Each black square within a two-dimensional code can be represented by a distribution of spots. Each spot can be made small enough to be invisible to the human eye so that the two-dimensional code can be invisible on or within transparent or nontransparent materials. The spots can be spaced at a large distance to increase the signal-to-noise ratio for an optical code reader. A laser can be used to produce the spots.

Two-dimensional identification (2DID) codes, such as QR codes and Data Matrix codes, are types of a matrix barcode that is widely used for product tracking and providing a variety of information. QR codes include filled darkened squares (black squares) arranged within a square grid on a light background and are suitable for high-speed acquisition by an imaging device, such as a camera. Typical square grid patterns range from 11 to 177 squares per row or column. Patterns in the horizontal and the vertical components of the acquired image can reveal or activate the coded information, such as for commercial tracking, entertainment and transport ticketing, product labeling, product marketing, mobile phone tagging, couponing, displaying text, adding vCard contact information, opening an URL or URI, or composing email or text messages. The QR code is covered by an ISO standard, and its use is license free. QR code generating websites and apps are widely available so users can generate and print their own QR codes for others to scan. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_code.) An exemplary QR code is shown in FIG. 1.
Data Matrix codes are also covered by several ISO and IEC standards and are license free for many applications. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Matrix. Data Matrix code-generating resources are also widely available. An exemplary Data Matrix code generated using http://datamatrix.kaywa.com is shown in FIG. 2.
Methods exist for marking these 2DID codes on various materials and in many different sizes. For example, some 2DID codes can be printed on labels using traditional print technology, engraved into metal, and carved into tombstones.

Modified two-dimensional codes, and laser systems and methods for producing such codes


A hydrocyclone separator separates an oil and water stream into an underflow stream containing primarily water and an overflow stream containing a relatively higher oil concentration than the underflow stream. Quality control of both the underflow stream and the overflow stream is of concern, and typically a de-oiling separator is placed downstream on the underflow stream, and a dewatering separator is placed downstream on the overflow stream from the hydrocyclone separator. A degassing separator is also generally utilized upstream of the inlet to the hydrocyclone separator. Various monitoring and control systems are provided for controlling the split ratio of the underflow and overflow streams of the hydrocyclone separator.

1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates generally to processes and systems for separating oil, water and gas, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to oil well production separation systems.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
The fluid stream produced from a typical oil well is a three-phase stream containing oil, water and gas. To a lesser extent, the stream may also include solids or other contaminating fluids which are not relevant to the present invention. Conventional production fluid separation systems deliver this three-phase production stream into a three-phase gravity separator tank. A gas stream is withdrawn from the upper portion of the gravity separator tank. Oil and some water flows over a weir and is withdrawn into a conduit often referred to as an oil leg of the separator. Water with some contaminating oil remaining is withdrawn from a conduit often referred to as a water leg of the separator. One or more additional three-phase gravity separators may be placed in series with the first gravity separator with the oil leg of the first separator being directed into the second separator, and so on. The water legs of each of the gravity separators may be subjected to additional treatment to remove additional oil from the oily water discharged therefrom. De-oiling hydrocyclones are often used for further treatment of the oily water from the water leg of the gravity separators. A float tank may be used downstream of the de-oiling hydrocyclones for final degassing and further de-oiling of the water before it is discharged back to the sea. FIG. 1 of the present application depicts a typical prior art separation system of the kind just described which is currently commonly used on offshore production platforms in the North Sea. The de-oiling cyclones utilized in systems like that illustrated in FIG. 1 are designed for removal of relatively small concentrations of oil from water, and may be constructed in accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,724 to Colman et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,764,287 to Colman et al.
The prior art also includes hydrocyclone separators particularly adapted for removing relatively small concentrations of water from an oil stream. Such hydrocyclones are generally referred to as dewatering hydrocyclones and may for example be constructed in accordance with the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,490 to Smyth et al.
In both de-oiling hydrocyclones and dewatering hydrocyclones, the emphasis is on the quality of one of the streams exiting the hydrocyclone.
In the case of the de-oiling hydrocyclones, the emphasis is on the quality of the water or underflow stream, and it is generally acceptable that the overflow stream will contain both oil and water. With the de-oiling hydrocyclone, the general purpose is for the water underflow stream to be sufficiently pure that it can be returned to the sea or perhaps reinjected into the formation.
With the dewatering hydrocyclones, on the other hand, the emphasis is on the quality of the overflow oil stream.

Separation system employing degassing separators and hydroglyclones


A printing apparatus includes a printing unit for carrying out a printing mode in which an image formed on a photosensitive unit through an electrophotographic process is transferred to a copy sheet, a reading unit for carrying out a document reading mode in which a document is optically scanned by the reading unit to read image information from the document, a sheet feeding unit for supplying a copy sheet to the printing unit, a sheet transport path usable both for sending a copy sheet present at the reading unit to the printing unit and for sending a document present at the reading unit to a document ejecting portion, a sheet sensor for detecting whether or not a sheet is present at the reading unit, and a control unit connected to the sheet sensor for setting the document reading mode when a sheet at the reading unit is detected, so as to enable the reading unit to read image information from the sheet.

The present invention generally relates to a printing apparatus, and more particularly to a printing apparatus with manual sheet feeding and document reading capabilities in which a printing mode and a document reading mode are carried out independently.
Recently, a desk-top publishing (DTP) system has been proposed as a system for providing a simple, useful image forming and bookbinding tool for users. In order to provide such a tool, it is necessary to combine at least a computer with image forming and editing capabilities, a recording unit (such as a printer) for recording a finalized image on a sheet of paper, and a reading unit (such as a document reader) for optically scanning a document to read image information from the document. The image information read by the reading unit is composed of, for example, graphic images such as graphic charts or tables. By means of the DTP system mentioned above, it is possible to print an image in which such graphic images from the reading unit are incorporated in the image recorded by the recording unit. However, the above mentioned system is inconvenient to users in some ways. For example, complicated operations are required to form a desired image by combining the graphic images from the reading unit with the image recorded by the recording unit. Also, it is likely that a document set at the reading unit for performing the document reading mode will be erroneously transported to the recording unit. Further, when the recording unit malfunctions or is still in a warm-up condition, it is impossible to start the document reading mode in which a document is optically scanned by the reading unit. In addition, the DTP system including the computer, the printer and the scanner has a complicated and bulky structure, and thus the cost of manufacturing the system is high.

Printing apparatus having manual sheet feeding and document reading capabilities


A solid-state imaging device including a photoelectric conversion portion, plural signal lines including a transfer signal line to which a transfer signal for reading signal charge accumulated in the photoelectric conversion portion to a floating diffusion region is input, a driver circuit inputting desired signals into the plural signal lines, and a terminal circuit connected to a side opposite to a side of the transfer signal line where the driver circuit is connected and to which a control signal for securing the transfer signal line at a constant voltage is input before a desired signal of is input to the signal line adjacent to the transfer signal line.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a solid-state imaging device in which signal lines are closely arranged, a method of driving the solid-state imaging device, and an electronic device including such a solid-state imaging device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors (CIS) have increasingly been used alternative to related-art charge coupled device (CCD) image sensors for attaining enhanced functionality and low power consumption.
Technology in reducing sizes of pixels and increasing the number of pixels has rapidly advanced in the field of recent CMOS sensors or CIS. The CIS field has successfully employed advanced process technology for CMOS LSI to develop smaller pixels to overtake the CCD image sensor field, which has once preceded the CIS field in reducing sizes of pixels. The CIS employs, as compared to the CCD image sensor, more components in the pixel and operation thereof is not simple so that the CIS includes signal line arrangement in the pixel similar to that used in a metal layer for a logic circuit. However, since incident paths need preparing for light incident upon photodiodes (PDs) that are used as photoelectric conversion elements, signal lines may have to be closely arranged in a limited area. If the number of pixels is increased in such a configuration, not only may the signal lines need elongating, but distances between adjacent signal lines, where signals are transmitted, may also need increasing. Consequently, the resistance of the signal line and the capacitance between the signal lines are both likely to increase, thereby increasing occurrence of signal crosstalk between signal lines adjacent to one another.
The crosstalk occurred in a case where a distance between the signal lines adjacent to each other is short is described with reference to FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 shows two signal lines arranged in the row direction in a solid-state imaging device; in which the upper signal line 100 indicates one of a transfer signal line, selection signal line, and reset signal line whereas the lower signal line 101 indicates an adjacent signal line adjacently arranged to the upper signal line 100. As shown in FIG. 1, if the signal lines 100 and 101 are adjacently arranged to each other, the resistance R increases at a portion distant from a driver circuit 102, and the capacitance C also increases between the signal lines 100 and 101. Thereafter, when a desired pulse signal φSig is input from the driver circuit 102 to the upper signal line 100, a differential component of the pulse signal φSig (differential pulse) is generated in the adjacent signal line 101. If the differential pulse generated is transmitted to turn ON the OFF-state transfer gate in the signal line 101, crosstalk occurs in the originally undriven signal line 101. This phenomenon is called "crosstalk". If the signal line 101, which is being affected by the crosstalk, is a transfer signal line, in particular, the signal charge will be leaked from the photodiode.
In order to control the crosstalk occurred between the signal lines, it may be necessary to reduce the resistance R and the capacitance C between the signal lines. However, it is unpreferable to use a method in which the resistance R and the capacitance C between the signal lines are lowered by increasing the width of each of the signal lines or increasing the distance between the signal lines, because the method prevents rays of light from gathering to the photodiode which is used as a photoelectric conversion element. It is also undesirable to reduce output impedance of the driver circuit 102, because the resistance of signal line is too large to reduce the output impedance, thereby exhibiting no effect thereof.
In view of the aforementioned method, there may be provided a method of increasing or decreasing the apparent signal line resistance R and apparent capacitance C between the signal lines, in which driver circuits are arranged at both ends of the signal lines 100, 101 so as to drive each of the signal lines 100, 101 from both sides thereof. With this method, since load acting on each of the driver circuits are reduced by half, the signal line resistance R and the capacitance C between the signal lines can both be lowered.
However, in a case where the driver circuits are arranged at both ends of the signal lines 100, 101, control signals input to the driver circuits may need synchronizing. If the control signals are unsynchronized, transition of signals will be delayed. Specifically, in the use of CMOS driver circuits therefor, the method is particularly unpreferable to be used, because significantly unsynchronized control signals from both ends may result in the signal charge leakage.
In view of the aforementioned signal charge leakage due to the unsynchronized control signals, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-217905 discloses a method of controlling output impedance, specifically, to control crosstalk that occurs between the signal lines. The publication discloses a circuit configuration to control the impedance of a terminal transistor, in which the crosstalk is lowered by reusing an original signal provided from one end of the signal line. In this configuration, the impedance of the terminal transistor is set to be low when other signals are input using the feedback of the original signal provided from one end of the signal line. The signal electric potential in the signal line is secured due to lowered impedance of the terminal transistor. Thus, signal fluctuation due to crosstalk can be inhibited.

Solid-state imaging device, method of driving the solid-state imaging device, and electronic device


A data management method, a controller and a storage apparatus thereof are provided. The method is adapted for a storage apparatus having a plurality of blocks. Parts of the blocks are linked to configure a plurality of mother and child blocks (M&C block). The data management method includes: (a) checking whether a mother and child block currently to be written with data is the same of a mother and child block which has been most lately written with data; (b) when it is determined that the mother and child block currently to be written with data is not the same of the mother and child block which has been most lately written with data, saving a transient data of the mother and child block currently to be written with data to a mother and child block transient relationship table.

1. Technology Field
The present invention generally relates to a data management method, and a storage apparatus and a controller thereof, and more particularly, to a data management method adapted for a flash memory, and a storage apparatus and a controller thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
As the storage technology and semiconductor technology being fast developed, storage apparatuses having the advantages of large capacity, small size, and fast speed now become very popular in the market. Specifically, flash memories allow people to freely record data therein and transfer the data recorded therein to a computer connected thereto.
When a flash memory is in operation, a conventional controller for controlling the flash memory does not save all variable data about the flash memory whenever the conventional controller writes data in the flash memory. Otherwise, if the conventional controller saves the variable data whenever the conventional controller writes data in the flash memory, the conventional controller would be overloaded and spend too much time, which decreases the writing speed thereof. As such, such conventional controller records some tables for these variable data only when varying zones. That is, the flash memory is divided a plurality of zones, and the conventional controller only processes reading and writing for the same zone at the same time and save all variable data about the flash memory whenever the conventional controller writes data in other zone in the flash memory. The table, for example, is a logic-physical address mapping table. Generally, zone variations are not happened frequently. Therefore, the loss of time and decrease of access speed caused by recording the tables when varying zones are usually acceptable.
Further, in operation, for achieving a desired speed, the conventional controller will not always record the variable data when each instruction is issued. Specifically, all variable data are rebuilt by scanning and analyzing the inside blocks of the flash memory immediately after booting.
However, when an irregular power failure happens, it becomes difficult to rebuild the variable data. In this case, the conventional controller cannot determine whether the data stored therein are correct or not, and the data of different blocks often become unstable during the irregular power failure. The data of the blocks may be normal when booting, however, they usually become unstable when being accessed. As such, it raises difficulty to internal programs of the controller of the flash memory for determining, and indirectly affects the stability of the data stored therein.

Data management method, and storage apparatus and controller thereof


A rotary sprinkler includes a drive assembly having a rotary drive rotated by the inletted pressurized water, a rotor, a mechanical coupling between the rotary drive and the rotor, and at least one ball carried by the rotor and movable radially outwardly thereof by centrifugal force during the rotation of the rotor; and a water discharge assembly rotatably carried by the sprinkler housing and including a water discharge outlet fluidly coupled to the sprinkler inlet, and an abutment located to be impacted by the ball when in its radial outward position during the rotation of the rotor to thereby rotate the water discharge assembly in a series of stepped increments.

The present invention relates to rotary sprinklers, and particularly to the ball-type rotary sprinkler in which the sprinkler is rotated in a series of stepped increments by impacting a ball against an abutment carried by the sprinkler.
The conventional ball-type rotary sprinkler includes a swirl chamber containing at least one ball which is driven around the chamber by the water flowing from the sprinkler inlet to the sprinkler outlet to produce the impacts rotating the sprinkler. Since, in such a sprinkler, the ball is in the flow path of the water, the ball imposes a resistance to the flow of the water through the sprinkler; moreover, dirt within the water may settle in the swirl chamber and/or on the ball, thereby making the sprinkler susceptible to jamming.


A molding die 1 is constituted by an upper die 1a and a lower die 1b which are made of a material transparent to an ultraviolet light, and has a cavity 3 constituted by grooves 2c, 2d, whereas a resin injection gate 4 and a resin exit gate 7 are provided so as to communicate with the cavity 3. A junction of an optical fiber 10 is inserted into the cavity 3. A UV-curable resin is injected into the cavity 3 surrounding an exposing portion of the glass optical fiber 11 from the resin injection gate 4 positioned at one of coating ends of the optical fiber 10, whereas a part thereof is discharged from the resin exit gate 7 positioned at the other coating end. The ultraviolet light is emitted through the lower die 1b so as to cure the resin, thereby forming a reinforcement resin coating. As a consequence, bubbles can be prevented from occurring due to the residual air within the reinforcement resin coating in the junction of the optical fiber 10.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a molding die used for molding a reinforcement resin coating of an optical fiber junction, a method of reinforcing the optical fiber junction using the same, and an optical fiber cable accommodating an optical fiber having this optical fiber junction.
2. Related Background Art
As an optical fiber accommodated in a submarine optical fiber cable and the like, continuous one having a long length is necessary. When a long-length continuous optical fiber is needed, optical fibers shorter than that are connected together to form it. The optical fibers are usually connected as follows. FIGS. 11A and 11B are perspective views for explaining a junction between optical fibers. FIG. 11A shows a state where glass optical fibers in optical fibers are fusion-spliced, whereas FIG. 11B shows a state where the junction is provided with a reinforcement resin coating. In FIGS. 11A and 11B, 121, 122, 123, and 124 indicate a optical fiber (a coated optical fiber), a glass optical fiber (a bare glass fiber without its coating is removed), fusion-splicing position, and reinforcement resin coating, respectively.
First, as shown in FIG. 1A, at end parts of two optical fibers 121, the coating of optical fibers 121 is removed so as to expose the glass optical fibers 122 in the optical fibers 121, and the end faces of two glass optical fibers 122 are butted against each other so as to carry out fusion splicing. The glass optical fiber exposing portions of two optical fibers have substantially the same length, so that the fusion-splicing position is located substantially at the center of the combined glass optical fiber exposing portion. Then, as shown in FIG. 11B, resin molding is effected on the exposing portion of the glass optical fibers 122, so as to form the reinforcement resin coating 124. The outer diameter of the reinforcement resin coating 124 is substantially the same as that of the optical fiber 121, so that the size of the junction does not hinder the optical fibers 121 from being accommodated in an optical fiber cable in particular.
When the coating of the optical fibers 121 is formed from a UV-curable resin, the reinforcement resin coating 124 is usually formed by a cured UV-curable resin as well. The reinforcement resin coating 124 is formed as follows. FIGS. 12A to 12F are views for explaining a molding die used for forming a reinforcement resin coating and a molding method. FIG. 12A is a plan view of the upper die as seen from its parting face side, whereas FIG. 12B is a side view of the upper die. FIG. 12C is a plan view of the lower die as seen from its parting face side, whereas FIG. 12D is a side view of the lower die. FIG. 12E is a front view showing the molding state, whereas FIG. 12F is a side view thereof.
In FIGS. 12A to 12F, 125, 125a, 125b, 126a and 126b, 126c and 126d, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, and 133 indicate the molding die, upper die, lower die, parting faces, grooves, cavity, resin injection gate, runner, sprue, optical fiber, glass optical fiber, and ultraviolet light, respectively.
The molding die 125 shown in FIGS. 12A to 12F is constituted by the upper die 125a and the lower die 125b. As shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, along the parting face 126b, the upper die 125a is formed with the linear groove 126c having a semicircular lateral cross section, and has the resin injection gate 128 communicating with the groove 126c and the runner 129 and sprue 130 linked to the resin injection gate 128. As shown in FIGS. 12C and 12D, along the parting face 126b, the lower die 125b is formed with the linear groove 126d having a semicircular lateral cross section. The groove 126c of the upper die 125a and the groove 126d of the lower die 125b are aligned with each other such that the grooves 126c and 126d constitute the cavity 127 having a circular lateral cross section when they are clamped with their parting faces 126a, 126b opposing each other. The inner diameter of the grooves 126c, 126d, i.e., the inner diameter of the cavity 127 is about 250 μm in general.
The upper die 125a and lower die 125b of the molding die 125 are made of silica glass so as to transmit the ultraviolet light therethrough. In each of FIGS. 12A to 12D, the state where the optical fiber 131 having an exposing portion of the glass optical fiber 132 is inserted is depicted with imaginary lines as well. The inserted optical fiber 131 usually has an outer diameter of about 245 μm, whereas the glass optical fiber 132 has an outer diameter of about 125 μm.
In the following manner, the reinforcement resin coating is formed at the junction between optical fibers 131 by using the molding die 125 shown in FIGS. 12A to 12D. At end parts of two optical fibers 131, the coating is removed, so as to expose the glass optical fibers 132, and the end faces of the glass optical fibers 132 are fusion-spliced to each other. Thus combined glass optical fiber 132 is inserted into the cavity 127 formed by the grooves 126c, 126d, and the upper die 125a and lower die 125b are clamped together. Subsequently, a UV-curable resin is injected from the sprue 130 through the runner 129 and resin injection gate 128 into a void surrounding the glass optical fiber 132 within the cavity 127, so that the void is filled therewith. Then, the ultraviolet light 133 is emitted toward the lower die 125b from therebelow, and the ultraviolet light 133 transmitted through the lower die 125b cures the injected UV-curable resin.
Meanwhile, the resin having entered the void surrounding the glass optical fiber 132 within the cavity 127 from the resin injection gate 128 flows toward both sides of the longitudinal direction within the cavity 127, whereby the void is filled therewith to the vicinity of the coating of the optical fiber 131. At this time, there is a slight gap between the surface of the optical fiber 131 and the inner wall faces of the grooves 126c, 126d since the outer diameter of the optical fiber 131 is about 245 μm, whereas the inner diameter of the grooves 126c, 126d is about 250 μm. Usually, the air pushed away to the vicinity of the coating of the optical fiber 131 due to the injection of the UV-curable resin is expelled to the outside through the above-mentioned gap, whereby the void is completely filled with the UV-curable resin to the vicinity of the optical fiber 131. Though a part of the UV-curable resin reaches the gap between the coating of the optical fiber 131 and the grooves 126c, 126d, this gap is very small, whereas the resin has a viscosity, so that the resin extends along the coating of the optical fiber 131 and does not protrude to the outside of the optical fiber 131, whereby the resin intrudes into the gap by only several millimeters at most.
If the gap between the optical fiber 131 and the inner wall faces of the grooves 126c, 126d is narrowed due to the fluctuation in the outer diameter of the optical fiber 131 and the like, however, the air may not completely be expelled from the gap. In this case, the air may remain near the coating of the optical fiber 131 on both sides thereof, whereby bubbles may occur in the vicinity of both end parts of the reinforcement resin coating. While the UV-curable resin is injected into the cavity 127 from a resin supply apparatus, which is not depicted, by way of the sprue 130, runner 129, and resin injection gate 128, the air may be caught at the front end portion of the resin flow in the course of injection, whereby the resin at the front end portion may attain a state including bubbles. Since the vicinity of ends of the coating is filled with the front end portion of the resin flow, bubbles are likely to occur in the vicinity of ends of the coating not only due to the air remaining without being expelled but also due to the air caught into the resin in the course of resin flow.
When an optical fiber is used as being accommodated in a submarine optical fiber cable, the optical fiber receives a large lateral pressure. If bubbles exist within the reinforcement resin coating, the lateral pressure may compress the bubbles, thereby deforming the reinforcement resin coating, by which the glass optical fiber therein may be bent minutely, so that the optical fiber may increase its transmission loss. Therefore, it is desired that no bubbles exist within the reinforcement resin coating.
Since the upper die 125a and lower die 125b are made of silica glass, the clamping pressure at the time of clamping cannot be made as high as that in the case of dies made of a metal. Consequently, a slight gap may occur between the parting faces 126a, 126b upon clamping as well. The UV-curable resin injected into the cavity 127 may seep into the gap and cure as it is, thereby forming a hardened fin-like object extending in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the reinforcement resin coating. The fin-like object attached to the surface of the reinforcement resin coating becomes an obstacle when carrying out an operation for further providing an outer coating on the connected optical fibers and the like, whereby it is necessary to shave off the fin-like object. Though the fin-like object is usually shaved off with a razor, it is necessary that the operation be carried out carefully, which takes considerable time and labor.

MOLDING APPARATUS FOR A REINFORCEMENT RESIN COATING OF GLASS OPTICAL FIBER EXPOSING PORTION OF AN OPTICAL FIBER JUNCTION, METHOD FOR MOLDING REINFORCEMENT RESIN COATING OF A GLASS OPTICAL FIBER EXPOSING PORTION OF AN OPTICAL FIBER JUNCTION, AND OPTICAL FIBER CABLE


A method in which user information is transmitted from at least one data source to a processing unit of a learning device. The user information is used, by the processing unit via a machine learner, to generate at least one user model. The at least one user model is adapted via an adaptation of parameters used by the at least one machine learner to generating the at least one user model. The parameters, used by the at least one machine learner for generating the at least one user model, are adapted as a function of at least one predefined rule. The user model generated on the basis of the adapted parameters is used to personalize at least one terminal.

Systems that develop mathematical models of users on the basis of user information, i.e., information which has been collected by a user and, if applicable, which relates to the privacy of the user, which has been collected to a large extent via sensors or terminals, and is used for personalizing, for example, smartphones or programs, are increasing in number and complexity.
The processing of user information is of major relevance, in particular, in the area of the so-called "Internet of Things" and in the area of services such as, for example, individual health care or networked transportation. Particularly useful information about a user in these areas may be ascertained by a fusion of multiple user profiles, which have been developed, for example, by a multiplicity of different terminals or service providers.
Significant problems, for example, with respect to data protection or a protection of a privacy of a user, arise as a result of the processing of user information with the aid of technical devices. Some conventional devices for protecting the privacy of a user, in particular, suppress or delete the collected user information already before processing by a device such as, for example, a machine learner. Such suppression or deletion methods, however, result in a loss of precision to be achieved by respective, collected user information when adjusting a machine learner, since the user information has no influence at all on the machine learner and on respective user models developed by the machine learner.
Some conventional methods for analyzing user information protect the privacy of a user by anonymizing detailed user information and supplement it, for example, with random data, so that it becomes impossible to associate findings ascertained on the basis of such data with a respective user.
Some conventional approaches operate with the aid of distributed machine learners, and generate the encrypted results that are used by a central management unit, in order to ascertain general findings about a population of users.
A method for ascertaining a privacy value, on the basis of which an output of information about a user is controlled by a system, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,698,250 B2.

Method for controlling user information in an automatically learning device


A belt transfer device prevents the dragging of an image during a transfer process that transfers an image from a photosensitive body onto a transfer belt. The belt transfer device includes a transfer belt that contacts the surface of a photosensitive body, and at least one belt pressing member installed in the front and/or rear of a contact portion (that is, a transfer nip) between the transfer belt and the photosensitive body. The at least one belt pressing member extends the length of the transfer nip, thereby preventing image dragging.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an image forming apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus using a transfer belt for transferring an image formed on the surface of a photosensitive body (such as a photosensitive drum) to a printing medium, and a belt transfer device for use in the image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical example of an image forming apparatus that uses a transfer belt to form an image on a printing medium is a wet electrophotographic color image forming apparatus. FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a conventional belt transfer device for use in a wet electrophotographic image forming apparatus.
Referring to FIG. 1, the belt transfer device 1 includes a plurality of photosensitive bodies 10 each bearing an image, and a transfer belt 20 onto which the image formed on each of the photosensitive bodies 10 is transferred.
An electrostatic latent image of printing data is formed on the surface of a photosensitive body 10 by an exposing unit (not shown), and this electrostatic latent image is developed into an image of a specific color by liquid developers supplied from a corresponding developing unit 30. For a full color image, four photosensitive bodies 10 and four developing units 30 are used to form images of four different colors. The images are transferred to the transfer belt 20 so that they are aligned.
The images formed on those four photosensitive bodies 10 are transferred and superimposed onto the transfer belt 20, and form a full color image. To make this possible, the transfer belt 20 is installed in such a manner that it follows an endless loop that makes contact with the surfaces of the respective photosensitive bodies 10. In so doing, the images formed on the surfaces of the four aligned photosensitive bodies 10 can be transferred and superimposed onto the endless loop transfer belt 20 to form a full color image. The movement of the transfer belt 20 is made possible through two rollers 21 and 23 installed on both ends. Four transfer rollers 40 are installed on the interior side of the transfer belt 20. More particularly, the four transfer rollers 40 are installed at every contact point (also called a 'transfer nip') with each photosensitive body 10, thereby facilitating the transfer of the images from the photosensitive bodies 10 to the transfer belt 20.
Unfortunately, however, the image forming apparatus using the belt transfer device 1 for transferring an image has a defect. When an image formed on the surface of the photosensitive body 10 is transferred onto the transfer belt 20 (that is, a T1 transfer process), the image is often dragged at a transfer nip (that is, the TI nip) where the photosensitive body 10 and the transfer belt 20 come into contact with each other. The underlying cause of the dragging of an image is the influence of a carrier liquid, which is a liquid developer at the TI nip, upon a liquid developer at a lower portion of the image. In other words, the liquid developer below the image is dragged into a non-image area, creating a defective image. FIG. 2 illustrates a typical example of the dragging (B) of an image during the T1 transfer process. As shown in FIG. 2, when the dragging occurs a printed image is blurred, or not sharp. Therefore, to obtain good quality printed materials, it is very important to prevent the dragging of an image during the T1 transfer process.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved belt transfer device and an image forming apparatus having the same that minimizes dragging of an image during a transfer process.

Belt transfer device and image forming apparatus having the same


A probe card includes a circuit board and an integrated circuit (IC) test interface. The IC test interface includes a first probe assembly, disposed on a terminal of the circuit board, and a second probe assembly, disposed on another terminal of the circuit board, wherein the first probe assembly and the second probe assembly are separated to allow being independently assembled to, or disassembled from, the circuit board. Each of the first probe assembly and the second probe assembly includes a probe base, disposed on the circuit board; a plurality of needles, which are cantilever needles; and a covering layer, for covering the plurality of needles, and fixed on a surface of the probe base.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a probe card and fabricating method thereof, and more particularly, to a probe card and fabricating method thereof utilized for testing chips or probe assemblies of an integrated circuit product, which has advantages of reusability, rapid substitution and expansion.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, an integrated circuit (IC) product is obtained by sequentially ongoing IC design, semiconductor processing, and fabrication of the IC, etc. After completion of these procedures, a probe card is used to perform multi-probe processes by contacting bonding pads. Only the chips qualified in the test or repaired chips are entered into subsequent bonding and packaging processes, and the packaged chips must still undergo a final test for quality check by using the probe card, i.e., in the fabrication process of the IC product, needles of the probe card are used to transmit testing signals which are used for testing a device under test (DUT) (e.g. the chip or the IC product), to determine whether the DUT is damaged.
In the prior art, a fabricating method of the probe card is to simultaneously dispose required needles from low to high on a probe assembly used for fixing the needles according to a needle layer, to ensure maintaining a level for each needle. For example, please refer to FIG. 1, which is a schematic diagram of a conventional probe card 10. The probe card 10 includes a circuit board 100 and an IC test interface 102. In detail, a slot is on a center of the circuit board 100, and a plurality of first holes 100a neighboring the slot are used for fixing internal components of the IC test interface 102 via a plurality of screws 104. The IC test interface 102 is used for testing the chips and the IC product, and composed of a reinforcement plate 106 and a probe assembly 108. Upper and lower sides of the reinforcement plate 106 include a plurality of second holes 106a, 106b, respectively. The reinforcement plate 106 is disposed on the slot of the center of the circuit board 100, for enhancing the fixation of the probe assembly 108. The probe assembly 108 is composed of a probe base 110, a covering layer 112 and a plurality of needles 114. The plurality of needles 114 are disposed from low to high on the covering layer 112 (e.g. an epoxy resin) according to the needle layer, for transmitting the testing signals of testing the chips and the IC product and returning test results. The covering layer 112 is connected to the probe base 110 (e.g. a ceramic strengthening ring), and fixed on the bottom of the reinforcement plate 106 by a plurality of screws 116 and a plurality of nuts 118.
When performing the multi-probe processes, the probe card 10 can be used for testing the DUT to determine whether the DUT is damaged. However, since a majority of needles of the probe card 10 are disposed on the probe assembly 108 which is used for fixing the needles, when the majority of needles need to be scrapped after use, a user cannot change only the damaged needles to reuse the probe card 10 but needs to purchase a new probe card. In such a condition, the utilization cost increases, and does not facilitate efficient use of resources.
Therefore, how to improve the drawback of inefficient use of the conventional probe card has become a main goal in the industry.

Probe card and fabricating method thereof


A driving apparatus, and a driving method for an electron emission display, includes a controller for comparing external video data input signals, switching a polarity control signal in a predetermined period on the basis of the comparison and controlling a video data output signal in accordance with the polarity control signal, and a data driver for modulating the video data signal output from the controller. The switching of the polarity control signal may be shifted temporally when the comparison indicates the video data input signals have the same gray level.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driving apparatus and a driving method for an electron emission display. More particularly, the present invention relates to a driving apparatus and a driving method for an electron emission display in which a pulse width frequency of an output signal is switched fewer times, reducing total power consumption.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In a general flat panel display (FPD), a container is formed by sealing two substrates with a lateral wall therebetween and appropriate materials are arranged within the container to realize display of a desired image. The demand for FPDs has been increasing. Accordingly, various FPDs, e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), an electron emission display, etc., have been developed and employed.
The electron emission display uses an electron beam to make a fluorescent material emit light, similar to the operation of a cathode ray tube (CRT). The electron emission display has the good qualities of both the CRT and the FPD, while consuming less power and displaying an image without distortion. Further, the electron emission display is anticipated as a next generation display because it fulfills numerous requirements, e.g., fast response time, high brightness, fine pitch, thinness, etc.
In general, an electron emission device uses a hot cathode or a cold cathode as an electron source. Cold cathode devices include a field emitter array (FEA) type, a surface conduction emitter (SCE) type, a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) type, a metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) type, a ballistic electron surface emitting (BSE) type, etc.
The electron emission display typically has a triode structure of a cathode electrode, an anode electrode and a gate electrode. In more detail, the cathode electrode, generally used as a scan electrode, is formed on a substrate. An insulating layer formed with a hole and the gate electrode, generally used as a data electrode, are sequentially formed on the cathode electrode. Then, an emitter is formed as the electron source within the hole and in contact with the cathode electrode.
In the electron emission display with this configuration, the emitter emits electrons by focusing a high electric field thereon, which can be explained by the quantum tunneling effect. The electrons emitted from the emitter are accelerated by a voltage applied between the cathode electrode and the anode electrode, and collide with red, green and blue (RGB) fluorescent materials provided on the anode electrode, so that the fluorescent materials emit light, thereby displaying a predetermined image.
The brightness of an image displayed as the emitted electrons collide with the fluorescent materials is varied according to values of an input digital video signal. In more detail, the digital video signal has a value of 8 bits corresponding to each of red (R), green (G) and blue (B) data. That is, the digital video signal has a value ranging from 0 (00000000(2)) to 255 (11111111(2)). Thus, 256 gray levels can be represented depending on 256 values of the digital video signal and the brightness is represented by an associated digital value.
In general, a pulse width modulation (PWM) method or a pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) method is used to control the brightness represented by the values of the digital video signal.
The PWM method modulates the pulse width of a driving waveform applied to the data electrode in accordance with the digital video signals input from a data electrode driver. When the digital video signal having a value of 255 is input within the allowable maximum on-time, the pulse width is maximized, thereby maximizing the brightness. When the digital video signal has a value of 127, the pulse width is reduced to half of the maximum pulse width, thereby controlling the brightness correspondingly.
The PAM method keeps the pulse width constant regardless of the input digital video signal, and modulates the pulse voltage level, i.e., the pulse amplitude of the driving waveform applied to the data electrode in accordance with the input digital video signal, thereby controlling the brightness.
FIG. 1 illustrates waveforms of input/output signals when a polarity control signal has a high level in a conventional electron emission display. As shown therein, input/output signals of the column driver include a horizontal synchronous signal Hsync, a polarity control signal Pol having a high level, a video data input signal Input Data, which is input to a data driver, and a video data output signal Driver Output, which is output from the data driver.
The video data input signal is input in accordance with the horizontal synchronous signal as a periodic signal for a data line. Here, the video data input signal is converted to have a corresponding pulse width by a PWM method.
For example, when video data input signals having values of "128", "64", "200" and "100" are input in sequence, the video data input signals of 8 bits are converted to respective corresponding pulse widths of "Ta", "Tb", "Tc" and "Td". Here, the pulse widths of "Ta", "Tb", "Tc" and "Td" correspond to brightness levels, respectively. In this example, "Ta"="2 Tb", and "Tc"="2 Td".
Further, the polarity control signal is used for controlling the polarity of the video data output signal output from the data driver. For example, when the polarity control signal has a high level and a signal output from the data driver has a low level, the video data output signal has a high level.
FIG. 2 illustrates waveforms of input/output signals when the polarity control signal has a low level in the conventional electron emission display. As shown therein, input/output signals of the column driver include a horizontal synchronous signal Hsync, a polarity control signal Pol having a low level, a video data input signal Input Data, which is input to a data driver, and a video data output signal Driver Output, which is output from the data driver.
The video data input signal is input in accordance with the horizontal synchronous signal as the periodic signal for the data line. Here, the video data input signal is converted to have a corresponding pulse width by a PWM method.
For example, when video data input signals having values of "128", "64", "200" and "100" are input in sequence, the video data input signals of 8 bits are converted to have pulse widths of "Ta", "Tb", "Tc" and "Td" corresponding to the values of "128", "64", "200" and "100". Here, the pulse widths of "Ta", "Tb", "Tc" and "Td" correspond to brightness levels, respectively. In this example, "Ta"="2 Tb", and "Tc"="2 Td".
Further, the polarity control signal is used for controlling the polarity of the video data output signal output from the data driver. For example, when the polarity control signal has a low level and a signal output from the data driver has a high level, the video data output signal has a low level.
When the video data output signal has the pulse widths of "Ta", "Tb", "Tc" and "Td", a switching frequency is determined in accordance with the resolution of the video data output signal. That is, the switching frequency becomes higher as the resolution increases, thereby increasing power consumption.
In more detail, in the driving apparatus for the electron emission display having a matrix structure, a video signal applied to a column line is converted to have a pulse width corresponding to a predetermined voltage level and the polarity is switched in proportion to a horizontal resolution. Thus, the number of polarity switches of the video signal corresponds to the horizontal resolution.
Here, the power consumption in a column electrode of the electron emission display can be calculated by the following equation.P=c×ΔV2×f Where, P is power consumption in the column electrode, c is a line capacitance of a display panel, V is a voltage variation of the video signal, and f is a switching frequency.
Thus, the conventional driving method for the electron emission display consumes more power as the resolution increases, i.e., in proportion to the number of times the pulse width is switched.

Driving apparatus and driving method for an electron emission display


Heterogeneous catalyst systems, methods of making these systems, and methods of using these systems, wherein catalytically active gold is deposited onto composite support media. The composite support media is formed by providing nanoporous material on at least a portion of the surfaces of carbonaceous host material. In representative embodiments, relatively fine, nanoporous guest particles are coated or otherwise provided on surfaces of relatively coarser activated carbon particles. Catalytically active gold may be deposited onto one or both of the guest or host materials either before or after the guest and host materials are combined to from the composite host material. PVD is the preferred catalyst system of depositing gold.

Carbon monoxide is a toxic gas formed by incomplete burning of organic materials. Carbon monoxide combines with blood hemoglobin to form carboxyhemoglobin which is ineffective at transporting oxygen to body cells. Inhalation of air containing 1-2% (10,000 to 20,000 ppm) CO by volume will cause death within several minutes. CO concentrations higher than 1200 ppm are considered immediately dangerous to life and health by the U.S. National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
CO is responsible for many of the fatalities in fires. It is also encountered in mining operations in which explosives are used in confined spaces. CO is also present in the exhausts of gasoline or diesel powered internal combustion engines. Poorly operating engines, machinery, heating equipment, ventilation equipment, air conditioning equipment, and other equipment may also output CO, contaminating the air in buildings and vehicles. Consequently, there is a strong need for protection against CO in these and other environments in which persons could encounter the gas.
Firefighters and other emergency response personnel have been equipped with self-contained respirators using compressed air or oxygen in cylinders to provide protection against CO. These devices tend to be heavy, bulky, expensive and require special training for effective use. It is not feasible to equip everyone in an area with such devices.
A fire or other sudden unexpected release of carbon monoxide in a building, public place, vehicle, or the like may require that individuals quickly escape from an area containing dangerous concentrations of the gas. In these situations, an easy-to-use, lightweight respirator or mask equipped with media capable of protecting against carbon monoxide would be desirable.
Protection against CO is also desirable in the cabin environment of a car, truck, rail-borne vehicle, marine vessel, or other mode of transport. In many heavily congested traffic areas and in tunnels, elevated levels of CO can develop from the accumulation of exhaust emissions. Typically, the CO levels encountered are usually less than 200 to 300 ppm, but even these CO levels can cause headaches, dizziness and nausea to drivers and passengers. In these applications, large volumes of gas and high flow rates can be encountered. Thus, the residence time of the cabin air on the catalyst is short, being less than 0.05 seconds and even less than 0.03 seconds. It is therefore desirable to have a catalyst that can also remove CO under these conditions.
However, the low boiling point and high critical temperature of CO make its removal by physical adsorption very difficult when the CO is present at room temperature. Conventional gas mask canisters and filters based on activated carbon adsorbents have been relatively useless as a practical matter against high concentrations of carbon monoxide.
Catalytic oxidation to carbon dioxide is one feasible method for removing carbon monoxide from air at the high concentrations and flow rates required for individual respiratory protection. However, most CO oxidation catalysts are only active at temperatures of 150° C. or higher. This is true even though oxidation to CO2 is thermodynamically favored. Very few CO oxidation catalysts are active at room temperature or below. A catalyst useful for respiratory protection against CO desirably functions at low temperatures.
Two types of catalysts that are known for low temperature CO oxidation include transition metal oxides (mostly mixed oxides of Cu, Mn, and/or Co) and supported noble metal catalysts. One widely used transition metal oxide for low temperature CO oxidation is hopcalite. Hopcalite is a mixed oxide of manganese and copper developed during World War I by the U.S. Bureau of Mines and the Chemical Warfare Service of the U.S. Army [Lamb, Bray, and Frazer, J. Ind. Eng. Chem., 12, 213 (1920)]. Hopcalite is a very active catalyst for CO oxidation even at temperatures as low as −20° C. The major disadvantage of hopcalite is that its capability for CO oxidation is quickly destroyed by water vapor in the air. This means that a respirator filter with a hopcalite catalyst must include a drier bed on the inlet side of the filter. The useful life of the respirator filter is determined by the capacity and efficiency of the drier bed. Even a filter designed for short term use (˜30 minutes) at high breathing rates will require a desiccant bed of larger volume than the catalyst bed itself. Hopcalite is commercially available from Carus Chemical Company, 315 Fifth Street, Peru, Ill. 61354 USA under the designation Carulite 300.
Catalytic oxidation of CO over supported platinum group metals (most often Pt, Pd, Rh, Ru, and Ir) has been known for many years. However, most of these catalysts are only active at temperatures around 150° C.
In recent years, supported platinum group metal catalysts have been developed that function at lower temperatures. In addition to a platinum group metal, these catalysts may also contain so-called "reducible metal oxides" such as SnOx, CeOx, and FeOx. It is thought that the reducible oxides provide sites that dissociatively adsorb O2, thereby promoting low temperature CO oxidation. U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,375 and Published UK Patent Application GB 2,141,349 discuss these catalysts and their use in respiratory protection devices. A low temperature CO oxidation catalyst of this type is commercially available from Molecular Products Ltd, Mill End, Thaxted, Essex CM6 2LT, United Kingdom under the designation Sofnocat® 423. It contains platinum, palladium, and SnO2.
These platinum-based catalysts are much more tolerant of water vapor than is hopcalite. However, operation at high relative humidity (RH) with low CO inlet concentrations results in capillary condensation of water vapor in the micropores of the catalyst support (usually alumina or silicagel). This causes slow loss of activity as access to active sites is blocked by condensed water. A significant disadvantage of these catalysts is the high loading of expensive platinum group metal necessary to meet the requirements for respiratory protection against CO.
It has been observed that nanoislands of very finely divided gold on reducible oxide supports are very active for CO oxidation at low temperature. At ambient to sub-ambient temperatures, the best gold catalysts are considerably more active for CO oxidation than the most active promoted platinum group metal catalyst known. Gold is also considerably cheaper than platinum. Catalytically active gold, though, is quite different from the platinum group metal catalysts discussed above. The standard techniques used in the preparation of supported platinum group metal catalysts give inactive CO oxidation catalysts when applied to gold. Different techniques, therefore, have been developed for deposition of finely divided gold on various supports. Even so, highly active gold catalysts have been difficult to prepare reproducibly. Scaleup from small lab preparations to larger batches has also proved difficult.
These technical challenges have greatly hindered the industrial application of gold catalysts. This is unfortunate since the very high activities of gold catalysts for CO oxidation at ambient and sub-ambient temperatures and their tolerance for high water vapor concentrations make them otherwise strong candidates for use in respiratory protection filters and in other applications in which oxidation of CO would be desired.
Because ultra-fine particles of gold generally are very mobile and possess large surface energies, ultra-fine particles of gold tend to coagulate easily. This tendency to coagulate makes ultrafine gold hard to handle. Coagulation also is undesirable inasmuch as the catalytic activity of gold tends to fall off as its particle size increases. This problem is relatively unique to gold and is much less of an issue with other noble metals such as platinum (Pt) and palladium (Pd). Thus, it is desired to develop methods to deposit and immobilize ultra-fine gold particles on a carrier in a uniformly dispersed state.
Known methods to deposit catalytically active gold on various supports recently have been summarized by Bond and Thompson (G. C. Bond and David T. Thompson, Gold Bulletin, 2000, 33(2) 41) as including (i) coprecipitation, in which the support and gold precursors are brought out of solution, perhaps as hydroxides, by adding a base such as sodium carbonate; (ii) deposition-precipitation, in which the gold precursor is precipitated onto a suspension of the pre-formed support by raising the pH, and (iii) Iwasawa's method in which a gold-phosphine complex (e.g., [Au(PPh3)]NO3) is made to react with a freshly precipitated support precursor. Other procedures such as the use of colloids, grafting and vapor deposition, have met with varying degrees of success.
These methods, however, suffer from difficulties aptly described by Wolf and Schuth, Applied Catalysis A: General, 2002, 226 (1-2) 1-13 (hereinafter the Wolf et al. article). The Wolf et al. article states that "[a]lthough rarely expressed in publications, it also is well known that the reproducibility of highly active gold catalysts is typically very low." The reasons cited for this reproducibility problem with these methods include the difficulty in controlling gold particle size, the poisoning of the catalyst by ions such as Cl, the inability of these methods to control nano-sized gold particle deposition, the loss of active gold in the pores of the substrate, the necessity in some cases of thermal treatments to activate the catalysts, inactivation of certain catalytic sites by thermal treatment, the lack of control of gold oxidation state, and the inhomogeneous nature of the hydrolysis of gold solutions by the addition of a base.
In short, gold offers great potential as a catalyst, but the difficulties involved with handling catalytically active gold have severely restricted the development of commercially feasible, gold-based, catalytic systems.
German Patent Publication DE 10030637 A1 describes using PVD techniques to deposit gold onto support media. The support media described in this document, though, are merely ceramic titanates made under conditions in which the media would lack nanoporosity. Thus, this document fails to indicate the importance of using nanoporous media to support catalytically active gold deposited using PVD techniques. International PCT Patent Publications WO 99/47726 and WO 97/43042 provide lists of support media, catalytically active metals, and/or methods for providing the catalytically active metals onto the support media. These two documents, however, also fail to appreciate the benefits of using nanoporous media as a support for catalytically active gold deposited via PVD. Indeed, WO 99/47726 lists many preferred supports that lack nanoporosity.
Relatively recently, very effective, heterogeneous catalyst systems and related methodologies using catalytically active gold have been described in assignee's co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/948,012, titled CATALYSTS, ACTIVATING AGENTS, SUPPORT MEDIA, AND RELATED METHODOLOGIES USEFUL FOR MAKING CATALYST SYSTEMS ESPECIALLY WHEN THE CATALYST IS DEPOSITED ONTO THE SUPPORT MEDIA USING PHYSICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION in the names of Larry Brey et al., and filed Sep. 23, 2004, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference (hereinafter referred to as Assignee's Co-pending Application). In particular, Assignee's Co-pending Application describes providing catalytically active gold on a composite support derived from relatively fine titania particles (referred to as guest material) that at least partially coat the surfaces of relatively large alumina particles (referred to as host material). These composite systems provide excellent catalytic performance with respect to CO oxidation. However, improvements are still desired. Notably, it would be desirable to provide gold-based catalyst systems that demonstrate a faster response to changes in incident CO challenges. It is further desirable for gold-based catalysts to provide longer lasting protection against CO. It is also desirable to use such catalysts in respiratory protection systems that provide protection against not only CO but other airborne contaminants as well.

Heterogeneous, composite, carbonaceous catalyst system and methods that use catalytically active gold


A holographic imaging system is disclosed that includes a spectral electromagnetic field unit for providing a plurality of focal areas of a plurality of wavelengths of electromagnetic fields along a first direction, a lens system for directing the electromagnetic fields having the plurality of wavelengths from an object that may be positioned at least substantially near the plurality of focal areas toward a holographic recording, and a detector surface for receiving electromagnetic fields from the holographic recording.

The present invention relates generally to imaging systems, and in particular, to volume-holographic imaging systems having the capability to return three-dimensional spatial as well as spectral information.
Volume imaging systems may be used in applications such as bio-medical investigation, industrial product inspection, military reconnaissance etc. Certain conventional imaging systems for capturing image data of, for example, a semi-translucent three dimensional sample, such as biological or chemical sample, include confocal microscopy, interferrometric profilometry, Moiré profilometry, and optical coherence tomography. The choice of imaging method depends, in part, on the required resolution, available working distance and nature of the object (e.g., reflective diffusive, semi-transparent, fluorescent etc). Such systems typically require scanning each point in an x by y scan plane for each of many scans along a z direction. Scanning along three dimensions is needed therefore, to acquire a series of planar scan images that are representative of a three dimensional sample.
Other imaging systems employ volume holograms to extract selected data from a sample. For example, U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2004/0021871 discloses a holographic imaging spectrometer that uses a volume hologram to extract a line image from a sample. As shown in FIG. 1, a volume hologram 10 having a thickness L may be recorded by interfering an object plane wave 12 with a reference plane wave 14. The volume hologram may then be used to process information from unknown complex incident waveforms. The spatial selectivity of Bragg matching in volume holograms makes it possible to selectively extract specific information from the input, and project the information onto one or more detectors. Illumination 16 is focused to form a probe point source 18 at the same wavelength as the reference and object waves 12 and 14 within a translucent three dimensional object 20 using an object lens 22. The resulting optical information may be collimated by a collimating lens 24 and directed toward the volume hologram 10 along the same direction that the object plane wave 12 approached the volume hologram 10 in recording the volume hologram. A holographic image in the form of a slit 26 that includes the optical information from the point 18 will be Bragg matched by the volume hologram and will be directed toward a collector lens 25 along the direction from which the reference plane wave approached the volume hologram during recording, but extending from the opposite side of the volume hologram as shown in FIG. 2A. The slit image 26 is created by Bragg matching, and may be projected onto a focal plane 28 of a detector. If the translucent three dimensional object 20 is moved along the y direction such that the probe point source is moved along the y axis, subsequent adjacent slices may be formed at the focal plane 28 of a detector. As shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C, a probe point source 30 may cause an image slit 32 to appear at one side of a detector surface, while a probe point source 34 and may case an image slit 34 to appear at an opposite side of a detector surface.
Scanning along the y direction, therefore, is required to form each planar scan image, and scanning along the z direction is required to develop a series of planar scan images that are representative of a three dimensional object.
There continues to be a need, therefore, for a three dimensional imaging system that does not require scanning along at least two dimensions.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for volume holographic imaging using spectral illumination


A metal-coated cubic boron nitride abrasive grain obtained by forming grooves, in which the ratio (w/d) of the width (w) to the depth (d) is less than 1, and the ratio (w/L) of the width (w) to the length (L) is less than 0.1, on the surface of a cubic boron nitride abrasive grain. In this cubic boron nitride abrasive grain, the retention force (bonding strength) between the metallic coating and the cubic boron nitride abrasive grain is improved; therefore, it is possible to fabricate a resin bonded grinding wheel, in which a high grinding ratio (long life) and a low grinding power (superior grinding performance) are achieved, using such cubic boron nitride abrasive grains.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to metal-coated cubic boron nitride abrasive grains. More particularly, the present invention relates to metal-coated cubic boron nitride abrasive grains in which bonding strength between the cubic boron nitride abrasive grains and a metallic coating layer is increased, relates to a method for producing the metal-coated cubic boron nitride abrasive grains, and relates to a resin bonded grinding wheel incorporating the metal-coated cubic boron nitride abrasive grains.
2. Description of Related Art
Cubic boron nitride (which hereinafter may be simply referred to as "cBN") abrasive grains have been employed as abrasive grains of, for example, grinding wheels and coated abrasives, since cBN exhibits hardness second only to diamond, and better chemical stability against an iron workpiece when compared with diamond. The cubic boron nitride abrasive grains are produced through treatment of hexagonal boron nitride (which may be referred to as hBN) in the presence of a catalytic substance under high-temperature, high-pressure conditions (for example, about 1,400° C. to about 1,600° C., and about 4 GPa to 6 GPa), under which cubic boron nitride is thermally stable.
The thus-produced cubic boron nitride abrasive grains are employed in, for example, electroplated grinding wheels, metal bonded grinding wheels, vitrified bonded grinding wheels, and resin bonded grinding wheels.
Among these grinding wheels, the resin bonded grinding wheels, in which resin is used as a bonding agent, have a problem in that more of the cubic boron nitride abrasive grains come off during grinding operations when compared with other grinding wheels, and thereby the grinding ratio is reduced (i.e., the operative life of the grinding wheel is reduced). It is believed that the coming-off of the abrasive grains is mainly due to the following two reasons: (a) retention force between a bonding layer and a surface of a coating, such as a metallic coating, which is coated on the surface of the abrasive grains, is small; and (b) retention force between a coating, such as a metallic coating, and the surface of cubic boron nitride abrasive grains is small; therefore, various efforts have been made to find measures to increase retention force of abrasive grains so that the operative life of the grinding wheel is prolonged.
For example, metal-coated abrasive grains have been developed and are currently employed in resin bonded grinding wheels, in which a single-layered or multi-layered metallic coating, such as of nickel, nickel-phosphate, cobalt, or cobalt-phosphate, is applied to the surface of the abrasive grains so that retention force in the bonding layer is increased due to irregularities of the surface of the metallic coating (Patent Documents 1 to 4).
Patent Document 1 discloses a method for producing nickel-coated abrasive grains having high retention force due to surface irregularities, in which, during the formation of a metallic layer on the surface of the abrasive grains, spongiform nickel is used as a first layer, and dense nickel is used as a second layer.
Patent Document 2 discloses a resin bonded grinding wheel exhibiting a grinding ratio better than that of conventional ones in which a coating, which includes nickel as a first layer, cobalt as a second layer, and nickel as a third layer, is applied.
By applying a coating to the surface of the abrasive grains as explained above, retention force of the abrasive grains in the bond can be increased, the amount of the abrasive grains coming off during grinding operation can be reduced, and thus the grinding ratio of the grinding wheel has been improved.
However, even though the retention force between the metal-coated abrasive grains and the resin bond is increased, the retention force between the metallic coating and the abrasive grains become comparatively small, and the abrasive grains tend to come off while the metallic coating is left in the bonding layer, and thereby a problem is still encountered in that sufficient operative life of the grinding wheel cannot be ensured.
In view of the above circumstances, metal-coated abrasive grains exhibiting an increased retention force between a metallic coating and abrasive grains have been developed, in which a layer among two or more layers of a metallic coating is chemically bonded to the surface of the cubic boron nitride abrasive grains (Patent Documents 5 to 8).
For example, Patent Document 5 discloses metal-coated abrasive grains in which a metallic coating, such as of tungsten, molybdenum, tantalum, or niobium, is applied to the surface of diamond abrasive grains or cubic boron nitride abrasive grains so as to form a solid solution due to chemical bonding or diffusion.
Moreover, Patent Document 6 discloses metal-coated abrasive grains in which a double-layer structure is employed, and an interstitial metallic layer, serving as a first layer, is formed and chemically bonded to the surface of cubic boron nitride grains using, for example, a salt bath deposition process, a chemical vapor deposition process, or a physical vapor deposition process, and subsequently a metallic layer, serving as a second layer, is formed using, for example, an electroless deposition process, an electrolytic deposition process, or a vapor deposition process.
According to the above Patent Documents, the coming-off of the abrasive grains can be prevented by increasing the retention force due to chemical bonding between the surface of the abrasive grains and the metallic coating or due to forming of the interstitial metallic layer.
Patent Document 7 discloses abrasive grains (compound abrasive grains) in which the abrasive grains are bonded to each other using a vitrified bonding agent or a metallic bonding agent. According to the Document, because a vitrified bond or metallic bond is used for coating, the retention force between the coating and the surface of the abrasive grains is increased, the abrasive grains are strongly bonded to each other, and the retention force in the resin bond is also increased due to irregularities on the compound abrasive grains.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. S60-51678    Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. S59-142066    Patent Document 3: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. S59-30671    Patent Document 4: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. S60-52594    Patent Document 5: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H04-18567    Patent Document 6: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H05-194939    Patent Document 7: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H10-337670    Patent Document 8: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H09-323046
As described above, it is believed that the coming-off of the abrasive grains is mainly due to the following two reasons: (a) retention force between a bonding layer and a surface of coating, such as a metallic coating, which is coated on the surface of the abrasive grains, is small; and (b) retention force between a a coating, such as a metallic coating, and the surface of cubic boron nitride abrasive grains is small. Even though the retention force of the metal-coated abrasive grain in the bonding layer is increased according to the methods disclosed in, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 4, the amount of the abrasive grains coming off cannot be efficiently reduced because the retention force between the coating and the abrasive grains is small. Accordingly, Patent Documents 5 to 8 have proposed the methods for increasing the retention force between the coating and the surface of the abrasive grains. According to these methods, the retention force between the coating and the surface of the abrasive grains is increased, the retention force of the grinding agents in the resin bond is increased, and thus the grinding ratio is improved. However, according to these methods, bonding between the coating and the surface of the abrasive grains is so strong that the coming-off of the abrasive grains in which cutting edges have been worn out is also restrained; therefore, a problem is encountered in that grinding power during grinding operations is increased.
In the case of the resin bonded grinding wheels, when the grinding power becomes high, deterioration of the resin bond and burning of a workpiece tend to easily occur due to grinding heat. It is necessary for the abrasive grains to appropriately come off for obtaining sharp cutting edges in order to maintain superior grinding performance without increasing the grinding power.
While it is strongly demanded that the retention force of the grinding agents be increased (i.e., the grinding ratio be increased) in view of the operative life of tools and overall machining cost, it is also necessary for the abrasive grains to appropriately come off for obtaining sharp cutting edges in order to maintain superior grinding performance without increasing the grinding power.
The methods disclosed in Patent Documents 5 to 8 contain problems in that the production cost is increased due to complicated means and steps for forming the coating, and it is difficult to control the mass ratio of the coating so to be constant.
In view of the above-described problems, new abrasive grains for resin bonded grinding wheels have been strongly demanded by which an increase in the grinding ratio and restraint of increasing grinding power can be simultaneously achieved.

Metal-coated cubic boron nitride abrasive grain, production method thereof, and resin bonded grinding wheel


Start/stop decision circuit receives main and sub IG instruction signals from a hold circuit and a sub line, respectively, and if the signals match in logic, the start/stop decision circuit follows the main IG instruction signal's logic to determine whether an ignition switch is turned on/off. If the main and sub IG instruction signals attain the high and low levels, respectively, and a logic discrepancy is thus caused, and a condition is established for speculating that the vehicle is parked and therefrom a decision is made that the vehicle system will be stopped with high probability, then the start/stop decision circuit determines that the ignition switch is turned off, and start/stop decision circuit detects that the hold circuit has an ON failure and subsequently the start/stop decision circuit stops the vehicle system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to vehicle system start controllers and particularly to vehicle system start controllers capable of high reliably starting and stopping vehicle systems.
2. Description of the Background Art
Vehicle systems are typically started by operating an ignition switch operated by inserting an ignition key into a key hole and rotating the key to a prescribed position. The ignition switch assumes an OFF position allowing the ignition key to be inserted and removed, an accessory (ACC) position allowing car audio and other similar accessory electrical equipment to conduct, an ON position energizing the engine's ignition system, and an engine start (ST) position energizing the starter.
To start a vehicle system, for example as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2000-050513, the ignition switch is operated to assume the ON position and in response an IG signal of the logical high level is input to a controller of a power supply control unit. In response to the IG signal of the high level the power supply control unit electrically connects a relay switching between supplying and stopping power to a load. Thus a battery's power supply is supplied to a plurality of loads including units electrically controlling an engine, an A/T, a meter and the like. The control units all receive power supplied from the battery to control the vehicle's state.
To stop the vehicle system the ignition switch is operated to assume the OFF position and in response the IG signal of the logical low level is input to the controller of the power supply control unit. The power supply control unit receives the IG signal of the low level and in response electrically disconnects the relay to interrupt the power supplied from the battery to the plurality of loads.
If the vehicle system thus configured has the ignition switch failed for example by a break, the IG signal is fixed at the low level and the vehicle system cannot be started. As such, the ignition switch is required to reliably turn on.
For an analog signal circuit outputting a desired signal voltage for example for vehicular electronic control equipment a defective break detection device including a hold circuit holding a signal voltage output from the analog signal circuit and a discharge circuit causing an electric charge distributed in the analog signal circuit to be discharged to the ground is disclosed, for example as described in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-020315.
As described in the document, the hold circuit is a charge circuit including a switch, a capacitor and the like. When the hold circuit receives an instruction from an instruction portion to take in the signal voltage the hold circuit turns on the switch and holds the signal voltage in the capacitor. When the signal voltage held in the capacitor is output to an A/D converter, it is A/D converted and output to the instruction portion.
Furthermore, the defective break detection device employs a discharge circuit to discharge simultaneously the electrical charge distributed in the analog signal circuit and the signal voltage held in the hold circuit, and after they are discharged the device holds in the hold circuit a signal voltage output from the analog signal circuit and from a result of A/D converting the held signal voltage detects whether the analog signal circuit has a defective break.
The above described defective break detection device that has the hold circuit holding a signal voltage can detect whether the analog circuit has a defective break. If the hold circuit itself has the switch for example welded and thus failed, however, the signal voltage held by the hold circuit and that output from the analog signal circuit do not match, and the vehicle will not be controlled normally. Accordingly, to provide a signal voltage increased in reliability, the hold circuit must be detected as well as the analog signal circuit for failure.
In particular, if a vehicle system start controller has such a hold circuit mounted therein and in response to the ignition switch being operated to assume the ON position the hold circuit receives the IG signal of the high level, the hold circuit holds the logical level and outputs it to the instruction portion, or an electrical control unit (ECU). If the hold circuit is failed and the logical level is fixed at the high level, operating the ignition switch to assume the OFF position cannot stop the vehicle system. In other words, the hold circuit cannot sufficiently ensure that the ignition switch can be operated to reliably turn off.

Highly reliable vehicle system start controller


A nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of nucleotide sequences set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1-6 and 11, particularly SEQ ID NO: 3. The nucleotide sequence encodes at least a corresponding amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 12-17 and 26. The nucleic acid sequences and corresponding amino acid sequences regulate the flavonoid pathway, and more particularly they regulate the proanthocynanidin biosynthetic pathway and proanthocynanidin biosynthesis in a plant. One embodiment relates to methods of producing transformed plants comprising introducing into a cell of a plant a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 1-6 and 11, particularly SEQ ID NO: 3 and regenerating a transformed plant from the transformed cell. Another embodiment relates to a host plant cell comprising at least one of the nucleic acid sequences set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1-6 and 11.

In response to biotic and abiotic stress, plants activate inducible defense mechanisms. Secondary metabolites that may be toxic to attacking herbivores and pathogens, and protect plant tissues from abiotic stresses, are a common component of induced defenses.
Poplar, for example cottonwoods, poplars, and aspens, hereafter referred to collectively as poplar (Populus spp.), has become an important perennial plant. The defense-related phenylpropanoid metabolism of these ecologically important trees is complex. The major defense phenylpropanoids produced in poplar leaves are the flavonoid-derived proanthocyanidins (PAs) and the salicin-based phenolic glycosides (PGs).
PGs and PAs are the most abundant foliar phenolic metabolites in poplar, and together can constitute more than 30% leaf dry weight. Salicin-based PGs are constitutively produced in poplar leaves and function as potent anti-insect herbivore compounds. Although not often rapidly induced by herbivory, PG levels can exhibit considerable genotypic variability and are also influenced by environmental factors such as light and nutrient availability.
PAs are constitutively produced in poplar leaves however; in some genotypes concentrations rapidly increase in response to stress treatments for example insect herbivore feeding, mechanical wounding, defoliation, pathogen infection, and exogenous application of jasmonic acid. PA accumulation following wounding and herbivore attack generally occurs both locally at the site of damage, and systemically in distal leaves. Leaf PA levels are also strongly influenced by environmental conditions. Nutrient limitation and high light levels have been linked to greater PA. Increased PA levels have also been reported in P. tremuloides grown under elevated ozone.
Rapid stress-induced production of PAs in poplar leaves typically follows the transcriptional activation of the biosynthetic pathway. The strong activation of the PA biosynthetic pathway following insect herbivore damage suggests that these compounds function in herbivore defense. However, despite being rapidly induced by insect herbivores, experimental evidence indicates that unlike PGs, PAs are not strong, broad-spectrum anti-herbivore compounds.
Regulation of PA biosynthesis has been characterized in Arabidopsis, where TT2 regulates PA production specifically in the seed testa, in a tissue dependent manner. Regulation of PA production in Arabidopsis seed testa involves biosynthetic gene activation by a MYB-bHLH-WDR complex composed of the TT2, TT8, and TTG1 proteins. The R2R3MYB protein TT2 confers target gene specificity to the complex, leading to the activation of genes from the late flavonoid pathway for PA biosynthesis, for example BAN (ANR), TT12, and AHA10. AHA10 is a vacuolar ATPase, which is required for PA accumulation in Arabidopsis seed coats to energize transport via the tt-12 MATE transporter.
It was shown that TT2 does not regulate the early flavonoid biosynthetic genes, and therefore does not regulate PA biosynthesis independently. TT2 must work in collaboration with other genes. Further, TT2 activity is not correlated with an accumulation of PA and overexpression of TT2 alone does not lead to the accumulation of PAs.
A second PA-specific MYB gene, VvMYBPA1, isolated from grapevine (Vitis vinifera) was found to regulate both PA-specific structural genes of the late flavonoid pathway, and early flavonoid structural genes, for example those encoding chalcone synthase (CHS) and chalcone isomerase (CHI). Despite the established role of R2R3 MYB proteins in the developmental regulation of PA biosynthesis, a protein that regulates expression of all of the biosynthetic structural genes and regulates accumulation of PA, has yet to be disclosed.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the deficiencies in the prior art.

University of Victoria Innovation and Development Corporation


The present disclosure provides an insulation detection circuit, a detection method and a battery management system. The insulation detection circuit includes an isolated power module, first positive and negative sampling modules, second positive and negative sampling modules, and a processor. A first end of the second positive sampling module is connected to a positive electrode of the isolated power module and a second end of the positive switch module, a second end of the second positive sampling module is connected to a second reference voltage terminal; a first end of the second negative sampling module is connected to the second reference voltage terminal, a second end of the second negative sampling module is respectively connected to a negative electrode of the isolated power module and a second end of the negative switch module; and the processor is connected to sampling points.

A battery pack is responsible for supplying electric energy to an electric motor of an electric vehicle. The battery pack is connected to a load through a positive switch module and a negative switch module respectively. It can be known from P=UI that it is necessary to use a high voltage or a large current to achieve a large power output. When using the high voltage, the high voltage may be easily introduced into a passenger compartment as insulation materials are aging or damaged, which is dangerous; when using the large current, line loss on a high voltage loop may be large and temperature in the loop may rise quickly, which brings a big challenge to heat dissipation of the vehicle system, and the temperature change may also influence performance of the insulation materials. Therefore, it is particularly important to detect and issue an early warning of insulation abnormality in advance.
At present, insulation detection is performed for the battery pack mostly based on an AC injection method or a voltage division method. However, the AC injection method or the voltage division method can only detect an insulation impedance on a side of the battery pack under detection before the positive switch module or the negative switch module is closed or detect an insulation impedance on a load side after the positive switch module or the negative switch module is closed, but cannot detect the insulation impedance on the load side when the positive switch module or the negative switch module is not closed. When the positive switch module or the negative switch module is closed, if there is a problem with the insulation impedance on the load side, it will cause damage to a controller. More seriously, if an insulation fault occurs between a main positive electrode on the load side or a main negative electrode on the load side and a reference ground or an external electric device is short-circuited, it may directly cause that a short circuit occurs in the battery pack and affect the safe operation of the electric vehicle.

Insulation detection circuit, detection method and battery management system

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited