In a laser processing machine, a laser control system includes a photo detector (21) detecting intensity of light generated by laser-induced plasma produced by applying laser beams on an object, and a control unit (30) for controlling a laser pulse signal to have an optimum pulse width and optimum pulse period effective in each pulse signal based on the detection signal, so that the optimized laser pulse signal is obtained to thereby automatically control the generation of the laser beams, where the pulse width of each pulse is controlled by the control unit (30) so that the detection signal outputted from the photo detector (21) has its peak values to be all equal to a constant level (Vp), and the pulse period of each laser pulse signal is so controlled as to have a reference threshold level (Vr) which is previously given by the material of the object, and thus the total processing time in perforating process can be remarkably reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a laser-induced plasma detecting system for use in a laser processing machine, and in particular to a laser control system utilizing a photo detector unit for detecting light of laser-induced plasma generated by application of laser beams on an object to be processed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, a laser processing machine has a torch unit 100 attached thereto for performing a laser beam machining process on an object to be processed as shown in FIG. 7. The torch unit is provided for the purpose of: i) obtaining a high energy density of laser beams required for processing the object by way of condensing the laser beams, and ii) obtaining assist gas flow to be projected onto a precise target position of the object.
In FIG. 7, the torch unit 100 includes a condenser lens 1 which is secured by a spacer ring member 2 disposed in close contact onto a spring ring member 3, where these members 1 through 3 are integrated and inserted in a lens holder tube 4, which is further secured by a lens securing ring 5. The lens holder tube 4 secured by the lens securing ring 5 is incorporated within a torch main body 6 of the torch unit 100 and securely fixed in position by a lens positioning ring 7.
The torch unit 100 further includes an assist gas inlet 15 and a nozzle attachment portion 101 which is attached to a torch end portion 8, where the nozzle attachment portion 101 is comprised of a nozzle 11 which is securely attached to a nozzle base portion 12, and a nozzle fixing member 9 which is securely positioned by a torch adjusting base plate 10 and fixed by a nozzle fixing ring 13 surrounding therearound.
In this construction, the nozzle base portion 12 is further mechanically engaged with the nozzle fixing member 9 by way of a screw cut means, where the positioning adjustment in a vertical axis direction of the nozzle is performed by adjusting the engagement between the nozzle fixing member 9 and the nozzle base portion 12 to thereby adjust the nozzle portion into a focus point for the laser beams.
In this arrangement, the nozzle attachment portion 101 is adjusted in position for centering alignment of the nozzle 11 by means of centering adjustment screw drivers 14 to obtain the alignment of the nozzle aperture with the laser beams passing therethrough. Thus, the torch unit 100 is adjusted in view of both the focus condition and the centering alignment with the laser beams.
In this construction of the conventional laser processing machine, particularly in a perforating process, the processing conditions are experientially selected in consideration of the conditions such as a pulse width, pulse period or frequency, processing time and processing speed recommended by makers without detecting laser-induced plasma (referred to as "LIP", hereinafter). It is noted here that the term "laser-induced plasma (LIP)" refers to a plasma phenomenon induced with evaporated gaseous materials of an object when applying laser beams onto the object to be processed. The LIP plays an important part of perforating, welding and like processes in laser beam machining.
However, in this conventional processing method, the laser beam machining process is not optimized with regard to the processing time because of employing the experientially decided conditions for the processing. In order to obtain the optimum conditions for performing the laser beam machining, not only elucidation but also detection of the process of the laser beam machining must be taken into account, and also it is required to judge the detection results of the processing phenomenon of the laser beam machining to control the laser beams based on the detection results.
In particular, when carrying out a perforating process on a mild steel plate having a thickness of, for example, 12 mm or more, it takes a long processing time to complete the perforation, and there arises a problem that a total processing time of the laser beam machining is undesirably increased especially when the laser beam machining process includes a lot of perforating steps.
FIGS. 8A and 8B shows a laser pulse signal for commanding generation of laser beams in connection with a detection signal of the laser-induced plasma LIP. In the conventional laser processing machine, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the detection signal is obtained by using a photo detector unit (not shown) for an experimental purpose to detect the intensity of the LIP although such a photo detector is not used in the practical conventional laser processing machine. In this experiment, a photoelectric photometer, light-flux meter and the like light-intensity meter may be used as the photo detector unit.
In this experiment, with regard to the conventional processing conditions experientially decided and recommended by makers, the pulse width of each pulse and the pulse period (i.e., pulse frequency) are both fixed. In a practical perforating process for a mild steel plate of 12 mm thick or more, whole processes are divided into two or three steps and the optimum conditions are decided in each divided step. However, the processing conditions are not optimized for each laser pulse in any process in the conventional method.
In this experiment, as shown in FIG. 8B, the peak values of the detection resultant signal are attenuated with time lapse. This is because the quantity of the detected light of the LIP is decreased as the perforation process proceeds in depthwise in the steel generated LIP is partially maintained in the perforated hole in the steel plate and the LIP part staying in the hole is not detected by the light detection unit.
In this experiment of the conventional process, there arise mainly three problems with regard to processing time under the processing conditions particularly in a perforating process by a laser processing machine.
As a first problem, each pulse period of the laser pulse signal is fixed longer than the period of life of each detection signal of the LIP, resulting in a drawback of increasing the redundant processing time as shown by a portion A in FIG. 8B.
Moreover, there is another problem that, as shown by a portion B in the figure, the processing conditions are not taken to cope with the deterioration in perforating property as the detection light quantity of the LIP is decreased with time lapse.
There is further another problem that, as shown by a portion C in FIG. 8A, the laser beam machining is still maintained for additional coverage for absorbing differences in process after completion of the perforation.

Laser control system for use in laser processing machine utilizing laser-induced plasma detecting system

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A method for making a film/board laminate for use in pilfer resistant packaging includes providing a non-treated paperboard substrate, adhering a single ply of an oriented film to the substrate, the oriented film being applied at an orientation angle to the board between but not equal to zero degrees and 180 degrees such that a film to substrate adhesion is about 0.5 pli to 1.4 pli, and applying a heat seal layer to the film.

Packaging materials are used in every manner of everyday life. Corrugated packaging materials were used as early as the 1870s to protect fragile and valuable objects during packing and handling. Many of the paper, paperboard and fiberboard materials used in the manufacture of early corrugated materials are still in use today in their basic form and/or with slight improvements.
In present day use, packaging serves a number of purposes. Aside from traditional protection functions, in many instances, packaging must also serve a pilfer deterrent function. This is particularly so for smaller, more valuable items.
Although traditional packaging, e.g., paperboard or corrugated board, with various coatings serve protection functions well, they do not provide a substantial level of pilfer resistance. As such, more rugged, tear resistant materials have been incorporated into packaging materials to meet today's requirements.
One type of packaging material includes a tear resistant film, such as a cross-oriented, laminated film in a laminate with a paperboard substrate. One such film is a VALERON® film, which is a cross-oriented, laminated polyolefin film commercially available from VALERON® Strength Films, an Illinois Tool Works company, of Houston, Tex. One structure using such a film is disclosed in Amendt, U.S. Pat. No. 7,097,895, which patent is commonly assigned with the present application and is incorporated herein by reference.
While such a laminate better serves both the protective and pilfer resistant requirements for merchandising, the two film layers increase the costs for such packaging. As such, a lower cost option is desirable.
In addition, it has also been found that the level of adhesion of the film to the paperboard substrate can impact the tear resistance of the package. Specifically, it has been found that if the adhesion of the film to the paperboard substrate is too great, tear propagation resistance decreases.
Accordingly, there is a need for a packaging material and a method for making the packaging material that provides protection for the packaged item, as well as a pilfer resistant structure. Desirably, such a material is provided at a low cost, and uses known material elements within the material structure. More desirably still, such a material can be manufactured using known techniques.

Method for making a film/board lamination


A disposable face shield having an improved attachment mechanism for securing a band to attach the shield to a user's face is disclosed. The disposable face shield includes a flexible transparent member having opposed slits therethrough. The slits have a length and are disposed on an upper portion of the transparent member. An elastic band having a width greater than the length of the slits is looped through the slits. The slits are arcuate which allows the ends of the band to be removably and adjustably disposed through the slits. A flexible forehead support member is provided on the upper portion of the transparent to nestle against a user's forehead.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to face shields. More particularly, this invention relates to a disposable face shield having an improved adjustable attachment for an elastic band securing the shield to the user's head.
2. Prior Art
It has long been advantageous for individuals working with liquids to wear a protective face shield to prevent those liquids from spattering on the face. For example, face protection in medical procedures to prevent the splattering of blood on the face has become critical in recent years with the occurrence of the deadly AIDS virus and the appearance of other harmful disease producing agents. It is also advantageous in medical procedures to use disposable surgical equipment where possible to substantially reduce the risk of infection and the cost of sterilizing the surgical equipment. Additionally, cleaning face shields of deposited chemicals, such as blood, paint, adhesives, dyes, solvents, resins, etc., is time consuming and often ineffective. Thus, disposable face shields have seen a wide application in various industries, e.g. medicine, dentistry, painting, manufacturing, and the like.
Because of the wide application and use of disposable face shields, the mounting bands or straps which secure the shield to the face must be adjustable to accommodate a variety of different sized faces and heads. Prior art face shields utilize a fastener or integral member to attach the band or strap to the shield. An example of such a prior art shield is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,528. Other face shields incorporate an integral curved brow member to affix the shield to the user's head, such as those found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,114 and Des. Patent No. 311,782.
The use of curved brow members is less than ideal as attachment of the shield to the user's head is often uncomfortable and unstable. Other prior art disposable face shields which use elastic bands and/or nonelastic straps are also less than ideal as a fastener or an integral portion of the shield is required to affix the strap to the shield which increases the cost of manufacture.
Thus, the industry is in need of a disposable face shield which provides a reliable and inexpensive adjustable attachment mechanism for securing a band or strap to attach the shield to the face and head.


Systems and methods for improved delta angle signaling for blocks in video compression are provided. A method includes decoding a coded picture. The decoding includes obtaining a nominal angle of a current block of the coded picture for intra prediction; obtaining a nominal angle of at least one neighboring block of the current block for intra prediction; determining whether to signal all allowed delta angles of the nominal angle of the current block, or only a subset of the allowed delta angles of the nominal angle of the current block, based on a comparison between the nominal angle of the current block and the nominal angle of the at least one neighboring block; signaling all the allowed delta angles or the subset of the allowed delta angles of the nominal angle of the current block based on the determining; and predicting the current block based on the signaling.

AOMedia Video 1 (AV1) is an open video coding format designed for video transmissions over the Internet. It was developed as a successor to VP9 by the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia), a consortium founded in 2015 that includes semiconductor firms, video on demand providers, video content producers, software development companies, and web browser vendors. Many of the components of the AV1 project were sourced from previous research efforts by Alliance members. Individual contributors started experimental technology platforms years before: Xiph's/Mozilla's Daala published code in 2010, Google's experimental VP9 evolution project VP10 was announced on Sep. 12, 2014, and Cisco's Thor was published on Aug. 11, 2015. Building on the codebase of VP9, AV1 incorporates additional techniques, several of which were developed in these experimental formats. The first version, version 0.1.0, of the AV1 reference codec was published on Apr. 7, 2016. The Alliance announced the release of the AV1 bitstream specification on Mar. 28, 2018, along with a reference, software-based encoder and decoder. On Jun. 25, 2018, a validated version 1.0.0 of the specification was released. On Jan. 8, 2019, "AV1 Bitstream & Decoding Process Specification" was released, which is a validated version 1.0.0 with Errata 1 of the specification. The AV1 bitstream specification includes a reference video codec. The"AV1 Bitstream & Decoding Process Specification" (Version 1.0.0 with Errata 1), The Alliance for Open Media (Jan. 8, 2019), is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

Delta angle signaling method for luma blocks


There is disclosed door driving control equipment for a washing machine, which washing machine includes an outer casing, a door formed on a top portion of the outer casing, a door motor for generating force used for opening and closing the door, and a lamp for lighting the interior of the washing machine. Also included are: an opening/closing command input portion which is used to input a command to open or close the door to the washing machine; door opening and closing sensing portions that sense whether the door is opened or closed; and a microprocessor which controls operations of the door motor and the lamp according to a command signal to open or close the door and an input signal for the door opening and closing sensing portions, in order to actuate the door motor and the lamp in a prescribed sequence.

A conventional upright washing machine has a door which opens and closes the entrance to water and laundry tubs on the top of a main body of the washing machine. The door of the washing machine is opened and closed frequently according to various occasions, that is, when a bundle of clothes are either put into or taken out of the laundry tub for washing or for drying, when a detergent for cleaning clothing and an agent for rinsing are put into the tub, when laundry is added to the articles that are being washed in the laundry tub, or when you try to properly counteract any out-of-balance condition created by the laundry.
The door of the conventional washing machine is opened and closed by hand, which causes much trouble. Moreover, in recent years, household electric appliances of large capacity are becoming very popular among customers. In line with such a tendency, washing machines are also designed to be of large capacity, and doors used for those washing machines become big and heavy as well. Accordingly, it is difficult for users to open or close the door of the washing machine with the hand.
In order to overcome the above-described problem, there has been proposed a washing machine with an apparatus for automatically opening and closing its door by simple keyboard input.
In addition, the conventional washing machine has a lamp in itself so that laundry can be easily put into or taken out of its laundry tub in the dark. Accordingly, even if such a washing machine with the lamp is located in a room which is not brightly lit up, you can see the amount of the laundry put in the laundry tub of the washing machine very well when you open the door of the washing machine.
According to the conventional art, however, a lamp operating portion and the automatic door opening/closing apparatus are individually provided to the washing machine. Even if the automatic door opening/closing apparatus and the lamp are integrally installed within the washing machine, the lamp is designed to be turned on or off according to door opening or closing. In other words, a motor for the automatic door opening/closing apparatus (door motor) and the lamp operating portion operate from a single power supply, and power is applied to both of them at a time so that the lamp is turned on or off, simultaneously with the operation of the door motor. This creates overload with respect to the single power supply, and causes temporary malfunction in two loads.
When taking the above into consideration, it is preferable that the door motor and lamp are constructed to go into action in sequence.

Door driving control apparatus and method for a washing machine


A chemical compound which has an electron donor group, an electron acceptor group, and a conjugated bridging element bridging between the electron donor group and the electron acceptor group. The chemical compound has a readily displaceable electron, is capable of emitting photoluminescent radiation. A dipole character is present therein only in the excited state of the compound. The compounds are suitable for use in optical devices and, particularly, can be used for photoluminescence quenching devices.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to molecular chemical compounds for optical devices, which have structures allowing electron displacement and capable of emitting photoluminescent radiation, and photoluminescence quenching devices (display devices) employing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Chemical compounds possessing the property of absorbing high-energy radiation (UV radiation, X-ray radiation, cathode radiation, etc.) and transforming the same into longer-wave, normally visible, radiation are referred to as luminophores. The process is called luminescence. Luminescence processes can be classified as to the type of energy supply. For example, in photoluminescence, an electron is promoted to a higher energy level by optical excitation (irradiation), whereas, in electroluminescence, an electron is promoted to a higher energy level by applying an electric field.
Photoluminescence quenching devices (PQDs) are known as a display device applying photoluminescence technology used under outdoor conditions, e.g., in strong sunlight. The photoluminescence quenching devices use exterior light to generate photoluminescent light which can be modulated by means of an applied voltage. These display devices can be operated in an auto-emissive mode which can be utilized under conditions where exterior light is sparse or absent.
The basic principle of the photoluminescence quenching device is well known. It involves a mechanism wherein splitting of the excited state permits controlling the intensity of emitted light. Such splitting produces charge carriers which are removed via the contacts. Hence, the mechanism of the photoluminescence quenching device proceeds inversely to that of an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) wherein charge carriers undergo recombination with emission of light.
Conjugated polymers selected from materials having a poly(phenylenevinylene) (PPV) or polyfluorene (PFO) basic structure are presently used as materials in PQDs. However, these materials have been developed for use in polymer organic light-emitting diodes (PLEDS) and show fluorescence quenching of more than 70% only at relatively high electric fields of 2.5×108 V/m when used in PQD devices.
Donor-acceptor structures having non-linear optical properties were disclosed. Chiral materials for non-linear optical uses were disclosed by Stewart et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,288,206B1 and polymers for non-linear optical uses were disclosed by Sasaki in U.S. Pat. No. 5,745,629A. However, emission of photoluminescent radiation is of secondary importance in these patents because the field dependence of the absorption and, in particular, that of the refractive index are to be utilized with priority. The compounds which exhibit very strong donor-acceptor interactions even in the ground state of the material are not appropriate for photoluminescence quenching devices because these compounds are non-emissive due to high polarity.

Molecular chemical compounds with structures allowing electron displacement and capable of emitting photoluminescent radiation, and photoluminescence quenching device employing the same


Methods, systems and computer program products for the synchronization of media streams. In an embodiment, a gross synchronization may first be performed on the media streams, using the broadcast delays of the streams. A refined synchronization may then be performed, taking advantage of corresponding visual or audio cues in each stream. In the event that the media streams represent the same content (e.g., the same content from different providers), matching momentary actions in the video media streams may be used to achieve refined synchronization. In the event that the media streams are different (e.g., different broadcasts of the same event), other cues may be used to achieve refined synchronization, where these other cues are part of the underlying event but independent of the particular broadcasts. Examples of these latter cues may be the sound of a referee's whistle or the crack of a bat hitting a baseball.

In a modern media environment, multiple media providers may provide broadcast coverage of the same event. A sporting event involving a team associated with a certain city may be covered by a television or radio station in that city, as well as by a national television network. A local radio team may travel with a National Basketball Association team, for example, and broadcast every game. The game may also be televised by one of several competing national networks. Coverage of other public events may also be broadcast by several networks or stations. A public radio station may broadcast coverage of a presidential speech, in parallel with the major television networks, for example.
Some users may wish to take advantage of the fact that an event may be covered by multiple broadcasters. As an example, a user may wish to hear his hometown announcer's play-by-play of a basketball game, normally available via radio or internet streaming, but may also want to see the game as it is broadcast by a national television network. Regular media consumers (of sports and news, for example) sometimes establish preferences and loyalties for such media sources. From the broadcaster's perspective, there are commercial reasons for making broadcasts available to loyal consumers. Media sources may respond to these loyalties by establishing and maintaining specific reporting profiles to retain and grow their audience. This consumer preference may drive ratings, which in turn may drive advertising sales.
Prior to the availability of digital delivery and pay-TV programmed delays, consumers may have mixed audio/visual streams covering the same event by manually turning the volume down on the TV during a broadcast, and turning the volume up on the radio broadcast. Digital delays (including programmed FCC delays and mechanical processing and delivery delays) have significantly eroded the functionality of this "analog solution." Now, live TV, cable, and radio broadcasts are frequently up to 10 seconds out of synchronization, producing an unacceptable media experience for those attempting to mix media streams in this manner. This situation is worsened by the fact that nationally broadcast feeds of live events are not broadcast in synchronicity. Often, the feed from one cable provider may be several seconds ahead or behind that of the same feed from a different cable or satellite provider.
In the drawings, the leftmost digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.

System, methods, and computer program products for multi-stream audio/visual synchronization


A multipurpose memory card adapter including a base and a cover. The base has first conductive pieces corresponding to connecting fingers of memory cards of Secure Digital (SD) card, Multimedia Card (MMC) and Reduced Size Multimedia Card (RS-MMC). A plurality of guide pieces is formed at a front end of the first conductive pieces to allow for a smooth insertion of the memory cards in position. The base further includes second conductive pieces corresponding to connecting fingers of mini SD card. A first end stop at which the mini SD card to be inserted into the base arrives is located at a farther position away from an insertion opening than a second end stop for the SD card and the MMC card. A side stop and a guide chamfer are formed between the first end stop and the second end stop. Meanwhile, a detecting piece and a write protection piece are provided at one side of the base. In addition, a plurality of mounting bosses is formed at the periphery of the base. The cover includes a plurality of mounting holes corresponding to the mounting bosses of the base as well as a grounding piece at a corner of both sides.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a multipurpose memory card adapter, and more particularly, to an adapter for various memory cards.
2. Description of the Related Art
Nowadays, memory cards in various formats exist in the market, and they are continuously developed in different formats. Therefore, corresponding memory card adapters are required for the respective memory cards in different formats. In order to facilitate the use of memory cards and to expand their application scopes, different kinds of memory card adapters are required to be integrated in a body. So, a single memory card adapter can be applied to different memory cards. However, a memory card adapter for SD (Secure Digital), mini SD card, Multimedia Card (MMC), RS-MMC (Reduced Size Multimedia Card), MMC card 4.0 and RS-MMC card 4.0 is still unavailable in the market. This brings much difficulty in use.


A light emitting element array substrate includes a plurality of light emitting elements arranged in line on the substrate with less dispersion in irradiation to a surface to be irradiated and can be manufactured with a reduction of cost. The light emitting element array substrate also includes light reflecting members formed on the light emitting element array substrate about light emitting elements having less irradiation. The light reflecting members re-reflect the light emitted from the light emitting elements and also reflected by surrounding parts so that the quantity of light at portions of the light emitting element array substrate having less irradiation is complemented by the re-reflected light to level the entire irradiation in the light emitting element array substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light emitting element array substrate used as an image sensor, a back-light of liquid crystal display and the like and also to an apparatus using such a light emitting element array substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in FIG. 1, an LED array substrate (used as an example of light emitting element array substrate) which is constructed in accordance with the related art and which is used for light emission in image sensors and the like comprises a base 1 and a plurality of LED chips 2 arranged thereon in a line. A group of some LED chips 2 (four in this FIGURE) are connected in series with each other and with a current regulating resistor 3 to form a series circuit, as shown in FIG. 2. A plurality of such series circuits are further connected in parallel to each other. In such an arrangement, the entire LED array is energized to emit light by a source voltage V.
The characteristic of light emission in the LED array substrate 5 of such a type is shown in FIG. 3. Since the LED chips 2 are arranged equidistantly, a flat surface to be irradiated 4 will be less irradiated between each pair of adjacent LED chips 2 than directly above each of the LED chips 2. Except for the LED chips 2 at the opposite ends of the LED array substrate 5, however, a LED chip 2 can be complemented by the adjacent LED chips 2. The surface 4 can be irradiated substantially uniformly as a whole.
The opposite ends of the LED array substrate 5 become darker than the central portion thereof since the LED chips cannot be fully complemented by the adjacent LED chips 2.
If such a LED array substrate 5 is used in an image sensor, an original document will not be accurately read at its opposite ends by the image sensor. If such a LED array substrate 5 is used in a liquid crystal display, the opposite ends of the display darken and become difficult to view.
In order to overcome such a problem on the side of an apparatus incorporating the aforementioned type of LED array substrate, it has been proposed that light reflecting plates are located around an optical path from an LED array to a surface to be irradiated, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Nos.: Hei 3-250093 and Hei 4-20. Light from the LED array is reflected several times within the optical path to form a leveled light which irradiates the surface uniformly.
In order to overcome the same problem on the side of the LED array substrate itself, some proposals have been made, including decreasing a spacing between the extreme LED chip and the adjacent one at each end of the LED array substrate, increasing the brightness of only LED chips in an LED array substrate that are at the opposite ends and subjecting only LED chips in an LED array substrate that are at the opposite ends to more current. Thus, the surface can be uniformly irradiated by the LED array substrate as a whole.
However, these proposals have the following disadvantages: If the apparatus incorporating the LED array substrate is modified to overcome the aforementioned problems, the high manufacturing cost and a spatial limitation is brought by increasing of the number of parts. On the other hand, if the LED array substrate itself is modified to overcome the problems of the related art, decreasing a spacing between the extreme LED chip and the adjacent one at each end of the LED array substrate is troublesome in designing. The increase of brightness in the LED chips only at the opposite ends of the LED array substrate requires time to select such ones from many LED chips and this selection step makes the manufacturing cost high. When only the LED chips are subjected to more current, their service lives will be decreased.

Light emitting element array substrate with reflecting means


There is provided a multicylinder four-cycle combustion engine, in which a communication hole is formed, to allow gases to flow smoothly form one cylinder to another so that the pumping loss occurring within the cylinders can be reduced. The combustion engine (E) includes an engine casing (EC) having defined therein a plurality of cylinders (2A to 2D), each having a cylinder bore (20A to 20D), and a crank chamber (30A to 30D) below the respective cylinder bore. A partition wall (21) separating the neighbor cylinder bores (20A, 20B; 20C, 20D) of the cylinders (2A to 2D) and the crank chambers (30A to 30D) from each other is formed with a communication hole (4). An open edge portion (4aa) of the uppermost edge (4a) thereof, which opens into the cylinder bore (20A to 20D) has a circumferentially intermediate major portion extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the cylinder longitudinal axis (CH).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a multicylinder four-cycle combustion engine for use primarily in motorcycles and, more particularly, to the multicylinder four-cycle combustion engine of a kind in which the piston pumping loss can be reduced.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to reduce the number of component parts of the multicylinder four-cycle combustion engine and, also, to reduce the number of manufacturing steps, it is well known that some of multicylinder four-cycle combustion engines currently used in motorcycles are of a structure in which a cylinder block and a generally upper half of a crankcase are formed integrally with each other. In the case of such multicylinder four-cycle combustion engine, crank chambers one for each cylinder are separated from each other by means of partition walls. Therefore, in order to alleviate the piston pumping loss which would result from as a result of compression of an air within each of the crank chambers that takes place as the corresponding piston moves, the design has been employed, in which the crank chambers for the neighboring cylinders are communicated with each other by means of a communication hole open at one end with an upper or lower portion of one crank chamber and at the other end with an upper or lower portion of the other crank chamber. Each of those communication holes has a round section and is formed by the use of a drilling technique, in which a generally elongated drill is inserted from a position laterally of an engine casing in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the crankshaft, so as to extend transversely between the neighboring crank chambers. See, for example, the Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 11-182325.
In the known multicylinder four-cycle combustion engines of the structure discussed above, since each communication hole is formed by the use of a drilling technique, it has been found that burrs tend to be formed around the leading end of the respective communication hole with respect to the direction of advance of the drill, through which the tip of the drill emerges outwardly. In order to prevent the piston ring from interfering with the burrs so formed and appearing in the inner peripheral wall of the corresponding cylinder bore, the position of each of the communication holes has necessarily and carefully be chosen so that the uppermost edge of the respective communication hole with respect to the direction of movement of the associated piston be located 3 mm or more spaced downwardly from the lowermost end of the piston ring when the piston is held in the bottom dead center position.
Thus, the position of the uppermost edge of the respective communication hole is necessarily limited to a location distant from the lowermost end of the associated piston ring when the piston is held in the bottom dead center position and, on the other hand, the lowermost edge of the respective communication hole must be positioned at a location sufficient to avoid interference with a crank shaft bearing. Those design requirements impose limitations on the size of the leading open end of the respective communication hole, particularly the size of the leading open end as measured in a direction conforming to the direction of reciprocating movement of the piston or a vertical direction.
Since each of the communication holes has a round section as discussed above, the size of the open end in the vertical direction for a given cross-sectional surface area (passage area) of the respective communication hole tends to be large, and accordingly, it is difficult to secure a sufficient passage area for the communication hole under the limitations on such vertical size. Moreover, the presence of the burrs around the open end of the communication hole tends to impose a relatively large resistance to the flow of gases through the communication hole.
Partly because of the insufficient passage area for each communication hole and partly because of the relatively large resistance to the gas flow caused by the burrs, the gases would not flow smoothly therethrough, resulting in increase of the pumping loss. Also, openings through which the drill has been inserted to form the respective communication holes, are left in the lateral portions of the engine casing and, therefore, those openings must be closed by separately prepared plugs, resulting in increase of the number of component parts used and, also, the member of assembling steps.

Multicylinder four-cycle combustion engine


The present invention relates to an Autologous Bone Graft Substitute composition (ABGS) for inducing new bone formation, promoting bone growth and treating of bone defect, a preparation method of the Autologous Bone Graft Substitute composition, and a kit for preparing the Autologous Bone Graft Substitute composition of implant. In a particular aspect, the invention relates to an injectable/extrudable/implantable Autologous Bone Graft Substitute composition for use in treatment of bone defects, inducing new bone formation and promoting bone growth for bone fracture healing, spinal fusions and to repair bone defects in bone reconstructive procedures of orthopedic and oral maxillofacial-dental surgeries.

Bone grafts are employed in a variety of surgical procedures designed to promote growth of new bone to repair a bone defect, augment the bone growth at a particular site, promote fusion of adjacent bones to restore, enhance the stability of a skeletal structure and reduce back and leg pain suffered by an affected individual. In many situations, a surgical procedure employs a bone graft in conjunction with any of a variety of instrumentations, such as pedicle screws and rods, to secure the implanted bone graft and enhance stability while new bone grows to correct the defect.
Spinal fusion is a surgical procedure employed primarily to relieve the source of back and leg pain in an individual in which vertebral segments (vertebra-disc-vertebra) are damaged or inflamed. During a spinal fusion, two or more adjacent vertebral segments are fused to restrict motion and compression between the segments and thereby end or substantially mitigate pain and further degeneration that results from the motion or compression of damaged adjacent segments. Thus, the desired outcome of a spinal fusion procedure is to replace the original arrangement of two vertebrae separated by articular fibro-cartilage disc with a stable, continuous, load-bearing segment of bone, which in turn relieves pain and moderates further segmental degeneration (e.g., Anterior Lumbar Inter-body Fusion, ALIF).
In addition to relieve pain and further stabilize the spine in order to avoid compression, the two transverse processes at both sides in a given segment (level) are fused by forming new functional bone at ectopic sites using autograft or devitalized allograft segments or devitalized allograft particles enriched with the patient's bone marrow or allogenic demineralized bone matrix containing the patient's bone marrow (e.g., Posterolateral Lumbar Fusion, PLF). Surgeons use metal instruments like cages, screws and rods in order to help in fusing both the anterior (vertebral bodies) and posterior (vertebral processes) lumbar spine segments since immobilization (arthrodesis) of movement minimizes compression on the spinal cord nerves passing between the two lumbar vertebrae. To increase the rate of fusion, the instrumentation is supplemented by bone grafting to stimulate osteogenesis at either intervertebral (Anterior Lumber Interbody Fusion, ALIF) or ectopic sites in between transverse processes (Posterolateral Lumbar Fusion, PLF), or both (Posterolateral Lumbar Inter-body Fusion, PLIF). See, for example, Mobbs, R. J. et al. Lumbar interbody fusion: techniques, indications and comparison of interbody fusion options including PLIF, TLIF, MI-TLIF, OLIF/ATP, LLIF and ALIF. J Spine Surg 1:2-18 (2015). A variety of disorders may be treated with spinal fusion including, but not limited to, degenerative disc disease (DDD), spondylolisthesis, spinal stenosis, scoliosis, infections, fractures, spinal dystrophy and various tumors.
Spinal fusion requires a material that serves to promote new bone growth to fuse adjacent vertebrae. For decades, the standard spinal fusion procedure has entailed a second incision into a patient to harvest autogenous bone chips (autograft) from the patient's iliac crest of the hip. The harvested bone chips are inserted into the area between the affected vertebrae and stabilized by appropriate instrumentation, such as pedicle screws and rods. This spinal fusion procedure employing autograft from the patient is also referred to as iliac crest bone graft (hereinafter referred to by abbreviation ICBG). The advantage of using ICBG is that the harvested bone chips have live bone marrow cells and immunologically compatible extracellular matrix with the patient's body and contain functional bone marrow elements including red and white blood cells and megakaryocytes. However, use of an ICBG requires the patient to sustain a second incision. The second incision to harvest bone for use as the autograft has been a concern in the field as it lengthens the surgical procedure and, therefore, the time the patient is under anesthesia, it provides another site for post-operative pain (see for example, Kim et al., Spine J. 9:886-92; 2009), and, as another incision in the patient, it increases the risk for infection. Furthermore, the amount of IGBG that could be harvested is limited.
To reduce such additional risks to the patient, a number of alternative implantable compositions have been developed and tested in an effort to replace the need for an autograft during the surgical procedure. Such alternative compositions may comprise allograft (for example, cadaver bone from a bone bank), demineralized bone matrix (DBM), various ceramics (calcium-based compounds), synthetic polymers, bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) and their analogs in conjunction with animal derived collagen scaffold, and various combinations thereof. See, for details, Gupta S, M. V., Gupta M C (2017) Biology of spine fusion and application of osteobiologics in spine surgery. In: Vukicevic S, Sampath. K T. (ed) Bone Morphogenetic Proteins: Systems Biology Regulators. Springer International Publishing. However, attempts to develop alternatives to autograft for spinal fusion have been met with their own particular challenges to achieve regulatory approval.
The INFUSE@ Bone Graft/LT-CAGE lumbar tapered fusion device (Medtronic Sofamor Danek, Memphis, Tenn., USA) was approved in 2002 as a substitute for ICBG for treating DDD at one level (vertebra-disc-vertebra, ALIF) from L2 to S1 using an anterior approach in skeletally mature patients. The INFUSE® Bone Graft component consists of human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) applied to an absorbable, Bovine-Achilles Tendon derived, collagen sponge carrier that is used to fill a Lordotic Threaded (LT) cage component. Each device contains 12 milligrams of rhBMP-2 (in total), a sheet of collagen sheet soaked with 6 mg and filled separately in 2-LT cages that be inserted into intervertebral disc space. See, for details, INFUSE Bone Graft product information: Lumbar. (2002) Medtronic Sofamor Danek USA, Inc. In the approved surgical procedure, a device is implanted on each side of the affected vertebral level to promote stabilizing fusion on each side of the segment. The ability of the device to promote spinal fusion in various off-label posterior approaches has also been the subject of a number of studies. See, for example, Cahill et al., JAMA 302:58-66 (2009); Carragee, et al., Spine J 11:471-491 (2011). However, the off-label use produced unwanted safety concerns that led to a congressional hearing and FDA monitoring.
The AMPLIFY® bone graft substitute product (Medtronic) was originally designed and tested as an ICBG substitute for spinal fusion using a posterolateral approach (PLF). This ICBG substitute product delivered 40 mg of rhBMP-2 in a porous synthetic Slab that is composed of Bovine-Achilles Tendon derived collagen sponge impregnated with ceramic granules of hydroxyl apatite (HA) and tri-calcium phosphate (TCP) composite. Although the AMPLIFY® bone graft substitute product provided moderate spinal fusion in treating DDD, the United States Food and Drug Agency (FDA) refused to approve the product citing that a significant number of patients continue to experience low back pain and leg pain and concerns of possible cancer risks associated with the relatively high dose of rhBMP-2 and unwanted ectopic bone formation at sites away from the implant attributed to the larger amount of BMP-2 used in the device. See, for example, Executive Summary for P050036 Medtronic's AMPLIFY™ rhBMP-2 Matrix Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Devices Advisory Panel (2010) Food and Drug Administration.
The OP-1® Implant (Olympus/Stryker) is an implantable device for regenerating bone. The device contains recombinant human BMP-7 (rhBMP-7) dispersed within a bovine bone derived type I collagen. Owing to a failure to achieve a statistical difference in new bone formation over autograft, the OP-1® Implant received FDA approval only for humanitarian device exemption (HDE) use as an alternative to autograft in recalcitrant long bone non-union defects where the use of autograft is unfeasible and alternative treatments have failed. See, for example, Stryker Biotech OP-1 Implant® product information (2009).
An OP-1 Putty® is a composition that combines rhBMP-7, a bovine bone collagen, and a putty additive (carboxymethyl-cellulose). The OP-1 Putty® device was evaluated in a posterolateral fusion (PLF) clinical study but also did not achieve a statistical difference compared to autograft. The OP-1 Putty® has therefore been approved for HDE use in spinal fusion. See, for example, Stryker Biotech OP-1 Putty® product information (2009).
In addition to the use of autograft in spinal fusion, there are a variety of other orthopedic and dental indications that are treated using autograft. Such indications include various defects and fractures, such as diaphysis, distal radius fractures, tibial non-union fractures, high tibial osteotomy, osteoporotic fractures (vertebral compression fractures, atypical femoral fracture), defects from bone cysts, and defects from bone tumors, and also various oral, periodontal, and maxillofacial defects and anomalies. In addition, autograft is also in use to treat pseudo-arthrosis and pseudo-fractures associated with in rare musculoskeletal disorders like Hypophosphatasia (mutation in Tissue Non-Specific Alkaline Phosphatase gene), Neurofibromatosis Type I (mutation in Neurofibromin gene), Osteogenesis Imperfecta (mutation in Type I collagen gene). Depending on the severity of bone loss in such conditions, the amount of autograft that can be safely obtained from a patient may not be sufficient or may lack in bone quality (in compromised smokers, diabetic, steroid-users and osteoporotic patients) to provide the desired treatment. In such cases, biological bone graft substitutes that are safe and capable of inducing a robust bone formation that is restricted to the defect sites are much in demand. For comprehensive reading, Vukicevic S, Sampath T K, editors. Bone Morphogenetic Proteins: from Laboratory to Clinical Practice. Basel: Birkhauser Verlag, 2002; Vukicevic S, Sampath, K T, editor. Bone Morphogenetic Proteins: Systems Biology Regulators. Springer International Publishing; 2017.
To date, patients are limited to only a few products as possible alternatives to undergoing an autograft procedure for spinal fusion and other orthopedic procedures. Clearly, needs remain for improved compositions that can promote the level and quality of new bone growth required for successful repair of bone defects and for spinal fusion without the need for subjecting patients to the additional risks, pain, and limitations associated with autograft procedures.


Device images, for example IDE mass storage device images, may be enabled and disabled without disrupting a host system. In one embodiment, the invention includes a memory device register to indicate the presence of a memory device to a computer system, a switch coupled to the memory device register to set the memory device register to indicate the presence of a memory device, and an external interface coupled to the switch to operate the switch.

The costs of maintaining and repairing computers can be significant. One significant factor is the time required for IT (information technology) personnel to individually maintain the operability and currency of each computer. These costs can be reduced significantly by tools that permit the IT personnel to perform maintenance and repairs remotely. For example, in a situation in which a given computer must have an operating system installed, an application installed or software updated, it is inconvenient for IT personnel to physically travel to the particular computer in order to perform the installation. Tools that permit the installation of the operating system by delivering the operating system or other software across a network may eliminate the need for the IT personnel to travel, and therefore reduce costs.
Some BIOS (basic input/output systems), support a feature whereby a LAN controller may be used to access a remote boot server. Executable code is downloaded from the remote boot server, and is then run by the system. Just prior to running the downloaded executable code, the connection to the remote server is closed by the BIOS. However, closing the connection prevents the system from obtaining any further files or data from the network unless a networking stack is loaded first.

Enabling and disabling device images on a platform without disrupting BIOS or OS


An apparatus for production testing. According to one aspect, the apparatus is modular and suitable for transport and assembly in the field. The apparatus comprises a platform and one or more pressure vessels. The platform includes a mounting bracket for the pressure vessel and the mounting bracket includes a guide mechanism. The guide mechanism allows the pressure vessel to be lowered into the mounting bracket and coupled to the platform for example using a load sling on a helicopter. According to another aspect, the pressure vessels comprise spherical containers and the spherical containers are configured to be heliportable to a field site.

Production well testing comprises a process for acquiring data on new and existing wells, for example, oil and gas wells. The types of determinations that may be made by well operators include: geophysical boundaries, flow rates, maximum flow rate, zone permeability, reservoir pressure, gas and effluent sampling, and zonal contribution.
Production well testing apparatus typically comprises a cylindrical pressure vessel separator configured in either a horizontal or a vertical orientation. The pressure vessel can be used in a number of exploratory and remedial applications, including the following: formation effluent clean-up, well bleed-off, pipeline bleed-off, well start-up, gas flaring, work-overs and under balanced drilling.
Production well testing equipment is typically configured on a skid or as a trailer mount unit which is transported via heavy duty truck tractors on established road networks proximate to the well site. Because of the requirement for road transportation, there are also seasonal limitations for dry seasons or winter periods when the ground is frozen. For example, in northern climes, such as Canada or Alaska, temporary roads may be built over the frozen ground or lakes in the winter.
It will be appreciated that the seasonal restrictions on the movement of production well testing equipment using conventional techniques gives rise to a number of problems for well operators including, limited availability of service companies for production well testing, dealing with extreme weather conditions, higher costs and the over-extension of operational and logistical resources, diminished productivity.
Accordingly, there remains a need for improvements to address the shortcomings associated with conventional production testing equipment in the art.

C&J Energy Production Services—Canada, Ltd.


A fuel injector system provides an air assist fuel nozzle which includes a fuel shroud and an air portion. Air passes around the fuel shroud to air jets in the air portion to provide a focused application of air directly onto a fuel spray from each of a multiple of main fuel jets to impart additional velocity to the fuel as it is flowing out of the fuel nozzle. The air jets increase the resulting fuel spray velocity to a level high enough to reach a prefilmer wall of a swirler even during snap deceleration conditions.

The present invention relates to a fuel/air mixer for a combustor and more particularly to a focused application of air directly on the fuel spray as it is flowing out of a fuel injector to increase the transport of fuel spray during engine snap deceleration conditions.
One goal in the design of combustors, such as those used in gas turbine engines of high performance aircraft, is to minimize the amount of smoke produced by the combustion process in the gas turbine engine. For military aircraft in particular, smoke production creates a "signature" which may increase aircraft visibility.
Another objective in the design of combustors for high performance aircraft is to maximize the "static stability" of a combustor. The term "static stability" refers to the ability to initiate the combustion process at high airflows and low fuel flow during a rapid deceleration of the engine.
Leaning out the fuel/air mixture in the combustor minimizes smoke production, while static stability is increased by enriching the fuel/air mixture. Applicant has addressed the competing goals with a fuel injector design with an outer recirculation zone flame stabilization arrangement. Although effective, flame stability in such a fuel injector may still be relatively sensitive during snap deceleration conditions. Snap deceleration is of particular interest to the performance of military aircraft.
Spray transport is important to the operation of a fuel injector design intended for outer recirculation zone flame stabilization. Fuel is injected from a pressure atomizing fuel nozzle and reaches a prefilmer wall by one of two mechanisms. The first is a centrifuge mechanism. Large drops in a rotating environment are slung outboard to the prefilmer wall. A second mechanism is from velocity of the fuel itself. This fuel velocity typically results from the pressure available in the fuel system.
Conventional fuel injector systems may not provide sufficient spray transport across an inner passage airflow to reach the prefilmer wall under snap deceleration conditions as droplet sizes may be too small for effective centrifuge action to take place in the space available. Furthermore, there may be insufficient pressure drop across the fuel injector tip to provide sufficient velocity to traverse the inner passage at the fuel flow common to snap deceleration conditions. Such conventional fuel nozzle systems may thus suffer a loss in flame stability during snap deceleration conditions.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a fuel injector system that minimizes the amount of smoke production while maximizing stability even under snap deceleration conditions.

Air assist fuel injector for a combustor


Methods, devices and non-transitory machine readable storage mediums for displaying coronary arteries are provided. In one aspect, a method includes: obtaining a coronary artery model of the coronary arteries, obtaining values of one or more coronary artery parameters of the coronary artery model according to the coronary artery model, determining colors corresponding to the values of the one or more coronary artery parameters, and acquiring a pseudo-color coronary artery model of the coronary arteries by displaying the coronary artery model with the determined colors.

Coronary artery disease is common cardiovascular disease, and involves the reduction of blood flow to the heart muscle due to build-up of plaque in the arteries of the heart. The incidence rate of coronary artery disease is getting higher and higher. At present, the coronary artery disease is usually clinically diagnosed by examination approaches such as intravascular ultrasound, coronary computed tomography (CT) angiography, and a coronary catheterization. The coronary CT angiography is a non-invasive diagnostic method, and may generate a three-dimensional model of coronary arteries (referred to as a coronary artery model) to display morphology of the coronary artery.
NEUSOFT MEDICAL SYSTEMS CO., LTD. (NMS), founded in 1998 with its world headquarters in China, is a leading supplier of medical equipment, medical IT solutions, and healthcare services. NMS supplies medical equipment with a wide portfolio, including CT, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), digital X-ray machine, ultrasound, Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Linear Accelerator (LINAC), and biochemistry analyser. Currently, NMS' products are exported to over 60 countries and regions around the globe, serving more than 5,000 renowned customers. NMS's latest successful developments, such as 128 Multi-Slice CT Scanner System, Superconducting MRI, LINAC, and PET products, have led China to become a global high-end medical equipment producer. As an integrated supplier with extensive experience in large medical equipment, NMS has been committed to the study of avoiding secondary potential harm caused by excessive X-ray irradiation to the subject during the CT scanning process.


A rapid thermal nitridation (RTN) process produces a nitrogen concentration gradient in an oxynitride layer to compensate for transistor threshold voltage effects from a thickness gradient in the oxynitride layer. The nitrogen concentration gradient is selected to allow greater dopant penetration through thicker gate dielectrics in PMOS transistors formed using the oxynitride layer. Any increases in threshold voltage due to thicker gate dielectrics are counteracted by corresponding decreases in threshold voltage due to dopant penetration, allowing consistent threshold voltage values to be maintained for all PMOS transistors on a single wafer. The nitrogen concentration gradient can be introduced by regulating the flow of nitrous oxide during RTN processing to cause an accumulation of atomic oxygen to develop within the process chamber. The atomic oxygen forms a concentration distribution that increases in the direction of nitrous oxide flow, and therefore removes incorporated nitrogen from the oxynitride layer in corresponding proportions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the area of semiconductor processing. In particular, the present invention relates to a method for minimizing device variation across a wafer by adjusting oxynitride layer nitrogen concentration during rapid thermal nitridation.
2. Discussion of Related Art
The dimensions of modern semiconductor devices are continually being reduced to improve integrated circuit (IC) capabilities while increasing speed and decreasing power consumption. To accommodate this continual trend towards greater miniaturization, the semiconductor processes used in the production of ICs are constantly being refined. One area of critical importance is the formation of the gate dielectrics in metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistors—in particular the gate dielectrics of PMOS transistors. Historically, silicon dioxide (SiO2) has been the material of choice for PMOS transistor gate dielectrics. However, as the thickness of an SiO2 gate dielectric is reduced, P-type dopant atoms (e.g., boron) from the overlying polysilicon gate can penetrate the gate dielectric and lodge in the channel region of the transistor. This "dopant penetration" results in an undesirable reduction in transistor threshold voltage (Vt). To address this problem, the ultrathin gate dielectrics of modern PMOS transistors are often formed from oxynitrides (SiOxNy or nitrogen-doped SiO2). The nitrogen incorporated into such layers tends to prevent dopant penetration.
A rapid thermal nitridation (RTN) process is often used to form oxynitride gate dielectrics. In an RTN process, a wafer is subjected to high temperature heating while nitrous oxide and oxygen flow across the wafer surface. FIG. 1 shows a conventional RTN process chamber 100, which is substantially similar to the Heatpulse 8108 tool from AG Associates, Inc., a subsidiary of Metron Technology, 1350 Old Bayshore Highway, Suite 210, Burlingame, Calif. 94010. RTN chamber 100 comprises a quartz isolation tube 110 that includes a gas inlet port 111 and a gas outlet port 112. RTN chamber 100 further includes a set of upper tungsten halogen lamps 120a positioned above quartz isolation tube 110, and a set of lower tungsten halogen lamps 120b positioned below quartz isolation tube 110, all of which are enclosed by a plated heating chamber 130.
To form an oxynitride layer on a wafer 190 placed in isolation tube 110, power is provided to upper tungsten halogen lamps 120a and lower tungsten halogen lamps 120b while nitrous oxide (N2O) and oxygen (O2) flow from gas inlet port 111 to gas outlet port 112. The edge of wafer 190 closest to gas inlet port 111 is designated the "leading edge" of the wafer, while the edge of wafer 190 closest to gas outlet port 112 is designated the "trailing edge." Note that although a wafer is generally round, wafer "edges" can be defined as indicated based on a profile view of the wafer. The leading edge and trailing edge can therefore be considered substantially opposing edges of wafer 190, as they capture the entire width (i.e., diameter) of wafer 190.
The radiant heat from lamps 120a and 120b raises the temperature of wafer 190 and also heats the nitrous oxide as it flows from the leading edge to the trailing edge of wafer 190. As described by Ellis et al. in "Nitrous Oxide (N2O) Processing for Silicon Oxynitride Gate Dielectrics" (IBM J. Res. Develop., Vol. 43, No. 3, May 1999) (hereinafter "Ellis"), the nitrous oxide molecules decompose in this high temperature environment into nitrogen gas (N2) and atomic oxygen (O). This oxygen release reaction can be described by the following equation:N2O→N2+O  (1)
The highly reactive oxygen radical liberated by this mechanism can then react with another nitrous oxide molecule to form nitric oxide (NO), as described by the following equation:N2O+O→2NO  (2)
The nitric oxide then reacts with the heated surface of wafer 190 to form an oxynitride layer. Ideally, the oxynitride layer would have a constant thickness to ensure performance consistency of later-formed devices. Unfortunately, conventional RTN chambers produce oxynitride layers having thicknesses that increase in the process gas (i.e., N2O) flow direction. For example, FIG. 2a shows a processed wafer 200 that includes an example oxynitride layer 191 formed on wafer 190 using a conventional RTN process. The thickness Tn of oxynitride layer 191 increases from a minimum thickness Tn1 at the leading edge of wafer 190 to a maximum thickness Tn2 at the trailing edge of wafer 190 (not to scale). This oxynitride thickness gradient is caused by a process temperature gradient that is typically present within conventional RTN process chambers. This thermal gradient exists because the nitrous oxide is constantly being heated as it flows across the surface of the wafer. Therefore, in addition to radiant heating, the downstream portions of the wafer receive additional convective heating that leads to higher temperatures.
FIG. 2b shows an example graph of process temperature TEMP for a typical RTN process, charted against the thickness Tn of an oxynitride layer formed by such a temperature profile. Process temperature TEMP rises from a minimum temperature Temp1 at the leading edge of wafer 190 to a maximum process temperature Temp2 at the trailing edge of wafer 190. The profile of process temperature TEMP can therefore be designated as having a "positive" gradient—i.e., increasing from the leading edge of the wafer to the trailing edge. Because the nitridation process rate is directly affected by process temperature, oxynitride layer thickness Tn tracks process temperature TEMP in a linear fashion. Therefore, the oxynitride layer thickness also exhibits a positive gradient. The specific thickness gradient depends on the particular process technology in which the oxynitride layer is to be used. For example, the thickness of an oxynitride layer for a 0.25 um process can increase from 4.8 nm to 6 nm, while a similar layer for a 0.13 um process can exhibit a thickness range from 1.8 nm to 2.4 nm.
A non-uniform oxynitride layer thickness is problematic because transistors formed on such a layer will exhibit a corresponding variation in gate dielectric thickness. FIG. 3a shows a processed wafer 300 formed from processed wafer 200 shown in FIG. 2a. Processed wafer 300 includes PMOS transistors 310a, 310b, 310c, and 310d. Transistors 310a-310d comprise source regions 312a-312d, respectively, drain regions 313a-313d, respectively, gates 311a-311d, respectively, and gate dielectrics 191a-191d, respectively. Gate dielectrics 191a-191d have thicknesses Toxa-Toxd, respectively, which are formed from oxynitride layer 191 shown in FIG. 2a. Accordingly, thicknesses Toxa-Toxd track the thickness profile of oxynitride layer 191; i.e., the gate dielectric of a transistor formed towards the trailing edge of wafer 190 (e.g., transistor 310d) will be thicker than the gate dielectric of a transistor formed towards the leading edge of wafer 190 (e.g., transistor 310a).
This variation in gate dielectric thickness from transistor to transistor is undesirable because it causes the each of transistors 310a-310d to have a different threshold voltage. FIG. 3b shows a graph of gate dielectric thickness for transistors 310a-310d shown in FIG. 3a, while FIG. 3c shows a corresponding graph of threshold voltage for transistors 310a-310d. Because the threshold voltage of a PMOS transistor is directly proportional to its gate dielectric thickness, threshold voltages Vta-Vtd of transistors 310a-310d, respectively, exhibit a linear correlation with gate dielectric thicknesses Toxa-Toxd, respectively.
Thus, the non-constant thickness of an oxynitride layer produced by a conventional RTN process can have a significant effect on the performance of subsequently formed devices. For example, in a 0.25 um process where gate dielectric thickness can vary up to 25% across the wafer, threshold voltage Vtd of transistor 310d could be 25% greater than threshold voltage Vta of transistor 310a. This in turn can lead to reduced yield and/or increased production costs as process parameters are tightened to compensate for this threshold voltage variation. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a method for producing an oxynitride layer such that transistors formed using the oxynitride layer have a consistent threshold voltage regardless of their position across the surface of the wafer on which the oxynitride layer is formed.

Nitrogen implementation to minimize device variation


A monitor filter includes a rectangular frame having cover, a pair of adjusting knobs fitted in two recesses formed close to two upper corners of the rectangular frame, and a pair of arms each having a bottom provided with a soft pad and a downwardly extending screw engaged with a respective one of the adjusting knobs, whereby the monitor filter can be easily and rapidly adjusted in position.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to a monitor filter and in particular to one which can be easily and rapidly adjusted in position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
During recent years, evidence of video display terminal related illnesses has surfaced and an increasing number of health complaints have been reported. The glare and the reflection will damage the eyesight while the static induction will hurt both the eyesight and the face skin of the operator. Hence, a number of monitor filters have been developed to reduce glare, reflection and static induction. However, the commonly used monitor filter on the market only utilizes a pair of straps provided with a hook at the free end to be suspended from the top of a monitor and the straps will become loose after a certain period of time thereby making it necessary to re-adjust the straps and therefore causing much inconvenience in use. Another commonly used monitor filter utilizes a pair of fixed arms to be suspended from the top of a monitor, but it is impossible to adjust the position of the monitor filter hence making it unfit for practical use.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved monitor filter which can obviate and mitigate the above-mentioned drawback.


Disclosed here is a steering column apparatus that enables a single operation lever provided apart from the steering wheel and to be used for clamping/unclamping each of the telescopic mechanism and the tilting mechanism independently, as well as for keeping at least one of the telescopic mechanism and the tilting mechanism unclamped after it is unclamped even after the driver takes his/her hand off the operation lever. This makes it possible for the driver to use both hands to adjust at least either the position in the front-rear direction or tilting angle of the steering wheel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a steering column apparatus, more particularly to a steering column apparatus to be employed for a vehicle provided with a telescopic mechanism and a tilting mechanism.
2. Description of Related Art
Both of the telescopic mechanism and the tilting mechanism are used to adjust the position in the front-rear direction and the tilting angle of the steering wheel of a subject car appropriately to the figure and comfort of the driver, thereby making it easier for the driver to drive the car.
Each of the telescopic mechanism and the tilting mechanism is provided with a clamp/unclamp mechanism so as to adjust the position in the front-rear direction and the tilting angle of the steering wheel as described above. When in such an adjustment, the clamp/unclamp mechanisms of the telescopic mechanism and the tilting mechanism are unclamped once to adjust the front-rear direction/tilting angle in that state, then the mechanisms are clamped again after completing the adjustment.
The telescopic mechanism is processed and built in the subject steering column apparatus accurately enough so that when it is to be clamped/unclamped, it receives a proper pre-load and is fit properly in the device, thereby preventing its moving parts from excessive play. Consequently, the telescopic mechanism comes to need an operation force larger than that of the tilting mechanism. The driver is thus required to use both of his/her hands to operate the steering wheel to adjust the position of the steering wheel in the front-rear direction. This has been a problem of the conventional technique. The published GB patent No.2281375 discloses a steering column apparatus provided with a single operation handle that can be operated by the driver with his/her hand on the steering wheel.
In the steering column apparatus disclosed by the above published GB patent No.2281375, the operation handle is usually kept pulled by a pulling spring so that the operation handle stays at its refuge position that is apart from the steering wheel. The driver is thus prevented from touching the operation handle by accident while driving the car. When adjusting the steering wheel, the operation handle is pulled toward the steering wheel resisting the force of the pulling spring. This movement of the operation handle is transmitted to the clamp device provided apart from the operation handle and used for adjusting the steering wheel in the front-rear direction through a cable movable in a flexible tube, thereby the clamp device is unclamped. And, this movement of the operation handle unclamps the clamp device provided near the operation handle and used for adjusting the tilting angle of the steering wheel. After completing the adjustments of the position in the front-rear direction and the tilting angle of the steering wheel by operating the steering wheel with both hands while putting his/her fingers on the operation handle, if the driver takes the fingers off the operation handle, the operation handle is pulled by the pulling spring to return to the refuge position, then both of the clamp devices for adjusting the position in the front-rear direction and the tilting angle of the steering angle are clamped.
The steering column apparatus disclosed by the above published GB patent needs a mechanism for moving the operation handle between the refuge position and a position at the steering wheel side, as well as a complicated mechanism for keeping the operation handle at the refuge position. In addition, both cable and its tube are flexible enough to be able to minimize the curvature so that the cable/tube can be moved freely in the entire adjustment range of the steering wheel. Consequently, part of the cable/tube is protruded from the steering column apparatus. This is not only unbecoming, but also might cause troubles. This is why the transmission mechanism having such cable and tube comes to injure the device reliability. And, the flexible cable seems to degrade the operability of the steering column apparatus itself, as well.
The mechanisms for adjusting the position in the front-rear direction and the tilting angle of the steering wheel are used not only when in driving, but also when getting in/out of the car. This is to make it easier for the driver to get in/out of the car; the driver just moves the steering wheel to its refuge position at that time. If the steering wheel is to be moved to its refuge position only to get in/out of the car such way, what the driver needs to do at that time is just push the steering wheel to the other side using the tilting mechanism. In the steering column apparatus disclosed by the above published GB patent, however, both of the tilting mechanism and the telescopic mechanism must be unclamped together by an operation of the operation handle when in an adjustment of the position of the steering wheel as described above. Consequently, the driver must put out his/her strength to operate the operation handle. In addition, the unclamped telescopic mechanism moves easily. If it moves, it must be adjusted again before starting another drive.


A filter medium for an air filter collecting dust in an air flow has a principal collection layer including a porous polytetrafluoroethylene film. A surface of the filter medium is provided with a plurality of embossed projections. Preferably, a processed filter medium maintains a zigzag shape by pleating an unprocessed filter medium to create mountain folds and valley folds. Preferably, an air filter unit includes such a processed filter medium and a frame body holding the processed filter medium.

A semiconductor device or a liquid crystal display has been conventionally manufactured in high clean space. To produce such high clean space, a porous film (which will be hereinafter referred to as a porous PTFE film) made of polytetrafluoroethylene (which will be hereinafter referred to as PTFE) is used as a dust collecting filter. A porous PTFE film, which has high dust collection efficiency compared with a filter medium made of glass fiber at the same pressure loss, is favorably used especially for a HEPA filter (High Efficiency Particulate Air Filter) or a ULPA filter (Ultra Low Penetration Air Filter).
On the other hand, clogging due to dust occurs frequently in a porous PTFE film, which has a fiber structure denser than that of a glass fiber filter medium that has been used conventionally, and pressure loss of an air filter unit increases in a short time when the air filter unit is used in an environment, which gives a heavy dust load, such as an outside air processing unit.
With regard to the above problem, a filter medium for an air filter is known, which can prevent clogging due to collected dust and suppress a rise in pressure loss JP 2000-300921 A. The filter medium for an air filter includes a porous PTFE film and an air-permeable porous material made of fiber, and the air-permeable porous material made of fiber is located at an upstream side of the porous film in an air flow. The air-permeable porous material made of fiber has a fiber diameter within the range of 1 to 15 μm, porosity more than or equal to 70%, and basis weight more than or equal to 60 g/m2.
An air intake fitter medium for a turbine is also known, which is a filter medium for a filter wherein a rise in pressure loss is suppressed JP 2002-370009 A. The filter medium includes a porous polytetrafluoroethylene film and an air-permeable support member. Used for the air-permeable support member is fiber having a wide range of a fiber diameter of 0.2 to 15 μm, inclusive.

Filter medium for air filter and filter unit


A timepiece comprising a main energy storing device, a gear train coupled to the main energy storing device, a tensioning element coupled to the gear train, the tensioning element configured to be driven about a tensioning axis in cyclic steps, a tensioning control system configured to control the tensioning element, a storage hairspring having a first end and a second end, the first end connected to the tensioning element, a wheel connected to the second end of the storage hairspring, a clockwork movement rotatably driven by the wheel, an escapement coupled to the clockwork movement and a device configured to be switched in a stepwise manner and driven rotatably in cyclic steps by an element of the gear train.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a timepiece, in particular to a watch, with a main energy-storing device, by means of which a tensioning element of a tensioning mechanism can be driven via a gear train in a rotatable manner about a tensioning axis controlled in cyclic steps by means of a tensioning control system that tensions a storage hairspring connected at one end to the tensioning element, the other end of the storage hairspring is connected to a wheel which rotatably drives the clockwork movement and is in engagement with the gear mechanism of the escapement.
2. Description of the Related Art
In timepieces, the storage hairspring is tensioned by the same amount, at equal-sized time intervals defined by the mechanism. The oscillating system of the timepiece is thus supplied with a constant torque that is required if the main energy-storing device is subject to large torque fluctuations. The cause of the torque fluctuations can be, for example, a long period of running of the timepiece, or additional components of the timepiece, which are driven by the main energy-storing device, or components which have a fluctuating torque requirement.


Disclosed herein are system, method, and computer program product embodiments for adapting machine learning models for use in additional applications. For example, feature extraction models are readily available for use in applications such as image detection. These feature extraction models can be used to label inputs (such as images) in conjunction with other deep neural network models. However, in adapting the feature extraction models to these uses, it becomes problematic to improve the quality of their results on target data sets, as these feature extraction models are large and resistant to retraining. Approaches disclosed herein include a transfer layer for providing fast retraining of machine learning models.

Deep neural networks, such as convolutional neural networks (CNN), show tremendous promise in certain applications. For example, CNNs are very well adapted to image detection and image recognition tasks, and provide excellent results against industry-standard benchmarks.
One of the challenges facing image detection and image recognition developers using deep neural networks is transferring the learning from an existing deep neural network to an application-specific model. Much work has been done in developing these extensive deep neural networks, and their reuse is desirable through adaptation to new applications, rather than generating entirely new training data and training the deep neural network to that data from scratch.
Accordingly, new approaches are needed to simplify the transfer of learning from deep neural networks for use in specific applications.
In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical or similar elements. Additionally, generally, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.

Domain adaptation of deep neural networks


A method of manufacturing a shoe having an outersole with a removable protective covering, including the steps of applying a sheet of protective covering to a sheet of outersole material with adhesive to form a composite sheet; applying printed indicia on the protective covering at predetermined locations; stamping out the composite sheet to form a plurality of outersoles, each having the protective covering and the printed indicia to form finished outersoles; and attaching each of the finished outersoles to a shoe upper to form a shoe so that the protective covering is removable.

At present, protective coverings for the inner and/or outersoles of footwear have been attached to their respective inner and outersoles after the footwear had been manufactured at the factory, or they have been attached at the point of sale in the retail store. This procedure is labor intensive and costly for the manufacturer or retailer.
Since the protective covering is not applied until after the footwear is manufactured, the outersole is not protected during various chemical treatment steps, such as the applying of dye, water repellent, or conditioners to the shoe upper. Also, the protective covering does not provide for printed matter or advertising on the covering surface.

Protective covering for a shoe outersole


A foldable bicycle carry rack includes a frame, a support member, a connection member and two plates. The support member is connected to the first end of the frame. The connection member has an installation hole to receive the first end of the frame and the two plates are connected to two sides of the connection member. Each plate has a first end protruding from the connection member and the support member is connected to the two respective first ends of the two plates. The plates and the support member are synchronically pivoted about a pivot unit which extends through the plates, the connection member and the frame. The plates and the support member are pivoted about the pivot unit until the plates and the support member are parallel to the frame to fold the bicycle carry rack.

1. Fields of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bicycle carry rack, and more particularly, to a foldable bicycle carry rack connected to the rear end of a vehicle so as to carry bicycles with the vehicle.
2. Descriptions of Related Art
The conventional bicycle carry rack is designed to be connected to the rear end or the top of a vehicle so as to carry bicycles with the vehicle such that the users can bring their bicycles to far destinations.
The conventional bicycle carry rack comprises a frame or base and a support member is horizontally connected to the frame. Clampers are connected to the support member so as to position the bicycles relative to the support member. When the bicycles are removed from the carry rack, the horizontally extending support member becomes a problem when parking because it occupies a lot of space, especially lining in the urban areas.
The present invention intends to provide a foldable bicycle carry rack wherein the support member can be foldable via simple operation steps to reduce the space required so as to improve the shortcomings mentioned above.


A balloon system including a balloon, a payload, and a safety module. A safety module, preferably including a tether and a parachute, and optionally including a cover and/or a drogue. A method of balloon system operation, preferably including operating the balloon system in flight and descending under a parachute.

Typical balloon systems may include parachutes that are held taut between a balloon and a payload, thus preventing parachute deployment while the balloon is connected to the payload. Additionally or alternatively, in typical balloon systems, the connection between the balloon and payload may interfere with proper parachute canopy opening (e.g., wherein this connection is held taut in the region above the payload into which the canopy should open for proper parachute deployment). Thus, there is a need in the aerospace vehicle field to create a new and useful aerospace balloon system, parachute, and method of operation.

Aerospace balloon system, parachute, and method of operation


A passive RF tag receives a number of varying inputs. The RF tag is preferably associated with a vehicle, and the inputs are indicative of diagnostic information from a vehicle braking system. The passive RF tag receives a signal from a transmitter that causes the RF tag to query the current status of the several inputs. The RF tag then sends a signal back to the transmitter/receiver indicative of the current status.

This invention relates to a passive RF information tag which provides status reports through a varying output.
Informational tags and RF transmitters are used in many applications. A first basic type of known tag is a so-called xe2x80x9cactivexe2x80x9d tag which includes a power source. An active tag sends out a beacon signal. Such tags are utilized to identify the location of various items which carry the tag. These type tags may be utilized in inventory control, or in location monitoring.
Another type of tag does not include a power source, and does not send out a signal until it is queried by a transmitter. This type of tag is known as a xe2x80x9cpassivexe2x80x9d tag. A passive tag is provided with a resonant circuit that receives a particular signal which activates its circuit. Typically, an RF transmitter sends a coded signal to the passive tag which then actuates the resonant circuit to provide a signal from the passive tag. Known passive tags obtain information from a fixed memory, and provide that information to the transmitter/receiver which has queried the tag. This type of system is utilized in identification applications. As one example, a garbage truck may include the transmitter/receiver, and dumpsters may include the passive tag. The memory in the dumpster tag would tell the transmitter/receiver the owner of the particular dumpster such that appropriate billing can be made.
The transmitter sends a signal to the passive tag which activates the resonant circuit. The passive tag queries the memory and sends a signal to the transmitter. The transmitter/receiver is then able to identify the owner of the dumpster carrying the tag.
These types of tags are being utilized in more and more applications. However, these types of tags have never been utilized to provide status or variable information.
More and more vehicle diagnostic systems are being provided by electrical components. Vehicle systems monitor brake wear, the amount of movement of an axle, such as an odometer application, the bumps experienced by an axle, etc. These types of diagnostic systems provide a simple electrical signal that is indicative of a problem, or provides information relative to how far the vehicle may have traveled, etc. These types of systems have never been used with the above described tag technology.
In a disclosed embodiment of this invention, a passive RF tag transmits a variable signal that provides information with regard to one or more systems associated with the tag. Preferably, the tag is a passive tag, and the passive tag is provided with a plurality of inputs. The passive tag is preferably associated with a vehicle, and several inputs are preferably diagnostic information from the vehicle.
As one example, a plurality of inputs to the passive tag may be in the form of switches which are either on or off. Thus, the passive tag will see a plurality of digital bits of information.
A switch associated with a brake wear lining may be actuated once a particular amount of brake wear has been experienced. Brake wear systems are known which provide an electronic signal when a predetermined amount of wear has occurred. The brake wear systems are known, and form no part of this invention. If the signal then actuates a switch to change the associated digital information from a zero to a one, the passive tag would then transmit the one to the querying transmitter/receiver. Similar systems may be associated with an accelerometer for monitoring bumps experienced by an axle, etc. Again, the diagnostic systems are known, it is the use of a tag to transmit the information which is inventive. The passive tag then stores these varying signals associated with each of the switches.
When the transmitter/receiver queries the passive tag, the digital information provided by the passive tag has now varied to include the switch which has moved to a closed state, and thus supplies a xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d as that associated bit. As a worker in this art knows, whether the xe2x80x9conxe2x80x9d switch provides a xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d or a xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d is of no moment. It is the varying digital information which is the inventive portion of this application.
Other features provided by the passive tag include a stream of digital information that could be indicative of an analog amount. As an example, one of the inputs to the passive tag is associated with an electronic odometer for a particular axle. The use of electronic odometers is known, and forms no portion of this invention. However, the system could provide a output of the amount of travel for a particular axle through this passive tag. The passive tag would query a stored memory that would include information relating to the amount of travel, and could then transmit that information to the transmitter/receiver.
One other application of this invention would include the use of the passive tag to actuate a particular system. In this application, when the passive tag receives the query, and its circuit is actuated, it could first actuate a particular diagnostic system. As an example, a thermometer associated with a particular system could be actuated to provide a temperature measurement. If the temperature measurement exceeds a predetermined temperature, then an associated switch could be actuated. That associated switch would then be part of the output from the passive tag back to the transmitter/receiver.
The present invention provides a very low cost way of transmitting information about varying occurrences. One particularly advantageous application would be to provide information about diagnostic systems associated with a vehicle. The present invention lends itself well to use on vehicles, and thus provides benefits as outlined above and below.
These and other features of the present invention can be best understood from the following specification and drawings, the following of which is a brief description.


Particle compositions comprising adsorbed RNA replicons as well as methods of making and using the same are described.

Particulate carriers have been used with adsorbed or entrapped antigens in attempts to elicit adequate immune responses. Such carriers present multiple copies of a selected antigen to the immune system and are believed to promote trapping and retention of antigens in local lymph nodes. The particles can be phagocytosed by macrophages and can enhance antigen presentation through cytokine release.

Delivery of self-replicating RNA using biodegradable polymer particles


A system and method for controlling a device. Data that was encrypted using a first encryption scheme is decrypted, then re-encrypted using a second encryption scheme. The re-encrypted data is then decrypted.

Various electronic devices provide characteristics that can be changed after production, including digital signal processors (DSP), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), etc. For example, an FPGA is an integrated circuit device containing programmable logic components sometimes referred to as "logic blocks," and programmable interconnects. Logic blocks can be programmed to perform the function of basic logic gates such as AND, and XOR, or more complex combinational functions such as decoders or simple mathematical functions. In most FPGAs, the logic blocks also include memory elements, which may be simple flip-flops or more complete blocks of memories. The logic blocks and interconnects can be programmed after the FPGA is manufactured ("field programmable") to implement the desired functions.
Such devices may have a trustworthiness that is limited due to a lack of a root of trust at the start of the device lifecycle and throughout the subsequent lifecycle stages. Encryption is typically disabled in reconfigurable logic devices such as FPGAs when the FPGAs are manufactured. FPGA system integrators or equipment manufacturers have to enable encryption and program the encryption key into the FPGA. Accordingly, monitoring functions or audit mechanisms are lacking The manufacturing environment is inherently insecure and can be prone to attacks.
For these and other reasons, there is a need for the present invention.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for controlling a device