A new cultivar of Ceanothus named xe2x80x98Peradoxe2x80x99 that is characterized by an upright habit, small rounded pale blue flowers, variegated foliage with large dark green centers, and increased vigor over other variegated varieties, setting it apart from all other existing varieties of Ceanothus.

Ceanothus thyrsiflorus.
xe2x80x98Peradoxe2x80x99.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Ceanothus known botanically as a Ceanothus thyrsiflorus and referred to hereinafter by the cultivar name xe2x80x98Peradoxe2x80x99. The parent plant Ceanothus thyrsiflorus xe2x80x98Zanzibarxe2x80x99 (unpatented) was discovered at Pershoe College of Horticulture as a sport of Ceanothus thyrsiflorus. The present invention was discovered by the inventor in August 1996 at Littlehampton, England as a single naturally occurring branch sport on a plant of xe2x80x98Zanzibarxe2x80x99 amongst a large crop being grown for retail sales.
xe2x80x98Peradaxe2x80x99 is an evergreen shrub distinguished by golden yellow variegated foliage, small round pale blue flowers and increased vigor over other variegated varieties. The closest comparison plant is the parent xe2x80x98Zanzibarxe2x80x99. The new invention is distinguishable from the parent plant by increased vigor, smaller flowers, variegated leaves that exhibit large irregularly shaped dark green centers with golden yellow margins, and stiff lateral branches that grow out at a 45xc2x0 angle, in contrast to xe2x80x98Zanzibarxe2x80x99 which exhibits branches that arch over in a lax habit.
The new cultivar was first asexually propagated by the inventor at Littlehampton, England in 1996. Asexual propagation was accomplished using vegetative tip cuttings. Since that time, under careful observation, successive generations have been determined stable and uniform.
The following represent the distinguishing characteristics of the new Ceanothus cultivar xe2x80x98Peradoxe2x80x99. In combination these traits set xe2x80x98Peradoxe2x80x99 apart from all other existing varieties of Ceanothus. xe2x80x98Peradoxe2x80x99 has not been tested under all possible conditions and phenotypic differences may be observed with variations in environmental, climatic, and cultural conditions, however, without any variance in genotype.
1. Ceanothus xe2x80x98Peradoxe2x80x99 exhibits variegated foliage with large, irregular dark green centers and golden yellow margins.
2. Ceanothus xe2x80x98Peradoxe2x80x99 exhibits increased vigor over the parent plant as well as other variegated varieties of Ceanothus.
3. Ceanothus xe2x80x98Peradoxe2x80x99 exhibits small rounded, pale blue flower heads in spring.
4. Ceanothus xe2x80x98Peradoxe2x80x99 exhibits an upright habit with stiff lateral branches growing out at a 45xc2x0 angle.
5. Ceanothus xe2x80x98Peradoxe2x80x99 is 2 meters in width and 4 meters in height at maturity.
6. Ceanothus xe2x80x98Peradoxe2x80x99 is hardy to minus 6xc2x0 Centigrade.

Ceanothus plant named xe2x80x98Peradoxe2x80x99


A mail stack unloading device for use in a mail stacker to unload a stack of mail pieces in the mail stacker. The mail stacker has a pair of stack supports, located at a small angle from a vertical line, for supporting the mail stack as the mail pieces enter the mail stacker along a stacking path when the stack supports are in a stacking position. The stacker also has a platform or tongue connected to the stack supports such that the platform is positioned beneath the mail stack below the stacking path. During unloading, the platform is caused to move upward beyond the stacking path in order to engage with the stack, allowing the stack to be lifted. Then the stack supports are caused to forward beyond the vertical line in order to tip the lifted stack into a container.

A mail stacker is usually a part of a mailing machine, addressing equipment or mail creation equipment. Mail stackers can be classified into two types: top stackers and bottom stackers. In a top stacker, a later mail piece is stacked on top of the earlier ones. In a bottom stacker, a later mail piece is placed at the bottom part of the stack. In some applications such as addressing and inserting systems, mail pieces are required to be stacked in a certain serial order. For example, mail pieces are required to be stacked in a forward serial order in order to be eligible for a postal discount. The addressing information is typically printed on top of the mail pieces.
For mail pieces printed in a 1-to-N order, the topmost mail piece in a mail stack having a forward serial order is always printed earlier than the rest of the stack. However, top stackers will reverse the order of the mail pieces to an N-to-1 order while stacking. In order to keep a forward serial order when using a top stacker, an application software can be used to reverse the serial order when addressing. The use of order-reversing software adds considerable complexity to the mail processing system, especially for jam recovery.
Thus, in a mail system requiring a forward serial order, it is advantageous and desirable to use a bottom stacker to reverse the serial order while stacking.
Bottom stackers are known in the art. For example, Keane et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,398,204 B1) discloses a belt stacker wherein mail pieces are separately fed by an edge feeder to a stacking deck on the edge of the stacker at the upstream end of the stacking deck. The mail pieces already in the stack are moved by a conveyer belt toward the downstream, away from the edge feeder. At the same time, a stack support is used to keep the stacked mail pieces in an upright position while they are moved downstream. The stack support must be moved toward the downstream end to allow additional room for the stack to grow. In Keane et al., the stack support is either manually relocated or moved by the conveyor belt. Marsullo et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,709,525) also discloses a bottom stacker, wherein a pusher mechanism is used for sealing the incoming envelope and pushing the sealed envelope onto a horizontal deck for stacking. In order to keep the stacked envelope in an upright position, a stack support is placed on top of the stack. The stack support is urged by a spring disposed on the back side of the stack support against a rear wall of the stacking deck.
This type of bottom stacker requires a large footprint in that the size of the stacker is determined mainly by the size of the stack, and not the size of the mail pieces in the stack.
It should be noted that during normal operation of a bottom stacker, an operator may unload small portions of the stack from the top of the stack as mail continues to be added to the bottom of the stack. This is typically done one handful of stacked mail at a time. One handful may be a portion of the stack between one and five inches high. Stacker unloading may constitute the operator removing small segments of a larger stack from the top of the stack multiple times and placing each small segment of the stack in a storage container. Typically, the stacker can continue to operate while this unloading operation is underway.
For high speed stacking systems, the option of unloading the small portions from the top of the stack may require continual operator attention. Alternately, the operator can choose to wait until a larger stack has accumulated in the stacker and unload larger and heavier stacks from the stacker less frequently. If the operator chooses to unload the stacker less frequently, but in larger batches, it will save the operator substantial amount of time, thus freeing the operator to attend to other tasks while the system continues to operate. However, if the stacker unloading operation requires that the operator shut down the stacking system while unloading it, then both the operator and the system will be less efficient. It will be desirable to unload large stacks without having to shut down the system.
It is, however, commonly known by mail equipment operators that picking up and handling large stacks of mail pieces is often an awkward and unwieldy process, requiring a high degree of operator skill and experience. Large vertical stacks of mail pieces often have an undesirable aspect ratio of height to cross sectional area, and the stack tends to be quite unstable when it is not supported on an edge. This stack instability occurs when an operator attempts to pick up and handle a large, unsupported segment of a vertical stack of mail. When an inexperienced operator attempts to pick up a larger stack of mail, it is quite common for the stack to collapse, or portions of the stack to fall away from other portions of the stack, and thus the mail pieces are no longer in the correct order. The operator must take time to restore the stack back into the correct order. Because of the frequency of such stack collapse problems, mail workers find it desirable to handle mail in trays. For the USPS, a typical mail tray will handle a stack of mail that is approximately 24 inches long. It is thus advantageous and desirable to provide a method and device to assist unloading of stacked mail without the risk of collapsing the stack during the unloading operation. It is further advantageous to unload up to approximately 24″ stacks of mail directly into a standard mail handling container such as the mail trays used by the USPS as part of their standard mail handling processes.

Method and device for unloading stacked mailpieces


Apparatus for applying additional momentum to the movement of a body adapted to reciprocate or flex through a substantially linear or arcuate path, notably of increasing the impact velocity of a linearly travelling weight upon an object. The apparatus includes an element for retracting the body from its rest position, notably for retracting a weight from the point of impact between the weight and an object located at the rest position of the weight and an element for biasing the body towards its rest position, notably for urging the weight towards the object so as to impart additional impact velocity to the weight as it travels toward the object. The apparatus is characterized in that: a) the element for biasing the body towards its rest position is an elastic polymeric material which is retained under tension or compression when the body is in its rest position; and b) the biasing element is one which undergoes strain crystallization. Also a method for breaking or penetrating a surface using the apparatus.

Typically, pile drivers and hydraulic hammers incorporate a weight which is carried upon a guide frame for reciprocating travel. The weight is raised against gravity by an hydraulic ram to which high pressure fluid is applied to extend the ram. When the weight has been raised to the desired extent, the high pressure fluid is vented from the ram and the weight is allowed to fall under gravity upon the pile, ground compaction foot, ground breaker tool or other object upon which the weight is to act. The hydraulic ram can act directly upon the weight, for example as when the weight is attached to the piston rod of the ram and is raised as the piston within the cylinder of the hydraulic ram is raised. Alternatively, the hydraulic ram can act indirectly upon the weight, as when the weight is attached to the piston rod of the hydraulic cylinder by a rope which passes over a pulley at or adjacent the top of the guide frame or as when the hydraulic cylinder acts upon the end of a lever arm connected to the weight.
The operation of the hydraulic ram serves to raise the weight against gravity to the desired extent to achieve the desired impact blow upon the object being acted upon when the ram is allowed to contract. The object can be, for example the top of a pile which is to be driven into the ground, a ground compaction foot which is used to compact or level the ground, or an earth or concrete breaker tool which it is desired to subject to a linearly acting impact blow.
For convenience the term hydraulic hammer will be used herein to denote apparatus of the above type in general in which an object is subjected to a linearly acting impulse blow by a weight which is reciprocated by means of an hydraulic ram.
The size of the impact blow will depend upon the mass of the weight and the velocity of the weight at the moment of impact with the object being struck. With a weight which is raised against gravity by a single acting hydraulic ram and falls under gravity, the velocity will depend upon the height to which the weight is raised. Practical considerations may limit the mass which can be raised by a given hydraulic ram and the height to which the apparatus can extend.
It has therefore been proposed to use a double acting ram in which the weight is raised by one part of the cycle of operation of the ram (the rising stroke of the ram) and then positively driven in the opposite direction by a second part of the cycle of the ram operation (the falling stroke of the ram). Whilst such double acting rams may achieve a greater impact blow due to the positive drive imparted to the weight by the ram during the falling stroke of the ram, the need to regulate the flow of hydraulic fluid to and from the ram introduces complexity in the fluid control system and requires the use of high and low pressure accumulators to enable the high flow rates of high and low pressure to and from the ram cylinder to ensure an adequate rate of motion of the weight on its upward and downward travel and to enable a rapid rate of repetition of the impact blows to be achieved.
The energy available at impact of the weight upon the object is dependent upon the velocity which the weight attains at impact. Typically, in a hammer as used in a rock breaker or drill, the weight which is being driven by the double acting ram is comparatively light, often no more than the weight of the object against which it is being driven. In order for such a light weight to acquire a high energy in a short distance of travel, the weight must be subjected to high acceleration by the ram. This also results in a short time for the ram to complete its stroke. As a result, particularly in such applications of an hydraulic ram, it is necessary to ensure that fluid is fed to the ram at high pressures to achieve the necessary acceleration and that the rate of flow of fluid to and from the ram is high to allow the ram piston to move rapidly within the ram cylinder. This requires the use of large and powerful fluid pumping systems and the use of high and low pressure accumulators to achieve the desired flow rates of high and low pressure fluids to and from the cylinder of the ram. These components have added to the weight, size and complexity of the hammer assembly, over and above the hydraulic ram and the weight. Where the hammer is to be transportable, it is necessary to provide support machines, for example cranes or tractors to support and carry the hammer mechanism over the ground at sites where the hammer is used, for example to achieve some form of work on or in the ground, for example soil compaction, pile driving, rock drilling or concrete slab break up. The need for large support machines adds to the cost and complexity of the equipment.
In place of a double acting ram, it has been proposed to lift the weight against a coil compression spring using a single acting hydraulic ram, so that the spring provides a positive downward force when the lifting of the weight by the ram has been completed and the weight is released for downward travel. Such a spring has to be large and heavy to provide the necessary downward force to be practicable and provides little benefit over the use of a conventional single acting ram powered mechanism which achieves the same impact blow with the same weight.
We have now devised a mechanism by which a single acting hammer mechanism can readily be provided with additional energy storage means to provide the driving force on the falling stroke of the hydraulic ram and thus enhance the velocity of the weight upon impact with the object which it is to strike. The invention thus provides an alternative to the use of a double acting hydraulic ram, notably in applications such as rock or concrete drills or breakers, using a single acting hydraulic ram. The invention reduces the need for and/or the size and weight of any high and/or low pressure hydraulic accumulators which may be required as compared to a double acting ram and enables a lighter and simpler overall hammer mechanism to be achieved, thus reducing the required size and weight of the support machine whilst achieving an impact blow significantly greater than that achieved using a single acting ram raising the weight to the same height.
The invention can also be applied to testing of rigid structures in which the structure is deflected by an applied deflection force from its rest position against a biassing load force, is released at a predetermined degree of deflection, and is allowed to flex repeatedly under the biassing force and the opposing forces due to the rigidity of the structure and/or due to the cyclically applied opposed deflection forces. For example, the invention can be applied to the fatigue testing of elongated structures, such as aircraft wings, which are subjected to cyclically varying deflection forces whilst being subjected to a continuous biassing force.


An automated camera system is disclosed herein. The automated camera system includes a camera configured to capture an image of an object; at least one fluidic lens disposed between the camera and the object, the at least one fluidic lens having a chamber that receives a fluid therein; a fluid control system operatively coupled to the at least one fluidic lens, the fluid control system configured to insert, or remove, an amount of the fluid into, or from, the chamber of the at least one fluidic lens; and a Shack-Hartmann sensor assembly operatively coupled to the fluid control system, the Shack-Hartmann sensor assembly by means of the fluid control system configured to automatically control the amount of the fluid in the chamber of the at least one fluidic lens, thereby automatically focusing the camera so that the image captured of the object is in focus.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to an automated camera system. More particularly, the invention relates to an automated camera system with one or more fluidic lenses.
2. Background
A normal emmetropic eye includes a cornea, lens and retina. The cornea and lens of a normal eye cooperatively focus light entering the eye from a far point, i.e., infinity, onto the retina. However, an eye can have a disorder known as ametropia, which is the inability of the lens and cornea to focus the far point correctly on the retina. Typical types of ametropia are myopia, hypermetropia or hyperopia, and astigmatism.
A myopic eye has either an axial length that is longer than that of a normal emmetropic eye, or a cornea or lens having a refractive power stronger than that of the cornea and lens of an emmetropic eye. This stronger refractive power causes the far point to be projected in front of the retina.
Conversely, a hypermetropic or hyperopic eye has an axial length shorter than that of a normal emmetropic eye, or a lens or cornea having a refractive power less than that of a lens and cornea of an emmetropic eye. This lesser refractive power causes the far point to be focused in back of the retina.
An eye suffering from astigmatism has a defect in the lens or shape of the cornea. Therefore, an astigmatic eye is incapable of sharply focusing images on the retina.
An eye can also suffer from presbyopia. Presbyopia is the inability of the eye to focus sharply on nearby objects, resulting from loss of elasticity of the crystalline lens.
Optical methods are known which involve the placement of lenses in front of the eye, for example, in the form of glasses or contact lenses, to correct vision disorders. A common method of correcting myopia is to place a "minus" or concave lens in front of the eye in order to decrease the refractive power of the cornea and lens. In a similar manner, hypermetropic or hyperopic conditions can be corrected to a certain degree by placing a "plus" or convex lens in front of the eye to increase the refractive power of the cornea and lens. Lenses having other shapes can be used to correct astigmatism. Bifocal lenses can be used to correct presbyopia. The concave, convex or other shaped lenses are typically configured in the form of glasses or contact lenses.
Also, conventional cameras are known that require the users thereof to manually adjust the focus of a lens prior to taking a photograph so that the acquired image is in-focus. The manual adjustment of the camera lens is laborious and often inaccurate. Thus, what is needed is an automated camera system that comprises means for automatically focusing the camera without the necessity for manual adjustment by the user thereof, and without the need for moving parts on the camera itself.

Automated camera system with one or more fluidic lenses


A motion picture data decoding system extracts motion picture data from transmitted MPEG data and decodes the extracted motion picture data. A multi-media communication terminal includes a data buffer portion storing the extracted motion picture data per predetermined data unit, the data buffer portion having a capacity of storing a plurality sets of the data unit, motion picture data being accumulated in the data buffer per data unit, and motion picture data being taken from the data buffer portion per data unit and decoded by said decoding portion. In concrete, when the amount of the motion picture data transmitted per data unit and sequentially accumulated in the data buffer exceeds the threshold value and amount of the motion picture data accumulated in the data buffer and being sequentially decoded per data unit, is reduced across the threshold value, to issue a demand for transmission of next data unit for monitoring the data buffer portions and making the decoding process efficient. By this, even when transmission efficiency is fluctuated due to load or go forth on a CPU, the motion picture can be smoothly reproduced and displayed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data decoding system for a motion picture. More specifically, the invention relates to a motion picture decoding system in a multi-media data communication performing reproduction of motion picture utilizing MPEG (Motion) Picture Expert Group) data compressed into lesser amount of code than an original motion picture.
2. Description of the Related Art
An MPEG system which compresses a motion picture data requiring a large data amount, into lesser data amount by encoding, is a quite important technology in multi-media communication.
In a VOD (video on demand) system or so forth employing ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) communication, MPEG data is transmitted from a server (MPEG data transfer unit) to a CPU unit (multi-media communication terminal) utilizing communication protocol, such as TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol). The MPEG data to be transmitted is divided into groups of pictures (GOP). Inside of the GOP is further divided into a region called a header portion containing information other than video and audio data, such as time, ID number and so forth, and a region containing video and audio information. Therefore, reproduction of picture is performed by removing the header portion through process in the multi-media terminal for extracting only video and audio data and decoding the extracted video and audio data.
However, in the VOD system employing the ATM communication, while transmission of the MPEG data is performed with a communication protocol, such as TCP/IP, since CPU is used for transmission process, fluctuation of transmission speed can be caused depending upon process load on the multi-media terminal and/or server, such as application programs running thereon.
Namely, due to load of application, it is possible to cause delay in data transmission demand from the multi-media terminal or delay in data transmission timing from the server. Once such fluctuation of the transmission speed is caused, the reproduced picture on the multi-media communication terminal cannot be smooth, or delay in switching of the reproduction mode can be caused.


The present invention relates to a functional assay for IκB kinase (IKK), the proteasome and ubiquitin ligase. Cells expressing an IκB-beta-lactamase fusion protein are used to screen for inhibitors of IKK, the proteasome and ubiquitin ligase. Inhibitors identified through the inventive assay are useful in the treatment of NF-κB disorders, such as immune and inflammatory disorders. The present invention also includes cell lines useful in assays of the invention, compounds identified by assays of the invention, compositions including such compounds and methods for the treatment of disease states.

The nuclear transcription factor NF-κB is a key mediator of the inflammatory response to cytokines such as TNFα and IL-1 by acting as a transcriptional activator of downstream proinflammatory genes. The N-terminal region of the NF-κB protein has a Rel-homology domain (RHD) that allows the protein to bind DNA, and also contains a nuclear localization sequence. In unstimulated cells, the NF-κB heterodimer is normally not found in the nucleus, it is sequestered in the cytosol by IκB, an inhibitor of κB that blocks the nuclear localization signal of NF-κB.
The dormant form of NF-κB can be quickly activated by a large number of extracellular signals, including mitogens, cytokines (such as TNFα and IL-1), viral proteins, antigens, phosphatase inhibitors and ultraviolet light. Binding of proinflammatory cytokines, for example, to their receptors results in the activation of IκB kinase (IKK) which then phosphorylates IκB on specific serine residues. This phosphorylation of IκB results in the rapid degradation of IκB by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Once IκB is removed, NF-κB is free to translocated into the nucleus of the cell and transcriptionally activate its targeted genes.
The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway involves the covalent conjugation of cellular proteins with the small polypeptide ubiquitin. Thereafter, the conjugated proteins are hydrolyzed by a 26S proteolytic complex containing a 20S degradative particle called the proteasome. This multicomponent system is known to catalyze the selective degradation of highly abnormal proteins and short-lived regulatory proteins, such as IκB.
Therefore, IKK, the proteasome and ubiquitin represent important regulatory steps in the inflammatory response and are attractive targets for therapeutic intervention. Accordingly, there is a need to develop assays which permit the study of agents which may affect the activity of IKK, the proteasome and ubiquitin. Agents found to be useful for affecting the activity of IKK, the proteasome and ubiquitin are potentially valuable therapeutic agents for the treatment of NFκB-mediated diseases.

Assay for measuring IκB kinase activity and identifying IκB kinase modulators


A digital to analog converter (DAC) includes a plurality of DAC transistor devices having an input side configured to be selectively coupled to a system voltage based on a digital input signal and an output side configured to provide an analog output signal, a plurality of non-DAC transistor devices coupled to the input side of the DAC transistor devices, the non-DAC transistor devices configured as variable resistances, and a control circuit configured to adjust a bias of the non-DAC transistor devices.

Wireless communication devices and technologies are becoming ever more prevalent. Wireless communication devices generally transmit and receive communication signals. A communication signal is typically processed by a variety of different components and circuits. One of the circuits that process a communication signal is a phase locked loop (PLL). A PLL is a device that compares the phase and/or frequency of two different signals and generates an error signal that represents the phase and/or frequency difference between the two compared signals. When the two signals have different phase and/or frequencies, the phase and/or frequency difference between the two signals is constantly varying. The error signal is then used to control the phase and/or frequency of the loop, such that when the phase and/or frequency difference between the two signals is fixed, the two signals are at the same phase and/or frequency. A digital PLL (DPLL) typically includes a phase detector, and/or a frequency comparator or detector, a digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) that can adjust the frequency of the PLL based on a control voltage or current signal, a filter circuit, a feedback circuit, and may include other circuits, such as a buffer circuit, etc. The DCO may include a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and an oscillator.
The term "5G" refers to an evolving generation of wireless communication technology. One evolving technology is the ability to communicate over higher frequencies than LTE, such as at millimeter-wave (mmw) frequencies. For example, mmw signals are those that operate at extremely high frequencies, such as 20-30 Gigahertz (GHz) and beyond. A PLL designed to operate at mmw frequencies may be required to meet stringent design and/or performance specifications. A DCO included in the PLL similarly may have stringent design and/or performance specifications. It is desirable to provide a DAC with good performance.


A method for erasing an EEPROM cell which reduces the need for monitoring algorithms. The potential at the erase gate is initially raised and the potential at the control gate is lowered to cause FN tunneling through the erase gate. A subsequent soft programming step is employed to raise the potential at the control gate to a value sufficient to cause FN tunneling to start though the oxide of the transistor. A new memory device structure suitable for practicing this method employs a transistor having a floating gate, where a data value is stored as charged on the floating gate; a control gate; a control gate capacitor coupling the control gate to the floating gate; an erase gate; an erase gate capacitor coupling the erase gate to the floating gate; and an erase control circuit.

Non-volatile memory devices are well known in the art. In general, non-volatile memory devices comprise a series of transistors, which act as memory cells. One such EPROM device, here an ultraviolet (UV) erasable EPROM cell 10, is shown in FIG. 1 to include a pair of heavily doped, here N+, source and drain regions 12, 14 formed in a field oxide 11 isolated P type conductivity well 16 of a P type conductivity silicon body 18. A carrier channel 20 is disposed between the pair of source and drain regions 12, 14. Disposed over the carrier channel 20 is a floating polycrystalline silicon gate 22 separated by dielectric layer 23 from the channel 20 and from a control gate 24 by a dielectric layer 26. The dielectric layer 23 is typically a thermally grown silicon dioxide layer used to form a gate oxide for dielectric separation between the floating gate 22 and the surface of the silicon, (i.e., to prevent the floating gate 26 from short circuiting the source and drain regions 12, 14). The dielectric layer 26 is typically silicon dioxide, or silicon dioxide and silicon nitride, used between the floating gate 22 and the control gate electrode 24. It should be noted that the floating gate 22 and the control gate 24 are disposed in a vertical, or self-aligned arrangement. The heavily doped source and drain regions 12, 14, together with the control gate electrode 24, are used for programming the logic state of the cell. More particularly, to program the cell, a relatively high positive voltage, i.e., 12 to 15 volts, is applied to the control gate electrode 24 relative to the drain region 14, with the source region 12 being grounded. This relatively high positive voltage produces a relatively high, vertically oriented, electric field near the drain region 14 of sufficient intensity to attract "hot" electrons generated near the doped drain region 14 through the gate oxide 23 into the floating gate 22. Thus, in this programmed state, (i.e., with "hot" electrons (i.e., carriers) in the floating gate 22,) the threshold voltage of the cell 10 is increased from its initial, UV erased state. Having been programmed, the cell 10 is now operated in a normal operating mode with a lower, i.e., 5 volt, control gate electrode voltage 24. The difference in threshold voltage of the cell 10 is detected to determine storage by the cell of either a logic 0 bit or a logic 1 bit. To remove the stored "hot" electrons from the floating gate, UV light is again directed onto the cell 10 through a passivation layer, not shown, over the surface of the cell 10 and through a UV transparent window, not shown, provided in a package, not shown.
An alternative to using UV light to erase cells employs an applied electric field. These types of devices are referred to generally as EEPROM devices and the present application is directed to these. An example of a prior art EEPROM cell structure and array is described in "A Single Poly CMOS compatible Embedded Flash Memory IP for Low-Cost Applications", JaeChul Lee et al, AP-SOC, November 2002. Each EEPROM cell 31, as shown in FIG. 2, comprises two capacitors 42, 44 and a floating gate transistor 32. The two capacitors are arranged as a split capacitor with a common electrode. The common electrode of the split capacitor is connected to the floating gate 34 of the MOSFET. The other plates of the capacitors are connected to control and erase gates 46, 48. The split capacitor arrangement 42, 44 allows the coupling ratio of the cell to be modified by changing the bias applied to the capacitors therefore allowing different program and erase conditions to be applied across the cell. The source 36 of the MOSFET is typically tied to a reference voltage, for example ground. The drain 38 of the MOSFET is typically referred to as the bit line since this is where the data is read to and from the cell.
For programming, the control and erase gates 46, 48 are pulled high, as shown in FIG. 3, to a pre-defined program voltage Vprog. By virtue of a coupling ratio across the capacitor arrangement of greater than 0.5, for example 0.6, a high voltage is coupled onto the floating gate. When a high voltage is then applied to the bit line (Vb1), channel hot electrons (e) are injected across the Si/oxide barrier onto the control gate increasing the threshold voltage, Vt, of the EEPROM cell. This is the conventional method for programming an EEPROM cell.
In contrast to the UV erasable EPROM, to erase a cell, the erase gate is pulled high and simultaneously the control gate is pulled to ground as shown in FIG. 4, thereby changing the coupling ratio to be less than 0.5, for example 0.2, which results in a low voltage being coupled to the floating gate. The potential difference across the erase gate capacitor exceeds the voltage required for Fowler Nordheim (FN) tunnelling and the electrons leave the floating gate by FN tunnelling through the erase gate capacitor.
However, the FN tunnelling erase cycle is not self-limiting and extending the erase cycle and/or the number of erase cycles will result in more electrons being removed from the floating gate by FN tunnelling through the erase capacitor and reducing the Vt of the EEPROM cell. This is demonstrated from the graph shown in FIG. 5 which demonstrates the effects on Vt of different erase times for different erase voltages for 100 cycles. It will be observed from the graph that the threshold voltage Vt decreased by over 2V. In such circumstances, if not corrected, there is a danger that the EEPROM threshold voltage Vt could decrease below OV. In this scenario, the device would always be on and conducting current. Moreover, the effect would not simply be limited to this cell since the current flow on the associated bit line would disturb all cells along that bit line. This is a known problem associated with EEPROM technology.
To address this problem, monitoring algorithms may be employed to check the Vt of a bit during the erase cycle to ensure that the Vt is not too low or the erase procedure is done in multiple steps using FN tunnelling increments to tunnel charge from the floating gate in a controlled manner to prevent over erasure. However, these algorithms slow the erase procedure time.


A fire suppression system for an enclosed space, such as a cargo hold of an aircraft includes a fire detector, a container for storing a non-combustible, non-reactive gas which will not support combustion, a valve for releasing the non-combustible gas from the container, the valve being actuated by the fire detector, nozzles disposed within the space for distributing the non-combustible gas released from the container in the enclosed space, and an operable gas purging door disposed so to permit the exhausting of air other than the non-combustible gas from the enclosed space. A second container for storing a fire extinguishing mixture including a fire extinguishing agent and a non-combustible, non-reactive gas which will not support combustion is included. The fire extinguishing mixture is introduced into the enclosed space after the air has been expelled from the enclosed space.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fire suppression systems, and more particularly, to fire suppression systems for substantially airtight enclosed spaces.
2. Background Information
Enclosed area fire suppression methods such as those commonly used in aircraft may also be used elsewhere. Critical features of these fire suppression systems are reliability and self-sufficiency. However, in aircraft and similar settings, efforts to minimize bulk are also essential. This leads to long term efficiencies, including fuel savings in aircrafts (or other modes of transportation) and more work space or storage space when used in other environments. Sometimes the bulkiest component in a fire suppression system is the chemical or compound (i.e., extinguishant) used to extinguish the fire. As an example, this may be 300-400 pounds of Halon (CBrF.sub.3) extinguishant in an aircraft system. Hence a difficult trade-off must sometimes be made between having an adequate fire suppression system and one that is not bulky.
A problem typically arises in connection with fires because the particular location of the fire is unpredictable. Thus, enclosed area methods of fire suppression conventionally provide a minimum concentration of extinguishment within the enclosed area. The methods which do this essentially involve thoroughly mixing an extinguishant and air in the compartment.
Instead of selecting water as the extinguishant, enclosed area fire suppression methods (for example, in aircraft) typically employ bromotrifluoromethane ("CBrF.sub.3), or a related compound bromochlorodifluoromethane, sold commercially as "Halon". Maintaining a minimum concentration of CBrF.sub.3 in a compartment presents a special problem when the concentration is maintained for prolonged periods. CBrF.sub.3 is most practically stored in its liquid form under pressure. As pressure decreases during, for example, piping into the enclosed area, the CBrF.sub.3 vaporizes. Within a system having conduits, this phase change is transient, and therefore it is difficult to achieve a steady state flow of the CBrF.sub.3. Consequently, during a lengthy dispersion there is substantial waste of CBrF.sub.3.
The state of the art of enclosed area fire suppression methods still concerns mixing extinguishants and air in the compartment. Many methods focus on mixing extinguishants with air in order to take advantage of the heavier-than-air characteristic of extinguishants. CBrF.sub.3 in the gas phase is about five times denser than air. Thus, CBrF.sub.3 descends through air, much as sand falls through water. The quantity of extinguishant which is required by conventional methods is unsatisfactorily large. Some prior fire suppression systems are discussed below.
Miller et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,211,246) concern a fire suppression method and system for use in an enclosed area, such as in the interior of an aircraft. Miller et al. disclose dispersing a fire retardant material in a layer across the top of an upper region of the enclosed area, while maintaining a sufficient concentration of the material to suppress any fire with which the layer comes into contact. The layer is permitted to descend from the upper region through the middle and lower regions of the enclosed area until the layer has settled near the floor. The descent of the fire retardant material in Miller et al. scours the entire area to suppress the fire.
Fleming (U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,116) is directed to a fire extinguishing discharge system which discharges a fire extinguishing material at a predetermined mass flow rate to maintain adequate concentration of fire extinguishing material in the space.
Hindrichs et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,867) relate to a fire protection system for extinguishing fires in the cargo space of an aircraft. The system includes two containers for providing extinguishing evaporating liquid, and a common conduit system with nozzles for distributing the liquid. The Hindrichs et al. system is specifically directed to preventing the fire extinguishing medium within the system from freezing (i.e., turning to a solid form).
Miller (U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,426) relates to a fire extinguishment system for an aircraft passenger cabin, wherein a fire extinguishment chemical is provided through the environmental control system of the aircraft.
Baetke (U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,993) is directed to sidewall vent valves for an aircraft. The sidewall vent valves are located in the deck of the aircraft between the skin of the aircraft fuselage and the sidewall panels to selectively prevent and permit fluid communication between an upper and lower compartment of an aircraft.
Bruensicke (U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,848) concerns a fire suppression system for an aircraft including a plurality of ducts which couple a plurality of sub-compartments of the aircraft. The ducts are arranged to distribute the fire suppression chemical in a specific pattern.
Miller (U.S. Pat. No. 4,643,260) discloses a fire suppression system including a first rapidly discharging Halon container (I) and a second metered discharging Halon container (II). The first container is discharged to insure a minimum enclosed compartment concentration of 5% Halon by volume for an initial flame knockdown. The discharge of the second bottle occurs when the Halon concentration as a result of the discharge of the first container drops to 3%. Miller teaches that the Halon gas is introduced near the ceiling at a controlled rate and the gas is dispersed uniformly throughout the cabin so that the location of the fire need not be known.
Bruensicke (U.S. Pat. No. 4,552,325) relates to an emergency smoke disposal system for pressurized aircraft wherein a normally closed smoke evacuation outlet in the skin of the aircraft is actuated to discharge smoke from the aircraft cabin. The evacuation outlet is oriented in an upper portion of the aircraft such that the smoke which accumulates at the top of the aircraft will escape.
Enk (U.S. Pat. No. 4,351,394) is directed to a fire protection system for use in aircraft including a manifold system for providing a fire extinguishing compound to a selected area.
Uematsu (U.S. Pat. No. 3,753,466) discloses an automatic fire extinguishing device for use in copying machines.
Goodloe et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 3,486,562) disclose an apparatus for detecting and extinguishing a fire in an enclosed environment, including a temperature sensor that is activated when a temperature threshold is reached. When the temperature sensor is activated, the gaseous contents of the enclosed area are evacuated to a second enclosed area (accumulator) which is at a substantially lower pressure than the enclosed environment. Substantially simultaneously, nitrogen is introduced into the enclosed environment from a bottom portion of the compartment to take the place of the gases which have been evacuated from the enclosed environment.
Levy et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 3,465,827) relate to an on-board vehicle fire protection system including an air duct opening into the passenger compartment coupled to a foam generating apparatus for providing foam into the passenger compartment.
None of the above discussed patents disclose, teach or suggest releasing a non-combustible gas (e.g., helium) in a substantially enclosed area which forces the gases (i.e., air) present in the enclosed area in either an upward or downward direction in order to effectively suffocate a fire, wherein a fire extinguishing mixture including a non-combustible gas and a fire extinguishing compound are introduced into the enclosed area, and wherein an actuatable gas purging door is opened which enables the air present in the enclosed space to be evacuated therefrom.

Fire suppression system for an enclosed space


In order to facilitate assembly and disassembly of a vehicle, the invention provides a method of assembling and disassembly a drum brake (1). In this assembly and disassembly method, the operating spacing of two brake shoes (4 and 5) inside a drum brake (3) is pre-adjusted. The invention makes it possible for the drum brake (1) to be delivered with the brake shoes (4 and 5) in a position where they are clamped against each other, corresponding to assembly clearance, while potentially retaining the spacing needed to match the operating clearance of the drum brake. A single action (A, B) on the hand-brake lever (6) enables the shoes to be moved from assembly clearance to operating clearance.

A drum brake comprises a drum and a brake backing plate. The drum and the backing plate are circular in shape. The backing plate is designed to be inserted in the drum.
A drum brake is fixed firstly concentrically to the rim of at least one wheel of a vehicle by means of the drum. The drum brake is also fixed to an axle of the vehicle via the backing plate.
The drum and the backing plate come into contact with each other via two brake shoes. The two brake shoes are in the form of circular arcs and they are disposed diametrically opposite each other. Together they define a circle of a certain diameter. On the outside faces of the brake shoes, and facing the overlying periphery of the drum, there is disposed a brake lining. The brake lining is designed to be pressed against the overlying periphery of the drum in order to brake the wheel of the vehicle. Each of the two shoes has hinged thereto a hand-brake lever and a lever for taking up slack. The hand-brake lever is pulled by a hand-brake cable, and the cable is actuated under the control of a driver. The hand-brake lever is designed to exert force on each of the shoes in such a manner as to cause the shoes to move apart from each other and press against the overlying periphery of the drum. The slack-takeup lever is designed to move the two brake shoes towards the periphery of the drum as the brake linings become worn.
In some cases, a brake actuator can be installed at one end of the shoe, at the location where two brake shoes meet. The brake actuator is also designed to exert force on both shoes, in response to the driver depressing a brake pedal, so that the shoes move apart from each other and come to press against the periphery of the drum.
A brake drum is assembled by inserting the backing plate carrying the two brake shoes, the hand-brake lever, the slack-takeup lever, and the braking actuator into the inside of the drum. Such assembly requires assembly clearance for the two brake shoes. The assembly clearance of the two brake shoes corresponds to a distance between a given point on the periphery of the drum and a corresponding other point on the circle defined by the two brake shoes, with the average distance needed to enable the two brake shoes to be inserted inside the drum being about 0.8 millimeters (mm). Once inside the drum, the two brake shoes need to be moved apart so as to take up operating clearance. Operating clearance corresponds to the optimum spacing for the brake shoes relative to the diameter of the drum. This optimum spacing is such that at rest there is no contact between the brake shoes and the drum. Nevertheless, this optimum clearance must be close enough to the overlying periphery of the drum so that for a given level of braking, braking takes place relatively immediately. By way of example, the operating clearance or the distance between the outside diameter of the brake shoes and the diameter of the drum is about 0.3 mm to 0.4 mm.
To go from assembly clearance to operating clearance, it is known to make use of the brake pedal and the brake actuator. For this purpose, an operator applies several consecutive presses to the brake pedal, thereby causing hydraulic action to be taken. While this hydraulic pressure is being applied, the brake shoes move apart from each other, and the slack-takeup device engages a non-return ratchet which little by little prevents the shoes from returning to a rest position that is too far away. Several applications of hydraulic pressure are needed and they are performed at the end of the assembly line. In one example, the operator needs to apply hydraulic pressure a score of times using the brake actuator in order to reduce the assembly clearance from about 0.8 mm to an operating clearance of 0.3 mm to 0.4 mm. Applying hydraulic pressure in this way is tedious.
In addition, over time with the drum brake being used, the brake linings wear. The brake linings become worn because they are pressed against and rub against the periphery of the drum during braking. The distance between a point on the circle defined by the brake shoes and a corresponding point on the periphery of the drum increases. This distance is subsequently regularly re-adjusted, to within operating clearance, by the slack-takeup lever.
However, the friction between the brake linings and the periphery of the drum can over time, and because of use, lead to the wall of the drum being dug away. This forms a step in the wall of the drum. Because such a step is formed and because of the increase in the spacing between the two brake shoes due to automatic and regular readjustment of the distance between the circle defined by the brake shoes and the periphery of the drum, it can become more difficult, or even impossible to extract the two brake shoes from the drum.

Motor vehicle drum brake and related assembling method


A method for runtime environment emulation involves loading an application class of an object-oriented application, where the object-oriented application is executing in a runtime environment, and where the application class includes a method call that is unsupported by the runtime environment. The method further involves translating, during loading of the application class, the unsupported method call into one or more method calls that are supported by the runtime environment, to obtain a translated class, where the one or more supported method calls emulate the unsupported method call.

In computer systems, a runtime environment is a collection of executable instructions that provides an operative foundation for execution of other applications. Specifically, a runtime environment typically includes one or more libraries of commands that other applications may utilize to accomplish computing tasks. Interfaces to such libraries are commonly referred to as application programming interfaces (APIs). For example, a given API may provide access to commands for user input, audio/visual output, networking, file management, commonly used algorithms and data structures, etc. More specifically, in object-oriented programming, the commands may be methods contained in classes. The concepts of methods and classes, as applied to object-oriented programming, are well known in the art.
The specific implementation of a runtime environment typically depends on the underlying computer system. Specifically, the implementation may depend on the underlying hardware architecture (e.g., instruction set, user interface, etc.), software operating system, any other similar factor, or any combination thereof For example, the implementation of a runtime environment for a Microsoft® Windows operating system would differ from the implementation of a runtime environment for a Linux operating system. Microsoft® is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
Though a runtime environment may be implemented differently for different types of computer systems, the different implementations may have some or all of an API in common. Further, the implementations may be designed so that a single application may be able to execute in multiple implementations of the runtime environment. Specifically, the application may be compiled into an intermediate language that is understood by multiple implementations of the runtime environment. Such runtime environments are commonly referred to as virtual machines, because the runtime environments provide a layer of virtualization between applications and the underlying computer systems.
In some cases, one or more of the commands available in a particular implementation of a runtime environment may not be supported by another implementation of the runtime environment. For example, a mobile phone implementation of a runtime environment may include a command (e.g., a command for using a hardware feature of the mobile phone) that is unsupported by a desktop computer implementation of the runtime environment. If an application uses a command that is unsupported by a particular implementation of a runtime environment, then the application may not be able to execute correctly using that implementation of the runtime environment. Specifically, if a reference to the unsupported command (e.g., an unsupported method call) is encountered during execution of the application, an error may occur.

Method and system for runtime environment emulation


An input buffer circuit 11X is a source follower circuit and comprises a load 114 and enhancement FETs 111 and 112A connected in series between power supply lines VDD and VSS. A DC bias VB1 is applied to the gate of the FET 112A to act it as a current source, and an AC current component of the drain potential VD of the FET 111 is provided through a capacitor 113 to the gate of the FET 112A. If an inductor as an matching circuit is connected in series to the capacitor 113, a band pass filter is constructed, and the gain of the circuit 11X becomes especially high at the resonance frequency thereof. At high frequencies, the interconnection coupled to the capacitor 113 has a parasitic inductance, and the output waveform of the circuit 11X has a high frequency noise. In this case, a damping transistor is connected between the capacitor 113 and the gate of the FET 112A to obtain a flat gain by adjusting the gate potential thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a buffer circuit comprising a load, a follower transistor such as a source or emitter follower transistor, and a current source connected in series, the follower transistor providing an output potential signal from a source or emitter thereof, the output potential signal following a potential at the control input of the transistor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In optical communication, a high speed communication system exceeding 10 Gbps has been researched and developed in order to realize a large-capacity, long-distance communication, and improvement on wide band frequency characteristics, that is, to achieve a higher cut-off frequency is required for an optical transmission module of the communication system. Hence, a necessity has arisen to improve a frequency characteristic of an amplifying circuit in the optical transmission module. Further, power consumption of the amplifying circuit is a great part of that of an optical transmission module, and it can be expected that reduction in the power consumption of the amplifying circuit not only increases a transmission quality but also contributes to higher reliability of the entire optical transmission module.
FIG. 13 shows a prior art differential amplifier for use in an optical transmission module.
The differential amplifier has a symmetric configuration with respect to complementary inputs IN and IN*.
In a level shift circuit 10A, to obtain an input potential VI, the potential of an input signal IN provided to the gate of an enhancement FET (E-FET) 101 is lowered by a threshold voltage Vth between the gate and source thereof, and further lowered by a forward voltage Vf across a diode 102. For example, Vth=0.3 V and Vf=0.6 V.
In an input buffer circuit 11A, which is a source follower circuit, an E-FET 111 and a depletion FET (D-FET) 112 serving as a current source are connected in series between power supply lines VDD and VSS. The input potential VI is provided to the gate of the E-FET 111, and an output potential VO obtained by lowering the input potential VI by the threshold voltage Vth thereof is taken out from the source of the E-FET 111.
The output potential VO is provided to the gate of the E-FET 121, which is one input of a differential amplifier circuit 12.
A level shift circuit 10B and an input buffer circuit 11B are of the same configurations as those of the level shift circuit 10A and the input buffer circuit 11A, respectively. An input signal *IN is provided through the level shift circuit 10B and the buffer circuit 11B to the gate of an E-FET 122, which is the other input of the differential amplifier 12, as an output potential *VO.
In the input buffer circuit 11A, a current flows through the E-FET 111 and the D-FET 112 without regard to the level of the input potential VI. If design parameters of the D-FET 112 are determined so as to make the current to a small amount for a purpose of decreasing power consumption, then a time constant CR is increased due to increase in resistive component R, the response speed of the input buffer circuit 11A decreases, with the result that a frequency characteristic of the differential amplifier is deteriorated.
In order to solve this problem, a differential amplifier as shown in FIG. 14 was proposed.
In an input buffer circuit 11C, a DC bias potential which is obtained by dividing a voltage between power supply lines VDD and VSS by resistance R1 and R2 is applied to the gate of an E-FET 112A, while an AC component of the output *VO of an input buffer circuit 11D is provided thereto through a capacitor 113. Thereby, the current flowing through the E-FET 112A becomes variable. For example, when the output potentials VO rises and the output potential *VO falls, the gate potential of the E-FET 112A falls, the internal resistance of the E-FET 112A increases, and the output potential VO rises. Therefore it seems that the frequency characteristic would be improved without making the average consumed electric current of the E-FET 112A increase.
However, since the capacitance value of the capacitor 113 is made to a sufficiently larger than the gate capacitance value of the E-FET 112A, although the synthetic capacitance value of the capacitor 113 and the gate of the E-FET 112A becomes almost equal to the gate capacitance value of the E-FET112A, an input capacitance value of the differential amplifier circuit 12 viewed from the output of the input buffer circuit 11D becomes the sum of the gate capacitance value of the E-FET122 and the capacitance value of the capacitor 113, resulting in that a frequency characteristic of the input buffer circuit 11D is deteriorated. The same applies to the input buffer circuit 11C.
When two differential amplifiers of FIG. 14 are cascaded, since the buffer circuit 11C of the second stage differential amplifier also functions as an output buffer circuit of the first stage differential amplifier, this problem arises in an output buffer circuit.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a buffer circuit capable of improving a frequency characteristic without increasing a current consumption.
In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a buffer circuit comprising a load, a follower transistor such as a source or emitter follower transistor, and a current source connected in series, the follower transistor providing an output potential signal from a source or emitter thereof, the output potential signal following a potential at the control input of the transistor. The current source has a control input receiving a DC bias, and has a current flowing therethrough depending on the control input potential thereof. A DC blocking circuit such as a capacitor is connected between the drain or emitter of the follower transistor and the control input of the current source.
With this configuration, when the control input potential of the follower transistor changes, the potential of the source or emitter of the transistor follows to this change with a time delay if the DC blocking circuit is not connected. However, with this connection, the current source operates so as to assist the following-up when this change arises without increasing an average current flowing through the current source. Further, in a state where a succeeding circuit such as an amplifier circuit is connected to the source or emitter of the transistor, since the capacitance viewed from the source or emitter of the transistor does not increase owing to connection of the DC blocking circuit, the response speed of the succeeding circuit is improved.
If a matching circuit such as an inductor is connected to the DC blocking circuit to constitute a band pass filter, the buffer circuit has an especially high gain at a resonance frequency thereof, therefore this configuration is effective in an analog circuit using a signal with a narrow frequency range near the resonance frequency.
Since an interconnection in the DC blocking circuit has a parasitic inductance at high frequencies, a band pass filter is constituted of the parasitic inductance and the DC blocking circuit, and the gain of the buffer circuit becomes especially high at the resonance frequency thereof. Therefore, when the buffer circuit is applied to a digital circuit requiring a wide band operation, high frequency noise has a chance to be included in the output waveform of the buffer circuit. In this case, a damping transistor is connected between the DC blocking circuit and the control input of the current source, and the potential of this control input is adjusted and then fixed so as to make a gain flat, by which high frequency noise can be prevented from being included in the output waveform.

Buffer circuit comprising load, follower transistor and current source connected in series


In a reflection type proximity detector or method, a controller calculates a calibration value based on ambient conditions with the transmitter off and then performs tests. In each test, the calibration value is added to and subtracted from a measured value taken with the transmitter in one state (on or off) and a second measured value is then taken and compared with this range. In tests where the transmitter is switched from off to on between the measurements and the second value exceeds the range, and tests where the transmitter is switched from on to off between the measurements and the second value is below the range, an object is detected. When the transmitter does not switch states between the measurements, and the second value is less than or greater than the range, then no object is detected, as the change in measured value likely resulted from an outside signal.

Proximity sensors or detectors of the foregoing type typically use radio frequency (RF) or infrared (IR) transmitters and receivers facing in a common direction so that RF or IR energy emitted by the transmitter is reflected back to the receiver when an object is present proximate the detector. Conventional systems of this type relying on energy from the source being reflected back to the receiver and measured then compare that measurement, either analog or digital, to a reference value. The results of that comparison are then used to determine if an object is within the detector's range or not. In some designs the reference value is altered slightly and the measurements repeated in an attempt to ensure that there is indeed an object present.
The infrared and RF spectrums are becoming quite noisy with either intentional or unintentional radiators. These signals can interfere with existing detection systems and cause false interpretations. That is, a signal received by the receiver from an energy source outside the detector may be interpreted by the detector as a reflection of energy emitted by the transmitter, resulting in a false-positive reading indicative of the presence of an object proximate the detector when in fact no such object is present.
It is therefore desirable to provide a proximity detector that minimizes the chances of a random detection. Applicant has developed the system and method detailed herein below to more reliably detect an object regardless of the extraneous signals from other sources and changing ambient conditions.

System and method for detecting the presence of an object


Drilling laterals in shale formations. At least some of the illustrative embodiments are methods including: drilling a deviated borehole through a shale formation with a drill string comprising a drill bit; logging the shale formation with a logging tool disposed within the drill string; estimating, in real time with the drilling, fracture potential of a portion of the shale formation near the drill bit, the estimation of fracture potential based on information acquired by the logging tool; and controlling drilling direction based on the fracture potential.

Advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technology have lead to the ability to economically recover hydrocarbons (mostly natural gas) from shale formations. However, placement of the horizontal borehole (also known as a lateral) requires particular accuracy. For example, a shale formation may be several thousand feet below the surface, and the shale formation itself may be on the order of 1000 feet thick. Within the illustrative 1000 feet of thickness only a few relatively thin zones, each zone on the order of tens of feet thick, may be suitable locations for placement of the lateral and extraction of hydrocarbons (i.e., target zones). Outside the target zones, some hydrocarbon extraction may be possible, but such extraction is in most cases not economically viable.
Moreover, physical phenomena such as faulting and differential compaction may make the true vertical depth of the target zones different as a function of horizontal location within the shale formation. Even if one is able to identify at a particular location a target zone for lateral placement (e.g., at a vertical survey borehole), the precise depth of the target zone may change as a function of distance from the particular location.
Thus, any advance which results in better identification of target zones, and more consistent placement of laterals within the target zones, would provide a competitive advantage.

Method and system of drilling laterals in shale formations


A spectroscopic measurement apparatus includes: a wavelength tunable interference filter including a fixed substrate having a fixed reflection film, a movable substrate having a movable reflection film, and an electrostatic actuator that changes a gap value of an inter-reflection-film gap by applying a voltage to bend the movable substrate; a detector that detects a light level; and a controller that measures a spectral characteristic of light under measurement. The controller includes a filter driver that applies a drive voltage to the electrostatic actuator to change the inter-reflection-film gap, a detected light level acquisition unit that acquires light levels detected by the detector, and a target light level acquisition unit that acquires a light level corresponding to an oscillation center of the movable substrate as a target light level based on how the detected light level transitions and a natural oscillation cycle that the movable substrate has.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a spectroscopic measurement apparatus.
2. Related Art
There has been a known wavelength tunable interference filter that includes a pair of reflection films facing each other and picks up light of a predetermined wavelength from light under measurement by changing the distance between the reflection films (see JP-A-7-243963, for example).
The optical resonator (wavelength tunable interference filter) described in JP-A-7-243963 includes a first substrate having a recess formed in a surface thereof and a second substrate that blocks the recess, and the second substrate is so bonded to the first substrate that the interior of the recess is blocked. Further, high reflection films facing each other and electrodes that adjust the gap between the reflection films (inter-reflection-film gap) are provided on the bottom of the recess of the first substrate and the surface of the second substrate that faces the recess. The second substrate has a thick portion and a thin portion in an area facing the recess, and the thick portion can move toward and away from the recess when the thin portion is bent.
In the thus configured wavelength tunable interference filter, the inter-reflection-film gap can be adjusted by applying a voltage between the electrodes to deform the thin portion of the diaphragm and move the thick portion toward and away from the glass substrate.
To pick up light of a target wavelength through the wavelength tunable interference filter described above, a voltage according to the target wavelength is applied between the electrodes. At this point, since an electrostatic attractive force induced by the voltage application and an elastic force produced by the thin portion of the second substrate act on the thick portion of the second substrate, the thick portion oscillates.
In view of the fact described above, to measure light of the target wavelength in a precise manner, a spectroscopic measurement apparatus of related art using a wavelength tunable interference filter of this type waits until the thick portion stops oscillating and becomes stationary and then performs light level measurement after the thick portion stops oscillating and becomes stationary. The spectroscopic measurement apparatus of related art therefore has a problem of a long measurement period.

Spectroscopic measurement apparatus capable of quickly measuring a spectral characteristic


A bra having a pair of cups having adjacent but spaced inner edges is provided with a front closure/adjuster that has respective flexible cords attached to the cup inner edges and each carrying a succession of spaced relatively hard pearls. A generally rigid body between the cups is formed with a pair of adjacent throughgoing passages through each of which a respective one of the pearl cords passes and along which the pearl cords can slide. Respective latch elements are each shiftable on the body relative to the respective passages between a freeing position generally clear of the respective passage and allowing the respective pearl cord to slide therein and a latching position engaging at least one pearl of the respective cord and preventing the respective pearl cord from sliding therein in at least one direction. Respective springs urge the latch elements into the respective latching positions.

A standard bra, which term is intended to cover a bikini or halter top, is comprised of a pair of cups intended to cover and support the breasts of the wearer, a connector securing together the inner edges of the cups, and at least one strap-like back or wing that extends from outer edges of the cups around the back of the wearer. There may also be further straps that extend from upper edges of the cups over the shoulders of the wearer to attachment points on the strap crossing the wearer's back. It is also standard for the back to be provided with a hook-and-eye closure allowing it to be opened and for the length of this strap to be adjusted.
For best fit it is often considered desirable to provide a front adjuster that allows the side-to-side or horizontal spacing between the cups to be adjusted. This front adjuster can also be formed as a closure that is separable to allow the bra to be donned or removed by separation in the front between the cups, eliminating the need for the difficult-to-manipulate back closure. The simplest such front adjuster comprises respective cords attached to inner edges of the cups and extending through a cord stopper that is spring loaded to grip the cords and compressible to release them. This system has proven extremely ineffective, since it is necessary to provide a relatively large cord stopper to provide the necessary holding power, and such an item is inconvenient and unattractive, especially considering its location. What is more, such an adjuster is difficult to design so that it can function as a closure and be opened completely.

Adjustable front closure for bra or bikini top


A device for removing polycrystalline silicon rod pairs from a Siemens reactor has a body dimensioned to fit over a single rod pair. Once the rod pair is within the body, the body and enclosed rod pair is removed.

High-purity polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) serves as a starting material for producing monocrystalline silicon for semiconductors by the Czochralski (CZ)—or zone melting (ZM)-method, and also for producing monocrystalline or polycrystalline silicon by various drawing and casting methods for producing solar cells for photovoltaics.
Polysilicon is usually produced by the Siemens process, which is a process whereby a reaction gas comprising one or more silicon-containing components and optionally hydrogen is introduced into a reactor comprising substrates heated by direct passage of current, wherein silicon deposits in solid form onto the substrates. The silicon-containing components are preferably silane (SiH4), monochlorosilane (SiH3Cl), dichlorosilane (SiH2Cl2), trichlorosilane (SiHCl3), tetrachlorosilane (SiCl4), or mixtures of these substances.
The Siemens process for depositing silicon in solid form onto substrates, is usually carried out in a deposition reactor (also termed a "Siemens reactor"). In the most common embodiment, the reactor comprises a metallic base plate and a coolable bell which is seated on the base plate in such a manner that a reaction space is formed in the interior of the bell. The base plate is furnished with one or more gas inlet openings and one or more off-gas openings for the departing reaction gases, and also with holders with which the substrates are held within the reaction space and are supplied with electric power.
Each substrate consists usually of two thin filament rods and a bridge which joins the generally adjacent rods at their free ends. The filament rods plug vertically into the electrode situated on the reactor base, via which electrodes the connection to the power supply is made. On the heated filament rods and the horizontal bridge, high-purity polysilicon deposits, as a result of which the diameter thereof increases with time. After the desired diameter is achieved, the process is terminated.
In this method, U-shaped silicon rods are obtained which can be several meters high and can weigh several 100 kg. For a process which is as economical as possible, it is necessary to deposit to maximum rod diameters.
The removal of very large and heavy rods from the reactor is a problem. The removal should proceed with as low contamination as possible and as economically as possible, namely should be associated with a minimum idle time of the reactor. It should also be possible to remove inclined, unevenly shaped rods (e.g. elliptical or club-shaped rods, that is to say with rods with varying rod diameter over the rod height) or rods that touch each other safely.
US 20120237678 A1 discloses a device for the removal of polycrystalline silicon rods, comprising a body having outer walls which is dimensioned in such a manner that the rods are enclosed by the outer walls, wherein each outer wall contains a door in order to permit access to at least one of the rods. In a preferred embodiment, the inner walls are lined with a polymer in order to prevent contamination of the polycrystalline silicon rods.
US 20100043972 A1 discloses a further device for the removal of polycrystalline silicon rods, comprising a wall having an inner wall, an outer wall and a multiplicity of connections between inner wall and outer wall, and a gap between inner wall and outer wall, an access window in the outer wall, a baseplate, and a multiplicity of contacts on the baseplate, wherein the inner wall and outer wall are cylindrical and concentric, the gap is dimensioned in order to receive a multiplicity of silicon rods situated on the contacts of the baseplate, wherein the access window is made such that access to the silicon rods is made possible. The rods can be withdrawn via the access window.
It is disadvantageous of the devices described above, that in the case of rods standing at an incline, or in the event of a partially dropped batch, which occurs not infrequently, use thereof is impossible. Therefore, this device is not very practical for economic production of polysilicon.
This also applies to the method claimed in DE 10 2009 027 830 B3 for withdrawal of polycrystalline silicon rods from a reactor, wherein a rigid and automated guidance with a computer-controlled recognition method based on calibration points is operated over the open reactor and the rod pairs are gripped by means of mechanical or pneumatic clamping device and these are then deposited into a transport device.
JP 63296840 A discloses a device for the removal of silicon rods from a deposition reactor, in which a single rod pair is fixed using clamps and is lifted out from the reactor at the side.
JP 2002210355 A likewise discloses a device for the removal of silicon rods, comprising an arm movable in three dimensions, at the end of which a clamping device is mounted with which the silicon rods can be lifted out of the reactor.
It is disadvantageous in these two devices that the rods can only be withdrawn from the outside inwards from the completely open reactor. A targeted removal of a defined silicon rod, e.g. from an internal rod circle, which is sometimes desirable, is impossible using the described device.
US 20120175613 A1 discloses a method for producing a polycrystalline silicon piece, consisting of a CVD process for producing a polycrystalline silicon rod by deposition of silicon on a filament wire, one end of which is connected to a first electrode, and the other end of which is connected to a second electrode, a process for withdrawal of the polycrystalline silicon rod from the reactor, and a comminution process of the silicon rod into silicon pieces, wherein, before the comminution process, at least 70 mm are removed from the electrode end of the polycrystalline silicon rod (foot shortening process). In a preferred embodiment, the surface of the polycrystalline silicon rod, before removal from the reactor, is covered with a bag-like piece of polyethylene. The withdrawal itself can proceed by means of a crane or the like. With respect to the above described problems in removal of the rods by means of known devices, US 20120175613 A1 leaves no indications of a solution or suggestions.
It would be desirable to provide a rod removal device which solves the problems described above.

Device and method for the removal of polycrystalline silicon rods from a reactor


A floating-point processor with selectable subprecision includes a register configured to store a plurality of bits in a floating-point format, a controller, and a floating-point mathematical operator. The controller is configured to select a subprecision for a floating-point operation, in response to user input. The controller is configured to determine a subset of the bits, in accordance with the selected subprecision. The floating-point operator is configured to perform the floating-point operation using only the subset of the bits. Excess bits that are not used in the floating-point operation may be forced into a low-leakage state. The output value resulting from the floating-point operation is either truncated or rounded to the selected subprecision.

Floating-point processors are specialized computing units that perform certain mathematical operations, e.g., multiplication, division, trigonometric functions, and exponential functions, at high speed. Accordingly, powerful computing systems often incorporate floating-point processors, either as part of the main processor or as a coprocessor. A floating-point representation of a number typically includes a sign component, an exponent, and a mantissa. To find the value of a floating-point number, the mantissa is multiplied by a base (usually 2 in computers) raised to the power of the exponent. The sign is applied to the resultant value.
The precision of the floating-point processor is defined by the number of bits used to represent the mantissa. The more bits in the mantissa, the greater the precision. The precision of the floating-point processor generally depends on the particular application. For example, the ANSI/IEEE-754 standard (followed by almost all modem computers) specifies a 32-bit single format having a 1-bit sign, an 8-bit exponent, and a 24-bit mantissa. Only the 23 fraction bits of the mantissa are stored in the 32-bit encoding, an integer bit, immediately to the left of the binary point, is implied. The IEEE-754 also specifies a 64-bit double format having a 1-bit sign, an 11-bit exponent, and a 53-bit mantissa. Analogous to the single encoding, only the 52 fraction bits of the mantissa are stored in the 64-bit encoding, an integer bit, immediately to the left of the binary point, is implied. Higher precision results in a higher accuracy, but is more computationally intense resulting in increased power consumption.
The performance of floating-point arithmetic operations can entail computational inefficiency because floating-point processors are typically limited to the precision provided by either the single format, or both the single and double formats. While some applications may require these types of precision, other applications may not. For example, some graphics applications may only require a 16-bit mantissa. For these graphics applications, any accuracy beyond 16 bits of precision tends to result in unnecessary power consumption. This is of particular concern in battery operated devices where power comes at a premium, such as wireless telephones, personal digital assistants (PDA), laptops, game consoles, pagers, and cameras, just to name a few. If it is known that an application always requires a certain reduced precision, the floating-point processor can be designed and built to that reduced precision. For most general purpose processors, however, the typical situation is that for certain applications, e.g. generating 3D graphics, a reduced precision is acceptable, and for other applications, e.g. implementing Global Positioning System (GPS) functions, a greater precision is needed. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a floating-point processor in which the reduced precision, or subprecision, of the floating-point format is selectable.

Floating-point processor with selectable subprecision


A silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material is disclosed. The light-sensitive material comprises a support having thereon a blue-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer, a green-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer and a red-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer, and at least one of the silver halide emulsion layers contains a silver salt of dye. The light-sensitive material has a raised sharpness, lowered fog and improved storage stability.

It is a well-known fact that a colored layer such as an anti-halation layer or a filter layer is provided to improve the image sharpness of a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material. Such a colored layer often contains a water-soluble dye. Most of the known dyes used for this purpose are not completely photochemically inert, thus often having adverse effects on the light-sensitive layers of photographic materials, i.e., increased fogging and reduced sensitivity.
In the photographic industry, there has recently been increasing demand for silver halide color photographic light-sensitive materials offering high image quality. Particularly in the so-called color negative-positive system, wherein a photograph is taken using a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material for color negative film, and a negative image on the film is printed on a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material for color printing paper to obtain a finished image, silver halide photographic light-sensitive materials for color printing paper pose a problem of poorer image quality, particularly lower sharpness in comparison with silver halide photographic light-sensitive materials for color negative films.
Thus, attempts have been made to improve image sharpness by adding a large amount of water-soluble dye; however, experiments by the present inventors revealed that such attempts result in considerably reduced sensitivity of the emulsion layer, greatly increased fogging density and deteriorated storage stability and have only a little improving effect on image sharpness.
On the other hand, there has recently been demand for rapidly processable silver halide color photographic light-sensitive materials in the photographic industry.
Specifically, silver halide color photographic light-sensitive materials are subjected to a continuous processing using an automatic developing machine installed in each laboratory; with the requirement for improved service for customers, there is demand for development and return to the customer within the day of reception. More recently, there has been demand for return to the user even within several hours after reception. Accordingly, there has been increasing demand for the development of a more rapidly processable silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material.
As a technical means of obtaining such a rapidly processable silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material, the use of an emulsion incorporating silver chloride, for instance, is known.
In recent years, it has become common to use an emulsion incorporating silver chloride for the purpose of rapidly processing silver halide color photographic light-sensitive materials for color printing paper.
However, the use of an emulsion incorporating silver chloride poses a problem of high fogging, though it allows rapid processing. In addition, it is evident, as stated above, that increasing the water-soluble dye content for improving image sharpness results in more increased fogging.

Silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material


To provide a robot whose degree of freedom of design is not limited, and which has simple structure and further reduces load of an actuator of a neck part, the present invention provides a robot at least including a head part, a body part, and a neck link which connects the head part and the body part, wherein a surrounding object distance measurement means is provided adjacently to the neck link and in an upper portion of the body part between the head part and the body part, and a distance scanning field of the surrounding object distance measurement means is provided in parallel with a horizontal plane.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates particularly to a robot provided with a surrounding object distance measurement means to automatically perform desired operation or work while measuring the distance from a work object and an obstacle.
2. Description of Related Art
In many cases, a robot which operates in a coexistence environment with a human is provided with a surrounding object distance measurement means to avoid contact with a surrounding object, and thereby recognizes disposition conditions of the surrounding objects to set a moving route. As one example of the surrounding object distance measurement means, there is a laser scanning range sensor (SOKUIKI sensor) which determines the distance by measuring the time elapsed after a plane is scanned with laser light until the irradiated laser light hits against an object to be measured and the reflected light returns, and in order to widen a scan field, the laser scanning range sensor is often installed in a place around which there is no object which obstructs the scan field. In the prior art, in order to make the scan field of the laser scanning range sensor maximum, the sensor has been attached to the top of a head part, or a front part of a body such as an abdomen part and a chest part of the robot.