A high voltage power supply apparatus according to the present invention is a high voltage power supply apparatus that applies a bias voltage at least to a developing roller of a developing unit, the apparatus comprising: a transformer that increases an AC voltage and includes a main winding and a sub winding on the secondary side thereof; a first capacitor whose first end is connected to a common connection point between the main and sub windings; a second capacitor whose first end is connected to one end of the sub winding which is not the common connection point side; a zener diode whose both ends are connected to the second end of the first capacitor and second end of the second capacitor; and a DC voltage application section that applies a DC voltage to the zener diode, wherein a voltage generated in the second end of the first capacitor is used as a voltage to be applied to the developing roller.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a developing unit that forms uniform thin film of toner on a developer carrier and supplies toner to a latent image carrier and, more particularly, to a high voltage power supply apparatus that applies a voltage to the developer carrier, latent image carrier, and a restricting blade that constitute the developing unit and an image forming apparatus that uses the high voltage power supply apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is necessary to apply an adequate bias voltage respectively to the developer carrier, latent image carrier, and restricting blade that constitute the developing unit by the high voltage power supply apparatus. For example, Japanese Patent No. 3264001 discloses a configuration in which, in a developing unit constituted by a developing roller (developer carrier), a blade (layer thickness restricting means), and a reset roller (supply means), while a voltage is applied from a blade (layer thickness restricting means) application power supply to the blade (layer thickness restricting means), toner is transferred to the developing roller by an electrostatic force of a toner supply electric field directed from the developing roller to the reset roller generated between the potential (supply means application voltage) of the reset roller which causes friction between the toner to thereby preliminary charge the toner negatively and to which a supply means application voltage, in which a DC component and AC component are superimposed, is applied by a supply means application DC power supply and a supply means application AC power supply and potential (developing bias voltage) of the developing roller applied by a developer carrier application power supply.


A signal processing circuit for a GPS receiver wherein the search time for a code phase is decreased to decrease the time required for catching of radio waves of an artificial satellite without increasing the circuit scale very much. The signal processing circuit comprises, in addition to a carrier correlator and a code correlator, a change-over circuit for changing over the connection to the code correlator so that the code correlator operates as a carrier correlator before wave forms of an object artificial satellite are caught but operates as a code correlator after waveforms of the object artificial satellite are caught.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a signal processing circuit for a GPS receiver.
2. Description of the Related Art
Signals transmitted from GPS (Global Positioning System) artificial satellites include signals which can be utilized commercially. Those signals open to commercial use are obtained by modulating a carrier by phase modulation with navigation data which may include information of an orbit of an artificial satellite and further modulating the phase modulated carrier by spectrum dispersion modulation with a code called C/A code peculiar to the artificial satellite.
In a GPS receiver, a code synchronized with a C/A code included in a reception signal is generated to perform reverse spectrum dispersion, and then a carrier synchronized with a carrier component of the reception signal is reproduced to demodulate navigation data. Synchronous tracing of a carrier to catch radio waves from an artificial satellite is performed by means of a Costas loop. To this end, a carrier generation circuit and a carrier correlator which includes a counter and a register are provided. Meanwhile, synchronous tracing of a code to calculate a pseudo distance to an artificial satellite is performed by a delay lock loop (DLL). To this end, a code generation circuit and a code correlator which includes a counter and a register are provided.
In order to catch radio waves of an artificial satellite, a correlation between a carrier generated in the receiver and a reception signal is found out by means of a carrier correlator using a code of an object artificial satellite, and a peak of the correlation is searched while successively changing the frequency of the carrier and the phase of the code to catch radio waves from the object artificial satellite. After radio waves from the object artificial satellite are caught once, the difference in phase between the reception signal and the carrier generated in the receiver is monitored and the carrier generation circuit is controlled so as to effect synchronous tracing of the carrier of the reception signal. It is to be noted that, before radio waves from the object artificial satellite are caught, the code correlator for measuring the phase difference for synchronous tracing of a code and calculation of a pseudo distance is not used.
After radio waves from the object artificial satellite are caught in such a manner as described above, the phase difference between a code component included in the reception signal and the code generated in the receiver is measured using the code correlator, and the code generation circuit is controlled so as to effect synchronous tracing of the code phase and calculate the pseudo distance to the artificial satellite from the thus measured phase difference. Such catch of radio waves of an artificial satellite and calculation of a pseudo distance are individually performed for a number of artificial satellites necessary for position measurement, and the position at present is calculated from navigation data thus obtained and the pseudo distances to the artificial satellites.
Construction and operation of a conventional GPS receiver will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 which show an RF (radio frequency) circuit and a signal processing circuit, respectively, of the conventional GPS receiver.
Referring first to FIG. 2, the RF circuit shown converts a reception signal into an IF (intermediate frequency) signal.
In particular, radio waves transmitted from a GPS artificial satellite are received by means of an antenna 1 and amplified by a low-noise amplifier (LNA) 2, whereafter they are mixed with an output of a local oscillator (LO) 4 by a mixer 3 so that they are converted into a signal of an intermediate frequency (IF). The output signal of the mixer 3 is supplied to an IF-BPF (IF band pass filter) 5, in which unnecessary noise and disturbance components are removed from the signal. The output signal of the IF-BPF 5 is amplified by an IF amplifier (SMP) 6 and then shaped by waveform shaping by a limiter 7 so that it is outputted as an IF signal of a pulse waveform from the limiter 7.
A reference oscillator (REF) 8 supplies to the local oscillator 4 a reference clock signal which makes a reference of frequency. The local oscillator 4 constructs a PLL (Phase Locked Loop) based on the reference clock signal and generates a local signal for converting a reception signal into an IF signal. The reference clock signal of the reference oscillator 8 is supplied also to the signal processing circuit shown in FIG. 3.
Referring now to FIG. 3, the signal processing circuit shown catches radio waves from an object artificial satellite based on the IF signal and the reference clock signal transmitted thereto from the RF circuit of FIG. 2 using a carrier correlator and measures the phsse difference of a code for calculation of a pseudo distance using a code correlator.
In particular, the IF signal transmitted from the RF circuit to the signal processing circuit is multiplied by a CODE (code) signal of an object artificial satellite supplied thereto from a code generator 12 by an exclusive OR (EXOR) circuit 11 to remove a code component of the signal, and then inputted to UP terminals of an I counter 13 and a Q counter 14.
The I counter 13 and the Q counter 14 are reversible counters of the synchronization type and each operates such that, when a clock signal inputted to a CK (clock) terminal thereof rises while the input to the UP terminal is "1", it counts up, but when the clock signal rises while the input to the UP terminal is "0", it counts down.
A carrier generation circuit 15 generates an I clock signal (ICK) and a Q clock (QCK) signal of a frequency which is set by a CPU (central processing unit) 16. The I clock (ICK) signal and the Q clock (QCK) signal are set such that they are displaced by 90 degrees in phase from each other, and the I clock (ICK) signal is supplied to the CK terminal of the I counter 13 while the Q clock (QCK) signal is supplied to the CK terminal of the Q counter 14. The count values of the I counter 13 and the Q counter 14 are outputted from Qn terminals of them and transferred to the CPU 16 by way of an I register 17 and a Q register 18, respectively.
Using the values of the I and Q registers 17 and 18, the CPU 16 calculates a signal strength of the reception signal in accordance with such an expression as, for example, I.sup.2 +Q.sup.2 or .vertline.I.vertline.+.vertline.Q.vertline., and when the signal strength thus calculated exceeds a particular threshold level, the CPU 16 determines that radio waves from the object artificial satellite have been caught and ends the searching operation of radio waves of an artificial satellite. Thereafter, the signal processing circuit performs synchronous tracing of the carrier by means of a Costas loop and synchronous tracing of the code by means of a DLL by monitoring the correlation value obtained from the carrier correlator 41.
The code generation circuit 12 generates a CODE (code) signal synchronized with a code component included in the reception signal, an EARLY (advanced) signal advanced by 0.5 chips in phase from the CODE signal, and a LATE (delay) signal delayed by 0.5 chips in phase from the CODE signal. Contents of the code of the CODE signal are set by the CPU 16 so that they may coincide with a C/A code of an object artificial satellite from which radio waves are to be received.
The phases of the CODE signal, the EARLY signal and the LATE signal can be advanced or delayed by a suitable amount in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 16. The code generation circuit 12 produces an EPOCH (epoch) signal synchronized with the CODE signal and supplies it to a counter control circuit 19. The EPOCH (epoch) signal is such a signal that, for example, it presents "1" only at the head position of the CODE signal, and serves as a reference signal for operation of the counter control circuit 19 and the CPU 16.
After radio waves of the object artificial satellite are caught using the carrier correlator 41 as described above, the IF signal is supplied to an EXOR circuit 20 to which the Q clock (QCK) signal from the carrier generation circuit 15 is supplied, and a carrier component of the IF signal is removed by the EXOR circuit 20. The IF signal outputted from the EXOR circuit 20 is supplied to a pair of EXOR circuits 21 and 22.
The IF signal is thus multiplied by the EARLY signal and the LATE signal by the EXOR circuits 21 and 22, respectively, and the results of the multiplication are supplied to UP terminals of an E counter 23 and an L counter 24, respectively. The count values of the E counter 23 and the L counter 24 are outputted from Qn terminals of them and transferred to the CPU 16 by way of an E register 25 and an L register 26, respectively.
The count value of the E counter 23 represents the degree of correlation between the EARLY signal, which is advanced by 0.5 chips in phase from the CODE signal, and the code component in the IF signal while the count value of the L counter 24 represents the degree of correlation between the LATE signal, which is delayed by 0.5 chips in phase from the CODE signal, and the code component in the IF signal. The CPU 16 calculates the difference between the count value of the E counter 23 and the count value of the L counter 24 to find out a phase difference between the CODE signal outputted from the code generation circuit 12 and the code component included in the IF signal to monitor to determine whether or not synchronization with the CODE signal is established.
The counter control circuit 19 outputs an enable signal EN, a clear signal CL and a load signal LD with reference to the EPOCH signal supplied thereto from the code generation circuit 12. Each of the counters 13, 14, 23 and 24 has an EN (enable) terminal and a CL (clear) terminal for controlling its counting operation in synchronism with a clock signal supplied thereto. A counting operation of each of the counters 13, 14, 23 and 24 is enabled when the input signal to the EN terminal is, for example, "1", but disabled when the input signal to the EN terminal is "0". Further, the count value of each of the counters 13, 14, 23 and 24 is cleared when a clock signal supplied thereto rises while the input to the CL terminal is, for example, "1", but when the input to the CL terminal is "0", it does not have an influence on operation of the counter.
Each of the counters 13, 14, 23 and 24 performs an accumulating (counting) operation of a correlation value supplied thereto for the time of one period (1 msec) of the C/A code and transfers the result of the accumulation to the register 17, 18, 25 or 26, respectively. For example, when an EPOCH signal is generated at the head of a code, the counter control circuit 19 controls its enable signal EN to stop operation of the counters and raises its load signal LD to cause the accumulated values till then to be loaded into the respective registers.
After such transfer of the accumulated values to the registers, the counter control circuit 19 controls its clear signal CL to clear the counters and then controls its enable signal EN to allow operation of the counters to be resumed. Consequently, the counters perform their respective accumulating operations of correlation values for the time of one period of the C/A code again.
Each of the registers 17, 18, 25 and 26 has an LD (load) terminal and fetches a signal at an input terminal Dn thereof when the input to the LD terminal is, for example, "1". The thus fetched value is thereafter held until the input to the LD terminal rises to "1" again even if the input value to the input terminal Dn changes, and is outputted from an output terminal Qn of the register 17, 18, 25 or 26.
A clock generation circuit 27 produces various clock signals to be supplied to the components of the signal processing circuit with reference to the reference clock signal supplied thereto from the RF circuit shown in FIG. 2. Particularly, the clock generation circuit 27 supplies a clock signal ELCK to the E counter 23 and the L counter 24.
The CPU 16 executes control programs of the receiver stored in a ROM (read only memory) 28 making use of a RAM (random access memory) 29. The CPU 16 has an interrupt input terminal INT, to which the EPOCH signal from the code generation circuit 12 is connected so that an interrupt processing program, which is one of the control programs, is started in the CPU 16 in response to the EPOCH signal and values of the registers are read into the CPU 16 in synchronism with the EPOCH signal.
Until after radio waves of an object artificial satellite are caught, the CPU 16 controls the carrier generation circuit 15 and the code generation circuit 12 to perform searching of a carrier frequency and a code phase using the carrier correlator 41. The range of the search of the carrier frequency depends upon the range of variation of a Doppler frequency of the artificial satellite and the frequency deviation of the reference oscillator (reference numeral 8 in FIG. 2) of the receiver. The range of the search of the code phase is one period (1,023 chips) of the code.
When radio waves of an artificial satellite are to be searched, the CPU 16 monitors the degree of correlation with the reception signal using the EXOR circuit 11 and the carrier correlator 41 while successively changing, at a certain carrier frequency, the phase of a code, generated by the code generation circuit 12, by one chip. Then, after the search over 1,023 chips is completed, the frequency of the carrier generated by the carrier generation circuit 15 is changed by a suitable frequency width, for example, a frequency width equal to a capture range width of the Costas loop constituted from the I and Q registers 17 and 18, the carrier generation circuit 15 and the CPU 16, and then at the new frequency position, the degree of correlation is found again while successively changing the phase of the code by one chip to repeat searching of radio waves of an artificial satellite.
In the search of radio waves of an artificial satellite described above, one correlation operation of each phase requires the time of 1 msec which is the time equal to one period of the code. Accordingly, in order to search radio waves of an artificial satellite over the entire frequency deviation range, the time of 1 msec.times.1.023.times.total step number of the frequency is required.
The result of correlation of the code phase for one period in the search of radio waves of an artificial satellite is accumulated in the I counter 13 and the Q counter 14, and the results of accumulation of them are stored into the I register 17 and the Q register 18, respectively. The CPU 16 calculates a value serving as an index to correlation in accordance with such an expression as I.sup.2 +Q.sup.2 or .vertline.I.vertline.+.vertline.Q.vertline. from the values of the I register 17 and the Q register 18, and when the value obtained exceeds a particular threshold value, the CPU 16 determines that radio waves of the object artificial satellite are caught, and ends its searching operation. Thereafter, the CPU 16 performs synchronous tracing of the reception signal by means of the Costas loop and the DLL.
Upon synchronous tracing of the reception signal, the CPU 16 finds out the difference in phase between the reception signal and the carrier generated from the carrier generation circuit 15 from the values of the I register 17 and the Q register 18 and applies a calculation of a loop filter to the phase difference thus found out, and then controls the carrier generation circuit 15 based on the result of the calculation so that the frequency and the phase of the carrier to be generated from the carrier generation circuit 15 may follow the reception signal. Simultaneously, the CPU 16 calculates, from the values of the E register 25 and the L register 26, the difference in phase between the reception signal and the CODE signal generated from the code generation circuit 12 and applies a calculation of a loop filter to the phase difference thus calculated, and then controls the code generation circuit 12 based on the result of the calculation so that the phase of the CODE signal to be generated from the code generation circuit 12 may follow the reception signal.
As described above, the signal processing circuit of the conventional GPS receiver includes the carrier correlator 41 including the I and Q counters 13 and 14 and the I and Q registers 17 and 18 and the code correlator 42 including the E and L counters 23 and 24 and the E and L registers 25 and 26 and uses the correlators 41 and 42 independently of each other for the respective processes.
Accordingly, processing for catching radio waves of an artificial satellite must be performed using the carrier correlator, and consequently, the conventional signal processing circuit for a GPS receiver has a problem that much time is required before radio waves of an object artificial satellite are caught. A GPS receiver particularly of the vehicle-carried type or of the portable type in most cases employs a reference oscillator having a large frequency deviation in order to achieve reduction of the cost. Such reference oscillator, however, involves a comparatively wide search range of carrier frequency and requires a long period of time until radio waves of an object artificial satellite are caught.
A possible solution to the problem described above may be to prepare a plurality of carrier correlators for use for catching of radio waves of an artificial satellite and cause the carrier correlators to operate parallelly to each other. The possible solution, however, gives rise to a new problem that the circuit scale is increased and the receiver becomes expensive.

Signal processing circuit for GPS receiver


A buffering safe device for use in vehicles, suits a seat belt in a vehicle, can form a inflated cushion layer to protect the human body, comprises an elongate hollowed box which has an openable lid and has a folded air bag inside thereof; on both ends of the box are hook portions for connecting the box to a surface of a seat belt; on one end of the box is a inflator connecting pipe, one end thereof being connected with an air bag in the box, while the other end being connected with an inflating device via a flexible and elastic hose; therefore, the box is installed directly on the seat belt while the inflating device is installed at one appropriate position in the vehicle, such that the buffering safe device can be installed on any seat in any vehicle.

The present invention relates to a buffering safe device used in vehicles; and especially to a buffering safe device which is particularly suitable to be installed on a seat belt in a car, and which can form a buffering cushion layer in front of a human body.
According to the automobile safety tests of the Department of Traffic (DOT) of America, the model of human body (DUMMY) with a seat belt tied on it in the condition where the tested car runs at a speed of 50 km/hr. and the acceleration of gravity almost reaches 50 G, will show a serious damage wherein the head and the neck thereof being bending forward and rushing on the chest thereof. In such situation, if an air cushion layer is shaped in front of the chest, the damage will be effectively avoided.
Accordingly, part of automobiles on the market are equiped with a buffering safe device, such as the well-known safe air bag; this air bag can expand in due time when there occurs an accident of impact, such that the human body rushing forward can collide with the air bag having been expanded, thus the damage to human body can be avoided.
However, the existing air bags are mostly installed in the interior of the steering wheel assembly; in this case, automobiles of different brands without air bag safe devices for example need redesign in the related structures of the steering wheel to put the air bag therein. This of course creates bother to the manufacturers, because it involves the more complicated changes of design as well as of the production lines of the factories. This is why most of the cars on the market are not assembled with such a buffering safe device although the air bag is well-known as having the life protecting function.
Furthermore, the existing cars running on the roads are totally not possible to have the air bag safe device installed in the steering wheel assembly for the reason of diversification of the car serieses made from the different factories, i.e., it is difficult to install such a buffering safe device onto the car already out from the factory and without such safe device.
Besides, the existing air bags are only available on the steering wheel, and upon an accident of impact, there is no any such protecting safe device at the front passenger's seat and/or back seats for children etc.; yet the conventional air bag is obviously not available to other passengers in the car.


A tape cassette that includes a generally rectangular box-like housing having a top wall, a bottom wall, and a side wall defining a periphery of the housing, a first and second cavities extending from the bottom wall and disposed between a tape containing area and the periphery at opposite ends of a diagonal of the generally rectangular box-like housing, at least one tape wound and mounted within the housing in the tape containing area, the at least one tape including a first tape disposed in a first area, the first tape having a hole at a center of winding, and the first area being one of two areas formed by dividing the housing with respect to a line connecting the first and second cavities, and a third cavity that extends in the hole of the first tape from the bottom wall.

The present invention relates to a tape cassette that is removably installed in a tape printer.
Conventionally, when a box-shaped tape cassette is installed in a cassette housing portion of a tape printer, the tape cassette is vertically inserted such that the plane surfaces (that is, the top and bottom surfaces) of the tape cassette match the upwardly-opening cassette housing portion. More specifically, when a user vertically installs the box-shaped tape cassette having side surfaces with a certain height in the cassette housing portion, the user sandwiches the side surfaces with his or her fingers and maintains the plane surfaces substantially horizontal.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A heated reaction gas comprising methane is contacted with first and second catalysts to catalyze production of an aromatic hydrocarbon. The first catalyst is more active than the second catalyst for catalyzing aromatization of methane, and the second catalyst is more active than the first catalyst for catalyzing aromatization of ethane. A reactor for producing aromatic hydrocarbons from the reaction gas may have a conduit defining a reaction zone for the reaction gas to react therein, and the first and second catalysts may be disposed in the reaction zone.

It is known that dehydroaromatization of methane (CH4) under non-oxidative conditions is thermodynamically more favorable to aromatics than to olefins, and molybdenum-modified zeolites or aluminosilicates such as Mo/ZSM-5 and Mo/MCM-22 are found to be effective catalysts for such reactions. Extensive research on the performance of such catalysts has been conducted and reported, and it has been found that the production performance depends on the structure and composition of the catalyst tested and how the catalyst is activated. Thus, research reported to date has focused on identifying a catalyst that can be activated to provide improved aromatization performance such as benzene yield from methane aromatization.
Representative publications of such research results include:
Smieskova et al. "Aromatization of methane on Mo modified zeolites: Influence of the surface and structural properties of the carriers," Applied Catalysis A: General, 2010, vol. 377, pp. 83-91;
Skutil et al., "Some technological aspects of methane aromatization (direct and via oxidative coupling)," Fuel Processing Technology, 2006, vol. 87, pp. 511-51;
Liu et al., "Methane dehydroaromatization under nonoxidative conditions over Mo/HZSM-5 catalysts: Identification and preparation of the Mo active species," Journal of Catalysis, 2006, vol. 239, pp. 441-450;
Ha et al., "Aromatization of methane over zeolite supported molybdenum: active sites and reaction mechanism," Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical, 2002, vol. 181, pp. 283-290;
Shu et al., "Methane dehydro-aromatization over Mo/MCM-22 catalysts: highly selective catalyst for the formation of benzene," Catalysis Letters, 2000, vol. 70, pp. 67-73;
Xu et al., "Recent advances in methane dehydro-aromatization over transition metal ion-modified zeolite catalysts under non-oxidative conditions," Applied Catalysis A: General, 1999, vol. 188, pp. 53-67;
Huang et al., "Structure and acidity of Mo/H-MCM-22 catalysts studied by NMR spectroscopy," Catalysis Today, 204, vol. 97, pp. 25-34;
Chu et al., "A feasible way to enhance effectively the catalytic performance of methane dehydroaromatization," Catalysis Communications, 2010, vol. 11, pp. 513-517; and
Chu et al., "Dehydroaromatization of methane with a small amount of ethane for higher yield of benzene," Chinese Chemical Letters, 2004, vol. 15, pp. 591-593.

Aromatization of methane with combination of catalysts

Agency for Science, Technology and Research


An assembly for indicating when a transient electronic event has occurred on a mobile platform is provided. The assembly includes a housing and a flash-producing device that communicates with the mobile platform and produces a flash approximately when the event occurs. The housing couples to the body of the mobile platform and contains the flash-producing device in such a manner that the flash is observable. Preferentially, the assembly also includes a faceplate that couples to the housing and maintains an aerodynamic profile associated with a surface of the body when the assembly is coupled to the mobile platform. In another preferred embodiment, the assembly is adapted for use with an inert JDAM weapon and the event is the fuze command of the weapon.

During the development of the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) a need arose to precisely determine when the munition's fusing mechanism under test generated a firing command to trigger the warhead of the weapon. Since the tested weapons were outfitted with inert warheads, a non-explosive method was required to demonstrate fuze functionality.
JDAM weapons are designed to be carried aloft while attached to a store point of an aircraft or in the aircraft's bomb hold. Each JDAM includes an unguided (i.e. "dumb") bomb and a kit attached thereto that includes a Global Positioning System (GPS) based guidance subsystem. The guidance subsystem includes adjustable fins, actuators, a processor, and other associated components that convert the bomb to a guided (i.e. "smart") weapon. Service personnel typically load the JDAMs on to the aircraft hours before the intended use of the weapon. At some time prior to release, the GPS coordinates of the intended target are loaded into the guidance system. The aircraft then flies to the vicinity of the target and releases the weapon at a location that is pre-calculated to allow the weapon to fall toward the target. While the JDAM is falling, the guidance system adjusts the trajectory of the weapon to cause it to strike the target with little, or no, positioning error. At a pre-selected altitude nearly coincident with the weapon's impact, the fuze receives a signal from an on-board DSU-33 (radar altimeter) that indicates that the desired height above the ground has been achieved and the fuze under test initiates the fire signal to a "simulated" explosive charge. The fuze initiates upon receiving the command from the DSU-33 and, if explosives are included in the warhead, triggers the explosive material. Because the bomb typically falls at a speed approaching Mach 1, the pre-selected altitude allows the explosion to propagate through the explosive material in such a manner as to cause the weapon to explode within a short distance from the target. Thus, the JDAM kit allows the user to convert an unguided weapon to a low cost guided weapon with precision strike capabilities. Such precision strike weapons guidance subsystems are available from the Boeing Company of Chicago, Ill.
To keep unit costs low, and to avoid undesirable modifications of the associated aircraft (e.g. the addition of a power umbilical), the JDAM is designed to be self sufficient, particularly with regard to power. Thus, each JDAM includes a 28-volt thermal battery to power the guidance subsystem. Because it is likely that the JDAMs will be stored on the aircraft for many hours prior to their use, the power supplied by the thermal battery must be reserved for the guidance system.
Nonetheless, it is still necessary to know within about 1 foot of altitude when the fuze commands the detonation to determine the reliability of the fuze, particularly with regard to the timing of the explosion vis-a-vis the approach of the weapon to the target. Thus, a telemetry system is typically added to the test JDAM to transmit the weapon fuze command, engineering information, and other data to the test data system. Unfortunately, as the JDAM nears the ground, the telemetry signal reflects off of the ground and structures thereabout. These reflections interfere with the original signal and therefore cause loss of the transmitted data. The transmitted fuze command suffers disproportionately from this interference because it typically occurs within a few feet of the ground where such multi-path interference is most severe. Thus, a need exists to reliably and precisely determine when and where the fuze command occurred even with the presence of multi-path interference with the telemetry signal.


A printed circuit board has first terminals for contacting terminals of a socket, second terminals for contacting terminals of a test fixture of an automatic test equipment, which are adapted for contacting the terminals of the socket of a device under test, transmission lines for connecting the first terminals and the terminals, and an extracting circuit electrically coupled to one of the transmission lines and configured to extract the signal being exchanged between the device under test and the automatic test equipment. The extracting circuit has a resistor or an electrical resistor network, wherein a loss added on the signal being exchanged between the device under test and the automatic test equipment over the one transmission line due to the presence of the printed circuit board is smaller than 6 dB.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a concept for extracting a signal being exchanged between a device under test and an automatic test equipment. Some embodiments of the present invention relate to a method to probe the transmitted and received signals between a device under test and an automatic test equipment pin electronics channel.
High-speed memory applications like DDR4 (DDR4=double data rate type four) can be characterized and tested using an automatic test equipment (ATE) 10. In an initial characterization step, it can be of significant help for the test engineer to measure the signals being exchanged between the automatic test equipment 10 and the device under test (DUT) 20 using an external instrument 30 as shown in FIG. 1a. The challenge of this setup is to make sure that at the probing point 40 the signal integrity is good enough to measure the signals being exchanged between the automatic test equipment 10 and the device under test 20 with a high fidelity. At the same time, it is also important to guarantee that the probing setup does have a minimal impact on the signal integrity between the device under test 20 and automatic test equipment 10 and in this way degrade the signals form the automatic test equipment 10 or the device under test 20. Nevertheless, it is very difficult to create a probing point 40 that does have a minimal impact on the signal integrity between the device under test 20 and the automatic test equipment 10 pin electronics.
Previous solutions include probing the back of the non-backdrilled vias to the device under test 20 ball grid array (BGA) on the automatic test equipment test fixture printed circuit board (PCB) 50 as shown in FIG. 1b. This approach presents significant problems for high-speed applications because the via stub 60 has a significant impact on the signal integrity and the probing circuit cannot be removed.
In addition, probe traces and circuitry can be implemented on the device under test 20 test fixture PCB, but they cannot be removed easily, meaning that they will have an impact on the device under test 20 to automatic test equipment 10 performance. They also necessitate careful design to provide a good signal integrity for high-speed applications.

Concept for extracting a signal being exchanged between a device under test and an automatic test equipment


A load leveling hitch assembly is provided for towing a trailer behind a vehicle. The load leveling hitch assembly includes a drawbar for mounting to the vehicle, a ball mount secured to the drawbar, a pair of spring bar mounting brackets secured to the trailer and a pair of spring bars. Each spring bar bracket is characterized by including multiple spaced mounting points for receiving the distal ends of one of the spring bars. Each spring bar has a proximal end secured to the ball mount and a distal end that is held by one of the spring bar mounting brackets.

Hitch assemblies for more evenly distributing the tongue weight of a trailer over the front and rear axles of a towing vehicle are well known in the art. A particularly advanced design of weight distributing hitch assembly is disclosed in the assignee's issued U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,872 to Kass et al. entitled "Weight Distributing Hitch". This hitch assembly includes a hitch bar for receipt in a receiver mounted to the vehicle and a ball mount head for mounting on the hitch bar at a selected tilt angle. A pair of spring bars are mounted at their proximal end to the ball mount head. The distal ends of these spring bars are connected by means of cooperating lift units and chains to the frame of the trailer. Such state of the art lift units are exemplified by Reese Products, Inc. product number 21160 incorporating a body that is mounted to the trailer frame, a chain hook with pivoting locking lever and a safety pin for securing the chain hook and lever in an operative position. As is known in the art, the amount of leveling or load transfer to the front axle of the vehicle is adjusted by engaging different links of the chains with the chain hooks of the lift units.
While such an arrangement is effective for its intended purpose, the lift units must be properly mounted to the trailer frame and the proper chain links engaged in the chain hooks in order to provide proper operation and a desired distribution of weight. While relatively simple, these procedures require some time to complete and may frustrate and annoy certain impatient individuals. This is particularly true when trying to readjust the amount of leveling or load transfer when out on the road. Accordingly, a need is identified for a weight distributing hitch assembly allowing even greater ease and convenience of installation and operation. This is particularly true with respect to the connection of the distal end of the spring bars to the trailer frame in order to provide the weight distributing action.
It is also desirable to provide the weight distributing hitch assembly with some built-in sway control; that is a resistance to trailer sway which otherwise tends to occur under certain varying operating conditions. The state of the art weight distributing hitch assemblies incorporating lift units and chains as described above are unable to provide any such anti-sway function.


Use of particles of insoluble water-absorbing food ingredient, such as dietary fibre, as carrier for a humectant, such as water of glycerol, for the introduction of the humectant into a chocolate product. Furthermore, a tropicalizing agent comprising discrete particles of insoluble food ingredient material, such as citrus fibre particles, loaded with water or humectant. That tropicalizing agent is dispersed in liquid fat, such as cocoa butter. The tropicalizing agent is used to make chocolate products heat resistant.

Conventionally manufactured chocolate consists of sugars, cocoa solids and protein (usually from milk) homogeneously dispersed in fats and fatty substances originating from cocoa butter. Chocolate analogues contain other vegetable fats in partial/total replacement of the cocoa butter fat. Often the continuous fat phase also contains dairy fat.
Cocoa butter typically starts to soften at about 28° C., with consequent loss of the mechanical strength of the chocolate. This means that at the high ambient temperatures frequently encountered in tropical countries, chocolate becomes sticky or even runny. It tends to stick to the wrapper and fall apart when the wrapper is removed, leaving a semi-liquid mass that can often only be eaten with a spoon if cleanliness is desired. Enrobed chocolate products typically lose integrity under these conditions, with their contents often leaking and individual units tending to stick together in the packaging. Chocolate also loses the 'snap' that is an important (and pleasurable) textural characteristic of chocolate stored and eaten under cooler conditions.
Attempts to produce a chocolate that is resistant to heat are numerous. The approaches most widely used can be divided two main groups: 1) incorporation of high-melting point fats; and 2) creation of a three-dimensional matrix or network of sugar crystals or protein particles that will act as a sponge and hold the fat—thus maintaining the structure of the product even on melting of the fat. Over the last century many different methods have been reported.
There are two major drawbacks to the use of high-melting fats in chocolate. Namely that food regulations in many countries restrict the use of substitutes for cocoa butter in chocolate. Secondly, the high-melting point fats in chocolate-like products give an unpleasant waxy mouthfeel.
Many methods have been described for causing accretion of sugar crystals by adding water or a polyol to chocolate, as originally disclosed in DE 389 127 (1919). CH 409,603 (1962) describes the direct incorporation of water into liquid chocolate mass during production causing a rapid increase in viscosity. As a result, it is impossible to pour the material into moulds or use for enrobing.
EP0189469 (1985) describes the mixing of a liquid polyol with tempered conventional chocolate mass before depositing it into molds. Polyols that are liquid at ambient temperatures (such as glycerol) are preferred, though the patent teaches that higher melting polyols (such as sorbitol) can also be used. The mixture is held at slightly elevated temperatures (24° C. to 35° C.) for a short period of time during which the viscosity rises. This is stated to be the result of a chemical reaction between the fat and the polyol. The time and temperature of the holding period are critical parameters that control the viscosity increase—the viscosity must remain low enough for the subsequent molding or enrobing operations.
In the method described by U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,843 a polyol (such as glycerol) is encapsulated by emulsifying it with a liquid fat (such as molten cocoa butter) and lecithin as an emulsifier, then spray-chilling the emulsion. The emulsion "capsules" (which have an average diameter 100 microns) are added to liquid chocolate mass to achieve a polyol content of from 0.2 to 5% by weight. The product was reported to have remained liquid for several minutes.
The use of emulsification to avoid too rapid an incorporation of water into the chocolate mass is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,446,166. An oil-in-water emulsion (typically 50% water, 50% fat) is prepared with cocoa butter using lecithin as the emulsifier. The emulsion is cooled and milled to give partially or entirely solid particles that are then added to the chocolate mass at levels of between 2 and 10%. Once incorporated in the warmer liquid chocolate mass, the emulsion particles will melt, releasing the water droplets. A disadvantage of this method is the need to guarantee a homogeneous distribution of the emulsion particles before they melt. Premature release of water causes a sudden increase in viscosity that renders the chocolate unsuitable for molding or enrobing.
EP 0297054 describes a method for homogeneously dispersing water by using an aqueous foam. The foam is stabilized with an edible foaming agent (such as egg albumin) and added to conventionally prepared chocolate mass after tempering. The foam is added at levels that deliver from 0.5 to 2% of water, reportedly with no noticeable increase in viscosity to provide a treated chocolate usable for molding or enrobing. The trapped gases can be removed from the still liquid product by exposing it to reduced pressure. EP0407347 describes a similar method.
EP0393327 discloses another variation in which the aqueous phase of the water-in-oil emulsion contains sugars (such as sucrose or glucose) or polyols (such as sorbitol). The emulsion is prepared with 30 to 60% fat using emulsifying agent at a level of 0.1 to 3%. Described suitable emulsifying agents are lecithin, glycerol fatty acid ester, polyglycerol fatty acid ester, polyglycerol condensed ricinoleic acid ester and sucrose fatty acid ester that has an HLB not more than 7. The level of sugar or polyol in the aqueous phase of the emulsion can be between 20 and 60% and the level of water between 15 and 25%. The sugar or polyol in the aqueous phase is reported to provide smoother texture to the heat-stable chocolate mass. A storage period of about 20 days, however, is required for proper development of internal structure.
A similar method is disclosed in EP0442324, whereby an oil-in-water emulsion is prepared by mixing 30-80% of an oil or fat (for example, cocoa butter) in water containing a small amount of a suitable emulsifier. This emulsion is mixed at a level of about 5% with a conventionally manufactured and tempered chocolate mass that is then molded. It is stated to be important to control the temperature to be no higher than 90° F. to keep the oil-in-water emulsion stable. The homogeneously dispersed water generates a viscosity increase of the chocolate mass during solidification of the finished product. However, it is still necessary to store the molded product for several days to establish heat stability.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,376 describes the use of water-in-oil microemulsions to introduce finely dispersed water into chocolate mass. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,159,526 describes addition of water to the chocolate as a water-in-oil emulsion stabilized by sucrose fatty acid esters (HLB<3). U.S. Pat. No. 6,159,526 is concerned primarily with adding water-based flavors to chocolate.
WO 93/06737 describes methods for making gels/pastes by adding water to "Raftiline" (inulin), starches (potato and corn), "Splendid" (pectin), or gum Arabic. The paste is then mixed into tempered chocolate that is molded.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,509 describes a method for adding up to 16% water to chocolate. The chocolate supposedly remains moldable. Two mixtures are prepared. (1) Cocoa is coated with cocoa butter in the presence of an emulsifier and (2) water, a sweetener and milk solids are blended to form an aqueous phase. The two are gently blended and the product molded.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,965,179 aims to circumvent the problems of viscosity increase on the addition of water to chocolate by use of an extruder for processing the chocolate. The water is added as an aqueous gel with microcrystalline cellulose. This gel is injected into the chocolate using a twin-screw extruder so as to form a viscous product containing 3 to 20% of added water.
US2005/0118327 describes the preparation of gel beads comprising 20-50% sugar or polyol, water, emulsifying agent and a gelling agent (hydrocolloids). The gel beads are formed by dispersing a hot aqueous sol (90° C.-95° C.) in a liquid fat in a high shear mixer, to form an emulsion, and then cooling to get gelification of the beads. The gel beads dispersed in fat are blended into molten chocolate mass. One drawback is that the release of the sugar/polyol syrup from the gel beads, requires activation. US2005/0118327 teaches the activation of gel bead degradation by freezing a temperatures of −5° C. to −15° C. It is reported that without this cooling it is necessary to store the products for 10-14 days to develop shape retention properties.
In another approach WO91/19424 describes the preparation of gel beads comprising alginate or pectate, divalent metal ions and a sequestrant for the metal ions. The gel beads are used as fat substitutes.
EP0688506 describes the preparation of gels comprising polyol or polyol/water with gelling agents and alkali or alkali-earth metal salts. The gels are produced by heating to temperatures of 120° C. and are then frozen in liquid nitrogen, before addition to liquid chocolate.
These prior art references have drawbacks such as the release of water into the chocolate mass, which occurs early in the process and is not retarded for long enough for the material to be used for typical enrobing processes; the dispersion and release of water is not under sufficiently fine control to avoid development of unpleasantly gritty textures in the final product; and/or activation or an inconveniently long storage time is required for full development of the structures required to provide stability. Many of the processes are complex, or require additional steps in the production procedure, and/or require the use of emulsifiers and/or gelling agents.
Accordingly there is an ongoing need to provide a tropicalizing agent that delays any substantial increase in viscosity so the materials can be used for conventional molding or enrobing processes and that provides a suitable texture and stability, or integrity, in a chocolate product.
It is an aim of the present invention to provide a tropicalizing agent which minimizes or overcomes one or more disadvantages of the above-mentioned references.
It would be advantageous to provide a tropicalizing agent that provides a heat shape stability, or integrity, in a tropicalized product, and that may be easily industrialised at a reasonable cost.
It would be advantageous to provide a tropicalizing agent that delays any substantial increase in viscosity so the materials can be used for conventional moulding or enrobing processes and that provides heat shape stability, or integrity, in a chocolate product, after a reasonable storage time, without compromising the organoleptic parameters.


Soluble polypeptides are provided that comprise no more than three short consensus repeats (SCR) of Complement Receptor 1, and contain SCR3. DNA molecules encoding such soluble polypeptides, as well as methods, vectors and host cells, also are provided.

Constituting about 10% of the globulins in normal serum, the complement system is composed of many different proteins that are important in the immune system's response to foreign antigens. The complement system becomes activated when its primary components are cleaved and the products alone or with other proteins, activate additional complement proteins resulting in a proteolytic cascade. Activation of the complement system leads to a variety of responses including increased vascular permeability, chemotaxis of phagocytic cells, activation of inflammatory cells, opsonization of foreign particles, direct killing of cells and tissue damage. Activation of the complement system may be triggered by antigen-antibody complexes (the classical pathway) or, for example, by lipopolysaccharides present in cell walls of pathogenic bacteria (the alternative pathway).
Complement receptor type 1 (CR1) has been shown to be present on the membranes of erythrocytes, monocytes/macrophages, granulocytes, B cells, some T cells, splenic follicular dendritic cells, and glomerular podocytes. CR1 binds to the complement components C3b and C4b and has also been referred to as the C3b/C4b receptor. The structural organisation and primary sequence of one allotype of CR1 is known (Klickstein et al., 1987, J. Exp. Med. 165:1095-1112, Klickstein et al., 1988, J. Exp. Med. 168:1699-1717; Hourcade et al., 1988, J. Exp. Med. 168:1255-1270, WO 89/09220, WO 91/05047). It is composed of 30 short consensus repeats (SCRs) that each contain around 60-70 amino acids. In each SCR, around 29 of the average 65 amino acids are conserved. Each SCR has been proposed to form a three dimensional triple loop structure through disulphide linkages with the third and first and the fourth and second half-cystines in disulphide bonds. CR1 is further arranged as 4 long homologous repeats (LHRs) of 7 SCRs each. Following a leader sequence, the CR1 molecule consists of the N-terminal LHR-A, the next two repeats, LHR-B and LHR-C, and the most C-terminal LHR-D followed by 2 additional SCRs, a 25 residue putative transmembrane region and a 43 residue cytoplasmic tail.


The present invention provides an integrated semiconductor device that includes a semiconductor substrate, a first device containing a heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) located in a first region of the semiconductor substrate, wherein the HBT includes a base region containing a first portion of a SiGe or SiGeC layer, and a second device located in a second region of the semiconductor substrate, wherein the second device includes an interconnect containing a second portion of the SiGe or SiGeC layer. In a specific embodiment of the present invention, the second device is a memory device including a trench capacitor and a field effect transistor (FET) that are electrically connected together by the second portion of the SiGe or SiGeC layer. Alternatively, the second device is a trench-biased PNPN silicon controlled rectifier (SCR). The present invention also provides a novel reversibly programmable device or a novel memory device formed by a novel trench-biased SCR device.

The ever-increasing use of mobile communications is driving improvements in radio frequency (RF) communications. In particular, this expanding market is demanding lower power consumption and increased performance.
One possible solution that has found many applications is bipolar complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (BiCMOS) technology. In standard bipolar complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (BiCMOS) technology, the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) processing steps are isolated from the bipolar processing steps, in order to avoid implant and process issues between the metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) and the bipolar transistors. Additional processing steps are typically required for forming the bipolar transistors, which result in prolonged processing time and increased manufacturing costs.
There is a need for a method for integrating the bipolar transistor processing steps with the conventional CMOS process, with few or no additional processing steps. With system-on-chip (SOC), and network-on-chip (NOC), the demand for digital, analog and RF circuits as well as logic and memory devices on a common chip is high. In wired and wireless communication systems, the desire for CMOS, RF CMOS, RF laterally diffused metal oxide semiconductor (LDMOS), RF BiCMOS SiGe or SiGeC, and gallium arsenide technologies is increasing. As a result, it is desirable to form HBT-based devices with memory, circuits with hysteresis, and high voltage devices, in a common system. Additionally, it is desirable to enable voltage controlling and power controlling applications at 25 V and 40 V by integrate SiGe HBT devices and high voltage circuits.
Further, power control applications over 40 V require electrical static discharge (ESD) networks that have trigger conditions above the power supply voltage. In power technologies that utilize LDMOS transistors require both 25 V and 40 V power supply conditions. In standard CMOS technology, with low voltage junction and well breakdown voltages, the ability to provide ESD networks in this voltage range is impossible. In standard CMOS technology, the breakdown voltages of n-well regions can be below 40 V, which prevent formation of silicon controlled rectifiers (SCRs) in the p-diffusion region, the n-well region, the p-substrate and the n-diffusion region.
There is a continuing need for improved SCRs with higher trigger conditions, which can be employed as ESD structures in greater than 40 V power supply conditions. It is desirable to integrate high voltage elements into CMOS, high voltage CMOS, or RF BiCMOS SiGe systems. Today, there is no such an integrated system with high voltage elements, such as high voltage SCRs, integrated into CMOS or BiCMOS SiGe/SiGeC applications. Additionally, due to the cost associated with BiCMOS technology, it is desirable to form such an integrated system without additional masking steps or cost.

Integration of a SiGe- or SiGeC-based HBT with a SiGe- or SiGeC-strapped semiconductor device

International Business Machines Corporation


A fragrance suitable for a user can be provided. A mobile terminal includes: an acquisition unit that acquires a psychosomatic state from a physiological index of a user; an input unit that inputs future information of the user; a determination unit that determines a recipe including one or more types and a mixing ratio of one or more perfumes based on the psychosomatic state and the future information; and a communication unit that transmits the recipe to a fragrance generation device.

A technology of switching a state of mind and body by using a fragrance is known. Patent Literature 1 discloses a technology of evaluating biometrics information of a subject in aroma therapy, calculating the degree of conformableness or the degree of relaxation, and feeding back the type and the concentration of a perfume suitable for the subject. Patent Literature 2 discloses a technology of atomizing, at a short distance from a user, a dilute solution in which a perfume component is diluted based on a predetermined condition.

Mobile terminal, fragrance generation device, server, fragrance determination method, and program


A rotor brake (8) for an open-end spinning rotor rotating at a high speed in a rotor housing with its rotor shaft (2) rotatably supported in the bearing nip (3) of a support-disk bearing (4). The rotor brake (8) comprises brake levers (9, 10) having a replaceable brake lining (16, 26) on their ends engagable against the rotor shaft (2). The brake linings (16, 26) are manufactured from a carbon-fiber composite material resistant to changes in temperature.

The present invention relates to a brake for an open-end spinning device and, more particularly, to a brake for an open-end spinning device having a rotor housing, a spinning rotor disposed in the rotor housing, and a support-disk bearing defining a bearing nip, wherein the spinning rotor is affixed to a shaft extending from the housing and rotatably supported in the bearing nip of the support-disk bearing for high speed rotation of the shaft and the rotor.
Open-end rotor spinning devices with brake devices which act on the rotor shaft of the spinning means are disclosed in numerous patent publications and have long been known in the state of the art.
For example, German Patent Publication DE 36 30 256 Al describes a brake for an OE spinning rotor which brake comprises a brake lever with a brake lining placeable from below against the rotor shaft in combination with two pressure pad devices with cheeks similar to brake linings which act from above on the rotor shaft to hold down the shaft during braking. The cheeks of the holding-down devices have a different coefficient of friction than the brake lining arranged on the brake lever.
Moreover, German Patent Publications DE 36 13 843 C2, DE 39 42 402 Al and DE 38 20 328 C2 teach rotor brakes which have tong or clamp-like arms arranged in mirror symmetry. The tong arms have an asbestos-free brake lining on their ends. When the brake is actuated, the brake linings are simultaneously placed on the rotor shaft and thus brake the spinning rotor from its high speed rotation during spinning operation to a standstill.
However, the known rotor brakes have the disadvantage that the service life of such brakes is relatively limited on account of the high stressing of the brake linings. That is, the frictional heat developing during the braking process causes the brake linings, which consist of a metal-containing, fiber-reinforced, asbestos-free and solvent-free material bound to artificial resin, to become glassy or vitreous over the course of time in the area where they contact the rotor shaft.
Such glassy brake linings adversely affect the functioning of the brake considerably since they result in distinctly longer braking times and therewith in a measurable loss of working efficiency of the entire open-end spinning machine. There is also the danger that the spinning-start carriage which services the open-end spinning machine may prematurely engage at a spinning location whose spinning rotor has not yet been completely braked. In this instance, both the service units of the spinning-start carriage as well as the open-end spinning device can experience considerable damage.


An electronic cigarette comprising an atomizing assembly and a battery assembly is provided. A connection structure is mounted at a butt-joint position between the atomizing assembly and the battery assembly, and the connection structure includes a first connection member and a second connection member; a buckle protrudes from an outer side of the first connection member; a guiding groove matching with the buckle is defined in an inner side of the second connection member, and a buckling groove is defined in the circumference of the inner wall of the second connection member, and the buckling groove communicates with the guiding groove and is configured to enable the buckle to slide therein; the buckle is inserted into the second connection member along the guiding groove and is rotated along the buckling groove to connect the first connection member with the second connection member fixedly.

Generally, an electronic cigarette includes an atomizing assembly and a battery assembly. In conventional electronic cigarettes, the atomizing assemblies are usually connected with the battery assemblies by threads. Since the thread connection may be prone to misplace, have poor reliability, and be inconvenient to be disassembled, the performance of the electronic cigarettes may be adversely affected. In order to solve the above problems, in some electronic cigarettes in the prior art, a connecting method of direct insertion and tension or a connecting method of magnetic joint is adopted. However, since an electronic cigarette is a product for quitting smoking, whether the electronic cigarette can meet mental and physical demands of smokers and whether the electronic cigarette conforms to habits of smokers formed in many years will directly affect the effect for quitting smoking. The connecting method of direct insertion and tension and the connecting method of magnet joint not only have the drawback of insecure connections, but also change the habit that smokers generally like to connect the atomizing assembly with the battery assembly by rotation operations when using the electronic cigarette. Therefore, when a smoker uses an electronic cigarette using the aforementioned connecting methods, he or she may resist quitting smoking. In other words, the electronic cigarette may go against quitting smoking, and the user experience of the electronic cigarette is bad.

HUIZHOU KIMREE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. SHENZHEN BRANCH


A lighting system includes a main power source, a power switch, a daylight white color light source driver, an incandescent color light source driver, a first light source unit, and a second light source unit. The power switch includes a first terminal connected to the main power source, a second terminal and a control terminal. The two drivers are connected to the second terminal of the power switch. The first light source unit is driven by the daylight white color light source driver. The second light source unit is driven by the incandescent color light source driver. A switch driving circuit for applying power-saving switch signals is connected to the control terminal of the power switch, and a signal processing circuit for outputting instruction signals is connected to the switch driving circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lighting system configured to reduce the standby power.
A variation of the present invention relates to an LED lighting apparatus that uses LEDs (light emitting diodes) as the light source.
A variation of the present invention relates to an LED lighting apparatus which uses LEDs (light emitting diodes) as the light source and which is configured to be operable by remote control.
A variation of the present invention relates to an LED lighting apparatus including LED chips.
2. Description of the Related Art
Reduction of use of electric power and power-saving have long been demanded and are in increasing demand in recent years. In response to such a demand, LED lighting using LEDs (light emitting diodes) is increasingly used mainly at home. LED lighting is superior to lighting using an incandescent lamp, fluorescent lamp etc. in terms of lower power consumption, lower heat generation, longer life, higher reliability and higher response speed.
Patent Document 1 (JP-A-H11-233283) discloses a lighting system, in which an AC power source is connected to a lamp via a rectifier, a chopper, and an inverter. The chopper is provided with a starting circuit connected from the rectifier or another rectifier connected to the AC power source. In this arrangement, when DC power is not supplied to the chopper controller, the starting circuit is not operational, so that the standby power reduces.
Patent Document 2 (JP-A-H11-312591) discloses a lighting system including a light source, a lighting device for driving the light source, a microcomputer for controlling the state of the light source by controlling the lighting device, a receiving part for sending a signal to the microcomputer on receiving a remote control signal, and a signal detecting part for detecting the signal from the receiving part. When the light source is in the OFF state, the microcomputer is supplied with no DC power and is in a stand-by state, while the receiving part and the signal detecting part are intermittently supplied with DC power and are in a stand-by state. When the receiving part outputs a signal upon receiving a remote control signal, DC power is supplied to the microcomputer in response to the signal outputted from the signal detecting part, and DC power is continuously supplied to the receiving part and the signal detecting part.
Patent Document 3 (JP-A-2009-4206) discloses a lighting device, a lighting apparatus and a lighting system. A microcomputer for controlling the lighting of a discharge lamp is supplied with voltage only during its operation and when the first switching element is kept on after its operation, and is not supplied with voltage in other conditions including a stand-by state. With this arrangement, the stand-by power of the lighting device can be kept nearly 0.
Patent Document 4 (JP-A-2007-265818) discloses lighting apparatus which uses in combination two types of LEDs having a low color temperature and a high color temperature. With this lighting apparatus, light emission of five colors, i.e., an incandescent color, a warm white color, a white color, a daylight white color and a daylight color can be achieved by changing the brightness of at least one of the two types of LEDs.
Patent Document 5 (JP-A-2007-122950) discloses a lighting system having high color rendering properties. The lighting system includes two or more lamps selected from a group consisting of lamps having LEDs only and lamps including LEDs and a fluorescent substance to be excited by the light from the LEDs. The lighting system further includes a controller for controlling light output from these lamps.
FIG. 12 is a circuit diagram of a conventional lighting system applicable to e.g. a ceiling light. A ceiling light is a lighting apparatus to be fixed directly to the ceiling of a room to illuminate the entire room. To illuminate the entire room by using a single lighting system, the lighting system needs to have a size and brightness sufficient for the size of the room.
The lighting system 1200 includes a main power source 11, a control circuit 12, a daylight white color light source driver 21, an incandescent color light source driver 22, a first light source unit 31 and a second light source unit 32. The control circuit 12 includes an AC/DC converter 13, a transformer 14, a DC/DC converter 15, a signal processing circuit 16, and a remote controller receiver 17.
The main power source 11 is e.g. a commercial power source, and its AC voltage AC1 is e.g. 100V. The AC/DC converter 13, the transformer 14, the DC/DC converter 15 are provided for generating a DC voltage for driving the signal processing circuit 16. The signal processing circuit 16 is connected to a remote controller receiver 17. The remote controller receiver 17 responds to a signal transmitted from a remote controller transmitter, not shown. The lighting part of the ceiling light, i.e., the first light source unit 31 and the second light source unit 32 are turned on or off in accordance with the signal transmitted to the remote controller receiver 17.
The signal processing circuit 16 supplies a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal to the daylight white color light source driver 21 and the incandescent color light source driver 22.
The daylight white color light source driver 21 and the incandescent color light source driver 22 drive the first light source unit 31 having a color temperature of 5000 K (Kelvin) and the second light source unit 32 having a color temperature of 2900 K (Kelvin), respectively. Each of the first light source unit 31 and the second light source unit 32 includes e.g. a LED or a plurality of LEDs connected in series.
In the conventional lighting system 1200 shown in FIG. 12, the daylight white color light source driver 21 and the incandescent color light source driver 22 are held in a stand-by state even when the first light source unit 31 and the second light source unit 32, i.e., the ceiling light is in the OFF state. For instance, when the standby power at the control circuit 12 is 0.5 W and the standby power of each of the daylight white color light source driver 21 and the incandescent color light source driver 22 is 0.5 W, the entire lighting system 1200 requires a standby power of 1.5 W.
For easier understanding, the lighting system 1200 shown in FIG. 12 is described as including two light source drivers, i.e., the daylight white color light source driver 21 and the incandescent color light source driver 22. However, a larger number of light source drivers may be employed, and the standby power increases with the number of the light source drivers.
Conventionally, a lighting system including a light source such as an incandescent lamp, a fluorescent lamp or the like has been used as a lighting system for illuminating a room in a house and so on. In recent years, however, in accordance with the enhancement in brightness of light emitting diodes (hereinafter referred to as LEDs), various lighting systems have been proposed which use LEDs having a smaller size, a lower power consumption and a longer life, instead of conventional light sources.
For instance, an LED lamp including an LED chip has been proposed as a replacement for an incandescent lamp. Further, an LED lighting system is also proposed which has the function of adjusting the brightness and chromaticity of the light. For instance, some LED lighting systems incorporate a plurality of types of LED lamps that emit light of different color temperatures, so that light of a desired color is obtained by adjusting the brightness of each type of the LED lamps. Such LED lighting systems are used as a downlight or a ceiling light, for example.
Among such LED lighting systems, there exists an LED lighting system, as disclosed in e.g. Patent Document 6 (JP-A-2008-300124), which is configured to generate composite light of white LEDs and red LEDs while setting the chromaticity of light from the white LEDs to a certain range, in order to obtain a composite light having a desired color temperature and high color rendering properties.
However, since such a conventional LED lighting system uses white LEDs of different color temperatures, variations of LEDs are produced in the manufacturing process, resulting in variations in brightness. Such variations in brightness of the LEDs lead to non-uniform brightness. Further, when LEDs of different color temperatures are employed, such variations in brightness leads to variations in color of composite light. Thus, before mounting the LEDs, the LEDs are classified into e.g. nine groups based on the combination of brightness and color, and LEDs of a certain group having variations in a limited range are mounted.
However, in the above-described method, measurement needs to be performed with respect to each of the LEDs for classification into groups, which needs much time and cost. Further, even when variation is suppressed to a certain degree by the classification, the brightness or chromaticity of the LEDs may not correspond to the brightness or chromaticity satisfactory to the user.
An LED lighting apparatus including an LED chip has been developed as a replacement for a lighting apparatus of a type for attaching e.g. a fluorescent lamp. Some of lighting apparatuses to be fixed to a ceiling are configured such that operations such as turning on or off the light and adjustment of the light can be performed by remote control (See Patent Document 7 (JP-A-2008-108598), for example).
FIG. 26 schematically illustrates an example of LED lighting apparatus designed to be fixed to a ceiling to illuminate a room. The LED lighting apparatus 90 shown in FIG. 26 includes a main body 91 to be fixed to a ceiling, and a remote controller 92 for operating the main body 91. The main body 91 includes a plurality of LED chips and a control unit for controlling the lighting of the LED chips in accordance with a signal from the remote controller 92. The LED lighting apparatus 90 is designed to allow adjustment of the brightness of the main body 91 and adjustment of the color of the light emitted from the main body 91. Accordingly, the remote controller 92 includes a button 92a for brightness adjustment and a button for color adjustment, in addition to a button for turning on or off the light.
For instance, the LED lighting apparatus 90 can be designed such that the brightness of the main body 91 increases by a predetermined one step when the brightness adjustment button 92a is pressed shorter than 1.25 sec. and that the brightness of the main body 91 increases continuously when the brightness adjustment button 92a is pressed longer than 1.25 sec. With this arrangement, the operation to increase the brightness step by step and the operation to increase the brightness continuously can be performed by using the same button 92a, which allows the remote controller 92 to be made simple.
However, the sense of time is different from person to person, so that even when the user, who intended to continuously change the brightness, thinks that they have pressed the brightness adjustment button 92a for a sufficiently long time, the actual pressing time of the brightness adjustment button 92a may be shorter than 1.25 sec. In such a case, brightness changes by one step, centrally to the user's intension. Such a situation where the user cannot operate the lighting apparatus as desired may cause the user to feel stress.
An LED lighting apparatus including an LED chip has been developed as a replacement for a lighting apparatus of a type for attaching e.g. a fluorescent lamp. A lighting apparatus to be fixed to a ceiling is generally called a ceiling light. For instance, Patent Document 8 (JP-A-2008-300203) discloses a conventional LED lighting apparatus used as a ceiling light.
FIG. 47 shows an example of ceiling light. The LED lighting apparatus 900 shown in the figure is in the form of a thin disc as a whole and used as fixed to a ceiling. The LED lighting apparatus 900 includes a plurality of LED chips 910D, a plurality of substrates 920D, and a cover 930 covering the LED chips 910D. As shown in FIG. 47, each substrate 920D is curved along the circumferential direction. Each substrate 920D is prepared by cutting a rectangular substrate material. As compared with cutting rectangular substrates out of a rectangular substrate material, cutting substrates having a curved shape out of a rectangular substrate provides a smaller number of substrates. Moreover, when any failure occurs, the substrate 920D needs to be disposed of, which leads to waste and an increase in the manufacturing cost.
Moreover, when rectangular substrates are simply arranged in a circular region, the LED chip 910D cannot be arranged uniformly, so that part of the LED lighting apparatus 900 may become dark.
An LED lighting apparatus including an LED chip has been developed as a replacement for a lighting apparatus of a type for attaching e.g. a fluorescent lamp. A lighting apparatus to be fixed to a ceiling is generally called a ceiling light.
FIG. 65 shows an example of conventional LED lighting apparatus for use as a ceiling light (see Patent Document 8, for example). The LED lighting apparatus 900 shown in the figure has a thin circular shape as a whole and is used as attached to a ceiling 800. The LED lighting apparatus 900 includes a plurality of light source units 910, a reflective surface 920 and a cover 930. The light source units 910 incorporate LED chips (not shown) and are arranged on a circle. The reflective surface 920 is a surface of a metal plate that is painted white, for example. As shown in the figure, the reflective surface 920 is arranged on the radially inner side of the light source units 910 arranged on a circle. Light from the light source units 910 is reflected by the reflective surface 920 to travel downward in the figure. The cover 930 is made of e.g. a resin material that transmits light while diffusing, and hence, transmits the light, reflected by the reflective surface 920, downward in the figure while diffusing.
The LED lighting apparatus 900 is designed such that light is emitted through the cover 930 covering the light source units 910 and the reflective surface 920. Thus, the LED lighting apparatus 900 as a whole has a relatively large thickness. To enhance the appearance of a living room or the like to which the LED lighting apparatus 900 is installed, further thickness reduction of the LED lighting apparatus 900 is demanded. In addition to the LED lighting apparatus 900 used as a ceiling light to be fixed to a ceiling 800, an LED lighting apparatus of a type called a pendant light is also demanded which emits light toward the floor from a position spaced a certain distance from the ceiling.
An LED lighting apparatus including an LED chip has been developed as a replacement for a lighting apparatus of a type for attaching e.g. a fluorescent lamp. A lighting apparatus to be fixed to a ceiling is generally called a ceiling light.
FIG. 77 shows an example of conventional LED lighting apparatus for use as a ceiling light (see Patent Document 8, for example). The LED lighting apparatus 900 shown in the figure is used as attached to a ceiling 800. The LED lighting apparatus 900 includes a plurality of light source units 910, a reflective surface 920 and a cover 930. The light source units 910 incorporate LED chips (not shown). The reflective surface 920 is a surface of a metal plate that is painted white, for example. Light from the light source units 910 is reflected by the reflective surface 920 to travel downward in the figure. The cover 930 is made of e.g. a resin material that transmits light while diffusing, and hence, transmits the light, reflected by the reflective surface 920, downward in the figure while diffusing. The LED lighting apparatus 900 is designed to achieve both the good appearance along a ceiling and the uniform illumination of a room.
However, reduction in thickness of the LED lighting apparatus 900 accompanies increased limitation on the shape of the reflective surface 920. Such limitation hinders uniform illumination by the LED lighting apparatus 900.
An LED lighting apparatus including an LED chip has been developed as a replacement for a lighting apparatus of a type for attaching e.g. a fluorescent lamp. A lighting apparatus to be fixed to a ceiling is generally called a ceiling light. For instance, Patent Document 8 discloses an LED lighting apparatus for use as a ceiling light.
FIG. 88 shows an example of ceiling light. The LED lighting apparatus 900 shown in the figure has a thin circular shape as a whole and used as fixed to a ceiling. The LED lighting apparatus 900 includes a plurality of LED substrates 910G, a plurality of LED chips 920G mounted on each of the LED substrates 910G, and a cover 930 covering the LED substrates 910G. The plurality of LED substrates 910G are arranged such that the edges of each LED substrate face edges of adjacent LED substrates, thereby forming a ring-like shape. A pair of connectors 940, 950 are provided at facing edges of adjacent LED substrates 910G.
To each of the connectors 940, 950 is connected a connection end of a wiring 960, which is made of a single core wire. The connectors 940, 950 of each pair are arranged such that the connection portions face each other. Thus, both the connection direction (first connection direction) of a connection end to the connector 940 and the connection direction (second connection direction) of a connection end to the connector 950 are along the circumferential direction n1 of the LED substrates 910G. To achieve proper connection to each connector 940, 950, the wiring 960 is made to have a certain margin and curved along the LED substrate 910G, as shown in FIG. 88.
However, according to the above-described structure in which the connectors 940 and 950 face each other, the wiring 960 rotates easily when rotation moment is exerted between the connectors 940, 950 and the wiring 960. Thus, in using the LED lighting apparatus 900, the curved portion of the wiring 960 may move and hinder the progress of the light from the LED chips 920G, making part of the LED lighting apparatus 900 dark.    Patent Document 1: JP-A-H11-233283    Patent Document 2: JP-A-H11-312591    Patent Document 3: JP-A-2009-4206    Patent Document 4: JP-A-2007-265818    Patent Document 5: JP-A-2007-122950    Patent Document 6: JP-A-2008-300124    Patent Document 7: JP-A-2008-108598    Patent Document 8: JP-A-2008-300203


A printer that includes at least one printhead mounted to a carriage of a printing system, and a secondary ink container mounted to the carriage and which holds an ink and is in fluid communication with the at least one printhead. A pressure source in fluid communication with the secondary ink container provides a pressure to the secondary ink container during a purging operation to cause the ink to flow from the at least one printhead. The secondary ink container has a large enough volume to hold a sufficient amount of ink for a purge operation of at least about seven seconds. The secondary ink container has a minimum ink level, and an inlet that is located below the minium ink level so as to minimize aeration of the ink as it flows through the inlet. The printer can also include a manifold having a pair of inlets, each inlet providing ink to a respective printhead, and a connector which connects the secondary ink container to the manifold, and diverts the ink to the respective manifold inlets before the ink enters the manifold. A filter can be used to filter the ink before it enters the secondary ink container, the filter having a vertical orientation to minimize the accumulation of air in the filter.

Certain types of printing systems are adapted for printing images on large-scale substrates, such as for example museum displays, billboards, sails, bus boards, and banners. Some of these systems use so-called drop on demand ink jet printing. In these systems, a carriage which holds a set of print heads scans or traverses across the width of the substrate while the print heads deposit ink as the substrate moves.
Solvent based inks are sometimes used in these systems to print on flexible substrates such as PVC materials and reinforced vinyl. However, water-based inks are typically considered to be more suitable for printing on textiles. In the past, print heads used for solvent based inks could not be used with water-based inks. More recently, print heads originally used with solvent-based inks have been modified to be compatible with water-based inks.
Unfortunately, by merely replacing solvent-based print heads in existing printer systems with modified print heads which are compatible with water-based inks, other difficulties have arisen. In particular, water-based inks have a tendency to mix with air as the inks flow though the ink transport system of the printers. That is, the water-based inks tend to aerate and become "foamy," and hence degrade the printer capabilities of the printer.


A tunable, thermally actuate, self-sealing grommet for sealing a hole in a vehicle panel through which a steering gearbox protrudes from an engine room to a passenger compartment. The grommet includes a shape memory alloy component embedded in a resin matrix. The shape memory alloy is selectively moveable from a deformed configuration toward a pre-deformed configuration upon being heated to a critical temperature from heat from an initial operation of an engine of the vehicle, which causes a sealing portion of the grommet to move from a non-engagement position to an engagement position such that the sealing portion contacts the panel to form a water-tight seal around the hole.

Vehicle steering systems often include a steering gearbox or other assembly that passes through a hole in a vehicle body panel that separates an engine room and an interior passenger compartment of a vehicle. Water intrusion through this hole from the engine room to the vehicle compartment causes various problems including corrosion.
Sealing of vehicle steering systems to prevent the intrusion of water from the vehicle engine room to the interior of a vehicle can be accomplished in one method by the use of a rubber grommet, which surrounds the steering gearbox and is linearly moved towards the panel during vehicle assembly to compress the grommet against the panel to create a water-tight seal between the grommet and the panel. However, when using this type of compression style grommet, the necessary compression of the grommet to make a satisfactory seal is best achieved when the direction of compression of the grommet is along an axis of the grommet and perpendicular to the surface of the panel. The shape, arrangement, and orientation of vehicle components does not always allow for the axis of the grommet to be perpendicular to the surface of the panel, and therefore does not allow for perpendicular compression of the grommet with respect to the surface. In this instance, non-perpendicular compression of the grommet with respect to the surface can produce an incomplete seal and allow for water intrusion.
In a second method, a rubber grommet with a pivot feature is mounted in a fixed position relative to the steering gearbox during assembly. Proper sealing of the hole requires an operator to flip the pivot feature to mate the grommet with the panel to create a water-tight seal around the hole. In this second method, it is possible for the grommet to be flipped before the grommet is properly placed on the steering gearbox, which does not allow for proper assembly or sealing and which can lead to water intrusion through the hole.
In a third method, a multi-piece component is pre-assembled to the steering gearbox. When the steering gearbox is assembled as part of the vehicle, the multi-piece component is fixed in a position relative to the panel using various fastening mechanisms that creates a seal against water intrusion.
The second and third sealing methods rely on operators to actuate the sealing features of the grommet during assembly in order to create the seal. Through operator mistake, it is therefore possible for the sealing features to be improperly actuated or not actuated at all. If not properly actuated, the sealing features are ineffective for preventing water intrusion through the hole in the panel.


Certain embodiments include a method of improvising radiological outcomes by introducing a filler to between a first tissue location and a second tissue location to increase a distance between the first tissue location and the second tissue location, and administering a dose of radioactivity to at least the first tissue location or the second tissue location. Collagen and hyaluronic acid are examples of fillers. Certain embodiments include a medical device having a biocompatible, biodegradable filler material, wherein the device comprises at least a portion that has a shape that substantially conforms to Denovillier's space between the rectum and prostate. Certain embodiments include a kit, the kit comprising a filler and instructions for placing the filler between a first tissue location and a second tissue location to increase a distance between the first tissue location and the second tissue location.

Over 198,100 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer each year. Typically, forty percent will choose interstitial implant therapy, one-third of the men will choose surgery, and one third will choose external beam radiotherapy.
Typical treatments for prostate cancer include surgical removal of the prostate (prostatectomy), freezing the prostate (cryosurgery), hormonal therapy, prostate seed implant therapy, or prostate conformal radiation.
The treatment providing the best outcome is still debatable. However, the side effects of treating prostate cancer have become less toxic and less profound with implant therapy and 3D conformal radiotherapy. Advancements in treatment positioning and target localization have significantly improved outcomes and diminished the side effects.
Since the conception of 3D conformal radiotherapy, physicians have paid attention to the delivered dose to the target and surrounding tissues. Investigators have been able to correlate side effects to the amount of tissue receiving a certain radiation dose. This term has been coined: dose volume histogram. For conformal radiotherapy it is conventionally preferred that the rectum receive less than 40% of the prescribed treatment dose in hopes of minimizing the radiation induced side effects.
Time, distance, and shielding affect the dose that is delivered. The less time an area is exposed to radiation, the less dose delivered. The greater the distance from the radiation, the less dose delivered. Finally, more shielding will also decrease the delivered dose.

Fillers and methods for displacing tissues to improve radiological outcomes


A slat for a shutter is in the form of a hollow, flat tube. The slat is connected to a tubular adjusting rod by a swivel connector which comprises a pair of hook elements and a serrated body portion from which each of the hook elements is supported. The slats and the adjusting rod are each provided with openings into which the body portion of the swivel connector is inserted. Splines locating within the slat and the adjusting rod engage the serrations and lock the swivel connector in position. The shutters may also incorporate an anti-sag support for retention when in their closed position.

Traditionally, slatted shutters have been made from wood. There have been a number of previous proposals to substitute other materials, with a view of reducing cost and also in providing some structural advantage, the following being exemplary:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,230,707 (Wallace) discloses hollow slats which are pressed from sheet metal.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,031,013 (Russel) discloses hollow slats that are formed from a pair of plastic sheet members joined together along their edges.
Generally speaking, the means for adjusting wood shutters has consisted of an adjustment rod which is connected to an edge of each slat with a pair of U shaped tacks linked together. Such method of adjustment is not readily adaptable for use where the shutters are made from a hollow non wood-like material. The shutters are normally employed in a shutter assembly in which they are hinged to the jamb of a surrounding frame. Where the shutters are formed from plastic materials, sagging is noticeable over a period of time, and is aesthetically objectionable.
It is an object of this invention to provide slats and shutters incorporating such slats, that are particularly suited for construction from plastic materials.
It is another object of this invention to provide shutters which incorporate means that are particularly adapted to couple an adjusting rod to the slats of the invention.
It is yet another objection of the invention to provide hinged shutter assemblies which include means for reducing sagging of the shutters.


A manufacture includes a first optical fiber and a plurality of second optical fibers. The second optical fibers have cross sections with aspect ratios of two or more. Distal sections of the fibers form a bonded structure. In the bonded structure, each distal section is bonded along a length of another one of the distal sections and along a section of the first optical fiber.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to optical fibers and optical fiber amplifiers.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Some optical amplifiers use a doped optical fiber to perform optical amplification. The doped amplifier fiber receives both multi-mode pump light and a single-mode input optical signal for amplification. One arrangement introduces both the pump light and the input optical signal into one end of the amplifier fiber. Since the pump light and input optical signals come from separate fibers, these fibers are often combined into a bundle prior to coupling to the amplifier fiber. The fiber bundle improves the coupling with the amplifier fiber.
FIG. 1 shows a portion of a fiber amplifier 10 that uses a conventional fiber bundle 12. The fiber bundle 12 optically couples through end 13 to amplifier fiber 14, e.g., a multi-modal fiber having erbium and/or ytterbium dopants. The fiber bundle 12 incorporates two or more pump fibers 16-21 and input fiber 24. Each pump fiber 16-21 receives pump light at one end from a single laser diode 27-32 and transports the light by total internal reflection to end 13, which couples to the amplifier fiber 14. The input fiber 24 delivers the optical signal to be amplified. Near the end 13, fibers 16-21, 24 of fiber bundle 12 have been bonded together.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the end 13 of the fiber bundle 12 shown in FIG. 1. The input fiber 24 is a single-mode optical fiber located at the center of the fiber bundle 12. The pump fibers 16-21 are multi-mode optical fibers located around the circumference of the input fiber 24.
The complete fiber bundle 12 and amplifier fiber 14 may have different outer diameters. If the diameters differ, a region 26 of the fiber bundle 12 adjacent the joint end 13 is tapered so that the fiber bundle""s diameter matches that of the amplifier fiber 14 at the joint. Matching the outer diameters improves light transfer from the fiber bundle 12 to the amplifier fiber 14.
The amplifier fiber may have an outer core with a polygonal cross section that enhances the coupling of pump light to the optically active dopants.
Various features of the fiber bundle 12 and amplifier fiber 14 improve optical couplings in fiber amplifier 10. But, still better optical couplings are desirable to push amplifiers to even higher optical gains.
In one aspect, the invention features a manufacture. The manufacture includes a first optical fiber and a plurality of second optical fibers. The second optical fibers have cross sections with aspect ratios of two or more. Distal sections of the fibers form a bonded structure. In the bonded structure, each distal section bonds along a length to another one of the distal sections and to the first optical fiber.
In a second aspect, the invention features an apparatus. The apparatus includes a plurality of laser diodes and a fiber bundle. The fiber bundle includes a first optical fiber and a plurality of second optical fibers. The second optical fibers have cross sections with an aspect ratio of two or more. Distal sections of the fibers form a bonded structure in which each section bonds along a length to another one of the sections and to the first optical fiber. Each laser diode is optically coupled to one of the laser diodes.
In a third aspect, the invention features a process for amplifying an input optical signal. The process includes transmitting pump light from laser diodes into associated pump optical fibers. The fibers have cross sections with aspect ratios of at least two. The process also includes delivering the transmitted pump light to one end of an amplifier optical fiber and transmitting the input optical signal into one end of the amplifier optical fiber.


In one embodiment, delamination of a patterned silicon nitride anti-reflective layer (26) from an underlying patterned tungsten silicide layer (32), is prevented by forming a thin silicon layer (30) between the patterned tungsten silicide layer (32) and the overlying patterned silicon nitride anti-reflective layer (26).

The semiconductor industry's continuing drive toward integrated circuits with ever decreasing geometries, coupled with its pervasive use of highly reflective interconnect materials, such as polysilicon, aluminum, refractory metals, and metal silicides, has led to increased photolithographic patterning problems. Unwanted reflections from these underlying interconnect materials, during the photoresist patterning process, cause the interconnect photoresist pattern and the resulting interconnect to be distorted. This problem is further compounded when photolithographic imaging tools having ultraviolet (UV) and deep ultraviolet (DUV) exposure wavelengths are used to generate the photoresist patterns.
One technique proposed to minimize reflections from an underlying reflective interconnect material is to form an anti-reflective coating over it prior to photoresist patterning. Adhesion between the anti-reflective coating and the underlying interconnect material, however, is often poor and the anti-reflective coating delaminates from the underlying interconnect material, and as a result, integrated circuit yields are degraded. Therefore, the formation of interconnects with an overlying anti-reflective coating is difficult to achieve, and the fabrication of advanced integrated circuits with submicron interconnect geometries is limited.
Accordingly, a need exists for a method that allows interconnects to be formed in an integrated circuit with an anti-reflective coating.

Conductive interconnect structure and method of formation