Errors in regard to toner materials which may or may not correspond to toner materials installed in a developer unit of a print engine are avoided by providing storage of data concerning the toner in the printer rather than the dedicated processor. A feedback link is thus developed which extends from the developer unit or print engine through the dedicated processor to the supporting processors. Confidence levels in the correspondence of the information and the installed toner are increased by use of a simple switch position associated with the location of a developer unit. The feedback arrangement for avoidance of printing errors is also fully compatible with a customer changeable developer feature while allowing the printer to be operated in accordance with operating parameters specific to a special purpose toner such as MICR or a color toner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to computer controlled printers and, more particularly, to printers which are capable of printing with different toners.
2. Description of the Prior Art
While many arrangements for printing of indicia on various sheet materials such as paper have been known for many years, the development and widespread use of the computer (and, possibly, personal computers, in particular) has led to many recent advances in printers which enhance image quality, provide high throughput and/or provide additional or a broadened range of capabilities. Thus, at the present time, computer controlled printers are used not only for generation of documents and correspondence but also for publication and even manufacture of items which involve production of a persistent image.
Many such items (e.g. the forms used for personal checks and other financial and business instruments) are processed by machine after or during use and must be standardized with high accuracy while being printed on a material that may include security features which increase material expense using a material that can be reliably sensed by the machine. Similar concerns may be present to greater or lesser degrees in regard to many other manufactured items that may be produced by printing processes, particularly since the development of techniques for digital representation of images at high resolution with more readily manageable amounts of data.
Computer controlled printers are generally designed for the broadest possible range of applications. Therefore, such printers are generally compatible with many different inks or toners, generally provided in developer units (generally in the form of a cartridge or wheeled cart (depending on the size and capacity of the printer) for loading toner into and unloading toner from a print engine, and many different types of materials on which printing is to be performed. For this reason, it is not practical to provide different toners in developer units which are not physically interchangeable.
However, particular qualities desired in the printed product may require specific toners and/or materials. As a particularly familiar example, while the dimensions of 8½″×11″ and so-called A4 paper are somewhat similar, they differ sufficiently to make differences in formatting of text and/or graphics desirable. Therefore, most word processor applications provide codes associated with a given document indicating the chosen paper size and will communicate with connected printers to ascertain the paper size available and correspondence with document format before printing of the document is permitted.
Unfortunately, some applications of computer controlled printers are far more critical and much less readily monitored In the case of photographic images, color toners and inks must be of an appropriate density and opacity and be distributed in the correct quantity in order to render shades of color accurately or in the desired manner. If the application of toner or ink is not correct in quantity or proportion between all primary colors and black, very objectionable distortion of the color gamut results while consuming expensive, high-quality paper stock often having an expensive finish applied simulating photographic papers. (Such distortions are sufficiently evident and objectionable that many high-quality printers provide for adjustment of printing control parameters based on the number of copies made after each replenishment of toner.) High speed printers can consume large quantities of such expensive printing stock before a color error due to incorrect toner or printer control parameter is discovered.
An even more critical example is the case of check forms, alluded to above, which require a toner, referred to as MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition), having specific magnetic properties in order to be later processed by specialized machinery at the high speed. Such automation of processing is made necessary by high volume of daily current usage of such forms. The stock on which such forms are generally printed normally includes security features to protect against modification attempting to alter the monetary value thereof. Thus, if a MICR or other required toner is not used when required to develop certain required properties of the printed indicia, the printed article may be unusable and worthless while a potentially large quantity of expensive stock has also been consumed. Conversely, if the correct toner is used on improper stock, potentially usable documents which are particularly susceptible to fraudulent modification may be produced.
Unfortunately, neither the nature of the toner nor the nature of the stock on which printing is to be performed is readily detectable by the printer unless very expensive and sophisticated sensors (e.g. density sensors or page readers), intended to respond to relatively subtle differences in materials (and which may also be susceptible to errors and result in effective inoperability of the printer for that reason) are employed. Such a possibility is in marked distinction to the simplicity and reliability of sensing paper size alluded to above.
It should also be appreciated that printers used in such high precision printing operations are often quite expensive and high throughput levels must be maintained. Further, it is common for some indicia to be changed for each document printed such as check or form numbers so that each document can be uniquely identified. Therefore, the information input rate to the printer must be very high and may be derived from several data processors. For this reason, printers in such applications will often be provided with a dedicated processor for management of the routing of print jobs to various printers that may be grouped together (e.g. with different combinations of toner and printing stock provided by each individual printer) or print engines in a unitary printer. Such a dedicated processor is referred to as an advanced function common control unit (AFCCU).
Since a plurality of printers and/or print engines could be controlled by a single AFCCU, for convenience, the particular toner provided by a connected printer or print engine has been set in hardware such as by the setting of a print engine operating point table in non-volatile memory internal to the AFCCU. The print engine operating point table is specific to each toner that can be used in a particular printer and contains data that alters operating parameters as copies are made to provide compensation of operating points of the printer and thus maintain consistent print quality as well as containing coded information identifying the toner loaded in the printer. This storage arrangement is hardware efficient since the same operating point table can supply compensation data for multiple printers but increases the amount of data which must be sent to a given printer unless stored in the printer, as is often preferred.
Therefore, the AFCCU would prevent forwarding of a print job which specified a particular toner where the memory code indicated that the specified toner was not provided. The print engine operating point table in memory is generally set by a customer engineer (CE) at the time a particular connected printer was dedicated to the use of a particular toner such as MICR.
However, if the CE failed to set the memory, the AFCCU would not be able to discern that such a dedicated printer having a specified toner was connected and a print job specifying a toner to which the printer was dedicated would not be forwarded to it. Conversely, since printers and print engines can accept a variety of toners there is no convenient way for a change of toner to be communicated from a printer to its controlling processor or even the AFCCU. Perhaps more importantly, the AFCCU only recognizes and controls printers at the level of its own ports and any disconnection and erroneous reconnection of printers, even when the toners to which the respective printers or print engines are dedicated are supplied, may result in print jobs being sent to printers and printed using materials other than those specified or being blocked from transmission to printers even when the specified materials are, in fact, available therein.
Additionally, to support high throughput levels while minimizing operating costs of a printer, it is desirable that routine maintenance such as replenishment of toner can be performed by the operator of the printer (e.g. the customer of the manufacturer of the printer) and that the need for service by a CE (generally an employee of the manufacturer of the printer) be minimized, although it may be preferred that dedication of a printer or print engine to specialized toners such as MICR or color toner be performed by a CE.
It is similarly desirable that the operator be able to change types of toners which are not of the special purpose type without need for intervention by a CE so that the full versatility of the printer can be used with minimal added expense and down time. Such provisions are known but are not consistent with special type toners that may require distinct printer control parameters and also lead to errors in printing jobs that may specify particular toners, as alluded to above or even preclude any protection against use of the incorrect toner. Unfortunately, the system architecture including an AFCCU and the need for resetting of associated printer control parameters upon change (or replenishment) of special type toner has not permitted such service to be performed by the customer/operator consistent with the possible use of special type toners.
In summary, practical considerations at the present state of the art has made the set up and maintenance of high performance printers very counter-intuitive, inconvenient and susceptible to costly errors and waste of valuable materials, particularly for the user who must endure down-time and service expense of a CE when toner is to be changed in a printer or when printers must be disconnected from and reconnected to an AFCCU or any other difficulty encountered. Further, the conventional arrangements in regard to printers at the present state of the art do not lead to a high confidence level that print jobs are executed properly and with the proper materials even when the system appears fully functional and operational.

Closed loop feedback system for alternative toners

International Business Machines Corporation


A golf club head includes a face insert that comprises an insert core made of a relatively hard (high durometer) durable polymer material that is surrounded on at least its rear and side surfaces by an insert shell made of a second softer (lower durometer) polymer material. The insert shell allows the harder insert core to “float” within a cavity in the club head while being surrounded on all sides by the softer insert shell. This arrangement of the insert core and the insert shell thus provides the advantages of a durable impact surface for desirable acoustic feedback while at the same time resulting in desirable feel due to the softer insert shell surrounding the harder insert core.

This invention relates generally to golf equipment and, in particular, to a golf club head having a face insert.
It is generally accepted among golfers that the tactile feedback to the golfer's hands (the "feel" of a club) is improved for many clubs by the incorporation of a properly engineered polymer insert in the striking face of the club. Softer polymers produce a desirable soft feel but generally suffer from poor durability. Harder polymers have good durability and produce a more pleasing acoustic feedback but lack the soft feel of the less durable soft polymers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,871 to Fisher ("the '871 patent") discloses a golf putter head in which the striking face is formed by a laminate consisting of a plurality of pads that provide different hardnesses to suit different strokes of different golfers. The laminates are bonded together by adhesive layers and, therefore, the vibration dampening characteristics of the laminates are degraded by the intervening adhesive layers. Additionally, the laminate forming the striking face is in direct contact with the metal club head and, therefore, not fully isolated from the metal club head.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,238,302 to Helmstetter, et al. ("the '302 patent") discloses a golf club head with a polymer face insert. The face insert is disposed in a cavity formed in the club head face. The insert has a plurality of tabs formed on its perimeter edge that engage the walls of the cavity to center the insert in the cavity. The insert is installed by bonding it to the club head using an adhesive disposed in the cavity. During assembly, as the insert is placed in the cavity, the tabs permit air and any excessive adhesive to escape the cavity through the gaps through the tabs, thereby promoting a good structural bond between the insert and the golf club head. The insert is formed of a single polymer and, therefore, the material choice must necessarily be a compromise between a harder material with greater durability and a softer material with a better feel. U.S. Pat. No. 6,729,972 to Boord ("the '972 patent") discloses a putter having a face insert formed of at least two laminates. The outer laminate is transparent so as to reveal indicia printed on the immediately underlying laminate. As with the '871 patent, the laminate forming the striking surface is in direct contact with the metal club head along its perimeter surface and, therefore, is not fully isolated from the club head body.

Golf club head with dual durometer face insert


A method for increasing speed in virtual 3D application is applied to a game console, which includes a processor and is used for outputting scan lines of a frame. The method includes the steps of: providing registers corresponding to the scan lines; and interrupting the processor in a vertical blank period. The step of interrupting includes: calculating 3D operating parameters corresponding to the scan lines according to an operation provided to the game console by a user; storing the 3D operating parameters into the registers; and calculating outputted scan lines according to the scan lines and the corresponding 3D operating parameters. Since the registers respectively corresponding to the scan lines are provided, the number of times of interrupting the processor can be decreased and the efficiency can be greatly increased.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to image processing technology, and more particularly to a method for increasing speed in virtual 3D application.
2. Related Art
Recently, the technology is advanced. So, a conventional game console having a flat image display is gradually replaced with another game console with 3D image processing. FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration showing a concept of simple 3D image processing applied to a conventional game console. As shown in FIG. 1, a tile 11 on the floor in a lower portion of a frame 101 is larger than a tile 12 in an upper portion of the frame 101 so that the distance difference can be seen from the drawing. Correspondingly, a user (player) can imagine that he or she stands on the floor at the lower portion of the frame and looks forwards. Basically, the concept of this virtual 3D image processing is to achieve the effect of simulating the floor in the 3D space according to the two-dimensional (2D) plane by adjusting the scaling ratio of each scan line.
FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration showing calculations of the 3D image processing of FIG. 1 in the conventional game console. As shown in FIG. 2, before a first scan line S1 is outputted, an interrupt instruction is sent to a processor in the game console so that the processor starts to calculate a scaling parameter and a rotating parameter corresponding to the first scan line S1 and stores the scaling parameter and the rotating parameter into a share register 20. Next, after the first scan line S1 is outputted, a horizontal blanking period H-Blank is entered, the interrupt instruction has to be outputted again so that the scaling parameter and the rotating parameter corresponding to a second scan line S2 can be calculated and stored to the share register 20 to overwrite the scaling parameter and the rotating parameter originally stored in the share register 20. The processes are repeated until the frame is completed calculated. In brief, all the scan lines share the same scaling register and the parameters stored in the scaling register are updated after each scan line ends in this method.
However, the calculation is made according to 262 scan lines refreshed 60 times per second in a standard television. So, the number of times of interrupting the internal processor is equal to 60×262=15720. The virtual 3D technology is usually used in a portable game console, which has the processor and the power consumption that are restricted. Thus, when the process is interrupted too frequently and the interrupt delay of the system is too long, the delay of the game may occur. In addition, the processor, which is often in the busy state, causes the too-high power consumption so that the lifetime of the battery is shortened.

Method for increasing speed in virtual three dimensional application


Novel unsaturated ether derivatives of alkyl piperidine and pyrrolidine compounds, pharmaceutical compositions containing them, methods of preparation and methods of using these compounds as antipsychotic agents are disclosed.

Traditional antipsychotic agents such as phenothiazines, e.g., chlorpromazine, and most butyrophenones, e.g., haloperidol, are potent dopamine receptor antagonists which produce a number of undesirable and irreversible side effects such as Parkinson-like motor effects or extra-pyramidal side-effects (EPS), and dyskinesias including tardive dyskinesias at high doses.
JA 065641, Abstract, Aug. 26, 1971 describes propenylamine derivatives useful as antipsychotic, analgesic, antihypertensive and antiinflammatory agents.
JA 061710, Abstract, Aug. 6, 1969, describes 4-amino-2-butynyloxy beta-nitro-styrenes useful as antitumor agents which can be prepared from 2-propionyl-beta-nitro-styrenes.

Ether derivatives of alkyl piperidines and pyrrolidines as antipsychotic agents


A hydrocarbon trap comprises an Ag-zeolite which is heated by a unique steaming regimen.

The treatment of internal combustion engine exhaust to convert noxious components such as hydrocarbons ("HC"), carbon monoxide ("CO") and nitrogen oxide ("NOx") to innocuous components (water, carbon dioxide and nitrogen) is, of course, well known in the art. Such conversion is attained by contacting the engine exhaust with one or more catalysts, usually comprising an oxidation catalyst and a reduction catalyst, or a so-called three-way conversion catalyst, which has the capability of substantially simultaneously oxidizing HC and CO to water and carbon dioxide, and reducing NOx to nitrogen. Such catalysts often comprise a platinum group metal such as platinum, platinum plus rhodium or palladium dispersed on a refractory inorganic oxide support such as gamma alumina.
A persistent problem in meeting ever more stringent government regulations concerning the discharge of pollutants from engine exhaust is the fact that catalysts, especially oxidation catalysts, require an elevated temperature, usually above 200 or 250° C., in order to attain reasonably high conversion efficiencies. Therefore, during an initial start or other period of engine operation while the engine is cold, referred to as a "cold operation period", conversion of pollutants, especially hydrocarbons, is carried out with a low efficiency, if at all. Thus, a very substantial proportion of the total oxidizable pollutants, largely comprising hydrocarbons, discharged to the atmosphere during a given period of operation, is discharged during the cold operation period. In order to ameliorate this problem, the art is aware of the expedient of using, in conjunction with the catalyst, a hydrocarbon trap material, such as certain zeolites, which will adsorb hydrocarbons at a low temperature at which the oxidation catalyst is relatively ineffective, and desorb the hydrocarbons only at a more elevated temperature, at which conversion efficiency of the oxidation catalyst is higher than during the cold operation period.
One difficulty with such prior art expedients is that such zeolite materials tend to begin desorbing hydrocarbons, and thus releasing the hydrocarbon to the catalyst, before the catalyst is hot enough to attain acceptably high conversion efficiencies. That is, the prior art inclusion of zeolites, while improving the situation by adsorbing hydrocarbons for a period, commence the desorption too soon after the cold operation period, thereby releasing the hydrocarbons before the catalyst is sufficiently heated, so that only a limited benefit is attained. It would therefore be desirable to have a composition which adsorbs or otherwise traps and retains the hydrocarbons and does not release the hydrocarbons until release temperatures higher than those heretofore attainable are reached by the catalyst used to oxidize the hydrocarbons.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,171,556, issued Jan. 9, 2001 teaches a method of treating an engine exhaust gas stream containing hydrocarbons and other pollutants at least during a cold-start period of operation. The invention therein provides that the adsorbent material may comprise a molecular sieve material, for example, a molecular sieve material selected from the group consisting of faujasite, chabazite, silicalite, zeolite X, zeolite Y, ultrastable zeolite Y, offretite, and Beta zeolites. In particular, ion-exchanged Beta zeolites may be used, such as Fe/Beta zeolite, or preferably, H/Beta zeolite. The zeolites, preferably Beta zeolites may have a silica/alumina molar ratio of from at least about 25/1, with useful ranges of from about 25/1 to 1000/1. U.S. Pat. No. 6,171,556 is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Preferred zeolites, as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,171,556 include ZSM, Y and Beta zeolites, with Beta zeolites particularly preferred. Most preferably, the adsorbent material is a zeolite that has been treated to remove Bronsted acid sites from the zeolite and has a relative Bronsted acidity, of less than 1.0, preferably less than 0.5. This can be accomplished by leaching the zeolite with an organic or inorganic acid. The zeolite alternatively or additionally can be treated with steam at from 350 to 900° C. with the steam temperature increasing at from 100 to 600° C. degrees per hour. Steam treatment has been found to reduce the relative Bronsted acidity, and result in an increase in the durability of the zeolite when used in hydrocarbon adsorption applications in exhaust gas streams. It has been found that by using such zeolites, the formation of coke during engine testing has been significantly reduced. The material disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,171,556 has been found to effectively adsorb large hydrocarbon molecules, e.g. ≧C4.
Another difficulty with prior art expedients in which the zeolites are ion-exchanged with cations such as silver, copper or other metals, is the perceived need to segregate catalytic components, such as platinum group metals dispersed on an inorganic oxide support material, from metal ions such as silver, which are ion-exchanged or otherwise dispersed on the zeolite particles. This requires additional manufacturing steps and segregated operations in which impregnation of the oxide supports with catalytic metals such as platinum, or platinum and rhodium, is segregated from operations in which metal cations are ion-exchanged into the zeolites. The ion-exchanged zeolite particles and the separately prepared platinum group metal-impregnated support material particles are then admixed with each other, or disposed on separate portions of a substrate, in order to provide the finished hydrocarbon trap/catalyst material.
In commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,074,973, issued Jun. 13, 2000, there is disclosed a catalyzed hydrocarbon trap material in which silver and palladium are both dispersed onto zeolite particles and onto refractory metal oxide particles. In one embodiment of the invention, the major portion of the silver is dispersed onto the zeolite particles and the major portion of the palladium is dispersed onto the refractory metal oxide particles, with only a minor portion of the silver dispersed onto the metal oxide particles and only a minor portion of the palladium dispersed onto the zeolite particles. The catalyzed hydrocarbon trap material of the invention is made by a method in which the refractory metal oxide particles and the zeolite particles, together with a soluble palladium component and a soluble silver component dispersed or dissolved together in water, are all combined to effectuate the impregnation of the palladium and silver components into the zeolite and metal oxide particles. The resulting slurry may then be deposited on a suitable substrate, such as a honeycomb-type substrate, and fired at an elevated temperature to provide the catalyzed hydrocarbon trap material. It has been found that Ag-ZSM-5 materials formed by the process described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,074,973 can adsorb small hydrocarbon molecules. The entire content of U.S. Pat. No. 6,074,973 is herein incorporated by reference.
In accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 6,074,973 there is provided a method of making a catalyzed hydrocarbon trap material comprising the following steps. Water, a water-soluble silver component, a water-soluble palladium component, particulate refractory inorganic oxide solids, and particulate zeolite solids having a Si to Al atomic ratio of at least 10 and a pore aperture diameter of at least 4 Angstroms are combined to form an aqueous slurry of the solids. The zeolites may comprise one or more of ZSM-5, Beta, Y, MCM-22 and EU-1 zeolites, e.g., one or more of ZSM-5, Beta and Y zeolites. In any case, the resulting slurry is maintained for a time sufficient to disperse at least some of the palladium component and at least some of the silver component onto each of the inorganic oxide solids and the zeolite solids. Optionally, the loading of the palladium component may be greater on the inorganic oxide solids than on the zeolite solids, and the loading of the silver component may be greater on the zeolite solids than on the inorganic oxide solids. The slurry is then dewatered to provide dewatered solids, and the dewatered solids are heated, e.g., in air at a temperature of at least about 500° C. for at least the time required to decompose the counter ions, i.e., the anions such as nitrate or acetate ions, of the metal salts used in the preparation, and to provide the catalyzed hydrocarbon trap material as a dried mixture of solids.
NGK Insulators' Japanese patent document (Kokai) 8-10566 (1996) was published on Jan. 16, 1996 based on Japanese Patent Application 6-153650, filed on Jul. 5, 1994 and entitled "A Catalyst-Adsorbent For Purification Of Exhaust Gases And An Exhaust Gas Purification Method." The Abstract of this document, below referred to as "the '650 Application", discloses a catalyst-adsorbent in which a catalyst material effective for decreasing CO, HC and NOx in internal combustion engine exhaust is combined with an adsorbent material that traps hydrocarbon during cold discharge start-ups. The adsorbent material of the '650 Application is comprised of particles of primarily zeolite, preferably zeolite having a silica-to-alumina ratio of 40 or more; these include ZSM-5 and Beta zeolites. The zeolite adsorbent may optionally have metal ions dispersed therein, the presence of ions of high electro-negativity being said to increase the HC adsorptive capacity. Such ions include silver, palladium, platinum, gold, nickel, copper, zinc, cobalt, iron, manganese, vanadium, titanium, and aluminum. The '650 Application discloses that metal cations may be applied to the zeolite by either ion exchange or immersion methods. The presence in the zeolite of at least one ion of elements of Group IB of the Periodic Table (copper, silver, gold) is said in the '650 Application to manifest a high adsorptive capacity for hydrocarbons even in the presence of water. Copper and silver are stated to be preferable and silver ions, which are specified in some of the examples of the '650 Application, exchanged into the zeolite are said to be particularly desirable for adsorbing HC at higher temperatures. It is stated that the ion content of the zeolite should be greater than 20%, and preferably greater than 40%, relative to the aluminum atoms in the zeolite. Example 95 of the '650 Application shows palladium on ceria-stabilized alumina in a first coating layer and silver- and copper-exchanged ZSM-5 in a second coating layer. Table 6 shows ZSM-5 zeolites exchanged only with silver. The '650 Application discloses that in order to improve low-temperature ignition characteristics to the maximum, it is desirable to form a palladium surface coat layer in which palladium is the only noble metal carried on the particles. The '650 Application further discloses the desirability of forming a first coating on a substrate comprised of the adsorbent zeolite material, over which a second coating comprised of a catalyst material containing only palladium catalyst particles is placed. This is stated to provide excellent durability and low-temperature ignition characteristics of the catalyzed trap material.
Development of a hydrocarbon trap for trapping small hydrocarbon molecules is a challenge. Over the years, many materials have been tested for use as hydrocarbon traps for cold start applications. The materials have to be water-resistant, hydrothermally stable and have the right temperature range for adsorption and desorption of hydrocarbons.

Hydrothermally stable Ag-zeolite traps for small olefin hydrocarbon molecules


A method for using a single pin to support both power input and power control functions for an integrated circuit, wherein the integrated circuit is in communication with a system. The method includes receiving at the pin a power input signal from the system, generating a power control signal based on the power input signal through a control signal generating circuit, and sending the power control signal to the integrated circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to power control for electrical circuits, and more specifically to power control for electrical circuit through reduced pin count.
2. Description of the Related Art
A power supply voltage delivered to a circuit generally determines the standard digital threshold level of the circuit (also known as the voltage standard of the circuit), and the digital threshold level of input signals should be consistent with the digital threshold level of the circuit. When an integrated circuit (IC) is coupled to a system, it has several inputs, which may include data inputs (digital inputs) from the system, a power supply, and a power control signal from the system that enables or disables the IC. Usually, the voltage standards for the IC and for the system can be different from each other. For example, the voltage standard of the system may be 1.5V, or 1.8V, while the power supply voltage to the IC may be 3.3V or 5.0V. Consequently, the IC may not be able to receive digital inputs from the system directly because of the voltage difference. It may require a conversion to adjust the voltage of the digital inputs to meet the voltage standards of the IC.
Additionally, the IC may also requires a power input signal from the system to power the digital inputs, because the power supply voltage that powers the digital inputs should be consistent with the voltage standard of the digital inputs. Therefore, the IC should have a power input pin that receives the power input signal from the system to power the digital inputs. As previously stated, the IC may also receive a power control signal from the system that instructs the IC when to power on or power down. Traditionally, an additional pin is employed by the IC to receive the power control signal. However, given the facts that the power input signal and power control signal both are generally from the same system and that it is not necessary for the IC to be powered when the system is powered off, it is desirable to have a single pin for power input and power control. As a result, the reduced pin count will advantageously reduce the power consumption and the cost. Thus, it is to such an apparatus and method that enables a single pin to support both the power input function and the power control function the present invention is primarily directed.

Single pin for multiple functional control purposes


The present invention provides new amorphous or partially crystalline mixed anion chalcogenide compounds for use in proton exchange membranes which are able to operate over a wide variety of temperature ranges, including in the intermediate temperature range of about 100 ° C. to 300° C., and new uses for crystalline mixed anion chalcogenide compounds in such proton exchange membranes. In one embodiment, the proton conductivity of the compounds is between about 10−8 S/cm and 10−1 S/cm within a temperature range of between about −60 and 300° C. and a relative humidity of less than about 12%.

Hydrogen-based fuel cells are becoming increasingly popular as an alternative to crude oil-based internal combustion engines. Specifically, hydrogen can be converted to electricity through the use of a hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell. The by-product of this type of a fuel cell is water, making this a "green" or environmentally-friendly technology. At the heart of the fuel cell is the proton exchange membrane (PEM), which transports protons from the anode to the cathode while providing electronic insulation between them. There are many types of electrolyte materials, each with specific limitations. Generally, such materials either have too low a proton mobility or don't operate in the intermediate temperature range (100 to 300° C.) to be useful for intermediate-temperature fuel cells.
Some of the most popular electrolyte materials are polymer exchange membranes, phosphoric acid membranes, and solid oxide membranes. Polymer exchange membranes, or more specifically solid organic polymer poly-perfluorosulfonic acids such as Nafion®, require hydration to maintain high proton conductivity. However, this limits their operation to temperatures below 100° C., thus requiring the use of expensive noble metal catalysts such as platinum. These electrolytes also suffer from fuel cross-over due to their porous hydrated nature. Phosphoric acid membranes are typically operated from 150° C. to 200° C. Since these membranes are liquid electrolytes, they suffer from membrane leakage and fuel cross-over problems. They also require the use of expensive platinum catalysts. Solid oxide membranes are typically operated between 700° C. to 1000° C., a temperature range in which the use of platinum as an electrode material can be reduced. Additionally, this temperature range is used to achieve the desired oxide anion conductivity. Since, these membranes are solid in nature, they do not suffer from fuel cross-over problems. However, there remains a temperature region between about 100° C. and 300° C. for which no one membrane currently available can provide optimum performance.
Thus, what is needed are materials and compounds for use in proton exchange membranes which are able to operate in a wide variety of temperature ranges, including in the intermediate temperature range of between about 100° C. to 300° C.

Mixed anion materials and compounds for novel proton conducting membranes

Iowa State University Research Foundation, Inc.


The invention relates to a technology by which antibodies directed to sources of infection in body fluids can be assayed with high accuracy, expediency and specificity. More particularly, the invention provides an antibody immunoassay method in which the antigen-antibody reaction between a target antibody in a sample and an assay antigen is conducted in the presence of an E. coli component and an antibody assay method which comprises using a reagent having a specific affinity for the Fc region of an antibody IgG as the antibody assay reagent. The invention further provides an antibody assay device comprising a solid-phase support having at least (a) a first region to which a sample is applied and (b) a second region where the antibody in the sample is reacted as disposed in such an arrangement that the sample is wicked from the first region to the second region and a labeling means for detection of the result of the reaction in the second region, characterized in that the (b) second region is provided with (i) a test site in which a ligand for capturing the target antibody to be assayed is immobilized and (ii) a control site in which a ligand for capturing an arbitrary antibody occurring in the sample is immobilized.

Detection of antibodies specific to various sources of infection (pathogens) such as bacteria and viruses, which may occur in body fluids, is a useful indirect means for the diagnosis of an infection. Therefore, immunological assay techniques and devices designed to detect an antibody by utilizing a pathogen or a component of the pathogen as an assay antigen have heretofore been used in a broad field of diagnosis.
Such an immunoassay method using a pathogen or a component thereof as an assay antigen is advantageous in that the necessary assay system can be easily established but is not fully satisfactory in sensitivity and specificity, thus leaving room for improvement.
As an immunoassay device for use in such immunological assays, there can be mentioned a strip of porous material on which a binding assay (antigen-antibody reaction) is carried out. An assay device of this type takes advantage of the capillary property of a porous substrate, that is to say a body fluid applied to one end of a porous strip migrates toward the other end. Thus, when a test sample (liquid) containing a substance to be assayed is applied to one end of the strip carrying various reagents disposed successively in strategical positions, the sample migrates by capillary action along the strip and encounters those reagents in said positions in succession to undergo reactions. The existence of the substance to be assayed can be confirmed and its amount be determined by detecting a signal from the detectable label included in the ligand-receptor coupling system.
The immunoassay technique utilizing the above principle is often called immunocapillary assay or imunochromatographic assay, and has been described in WO No.87/02774, EP No.0306772 and other publications. As to modifications of the technique, the inventions described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication NO.63865/1989, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication NO.299464/1989 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication NO.167497/1994 can be mentioned.
The above-mentioned device is advantageous in that no specific instrument is required for determination and the assay can be completed easily and within a short time but have room for improvement in sensitivity and specificity.
In addition, because the device performs one test only, a negative or positive control sample cannot be concurrently determined, with the consequent disadvantage that it is impossible to judge whether the result is a reliable data generated by the proper determination.
Generally speaking, urine and saliva, among body fluids, are favored as clinical test samples because its collection requires no invasive procedure and is easy and safe as compared with blood.
However, it is usual that the concentrations of antibodies present in such samples are extremely low, for example of the order of one-thousandth to one-ten thousandth of the concentrations in blood. In addition, urine samples collected from subjects who have taken large quantities of water are extremely thin, with the result that a large variation is inevitable in antibody titer among samples.
In such cases, with the conventional assay device described above, the test will be negative when the sample is too thin to detect an antibody, so that the problem arises that the case of "true negative" cannot be differentiated from the case of "negative (false negative)" occasioned by the low concentration of the sample.
Furthermore, when samples lean in antibodies are to be tested, a highly sensitive assay system is required but in that case there is the problem that byproducts formed by nonspecific reactions due to contaminants in the samples are liable to be simultaneously detected to give false positive results.
Therefore, an antibody assay system insuring sufficiently high detection sensitivity even when such body fluids as urine and saliva are used as samples, that is to say a reliable assay system contributory to reduced chances for false negative and false positive tests because of high specificity, is required.
The first object of the present invention is to provide an antibody assay technology (antibody assay method and antibody assay device) which is capable of detecting antibodies against sources of infection occurring in test samples such as body fluids with high sensitivity and high specificity.
The second object of the present invention is to provide an antibody assay method which enables determinations with high accuracy through suppression of "false positive" reactions arising from contaminants in samples even when the samples are those of urine or other body fluid which are comparatively lean in the target antibody.
The third object of the present invention is to provide an antibody assay method as an improvement in immunocapillary assay or immunochromatographic assay, by which the existence and amount of the target antibody as the object of detection in a sample can be accurately determined with a clear demarcation between a "false negative reaction" arising from the nature of the sample and a "true negative" reaction.

Method for assay of antibodies and antibody assay device


The purpose of the present invention is to provide a conductive contact material, the contents of which do not generate soil on a charged body not only during initial use but also after repeated use. A conductive contact material consists of thermoset urethane material containing an antioxidant within a range from 0.1 to 0.3% by weight, and an inorganic ion electrically conducting agent with in a range form 0.01 to 2.00% by weight. After ozone exposure or the like, molecule chain scission of the base material and antioxidant leads generation of active monomers and origomers. However, the conductive contact material containing the above specified proportion of an antioxidant and an inorganic ion electrically conducting agent prevents generation of active monomers and origomers which are soiling source for a charged body. The conductive contact material also prevents antioxidant itself from being a soiling source. The employment of conductive contact material on a contact type charging device such as a transfer roller avoids disadvantages such as image noise caused by soil on a charged body without involving a large image forming apparatus and complex manufacturing process.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a conductive contact material used for various devices such as an electrizer, deelectrizer, development device, and transfer device of an electrophotographic and electrostatic image forming apparatus, and more particularly relates to a conductive contact material consisting of component molecules which does not decompose and does not soil an image carrier, etc. not only in initial use but also in repeated use to maintain the quality of the formed image at high level.
2. Description of Related Art
In electrophotographic and electrostatic image forming apparatuses used for copying machines, FAX machines, and printing machines, a charger is used for an electrizer, deelectrizer, transfer device, etc. Heretofore, devices which utilize corona discharge phenomenon such as a corotoron charger have been used predominately as the charger. However, recently contact type chargers are used widely to reduce ozone generation. Because a contact type charger has a conductive contact material which is in contact with a charged body such as an image carrier, component of the contact material partially can adhere to the charged body and cause chemical change to soil the charged body. Particularly, when direct contact continues for a long time, for example, during resting, a charged body is apt to be soiled.
Such soil causes following problems. In the case that a charged body is an image carrier consisting of photosensitive material or dielectric material, photosensitivity or electrification property of a soiled portion deviates from a normal value to cause image noise. In addition, friction coefficient of a cleaner material deviates from the normal value at a soiled portion to cause irregular motion, and the irregular motion causes also image noise. In the case that the charged body is a transfer conveyer belt or intermediate transfer body, deviation of resistance value, electrification property, and friction coefficient of a soiled portion from a normal value causes image noise.
In particular, when an image forming apparatus is used repeatedly for a long time, soiling due to component of the conductive contact material becomes remarkable. The soiling is attributed to ozone and NO.sub.x which attack the conductive contact material around the portion where oxygen and NO.sub.x are generated. Since a little ozone and NO.sub.x are generated because of charging by applying discharge even though a contact charging device is used. Molecular chains of resin material which is a base material of the conductive contact material are fragmented to generate active monomers and origomers, which can be a soiling source. In particular, use of an organic ion conducting agent having a large molecular weight added to provide electric conductivity facilitates scission of molecular chain of the ion conducting agent due to ozone and NO.sub.x to generate origomers, and results in increased soiling of the charged body. Further, an organic ion type conducting agent is not preferable because it functions as a plasticizer itself due to its large molecular weight to cause bleeding, from this view point of soiling source an organic ion type conducting agent is not preferable.
Various measures has been taken to avoid soiling. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 5-333724 discloses an image forming apparatus in which a transfer roller is rotated with linking to a photosensitive drum namely charged body, and when the photosensitive drum is brought to a stop the transfer roller is separated from the photosensitive drum. In the image forming apparatus of this patent, conductive contact material of the transfer roller is prevented from being in contact with the photosensitive drum for a long time in order to suppress soiling of the photosensitive drum due to component of the conductive contact material. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Sho 58-87572 discloses an image forming apparatus provided with a transfer roller having the surface which is coated with epichlorohydrin rubber. The image forming apparatus helps prevent a charged body from being soiled due to conductivity of a transfer roller and component of a contact member.
However, the conventional image forming apparatuses disclosed in the above-mentioned publications can not solve the problem described herein under because a conventional conductive contact material is used as it is. In detail, an image forming apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 5-333724 is inevitably large sized and requires increased number of parts because the apparatus requires a mechanism for rendering a transfer roller movable from a photosensitive drum. On the other hand, an image forming apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Sho 58-87572 complex manufacturing process for forming a coating layer on a transfer roller results in increasing the percentage of defective product.
The present invention is accomplished to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional arts. In detail, the object of the present invention is to provide a conductive contact material which does not soil a charged body due to component thereof not only during initial use but also after repeated use, and to reduce disadvantages such as image noise due to soil on a charged body without involving a large image forming apparatus and complex manufacturing process.
To solve the above-mentioned problem, the conductive contact material of the present invention consists of base material of thermoset urethane containing an antioxidant and an inorganic ion electrically conducting agent. The antioxidant is preferably of a radical chain terminator type. The antioxidant content is preferably in a range from 0.1 to 3.0% by weight. The electrically conducting agent content is preferably in a range from 0.01 to 2.00% by weight.
The conductive contact material contains an inorganic ion electrically conducting agent in order to render the electrically conductive contact material electrically conductive. As the result, the conductive contact material is corrosion-resistant to ozone and NO.sub.x different from a conductive contact material containing an organic ion electrically conducting agent, therefore can not be a remote cause of monomers and origomers which are cause of soiling. An inorganic ion electrically conducting agent remains homogeneously in the base material differently from an electrically conducting agent of electron conducting type such as carbon and metal oxide, therefore electrical conductivity is even through the base material. Further, an antioxidant contained in the conductive contact material in an suitable amount prevents molecular chains of thermoset urethane namely the base material from being attacked by ozone and NO.sub.x, and as the result, generation of monomers and origomers due to scission of molecular chains is prevented. In particular, because of radical type oxidation mechanism of ozone and NO.sub.x, the radical chain terminator type antioxidant is very effective. Examples of radical chain terminator type antioxidant include hindered phenols and aromatic amines.


An image processing apparatus, has: a conversion unit that converts input image information including a first color component and a second color component into output image information in which, with regard to each of the color components, the number of gray levels per pixel is smaller than the number of gray levels per pixel in the input image information and a gray level of the input image information is expressed by a gray level value of each pixel and a dot density and in which the size of a dot is different between the first color component and the second color component; and an output unit that outputs the output image information obtained by the conversion unit.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, a multicolor image forming apparatus, a computer readable medium, and a computer data signal.
2. Related Art
Technology of converting original image information into image information in which the number of gray levels per pixel is reduced as compared with the original image information is known.

Image processing apparatus, image processing method multicolor image forming apparatus, computer-readable medium, and computer data signal


An electrical connector is provided having a housing with a connector mating side configured to receive a mating connector, a board mating side configured to be mounted to a circuit board and a contact exit side. The housing holds a contact that includes a contact body extending between a connector mating end and a board engaging end of the contact. The connector mating end is configured to join with the mating connector, while the board engaging end is configured to engage the circuit board. The contact body has an enclosed portion passing through the housing and an exposed portion extending from the contact exit side of the housing. A shielding module is provided immediately adjacent to the contact exit side of the housing and fitted around the exposed portion of the contact which extends between the contact exit side of the housing and the board mating end of the contact to shield the exposed portion.

The present invention generally relates to an electrical connector with an add-on contact shielding module.
Electrical connectors are used today in a wide variety of applications, one area of which concerns connectors configured to interconnect coaxial cables with printed circuit boards. In some applications, right angle connectors are used to join the coaxial cables with the circuit board. The connector includes a cable mating face that can be configured to mate with either a connector plug or jack on the end of a coaxial cable. The cable mating face is formed at a right angle to the bottom of the connector, with the bottom being configured to be mounted to a circuit board. Contacts extend from the cable mating connector mating face through the housing of the connector and out a back side of the housing. The contacts are bent at a right angle to extend downward to engage contacts or vias on the circuit board.
However, conventional right angle coaxial connectors have met with certain disadvantages. In coaxial connectors, the signal contacts, that exit the connector housing before being joined to vias in the circuit board, expose a portion of the contact body to an open, ambient air environment. The portion of each contact that extends through air represents a non-shielded and non-impedance controlled area that may introduce signal transmission problems, such as cross talk, electromagnetic interference, impedance mismatch, digital bit errors and the like. Today, as data transmission rates increase, the need increases for fewer signal transmission errors. Many new high speed applications today require a very high level of shielding and impedance control. Yet, it is desirable to avoid the need to develop an entirely new connector configuration for such high speed applications.

Electrical connector with contact shielding module


A system, method, and computer program product for dynamically managing packet delay of a received packet of data between multiple endpoints, including a delay estimator module adapted to calculate packet delay of the received packet of data. The system further includes a predictor module adapted for predicting a playout time for each received packet of data indicative of the calculated packet delay of the at least one received packet of data. Furthermore, the system includes a buffer module adapted for buffering the received packet of data for a variable amount of time and a player module adapted for playing only the received packet of data and to discard packets of data received after the predicted playout time. The delay estimator is adapted to calculate maximum delay of all the packets of data received in an interval within a predetermined threshold indicative of the calculated packet delay.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to communication network, and more particularly to a system and method for effective transportation of packetized data communication.
2. Discussion of the Background
Communication network includes devices that comprise of hardware and software systems and utilizes interdependent processes to enable the processing and transmission of analog and digital signals. The transmission of signals are done seamlessly across and between circuits switched and packet switched networks. As an example, a voice over packet gateway enables the transmission of human voice from a conventional public switched network to a packet switched network. Such media over packet communication devices (e.g., Media Gateways) require substantial processing power with sophisticated software controls and applications to enable the effective transmission of data from circuit switched to packet switched networks and back again. One form of media transmission, referred to as voice-over-IP (VoIP), is the transport of voice traffic through the use of the Internet protocol.
VoIP requires notably less average bandwidth than a traditional circuit-switched connection for several reasons. First, by detecting when voice activity is present, VoIP can choose to send no data when a speaker on one end of a conversation is silent. Second, the digital audio bit stream utilized by VoIP may be significantly compressed before transmission using a codec (compression/decompression) scheme. However, there can be delay in receiving data packets.
The characteristics of these networks are such that the total delay experienced by each data packet is a function of variable delays due to physical media access and queuing in addition to fixed propagation delays. The result is that the time difference between transmitting any two packets at the source is unlikely to be the same as that observed upon their arrival at the destination. The delay variations are a particular problem for a stream of multimedia packets, because deviations of inter packet delay can have an impact on the audiovisual quality as perceived by the user.
Typically, synchronization methods are used at the receiver to handle delay variations. These synchronization methods usually operate by selectively choosing to drop certain packets deemed to be late or by adding further playback delays to certain packets at the receiver. The playback delay represents delay experienced at the playback location. Thus, the total delay experienced by any packet represents the sum of network delay and playback delay.
The synchronization methods typically store and track the trends of the delays occurring within the network. Since the network characteristics vary with time, these trends vary, and current information is necessary for the methods to be effective. The methods known in the art include the "full aggregation" method wherein all of the data is accumulated into a single distribution curve throughout the lifetime of the transmission or the "flush and refresh" approach in which statistical samples are stored for a period of time and then periodically flushed and refreshed.
However, some of the above methods are not dynamic and are not suitable for a wide range of applications, which are sensitive to total end-to-end delay (TED).
Accordingly, there is a need for a technique that enables an effective and improved method for predicting and adjusting future TED dynamically to measure network delays and thereby, effectively managing packet delays.

System and method for managing playout time in packet communication network


A particle includes an aqueous core; a first amphiphilic layer surrounding the aqueous core; and a polymeric matrix surrounding the first amphiphilic layer.

The medical application of nanotechnology has a significant impact on the economy. In 2004, nanomedicine sales reach 6.8 billion dollars, with over 200 companies and 38 products worldwide. A minimum of 3.8 billion dollars in nanotechnology research and development is being invested every year. The introduction of nanoparticles for the treatment and detection of major human diseases is expected to result in the explosion of the market for this class of biomaterials. The value of a platform by which nanoparticles may be developed and optimized for targeting applications is substantial and may facilitate the introduction of novel therapeutic and diagnostic modalities for treatment of a myriad of diseases including various forms of solid tumors and viral infections.
One application of nanoparticles is drug delivery. There is a need for new particle formulations that can be used to encapsulate drugs.


Methods and devices for metering and delivering a desired dose of medication from a syringe are described. The devices may include a dosage limiting sleeve adjustably disposed around a syringe body, wherein the alignment of the dosage limiting sleeve relative to the syringe body indicates the dose to be administered by depressing a plunger until the dosage limiting sleeve is engaged.

In a hurried and pressure-ridden work environment, such as a surgical operating room, there is always a risk for errors to occur. Medication errors may be particularly at risk in the event of an emergency administration of an injectable drug, e.g., while a patient is coding. This is because performing the appropriate calculations to account for drug concentration and volume to be administered based on patient physical characteristics can be difficult under heightened stress conditions. In fact, the steps involved in drug dose calculation, preparation, and administration are constantly identified as steps in pediatric resuscitation that are prone to error, and may be associated with significant morbidity and/or mortality in emergency situations.
Moreover, medication errors related to emergency administration of an injectable medication are not limited to surgical operating rooms. Health care arenas where emergency administrations (to adults, children, or both) occur infrequently are typically staffed by personnel who are less than ideally familiar with calculation, preparation, and administration of injectable medications under emergency conditions.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Pre-loaded syringe with metered dosing and methods of use


A low voltage electro-static discharge protective device includes a field oxide layer on a substrate, source/drain regions beside the field oxide layer in the substrate, and a threshold voltage adjustment region under the field oxide layer. The fabricating of the protective device includes forming a pad oxide layer and a silicon nitride layer on a substrate, etching the silicon nitride layer to form an opening, forming a oxide spacer on the exposed portion of the pad oxide layer around the periphery of the opening, implanting ions into the substrate, forming a field oxide layer in the opening, so that the certain type of ions form a threshold voltage adjustment region under the field oxide layer, removing the silicon nitride layer, removing the exposed pad oxide layer, and forming source/drain regions beside the field oxide layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protective device for an integrated circuit (IC) and its fabrication, and more particularly to an ESD protective device with a low threshold voltage and a process for its fabrication.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, ICs are easily damaged by ESD. Tolerance of ESD varies from device to device. However, a metal-oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) is one of the most easily damaged devices. Techniques for fabricating an IC semiconductor are now in the range of deep sub-microns, for example, less than 0.35 .mu.. Therefore, a common thickness of a deep sub-micron gate oxide is about 75.about.85 .ANG..
A cross sectional view of a conventional metal gate field threshold device is shown in FIG. 1. A P-type dopant 12 is typically implanted in a substrate 10 under a field oxide layer (FOX) 11 to increase field isolation of the metal gate field threshold device. Subsequently, the field threshold voltage is more than about 12 V.
The threshold voltage of the field oxide layer will be much larger than that of a gate oxide layer if the thickness of the gate oxide layer is much smaller than the thickness of the field oxide layer. As the trend of high integration continues, the sizes of devices must be reduced. However, as channel length is reduced, the width of the source/drain's depletion layer can be almost the same as the channel length. Therefore, the phenomenon called "punch through" tends to occur, which causes the mixing up of the two depletion layers, and the gate can barely control current.
The threshold voltage of the metal gate field threshold device is much larger than the breakdown voltage of a gate oxide layer with a thickness of about 75.about.85 .ANG., which is about 8 V. Therefore, it is now of great interest to find a low voltage ESD protective device, which is suitable for operation at less than about 3.3 V but without damaging the gate oxide layer.

Low voltage electro-static discharge protective device and method of fabricating the same


The invention relates to a process for the effective removal of both hard and soft decay using micro air abrasion dentistry. The process uses a composition which is treated to make it biologically inactive. It comprises at least 95% alumina of a certain particle size distribution and is optimized to remove both hard and soft decay, including carious enamel, carious dentin, stains, calculus, materia alba, organic plug, glass ionomer, composites, resin restoratives, cementum and spent amalgam. Over 50% of the abrasive has particle sizes ranging from 15 to 45.mu. with an average particle size of 27.5.mu.. Other unique features of the abrasive include the addition of color and flavor agents to detect the presence of caries and increase patient enjoyment, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a process for removing undesirable material from teeth using micro air abrasion dentistry. More specifically, the invention is directed to an abrasive composition used in a process that effectively removes both hard and soft oral materials including carious enamel, dentin, cementum and spent amalgam.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Aluminum oxide or alumina is one of the largest volume pure chemical compounds produced. It is used widely in industrial and commercial applications from abrasives and ceramics to various medicinal compositions and oral preparations, including toothpaste.
In the relatively new field of micro air abrasion dentistry, alumina is a material often used for painless dental procedures. Rosenberg, in the July, 1996 issue of Dentistry Today refers to micro air abrasion as the new standard in dental care. This article enumerates many advantages realized in micro air abrasion including increased patient comfort, alleviation of patient anxiety, decreased use of anesthesia, increase of dentists' productivity, and decreased costs to both patients and dentists.
Air abrasion tools have similarly been available for use by dentists for treating patients with an abrasive-laden fluid. Such fluids include abrasive-laden air directed onto the patient's teeth for such procedures as removal of decay, preparing the teeth to receive fillings, prophylactic treatment, and the like. Such abrasion devices provide advantages over conventional dental drills. These include eliminating the heat, noise, and vibration produced by conventional high-speed drills. Also eliminated is the need for anesthesia as well as the need to cool the drill with fluid
The early air abrasion micro dentistry materials utilized industrial standard 27 and 50 micron alumina particles. The prior art abrasive materials are not treated for biological purification. Research by applicant has shown that treating the alumina-based abrasive composition for biological inactivity resulted in totally unexpected improvements in its performance in air micro abrasion dentistry.
Using abrasives carried in a fluid stream to remove unwanted oral material is not new. Rzewinski, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,494,932 discloses an air abrasion apparatus and method for cleaning teeth, specifically removing difficult stains and heavy plaque using an unspecified soluble powder. Karst, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,950,160 discloses an air abrasion material for polishing teeth using an unspecified abrasive powder. Other references to the use of the micro air abrasion technique for prophylactic treatment is discussed by Goldstein et al in the Journal of the American Dental Association, Vol. 126, pp 761-766, 1995. In this article, the use of sodium bicarbonate slurry is disclosed to remove stains from teeth.
Goldsmith, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,561 discloses a fluid abrasion method for preparing a tooth structure for bonding a composite to the prepared surface using aluminum oxide as the abrasive material. Goldsmith claims a range of particle sizes of alumina ranging from 2 to 100.mu.. He does not mention any optimum particle size, nor does he mention any distribution of particle size. FIG. 2 shows that the particle size distribution of typical alumina abrasive is very scattered; the data in Table 2 analytically verifies the scattered particle size distribution of the prior art alumina.
A process for the removal of soft tooth decay with an abrasive fluid stream was disclosed by the applicant in U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,430. In this patent, the process uses abrasive particles of a non-toxic thermoset plastic, such as a urea resin, for removing areas of tooth decay and preparing the tooth structure for bonding with a filler material. Applicant was not successful using ordinary alumina in removing soft undesired material such as soft caries.
One of the problems associated with some of the abrasives used in micro air abrasion dentistry is that the same abrasive has traditionally been utilized to cut a multitude of materials. Such materials include both healthy and carious enamel, healthy and carious dentin, cementum, amalgam, composite, glass ionomer, copolymer, cements, porcelain, gold, and other metals.
Traditionally, `pure` alumina has been used in micro air abrasion dentistry as an abrasive. This material is effective in cutting hard dental materials, including healthy parts of teeth, as well as porcelain and other hard materials listed above. It is, however, less effective on softer materials. Such softer materials that need removal include carious enamel, carious dentin, cementum, spent amalgam, stains, calculus, materia alba, organic plug, composites, resin restoratives, and the like.
The removal of spent amalgam is of particular interest to the dental community. It is comprised of several metals, one of which is mercury, often used for dental restorations. Concern over the efficient and safe removal of these restorations is related to patient exposure to elemental mercury.
In an article in the March/April 1997 issue of Dental Practice & Finance, Bob Kehoe authored an article entitled "Assessing Air Abrasion". This article, which is intended to provide advice on the use of micro air abrasion, states that micro air abrasion is "designed to conservatively cut virgin teeth, remove sealants and composite restoration, not amalgam or other metals." In light of this recent assessment, the results of the applicant in removing amalgam with micro air abrasion tools and the composition of the instant invention is quite surprising and remarkable.
Applicant's issued patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,430 refers to this fact. In this patent, aluminum oxide is stated to remove hard caries material and healthy tooth structure but to be inefficient in removing soft caries material from decayed tooth structure.
Color has been used previously in certain dental air abrasive systems. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,334,019 Goldsmith et al describe adding fluorescent or colored materials to identify and differentiate between several simultaneously used gas streams. Use of color in the instant invention is for the purpose of caries detection. The use of color in the present invention is also being considered to make the abrasive material easily distinguishable from tooth structure to facilitate clean-up after the dental procedures are completed. Furthermore, since applicant is concerned with only one abrasive stream, use of color in the present application is patentably distinct from the prior use.
It is an object of this invention to provide a process using a micro air abrasion instrument and an abrasive that effectively cuts a variety of soft dental materials, including carious enamel, dentin, cementum, and spent amalgam. It is a farther object of the instant invention to provide an abrasive treated for biological inactivity. Prior art materials used for micro air abrasion have not been so treated. Examples of successful biological treatments include but are not limited to treatment with ethylene oxide, dry heat autoclave sterilization, or gamma radiation. Microbiological, chemical, and scanning electron microscopic analyses, as will be seen in the Examples, reveal significant differences in purity and particle size distribution between treated and non-treated abrasive materials.
An even further object of this invention is to provide flavored dental abrasive materials. Since anesthetic is seldom used in micro air abrasion dentistry, use of flavored abrasive material would add to the pleasing aspect of the procedure.
Another object is to furnish the abrasive with a dye that would indicate the presence of caries by the development of color. The colorant may also be used to easily distinguish the abrasive particles from the teeth. This would facilitate clean-up after treatment.
The above remarks establish the need in the art for new and improved formulations for micro air abrasion dentistry. The above discussion furthermore emphasizes the uniqueness of the composition and performance characteristics of the instant invention.

Abrasive dental composition and method for use


The present invention is a hybrid cell that utilizes a PBS pair in conjunction with a wedge tuner and a crystal to achieve a more stable interleaver. A first PBS splits an incoming optical signal into two orthogonally polarized beams which follow different optical paths through the cell. The length of the wedge tuner and crystal are selected such that the periodicity of the cell is approximately inversely proportional to the free spectral range at a target frequency. The length of the wedge tuner and crystal are also selected such that there is no change in an optical path difference between the two optical paths with respect to a change in temperature over an operating temperature range.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of fiber optic communications, and more specifically, to a hybrid cell usable as an interleaver.
2. The Relevant Technology
The Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) standard defines a hierarchy of multiplexing levels and standard protocols that allow efficient use of the wide bandwidth of fiber optic cable, while providing a means to merge lower level DS0 and DS1 signals into a common medium. Currently optical communication is accomplished by what is known as "wavelength division multiplexing" (WDM), in which separate subscriber/data sessions can be handled concurrently on a single optic fiber by means of modulation of each of those subscriber data streams on different portions, a.k.a. channels, of the light spectrum.
The spacing between channels is constantly being reduced as the resolution and signal separation capabilities of multiplexers and de-multiplexers are improved. Current International Telecommunications Union (ITU) specifications call for channel separations of approximately 0.4 nm, i.e., 50 GigaHertz (GHz). At this channel, separation as many as 128 channels can be supported in C-band alone. Each channel is modulated on a specific center frequency, within the range of 1525–1575 nm, with the center frequency of each channel provided by a corresponding one of 128 semiconductor lasers. The modulated information from each of the semiconductor lasers is combined (multiplexed) onto a single optic fiber for transmission. As the length of a fiber increases, the signal strength decreases. To offset signal attenuation erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) are used at selected locations along the communication path to boost signal strength for all the channels. At the receiving end the processes is reversed, with all the channels on a single fiber separated (demultiplexed), and demodulated optically and/or electrically.
Optical filters play important roles in handling these optical communications for the telecommunications industry. They perform wavelength multiplexing and demultiplexing of the 128 or more optical channels. They can also be used to gain scale EDFAs by flattening their gain profile. In certain configurations, they can also be used as optical interleavers. Interleavers are used to combine two or more streams of lower-channel-count, periodic signals into a single, high-channel-count signal stream with narrow channel spacing. De-interleavers are used to separate a single, incoming narrow-spaced, periodic optical signal stream with high channel count into two or more widely spaced periodic signal streams with low channel count. These interleavers have traditionally been available in two common designs.
The requirements for optical filters/interleavers used for any of these applications are very demanding. The close spacing between the channels in a WDM/interleaver makes it desirable to design a WDM with flat pass bands in order to increase the error tolerance. This is primarily because the center wavelength of a transmitter slips with temperature. Further, the cascading of the WDM stages causes the pass bands to become narrower at each WDM down the chain. Therefore, the larger the pass bands the greater the shift tolerance of the channel.
A common pure crystal interleaver design typically uses a birefringent crystal pair such as a YVO4 and LiNbO3 crystal combination to achieve the interleaving function with thermal compensation. Other crystal combinations, such as TiO2/YVO4, TiO2/LiNbO3, YVO4/PbMnO4, can also achieve thermal compensation and interleaving functions. LiNbO3 is often a preferred choice of crystal since it is widely available and relatively inexpensive.
Unfortunately, the LiNbO3 crystal has an inherent long-term stability problem probably because of its photorefractive and photoelastic properties. Its index of refraction will drift over time under environmental stress. The pure crystal design also suffers from 2nd order effects, resulting in imperfect thermal compensation over a given temperature range. This problem arises from the fact that the thermal expansion coefficient and thermal optical coefficient (dn/dT) of most birefringent crystals is temperature dependent. Crystal pairs that are thermally compensated at room temperature or at any arbitrary temperature will not be thermally compensated at any different temperature. This leads to an undesirable amount of central wavelength (CWL) drift over the device operating temperature range, which is typically −5 to 70 deg C.
An alternate design for an interleaver uses polarizing beam splitters (PBS) made from a BaK1 and LaSF3 combination. The PBS controls the passage of light through the interleaver based upon the state of the polarization of the light. The PBS can also polarize light to a given state depending on the optical axis of the PBS.
The PBS design only uses optical glass. It will direct light to its respective path according to its polarization direction. Many of the PBS interleaver designs have much better thermal compensation properties since the thermal expansion coefficients and thermal optical coefficients of many types of optical glass used in these interleavers have much less temperature dependence. Most PBS types of interleavers do not suffer from the problem of CWL drift over operating temperature range as crystal interleavers do.
However, in some cases, for example, a 100 GHz interleaver, the PBS can be too large or small depending on the type of glass selected, leading to undesirable device size or aperture clipping. Moreover, many of the types of glass selected for proper device size are not well established, and therefore, expensive. The properties of such glass have not been scientifically established. Furthermore, the properties can be inconsistent from batch to batch, resulting in manufacturing difficulties. Thus, it is desirable to use an optical glass, which is well established in the industry, has a low cost, and is consistent in optical quality. Further, it is also desirable to use a well-known optical material to achieve thermal compensation while having easy to handle dimensions (a few mm in cross sections, small enough, yet easy to handle).


A fixing device includes a heating unit including an endless belt and a heating plate, a fixing roller to form a nip portion, a frame including a first sidewall and a second sidewall, a first shaft that the fixing roller has, a second shaft disposed upstream of the nip portion, and a third shaft disposed downstream of the nip portion. One end portion of the first shaft, one end portion of the second shaft and one end portion of the third shaft are supported by the first sidewall. The other end portion of the first shaft, the other end portion of the second shaft and the other end portion of the third shaft are supported by the second sidewall. When viewed from the longitudinal direction, the nip portion is positioned in a triangle defined by imaginary lines connecting the first, second and third shafts to each other.

Known fixing devices include a pressing roller and a fixing belt disposed in pressure contact with the pressing roller. In the fixing devices, the pressing roller rotates by applying a driving force to a gear attached to a shaft of the pressing roller, whereby the pressing roller rotates, and the fixing belt rotates in association with the rotation of the pressing roller.
Some of the known fixing devices may further include a frame that rotatably supports the pressing roller and slidably supports a heating unit including the fixing belt. In these fixing devices, the heating unit is pressed toward the pressing roller, whereby the fixing belt and the pressing roller form a nip point therebetween.


Aspects of the invention include creating a collection of control blocks associated with one or more catalogs, each control block including an eye catcher value and a plurality of pointers, creating a collection of recovery control blocks based the collection of control blocks, each recovery control block including a corresponding copy of the eye catcher value and the plurality of pointers, storing a control block memory location for each control block in the collection of control blocks and a recovery memory location for each recovery control block in the collection of recovery control blocks in a recovery table, analyzing the collection of control blocks to determine that a corruption exists, determining a corruption type, the corruption type comprises an infrastructure corruption and or a control block corruption, and initiating a remedial action for the collection of control blocks based at least in part on the corruption type.

The present invention generally relates to recovering system dynamic data, and more specifically, to recovering system dynamic data without an outage or delay.
System availability becomes more and more necessary in a global economy since many businesses rely heavily on information technology (IT) systems to conduct business either internally or externally to a customer or client. That being said, most businesses require their IT systems to be available continuously without interruption even on non-business days. System dynamic data is data that must be available when requested, resides in a main memory, and changes regularly within a runtime environment. Common storage is defined as main memory accessible to multiple applications running on a system. Frequently a computer system's critical dynamic data resides in common storage so that multiple product components can access it. Because the dynamic data is being stored in common storage, it opens up the data to being corrupted by others.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


An optical tracking method disclosed in the present invention includes obtaining a continuous image set containing a reference light source during a period, and identifying an image characteristic variation of the continuous image set. The reference light source is set at a constant illuminated mode, and generates a known illumination variation during the period. The optical tracking method further includes comparing the image characteristic variation with the known illumination variation to determine whether a predetermined function is actuated. The predetermined function calculates position information of the reference light source on an image of the continuous image set.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of optically tracking a frame and a related optical tracking system, and more particularly, to a method of optically tracking a frame of an object and a related optical tracking system with preferred resistance to environmental error.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional multipoint object tracking method regularly triggers a reference point to generate scintillating light source, an image sensor synchronously obtains continuous images which contain the reference point, and a controller analyzes regular variation of dark matters and bright matter of the continuous images to find out position of the reference point, so as to generate coordinates for the object tracking method. Capturing frequency of the image sensor and the scintillating light source of the reference point are in synchronization with tiny tolerance. The reference point controller of the conventional multipoint object tracking method needs greater precision, and complexity of the synchronous controlling technique accordingly increases product cost. In addition, background light source in household environment and work environment is scintillated by regular frequency, and the conventional multipoint object tracking method is difficult to distinguish the scintillating light source of the reference point from background error with the regular frequency. Half of an operating period of the reference point belongs to an Off-mode (the light source is shut down or switched to low illumination) when the reference point is regularly scintillated, and an amount of images including the effective reference point detected by the image sensor is decreased. Therefore, resolution of the conventional multipoint object tracking method applied to the background error with the regular frequency is worse, and the amount of the effective reference point is less, so that the conventional multipoint object tracking method has drawbacks of low tracking efficiency and low remote controlling performance.

Method of optical tracking a frame of an object and related optical tracking system


In a wireless LAN base station device including plural antennas for making communications with a wireless terminal, plural transmission-reception portions connected to the plural antennas, plural control processors for controlling the plural transmission-reception portions, and a central processor for controlling the plural control processors, each transmission-reception portion measures a reception level or/and each control processor measures a communication error occurrence rate, and the central processor controls the plural control processors to select a transmission-reception portion so that the reception level is maximum or/and the communication error occurrence rate is minimum. The control processors cease prescribed transmission-reception portions for a time zone in which the communication load is low.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless Local Area Network (LAN) base station device and a communication method therefor and particularly, to a wireless LAN base station device having plural antennas for making communications with wireless terminals and plural transmission-reception portions connected to the plural antennas, and a communication method therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
JP-A-11-239091 (hereinafter referred to as "patent document 1") discloses an example of the construction of a wireless base station device in which an antenna unit for expanding a wireless-communication possible area of a wireless base station is arranged in the neighborhood of the wireless-communication possible area of the wireless base station or out of the wireless-communication possible area by connecting to the wireless base station through an RF signal coaxial cable when it is difficult to make wireless communications with the wireless base station although the distance to the wireless base station is actually near in the Personal Handyphone System (PHS) system.
Furthermore, JP-A-11-341540 discloses that in a cellular phone system a cell is divided into plural sectors, each sector is covered by using at least three antennas while parts of the coverage areas of two antennas of these three antennas are overlapped with each other and an antenna which provides the maximum level to a reception signal from a mobile is selected as a main antenna on the basis of an instruction of the mobile.
However, the wireless base station device and cellular phone system described above are inadequate for enabling a wireless terminal to move with no interruption of communication, energy saving, etc.

Wireless LAN base station device having antennas and transmission-reception portion


Disclosed is a chip and method of forming the chip with improved conductive pads that allow for flexible C4 connections with a chip carrier or with another integrated circuit chip. The pads have a three-dimensional geometric shape (e.g., a pyramid or cone shape) with a base adjacent to the surface of the chip, a vertex opposite the base and, optionally, mushroom-shaped cap atop the vertex. Each pad can include a single layer of conductive material or multiple layers of conductive material (e.g., a wetting layer stacked above a non-wetting layer). The pads can be left exposed to allow for subsequent connection to corresponding solder bumps on a chip carrier or a second chip. Alternatively, solder balls can be positioned on the conductive pads to allow for subsequent connection to corresponding solder-paste filled openings on a chip carrier or a second chip.

1. Field of the Invention
The embodiments generally relate to integrated circuit chips incorporated into electronic assemblies, such as flip-chip assemblies and stacked chip assemblies, using controlled collapsed chip connections (i.e., C4 connections). More particularly, the embodiments relate to an integrated circuit chip and a method of forming the chip with pyramid or cone-shaped conductive input/output (I/O) pads.
2. Description of the Related Art
As discussed in detail in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0146316 of Jadhav et al., filed on Dec. 5, 2007, published on Jun. 11, 2009, assigned to International Business Machines Corporation of Armonk, N.Y., and incorporated herein by reference, in a flip-chip assembly an integrated circuit chip is typically mounted on a chip carrier by an array of controlled collapsed chip connections (i.e., C4 connections). The formation of such C4 connections usually involves the formation of solder balls on flat conductive pads on the active surface of an integrated circuit chip (e.g., on the same surface of the chip as the integrated circuit devices and, preferably, surrounding a core integrated circuit device region), thereby creating an array of solder bumps. Additionally, solder paste is deposited onto conductive pads within an array of openings (e.g., solder resist openings) on the surface of a chip carrier. The array of solder bumps on the integrated chip is aligned with the array of solder paste filled openings on the chip carrier. Next, the integrated circuit chip and chip carrier are pressed together and a reflow process is performed to create the solder joints (i.e., the C4 connections) that both electrically and mechanically connect the integrated circuit chip to the chip carrier. Similar C4 connections can be used to interconnect integrated circuit chips in a stacked chip assembly.
Unfortunately, during chip operation, stress-related cracks in the C4 connections and/or the integrated circuit chip(s) can form due to a mismatch in thermal expansion (e.g., between the integrated circuit chip and the chip carrier in a flip-chip assembly and between the multiple integrated circuit chips in a stacked chip assembly). Such stress-related cracks can result in chip failure. Furthermore, such stress-related cracks can increase exponentially with the use of an organic laminate substrate as the chip carrier in a flip-chip assembly, with the use of lead-free solder material and/or with smaller pitch C4 connections (i.e., with greater C4 connection density). Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved C4 connection that will provide greater flexibility and, thereby improved integrated circuit chip reliability.

Integrated circuit chip with pyramid or cone-shaped conductive pads for flexible C4 connections and a method of forming the integrated circuit chip


Method for producing a galvannealed steel sheet wherein a slab consisting essentially of C in an amount of 0.004 wt. % or less, N in an amount of 0.004 wt. % or less, Ti in an amount of 0.01 to 0.15 wt %, Si in an amount of 0.05 wt. % or less, Mn in an amount up to 2.5 wt. %, P in an amount up to 0.1 wt. %, S in an amount of 0.015 wt. % or less, sol. Al in an amount of 0.02 to 0.1 wt. % and the balance being Fe, is soaked for at least 30 minutes at a specified temperature (range). The soaked slab is hot rolled to produce a hot-rolled steel sheet which is coiled at a temperature of 500 to 700.degree. C. The coiled hot-rolled steel sheet is cold rolled at a reduction ratio of 60% or more to produce a cold-rolled steel sheet which is annealed at a temperature of from recrystallization temperature to Ac3 transformation temperature. Galvanizing the annealed cold-rolled steel sheet and then galvannealing at a temperature of 450 to 600.degree. C.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a galvannealed steel sheet having excellent surface appearance and press formability and a method therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, galvannealed steel sheets have been widely used to manufacture bodies of automobiles in order to improve the corrosion resistance. Since the galvannealed steel sheets have been used to manufacture also the outer body panel of automobiles in recent years, the quality of the surface appearance of the galvannealed steel sheet has been particularly required.
In view of reducing the weight of the car body, integral forming of car body parts and reduction in the thickness of the steel sheet have been required, steel sheets having further improved press formability is required more strongly than ever. Therefore, so called IF (Interstitial Free) steel sheets have been used, in which solute carbon and nitrogen are fixed as carbides or nitrides by titanium or the like.
It, however, has been known that use of the IF steel, having titanium added thereto (hereinafter called "Ti-IF steel"), as the substrate of the galvannealed steel sheet involves long streaky patterns (hereinafter called "streaky defect") peculiar to the Ti-added steel being generated, causing surface appearance to deteriorate excessively.
As disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-34722, use of the IF steel enables the press formability to be significantly improved as compared with that of conventional low-carbon aluminum-killed steel. Since the prior art is, however, established in order to improve only the press formability, no description has been made about the improvement in the surface appearance. Another prior art paid attention to the surface appearance of the Ti-IF steel is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-38550. In view of the streaky defect being caused from an influence of fine crystal grains in the surface layer of the Ti-IF steel, as prevention of the streaky defect, there have been given a method for coarsening the surface crystal grains by pre-annealing or the like and another method for grinding the surface of a hot-rolled steel sheet or a cold-rolled steel sheet. In either case, the additinal step, however, is introduced to the ordinary process for manufacturing the galvannealed steel sheet and, therefore, there arises a problem in that the manufacturing cost becomes too large. Moreover, the method using the pre-annealing process causes the crystal grains to be coarsed deeply in the internal layers, thus resulting in that there will arise problems of deterioration in the workability and rough surface after press stamping. The method using the surface grinding process results in problems of worsening in the manufacturing plant environment due to the ground chips, yield declination and excessive deterioration in the productivity. Therefore, the foregoing method has a problem as a method of manufacturing a galvannealed steel sheet having excellent surface appearance. As a means for improving the strength of the IF steel, addition of solid-solution hardening elements, such as Si, Mn or P into the steel, has been usually employed, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-185949. In the case where the IF steel is strengthened by adding P thereto, long streaky patterns (hereinafter called the "streaky defect") frequently are formed in the rolling direction. The streaky defect sometimes inhibits application of the foregoing steel to the outer body panels of the automobile. Since the foregoing methods have been established to mainly strengthen the steel sheet and to improve the formability, no intention has been made to improve the surface appearance of the steel sheet.
In any event, the foregoing methods are unsatisfactory to improve both the press formability and surface appearance.
As described above, most of the conventional methods have been established to primarily improve the press formability without much attention paid to improvement in the surface appearance. Although there is a method for improving the surface appearance, the cost inevitably rises. Thus, there arises a problem in industrial production.

Method for producing galvanized steel sheet