A moving-film display device includes a moving-film having fixed and movable ends, and a stationary body having a counter face that is shaped more distant from the moving-film as a position of the counter face shifts from the fixed end side to the movable end side. A colored portion is disposed at the movable end of the moving-film. An auxiliary electrode is disposed on the moving-film between the fixed end and the movable end. A scanning electrode and holding electrode are disposed on the counter face to face the auxiliary electrode on the fixed end side and movable end side, respectively. A signal line is electrically connected to the holding electrode to supply an image signal. A drive section is configured to control voltages to be supplied to the auxiliary electrode, the scanning electrode, and the holding electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a moving-film display device and driving method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
A moving-film display device has pixels, each of which is provided with a moving electrode disposed on a resilient moving-film and a stationary electrode disposed on a stationary body. The moving-film is controlled to deflect or not by the electrostatic force generated between the moving electrode and stationary electrode, so as to display image information. For example, the stationary body has a counter face with a curved surface facing the moving-film so that the moving-film can easily deflect (for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2002-287040 (pages 3 to 5, and FIG. 1)).
As a device structure of such a moving-film display device, there is a structure in which two stationary electrodes are disposed one on either side of a moving-film, and holding electrodes are disposed near a display portion (colored portion) formed at the movable end of the moving-film (for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 8-271933 (pages 5 to 8, and FIG. 16)). As another device structure, there is a structure in which a plurality of stationary electrodes are disposed on a stationary body, and are supplied with different voltages (for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-100121 (pages 4 to 7, and FIG. 10)).
However, according to these conventional moving-film display devices, cross talk of image information may occur when the image information is held. Furthermore, the threshold voltage for the moving-films to deflect may differ for each pixel, in relation to voltage applied to the moving-films or stationary bodies. This is due mainly to variation in internal stress of the moving-films, which is caused in their manufacturing process, and variation in clearance between each moving-film and stationary body, which is caused in attaching the moving-films to the stationary bodies. As a consequence, the conventional moving-film display devices are accompanied with a problem in that the image quality lowers.


A head drum apparatus comprises: a lower drum; a stationary shaft pressed and fitted into a center hole of the lower drum; an upper drum rotatably coupled to the stationary shaft via at least one bearing; a boss fixed to the top portion of the stationary shaft by means of a set-screw; a motor rotor mounted to the top surface of the upper drum; a motor stator fixed to the boss, the motor stator being opposite to the motor rotor; and a ground device. The ground device includes an anchor member anchored to the upper surface of the boss and an elastic member fixed to the bottom surface of the anchor member. The elastic member extends downwardly through a bore in the boss, and a ground member is fixed to tile lower end of the elastic member. The ground member is in elastic contact with an outer race of an upper bearing. Accordingly, the assembly and the disassembly operations of the components of the ground device become simpler and easier, thereby increasing the productivity and enhancing the service operation efficiency thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ground device for preventing static electricity to improve the electrical stability of a head drum apparatus for use in a magnetic tape recording and reproducing apparatus. More particularly, the invention relates to a ground device of a head drum apparatus capable of making the assembly and disassembly operations of the ground device components simpler and easier, thereby resulting in an increased productivity and an improved service efficiency thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, a shaft-rotating type of head drum apparatus has been employed in a magnetic tape recording and reproducing apparatus.
In the shaft-rotating type of head drum apparatus, a rotating shaft is pressed and fitted into an upper drum, and a lower drum is rotatably mounted on a lower portion of the rotating shaft. A motor is attached to the bottom surface of the lower drum and activated to rotate the shaft, and hence the upper drum. A head provided in the upper drum records a signal to or reproduces a signal from a magnetic tape.
However, the head drum apparatus of shaft-rotating type has two degrees of freedom and does not fully overcome resonant vibration problems so that it cannot eliminate the likelihood of malfunction due to resonant vibration upon the rotation of the upper drum.
Recently, in order to solve the above problems, a fixed-shaft type of head drum apparatus has been proposed. The typical constitution of the fixed-shaft type of head drum assembly is burdened by certain disadvantages.
Specifically, a ground device must necessarily be employed with the head drum apparatus in order to prevent static electricity, and resultant electrical instability, from developing in the apparatus. However, such a ground device is necessarily of such a structure as to make it difficult to attach to the drum apparatus, and it is also likely to become detached therefrom after a certain period of use. In addition, disassembly of the ground device is necessarily difficult and time consuming because it is necessary to disassemble the entire head drum apparatus in the process.
Thus, there is a need for the development of a ground device of a head drum apparatus which is not burdened by the above disadvantages.
It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide a ground device of a head drum apparatus capable of making the assembly of the ground components thereof simpler and easier, thereby resulting in increased productivity thereof.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a ground device of a head drum apparatus capable of making the disassembly of the components simpler and easier, thereby resulting in improved service efficiency.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a head drum apparatus which comprises: a lower drum; a stationary shaft pressed and fitted into a center hole of the lower drum; an upper drum rotatably coupled to the stationary shaft via at least one bearing; a boss fixed to the top portion of the stationary shaft by means of a set-screw; a motor rotor mounted to the top surface of the upper drum; a motor stator fixed to the boss, the motor stator being disposed opposite to the motor rotor; a ground device, including an anchor member, anchored to the upper surface of the boss with an elastic member fixed to the bottom surface of the anchor member, the elastic member extending downwardly through a bore in the boss; and a ground member fixed to the lower end of the elastic member, the ground member being in elastic contact with an outer race of an upper bearing.
Preferably, the anchor member has a hole into which the stationary shaft is fitted, whereby the anchor member is prevented from moving unintentionally when it is anchored to the boss. Preferably, the elastic member is a compressed coil spring.


Programming of the input and output paper handling setup of a high speed reprographic system can adversely affect the throughput of the system. A method or system includes a control system that examines the proposed setup and then determine if any of these options results in a loss of throughput. If such losses are detected and exceed a predetermined threshold, the operator of the device will be informed and given the opportunity to change the setup to reduce the throughput loss.

High speed reprographic systems are well known and in common use throughout the business world. These systems contain many complex components which must work together to produce the desired output documents from the input source. These components can include digital front ends that accept electronic input and generate page images; a printing engine that accepts these page images and marks them on appropriate media; and one or more finishing devices that may fold, collate, staple or bind the pages together to make the final documents. Conventional control systems coordinate the operation of these separate components to ensure efficient usage of the machinery.
For example, conventional systems, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,461,469 and published US Patent Application US 2001/0055123A1, show an apparatus for programming and coordinating the task of assembling a complex document from its individual components, each of which may be produced by a separate machine, and are then further combined in a finishing apparatus. The entire contents of U.S. Pat. No. 5,461,469 and published US Patent Application US 2001/0055123A1 are hereby incorporated by reference.
However, conventional systems are aimed at coordinating and optimizing the assembly of the final document and not necessarily with the optimum usage of each individual component of the system. Very often, in reprographic engines that are part of a larger document preparation system, the details of optimum usage of the printing engine are often subsumed under the goal of properly assembling the complex document and ensuring that the proper work flow is followed.
Since the cost of complex document preparation systems is quite high, the goal of maximizing the throughput of the overall system has cost advantages to its users. To fully realize this throughput goal, it is necessary to not only optimize the interactions and flow between the individual elements of the document preparation system, but to also to optimize as much as possible the throughput of each individual component of the system. In order to do this one must know the precise details of the internal operation of the machine in question.
There are often cases in which the operator of a machine may not even be aware of inefficiencies that may arise when choosing certain options. In some cases, especially where the job is small, the overhead of alerting the operator of the inefficiency and suggesting a change may consume more time than simply executing the job. However, in many cases this is not true. In this case it would be desirable for the overall production system to be able to modify its setup instructions to better produce the job. However such a change may require other operator interventions, for example to load different paper stock to route the printing or finishing to a different machine than originally planned.
Even if the reprographic engine is operated as a stand-alone machine, the ability to optimize the setup of the machine can result in increased throughput which can result in economically significant savings.
In order to effectively use a printing engine, one must understand all of the details of its internal operation and the interactions between the various internal components.
For example, in many high speed printing engines, the internal operations are all keyed to the cycle of the photoreceptor. It is not reasonable to expect that an operator of such a machine to be knowledgeable at that level of detail.
It is therefore useful to provide a system that can automatically compute the optimum setup of a printing engine based on the detailed characteristics of the engine.
It is further desirable that such a system could also be programmed to have a library of common jobs associated with the machine so that it could more rapidly and automatically program itself.
A further desirable characteristic of such a compensation system is that it should make some estimate of the savings in time and effort involved in changing from an operator selected setup to an optimum one, and if the savings is below some threshold level, to forgo changing the setup or even notifying the operator, thereby avoiding changes that yield only a small benefit and where the effort involved in making the change is larger than the savings.
An aspect of such a compensation system would include a computational element that, given the input and output paper path options: compute the optimum time needed to produce the job, the extra time needed to produce the job, given the chosen setup, and a way to inform the operator of the system of any excess time needed.
A further aspect of such a compensation system would include inform the operator of the time penalty only if it exceeded some predetermined threshold.
A further aspect of such a compensation system would inform the operator of the system via the user interface.
A further aspect of such a compensation system would communicate the time penalty via an external communication interface, if that was the means of programming the job.
A further aspect of such a compensation system would be to use lookup tables based on the input and output configurations to simplify the logic and computation of the times involved.

Method and system for improving the throughput of a high capacity document printer


The present disclosure is intended to overcome the problem of hydrogen contamination of the density signal. The approach is to compute the neutron capture portion of the total gamma ray counts and subtract it from the total counts resulting in a pure inelastic gamma ray measurement.

Many properties of a subterranean formation may be determined using different oilfield logging techniques, which may involve one or more tools having a radioisotope source. For example, to locate gas in a subterranean formation, a conventional practice combines data obtained from two tools. One of the tools is a "density" tool, which measures the electron density of the formation, and the other of the tools is a "neutron porosity" tool, which generally measures the density of hydrogen in the formation, known as the "hydrogen index (HI)." Based on measurements of formation density and hydrogen index, the porosity and pore fluid density of the formation may be determined. For a given formation fluid density, or gas saturation, a combination of a decrease in the formation density and an increase in the hydrogen index indicates an increase in the porosity of the formation. Meanwhile, for a given formation porosity, a combination of a decrease in the formation density and a decrease in hydrogen index indicates a decrease in the pore fluid density and hydrogen content. For pores filled with water and gas or oil and gas, the density and hydrogen index are an indication of the gas saturation (volume fraction of the pores occupied by gas). For pores filled with gas only, the density and hydrogen index are an indication of gas density (pressure).
The density and neutron porosity tools for measuring formation density and hydrogen index may generally employ radioisotope sources to obtain formation density and hydrogen index measurements, respectively. For example, the density tool may use a source such as 137Cs to emit gamma-rays into a formation. Based on a count of gamma-rays scattered by the formation, the density tool may determine the electron density of the formation. Similarly, the neutron porosity tool may use a source such as 241AmBe to emit neutrons into a formation. A count of neutrons scattered by the formation may yield a hydrogen index measurement. Such radioisotope sources may be disadvantageous in oilfield tools, as the sources may be heavily regulated by law and they can be hazardous since they cannot be shut off.
In lieu of such radioisotope sources, an electronic neutron generator may be used which will produce neutrons which, in turn, produce gamma-rays. To do so, the electronic neutron generator may emit neutrons into a formation, which may in turn produce gamma-rays via inelastic scattering and neutron capture events. A count of gamma-rays produced by inelastic scattering may generally yield a signal that is related to formation density, and a count of scattered neutrons may generally yield a neutron porosity signal that corresponds to the hydrogen index of the formation. Alternatively, a count of capture gamma-rays may generally yield a neutron porosity signal that corresponds to the hydrogen index of the formation. If it is not possible to separate the inelastic and capture gamma-rays to produce nearly independent signals sensitive to formation density and hydrogen index, respectively, then the two signals may not be used together to enable a precise determination of porosity and gas saturation.
Neutron reactions that produce gamma-rays may be separated according to the energy of the neutron. After a 14 MeV neutron has been emitted by the source, it begins to lose energy by the processes of elastic and inelastic scattering. Inelastic scattering events are typically produced by neutrons in the energy range 1-14 MeV. After neutrons have decreased in energy below approximately 1 MeV, they typically have insufficient energy to inelastically scatter; however, they continue to lose energy by elastic scattering. The decrease in energy from 14 MeV to 1 MeV happens very rapidly, in a time typically less than 1 microsecond. Inelastic scattering reactions therefore occur very quickly after the neutron leaves the source, typically in less than 1 microsecond. From approximately 1 MeV down to thermal energy (approximately 0.025 eV), neutrons decrease in energy by elastic scattering over a time interval that ranges from 2 to several microseconds, depending on the amount of hydrogen in the formation. During that slowing time, neutrons may be captured and this may lead to the emission of one or more gamma-rays. These are so-called "epithermal" capture gamma-rays. Neutrons which decrease in energy completely to thermal energy continue to elastically scatter at that energy, often for many hundreds of microseconds until they are captured and this may lead to the emission of one or more gamma-rays. These are so-called "thermal" capture gamma-rays. Since neutrons are emitted from an electronic neutron source typically in bursts no shorter than 10 microseconds, it will be appreciated that the inelastic and epithermal capture gamma-rays are emitted substantially within that 10 microsecond burst and therefore overlap in time. Thermal capture gamma-rays, on the other hand, extend into the time interval between bursts as well as during the burst.
FIG. 1 shows a crossplot of the normalized ratio of true inelastic counts of a far and near gamma ray detector on the y-axis and the normalized ratio of capture counts (40-80 microseconds after the neutron burst), both derived from modeling, where specific neutron and photon interactions of different neutron energy groups were separately tallied, which is not possible with a logging tool. What can be seen from this plot is the independence of the two axes giving a nearly orthogonal relationship between water filled porosity and gas filled porosity. This relationship is similar to the well known open-hole neutron-density log crossplot.
A complication arises due to the interaction of neutrons with hydrogen. After inelastically scattering at MeV energy, neutrons continue their scattering process in the formation, and slow down to eV and sub-eV energies mainly through elastic scattering from hydrogen. The number of low energy neutrons reaching the vicinity of the gamma-ray detector is strongly influenced by the hydrogen index, just as it is in a neutron porosity measurement. If these neutrons are captured by a nucleus in the gamma-ray detector or in the vicinity of the detector and the nucleus subsequently emits a gamma-ray that is detected by the detector, this signal will contaminate the "density" signal coming from inelastic scattering events. Indeed, it is possible for capture events to completely overwhelm the inelastic events, leading to a gamma-ray detector response which has the character of a neutron porosity measurement rather than a density measurement. It is fruitless to combine such a measurement with a neutron porosity measurement to try to identify gas because the two measurements are not independent of one another.
FIG. 2 shows a similar crossplot to FIG. 1 where on the y-axis is the normalized ratio of total counts during the initial 3 microseconds of the neutron burst and on the x-axis is the normalized ratio of capture counts as in FIG. 1. Note that the orthogonality of the two axes that is apparent in FIG. 1 no longer exists. Both axes have a significant hydrogen index response which masks the density response of the inelastic ratio, so that the measurement does not distinguish higher gas-filled porosity from lower water-filled porosity.
Data on cased hole "neutron" density measurements can be found in various SPE papers (see, e.g., SPE 71042, SPE 71742, SPE 56647, SPE 55641, and SPE 38699), but the discussion is limited to neutron capture background in terms of thermal neutron capture, without handling epithermal neutron capture. US patent application PCT/US10/35718, commonly assigned and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discusses design features to minimize epithermal background.

Identification of neutron capture from a pulsed neutron logging tool


An improved method and apparatus to record picture information on recording material in the form of single sheets. The picture information to be recorded for each sheet is present in electronically stored pixel form and is recorded pixel by pixel onto the recording material. The sheets of the recording material are transported through a paper stage of a printer in at least two adjacent tracks, and the stored picture information belonging to the respective sheets located in the recording station is recorded onto the sheets located in the adjacent tracks. Because the sheets are transported in a plurality of tracks through the recording station, a higher throughput can be attained even if smaller sheet sizes are being processed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for recording picture information onto recording material in the form of single sheets. More specifically, the invention produces photographic copies using a medium-capacity photographic singlesheet printer, of the kind typically employed in combined copier and developer equipment (e.g., minilabs).
2. State of the Art
In typical single-sheet printers, sheets of copy material of a desired size are fed sequentially into an exposure station of a printer. The sheets are exposed to light to form a picture in a pixel-by-pixel fashion. Exposure is performed, for example, by a cathode ray tube or a laser exposure device and delivered to a paper processor downstream of the printer. The exposure station of the printer is normally adapted to the largest size of copy material sheets (e.g., approximately 300 mm.times.450 mm). Experience teaches, however, that the larger sizes are not needed as often as the standard sized sheets (e.g., 100 mm.times.150 mm). This means that the printer operates at a far lower throughput than it is designed for. Throughput is the total surface area of all the sheets of copy material exposed per reference unit of time. For example, a typical minilab with a line exposure unit and an exposure width of 300 mm, which is required for the large picture sizes of 300 mm.times.450 mm, attains a linear speed of about 25 mm per second. If standard-sized prints (100 mm x 150 mm) are exposed longitudinally, then one print takes six seconds, which is equivalent to an output of 600 prints per hour. This comparatively low output resulting from the large exposure width is not economical for such a relatively expensive device. Normally, a printer should be able to output 1800 or more prints per hour.
In a printer with a line exposure unit, the throughput for smaller sizes could, theoretically, be increased by increasing the scanning speed and at the same time adapting the paper speed. But this could be done only in discrete steps, and would necessitate mechanical reverses at the polygonal mirror, would require substantially greater precision, and would not allow for fast changes. Hence, there is no thought of employing this arrangement in actual practice.
The problem discussed above in terms of a single-sheet printer, such as a minilab, logically exists in other recording apparatuses as well, such as printers of most of the various technologies that are designed for sheet-like recording material of varying sizes and that cannot attain their full output at relatively small sheet sizes.

Method and apparatus for recording picture information using a photographic single sheet printer


A child safety seat is disclosed which is intended to be used in combination with a hard surface seating device. The safety seat comprises a flat panel of a fabric covered resilient element having an articulated joining portion which allows free movement of an upper section and a lower section of the flat panel. The upper section of the seat comprises an elongated upper torso support element that is designed to support the back of the child and extends upward to the area which would be contacted by the back of the head of a child and the lower section comprises a lower seating panel having integral leg support elements and a waist belt that may be adjustably connected to the elongated torso element and to the lower seating panel by a connecting element.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a transportable baby safety seat which is adapted to safely support infants and small children. The safety seat is intended for use when a child is placed in a hard seating device such as a shopping cart or a high chair. Supermarket shopping carts and high chair usually have seats which are sized to accommodate infants and small children but are not provided with any cushioning or with a supplemental restraining system that cooperates by a permanently attached safety belt to firmly yet comfortably support an infant or small child in the sitting position while protecting head, neck and back from injury.
Most modern supermarket shopping carts are provided with a foldable seat that is sized to accommodate small children. These seats are typically provided with two openings in the shopping cart that allow the child's legs to extend through the end panel of the shopping cart and a safety belt that is fastened about the child's waist to prevent the child from accidentally falling out of the shopping cart. These wire mesh carts may have a flat plastic seating panel but typically do not have any type of resilient cushioning to protect the child or enhance the comfort of the seated child. The lack of a comfortable seat exacerbates the discontent of most small children who are restrained or forced into involuntary inactivity.
In the prior art, seats which have been popularly called "infant seats", have been used to provide portable seating for infants and small children. These seats have typically been provided with a rigid supporting member and a form fitting cushion. The rigid support member is typically articulated in order to allow the seat to be adjusted from the upright sitting position to a reclining position. When the typical "infant seat" is carried around it provides a comfortable seat which provides adequate and safe support for infants and small children. Its principal deficiency is that it is too large to fit in the childs seat in a typical supermarket wire mesh shopping cart without tipping over. If it is placed side ways in the child's seat of a supermarket wire mesh shopping cart, it is not possible to properly engage the seat belts that are provided. Flexible infant carriers are known which have a plurality of straps to allow an adult to transport the infant without the use of the hands. These devices are not capable of providing a comfortable seat cushion and protective cushioning to the back, neck and head. Examples of prior devices and infant carrying and/or cushioning systems are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,108,489: 5,121,965; 5,178,309: U.S. Pat. No. D296,370 and U.S. Pat. No. D342,835 all of which are incorporated by reference.


A stackable molded plastic chair has a cup holder is connected to a cylindrical boss on the underside of a chair arm for movement between a retracted position lying underneath the chair arm and an open position extending away from the arm of the chair. The cup holder has a tubular boss having a first portion extending from the top surface of the cup holder and a second portion extending from the bottom surface of the cup holder. The first portion is at least partially within the cylindrical boss on the chair arm. A pin within the tubular boss has two or more spaced apart legs each leg having a foot. As the pin is inserted into the tubular boss the legs will move inward and then will move outward when the feet reach a recess on the inside surface of the cylindrical boss on the chair arm. The feet are each sized and configured to fit into the recess and the legs preferably have an outward curvature. The use of multiple legs having an outward curvature allows the pin to pop free when an excessive force is applied to the cup holder releasing the cup holder from the chair arm without breaking either the cup holder or the chair arm.

One type of chair, popular for use as outdoor furniture, is a molded plastic chair. These chairs are a single molded structure and are usually configured so that one chair may be stacked on another chair. Stackable chairs have an advantage in that they can be stacked upon one another and placed on a pallet for easy transport. A retailer may display the stacked chairs on the same pallet on which they have been shipped. Consumers may also store several stackable chairs stacked one upon another.
There are many types of chairs which have cup holders on one or both arms of the chair. One type of cup holder consists of a circular opening in the top surface of the arm of the chair which is sized to receive a cup or other beverage container. The opening may be tapered to hold the cup with a friction fit or there may be a cup-shaped structure below the opening which holds the cup or beverage container. Significant disadvantages of this type of cup holder are that resting one's arm on a chair arm having an opening can be uncomfortable, one's hand may slip and twist into the opening while pushing off from the arm to get up, and any beverage container placed in the opening becomes an impediment to the use of the arm while sitting in or while trying to get out of the chair. Additionally, the opening in the chair arm detracts from the appearance of the chair and objects can fall through or become stuck in the opening.
Another type of cup holder is mounted on and extends outward from the chair arm. Some such cup holders are attached to the arm by straps or clamps and are removable from the chair arm when not in use. Example of this type of cup holder can be found in Published United States Patent Application No. 2006/0061155 A1. This type of holder may be cumbersome to attach and detach. The cup holder may never fit snugly and securely and thus during use the cup holder may slip or fall off from the weight of beverages or from being bumped. If this type of cup holder is stored separately from the chair, the cup holder can easily be misplaced or lost. Of course, this problem can be overcome by permanently attaching the cup holder to the chair arm. But cup holders, especially ones held on by straps or clamps, are not usually aesthetically pleasing and it would be preferable that the cup holder not be visible except when in use. Also, permanently attached cup holders and their connection mechanisms will be prone to collecting dirt and also more difficult to clean. Next, permanently attached cup holders may interfere with people walking by the chair, prevent similar chars from being placed close together side by side, and prevent, or cause uneven, stacking of chairs. Finally, chairs with permanent holders take up more space in storage and, if attached at the factory, permanent cup holders would likely dramatically reduce the number of chairs that would fit on a tractor trailer, thereby increasing shipping costs.
Yet, another type of cup holder is attached to the underside of a chair arm or to the arm support and can pivot or rotate between a closed position in which the cup holder is nested under the arm of the chair for storage and an extended position for use. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,361,105 B1 and 8,182,031 B2 disclose this type of cup holder. While this type of cup holder does not have many of the problems of the other cup holders described above, there are still serious issues that include:                1) A lack of structure whereby the cup holder itself is not sufficiently robust. This type of cup holder is essentially a cantilever beam with a fixed end and a floating or free end. As such, loads or forces that are applied to the cup holder are magnified towards the fixed end. This is because the moment increases towards the fixed end of a cantilever beam. So, when beverages are placed in the cup holder, it may sag unacceptably due to a lack of structure especially near the fixed end where the forces are greater. Also, cup holders that swing out to the side of the arm are put into a highly exposed position where at times they may get sat on or pushed down on or otherwise experience some manner of excessive loading or abuse. For any given chair, it may not happen frequently or may never happen, but some form of accidental excessing loading may happen one or more times to a significant number of chairs. This type of cup holder may crack if it is subjected to just one occurrence of excessive loading.        2) Bolts or screws that are feasible for use in attaching the cup holder will likely not provide adequate purchase because their diameter is simply not large enough to create sufficient grip between the threads and the plastic pilot hole. Moving to a bolt or screw with a large enough diameter to achieve sufficient purchase may be cost prohibitive or create other problems such as large diameter bolts or screws might distort the boss they are being driven into such that the whole system would bind up and the cup holder would not be able to rotate. Bolts or screws of a diameter feasible to use may tear out during normal usage or instances of inadvertent higher-than-normal pressures on the cup holder, such as if someone accidentally pushed down on the cup holder when getting out of the chair. If the bolt or screw were torn out, even just once, this would likely strip the pilot hole into which the bolt or screw was driven. Once the pilot hole for the boss or screw has been stripped out, there would either be no way to reaffix the cup holder to the chair, or, if it could be reaffixed, the gripping strength of the bolt or screw may be so compromised that the cup holder may no longer be able to function without frequently coming loose and falling off of the chair. It is worth noting that with this type of cup holder, torque is created when the cup holder is loaded and this torque acts directly on the bolt or screw. As a result any loading on the cup holder will be concentrated on the portion of the threads facing towards the loading. This concentration of loading exacerbates the deficiency of bolts or screws as a way to attach this type of cup holder.        3) Cup holders of this type do not have a break-away mechanism. We have discussed how, during excessive loading, it is possible that the cup holder could fail, or that the bolt/screw connecting the cup holder to the chair could fail. A third possibility is that the chair or chair arm would fail. Severe cracking may occur, severe enough where the chair damage would be very conspicuous. In which case the chair should and would often be discarded. This means the whole chair would be lost due to an issue with just the cup holder. Or there could be less severe cracking, whereby the damage either went unnoticed or was deemed not severe enough to scrap the chair over. In either event, the chair might remain in service and the chair or chair arm might fail during continued use and potentially injure someone.        4) When desiring the cup holder to stay in the retracted position, it may not oblige, swinging either partially or fully open. This could simply look sloppy, or, if trying to move the chair around, cause the cup holder to bang into doorframes or catch on other objects.        5) When desiring the cup holder to stay in the open position, if the chair were on a slightly uneven surface, it may try to swing partially or fully closed. A cup holder that does not remain stationary in the open position may cause beverages to be in different positions relative to the chair arm or block the cup holder opening and thus prevent one from putting a beverage in the holder. The cup holder may also rotate slightly when a beverage is put into or taken out of the holder, when it would be preferable if the cup holder would just stay in one place.        6) It might be difficult to open the cup holder as one may have to bend their head over the side of the chair to see where the cup holder is, and even then, one might not know which end of the cup holder to pull out on.        7) When opening the cup holder, one might damage the cup holder if they pull it open too hard as there is no defined stopping point for the cup holder and it could be rotated beyond its intended open position to a point where components are stretched, cracked, or otherwise stressed and damaged. The same might occur if the cup holder were closed forcefully where it would be rotated beyond the closed position and damaged.        8) A screw gun or some other power tool would likely be necessary to perform the assembly of this type of cup holder in a timely manner. Power tools are expensive and can break. Plus assemblers may have difficulty using them or achieving just the right amount of torque on the bolt or screw to achieve a proper tightness. If the bolt or screw is too loose the cup holder may wobble, if too tight the cup holder may not rotate easily.        9) This type of cup holder may also prevent or impede stacking of the chair, as the cumulative height of the chair arm and the cup holder could be significant.
In summary, cup holders such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,361,105 B1 and 8,182,031 B2 have a variety of weaknesses.
There is a need for a molded plastic chair having a cup holder which can be stacked one upon another for storage and shipment. Preferably the cup holder is retractable and will stay in either the storage position or the extended position after being placed in that position by the user. Preferably it will have sufficient structure to be able to withstand normal usage. Preferably there will be a robust connection between the cup holder and chair. Preferably there will be a break-away mechanism, such that if the cup holder were knocked off by accident, no components in the system (i.e. neither the chair arm, the connector holding the cup holder to the arm, nor the cup holder itself) would be damaged and preferably the cup holder could be reinstalled multiple times with no loss in functionality. Preferably the cup holder will have a no-look gripping tab; one that can be located by touch without having to look over the side of the chair arm. Preferably the cup holder will feature definite, sturdy stops for when it has reached either its fully opened or fully closed positions. Rough-handling users should not be able to damage the cup holder by swiveling it beyond its fully-open or fully-closed position, and the cup holder should, once closed, be aligned on its outer edge in parallel with the outside of the chair arm. Preferably the cup holder could be assembled quickly and easily either by hand or with a small mallet. The cup holder should be capable of holding cups, cans, mugs, tumblers, wine glasses and all commonly used types of beverage bottles from which people routinely drink. Preferably the cup holder is made of that same or similar plastic as the chair to which it is attached.


A copy protection method and apparatus is provided to inhibit unauthorized viewing or copying of a video signal. A varying set of additional or invalid video pulses are generated onto a typical video signal. A pulse sequence identifier identifies the location of the invalid or additional pulses and is likewise generated onto the video signal prior to the occurrence of the identified pulses. The combined signal is received at an authorized display which then decodes or filters the additional or invalid portion of the video signal from the original signal according to a decode protocol stored in local memory. A resultant video output signal is guaranteed from only the original signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to copy-protected video playback systems and more particularly to protection against unauthorized copying of video signals from computing devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Digital Video Disk (DVD) format gives consumers the ability to view exceptional quality video. In many instances, DVD players have replaced VHS players for home movie viewing. In addition, the DVD player functionality is now a feature of many of the personal computers (PCs) that are sold on the consumer market. This is a valuable feature that allows consumers to watch DVD movies on the PC.
Concurrently, video converters have also become available to allow consumers to use the standard TV as a monitor for PC. A combination of the PC DVD player along with video converter allows consumers to play video games and watch DVD movies using a large screen display. However, the DVD format also allows individuals to make near commercial-quality VHS recordings from any unprotected DVD program. The consumer is able to connect the output signal of the converter to the input of a VCR where the DVD signal may be recorded. Since the movie is stored digitally on a DVD disk, a high quality copy can be made of the movie.
As DVDs increase in resolution, movie studios have become increasingly concerned about consumers' ability to make high quality copy of movies. If widespread copying of DVD movies resulted, movie studios would be forced to stop releasing movies on DVD or delay the release of quality movies on DVD.
A number of techniques have been developed to address DVD copy protection. A watermarking process has been contemplated which permanently marks each digital video frame with background noise. Watermark signatures can be recognized by video playback and recording equipment to prevent copying. However placing a watermark signature directly on the video frame presents obvious video quality clarity issues. In addition, a watermarking process contemplates new players or other equipment to support watermarking. These issues, along with the difficult task of obtaining a common compatible standard agreeable among the principal commercial entities, pose significant hurdles to a watermarking solution.
Other non-destructive solutions, from the video signal standpoint, have been proposed. Digital Copy Protection Systems (DCPS) have been developed whereby the DVD player and a digital TV or a digital VCR exchange keys and identification certificates to establish secure channels. In addition, Content Scrambling Systems (CSS) have been proposed as a form of data encryption to discourage reading media files directly from the desk. Here again, encryption keys are exchanged so the video is decrypted before being displayed by the display device. Like the proposed watermarking solution, both of these other proposals require significant additional hardware (and cost) for movie copy protection. In addition, the CSS proposal contemplates a preliminary licensing requirement before any hardware may be implemented.
One approach to copy protection of video signals by Macrovision Corporation of Cupertino, Calif. involves inserting pseudo-synchronization pulses during the vertical blanking interval of video signals and varying the output levels. This confuses the fast phase locked loops (PLLs) and auto-gain controls (AGCs) used on recording devices but does not significantly affect the slower PLLs and AGCs used on televisions.

Copy protection for analog video signals from computing devices

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A method by which a plurality of users share access to a resource such as a common communications channel. Each user is assigned a priority and is provided with a non-uniform probability distribution function corresponding to that priority, with the sum of the several non-uniform probability distribution functions being uniform. Whenever a user wishes to access the resource, the user selects a random number according to its non-uniform probability distribution function and computes an access time based on the selected random number.

The present invention relates to a method of allocation of a shared resource between multiple uncoordinated users, and more particularly, to the situation in which users are of different priority levels.
There are many well known systems in which multiple users share a common resource in a way which can lead to conflict. These systems are known in the art as contention systems and include, but not exclusively, examples such as the sharing of memory between different peripherals inside a microprocessor, the sharing of a digital bus between different digital components connected to it, sharing of a multi-drop line connecting a group of computer terminals, or the sharing of a radio communications network.
There are two types of methods of resolving conflicts among multiple users: centralized schemes and distributed schemes. In a centralized scheme, a central site acts a moderator, providing a single point of coordination. An example of a centralized scheme is polling. The central site sends a message to each terminal in turn, giving it permission to transmit. Although the scheme is simple, there is added delay because the central site is involved in every single transfer. In addition, as the number of terminals becomes high, the full polling cycle increases to a level unacceptable to most users of interactive terminals. Finally, if only a fraction of the possible terminals are logged in at a particular moment, polling is particularly inefficient. Polling is not applicable to modern radio networks.
In a distributed scheme, all terminals are peers. Distributed systems have lower message delays and allow higher network utilization than centralized systems but are more complicated. ALOHA is one type of distributed system where users transmit whenever they have some information to deliver. The user waits for an acknowledgment. If no acknowledgment is received, a collision between transmissions of more than one sender is assumed. The user will wait a random time and then will retransmit. For pure ALOHA the transmission occurs as soon as transmit request is issued while for slotted ALOHA, the time axis is divided into slots and the terminal will wait for transmission until the beginning of the next slot.
Multiple access systems can be evaluated based on two metrics, 1) normalized throughput which is equivalent to the fraction of link capacity used to carry non-retransmitted packets of data, and 2) mean delay which is the amount of time that a terminal has to wait before it successfully transmits a packet. The normalized throughput is inversely dependent on collision probability. The mean delay is directly dependent on the mean access delay which is the mean waiting time in case of retransmission. In order to minimize the repetitive collision probability (maximize throughput), retransmissions should be spread out uniformly over the retransmission period, i.e. the random access delay in case of retransmission should have a uniformly distributed characteristic over the retransmission period. A uniform distribution f (x) is characterized by the equation:
f(x)=0 forx less than L1,xxe2x89xa7L2f(x)=1/(L2xe2x88x92L1) for L1xe2x89xa6xc3x97 less than L2xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1)
where L1 and L2 define the boundaries of the retransmission period
The size of the retransmission period is a tradeoff between collision probability and mean access delay.
Radio standards require that the random access delay in case of retransmission should be uniformly distributed. The TETRA standard (ETS 300 392-2)which is the pan-European standard for Trunked Radio Systems that are wholly digital utilizes this type of distribution.
Although in pure ALOHA or slotted ALOHA, using the uniformly spread out retransmissions will maximize overall throughput, these schemes do not address the case when some users should have higher priority. Reservation ALOHA, where slots are reserved for specific terminals, can give certain users higher priority, but the system does not perform as well as slotted ALOHA.
The SAE J1708 re-try protocol, proposes changes in the random retry time by a weighting factor which depends on a predetermined priority of different classes of users. Because the overall distribution is not uniform, the utilization of the retransmission interval is sub-optimal. In TETRA and other systems providing two-way radio communications, such sub-optimal use of the resource results in longer call setup delays and a degraded system performance. There is thus a widely recognized need for, and it would be highly advantageous to have, a method of sharing a resource among multiple uncoordinated users that allows higher priority users to have a lower mean access delay of retransmission while the overall randomization process preserves its uniformly distributed characteristic.

Optimized random access scheme for a shared response


A method and device for refraction adjustment in an augmented reality apparatus, and an augmented reality apparatus. The method for refraction adjustment includes: receiving light rays reflected from eyes of a user wearing an augmented reality apparatus; determining a pupil distance of the user according to the reflected light rays; and generating a refraction correction signal according to the pupil distance of the user and a desired diopter(s) for correcting diopters of the user's eyes by means of a refraction adjustment element.

Augmented Reality (AR) is a new technology that merges real-world information and virtual information. It is characterized by applying virtual information to a real environment and merging physical objects in the real environment and the virtual information in the same picture or space to achieve a sensory experience that transcends reality.

Method and device for refraction adjustment, and augmented reality apparatus


A custom blending hose for manifold mixing of various fuels for a fuel dispensing system, including a pair of fuel dispensing hoses, generally concentrically or coaxially arranged, for passing at least a pair of fuels into a manifold assembly, for blending and intermixing of said fuels, for further delivery through a dispensing hose assembly, to a nozzle, for refueling of a vehicle. The manifold includes a housing, incorporating internally a series of apertures, through which the fuels are passed, and blended, for delivery as a uniform fuel to a vehicle during dispensing. A vapor return line may locate through the manifold.

This invention pertains to a device for dispensing of fuel, particularly fuels of different grades, types, or the like, wherein the intermixing can occur within a manifold within the fuel dispensing hose, just before it is delivered to its nozzle, for use in filling the fuel tank of a vehicle or other combustible fuel operating device.
As is well known in the art, and which has been available for many years, different grades of fuel, usually of various octane ratings, are readily available for dispensing at a service station. In addition, there are a few other grades and types of fuels that can be dispensed, whether it be diesel, ethanol, or the few other types of fuel that are currently being researched, such as from vegetation, or from many other sources. In addition, sometimes even aviation fuel may be a mixture of different blends, whether it be a combination of various octanes of gasoline, ethanol, and all for use for empowering a vehicle, such as an automobile, truck, or even an airplane. These are examples of the variety of uses that are currently being undertaken to the blending of fuels, in the art.
An example of a patent relating to this type of technology can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,055, which shows a method and device for dispensing different types of fuel with a single fuel dispenser. It shows how fuel can be combined through to separate inlets, and dispensed from the same fuel hose.
The published application to Larsson, No. US2016/0083243, shows another fuel blending hose and fuel dispensing unit, wherein the separate fuel lines may be coaxial, delivering the combined fuel into an aligned or third fuel line, when delivering the fuel to its nozzle for dispensing. As can be noted, such a coaxial line may further include the usage of a vapor recovery line, to comply with the current standards for reducing vapor emissions, at the site of the nozzle delivery of fuel to a vehicle fuel tank.
Other patents that show devices for mixing and dispensing of two flowable materials can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,822, to Larsen, et al., and it is upon a device and method for mixing and dispensing two flowable materials. U.S. Pat. No. 7,114,523, to Ricciardi, et al., shows an apparatus for mixing two fluids or keeping them separate. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 6,926,030, also to Ricciardi, et al., shows a further apparatus for mixing two fluids or keeping them separate.
These are examples of the types of prior art that are thus available, relating to the blending of various fuels.

Custom blending hose for manifold mixing of various fuels for fuel dispensing system


The present invention provides an apparatus for vertically interconnecting semiconductor die, integrated circuit die, or multiple die segments. Metal rerouting interconnects which extend to one or more sides of the die or segment can be optionally added to the die or multi die segment to provide edge bonding pads upon the surface of the die for external electrical connection points. After the metal rerouting interconnect has been added to the die on the wafer, the wafer is optionally thinned and each die or multiple die segment is singulated from the wafer by cutting or other appropriate singulation method. After the die or multiple die segments are singulated or cut from the wafer, insulation is applied to all surfaces of the die or multiple die segments, openings are made in the insulation above the desired electrical connection pads, and the die or multiple die segments are placed on top of one another to form a stack. Vertically adjacent segments in the stack are electrically interconnected by attaching a short flexible bond wire or bond ribbon to the exposed electrical connection pad at the peripheral edges of the die which protrudes horizontally from the die and applying electrically conductive polymer, or epoxy, filaments or lines to one or more sides of the stack.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for stacking and interconnecting integrated circuit die and/or multiple die segments of silicon, and interconnecting the die and or multiple die segments on the edges of the stack using an electrically conductive polymer or epoxy.
For many years, electrical components such as transistors and integrated circuits have been made using wafers of semiconductor material, including silicon and/or germanium. Integrated circuits have been provided on the wafer using various techniques known as etching, doping, and layering. Individual integrated circuits that are provided on the wafer are referred to as die, and include contact points called bond pads for external electrical connections. Typically, the die on the wafer are separated from one another by cutting the wafer along boundaries defining the die. Once the die are cut from the wafer, they are referred to as chips or die, and are packaged for use. In recent years, the proliferation of more powerful electronic systems has led to an increased need for higher performance and higher density integrated circuit packages.
One method for creating higher density packages attempts to create an entire computer system on a single wafer using wafer scale integration (WSI) techniques. WSI technology attempts to laterally wire together all the die on a wafer using wires to interconnect the die. However, in order to create the necessary interconnections between the die, many wires are required that are extremely thin and difficult to create. Furthermore, the resulting interconnected die occupy a very large area, or footprint, on the electronic systems circuit board onto which the wafer scale integration device is attached for connection into the electronic system.
A second method for creating higher density packages attempts to reduce the area required for placing the chips on a circuit board by physically stacking the chips vertically. One chip stacking technique mounts individual die on ceramic carriers, encapsulates both the die and the carrier, stacks the carriers, and then mounts the stack on a printed circuit board. In this technique, all the die in the stack are interconnected by connecting the leads of the die to the printed circuit board via metal pins. This method results in an unusually high pin count on the circuit board which reduces the reliability of the circuitry because the high pin count increases the possibility that one of the many pins may become disconnected from the board.
Another chip stacking method uses a more complex process to stack die, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,820 issued Apr. 14, 1992. This method modifies individual chips so that they may be stacked by adding a pattern of metalization, called rerouting leads, to the surface of the wafer. The rerouting leads extend from the bond pads on the chip to newly formed bond pads, and are arranged so that all the rerouting leads terminate on one side of the modified chip. Each modified chip is then cut from the wafer, and assembled into a stack. The stack is assembled in a manner such that all the leads of the modified chips are aligned along the same side of the stack. The side of the stack having the leads is then etched and polished so that a cross section of the leads on each of the modified chips is accessible. After the leads are exposed, a layer of metalization is applied to the leads along the side of the stack in order to electrically connect each of the modified chips in the stack. The stack is then mounted and connected to a substrate which in turn is connected to conventional circuitry.
This method of rerouting leads offers improvement in circuit density over prior methods but is complex and expensive. In addition, the rerouting leads extend over adjacent die, which are destroyed when the modified chip is cut out of the wafer. In this method, multiple die are sacrificed for every chip that is modified.
Another method for creating higher density circuits creates stacks from entire wafers, rather than individual chips, to form a wafer array. In some devices, the wafers in the stack are electrically interconnected using solid vertical columns of metallic conductive feed-throughs, such as copper. The use of solid feed-throughs to interconnect wafers may cause damage to the array due to differential thermal coefficients of expansion during thermal cycles. Furthermore, the process is costly and makes the wafers difficult to separate for repairs.
Other methods also exist to interconnect stacks of wafers, as disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,708 issued Jun. 30, 1990, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,875 issued Sep. 4, 1990. These methods provide each wafer in the stack with coned-shaped through-holes which expose bonding pads on the wafers. The bond pads of the wafers in the stack are then electrically connected by either filling the through holes with electrically conductive liquid, or inserting an electrically conductive compliant material into the through holes, to provide a continuous vertical electrical connection between the wafers. While avoiding the disadvantages of using solid vertical columns of metal to interconnect wafers, the use of electrically conductive liquids and conductive materials requires special tooling to fill the through holes. Furthermore, for some applications, it may not be desirable to use stacks of entire wafers due to size constraints of the electrical device.
Individual semiconductor die are typically assembled in packages that allow the integrated circuit die to be attached to printed circuit boards and to allow electrical connections to be made between the integrated circuit die. There are many types of packages that are used for this purpose. The BGA package and the TSOP package are 2 types of packages in common use for assembling memory die and mounting the assembled die on a printed circuit board. There are a number of methods for stacking packaged integrated circuits, but in general, they suffer from a size disadvantage, and a performance disadvantage, due to the added electrical parasitics arising from the necessary lengths and characteristics of the inter-package interconnections. Due to the large physical size of the packages, there is a limit to the number of packages which may be stacked on top of each other, typically 2, to avoid thermo-mechanical problems. Stacks of packaged integrated circuits have been recently popular but take up too much board space, are too thick, and will not operate at the high speeds being required by advanced memory devices such as DDR2 and DDR3 DRAM.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Micropede stacked die component assembly


The invention relates to a 1.4-1.52 xcexcm-band optical amplifier. This optical amplifier includes (a) a first pumping source for a first pumping light in a wavelength range defined as being not less than 0.65 xcexcm and being less than 0.77 xcexcm; (b) a second pumping source for a second pumping light in a wavelength range of from 1.0 to 1.2 xcexcm; (c) an optical multiplexer for combining said first and second pumping lights with a signal light, to produce a combined light; and (d) a light amplifying optical waveguide for amplifying said signal light by receiving said combined light, said optical waveguide comprising a core doped with Tm. The optical amplifier is highly efficient.

The present invention relates to an optical amplifier or laser oscillator used for, for example, 1.4-1.52 xcexcm-band optical communication.
Hitherto, 1.55-xcexcm band, which is the lowest loss wavelength of a silica fiber, and 1.3 xcexcm-band, which is zero dispersion wavelength, have been used in optical communication. Research and development of optical amplifiers with respect to these wavelength bands have been active, and considerable successes were achieved particularly for 1.55-xcexcm band. In recent years, there have been demands for Internet and data transfer to have a high-speed and a large-volume. Thus, wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) is put into practical use from the viewpoint of increasing communication volume. The communication volume may, however, become insufficient with the use of only 1.55 xcexcm-band. Thus, there were in recent years proposals for using other bands. In particular, there are strong demands for using the entire region of a wide transmitted wavelength range of quartz fiber of from 1.3 to 1.7 xcexcm. Thus, active research is going on for 1.47 xcexcm-band and 1.65 xcexcm-band Tm doped fiber amplifier.
There is a proposal for using a low phonon glass fiber doped with Tm for a 1.47 xcexcm-band amplification or laser oscillation (see xe2x80x9cRare-earth-doped fiber lasers and amplifiersxe2x80x9d by D. N. Payne et al., Proc. 14th Europ. Conf. Opt. Comm., Brighton, U.K. 1988, pages 49-53; and IEEE. J. Quantum Electronics Vol. 24(6) (1988) pages 920-923). The Tm energy level is shown in FIG. 1 of the present specification. The 1.47 xcexcm-band amplification is conducted by using a stimulated emission process of 3H4xe2x86x923F4. This actually makes it possible to have a wide gain and an amplification band range of from 1.4 to 1.52 xcexcm. Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication JP-A-5-275792 discloses a fiber laser and a fiber amplifier using a fluoride fiber having a core doped with Tm, and 1.06 xcexcm-band light as a pumping light. U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,937, corresponding to JP-A-4-265251, discloses a method for exciting 3H4 of Tm using a pump light wavelength of 0.7-0.89 xcexcm. JP-A-4-180279 discloses a two-steps excitation at 1.2 xcexcm band. It is, however, known to be difficult to obtain population inversion necessary for amplification or laser oscillation, since fluorescence lifetime of 3H4 level of Tm is shorter than that of 3F4. Such characteristic is referred to as xe2x80x9cself-terminating mechanismxe2x80x9d, and this makes it unsuitable for a highly efficient amplification or laser oscillation. Thus, there are several proposals for adding co-dopants (Eu, Tb, Ho and Pr and the like) in order to make the 3F4 lifetime shorter (see JP-A-4-265251; U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,237 corresponding to JP-A-5-145,168; and JP-A-7-45899). However, when these co-dopants are added in a large amount, the tail of the absorption band overlaps with the target wavelength range of 1.4-1.52 xcexcm-band. This may cause an unfavorable energy transfer and an adverse effect on the amplification efficiency of 1.4-1.52 xcexcm-band. Therefore, there is a limitation on the co-dopant concentration and amplification efficiency.
JP-A-2000-307176 discloses an optical fiber amplifier having a first pumping source for a pumping light in a wavelength range of 0.98-1.08 xcexcm and a second pumping source for a pumping light in a wavelength range of 1.08-1.25 xcexcm, 1.51-2.00 xcexcm or 0.77-0.84 xcexcm.
Aozasa et al., OFC2001 Technical Digest Series, PD1 discloses a high Tm3+ concentration doped fluoride fiber amplifier with one color 1.4 xcexcm pumping. Roy et al., OFC2001 Technical Digest Series, PD2 discloses the use a dual wavelength pumping at 1.24 xcexcm and 1.40 xcexcm for a thulium-doped fiber amplifier. Kasamatsu et al., Proceedings OAA ""99, PDP1 discloses a 1.50-xcexcm band gain-shifted thulium-doped fiber amplifier by using a dual wavelength pumping of 1.05 xcexcm and 1.56 xcexcm. European Patent Application EP 1039593 A2, corresponding to JP-A-2000-340865, also discloses a thulium-doped laser amplifier by using a dual wavelength pumping of 1.04-1.07 xcexcm and 1.53-1.90 xcexcm.
Low phonon energy glass materials are well known as up-conversion laser materials. Thus, when it is tried to amplify a signal light by using a low phonon energy glass material, the pumping energy is consumed by emission of shorter wavelength like a red or blue light. Therefore, 1.4-1.52 xcexcm-band emission efficiency is generally known to be extremely low. 1.4-1.52 xcexcm-band emission from 3H4 to 3F4 of Tm3+ is well known as a typical example of self-terminating system, because the fluorescence lifetime of 3H4 is shorter than that of 3F4. Thus, it is difficult to achieve a highly efficient laser oscillation itself (see J. Y. Allain et al., Electronics Letters vol. 25 (1989) pages 1660-1662). There are proposals for making the lifetime of 3F4 shorter by adding a co-dopant such as Eu, Tb, Ho, and Pr. These co-dopants also have a wide absorption wavelength band range. Therefore, when such co-dopant is added in an amount sufficient for making the 3F4 lifetime shorter, absorption may occur at 1.4-1.52 xcexcm-band. Furthermore, the emission efficiency at 1.4-1.52 xcexcm-band may be lowered by the up-conversion process through energy transfer.
It is possible to try to shorten lifetime of 3F4 by using an oscillation of 3F4xe2x86x923H6. This is, however, not preferable in obtainment of a 1.4-1.52 xcexcm-band optical amplifier or laser oscillator of a high efficiency, since nearly a half of the pumping light energy is lost.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a 1.4-1.52 xcexcm-band optical amplifier or laser oscillator of a high efficiency.
According to the present invention, there is provided a 1.4-1.52 xcexcm-band optical amplifier comprising:
(a) a first pumping source for a first pumping light in a wavelength range defined as being not less than 0.65 xcexcm and being less than 0.77 xcexcm;
(b) a second pumping source for a second pumping light in a wavelength range of from 1.0 to 1.2 xcexcm;
(c) an optical multiplexer for combining said first and second pumping lights with a signal light, to produce a combined light; and
(d) a light amplifying optical waveguide for amplifying said signal light by receiving said combined light, said optical waveguide comprising a core doped with Tm.


A snow plow includes a control unit for controlling a raising/lowering drive mechanism so that an auger housing becomes horizontal, a relative angle detection unit for detecting the angle of the auger housing relative to a travel frame, and a horizontal detection unit for detecting the horizontal state of the auger housing. The control unit stops the raising/lowering drive mechanism when the control unit assess that either a first condition or a second condition is satisfied, the first condition being that the relative angle be zero and the second condition being that the auger housing be horizontal.

In auger-type snow plows, an auger housing is mounted to a vehicle body frame including travel device, such that the auger housing can be raised and lowered and made to roll. The auger housing includes an auger. An auger snow plow can scrape up snow by means of a front auger while traveling forward, and can disperse the scraped up snow far away by means of a blower via a shooter.
A snow plow including an auger employs a system for varying the height of the auger housing in accordance with the conditions of the snow plowing work. It is more efficient to move the snow plow when the bottom surface of the auger housing has been raised. It is more efficient to plow snow when the bottom surface of the auger housing has been lowered. The height of the auger housing is also often varied according to unevenness in the road surface when snow is plowed.
It is highly inconvenient for a worker to make these variations to the height of the auger housing through manual labor. To alleviate the burden on the worker, the bottom surface of the auger housing can be raised and lowered with a power assist. This feature is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open Publication No. 63-136012 (JP-U-S63-136012) and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2007-032218 (JP-A-2007-032218).
In the snow plow disclosed in JP-U-S63-136012, the auger housing angle is used to control an angle of inclination detector provided to the auger housing to detect the angle of the auger housing relative to the direction of gravity.
In the snow plow taught in JP-A-2007-032218, the raised/lowered angle of the auger housing is controlled due to the angle of the auger housing relative to a travel frame having the travel device being detected by a height position sensor. When a reset switch is turned on by a worker, a control unit controls a raising/lowering drive mechanism so as to adjust the auger housing to a predetermined height reference position. The term "height reference position" refers to a position where the bottom end of a scraper included in the auger housing comes in contact with a flat surface (the traveled road surface) while the auger housing is in a horizontal state.
For example, when the travel device is traveling forward over an inclined surface; i.e., when the front is raised, the auger housing lowers so as to be horizontal. At this time, the auger housing could possibly come in contact with the upward inclined surface before becoming horizontal. The raising/lowering drive mechanism continues driving in order to make the auger housing horizontal. There is yet room for improvement in increasing the travel performance of the snow plow as well as increasing the durability of the snow plow.
In view of this, there is demand for a feature whereby travel performance and durability of the snow plow are increased.


A group of known naphthoquinone derivatives have been found to be useful for preventing or relieving herpes viral infections.

Since time immemorial, herpes viral infections have been a scourge of mankind and many important domestic animals. The herpes family of virus includes herpes simplex virus (types 1 and 2) responsible for cold sores and genital lesions, respectively; varicella zoster virus which causes chicken pox and shingles; and the Epstein-Barr virus which causes infectious mononucleosis. Although some significant advances have been made in the last decade in antiviral therapy, the need for effective, safe therapeutic agents for treating herpes viral infections continues to exist. For a recent review of current therapeutic agents in this area, see M. C. Nahata, "Antiviral Drugs: Pharmacokinetics, Adverse Effects and Therapeutic Use", J. Pharm. Technol., 3, 100 (1987).
It has now been found that a group of naphthoquinone derivatives, having a wide margin of safety, are useful for combatting herpes viral infections. The naphthoquinone derivatives are known having been cribed previously as antipsoriatic agents, see G. H. Jones and J. Young, U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,478, issued Oct. 21, 1980 and G. H. Jones et al., J. Med. Chem., 29, 1504 (1986).
Accordingly, the present invention provides a well tolerated and effective means for preventing or relieving herpes viral infections.
The association of antiviral activity with the above-noted naphthoquinone derivatives is an unusual finding. On a structural basis, it represents a departure from the chemical structures of compounds usually associated with antiviral activity, such as purine and pyrimidine nucleosides, 1-adamatanamine, particular interferons, etc. Two naphthalene derivatives, nevertheless, have previously been reported to have antiviral properties. The two naphthalene derivatives are 1,2,3,4-naphthalenetetrone, M. Y. Kraft et al., UK patent 1,243,401, Aug. 18, 1971, and 6-bromo-1,2-naphthalenedione, L. F. Stebaeva et al., Farmakol. Toksikol. (Moscow), 43, 609 (1980); Chem. Abstr., 93, 179724j (1980). The naphthoquinone derivatives of the present application are distinguished readily from the latter two naphthalene derivatives by marked structural differences arising from the substituents on their bicyclic structures.

Methods and compositions for combatting herpes viruses

BioMega/Boehringer Ingelheim Research Inc.


A laser crystal (25) having a relatively short optical length functions as a seed laser (1) and simultaneously establishes the wide separation between longitudinal modes. Pulsed operation causes multiple longitudinal modes to co-exist before competition acts to extinguish modes. The seed laser (1) is isolated from the relatively higher peak power output beam (4). Further, the injection seeded slave resonator (6) optical cavity length is adjusted by mechanical, electromechanical and/or electro-optical component(s) to harmonize the slave resonator optical cavity to the seed laser (1) optical cavity. A number of widely separated longitudinal modes are simultaneously output as a pulsed, high optical quality beam having a broad frequency range, short temporal coherence, and stable simultaneous operation of the several modes.

A laser is a device that produces optical radiation through the process of amplified stimulated emission in an excited medium. A laser resonator is a laser device that uses positive optical feedback in conjunction with an excited lasing medium to build up large optical field intensities either from radiation noise or from an injected lower power optical field. The allowable frequencies of optical radiation within a laser resonator are termed "longitudinal modes" and are given by the equation .nu..sub.m =mc/2nl, where .nu..sub.m is the frequency of optical radiation for the m.sup.th order longitudinal mode, c is the vacuum speed of light, n is the index of refraction of the medium (assuming it to be uniform within the resonator), and I is the physical length of the resonator optical cavity, i.e. the separation between the resonator mirrors. The spacing between adjacent longitudinal modes is therefore .DELTA..nu.=.nu..sub.m -.nu..sub.m-1 =c/2nl. Replacing the quantity, nl, by a single parameter, L, which is termed the "optical length" of the resonator, gives .DELTA..nu.=c/2L. The optical length is a useful parameter even when more than one optical medium is present within the laser resonator.
Very short laser resonator cavities, i.e. small L, have been used to produce large spacings between longitudinal modes. "Microlasers", also called "microchip lasers," have been developed which use a very short laser crystal that is closely coupled to a laser diode. The laser diode excites the ions within the lasing medium through optical pumping on an absorption line. The transverse mode structure is determined by the size of the region within the laser crystal that is pumped, also called the "pumped volume," relative to the region in which a particular mode is confined, also called the "mode volume."
Every laser medium has a "lineshape function" for each allowable energy transition which represents the probability that a photon of a given frequency will be emitted spontaneously for that particular higher-to-lower energy transition. The width of the lineshape function is a characteristic of the lasing medium and is determined by one or more mechanisms which may act on each species (atom, ion, or molecule) in exactly the same way (homogeneous broadening) or treat each in a different way (inhomogeneous broadening). The height of the lineshape function is a measure of the amplification or optical gain that the laser provides as a function of the optical frequency. The highest gain occurs at the peak of the lineshape function.
A laser resonator surrounding a homogeneously broadened laser medium will lase simultaneously in all longitudinal modes of the resonator above the lasing threshold, which is the point at which the round trip optical gain in the laser medium just equals the round trip optical loss within the resonator due to absorption and mirror reflectivity. If the intermode spacing for the resonator, .DELTA..nu., is smaller than the width of the lineshape function, it is possible for the laser to lase on multiple longitudinal modes. For continuous (or CW) lasing, however, the gain is clamped to its threshold value and only those longitudinal modes right at the peak of the lineshape function will experience a net gain and lase. This is not a stable situation, because the gain for the various longitudinal modes vary in a random manner due to, for example, resonator length changes caused by room vibration. This variation in mode gain results in random mode hopping, as low amplitude modes can receive sufficient gain to grow and become dominant at the expense of the previously dominant modes. Because of this intense mode competition during continuous lasing, few modes ever lase at the same time.
A Q-switched laser is one in which the loss within the cavity is maintained in a high state (low Q) during the time the medium is being excited, allowing the gain to build to a high value, and then abruptly switched to a low state, at which time lasing occurs and a high energy pulse is extracted.
In a gain switched laser, the optical gain is changed from a below-threshold level to an above-threshold level and back down in order to generate the laser pulse. If the pumping rate is sufficiently high, the gain can be forced high enough above threshold in a short enough period of time that multiple longitudinal modes will build from noise and lase before gain clamping has had time to cause mode discrimination. The output power in each mode will vary somewhat for a variety of reasons. First, the differential gain between modes will cause the output power to follow the lineshape function. Modes further from line center will therefore have lower output power. Second, because oscillation starts from noise with each longitudinal mode starting from independent stray photons, the output power will be higher in modes that start early. The time it takes to seed a mode, relative to the pulse buildup time, therefore, helps determine the magnitude of the variation in power from mode-to-mode. Third, over time the lasing process will clamp the gain at the threshold value due to depletion of the population inversion within the medium and a single dominant mode will emerge as described above in the CW lasing case.
Both Q-switched and gain switched laser resonators can be forced to operate on a single longitudinal mode by injection seeding the resonator with an external laser beam that is tuned to the same frequency as the desired longitudinal mode. Alternatively, the frequency of the external seed laser beam can be fixed and the length of the original resonator adjusted to control the frequency of the desired mode so that it coincides with the fixed frequency of the seed laser. In this case the original resonator is termed a "slave resonator" because its desired resonant frequency is slaved to the seed laser. In both cases, lasing will occur only in the desired longitudinal mode because the buildup time from the seed beam is so much faster than any other unseeded mode that must build up from random noise photons.
While some applications of lasers prefer emission on a single longitudinal mode, there exist other applications for which simultaneous emission on several longitudinal modes is desirable. Active tracking and wavefront sensing systems using speckle averaging at a remote target to minimize amplitude jitter in the return signal are two examples of applications for which multiple emission modes are desirable. For many of these applications, it is desirable to have high optical quality beams, a broad range in frequency across the several modes (i.e. short temporal coherence length), high power output, and stable operation of the several modes simultaneously.
Master Oscillator Power Amplifier (MOPA) laser topology has been used to provide high optical quality and high output power laser beams. Nonlinear optical phase conjugation is often used with the MOPA topology to correct thermally induced optical distortions in the power amplifier elements. The theory of operation of a phase conjugate MOPA is described in Koechner, W., Solid-State Laser Engineering, Second Edition, pp. 535-539, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1988.
The phase conjugate mirror components typically used in short pulse MOPA topologies are based on stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). The SBS process is well known in the art and is also described in Koechner. Because the acoustic waves in the Brillouin medium are receding, the optical frequency of the output beam will be shifted to a longer frequency than the oscillator beam due to the Doppler effect. The Brillouin medium can be a solid, liquid, or gas, and the magnitude of the Stokes shift in optical frequency is dependent on the speed of sound in the medium.
For highly distorting power amplifier media, such as highly pumped rod-shaped laser crystals that are actively cooled along the cylindrical surface of the rod, it is advantageous to confine the laser beam while propagating within the Brillouin medium using an optical lightguide. The incident beam is focused into a Brillouin medium such that the electrical field strength of the optical beam within the medium is sufficient to cause motion of the atoms or molecules through electrostriction. This sets up a series of receding acoustic waves in the medium that scatter the incident beam in the backward direction. The phase fronts of the acoustic waves have exactly the same shape as the phase front of the incident optical beam, therefore the backscattered beam will also have the same phase front but will be traveling in the opposite direction. This process of phase front reversal is known as phase conjugation and has the property that any optical ray entering the phase conjugate mirror will be retroreflected, i.e., will retrace its propagation path back to the source. This approach has been shown to provide good phase conjugate mirror reflectivity and fidelity with incident beams up to 75 times the diffraction limit. The lightguide approach is also advantageous when using the method of Basov described in Basov, N. G., Efimkov, V. F., Zubarev, I. G., Kotov, A. V., Mikhailov, S. I., and Smirnov, M. G., "Inversion of Wavefront in SMBS of a Depolarized Pump" (JTEP Letters, Vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 197-201, August 1978) to correct for depolarization of the laser beam in the power amplifier caused by thermally induced stress birefringence.
Lightguide phase conjugate mirror arrangements operate most efficiently and effectively when the temporal coherence length of the incident beam is longer than the round trip propagation time in the lightguide. Longitudinal modes that are separated in frequency by more than c/I.sub.c, where c is the speed of light and I.sub.c is the temporal coherence length, are treated as independent beams within the phase conjugate mirror and each must well exceed the conjugation threshold to be effectively conjugated.

Multi-mode laser oscillator with large intermode spacing


The electronic controller fetches an external signal and performs an input process such as A-D conversion. Upon receipt of processing results for executing operations according to a predetermined program, an output process is performed for sending a signal to the outside board on operation results, a timer outputs at least two of an input process start signal for starting the input process, an output process start signal for starting the output process, and an operation start signal for starting the operation.

The present invention relates to an electronic controller for repeatedly executing an input process (A-D conversion, etc.), operations (program execution), and an output process (output by a serial signal) in a predetermined cycle.
In a power conversion system and a power supply system for controlling power and an industrial system and a traffic system for controlling a motor, a power converter and a motor drive circuit composed of many switching elements are controlled by an electronic controller, thus power conversion and motor driving are realized. Such an electronic controller repeatedly executes in a predetermined cycle the action of sampling a current and a voltage of a power line and a motor, thereby performing A-D conversion, performing operations on the basis of the converted digital value, generating a pulse signal on the basis of the command value obtained from the calculated result, and turning on or off the switching elements of the power converter and motor drive circuit. This cycle is called a control cycle.
In the power control and motor control, it is required to improve the control accuracy, thus high-speed control such as a control cycle of less than several hundreds microseconds or several tens microseconds is required.
For such control, it is necessary not only to surely execute sampling for the A-D conversion at predetermined timing but also to surely output the command value and pulse signal at predetermined timing. For example, even if the sampling for the A-D conversion is executed in a predetermined cycle at predetermine timing, when the command value and pulse signal are outputted immediately after completion of the operations, the required time for the operations varies with the conditions at that time, so that an error is caused at the output timing of the command value and pulse signal.
As an art for solving it, for example, as described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. Hei 10-285910, pages 1 to 21 and FIGS. 1 to 15, it is known to provide the control cycle for performing the sampling (input process) for the A-D conversion and the pulse generation (output process) cycle for generating the pulse signal, make the difference in phase between them fixed, and execute the sampling for the A-D conversion and outputting the on/off pulse in the respective cycles.
By doing this, the sampling for the A-D conversion and the outputting of the pulse signal can be surely executed at predetermined timing, and the pulse generation cycle is adjusted to expectable operation end timing, thus the response time from the sampling (input process) for the A-D conversion to the outputting (output process) of the pulse signal can be shortened.
On the other hand, for example, in Japanese Laid-open patent Publication No. Hei 06-324811, pages 1 to 15 and FIGS. 1 to 9, it is proposed under control of an A-D converter having a plurality of input channels to send data after A-D conversion at external timing, prevent a control circuit (operation means) from frequent interruptions of data after conversion from the A-D conversion means, thereby lighten the processing load on the control circuit.

Electronic controller for power converter and motor drive circuit


In a computational device, a technique provides network communications to a virtual machine. In particular, the technique includes receiving a first communications signal having a first address and data from an external device, performing a network address translation operation based on the first communications signal to obtain a second address that identifies the virtual machine and providing a second communications signal having the second address and the data, to the virtual machine. The technique may further include using an external network Internet Protocol address and port identifier and to translate the first communications signal into an internal network Internet Protocol address by accessing an entry of a network address translation table.

A general-purpose computer typically includes a processor, memory and a network interface. The computer operates an operating system software program, which is capable of performing system and user-related maintenance functions, and application software programs. Examples of conventional operating systems include UNIX®, VMS® and Windows®. Application software programs may be limited with respect to the operating systems with which they can operate because the software manufacturer has made a decision to support certain programs only on certain operating systems.
Some computers run specialized applications called virtual machine applications. A typical virtual machine application runs in the computer's operating system environment and simulates the operation of one or more entire computers. For example, a computer can run the Linux® operating system. A virtual machine application that provides a Windows®2000 environment can then run on the Linux® operating system. Windows® 2000 executables can then run in the Windows 2000® environment running on the Linux® operating system.
A virtual machine application which is similar to the virtual machine application described above is VMware™ which is provided by VMware™, Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif.

Methods and apparatus for providing a network service to a virtual machine