This invention relates to a process for the alkylation of aromatics by reacting an aromatic hydrocarbon with an olefin in the presence of an ionic liquid comprising (a) a compound of the formula R.sub.n MX.sub.3-n wherein R is a C1-C6 alkyl radical, M is aluminium or gallium, X is a halogen atom and n is 0, 1 or 2 and, (b) a hydrocarbyl substituted imidazolium halide or a hydrocarbyl substituted pyridinium halide wherein at least one of the said hydrocarbyl substituents in the imidazolium halide is an alkyl group having 1-18 carbon atoms. The process allows ready separation of reaction products from the ionic liquid and improves selectivity to alkylated products.

Alkylation of aromatics is well known in the art and is usually carried out by the reaction of an alkyl halide with an aromatic hydrocarbon in the presence of a Lewis acid catalyst such as hydrofluoric acid, boron trifluoride, concentrated sulphuric acid, zeolites and combinations thereof. More recently, acidic catalysts such as aluminium halides and the alkyl aluminium halides have been preferred, optionally in combination with a co-catalyst such as an alkyl halide. For instance, styrene has been produced by the catalytic dehydrogenation of ethyl benzene which in turn is derived by direct alkylation of benzene with ethylene in the presence of such a catalyst. Such alkylation processes are described in detail by eg Olah, G A., ed. Friedel-Crafts and Related Reactions, Interscience Publishers, J Wiley & Sons, New York (1964) and by Streitweiser, A and Reif, L., J Am Chem Soc 82, 5003 (1960). These processes use two reactors of which one is a so-called "primary alkylator" and the other is a so-called "trans- or de-alkylator". Both reactors are constructed from acid resistant materials eg Hastalloy.RTM.B or furan-lined firebrick in a 316 SS casing. Ethylene and benzene are fed into the primary alkylator in mole ratios in the range of 0.1:0.9. A catalyst complex is formulated eg by adding aluminium powder to benzene in the presence of ethyl chloride (which combination represents the promoter and catalyst) and small quantities of polyethylbenzenes. A `red oil` catalyst complex is thus generated which is then fed into the primary alkylator in an amount which is <1% w/w of the total reactants in the primary alkylator. The `red oil` is fed to the primary alkylator such that it totally dissolves in the benzene/ethylene system. The resultant mixture is subjected to controlled reaction conditions such that the effluent from the primary alkylator contains a mixture of unreacted benzene, ethyl benzene (the desired product), and by-products including diethyl benzene and polyethyl benzenes. This effluent stream is combined with recycled polyethyl benzenes in the trans-alkylator. The contents of the trans-alkylator, which are liquids, reach a composition which may or may not be thermodynamically controlled depending upon catalyst activity. Invariably, the effluent from the trans-alkylator will be different in composition from the primary alkylator as it will contain less benzene and more of the desired ethyl benzene. The effluent from the trans-alkylator is washed with water and alkali, eg sodium hydroxide or ammonia to destroy the catalyst. This means that that the catalyst is irretrievably lost and cannot therefore be recycled or reused. The washed material is then distilled to produce benzene for recycle, the desired ethyl benzene, di- and tri-ethyl benzenes for recycle and the remaining heavy materials such as tetra-, penta- and hexa-ethyl benzenes and impurities are recovered and used as `flux oil`. The ethyl benzene is recovered and kept in a suitable storage facility eg in tanks, until required for the dehydrogenation stage to produce styrene.
Such catalysts have the disadvantage that some of the acids used such as hydrofluoric acid are too strong, corrosive and volatile and therefore require a considerable degree of safety measures both for the equipment used and for the operational personnel involved; others such as concentrated sulphuric acid are relatively inactive and require high reaction volumes and expensive reconcentration equipment; and zeolites are too weak therefore requiring the use of relatively high reaction temperatures. Where aluminium halides are used, they are usually miscible with the reactant hydrocarbons and have to be destroyed to recover the desired alkylated product thereby preventing recycle of the catalyst and hence adding to the cost of the process.
Alkylation of isoparaffins by olefins has also been reported in FR-A-2626572 in the presence of a catalyst comprising ionic liquids. This document, however, does not describe the alkylation of aromatics using olefins. The process of alkylation of iso-paraffins is different from that involving the alkylation of aromatics because, surprisingly, these catalysts for the alkylation of iso-paraffins--where relatively severe reaction conditions are required to obtain the desired species with high octane rating--can also catalyse the alkylation of aromatics with the desired conversion-selectivity.
Ionic liquids are primarily mixtures of salts which melt below room temperature. Such salt mixtures include aluminium halides in combination with one or more of imidazolium halides, pyridinium halides or phosphonium halides and the latter being preferably substituted. Examples of the latter include one or more of 1-methyl-3-butyl imidazolium halides, 1-butyl pyridinium halide and tetrabutyl phosphonium halides.
It has now been found that aromatic hydrocarbons can be alkylated directly with olefins without recourse of alkyl halides as the alkylating agent whilst at the same time mitigating the problems generated by the use of strong acids, expensive equipment or inability to recycle the catalysts used as described above.


The present invention provides a method for preparing a matte anti-fingerprint stainless steel decorative plate. The method comprises the steps of: 1) selecting a polymer coating material, wherein the polymer coating material is formed by mixing a film forming material, an inorganic nano-filler, a solvent and an auxiliary agent, wherein the film forming material comprises the following ingredients based on the weight ratio: 30-50 parts of acrylate composite resin, 5-20 parts of amino resin, and 5-15 parts of epoxy resin; and 1-8 parts of a matting agent and 1-8 parts of an anti-settling agent are added; and 2) performing a spray coating using the polymer coating material, wherein a coating film has a thickness of 1.5-2.5 μm, the precision of the atomization air pressure of a spray gun is controlled at ±0.1 bar during spray coating, and the coating is dried to obtain a finished product and then a matte anti-fingerprint stainless steel decorative plate which has a high-standard matte and anti-fingerprint index is prepared.

A stainless steel decorative plate is a very important product in such industries as elevators, automobiles, household appliances, furniture, kitchenware and decoration. With the ever-increasing requirements of all industries on stainless steel decorative plates, common anti-fingerprint stainless steel decorative plates have exposed some disadvantages, including excessively high brightness which is likely to cause visual fatigue. For the preparation of a matte anti-fingerprint stainless steel decorative plate, the matte anti-fingerprint stainless steel decorative plate is initially trial-manufactured, which reduces light pollution and provides the characteristics of high hardness, good abrasion resistance and high corrosion prevention, especially better process conditions such as salt fog resistance to suit the market demand.
Patent Application CN201210063840.3 filed by the applicant relates to a coated anti-stain and anti-fingerprint stainless steel material which consists of a stainless steel plate and a polymer coating material, wherein the stainless steel plate comprises austenitic stainless steel and low-nickel or nickel-free ferritic stainless steel, and the polymer coating material thereof is formed by mixing acrylic resin, a film forming material, an inorganic nano-filler, a solvent and an auxiliary agent. However, a matte anti-fingerprint stainless steel decorative plate cannot be prepared by a common process.
Chinese Patent Application 200980104205 relates to a colored clear coated stainless steel plate which comprises a stainless steel substrate and a colored clear coating film formed on at least a single side of the stainless steel substrate, wherein the colored clear coating film contains a pigment having an average primary particle size of 10 to 1,100 nm and the pigment volume concentration is 0.5-5.0%.

Method for preparing the matte anti-fingerprint stainless steel decorative plate

HAIMEN SENDA DECORATION MATERIAL CO., LTD


Generation of ringing components during extraction of striped blue components from an image is suppressed, in an image processing apparatus for removing striped blur components from the image. A preprocess is executed on an image data set, which is obtained by detecting light with line sensors that perform scanning in a sub scanning direction. The preprocess reduces drastic changes in pixel values in a first direction, which is perpendicular to the sub scanning direction. A filter process is executed on the preprocessed image data set to extract image data that represents striped blur components that extend in the sub scanning direction. The extracted image data is subtracted from the image data set to remove striped blur components.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method, apparatus, and program for processing images. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method, apparatus, and program for removing line noise components from within images.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are known apparatuses for obtaining image data that represents an image borne by an image carrier. These apparatuses comprise line sensors, which are photoelectric conversion element arrays in which a great number of photoreceptors are arranged in a main scanning direction. Originals, which are image carriers, are relatively moved with respect to the line sensors in a sub scanning direction, which intersects with the main scanning direction. The line sensors detect light emitted from the originals, to obtain the image data that represents the image borne thereby. There are cases in which line noise components (hereinafter, also referred to as "striped blurs") that extend in the sub scanning direction are present in the image data obtained by this type of apparatus. The noise components are generated due to differences in the properties of each of the photoreceptors that constitute the line sensors. Examples of these properties are gain and temperature properties. In addition, there are cases in which striped blurs that extend in the main scanning direction are present in the image data. These striped blurs are generated by impact shock, which is applied to the line sensors. Therefore, U.S. Patent Laid-Open No. 20030091243 proposes a method, in which image data that represents an image including the striped blur is passed through a filter to extract the striped blur component; and the image data that represents the striped blur component is subtracted from the image data that represents the entirety of the image.
However, there are cases in which there are regions of an image, in which pixel values of the image data that include the striped blur component change drastically. If the above method is applied to these cases, ringing components are generated in the vicinity of these regions during extraction of the striped blur components by filtering the image data. As a result, the ringing components appear as striped blurs in the image, which has been processed to remove the striped blurs. In addition, there is a demand for a process in which linear image information components and striped blurs within an image are separated, and only the striped blurs are removed.

Method, apparatus, and program for image processing


A dispensing cap including a rotary valve communicating with an external open-ended dispensing tube portion, the valve being configured to communicate, in a venting position, with a venting pathway and to communicate, in a dispensing position, with an internal dispensing tube portion, wherein the valve is configured to pass from a closed position through a venting position to a dispensing position.

This invention relates to dispensing liquids.
It is often desirable to administer a liquid medicine to treat a disease (e.g., an infection, inflammation, or glaucoma); to administer water or a buffered fluid to lubricate an eye, whether or not it is covered with a contact lens; or to administer water or a buffered fluid to irrigate an eye that has been contacted with a harmful agent, such as an acid or alkali.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,526 relates to a plastically deformable bottle having a target and a lens to aid in positioning the bottle near the eye. Embodiments further include a clip for securing the flexible tube, and a tube which is fixed at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of the bottle. A related application issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,342,327 which relates to a bottle which includes a tube extending into and out of the bottle. The external portion of the tube is flexible and extends at an acute angle to the axis of the bottle, thereby allowing a person to administer liquids to his eye without tipping his head. A cushion pad is molded as part of the bottle to prevent accidental injury to the eye from the tip of the external portion of the tube.


A rotating photosensitive body has a plurality of charging members on its surface. A direct voltage whose polarity is opposite to the charging polarity of the photosensitive body is applied to at least one of the charging members, and a direct voltage whose polarity is equal to the charging polarity thereof is applied to at least one of the other charging members.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and a device for charging a photosensitive body in contact with a charging member in an electrophotographic apparatus such as a laser printer and a copying machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electrophotographic apparatus, for example, a laser printer includes a charging device, an exposure device having a laser beam emitter, a developing device, and a transfer device which are arranged around a photosensitive body. In the laser printer, when printing is performed, the charging device is operated to uniformly charge the photosensitive body, and then the exposure device is operated to scan the photosensitive body with a laser beam having recording information, thereby forming an electrostatic latent image thereon. After this, the developing device is operated to stick the toner on the electrostatic latent image, and the transfer device is operated to transfer a toner image formed by the operation of the developing device onto paper.
There are two methods for charging the photosensitive body using the charging device of the laser printer. The first method is executed by corona discharge caused by a scorotron, and the second method is executed by bringing a member such as a charging roller, a charging brush, and a charging blade into contact with the photosensitive body.
The first method requires a high voltage power supply of 5 to 10 KV and generates a great deal of ozone due to the corona discharge. The ozone degrades the material characteristics of the photosensitive body. To solve this problem, the first charging method is being replaced with the second method. The second charging method has the advantage of requiring a relatively low voltage power supply and greatly reducing the ozone.
The second charging method is disclosed in Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 56-91253. According to the second charging method, as shown in FIG. 6, first, second, and third charging rolers 2a, 2b, and 2c are arrange on a photosensitive drum 1 in contact with each other in the moving direction of the photosensitive drum (in the direction of arrow). As shown in FIG. 7, the charging rollers 2a, 2b, and 2c superimpose an alternating voltage on direct voltages of 200V, 350V, and 500V, respectively. The peak-to-peak value of the alternating voltage is 20% of each of the direct voltages. The voltages obtained by the superimposition are sequentially applied to the surface of the photosensitive drum 1. The potential of the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 gradually increases, and finally it is charged with a voltage of 500V necessary for exposure.
In the second charging method, however, since the direct and alternating voltages are applied to the charging rollers 2a, 2b, and 2c, two power supplies, i.e., direct and alternating power supplies are required, thus complicating an arrangement of the power supplies.

Charging members for charging a photosensitive body without removing used toner from the body


Vanes are generally hollow with a passage through which service pipes extend. These service pipes must be connected such that they can allow for thermal expansion and contraction but also anti rotation features are needed in order to prevent damage when a supply coupling is connected through a pipe end. This anti-rotation feature is generally provided between a top hat and a pipe end through flanges. In order to allow reduced spacing between the top of the vane and a casing the flanges are arranged to allow at least recessing of a first flange into a passage opening profile whereby those flanges inter-engage with second flanges at a surface interface to prevent rotation.

Operation of gas turbine engines is well known along with use of nozzle guide vanes in order to guide gas flow within the engine for improved performance. The nozzle guide vanes are essentially located in the flow path between the casing and core of the engine. Dependent upon position these guide vanes are clearly subjected to high temperatures and so require cooling. In order to provide that cooling it will be understood that cooling passages will be provided particularly at the surfaces of the guide vane through which coolant air passes in order to cool the vane in operation.
The aerofoil thickness of a nozzle guide vane relates directly to turbine efficiency within a gas turbine engine. The speed of flow over the suction surface can attain supersonic speeds. Reducing aerofoil thickness can reduce flow blockage which in turn reduces flow speed and increases engine performance. In such circumstances, reduced aerofoil thickness can have advantages but it will also be understood that generally service pipes in order to provide coolant air and for lubricants supplied to and from an engine core hub will also be required. Accommodation of such service pipes is generally more difficult with a reduced aerofoil thickness.
Existing designs for coupling service pipes provide a pipe which passes through the guide vane from a hub. An end fitting is secured to the pipe with a top hat element then secured over the end fitting for coupling to external supply passages, and as indicated previously possibly for coolant air or oil. It will be appreciated that the top hat and end fitting essentially provide three functions. The primary function is to provide a robust mechanical connection for an external union joint e.g. nut and bolt assembly to be fastened onto in order to create the coupling between them. A second function is to provide a spherical seal to prevent leakage and so release of high pressure air or lubricant within the casing escaping to atmosphere outside of the casing. A final function is to provide an anti rotation feature which prevents pipe damage on tightening the threaded conical union joint as described above as the primary function. It will also be understood that the coupling can articulate around the centre of the spherical seal and also slide in a radial direction along the axis of the pipe to accommodate for thermal growth during engine operational thermal cycling.
These prior arrangements provide an anti-rotation function by virtue of a symmetrical arrangement. In short the top hat connector will fully encircle the anti-rotation lug features providing reaction points on two of the faces when tightening and the other two faces when untightening. Such an approach is acceptable where there is ample clearance between the vane end incorporating the coupling and the casing as the coupling can be situated externally of the vane platform. However, increasingly engine geometry provides much reduced space between the vane and the casing. In such circumstances an outboard top hat will result in a clash between the top hat part of the coupling and the vane. Previous solutions to this problem have been to increase the spacing by moving the casing further outboard and so increasing the clearance but with the detrimental effect of increasing overall engine weight due to a larger than otherwise needed casing. The other alternative is to provide a wider guide vane to accept the symmetrical top hat, but as indicated previously such widening of the guide vane will have a major detrimental effect upon turbine efficiency in terms of gas flow and therefore engine performance.
It is important that there is no clash between the top hat member and the vane as this may create distortion and straining of the pipe with potential failure of the seal, etc whilst as indicated accommodation of the top hat member will require either increasing the casing size adding to weight or increasing the width of the vane reducing aerodynamic efficiency.


A reproducing apparatus for disk-shaped recording medium rotationally drives the disk-shaped recording medium at a particular speed to read information from a recording track disposed circumferentially to the center of the recording surface with information recorded at a constant linear velocity. A pickup means scans the recording track and generating a first reproduction signal. A first rotational drive control means rotates the disk-shaped recording medium at a constant linear velocity based on the reproduction signal, and a second rotational drive control means rotates the disk-shaped recording medium at a constant angular velocity. A rotational drive control means selection means selects the first rotational drive control means or the second rotational drive control means based on the position of the pickup means when reproducing the disk.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reproducing apparatus for a disk-shaped recording medium comprising on the surface thereof spiral or concentric recording tracks to which information is recorded by moving a recording and reproducing head radially to the recording surface of the disk while rotating the disk-shaped recording medium. More specifically, the invention relates to a rotational velocity control method for a disk-shaped recording medium drive apparatus whereby the rotational velocity of the disk-shaped recording medium is quickly adjusted to changes in the position of the recording and reproducing head, as well as the medium, apparatus, and operating environment, to achieve optimum performance.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, disk-shaped recording media are recording using a constant linear velocity (CLV) method in which the linear velocity of the signal recorded to and reproduced from the disk remains constant as a means of increasing the recording density. This means that in order to maintain a constant linear velocity in all recording areas of the disk-shaped recording medium. the medium must be driven at a high rotational speed when reading data from the inside circumference part of the medium where the reproduction radius is smallest, and driven at a slower rotational speed when reproducing data from the outside circumference part of the medium where the radius is obviously greater. Therefore, as the position from which the signal is reproduced moves between the inside and outside circumferences of the disk, the recording and reproducing head must be moved radially t the disk while simultaneously adjusting the rotational speed of the disk according to the current position of the recording and reproducing head so that the head moves at a constant linear velocity relative to the disk medium.
The structure of a conventional reproducing apparatus RAc for a disk-shaped recording medium is shown in FIG. 29. Information is recorded to spiral or concentric recording tracks formed on the surface of the disk-shaped recording medium 1 using a magnetic, physical, optical, or other method, including combinations of these. The disk-shaped recording medium 1 is placed on a turntable 2 and held in placed from above by a clamper 3. The turntable 2 is connected to the spindle 5 of a spindle motor 4, and is thus driven rotationally by the spindle motor 4.
The pickup 6 is driven by a traverse motor 7 along slider 8 in the radial direction of the disk-shaped recording medium 1, thereby scanning the recording tracks of the disk-shaped recording medium 1 to generate the reproduced recording signal Spu.
The servo controller 9 is connected to the output of the pickup 6, and thereby amplifies the reproduced recording signal Spu after being applied with a servo control process to output the amplified reproduction signal SPU. The servo controller 9 also generates a traverse tracking error signal Sts, which is used to drive the tracking actuator built in to the pickup 6, based on the tracking information contained in the reproduced recording signal Spu. The servo controller 9 thus controls any change in the traverse movement of the pickup 6 between the recording tracks based on the traverse tracking error signal Sts.
Also connected to the servo controller 9, the clock extractor 10 extracts the clock component from the reproduction signal SPU read from the disk-shaped recording medium 1, and thus outputs the clock signal Sck. Based on the extracted clock component, the clock extractor 10 also generates the data reproduction clock signal Spl.
A decoder 17 is also connected to the servo controller 9 and clock extractor 10. Based on the data reproduction clock signal Spl supplied from the clock extractor 10, the decoder 17 applies various operations to the reproduction signal SPU to reproduce the data recorded to the disk-shaped recording medium 1. The reproduced data is output as reproduction data Sd. The decoder 17 also extracts the subcode data contained in the reproduction signal SPU to generate and output the subcode information signal Sq.
Based on the subcode information signal Sq supplied from the decoder 17 to which it is connected, the reproduction mode controller 20P generates the traverse movement signal Stm. The traverse movement signal Stm specifies the amount of traverse movement the pickup 6 is driven, i.e., how far the pickup 6 moves radially to the disk-shaped recording medium 1.
Connected to the servo controller 9 and reproduction mode controller 20P, the traverse motor driver 19 generates the traverse motor drive signal Stv based on the traverse tracking error signal Sts and the traverse movement signal Stm. The traverse motor 7 then drives the pickup 6 in the traverse direction based on the traverse motor drive signal Stv received from the traverse motor driver 19.
The reference clock generator 11 outputs a reference clock signal Sr1 of a known frequency. This predefined reference clock signal Sr1 is input with the clock signal Sck extracted from the reproduced recording signal Spu to the CLV error detector 12. The CLV error detector 12 compares the phase and frequency of the two clock signals Sr1 and Sck, obtains the frequency difference between the clock and thus outputs the CLV error signal Sc1.
The spindle motor driver 18 is connected to the output of the CLV error detector 12, and thus generates the spindle motor drive signal Sm for driving the spindle motor 4 based on the CLV error signal Sc1. The spindle motor 4 is thus driven based on the spindle motor drive signal Sm supplied from the spindle motor driver 18, and the disk-shaped recording medium 1 is thus rotationally driven in a specific manner.
The reproducing apparatus RAc further comprises a main controller 24 for controlling the overall operation of the reproducing apparatus RAc. The main controller 24 also comprises an input means whereby the user can operate the reproducing apparatus RAc.
The operation of the reproducing apparatus RAc thus comprised during CLV reproduction is described below.
When data is being reproduced by the pickup 6 from the inside circumference part of the disk-shaped recording medium 1 during CLV operation, the spindle motor 4 rotates at a faster speed than when data is reproduced from the outside circumference part of the disk in order to obtain the same, constant data rate. The speed of the spindle motor 4 is adjusted based on the CLV error signal Sc1 output from the CLV error detector 12.
What happens as the reading area of the disk-shaped recording medium 1 moves from the inside circumference toward the outside circumference of the disk is described below.
In this example it is assumed that a selection recorded at the inside circumference part of a music CD is being reproduced, and the user then operates the reproducing apparatus RAc to interrupt reproduction and immediately begin reproducing a selection recorded at the outside circumference of the disc. This reproduction area movement command (selection command) input by the user using the input means of the main controller 24 is then transferred from the main controller 24 to the reproducing apparatus RAc.
The main controller 24 calculates the track address of the recording area corresponding to the selection made by the user, and inputs the calculated target track address to the reproduction mode controller 20P. Based on the subcode information signal Sq, the reproduction mode controller 20P then compares the current track address with the target track address to generate the traverse movement signal Stm. The traverse movement signal Stm specifies how far in the traverse direction the pickup 6 must travel to reach the target track address, and is supplied to the traverse motor driver 19.
The traverse motor driver 19 thus drives the traverse motor 7 to move the pickup 6 along the slider 8 from the inside circumference side to the outside circumference side of the disk-shaped recording medium 1, and thereby position the pickup 6 to the appropriate recording track. Once the pickup 6 is positioned to the correct recording track, the reproduced recording signal Spu is read from the disk-shaped recording medium 1, the servo controller 9 amplifies the reproduced recording signal Spu, and the clock signal Sck is extracted by the clock extractor 10.
The disk-shaped recording medium 1 is still spinning at high speed after the pickup 6 moves from the inside to the outside circumference, however, and the clock frequency of the extracted clock signal Sck thus increases roughly proportionally to the radial movement of the pickup 6. The clock frequency of the clock signal Sck is thus significantly greater than the clock frequency of the reference clock signal Sr1. It follows that the value of the CLV error signal Sc1, which corresponds to the difference between the clock signals Sck and Sr1, is high.
The spindle motor driver 18 therefore causes the spindle motor 4 to decelerate so that the value of the CLV error signal Sc1 decreases, ultimately to zero. When the value of the CLV error signal Sc1 is zero, the clock frequency of the clock signal Sck is equal to the clock frequency of the reference clock signal Sr1. This means that the data read rate of the pickup 6 at the current radial position of the disk-shaped recording medium 1 is equal to the reference clock signal Sr1 output from the reference clock generator 11.
What happens as the reading area of the disk-shaped recording medium 1 moves from the outside circumference toward the inside circumference of the disk is described below.
As described above, the pickup 6 is moved from the outside circumference toward the inside circumference based on the destination recording track address (target track address) input from the main controller 24 to the reproduction mode controller 20P. This means that, just as when the pickup 6 moved from the inside circumference to the outside circumference, the optimum linear velocity required for reading from the new recording track at the inside circumference cannot be obtained because the disk-shaped recording medium 1 is still spinning at the rotational speed required to obtain the constant linear velocity necessary for reproduction from an outside circumference track. The clock frequency of the clock signal Sck extracted from the reproduced recording signal Spu read by the pickup 6 from an inside circumference track of the disk-shaped recording medium 1 is thus significantly lower than the clock frequency of the reference clock signal Sr1 generated by the reference clock generator 11.
If the value of the CLV error signal Sc1 is defined as a positive value when the pickup 6 traverses the disk from inside to outside circumference, the CLV error signal Sc1 value is negative after outside to inside circumference travel, but the absolute value of these positive and negative values are substantially the same for equivalent traverse movement. It is therefore necessary, in this case, for the spindle motor driver 18 to drive the spindle motor 4 to accelerate so that the value of the CLV error signal Sc1 is again zero and the linear velocity of the pickup 6 at the inside circumference track converges to the defined linear velocity of the disk-shaped recording medium 1 as obtained from the reference clock signal Sr1.
The data read rate is equivalent to the linear velocity of the pickup 6 relative to the recording track of the disk-shaped recording medium 1. CLV control is therefore used to maintain a constant data rate as the pickup 6 moves between the inside and outside circumference areas of the disk-shaped recording medium 1 irrespective of the current radial position of the pickup 6 on the disk-shaped recording medium 1. As a result, the clock extractor 10, reference clock generator 11, and CLV error detector 12 of the reproducing apparatus RAc described above can be thought of as a CLV controller 21 accomplishing the constant linear velocity drive control used by the reproducing apparatus RAc.
FIG. 30 is a graph of the relationship between the rotational speed of the disk-shaped recording medium 1 and the radial position of the pickup 6 on the disk-shaped recording medium 1 during CLV control. The radial position R is shown on the axis of abscissae, and the rotational speed N of the disk-shaped recording medium 1 is shown on the axis of ordinates. The values Rmin and Rmax indicate the radial positions at the first recording track on the inside circumference side and the last recording track on the outside circumference side of the disk-shaped recording medium 1.
Note that because information is recorded to this disk-shaped recording medium 1 at a constant linear velocity, the rotational speed N of the disk-shaped recording medium 1 changes in inverse proportion to the position R of the pickup 6 when reading data. The relationship between rotational speed N and position R can be expressed by the equation N.varies.1/2.pi.R.
With this type of reproducing apparatus for a disk-shaped recording medium, it is necessary to rapidly access and reproduce data from any specified part of the recording surface in response to user requests. The two major methods described below can be used to achieve this.
One is to move the pickup to a particular position after a read command from the user is received, wait for the rotational speed of the disk to stabilize after the pickup moves to the corresponding disk position, and then begin actual data reading from the target track. This method minimizes the access time. The other method is to maximize the target track scanning speed by the pickup, which determines the data read rate per unit time.
Access time in a conventional CLV-controlled reproducing apparatus for a disk-shaped recording medium is determined by the time required to increase or decrease the speed of the spindle motor 4 to achieve the constant linear velocity specified for the disk-shaped recording medium 1 when the pickup 6 moves from the inside to outside circumference or from the outside to inside circumference. In practice, it is therefore necessary to change the speed of the rotational drive train comprising the rotating disk-shaped recording medium 1, turntable 2, clamper 3, spindle motor 4, and other components suddenly and stably, using a braking force proportional to the rotating mass and the square of the rotational speed.
Because this rotational drive train is also spinning at high speed, the change in the rotational speed according to the access position also increases when the rotational speed of the media increases. For example, a CD-ROM operating in the 1.times. mode spins at approximately 500 rpm when reproducing data from an inside circumference track, and at approximately 200 rpm when reproducing data from an outside circumference track. The difference is approximately 300 rpm or approximately 2.5 times between inside and outside circumference tracks. However, when a CD-ROM is driven in the 4.times. mode, the disc spins at approximately 2000 rpm at the inside circumference track, and at approximately 800 rpm at the outside circumference track, a difference of approximately 1200 rpm.
As this speed difference increases, the spindle motor torque required to adjust the disk speed in a given unit of time increases. This means that if the spindle motor torque is low, the access time, i.e., the time required for the rotational speed of the disk to stabilize at the required constant linear velocity, increases. High torque spindle motors are therefore required to maximize access time as the spindle speed increases. This leads to unavoidable increases in power consumption and cost as the motor size contributing to the reproducing apparatus it self increases to provide the necessary torque.
The scanning speed of the pickup also cannot be simply determined because the data read rate changes in proportion to the scanning speed of the pickup. Specifically, the maximum scanning speed must be set so that the data read rate is less than the maximum processing speed of the signal processing circuitry of the reproducing apparatus, or the maximum rotational speed of the rotational drive train. In practice, however, the maximum scanning speed must be set to a lower rate in order to provide a tolerance range to compensate for variations in the quality of the disk-shaped recording medium, the rotational drive train components, and the signal processing circuitry, changes in operating characteristics over time due to heat from operation, and even simple deterioration from extended use. If this tolerance range is insufficient, the drive apparatus for the disk-shaped recording medium may malfunction during operation. If the tolerance range is too great, the specified characteristics and performance of the disk-shaped recording medium will be wasted.
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a drive apparatus for a disk-shaped recording medium whereby any desired part of the recording surface of the disk-shaped recording medium can be rapidly accessed, data can be read at high speed, and optimum performance can be achieved according to the condition of the medium, apparatus, and operating environment.

Reading information from a disk-shaped recording medium that is rotatable at a plurality of speeds

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A lens holder, which supports a light receiving lens, is screwed into a barrel portion of a body holder by respectively engaging hooks, which are provided in a screwing piece, with engaging-grooves formed in an end surface of the lens holder and then rotating the screwing piece. The screwing position of the lens holder is controlled so that the rotational direction position of a set of the engaging grooves is coincided with a reference position of an adjusting piece. Subsequently, the adjusting piece is engaged with the lens holder at the reference position. Then, a focus adjustment is performed by rotating the lens holder in a positive rotation direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manufacturing method of a camera module for use in an image pickup apparatus or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Variously configured products of an image pickup module, on which an image pickup element such as a CCD or a CMOS is mounted, have been provided (see, for example, JP-A-2003-60177, JP-A-2004-147032 and JP-A-08-271782) . FIGS. 1A and 1B show an example of a camera module assembled by screwing a lens holder 11, which holds a light receiving lens 12, into a barrel portion 10a of a body holder 10. This camera module is assembled as follows. That is, first, an infrared ray cut glass filter 13 is attached to the inner surface of the casing portion 10b so as to seal an opening hole 10c of the barrel portion 10a. Thereafter, a substrate 20, on which an image pickup element 21 is mounted, is bonded to an opening end surface of the casing portion 10b with an adhesive.
Incidentally, a lens holder 11 is screwed into the barrel portion 10a of the body holder 10 through a spacer 14 made of silicon rubber. A stopper portion 10d is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the barrel portion 10a, which is connected to the casing portion 10b. The spacer 14 is mounted in the barrel portion 10a by being sandwiched between end surfaces of the stopper portion 10d and the lens holder 11. The spacer 14 is used to prevent the lens holder 11 from turning in a state in which the lens holder 11 is screwed into the barrel portion 10a, and also used to hold the lens holder 11, that is, the light receiving lens 12 at a predetermined focus position.
In the aforementioned camera module assembled by screwing the lens holder 11 into the barrel portion 10a, in order to correctly place the light receiving lens 12 at the focus position, the lens holder 11 having been being screwed into the barrel portion 10a is turned around an axis thereof to adjust the position in the direction of an optical axis of the lens holder 11. Thus, an adjusting operation of positioning the light receiving lens 12 at the focus position is performed.
FIG. 2 illustrates a manner in which focus adjustment is performed by turning the lens holder 11, which mounted in the barrel portion 10a, through the used of an adjusting piece 30 for focus adjustment. A light receiving penetration hole 11a is provided in a central portion of an end surface 110 of the lens holder 11. Engaging grooves 11b are provided at four places around the penetration hole 11a by being disposed at uniform circumferential intervals. Hooks 31 to be respectively caught by the engaging grooves 11b are provided at four places in the adjusting piece 30 by being disposed at uniform circumferential intervals, similarly to the engaging grooves 11b. Thus, the hooks 31 are engaged with the engaging grooves 11b, respectively, and the adjusting piece 30 is turned. Consequently, the focus adjustment can be performed.
Meanwhile, in order to check whether or not the spacer 14 is correctly mounted in the barrel portion 10a, the following checking operation is performed in the camera module shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B also as an operation of screwing the lens holder 11. That is, when an operation of screwing the lens holder 11 into the barrel portion 10a, the screwing operation is stopped at a moment at which a predetermined amount of torque acts thereon. Then, the height of an end surface 110 of the lens holder 11 (that is, the position of the sunk lens holder 11) at that time is checked to inspect whether or not the spacer 14 is mounted in the barrel portion 10a.
In the operation of checking whether this spacer 14 is mounted in the barrel portion 10a, the screwing of the lens-holder 11 is stopped by detecting the value of turning-torque of the lens holder 11. Thus, the position (in the direction of rotation of the lens holder 11), at which the lens holder 11 is stopped, varies according to variation in the quality of the product.
Incidentally, an operation of screwing the lens holder 11 into the barrel portion 10a is performed by using a screwing piece provided with hooks, which is slimier to the adjusting piece 30. FIGS. 3A to 3D illustrate an example of a case where the lens holder 11 stops in a state, in which the lens holder 11 is screwed into the barrel portion 10a, and in which the position in the direction of rotation of the lens holder 11 changes variously.
Because the position in the direction of rotation of the lens holder 11 changes variously, in the focus adjustment operation of the lens holder 11, first, the adjusting piece 30 is once rotated (about 90 degrees or more) in a direction opposite to a screwing direction. Then, the hooks 31 are engaged with the engaging grooves 11b. Also, the lens holder 11 is slightly turned in a direction in which the lens holder 11 is loosened. Subsequently, the focus adjustment is performed by rotating the lens holder 11 in a screwing direction (a positive rotation direction). The reasons for rotating the lens holder 11 in the positive rotation direction after the adjusting piece 30 is reversely rotated are that the hooks 31 of the adjusting piece 30 are surely engaged with the engaging grooves 11b, and that the lens holder 11 passes through a focus point and the focus adjustment cannot appropriately be achieved in a case where the lens holder 11 is rotated in a screwing direction from the beginning.
Thus, in the related-art process of assembling a camera module, at the focus adjustment, the adjusting piece 30 is once reversely rotated to thereby slightly loosen the lens holder 11. Then, the position of the lens holder 11 is adjusted to the focus point. Therefore, an operation of turning the adjusting piece 30 is made to be cumbersome. Consequently, the related-art method has a drawback in that the productivity of the camera module is reduced.


A liquid ejecting apparatus is provided with a liquid ejecting head that ejects a liquid from nozzle openings and a wiping section that sweeps over a liquid ejecting surface side of the liquid ejecting head, the liquid ejecting head is provided with a nozzle plate that has the liquid ejecting surface and a protective member which has an opening section, and which is provided to protrude further on a side of liquid discharge than the nozzle plate and which exposes the liquid ejecting surface, the wiping section sweeps over the liquid ejecting surface of the nozzle plate by moving toward a sweeping direction, which is an in-plane direction of the liquid ejecting surface, and, in the nozzle plate, a distance in an orthogonal direction, which is orthogonal to the sweeping direction, of a first blank space section from an end of the nozzle plate to an end nozzle opening that is provided on a side of the end is longer than a distance in the sweeping direction of a second blank space section from an end of the nozzle plate to an end nozzle opening that is provided on a side of the end.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus that is provided with a liquid ejecting head that ejects a liquid from a nozzle opening, and in particular, to an ink jet type recording apparatus that is provided with an ink jet type recording head that discharges ink as the liquid.
2. Related Art
Among liquid ejecting apparatuses that eject a liquid onto a target recording medium, for example, ink jet type recording apparatuses that perform printing on a target recording medium (ejection target medium) such as paper, a recording sheet or the like by ejecting ink as a liquid are known.
Since the ink jet type recording heads with which these kind of ink jet type recording apparatuses are equipped discharge ink droplets onto the ejection target medium from the nozzle openings, for example, there is a problem in that a discharge direction of the ink droplets is not stable, and a problem in that discharge defects such as ink droplets not being discharged occur as a result of ink becoming attached to the vicinity of the nozzle openings of a liquid ejecting surface that ejects ink droplets, and as a result of attached ink solidifying.
Because of this, a liquid ejecting apparatus that wipes ink, fluff, dust, paper powder and the like that have become attached to the liquid ejecting surface by sweeping over the liquid ejecting surface using a wiper blade that is made from rubber board, has been suggested (for example, refer to JP-A-2010-228151).
In addition, there is a problem in that, even if the liquid ejecting surface is wiped with the wiper blade, ink, fluff, dust, paper powder and the like become attached to the surface of a protective member such as a cover head that is provided on a liquid ejecting surface side, and the target recording medium becomes stained when the target recording medium comes into contact with the protective member.
Because of this, an ink jet recording apparatus in which a concave section is provided between the protective member and the liquid ejecting surface, and which is configured to wipe the surface of the protective member and the liquid ejecting surface with the wiper blade, has been suggested (for example, refer to JP-A-2004-82699).
However, there is a problem in that if the blank space between an end of a nozzle plate and an end nozzle opening that is provided on a side of this end is large, the nozzle plate is increased in size, the ink jet type recording head is increased in size, and therefore the cost is increased.
In addition, if the blank space between an end of the nozzle plate and an end nozzle opening that is provided on a side of this end is small, since there is a difference in level between the protective member and the liquid ejecting surface, there is a problem in that the shape of the wiper blade is not stable, and therefore, there is a concern that sweeping defects will occur in the vicinity of the end nozzle opening.
Additionally, as well as ink jet type recording apparatuses, these kind of problems are also present in the same manner in liquid ejecting apparatuses that eject liquids other than ink.


A process for producing a cross-linked bitumen/polymer composition (PmB) with a reduction in hydrogen sulphide (H2S) emissions including a production unit for the implementation of such a process. The production process includes the following successive steps:

The use of bitumen in the manufacture of materials for highway and industrial applications has been known for a long time: bitumen is the main hydrocarbon binder used in the field of road construction or civil engineering. To be able to be used as a binder in these different applications, the bitumen must have certain mechanical properties, and in particular elastic or cohesive properties. The mechanical properties of the bituminous compositions are determined by standardized tests of the different mechanical characteristics such as the softening point, the penetrability and the rheological characteristics in defined traction.
In general, the conventional bitumens do not simultaneously have all of the required qualities and it has been known for a long time that the addition of various polymers to these conventional bitumens makes it possible to favourably modify the mechanical properties of the latter and to form bitumen-polymer compositions having improved mechanical qualities compared with those of the bitumens alone. The polymers capable of being added to the bitumens are most often elastomers. Among the polymers added to bitumens, random or block copolymers of an aromatic monovinyl hydrocarbon and a conjugated diene and in particular of styrene and butadiene or of styrene and isoprene are particularly effective as they dissolve very easily in the bitumens and confer upon them excellent mechanical and dynamic properties and in particular very good viscoelastic properties.
It is also known that the stability of the bitumen/polymer compositions can be improved by chemical coupling of the polymer with the bitumen, this improvement moreover making it possible to extend the field of use of the bitumen-polymer compositions. The chemical coupling of the polymer with the bitumen consists of cross-linking the polymer by means of a cross-linking agent, in a standard fashion, a sulphur-donor compound. Bitumen-polymer compositions for which a random or block copolymer of styrene and a conjugated diene such as butadiene or isoprene is coupled with the bitumen can be prepared using the processes described in the citations FR-A-2376188, FR-A-2429241, FR-A-2528439 and EP-A-0360656. In these processes, the source of sulphur consists of chemically non-bound sulphur (FR-A-2376188 and FR-A-2429241), in a polysulphide (FR-A-2528439) or in a sulphur-donor vulcanization accelerator used alone or in combination with chemically non-bound sulphur and/or a polysulphide or a non-sulphur-donor vulcanization accelerator (EP-A-0360656).
The cross-linked bitumen/polymer compositions thus obtained are known by the acronym "PmB", for Polymer-modified Bitumen or "PmA" for Polymer-modified Asphalt. The cross-linking of the bitumen/polymer compositions confers upon them very good properties in terms of storage stability, cohesion, elongation capacity and resistance to ageing.
However, the use of sulphur-donor cross-linking agent, in particular, the use of elemental sulphur for the cross-linking step leads to a significant emission of hydrogen sulphide, denoted H2S, during the PmB production process. Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) is a colourless and toxic gas, having a characteristic odour at a very low concentration. In the PmB production units, the concentration of H2S released during the manufacture of a cross-linked bitumen/polymer composition is particularly significant. The release of H2S is much greater for the cross-linked bitumen/polymer compositions than for bitumen bases devoid of cross-linking agent. For reasons of safety and because of environmental constraints, the reduction or even the elimination of hydrogen sulphide emissions during the production of PmB constitutes a crucial industrial challenge.
Solutions have been proposed in the literature for reducing hydrogen sulphide emissions during the manufacture of PmB. In particular, the addition of an agent capable of scavenging hydrogen sulphide (H2S) during the cross-linking of bitumen/polymer compositions has been proposed in order to find a solution to this drawback. By way of example, there may be mentioned the organic or inorganic metal salts described in the international application WO2005065177 as agents capable of scavenging H2S. The process implemented for reducing the release of H2S consists of introducing an organic or inorganic metal salt dissolved in bitumen into a reactor containing a previously mixed bitumen/polymer composition. The metal salt added in mass into the reactor, is then stirred in the reactor during the cross-linking reaction.

Process for producing a cross-linked bitumen/polymer composition with a reduction in H

Abstract: (a) preparing a cross-linked bitumen/polymer composition (PmB) in a reactor and,

Abstract: (b) transferring a predetermined quantity of the composition from the reactor to a storage tank and/or directly to a loading station via a distribution line, the composition being maintained at a temperature between 100° C. and 220° C. during the transfer. A reduction in hydrogen sulphide emissions (H2S) is carried out by the in-line injection of an effective quantity of a hydrogen sulphide (H2S) scavenger during the transfer step. The injection is carried out by continuous introduction of the hydrogen sulphide (H2S) scavenger into the distribution line downstream of the reactor and, upstream of the storage tank and the loading station.


A wireless charging device includes a driver unit configured to generate one of a first AC voltage signal having a first frequency and a second AC voltage signal having a second frequency. Also, the wireless charging device includes a transmitting unit having a first coil and a first capacitor and configured to transmit the first AC voltage signal. Further, the transmitting unit includes a second coil and a second capacitor and configured to transmit the second AC voltage signal. Additionally, the wireless charging device includes a control unit configured to detect a first receiver device operating at the first frequency based on a change in a first voltage in the transmitting unit, and detect a second receiver device operating at the second frequency based on a change in a second voltage in the transmitting unit.

Embodiments of the present specification relate generally to wireless power transfer systems, and more particularly to a wireless charging device, and a receiver device in wireless power transfer systems.
In general, power transfer system includes a charging devices widely used to transfer power from a power source to one or more receiver devices, such as mobile devices, biomedical devices, and portable consumer devices. Typically, the power transfer systems are contact based power transfer systems or wireless power transfer systems. In certain applications, where instantaneous or continuous power transfer is required but interconnecting wires are inconvenient, the wireless power transfer systems are desirable.
In wireless power transfer systems, a charging device is used to convert an input power to a transferrable power which is then wirelessly transmitted to charge one or more batteries in the receiver devices. Each receiver device is compatible with one wireless frequency standard. Currently available frequency standards include a Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) with Qi standard and an Air fuel Alliance (AFA) standard. The Qi standard is defined in a frequency range from 100 kHz to 400 kHz, while the AFA standard is defined in a frequency range from 6 MHz to 8 MHz, for example. Further, design of any new wireless receiver devices will entail use of one of these two frequency standards.
A conventional charging device transmits the input power at only one frequency standard. Hence, for each frequency standard, separate charging devices are employed to transmit electric power to the corresponding receiver device. However, using separate charging devices for each frequency standard substantially increases set-up costs and maintenance costs of the wireless power transfer systems. Moreover, the conventional charging device may continuously transmit the power even if the receiver device is not present. Such transmission of power results in power loss and affects efficiency of the charging device.

Wireless charging device, a receiver device, and a method of operating the same


A device comprising a body including a first polymer and a closure including a second polymer that is substantially not bondable to the first polymer and has a relatively higher shrinkage rate than the first polymer, wherein at least a portion of the closure overlaps at least a portion of the body, forming a hermetic seal therebetween and defining a sealed, empty, sterile container.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to blow molding methods and apparatus and to blow molded devices, such as sealed containers, and more particularly, to apparatus and methods for blow molding sealed, empty devices such as by co-extrusion blow molding.
Background Information
One of the drawbacks of current devices for storing products, such as food or medicinal products, is that multiple parts of the devices must be manufactured separately, such as by molding, and then assembled together. This can be particularly time consuming and expensive when the devices are used for storing sterile food products, medicinal products, or other products requiring sterile filling and/or that must be sealed with respect to ambient atmosphere during storage and/or use of the devices. For example, with devices including removable closures, the closures and bodies must be created separately, and then sterilized, sterile filled, and assembled in a sterile isolator. These multiple assembly steps can be time consuming, the maintenance and use of a sterile isolator for assembling and filling can be complicated and expensive, and overall the assembly, sterilizing and filling processes can subject the devices and/or sterile filled products to an undesirable risk of contamination.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to overcome one or more of the above-described drawbacks and/or disadvantages of the prior art.

Co-extrusion blow molding apparatus and method, and sealed empty devices


This invention relates to methods compositions and devices for inhibiting infection of a subject's host cell by HIV. Specifically, the invention relates to methods and compositions capable of inhibiting the binding and subsequent infection by HIV of a host cell through the inhibition of the interaction between gp-340 expressed on the cell surface and V3 loop on the HIV envelope and devices comprising these compositions.

HIV continues to spread with nearly 40 million infected individuals and over 5 million newly infected every year. The principle means of infection remains heterosexual transmission. In many areas of the world, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa, HIV infection has become more prevalent in women than men (www.unaids.org). This trend in conjunction with discriminatory sexual rights for women in many parts of Asia and Africa makes it important to identify the mechanisms of male-to-female spread of HIV and to implement new methods for preventing sexual transmission. Normally, the mucosal barrier acts as a significant blockade for pathogens seeking to gain entry into the human body. HIV enters either through breaks in this barrier or through some active mechanism that allows it to transverse the mucosal barrier. Identification of mediators of transmission is therefore very desirable.
Macaque studies indicate that the first targets of SIV infection during non-traumatic vaginal application are Langerhans cells (LCs), sub-epithelial dendritic cells (DCs) and CD4+ T cells of the lower genital tract. The lower genital tract barrier is composed of a columnar monolayer in the endocervix and stratified squamous epithelium in the vagina and ectocervix along with their associated mucous and glycoprotein secretions. The necessary events in transmission preceding infection of LCs, sub-epithelial DCs and CD4+ T cells remain unclear. In vitro models of female genital tissue have been designed to explore transmission, but their in vivo relevance is controversial.
Disruption of these epithelial barriers by ulcerating lesions or other local factors allowing direct access to underlying cells capable of propagating virus is a proposed mechanism for penetrating the outer mucosa. However, infection in the presence of a seemingly undamaged epithelium also occurs. Previous experiments have suggested that primary vaginal epithelial cells can sequester and transmit HIV to activated PBMCs in culture, even though the epithelial cells do not express significant levels of virus receptors6. This indicates that other factors within this subset of cells may interact directly with HIV and facilitate virus transfer to target cells

Method of inhibiting HIV-1 binding to genital epithelia using V3 loop-specific peptides and GP340-specific antibodies

THE TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA


A flat lighting device includes a layer arrangement, anode and cathode contact regions. The layer arrangement includes an anode layer, a cathode layer, and an organic light-emitting layer arranged between the anode and cathode layers, the layer arrangement having a flat shape which is laterally bounded by an edge region. The anode contact regions contact the anode layer and are implemented along the edge region. The cathode contact regions contact the cathode layer and are implemented along the edge region. The flat shape has a rotational invariance toward rotation by discrete angles. The anode and cathode contact regions may be contacted from one side of the flat shape of the layer arrangement and are arranged to be laterally distributed over the edge region such that the lateral distribution of the anode and cathode contact regions is maintained upon rotation of the layer arrangement by the discrete angles.

Novel area lighting elements may be realized on the basis of organic light-emitting diodes. As flat lighting device, which have moderate luminance as compared to conventional LEDs (light-emitting diodes), OLEDs are ideally suited for producing flat diffuse light sources (e.g. lighting panels). These light sources will be applicable in as manifold a manner as the displays which are based on organic light-emitting diodes. Due to the thin-film technology used, it will further become possible in the production of OLEDs to realize flexible lighting devices which will then enable new applications in the illumination of rooms, for example.
Since OLEDs represent current-operated components, an important point in the production of large-area lighting elements is homogeneous current density distribution over large areas. With OLEDs, typically at least one transparent contact is formed, which may comprise, for example, a conductive oxide (TCO, transparent conductive oxide). Alternatively, the transparent contact may also be realized as a transparent metal layer. Due to the low conductivity of the TCO layer, said layers frequently limit the homogeneity of the current density distribution as well as the maximally achievable size of a lighting area.
The standard design of a conventional OLED may be summarized as follows. Indium tin oxide (ITO) having a layer thickness of, e.g., about 100 nm may be used as the transparent conductive oxide, for example, wherein the ITO layer frequently is applied to a glass substrate and may serve as an anode. Subsequently, an organic layer or an organic layer structure, which in some cases may comprise up to seven sub-layers or layers, is applied at a layer thickness of about 100 to 200 nm. Finally, a metallic cathode, which may comprise aluminum, for example, is deposited at a layer thickness of about 100 to 500 nm. With large-area lighting elements, the high-impedance resistance of the ITO layer results in an inhomogeneity of the supply of current. For example, the high-impedance resistance of the ITO layer may comprise, e.g., a value of about 10 to 20 ohm/square measure. One reason for the inhomogeneity is, for example, that often the contacts of the ITO layer are possible only on the edge of the lighting element. Thus, a maximally achievable size with a uniformly luminous OLED is limited to 50×50 mm2, for example.
In order to achieve larger dimensions, for example metal reinforcements may be introduced into the ITO layer in the form of grids. Said metal grids (so-called busbars) reduce the effective layer resistance in accordance with their packing density, and thus enable relatively large diode areas to be realized.
Due to the non-transparency of these metal grids, however, the effective lighting area is reduced accordingly. For this reason, metal grids are practical, for example, only up for to about 25 percent of the ITO area. A useful improvement would be an increase in the grid metal thickness, for example, which, however, is not practical because of the structuring, or patterning, possibilities and the layer thicknesses of the organic layers. Additionally, an ITO layer reinforced by metal is contacted only on the outer edges, which limits the maximum surface area of a lighting element despite the effective reduction in resistance.
Said outer edges may be connected to a distributor plate via spring contacts or similar electrical contacts, for example. Since the total current for the anode and cathode is supplied or drained off via these contacts, the contact should be at least divided into two. In a conventional standard form, two edges (for example in the western and eastern directions) are connected to the anode, and two edges (for example in the northern and southern directions) are connected to the cathode, said directions here being used as designations for the lateral edges when the lighting side of the (e.g. quadrangular) plate is looked upon in a perpendicular manner. This does not result in optimum connections, since the connection resistances are different for the cathode and the anode. In addition, such a conventional arrangement of the contacts is not protected against polarity inversion, since, e.g., rotation of the plate by 90 degrees leads to polarity inversion of the lighting plate. However, in a modification of this contact configuration, only one contact exists in each case on the western or eastern side of the plate.
Due to the limited conductivity of the TCO layer, it is also frequently useful, with conventional lighting areas, to subdivide large lighting areas into individual areas and to lead the contacts into the distributor plate.
For another standard configuration, all contacts are led to one side of the lighting plate. In order to achieve homogenous light distribution in this configuration, a lateral wide contacting line is useful. However, this in turn reduces the lighting area. In addition, all of these conventional connection configurations result in an inhomogeneous supply of current, which leads to increased current densities in various regions (points or lines), and thus reduces the homogeneity of the lighting panel or lighting area, since regions having an increased supply of current have higher luminance, on the one hand. On the other hand, this results in increased wear and tear at the same time, which consequently adversely affects the robustness of the lighting device.
On the basis of this conventional technology, there is thus a need for a flat lighting device which guarantees contacting which is protected against polarity inversion, and which at the same time improves homogeneity of the supply of current.

Flat lighting devices and method of contacting flat lighting devices

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.


A light-emitting device includes a first electrode, a second electrode, and an emissive layer between the first and second electrodes, where the emissive layer comprises quantum dots and oxygen scavenging nanoparticles. The oxygen scavenging nanoparticles comprise at least one of one or more iron based materials, and one or more organic polymer based materials.

A common architecture for a light-emitting device includes an anode, which acts as a hole injector; a hole transport layer disposed on the anode; an emissive material layer disposed on the hole transport layer; an electron transport layer disposed on the emissive material layer; and a cathode, which also acts as an electron injector, disposed on the electron transport layer. When a forward bias is applied between the anode and cathode, holes and electrons are transported in the device through the hole transport layer and electron transport layer, respectively. The holes and electrons recombine in the emissive material layer, which emits light.
When the emissive material layer includes an organic material, the light-emitting device is referred to as an organic light-emitting diode (OLED). When the emissive material layer includes nanoparticles, sometimes known as quantum dots (QDs), the device is commonly called either a quantum dot light-emitting diode (QLED, QD-LED) or an electroluminescent quantum dot light-emitting diode (ELQLED). Quantum dots generally include ligands bound to their outer surface. The ligands allow the quantum dots to be solution processed, and may provide for the passivation of the quantum dot surface to which the ligands are bound.
In order to include QLEDs in multicolor high-resolution displays, different manufacturing methods have been designed. These methods are based on disposing three different types of quantum dots in three different regions of a substrate such that they emit (through electrical injection, i.e., by electroluminescence) at three different colors: red (R), green (G), and blue (B). Sub-pixels that respectively emit red, green, or blue light may collectively form a pixel, which in-turn may be a part of an array of pixels of the display.
Using quantum dots in the emissive layer may offer advantages such as potential for longer operating lifetime, operation at higher current densities, and narrow spectral emission profiles allowing for high color purity. Also, a wide range of different colors may be achieved by controlling the size and composition of the quantum dots. In addition, quantum dots may be solution processed, which is an advantage over vacuum-deposited organic materials. For large scale production of quantum dot based displays to be low cost, it is preferable if fabrication occurs in an ambient environment. This is a challenge as quantum dots are sensitive to oxygen and moisture, and can rapidly degrade in ambient environments. Therefore, there is a need to find a way to fabricate high efficiency QLEDs in an ambient environment without affecting device performance and lifetime, which is what the present invention seeks to address.
United States Patent Application Publication No. U.S. Pat. No. 9,156,940 B2 (Evans et al. published 13 Oct. 2015) is a patent that covers using oxygen scavenging polymers and other plastic polymer compositions to reduce oxygen in an ambient environment as well as being used as a barrier to prevent oxygen ingress. This is typically used in packaging for food but can be used in other applications.
United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2014/0004232 (Foltynowicz et al. published 2 Feb. 2014) details a method of forming iron-boron nanoparticle composites as oxygen scavengers in both solid plastic materials and within solutions. The nanoparticles are able to efficiently remove oxygen from the ambient environment.
International Patent Application Publication No. WO 2018/109671 A1 (Lee et al., published 21 Jun. 2018) describes a method of forming a quantum dot film that is well-protected against oxygen by depositing between two layers consisting of barrier polymers mixed with oxygen scavengers.
European Patent Application Publication No. EP 3,342,841 A1 (Zhao et al., 4 Jul. 2018) details method of forming a semiconductor quantum dot with multiple insulator coatings to protect core from moisture and oxygen.
International Patent Application Publication No. WO 01/10948 A1 (Clauberg et al., 15 Feb. 2001) describes oxygen scavenging organic cations to platelet particles, and can be incorporated into polymer composites to act as a barrier to oxygen as well as reducing atmospheric oxygen.
Moon et al., Stability of Quantum Dots, Quantum Dot Films, and Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diodes for Display Applications, Advanced Materials, 2019, 1804294, is a review paper that gives an overview of the stability of quantum dots in ambient conditions. Suggested improvements to stability in air include altering quantum dot shell thickness, adding an intermediary shell layer, ligand engineering and quantum dot encapsulation.

Oxygen scavenging nanoparticles for air-processed quantum dot light emitting diodes


The present invention provides an information processing device that outputs a machine disposition plan for moving virtual machines while suppressing deterioration in user experience performance in a virtual-machine-type thin client system. The information processing device is provided with: a connection time determination unit that, for each first virtual machine, calculates a time slot coverage rate that is the fraction of a connection time slot covered by a high-load time slot, and determines as a second virtual machine a first virtual machine of which the time slot coverage rate exceeds a minimum coverage rate; and a disposition plan generating unit that, on the basis of time-series data of the amount of resource use of each second virtual machine, calculates the number of physical servers necessary to hold the second virtual machines in each of the high-load time slot and a low-load time slot, and associates the number to the virtual machines, outputting the result.

Various related techniques for reducing the number of operating servers and power consumption are known.
For example, there is a technique for reducing the number of operating servers and power consumption by devising the disposition of virtual machines. This technique includes a static disposition processing technique and a dynamic disposition processing technique. The static disposition processing technique is a technique in which demanded performance for a server is predicted from a past log or the like and a plan for controlling the number of operating servers is previously created. On the other hand, the dynamic disposition processing technique is a technique in which according to a load situation of a server or a system including the server at different times, the number of operating servers is controlled.
PTL 1 discloses a machine operation plan creation device. The machine referred to here is a physical computer or a virtual machine. This virtual machine is a virtual computer obtained by dividing computer resources of one physical computer into a plurality of virtual computers. Further, a physical computer virtual machine assumed to provide some sort of service is also referred to as a physical server. Similarly, a virtual machine assumed to provide some sort of service is also referred to as a virtual server.
The effect of the machine operation plan creation device described in PTL 1 is to create an operation plan so as to reduce the number of operating machines providing a web service in each time slot and also to minimize the operation number of starts and stops of the machines. The web service is a service in which a server returns a certain calculation result to a request from a client in a relatively short time (at least several seconds). The performance of the web service is represented by tps (Transaction Per Second) or the like that is the number of requests (transactions) processable per second.
In general, the performance needed for a certain web service changes with a time slot and has periodicity. Further, the number of requests processable by a certain machine is constant. Therefore, to process a large number of requests, there is used a method for enhancing processing performance by clustering a plurality of machines and distributing (load-dispersing) the requests among these machines. In such a configuration large in size, the number of machines necessary for each time slot varies.
The machine operation plan creation device described in PTL 1 receives a list of the number of machines needed in each time slot and creates an operation plan so as to minimize the number of starts and stops of each machine based on the list. Thereby, the machine operation plan creation device reduces the number of operating machines and power consumption thereof and also reduces trouble of setting changes, a risk of missetting, and the like associated with machine addition (start) and reduction (stop).
PTL 2 discloses a server management device. The server management device described in PTL 2 is a device that manages a plurality of cluster systems for providing a plurality of services.
The server management device described in PTL 2 includes a load information collection unit, a configuration information collection unit, a configuration change determination unit, a configuration change target selection unit, and a configuration change execution unit. The load information collection unit collects load information of a virtual server group configuring the cluster systems. The configuration information collection unit collects information as to which physical servers the virtual servers are allocated, as configuration information. The configuration change determination unit determines whether the number of virtual servers can be reduced from the load information. The configuration change target selection unit selects a physical server allocated with the fewest number of operating virtual servers by referring to the configuration information. The configuration change execution unit stops the virtual servers on the selected physical server. Further, the configuration change target selection unit selects a physical server allocated with the most number of operating virtual servers. Further, the configuration change execution unit starts the virtual servers on the selected physical server.
The server management device having such a configuration produces an effect in which the virtual servers on the physical server allocated with a small number of operating virtual servers are moved (biased) onto another physical server and the physical server allocated with no operating virtual machine is stopped to easily reduce power consumption. This effect is more markedly obtainable by intentionally creating a physical server allocated with a small number of operating virtual servers.
PTL 3 discloses a server migration plan creation system. On the basis of the respective amounts of resource use of source servers and the respective resource capacities of destination servers, the server migration plan creation system described in PTL 3 creates a server migration plan for allocating the destination of the source server to any one of the destination servers. The server migration plan creation system selects the source servers one by one in descending order of the amounts of resource use. Then, the server migration plan creation system selects any one of the destination servers and compares a target use amount that is the amount of resource use of the previously selected source server and a remaining amount of the resource capacity of the selected destination server. Then, when the target use amount is larger than the remaining amount of the resource capacity, the server migration plan creation system selects a destination server other than the already selected destination server and performs the comparison again. Further, when the target use amount is at most the remaining amount of the resource capacity, the server migration plan creation system allocates the selected destination server as the destination of the selected source server.

Virtual machine resource allocation based on connection time coverage exceeding a minimum threshold


An image processing apparatus is operable to embed data into an image. The apparatus comprises a combining processor operable to introduce the data into a transform domain representation providing a plurality of sub-bands divided by spatial frequency components, and, in combination with a transform processor, to combine the data with the image in one of a transform domain form, the transform processor generating a transform domain form of the image, the data being combined with the image by the combining processor in the transform domain, and the transform processor generating a spatial domain representation of the combined image and data, or a spatial domain form of the image, the transform processor generating a spatial domain representation of the transform domain data, the data being combined with the image by the combining processor in the spatial domain. The data is introduce into at least one of the sub-bands in a scan direction, the sub-band representing in the transform domain low spatial frequencies of the image in one direction and high spatial frequencies of the image in another direction, the scan direction being in the same direction in the sub-band as the direction of the low spatial frequencies of the image. Since the low spatial frequencies of the image correspond to the lower energy transform domain components of the image, embedding the data in the same direction as the lower spatial frequencies provides an improved likelihood of correctly detecting the embedded data and correspondingly as a result of the improved detection likelihood, the energy of the embedded data signal can be reduced, thereby reducing any possible visual impairments to the image in the spatial domain.

Steganography is a technical field relating to the embedding of data into material such as video material, audio material and data material in such a way that the data is imperceptible in the material.
Watermarks are data embedded in material such as video material, audio material and data material. A watermark may be imperceptible or perceptible in the material.
A watermark may be used for various purposes. It is known to use watermarks for the purpose of protecting the material against, or trace, infringement of the intellectual property rights of the owner(s) of the material. For example a watermark may identify the owner of the material.
Watermarks may be "robust" in that they are difficult to remove from the material. Robust watermarks are useful to trace the provenance of material which is processed in some way either in an attempt to remove the mark or to effect legitimate processing such as video editing or compression for storage and/or transmission. Watermarks may be "fragile" in that they are easily damaged by processing which is useful to detect attempts to remove the mark or process the material.
Visible watermarks are useful to allow, for example, a customer to view an image via, for example, the Internet to determine whether they wish to buy it but without allowing the customer access to the unmarked image they would buy. The watermark degrades the image and the mark is preferably not removable by the customer. Visible watermarks are also used to determine the provenance of the material into which they are embedded.
It has been proposed to embed data into material information, such as images, to form a watermark, by converting the material into a transform domain and adding the data to the image in the transform domain. For the example of video images, the Discrete Wavelet Transform of these images into the transform domain, provides a form of the image in which the data can be embedded. The data to be embedded can be combined with the wavelet coefficients of one of a plurality of sub-bands which are formed in the transform domain. Generally, the data to be embedded is arranged to modulate a predetermined data sequence such as a Pseudo Random Bit Sequence (PRBS). For example, each bit of the data to be embedded is arranged to modulate a copy of the PRBS, and this copy is then added into one of the sub-bands of the image in the transform domain. The image is then converted back to the spatial domain.
Generally it is desirable in any steganographic scheme to reduce the effect of the embedded data on the material information in which the data is embedded, whilst as far as possible increasing the likelihood of correctly detecting the embedded data. For the example of video images, this represents reducing as far as possible a perceptible degradation of the image, whilst increasing the likelihood of correctly detecting the data.


A commutator for an electronically commutated machine provides a microprocessor-based mechanism for translating discrete samples of machine angular rotor position information, either measured or determined indirectly, into commutation signals. Commutation control is achieved with shaft position information available only at discrete time instants, which are not, in general, the required commutation times. A filter and state observer provide estimates of the mechanical states of the rotating machine, i.e., angular position, velocity and acceleration. In one embodiment, a Kalman filter of variable gain is used for estimating the mechanical states. In another embodiment, a sliding mode observer is used for estimating the mechanical states. In the preferred embodiment, a combination of a sliding mode observer and a steady state Kalman filter is used to obtain the mechanical state estimates; the Kalman filter with small constant gains provides smooth tracking of a steadily rotating machine, while the sliding mode observer provides fast acquisition during transient conditions.

Phase current commutation in electric motors is typically accomplished by feeding back a rotor position signal to a controller from a shaft angle transducer, e.g. an encoder or a resolver. To improve reliability and to reduce size, weight, inertia and cost in electric motor drives, however, it is desirable to eliminate the shaft angle transducer. In a switched reluctance motor drive, for example, methods for indirectly determining rotor position without using a shaft angle transducer have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,190 of J. P. Lyons and S. R. MacMinn, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,195 of J. P. Lyons, M. A. Preston and S. R. MacMinn, both assigned to the instant assignee. Measurements from indirect rotor position sensors may be noisy and, in general, are not continuously available. In particular, measurements are available only at discrete instants in time as dictated by microprocessor sampling and calculation requirements which will not, in general, coincide with the desired commutation times for the electric machine. Therefore, it is necessary to process and translate such noisy position measurements into reliable phase current commutation times occurring at the appropriate instants.

Microprocessor-based commutator for electronically commutated motors


A metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) in and on a semiconductor surface provides a drift region of a first conductivity type. A plurality of active area trenches in the drift region, and first and second termination trenches are each parallel to and together sandwiching the active area trenches. The active area trenches and termination trenches include a trench dielectric liner and electrically conductive filler material filled field plates. A gate is over the drain drift region between active area trenches. A body region of a second conductivity abuts the active region trenches. A source of the first conductivity type is in the body region on opposing sides of the gate. A vertical drain drift region uses the drift region below the body region. A first and second curved trench feature couples the field plate of the first and second termination trench to field plates of active area trenches.

Some MOSFETS include vertical trenchFETs having polysilicon filled gate trenches in an active region and a polysilicon filled termination trench which surrounds the active region. A topside contact on the termination trench allows a metal connector to be used to connect the termination trench to one of the polysilicon filled trenches in the active region so that the termination trench is biased (e.g., grounded). Additional doping under the termination trench is known to further reduce termination trench leakage.
Other MOSFET designs instead of using the polysilicon filled trenches as gate trenches, use the polysilicon filled trenches as field plates and provide a substantially planar FET structure, where the trench polysilicon is connected to source in the case of NMOS, not connected to the gate electrode as in vertical trenchFET. For example, these MOSFETs have a gate structure and a vertical drain drift region between polysilicon filled trenches configured to act as field plates sometimes referred to as "RESURF trenches". For purposes of this patent application, the term "RESURF" is understood to refer to a material which reduces an electric field in an adjacent semiconductor region. A RESURF region may be for example a semiconductor region with an opposite conductivity type from the adjacent semiconductor region. RESURF structures are described in Appels, et.al., "Thin Layer High Voltage Devices" Philips J, Res. 35 1-13, 1980.
The RESURF trenches contain a dielectric liner and are generally filled with doped polysilicon. In the active region for n-channel MOSFETs the RESURF trenches (hereafter "active area trenches") are polysilicon field plates which are electrically coupled to a source electrode. In the case of a n-channel MOSFET, there is a p-body region within an n-drift region on a substrate, where n-type dopants are in the source regions formed in the p-body region. The drain for the MOSFET can be a vertical drain drift region that uses the entire n-drift region below the p-body region, that has a drain contact on the bottom of the substrate, which can be an n+ substrate.
A contact metal stack makes electrical contact with a source region at lateral sides of the contact structure, makes electrical contact with a p-body contact region at a bottom surface of contact structure, and makes electrical contact to the polysilicon field plates in the active area trenches at the bottom surface of the contact structure. Another RESURF trench which is referred to as a "termination trench" is at a perimeter around the active area trenches.

MOSFET with curved trench feature coupling termination trench to active trench


The present invention relates to a method of a repeater receiving the downlink control information through an R-PDCCH from a base station according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises the steps of: determining a candidate location on which an R-PDCCH is transmitted at first and second slots of a downlink sub-frame; monitoring whether the R-PDCCH is transmitted on the determined candidate location; and receiving the downlink control information included in the R-PDCCH when the transmission of the R-PDCCH is monitored, wherein the R-PDCCH candidate location is set as a VRB set including VRBs of N number and a candidate location of one R-PDCCH for a high combination level can be composed of a combination of two adjacent candidate locations of the R-PDCCH candidate locations for a low combination level.

FIG. 1 illustrates a relay node (RN) 120 and User Equipments (UEs) 131 and 132 that are present in an area of a single base station or eNode B (eNB) 110 in a wireless communication system 100. The RN 120 may deliver data received from the eNodeB 110 to the UE 132 in the area of the RN 120 and deliver data received from the UE 132 in the area of the RN 120 to the eNodeB 110. In addition, the RN 120 may support extension of a high data rate area, an increase in the communication quality of a cell edge, and provision of communication to an area outside a service area of the eNodeB or the inside of a building. FIG. 1 illustrates that a UE such as the UE 131 which receives a service directly from the eNodeB (hereinafter referred to as a Macro-UE or M-UE) or a UE such as the UE 132 which receives a service from the RN 120 (hereinafter referred to as a Relay-UE or R-UE).
A radio link between an eNodeB and an RN is referred to as a backhaul link. A link from an eNodeB to an RN is referred to as a backhaul downlink and a link from an RN to an eNodeB is referred to as a backhaul uplink. A radio link between an RN and a UE is referred to as an access link. A link from an RN to a UE is referred to as an access downlink and a link from a UE to an RN is referred to as an access uplink.

Method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving downlink control information for repeater


Torque control capability is provided to a position controlled robot by calculating joint position inputs from transformation of the desired joint torques. This is based on calculating the transfer function 1/E(s), which relates the desired joint torque to joint position. Here E(s) is a servo transfer function D(s) or an effective servo transfer function D*(s). The use of an effective servo transfer function D*s) is helpful in cases where joint nonlinearities are significant. The effective servo transfer function D*(s) is defined with respect to an ideal joint transfer function G*(s)=1/(Ieffs2+beffs), where Ieff is an effective moment of inertia and beff is an effective damping coefficient.

Robots are multi-body systems whose dynamics is nonlinear and highly coupled. Robotic control is most frequently accomplished with a position control system. This position control is realized at the joint level, where each joint is treated independently and coupled dynamic effects between joints are ignored. A typical position controller at each joint is implemented using PID control with high gains. Since this position controller cannot account for the dynamics of the system, the dynamic coupling effects are treated as a disturbance. This limits the performance that can be achieved by the system in the case of high speed precise trajectory tracking and compliant motion.
One approach for addressing this problem is to provide a torque controlled robot. The input torques for this system can be designed to accomplish the robot desired task as well as to compensate for nonlinear dynamic coupling of the system. This provides the robot with higher performance in position tracking as well as in compliant motion. Although torque controlled robots are preferred to achieve high performance control, most robots have embedded position control.
Since providing direct torque control for robots tends to be difficult, methods to improve the performance of position controlled robots have been investigated. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,834,917 considers a robot having a disturbance detector which detects a disturbance torque, where the disturbance torque is used to correct a position input. U.S. Pat. No. 5,742,138 considers a method for "floating" a robot by compensating for static external forces (e.g., gravity). Improved control of a position controlled robot is also considered in US 2004/0128030.
It would be an advance in the art to provide improved control of position controlled robots to more closely approach the desirable performance provided by closed loop control of both position and torque. In particular, it would be an advance to provide dynamic (i.e., time varying) torque control of a position-controlled robot.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Torque-position transformer for task control of position controlled robots

The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University