Provided is an inverter circuit including a rectification and filter circuit and an inverter driver circuit interconnected the rectification and filter circuit and a load. The inverter driver circuit comprises a second controller for receiving light adjustment cycle signals and outputting electrical conduction cycle signals wherein the second controller is either electrically connected to a power source or electrically connected to the rectification and filter circuit for obtaining a wave current, and an electrical conduction of the electrical conduction cycle signals depends on input on/off of the wave current at the second controller; and a driver operates in response to electrical conduction cycle signals and on/off of DC. A flashing effect is produced on the load and thus a power factor correction effect is produced without power factor corrector being involved.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/949,373 discloses a method of determining operating voltage of an inverter for overcoming drawbacks of a transformer operating in a single maximum high voltage oscillation in which a cost effective inverter circuit with power factor corrector being installed is shown in FIG. 1 and FIGS. 5A to 5F. A rectification and filter circuit 20 is adapted to convert AC from a power source 10 into DC. A driver 50 is adapted to divide duty cycle of voltage into a plurality of continuous voltage pulses each consisting of lowest input voltage, highest input voltage, and lowest input voltage of DC fed from a power factor corrector 90 connected to the rectification and filter circuit 20. Next, a varying voltage cycle corresponding to each voltage pulse is generated by a transformer 60. Finally, a dark, bright, and dark flashing effect is produced on a load (e.g. CRT) 70 in response to the varying voltage cycle. The Application is able to significantly decrease the cost of a high performance power factor corrector. Further, the Application is able to overcome drawbacks of a prior inverter operating in a single maximum high voltage oscillation since the inverter 60 is operating in a continuous voltage of smooth rising and smooth lowering cycle. As a result, a useful life of the inverter can be prolonged significantly.

Inverter circuit for producing power factor correction effect


An electronic light modulator device for at least partially displaying a pixel of an image, the device comprising first and second reflectors defining an optical cavity therebetween, the optical cavity being selective of an electromagnetic wavelength at an intensity by optical interference, the device having at least first and second optical states, at least one of the optical states being tunable and the other not tunable.

There are many applications for light modulator devices that have high spatial and time resolution and high brightness, including applications in displays of information for education, business, science, technology, health, sports, and entertainment. Some light modulator devices, such as digital light-mirror arrays and deformographic displays, have been applied for large-screen projection. For white light, light modulators such as the reflective digital mirror arrays have been developed with high optical efficiency, high fill-factors with resultant low pixelation, convenient electronic driving requirements, and thermal robustness.
Macroscopic scanners have employed mirrors moved by electromagnetic actuators such as "voice-coils" and associated drivers. Micro-mirror devices have used micro-actuators based on micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) techniques. MEMS actuators have also been employed in other applications such as micro-motors, micro-switches, and valves for control of fluid flow. Micro-actuators have been formed on insulators or other substrates using micro-electronic techniques such as photolithography, vapor deposition, and etching.
A micro-mirror device can be operated as a light modulator for amplitude and/or phase modulation of incident light. One application of a micro-mirror device is in a display system. In such a system, multiple micro-mirror devices are arranged in an array such that each micro-mirror device provides one cell or pixel of the display. A conventional micro-mirror device includes an electrostatically actuated mirror supported for rotation about an axis of the mirror into either one of two stable positions. Thus, such a construction serves to provide both light and dark pixel elements corresponding to the two stable positions. For gray scale variation, binary pulse-width modulation has been applied to the tilt of each micro-mirror. Thus, conventional micro-mirror devices have frequently required a high frequency oscillation of the mirror and frequent switching of the mirror position and thus had need for high frequency circuits to drive the mirror. Binary pulse-width modulation has been accomplished by off-chip electronics, controlling on- or off-chip drivers.
Conventional micro-mirror devices must be sufficiently sized to permit rotation of the mirror relative to a supporting structure. Increasing the size of the micro-mirror device, however, reduces resolution of the display since fewer micro-mirror devices can occupy a given area. In addition, applied energies must be sufficient to generate a desired force needed to change the mirror position. Also, there are applications of micro-mirror devices that require positioning of the mirror in a continuous manner by application of an analog signal rather than requiring binary digital positioning controlled by a digital signal. Accordingly, it is desirable to minimize a size of a micro-mirror device so as to maximize the density of an array of such devices, and it is desirable as well to provide means for positioning the micro-mirror device in an analog fashion.
Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) are systems which are typically developed using thin film technology and include both electrical and micro-mechanical components. MEMS devices are used in a variety of applications such as optical display systems, pressure sensors, flow sensors, and charge-control actuators. MEMS devices of some types use electrostatic force or energy to move or monitor the movement of micro-mechanical electrodes, which can store charge. In one type of MEMS device, to achieve a desired result, a gap distance between electrodes is controlled by balancing an electrostatic force and a mechanical restoring force.
MEMS devices designed to perform optical functions have been developed using a variety of approaches. According to one approach, a deformable deflective membrane is positioned over an electrode and is electrostatically attracted to the electrode. Other approaches use flaps or beams of silicon or aluminum, which form a top conducting layer. For such optical applications, the conducting layer is reflective while the deflective membrane is deformed using electrostatic force to direct light which is incident upon the conducting layer.
More specifically, MEMS of a type called optical interference devices produce colors based on the precise spacing of a pixel plate relative to a lower plate (and possibly an upper plate). This spacing may be the result of a balance of two forces: electrostatic attraction based on voltage and charge on the plate(s), and a spring constant of one or more "support structures" maintaining the position of the pixel plate away from the electrostatically charged plate. One known approach for controlling the gap distance is to apply a continuous control voltage to the electrodes, where the control voltage is increased to decrease the gap distance, and vice-versa. However, precise gap distance control and maintenance of reflector parallelism may be affected by several factors, including material variations between support structures, misalignment in lithographic methods used in device fabrication, undesired tilt of reflecting surfaces, and other variations. While various light modulator devices have found widespread success in their applications, there are still unmet needs in the field of micro-optical light modulator devices.

Light modulator with tunable optical state

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A hinge mechanism of an image forming apparatus supporting a platen cover for holding an original at a fixed position on a platen glass includes a hinge unit for supporting the platen cover in such a manner that the platen cover can be opened and closed by swinging it up and down, a compression coil spring for biasing the platen cover in its opening direction, and a hinge holder attached to a housing of the apparatus for accommodating the compression coil spring. The hinge unit is provided with a hinge torque keeping mechanism which causes the compression coil spring to produce a specific amount of hinge torque to bias the platen cover in its opening direction even when the platen cover is closed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hinge mechanism for a platen cover of an image forming apparatus for holding an original document placed on a platen glass at a fixed position, wherein the platen cover is installed in a manner that allows an operator to open and close the platen cover when placing and removing the original document.
2. Description of the Related Art
A document reading section of an image forming apparatus, such as various types of copying machines and printers, is provided with a platen cover, which can be lowered onto and lifted up from a platen glass, for holding an original document placed on the platen glass at a fixed position and for keeping out stray light from an optical scanning system. Normally, this kind of platen cover is swingably supported with its pivot end fixed to a housing of the apparatus by means of hinges. Each hinge is usually associated with an elastic member for biasing the platen cover in its opening direction to ensure smooth opening and closing action of the platen cover.
A hinge mechanism employing a torsional compression coil spring as an elastic member is disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2002-23431, for example. Also, a hinge mechanism employing a compression coil spring as an elastic member is disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-57611, for example. As shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, for instance, a hinge unit 52 supporting a platen cover 51 is normally inserted into and held in a cylindrical hinge holder 53 provided at one end of a housing of an image forming apparatus together with a compression coil spring 54 in such a manner that the platen cover 51 can be opened and closed by swinging it up and down about a pivot axis of the hinge unit 52.
In a case where the hinge unit 52 is accommodated in the hinge holder 53 as stated above, however, the compression coil spring 54 would occasionally produce violent vibrations inside the hinge holder 53 when the platen cover 51 is opened or closed. If such vibrations occur from time to time, the hinge holder 53, usually made of a rigid resin material, is apt to break after an extended period of use. This would result in such a problem that the platen cover 51 lies loose on the platen cover, causing displacement of an original, or stray light enters an optical scanning system. This kind of problem is assumed to occur for reasons explained below.
The conventional image forming apparatus is designed such that a hinge torque exerted by the compression coil spring 54 of the hinge unit 52 biasing the platen cover 51 in its opening direction remains at zero, or no load conditions, near the closed position of the platen cover 51 at and below a point of free fall (within a range of 0° to a few degrees above 10° in terms of the opening angle of the platen cover 51) as shown in FIG. 6, for example. With this arrangement, the compression coil spring 54 exerts no biasing force (hinge torque) on the platen cover 51 near its closed position, so that the platen cover 51 descends by its own weight down to the closed position with certainty.
This construction serves to prevent the platen cover 51 from being left unclosed. However, if the platen cover 51 is hastily closed for one reason or another, the compression coil spring 54, which suddenly turns from a loaded state to an unloaded state, violently vibrates inside the hinge holder 53 and collides with its internal wall. This would gradually lead to eventual breakage of the hinge holder 53 from inside.
More specifically, when the platen cover 51 is opened to a certain degree, a roller 57 fitted in and supported by a roller retainer 56, which is forced upward by a spring force directed vertically upward, comes into contact with a cam element 55 which is fixed to a pivot end of the platen cover 51 as shown in FIG. 7A, so that the roller 57 biases the cam element 55 upward. This biasing force of the roller 57 produces the aforementioned hinge torque that causes the platen cover 51 to swing in its opening direction, wherein the hinge torque is defined as the product of a vector pointing to the cam center (representing a force acting in the direction of a perpendicular P to a tangent line passing a point of contact between the cam element 55 and the roller 57) multiplied by the distance d from the point of contact to the point of support of the hinge unit 52.
When the platen cover 51 is closed, on the other hand, the perpendicular to the tangent line passing the point of contact between the cam element 55 and the roller 57 which is forced upward by the spring force directed vertically upward passes a pivot center 58 of the cam element 55 (provided above the hinge holder 53) that serves as a point of support of the platen cover 51 as shown in FIG. 7B, so that the hinge torque becomes zero. This means that the hinge torque biasing the platen cover 51 in its opening direction is zero in a state in which the compression coil spring 54 is slightly depressed (compressed).
Therefore, if the platen cover 51 is hastily closed from its open position, the compression coil spring 54 rapidly changes to the compressed state in which the hinge torque is zero. As a consequence, pressure balance becomes unstable and elastic force of the compression coil spring 54 causes itself to vibrate violently in the hinge holder 53 and collide with its internal wall, and this causes gradual breakage of the hinge holder 53, particularly from its lower portion.
Although not illustrated in detail, there is provided a clearance between the internal wall of the hinge holder 53 and the compression coil spring 54 to allow flexible compression and extension of the compression coil spring 54. For this reason, the compression coil spring 54 is likely to oscillate loose within the hinge holder 53, producing violent vibrations when the platen cover 51 is opened or closed.


An injection stimulation agent for water injection well and the preparation method and application thereof are described. The raw material composition of the injection stimulation agent for water injection well comprises: 5.0%-10.0% of sulfamic acid, 10.0%-20.0% of methanol, 10.0%-20.0% of tartaric acid, 10.0%-20.0% of ethylenediamine tetramethylene phosphoric acid, 5.0%-10.0% of sodium polyacrylate, 5.0%-8.0% of cocoyl hydroxyethyl sulfonic acid and the balance of water. Embodiments include a preparation method of the above injection stimulation agent. The injection stimulation agent for water injection well can be used in acidizing treatment process of the reservoir, and can be used directly. The injection stimulation agent can play the role of shrinking swelled clay at the same time of dissolving scale, and finally achieve the purpose of depressurization and enhanced production.

Due to changes in pressure, temperature and other conditions, as well as thermodynamic instability and chemical incompatibility of water, when the oil field enters the mid-to-late development of water injection development, it usually causes scaling in water injection formations, oil casings, down holes, ground equipment, and gathering lines. And the clay mineral in the reservoir adsorbs the injected water to expanding, thereby reducing the reservoir damage caused by the pore permeability of the reservoir, which may cause great damage to the low permeability layer and reduce the permeability of the reservoir, increase the inter-layer permeability difference and increase the inter-layer contradiction, resulting in high water injection pressure in the water injection well, difficult to injecting, resulting in decreased oil and gas production, increased water injection pressure, shutting down the down hole and ground equipment and even oil and gas wells.
Therefore, it is urgent to develop a new type of injection stimulation agent for water injection well that capable of dissolving scale, shrinking swelled clay and depressurizing, which can also play the role of shrinking swelled clay at the same time of dissolving scale, and finally achieve the purpose of depressurization and enhanced production.

Injection stimulation agent for water injection well and the preparation method and application thereof


A method and apparatus for providing a low cost contact burnish slider is disclosed that can remain in contact or at the initial low flying heights even as the pad surfaces and leading edges wear. The burnish slider includes a body having a leading edge and a trailing edge and an air bearing surface being configured at the leading edge of the body to cut disk asperities as the slider flies and configured away from the leading edge to maintain a flying attitude wherein the leading edge is near the data recording surface and to provide restoring forces to maintain the flying attitude. The air bearing surface may include a front pad proximal to the leading edge and a rear pad distal to the leading edge. Alternatively, the air bearing surface may include two front pads proximal to the leading edge on opposite sides of the body and two rear pads distal to the leading edge and disposed on opposite sides of the body. The front and rear pad(s) extends substantially across the body of the slider. An offset pivot is provided for constraining the moment balance of the slider to provide a low pitch flying attitude. The rear pad(s) further includes a mechanical taper proximal to the trailing edge to minimize load/unload damage. The air bearing surface configuration away from the leading edge provides a force that restores the flying attitude to the slider when an impulse lifting the leading edge is encountered.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to the manufacture of storage disks used in the computer field, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for providing a low cost contact burnish slider.
2. Description of Related Art
Hard disks are used to store information, typically coded information, utilized for data processing. An advantage of such a disk is that it can provide high-speed random access to data stored thereon. Information may be read from or written to any selected area on the memory surface of such a disk. The reading or writing of data may be performed without having to serially search the full contents of the disk to have access to a selected memory location. Generally, a hard disk is mounted with a disk drive, which includes a motor for rotating the hard disk and an actuator for moving a transducer relative to the surface of the rotating hard disk to provide access to circumferential tracks on the hard disk. A plurality of disks may be mounted on a single spindle in spaced relationship to one another and transducers are provided to interact with opposite planar surfaces of each of the disks.
The disks are typically magnetic disks which includes a magnetic surface for recording information thereon. Moreover, the heads which interact with each of the surfaces are referred to as xe2x80x9cflying heads.xe2x80x9d Thus, the flying heads do not touch the surface of the disk during the rotation of the disk. Instead, the flying heads ride on an air bearing that is created between the slider and the disk. The air bearing prevents wear of either the head or the disk surface by reducing or eliminating contacts as the head and the disk surface experience relative movement. Wear of the disk surface due to contact results in the loss of information stored on the magnetic disk.
Accordingly, in a magnetic recording file, a ceramic slider with a magnetic recording head flies at very close spacings over a magnetic recording disk, e.g., on the order of tens of nanometers. To ensure reliability of the interface between the slider and the disk surface, the magnetic recording disk should be made as smooth and free of asperities as possible to eliminate contact between the ceramic slider flying over the surface of this disk. The absence of contact due to asperities on magnetic disks at the flying height of the data heads is tested by flying specially designed sliders called glide sliders which are sensitive to asperity contact. This test is called a glide test and disks that fail this test cannot be used in the magnetic recording file.
There are a number of steps taken to make the magnetic recording disk smooth. One step is to put the layers of the magnetic media on a smooth mechanically polished disk substrate of glass, aluminum with a plated nickel phosphorous layer or some other materials that can be polished to a smooth finish. A smooth finish provides a disk with relatively few asperities, but additional processes to eliminate all asperities up to the flying height of the data heads are necessary to ensure the reliability of the slider/disk interface. These additional steps have traditionally been called disk burnishing.
One such step is slider burnish. In contrast to sliders forming the data heads in a typical disk drive, burnish sliders are designed to fly at flying heights lower than the data heads in the magnetic recording files and must have surfaces that can cut or abrade asperities. Burnish sliders have significant asperity contact and therefore have to fly at stable, low flying heights even when their air-bearing surfaces have wear on pad surfaces and edges.
The basic problem for burnish sliders is to remain in contact or at the initial low flying heights even as the pad surfaces and leading edges wear. As various air-bearing surfaces wear, the air-bearing surfaces build up an effective taper that can change the flying height of the burnish slider and render it ineffective at burnishing asperities of the disk surface. The consequence of inefficient slider burnish is that disks have asperities remaining that are detected at glide test and are rejected. In addition smaller asperities that pass glide may remain on the disk and reduce the overall reliability of the files in which these disks are used.
It can be seen that there is a need for a burnish slider that can remain in contact or at the initial low flying heights even as the pad surfaces and leading edges wear.
To overcome the limitations in the prior art described above, and to overcome other limitations that will become apparent upon reading and understanding the present specification, the present invention discloses a method and apparatus for providing a low cost contact burnish slider.
The present invention solves the above-described problems by providing a burnish slider that can remain in contact or at the initial low flying heights even as the pad surfaces and leading edges wear.
A system in accordance with the principles of the present invention includes a body having a leading edge and a trailing edge and an air bearing surface being configured at the leading edge of the body to cut disk asperities as the slider flies and configured away from the leading edge to maintain a flying attitude wherein the leading edge is near the data recording surface and to provide restoring forces to maintain the flying attitude.
Other embodiments of a system in accordance with the principles of the invention may include alternative or optional additional aspects. One such aspect of the present invention is that the air bearing surface includes a front pad proximal to the leading edge and a rear pad distal to the leading edge. Alternatively, the air bearing surface may include two front pads proximal to the leading edge on opposite sides of the body and two rear pads distal to the leading edge and disposed on opposite sides of the body.
Another aspect of the present invention is that the front and rear pad(s) extends substantially across the body of the slider.
Another aspect of the present invention is that the front pad(s) includes a small area for exerting a small air bearing force relative to a suspension load and an air bearing force created by the rear pad(s).
Another aspect of the present invention is that the rear pad(s) has an air bearing surface substantially greater than the front pad(s).
Another aspect of the present invention is that the rear pad(s) extends substantially from a midpoint of the body to the trailing edge.
Another aspect of the present invention is that an offset pivot is provided for constraining the moment balance of the slider to provide a low pitch flying attitude.
Another aspect of the present invention is that the rear pad(s) further includes a mechanical taper proximal to the trailing edge to minimize load/unload damage.
Another aspect of the present invention is that the air bearing surface configuration away from the leading edge provides a force that restores the flying attitude to the slider when an impulse lifting the leading edge is encountered.
Another aspect of the present invention is that the front pads have a width and the rear pads have a width, the width of the front and rear pads being substantially equal.
These and various other advantages and features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed hereto and form a part hereof. However, for a better understanding of the invention, its advantages, and the objects obtained by its use, reference should be made to the drawings which form a further part hereof, and to accompanying descriptive matter, in which there are illustrated and described specific examples of an apparatus in accordance with the invention.

Method and apparatus for providing a low cost contact burnish slider

International Business Machines Corporation


A dispenser for launching morsels of animal food one at a time. The dispenser includes a grip portion, a hopper for retaining a supply of morsels of animal food, and a launching chamber. A propelling mechanism, activated by a trigger mechanism associated with the grip portion, launches a morsel of food out of the launching chamber. According to one embodiment, the propelling mechanism is a plunger and at least one spring, wherein the plunger is adjustable between a loading position wherein a top portion of the plunger is substantially withdrawn from the launching chamber to permit a morsel of food to pass into the launching chamber, and a ready position wherein the plunger extends at least partially into the launching chamber to prevent additional morsels of food from passing through the inlet into the launching chamber.

1. Technical Field
This invention pertains generally to animal food dispensers and more particularly to a device for launching morsels of food to pets.
2. Background
Pet owners commonly desire to provide treats for their pets, such as dogs, cats, and the like in the form of small morsels of food. Commonly, these small morsels of food are in the form of kibble or other generally regularly sized dry portions of food. It is desirable to be able to dispense these morsels of food to the pet one at a time. Oftentimes, pet treats can be messy to handle, and it is therefore desirable for the person providing treats to a pet to avoid unnecessary handling of the treats. Additionally, it can be messy to carry around a supply of several pet treats.
Accordingly, there is a need for a pet treat dispenser that will dispense treats one at a time, will alleviate the need for a user to individually handle each treat as it is dispensed, and that will dispense the treats in an entertaining and satisfying manner for both the pet and owner.


An input device comprises: a circuit board having a magnetism sensing portion for sensing changes of magnetism; a magnet disposed above the circuit board by a prescribed height, and configured to move in a plurality of directions; and a shuttle having a magnet mounting portion for fixing the magnet at the center thereof, and having a plurality of elastic connecting portions radially disposed around the magnet mounting portion, the elastic connecting portions formed in curved lines from the center of the magnet so as to elastically support the magnet mounting portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an input device for a portable terminal configured to move a cursor, a pointer, and so on, and a portable terminal having the same.
2. Background of the Invention
In general, a portable terminal serves as a portable device having one or more functions such as voice and video calls, information input/output, and data storage.
As the portable terminal now provides many additional services beside the basic call service, a user can capture photos or moving images, reproduce music or moving image files, play games, receive broadcasting programs, and so on. The portable terminal is implemented as a multimedia player.
In order to implement complicated functions of the multimedia player, various attempts are being performed in hardware or software aspects. For instance, a user interface to allow a user to easily and conveniently search or select functions is provided.
In case of a keypad of the related art portable terminal, a plurality of keys to move a pointer or a cursor have to repeatedly pressed or touched so as to search a great deal of contents. This may cause inconvenience to a user. To solve the problem, there has been provided an input device for a portable terminal. The input device is configured to rapidly search or access desired information through manipulations to move a user's finger in different directions from the center.
However, the related art input device for a portable terminal is implemented to emphasize click feeling with respect to a finger's moving direction. This may cause an input operation not to be smoothly performed, and require great force during the input operation.

Input device and portable terminal having the same


According to various embodiments, an electronic device may include a first structure including a first plate including a first face and a second face facing away from the first face, and a second structure including a second plate, which faces the second face of the first plate and has an opening formed therein, and a first side wall extending from a first end portion of the second plate. The first structure may be movable between an open state and a closed state with respect to the second structure in a first direction with respect to the second plate. The second structure may be positioned at a first position from the first side wall when the first structure is in the closed state and positioned at a second distance, which is greater than the first distance, from the first side wall when the first structure is in the open state. The electronic device may further include a flexible touch screen display. The flexible touch screen display may include a planar portion extending across at least part of the first face, mounted to the first face, and having a first width in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, and a bendable portion extending from the planar portion and positioned from the planar portion to the inside of a space between the first side wall and the first structure when in the closed state. The bendable portion may include a first portion extending from one end of the planar portion and having the same width as the first width, and a second portion extending from the first portion, facing the second plate, and having a second width less than the first width. The second portion of the bendable portion may be exposed visually at least in part to the outside of the electronic device through the opening of the second plate. At least part of the first portion of the bendable portion may be configured to construct substantially the same plane as the planar portion when the first structure transitions from the closed state to the open state. Other various embodiments are possible.

With a significant decrease in a functional gap of each manufacturer, electronic devices have recently become slimmer to satisfy preferences of consumers, and there is competition to improve user convenience. For example, the electronic device which is gradually becoming smaller and slimmer cannot but have a reduced display area, and it may be necessary to secure a display area having a large screen to accommodate various functions.

Electronic device comprising flexible display, and electronic component arrangement structure applied to same


A hair-curling device has a plurality of substantially cylindrical handleless elements of different diameters each having a central supporting member and a plurality of radially extending bristles. One end of each element can have a hair-separating member, while the other end can have a holding member connectable with a handle. The elements can be arranged radially in engagement with each other to form an oval curl and releasably attached to each other.

The present invention relates to a hair-curling device including a plurality of substantially round hair-curling elements.
Hair-curling devices of the above-mentioned general . type are known in the art. One known device includes a plurality of handleless rollers, while another device has a plurality of brushes provided with handle. Some of the known devices are disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,967,630, 4,004,595, 4,260,871, 4,712,570. The devices of the above mentioned types have certain disadvantages. They are relatively difficult to use and special skills are needed for curling the client's or user's own hairs. A single set does not fit for any hair length and texture. The curling and processing of locks is time consuming. Since the elements have handle, they have a substantial weight (brushes). Also they have to be fixed to the hair by additional fixing elements. It is difficult to make curls of different especially oval shape.


To provide a node (an optical transmission apparatus) enabling expanding the upper limit of the number of nodes capable of automatically forming a squelch table generated in advance in a BLSR system. For the above purpose, when generating a squelch table, hop counts counted from an add node or a drop node are used in place of a node ID of the own, as information of the add node, the drop node, etc. to be transmitted and received using a squelch data link. Thus, it becomes unnecessary to transmit and receive two information sets, a source node ID and a destination node ID, as conventionally required. By this, the number of bits available for identifying nodes can be expanded, enabling expansion of the number of nodes for which a squelch table can be formed automatically.

A ring transmission system of BLSR (Bi-directional Line Switched Ring) structure having a bidirectional transmission capability (hereafter, may simply be referred to "BLSR system" depending on the cases) is realized conforming to the SONET (Synchronous Optical Network), in which, typically, a ring-shaped transmission path is configured by connecting between each plurality of optical transmission apparatuses through optical fiber lines having work channels ordinarily for use in data transmission and protection channels for standby. In normal cases, a data is transmitted from an add node in which the data is inserted into the ring to a drop node in which the data is extracted from the ring, through a path being set in the work channel. On the occurrence of any fault in the work channel, the data transmission path is switched over so as to use the protection channel, through which the data is circulated in the opposite direction to the transmission direction through the work channel, and the data is transmitted to the drop node.
Here, as a transmission mode in the BLSR system, a system termed OC (Optical Carrier)-48 is adopted. In the OC48, in a line configured of one optical fiber, 48 time slots are time multiplexed, thereby forming 48 channels per line, of which a half, i.e. 24 channels, are allotted to the work channels, while the remaining 24 channels are allotted to the protection channels. In a so-called two-fiber BLSR structure, each node is connected with two optical fibers, thus configuring a ring network, in which each optical fiber line includes 24 work channels and 24 protection channels. Further, the transmission directions of the respective optical fibers are opposite. Namely, the work channels and the protection channels of one optical fiber transmit data clockwise, while the work channels and the protection channels of the other optical fiber transmit data counterclockwise. Therefore, on the occurrence of a fault in a certain work channel, the data transmission path is switched over to a protection channel of the other optical fiber, and data are transmitted in the opposite direction to the original transmission direction through the work channel.
FIG. 1 shows a diagram illustrating an exemplary operation of the BLSR ring transmission system. In FIG. 1, solid lines represent the work channels, while dotted lines represent the protection channels. The above is also applicable to the drawings following FIG. 1, FIG. 1(a) illustrates an operation example in a normal case, while FIG. 1(b) illustrates an operation example in case a fault has occurred. The BLSR system includes four nodes 1, 2, 3 and 4, each node being connected through two optical fibers, so as to configure a ring network. Further, each optical fiber includes work channels and protection channels. Also, each node includes an E (East) side and a W (West) side, where a clockwise rotation direction is defined as E→W direction, while a counterclockwise rotation direction is defined as W→E direction.
In FIG. 1, when a data is transmitted from an add node 2 to a drop node 4, a path is set on a work channel of the optical fiber via node 1 through which the data is transmitted counterclockwise (W→E direction). In the normal case shown in FIG. 1(a), according to the above path, data is transmitted from add node 2 via node 1, and reaches drop node 4. Meanwhile, when there is any fault on the work channel, for example, between node 1 and node 4 as shown in FIG. 1(b), the transmission line is switched in node 1 to a protection channel in the other optical fiber, and the data is transmitted through the protection channel in the clockwise direction (E→W direction) via nodes 2, 3, and reaches drop node 4.
Now, in the BLSR system, when the path is set on a work channel in the ring, as information for deciding whether data can be relieved in the event of a fault on the work channel of interest, a squelch table is generated on a channel-by-channel basis in each node in which the path exists. 'Squelch' signifies processing for preventing the data (optical signal) being in transmission from being connected to an incorrect node and relieving the data, which is performed when the ring transmission path falls into a state of being divided into sections due to the fault occurrence on a ring line. More specifically, the squelch is the processing performed in each node to add an AIS (Alarm Indication Signal) to the optical signal, thereby preventing optical signal crosstalk.
To realize the above squelch function, the squelch table is provided in each node. The squelch table is a table having cross-connect information necessary for squelching stored therein. More specifically, for each work channel, data indicating a source node (add node) ID and a destination node (drop node) ID are stored. By means of the above squelch table, each node can obtain cross-connect information, regarding from which node to which node a path has been set.
FIG. 2 shows a diagram illustrating an exemplary squelch table format. As shown in FIG. 2, a squelch table (SQLTBL) retains information of the add node and the drop node in regard to a path, on a basis of each cross-connect direction (W→E direction/E→W direction) and each node side (E side/W side). Each squelch table is generated in the entire nodes in which a path is existent.
FIG. 3 shows a diagram illustrating an exemplary squelch table (SQLTBL) being set by a path exemplified in FIG. 1. There are shown the examples of the squelch tables for node 2 in FIG. 3(a), for node 3 for FIG. 3(b), and for node 4 in FIG. 3(c). Node 2 is an add node, in which optical signals (data) are inserted from the E side of node 2, and the data are transmitted in the W→E direction, and therefore, IDs of the add node and the drop node are stored in the fields on the E side of the W→E direction, as shown in FIG. 3(a). Node 1 is a through node, in which optical signals (data) are transmitted on both W side and E side of node 1, and therefore, IDs of the add node and the drop node are stored in the both fields of the E side and the W side in the W→E direction. Node 4 is a drop node, in which optical signals from node 1 are received on the W side. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 3(c), IDs of the add node and the drop node are stored in the fields of the W side in the W→E direction.
The above squelch table is automatically formed at the time of setting the cross-connect, by use of a squelch data link, which is a control channel.
FIG. 4 shows an exemplary format of a squelch data link. The squelch data link includes cross-connect information constituted of the combination of the ID (SRC_ID) of the add node (source node) with the ID (DST_ID) of the drop node (destination node). Further, the squelch data link includes areas for storing the cross-connect information on the basis of 'for transmission'/'for reception', W side/E side, and transmission direction (E→W direction/W→E direction). Each cross-connect information set is formed of 1 byte: 4 bits assigned to the add node ID, and 4 bits assigned to the drop node ID. Hereafter, a procedure for automatically forming the squelch table using the squelch data link will be described, taking a path shown in FIG. 5 as an example.
FIG. 5 shows a diagram illustrating the path for explaining the procedure for automatically forming the squelchtable. In the path shown in FIG. 5, an optical signal is added from the E side of node 2, transmitted to the W→E direction, and passed through node 1. Then, the optical signal is dropped on the W side of node 4.
FIG. 6 shows a diagram illustrating transmission/reception values of the squelch data link in each node. FIG. 6(a) is a diagram illustrating a data link state in the initial state prior to the path setting, in which the entire fields are set to "0". In FIG. 6(b), first, since node 2 recognizes that the self-node is an add node, node 2 stores the self-node ID (in this case, an absolute ID "2" of node 2) into the specified field (transmission, E side, W→E direction, and SRC_ID) of the data link format, so as to transmit to node 1 as a transmission value. The absolute ID is a proper ID assigned to each node. Here, at this time point, node 2 does not know which node is a drop node, and therefore, the corresponding destination node ID (DST_ID) is left intact at "0". On the W side of node 1, node 1 receives the transmission value from node 2, as a reception value. By this, node 1 can recognize which node is the add node. Since node 1 is not a drop node, node 1 transmits the reception value received from node 2 intact, from the E side to the W→E direction, as a transmission value of the E side.
Then, as shown in FIG. 6(c), in node 4, the transmission value from node 1 is received as a reception value on the W side of node 4. With this, node 4 can recognize which node is the add node. Further, since node 4 recognizes that the self-node is the drop node, node 4 stores the self-node ID into the specified field (for transmission, W side, W→E direction, and DST_ID) of the data link.
When storing the destination ID, a relative ID being referenced from the source node ID is used, instead of an absolute ID like the aforementioned source node ID. The relative ID is an ID representing the number of nodes ahead from the source node. Therefore, the relative ID varies as the source node varies. In the exemplary case shown in FIG. 5, since node 4, or the drop node, is located two nodes ahead from node 2, or the add node (the source node), "2" is stored as the relative ID. Because each node recognizes the arrangement order (topology) of the nodes constituting the ring network, it is possible to identify any node from the relative ID. Additionally, as to the reason for using a relative ID as destination ID, description has been given in the Patent document 1 (the official gazette of the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-141924) listed below. In short, the reason is that, by use of the relative ID, it becomes unnecessary to use "0" for identifying the drop node, thereby making it possible to transmit a different kind of information by allotting another meaning to "0".
Referring back to FIG. 6(c), a data link value representing the relative ID of node 4, the drop node, is transmitted as a transmission value from the W side of node 4, and received on the E side of node 1 as a reception value. Since node 1 is a through node, the above reception value is transmitted intact as a transmission value from the W side, which is then received on the E side of node 2. On receiving the relative ID, node 1 and node 2 can recognize which node is the drop node, based on the received relative ID and the topology information.
Thus, when recognizing the add node and the drop node in the path, each node generates the squelch table.
In the aforementioned squelch data link format shown in FIG. 4, the cross-connect information constituted of the combination of the add node (source node) and the drop node (destination node) is formed of 1 byte: 4 bits assigned to the add node ID, and 4 bits assigned to the drop node ID.
FIG. 7 shows a diagram illustrating the bit assignment of the squelch data link format. As shown in the figure, in the cross-connect information formed of 1 byte, the upper 4 bits are assigned to the source node (SRC_ID), while the lower 4 bits are assigned to the destination node (DST_ID).
As such, in the format of the current state, because the number of bits assigned to the source node and the destination node are 4 bits, respectively, the assignable values are restricted to 16 kinds, 0 to 15. Under such the restriction, the upper limit of the nodes which can exist in one BLSR ring is 16, and it is not possible to accommodate nodes exceeding 16 in one ring.
When it is intended to form a ring network accommodating more than 16 nodes, it can be realized to form a plurality of BLSR rings each having 16 nodes or less, and interconnect the rings. For such the ring interconnection system, DCP (Drop and Continue on Protection), DTP (Dual Transmission on Protection), etc. are known. As to the ring interconnection system, since detailed description has been given in the Patent document 1 (the official gazette of the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-141924) listed below, of which description will be given later, the description is omitted here.
However, in the trend of large scale networks in recent years, it has been desired to expand the upper limit of the number of nodes accommodable in one ring. Because no means is provided for relieving data in the event of a fault on the line between the rings, in contrast to the protection channels provided in the ring, data relief is intended by means of the aforementioned DCP and DTP connection systems. However, as compared to the intra-ring transmission, fault tolerance performance in the inter-ring transmission is degraded. Therefore, in order to increase the fault tolerance performance also, it is desired to expand the number of nodes accommodable in one ring.
In the Patent document 2 (the official gazette of the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-224571) listed below, there has been disclosed a technique for enabling 16 nodes or more to be accommodable in one ring. However, the technique concerned is intended to expand the number of nodes which are possible to decide a path switchover in BLSR, and it is not possible to automatically form a squelch table in regard to a ring accommodating more than 16 nodes.
Also, in the Patent document 2 (the official gazette of the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-141924), although there has been disclosed a method for setting an interring connection system such as the above-mentioned DCP and DTP, the setting method therefor is rather complicated.
Patent document 1: The official gazette of the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-141924.
Patent document 2: The official gazette of the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-224571.

Optical transmission apparatus in ring transmission system


When a face is detected from image signals, stability determination time is set for determining if the face is recognized in a stable manner, and a period of time for which the face is consecutively detected starts to be measured. Until the measured period of time exceeds the stability determination time, an AF evaluation value acquired from a normal frame set to include a face frame corresponding to the face is used to exercise TV-AF control. Once the measured time exceeds the stability determination time, TV-AF control is exercised based on AF evaluation values acquired from each of the face frame and the normal frame.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an auto focusing apparatus and method preferred for use in the case of automatic focusing for shooting, and to an image sensing apparatus, and more particularly, relates to an auto focusing apparatus and method preferred for use in the case of extracting a feature portion (in particular, a face portion) of a person and exercising focusing control on the basis of the result, and to an image sensing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In autofocus (AF) control for video cameras, etc., a TV-AF method is a primary method, in which an AF evaluation value signal is generated which represents the sharpness (contrast) of image signals generated using an image sensor, and the position of a focus lens is searched such that the AF evaluation value signal reaches its peak value.
The autofocus control based on the sharpness of video signals may, for example, in the case of photographing a person, fail to focus on the person and focus on the background instead, because of the relationship in contrast between the person as a main subject and its background.
In order to solve this problem, a technique has been developed in which autofocus control is carried out using the result of face recognition in an image sensing apparatus provided with a face recognition function for recognizing a face included in an image with image signals. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-227080 discloses a technique in which a focus detection area including a recognized face region is set to carry out focus detection. Furthermore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-215403 discloses a technique of detecting eyes of a person and carrying out focus detection on the basis of the detected eyes.
As it happens, in the case of focus detection using the face recognition function described above, focusing control for recognized faces is constantly carried out. For example, in order to focus on a face recognized by the face recognition function, a focus detection area is set to correspond to the position of the recognized face. In a case in which no face has been recognized, a focus detection area is set in a predetermined fixed position within a shot image such as, for example, in the center position of a shot image. On the basis of an AF evaluation value generated from image signals in the focus detection area, focusing control is carried out.
In a case in which the main subject is a person (hereinafter referred to as a main person), there is a possibility that face recognition will be difficult depending on the influence of change in composition or the influence of camera shake of the photographer, and it is not always true that a face is constantly recognized. In particular, in the case of shooting moving images, the main person is often moving, and the camera will thus fail in face recognition even if the camera has succeeded in face recognition in the last minute, in a case in which the main person looks away or another subject temporarily obscures the main person.
If the state in which a face is recognized and the state in which the camera has failed in face recognition alternate frequently within a short interval when the face actually exits in the same position within a shot image, it will be difficult to determine where to focus. In this case, there is a problem that there is a possibility that focusing control will be unable to be carried out in a stable manner, such as slower focusing operation for a main person desired by the photographer or the inability to carry out focusing.

Auto focusing apparatus and auto focusing method, and image sensing apparatus


A fire suppression system adapted for use in a lavatory of an aircraft. The system includes a supply coupled to one or more fluid discharge nozzles via one or more fluid flow lines. A pressure source in communication with the fluid flow lines provides pressure to assist in supplying a pressurized flow of fluid through the flow line(s) to the nozzles(s). Furthermore, the system is capable of using the potable water supply of the aircraft or it can be self-contained with its own water supply reservoir. If self-contained, the system includes a pressurized fluid source to assist in supplying water to the discharge nozzle(s).

It is generally known to include a fire suppression system in certain portions of aircraft, in particular lavatories and the waste containers within the lavatories. One fire suppression system includes a canister filled with pressurized Halon. Such Halon systems, however, are no longer desirable for fire suppression. Also, any chemical fire suppressant which is pressurized within a canister includes these similar disadvantages.
One disadvantage of the pressurized chemical systems is that the only way to determine when such a system has been discharged or is leaking is to dismantle it and weigh the bottle holding the pressurized chemical to determine if the amount present is within acceptable ranges. This requires that the system is substantially dismantled and parts of it are removed from the aircraft itself. Thus, a large amount of labor and time is required to ensure that such systems remain within acceptable operating ranges.
Another disadvantage is when the pressurized chemical fire suppression system has been discharged, the bottle holding the pressurized chemical must be replaced. These systems do not allow easy recharging of the pressurized chemical to reuse the system since they must be sent to the manufacturer for recharge. Furthermore, other portions of the system, including the nozzles and lines, may also need to be replaced after only one discharge of the fire suppression system.
Yet a further disadvantage of the pressurized chemical systems includes the chemical itself. It has become undesirable to emit such chemicals into the atmosphere and some have been banned due to ozone depletion. Therefore, it has become desirable to use a fire suppression system that does not employ a pressurized chemical such as Halon.
It would therefore be highly desirable to provide a fire suppression system that operates without introducing undesirable chemicals into the environment.
It would also be desirable to provide a fire suppression system which enables easy identification of whether the fire suppression system has been activated. Furthermore, it would be helpful if the system allowed a maintenance person to easily identify whether the system must be recharged or serviced.
It would be a further advantage to provide a fire suppression system which could be installed on an aircraft without requiring significant structural modifications to the aircraft
Still further, it would be desirable to provide a fire suppression system for any aircraft lavatory or waste container used in the lavatory, which does not require extensive machining and creation of new parts for the fire suppression system.
It is also desirable to provide a system that may be easily installed in the aircraft, and which forms a small modular apparatus that may be used with its own water supply or with the main water supply of the aircraft.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Fire suppression system and method for an interior area of an aircraft lavatory waste container fire protection


A piezoelectric sensor for bending moment measurements has measuring elements separating at their axes and electrically connecting both halves with their opposing directions of polarization. Such a sensor, mounted with its axis on the neutral bending axis of a machine structure, thus measures concurrently both tension and compression of the machine on both sides of the axis thereof.

Sensors for bending moment or torque measurements are widely used in the industry, for example for the determination of the force of a force transmission arm of a wire welding contact plant, which is also referred to as wire bonding plant.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,425,514 a process is shown, in which a conventional force or pressure sensor is brought between the welding arm and the structure of a wire welding contact plant. Finally, the welding load at the tip of the welding arms may be computed by means of the measured forces.
The disadvantage of such a device consists in the fact, that most preferable two of such sensors should be incorporated, in order to increase the measuring accuracy. However, due to reasons of economy this is done in the minority of cases.


An optical fiber strain sensor, a method of fabricating the same, and a method of sensing strain (1200). The method of strain sensing comprises providing an optical fiber having at least a first fiber Bragg grating (FBG) and a second FBG formed therein (1202); subjecting the optical fiber to a strain inducing force such that a grating period in the first FBG compresses and a grating period in the second FBG extends (1204); and optically interrogating the first and second FBG to determine peak reflection wavelengths of the first and second FBGs respectively (1206), whereby a separation between the peak reflection wavelengths of the first and second FBGs is representative of the strain induced.

Many techniques to discriminate the effects between strain and temperature in fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors have been reported, which include schemes using a tilted fiber Bragg grating demodulator [Sung Chul Kang, Se Yoon Kim etl, "Temperature-independent strain sensor system using a tilted fiber Bragg grating demodulator," IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett., vol. 10, No 10, October 1998], superimposed gratings [M. G. Xu, J. L Archambault, L. Reekie, and J. P. Dakin, "Discrimination between strain and temperature effects using dual-wavelength fiber grating sensors," Electron. Lett., vol. 30, no. 13, pp. 1085-1087, 1994], a chirped Bragg grating [M. G. Xu, L. Dong, L. Reekie, J. A. Tucknott, and J. L. Cruz, "Temperature-independent strain sensor using a chirped Bragg grating in a tapered optical fiber," Electron. Lett., vol. 31, no. 10, pp. 823-825, 1995] and a long period grating [V. Bhatia, D. Campbell, R. O. Claus, and A. M. Vengsarkar, "Simultaneous strain and temperature measurement with long-period gratings," Opt. Lett., vol. 22, no. 9, pp. 648-650, 1997], etc.
Among existing schemes, a dual head sensor is one of the most effective schemes due to its compact size and good performance [S. W. James, M. L. Dockney, and R. P. Tatam, "Simultaneous independent temperature and strain measurement using in-fiber Bragg grating sensors," Electron. Lett., vol. 32, no. 12, pp. 1133-1134, 1996] [M. Song, S. B. Lee, S. S. Choi, and B. Lee, "Simultaneous measurement of temperature and strain using two fiber Bragg gratings embedded in a glass tube," Opt. Fiber Technol., vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 194-196, 1997]. However, those known techniques are more research-based, and none of those techniques provide proper packaging methods that can cater for real applications. Although the techniques using an FBG [D. A. Jackson, A. B. Lobo Ribeiro, L. Reekie, and J. L. Archambault, "Simple multiplexing scheme for a fiber-optic grating sensor network," Opt. Lett., vol. 18, no. 14, pp. 1192-1194, 1993] or a fiber Fabry-Perot wavelength filter [A. D. Kersey, T. A. Berkoff, and W. W. Morey, "Multiplexed fiber Bragg grating strain-sensor system with a fiber Fabry-Perot wavelength filter," Opt. Lett., vol. 18, no. 16, pp. 1370-1372, 1993] as a demodulator have shown good results, they need a complete temperature-isolation of the demodulating FBG or a sophisticated calibration in fabricating the filter, respectively.
Various methods have been devised for achieving temperature independence for the wavelengths of FBGs. These methods include active systems that utilize feedback to monitor and dynamically control certain parameters, and passive devices that utilize the thermal characteristics of materials/structures to modify the response of the FBG wavelength to temperature. Passive devices are more desirable since they are much simpler and no power source and so are generally maintenance-free. The wavelength of an FBG is determined by the refractive index of the fiber and the period of the grating, both of which change with temperature. Since the refractive index is hard to control, passive temperature compensation devices generally operate by controlling the elongation with temperature of the optical fiber containing the FBG.
The control is usually accomplished by embedding the fiber containing the FBG into a mechanical structure, which is designed to release tension applied to the fiber with increasing temperature. G. W. Yoffe et al [G. W. Yoffe, Peter A. Krug, F. Ouellette, and D. A. Thomcraft, "Passive temperature-compensating package for optical fiber grating," Applied Optics, Vol. 34, No. 30, 20 Oct. 1995] has proposed a passive temperature compensating package for an optical fiber grating, in which the grating is mounted under tension in a package comprising two materials (a silica tube and an aluminum tube) with different thermal-expansion coefficients (TEC). As the temperature rises, the strain is progressively released, compensating the temperature dependence of the Bragg wavelength. A wavelength shift of 0.7 pm/° C. was achieved, but the overall structure requires precision-made components and is complicated to assemble. Another complicated design based on a similar principle to offer temperature compensation over a wider temperature range has been patented by Lin et al., "Temperature-compensating device with tunable mechanism for optical fiber gratings," (U.S. Pat. No. 6,374,015, 2002).
In contrast to the electrical strain sensors, optical fiber sensors have many advantages from the viewpoint of the principle such as small size and robustness, immunity to EMI and RFI (Radio Frequency Interference), inherent safety (explosion-proof) and accuracy. However, there remain the above mentioned problems to be overcome in the development of optical fiber sensors.
A need therefore exists to provide an optical fiber sensor that seeks to address at least one of the above mentioned problems.

Agency for Science, Technology and Research


A plurality of monitoring devices are connected to respective pieces of switchyard equipment and associated with a common communications network. A remote host computer is connected to the network to bidirectionally communicate with each monitoring device. The communications network is the existing power line used for delivering power and control signals to the switchyard equipment. Each monitoring device includes testing and/or monitoring circuitry for testing and/or monitoring one or more conditions of the piece of switchyard equipment and generating condition data therefrom, a storage device for storing the generated data, and a transmitter adapted to transmit the data to the remote location via the power line. The remote host computer receives the data transmitted to the remote location and stores the received data therein in a database format. The monitoring device can request previously sent data from the remote host computer. The monitoring includes an RS-232 port for accepting a local computer which conducts tests of the switchyard equipment, analyzes the results, compares the results with previous tests, and reprograms alarm parameters and baseline values associated with the switchyard equipment.

Electrical power substations or power distribution stations include switchyard equipment or gear, such as circuit breakers, transformers, capacitor banks, and the like which help deliver electrical power. The switchyard equipment must be regularly tested and maintained to minimize the likelihood of a failure during normal operation. Preventive maintenance and replacement schedules are typically established for such equipment, and periodic testing may be performed to detect potential problems. Examples of monitoring systems for switchyard equipment are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,270,658 (Epstein), U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,678 (Ebersohl et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,179,376 (Pomatto)
Current systems for monitoring switchyard equipment are inefficient, especially because the apparatus used to collect and process data from the equipment are not fully integrated into a single communications network. Also, in current systems, data flows from monitoring/testing devices connected to the switchyard equipment to a central location. Previously collected data stored in the central location cannot be returned to the local equipment site if a maintenance technician needs to review such data at the site. Modems, telephone lines or wireless communications means must be used to communicate the data, thereby necessitating the maintenance of a separate communications network.
Current systems for monitoring switchyard equipment are not capable of performing comprehensive tests of certain switchyard equipment, such as circuit breakers, without using auxiliary test equipment. For example, current monitoring systems do not have a built-in excitation voltage generator for use in testing a plural phase circuit breaker to obtain breaker response time. Current systems are also not capable of retrieving previous test data for on-site analysis of current and previous test data.
Accordingly, there is still a need for a switchyard equipment monitoring system which does not require maintenance of a separate communications network between the equipment and a remote data collection location, which can bidirectionally communicate data between monitoring devices connected to the equipment and the remote data collection location, which collects and organizes the data in a versatile database format, and which allows the data to be manipulated at the equipment, as well as at the remote data collection location, and which allows comprehensive tests to be performed on the equipment without the use of auxiliary test equipment. The present invention fills these needs.

Switchyard equipment monitoring system and communications network therefor


In an electronically controlled transmission adapted to control operation of a torque converter clutch in softlock and hardlock modes, a test to determine whether the clutch is operating with an acceptable slip magnitude in a control region or whether it is operating with a high level of slip or instability outside the control region. The test distinguishes periods of instability associated with deterioration of the clutch from transients associated with normal operating conditions and background noise. An instability counter, interval clock and warm-up cycle counter are used to determine an appropriate point for discounting prior events and reentering the control test. Continuous slip mode of operation of the clutch is disabled entirely after a predetermined number of verified unstable events have occurred.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of automatic transmission control, especially to a test for instability in the operation of a torque converter bypass clutch.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An automatic transmission torque converter produces a hydrodynamic connection between an impeller wheel, driven by an internal combustion engine, and a turbine wheel, connected to the input shaft of the transmission. A bypass clutch alternately driveably connects the impeller and turbine by forcing surfaces of the clutch into friction engagement and releases clutch connection of the impeller and turbine so that the turbine is driven hydrodynamically by the impeller.
The bypass clutch or lock-up clutch can be operated by alternating its status among fully disengaged, fully engaged, and continuous slip mode wherein the rotational speed of the turbine is regulated in relation to the speed of the impeller by changing the magnitude of hydraulic pressure applied to the clutch. Hydraulic fluid is an actuating medium for establishing the operating condition of the clutch. The magnitude of the hydraulic pressure supplied to the clutch to produce the fully engaged condition is substantially higher than the pressure required to develop clutch torque capacity marginally sufficient to connect the turbine and impeller. To produce continuous slip operating condition of the bypass clutch, the hydraulic pressure supplied to the bypass clutch is modulated at moderate frequency so that the clutch friction surfaces continually engage and release. Operating a converter clutch with continuous relative motion can alter the operating characteristics of the friction surfaces of the clutch over a period of time, and can cause unstable operation of the clutch.
Softlock operation of the clutch improves driveability, reduces heat generation, improves fuel economy and reduces noise and vibrations. Converter clutch instability can be detected by the vehicle operation by its adverse effect on driveability.
Various techniques have been devised to monitor operation of a torque converter lock-up clutch and take corrective action to assure proper performance under certain conditions. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,259 describes a system for fail safe operation of a torque converter lock-up clutch. It provides for the clutch to be disengaged when neither a first nor a second control pressure is applied, and to be fully engaged when control pressure is applied and governor pressure is above a first magnitude. Application of the first or second control pressures result when governor pressure reaches a first magnitude and either a first actuating pressure is present or throttle pressure is lower than a specified magnitude.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,689 describes a fail safe system for controlling an automatic transmission that involves detecting an abnormal relationship between the output shaft speed of the transmission and either the engine speed or the speed of a component of the transmission. When the abnormality is present, the magnitude of hydraulic pressure in the control circuit is increased so that slippage of clutches and brakes in the transmission is eliminated.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,175 describes a system for producing a signal indicating a malfunction in the operation of an automatic transmission. After the control system produces a signal that would ordinarily cause an offgoing clutch to become fully exhausted and clutch slip has not occurred after the signal is produced the number of no slip clutch conditions that occur within a predetermined time are counted, compared to a predetermined number, and used to produce a failure signal when the count exceeds a predetermined number. Slip condition of the clutch is determined by monitoring and comparing turbine speed and the output speed of the transmission.

Stability test for slip operation of torque converter clutch


One embodiment of a system includes a volume hologram for dispersing a general diffuse beam of light provided as input; a detector for receiving and detecting light dispersed by the volume hologram; and a Fourier transforming lens for forming the Fourier transform of the light dispersed from the volume hologram onto the detector. Other systems and methods are also provided.

Compact and efficient spectrometers are essential for biological and environmental sensing applications in which optical signals of interest are usually very weak and portability is highly desired. Due to their wavelength selectivity, gratings have been used in conventional spectrometers. For example, multiple wavelength channels of a spatially coherent input source can be separated by rotating a grating. For a spatially incoherent source, adding a narrow slit and lens (i.e., to make a collimated beam) in front of the grating is required to avoid the ambiguity between the incident wavelength and the incident angle. However, since most of the input power is blocked by the slit and some space is needed to add the lens, conventional spectrometers are inefficient and bulky.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.

Fourier transform volume holographic spectrometer


A flexible optical connector suitable for use in an optical backplane for interconnecting optical circuit boards, and methods of making the optical connector, are disclosed. The flexible optical connector comprises a plurality of waveguides on two or more levels providing a plurality of light paths that allow light communication between optical circuit boards. The optical connector can be manufactured separately from the backplane and thereafter mounted on the backplane. The backplane of the present invention may also have a mounting structure for removably retaining and positioning optical circuit board and may, optionally, include electrical traces for providing electrical interconnections between the circuit boards.

The growth of networks capable of handling high data-rate transfer of voice and data has increased the demand and performance requirements for optical networks. While information can be transferred optically over large distances, there is generally a need for changing optical signals to electrical signals and vice versa, requiring structures and devices for interfacing the optical components with electrical and electro-optical components. Thus for example, optical networks include amplifiers for strengthening optical beams, switches for routing signals, and converters for transducing, as necessary, electrical and optical signals at either end of the network. These functions are performed by devices that include optical, electro-optical and electrical components.
It is advantageous to use a common backplane to interconnect optical and electro-optical components on two or more circuit boards. Such circuit boards may be designed for optical communications via the edge of the boards and may, therefore, include one or more edge-mounted electro-optic devices or edge-terminating optical waveguides. Examples of optical circuit boards are described in co-owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,611,635 to Yoshimura et al., incorporated herein by reference. One requirement of a backplane for optical interconnecting between optical circuit boards is the need to provide for complex signal routing.

Flexible optical waveguides for backplane optical interconnections


A crystal oscillator circuit includes: a crystal resonator circuit, generating an oscillation signal; an inverting amplification circuit, whose amplifier input end is coupled to receive the oscillation signal, in which an inverting amplifier outputs an inverting amplified output signal; a bias circuit, having a bias circuit input end and a bias circuit output end, in which the bias circuit output end generates a bias circuit output signal controlled by the bias circuit input end, and the bias circuit output signal is coupled to a second control end of the inverting amplification circuit; and a peak detection circuit, comparing the inverting amplified output signal with a reference signal, regulating a peak detector output signal, and feeding the peak detector output signal into the bias circuit input end.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a crystal oscillator, and in particular, to an amplitude controlled crystal oscillator having a peak detector, to adapt to a wider dynamic frequency range and a wider crystal indicator range.
2. Related Art
The oscillator is a component critical to the performance of modern electronic devices. Digital timepieces, computers, cameras, televisions, mobile phones, tablet computers, communications devices and the like all use a crystal oscillator to generate a desired clock signal.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional crystal oscillator circuit. The oscillator circuit includes an inverting amplifier consisting of a PMOS transistor M2, a resistor R13 and an NMOS transistor M1 and a feedback network consisting of, for example, a quartz crystal, a capacitor Cp and a resistor Re. The feedback network outputs a feedback signal to an input end of the inverting amplifier, thereby forming a closed loop feedback system.
FIG. 2 illustrates an oscillator circuit having a peak detector. The oscillator circuit includes a peak detector, for comparing a peak of an output signal of an oscillator and a reference voltage. When the oscillator circuit starts, amplitude of the output signal of the oscillator is lower, the peak detector outputs a higher voltage signal, and the voltage signal conducts the transistor M12, and applies a greater bias current to the inverting amplifier through a current mirror circuit consisting of M11 and M3, to facilitate the work of the oscillator. When the oscillator circuit is more stable, the peak detector detects a higher oscillator output voltage signal, thereby applying a smaller bias current, so that the stabilized oscillator output voltage is maintained at a lower level. The circuit has advantages of quickly starting and avoiding excessive consumption of energy after stabilization. However, the circuit has disadvantages of large noise and large jitter.

Crystal oscillator circuit having low power consumption, low jitter and wide operating range


Existing devices for controlling flow in water and wastewater treatment systems utilize mechanical valves, adjustable height weirs and gates which are expensive to manufacture and maintain, and in some circumstances such as during winter, difficult to operate. A relatively simple substitute for such devices to control the flow from one zone or area to another includes a casing defining a weir chamber, a submerged weir in the chamber, an inlet on one side of the casing for introducing liquid into the chamber, a liquid outlet from the chamber on the other side of the weir, connected to a second zone or area at a flooded level below the liquid level in the second zone or area, and a duct in the casing for introducing gas under pressure into and out of the chamber for actively controlling the liquid level in the chamber and consequently the flow of liquid over the weir between the inlet and outlet. The use of the above described apparatus involves a novel method of controlling the flow of liquid over a weir.

1. Field Of The Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for controlling the flow of a fluid from one zone or area to another, and in particular, to a submerged weir apparatus for effecting such control.
While the apparatus of the present invention is primarily intended for use in wastewater systems, it will be appreciated that the apparatus can also find use in other systems involving the flow of fluids such as between chemical reaction, water treatment, or other zones. The usual method for controlling the flow of water in wastewater treatment systems involves the use of mechanical valves and gates which are relatively expensive to manufacture and maintain, and which may cause significant head loss and unstable hydraulic patterns in the systems. Moreover, it is often difficult to use valves and gates for controlling flow rates between zones or areas of baffled reactors. Finally, it is not economically feasible to use existing systems for accurately and evenly distributing water between zones with flow over long weir lengths, while simultaneously controlling the flow between one treatment zone or area and another zone or area.
2. Discussion Of The Prior Art
The present invention is based on the knowledge that fluid pressure can be used to control liquid distribution in wastewater treatment systems. Searches in the North American patent literature disclosed U.S. Pat. Nos. 796,672, issued to A. Priestman on Aug. 8, 1905; U.S. Pat. No. 899,750, issued to S.F. Miller on Nov. 17, 1908; U.S. Pat. No. 1,063,595, issued to L.E. Rein on Jun. 3, 1913; U.S. Pat. No. 2,823,692, issued to E. Riis-Carstensen on Feb. 18, 1958; U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,629, issued to T.H. Morgan et al on Apr. 5, 1977; U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,060, issued to C.D. Hughes on May 17, 1977; U.S. Pat. No. 4,596,658, issued to M.G. Madt on Jun. 24, 1986; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,602, issued to M.H. Anderson on Nov. 28, 1989. These patents teach the use of vacuum and/or gas pressure for controlling the flow of water between chambers or zones or out of treatment systems. In general, the patented apparatuses are not economically feasible, somewhat complicated or rely on inaccurate, passive, and ineffective methods to control flow. In contradistinction, the present invention is low cost, relatively simple to operate, much more effective for flow control, and involves active flow control using a gas under pressure which can be combined with an external flow or depth of water detector and a connected control unit to actively adjust and control the gas pressure and hence accurately control the flow at all times.


Disclosed is a compound having the formula a) or b); a: R=CH3; b: R=CH2CH3, and its use in the prevention and/or treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

The flowering tops of Hypericum perforatum (St John's wort) contain a large number of structurally different substances which act directly or indirectly on the central nervous system. Among said substances, hyperforin, a phloroglucinol derivative, is one of the main constituents, together with adhyperforin, of the lipophilic fraction obtained from the flowering tops of the plant (Erdelmeier C. A. J., Pharmacopsychiatry 31, 2, 1998).
Hyperforin has formed the subject of numerous studies, which have demonstrated a potent antidepressant activity (Laakman G. et al., Pharmacopsychiatry 31, 54, 1998; Butterweck V. et al., Life Science 73, 627, 2003).
Moreover, salts with inorganic or ammonium cations of hyperforin and adhyperforin have been described as having an important action for the prophylaxis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease (WO99/41220).
It is also known from the literature that hyperforin is highly unstable under the usual extraction and storage conditions, and derivatives have been devised to improve its stability (WO99/41220, WO99/64388).
In particular, more stable hyperforin and adhyperforin derivatives have been developed by total reduction of the double bonds of the isoprene chains and reduction to hydroxyl groups of the keto groups in the 1 and 10 positions (Bystrov N. S. et al., Bioorg. Khim. 4, 791, 1978). These derivatives have proved not only more stable, but also much more effective as antidepressants, anxiolytics and anti-neurodegenerative drugs (WO03/091194).
It has now surprisingly been found that the hyperforin and adhyperforin derivatives obtainable by reduction to hydroxy groups of the ketones in the 1 and 10 position described in WO03/091194 can in turn, by hydroxylation followed by deisopropylation, give rise to novel products which cross the blood-brain barrier more efficiently and inhibit neuropathological damage induced by Aβ fibrils in different experimental models.

Hyperforin derivatives and their use in Alzheimer's disease


In a semiconductor device, a plurality of wiring layers each patterned in a required shape are laminated over both surfaces of an insulating base material with insulating layers interposed therebetween, and electrically connected to one another through via holes piercing the insulating layers in the direction of thickness. A chip is mounted in an embedded manner in one insulating layer over at least one surface of the insulating base material. Electrodes of the chip are connected to one wiring layer. Through holes are formed in portions of the insulating base material, the portions corresponding to a mount area for the chip. Via holes are formed on outwardly extending portions (pad portions) of the wiring layer connected to a conductor layer formed at least on the inner walls of the through holes.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device. In particular, the present invention relates to a semiconductor device having a package structure in which a chip, such as a semiconductor element or electronic component, is mounted within a wiring board. In the following description, for convenience, a semiconductor device in which a chip is mounted within a wiring board is also referred to as a "chip-embedded package."
(b) Description of the Related Art
In recent years, for printed wiring boards, weight reduction is required, and finer and denser wiring is required in order to mount a ball grid array (BGA), a pin grid array (PGA), a chip-sized package (CSP), or the like, which have been miniaturized and come to have a large number of pins. However, since conventional printed wiring boards have needed large areas for the formation of via holes, flexibility in design has been limited, and thus finer wiring has been difficult to realize. In view of this background, the commercialization of printed wiring boards (build-up multilayer wiring boards) using a build-up process has been recently advanced. As for the build-up multilayer wiring boards, various types can be fabricated depending on a combination of the material for an interlayer insulating layer and the via hole formation process. In a basic process thereof, conductor layers are stacked by sequentially repeating the formation of an insulating layer, the formation of via holes for interlayer connection in the insulating layer, and the formation of a conductor layer (patterned interconnections, pads, and the like) including the insides of the via holes. In a multilayer wiring board obtained using such a build-up process, even a semiconductor element (chip) having an advanced integration degree and the like can be mounted thereon.
On the other hand, as a technique of increasing the integration degree and versatility of a semiconductor device, a package structure has been proposed which is intended to form a required circuit block by incorporating a semiconductor element (chip) in a board or stacking semiconductor elements (chips) in a board. In this package structure, since the chip (or chips) is embedded in the board, via holes for vertical interlayer connection cannot be formed in a region corresponding to a mount area for the chip. Accordingly, via holes for interlayer connection are formed in a region around the region corresponding to the mount area for the chip.
Further, in an existing build-up multilayer wiring board into which a chip is incorporated, via holes for interlayer connection are formed on through holes formed in a core substrate. Namely, as in the case of the via holes, the through holes are also formed in a region around the region corresponding to the mount area for the embedded chip. FIG. 11 shows one example thereof. In this drawing, reference numeral 1 denotes an insulating core substrate; reference numeral 2 denotes a plated layer of metal (e.g. copper (Cu)) which is formed on the inner wall and an end portion of a through hole TH formed in the core substrate 1; reference numeral 3 denotes resin (e.g. epoxy resin) as an insulator filled inside the plated layer 2 in the through hole TH; reference numeral 4 denotes a conductor (e.g. Cu) layer thickly formed (approximately 50 μm) on the through hole TH; reference numeral 5 denotes a build-up resin as an interlayer insulating layer; and reference numeral 6 denotes a wiring layer formed by filling the inside of a via hole VH formed on the conductor layer 4 on the through hole TH. The wiring layer 6 is formed in a required pattern shape and connected to electrodes of an embedded chip (approximately 50 μm in thickness). The purpose of thickly forming the conductor layer 4 is to match the height of the surface thereof to that of the mounted chip.
Technologies relating to the above-described conventional technology include, for example, as described in Japanese unexamined Patent Publication (JPP) 2001-177045, a semiconductor device in which a wiring pattern is formed on a core substrate with an insulating layer interposed therebetween, and in which a semiconductor element having a thickness smaller than that of the insulating layer is electrically connected to the wiring pattern by flip-chip bonding and is mounted in an internal portion where the wiring pattern is formed.
In the conventional chip-embedded package, as described above, as illustrated in FIG. 11, the through hole TH of the core substrate is formed in a region around the embedded chip. Further, the via hole VH is formed on the through hole TH (filled resin 3) with the thickly-formed conductor layer 4 interposed therebetween. In this case, the conductor (part of the wiring layer 6) to be filled in the via hole VH is not formed in the same step, as the conductor layer 4 is, to be integrated therewith, but is formed on the conductor layer 4 after the formation of the conductor layer 4, the deposition of the build-up resin 5, and the formation of the via hole VH.
Accordingly, where a temperature cycling test (e.g. test in which the following cycle is repeated several times: the environmental temperature for the package is raised to +125° C. and maintained for a certain period of time, then rapidly lowered to −125° C. and maintained for a certain period of time, and then rapidly raised to +125° C. and maintained for a certain period of time) is performed on the above-described structure, there is a possibility in that, due to thermal stress caused by temperature changes, cracks will appear at the connection interface between the conductor layer 4 and the conductor (6) in the via hole VH which is in contact with the conductor layer 4 (see FIG. 11). This is not so serious if a portion in which cracks appear is merely part of the connection interface. However, in the case where cracks spread all over the connection interface (i.e. rupture occurs at the connection interface), there arises a disadvantage in that the electrical connection between the conductor layer 4 and the wiring layer 6 is not secured. This results in a deterioration in the reliability of the semiconductor device as a final product.
Moreover, there has been the following problem: during the temperature cycling test, there occurs a phenomenon (so-called "pumping") in which the resin 3 in the through hole TH expands and contracts by repeating thermal expansion and thermal contraction, and the pumping acts as a trigger and makes the above-described cracks more easy to appear. Further, such pumping can occur not only in the resin 3 in the through hole TH, but also in the build-up resin 5. Accordingly, there has also been the following problem: depending on the degree of the expansion or contraction of resin caused by pumping, the wiring layer 6 formed on the build-up resin undulates, and, in some cases, cracks in wiring are caused.


Co-cured blends of fluoroelastomers of tetrafluoroethylene-propylene copolymer with cure site monomer and terpolymers of Vinylidene fluoride (VDF), Hexafluoropropylene (HFP) and Tetrafluoroethylene (TFE) with peroxide as initiator and coagent TAIC as crosslinker show improved curing performance, improved mechanical properties and improved compression set as well. The co-cured fluoroelastomers show improved chemical resistance to the solvent aging systems and better retention of mechanical properties after aging at high temperature in the solvents system.

Copolymers of tetrafluoroethylene (TFE) and propylene (PP) (FEPM) are known to exhibit excellent resistance to nucleophilic attack (such as primary and secondary amines), but exhibit relatively poor resistance to many hydrocarbons, especially aromatic hydrocarbons. These copolymers are also known for relatively poor processing ability and molding ability.
It would be advantageous to develop novel fluoroelastomers with improved chemical resistance and compression set.

Co-cured fluoroelastomers with improved chemical resistance