Processing at high speed is realized. Interpolation is carried out between vertexes of a series of vertexes and a series of vertexes taken as a longer series of vertexes of a strip. Interpolation is then carried out between each vertex of the interpolated series of vertexes and corresponding vertexes. Sub-strips are then generated using each of the interpolated vertexes. In this way, processing can be carried out at high speed after finely subdividing.

The present invention relates to an information processing device and method thereof, and a transmission medium, and more particularly relates to an information processing device and method thereof and a transmission medium by which an amount of information for an object to be processed is reduced in such a manner that processing can be carried out at high speed.
With information processing devices such as computer games, various three-dimensional figures (objects) are represented, with the objects being possible to be changed in various states. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of such kind of information processing device. In this example, a CPU 11 carries out various calculations such as coordinate transformations, light source calculations or vector arithmetics etc., as well as controlling of each part. Further, to the CPU 11, there are connected a main bus 12 that carries out data transfer at a comparatively high speed and a sub-bus 13 that carries out the data transfer at a comparatively low speed, via which data can be exchanged. A CD-ROM drive 14 is connected to the sub-bus 13 so that various data or programs can be read out from a CD-ROM as a recording media installed in the CD-ROM drive 14 using instructions of the CPU 11.
A main memory 15 and a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) 16 are connected to the main bus 12. The main memory 15 stores data such as data read our from the CD-ROM driver 14 and data as computation results of the CPU 11. The GPU 16 reads out data from the main memory 15 as required, carries out rendering processing, and stores the processed data in a VRAM (Video Random Access Memory) 17 as pixel data. The GPU 16 further reads out pixel data stored in the VRAM 17 and supplies this data to a D/A converter 18. The D/A converter 18 converts the pixel data supplied from the GPU 16 from a digital signal to an analog signal for being outputted to a monitor (not shown) as a video signal.
With this kind of information processing device, a prescribed object is represented with triangular polygons as the units. One triangle is composed of three vertexes, and coordinate data for these three vertexes is therefore required as data representing this triangle. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when a ribbon-shaped object 21 is formed from triangles 22-1 to 22-8 (in this drawing, each triangle is shown separately to make the description easier), if the data for each triangle is taken to be expressed as {Pa, Pb, Pc}, the data for this object 21 can be expressed as Triangle {P0, P1, P2}+Triangle {P1, P2, P3}+Triangle {P2, P3, P4}+Triangle {P3, P4, P5}+Triangle {P4, P5, P6}+Triangle {P5, P6, P7}+Triangle {P6, P7, P8}+Triangle {P7, P8, P9}.
The number of items of data required to define an object formed using N triangles is therefore 3N.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, after, for example, the first triangle 22-1 is formed using vertexes P0, P1 and P2, the next triangle 22-2 can be formed if the vertex P3 is specified. The triangles for the following stages can then be expressed in a similar manner by sequentially specifying the vertexes P4 to P9 one at a time. This is to say that, with the exception of the first triangle 22-1, one triangle can be expressed using one vertex. Such a data format by which a figure (object 21) where triangles are linked in a ribbon shape is expressed as a series of successive points is referred to as a xe2x80x9cTriangle Stripxe2x80x9d (hereinafter abbreviated to xe2x80x9cstripxe2x80x9d according to situations). Data for an object 21 as a strip can then be expressed as a Triangle Strip {P0, P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, P6, P7, P8, P9}.
When an object 21 is defined using a series of successive points in this way, the number of items of required data is 3+(Nxe2x88x921)=N+2, and the amount of data (information) can be reduced compared with that in the case shown in FIG. 2.
Further, as shown in FIG. 4, a fan-shaped object 31 can be formed by making vertexes P1 to P5 correspond to vertex P0. In this case, one triangle can also be represented by one vertex as, Triangle Fan {P0, P1, P2, P3, P4, P5}. This kind of data format is referred to as a triangle fan (Triangle Fan) (hereinafter abbreviated to xe2x80x9cfanxe2x80x9d according to situations).
Incidentally, a single triangle can be drawn using data for coordinates for three vertexes, three vertex colors and three normal vectors. A description will now be given with reference to FIG. 5 of, for example, the process for drawing the object 21 shown in FIG. 3 with individual triangles taken as the units. First, in step S101, the CPU 11 reads out three-dimensional coordinate data, color data and a normal vector corresponding to a prescribed vertex of the three vertexes of one triangle from the main memory 15. In step S102, the read out three-dimensional coordinate data is transformed to coordinates in a virtual space.
In step S103, the CPU 11 carries out perspective transformation of the three-dimensional coordinate data that has been converted in step S102 into two-dimensional coordinate data. Namely, the three-dimensional coordinates of the triangle put in the virtual space are converted to coordinates for a state viewed in two dimensions (a state viewed on a monitor). Following this, in step S104, the CPU outputs the two-dimensional coordinate data obtained in step S103 to the GPU 16.
In step S105, the CPU 11 calculates the luminance at each vertex from the position and direction of a light source in virtual space, with color data corresponding to the calculation results of step S105 being outputted to the GPU 16 in step S106.
In step S107, a determination is made as to whether or not processing for all (three) of the vertexes for one triangle is complete. When it is determined that there still exist vertexes that have not yet been processed, the process returns to step S101 and processing for the next vertex is carried out. When it is determined in step S107 that processing is complete for all of the vertexes, the process proceeds to step S108 to go to processing of the GPU 16.
In step S108, the GPU 16 draws the triangle formed by three vertexes through Gouraud shading with the data corresponding to the three vertexes supplied by the CPU 11. In step S109, a determination is made as to whether or not drawing for all of the triangles is complete (whether or not drawing of the object 21 is completed). When it is determined that there still exist triangles that have not yet been drawn (drawing of the object 21 is not completed), the process returns to step S101 and the same processing is carried out on other triangles of FIG. 3.
When it is determined in step S109 that drawing is complete for all of the triangles (drawing of the object 21 is complete), the processing is complete.
The processing occurring at the GPU 16 in step S108 will now be further described. For example, if normal vectors 51-1 to 51-3 at each vertex A, B and C of a triangle 61 to be processed are taken to be directed in directions shown in FIG. 6, a normal vector 51-4 at the center point D of the triangle 61 is interpolated by the GPU 16 from these normal vectors. The triangle 61 therefore has a bulge toward a central part. Therefore, when light giving illumination from a light source 41 is considered, as shown in FIG. 7, Gouraud shading has to be carried out in such a manner that the triangle 61 is brighter in the center part thereof and becomes darker toward the edges.
Gouraud shading, however, is processing that only interpolates color. Therefore, for example, when each vertex is given with the same color, the triangle 61 becomes completely painted out as shown in FIG. 8, and its accurate shape cannot be shown as a three-dimensional body. Processing for drawing is therefore carried out by finely subdividing the triangle 61 as shown in a flowchart of FIG. 8.
First, in step S121, the CPU 11 reads from the main memory 15 data for the triangle 61, which is then finely subdivided into a prescribed number (in this case, 16) of triangles (hereinafter referred to as sub-triangles for discrimination) as shown in FIG. 10A. In step S122, normal vectors for vertexes of newly generated sub-triangles are interpolated using normal vectors 51-1 to 51-3. Data for each vertex and normal vector thereof is then made to be temporarily stored in the main memory 15.
Next, processing of step S123 to step S130 is carried out but description thereof is omitted because this processing corresponds to that of step S101 to step S108 of FIG. 5. When the processing for step S123 to step S130 is complete, the process proceeds to step S131 and a determination is made as to whether or not drawing of all of the sub-triangles is complete. When it is determined that sub-triangles that have not been drawn still exist, the process returns to step S123 to go to processing for the next sub-triangle.
When it is determined in step S131 that processing for drawing all of the sub-triangles is complete, the processing comes to an end. The triangle 61 can therefore be expressed in more detail, as shown in FIG. 10B.
FIG. 11 shows an example of this method applied to a strip 71. In this example, triangles 81-1 to 81-8 forming the strip 71 are individually and finely subdivided into finer sub-triangles. In this case, each triangle (for example, 81-1) is divided into a total of 16 sub-triangles. This triangle 81-1 is then defined by sub-strips (sub-triangle strips) 91-1 to 91-4 with the number of the sub-triangles being 1, 3, 5 and 7, respectively, i.e. with the number of vertexes being 3, 5, 7 and 9, respectively, as shown in FIG. 12.
When a length N of the strip 71 of the series of vertexes of P0 to P9 is then defined as 10, the number of triangles comprising this strip 71 is Nxe2x88x922=8. Eight of sub-strips are therefore generated for each of lengths 3, 5, 7 and 9 after dividing. Because of this, if processing time for drawing on sub-triangle is taken to be T0 and time required for initialization setting of one sub-strip is taken to be T1, processing time T for drawing one strip becomes as follows. The processing time T0 changes depending on the area and shape of the triangle to be processed, but for convenience of the description, that processing time is assumed to be the same.                                                         T              =                              xe2x80x83                                                          {                                                      (                                          T1                      +                                              T0                        xc3x97                        1                                                              )                                    +                                      (                                          T1                      +                                              T0                        xc3x97                        3                                                              )                                    +                                      (                                          T1                      +                                              T0                        xc3x97                        5                                                              )                                    +                                                                                xe2x80x83                                                                  (                                      T1                    +                                          T0                      xc3x97                      7                                                        )                                }                            xc3x97                              (                                  N                  -                  2                                )                                                                                =                              xe2x80x83                                                                            (                                                            4                      xc3x97                      T1                                        +                                          16                      xc3x97                      T0                                                        )                                xc3x97                                  (                                      N                    -                    2                                    )                                                                                =                              xe2x80x83                                                                            T1                  xc3x97                  4                                                        (                                          N                      -                      2                                        )                                                  +                                  T0                  xc3x97                                      (                                                                  16                                                N                                            -                      32                                        )                                                                                (        1        )
In this case, the number of vertexes possessed by a single triangle is 15. Therefore, when data for a strip of length N is stored, it is necessary to store information for all of the vertexes and the memory capacity required becomes 15xc3x97(Nxe2x88x922).
Similarly, as shown in FIG. 13, when a fan 101 of length N (=6) is finely subdivided, each of the triangles 111-1 to 111-4 forming the fan 101 is subdivided into sub-strips of lengths 3, 5, 7 and 9, with the number of Nxe2x88x922 (=4) for each. The processing time T for the triangle fan after fine subdividing can therefore also be given by equation (1).
Fine subdividing can therefore be carried out for a prescribed object.
However, the amount of information for the object after fine subdividing becomes large and processing time becomes long accordingly.
In view of the above, the present invention sets out to reduce the amount of information for an object to be processed and carry out processing at high-speed.
An object of the invention is to provide an information processing device wherein a plurality of first points defining first information are interpolated in such a manner as to generate second points and a plurality of pieces of second information defined by a plurality of the second points are generated, comprising:
interpolating means for interpolating the second points from the first points; and
generating means for generating the second information by combining the second points interpolated by the interpolating means in a direction of length of the first information.
Another object of the invention is to provide an information processing method for an information processing device wherein a plurality of first points defining first information are interpolated in such a manner as to generate second points and a plurality of pieces of second information defined by a plurality of the second points are generated, comprising:
an interpolating step of interpolating the second points from the first points; and
a generating step of generating the second information by combining the second points interpolated in the interpolating step in a direction of length of the first information.
A further object of the invention is to provide a transmission medium for transmitting a program employed by an information processing device wherein a plurality of first points defining first information are interpolated in such a manner as to generate second points and a plurality of pieces of second information defined by a plurality of the second points are generated, characterized by transmitting a program comprising:
an interpolating step of interpolating the second points from the first points; and
a generating step of generating the second information by combining the second points interpolated in the interpolating step in a direction of length of the first information.
In the information processing device, the information processing method, and the transmission medium according to this invention, the second points are interpolated from the first points, to generate the second information by combining the second points in the direction of the length of the first information.

Information processing device and method thereof, and transmission medium


A sequence control system suitable for checking the operation of an information processor includes a process I/O unit for receiving input data from process inputs and providing output data to process outputs; a sequence processing unit for calculating data at the process outputs by performing sequence operations according to the sequence programs stored in a sequence program memory on the basis of the data at the process inputs; a buffer memory provided between the process I/O unit and the sequence processing unit for storing both the process input data from the process I/O unit and the output data from the sequence processing unit; a control arrangement for setting the input data to the buffer memory and for allowing access to a selected sequence program according to manually set input information; a display for displaying the selected sequence program accessed through the control arrangement; and a switch for interrupting the transfer of I/O data between the process I/O unit and the buffer memory. The sequence processing unit determines the output data on the basis of the input data stored in the buffer memory and applies the output data to the buffer memory. The control arrangement, in response to the manually set input information, causes the associated sequence program to be read from the sequence program memory and then the data of the inputs and outputs associated with the sequence program to be read from the buffer memory thereby to indicate them on the display.

The present invention relates to a sequence control system, and more particularly, to a system which is designed to check the operation of an information processor during the operation thereof.
In a conventional sequence control system, a desired sequence instruction is read from the sequence program, and the sequence is processed and controlled in its processing circuit. Such a sequence control system has already been disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,944,987 to Koyanagi et al. Further, a sequence block display system of the kind referred to has been suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,026 to Yamauchi et al, in which a sequence circuit block is searched in the memory section thereby displaying it.
However, in the known programmable logic controller (PLC), the check of the logic and operation, such as debugging at the side of the processing unit, is performed through a process I/O controller (PIOC). There are known a conventional system, as shown in FIG. 1, in which connection is established between a sequence processing unit 100 (which corresponds to the abovementioned processing unit), a process control section 200 and a production installation 300; and the operation check is made under the condition where the production installation 300 (usually, process system) is in operation. Now, the process control section 200 includes a process I/O controller (PIOC) and a process I/O unit (PI/O). Such a system is characterized in that the operation check is made after the production installation is built, and so, the sequence programs are debugged after the production installation is built.
However, in general, many PLC users tend to desire to build-in the sequencer according to the situation where a new production installation is being built. To this end, if the operation check of the sequence programs can be performed only after the production installation has been built to a certain extent, the system will be low in work efficiency. In addition, debugging requires connection between the process control section and the actually-built production installation. This may damage devices in the production installation and in some cases, may lead to serious injury to the operators.
In order to eliminate the above-mentioned defects, there has been suggested another system shown in FIG. 2 in which a simulation panel is added in place of the production installation. As will be understood from FIG. 2, the production installation in FIG. 1 is replaced by a simulation panel 400 and debugging is carried out within the factory.
The simulation panel 400 is mounted with a multiplicity of (for example, in the order of thousands) switches for setting input data and a multiplicity of (for example, in the order of thousands) lamps for checking the states of outputs, which switches and lamps are associated with process inputs and outputs respectively. Since use of the simulation panel 400 allows debugging to be carried out together with building of the production installation, the work steps are greatly reduced, without the danger of device damage or of serious injury to the operators, as mentioned above.
Nevertheless, this type of system utilizing a simulation panel has defects in that the system is expensive due to the fact that the simulation panel is provided with thousands of switches; and additional complicated wirings (usually, 2000 to 4000) must be completed between the simulation panel and the process I/O unit PI/O, resulting in time-consuming labor and high cost. This is because the above-mentioned system of FIG. 1 requires connection only between the PI/O and the production installation, but in the system of FIG. 2, additional connection must be provided to the simulation panel.
These defects come from the fact that an attempt has been made to check the operation, using a conventional process control section. In other words, an operation check at the side of the sequence processing unit always requires reception of information of the process inputs and transmission of the processed results to process outputs. To realize this, in addition to the above inputs and outputs, an interface between the inputs and outputs and the sequence processing unit must be provided. In the conventional system, a known process control section has been used as such an interface. As a result, the number of wiring points was required. In another point of view, a check at the side of the sequence processing unit is carried out by checking the outputs corresponding to the associated inputs. This means that this method restricts the checking at the sequence processing unit. Further, the application of an input data at an input terminal may cause the output states at output terminals to change. In this case, it is difficult to detect such changes in output states at the output terminals with the above-mentioned sequence panel. Furthermore, it is difficult to cope with a request to provide information relating to the current and previous states of the output terminals. In summary, the above-mentioned systems have a defect in that they do not provide flexibility in performing the logical operation check.


A high feed/heavy depth of cut indexable insert for the aluminum wheel turning market featuring a cutting edge with higher elevation than the central island chipbreaker forms.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to disposable cutting inserts which may be detachable mounted on a tool holder for cutting a workpiece. Cutting inserts of this type are generally made of cemented carbide and are formed by pressing and sintering techniques.
2. Description of the Related Art
Standard geometries of past inserts have mainly consisted of a chipbreaker design extending away from the cutting edge which forms a central island thereby creating a top surface of an insert geometry which is always slightly above the cutting edge. This type of design makes it possible to break the metal chips into small manageable fragments. However, it has been observed that this type of design may limit the insert's ability to travel along the workpiece material at higher revolutions per minute, and at greater depths of cut. At heavier machining conditions, the chips begin to crowd within the chip groove, thereby decreasing the life of the insert and smearing the finish of the part machined.
The insert of the present invention provides for a chipbreaker which is lower than the cutting edge, thereby allowing for greater feed rates and depth of cut.

High feed heavy depth of cut insert for the aluminum wheel turning market


A moving coil type pickup cartridge comprises at least two movement-electromagnetism conversion systems functioning in push-pull mode, each system being arranged by a coil supported on a plate and inserted in an air gap between two opposing magnet blocks each constituted by side-to-side two magnets so as to provide opposite magnetic poles facing each other with the air gap intervening therebetween. A linear movement of the coil is allowed in the air gap in the directions of cutting the magnetic fluxes in the magnetic fields produced between the opposing magnet blocks. This arrangement provides a high density of magnetic fluxes and a high output voltage and improves the quality of signals reproduced. This effect is promoted further by yoke plates of a material of high magnetic permeability arranged to straddle the open magnet poles of the side-to-side magnets, thereby inhibiting leak of magnetic fluxes from these open poles. Vertical compliance of the vibration system can be made small during tracing a warped record disk by the use of an asymmetrically shaped armature. Good contact of damper to armature can be secured by fitting the armature into the damper. This cartridge may be made integral with head shell.

(a) Field of the invention:
The present invention relates generally to a pickup cartridge intended to playback record disks, and it pertains especially to a moving-coil type pickup cartridge functioning in push-pull mode wherein moving coils are arranged to be displaced almost linearly across the magnetic fluxes in magnetic fields produced between opposing magnets.
(b) Description of the prior art:
In those known moving-coil type pickup cartridges wherein the moving coils are designed to be moved substantially linearly, it is generally easy to arrange so that a moving coil is disposed in a narrow air gap defined between magnets which form magnetic fields and that the coil cuts the magnetic flux always perpendicularly to this flux in the air gap. The narrow air gap will ensure the development of higher intensity of magnetic field in the air gap. Because of this higher intensity of the magnetic field and the perpendicular cutting of the magnetic fluxes by the moving coil, such known arrangement of the moving coil has the inherent advantage to provide a higher efficiency of movement-electromagnetism conversion and a high output voltage. This known coil arrangement will therefore allow its formation on a light bobbin of any non-magnetic material rather than on a heavy bobbin of magnetizable material, without the accompaniment of a considerable decrease in the conversion efficiency. This fact will serve to decrease the effective mass of a vibration system in the pickup cartridge, improving mechanical characteristics of the pickup cartridge, such as compliance, trackability or the like.
However, the above-mentioned advantages are not completely materialized in the prior art pickup cartridges, as will be discussed below.
A typical arrangement of the movement-electromagnetism conversion system according to the prior art is conceptually shown in FIG. 1, with the moving coil 1 being situated at its neutral position. As noted in FIG. 1, only upper half 1a of the moving coil 1 is located within the magnetic field 2, and the remaining lower half 1b resides outside this magnetic field 2. In accordance with the movement of the cantilever (not shown) in the pickup cartridge, the moving coil 1 is caused to move substantially linearly in a plane perpendicular to the magnetic flux which is generally indicated at B in the magnetic field 2, and more particularly in such manner that said one half 1a cuts the magnetic flux B inducing an electromotive force corresponding to the movement of the moving coil 1. With this arrangement, however, the two halves of the moving coil 1 have different characteristics of displacement-electromagnetism conversion relative to each other so that the induced signal contains undesired asymmetrical distortion. Also, this known arrangement has another inconvenience due to the leakage magnetic flux around the magnetic field 2. Namely, the magnetic field 2 is usually formed between two opposite magnet poles separated via an air gap; and around these poles, there always exist some leakage magnetic flux. Therefore, it is not possible to define the boundary of the magnetic field 2 by a straight line. Thus, actual magnetic field distribution in the movement-electromagnetism conversion system may take the pattern as shown in FIG. 2, wherein the shaded part represents a leakage magnetic field formed outside the magnetic field 2 due to the leakage magnetic flux. The moving coil 1, when cutting the leakage flux, induces an electromotive force in its lower half 1b which is opposite in polarity to that of the electromotive force in its upper half 1a. As a result, the level of the output signal is decreased. Furthermore, the intensity of the leakage magnetic field varies with the distance from the magnet, and the aimed magnetic field 2 is affected by the varying leakage magnetic field so that the intensity of the aimed magnetic field 2 will change non-linearly, particularly in the boundary region as shown in FIG. 2. Consequently, the output signal from the moving coil 1 is susceptible to present non-linear distortions due to the aforementioned non-uniformity of the magnetic field. Needless to say, it is impossible to locate the whole moving coil 1 within a common uniform magnetic field, because, if so arranged, electromotive forces induced in the two halves of the moving coil 1 will cancel each other to deliver no output signal.
Another arrangement of the movement-electromagnetism conversion system according to the prior art, which is disclosed in the laid open Japanese Utility Model Application No. 52-73703, is schematically illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, wherein the moving coil 9 is shown to be situated at its neutral position. The moving coil 9 is arranged on a coil support plate 7 extending from a cantilever 8 into an air gap defined between a pair of permanent magnets 5a and 5b. Each of the permanent magnets 5a and 5b is magnetized so as to have an N-pole at its middle portion and S-poles at its extremity portions. Therefore, two opposite-direction magnetic fields 6a and 6b are generated along the inner surfaces of the magnets 5a and 5b, as shown. As most clearly depicted in FIG. 4, one half 9a of the moving coil 9 is associated with flux B.sub.1 in the magnetic field 6a, and the other half 9b is associated with flux B.sub.2 in the magnetic field 6b.

Pickup cartridge for reproducing signals recorded on a 45-45 stereophonic record disk


A cord or cable organizer includes a housing further including a housing inner circular track, an opening, and an attachment hole therein, a rotational component further including at least one hole on a surface of the rotational component, further including a rotational inner circular track wherein the rotational inner circular track operably connects with the housing inner circular track, thereby providing friction, and an insertion hole receiver, and a plug, wherein the plug is inserted through the attachment hole on the housing and continues to the insertion hole receiver whereby the plug operably holds the cable organizer together.

The increasing use of portable electronic appliances has made accessories more prevalent in daily life. For example, headphones, cables, earphones, earbuds, and portable power packs are commonly used. One of the most frequently used accessories is a cord or cable, which may electronically connect an electronic appliance to a user to transmit data or music. A cord or cable may also be used to recharge the portable electronic appliance in order to implement practical functionalities. However, a cord or cable of a considerable length, does not have a proper organizing system. As such, when being carried or in use, the cord or cable is often intertwined into a messy ball, which may sometimes become entangled. For example, the cord of earbuds often intertwine into a messy ball when placed in a pocket. Untying the tied up cord or cable is time consuming and an extremely frustrating burden of inconvenience. In addition, current cable organizers typically have coils, springs, and other biasing devices to produce tension. These devices add to the cost of production and make the organizer more complicated to use. They also can cause undue wear or damage to cords or cables due to the tension they place upon them.
To overcome the shortcomings of existing organizers, the present invention provides in one or more embodiments a cord or cable organizer to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems. In addition, embodiments of the present invention provide a cord or cable organizer that is easy to use, is constructed of fewer parts, is simpler, does not require an independent tension mechanism, and is more effective than what is currently available.


A traveling wave tube (TWT) has a slow wave structure in the form of a helix for amplifying the forward electromagnetic wave. The TWT is provided with an outer slow wave assembly for attenuating a backward wave to provide stability to the TWT. A set of ceramic rods are uniformly spaced circumferentially around the helix for supporting the outer slow wave assembly which is formed by an electrically conducting wire wound around the supporting rods. The wire is wound in a helical fashion with individual turns of the helix being spaced apart to form the outer slow wave structure. An electrically conducting cylinder surrounds the outer slow wave structure and is in contact therewith only at the sites of the rods. Dielectric slabs, having a slow wave structure such as a meander line disposed thereon, are inserted periodically around the outer slow wave structure in spaces between the winding and the cylinder. The spacing between the turns of the winding is selected for coupling a backward wave of a specific frequency to the dielectric slabs for attenuation of the backward wave.

Traveling wave tubes (TWT's) are utilized as power amplifiers at microwave frequencies for both radar and communications systems. A TWT is frequently built with a slow wave structure in the form of a helix, and with cathode and anode assemblies disposed at the ends of the helix for generating an electron beam which travels along the axis of the helix. Focussing of the beam is accomplished with an array of periodic permanent magnets which are of a toroidal shape for enclosing the helix and are positioned sequentially along the helical axis. The electron beam interacts with electromagnetic waves propagating along the helix to amplify the wave. One such wave, known as the fundamental wave, travels in the same direction as the electron beam, the forward direction, and is utilized for amplification of electric signals.
The helix also supports waves in the reverse direction, the backward waves. At a specific frequency which is greater than the normal amplification frequency band of the TWT, the backward wave can interact with the electron beam and extract energy therefrom, the extracted energy being transferred back toward the cathode assembly. Such transferrence of energy can introduce instabilities and oscillations to the TWT when the power of the backward wave is excessive. Various structures have been employed, such as resistive coatings and waveguide-type structures tuned to the backward wave frequency, for attenuating the backward wave so that the foregoing instabilities and oscillations do not occur.
A problem arises in that the structures which may be utilized in attenuating the backward wave are excessively large relative to the size of the helix to admit the mounting of the structures within the confines of the array of the permanent magnets utilized for the beam focussing.


To provide a structure refining apparatus, a method and a program capable of univocally and appropriately setting a restraint with a statistically feasible intensity and specifying a crystal structure model making use of a measurement result under a constraint condition to reasonable known data. A structure refining apparatus 100 adjusting the crystal structure model on the basis of the measurement result and the known data includes a restraint applying unit 120 configured to apply the restraint such that a divergence between a parameter specifying a crystal structure and a known representative value becomes equivalent to a standard uncertainty of the known representative value and a structure specifying unit 140 configured to specify the crystal structure model on the basis of the measurement result under the applied restraint.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for refining a structure by using a restraint.
Description of the Related Art
In analysis of a crystal structure, there are cases where a method of specifying a crystal structure model which best fits measurement data by using the method of least squares is adopted. If measurement data of low quality is used in such a method, a result which is not chemically reasonable may be obtained in some cases. However, it is possible to cope with this situation by setting weak constraint conditions (restraints) on an interatomic bond distance and an interatomic bond angle (see Jurg Waser, "Least-Squares Refinement with Subsidiary Conditions", Acta Cryst, 1963, Vol. 16, P1091).
However, if the set restraint is too strong, analysis that the measurement data has been disregarded may be obtained. Setting of the restraint has been performed on the basis of individual judgment so far (see Attilio Immirzi, "Constraints and restraints in crystal structure Analysis", Journal of Applied Crystallography, 2009, Vol. 42, P362-364). For example, setting of the restraint may be performed intensely in order to perform analysis that importance has been attached to a chemically reasonable crystal structure in some cases. In addition, the restraint may be set such that the bond distance and bond angle which are remarkably different from those of a known crystal structure which is partially similar to the crystal structure concerned have reasonable values in other cases.
If the intensity of the restraint in structure refinement is adjusted on the basis of individual decision as mentioned above, it may sometimes occur that the chemically reasonable crystal structure is not obtained and/or analysis that the measurement data has been disregarded is performed. Absence of an index for appropriate restraint intensity may be one of the causes of occurrence of such situations.

Structure refining apparatus, method and program


A family of gun propellants formulated with polyglycidyl azide polymer (GAP) in conjunction with nitrocellulose (NC) to provide reduced flame temperatures while providing high mass impetus.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to propellants and is particularly directed to gun propellant formulations employing a copolymer of polyglycidyl azide (GAP) and nitrocellulose (NC) to provide low isochoric flame temperatures and high mass impetus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Considerable advances have been realized in the area of improved gun propellants during the last ten years. The conventional gun propellants described in U.S. Army Propellant Manual No. AMCP-706-150, published February 1965, are based upon nitrocellulose, nitroglycerin (NG), and nitroguanidine (NQ).
Improvements in performance over those listed in Manual No. AMCP-706-150 have been made by incorporating triaminoguanidine nitrate (TAGN) and cyclotetramethylene tetranitramine (HMX) into the basic nitrocellulose matrix as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,732,130; 3,732,131 and 3,909,323.
However, while the advanced propellants based upon TAGN/HMX/NC yield higher performance, these propellants generally contain more of the solid oxidizers (TAGN and HMX) on a weight basis than the binder (NC). This, in turn, can lead to erratic ballistics at extreme weather conditions where the propellant is subjected to very low temperatures (less than -25.degree. F.). Due to the low level of polymer (binder) present, the propellant can become brittle and crack, thereby exposing larger areas for instantaneous burning. This results in overpressures in the gun breech.
In a similar manner, propellants which are to be inhibited according to U.S. Pat. No. 3,948,697 must rely on the residual hydroxyl groups in nitrocellulose for superior surface bonding. Incorporation of plasticizers which contain additional hydroxyl groups, such as polyethelene glycol, drastically lower the overall propellant performance since the heat of formation of the plasticizer is degraded by hydroxyl moieties.

Gun propellants containing polyglycidyl azide polymer


With respect to each of trains, a ground device 6 detects a train location in the control section on the basis of a propagation time of a radio wave between a vehicle radio set 4 and a wayside radio set 5, in the case in which the ground device 6 determines that the number of trains has reached the controllable number of trains or there is the possibility that the number of trains reaches the controllable number of trains in its own control section, a ground device 6 disposed in an adjacent control section to the control section in which the number of trains is reaching the controllable number of trains, when a train 2 scheduled to travel toward the control section stops in a station 8, prevents departure of the train 2 scheduled to pass through the border of the control section by making the train 2 wait at the station 8.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a train control system, and more specifically, relates to a train control system of detecting a train location by using radio distance measurement and controlling the train.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, in a train control system using a so-called radio distance measurement system, a vehicle radio set is mounted on a train, a wireless network is formed between the vehicle radio set and a plurality of wayside radio sets which is disposed along a wayside of a track on which the train travels, and then, wireless radio propagation delay (time) between an on-board antennal of the vehicle radio set and a wayside antenna of the wayside radio set is measured, to detect a train location, so that train control is performed on the basis of the detected train location.
As a train control system using such a radio distance measurement system, conventionally, for example, a technique including: wireless train location detecting unit that detects a train location on a predetermined track on the basis of a propagation time of a radio wave between a vehicle radio set mounted on a train traveling on the predetermined track and a ground radio set disposed at a predetermined location on the ground; a travel distance calculating unit that calculates a travel distance of the train on the predetermined tack on the basis of an output signal of a speed generator (tachometer generator) connected to an axle of the train; a temporary reference location setting unit that sets the train location detected by the wireless train location detecting unit as a predetermined temporary reference location; and train location detection calculating unit that detects a train location on the predetermined track on the basis of the temporary reference location set by the temporary reference location setting unit and on the basis of the travel distance calculated by the travel distance calculating unit, has been disclosed (refer to, for example, Japanese Laid-open (Kokai) Patent Application Publication No. 2007-331629).
However, in the conventional technique, generally, a railroad track is divided into a plurality of control sections, wayside radio sets which control in each control section are set, and a ground device which controls the wayside radio sets in each control section allocates communication resources such as communication timings and frequencies to all of trains controlled in the control section. There is a problem such that the number of trains to which the communication resources can be allocated in one control section is limited. Consequently, in the case in which the number of trains entering a control section exceeds the controllable number of trains, the communication resources cannot be allocated to the train, and the train cannot be controlled. Therefore, there is a problem that the train is controlled to be stopped by a security function.
In the case in which the control section is set between stations, in order to prevent the number of trains from exceeding the controllable number of trains, a train has to be stopped before a control section, and it causes deterioration in passenger service. Furthermore, for example, there is another problem such that when a train is stopped in an air section of an overhead contact line, the overhead contact line is damaged.


Conventional beam blanking system generate electron pulses having a minimum width of about 100 through 200 ps. Although a reduction of the pulse width to a few tens of picoseconds is fundamentally possible, the reduction of the probe current accompanying this would result to a considerable lengthening of the measuring times. In the invention a photo-cathode (PK) is charged by a pulsed laser beam (LA) which is attached to the column of an electron beam measuring instrument and the photo-electron source is stigmatically imaged onto the beam axis (OA1) using a focusing deflection unit (SFM). A sector field magnet is used as a focusing deflection unit (SFM).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to an electron beam measuring instrument which includes a first electron beam source which is directed on a first beam axis and a second electron beam source arranged on a second beam axis and includes a focusing deflection unit for stigmatic imaging of the second electron beam source in an intermediate image which is on the first beam axis.
2. Description of the Related Art
The publication Microelectronic Engineering, Vol. 7 (1987) pages 163 through 172 discloses an electron beam measuring instrument which is optimized for low accelerating voltages in the range of 0.5-2.5 kV with which the voltage distribution in components of microelectronics can be read with a spatial resolution of about 0.1 .mu.m and the voltage waveform at interconnects up to 0.5 .mu.m wide can be stroboscopically registered with a temporal resolution of about 100 through 200 ps using the conventional beam blanking system.
The publication Applied Physics Letters 51 (2) 1987, pages 145 through 147 discloses a scanning electron microscope which has a thermal LaB.sub.6 or a field emitter gun which are replaced by a photo-cathode charged with a pulsed laser beam with a pulse repetition rate of 100 MHz and a pulse width of 1 through 2 ps. Since the width of the photo-electron pulses which are generated roughly corresponds to the width of the laser pulses which trigger the photo emission, this system is particularly suited for stroboscopic measurements in fast gallium-arsenide circuits having a temporal resolution which lies in the picosecond range. The spatial resolution roughly corresponds to that of the scanning electron microscope which has a conventional beam generator.
The publication Microelectronic Engineering, Vol. 4, No. 2 1986 pages 77 through 106 discloses methods for imaging the voltage distribution in VLSI circuits which require a continuous electron beam or, respectively, a pulsed electron beam which has a comparatively low particularly a variable pulse repetition rate (fp.apprxeq.1-10 MHz). These methods which are indispensable for fast testing of the functioning of the microelectronic components can only be poorly implemented with the known electron beam measuring instrument due to the pulse repetition rate which is rigidly prescribed by the laser system.


An improved slide mount advance mechanism advances a slide mount to an insertion station of a slide mounting apparatus, where the slide mount receives a film transparency to form a photographic slide. The mechanism includes a slide ejector designed to contact a bottom slide mount in a slide magazine and advance the slide mount from the slide magazine to the insertion station. The slide ejector contacts the slide mount through a rear slide ejector opening of the slide magazine to force the slide mount through a front slide mount opening of the slide magazine to a slide track. The apparatus also includes a mechanism for aligning the bottom slide mount at or above an upper edge of the slide ejector while maintaining the bottom slide mount in a position to be engaged by the slide ejector. The aligning mechanism restricts the ejection of multiple slide mounts from the slide magazine to assure proper operation.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for advancing a slide mount to an insertion station of a slide mounting apparatus for receiving a film transparency.
Photographic film transparencies are generally severed from a photographic film web and inserted into a slide mount to prepare a photographic slide for use with a slide projector or other visualizing means. A variety of different types of slide mounts and slide mounting apparatus have been developed. One particular type of slide mount is available from the assignee of the present invention, Pakon, Inc.
Slide mounts are generally defined by upper and lower frame sections connected along an outer border to define a pocket therebetween. An insertion opening is included to open the pocket defined between the upper and lower frame sections of the slide mount to insert the film transparency. The film transparency is advanced through the pocket of the slide mount to position the developed image of the film transparency within an aperture of the slide mount to prepare the photographic slide.
Automatic and semi-automatic slide mounters are designed to continuously mount a plurality of film transparencies into slide mounts of the type described. Several U.S. Patents (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,391,082 (Diesch), 4,331,260 (Euteneuer et al.), 4,516,368 (Willenbring)) disclose slide mounters of the general type contemplated. The slide mounts are stored for operation in a slide magazine. As needed, a slide mount is ejected from the slide magazine and advanced to an insertion station where the film transparency is inserted into the pocket of the slide mount. More specifically, the slide mount is ejected from the slide magazine through a slide mount opening to a slide track which is aligned with the insertion station of the apparatus. Slide mounts are continually fed from the slide magazine through the slide mount opening to the slide track and advanced towards the insertion station to produce a plurality of photographic slides.
Typically, a slide ejector contacts a slide mount to initiate the movement thereof through the slide mount opening of the slide magazine to the slide track. The slide magazine is configured to release a single slide mount at a time to the slide track. It is important that only a single slide mount be ejected at a time for the apparatus to continue operation. However, on occasion the slide ejector contacts more than one slide mount and attempts to force more than one slide mount through the slide mount opening designed for a single slide mount. The force of the slide ejector is sufficient, at times, to cause several slide mounts to become wedged within the slide mount opening. This causes the apparatus to jam, and the slide mount opening must be cleared of the slide mounts before operation of the apparatus can continue.
Thus, there has been a continuing need to develop a slide mounter which reliably advances only a single slide mount to the insertion station for each operation cycle. More particularly, there has been a continuing need to develop an apparatus for advancing a slide mount wherein only a single slide mount is forced through the slide mount opening to the slide track.

Slide mounter with improved slide mount advance


An access network congestion control method, a base station device, and a policy and charging rules function network element are provided. The method includes the following steps: sending a congestion report to a policy and charging rules function network element (PCRF); receiving a radio frequency resource adjustment policy sent by the PCRF; and performing the radio frequency resource adjustment policy for the user equipment in the congested state and the user equipment in the over-served state. A corresponding base station device and PCRF are further disclosed. According to embodiments of the present application, when congestion occurs in a radio access network, radio frequency resources that are of user equipment in a congested state and that are of user equipment in an over-served state may be reallocated to ensure smooth communication.

Wireless communication is widely used all over the world and greatly facilitates communication between people. The wireless communication can provide various services, including voice conversation, web page download, and the like. A typical wireless communications system or network such as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system provides a radio link for multiple user equipment (UE) in a cellular cell by using a base station device to implement wireless communication. A shared radio spectrum is generally used in this wireless connection. As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communications system. A base station device provides a wireless data communication service for multiple UEs (two UEs given in the figure) by using a same radio frequency band. Data downloaded by a UE from a server reaches the base station device through the Internet, a packet data network gateway (P-GW), and a serving gateway (S-GW), and is transmitted by the base station device to the UEs. Different from a conventional second-generation wireless communications system such as a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), the LTE system supports only a packet switching (PS) connection, and does not support a circuit switching (CS) connection any more. The CS connection requires resource reservation to ensure data transmission. Even if a transmit end does not have data that needs to be transmitted, a reserved resource cannot be released. The PS connection does not require resource reservation, and therefore can improve utilization efficiency of a radio spectrum. To provide different quality of service (QoS), the LTE system maps different services to different tunnels, so as to implement different processing. Nine different QoS characteristics are defined in the LTE. A guaranteed bit rate (GBR) service corresponding to a QoS class identifier (QCI) that is equal to 1-4 can provide a minimum rate guarantee. For example, a conventional voice service can provide a guaranteed voice transmission rate. In this way, speech quality of two parties of a call can be ensured and meaning expression of the call cannot be misunderstood. A non-GBR service (for example, QCI is equal to 6-9) does not provide the minimum rate guarantee. Therefore, in actual system running, a rate of the non-GBR service may be excessively low, causing poor user experience. For example, when a non-GBR type whose QCI=7 is used in a communication connection of a voice user, compared with a conventional voice of a GBR service whose QCI=1, in this case, a communication rate of both parties of a call may be much lower than an average rate that needs to be guaranteed in a normal call. Consequently, a recipient of the call may obviously feel a phenomenon such as a call delay and an unclear voice, and conversation experience is also relatively poor. A communication rate is lower than a required minimum rate and a service stream cannot be smoothly transmitted, and as a result congestion may occur in an access network.
In conclusion, a problem that needs to be resolved currently is how to control congestion in an access network to ensure smooth communication.

Access network congestion control method, base station device, and policy and charging rules function network element


A vehicle head restraint assembly includes a base portion coupleable to a vehicle seat back, the base portion including a cross member portion. Also included is a head restraint operatively coupled to the cross member portion and rotatable about the cross member portion. Further included is a helical drive assembly for translating the head restraint during rotation of the head restraint.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to head restraints and, more particularly, to a vehicle head restraint that is simultaneously rotatable and translatable.
Many vehicles, such as automobiles, include a headrest or head restraint atop an occupant's seat and in a position adjacent the occupant's head. Head restraints are typically cushioned for comfort, are height adjustable, and most are commonly finished in the same material as the rest of the seat.

Simultaneously rotatable and translatable vehicle head restraint

WINDSOR MACHINE AND STAMPING (2009) LTD.


The charging of an electric vehicle connected to a charging station is initiated. When a state of charge of the vehicle reaches a minimum state of charge, the charging is halted. The minimum state of charge is less than the full charge capacity of the vehicle. A time for reinitiating the charging is determined. The charging of the vehicle is reinitiated at the determined time.

An electric vehicle uses one or more electric motors for propulsion of the vehicle. The electric motors are powered by rechargeable batteries on-board the vehicle. A driver of an electric vehicle typically recharges the batteries of his vehicle at home by connecting the vehicle to a charging station that transfers electric energy to the vehicle. A utility company supplies the electric energy to the charging station and charges the driver for the electric energy.
Utility companies charge different rates for electric energy consumed based on the time, day, month, and/or calendar season when it is consumed. Typically, a utility company charges its lowest rates in the early morning and late at night. Those time periods are often referred to as off-peak hours because that is when overall energy consumption is low. An electric vehicle may be set to only charge during off-peak hours in order to save the owner money. However, such a setting may be a major inconvenience and potentially dangerous because it can cause a driver to be stranded. Assume, for example, that a driver of an electric vehicle arrives home at 6 PM with little or no charge left in the batteries of the vehicle, that the vehicle is set to charge during off-peak hours (e.g., after 10 PM), and it is the only vehicle that the driver's family owns. If there is an emergency at 8 PM and the driver has to rush, for example, to a hospital, the driver will be stranded because the vehicle was not charging between 6 and 8 PM.
Thus, there is a need for a way to be able to charge an electric vehicle in a way that takes advantage of economic electric energy rates offered by utility companies but at the same time prevents a driver from becoming stranded.


A multi-ownership tree-map visualization system can include a tree-map configured to visualize a set of interrelated nodes in which at least one individual node in the set is related to at least two parent nodes in the set. The system further can include an event handler programmed to process a proximity event associated with a specific portion of the tree-map by highlighting multiple portions of the tree-map in which the portions represent a single node in the set. In this regard, the proximity event can include a mouse-over event, a mouse-click event, or a keyboard selection event, to name a few. The system yet further can include logic for displaying a call-out box for each portion of the tree-map associated with the single node in the set.

1. Statement of the Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of data visualization and more particularly, to tree-map visualization.
2. Description of the Related Art
As computer technology advances, computing systems have undertaken the management and processing of larger data systems. With data systems ranging from massive standalone databases to vast distributed networks, oftentimes the limiting factor in analyzing the state of a given system rests not with computing resources, but with the human operator. Specifically, though the computing system may aggregate vast quantities of data in near real-time, in the end, a human being must visualize the compilation of data to draw effective conclusions from the visualization. Yet, the ability of the end user to digest compiled information varies inversely with the amount of data presented to the end user. Where the amount of compiled data becomes excessive, it can be nearly impossible for a human being to adequately analyze the data.
In an effort to address the foregoing difficulties, tree-map visualization methods have been developed. Initially proposed by Brian Johnson and Ben Shneiderman in the seminal paper, Johnson et al., Tree-Maps: A Space-Filling Approach to the Visualization of Hierarchical Information Structures, Dept. of Computer Science & Human-Interaction Laboratory (University of Maryland June 1991), tree-map visualization techniques map "hierarchical information to a rectangular 2-D display in a space-filling manner" in which the entirety of a designated display space is utilized. Additionally, "[i]nteractive control allows users to specify the presentation of both structural (depth bounds, etc.) and content (display properties such as color mappings) information."
Notably, tree-map visualization techniques can be compared in a contrasting manner to traditional static methods of displaying hierarchically structured information. According to conventional static methods, a substantial portion of hierarchical information can be hidden from user view to accommodate the view of the hierarchy itself. Alternatively, the entire hierarchy can be visually represented, albeit vast amounts of display space can be obscured, hence wasted simply to accommodate the structure without regard to the hierarchical data in the hierarchy itself.
In the tree-map visualization technique, however, sections of the hierarchy containing more important information can be allocated more display space while portions of the hierarchy which are deemed less important to the specific task at hand can be allocated less space. More particularly, in operation tree-maps partition the display space into a collection of rectangular bounding boxes representing the tree structure. The drawing of nodes within the bounding boxes can be entirely dependent on the content of the nodes, and can be interactively controlled. Since the display size is user controlled, the drawing size of each node varies inversely with the size of the tree, for instance the number of nodes. Thus, trees having many nodes can be displayed and manipulated in a fixed display space, yet still be visible even when dealing with 1 million objects.
To date, the tree-map visualization technique has been limited to displaying strictly hierarchical data. This is a significant limitation that impedes the usefulness of the tree-map in many circumstances. For example, where a tree-map is used to visualize a system of servers for many different business processes in a single company, a particular server can support several of the business process. Thus, the server cannot be viewed as belonging to a single parent business process. In a conventional tree map, the server simply would be visually replicated in the bounding box for each business process. In such a case, however, it will not be apparent to the user that the server in one bounding box is the same server that is represented in one or more other bounding boxes in the tree-map.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Displaying multi-ownership in a tree-map visualization

International Business Machines Corporation


Provided are a frame error concealment method and apparatus and an error concealment scheme construction method and apparatus. The frame error concealment method includes generating a new signal by synthesizing a plurality of previous signals that are similar to a signal of an error frame and reconstructing the signal of the error frame using the generated signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of and apparatus for concealing an error of a frame in the time domain, and more particularly, to a frame error concealment method and apparatus, in which an error of a frame, i.e., a frame error, is concealed by reconstructing a signal of the frame using a signal of a previous frame preceding the error frame and/or a signal of a next frame following the error frame.
2. Description of the Related Art
When some packets are lost or distorted during transmission of an encoded audio signal over a wired/wireless network, an error may be generated in a frame of a decoded audio signal due to a transmission error. Error concealment may be classified into a frequency-domain error concealment scheme and a time-domain error concealment scheme. The frequency-domain error concealment scheme may be divided into a repetition method that reconstructs a signal of an error frame by reusing spectrum coefficients of a previous frame in the error frame and an interpolation method that reconstructs spectrum coefficients of an error frame by interpolating spectrum coefficients of a previous frame and a next frame. However, due to characteristics of Modulated Discrete Cosine Transformation (MDCT) that transforms a time-domain signal into a frequency-domain signal, when the window types of a previous frame and the current frame are different from each other or a burst error occurs, an error of a frame, i.e., a frame error, cannot be concealed using the repetition method or the interpolation method in the frequency domain. In this case, therefore, time-domain error concealment is required.
The time-domain error concealment scheme can also be divided into a repetition method that repetitively reproduces a time-domain sample of a previous frame in an error frame, an interpolation method that reconstructs a time-domain sample of an error frame by interpolating time-domain samples of a previous frame and a next frame, and other methods that reconstruct a signal of an error frame by analyzing a signal of a previous frame. However, in the case of the repetition method in the time domain, when an error occurs over a long interval, the same spectrum signal of a previous frame is repeated over the long interval, causing modulation noise. Moreover, since the interpolation method in the time domain conceals an error with reference to a next frame, it is not easy to use the interpolation method when an error occurs over a long interval. The other methods for time-domain error concealment increase complexity due to the analysis of a signal of a previous frame.

Frame error concealment method and apparatus and error concealment scheme construction method and apparatus


A method for producing a β-sialon fluorescent material can be provided. The method includes preparing a composition containing silicon nitride that contains aluminium, an oxygen atom, and europium, heat-treating the composition in a rare gas atmosphere or in a vacuum, and contacting the heat-treated composition with a gas containing elemental fluorine.

Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a method for producing a β-sialon fluorescent material.
Description of the Related Art
Light emitting devices including, in combination, a light source, and a wavelength conversion member, which is capable of emitting light with hues different from the hue of the light source when excited by the light from the light source, and thus being capable of emitting light of various hues owing to the principle of the mixture of colors of light, has been developed. In particular, light emitting devices composed of a light emitting diode ("LED") combined with a fluorescent material are increasingly and widely utilized, for example, as backlights for liquid crystal displays or as lighting systems. When a light emitting device incorporates more than one fluorescent material, a fluorescent material that emits light at short wavelengths, such as blue-green, green, and yellow-green, and a fluorescent material that emits light at long wavelengths, such as orange and red, may be combined, for example, to allow liquid crystal displays to have an improved color reproduction range and lighting systems to have an improved color rendering.
As examples of such fluorescent materials, aluminate fluorescent materials, silicate fluorescent materials, sulfide fluorescent materials, phosphate fluorescent materials, and borate fluorescent materials are known. As a replacement of these fluorescent materials, fluorescent materials that have a nitrogen-containing inorganic crystal as a host crystal in the crystalline structure, such as sialon fluorescent materials, oxynitride fluorescent materials, and nitride fluorescent materials, have been proposed. Such fluorescent materials exhibit small luminance decrease associated with temperature increase and have superior durability. A representative example of such fluorescent materials is sialon, which is a solid solution of silicon nitride. α-type sialon fluorescent materials and β-type sialon fluorescent materials, which have different crystalline structure from each other, are attracting attention. In particular, β-type sialon fluorescent materials (hereinafter also referred to as "β-sialon fluorescent materials") are highly efficient, green fluorescent materials that are excited in a wide wavelength range of from near-ultraviolet light to blue light, and have a peak light emission wavelength in the range of from 520 nm to 550 nm.
β-sialon fluorescent materials, for instance, are represented by the formula: Si6-zAlzOzN8-z:Eu (0<z≤4.2). A β-sialon fluorescent material may be obtained as a sintered product by mixing silicon nitride (Si3N4), aluminium nitride (AlN), aluminium oxide (Al2O3), and europium oxide (Eu2O3), which serves as an activator, in a predetermined molar ratio, and sintering the mixture at around 2000° C. It has been disclosed that heat-treating the sintered product in an inert gas, and acid-treating the resultant product will produce a β-sialon fluorescent material with high luminance (see, for example, JP 2005-255895 A and JP 2011-174015 A). Furthermore, to enhance the luminance of a β-sialon fluorescent material, a method of performing heat treatment of a raw material powder separately twice at a high temperature, and also a method of using a β-sialon fluorescent material obtained by sintering as a part of raw materials, are known (see, for example, JP 2007-326981 A and JP 2013-173868 A).

Method for producing β-sialon fluorescent material


A squaring amplifier circuit (300) generates a substantially rectangular output signal from an a.c. input signal. An amplifier stage (303) is biased at a low quiescent current by a current source network (305) and a coupling network (306). Since the amplifier stage (303) current is a non-linear function of its input voltage, application of a low-level a.c. input signal (313), through an input signal coupling network (302), results in a substantially rectangular output signal having frequency and duty cycle that are substantially identical to the frequency and duty cycle of the input signal.

Modern electronic equipment of all types, especially computing and communication equipment, depends more and more on microprocessors and digital logic circuitry to attain performance levels desired by consumers. Microprocessors and logic circuits generally require clock signals or timing signals for proper operation.
In order to provide the necessary timing and control information to a microprocessor or logic circuit, a clock signal must generally be a square wave signal with amplitude excursions that come as close as possible to the supply voltage at the point of maximum excursion, and ground potential at the point of minimum excursion. Of course, high amplitude square wave signals are difficult to distribute within communication equipment in particular, because square waves have a high harmonic content that can cause interference with adjacent circuitry.
In practice, it is common to distribute low amplitude sinusoidal a.c. (alternating current) clock signals to circuitry that may be sensitive to interference from square wave harmonics. Sensitive circuits of this type include frequency synthesizers used in communication equipment. One solution to this problem is to provide separate distribution systems for system timing signals.
This dual distribution concept gives rise to several potential problem areas. First, a method must be found for deriving high amplitude square wave clock signals from low-level a.c. input signals, so that the square wave clock and the a.c. signal will be the same frequency; having the frequencies be identical is important in many applications. It is also frequently important that the duty cycle of the square wave clock and the a.c. input signal be the same. Of course, noise immunity is virtually always an important design constraint, as well.
Size and power consumption are also important design considerations in any clock signal distribution scheme. With electronic equipment becoming smaller and smaller, and battery operation becoming a more popular feature, there is often little space or power to spare.
Prior designs have attempted to solve some of the problems set forth above. FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a squaring amplifier of the prior art, as generally depicted by the numeral 100. In this circuit, an a.c. input signal (101) is a.c. coupled through a capacitor (102) to the input of an inverter. The inverter consists of two complementary FET's (field effect transistors) (103 and 104) and is powered by a d.c. (direct current) supply voltage (105). A resistor (109) connects the input of the inverter to the output of the inverter (106). This resistor provides a quiescent operating point for the two transistors (103 and 104) The post-coupled input signal then has a d.c. potential that is at the cross-over threshold of the inverter. The drain current of each FET (103 and 104) is proportional to the square of its gate-to-source voltage. However, in the way that these element are connected in FIG. 1, the output current at the junction of the two FET's (106) is a linear function of the input voltage at their gates. As the input voltage increases, the p-channel FET's (103) drain current decreases and the n-channel FET's (104) drain current increases. The difference in these drain currents is the output (106). This current discharges the input capacitance of a load inverter (107). When the voltage on the input capacitance of the load inverter (107) falls below the inverter's threshold, the inverter's output goes to its high potential. When the voltage at the input of a subsequent inverter (108) goes above the inverter's threshold, the inverter's output goes to its low potential. These first inverters (107 and 108) and any subsequent inverters provide additional gain to produce a substantially rectangular output. When the input voltage decreases, the current flow at the junction node (106) is in the opposite direction, and outputs that are the converse of those discussed above occur. As the a.c. input signal transitions through the quiescent point, transitions are produced at the output of the second inverter (108) that is a substantially rectangular waveform. It is desirable that device geometries (103 and 104) be as large as possible to minimize noise effects. However, large device geometries increase current consumption when small a.c. input signals are applied.
Another prior art squaring amplifier is shown in FIG. 2 (and generally depicted by the numeral 200). In this circuit, an a.c. input signal (201) is a.c. coupled through a capacitor (202) to the input of an inverter. The inverter consists of two complementary FET's (203 and 204) and is powered by a d.c. supply voltage (205). A current source (206) is placed in series with the inverter (203 and 204) to limit the quiescent current consumption. A resistor (207) connects the input of the inverter to the output of the inverter. This resistor provides a quiescent operating point for the two transistors (203 and 204). The post-coupled input signal then has a d.c. potential that is at the cross-over threshold of the inverter (203 and 204). The drain current of each FET (203 and 204) is proportional to the square of its gate-to-source voltage. However, in the way that these elements are connected in FIG. 2, the output current at the input to inverter 208 is a linear function of the input voltage at the gates of 203 and 204 within the a.c input voltage range. As the input voltage increases, the p-channel FET's (203) drain current decreases and the n-channel FET's (204) current increases. The difference in these drain currents is the input to the inverter (208). This current discharges the input capacitance of the load inverter (208). When the voltage on the input capacitance of the load inverter (208) falls below the inverter's threshold, the inverter's output goes to its high potential. When the input voltage decreases, the current flow charges the input capacitance of the load inverter (208). When the voltage on the input capacitance of the load inverter (208) goes above the inverter's threshold, the inverter's output goes to a low potential equal to the source voltage of FET 204 which is determined by the current source (206). As the a.c. input signal transitions through the quiescent point, transitions are produced at the output of inverter (208) that is a substantially rectangular waveform. However, the substantially rectangular waveform does not reach ground potential. Level shifter circuitry (209) accepts the outputs of the FET combination (203 and 204) and the inverter (208) and increases the output waveform's voltage range to a maximum of the d.c supply voltage (205) and a minimum value of ground potential. The output of the level shifter, a substantially rectangular waveform, is further buffered by another inverter (210) to provide faster transition times in the waveform at the output (211). It is desirable that device geometries (203 and 204) be as large as possible to minimize noise effects. The addition of the current source (206) limits the current consumption of the circuit when a small a.c. input signal is applied, but requires the addition of the level shifting circuit (209) to produce the desired substantially rectangular output waveform.
It can thus be appreciated that squaring amplifier circuits of the prior art fall short of meeting design criteria dictated by electronic equipment in which small-size, low-power circuitry is desirable. Accordingly, a need arises for a squaring amplifier circuit producing a substantially rectangular output in response to a low-level a.c input signal, while ensuring that the output frequency and duty cycle duplicate that of the input signal. In addition, the squaring amplifier should occupy minimal space and use little power.

Apparatus and method for generating a substantially rectangular output signal


A method and apparatus for a rotatable anode of an x-ray tube. The anode having an axis of rotation and includes a solid thin plate target having a substantially planar base surface extending from the axis of rotation to a periphery outlining the base surface, wherein the plate target includes target material for generating x-rays selected from a group of high-Z materials. The plate target has a thickness of about 1 mm or less. The method includes fabricating the thin plate target using silicon wafer processing technology using suitable materials for such technology in forming the plate target selected from the group of high-Z materials.

The x-ray tube has become essential in medical diagnostic imaging, medical therapy, and various medical testing and material analysis industries. Typical x-ray tubes are built with a rotating anode structure that is rotated by an induction motor comprising a cylindrical rotor built into a cantilevered axle that supports the disc shaped anode target, and an iron stator structure with copper windings that surrounds the elongated neck of the x-ray tube that contains the rotor. The rotor of the rotating anode assembly being driven by the stator which surrounds the rotor of the anode assembly is at anodic potential while the stator is referenced electrically to ground. The x-ray tube cathode provides a focused electron beam which is accelerated across the anode-to-cathode vacuum gap and produces x-rays upon impact with the anode target. The target typically comprises a disk made of a refractory metal such as tungsten, molybdenum or alloys thereof and the x-rays are generated by making the electron beam collide with this target, while the target is being rotated at high speed. High speed rotating anodes can reach 9,000 to 11,000 RPM.
Only a small surface area of the target is bombarded with electrons. This small surface area is referred to as the focal spot, and forms a source of x-rays. Thermal management is critical in a successful target anode, since over 99 percent of the energy delivered to the target anode is dissipated as heat, while significantly less than 1 percent of the delivered energy is converted to x-rays. Given the relatively large amounts of energy which are typically conducted into the target anode, it is understandable that the target anode must be able to efficiently dissipate heat. The high levels of instantaneous power delivered to the target, combined with the small size of the focal spot, has led designers of x-ray tubes to cause the target anode to rotate, thereby distributing the thermal flux throughout a larger region of the target anode. There are various techniques for distributing thermal flux, for example, faster rotation speeds or greater target anode diameters, that allow for decreasing the thermal energy at any given location along the focal track.
However, there is a practical limitation regarding a maximum speed at which the target anode can be rotated, and in the size of practical target anode diameters. The materials of the target anode will eventually shatter at certain speeds and larger diameters.
Operating conditions for x-ray tubes have changed considerably in the last two decades. U.S. Pat. No. 4,119,261, issued Oct. 10, 1978, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,241, issued Dec. 12, 1978, were both devoted to joining rotating anodes made from molybdenum and molybdenum-tungsten alloys to stems made from columbium and its alloys. Continuing increases in applied energy during tube operation have led to a change in target composition to titanium zirconium molybdenum (TZM) TZM is a trademark of Metalwork Plansee or other molybdenum alloys, to increased target diameter and weight, as well as to the use of graphite as a heat sink in the back of the target. Future computerized tomography (CT) scanners will be capable of decreasing scan time from a one second rotation to a 0.5 second rotation or lower. However, such a decrease in scan time will quite possibly require a modification of the current CT anode design. The current CT anode design comprises two disks, one of a high heat storage material such as graphite, and the second of a molybdenum alloy such as TZM. These two concentric disks are bonded together by means of a brazing process.
A thin layer of refractory metal such as tungsten or tungsten alloy is deposited to form a focal track. Such a composite substrate structure may weigh in excess of 4 kg.
With faster scanner rotation rates, heavy targets will increase not only mechanical stress on the bearing materials but also a focal spot sag motion causing image artifacts.
Furthermore, there is a demonstrated need for multi-energy or multiple target material sources of x-radiation. In mammography, for example, the image contrast is enhanced by using Mo and Rh target tracks with two separate electron beam sources. However, using two tracks with two electron beam sources increases mechanical complexity of high voltage, high power x-ray tubes due to the size of the resulting target and the consequent design choices that must be made: the size and mass of the rotor, stator, and certain features of the vacuum enclosure which act as the support frame. In addition, there are certain limitations to this design, for example, only two materials may be employed and two electron beam sources may be required, as in mammography. The large mass anode assembly makes changing target materials unfeasible or inconsistent with present design goals.
Accordingly, it would be desirable over the state of the art to provide a target anode structure and material which is capable of high speeds of rotation, and which is less sensitive to thermal stresses. It would also be desirable to provide a new method of creating a layer of x-ray emissive material on a target anode substrate which would not be subject to delamination. It would be desirable then to replace the present CT target design with a lightweight design comparable in thermal performance, particularly suited for use in x-ray rotating anode assemblies.
The above discussed and other drawbacks and deficiencies are overcome or alleviated by a rotatable anode for x-ray tube comprising: a solid thin plate target selected from a group of high-Z materials selectively deposited onto a substrate material including silicon, silicon carbide, aluminum nitride, gallium arsinide, glass or other commercially available thin disk substrate material. The substrate material includes single crystal, polycrystalline and amorphous forms. The plate target includes a substantially planar base surface extending from the axis of rotation to a periphery outlining the base surface, wherein the plate target includes target material for generating x-rays. The plate target has a thickness of about 1 mm or less.
In an alternative embodiment, a method for manufacturing a rotatable anode for an x-ray tube is disclosed. The method comprising: fabricating a thin plate target with silicon wafer processing technology using suitable materials for such technology in forming the plate target selected from a group of high-Z materials. The plate target includes an axis of rotation and a thickness of about 1 mm or less.
The above discussed and other features and advantages of the present invention will be appreciated and understood by those skilled in the art from the following detailed description and drawings.

Thin rotating plate target for X-ray tube

GE Medical Systems Global Technology Company, LLC


Disclosed are methods of alleviating oxidative stress, regulating blood glucose levels, and controlling pancreatic lipase activity by administering a Rosemary extract. Such methods may be useful to help body weight and body fat, prevent obesity, and treat hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, cardiovascular disease and Type-2 diabetes. Preferred extracts contain 20% or 50% carnosic acid.

Type-2 diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder due to a combination of insufficient pancreatic insulin production and/or insulin resistance (IR). The most prominent clinical feature is hyperglycemia characterized by an abnormally high level of glucose in the blood. Hypertension, hyperlipidemia, hyperinsulinemia, and atherosclerosis are often associated with diabetes (Dey et al, 2002, Altern. Med. Rev. 7, 45-58). Hyperglycemia can cause oxidative stress which is ultimately responsible for the development of chronic diabetes complications (Ziegler et al, 2004, Diabetes Care 27, 2178-83; Evans et al, 2002, Endoc. Rev. 23, 599-622). Type-2 diabetes usually begins as IR, and obesity is a known high risk factor for developing IR (Ferrannini et al, 1997, J. Clin. Invest. 100, 1166-73). The main biochemical markers of IR include glucose intolerance, dyslipidaemia, and hyperinsulinaemia (Peter et al, 2003, J. Clin. Pharm. Ther. 28, 167-74). Therefore, regulation of blood glucose, control of bodyweight and body fat, and attenuation of oxidative stress should be targets in the treatment of Type-2 diabetes.
Rosemary leaf consists of Rosmarinus officinalis L. (Family Lamiaceae). It is a culinary spice often used to adjust flavor in cooking and in tea infusion. In folk medicine, Rosemary is used as a choleretic, a diuretic, an antispasmodic, a hair-growth stimulator, to treat gastrointestinal symptoms, as well as other uses (Bruneton, J., Pharmaconosy, Phytochemistry, Medicinal Plants, Lavoisier Publishing, Paris, 1995, pp 220; Duke, J., Handbook of Medicinal Herbs, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1985, pp 412-413; al-Sereiti et al, 1999, Indian J. Exp. Biol. 37, 124-30). Rosemary is well-known as a natural antioxidant and widely applied in food conservation (Etter 2004, J. Herbs, Spices, Med. Plants, 11, 121-59; Suhaj 2006, J. Food Compos. Anal. 19, 531-7). Such antioxidant properties are also important to human health since overproduction of free radicals in living organisms can damage cellular lipids, proteins, or DNA, which has been implicated in a number of human diseases including diabetes as well as in the aging process (Valko et al 2007, Int. J. Biochem. Cell Biol. 39, 44-84).
Reduction in oxidative status is characteristic of patients having either Type-1 or Type-2 diabetes. This condition in diabetics increases lipid peroxidation and glycosilation of proteins, which leads to complications such as retinopathy, nephropathy, and coronary heart disease. Therefore, supplementation with dietary antioxidants may help to counteract the oxidative stress, and prevent the development of these negative conditions (Al-Azzawie et al, 2006, Life Sci. 78, 1371-7).
Several techniques have been developed to determine the antioxidant power of foods products, vegetal extracts, or pure molecules. These methods have been developed by starting from various principles which can be divided into two large categories of techniques based on major mechanisms that intervene in the stabilization of pro-oxidant species by antioxidants. The first method is based on hydrogen transfer from the antioxidant to the oxidant. The second method is based on electron transfer from the antioxidant to the oxidant. The methods based on hydrogen atom transfer measure the capacity of an antioxidant to trap free radicals by giving them a hydrogen atom. The most widely used is the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) method, which measures the capacity of an antioxidant to inhibit oxidants induced by the peroxyl radical and reflects the inhibition induced by the antioxidant in the stages of initiation and/or propagation of oxidation (Cao et al, 1993, Free Radic. Biol. Med., 14, 303-311). The methods based on electron transfer determine the capacity of an antioxidant to transfer an electron from the antioxidant to the oxidant to reduce the oxidant. One of the most well known of these techniques is the Ferric Reducing/Antioxidant Power (FRAP) method, initially developed to measure the reduction power of plasma. It was later adapted and used for foodstuffs, plants and extracts. Its principle relies on the antioxidant's capacity to reduce Iron III to Iron II in an acidic environment (Pulido et al, 2000, J. Agric. Food Chem., 48, 3396-402).
The oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is accepted as an important initial step in the development of atherosclerosis. Indeed, oxidized LDL might be taken up by macrophages to form foam cells, which will combine with leukocytes to become a fatty streak and, later, a fibrous plaque that will protrude into the arterial lumen. If the fibrous plaque ruptures, the thrombi released may occlude vessels and be responsible for adverse coronary syndromes. Recent reports suggest that Rosemary may protect against cardiovascular disease (CVD) (Fuhrman et al, 2000, Antioxid. Redox. Signal., 2, 491-506; Hsieh et al, 2007, J. Agric. Food Chem., 55, 2884-91).
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are nuclear receptors that control many cellular and metabolic processes. These proteins are ligand-activated transcription factors and three isotypes called PPARα, PPARδ and PPARγ have been identified in lower vertebrates and mammals. PPARγ is expressed in the liver, fat, and muscle. The activation of PPARγ increases the transcription of enzymes involved in primary metabolism, leading to lower blood levels of fatty acids and glucose (Evans et al, 2004, Nat. Med., 10, 355-61; Rosen et al 2000, Genes Dev., 14, 1293-1307). PPARγ represents the major target for the glitazone type of drugs currently being used clinically for the treatment of type-2 diabetes. Carnosic acid and carnosol from rosemary and sage have been demonstrated to be activators of the human PPARγ (Rau et al 2006, Planta Med., 72, 881-887).
A major component of dietary fat is triglyceride, or neutral lipid. A triglyceride molecule cannot be directly absorbed across the intestinal mucosa; rather it must be digested into a 2-monoglyceride and two free fatty acids. The enzyme that performs this hydrolysis is pancreatic lipase, which plays an important role in lipid digestion. Orlistat, a strong pancreatic lipase inhibitor, is clinically used for controlling obesity in humans by reducing the amount of fat absorbed from the dietary intake (Scheen et al 1999, Int. J. Obes., 23, Suppl 1, 47-53; Hvizdos et al 1999, Drugs, 58, 743-760; Krempf et al, 2003, Int. J. Obes. Relat Metab. Disord., 27, 591-7).
It was found that methanol extract of sage, carnosic acid, and its derivatives had the capacity to inhibit pancreatic lipase (Ninomiya et al, 2004, Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett., 14, 1943-6). Research showed that carnosic acid and carnosol substantially inhibited pancreatic lipase activity. Carnosic acid significantly inhibited triglyceride elevation in olive oil-loaded mice at doses of 5-20 mg/kg. Furthermore, carnosic acid (20 mg/kg/day) reduced the gain of body weight and the accumulation of epididymal fat weight after 14 days in mice fed a high fat diet.
The hypoglycemic effect of R. officinalis was first reported in 1997, in which the boiling water extract of the leaf of Rosemary was infused into normoglycemic and alloxan-induced hyperglycemic mice, and plasma glucose level was then measured. It was found that the glucose levels in both groups were significantly lower than in the control group (Erenmemisoglu et al, 1997, Pharmazie, 52, 645-6). The effect of 50% ethanol extract of Rosemary on the elevation of plasma glucose levels in the streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic mice was examined. It was shown that Rosemary extract inhibited intestinal α-glucosidase activity to reduce carbohydrate digestion and absorption in mice, significantly suppressing an increase in plasma glucose levels after oral administration of maltose or sucrose. The active compound was identified as the flavonoid, luteolin (Koga et al, 2006, J. Food Sci., 71, S507-12). In a recent report, the hypoglycemic effect of the ethanolic extract from the leaves of Rosemary was observed in normoglycaemic and glucose-hyperglycaemic rabbits. In a study of alloxan-induced diabetic rabbits, the extract significantly lowered blood glucose level and increased serum insulin concentration. According to the authors, the antidiabetogenic effect of the rosemary extract was due to its potent antioxidant properties (Bakirel et al, 2008, J. Ethnopharmacol., 116, 64-73).