Disclosed is a method for, when a surface of a workpiece is preheated with a laser beam during milling, calculating an optimum preheating temperature according to a type of the workpiece and controlling a surface preheating temperature. The method includes: a processing condition inputting step; a matching step; a loading step; a preheating step; a measuring step; a comparing step; an ending step; a lower limit determining step; an output increasing step; and an output decreasing step.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of controlling a laser beam preheating temperature of a surface of a workpiece, and more particularly, to a method of, when a surface of a workpiece is preheated with a laser beam during milling, calculates an optimum preheating temperature according to a type of the workpiece and controls a surface preheating temperature.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As generally known in the art, a polishing process is used to process a fragile material such as ceramic and cast iron. However, much time and energy is consumed in the polishing process as compared with a general processing process, when the material is processed into a complicated shape. If a heat source is irradiated to the material to soften and process the material, the highly fragile material even by a general processing process and a processing time and energy such as a cutting power consumed during the processing can be significantly reduced. Further, an amount of cutting oil required during the processing can be reduced and an amount of generated chips also can be reduced, thereby achieving an environmentally excellent effect.
Thus, a preheating turning and milling method has been suggested recently.
For example, Korean Patent No. 10-1184311 (entitled 'Milling Apparatus Employing Preheating Turning Process') discloses a preheating apparatus.
However, the related art discloses only a technology for an apparatus for preheating, so it is difficult to set an accurate preheating temperature in advance. Since a workpiece cannot be processed efficiently in the preheating turning and milling process if the workpiece is excessively or insufficiently preheated, it is important to select and control a preheating temperature.

Method of controlling laser beam preheating temperature of surface of workpiece

Changwon National University Industry Academy Cooperation Corps.


An electro-optical device includes: data lines extending in a first direction above a substrate; scanning lines extending in a second direction and intersecting the data lines; pixel electrodes and thin-film transistors arrayed so as to correspond to intersection regions of the data lines and the scanning lines; capacitors formed at a layer higher than the semiconductor layer of the thin-film transistors and at a layer lower than the pixel electrodes, and electrically connected to pixel potential; and upper light shielding film positioned between the data lines and the pixel electrodes; the upper light shielding film defining at least the corners of pixel opening regions; and the scanning lines, the data lines, and the capacitors, being formed in the light shielded region.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to the field of an electro-optical device, such as a liquid crystal device or the like, and an electronic apparatus. The present invention also relates to the field of electrophoresis devices, such as electronic paper or the like or EL (electro-luminescence) devices or devices using electron emission devices (Field Emission Displays and Surface Conduction Electron-Emitter Displays) and the like.
2. Description of Related Art
In the related art, there have been known electro-optical devices, such as liquid crystal devices including an electro-optical substance, such as liquid crystal or the like held between a pair of substrates, whereby display of images is enabled by transmitting light so as to pass therethrough. Now, "display of images" is, for example, realized by changing the transmissivity of light by changing the state of the electro-optical substance for each pixel, thereby visualizing light with a different gradient for each pixel.
Such electro-optical devices being provided include active-matrix drivable arrangements including, on one of the pair of substrate, pixel electrodes arrayed in matrix fashion, scanning lines and data lines provided weaving between the pixel electrodes, and further, TFTs (Thin Film Transistor) and the like, serving as pixel switching devices. With the active-matrix drivable electro-optical devices, the TFTs are provided between the pixel electrodes and data lines, and control conduction therebetween. Also, the TFTs are also electrically connected to the scanning lines and data lines. Thus, it is possible to control turning the TFT on and off through the scanning lines, and also in the event that the TFT is on, an image signal supplied through the data line can be applied to the pixel electrode, i.e., the light transmissivity can be changed for each pixel.
With such electro-optical devices, the above-described configuration is fabricated on one of the substrates, but this requires a great area if laid out two-dimensionally, which could reduce the pixel opening ratio, i.e., the ratio of the area which light is to be transmitted through as to the area of the entire substrate. Accordingly, techniques for configuring the above-described components three-dimensionally, i.e., techniques for layering the components by introducing an inter-layer insulating film therebetween have been used with related art arrangements as well. More specifically, first, the TFTs and scanning lines functioning as gate electrode film for the TFTs are formed on the substrate, upon which are formed the data lines, and further thereupon the pixel electrodes and so forth. This way, in addition to reduction in the size of the device, enhanced pixel opening ratio and so forth can be achieved by suitably setting the array of the components.
Now, with such electro-optical devices, there is a basic demand for displaying high-quality images, and with regard to achieving this, higher opening ratio and higher contrast of images and the like are demanded in particular of the electro-optical devices. Here, "opening ratio" can be expressed by the ratio or the like of the ratio of light transmitting areas as to the entire area of the substrate making up the electro-optical device or the entire area of the image display region on the substrate, and the higher this value is, the brighter the image is. Also, increasing the contrast of the image is achieved by electrically connecting capacitors to the TFTs and pixel electrodes for example, thereby increasing the potential holding properties of the pixel electrodes.
On the other hand, further reduction in size and increased precision, and driving at higher frequency are being demanded of the electro-optical devices. However, attempting to achieve the above-described increase in opening ratio and reduction in size is met with difficulties. The reason is that an opening ratio of a certain level or more is necessary to display images with a certain level of brightness or more, so the area of the light transmission region needs to be kept around the same, which contradicts the reduction in the substrate area which occurs if the size is reduced. That is to say, in this case, an essential increase in the area of the light transmission region is being demanded.
Also, simply essentially increasing the area of the light transmission region is not sufficient to achieve a high opening ratio. This is because that would affect the surrounding configuration. For example, as described above, capacitor is provided in some cases with electro-optical devices to increase the contrast, but in order to achieve a high opening ratio based upon the assumption that such capacitor exists, the capacitor needs to be narrowed down. However, simply narrowing down the capacitor leads to high resistance at the pair of electrodes configuring it at a proportionate amount, which leads to new problems such as cross-talking and burn-in caused thereby. Now, there have been related art examples wherein the pair of electrodes were formed of polysilicon or WSi (tungsten silicide) or the like, but the resistance of these materials is by no means low, making the above problem even more serious.
Moreover, in addition to the above-described capacitors, TFTs serving as pixel switching devices are provided on the substrate, there is the need to arrange such that there is no light cast into the TFTs or the semiconductor layer thereof when achieving a high opening ratio. This is because such light cast therein can cause flickering or the like on the image due to a photo-leak current occurring at the semiconductor layer. In realizing a high opening ratio, the area of the light shielded regions is generally expected to be reduced relative to the area of the light transmitting region, so the above-described problem has even more serious aspects. That is to say, the danger of light being cast into the semiconductor layer is even greater.
As described above, measures for simply increasing the area of the light transmitting region cannot achieve higher opening ratio, and total measures for all aspects need to be taken to achieve this object.

Electro-optical device and electronic apparatus


A control system for regulating operation of a vehicle having a transmission driven by an engine during a cruise control mode includes a first module that determines an operating point of the vehicle and that compares the operating point to one of a shift line and a torque converter clutch (TCC) release line. A second module regulates a throttle of the engine to maintain the operating point a threshold distance from the one of the shift line and the TCC release line, when the operating point is at the threshold distance.

Internal combustion engines combust a fuel and air mixture within cylinders driving pistons to produce drive torque. The engine drives a transmission through a coupling device. Air is drawn into the engine and is metered through a throttle. The transmission can include an automatic transmission whereby transmission shifts are regulated using a control module based on vehicle operating conditions. Alternatively, the transmission can include a manual transmission whereby shifts are manually executed by vehicle operator.
Cruise control systems are utilized on vehicles to enable the vehicle to maintain a desired vehicle speed. In vehicles equipped with electronic throttle control, the cruise control system provides basic proportional and integral (PI) control that is based on a vehicle speed error. The PI control, however, does not account for external modifiers on vehicle acceleration and presumes that the only vehicle acceleration input is throttle position. Therefore, calibration of cruise control for maintaining the desired vehicle speed while providing an acceptable degree of smoothness and perceived quality is difficult.

Shift and throttle management during cruise control


Polarization Dependent Effects (PDEs), including Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD) and Polarization Dependent Loss (PDL) imposed on optical signals conveyed through an optical link are compensated by processing an input signal in the electrical domain prior to transmission. A compensation function is derived that at least partially compensates the PDEs. The communications signal is then processed in the electrical domain using the compensation function to generate an electrical predistorted signal. The electrical predistorted signal is then used to modulate an optical source to generate a corresponding predistorted optical signal for transmission through the optical link. The PDEs of the optical link operate of the predistorted optical signal such at that substantially undistorted optical signal is received at a receiving end of the link.

The presence of polarization dependent effects (such as, for example, Polarization Dependent Loss/gain (PDL); Polarization Mode dispersion (PMD); Polarization spectral hole burning; Polarization rotation; nonlinearities that are polarization dependent or that otherwise have a polarization effect; polarization dependent filtering or crosstalk; and Faraday effect) can be a limiting factor in the design of optical transmission systems, particularly those providing long haul transmission at bit-rates of 10 Gb/sec or faster, over optical links (e.g. fibers) of 100 kilometers or more in length. The impact of polarization dependent effects (PDEs) in high bandwidth networks is expected to be particularly severe in systems which incorporate cross connected networks of fibers, in which an optical signal can follow any one of a number of possible routes utilizing different fibers (within the same or different cable), each with individual properties. This is particularly so for communications systems utilizing polarization diversity and polarization multiplexing.
The amount of PDE (PDL and/or PMD) varies from fiber to fiber, being dependent upon the amount of intrinsic birefringence associated with core asymmetry or frozen-in stress; extrinsic birefringence associated, for example, with cable induced stress, fiber bends or twists; and polarization coupling between optical elements within a link. As a result of these factors, PDEs tend to be statistical quantities which vary with both wavelength and time.
Optical communications systems suffer degradation attributable to Polarization Dependent Loss (PDL) generally through transients and noise. Transient changes in the polarization couplings along a fiber route cause a transient change in the received power of a polarized signal, which cause errors in the receiver. Furthermore, Amplified Spontaneous Emission (ASE) noise is generally unpolarized, and so PDL along an optical fiber route will tend to attenuate the polarized signal more than the ASE noise travelling with that signal. This will further impair the optical signal-to-noise ratio.
It is known to use polarization scrambling to mitigate the effects of PDL, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,416,626, entitled "Optically Amplified Communications Systems", which issued on May 16, 1995. It is further known to attempt to minimize the PDL introduced by an optical device by improving the design of that device, or controlling the temperature of that device to a fixed value. However, in order to mitigate the effects of PDL inherent in an optical link, it is necessary to compensate PDL dynamically. For WDM communications systems, this functionality must be implemented across a wavelength range that encompasses the optical signal traffic.
Various systems have been proposed for addressing the requirement for broadband dynamic PDL compensation. A typical example is described in "Demonstration of In-Line Monitoring and Dynamic Broadband Compensation of Polarization Dependent Loss" (L. -S. Yan, Q. Yu, and A. E. Willner, paper We.P.38, ECOC'2001). In this system, broadband PDL compensation is achieved by demultiplexing the WDM optical signal to separate each wavelength channel into a respective parallel optical path. The PDL of each of the separated channels is then independently measured and compensated, in parallel, and the thus "PDL-compensated" channels multiplexed back together.
A limitation of this approach is that WDM systems that achieve high spectral efficiencies (e.g., better than about 0.3 bits per second per Hz) generally suffer significant distortion penalties for each multiplexing and demultiplexing function. In addition, per-channel PDL compensation inherently introduces "deadbands" between channels. Within these deadbands, signals cannot be transmitted and PDL cannot be compensated. This tightly ties the PDL compensation system to the particular wavelength plan of the communications system, which is undesirable.
A known method of broadband PDL compensation that avoids deadbands is to impose a selected PDL across a wavelength band of interest (e.g. 5-6 nm wide). However, PDL can exhibit a strong wavelength dependence. Accordingly, the imposed PDL will normally be selected to compensate an average PDL within the wavelength band. While this approach avoids undesirable deadbands, it can only compensate a portion of the PDL within the wavelength band, leaving at least some PDL un-compensated.
Another method of reducing the accumulation of PDL in a optical fiber link is depolarization of the optical signal traffic. Such methods are taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,205,262, for example. However, depolarization does not permit any dynamic equalization of PDL across a spectrum of channels.
Although the optical fibers used for long-haul optical transmission are nominally "single mode", propagation is generally characterized by two orthogonally polarized HE11 modes for which slightly different group velocities exist in the presence of birefringence. Accordingly, for an arbitrary polarization state of an optical signal at the input end of the fibre, the optical signal at the output end of the fibre will consist of both polarization modes separated by a certain amount of group delay, or Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD), which is usually measured in pico seconds per ✓km. Cross-coupling of energy between the polarization modes, in the presence of this differential group delay (DGD), causes waveform distortion and consequent degradation of optical signal quality. Second order PMD produces further signal distortions in the form of differential chromatic dispersion (that is, "polarization-dependent" chromatic dispersion) between the orthogonal polarization modes.
For a detailed description of PMD, see "Long-Term Measurement of PMD and Polarization Drift in Installed Fibers", Magnus Karlsson et al., Journal of Lightwave Technology, Vol. 18, No. 7, (July, 2000). The effects of PMD in a high bandwidth optical link is discussed in "Temporal Dynamics of Error-Rate Degradation Induced by Polarization Mode Dispersion Fluctuation of a Field Fiber Link", Henning Bulow et al., Proceedings of the 23rd European Conference on Optical Communications, IOOC-ECOC '97, Edinburgh, UK, Sep. 22-25, 1997. Various methods are known for measuring PMD in an optical transmission system, such as, for example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,949,560 (Roberts et al.); "Automated Measurement of Polarization Mode Dispersion Using Jones Matrix Eigenanalysis", Heffner, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Vol. 4, No. 9, September 1992, pp.1066-1069; and "Measurement of High-Order Polarization Mode Dispersion", Li et al., IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Vol. 12, No. 7, July 2000, pp.861-863.
Optical transmission systems using data transmission rates of up to about 10 Gb/s are normally able to tolerate polarization mode dispersion (PMD) on the order of 0.2 pico seconds per ✓km. Future optical transmission systems are expected to achieve data transmission rates of 40 Gb/s (or more), and thus are more likely to be limited by the effects of polarization mode dispersion.
In the prior art, there are three general categories of techniques used for PMD compensation, namely: all-optical, all electrical and hybrid. Of these, all-optical PMD compensation, in which the optical signals remain in the optical domain, is the dominant technique used for PMD compensation in high-speed optical communications.
All-optical PMD compensation methods typically involve the use of a controllable birefringence to impose a differential phase delay to each of the orthogonal HE11 modes. The imposed phase delay is selected to optimize system performance by offsetting at least some of the PMD impressed on the optical signal up-stream of the compensator. These compensation methods typically suffer disadvantages in that the phase delay of controllable birefringent materials typically varies approximately linearly with polarization angle and wavelength. However, PMD is typically non-linear across the range of wavelengths used in WDM optical transmission systems. It is therefore difficult to obtain the desired differential phase delay across the wavelength band of interest. All-optical PMD compensator devices intended to address this problem tend to be highly complex, expensive to manufacture, and suffer from high optical losses.
First order PMD can also be avoided by launching an optical signal on one principle axis of the optical link. This technique is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,346, entitled "Fiber-optic Transmission Polarization-Dependent Distortion Compensation", which issued on May 10, 1994. In this patent, an optical polarization rotator placed at the transmitter end of an optical link is used to rotate the polarization state of the optical signal to minimize signal distortion measured at the receiver end of the link. This technique is capable of avoiding first order PMD, provided that the PDL is small. However, it cannot mitigate the effects of second or higher order PMD, nor can it contend with the combined effects of both PMD and PDL, when both of these are present in significant amounts.
All-electrical PMD-compensation systems are normally limited to linear electrical filtering in a coherent receiver. Typical examples of such systems are described in "Electronic Equalization Of Fiber PMD-Induced Distortion At 10 Gbit/S" by H. Bulow et al, Optical Fiber Communication (OFC'98), pages 151-152, (1998), and "Equalization in Coherent Lightwave Systems Using a Fractionally Spaced Equalizer" by J. Winters, Lightwave Tech., Vol. 8, No. 01, Oct. 1990, pp 1487-1491. These systems suffer the disadvantage that they are limited to coherent receivers. However, because of their high cost, very few coherent receivers have been installed, and the cost of replacing installed receivers with the high-performance coherent receivers is prohibitive.
The majority of receivers installed in modern optical communications networks are of the direct detection type. Due to the well known squaring effect in these receivers, electrical processing of the output signal is capable of compensating only a very limited amount of PMD. See, for example, "Performance of Smart Lightwave Receivers with Linear Equalization" Cartledge et al, Journal of Lightwave Tech, Vol. 10, No. 8, August 1992, pp. 1105-1109; and "Electrical Signal Processing Techniques in Long-Haul Fiber-Optic Systems" Winters et al, IEEE Trans. Comms, Vol. 38, No. 9, September 1990, pp. 1439-1453}.
Hybrid PMD compensation is a technique that uses both optical and electrical methods to restore the distortion due to PMD. In the article entitled "Polarization Mode Dispersion Compensation by Phase Diversity Detection" by B. W. Hakki, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Vol. 9, No. 1, pages 121-123, January 1997, a hybrid PMD compensation technique is disclosed wherein a polarization controller (PC) and a polarization beam splitter (PBS) are used to transform the states of polarization, and split the polarization components. At each output of the PBS, a high-speed photo-detector converts the optical signal to electrical signal. An electrical delay line is used to adjust the phase delay between the two electrical signals.
A cost-effective technique for mitigating effects of polarization on high bandwidth optical signals remains highly desirable.

Electrical domain mitigation of polarization dependent effects in an optical communications system


A “wing in ground effect” aerial vehicle includes a wing mounted on a fuselage, and two cycloidal propulsion units for providing lift, thrust and longitudinal control. Additional lift is provided by a lighter-than-air gas such as helium contained in the fuselage. Operationally, the two cycloidal propulsion units and the volume of lighter-than-air gas are concertedly regulated to achieve “wing in ground effect” flight. Importantly, the two cycloidal propulsion units may operate in one of several modes, to include a curtate mode, a prolate mode, and a fixed-wing mode. Additionally, the vehicle may hover. Also, a thruster unit is mounted on the fuselage for providing forward thrust in combination with, or in lieu of, the two cycloidal propulsion units.

Traditionally, the long-range transport of civilian and military cargo has been accomplished by either sea lift assets or large cargo-carrying aircraft. In the case of ocean-going vessels, large port facilities are required. Also, the time required to transport cargo by sea for long distances can be significant. In the case of large cargo-carrying aircraft, the size of the payload is limited. With this as a limitation, the costs to operate such aircraft (e.g. maintenance and fuel costs) can be prohibitive. The air transport of cargo, however, is relatively fast. Airframe designers, therefore, continue to look for ways to maximize the cargo carrying capability of aircraft, while maintaining or improving on the fuel efficiency and transport range of these aircraft. Typically, the engineering options that are considered include designing lighter aircraft, designing aircraft with more efficient engines, and designing aircraft with greater fuel carrying capability. Yet another option has been to develop aircraft that take advantage of certain natural phenomena associated with winged flight, specifically surface effects or "wing-in-ground" (WIG) effects.
To better understand the operational advantages and limitations of WIG vehicles or aircraft, it is important to first understand the underlying aerodynamics of the "wing in ground" effect. In general, when a fixed-wing aircraft flies near the earth's surface, an air cushion is created between the underside of the wing and the ground. In this flight environment, the air cushion imparts lift to the aircraft, while at the same time reducing drag on the aircraft. In actuality, the air cushion effect results from two physical phenomena often respectively referred to as "chord-dominated ground effect" and "span-dominated ground effect". In particular, chord-dominated ground effect acts to increase the lift of the aircraft, while span-dominated ground effect acts to reduce the induced drag on the aircraft. The combined effect of the two phenomena is to increase the lift to drag, or L/D ratio, thereby allowing for more efficient flight on the "cushion of air".
As can be appreciated by the skilled artisan, the span-dominated ground effect is most apparent in aircraft with a high aspect ratio wing. Specifically, the higher the aspect ratio, which is the wingspan divided by the average chord length of the wing, the lower the induced drag will be. Notably, as the wing gets closer to the earth's surface and the wing vortices are constrained and weakened at the wing tips, the "effective" aspect ratio of the wing increases beyond the geometric aspect ratio. As a result of the increase in this "effective" aspect ratio, the induced drag is reduced. Also, a reduction in drag is most pronounced when the ratio of the aircraft operational altitude to the length of the wingspan is on the order of 1:10. It can be mathematically shown that the net result of an increased "effective" aspect ratio, and a decreased aircraft altitude-to-wingspan ratio, can be a reduction in induced drag by as much as 50%.
Chord-dominated ground effect relies primarily on the fact that pressure under the wing increases as the aircraft flies nearer to the ground. Therefore, as the aircraft-to-ground distance decreases, the lift imparted to the aircraft from higher pressures under the wing significantly increases. Due to these combined effects (i.e. span dominated and chord dominated ground effects), WIG vehicles are able to transport heavier loads further, using less power and less fuel than would be possible for flight out of ground effect. Not surprisingly, WIG vehicles normally operate over water, where it is possible to fly close to the surface of the earth for extended distances without encountering obstructions.
A critical design concern for WIG vehicles is longitudinal stability and control as the aircraft transitions from WIG dominated flight to "free flight" at higher altitudes. In the transition between WIG flight and "free" flight, WIG vehicles have a tendency to dramatically "pitch up." Traditional WIG designs have compensated for this "pitch moment" by employing various techniques for aerodynamic pitch control well known in the aircraft industry, to include: using very large vertical tail planes; optimizing the vehicle center of gravity; and modifying the wing design. Although many of these solutions are effective at controlling "pitch up," many also increase the vehicle weight which adversely impacts both fuel efficiency and power.
In light of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an aerial vehicle that takes advantage of the "wing-in-ground effect" to optimize lift capability, vehicle speed, fuel efficiency and operating range. Another object of the present invention is to provide an aerial vehicle that integrates "lighter-than-air" lift and cycloidal propulsion subsystems into a WIG vehicle. Still another object of the present invention is to provide an aerial vehicle with improved longitudinal stability and control. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an aerial vehicle that is simple to operate, relatively easy to manufacture, and comparatively cost effective.

Cycloidal hybrid advanced surface effects vehicle


A nonvolatile memory cell utilizing planar control gates, which provides advantages of being compatible with self-aligned silicide processes and providing a planar surface for subsequent wiring processes. A substrate defines a first NVRAM region having large floating gate areas with smaller areas cutout to isolate individual memory cells, and a second CMOS Logic region. ONO is deposited on the floating gate areas, and a thick poly layer is deposited in a blanket manner over the first and second regions of the substrate. Resist shapes are patterned over the logic areas in the array where necessary according to a predetermined density algorithm. The poly layer is reactive ion etched, followed by a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) operation. The final poly gate thickness is 200-220 nm in the CMOS logic areas and in the NVRAM control gate areas between floating gate regions, but only 100-120 nm for the NVRAM control gates over the floating gates. The control gate physical thickness is decoupled (isolated) from the standard logic by standard photoetching processes, and the final structure appears identical from a topological perspective to a standard CMOS structure.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an NVRAM (nonvolatile random access memory) cell with a planar control gate, and more particularly pertains to an NVRAM cell with a planar control gate which is compatible with self-aligned silicide processes and also provides a planar surface for subsequent wiring processes.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Salicided (self-aligned silicided) processes do not work well, or work at all, when the polysilicon being silicided has a topography which includes large steps therein. Salicided processes do not work with conventional NVRAM cells because of the severe topography created when the wordline poly passes over the floating gates. In the case of NVRAM technology, the steps are large enough and steep enough to allow spacer formation on the top of the wordlines as they pass over the floating gate polysilicon. The spacer formation guarantees that silicide will not form continuously on the top of the wordline.

Method of making NVRAM cell with planar control gate

International Business Machines Corporation


An input bias cancellation stage for an audio operational amplifier is provided. The input bias cancellation stage includes an input differential pair, a current mirror, and a bias duplicator transistor that substantially duplicates the input bias current. The bias duplicator transistor receives substantially the same emitter current as the transistors in the input differential pair, and has substantially the same Vce as the transistors in the input differential pair. The current mirror mirrors the duplicated bias current and subtracts it from the bases of the transistors in the input differential pair so that the input bias current is substantially cancelled.

Audio operational amplifiers may be used for many applications, including phono preamplification, other forms of audio preamplification, balanced-to-single-ended conversion, adding audio signals, subtracting audio signals, high-pass filtering, low-pass filtering, graphic equalizing, and/or the like. Audio signals may be processed by circuitry for signal conditioning that includes audio operational amplifiers. The signal conditioning may include functions such as gain, mixing, filtering, driving an audio power amplifier, and/or the like.

Apparatus and method for input stage and bias canceller for an audio operational amplifier


A physical layer circuit at a transmitter includes an encoding chain and a plurality of flip-flops. The encoding chain, including encoding units coupled in series, is configured to encode a plurality of symbols to generate a plurality of first wire states. The encoding units are arranged to receive the symbols respectively, and convert respective symbol values of the symbols to the first wire states respectively. A first encoding unit is configured to convert a symbol value of a corresponding symbol according to a second wire state provided by a second encoding unit. The flip-flops are arranged to receive and output the first wire states according to a clock signal, respectively. One of the flip-flops is coupled between the first encoding unit and the second encoding unit. The second wire state provided by the second encoding unit is sent to the first encoding unit through the one of the flip-flops.

The present disclosure relates generally to high-speed data communications, and more particularly, to encoding and decoding architecture for high-speed serial data communication system and related method, physical layer circuit, transmitter and receiver and communication system thereof.
Mobile devices, such as smartphones, include a variety of components for different purposes, such as application processors, displays, CMOS image sensors. These components need to be interconnected by physical interfaces. For example, the application processor may provide frame data to the display through an interface for presenting visual contents. Alternatively, the CMOS image sensors may provide sensed image data to the application processor through an interface for exporting photos or videos.
The Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) specifications, which are standardized by the MIPI alliance, are widely used for signal communications and data transfer between the above mentioned components in the mobile devices. MIPI C-PHY is one of the MIPI specifications, which is newly developed and defined in order to meet requirement of high-speed transmission and provide high throughput for specific data, such as frame data or image data. MIPI C-PHY introduces 3-phase symbol encoding to transmit data symbols on 3-wire lanes, or trios, where each trio includes an embedded clock. These signals having three levels, do not use the standard NRZ format of signaling, and are single ended. At any given point in time, no signals are at the same voltage levels. The MIPI C-PHY effectively can achieve high-speed signal communications and can provide high throughput with a bit rate of at least 2.5 Gbps per lane.
To reach such high data rate, delay of hardware components need to be very short in order to avoid timing violation. However, in order to optimize energy, supply voltage of a mobile device is usually configured to be as low as possible. Hence, due to the low voltage operation and huge gate count in modern hardware components, it is difficult to shorten delays (such as gate delays) of the hardware components (such as combination logic circuits) in a modern complicated serial communication system, such as a MIPI C-PHY communication system. As a result, timing violation may occur if the overall gate delays of hardware components fail to keep up with a timing requirement of a unit interval of the transmission.

Encoding and decoding architecture for high speed data communication system and related physical layer circuit, transmitter and receiver and communication system thereof


A fluid hose apparatus with integrated nozzle includes a hose having at least one sidewall hole formed within a sidewall thereof. At least one patch is affixed to the sidewall of the hose, the at least one patch positioned over the at least one sidewall hole. A chamber is formed between the at least one patch and the sidewall of the hose, wherein the chamber is in fluid communication with the at least one sidewall hole. At least one nozzle is formed in an exterior wall of the at least one patch, wherein the at least one nozzle is in fluid communication with the chamber. A related supply line system for conveying and spraying a fluid and method of protecting an elongated hose from a heat source is also disclosed.

Firefighters use hoses to spray water, or other fluids, onto fires in order to extinguish the fires. The water exits these hoses from a nozzle at the end of the hoses, which the firefighters can direct to an appropriate location. Non-structural fires, such wildfires, bushfires, or grassfires, commonly have a wide front which is difficult to fight with conventional hoses. Fire fighters on the ground, or on fire trucks, can spray water onto only a small section of a wide area fire at any given moment, which may allow fires in other areas to increase. Sometimes, fire trucks can become surrounded and trapped by a fast moving fire.
One method of stopping a grassfire or a wildfire is to create a fire break, a gap in vegetation or other combustible material that acts as a barrier to slow or stop the progress of a bushfire or wildfire. Fire breaks often have a size in the range of 10 feet wide and as long as deemed necessary, usually sufficiently long to prevent the fire from moving around the fire break. Most fire breaks are created by teams of firefighters with hand tools, which is highly labor intensive. Where possible, tractors and plows can be used to create the fire breaks, but many wildfire locations are not easily accessible. Furthermore, when using fire breaks, wildfires can quickly become large and difficult to control. Large fires create winds that blow burning embers through the air over long distances. A 10 foot fire break can be easily jumped by blowing embers, which subverts the intended purpose of the fire break.
Within the industry, some conventional devices are available to help prevent blowing embers moving past a fire break. One such device, called a water curtain, uses a conventional hose that has many simple holes that are placed close together along the length of the hose. As water is pumped through the hose, it exits each hole and is directed straight up in a vertical column. The resulting overall spray shape is that of a thin curtain, in that, the spraying water is positioned along the length of the hose, but it is only a very thin wall of water. These water curtains are rarely used because they are too thin to significantly reduce radiant heat from a fire, and because the available water is better used to wet the nearby fuels to prevent their ignition.
One technique to protect a structure, such as a building, from a wildfire is to deploy a defensive line of rotating sprinklers on tripods, and to supply these sprinklers with water using fire hoses. Setting up such a system can be very time consuming, and the hardware required is expensive. Another technique to protect a structure is to place permanent sprinklers on the roofs or walls of the structures. This technique, unfortunately, allows the fire to get very close to the structure before encountering a spray of water or other fire resisting fluids, which subjects the structure to high temperatures from the encroaching fire. The radiant heat from a fire can be very intense and it is best to keep the fire farther away from the structure. Placing sprinklers on the structure is not as effective as having a system located farther from the structure which can spray fluid to stop a wildfire.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.

Fluid hose apparatus with integrated nozzle and related systems and methods


An exemplary electronic device (30) includes a main body (40) and two support legs (43). The main body has two sloping slide portions (415) formed at two adjacent corners thereof. A depth of each sloping slide portion increases from one end to the other end. Each support leg are movably connected to one corresponding sloping slide portion, such that a height of the support leg relative to main body is capable of being changed when the support leg moves relative to the main body.

1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to electronic devices, particularly to an electronic device with a main body and a rotatable display body.
2. Description of Related Art
Notebook computers have become popular alternatives to desktop computers because of its portability. A typical notebook computer includes a display body and a main body with a keyboard. The display body is rotatably attached to the main body so that the display body can be opened and closed relative to the main body. In most circumstances, the typical notebook computer is operated on a tabletop. However, the keyboard is usually parallel to the tabletop making it very uncomfortable for a user to operate the notebook. In addition, the main body of the notebook computer is in contact with the desktop. Heat produced by internal electronic components cannot be dispersed efficiently from the main body of the notebook, even though the notebook has a fan for heat dissipation. As a result, the internal electronic components may be damaged from overheating. Accordingly, a notebook computer which can solve the above-described problems is needed.
A notebook computer having a keyboard popped up away from a main body and slanted relative to the main body may feel comfortable for the user to operate the keyboard. In addition, a gap for emitting heat is formed between the keyboard and the main body.
However, dust and harmful substances may easily get inside the main body through the gap and deposit on the internal electronic components. This may cause a short circuit of the internal electronic components, and make it difficult to disperse the heat produced by the internal electronic components.
Therefore, an electronic device which overcomes the above-described shortcomings is desired.

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.


A method, system and apparatus for logging external events in a human-to-human conversational space. In a preferred aspect of the invention, a persistent human-to-human conversational system can include a persistent human-to-human conversational tool such as a persistent chat tool, and an external event processor coupled to the persistent human-to-human conversational tool. The system further can include a query interface to the persistent human-to-human conversational tool. Finally, the system can include one or more collaborative tools communicatively linked to the persistent human-to-human conversational tool.

Statement of the Technical Field
The present invention relates to collaborative computing and more particularly to persistent human-to-human conversational tools.
Description of the Related Art
Real time communications systems provide a substantial enhancement over more traditional, asynchronous communications systems. Electronic mail delivery systems, the prototypical asynchronous communications systems, in its time represented a giant leap forward in respect to global interpersonal communications. Prior to electronic mail, individuals primarily communicated via telephone, facsimile and post. With electronic mail, however, individuals expect near instant delivery of text, and even imagery, audio and video, without incurring the delay typical of the postal system, or the expense associated with telephony and fax technologies.
Despite the ubiquity of electronic mail, asynchronous communications system lack several elements common in the realm of real time communications systems. In particular, the seemingly instant delivery of a message cannot be experienced in the world of electronic mail. In an real-time society, the minor latencies associated with electronic mail often cannot be suitable for the task at hand where a real-time conversation will be required in addressing a problem or performing a collaborative task. More importantly, often the feel and nature of a "conversation" as it is known to human beings only can be approximated through real time communications where the participants to a conversation feel the spontaneity of an exchange of ideas, much as is the case in a live, face-to-face conversation.
The recent rapid development of the Internet has led to advanced modes of synchronous, real-time collaboration able to fulfill the real-time communicative requirements of the modern computing participant. Using the Internet as a backbone, individuals worldwide can converge in real-time in cyberspace to share ideas, documents and images in a manner not previously possible through conventional telephony and video conferencing. To facilitate collaboration over the Internet, a substantial collection of technologies and protocols have been assembled to effectively deliver audio, video and data over the single data communications medium of the Internet. These technologies include several human-to-human collaborative environments such as instant messaging, application sharing, shared document libraries persistent chat rooms, and new communicative environments that support persistent chat and other persistent documents and objects.
In a persistent chat environment, a collaborative space can be established in which the postings of chat participants can be maintained in a bulletin board fashion, regardless of whether participants are actively engaged in the chat session at any one time. In a prototypical "chat" or "persistent chat", which can be understood as terms of art to refer to both the act of chatting and the conversational space and/or transcript in which that act of chatting has occurred, participants post conversational contributions referred to as "turns" in the chat visible to all participants. Importantly, the persistent nature of the persistent chat can result from the persistence of the turns in the chat transcript regardless of whether any participants remain actively participants in the chat. Thus, the persistent chat can function as an important collaborative tool for a long-standing collaboration.
As a human-to-human conversational space, the persistent chat can form the basis of a long standing collaboration. Yet, it will be recognized by the skilled artisan that not all collaboration can be documented within the persistent chat. In this regard, much collaborative content can be produced and maintained externally to the persistent chat. As a result, to the extent that the persistent chat is to act as a record of a long-standing collaborative effort, however, a significant portion of the collaborative effort will be absent from the record produced and maintained in the persistent chat.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Logging external events in a persistent human-to-human conversational space

International Business Machines Corporation


This invention utilizes a conventional type cartridge orienting device for orienting cartridges with their longitudinal axes aligned generally parallel with one another. The present invention includes a hollow receptacle having a cartridge accepting device. This accepting device includes a stop wall to allow only one oriented cartridge to drop into the accepting device at a time. A rotatable cam is provided within the accepting device. Upon rotation of the rotatable cam, cartridges are grasped and moved away from the accepting device and transported by the rotatable cam upon further rotation thereof to the receiving end of a conventional magazine. The cartridge is then forced into the magazine when the rotatable cam is further rotated.

This invention relates to an improved magazine cartridge loader and in particular to an apparatus for orienting a plurality of cartridges and loading the oriented cartridges into a magazine for use with firearms.
Devices for loading multiple cartridges into a magazine are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,572 to Brandenburg shows a device including two cam followers to move a cartridge in two linear directions to load the cartridge into a magazine. U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,820 to Miller et al illustrates the use of a spring loaded feed finger to achieve the proper transport motion to load a cartridge into a magazine.
Further, there are several references which show star wheels used to load cartridges into a magazine. These patents utilize the star wheel to separate an advancing column of cartridges aligned end to end into a sequence of cartridges to be transported by other mechanisms to the magazine. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,644 to Hupp et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,879,829 to Miller et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,983,782 to Sawyer all provide examples of star wheels used in this fashion.
All of these patents illustrate complex mechanisms to load cartridges into a magazine and none of these patents show a simple rotatable cam for accepting a cartridge and forcing it into a magazine.


A clamping apparatus includes a clamp arm that is pivotable between a raised position and a lowered position, and a clamp spindle assembly that is adjustably positionable along the length of the arm. A magnet in the clamp spindle assembly magnetically engages the clamp arm with sufficient magnetic force to maintain the spindle assembly in a selected position as the clamp arm is moved between its raised and lowered positions, while allowing the position of the clamp spindle assembly to be manually adjusted.

This invention relates to clamping devices for holding a workpiece during assembly or manufacture. More specifically, it relates to an adjustable clamp having a locking clamp spindle that is adjustably positionable in a clamping arm, wherein the spindle can be maintained in a desired position in the arm by means of a permanent magnet fixed to the spindle.
Clamps for holding workpieces typically include a clamping spindle that is installed in a pivotable clamp arm and that is adjustably positionable along the length of the clamp arm. The spindle is held in a desired position by means of spindle locking nuts or similar fasteners. To adjust the position of the spindle on the clamp arm, the nuts or fasteners are loosened, and the spindle is re-positioned. Movement of the clamp arm between its raised and lowered positions while the nuts or fasteners are loose can result in the spindle shifting from its desired position. Thus, adjustment of the spindle position to accommodate workpieces of differing shapes and thicknesses requires constant attention to assure that there is no shifting of the spindle when the clamp arm is moved before the spindle locking nuts are tightened. Even with the exercise of such caution, some inadvertent shifting frequently occurs, with resultant inconsistency of results.
It would therefore be an advantage over the prior art to provide a clamp spindle positioning mechanism that allows the adjustment of the spindle position on the clamp arm, while maintaining a set position as the clamp arm is rotated between its raised and lowered positions.


A solenoid valve for controlling the braking pressure of a wheel brake of a slip-controllable hydraulic brake system of a motor vehicle includes an armature, a valve insert, a valve seat, a valve element, and a spring device. The valve element is arranged in the valve insert in a longitudinally displaceable manner and acts together with the valve seat. The spring applies a force acting in the direction of opening with respect to the valve seat to the valve element in the installed position. The valve element can be actuated by an electromagnetic actuator in the closing direction with respect to the valve seat. The valve element is arranged between an anchor and the valve seat and is operatively connected to the anchor. A front face of the valve element facing the anchor has at least one projection and the projection defines a point of contact with the anchor.

The prior art includes for example patent application DE 10 2007 053 134 A1. This publication concerns a solenoid valve, in particular for a hydraulic assembly which is used for example in an anti-lock braking system (ABS) or in a traction control system (ASR) or an electronic stability program system (ESP). Such a solenoid valve is shown in FIG. 1. As evident from FIG. 1, the solenoid valve 1—which is configured for example as a normally open control valve—comprises a magnet assembly 3 for producing a magnetic flux, which assembly comprises a housing casing 3.1, a winding carrier 3.2, a coil winding 3.3 and a cover plate 3.4, together with a valve cartridge 2 which comprises an enclosure 2.1, a valve insert 8 inserted with a first end in the enclosure 2.1, a magnet armature 4 with a valve element 6 (also called a plunger) and a return spring 7. On production of the solenoid valve 1, the enclosure 2.1 and the valve insert of the valve cartridge 2 are joined together by pressing, and the valve cartridge 2 is sealed hydraulically against atmosphere by a sealing weld 2.2. In addition, the valve insert 8 absorbs the pressure forces acting in the hydraulic system, and conducts these via a caulking flange 11 to a caulking region 12 of a fluid block 13.
When the coil winding 3.3 is powered via electrical connections 3.5, the magnet assembly 3 generates a magnetic force which moves the longitudinally movable magnet armature 4 with the valve element 6—which comprises a closing element 6.1 with the main sealing element 6.2—onto the valve insert 8 against the force of the return spring 7, wherein the valve element 6 and the return spring 7 are guided in an internal bore of the valve insert 2. The valve insert 8 conducts the magnetic flux, introduced by the magnet assembly 3 via the cover plate 3.4, axially over an air gap 5 in the direction of the magnet armature 4. Also, at a second end, the valve insert 8 receives the valve body 9, which comprises a main valve seat 9.1 in which the main sealing element 6.2 (configured as a sealing cap) plunges in sealed fashion in order to implement the sealing function of the solenoid valve 1. As further evident from FIG. 1, a valve lower part 10 is axially applied to and rests on the valve insert 8, wherein said valve lower part comprises a check valve 10.1 arranged eccentrically relative to the valve main axis. The valve lower part 10, configured for example as a plastic insert, in addition to sealing against the surrounding fluid block 10, also serves to seal against the valve body 9 and to receive a flat filter 10.2.
Moreover, patent application DE 10 2004 030 428 A1 is known from the prior art. This publication concerns an electromagnetic valve device. At least part of the valve element is arranged in a valve chamber delimited by the valve insert in the region of the valve seat. Furthermore, an end of the valve element facing away from the valve chamber is operatively connected to an armature. Here, an end face of the armature facing the valve insert, and or an end face of the valve insert facing the end faces of the armature, is configured with such a surface profile that a flow cross-section delimited by the end faces varies at least in regions in the radial direction and/or in the circumferential direction of the armature.
In general, the plunger and armature components are fitted in the valve without guidance (i.e. with all degrees of freedom). Also, the components are mounted loosely relative to each other and may therefore assume widely varying orientations. The plunger is an injection molding and the armature is a cold-formed steel component. The resulting component precision (in particular at the armature and plunger) has a great influence on the precision of pressure setting. Also, widely varying component orientations between the armature and plunger may lead to fluctuations in pressure setting (as depicted in FIG. 2) since a multiplicity of different constellations between the armature and the plunger is possible, which hence leads to different magnetic forces.

Solenoid valve for controlling the braking pressure of a wheel brake and tool for producing its valve element


Conversational dialog with a computer or other processor-based device without requiring push-to-talk functionality. In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method first determines that a user desires to engage in a dialog. Based thereon the method turns on a speech recognition functionality for a period of time referred to as a listening horizon. Upon the listening horizon expiring, the method turns off the speech recognition functionality.

Speech recognition applications have become increasingly popular with computer users. Speech recognition allows a user to talk into a microphone connected to the computer, and the computer translating the speech into recognizable text or commands understandable to the computer. There are several different types of uses for such speech recognition. In one type, speech recognition is used as an input mechanism for the user to input text into a program, such as a word processing program, in lieu of or in conjunction with a keyboard. In another type, speech recognition is used as a mechanism to convey commands to a program—for example to save a file in a program, instead of selecting a save command from a menu using a mouse.
In yet another type of use for speech recognition, speech recognition is used in conjunction with an on-screen agent or automated assistant. For example, the agent may ask the user whether he or she wishes to schedule an appointment in a calendar based on an electronic mail the user is reading—e.g., using a text-to-speech application to render audible the question through a speaker, or by displaying text near the agent such that it appears that the agent is talking to the user. Speech recognition can then be used to indicate the user's acceptance or declination of the agent's offer.
In these and other types of uses for speech recognition, an issue lies as to when to turn on the speech recognition engine—that is, as to when the computer should listen to the microphone for user speech. This is because in part speech recognition is a processor-intensive application; keeping speech recognition turned on all the time may slow down other applications being run on the computer. In addition, keeping speech recognition turned on all the time may not be desirable, in that the user may accidentally say something into the microphone that was not meant for the computer.
One solution to this problem is generally referred to as "push-to-talk." In push-to-talk systems, a user presses a button on an input device such as a mouse, or presses a key or a key combination on the keyboard, to indicate to the user that it is ready to speak into the microphone such that the computer should listen to the speech. The user may optionally then be required to push another button to stop the computer from listening, or the computer may determine when to stop listening based on no more speech being spoken by the user.
Push-to-talk systems are disadvantageous, however. A goal in speech recognition systems is to provide for a more natural manner by which a user communicates with a computer. However, requiring a user to push a button prior to speaking to the computer cuts against this goal, so it is unnatural for the user to do so. Furthermore, in applications where a dialog is to be maintained with the computer—for example, where an agent asks a question, the user answers, and the agent asks another question, etc.—requiring the user to push a button is inconvenient and unintuitive, in addition to being unnatural.
Other prior art systems include those that give the user an explicit, unnatural message to indicate that the system is listening. For example, in the context of automated phone applications, a user may be hear a recorded voice "Press 1 now for choice A." While this may improve on push-to-talk systems, it nevertheless is unnatural. That is, in everyday conversation between people, such explicit messages to indicate that one party is ready to listen to the other is rarely heard.
For these and other reasons, there is a need for the present invention.

Controlling the listening horizon of an automatic speech recognition system for use in handsfree conversational dialogue


In a general aspect, a gate is formed for a quantum processor. In some implementations, an arbitrary program is received. The arbitrary program includes a first sequence of quantum logic gates, which includes a parametric XY gate. A native gate set is identified, which includes a set of quantum logic gates associated with a quantum processing unit. A second sequence of quantum logic gates corresponding to the parametric XY gate is identified, which includes a parametric quantum logic gate. Each of the quantum logic gates in the second sequence is selected from the native gate set. A native program is generated. The native program includes a third sequence of quantum logic gates. The third sequence of quantum logic gates corresponds to the first sequence of quantum logic gates and includes the second sequence of quantum logic gates. The native program is provided for execution by the quantum processing unit.

The following description relates to gate formation for a quantum processor.
Quantum computers can perform computational tasks by storing and processing information within quantum states of quantum systems. For example, qubits (i.e., quantum bits) can be stored in and represented by an effective two-level sub-manifold of a quantum coherent physical system. A variety of physical systems have been proposed for quantum computing applications. Examples include superconducting circuits, trapped ions, spin systems, and others.


A semiconductor light emitting element has an electrode formed on a semiconductor layer, a passivation film covering a part of a top surface of the electrode, and a multilayer film formed on the electrode. The multilayer film has at least one pair of a Ti layer and a Ni layer, the Ti layer and the Ni layer being stacked alternately in the multilayer film.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a semiconductor light emitting element and, in particular, to an improvement in electrodes of a semiconductor light emitting element.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a gold bump (Au bump) is often used to bond the electrode of a semiconductor light emitting element to a submount etc. However, since the Au bump bonding has many problems such as insufficient heat radiation property, the use of gold-tin solder (AuSn solder) has been proposed instead of the Au bump.
In order to obtain a good bonding property, the top of the electrode of a semiconductor light emitting element is formed of gold and the surface of the electrode except a part of the top surface as a bonding region is covered with a passivation film (protective film). When the semiconductor light emitting element thus constructed is bonded through the AuSn solder to the submount, the gold of the AuSn solder and the electrode may diffuse mutually by heat in the bonding to cause a big deformation of the electrode to allow the peeling or breaking of the passivation film. Also, the Sn originating in the AuSn solder may penetrate or diffuse into the electrode to affect the functions of the element.
JP-A-2003-347487 discloses a method that the electrode is provided with a three-layer structure formed of a titanium (Ti) layer, a nickel (Ni) layer and a gold (Au) or silver (Ag) layer in the order starting from the semiconductor layer side so as to prevent the Sn originating in the AuSn solder from diffusing into the electrode not to allow the peeling of the electrode. However, this method is only a measure after the Sn penetrates into the electrode and cannot prevent the penetration of the Sn into the electrode. Thus, it is ineffective for the Sn to penetrate into the top of the electrode in the bonding to cause the deformation of the electrode. Therefore, in case of having the passivation film formed on the surface of the electrode, the peeling or breaking of the passivation film must be caused by the deformation of the electrode even when using the method. Further, the method cannot prevent the penetration of the Sn into the electrode which results in affecting the functions of the element.
In order to block the penetration/diffusion into the electrode of Sn originating in the AuSn solder to prevent the affectation to the passivation film and the functions of the element, it is required (1) that the Sn is not diffused to the interface between the passivation film and the upper face of the electrode, and (2) that the Sn is not diffused to the lower part of the electrode. An effective measure to meet the requirements is to form a barrier layer on the electrode. The barrier layer needs (1) an enhanced barrier effect, (2) a low fabrication cost, and (3) an excellent mass productivity (or difficulty of peeling). Although it is considered effective to thicken the barrier layer to enhance the barrier effect, the thickened barrier layer may cause a crack or peeling due to stress to reduce the mass productivity. Although the barrier effect may be enhanced by using platinum (Pt) with an excellent barrier effect, the fabrication cost will be significantly increased since the Pt is expensive.


Disclosed is an optical element that includes: a light guide body into which light from a light-emitting element enters; carrier generation layer (6) formed in the light guide body, in which carriers are generated by the light from the light guide body; plasmon excitation layer (8) stacked on carrier generation layer (6), which has a plasma frequency higher than the frequency of light generated when carrier generation layer (6) is excited by the light from the light-emitting element; and wave vector conversion layer (10) stacked on plasmon excitation layer (8), which converts light incident from plasmon excitation layer (8) into light having a predetermined exit angle to output the light. Plasmon excitation layer (8) is sandwiched between low dielectric constant layer (7) and high dielectric constant layer (9).

There has been proposed a light-emitting diode (LED) projector that uses a LED as a light-emitting element included in the light source device. The LED projector of this type includes a light source device having a LED, an illumination optical system into which light from the light source device enters, a light bulb having a liquid crystal display plate into which light from the illumination optical system enters, and a projection optical system for projecting light from the light bulb to a projection surface.
In the LED projector, to increase the luminance of a projected image, light loss must be prevented as much as possible on an optical path from the light source device to the light bulb.
As described in Nonpatent Literature 1, there are restrictions based on Etendue that are determined by the product of the area of the light source device and the radiation angle. In other words, the light from the light source device is not used as projection light unless the value of the product of the light-emitting area of the light source device and the radiation angle is set equal to or less than the value of the product of an incident surface area of the light bulb and a capture angle (solid angle) determined by the F number of a projection lens.
Thus, in the light source device that includes the LED and an optical element into which light from the LED enters, reducing the light loss by lowering the etendue of light output from the optical element is an issue that requires attention.
In the light source device included in the LED projector, it is essential to achieve a projected luminous flux of about several thousand lumina by using a plurality of LEDs to compensate for a shortage of the amount of light emitted by a single LED.
As an example of such a light source using a plurality of LEDs, as shown in FIG. 1, Patent Literature 1 discloses a light source unit that includes a plurality of monochromatic light source devices 83a to 83f having LEDs 84a to 84f, optical axis matching members 82a to 82d for matching optical axes of lights output from monochromatic light sources 83a to 83f, light source sets 81a and 81b into which lights from optical axis matching members 82a to 82d enter, and light guiding device 80 into which the lights from light source sets 81a and 81b enter. In this light source unit, lights from the plurality of monochromatic light source devices 83a to 83f are synthesized, and lights that have radiation angles narrowed by light source sets 81a and 81b enter light guiding device 80. In this configuration, light loss is reduced by narrowing the radiation angles of the light incident on light guiding device 80.
As another example of the light source device using the plurality of LEDs, as shown in FIG. 2, Patent Literature 2 discloses a light source device that includes light source substrate 86 having a plurality of LEDs 85 arranged on a plane. This light source device includes an optical element having two prism sheets 88 and 89 each having prism columns formed on one surface and arranged by setting the prism columns to intersect reach other, and frame 87 for supporting prism sheets 88 and 89. In the light source device, lights from the plurality of LEDs 85 are synthesized by two prism sheets 88 and 89.

Optical element, light source device, and projection display device


As in a normal storage system, an application run on a host issues a data write command or a data read command. A monitor unit monitors the host and a command issued by the host to detect a re-startable point to issue the re-startable point notification to a source storage system. Using the re-startable point as a momentum, the source storage system converts a command stored in a buffering unit into a command for transfer in which redundant data transfer has been curtailed to transfer the command for transfer to a destination storage system. The destination storage system applies the received command to a storage unit. At this time, the command for transfer is restored to an ordinary command which is applied.

There has so far been used a computer system provided with a normal or operating site and a standby site for maintaining the system function even on outbreak of disasters. Such computer system is termed a replication system. During normal operation time, the normal site is performing operation for providing system functions and, in case the normal system is unable to operate as regularly, the standby site comes into operation to take the place of the normal site.
For providing the functions as the computer system, the operating site and the standby site have respective storage systems for storing data. In the replication system, data in the storage system of the operating site is replicated and retained in the storage system of the standby site, such that the standby site may come into operation to take the place of the operating site (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2). This processing is termed the 'replication'.
In the replication system, the normal site and the standby site may be 'synchronized', in which case the replication is termed 'synchronous replication'. Or, the normal site and the standby site may be 'non-synchronized', in which case the replication is termed 'asynchronous replication'.
If, in the synchronous replication, there occurs Write in a storage device in the normal site, the same data is written in the storage device of the stand-by site, with the Write for the normal site acting as a trigger. In the asynchronous replication, WRITE in the storage device of the stand-by site is carried out subsequently, with the WRITE for the normal site then not acting as a trigger.
Among the methods currently known for decreasing the band of the network, there is a method in which only the data updated latest in the storage is transmitted as update data for the same block (Non-Patent Document 1). The amount of data traffic over a network may be reduced more than in case of complete data copying by transferring and copying only the difference ('gap') between the data stored in the normal system and that stored in the standby system. However, in these systems, the amount of data transfer may be decreased only when update has occurred for the same area during predetermined time duration. The amount of data transfer cannot be decreased for data update for physically or logically differing areas.
In a system for implementing the replication with a middleware layer, such as a database, there is known a method which resides in transferring a REDO log to create a data file in the standby site (Non-Patent Document 3). If replication is used even with this system, data not in need of being sent to the stand-by site do not have to be sent, thereby diminishing the amount of data transferred on the network. However, there arises the necessity for a computer capacity for running the middleware, software or software license in the stand-by site. In addition, there is a possibility that the application run on the normal site may be lowered in performance as a result of the middleware or the replication function in the middleware being run on the host. There is also presented a problem that the application being run has to be developed using the middleware, and hence the system has to be modified for newly introducing the middleware in mirroring a pre-existing system.
Meanwhile, as a prior-art publication, the Patent Document 1 shows a method and a system for reducing the amount of data transfer necessary for copying DB data to assure data matched as DB table of the destination of copy. It is stated that, with use of the log, data to be copied to a remote device may be buffered with the amount of information less than with buffering on a cache. However, with the method and the system disclosed in Patent Document 1, if data of the same contents are written in plural distinct locations, it becomes necessary to transmit data per se.
In Patent Document 2, there is disclosed a system in which a frame from a central processing unit is temporally stored in a header converting buffer in a master side disc apparatus and in which the header part of the frame is converted into a header part for a remote side disc apparatus, and the resulting frame is then transmitted.
In Patent Document 3, there is disclosed the configuration in which copying means in a concentrator in a disc array device of a primary site copies update data on a cache in a manner of sequentially packing the data in a transmitting buffer from the leading end, a transmitting means transfers the packing data of the storage buffer to a disc array device of a secondary site, and in which a receiving means in the disc array device of the secondary site copies update data in the packing data in a multiplexed form in the packing sequence. In this case, the update data are transmitted in their entirety.
In Patent Document 4, there is disclosed a system reducing the amount of communication in multiplexing a master file and a duplicated file. In this system, a master file read in from a master area is cached in a cache area, a changed data part in the cache area is transferred to an associated part in a master area, and the changed data part is multiplexed in the master area and in the cache area, while the non-changed data part is multiplexed in the master area and the copying area. Finally, the non-changed data part is transferred to the cache area and the duplicated data is integrated in the cache area to provide a duplicated area. It is sufficient to transfer data only to the master area at the time of preparation of the duplicated file, and hence the volume of communication may be reduced for multiplication.
[Non-Patent Document 1]
EMC Corporation, EMC SRDF, SRDF/A [ONLINE] (Retrieved on Jul. 28, 2004, Internet <URL http://japan.emc.com/local/ja/jp/products/networking/srdf.jsp>
[Non-Patent Document 2]
NEC Corporation, SYSTEM GLOBE REMOTE DATA REPLICATION [ONLINE] [Retrieved on Jul. 28, 2004], Internet <URL http://www.sw.nec.co.jp/products/istorage/product/software/rdr/index.s html>
[Non-Patent Document 3]
Oracle, ORACLE DATA GUARD 10G White Paper [ONLINE] [Jul. 28, 2004] Internet <URL: http://otn.oracle.co.jp/cgi-bin/otn/auth_r.cgi?path=/download/products/database/oracle10g/pdf/twp_ha_dataguardoverview—10gr1—1103.pdf>
[Patent Document 1]
JP Patent Kokai Publication No. JP-P2000-347917A
[Patent Document 2]
JP Patent Kokai Publication No. JP-P2003-085017A
[Patent Document 3]
JP Patent Kokai Publication No. JP-P2003-167684A
[Patent Document 4]
JP Patent Kokai Publication No. JP-P2003-323328A

Storage system and method for data replication with reduced redundant data transfer


The invention features fusion protein monomers, multimeric immunotoxic proteins, nucleic acids encoding fusion protein monomers, vectors containing the nucleic acids, and cells containing the vectors. Also encompassed by the invention are methods of killing pathogenic cells and making multimeric immunotoxic proteins.

The invention is generally in the field of immunotoxins, particularly immunotoxins effective against pathogenic cells, e.g., T lymphocytes mediating graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD).
Immunotoxins are molecules that contain targeting domains that direct the molecules to target cells of interest (e.g., effector T lymphocytes) and toxic domains that kill the target cells. They are thus useful in pathological conditions such as GVHD, cancer, autoimmune diseases, and certain infectious diseases. The field of immunotoxins has been limited by an inability to escalate the dose of immunotoxin administered to a subject to a level that is therapeutic but not unacceptably toxic.
The invention derives from the finding that treatment of animals undergoing lethal GVHD with a homodimeric immunotoxin abrogated the GVHD. Treatment with this immunotoxin allowed for a therapeutic window in that the dose of the dimeric immunotoxin required for abrogation of GVHD was more than four-fold lower than the toxic dose. The invention includes monomeric fusion proteins useful for the production of multimeric immunotoxic proteins, multimeric immunotoxic proteins, nucleic acid molecules encoding fusion protein monomers, vectors containing the nucleic acid molecules, and cells containing the vectors. Also included in the invention are in vitro and in vivo methods of killing a target cell involving delivery of a multimeric immunotoxic protein to the surface of a target cell and methods of producing both a fusion protein monomer of the invention and the multimeric immunotoxic proteins of the invention.
More specifically, the invention features a fusion protein molecule containing a toxic domain, a targeting domain, and at least one heterologous coupling moiety. In this fusion protein, cysteine residues forming disulfide bonds are cysteine residues native to the toxic domain or the targeting domain. Other aspects of the invention are: (a) an isolated nucleic acid molecule containing a nucleic acid sequence encoding the above fusion protein; (b) a vector containing the nucleic acid molecule of (a), e.g., a vector in which transcriptional regulatory elements (TRE) are operably linked to the nucleic acid sequence; (c) a cell containing the vector of (b); and (d) a method of making a fusion protein in which the cell of (c) is cultured and the fusion protein is extracted from the culture, i.e., either from the culture medium or from the cells. The invention also provides a multimeric immunotoxic protein containing at least two of the above fusion protein molecules, each fusion protein molecule being joined by at least one of the heterologous coupling moieties to one or more of the other fusion protein molecules.
In addition, the invention encompasses a multimeric immunotoxic protein containing at least two fusion protein monomers, each of which includes a targeting domain and a toxic domain and is physically associated with the other fusion protein monomers. The targeting domain in all the multimeric immunotoxic proteins of the invention have significant binding affinity for a target molecule on a target cell. The fusion protein monomers can contain one or more coupling moieties and the physical association of the fusion protein monomer to one or more other fusion protein monomers can be mediated by at least one of the coupling moieties. The coupling moiety can be a terminal moiety, i.e., a C-terminal moiety or a N-terminal moiety. A coupling moiety can be, for example, a cysteine residue. Furthermore the coupling moieties can be heterologous coupling moieties. The fusion protein monomers in a particular multimeric immunotoxic protein can have the same amino acid sequence or different amino acid sequences. Targeting domains can be antibody fragments, e.g., single chain Fv and can have significant binding affinity for a target molecules on a T cell, e.g., a CD3 polypeptide. Alternatively, the targeting domain can be, for example, a polypeptide such as a cytokine, a ligand for a cell adhesion receptor, a ligand for a signal transduction receptor, a hormone, a molecule that binds to a death domain family molecule (e.g., Fas ligand, TNF-alpha, or TWEAK), an antigen, or a functional fragment of any of these polypeptides. The toxic domain can be, for example, any of the following toxic polypeptides: ricin, Pseudomonas exotoxin (PE), bryodin, gelonin, xcex1-sarcin, aspergillin, restrictocin, angiogenin, saporin, abrin, pokeweed antiviral protein (PAP), or a functional fragment of any of these toxic polypeptides. The toxic domain can also be diphtheria toxin (DT) or a functional fragment thereof, e.g., a fragment containing amino acid residues 1-389 of DT. The target cell to which the multimeric immunotoxic proteins of the invention bind can be in a mammal. The mammal can be one suspected of having graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). A target cell to which the multimeric immunotoxic proteins bind can be a cancer cell, e.g., a neural tissue cancer cell, a melanoma cell, a breast cancer cell, a lung cancer cell, a gastrointestinal cancer cell, an ovarian cancer cell, a testicular cancer cell, a lung cancer cell, a prostate cancer cell, a cervical cancer cell, a bladder cancer cell, a vaginal cancer cell, a liver cancer cell, a renal cancer cell, a bone cancer cell, and a vascular tissue cancer cell.
The invention also features a method of killing a target cell in which the target cell is contacted with any of the multimeric proteins of the invention. The contacting can be in vitro or the target cell can be in a mammal. Where the target cell is in a mammal, the multimeric immunotoxic protein per se can administered to the mammal. Alternatively, one or more nucleic acids encoding at least two fusion protein monomers can be administered to the mammal. In addition, the multimeric immunotoxic proteins can be delivered to a target cell by an ex vivo methodology which can, for example, involve: (a) providing a recombinant cell which is the progeny of a cell from the mammal or from another mammal and has been transfected or transformed ex vivo with a vector containing one or more nucleic acid sequences, each nucleic acid sequence encoding a fusion protein monomer with a different amino acid sequence, such that the recombinant cell expresses the multimeric protein; and (b) administering the recombinant cell to the mammal.
Also within the invention is a method of making a multimeric immunotoxic protein. The method can involve the steps of: (a) providing one or more cells, each of the cells containing a nucleic acid sequence encoding a fusion protein monomer composed of a targeting domain and a toxic domain, each monomer having a different amino acid sequence, and the nucleic acid sequence being operably linked to a TRE; (b) separately culturing each of the one or more cells; (c) extracting the fusion protein monomer from each of the cultures (cells or medium); (d) mixing the fusion protein monomers; and (e) exposing the mixed fusion protein monomers to conditions which allow multimerization of the fusion protein monomers.
xe2x80x9cPolypeptidexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cproteinxe2x80x9d are used interchangeably and mean any peptide-linked chain of amino acids, regardless of length or post-translational modification.
As used herein, xe2x80x9coperably linkedxe2x80x9d means incorporated into a genetic construct so that expression control sequences effectively control expression of a coding sequence of interest.
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cantibody fragmentsxe2x80x9d refers to antigen-binding fragments, e.g., Fab, F(abxe2x80x2)2, Fv, and single chain Fv fragments. Also included are chimeric antibody fragments in which the regions involved in antigen binding (e.g., complementarity determining regions (CDR) 1, 2, and 3) are from an antibody produced in a first species (e.g., a mouse or a hamster) and the regions not involved in antigen binding (e.g., framework regions) are from an antibody produced in a second species (e.g., a human).
As used herein, a xe2x80x9cfunctional fragmentxe2x80x9d of a toxic polypeptide for use as a toxic domain in the fusion proteins of the invention is a fragment of the toxic polypeptide shorter than the full-length, wild-type toxic polypeptide but which has at least 5% (e.g., 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 99%, 100%, or even more) of the toxic activity of the full-length, wild-type toxic polypeptide. In vitro and in vivo methods for comparing the relative toxic activity of two or more test compounds are known in the art.
As used herein, a xe2x80x9cfunctional fragmentxe2x80x9d of a targeting polypeptide for use as a targeting domain in the fusion proteins of the invention is a fragment of the targeting polypeptide shorter than the full-length,wild-type targeting polypeptide but which has at least 5% (e.g., 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 99%, 100%, or even more) of the ability of the full-length, wild-type targeting polypeptide to bind to its relevant target molecule. Methods of comparing the relative ability of two or more test compounds to bind to a target molecule are well-known to artisans in the field, e.g., direct or competitive ELISA.
As used herein, a xe2x80x9ccoupling moietyxe2x80x9d in a fusion protein of the invention is a molecule that can be, but is not necessarily, an amino acid (e.g., cysteine or lysine), and which is inserted either internally or at a terminus (C or N) of the fusion protein. Coupling moieties can be residues that are present in native polypeptides (or functional fragments thereof) used as targeting or toxic domains or they can be heterologous. Coupling moieties serve as sites for joining of one fusion protein to another.
As used herein, a xe2x80x9cheterologous moietyxe2x80x9d in a polypeptide is a moiety that does not occur in the wild-type form(s) of the polypeptide or functional fragment(s) thereof.
As used herein, xe2x80x9cphysically associatedxe2x80x9d fusion proteins are fusion proteins that are either: (a) directly joined to each other by, for example, a covalent bond or interactions such as hydrophobic interactions or ionic interactions; or (b) are indirectly linked to each other by one or more intervening fusion proteins, each linked in a sequential fashion by the above bond or interactions.
Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains. In case of conflict, the present document, including definitions, will control. Preferred methods and materials are described below, although methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present invention. All publications, patent applications, patents and other references mentioned herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. The materials, methods, and examples disclosed herein are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.
Other features and advantages of the invention, e.g., abrogating GVHD in mammalian subjects, will be apparent from the following description, from the drawings and from the claims.


There is provided a piezoelectric actuator, including: first and second piezoelectric layers; a driving electrode arranged between the first and second piezoelectric layers; a second electrode maintained at a predetermined first electrical potential; and a third electrode maintained at a second electrical potential. A neutral plane of the piezoelectric actuator is positioned at a side opposite to the second piezoelectric layer relative to a center plane of the first piezoelectric layer in a direction of stacking of the first and second piezoelectric layers. A first portion of the first piezoelectric layer is sandwiched between the driving electrode and the second electrode, and a second portion of the second piezoelectric layer is sandwiched between the driving electrode and the third electrode. The first and second portions are polarized parallel to the stacking direction such that they are polarized in mutually opposite directions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a piezoelectric actuator used for a liquid jetting apparatus or the like which is configured to jet liquid from nozzles, and the liquid jetting apparatus including the piezoelectric actuator.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a piezoelectric actuator used for an ink-jet head, there is conventionally known a piezoelectric actuator including two piezoelectric layers, a common electrode, and a plurality of individual electrodes. The two piezoelectric layers are stacked on each other to continuously extend over a plurality of pressure chambers. The common electrode is positioned between the two piezoelectric layers to extend over therebetween, and the common electrode is kept at a ground potential. The individual electrodes are respectively arranged on the upper surface of the upper piezoelectric layer positioned on the upper side at portions overlapping with the pressure chambers, and a driving signal is input to the individual electrodes. The portions, of the upper piezoelectric layer, sandwiched between the individual electrodes and the common electrode are polarized in a direction parallel to a thickness direction of the piezoelectric layers. When the driving signal is input to the individual electrodes to cause the potential difference between the individual electrodes and the common electrode, an electric field in a direction parallel to the polarization direction occurs in the portions, of the upper piezoelectric layer, sandwiched between the individual electrodes and the common electrode. This electric field causes the portions of the upper piezoelectric layer to contract in a planar direction. As a result, portions, of the two piezoelectric layers, overlapping with the pressure chambers bend to be convex toward the pressure chambers as a whole. At this time, the volume of each of the pressure chambers is reduced to increase a pressure of the ink in each of the pressure chambers, thereby jetting the ink from each of the nozzles connected to one of the pressure chambers.

Piezoelectric actuator and liquid jetting apparatus


An automated sequential reaction system that can be used to either sequentially produce a plurality of different products each requiring a single reaction, or to produce a desired product that requires a series of sequential reactions. A system controller controls an automated reactant supply, a solvent supply, a reaction module, a detector, and a product collector. Prior to initiating any reaction, the system is flushed with solvent and a heat exchanger supplies the reaction module with a temperature-conditioned fluid to maintain the reaction module at a desired temperature. For single reactions, a plurality of reactants are injected into a chemical reactor included in the reaction module. As fluid exits the chemical reactor, the detector determines if the fluid is a desired chemical product or solvent, and routes the fluid to the appropriate receptacle. Once a predetermined volume of a desired product is obtained, the system is flushed with solvent, and a different set of reactants are injected into the chemical reactor to produce the next desired product. The process is repeated until a substance library of the desired products is obtained. For products requiring sequential reaction steps, either a plurality of reactors are employed, or an intermediate product produced by a previous reaction is reintroduced into the reaction module with an appropriate reactant to complete the next sequential reaction.

Apparatus for controlling and optimizing the production of chemical substances are well known in the prior art. Factors affecting the design of chemical production equipment and of controlling the equipment include the chemical properties of the desired product and the reactants used, the temperature and pressure required, and the required product volume or production rate. Chemical processing equipment can be specifically designed for a particular reaction, or can be designed to be more generally applicable to a variety of chemical reactions.
For example, the chemical processing equipment employed in large scale production facilities is often optimized for high volume production of a single desired product. In contrast, research laboratories typically use chemical processing equipment designed to produce relatively small volumes of many different products.
Chemical reactors that can be used for more than a single chemical reaction are most suited in processes that require several different sequential reactions. For example, in research settings, small volumes of a number of different yet closely related chemicals may be required, requiring that a series of related yet different chemical manipulations be executed. For such an application, a single reactor can be used to sequentially produce a plurality of different products, by continually providing the reactor with different mixtures of reagents. When the research is directed toward determining optimum parameters for producing a single product, different small batches of the same product are often sequentially produced, under varying process conditions, so that the optimal reaction parameters can be determined.
One of the highest costs of research is associated with skilled labor. Accordingly, it is preferable to automate chemical processing systems used in a research environment to the extent practical. Indeed, it would be desirable to employ a fully automated chemical processing system that is capable of operating continually with minimal operator supervision to generate the desired products. Such a system should preferably include a reactant supply system capable of providing a variety of different selected reactants upon command, so that a plurality of different products can be sequentially produced without operator supervision. Such a system would likely require a product collector capable of separately storing the different desired products that are produced.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,483 (Cody et al.) describes a device that includes a plurality of chemical reactors operating in parallel and having the ability to simultaneously synthesize many different compounds. However, given the available space and funding constraints under which many research facilities operate, it would be preferable to employ an automated system with a single reactor that operates continually, with minimal operator attention over a period of time, to provide different selected desired products.
To produce some types of desired products, reactants must undergo a sequence of reactions. Again, in a research laboratory, it would be preferable to carry out such reactions using a single chemical processing system. For example, in the field of biotechnology, many sequential reactions are often required to produce a desired product. Peptides, which are sequences of amino acids, are extremely useful research chemicals that are produced by successively adding selected different amino acids, in the proper order, to a base amino acid or peptide. U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,002 (Neimark) describes a semi-automated chemical processing system optimized to produce different peptides. The system includes a plurality of different reaction chambers operating independently of each other. A reaction chamber is charged with a base amino acid, and the desired peptide is produced by adding additional amino acids with the base amino acid, one by one. Between reactions, the current intermediate product is stabilized and rinsed before a new reaction is initiated by adding the next amino acid. The desired product is not removed from the system until the last amino acid in the sequence has been added, and the entire process may require up to 10 days. While the system disclosed by Neimark enables sequential reactions to be achieved, by its design, the system is optimized and essentially dedicated to the task of synthesizing peptides, and is not useful for most other chemical processing needs.
Recently, much attention has been directed to the use of micro-scale reactors both for the development and production of chemical products, particularly in research applications. Chemical processing systems that employ microreactors offer several clear advantages over more conventional macro-scale chemical processing systems related to cost and efficiency. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a sequential chemical processing system that employs a microreactor. The prior art does not teach or suggest such an automated, sequential microreactor-based chemical processing system. By operating continuously, such a system can readily be employed in accumulating substance libraries that will be useful in many different research applications.