An information storage system includes a controller for managing the resources of a common mass storage device in order to enable multiple hosts connected to a common bus to independently read and write to the mass storage device in a relatively high speed manner on a first come, real time basis. In particular, a system of commands is provided which enables each host to read and write to the mass storage device on an independent, first come, real time basis by locking the requested address space irrespective of the origination. Even though an address storage space may be locked, the data within such space is always readable by another host. Should a subsequent host issue a command to write to the locked address space, the command is aborted and a flag is set indicating to the subsequent requesting host that the area is locked. The information storage system also provides for dynamic memory mapping which enables the mass storage device to be mapped according to a specific application.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information storage system, which includes a mass storage device, preferably non-mechanical, and more particularly to an information storage system which enables relatively high speed data transfer to and from a mass storage device without the software overhead and resulting increased transfer time of known disk emulator systems and which enables multiple hosts, connected to a common bus, to read and write to the mass storage device independently in real time on a first come basis.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Mass storage devices are known to be used for storing data in various information storage system applications. Such mass storage devices are typically mechanical devices, such as hard disks and floppy disks. In a typical system, predetermined blocks or sectors of data are transferred between the mass storage device and the main memory under the control of a central processing unit (CPU) or a direct memory access (DMA) controller.
There are several problems with such known mechanical storage devices. First, data is transferred to and from the disks in a serial fashion and stored sequentially making such devices sequential access devices. As such, transfer of data to and from such devices is relatively slower than random access devices, such as electronic memory. In particular, the transfer of data between such mechanical mass storage devices is under the control a read/write head. Since data on the disk is stored sequentially, the seek time of the read/write head to get to the desired storage locations adds to the overall time for reading and writing data to the disk. The transfer time is further increased as the files on the disk become fragmented (e.g., when data in a common file is stored in non-sequential storage locations). In particular, as the files become fragmented, the read/write head must often await an entire revolution of the disk to read the fragmented portion of the file. Since each revolution of the disk is about 0.0167 msec, fragmented files on a disk take a significantly longer time to be read from a disk. As the amount of data stored on the mass storage device increases, the seek time also increases. Secondly, since data is transferred in predetermined blocks or sectors, the transfer time is increased further because significantly more data than required is transferred at a time. Moreover, transfer in such blocks or sectors irrespective of the amount of data requested increases the size of the main memory since such memory must be able to accommodate the blocks or sectors of data transferred to and from the mechanical storage device.
In certain applications, such as database applications, the seek time and overall data transfer time for such mechanical mass storage devices can result in significant degradation of the performance of the system. In particular, in such an application, the performance of the system is based upon various factors including: the disk speed; the size of the main memory; the size of the database; and the length of time that the database has been operational. In order to compensate for relatively long seek times which increase as the size of the database increases, additional main memory or cache memory is added to the system, for example, to hold data keys (keys); a parameter by which the database is sorted or searched, which adds to the overall cost and to the overall software overhead and, thus, the complexity and storage requirements for the system. However, the addition of memory improves the system performance only in certain situations. In particular, if the keys are in the main or cache memory at the time of the query, the data corresponding to the keys is serially transferred from the disk. If the keys are not in the main or cache memory, the keys are retrieved from the disk. After the keys are found, the data is serially read from the disk. Since the data is stored sequentially on the disk, such data corresponding to particular keys may be fragmented and stored on different sectors on the disk which increases the overall seek time of the read/write head and, thus, degrades the performance of the database system even with the addition of cache memory. In time, as more and more data becomes fragmented, the seek time increases. Eventually, the performance of the system degrades to a point where the database administrator has to dump the entire database in order to optimize the storage of the data on the disk.
Another known problem relating to databases relates to what is known as optimizer software; used to optimize the data transfer to and from the mass storage device. Such optimizer software is normally run by the host CPU. In some applications, the optimizer software is known to take up a significant amount of CPU time, for example, 80% of the CPU time. Although such software is able to optimize data transfer to and from the mass storage devices, the CPU time required for such software significantly limits the performance of the system.
In an effort to improve the performance of such systems, so-called solid state disk emulators have been developed. Such solid state disk emulators are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,896,262; 5,070,474 and 5,131,089. In order for such solid state disk emulators to be transparent to the user, the disk emulators are adapted to emulate a disk by translating various disk instructions at the hardware level into instructions compatible with electronic memory. In particular, when disk access is required, software control of the system is normally passed from the application program to the operating system, for example, UNIX or the Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS). The operating system, in turn, transfers control to the basic input/output system (BIOS) which interfaces with the disk drive at the hardware level. In order to maintain the transparency of the solid state disk drive, such systems include software for translating the hardware level instructions from the BIOS into instructions compatible with an electronic memory. Although such systems are able to increase the rate of transfer between such mass storage devices by eliminating seek times inherent in disk drives, additional software overhead is required for translating the disk instructions into instructions compatible with electronic memory. Such software overhead decreases an average rate of data transfer from such solid state memory devices. As such, although the electronic memory virtually eliminates the seek times normally associated with disk drives, the memory access time will be relatively longer than known electronic access memory because of the need to translate the disk instructions into instructions compatible with electronic memory in order to maintain the transparency of the solid state disk emulator relative to the user.

High speed real-time information storage system


A control apparatus controls retraction of a device carried on a moveable member actuated by an electric motor. The control apparatus includes a measuring circuit with an output during a measuring phase including a back electromotive force (back EMF) from the electric motor plus a measuring circuit offset voltage. The control apparatus also includes an offset removing circuit connected to the output of the measuring circuit. The back EMF from the electric motor is provided at the output of the offset removing circuit. A driver circuit is connected to terminals of the electric motor for providing the electric motor with a drive current during a driving phase with a magnitude based on the back EMF from the electric motor.

The present invention relates to disk drives and storage medium devices. In particular, the present invention relates to removal of random offsets in velocity controlled hard disk drive head/arm assemblies during head retraction.
Generally, a magnetic hard disk drive (HDD) includes a magnetic read/write head and several magnetic disks, each disk having concentric data tracks for storing data. The disks are mounted on a spindle motor, which causes the disks to spin. The read/write head is typically mounted on a slider, which is mounted to a suspension or load beam. The load beam is attached to an actuator arm of an actuator, which moves the read/write head over the spinning disk during operation. As the disks spin, the slider suspended from the actuator arm "flies" a small distance above the disk surface. The slider carries a transducing head for reading from or writing to a data track on the disk.
In addition to the actuator arm, the slider suspension comprises a bearing about which the actuator arm pivots. A large scale actuator motor, such as a voice coil motor (VCM), is used to move the actuator arm (and the slider) over the surface of the disk. When actuated by the VCM, the actuator arm can be moved from an inner diameter to an outer diameter of the disk along an arc until the slider is positioned above a desired data track on the disk.
A control circuit is coupled to a coil in the VCM in order to controllably supply current to the coil. When a current is passed through the coil, a motive force is exerted on the actuator arm. The actuator arm is subjected to a force tending to accelerate the actuator arm at a rate defined by the magnitude of the current, and in a direction defined by the polarity of the current. Thus, in order to accelerate or decelerate the actuator arm until it is moving at a desired velocity and in a desired direction, it is important to know the actual direction and velocity of the actuator arm. It is known that the back electromotive force (back EMF) from the coil of the actuator is representative of the velocity and direction of movement of the actuator arm.
Parking zones in an HDD allow the read/write head to be safely landed after the hard drive has ceased operation. When an HDD is powered down, it usually performs certain operations before actually disconnecting from the external power source. One of these power down operations is to operate the actuator arm to move the head to the parking zone. If the head is not moved to the parking zone prior to power down, the head will land on the disk after the disk stops spinning, potentially damaging the disk and the read/write head.
Typically, the circuit that measures the velocity of retraction has random offsets that limit the ability of the circuit to accurately measure and control the speed of a retraction. This is especially true at low retraction speeds, where the offsets are more significant. Further, the offsets limit the reliability of stop detection methods due to random offsets in the velocity measurement. Thus, there is a need for an approach to eliminate random offsets that are found in circuits of velocity controlled HDD head/arm assemblies during retraction.

Velocity controlled disk drive head retraction with offset removal


An antenna is adapted for operation over a broadband frequency. The antenna includes a conical portion and a tapered portion. The conical portion may have a bicone structure, where each cone has a tapered portion. The tapered portion tapers asymptotically with an exponential.

Standard bicone antenna designs have an insufficiently narrow operating frequency range which is not desirable in certain applications. In many cases, the feed regions where the two points of the cones meet does not employ a geometry supporting the standard required 50Ω impedance for proper operation when connected to a transmission line. As a result, the manufacturer typically places a resistor in between the two cones, which not only lowers the Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR), but also reduces effective antenna performance. In addition, the use of radial, flared and stepwise extensions from the bicone structure have resulted in significant ripple and undesirable lobes in antenna gain performance, both in azimuth and elevation patterns.
There is a need for an improved bicone antenna design that is suitable for a wide operating frequency range, such as from low Very High Frequency (VHF) through Super High Frequency (SHF), and that also provides high power handling.

Ultra-wideband antenna with a conical feed structure and hyperbolic cosine taper

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AS REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY


In a process for oligomerizing an olefinic hydrocarbon feedstock comprising sulfur-containing molecules, the feedstock is contacted in the absence of hydrogen with a first metal oxide catalyst at a temperature in excess of 150° C. and then is contacted under olefin oligomerization conditions with a second catalyst comprising a crystalline molecular sieve, such as ZSM-22 or ZSM-57.

It is known to oligomerize lower olefins, particularly C2 to C6 olefins, to produce higher molecular weight olefinic products useful as, for example, fuels and precursors in the production of plasticizers, surfactants, and freeze point depressants for lubricating oils. Typically, known oligomerization processes involve contacting a lower olefin with a solid acid catalyst, such as phosphoric acid or, more recently, a crystalline molecular sieve.
For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,960,978 and 4,021,502 disclose the conversion of gaseous olefins in the range of ethylene to pentene, either alone or in admixture with paraffins, into an olefinic gasoline blending stock by contacting the olefins with a ZSM-5 type zeolite. In addition, EP-B-746,538 discloses oligomerization of propene and butene to produce enhanced yields of the trimer using zeolites of the structure types MFI, TON, and MFS, such as ZSM-5, ZSM-22 and ZSM-57.
It is, however, found that commercially available olefinic feedstocks cause rapid deactivation of existing oligomerization catalysts and give a lower selectivity to the trimer than might be expected from the disclosure of EP-B-746,538. Although the reason for these observations is not fully understood, it is believed that the presence of certain sulfur compounds is at least partly responsible for the decrease in activity and selectivity. In particular, it is believed that low molecular weight, aliphatic thiols, sulphides and disulphides are especially troublesome, for example dimethyl, diethyl, and ethyl methyl sulphides, n-propane thiol, 1-butane thiol and 1,1-methylethyl thiol, ethylmethyl and dimethyl disulphides, and tetrahydrothiophene. There is therefore a need for an oligomerization process which exhibits improved catalyst life when used with commercially available olefinic feedstocks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,201 discloses a process for oligomerizing a sulfur-containing C2-C4 olefin feed over a phosphoric acid catalyst, in which the feed is initially passed through a bed of adsorbent at 50 to 175° C. and in the absence of added hydrogen. The adsorbent is at least one metal oxide selected from cobalt oxide, nickel oxide, molybdenum oxide, zinc oxide and copper oxide. The metal oxide is said to be effective in adsorbing 80 to 99% of the sulfur in the feed.
WO 01/30941 discloses an olefin oligomerization process in which a sulfur-containing olefinic hydrocarbon feedstock is contacted with a hydrotreating catalyst in the absence of hydrogen and in the liquid phase. The catalyst typically comprises mixed nickel and molybdenum oxides or mixed cobalt and molybdenum oxides on an alumina support. The catalyst oligomerizes the sulfur compounds as well as the olefins in the feedstock so that sulfur-containing feedstocks can be treated without the need for an initial adsorption step and without rapid reduction in catalyst activity.
According to the present invention, it has now been found that, by prior treatment with a metal oxide at a temperature in excess of 150° C., sulfur-contaminated olefinic feedstocks can be selectively oligomerized over molecular sieve catalysts with a marked increase in the lifetime of the oligomerization catalyst as compared to the same process without the pretreatment step.


An extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography system includes an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation source to emit EUV radiation, a collector for collecting the EUV radiation and focusing the EUV radiation, a reticle stage for supporting a reticle including a pellicle for exposure to the EUV radiation, and at least one sensor configured to detect particles generated due to breakage of the pellicle.

A lithographic apparatus may for example project a pattern from a patterning device (e.g., a photo mask) onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist) provided on the semiconductor substrate.
The patterning device (photo mask) is protected from particle contamination by a pellicle. A pellicle is a thin transparent film stretched over a frame that is positioned over one side of the photo mask to protect the photo mask from damage, dust and/or moisture. In EUV lithography, a pellicle having a high transparency in the EUV wavelength region, a high mechanical strength and a low thermal expansion is generally required.

Method for detecting EUV pellicle rupture

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.


A developing device is provided with: a developer containing section that is for containing a developer and that has a predetermined coefficient of thermal expansion; a developing roller for bearing the developer contained in the developer containing section; a roller-supporting member that is for rotatably supporting the developing roller, that has a coefficient of thermal expansion which is different from the coefficient of thermal expansion of the developer containing section, and that is structured by connecting at least three members; and a gap for preventing the roller-supporting member and the developer containing section from interfering with one another when the roller-supporting member and the developer containing section expand/contract due to a change in temperature.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to developing devices, image forming apparatuses, image forming systems, and methods of manufacturing developing devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
(1) There are developing device that are provided with: a developer containing section for containing a developer; a developing roller for bearing the developer contained in the developer containing section; and a roller-supporting member for rotatably supporting the developing roller.
In such a developing device, the coefficient of thermal expansion of the developer containing section differs from the coefficient of thermal expansion of the roller-supporting member. Therefore, there is a difference in the amount of expansion/contraction due to a change in temperature between the developer containing section and the roller-supporting member. In view of this, the developing device is provided with a gap for preventing the roller-supporting member and the developer containing section from interfering with one another when the roller-supporting member and the developer containing section expand/contract due to a change in temperature, which is caused by the difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion between the developer containing section and the roller-supporting member. This gap is designed to have a predetermined size, taking into consideration the amount of expansion/contraction of the roller-supporting member and the developer containing section due to a change in temperature. (See, for example, JP 2003-270928A.)
However, if the roller-supporting member is formed, for example, by connecting two members, then there are cases in which the roller-supporting member is not formed in the desired size due to variations in size of those members caused by individual differences. If the roller-supporting member is formed larger than the desired size, then the developer containing section and the roller-supporting member may expand/contract and interfere with one another due to a change in temperature.
(2) Another type of developing device is provided with: a developing roller for bearing a developer; a roller-supporting member for rotatably supporting the developing roller; and a roller gear that is provided at one end of the developing roller and that is for rotating the developing roller. In such a developing device, an intermediate gear is used for transmitting a drive force from a drive source to the roller gear, and the intermediate gear is supported by a gear-supporting shaft. (See, for example, JP 2003-270928A.)
In this type of developing device, the roller-supporting member may be structured by connecting at least two members in order to support the developing roller, and screws are often used to connect these members.
In assembling such a roller-supporting member, there has been a demand for improvement in the ease of assembling the roller-supporting member from the standpoint of, for example, shortening the time required for assembly.
(3) Further, image forming apparatuses such as laser beam printers are well known in the art. Such image forming apparatuses are provided with, for example, an image bearing body for bearing a latent image, and a developing device that develops the latent image borne on the image bearing body with a developer. When the image forming apparatus receives image signals etc. from an external device such as a host computer, the developing device is positioned in a developing position which is in opposition to the image bearing body, the latent image borne on the image bearing body is developed with the developer contained in the developing device to form a developer image, the developer image is transferred onto a medium, and ultimately an image is formed on the medium.
The developing device of the type described above has, for example, a developer charging member for charging the developer borne by a developer bearing roller, a bearing-roller-supporting member that is made of metal and that is for rotatably supporting the developer bearing roller, and a charge-supporting member that is made of metal and that is for supporting the developer charging member. (See, for example, JP 2003-270928A.)
In this type of developing device, it is necessary to arrange the developer charging member in an appropriate position with respect to the developer bearing roller so as to electrically charge the developer borne by the developer bearing roller evenly. In order to arrange the developer charging member in an appropriate position with respect to the developer bearing roller, it is necessary to arrange the charge-supporting member, which supports the developer charging member, in a suitable position with respect to the bearing-roller-supporting member, which supports the developer bearing roller.
Usually, the bearing-roller-supporting member and the charge-supporting member are fastened to one another with screws. However, if the bearing-roller-supporting member and the charge-supporting member are fastened to one another with screws, then the position of the charge-supporting member with respect to the bearing-roller-supporting member may deviate from its proper position due to the turning force etc. applied to make the screw turn during fastening. In this case, the position of the developer charging member with respect to the developer bearing roller may also deviate.

Developing device, image forming apparatus, image forming system, and method of manufacturing developing device


A counter value of a divider counter 3 that determines a communication speed is compared by a comparator 4 with a value calculated from a difference between fall delay and rise delay, and data is received with a matching signal serving as a data reception shift clock (S201), thereby acquiring receive data on the optimum position. Further, with the data reception shift clock (S201) serving as a data transmission shift clock (S201), the transmission control circuit 5 transmits serial data (S203) from the data transmission shift register 7 as data with a duty ratio reversed from a varied duty ratio of the communication system. Thus, it is possible to transmit data with a normal duty ratio to another communication device.

Referring to FIGS. 6, 7, 8, and 9, a conventional asynchronous communication circuit will be described below.
FIG. 6 is a conceptual illustration for explaining communications between typical asynchronous communication circuits. For example, such asynchronous communication circuits are used for communications between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit of an air conditioner. FIG. 7 is a structural diagram showing the conventional asynchronous communication circuit. FIG. 8 is a signal waveform chart showing an operation of the conventional asynchronous communication circuit. FIG. 9 is a signal waveform chart showing an operation performed when the conventional asynchronous communication circuit has a large duty ratio.
In FIG. 6, transmit data is outputted from a transmitting terminal TXD of an asynchronous communication circuit U1 of an outdoor unit and is received by a receiving terminal RXD of an asynchronous communication circuit U2 of an indoor unit through an insulating component Z2. Further, transmit data is outputted from a transmitting terminal TXD of the asynchronous communication circuit U2 of the indoor unit and is received by the receiving terminal RXD of the asynchronous communication circuit U2 of the indoor unit through an insulating component Z1. Such communications are carried out at a predetermined data rate.
Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, an operation of the conventional asynchronous communication circuit will be described below.
In FIG. 7, the conventional asynchronous communication circuit is constituted of a divider counter 3 for dividing a clock outputted from a clock generator circuit 1 while using, as a reset signal, a start bit decision signal outputted from a start bit decision circuit 2, a data transmission shift register 7 which uses, as a data transmission shift clock, a clock outputted from the divider counter 3, and a data reception shift register 6 which uses, as a data reception shift clock, a clock outputted from the divider counter 3.
When data is received, data S102 transmitted from the transmitting terminal TXD of the asynchronous communication circuit U2 has a waveform 91 shown in FIG. 8. In FIG. 8, the transmit data represents "10101010." When the serial data passes through the insulating component Z1, a fall delay t1 and a rise delay t2 are added to output data S103 due to the characteristics of the insulating component Z1, and the "H" period and "L" period of the waveform are changed with a varied duty ratio as indicated by 92 of FIG. 8. In receive data inputted to the receiving terminal RXD of the asynchronous communication circuit U1, a start bit is decided by the start bit decision circuit 2 and a start bit decision signal is outputted from the start bit decision circuit 2. The divider counter 3 reset by the start bit decision signal starts dividing a clock signal outputted from the clock generator circuit 1 and outputs data S200 as a data reception shift clock indicated by 93 of FIG. 8. The clock enables data to be acquired at the center of the data S102 having been received according to a predetermined communication speed. The data S103 is received by the data reception shift register 6 according to the clock. In this case, 8-bit reception is carried out and thus the data is stored in the data reception shift register while the reception shift clock is outputted eight times like data S300 indicated as a waveform 94. Thereafter, the data is outputted to an internal circuit and the reception is completed.
When data is transmitted, a clock signal from the clock generator circuit 1 that is defined by a predetermined communication speed is divided by the divider counter 3, and transmit data S100 is transmitted from the data transmission shift register 7 with the divided clock serving as data S200 of the data transmission shift clock indicated as a waveform 95 in FIG. 8. This serial data is transmitted from the transmitting terminal TXD of the asynchronous communication circuit U1 with a waveform 96 of FIG. 8 and is inputted to the insulating component Z2. The fall delay t1 and the rise delay t2 are added as in the reception and data S101 is outputted. The data S101 reaches the receiving terminal RXD of the asynchronous communication circuit U1 with a waveform deformed like a waveform 97 of FIG. 8. The receiving operation of the asynchronous communication circuit U2 is similar to that of the asynchronous communication circuit U1.
Further, the following example is also available: a send/receive clock is automatically set by data in a predetermined format at the start of communications and the changing points of receive data are sampled, so that a receive clock is automatically corrected (patent document 1).
However, in the transmission and reception, the insulating components Z1 and Z2 between the asynchronous communication circuits U2 and U1 are typically different in the rise time t2 and the fall time t1 on a signal waveform. When a delay due to the rise time and the fall time is sufficiently smaller than a communication speed, communications can be carried out by the conventional a synchronous communication circuit with no problem. However, when the communication speed increases, a waveform with a largely varied duty ratio in High period and Low period is inputted to the receiving terminal, like a waveform 102 of FIG. 9. Further, data cannot be accurately received by a waveform 103 indicated as the data receiving shift clock S200 in FIG. 9. Thus, when components with a large difference in rise delay and fall delay have to be inserted in a communication system, a communication speed has to be sufficiently low relative to the difference in delay.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


There is provided a multilayer ceramic capacitor, including a ceramic body, a plurality of first and second internal electrodes, and first and second external electrodes, wherein the first and second external electrodes include first and second internal layers including first and second internal head portions and first and second internal bands formed on both main surfaces of the ceramic body, and first and second external layers including first and second external head portions and first and second external bands formed on the first and second internal bands and having a distance shorter than a distance of the first and second internal bands, the first and second external layers having viscosity higher than that of the first and second internal layers.

The present disclosure relates to a multilayer ceramic capacitor and a manufacturing method thereof.
Multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC), multilayer chip electronic components, may be used in various electronic devices due to advantages in which a size is relatively small, high capacitance may be secured, and it may be easily mounted.
For example, the multilayer ceramic capacitors may be used in capacitors having a chip form mounted on printed circuit boards of several electronic products such as imaging devices such as liquid crystal displays (LCD), plasma display panels (PDP), and the like, computers, personal digital assistants (PDA), and mobile phones to thereby serve to charge or discharge electricity.
Recently, in accordance with the miniaturization of electronic products, it is also demanded to allow multilayer ceramic capacitors used in the electronic products to have a sub-miniaturized size and ultra high capacitance.
Therefore, multilayer ceramic capacitors in which thicknesses of dielectric layers and internal electrodes are decreased in order to allow the electronic products to have a sub-miniaturized size and a plurality of dielectric layers are stacked in order to allow the electronic products to have ultra high capacitance has been manufactured.
Particularly, in a case of so-called low profile or embedded products having a relatively thin thickness as compared to length and width sizes, thickness thinness of bands of external electrodes is required to obtain high capacitance.
However, in the case in which the thickness of bands of the external electrodes is excessively decreased for the high capacitance, a phenomenon in which a plating solution is permeated into a chip during a plating process to contact the internal electrodes may be caused, thereby degrading product reliability.
The following Related Art Documents disclose a multilayer ceramic capacitor having an external electrode of a double layer structure, but do not disclose a structure in which an end portion of an internal layer of the external electrode is exposed externally and do not disclose that an external layer of the external electrode is formed using a paste having higher viscosity than that of the internal layer thereof.

Multilayer ceramic capacitor and manufacturing method thereof


Formation of hexavalent chromium is reduced during incineration/combustion of materials containing hexavalent chromium by adding to the waste prior to or during combustion a small amount of sulfur. The sulfur can be added as elemental sulfur, as sulfur dioxide, or as high sulfur fuels or high sulfur waste.

Chromium is a toxic metal that is regulated in the U.S. by the Clean Air Act (CAA, 1990) and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA, 1986). The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, which regulates hazardous waste incinerators and boilers and industrial furnaces using hazardous waste fuels, uses risk assessment arguments to limit human exposure. Allowable ground level concentrations, to which the maximum exposed individual is subjected, are determined based upon risk specific doses for four carcinogenic metals and reference air concentrations for eight non-carcinogenic metals. Only the hexavalent form of chromium, Cr(VI), is considered to be a potent carcinogen, and its risk specific dose is correspondingly very low (0.00083 .mu.5g/m.sup.3). Data on chromium speciation in combustion exhaust gases are not readily available, and it is not clear that Cr(VI) is the dominant form, or even a significant portion, of total Cr in incinerator exhausts. However, for the purposes of conforming to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, all chromium is assumed to be Cr(VI) unless site specific speciation is performed, which is difficult and expensive. Based upon this assumption, chromium emissions are often a major contributor to the health risk assessment conducted at waste incineration facilities (Bailiff and Kelly, 1990).
Many fossil fuels and incineratable wastes contain chromium constituents. Chromium, like other metallic elements, cannot be destroyed during combustion or incineration processes, although high temperature environments will induce metal transformations. These physical and chemical transformations may exacerbate their harmful effects, since many of the metal species react with other constituents and readily vaporize within combustion environments. Prior experimental work has demonstrated that chromium species introduced into a combustion environment react with other constituents and partition into hexavalent (toxic) and non-hexavalent (relatively non-toxic) species in the exhaust gas. It has been found that adding chlorine increases the fraction of hexavalent chromium, presumably due to the formation of CrCl.sub.6.
Chromium occurs in oxidation states ranging from divalent (II) to hexavalent (VI) (Goyer, 1991). However, only trivalent (III) and hexavalent (VI) states are commonly found in the environment (Seigneur and Constantinou, 1995). Of these two, Cr(III) is the more abundant form, while Cr(VI) compounds are more important industrially. Anthropogenic chromium in ambient air originates from fossil fuel combustion, waste incineration, and industrial sources such as ferrochrome processing, ore refining, and chemical, refractory, and cement production. Cr(III) oxide, Cr.sub.2 O.sub.3, is present in high temperature refractories, and has been shown to promote sulfur capture by calcium products in hot combustion flue gases (Slaughter et al., 1987). Anthropogenic sources account for 60-70% of the atmospheric chromium emissions, with natural sources accounting for the remaining 30-40% (Seigneur and Constantinou, 1995). Typical ambient concentrations of total chromium range from less than 0.0001 .mu.g/m.sup.3 in rural areas to 0.03 .mu.g/m.sup.3 in industrial cities (Goyer, 1991).
At ambient conditions, the vapor pressures of chromium species are negligible; only condensed phases are present. As a result, chromium atmospheric chemistry is associated with solid particles and aqueous droplets. Seigneur and Constantinou (1995) have reviewed the solution chemistry for chromium and developed a kinetic mechanism to describe the conversion of Cr(III) to Cr (VI) and Cr(VI) to Cr(III). They concluded that typical atmospheric conditions favor the reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) species through reactions with trivalent arsenic [As(III)], divalent iron [Fe(II)], vanadium, or sulfur dioxide, although slow oxidation of Cr(III) to Cr(VI) is also possible under some extreme conditions through reactions with manganese.
There is no evidence that Cr(III) is converted to Cr(VI) in biological systems. However, Cr(VI), being a strong oxidizing agent, readily crosses cell membranes where it is reduced to Cr(III) (Trinchon and Feldman, 1989; Goyer, 1991). It has been speculated that the biological effects of Cr(VI) are associated with its biological mobility, reduction to Cr(III), and the formation of intracellular Cr(III) macromolecules (Goyer, 1991). Chromium does not bioaccumulate in the body with the exception of the lungs (Trinchon and Feldman, 1989). Exposure to Cr(VI) is most commonly associated with cancer of the respiratory system, although other adverse health effects including skin ulcers, allergic dermatitis and nasal perforations have been identified (Trinchon and Feldman, 1989; Goyer, 1991).
Thus, Cr(VI), but not Cr(III), has been determined to pose a significant human health hazard. The ensuing health risk depends upon exposure to Cr(VI), but not necessarily upon exposure to total chromium. Since conversion of Cr(III) to Cr(VI) is unlikely through atmospheric or biological mechanisms (Seigneur and Constantinouu, 1995; Goyer, 1991), the major route for human exposure is likely through direct (anthropogenic) releases of Cr(VI) into the environment. It is, therefore, important to determine what portion of total chromium emissions from combustion sources might consist of Cr(VI) and how this depends on combustion conditions, other fuel constituents, and the valence state of chromium entering the system.
It is difficult to measure chromium partitioning in gases for two reasons. First, the dominant chromium species predicted by equilibrium [Cr.sub.2 O.sub.3 (s), cf. FIG. 1] is a condensed species which is difficult to digest for subsequent analysis. Second, care must be taken to ensure that Cr(VI) is not reduced during the sampling and analysis process. This is usually accomplished by keeping the sample in contact with an alkaline environment at all times. The converse problem of oxidizing chromium to Cr(VI) species is not an issue at room temperatures (Seigneur and Constantinou, 1995).
Current models describing chromium partitioning in combustion systems are based on chemical equilibrium. It is important to note, however, that equilibrium may not be achieved in a particular system because of kinetic rate or mixing limitations. In addition, any equilibrium prediction is only as good as the thermochemical information available. Previous studies which included equilibrium predictions or chromium partitioning (Barton et al., 1990; Linak and Wendt, 1993) had access to thermodynamic properties of only a limited number of chromium species, and predicted trends of increased volatility and increased Cr(VI) concentrations caused by large quantities of chlorine.
To date, there has been no way to measure the trace quantities of hexavalent chromium in combustion air streams to determine the exact concentrations of hexavalent chromium and then to convert the hexavalent chromium to trivalent chromium.

Minimizing emission of hexavalent chromium from combustion sources

The United States of America as represented by the Environmental Protection Agency


A time required to return an inside of the chamber after performing maintenance of the inside of the chamber into a state prior to the maintenance can be shortened. A seasoning method includes a first dry cleaning process of cleaning the inside of the chamber by supplying an O2 gas into the chamber and generating plasma of the O2 gas within the chamber; and a second dry cleaning process of seasoning, after the first dry cleaning process, the inside of the chamber by supplying a processing gas containing fluorine into the chamber and generating plasma of the processing gas within the chamber.

In a process of forming an electrode wiring of a semiconductor device, various metal thin films are etched by plasma of a processing gas, which is generated within a chamber. In this etching process, a part of a reaction product (deposit) generated through a reaction between an element contained in the processing gas and an element contained in an etching target film adheres to an inner wall of the chamber or the like. If the amount of the deposit adhering to the inner wall of the chamber or the like increases, the deposit peeled off from the inner wall of the chamber or the like may float within the chamber and fall down. If the floating deposit within the chamber adheres to the semiconductor device (wafer), it may cause a defect of the semiconductor device having a wiring formed thereon.
To avoid this problem, Patent Document 1, for example, discloses a technique of cleaning the inside of the chamber with plasma of an O2 gas whenever the etching process is performed for a preset time. If, however, the deposit on the inner wall of the chamber or the like cannot be completely removed through this cleaning process with the plasma, the deposit needs to be removed by performing maintenance such as cleaning the inside of the chamber mechanically after breaking a vacuum of the chamber.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-197605
However, in the mass production process, if the maintenance of the inside of the chamber is performed after breaking the vacuum of the chamber and if the inside of the chamber is then returned back into the vacuum, the environment within the chamber is already changed from the state (wafer processing atmosphere) as it was before the maintenance is performed. For this reason, after the maintenance of the inside of the chamber is conducted after breaking the vacuum of the chamber, a process, which is called "seasoning", is performed to return the environment within the chamber into the state prior to the maintenance before the mass production process is resumed.
In the conventional seasoning process, the environment within the chamber is returned back into the state prior to the maintenance by performing a process for a long time, e.g., by processing 250 sheets of wafers under the processing conditions where the mass production process is performed. Further, in the conventional seasoning process, the process corresponding to the mass production process needs to be performed for 10 hours or more in order to return the environment within the chamber into the state prior to the maintenance. Accordingly, it has been difficult to improve a throughput (operating rate) in the manufacturing process of the semiconductor device.


The present invention relates to a decoding method for a bit stream that supports a plurality of layers. The decoding method may include receiving information on a set of video parameters that includes information on the plurality of layers, and parsing the set of video parameters to grasp information on the layers in the bit stream.

As broadcast having High Definition (HD) resolution is extended and served nationwide and worldwide, many users are being accustomed to video having high resolution and high SNR. Accordingly, a lot of organizations have conducted many attempts to develop the next-generation video devices. Furthermore, as there is a growing interest in Ultra High Definition (UHD) having resolution 4 times higher than HDTV along with HDTV, there is a need for technology in which an video having higher resolution and higher SNR is compressed and processed.
In order to compress an video, inter-prediction technology in which a value of a pixel included in a current picture is predicted from temporally anterior and/or posterior pictures, intra-prediction technology in which a value of a pixel included in a current picture is predicted using information about a pixel included in the current picture, entropy encoding technology in which a short code is assigned to a symbol having high frequency of appearance and a long code is assigned to a symbol having low frequency of appearance, etc. can be used.
Video compression technology includes technology in which a specific network bandwidth is provided under the limited operating environment of hardware without taking a flexible network environment into consideration. However, in order to compress video data applied to a network environment including a frequently varying bandwidth, new compression technology is necessary. To this end, a scalable video encoding/decoding method can be used.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Decoding method and device for bit stream supporting plurality of layers

ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH INSTITUTE


The present invention relates to a column unit which connects a chair sheet to a base in which a wheel is installed. The present invention provides a column unit which comprises a base tube having a lower end portion vertically fixed to a base of a chair and having the hollow interior; a spindle having the interior filled with a pressure gas and divided to upper and lower chambers by a piston, an upper end portion of a piston rod being connected to the piston, a lower end portion of the piston rod being rotatably installed at the lower end portion of the inner side of the base tube, the upper and lower chambers are communicated by a bypass, a valve being installed at the bypass; and a guide sleeve installed between the base tube and the spindle and engaged with the spindle to be integrally moved upward and downward together with the spindle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a column unit which connects a chair sheet to a base at which a wheel is installed, and more particularly to a column unit which is designed to regulate the height of a chair.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, a known column unit applied to a chair has a structure in which a gas cylinder is installed in the interior of a base tub. A piston rod of the gas cylinder is rotatably installed at a support plate which seals the lower portion of the base tube by using a ball bearing. A piston installed at the end portion of the upper portion of the piston rod is located in the spindle of the gas cylinder. The interior of the spindle is filled with a pressure gas to perform the function of the gas cylinder. Even when the spindle is moved upward and downward along the piston rod, the pressure gas of the spindle is not discharged. The spindle is divided to upper and lower chambers by the piston. Holes are formed in the chambers to be connected by a bypass channel. A control valve and a control pin which controls the opening/closing operation of the valve are installed in the hole formed in the upper chamber. A chair sheet is positioned at the upper portion of the spindle. A chair base to which a wheel is conventionally mounted is installed at the lower portion of the base tube.
The column unit for a chair comprises the base tube and the gas spindle. The spindle of the gas cylinder is moved upward and downward to regulate the height of the chair sheet. When a user presses the control [pin to open the control valve in the state in which the spindle is located at the lowest position, the upper and lower chambers of the spindle are connected through the two holes and the bypass channel and the pressure gas in the spindle pushes the piston towards the lower position of the spindle to raise the spindle along the piston rod. To the contrary, if a force which exceeds the force of the pressure gas is applied from the upper portion of the spindle in the state in which the control pin is pressed, the spindle is moved downward. The user suitably can regulate the operation of the column unit to regulate the height of the chair sheet. The user can feel the cushion when the user is sat on the chair by the effect of the gas cylinder.
If the length of the piston rod is increased to increase the stroke of the spindle, the area by which the spindle and the tube guide makes contact with each other, i.e., the area by which the tube guide supports the spindle becomes smaller. In case a moment is applied to the upper portion of the spindle, the operation of the column unit becomes unstable or the base tube or the tube guide can be damaged by the load of the moment.
In order to settle the above-mentioned problems, a column unit for a chair is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,942. The patent installs a guide sleeve between the base tube and the spindle.
The patent installs a support ring which is moved upward and downward together with the spindle at the lower end portion of the spindle. An annular recess is formed in the interior of the guide sleeve from the lower side thereof to a predetermined height. If the support ring is raised as the spindle is raised and is caught by the upper end portion of the annular recess, the guide sleeve is raised together with the spindle from then. In case the spindle is moved downward to the lower side, the upper end portion of the guide sleeve is caught by another support ring installed in the spindle and is moved downward together with the spindle.
On the other hand, the patent discloses another preferred embodiment in which a guide sleeve is moved upward and downward together with a spindle by using a pulley and a pulley device.
According to the conventional column unit, in case the spindle is reciprocally moved, the frictional force between the outer surface of the spindle and the inner surface of the guide sleeve moves the spindle upward and downward or the frictional force is not sufficiently generated. As a result, in case two support rings installed at a predetermined position of the spindle and the upper end portion of the guide sleeve is raised, the upper end portion of an annular recess formed on the inner side thereof is moved upward and downward.
In case the frictional force is not sufficiently generated, after the support ring is caught at a predetermined position of the guide sleeve, the guide sleeve is moved. Therefore, in order to regulate the height only to the position, the guide sleeve is not raised and the guide sleeve cannot accomplish its function and the noise is generated when the support ring is caught.
Further, according to the conventional column unit, the number of parts is increased and thus the manufacturing cost is increased. And, the tolerances of the tube guide and the guide sleeve is simultaneously managed, and thus the inferiority rate is increased.


A semiconductor capacitor is includes a substrate, a plurality of odd layers formed on the substrate, and a plurality of even layers formed on the substrate. Each odd layer includes a plurality of first odd fingers and a first odd terminal electrically connected thereto, and a plurality of second odd fingers and a second odd terminal electrically connected thereto. Each even layer includes a plurality of first even fingers and a first even terminal electrically connected thereto, and a plurality of second even fingers and a second even terminal electrically connected thereto. The semiconductor capacitor further includes at least a first odd connecting structure electrically connecting the first odd terminals, at least a second odd connecting structure electrically connecting the second odd terminals, at least a first even connecting structure electrically connecting the first even terminals, and at least a second even connecting structure electrically connecting the second even terminals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor structure, and more particularly, to a semiconductor capacitor structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In modern integrated circuits (ICs), capacitors are prevalently used to achieve different functions such as dynamic random access memories, bypassing, and filters. In typical analog IC processes, the capacitors are constructed by sandwiching a dielectric material between two conductive materials. For example, the capacitors usually used in the art include the metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor and the metal-oxide-metal (MOM) capacitor.
Capacitances of the capacitors are very sensitive to the fabrication process and structure design. Accordingly, a variance of capacitance caused by misalignment is always unwanted. Therefore it is desirous to reduce variation in the structure and obtain a higher capacitance for the semiconductor capacitors.


A method of providing improved security in a communication system used to transfer information between at least a pair of correspondents. The communication between the correspondents generally comprises steps of generating key pairs in accordance with the arithmetic properties of a chosen algorithm, communicating one of the keys, being a public key, to the other party by way of a certificate, generation and transmission of a signature using a private key of the key pairs by one of the correspondents and transmitting the signature to the other correspondent and verification of the signature by the recipient. The invention provides for the additional step of verifying the public key conform to the arithmetic properties dictated by the requirements of the selected algorithm.

Secure data communications systems are used to transfer information between a pair of correspondents. At least part of the information that is exchanged is enciphered by a predetermined mathematical operation by the sender. The recipient may then perform a complimentary mathematical operation to decipher the information. For public key or symmetric key systems, there are certain parameters that must be known beforehand between the correspondents. For example, various schemes and protocols have been devised to validate the senders public key, the identity of the sender and the like. The security or validity of these systems is dependent on whether the signature is a valid signature and this is only the case if system parameters if any are valid, the public key is valid and the signature verifies. Furthermore, an asymmetric system is secure only if system parameters if any are valid, the enciphering public key is valid, the symmetric key is formatted as specified and the symmetric key recovery checks for format validity.
On the other hand a key agreement protocol is secure only if the system parameters, if any, are valid, the key agreement public keys are valid, and the shared secret and symmetric key is derived as specified in a standard. In all of these it is assumed that the public key or symmetric key, i.e. the shared secret, is derived and valid as specified in the protocol scheme. Problems, however, will arise if these parameters are either bogus or defective in some way.
The following scenarios may illustrate the implications of a defect in one or more parameters of a public key cryptographic system. For example digital signatures are used to indicate the authenticity of a sender. Thus if a Recipient A receives a certified public key from a Sender B, then A verifies the certificate, next B sends A a signed message for which A is able to verify the signature and thus assume that further communication is acceptable. In this scenario, however, if B has deliberately corrupted the public key then the Recipient A has no way of distinguishing this invalid public key. Similarly, a Participant C generates a key pair and then subsequently receives a public key certificate, the Participant C then sends the certificate and a subsequent signed message to B under the assumption that the public key contained in the certificate is valid. The participant B can then determine key information for C. Both the above scenarios describe possible problems arising from utilizing unauthenticated parameters in signature verification.
In key transport protocols a Correspondent A may inadvertently send its symmetric key to the wrong party. For example, if Correspondent A receives a certified public key from a Sender B, the certificate is verified by A who then sends a public key enciphered symmetric key and a symmetric key enciphered message to B, thus A is compromised. Conversely, if one of the correspondents C generates a key pair and gets a public key certificate which is subsequently sent to A who public key enciphers a symmetric key and message and sends it back to C, thus, in this case, C is compromised.
In key agreement protocols, one of the correspondents, A for example, receives a certified public key from B and sends B A's certified public key. Each of A and B verify the other's certificate and agree upon a symmetric key. In this scenario A is compromised twice.
It may be seen from the above scenarios that although public key systems are secure the security of the system relies to a large extent on one or both of the correspondents relying on the fact that a claimed given key is in fact the given key for the particular algorithm being used. Typically the recipients receive a string of bits and then make the assumption that this string of bits really represents a key as claimed. This is particularly a problem for a symmetric key system where typically any bit string of the right size may be interpreted as a key. If a bit in the key is flipped, it may still be interpreted as a key, and may still produce a valid crypto operation except that it is the wrong key.
In an asymmetric private key system the owner of the private key knows everything about the private key and hence can validate the private key for correctness. However, should a third party send the owner system a public key, a question arises as to whether the received key conforms to the arithmetic requirements for a public key or the operations using the claimed public key is a secure crypto operation. Unless the owner system performs a check it is unlikely to know for certain and then only by the owner.
From the above it may be seen that key establishment may be insecure. In a paper written by Lim and Lee presented at Crypto '97, this problem was demonstrated in context of the Diffie-Hellman scheme using a bogus public key that did not have the correct order and thus one party was able to find information about the other party's private key. In the RSA or Rabin scheme, which gets its security from the difficulty of factoring large numbers, the public and private keys are functions of a pair of large prime numbers. The keys are generated from the product of two random large prime numbers. Suppose, however, that n is a prime instead of the products of two primes then phi(n)=n−1 so anyone can determine d from the bogus "public key" (n,e). These are just examples of the problems a user of a public key can get into if they cannot validate the arithmetic properties of a claimed public key for conformance with the requirements of the algorithm.


A system for protecting exterior electrical connectors from moisture, dust, and foreign particles. A flexible polymer sleeve with a low temperature adhesive is provided to seal ends of the sleeve to the cord. Once the sleeve is sealed to the cords the electrical connection is protected from foreign particles such as moisture and dust. The sleeve is formed of flexible polymer material with a band of heat-activated glue on the inner diameter of both ends. The system includes a heat-generating sealing tool includes heated jaws that bond the polymer sleeve glue to the cord. The jaws include a range of sized apertures to suit different gauges of the cords to be sealed. The jaws include a heating element within the jaws to produce heat and electric current is generated by an incoming AC or DC power source.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to protection of electrical connections, and, more specifically, to a system to protect exterior electrical connections from moisture, dust, and other foreign particles.
Environmental conditions may create hazards for power and extension cords by providing dangerous pathways for electric current. Electrocutions are more likely to occur where electricity exists together with dampness and "grounded" objects.
Electricity is utilized in many outdoor applications for electrical cords, radios, power tools, and other equipment. Dampness is common due to rain, humidity, and water from livestock pens. People may also be damp from perspiration and wet clothing. The combination of dampness and electricity can be fatal, especially if a person is in contact with soil, concrete, metal fences, gates, pipes, conduit, or other grounded objects.
The outdoor protection system of the present invention provides means to protect the user and others from electrocutions by reducing the chance of foreign particles such as moisture and dust from contacting the connection points of a receptacle or plug.
The present invention provides a flexible polymer sleeve with a low temperature adhesive on either end to seal the ends of the sleeve to the cord. Once the sleeve is sealed to the cords the electrical connection is protected from foreign particles such as moisture and dust. The sleeve is comprised of flexible polymer material with a band of heat activated glue on the inner diameter of both ends. The sleeve may be of any diameter and length depending on the application.
Providing means to seal the polymer sleeve, the outdoor protection system of the present invention includes a heat generating sealing tool. The seal tool consists of heated jaws that provide means to bond the polymer sleeve glue to the cord. The jaws include a range of sized apertures to suit different gauges in the cords to be sealed. The jaws produce heat by means of a heating element contained within the jaws and electric current generated by an incoming AC or DC power source.
The flexible sleeve is positioned by sliding the sleeve over one of the cord ends prior to electrical connection. Once the sleeve is positioned, the electrical cords are joined and the sleeve is centrally position. The flexible sleeve is positioned such that the plugs for both electrical cord ends are centrally positioned between the glue lines on both ends of the sleeve.
Once in position, the sealing tool is positioned around one glue line on the sleeve and such the properly sized gauge jaw aperture aligns with the cord. With both alignments in position, the user squeezes the handle allowing the jaws to compress around the cord and heat is transferred from the tool to the glue. In turn, the flexible sleeve contracts around the cord creating a seal between the cord and the sleeve.
With the one end of the flexible polymer sleeve secured to the electrical cord, the user secures the opposing end of the sleeve to the second electrical cord in the same manner as the first. The sealing tool is positioned around the second glue line on the sleeve and such the properly sized gauge jaw aperture aligns with the cord. When in position, the user squeezes the handle allowing heat transfer from the tool to the glue.
With both ends of the flexible polymer sleeve affixed at the glue lines to the electrical cords, a barrier at the electrical connection is created protecting the connection from foreign particles such as moisture and dust.
Upon disconnection of a temporary electrical connection, the sleeve barrier may be removed by cutting the polymer material with a utility knife or the like, and peeling the sleeve away from the cord.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other devices designed for outdoor protection of electrical connectors. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 1,975,244 issued to John T. Wiseman on Oct. 2, 1934.
Another patent was issued to Henry G. Tanner on Nov. 29, 1955 as U.S. Pat. No. 2,725,543. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 3,014,194 was issued to Wilhelm Axel Berglund on Dec. 19, 1961 and still yet another was issued on Sep. 26, 1967 to Howard R. Hendee as U.S. Pat. No. 3,344,393.
Another patent was issued to David N. House on Feb. 17, 1987 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,643,505. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,683 was issued to Llewellyn W. Nelson on Sep. 26, 1989. Another was issued to Frederick F. Osten on Apr. 9, 1996 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,634 and still yet another was issued on Aug. 5, 1993 to Denis A. Carle as U.S. Pat. No. 6,602,087.
Internationally, a patent was issued to Christ Bastiaansen on Aug. 3, 1995 as International Patent Application Number WO 95/20830. Yet another Canadian Patent Number CA 2,269,384 was issued to Raymond H. Clements on Oct. 21, 2000.

System for outdoor electrical protection


The invention relates to an aircraft comprising a fuselage and at least two substantially hollow cylindrical lifting bodies which are applied to the fuselage and comprise a plurality of rotor blades which extend over the periphery of the lifting bodies, the periphery of the lifting bodies being partially covered by at least one tail surface. The aim of the invention is to provide an aircraft with an extremely high degree of maneuverability, compact dimensions and economy of fuel. To this end, the lifting bodies are driven by at least one drive unit and respectively comprise a cylindrical axis which is substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis (1a) of the aircraft.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an aircraft comprising a fuselage and at least two substantially hollow cylindrical lifting bodies which are applied to the fuselage and comprise a plurality of rotor blades extending over the periphery of the lifting body, with the periphery of the lifting body being partially covered by at least one tail surface.
Such an aircraft is especially provided with a system of special lifting bodies which are configured as rotors, having a rotary axis which is arranged substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. Each rotor is provided with a certain number of airfoil-like rotor blades which are substantially arranged on two disk-like end bodies in such a way that during a full rotation of the lifting body (rotor) the central axis of the rotor blade performs a circular movement spaced from the rotary axis as the radius, and that the rotor blade can be changed individually in its position during a full rotation. A defined action of force (e.g. lifting force, lateral force) can be produced on the aircraft in every momentary position of the rotor blade.
Numerous efforts have been undertaken to combine the advantages of an aircraft with those of a helicopter. Of special interest is the property of helicopters to be able to start and land vertically or to hover in the air whenever necessary in order to rescue people or in order to fulfill special transport and mounting flight maneuvers or similar tasks. The disadvantageous aspect in current helicopters is the high technical complexity, especially in the field of rotor control and the high risk of crashes even in the case of slight contact of the rotating rotor blades with obstructions such as the tips of trees or rock walls. Especially conditions during assignments in Alpine rescue operations are exceptionally critical because on the one hand a position as close as possible to a rock wall would be required, and on the other hand the slightest collision could lead to fatal consequences. Work can therefore only proceed by observing respectively large safety margins. A further disadvantage is the high fuel consumption of helicopters, even in cruising flight.
In order to avoid such disadvantages, so-called VTOL or STOL aircraft have been developed which with respect to their configuration are principally similar to airplanes, but are equipped with the ability, through various technical measures, to be able to start and land vertically, or can at least make do with extremely short take-off and landing runways.
Such a solution has been disclosed in EP 0 918 686 A (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,231,004) for example. This specification describes an airplane comprising airfoils which are substantially formed by cross-flow rotors. It is thus possible to produce a vertically downwardly directed air stream through a respective deflection of the air stream in order to enable a vertical take-off of the aircraft. The thrust can be deflected accordingly for cruising.
The disadvantageous aspect in this known solution is on the one hand that the airfoils which are optimized for generating lift have a high air resistance, so that fuel consumption is excessively high, especially at higher flight speeds, and that the aircraft in total has a relatively large wing span. It therefore requires much space and cannot be used or only with difficulty under conditions with limited available space.
Further aircraft have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,519,562 A. The solution is complex and has a low efficiency, so that such a system was never accepted on the market. The rotors described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,261,051 B are also not suitable for representing an aircraft with vertical take-off capabilities that can be used in practice.
A further aircraft which generates lift by using modified cross-flow fans is disclosed in DE 196 34 522 A. Apart from the question of the proper function of such an aircraft which is not obviously clear, it also comes with the disadvantages as explained above.
A further aircraft with a cross-flow rotor as a drive element is also known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,992 A. A very large cross-sectional surface in the direction of flight is also obtained in this case as a result of the cross-flow rotor, and the need for space is as high as in the solutions described above.
A further known aircraft with the possibility of vertical take-off is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,361,386 A. Extremely variable airfoils are provided in this aircraft which are provided with openings for gas outlet. Fuel consumption is extremely high as a result of the system-inherent adverse efficiency of such a system.
Close to the state of the art is also the drive concept for watercraft which is known as Voith-Schneider drive. This drive system which has already been known for approximately 75 years differs substantially in such a way that the swiveling movement of the individual blades during a full rotation of the live ring occurs at a fixed kinematic ratio with respect to each other. Thrust is thus always only possible in one direction. In contrast to this, a second force component in the transversal direction can be produced by the inventive rotating lifting body, irrespective of a first force component, e.g. an evenly remaining vertical lifting component.
The present invention relates to further embodiments of VTOL aircraft which are equipped with rotating lifting bodies whose rotary axis is arranged substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft.

IAT 21 Innovative Aeronautics Technologies GmbH


The present invention provides an internal shape of a rotor for a two-bore rotary carburetor used in a stratified scavenging engine whereby an engine for a power saw, lawn mower, or the like can be stabilized in the course of a complete change in orientation during idling. A groove pocket (10) in communication with a fuel supply-side bore (8) is formed at the aperture edge of each of the upstream end and the downstream end of a carburetor rotor valve (6) toward an accelerated rotation direction in the fuel supply-side bore (8) of the rotor valve (6). The groove pocket (10) is shaped so as to gradually rise and decrease in cross-sectional surface area toward the accelerated rotation direction along a peripheral surface of the rotor valve (6). The resulting structure is one in which the groove pocket (10) is initially superposed with the mixing channel during horizontal rotation of the rotor valve (6), the fuel supply-side bore (8) and the mixing channel are in communication with each other, and the fuel supply-side bore (8) opens before the air supply-side bore (7) does.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an internal shape of a rotor for a two-bore rotary carburetor used in a stratified scavenging engine applicable to a two-stroke internal combustion engine for a power saw, lawn mower, or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are conventionally known carburetors for a two-cycle engine in which the terminal end of an air channel is connected to a portion adjacent to the scavenging port of a scavenging channel for connecting the scavenging port and the crankcase of the engine. The air channel is provided with a check valve for allowing air to flow to the scavenging channel. The starting end of the air channel is connected to the inlet portion of an air intake conduit. The air channel is provided with an air control valve for varying the amount of air; and the air control valve for varying the amount of air in the air channel is provided as an integrated structure together with a fuel control valve for varying the amount of fuel in an air intake channel to the air intake channel and the air channel disposed in parallel to the carburetor main body so that the valves can rotate about an axis that traverses the two channels (see JP-A 10-252565).
In the prior-art carburetor, the same single rotor has two bores shaped as circular orifices, and the bore on the side of the fuel supply opens first during idling. To achieve this, a two-step rotor structure is adopted so that the outside diameter of the rotor is greater in the bore on the side of the air supply. The carburetor of an air-leading stratified scavenging two-cycle engine has a simple structure in which a partition is placed into the same bore, and has the merit of being able to be made more compact and allowing the engine to be designed to smaller dimensions because the height of the carburetor can be minimized. However, it is difficult to maintain a lean air-fuel ratio at idling by merely installing a partition in the same bore because the structural features of the rotor carburetor designed to aid in controlling the air-fuel ratio cause the rotor to be displaced downward at the throttle opening maintained during idling, and result in an arrangement in which the bore on the side of the air supply opens first, and the bore on the side of the fuel supply opens second.
The bore on the side of the fuel supply can be made to open first during idling if the shape of the bore on the side of the fuel supply is made symmetrically larger, but because the air-fuel ratio varies greatly when the bore on the side of the air supply starts to open in a partial state, it is difficult to control the fuel so that an optimal air-fuel ratio is obtained.

Internal shape of rotor for two-bore rotary carburetor used in stratified scavenging engine


A back light unit includes a light guide plate having at least one light introducing portion and a light exit portion, the front surface of the light exit portion being a light exit surface, and a light source facing the light guide plate and emitting light in a light emitting direction. The at least one light introducing portion includes a first portion and a second portion which is connected to the light exit portion, and in which the second portion spreads wider than the first portion in plan view.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, liquid crystal display devices are widely used as information display devices for portable devices. In order to reduce the size of the portable devices, the liquid crystal display devices need to be reduced in entire thickness.
However, the liquid crystal display device is not self-luminous, and hence a planar lighting unit called "backlight" is often required. It is known that the liquid crystal display device used for portable devices employs a system, as a planar lighting unit, in which a light source is provided on a side surface of a light guide plate for the purpose of reducing the thickness of the backlight. In the planar lighting unit as described above, the light guide plate is provided with an appropriate structure for uniformly scattering light introduced from the side surface onto the front surface thereof. Further, in the planar lighting unit as described above, there must be given a consideration to the avoidance of undesired light from being reflected on a screen.
For example, JP 07-43710 A discloses a liquid crystal display device, in which a light guide plate is provided with a plurality of grooves on a surface thereof, the plurality of grooves each having projections projecting outward on both sides of the aperture of the groove. According to the invention disclosed in JP 07-43710 A, light which has entered the projections goes outside to be diffusely reflected by a reflective member, and then enters the light guide plate again.
Meanwhile, JP 2005-251687 A discloses a liquid crystal display device, in which light sources are provided on a side surface of a light guide plate, and a light blocking member is provided on a flexible printed circuit board so as to prevent a color of the flexible printed circuit board from being mixed with colors on a screen.
In general, a light guide plate is made of a transparent thermoplastic resin, such as polycarbonate or polymethylmethacrylate, and is formed through projection molding. However, when the projection molding method is employed, it has been difficult to obtain a light guide plate with a thickness smaller than a certain degree, for example, the thickness of 1 mm or less, due to the reason that the resin is insufficiently filled into the mold or it is difficult to remove the finished product from the mold. For that reason, the applicant of the present invention is considering adding a surface structure on a surface of a sheet made of a thermoplastic material by transfer with the use of a mold. At this time, an appropriate structure which scatters light is formed on the surface of the sheet made of the thermoplastic material described above. At the same time, a light introducing structure is formed thereon, which guides light introduced from the side surface of the light guide plate inside the light guide plate. After that, a periphery portion of the sheet made of the thermoplastic material is cut out by a method such as punching, to thereby obtain a light guide plate with a desired dimension.
However, in the method described above, the dimension accuracy in the cutout process by a method such as punching is not always high, and the geometric position at the end surface of the light introducing structure may be easily misaligned. Therefore, when the liquid crystal display device is assembled, light from a light source such as a light-emitting diode (LED) cannot be sufficiently introduced into the light introducing structure, and there is a fear that the use efficiency of the light from the light source is decreased.

Panasonic Liquid Crystal Display Co., Ltd.


Emulsions of a water immiscible phase in an aqueous phase are produced with an improved method which does not require milling or homogenizing equipment and which allows emulsification to be carried out at reduced temperatures. A hydrophilic thickening agent component is dispersed within an oil or wax phase prior to addition of the oil or wax phase to an aqueous phase. When the oil or wax phase is added to the aqueous phase, phase inversion and gellation occur and the thickening agent forms a lattice which entraps oil or wax phase particles of reduced size in a uniform dispersion. The temperature of the emulsion is reduced until the oil or wax particles begin to solidify.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved method of manufacturing emulsions of a water immiscible phase in an aqueous phase. Emulsions of this type are widely employed in the cosmetic and toiletry industries.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cosmetic and toiletry creams and lotions are widely manufactured as emulsions of a water immiscible phase in an aqueous phase. In order to finally disperse particles of the water immiscible phase in the aqueous phase, substantial amounts of an emulsifier are employed according to conventional manufacturing techniques. Suitable emulsifiers are rather expensive and represent a considerable portion of the cost of the emulsion product. Also, emulsifiers do represent a skin irritant in the emulsion product.
Furthermore, with conventional manufacturing techniques which rely upon emulsifiers to disperse an oil phase within an aqueous phase, emulsification is usually carried out at an elevated temperature of perhaps 70 to 80 degrees Celsius. Many of the components of cosmetic and toiletry emulsions, such as perfume oils, are sensitive to temperature. Such temperature sensitive materials exhibit a loss of activity when subjected to the relatively high temperatures employed in conventional emulsification manufacturing techniques. As a consequence, relatively large quantities of these heat sensitive materials are required in the products to compensate for the loss of activity caused by subjecting them to elevated temperatures.
A further disadvantage of conventional emulsification techniques is that, due to the relatively high temperatures employed, a considerable time is required for the emulsified product to be cooled. This increases the labor cost for each batch of materials and reduces the throughput period. That is, the cooling time represents a limiting factor on the number of batches of product which can be produced with available equipment.
As used herein, an emulsifier is considered to be a substance which lowers surface tension only for the purpose of promoting emulsification, as contrasted with the broader term surfactant which applies to substances which lower surface tension for other purposes as well. For example, methyl paraben is a surfactant but is not an emulsifier.


A room-temperature shrinkable tube includes an elastic tube stretched to cover a cylindrical shell. An object to be coated by the elastic tube is inserted into the cylindrical shell, and the cylindrical shell is slid out from the elastic tube, so that the resilience of the elastic tube brings it into contact with the surface of the object.

The present invention relates to room temperature shrinkable tubes, more particularly, to a room temperature shrinkable tube to cover a joint fitting of a coaxial cable and a joint of an electric wire, cable or the like.
In the prior art, a heat shrinkable tube, which is shrunk by a heating, is used for the above purposes.
Therefore, in the prior art, a heat source such as, for example, a gas torch or an electric heater, is required. The need for such equipment is troublesome. In addition, skilled workers are required to heat shrink the tube.

Nishi Nippon Electric Wire & Cable Co. Ltd.


An antenna includes first and second convex-curved antenna elements, which are connected in series via webs extending in a longitudinal direction of the antenna, such that they form a helical configuration. A further antenna element may extend parallel to the helical configuration. The antenna can be stamped from a single metal part, can be bent into a desired shape, and is particularly suitable for multiband applications.

The invention relates to an antenna, in particular a helical antenna, and to a method for producing such an antenna.
In mobile radiocommunication devices, the form, that is to say the external appearance, plays a major role in the configuration of antennas. Furthermore, modern mobile radiocommunication devices should be usable not only in one mobile radiocommumication network, that is to say in one frequency band, but in a number of frequency bands.
So-called multiband antennas are therefore required, which can be used in two or more frequency bands. In this case the requirements with respect to performance and the appearance or shape of the antenna should be achievable in a simple and cost-effective manner.
Currently, multiband antenna systems are used which include a number of individual antennas, for example cylindrically symmetrical helical wire structures or planar antennas, for example so-called printed circuit boards (PCBs). To improve the appearance or form, it is possible to fit these conventional solutions in a housing which does not correspond to the basic shape of the antenna, that is to say, for example, an antenna housing having an elliptical cross section can be chosen instead of a cylindrically symmetrical cross section. However, a relatively large amount of space is then required for the entire antenna system, so that the requirement with respect to appearance, form and minimum possible equipment dimensions is not satisfied, or the desired appearance, form or shape cannot be implemented.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide an antenna configuration which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known antenna configurations of this general type and which, firstly, can be produced in a simple and cost-effective manner and, secondly, allows to freely shape the external appearance or form of the antenna. In particular, the antenna configuration should allow a simple way of upgrading or expansion to a multiband antenna. It is a further object of the invention to provide a method of producing such an antenna.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, an antenna configuration, including:
an antenna having first convex-curved antenna elements, second convex-curved antenna elements, and webs;
the first convex-curved antenna elements having a first curvature, the second convex-curved antenna elements having a second curvature, the first and second convex-curved antenna elements being disposed in an alternating pattern such that the first curvature and the second curvature are curved in opposite directions;
the first and second convex-curved antenna elements having respective adjacent ends; and
the antenna defining a longitudinal direction, the webs extending in the longitudinal direction and connecting the respective adjacent ends of the first and second convex-curved antenna elements such that the first and second convex-curved antenna elements are connected in series without overlapping one another in the longitudinal direction and such that the first and second convex-curved antenna elements form a helical configuration.
In other words, the antenna according to the invention forms a helical basic structure which can be produced particularly cost-effectively simply by stamping and bending a metal or sheet-metal part. To this end, the antenna includes convexcurved and strip-shaped antenna elements, which are connected in series via webs extending in the longitudinal direction of the antenna and are provided such that they model the form of a helix. In this way, the basic structure of a helix is modified such that the antenna has only elements which xe2x80x94seen in the longitudinal plane of the antenna xe2x80x94do not overlap, so that the helix structure can be produced by a simple stamping process.
The structure of the antenna according to the invention is not necessarily cylindrically symmetrical and, furthermore, need not necessarily contain planar configurations. The curved strip antenna elements can, in fact, be shaped as desired within wide limits. Thus a high level of configurational freedom for the shape of the external appearance or form is provided. Also, a structure, which conforms to the desired appearance or shape can be formed more easily, such that, for example, the structure has a cross section which is not cylindrically symmetrical.
The standard technology of stamping and bending from metal or sheet-metal parts required to produce the antenna according to the invention allows extremely high manufacturing rates and thus low production costs. p Furthermore, the antenna contact spring, which produces the electrical contact between the antenna and the electronics of the equipment to be operated with the antenna, can be produced integrally with the actual antenna basic structure from a single stamped and bent part, which is particularly cost-effective, since the antenna contact spring can be produced together with the antenna basic structure during the same production step.
The helical basic structure of the antenna according to the invention described above can easily be upgraded to form a dual-band, triple-band, or generally multiband antenna. To do this, a further, parasitic antenna element in the form of an elongated web just has to be added to the helical basic structure with the series-connected convex-curved antenna elements. The web runs parallel to the helix and is likewise provided such that the individual elements of the antenna do not overlap at any point, viewed in the longitudinal plane of the antenna, so that this parasitic antenna element can also be manufactured together with the helical basic structure from the same stamped and bent part. The parasitic and web-like antenna element is not just connected in parallel with the helical basic structure, that is to say connected to the basic structure at the lower end, but, in particular, is provided close to this helical basic structure so as to provide a considerable level of electromagnetic coupling between the individual antenna elements and, secondly, such that the physical volume of the antenna is minimal.
This antenna construction allows to utilize the distributed inductance elements or partial inductances and capacitances of the individual antenna elements in such a way that the antenna, which thus includes a parallel circuit and a series circuit of preferably elliptically curved half-rings and straight webs, can be operated in a number of frequency bands. Furthermore, no additional matching circuit is required to set up the antenna.
According to another feature of the invention, the first and second convex-curved antenna elements are strip-shaped antenna elements; and the first and second convex-curved antenna elements are disposed parallel to one another.
According to yet another feature of the invention, the webs are straight webs.
According to another feature of the invention, the first curvature of the first antenna elements has a first radius of curvature and the second curvature of the second antenna elements has a second radius of curvature, the first radius of curvature being substantially identical to the second radius of curvature.
According to a further feature of the invention, the first and second convex-curved antenna elements are elliptically curved antenna elements.
According to another feature of the invention, the antenna includes a third antenna element extending in the longitudinal direction and essentially parallel to the helical configuration formed by the first and second convex-curved antenna elements; and the third antenna element is spaced from the helical configuration by a given distance such that the first and second convex-curved antenna elements and the third antenna element are electromagnetically coupled to one another.
According to yet another feature of the invention, the antenna has a lower longitudinal end region; and a lowermost one of the first and second antenna elements, as seen in the longitudinal direction, is connected, at the lower longitudinal end region of the antenna, to the third antenna element.
According to another feature of the invention, the third antenna element has an upper longitudinal end part; and the upper longitudinal end part has a convex curvature and extends essentially parallel to the first or second convex-curved antenna elements.
According to a further feature of the invention, an uppermost one of the first and second convex-curved antenna elements as seen in the longitudinal direction is disposed adjacent to the upper longitudinal end part of the third antenna element; and the upper longitudinal end part of the third antenna element defines a top end of the antenna.
According to another feature of the invention, the first curvature of the first convex-curved antenna elements has a first radius of curvature; the second curvature of the second convex-curved antenna elements has a second radius of curvature; the convex curvature of the upper longitudinal end part has a third radius of curvature; and the first radius of curvature, the second radius of curvature and the third radius of curvature are substantially identical.
According to yet another feature of the invention, the webs define a given plane; and the third antenna element and the webs are disposed in the given plane.
According to another feature of the invention, the first and second convex-curved antenna elements are disposed symmetrically with respect to the given plane.
According to another feature of the invention, the antenna has a lower longitudinal end region and includes an antenna contact section at the lower longitudinal end region; and the antenna contact section is configured to be connectable to electronics of an appliance to be operated with the antenna.
According to a further feature of the invention, the webs define a given plane; the antenna includes a third antenna element extending in the longitudinal direction and essentially parallel to the helical configuration formed by the first and second convex-curved antenna elements; the third antenna element and the webs are disposed in the given plane; the antenna contact section includes a first region and a second region; the first region is connected to the lower longitudinal end region of the antenna and is bent to extend in a direction transverse to the given plane; and the second region is connected to the first region and is bent to extend transverse to the first region and substantially parallel to the given plane.
According to another feature of the invention, the antenna is a one-piece antenna.
According to yet another feature of the invention, the antenna is formed of a single metal part.
According to another feature of the invention, the antenna configuration according to the invention is used in combination with a multiband radio device.
With the objects of the invention in view there is also provided, a method for producing an antenna having antenna elements forming a helical configuration, the method includes the steps of:
stamping, from a metal part, strip-shaped antenna elements extending alongside one another and webs extending transversely with respect to the strip-shaped antenna elements, the webs connecting respective adjacent ones of the strip-shaped antenna elements at ends thereof such that the strip-shaped antenna elements are connected in series; and bending the strip-shaped antenna elements alternately upward and downward into a convex shape such that the strip-shaped antenna elements form a helical configuration.
According to another mode of the invention, a further strip-shaped antenna element is stamped from the metal part, such that a first section of the further strip-shaped antenna element extends substantially parallel to the helical configuration, and such that a second section of the further strip-shaped antenna element extends substantially parallel to at least one of the strip-shaped antenna elements, and such that a lower longitudinal end of the first section of the further strip-shaped antenna element is connected to a lower longitudinal end region of the helical configuration.
According to another mode of the invention, the second section of the further strip-shaped antenna element is bent into a convex shape.
According to another mode of the invention, an antenna contact section connected to a lower longitudinal end region of the helical configuration is stamped from the metal part, and the antenna contact section is bent such that it extends away from a given plane defined by the webs.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in an antenna, the use of such an antenna, and a method for producing such an antenna, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.