram showing the operation timing of a digital still camera mounting a mechanical shutter and the conventional solid-state image capturing device. In the case in which a shutter button is not released in the digital still camera, a captured image (a dynamic image) is displayed on the LCD display section at the back face of the camera to serve as a finder. Therefore, a vertical blanking pulse is generated at an interval of 1/30 to 1/60 second and a captured image signal is fetched every 1/30 to 1/60 second, for example.
When the shutter button is released (ON), a time interval between subsequent vertical blanking pulses is set to be 1/10 second, for example, and a static image is fetched with each of reading pulses B1, B2, . . . generated in vertical blanking pulses A, A2, . . .
However, the image signal fetched with the first reading pulse B1 is cancelled as a dummy output and the image signal fetched with the next reading pulse B2 is output as the image signals of a static image. Moreover, an OFD (overflow drain) pulse is applied after the first vertical blanking pulse A1, and the stored charges of the photoreceptors 11r, 11g and 11b formed on the surface of the semiconductor substrate of the solid-state image capturing device are drained toward the back side of the semiconductor substrate, and the stored charges of the photoreceptors 11r, 11g and 11b are zero cleared before the start of the image capturing.
Moreover, the transfer pulse (FIG. 19 shows only a second-phase transfer pulse VP2 and a change in an ON/OFF state is omitted in cross-hatching) which is applied from the electrode terminals 21, 22 and 23 to the vertical CCD register 12 is transmitted at a high speed immediately after the rise of the next vertical blanking pulse A2 till the rise of the reading pulse B2 (a blackened portion X in the drawing), and the electric charge in the vertical CCD register 12 is swept at a high speed before the signal charge of image information is fetched from the photoreceptors 11r, 11g and 11b into the vertical CCD register 12.
After the application of the OFD pulse till the closing of the mechanical shutter, the signal charges stored in the photoreceptors 11r, 11g and 11b are read and transferred to the vertical CCD register 12, and are output as the signals of a static image.
FIG. 20 is a timing chart for explaining the transfer state of the vertical CCD register 12 in the solid-state image capturing device 10 shown in FIG. 18. In the drawing, an encircled figure represents a last one digit of the designation of each of the electrode terminals 21 to 23. By cyclically applying a transfer potential (for example, pulses having a high level (0 V) and a low level (−8 V) to each electrode terminal, an electric potential well is moved along the vertical CCD register 12 and signal charges Qsiga, Qsigb,  . . . constituting the image signals are transferred to the horizontal register 13.
At this time, light or an electron leaks from the photoreceptors 11r, 11g and 11b into the vertical CCD register 12 also before the received charges of pixels A, B, C . . . (the photoreceptors 11r, 11g and 11b) are read onto the vertical CCD register 12, and the original signal charges Qsiga, Qsigb, . . . , and furthermore, a smear charge qsmr causing a smear (a bright line in a longitudinal direction which appears in an image when the sun is photographed) enters each electric potential well.
As described above, a high-speed sweeping pulse X is applied to the vertical CCD register 12 in timings t8 to t9 of FIG. 19, and the smear charge qsmr is swept completely to cause each electric potential well to be completely empty (timing t9), and the signal charges Qsiga, Qsigb, . . . of the pixels A, B, . . . are then read (timing t10) and are transferred to the horizontal register 13. Consequently, it is possible to obtain an excellent image having no smear.
However, the operation timing of the digital still camera is illustrated in FIG. 19 as an example of a low-speed shutter using a mechanical shutter. While the vertical CCD register 12 is being driven by the sweeping pulse X, the mechanical shutter is maintained in a closing state. Therefore, there is no possibility that a new smear charge might enter the electric potential well.
On the other hand, in the case in which an image is to be picked up by a high-speed shutter, the mechanical shutter cannot release the high-speed shutter. As shown in FIG. 21, therefore, the high-speed shutter is released by the electronic shutter function. In this case, a period from the timing t6 immediately after the OFD pulse to the timing t8 of the reading pulse B2 is set to be a shutter time in a state in which the mechanical shutter is opened, and the signal charges stored in the photoreceptors 11r, 11g and 11b are read as the signals of captured images in the shutter time.
Also in this case, the smear charge in the vertical CCD register 12 is swept by the sweeping pulse X before the reading pulse B2 and the sweeping is carried out in a state in which the mechanical shutter is opened. Therefore, the smear charge qsmr enters the electric potential well during the sweeping.
In the case in which the high-speed shutter is released by the electronic shutter function, accordingly, smear charges qi+1, qi, . . . enter the electric potential well for transferring the signal charges Qsiga, Qsigb, . . . as shown in FIG. 22 so that the same smear charges are transferred together with the signal charges. The smear charges qi+1, qi, . . . cannot be distinguished from the signal charges Qsiga, Qsigb, . . . For this reason, the picture quality of the captured image is deteriorated.

Solid-state image capturing device, smear charge removing method and digital still camera using the same


Systems and methods for an in-vehicle device for a phone as a key (PAK) system of a vehicle are provided. The in-vehicle device includes a control module that determines an age of a latest obtained certificate, including license information, and determines whether the latest certificate is outdated. If the latest certificate is outdated, the control module transmits an instruction signal from the vehicle to a mobile device to obtain an updated certificate. If the certificate is not outdated, the control module determines whether the license information is accurate. Based on whether the license information is accurate, the control module determines an accuracy level of the local time or the date. Based on the accuracy level, the control module adjusts an access tolerance time, permits the user to access the vehicle, or transmits the instruction signal from the vehicle to the mobile device to obtain the updated certificate.

The background description provided here is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Traditionally, a PEPS system is a passive keyless entry system that allows a person in possession of a key fob, previously paired with a vehicle's central PEPS electronic control unit (ECU), to (i) access the vehicle by simply grabbing the door handle, and (ii) start the vehicle with a push of a button. The central PEPS ECU (i) performs an authentication process to determine if the key fob is authorized to access the vehicle, and (ii) determines a location of the key fob relative to the vehicle. The authentication process may include the exchange of an encrypted password or signature. If the password or signature is correct, then the key fob is determined to be authorized. Location of the key fob may be determined based on, for example, strength of a signal received from the key fob. If the key fob is authenticated and is located within an authorized zone of the vehicle, then access to the vehicle is permitted. This may include, unlocking doors and permitting the vehicle to start.
A PAK vehicle access system can operate similarly as the stated PEPs system, except the vehicle is accessed using a mobile phone rather than a key fob. As an example, the mobile phone can communicate with a PAK module or a telematics control unit (TCU) in the vehicle to begin an access pairing process. The mobile phone and either the PAK module or the TCU perform the access pairing process to establish a trust relationship. The pairing process can include Bluetooth® pairing whereby: security information is exchanged between the mobile phone and the vehicle directly; a mobile phone address, a mobile phone identity resolving key, a reservation identifier and/or an encryption key are exchanged via a cloud-based network; and/or the mobile phone presents a certificate to the vehicle, where the certificate is signed by (i) the mobile phone, (ii) a trusted security signing authority such as a manufacturer of the vehicle, and/or (iii) a trusted third party.
In the case of a certificate, the certificate can include an identifier of a person authorized to access a vehicle, an identifier of a cloud-based network authorized to transfer the certificate, an identifier of a rental or lease agreement of the vehicle, an identifier of the vehicle, a date and time period during which the vehicle is permitted for use by the authorized person, and/or other restrictions and/or access/license information.

Phone as a key vehicle access based on time policies, license information and validation and accuracy of a vehicle real time clock


Methods include making a FinFET device structure having multiple FinFET devices (e.g. ntype and/or ptype) with different metal conductors and/or different high-k insulators in the gates formed on a SOI substrate. One such method includes removing a second semiconductor layer from a second metal layer in a region above a second cap layer, from adjoining regions and from regions adjacent to a second fin.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods used to fabricate semiconductor devices and, more particularly, to methods of fabricating FinFET device structures.
2. Description of the Related Art
The FinFET device in general is well known. The FinFET device is one of the technical alternatives to planar transistors, in order to continue scaling down the sizes of transistors—for example, to 32 nm and smaller.
In general, a FinFET device is a non-planar, double gate transistor formed on a substrate such as a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate. In the FinFET device, an electrically conductive channel is wrapped around a thin semiconductor (e.g., silicon) "fin" which forms a body of the device. The dimensions of the fin essentially determine an effective channel length of the device.
A gate including a metal conductor and a high-k dielectric further helps scaling by reducing polysilicon depletion and gate leakage.
To help meet different requirements of FinFET devices, it is sometimes desirable to have multiple FinFET devices with different characteristics such as different threshold voltages (Vt) formed on a same SOI substrate.
FinFET device structures with multiple devices having metal conductor and high-k insulator gates formed on the same semiconductor or SOI substrate are known. See, for example:
U.S. Pat. No. 7,105,390 B2, filed Dec. 30, 2003, issued Sep. 12, 2006, NON PLANAR TRANSISTORS WITH METAL GATE ELECTRODES, by Justin K. Brask et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,187,046 B2, filed Apr. 26, 2004, issued Mar. 6, 2007, METHOD OF FORMING AN N CHANNEL AND P CHANNEL FINFET DEVICE ON THE SAME SEMICONDUCTOR SUBSTRATE, by Chung-Chen Wu et al.
Although the known FinFET devices and methods of their manufacture are helpful, the present inventors believe that further improvements (e.g., cost, flexibility) in methods of manufacturing FinFET devices on the same substrate are achievable.

Method of making a FinFET device structure having dual metal and high-k gates

International Business Machines Corporation


A circuit fault detector and interrupter which consists of parallel current conduction paths, including a path through a mechanical contactor and a path through a power electronics switch. A fault can be detected by a fault detection circuit within 50 microseconds of the occurrence of the fault, causing the mechanical contactor to be opened and the fault current to be commutated via a laminated, low-inductance bus through the power electronics switch. The power electronics switch is thereafter turned off as soon as possible, interrupting the fault current. The fault current can be interrupted within 200 microseconds of the occurrence of the fault, and the device reduces or eliminates arcing when the mechanical contactor is opened.

An electrical power delivery system is a complex system consisting of one or more generators with power flowing through cables to nodes, and then to loads. The functions required of the high-powered nodes are distribution, switching and power management. The functions of conversion and power conditioning are most appropriately handled at the branch level nodes. The node level functions are performed at high-power nodes in prior art legacy systems by circuit breakers and switch gear.
In the event of a fault, a prior art system may permit a high fault current, which has a potential for catastrophic collateral damage and which may also deprive other loads on the same or upwardly connected nodes of energy. When a fault occurs in the prior art system, a circuit breaker upstream from the fault opens. The prior art electromechanical circuit breaker may take up to 50 milliseconds to open for a high fault and 100 or more milliseconds for an intermediate fault. During these transient time periods, the systems upstream of the fault are perturbed. This perturbation is usually exhibited by a significant drop in voltage, particularly in close proximity to the fault, which may result in the voltage dropping to near zero for the period of time between the occurrence of the fault and the opening of the circuit breaker. This means that all loads being supplied by other circuits emanating from a node with a fault will experience a very low or zero voltage condition during the time of the fault. Sensitive loads may malfunction and some loads may become disconnected or may need to be reset or rebooted, causing them to be offline for a period of time significantly longer than the actual fault. This is obviously undesirable for sensitive and critical loads. Other loads may be transferred to alternate sources, which may cause further disturbances to the electrical system. In addition, there may be substantial arcing at the point of fault while the electromechanical circuit breaker is opening.
Such a scenario is shown in FIG. 1. In this example, there are 4 power panels (PP), each with six loads, fed from a load center node (LC). If a fault occurs at F1, with legacy equipment, the 18 loads in power panels #1, #2, and #3 will be deprived of power until the fault is cleared, which may take a minimum of 50 milliseconds and which could take as long as 400 milliseconds. The 6 loads in power panel #4 will be lost because the cable feeding them is faulted.
Therefore, it is desirable to find a replacement for the electromechanical circuit breakers that currently detect and switch off faulted circuits. In particular, it is desirable that the replacement for the electromechanical circuit breaker be able to detect a high fault within about 50 microseconds and be able to interrupt a high fault current in less than 400 microseconds. This represents an approximate thousand-fold increase in speed over prior art legacy systems. It is also desirable that the arcing that traditionally occurs when an electromechanical circuit breaker is opened be minimized or eliminated.


Systems and methods of end-to-end data path integrity validation of a service with a data path at Layer 1 and Layer 2 implemented by a network element include, responsive to initiation of a test, messaging between network elements in the data path to coordinate defect and statistics collection at each of the network elements in the data path; receiving results for the defect and statistics collection from each of the network elements in the data path; and summarizing the received results to form a consolidated report for the test across all of the network elements in the data path.

For data path integrity validation at Layer 1 and Layer 2, a conventional approach includes a testing feature between two or more nodes, i.e., packet or Ethernet switches. Here, a test signal (such as an IEEE 802.3ab scrambled idle test pattern) can be sent from an initiating node to a destination node under test and back to the initiating node (when there are appropriate loopbacks in place within the network). The test signal can be used to monitor aspects of the physical path (at Layer 1). However, this conventional approach relies on the fact there are no intermediate Layer 2 switches in the data path, so the test signal can determine the characteristics at Layer 1 of the data path. Conventionally, it is not possible to verify the end-to-end data path integrity at Layer 2 where there are one or more intermediate packet switches in the end-to-end data path. This is since the Layer 2 test signal is terminated at each Layer 2 interface within the end-to-end data path. An initiating node's test signal does not flow end-to-end through the complete data path, so the test signal cannot be verified upon reception (at the initiating node), as a result. Also, the conventional approach must also be run "out of service," since the test signal and service traffic are mutually exclusive.

End-to-end data path integrity validation at layer 2


The ejection head comprises: n (where n is an integer not less than 2) pieces of ejection aperture groups arranged in a sub-scanning direction, each of the groups including ejection aperture rows arranged at prescribed intervals in a main scanning direction, each of the ejection aperture rows including a plurality of ejection apertures aligned in an oblique direction with a prescribed angle θ (where 0°<θ<90°) with respect to the main scanning direction, wherein: the ejection aperture groups are arranged in such a manner that phases of the ejection aperture groups disposed adjacently in the sub-scanning direction are varied in the main scanning direction so that, in projected ejection aperture rows that are obtained by projecting the ejection apertures of each of the ejection aperture groups to dispose the ejection apertures in the main scanning direction, one of the ejection apertures in one of the groups arranged adjacently in the sub-scanning direction is located between the adjacent ejection apertures in the other of the ejection aperture groups.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ejection head, an image forming apparatus, and an image forming method, and more particularly, relates to a structure of an ejection head and ejection control technology that reduce the visibility of unevenness caused in groups of dots formed on an ejection receiving medium (print medium).
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, inkjet recording apparatuses have come to be used widely as data output apparatuses for outputting images, documents, or the like. By driving recording elements, such as nozzles, provided in a recording head in accordance with data, an inkjet recording apparatus is capable of forming data onto an ejection receiving medium (recording medium), such as paper with ink ejected from the nozzles.
In an inkjet recording apparatus, a desired image is formed on a print medium by causing a print head having a plurality of nozzles and a print medium to move relatively to each other while ink droplets are ejected from the nozzles.
The inkjet head used in an inkjet recording apparatus may be a full line head having at least one nozzle row of a length corresponding to the full width of the print medium, or a serial head that forms a dot row in a main scanning direction by scanning with a short head, which has a shorter length than the full width of the print medium, in the breadthways direction of the print medium (main scanning direction). The full line head is able to print onto the full area of the printable region of the print medium by scanning once the print medium, by moving the head and the print medium relatively to each other in a sub-scanning direction substantially perpendicular to the width direction of the print medium. Therefore, the full line head is able to print at higher speed than the serial head.
FIGS. 22A, 22B, and 23 show a nozzle arrangement in a full line type print head according to the related art. FIG. 22A is a planar perspective view showing an example of the structure of a print head 500, and FIG. 22B is a planar perspective view showing another example of the structure of a print head 500.
In order to increase the density of the dot pitch printed onto the recording paper and to thereby improve print quality, it is necessary to increase the density of the nozzles by decreasing the nozzle pitch in the print head 500. The print head 500 shown in FIG. 22A achieves an apparent high-density of the nozzles by adopting a structure in which a plurality of ink chamber units 53 are arranged in a matrix configuration. Each of the ink chamber units 53 has a pressure chamber 52, whose planar shape is a substantially square and which is provided with a nozzle 51 and a supply port 54 at the respective corners on a diagonal of the planar shape thereof.
Moreover, as shown in FIG. 22B, it is also possible to use short heads 500′ that are arranged in a two-dimensional and staggered fashion, and are combined with each other, whereby the head can have a length corresponding to the full width of the print medium.
FIG. 23 shows the details of a nozzle arrangement shown in FIGS. 22A and 22B.
According to FIG. 23, the nozzles 51 are arranged in a lattice fashion in accordance with a uniform arrangement pattern following a row direction aligned in the main scanning direction, and an oblique column direction having a prescribed non-perpendicular angle θ′ with respect to the main scanning direction. By adopting a structure wherein a plurality of ink chamber units 53 are arranged at a uniform pitch d in a direction having an angle θ with respect to the main scanning direction, the pitch P0 of the nozzles projected to align in the main scanning direction (hereinafter referred to as projected nozzle pitch in the main scanning direction) will be d×cos θ.
More specifically, concerning the main scanning direction, the arrangement can be dealt equivalently to one in which the respective nozzles 51 are arranged in a linear fashion at a uniform pitch P0. By means of this composition, it is possible to achieve a nozzle composition of high density, wherein the nozzle rows projected to align in the main scanning direction reach a total of 2400 nozzles per inch.
Taking one example of the general dimensions of the print head 500 shown in FIGS. 22A, 22B, and 23, the size of the pressure chambers 52 is 700 μm×700 μm, the size of the actuators 58 is 500 μm×500 μm, the pitch P1 between nozzles that are mutually adjacent in the main scanning direction (the pitch between nozzles that eject droplets at the same timing) is 0.846 mm (corresponding to 30 nozzles per inch (npi)), the nozzle-to-nozzle pitch in the sub-scanning direction is 1 mm, and the ink viscosity used generally for the print head is 2 cp to 3 cp. Regarding the print head having such a structure, a variety of inventions have been suggested in order to increase density of nozzles and/or to improve printing quality.
In the inkjet printer described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-166543, pressure chambers are formed to an approximate diamond shape or an approximate rectangular shape, in such a manner that a large number of ink pressure chambers corresponding to a plurality of nozzles can be arranged within the head of the inkjet printer.
In the inkjet head described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-334661, the planar shape of the surface on which a pressurization plate of a chamber is arranged is defined to be an approximate square shape or an approximate diamond shape, in such a manner that the chambers are arranged at a high density.
In a head assembly method for a line type inkjet printer described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-337320, matrix type heads are arranged adjustably in a staggered matrix fashion, in such a manner that printing errors corresponding to the joints between the heads are avoided.
In the inkjet recording apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 7-17034, recording heads in which the nozzles are driven in a split fashion are installed in a staggered fashion in the main body of the recording apparatus in such a manner that the boundaries for split driving of the nozzles do not overlap with each other. The optical density distributions of the images formed by the respective recording heads are mutually superimposed in such a manner that unevenness in density are alleviated and high image quality can be obtained.
In the inkjet printer apparatus and the print head unit described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 8-25635, in a long inkjet printer head formed by connecting together a plurality of heater boards, the heater boards are arranged in a staggered relationship at a prescribed distance apart in one uniform direction, in such a manner that unevenness in density occurring in regions corresponding to the boundaries between heater boards is reduced.
Next, the problems of the related art are described with reference to FIGS. 24 to 27.
FIG. 24 shows the relationship between the nozzle arrangement and the droplet ejection timing in a print head according to the related art. The numbers stated inside the circle indicating nozzles 51 show the droplet ejection timing, and at timing t1, droplets are ejected from the nozzles 51-11, 51-21, and so on, marked with the number 1. Then, at timing t2, droplets are ejected from the nozzles 51-12, 51-22, and so on, marked with the number 2. In this way, at timings t3 to t6, droplets are ejected from the corresponding nozzles, 51-13, 51-23, . . . , 51-16, 51-26, . . . , marked with numbers 3 to 6. In this way, droplet ejection is performed repeatedly from the nozzles marked 1 to 6 in sequence from the timings t1 to t6, and one line of a dot row is formed in the main scanning direction on the recording paper 16 by one cycle of droplet ejection in which the droplets are ejected successively from the nozzles marked 1 through to the nozzles marked 6.
Furthermore, in FIG. 24, the symbol P0 indicates the pitch between nozzles that eject droplets to form dots that are mutually adjacent in the main scanning direction. P1 indicates the pitch between nozzles that are mutually adjacent in the main scanning direction (in other words, the pitch between nozzles that eject droplets at the same timing, and the pitch between nozzle 51-16 and nozzle 51-26 in FIG. 24, for example). P2 indicates the pitch between return positions (nozzle row joint sections) (the interval or pitch between return positions that are mutually adjacent when the return positions A are projected to align in the main scanning direction).
The "return position A" is a boundary (joint section) of nozzle rows, each of which is formed by six nozzles aligned in an oblique direction (for example, the nozzles 51-11 to 51-16). In FIG. 24, for instance, the "return position A" corresponds to a region where the pitch in the sub-scanning direction between the nozzles forming dots that are mutually adjacent in the main scanning direction, such as the pitch between nozzle 51-16 and nozzle 51-21 and the pitch between nozzle 51-26 and nozzle 51-31, is greater than the pitch between other nozzles.
FIG. 25A shows a situation where an ink droplet 501 ejected from the nozzle 51-11 at the timing t1 shown in FIG. 24 and an ink droplet 502 ejected from the nozzle 51-12 at the timing t2 shown in FIG. 24 have landed on the recording paper 16. FIG. 25B shows the cross-sectional shape (the cross-sectional shape in the main scanning direction) of the liquid droplets that have landed on the recording paper 16 as shown in FIG. 25A. The reference symbol 511 shown in FIG. 25B indicates an ink droplet (a dot) ejected from the nozzle 51-21 at the timing t1.
As shown in FIG. 25A, the ink droplet 501 ejected from the nozzle 51-11 at the timing t1 lands independently on the recording paper 16, and therefore, no other ink droplets that have already landed on the recording paper 16 affect the ink droplet 501. Consequently, a dot is formed to the original size, at the original landing position d1. In contrast, when the ink droplet 502 ejected from the nozzle 51-12 at the timing t2 is deposited onto the recording paper 16, it is attracted toward the ink droplet 501 (in the direction indicated by the arrow K), due to landing interference (deposition interference) with the ink droplet 501 that has been deposited previously. As a result, a dot is formed at a position d2′ that is shifted toward the ink droplet 501 with respect to the original landing position d2.
In other words, although the pitch (distance) between the dot formed by the ink droplet 501 and the dot formed by the ink droplet 502 is originally intended to be the substantially same as the nozzle pitch P0 between the nozzle 51-11 and the nozzle 51-12, the pitch (distance) between the dot formed by the ink droplet 501 and the dot formed by the ink droplet 502 is in fact a distance of P0'that is smaller than P0 due to the landing interference (aggregation).
Furthermore, the dot formed by the ink droplet 501 absorbs liquid from the ink droplet 502, and therefore, the dot formed by the ink droplet 501 is formed to a greater size than the original size and also has a higher thickness than the original thickness. On the other hand, the dot formed by the ink droplet 502 is formed to a smaller size than the original size, and the thickness of the dot formed by the ink droplet 502 is lower than the original thickness.
Similarly, due to landing interference with an adjacent droplet that has been deposited previously, the ink droplets ejected at the timing t2 to the timing t5 form dots in positions that are near the previously deposited ink droplet compared to their respective original landing positions.
On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 26A and 26B, the ink droplet 506, which is ejected from the nozzle 51-16 (the nozzle corresponding to the return position) at the timing t6, lands between the ink droplet 505 ejected from the nozzle 51-15 at the timing t5 and the ink droplet 511 ejected from the nozzle 51-21 at the timing t1. Hence, the ink droplet 506 is attracted by both the ink droplet 505 and the ink droplet 511.
More specifically, the ink droplet 506 forms a dot at a position d6′ where the forces of attraction from the ink droplet 505 and the ink droplet 511 are balanced. Provided that the ink droplet 505 and the ink droplet 511 exert substantially the same force of attraction on the ink droplet 506, then the dot is formed in the original landing position by the ink droplet 506.
If the ink droplet 506 forms a dot at an intermediate position between the ink droplet 505 and the ink droplet 511, then the dot pitch P0″ between the dot formed by the ink droplet 506 and the dot formed by the ink droplet 505, and the dot pitch P0″ between the dot formed by the ink droplet 506 and the dot formed by the ink droplet 511 will be greater than the dot pitch P0′ between the respective dots formed by the ink droplets 501 to 505 (in FIGS. 26A and 26B, this corresponds to the dot pitch between the dot formed by the ink droplet 504 ejected at the timing t4, and the dot formed by the ink droplet 505) (i.e., P0′<P0″).
Thus, in the nozzle arrangement shown in FIGS. 22A, 22B, and 23, variation arises in the dot pitches when printing is performed at the regions corresponding to the return position A shown in FIG. 24, and highly conspicuous unevenness in the resulting image may arise in the sub-scanning direction as a result of this variation in the dot pitch. Due to the effect of the peculiarity in landing interference at the regions corresponding to the return position A, the return positions form a peculiar point in the landing interference, and therefore, striped unevenness or non-uniform density is liable to occur in the sub-scanning direction.
FIG. 27 shows a visibility curve 600. The visibility curve 600 shows the boundaries of visibility of uneven density, wherein the horizontal axis denotes the spatial frequency and the vertical axis denotes the density differential (ΔD). In the region above the visibility curve 600, unevenness in density is readily visible, and in the region below the visibility curve 600, unevenness in density is not readily visible. The value lp/mm (line pair/millimeter) indicates the number of dark and light shades per unit length (the number of sets of dark and light shading per unit length).
According to this visibility curve 600, the visibility of uneven density is particularly high at 30 npi to 50 npi (1.2 lp/mm to 2.0 lp/mm), and hence it is especially prominent in the intermediate density region when an image of high density and high quality is formed. According to the general dimensions of the print head 500 described above, the nozzle pitch P1 between nozzles that are adjacent in the main scanning direction is 0.846 mm, which corresponds to around 1.2 lp/mm when converted to the spatial frequency. Hence, the visibility of uneven density is high when the dots are formed by the ink droplets ejected at an interval of P1. In particular, due to the peculiarity at the regions corresponding to the return positions A, it is difficult to increase the spatial frequency of the uneven density to high frequency level of which the visibility is low.
Moreover, although accuracy to approximately 1 μm is required in the diameter and positioning of the nozzles having an aperture diameter of 30 μm, the striped unevenness is liable to become even more conspicuous at the return positions A because lack of continuity in the manufacturing process is liable to arise. This is because the nozzle pitch P02 between the nozzles on both sides of the return position A shown in FIG. 24 is different to the nozzle pitch P0 in other sections, and/or there is disparity in the nozzle diameter. Furthermore, in order to increase yet further the density of the nozzle rows obtained by projecting the nozzles to align in the main scanning direction, it is necessary to increase the number of the nozzles aligned in the main scanning direction. There are possibilities that manufacturing variations will increase in the head overall, while production yield declines.
In the inkjet printer described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-166543 and the inkjet head described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-334661, the nozzle density is 30 npi to 50 npi, since the actual size of the pressure chamber is approximately 300 μm to 500 μm. If this head is to be used as a line head for high image quality, in particular, then a matrix arrangement of 10 to 20 rows, or greater, (namely, 300 npi to 1000 npi, or greater), is required. Accordingly, a level of difficulty of manufacturing a large head with the nozzles arranged in a high density is raised.
Furthermore, the image forming apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-337320 discloses split adjustment of the head for the purpose of improving the overall production yield and the maintenance performance. However, this splitting of the head is made in the main scanning direction, and the application does not disclose an effective method for achieving high density by means of a matrix arrangement.
Furthermore, the inkjet recording apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 7-17034, and the inkjet printer apparatus and print head unit described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 8-25635 have compositions in which joint positions are staggered in relation to respective colors, and beneficial effects will not be expected in monochrome printing.

Ejection head, image forming apparatus and image forming method


A call center application data and interoperation architecture provides a centralized design for managing applications providing call center functionality. The architecture integrates information flow using a mater data repository for all applications for all aspects of a call center operation. The architecture provides employee information at defined levels through the complete employment life cycle, including the initial hiring and termination. The architecture provides the employee information by integrating human resources information with call center applications such as Employee attendance and Leave management, ID management, Transport management, Commitment logs, and Movement management, or any other application.

1. Technical Field
This application relates to data processing systems, and in particular, to a call center system architecture.
2. Related Art
The rapid growth of information technology has led to increasingly complex and sophisticated products and services. In an effort to provide meaningful assistance to customers, companies have made significant investments in call centers. The primary goals of a call center include working with customers to resolve issues, answering questions, and providing ongoing support for products and services.
Despite the general level of sophistication of a modern call center, challenges still remain. In particular, many areas are still prone to error, and suffer from the need to perform repetitive manual labor to carry out tasks. Furthermore, call center data was often managed in a chaotic manner, leading to data redundancy and data loss. At the same time, data manipulation was hectic and required a high level of skill for even routine maintenance. These drawbacks limited the ability of the call center to provide timely, accurate, and automated reports; to secure data; and to provide real-time data tracking.
A need exists for an improved call center application architecture.

Call center application data and interoperation architecture for a telecommunication service center


An apparatus detects a collision according to a signal from an acceleration sensor 1, to deploy an air bag of a car. The apparatus prevents an erroneous deployment of the air bag when the car is driving along a rough road. The apparatus employs two deceleration thresholds for a signal from the acceleration sensor 1. The apparatus has a signal integrator 3 that integrates an area of the signal defined by the thresholds as well as an acceleration area of the same signal. The apparatus has a determination unit 4 that determines a collision if an integral provided by the signal integrator 3 is above a value corresponding to an OFF collision that requires no deployment of the air bag.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for determining a collision for an air bag of a car, and particularly, to one capable of preventing an erroneous deployment of the air bag when the car is driving along a rough road.
2. Description of the Related Art
An apparatus for determining a collision for an air bag of a car has an acceleration sensor to detect deceleration at a collision. The apparatus processes a signal from the acceleration sensor, and if the air bag must be deployed, provides an ignition signal at proper timing. The acceleration sensor detects collision energy as deceleration. The apparatus integrates the deceleration signal while the signal is being above a threshold, and when the integral reaches a given value, generates an ignition signal. When the car is driving at a speed of below 13 km/h, collision energy is too small to deploy the air bag. Accordingly, collision deceleration at such a low speed is used as a threshold to determine whether or not the air bag must be deployed. A low-speed collision that requires no deployment of the air bag is an OFF collision, and a collision that needs the air bag is an ON collision.
When the car is driving along a rough road, the acceleration sensor may provide a deceleration signal. The signal sometimes exceeds the threshold, to indicate the ON collision. To prevent an erroneous deployment of the air bag on the rough road, the threshold must be high. This, however, delays a deployment of the air bag at the ON collision on a normal road.

Apparatus for determining collision for air bag


A memory device includes first electrodes, second electrodes, third electrodes, heaters, and memory cells between the first electrodes and the heaters. Each third electrode is provided on the heaters, and each second electrode is provided at a side portion of the heaters. Each memory cell contains an electroconductive liquid crystal compound having a long linear conjugate structure and exhibiting a smectic phase as a liquid crystal phase. Information can be written in the memory cells by selectively heating the heaters to cause the corresponding memory cells to have both electroconductivity and optical anisotropy.

Organic semiconductors have been attracting attention as a semiconductor material taking the place of silicon and compound semiconductors. Production of semiconductor devices using conventional semiconductors necessarily involves high vacuum and high temperature processing operations, which has made cost reduction difficult. In contrast, use of organic semiconductor materials will make it feasible to produce semiconductor devices through a simple processing operation such as coating with a semiconductor solution or vacuum evaporation under room temperature conditions.
The inventors of the present invention previously found that a liquid crystal compound having a long linear conjugate structure and having a smectic phase as a liquid crystal phase develops excellent charge transport properties without requiring photoexcitation with a voltage applied while it is in a smectic phase or in a solid phase as a result of phase transfer from the smectic phase and proposed applying the liquid crystal compound to organic semiconductor devices, such as organic electroluminescent materials and thin film transistors, and information recording media (see, e.g., JP2004-6271A, US2006/0278848A1, US2006/0255318A1, JP2004-311182A, JP2005-142233A, and JP2006-342318A).

Memory device, data recording method, and IC tag


A metal-resin composite having high gas sealing properties is provided. An aluminum alloy structure having a shape surrounding the copper 63 is firstly formed, and the attached aluminum alloy is made closely contact with the copper electrode 63 and further made engaged into the copper electrode 63 by pressing or forging. It is then machined into a predetermined shape so as to prepare the copper alloy 63 attached with an aluminum alloy part 61a. Subsequently, the surface treatment of the NMT or NMT 2 is given to three members of an aluminum electrode 62, the copper electrode 63 attached with the aluminum alloy part 61a and an aluminum alloy lid 61. These three members are inserted into an injection mold, and a thermoplastic resin composition 64 of PPS resin is injected. The lithium-ion battery lid 60 having a structure as shown in FIG. 11 is thus obtained.

Metal to metal adhesives and techniques of strongly joining metal to synthetic resin are required in a wide range of industrial fields beyond component manufacturing of automobiles, household appliances, industrial machines and the like, and many adhesives have been developed for this reason. That is, techniques of adhesion and joining are basic and applied key technology in all manufacturing industries.
Heretofore, joining methods without using adhesives have also been studied. Among them, it was "NMT (abbreviation of nano-molding technology)" that was developed by the present inventors and had a great impact on manufacturing industries. The NMT is a technique of joining an aluminum alloy with a resin composition (hereinafter, abbreviated as "injection joining") where molten engineering resin is injected onto an aluminum alloy part that is previously inserted in an injection mold, so that a resin part is molded while the molded product is joined to the aluminum alloy component at the same time. Patent literature 1 discloses a technique of injection-joining a polybutylene terephthalate resin (hereinafter referred to as "PBT") to a shaped aluminum alloy with a specific surface treatment. Patent literature 2 discloses a technique of injection-joining a polyphenylene sulfide resin (hereinafter referred to as "PPS") to an aluminum alloy with a specific surface treatment. In the following, the principle of the injection joining in patent literatures 1 and 2 will be briefly described.
(NMT)
The NMT requires two conditions for the aluminum alloy and one condition for the resin composition. The two conditions of the aluminum alloy are described below.
(1) The surface of the aluminum alloy is covered with ultrafine asperities of 20 to 80 nm period or ultrafine recesses or ultrafine protrusions of 20 to 80 nm diameter. As an indicator, it is preferable to be covered with ultrafine asperities having an RSm of 20 to 80 nm. It is also preferable to be covered with ultrafine recesses or ultrafine protrusions having an Rz of 20 to 80 nm. Furthermore, it is also preferable to be covered with ultrafine asperities having an RSm of 20 to 80 nm and an Rz of 20 to 80 nm. RSm represents the mean width of profile elements defined by Japan Industrial Standards (JIS B0601-2001, ISO 4287-1997), and Rz represents the maximum height of a profile defined by Japan Industrial Standards (JIS B0601-2001, ISO 4287-1997).
The aluminum alloy has a surface layer of an aluminum oxide film, having a thickness of 3 nm or more.
(2) Ammonia, hydrazine or water-soluble amine compound is chemically adsorbed on the surface of the aluminum alloy.
On the other hand, the condition of the resin composition is as follows.
(3) The main component is rigid crystalline thermoplastic resin that is capable of reacting with amine compounds in a broad sense at 150° C. to 200° C. such as ammonia, hydrazine and water-soluble amines. Specifically, the resin composition contains PBT, PPS, polyamide resin or the like as the main component.
When the resin composition contained PBT or PPS as the main component (i.e. satisfied the condition of (3)) as well as 10 to 40 mass % of a glass fiber, it exhibited unprecedentedly strong joining strength with an aluminum alloy that satisfied the conditions of (1) and (2). In the condition where the aluminum alloy and resin composition were both plate-shaped and joined to each other in a certain area (0.5 cm2), the shear fracture was 20 to 25 MPa.
To achieve stronger joining strength by the NMT, one more condition is further added for the resin composition.
(4) A different polymer from the main component polymer is contained, and a majority of the different polymer is mixed with the base crystalline thermoplastic resin at the molecular level.
The purpose of adding this condition (4) is to decrease the crystallization rate when molten resin composition is rapidly cooled. This is based on an idea that if a different polymer is mixed at the molecular level, it inhibits the arrangement during crystallization from the molten state, which eventually leads decreasing the crystallization rate in rapid cooling. It was presumed that this enables the resin composition to sufficiently penetrate into the ultrafine asperities before solidified, which contributes to improving the joining strength. This presumption turned out to be true as a result.
When the resin composition contained PBT or PPS as the main component (i.e. satisfied the condition of (3)), satisfied the condition of (4) (was compounded with a different polymer) and further contained 10 to 40 mass % of a glass fiber, it exhibited very strong joining strength with aluminum alloy that satisfied the conditions of (1) and (2). In the condition where the aluminum alloy and resin composition were both plate-shaped and joined to each other in a certain area (0.5 to 0.8 cm2), the shear fracture was 25 to 30 MPa. In the case of a resin composition where different polyamides were compounded, the shear fracture was 20 to 30 MPa.
(New NMT)
With respect to metal alloys besides the aluminum alloy, the present inventors also found the conditions in which such metal alloys can strongly join with thermoplastic resin such as PBT or PPS by injection joining as described in patent literatures 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. The mechanism of the injection joining in these conditions was named "new NMT". All of these inventions were made by the present inventors. The required conditions of this more widely applicable "new NMT" will be described below. There are conditions for both metal alloy and injection resin. Firstly, the following three conditions ((a), (b) and (c)) are required for the metal alloys.
(a) The first condition is that the metal alloys have such a rough surface by chemical etching that the asperities have a period of 1 to 10 μm and a vertical interval up to approximately a half of the period, i.e. 0.5 to 5 μm. It is however difficult to precisely cover the entire surface with such rough surface by means of a nonuniform and variable chemical reaction. Specifically, it is therefore required that when measured by a roughness meter, the asperities have such a roughness profile as an irregular period in a range of 0.2 to 20 μm and a vertical interval in a range of 0.2 to 5 μm. Alternatively, when the metal alloy surface is scanned with a dynamic mode scanning probe microscope of the latest model, it is deemed that the above condition is substantially satisfied if the surface has such a roughness as an RSm of 0.8 to 10 μm and Rz of 0.2 to 5 μm. Since an idealistic rough surface has an asperity period of approximately 1 to 10 μm as described above, the present inventors named such surfaces "micron-order rough surface" in plain words.
(b) The second condition is that ultrafine asperities having a period of 5 nm or more are further formed on the micron-order rough surface of the metal alloy. In other words, it is required to be an asperate surface through micron-order eyes. In order to satisfy this condition, the above metal alloy surface is subjected to fine etching to form the ultrafine asperities on inner walls of the micron-order rough recesses. The ultrafine asperities have a period of 5 to 500 nm, preferably 10 to 300 nm, more preferably 30 to 100 nm (the optimum value is 50 to 70 nm).
Describing these ultrafine asperities, if the asperity period is less than 10 nm, the resin component clearly has difficulty in penetrating into them. Further, since the vertical interval normally becomes low in such cases, they are considered as a smooth surface for the resin. As a result, they do not function as spikes. If the period is approximately 300 to 500 nm or more (in this case, the micron-order rough recesses are assumed to have a diameter or period of nearly 10 μm), they become less effective since the number of spikes in each micron-order rough recess is drastically decreased. It is thus required that the ultrafine asperities have a period ranging from 10 to 300 nm in principle. However, depending on the shape of the ultrafine asperities, the resin may penetrate into the gaps even if the period is 5 to 10 nm. For example, tangled rod-like crystals having a diameter of 5 to 10 nm fall under the case. Also, even if the period is 300 to 500 nm, the ultrafine asperities of some shapes tend to have anchoring effect. For example, a shape like pearlite structure, which is composed of infinitely continuous steps having a height and depth of tens to 500 nm and a width of hundreds to thousands nm, falls under the case. Including these cases, the required period of the ultrafine asperities is specified to 5 to 500 nm.
With respect to the above first condition, the ranges of the RSm and Rz are conventionally specified to 1 to 10 μm and 0.5 to 5 μm respectively. However, even when the RSm and Rz respectively fall within the ranges of 0.8 to 1 μm and 0.2 to 0.5 μm, the joining strength is retained strong as long as the asperity period of the ultrafine asperities is within a particularly preferable range (approximately 30 to 100 nm). Hence, the range of the RSm was extended lower to a certain extent. Specifically, the RSm and Rz were respectively specified to the ranges of 0.8 to 10 μm and 0.2 to 5 μm.
(c) Furthermore, the third condition is that the metal alloy has a ceramic surface layer. Specifically, as for originally anticorrosive metal alloys, the surface layer is required to be a metal oxide layer having a thickness equal to or more than their natural oxide layer. As for metal alloys having relatively low corrosion resistance (e.g. magnesium alloy, general steels, and the like), the third condition is that the surface layer is metal oxide or metallic phosphate film that is produced by chemical conversion or the like.
On the other hand, the conditions for the resin are described below.
(d) The resin is rigid crystalline thermoplastic resin. Specifically, the resin composition contains PBT, PPS, polyamide resin or the like as a main component.
Furthermore, to achieve strong joining strength, the new NMT requires one more additional condition for the resin composition.
(e) A different polymer from the main component polymer is contained, and a majority of the different polymer is mixed with the base crystalline thermoplastic resin at the molecular level.
The above conditions (d) and (e) are the same as conditions (3) and (4) of the NMT. That is, the optimum injection resin is PBT resin, PPS resin or polyamide resin that is compounded with a different polymer. These resin compositions start generating initial seed crystals late when they are injected to a mold by an injection molding machine and cooled rapidly in the mold to be crystallized and solidified. By means of this property, an attempt was made to make the injection resin reach the bottoms of the micron-order rough recesses. It was presumed that the heads of the flowing resin also penetrated to the recesses of the ultrafine asperities of 5 to 500 nm period that were present on the inner wall of these recesses, and then crystallized and solidified in the state of, so to say, sticking the heads. In practice, when the above resin was injected to different metal alloys that were surface-treated so as to fulfill conditions (a), (b) and (c), the resin was penetrated in the ultrafine asperities, which greatly contributed to the joining strength.
Plate-shaped magnesium alloy, aluminum alloy, copper alloy, titanium alloy, stainless steel, general steel and the like were processed so that their surfaces satisfy conditions (a), (b) and (c). PBT resin or PPS resin was injection-molded into a plate shape on the surfaces. Plate-to-plate joint products were thus obtained. In the condition where these metal alloys and resin compositions are both plate-shaped and they are joined to each other in a certain area (about 0.5 to 0.8 cm2), the shear fracture strengths were 25 to 30 MPa. In these cases, the fracture was caused by destruction at the side of molded resins. Since the new NMT provided very high joining strength and the fracture was thus caused by the destruction at the side of the resin, the joining strengths were on the same level among different metal alloys (patent literatures 3 to 7).
Patent literature 1: WO 03/064150A1 (aluminum alloy)
Patent literature 2: WO 2004/041532A1 (aluminum alloy)
Patent literature 3: WO 2008/069252A1 (magnesium alloy)
Patent literature 4: WO 2008/047811A1 (copper alloy)
Patent literature 5: WO 2008/078714A1 (titanium alloy)
Patent literature 6: WO 2008/081933A1 (stainless steel)
Patent literature 7: WO 2009/011398A1 (general steel)

Metal-resin complex and process for production thereof


Various embodiments relate to an apparatus and related method for transmission and reception of a plurality of a carrier signals comprising one or more dual-band channels through a same-band combiner. A device such as a base station may include a same-band combiner that comprises a plurality of dual-bandpass filters and a combining element to transmit and receive the carrier signal. Each of the dual-bandpass filters may transmit and receive a channel, with each dual-bandpass filter including separate reception and transmission passbands for the separate frequencies in the dual-band channel. The combining element may separate and combine the one or more dual-band channels, with each of the dual-bandpass filters connected in parallel processing separate dual-band channels.

Devices such as radio repeaters and wireless base stations may include a combination of filters and other components capable of receiving and transmitting wireless signals. Such transceivers may use a combiner in order to enable functionality like feeder sharing. A transceiver may employ feeder sharing when it uses the same radio frequency (RF) feeder to interconnect the base transceiver station (BTS) or node B to an antenna.
It would be desirable to implement a base station that enables feeder sharing for various channels. In particular, it would be desirable to implement a same-band combiner that is capable of carrying multiple channels.

Same-band combiner using dual-bandpass channel filters


The present invention is directed toward a tool holder for a flexible tube that contains a composition used in connection with the tool. The tool holder has a frame adapted to be secured the sealed end of the flexible tube and a tool portion having a tool such as a razor blade, a brush, a cosmetic scraper blade, a planar scraper blade, a massager head, sandpaper, polishing, and the like.

There are many implements or tools used today that are used in association with a composition; and there are many compositions in use today that require or are preferably used with a tool or implement. For example, depilatories are normally used in conjunction with a scraper. Depilatory composition is applied to the area of interest, the depilatory composition is allowed to set for a set period of time, and then the composition, together with the depilated hair, is removed employing a scraper. Similarly, compositions used to clean spots off of clothes or off fabrics or from rugs are applied to the soiled area, allowed to work in the soiled area to perform their action, and frequently the composition is worked into or rubbed in, or rubbed with a brush before removal to enhance cleaning. Grouting compositions that are used to grout cracks or holes in surfaces, such as walls or ceilings, are applied to fill the crack or hole and then a blade is applied to smooth the grout so that it is even with the surface surrounding the hole or crack. Massage lotions are applied to the skin and then the massaging implement is worked over the skin with the lotion acting as a lubricant as well as performing other functions depending upon the composition of the lotion. Compositions are available for removing paint from surfaces, such as mirrors and windows. Compositions are available to soften materials to remove labels, and the like. The softening composition is applied to the surface of the material or to the label to act upon it, the composition is allowed to work on the material for a period of time, and then it is scraped off employing a planar scraper blade which can have a knife-edge or blunt edge with sharp 90-degree corners.
Paint, ink, coatings, waxes, and protective coatings are applied to an area frequently using a sponge. Some paint removers and polishers are applied to a surface and then after they have acted upon the surface, they are rubbed with sandpaper or a very fine polishing surface to either remove the paint or coating or to polish the surface.
Razors have traditionally comprised a frame with a fixed razor blade or a razor blade holder which is used to removably secure razor blades. Razors have been in use for over a century. The handle is normally elongated and shaped somewhat like a toothbrush handle. The head of the razors for replaceable razor blades is adapted to receive the particular type of razor blade that it is designed for. Although there are razor blades that can be received on a universal head, many razor blades can only be received on a proprietary head.
Shaving lotions come in cans, flexible tubes, semi-rigid tubes and in soap cakes. Shaving lather is normally applied to the skin when the skin is wetted. Preferably the skin has been prewashed to remove facial oils and bacteria. Earliest shaving lathers were lathered up from soft caked soap placed in the bottom of a mug, wetted with water and then lathered up with a brush. The brush applied the lather to the face. Shaving lather caked soap is still available. In the 1930's, prepared lather creams started to appear. These lather creams were sold in flexible tubes, tubes similar to toothpaste tubes. The tubes were originally made from tin or lead or alloys thereof. Later tubes were made of aluminum. Today the tubes are made from plastic. Some lather creams were meant to be applied to a wet face directly with the hands or fingers. Other lather creams were made to be applied with a brush. These types of shaving lather creams are still available. In the 1960's, shaving foams became available in pressurized cans wherein the lather foam was released from the can by pressing the relief valve. The lather foam was released as a foaming mass which was applied to the face typically with the fingers and hands. This is the most common form of shaving lather used today.
With regard to volume and size, the cake soap shaving lather requires less room, but it also requires a container, such as a mug, and a brush to utilize. Volumetrically, the shaving lathers that are available in aerosol cans require the most space and can be applied with the hands and fingers making them easy to use. Shaving lather creams available in tubes are easy to apply with the hands and fingers and require less than half the space of shaving lathers supplied in aerosol cans and work equally as well. They do not require a mug or brush.
Many women prefer to shave body hair in the bathtub or in the shower, and many men prefer to shave their beards in the shower. The bath and shower are not convenient for the use of the cake soap shaving lather with mug and brush. If the mug is dropped, it can break since they are normally made of ceramic material showering sharp particles. In addition, the mug can chip the bathtub or shower tile The aerosol can has a disadvantage that if it is kept in the shower or around the tub, it gets wet and the metal of the aerosol rust causing rust stains in tile grout and the like. In addition, if the can is dropped, it can chip the bathtub or shower tile. Thus, when shaving in the bathtub or in the shower, shaving lather cream that is contained within a flexible tube is preferred because a flexible tube is normally nonmetallic and can be dropped without breakage or chipping and can be left in or around the tub or shower without causing rust stains. The flexible tube of shaving cream is more convenient for travel because it requires less space than aerosol cans and does not require the use of a mug or brush for application.
One of the problems that is encountered by people when traveling is the amount of space required for their shaving gear including the razor blade with its frame and the shaving lather source, whether it is soap cake shaving lather applied with a brush or shaving lather applied from a flexible tube or shaving lather applied from an aerosol can. Another problem is that when people shave around the bathtub or shower, the separate components, the razor blade with handle and the source of the shaving cream, take up space which is normally in a premium around a bathtub or in a shower stall.
Thus, there is a need and there has been a need for a single unit shaving device which contains the shaving lather as well as functioning as a frame, support and handle for the razor blade.
Many compositions, such as shaving cream, cleaning preparations, and the like, are thick or gelatinous materials that cannot easily be removed from a rigid bottle. These compositions are more easily applied from a flexible container having flexible or semi-rigid walls, such as a toothpaste tube.
Many compositions are supplied in flexible tubes with a separate tool or implement for use. The tube and tool or implement frequently get separated, and thus when the user wants to use the composition, they cannot find the implement or tool or vice versa. In addition, because of the relatively low cost for many compositions, tools are made cheaply and skimpily and do not have an adequate handle. It is an object of the present invention to provide a flexible tube having flexible or semi-rigid walls for dispensing a composition for use and the implement or tools being secured to the flexible tube so that the implement or tool cannot be separated from the composition and the flexible tube can function as a large handle so that the implement or tool can be comfortably held and worked.


A set of images that each include a time and a date of image capture, a location of image capture, and a directional bearing of image capture are evaluated. The direction bearing of image capture specifies a direction of image capture relative to the respective location of image capture of each image. Images are correlated among the set of images that include a comparable date, time, and location of image capture. By analysis of image content within the correlated images, a determination is made that the correlated images include different directional representations of a single event, and that the single event is distinct from static fixed-location points of interest. Using the directional bearing of image capture of each correlated image, a location of an intersection region that results from intersecting directional bearings of image capture of the correlated images is identified as a dynamic attraction.

The present invention relates to travel route recommendations. More particularly, the present invention relates to dynamic attraction inference in route recommendations.
Users that travel may utilize large regional maps that include roadways to determine their own navigational requirements by which to reach their respective destinations. Alternatively, travel agencies or automobile clubs may also offer a route planning service, with routes drawn on maps for the traveler. As an additional option, travelers may utilize map providing websites that provide graphical maps with highlighted travel routes and directions.

Dynamic attraction inference in route recommendations

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A boulder rolling down a slope is caught with an energy absorbing device to dissipate a portion of its kinetic energy and to redirect the boulder downwardly into the ground to absorb the rest of the kinetic energy and to stop it. This is accomplished by temporary deformation of joints in the energy absorbing device to dissipate the kinetic energy and redirect the boulder downwardly into the ground. The energy absorbing device will return substantially to its undeformed state for intercepting additional boulders which may roll down the slope.

Long steep slopes on hills and mountains present a continuing danger that loose rocks or boulders may roll onto roadways or other public areas causing injury to individuals and equipment in the area. These boulders are often dislodged during rainstorms or other inclement weather causing them to roll down the slope at high velocity with the potential of causing severe injury to persons and damage to anything they may hit.
Various attempts to minimize the possibility of the boulders intruding upon roadways and other public areas have been attempted. Rigid fences or barriers have been constructed, but because of the great force created by the boulders as they pick up speed rolling down the hill, they often crash through the rigid fences or barriers and continue their path down the slope.
Attempts have been made to design flexible fence barriers which work in combination with cables to give away when impacted by the boulders. Examples of the developments in this technology are French Patent No. 2,414,586; Swiss Patent No. 656,659; Swiss Patent No. 672,157 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,810 to Rambaud. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,915 to Cargnel discloses a flexible barrier wherein vertical posts are pivotally mounted and normally held in an upright position by means of cables. Upon impact of the barriers with rocks, the posts will pivot, this pivoting motion being resisted by the cables. The fence sections may be provided with cross cables to resist the impact of a rock or other load hitting the fence as shown in German Patent No. 1,459,804.
While each of the foregoing prior art devices is suitable for its intended purpose, the structures are complicated and therefore excessively expensive and have not met with wide scale acceptance. Also, those that have pivotal posts are only good for one time use. That is, once the posts have pivoted over, they stay in that position until they are reset in an upright position and the supporting cables are readjusted to hold them.

State Department of Highways, State of Colorado


A surge protection circuit includes a first terminal that is coupled to a transmission path, a second terminal that is coupled to a PHY circuit to transfer a signal on a physical layer, a clamping unit that is coupled so as to branch from a first line between the first terminal and the second terminal, the clamping unit clamping a voltage applied to the first terminal to a specific clamping voltage, and a first semiconductor switch that is arranged between the second terminal and a branching point at which the clamping unit branches from the first line, the first semiconductor switch having a rectification direction away from the second terminal toward the first terminal, the first semiconductor switch having a higher reverse breakdown voltage than a clamping voltage of the clamping unit.

There has been a subscriber line interface circuit, in a digital method, that has a terminating resistor, a surge protection circuit, a power supply transformer, and transmission and reception circuit. In this surge protection circuit, which protects the subscriber line interface circuit from an external lightning surge, two protection elements (first protection element and a second protection element), in each of which a Zener diode is bi-directionally connected in series, are connected in series. In this structure, a third protection element and a fourth protection element are connected in series. The first protection element is connected to an end of a line and the fourth protection element is connected to the other end of the line. A connection point between the second protection element and the third protection element is grounded (see Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 05-316641, for example).
There has been also a lightning surge protection circuit included in an integrated services digital network (ISDN) terminal apparatus in which a bi-directional constant-voltage diode is connected between two terminals on the primary side of a transformer. Two resistors are connected in series with one terminal on the primary side of the transformer, and other two resistors are connected in series with the other terminal on the primary side of the transformer. A first silicon surge protection element is connected between an earth circuit and a first connection point between the two resistors connected to the one terminal on the primary side of the transformer. A second silicon surge protection element is connected between the earth circuit and a second connection point between the other two resistors connected to the other terminal on the primary side of the transformer. A third silicon surge protection element is further connected between the first connection point and the second connection point. The structure, described above, of the lightning surge protection circuit is provided to protect a transformer and its secondary circuit from a lightning surge (see Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2002-077454, for example).

Surge protection circuit and communication apparatus


Disclosed are techniques for improving an advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) using a secure channel area. In one embodiment, a method is disclosed comprising establishing a secure channel area extending from at least one side of a first vehicle; detecting a presence of a second vehicle in the secure channel area; establishing a secure connection with the second vehicle upon detecting the presence; exchanging messages between the first vehicle and the second vehicle, the messages including a position and speed of a sending vehicle; taking control of a position and speed of the first vehicle based on the contents of the messages; and releasing control of the position and speed of the first vehicle upon detecting that the secure connection was released.

The disclosed embodiments are directed toward autonomous vehicles and, specifically, to systems for utilizing a secure communication channel to control a vehicle with respect to other vehicles.
Currently, many vehicles employ advanced driver-assistance systems. An advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) is a system that provides feedback or automatically controls a vehicle in response to a defined input. One example of an ADAS is a blind spot detection system. Another example is a system that maintains a safe following distance of a vehicle with respect to other vehicles. Both system suffer from significant technical problems.
Current blind spot ADASs are installed in non-autonomous vehicles and are mandatory in autonomous vehicles. These systems currently rely on sensor-based techniques such as detecting the presence of vehicles in a blind spot by using light emitting diodes or utilizing sonar to detect a vehicle within a certain distance of a vehicle. While these systems work in ideal conditions, they suffer significantly in poor weather conditions and, in general, are subject to environmental factors that could result in false positives and other negative detection conditions.
Current following distance ADASs similarly rely on sensor-based measurements. In many systems, a safe following distance is calculated empirically as the square of a portion of the vehicles speed. For example, a vehicle traveling at 80 km/h will utilize a following distance of 8×8 or 64 m; a vehicle operating at 120 km/h will seek to maintain a distance of 12×12 or 144 m. Like blind spot detection, current following distance systems rely on sensor measurements such as LiDAR, radar, sonar, etc. to detect the distance between the vehicle and a vehicle in front (and, in some cases, behind) the vehicle. Since these systems rely on sensor measurements they too also suffer from poor weather conditions and other environmental factors.

Secure vehicle communications architecture for improved blind spot and driving distance detection


The present invention relates to series of peptidomimetic compounds selectively targeting CBX8 of polycomb chromobox protein homolog proteins. Pharmaceutical compositions of those compounds and methods of using them in the treatment of diseases involved CBX8 pharmacology, including various cancers and leukemia, by administering therapeutically effective amounts of such compound alone or together with other therapeutics, are within the scope of this disclosure.

This section introduces aspects that may help facilitate a better understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, these statements are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is or is not prior art.
Polycomb Group (PcG) proteins are required for proper body segmentation in Drosophila through the repression of differentiation genes (Kennison, 1995). PcG proteins are similarly essential in determining body plan in mammals, and also for the maintenance of adult stem cells (M. Sauvageau and Sauvageau, 2010). PcG proteins are part of two distinct complexes, polycomb repressive complex 1 (PRC1) and polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) (FIG. 1A). Canonical PRC1 function, as defined in Drosophila, begins with PRC2-mediated trimethylation of lysine 27 of histone 3 (H3K27me3), which recruits PRC1 via the chromodomain (ChD) of the CBX (chromobox homolog) subunit. PRC1 then compacts chromatin and ubiquitinates lysine 119 on histone H2A to promote transcriptional repression.
In mammals, all of the PRC1 subunits have mutually exclusive paralogs that emerged after the whole genome duplications that occurred during vertebrate evolution. As a result, PRC1 complexes are highly heterogeneous, although it is unclear how these closely related PRC1 complexes differentially regulate transcription (FIG. 1A) (Connelly and Dykhuizen, 2017). The CBX subunit can be one of five paralogs (CBX2, CBX4, CBX6, CBX7, CBX8) that shift in expression during development (Klauke et al., 2013), as well as cancer progression (Koppens and van Lohuizen, 2015; Mills, 2010). Studies in multiple cell types show that each paralog has unique, non-overlapping functions in development and in disease (Morey et al., 2012; Klauke et al., 2013).
CBX8 has recently emerged as a potential oncogenic target in multiple malignancies. It drives growth and is correlated with poor patient outcomes in lymphoma (Beguelin et al., 2016), hepatocellular carcinoma (Zhang et al., 2017), breast cancer (Chung et al., 2016) and leukemia with MLL translocations (Tan et al., 2011). CBX8's mode of action has been extensively studied at the level of genetics and cell biology, but the roles of distinct binding domains and potential druggable sites have not been explored. The chemical probes that are needed to study CBX8's roles in transcription and oncogenesis, and to explore its potential as a therapeutic target, have been lacking.
The ChDs of polycomb CBX proteins are considered "druggable" (Santiago, Nguyen, and Schapira, 2011). Yet, significant challenges exist in developing potent and selective chemical probes for the CBX ChDs. The first is that the wide, shallow binding pockets are difficult to target with traditional small molecules. Two reported small molecule ChD inhibitors target CBX7 (Ren et al., 2015; Ren et al., 2016) but display weak (˜20 μM) affinity for CBX7 and over 10-fold weaker affinity for CBX8. Larger molecular weight, trimethyllysine-containing peptidomimetics (5-6-mers) developed for CBX4, CBX6, and CBX7 ChDs display much greater affinity (<1 μM); however, they have limited cell permeability (Stuckey, Dickson, et al., 2016; Milosevich and Hof, 2015; Simhadri et al., 2014).
The other daunting challenge lies in developing ChD inhibitors with specificity for one paralog over another. There is high sequence homology for the CBX ChDs, including both the Polycomb CBX ChDs (CBX 2,4,6,7,8) that recognize H3K27me3, and heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) ChDs (CBX 1,3,5) that recognize H3K9me3 (Kaustov et al., 2011). Moderate selectivity has been achieved for CBX6 ChD, and CBX7/CBX4; (Milosevich et al., 2016; Stuckey, Dickson, et al., 2016). No ligand has been developed with selectivity for CBX8 ChD. There are unmet needs in developing selective ligands for CBX8 ChD as a potential method to fight for cancer.
Cancer is a group of most diverse diseases involving abnormal cell growth. Currently there are more than 100 types of identified cancer that affect human beings as well as animals. In 2016, there were an estimated 1,685,210 new human cancer cases diagnosed and 595,690 cancer deaths in the U.S. alone (Cancer Statistics 2016—American Cancer Society, Inc.). There are unmet and increasing needs for new and novel therapies for fighting cancers.

CBX8 chromdomain inhibitors and the uses thereof


A hair roller which is comprised of three concentric sleeves. An outer sleeve is of a plastic, woven-type material that has a plurality of projections with hooked shaped ends capable of gripping hair. A central sleeve is comprised of a metallic material having good heat transfer characteristics. An inner sleeve is comprised of a flexible, resilient plastic material which provides the hair roller with more rigidity and acts as an insulator.

Presently hair rollers are comprised of two pieces. A first piece is used to secure hair onto a second piece.
There are several problems with the present hair rollers. First since the hair rollers have two pieces many times pieces get lost and the hair roller becomes unuseable. Second when styling hair using heat, the rollers do not help in the distribution of heat. Therefore it takes more time to style the hair. Manufacturers have addressed this problem by making heated rollers. However the rollers still take a long time to heat and once the rollers are hot they are very hard to handle.

Flat F, 12/F Block 4, Beacon Height, 4 Lung Ping Rd.


An intravascular platform for supporting an intravascular device includes two loops of wire each configured to assume a shape lying generally on a virtual cylinder of given diameter. The two loops are interconnected by at least one connecting wire which maintains the loops axially spaced from each other. Also disclosed are axially-extended loop forms, and associated intravascular devices.

The present invention relates to intravascular devices and, in particular it concerns platforms for supporting intravascular devices within vessels, and devices for use with such platforms.
Trauma, injury, and/or disease may require medical intervention to rectify damage and/or monitor progress or the provision of prolonged drug therapy or other systemic means by use of intravascular devices or apparatus. It is beneficial to the patient to be able to introduce such devices or apparatus with minimal operative procedure, and where necessary their complete removal with similar minimal operative procedure.
The present invention provides a support system for a wide range of devices or apparatus that need to be held in a particular position inside a vessel of the body. With the exception of certain features of a preferred intravascular filter device, a detailed description of the function of any thus supported device or apparatus is not addressed in this text.
PCT Patent Publication No. WO01/19231 discloses a ring platform for deployment using minimal invasive surgical techniques to support an intravascular device within a blood vessel. The structure and deployment of the ring are illustrated in FIGS. 9B, 9C and 9D from that publication which are reproduced herein (with the original reference numerals) as FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C, respectively. The entirety of the aforementioned PCT publication is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety as if set out herein.
Referring to the features of the ring of the aforementioned PCT publication more specifically, the ring is formed from shape memory material preset to a form resembling an open pair of jaws (FIG. 1A) exhibiting a roughly circular form in plan view while having roughly a C-shaped form in side view (FIG. 1B). The ring is temporarily folded on itself and straightened for insertion into a delivery catheter. The C-shaped curvature caused the ring to assume the required alignment transverse to the catheter as it is released and opens.
This ring configuration has major advantages of compactness and simplicity of deployment. For many applications, however, a single ring does not offer sufficient stability against misalignment within a blood vessel to be a reliable platform for supporting an intravascular device. Additionally, the aforementioned publication does not discuss how devices are attached to the ring platform.
Reference is also made herein to PCT Patent Publication No. WO02/04040 which was published subsequent to the priority document of this application and which does not constitute prior art to this application. The latter publication is also hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety as if set out herein. The '040 publication discloses a particularly advantageous intravascular filter structure as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 (reproduced here as FIGS. 2A and 2B, respectively, with the original reference numerals) including a helical outer wire and at least one axially-coextensive inner wire providing a filter configuration. In addition to various platform configurations to be discussed below, the present invention also provides various advantageous combinations of this filter structure with platforms of the present invention, and various farther modifications of the filter structure itself.
There is therefore a need for intravascular platforms which would provide enhanced stability against rotation or misalignment within a blood vessel. It would also be advantageous to provide a simple and effective form of interconnection between an intravascular device and an associated platform.

Intravascular platforms and associated devices


An improved method and apparatus for the cracking of walnuts (30) is provided, and particularly Eastern black walnuts, wherein the surfaces of the shells (32) of the walnuts (30) are first altered to present compression zone(s) (132, 134), and the walnuts (30) are then cracked by subjecting the shells (32) thereof to opposed compressive forces serving to crack the shells (32) while leaving nut meat kernels intact. Preferably, the walnut shells (32) are sanded adjacent the opposed upper and lower ends (34, 36) thereof to present the zones (132, 134), with subsequent compression cracking of the shells (32), leaving a substantial fraction of the internal nut meat intact.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is broadly concerned with an improved method and apparatus for cracking of walnuts (especially Eastern black walnuts, Juglans nigra) and recovery of nut meat therefrom. More particularly, the invention is concerned with the method and apparatus which increases not only the gross yield of nut meat, but also gives appreciably more of valuable large nut meat kernels, as opposed to smaller, comminuted nut meat fragments. Broadly, the invention involves altering the surface configuration of walnut shells and thereafter cracking the surface-altered walnut shells by subjecting them to compressive forces; this serves to crack the hard walnut shells while leaving a greater proportion of the internal kernels intact.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Eastern black walnuts are an important food item in American society. Black walnut kernels contribute considerably to the flavors of candy, ice cream and bakery products. They can also serve as a dietary supplement which is rich in phosphorus, iron, and vitamins B.sub.1 and A. Accordingly, black walnut meat is a premium food product commanding a relatively high price.
Black walnuts are one of the most difficult nuts to crack among all hard-shelled nuts. There are basically three directions from which compressive, cracking pressure can be applied: (1) end-to-end along the longitudinal axis; (2) side-to-side across the narrowest lateral dimension; and (3) side-to-side along the widest lateral dimension. However, black walnuts vary in size and the large number of species makes it difficult to uniformly treat and handle the nuts for maximum yield of meat.
Cracking and shelling machines for black walnuts became available in about 1935, but the industry did not become firmly established until about 1945. These machines generally include a pair of hard metallic cracking rolls which receive the walnuts and crack the shells thereof during passage between the rolls. Thereafter, the mixed cracked shells and nut meat kernels are passed through a series of rollers with saw-like teeth, which separate the nut meat from the shells. The nut kernels are then sorted and graded and are ready for packaging.
A persistent problem with existing processing equipment is the relatively low yield of nut meat which can be obtained. Generally speaking, from 220 pounds of black walnuts a commercial sheller may expect slightly more than 15 pounds of saleable top grade kernels, giving a yield of about 7%. Current commercial yields of nut meat range from about 6.5-9.5% by weight wet basis, whereas the theoretical yield from black walnuts is approximately 21.5% by weight wet basis.
Additionally, current commercial shelling methods tend to produce an inordinately high percentage of small pieces, as opposed to the most desirable and valuable fancy large pieces. At current prices, small nut meat pieces are sold at retail at approximately $2.00 per pound, whereas the fancy large pieces are sold at about $5.00 per pound.
There is accordingly a decided need in the art for an improved method and apparatus for commercial scale shelling of black walnuts and recovery of nut meats, wherein both the gross yield and the percentage of large kernels are increased.

Method for cracking walnuts and recovery of nut meat therefrom

Kansas State University Research Foundation


An integrated raceway component for use in a modular furniture system which includes a pair of longitudinally extending channel members disposed in spaced parallel relationship to one another, each channel member having wall portions defining an open cavity for storing one or more wires therein and having extending end portions that form a longitudinally extending slot for receiving such wires. The end portions are formed to receive and support a mounting fastener within the cavity and resilient brushes are mounted in the end portions to extend across the slot. A connecting wall portion connects the channel members with a space therebetween, and a wire raceway members is received between the channel members. The wire raceway is slidably inserted between said channel members and retained thereat, and the wire raceway includes a cover plate having electrical outlets therein.

The present invention relates generally to modular furniture systems such as those used at computer stations and the like, and more particularly to an integrated raceway component for use in such systems.
Modular furniture systems are, of course, well known, and they typically consist of a number of separate components which are connected together to form the system, a representative system of this type being disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,253. In copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/818,627, filed Mar. 14, 1997, a unique support post is disclosed which can support other elements of the modular furniture system, and which is easily assembled with the such elements.
Some attention has been given to managing the various electrical wires that are inherently present when the modular system is used, such as the power supply lines and the electrical wires that form part of the electrical devices supported by the modular system (e.g., computers, printers, etc.). One typical way of containing and managing these wires is to permanently connect a steel raceway that is hollow underneath a support shelf on which the electrical devices are supported so that the hollow raceway runs generally horizontally, and the electrical lines are fed or pulled through the hollow raceway and contained therein. Such raceways are often placed at locations which may crowd the user of the electrical devices, and they are difficult to assemble and use. Also, since these raceways generally run horizontally, some arrangement must be made for dealing with the electrical lines and wires that extend out through the ends of the raceways.
It is also generally known to use unshaped channels to contain electrical wires, and to provide resilient brushes extending over the open end of the channel that permit electrical wires to be inserted into the channel through the brushes and that also provide a cover for the open side of the channel. However, it is not believed that these brushes have ever been effectively used in conjunction with the components of a modular furniture system.
In accordance with the present invention, an integrated raceway component is provided for use in a modular furniture system that is easy to assemble with other components of the system and provides structural support for the system, while also providing a particularly effective arrangement for containing and managing, the electrical lines and wires inherently associated with such systems.