In the present invention, measuring the one-dimensional or two-dimensional voltage distribution or electrical field distribution in a measured device is made possible, and a reduction in the measuring time can be implemented. The present invention comprises a first optical system (2, 3) wherein light emitted from the light source is shaped into a line-shaped light beam and irradiates a desired measurement line in the measured device via the electrooptic element, a second optical system (7, 8, 9) that maintains as-is the shape of the line-shaped light beam reflected from the desired measurement line in the measured device after transiting the electro-optic element, a light receiving device (10) that receives the line-shaped light beam emitted from the second optical system and converts each of the measured points to an electrical signal depending on the strength of each light beam reflected at each of the measured points on the desired measurement line on the measured device and outputs the result, and a signal processing device (11, 12, 13, 14, 16) that calculates the voltage or electrical field at each of the measured points of the measured device from the output signal of the light receiving device and calculates the electrical field distribution or the voltage distribution at the measured part of measured device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a semiconductor device, and in particular to a semiconductor testing device that measures the electrical field distribution or the voltage distribution or each measured point during testing of a device under test (DUT).
2. Description of Related Art
An example of conventional technology for this type of semiconductor testing apparatus is described in a paper by Shinagawa et al., xe2x80x9cHandy-type high impedance probe using an EOS,xe2x80x9d The 15th Light Wave Technology Research Conference, 1995, pp. 123-129. In addition, the structure of another conventional semiconductor test apparatus is shown in FIG. 7. In this figure, the semiconductor test apparatus has a light source 101, and a pulsed laser is emitted under control of the light source drive circuit 113. The light pulse emitted by the light source 101 is condensed by the condenser lens 102, and condensed onto the electrooptic element 103.
The electrical field generated by the voltage input into and output from each pin of the DUT 105 is also present in the electrooptic element 103. While the light pulse condensed by the condenser lens 102 transits the electrooptic element 103, the polarization thereof changes (modulates) due to the electrical field generated by the measured device 105.
This light pulse is reflected by the reflecting plate 104 provided on the lower surface of the electrooptic element 103, and after transiting the wavelength plate 106 and the analyzer 107, this light is condensed on the electrooptic converter 109 by the condenser lens 108. The analyzer 107 has the property of changing the polarity component of the light to an intensity component, and the signal component of the light polarized by the electrooptic element 103 is converted to an intensity signal (amplitude information) due to transiting the analyzer 107.
The optoelectric converter 109 converts the intensity (amplitude) of the light to the intensity (amplitude) of the electric signal. The electrical field generated by the voltage signal in each of the pins of the measured device 105 is made proportional to the level of the voltage signal, and thereby the amplitude of the electric signal generated in the optoelectric converter 109 is made proportional to the voltage in the measured device 105. This electric signal is amplified by the amplifying circuit 110, and converted to a digital signal by the A/D converting circuit 111.
The trigger signal St is a trigger signal that represents the measurement from the measured device and the like. Based on the A/D conversion timing signal Sc output from the timing generation circuit 114 in synchronicity with this signal, the measurement data of the measured device 105 is input by the A/D conversion circuit 111, A/D converted, and the electrical field and the voltage value are calculated and displayed by the calculation/display circuit 112.
The timing operation of the semiconductor apparatus shown in FIG. 7 is shown in FIG. 8. As shown in this figure, in the case that the light source 101 emits a continuous light, at the timing represented by the AID conversion timing signal Sc, in sequence, the data is input into the A/D conversion circuit 111, A/D converted, and the digital data that has been A/D converted is sent to the calculation/display circuit 112. In this case, the output timing of the trigger signal St serves as the data input commencement timing.
Next, in the case that the light source emits a pulsed light, each time the trigger signal St is input, the pulsed emitted light timing signal Sp from the timing generation circuit 114 is output such that each time the phase is delayed by xcex4t, and the light pulse is emitted from the light source 101 by controlling the drive of the light source drive circuit 113 by the pulsed light emission light timing signal Sp.
In the A/D conversion circuit 111, data is input by the A/D conversion timing output from the timing generating circuit 114, A/D conversion is carried out, and the digital data that has been A/D converted is sent to the calculation/display circuit 112.
In the case that the light source 101 is driven so as to emit pulsed light, the measuring signal of the measured device 105 requires a return signal synchronized with the trigger signal 23. This method is an existing technology called sequential sampling.
In the calculation/display circuit 112, the digital data obtained by the A/D conversion circuit 111 is multiplied by the sensitivity of the measurement system, converted to a voltage or electrical field at the measurement point of the measured device 105, and displayed as a data value, waveform, or a time series.
The conventional technology for the semiconductor test apparatus described above is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application, No. Hei 09-273156. In addition, similar functions for the light source 101, condensing lens 102, the electrooptic element 103, reflecting plate 104, wavelength plate 106, analyzer 107, condenser lens 108, and the optoelectric conversion 109 are disclosed in this publication.
In the above-described EOS (Electro-Optic Sampling)-type semiconductor test apparatus, measurement of only one point on the measured device is possible, and for example, there is the problem that even in the case that the pins of the integrated circuit are arranged in a row, they must be measured by moving the irradiating position of the light beam emitted from the light source for each pin in sequence, and much time must be consumed.
Furthermore, in the case that the distribution of the voltage of electrical field of the entire measured device is measured, there are the problems that the light beam must be swept in two dimensions relative to the measured point, and due to measuring by sweeping the light beam in two dimensions, the system structure becomes complicated, and the measuring time becomes long.
In addition, in the above-described EOS-type semiconductor test apparatus, in the case that a plurality of measured points are to be measured, measurement must be conducted by moving the light beam in sequence, and thus in the case that many points in the measured device are measured simultaneously (at the same time), there is the problem that a plurality of sensors is necessary.
In light of the above-described circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor test apparatus that can measure the voltage distribution and the electrical field distribution of the measured device in one or two dimensions, and can implement a reduction in the measuring time.
In order to attain the above objectives, in a semiconductor test apparatus wherein a light beam emitted from a light source irradiates a measured part of a measured device via an electrooptic element arranged above the measured device and the electrical field distribution or the voltage distribution in the measured part of the measured device is calculated by electrically detecting the change in the state of the polarization of this reflected beam, a first aspect of the invention is characterized in comprising a first optical system wherein light emitted from the light source is shaped into a line-shaped light beam and irradiates a desired measurement line on the measured device via the electrooptic element, a second optical system that maintains as-is the shape of the line-shaped light beam reflected from the desired measurement line on the measured device after transiting the electrooptic element, and modulates the change in polarity of the line-shaped light beam to a change in intensity of the light, a light receiving device that receives the line-shaped light beam emitted from the second optical system and converts the light beam at each of the measured points to an electrical signal depending on the strength of each light beam reflected at each of the measured points on the desired measurement line on the measured device and outputs the result, and a signal processing device that calculates the voltage or electrical field at each of the measured points of the measured device from the output signal of the light receiving device and calculates the electrical field distribution or the voltage distribution at the measured part of measured device.
In addition, in a second aspect of the invention, in the semiconductor test apparatus according to the first aspect, the signal processing device is characterized in comprising a sample holding circuit that holds samples of the output signal of the light receiving device simultaneously for each of the measured points of the measured device, a selection circuit that selects in sequence the samples of the signals held by the sample holding circuit, an A/D conversion circuit that A/D converts the analog signal selected by the selecting circuit, and a timing generation circuit that outputs a timing signal that controls the operating timing of the sample holding circuit, the selection circuit, and the A/D conversion circuit.
In addition, in a third aspect of the invention, in the semiconductor test apparatus according to the first aspect, the first optical system comprises a condenser lens that condenses the light emitted from the light source, and a curved mirror that shapes the light beam condensed by the condenser lens into a line-shaped light beam and irradiates a desired measurement line on the measured device via an electrooptic element.
In addition, in a fourth aspect of the invention, in the semiconductor test apparatus according to the first aspect, the second optical system comprises a reflecting plate that is arranged on the lower surface of the electrooptic element, and reflects the line-shaped light beam irradiated by the first optical system, a wavelength plate that converts the line-shaped light beam reflected by the reflecting plate to line-shaped polarized light, an analyzer that converts an amount of polarization of the line-shaped light beam that has transited the wavelength plate to an amount of amplitude, and a microlens array that condenses each of the reflected light beams corresponding to each of the measured points of the measured device on the line-shaped light beam that has transited the analyzer on each of the light receiving surfaces of the light receiving device corresponding to each of the reflected light beams.
In addition, in a fifth aspect of the invention, in the semiconductor test apparatus according to the first aspect, the semiconductor test apparatus further comprises a calculation/display device, and this calculation/display device calculates and displays the electrical field or the voltage value based on the output signals of the A/D converting circuit.
In addition, in a sixth aspect of the invention, in the semiconductor test apparatus according to any of the first through fifth aspects, the calculation/display device displays the electrical distribution or the voltage distribution on the measurement line of the measured device that has been obtained based on the amplitude information of the reflected beam of the line-shaped light beam irradiating the measured device via the electrooptic element.
In addition, in a seventh aspect of the invention, in a semiconductor test apparatus according to the fifth aspect, the signal processing means calculates a plurality of times the electrical field distribution or voltage distribution on the measurement line of the measured device obtained based on the amplitude information of the reflected beam of the desired line-shaped light beam that irradiates the measured part of the measured device, and the calculation/display device displays on a time axis the electrical field distribution or voltage distribution on the measurement line of the measured device that have been calculated a plurality of times.
In addition, in an eighth aspect of the invention, in a semiconductor test apparatus according to the first aspect, the light source is driven so as to emit light continuously, and at each timing wherein the A/D conversion of the signal representing the electrical field or voltage at each of the measured points of the measured part in the measured device irradiated by the line-shaped light beam has completed, the sample holding circuit holds samples of the signals representing the electrical field or voltage at each of the measured points.
In addition, in a ninth aspect of the invention, in a semiconductor test apparatus according to the first aspect, the timing is such the A/D conversion rate of the A/D converting device ADDed to the number of signals output from the light receiving device becomes equal to the sample rate of the sample holding circuit, and the light source is driven so as to emit pulsed light at a timing synchronous with a reference signal that determines the measurement timing, and at the same time, the sample holding circuit holds samples of the signals that represent the electrical field or the voltage of each of the measured points at the measured parts of the measured device irradiated by the line-shaped light beam at a timing in synchronism with the light emission timing.
In addition, in a tenth aspect of the invention, in a semiconductor test circuit according to the first aspect, the signal processing means is characterized in comprising a plurality of amplifying circuits that amplify each of the plurality of output signals output from the light receiving devices, a plurality of A/D conversion circuits that A/D convert each of the output signals of the plurality of amplifying circuits, a plurality of latch circuits that latch the output signals of the plurality of A/D conversion circuits, and a selection circuit that selects in sequence each of the outputs of the plurality of latch circuits.
In addition, in an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the semiconductor test circuit according to the first aspect, the magnetic field distribution or the current distribution in the desired measured part of the measured device are calculated using a magneto-optic element instead of the electrooptic element.
According to the first aspect of the invention, in a semiconductor test apparatus wherein a light beam emitted from a light source irradiates a measured part of a measured device via an electrooptic element arranged above the measured device and the electrical field distribution or the voltage distribution in the measured part of the measured device is calculated by electrically detecting the change in the state of the polarization of this reflected beam, a first aspect of the invention is characterized in comprising a first optical system wherein light emitted from the light source is shaped into a line-shaped light beam and irradiates a desired measurement line in the measured device via the electrooptic element, a second optical system that maintains as-is the shape of the line-shaped light beam reflected from the desired measurement line in the measured device after transiting the electrooptic element, a light receiving device that receives the line-shaped light beam emitted from the second optical system and converts and outputs for each of the measured points to an electrical signal depending on the strength of each light beam reflected at each of the measured points on the desired measurement line on the measured device, and a signal processing device that calculates the voltage or electrical field at each of the measured points of the measured device from the output signal of the light receiving device and calculates the electrical field distribution or the voltage distribution at the measured part of measured device, and thereby the one-dimensional or two-dimensional voltage distribution or electrical field distribution in a measured device can be calculated, and a reduction of the calculating time can be implemented.
In addition, according to the eleventh aspect of the invention, in the semiconductor test circuit according to the first aspect, the magnetic field distribution and the current distribution in the desired measured part of the measured device are calculated using a magneto-optic element instead of the electrooptic element, and thereby voltage distribution or electrical field distribution in a measured device can be calculated in one-dimension or two-dimensions, and thereby a reduction of the calculating time can be implemented.


An improved tire section repair unit for the repair of a damaged section of a tire. The repair unit includes two curved side walls pivotally connected to the base of the unit. A locking arm is provided that securely encloses the entire system of curved walls, base and internal air bag and heat pad arrangement situated about the tire under repair. The pivotable side wall design permits the repair of tires of varying sizes. A locking arm arrangement permits the use of lightweight side walls to enclose the system. As a result, the repair unit of the present invention is more transportable and less cumbersome to use.

The present invention relates generally to an apparatus useful for the repair of a damaged section of a tire. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus used for vulcanizing a rubber patch that employs heat and pressure during the repair process.
Various types of apparatus have been used in the past to repair a damaged section of a tire. It is well known to use a molded section that conforms with the shape of the tire, in conjunction with an arrangement of heat pads and air bags on both the interior and exterior of the tire. The heat pads increase the temperature of a patch applied to the damaged area to the required vulcanization temperature. The air bags are employed to maintain pressure on the heat pads for the distribution of heat throughout the patch. An example of such an apparatus is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,608.
In another known apparatus, the molded section that conforms with the shape of the tire is replaced with a series of straps that maintain pressure on the heat pads which are in direct contact with the repair patch. The application of heat under pressure effectively vulcanizes the rubber patch in the repair area. In this apparatus, the straps surrounding the tire are connected to a chain which is connected to a crane or other holding means. The tire is suspended from the crane during the repair process. An example of such an apparatus is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,313.
However, prior art devices suffer from the problem of transportability of the entire apparatus. Prior art molded repair units are extremely large, heavy and expensive. One of the primary factors that prevents the prior art apparatus from being transportable is the requirement that a separate control station be used in conjunction with the repair unit. Such a control station is needed to operate the repair unit, and includes the control of electrical power, air inflation of mandrels, heat generation in the heat pads, and pressure in the system. Also, the molded shape of the apparatus limits the size of the tire that may be serviced. The sheer size of units containing external control stations makes their operation difficult and cumbersome.
Further, a serious problem persists with tire repair units that employ straps for the application of heat under pressure to the patch to be Vulcanized. Straps have proven ineffective in maintaining an evenly distributed and uniform pressure on the repair patch. Any deviation from a uniform pressure of heat will result in a malformed patch. As a result, the integrity of the patch will be seriously compromised.
No prior art apparatus has successfully provided a solution to these problems which arise during the repair of a damaged tire section. Thus, known devices fail to provide a lightweight and portable tire repair unit which enables the application of uniform pressure to assure proper vulcanization of rubber patches on a tire section to be repaired, and which can be used on a wide range of tire sizes.


Systems, methods and machines for producing popcorn and other types or expanded food are disclosed herein. A machine in accordance with one embodiment includes a flow through cooking deck and a plurality of heating elements that extend along the length of the cooking deck. An agitating assembly having a plurality of paddles can be positioned above the cooking deck. A corn hopper can dispense corn kernels onto the cooking deck and the paddles of the agitating assembly can transport and agitate the corn kernels on the cooking deck. The paddles can be positioned at an angle to their direction of travel and can move the corn kernels from side to side as they move the corn kernels along the length of the cooking deck.

Popcorn popping machines for use in theaters, concession stands, and homes are well known. Industrial machines for making large quantities of popcorn, puffed rice, and other expanded food products for wholesale to retailers are also known. One method of industrial scale popcorn popping employs a popping kettle. To make popcorn, unpopped corn kernels and oil are placed in the kettle and heated with a gas burner or electric heating element. The cooking oil coats the kernels and ensures a relatively even distribution of heat throughout the kernel.
Agitating the kernels can prevent them from burning on the bottom of the kettle where the heat is most intense. For this reason, many popcorn machines include some type of agitator that mixes the corn kernels with the cooking oil and ensures even popping. Some machines, for example, include stirring blades that are mounted to a rotating shaft driven by an electric motor. In operation, the stirring blades sweep around the inside of the popping kettle, mixing the kernels with the cooking oil and ensuring the kernels are evenly heated. The agitators also ensure that the kernels remain in motion, which helps prevent burning and aids in uniform heating of the kernels.

Popcorn popping machines and other machines having flow through decks for popping popcorn and producing other types of expanded food


In one embodiment, a sound image is generated by applying first and second copies of a first input audio signal to first and second audio channels, respectively, to generate first and second output audio signals for the sound image. Each output audio signal is generated by (1) applying the corresponding copy of the first input audio signal to a corresponding source placement unit (SPU) to generate M delayed, attenuated, and weighted audio signals, A>1; (2) applying each delayed, attenuated, and weighted audio signal to a corresponding eigen filter to generate one of M eigen-filtered audio signals; and (3) summing the M eigen-filtered audio signals to generate the corresponding output signal. In an alternative embodiment, M copies of a first input audio signal are eigen-filtered prior to applying first and second copies of the resulting eigen-filtered signals to first and second audio channels, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method of producing three-dimensional (3D) sound, and, more specifically, to producing a virtual acoustic environment (VAE) in which multiple independent 3D sound sources and their multiple reflections are synthesized by acoustical transducers such that the listener's perceived virtual sound field approximates the real world experience. The apparatus and method have particular utility in connection with computer gaming, 3D audio,.stereo sound enhancement, reproduction of multiple channel sound, virtual cinema sound, and other applications where spatial auditory display of 3D space is desired.
2. Description of Related Information
The ability to localize sounds in three-dimensional space is important to humans in terms of awareness of the environment and social contact with each other. This ability is vital to animals, both as predator and as prey. For humans and most other mammals, three-dimensional hearing ability is based on the fact that they have two ears. Sound emitted from a source that is located away from the median plane between the two ears arrives at each ear at different times and at different intensities. These differences are known as interaural time difference (ITD) and interaural intensity difference (IID). It has long been recognized that the ITD and IID are the primary cues for sound localization. ITD is primarily responsible for providing localization cues for low frequency sound (below 1.0 kHz), as the ITD creates a distinguishable phase difference between the ears at low frequencies. On the other hand, because of head shadowing effects, IID is primarily responsible for providing localization cues for high frequency (above 2.0 kHz) sounds.
In addition to interaural time difference (ITD) and interaural intensity difference (IID), head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) are essential to sound localization and sound source positioning in 3D space. HRTFs describe the modification of sound waves by a listener's external ear, known as the pinnae, head, and torso. In other words, incoming sound is "transformed" by an acoustic filter which consists of pinna, head, and torso. The manner and degree of the modification is dependent upon the incident angle of the sound source in a sort of systematic fashion. The frequency characteristics of HRTFs are typically represented by resonance peaks and notches. Systematic changes of the notches and peaks of the positions in the frequency domain with respect to elevation change are believed to provide localization cues.
ITD and IID have long been employed to enhance the spatial aspects of stereo system effects, however the sound images created are perceived as within the head and in between the two ears when a headphone set is used. Although the sound source can be lateralized, the lack of filtering by HRTF causes the perceived sound image to be "internalized," that is, the sound is perceived without a distance cue. This phenomenon can be experienced by listening to a CD using a headphone set rather than a speaker array. Using HRTFs to filter the audio stream can create a more realistic spatial image; this results in images with sharper elevation and distance perception. This allows sound images to be heard through a headphone set as if the images are from a distance away with an apparent direction, even if the image is on the median plan where the ITD and IID diminish. Similar results can be obtained with a pair of loudspeakers when cross-talk between the ears and two speakers is resolved.
Commercial 3-D audio systems known in the art are using all the three localization cues, including HRTF filtering, to render 3-D sound images. These systems demand a computing load uniformly proportional to the number of sources simulated. To reproduce multiple, independent sound sources, or to faithfully account for reflected sound, a separate HRTF must be computed for each source and each early reflection. The total number of such sources and reflections can be large, making the computation costs prohibitive to a single DSP solution. To address this problem, systems known in the art either limit the number of sources positioned or use multiple DSPs in parallel to handle multi-source and reflected audio reproduction with a proportionally increased system cost.
The known art has pursued methods of optimizing HRTF processing. For example, the principal component analysis (PCA) method uses principal components modeled upon the logarithmic amplitude of HRTFs. Research has shown that five principal components, or channels of sound, enable most people to localize the sound waves as well as in a free field. However, the non-linear nature of this approach limits it to a new way of analyzing HRTF data (amplitude only), but does not enable faster processing of HRTF filtering for producing 3D audio.
A need exists for a simple and economical method that can reliably reproduce 3-D sound without using an exponential array of DSPs. Another optimization method, the spatial feature extraction and regularization (SFER) model, constructs a model HRTF data covariance matrix and applys eigen decomposition to the data covariance matrix to obtain a set of M most significant eigen vectors. According to the Karhunen-Loeve Expansion (KLE) theory each of the HRTFs can be expressed as a weighted sum of these eigen vectors. This enables the SFER model to establish linearity in the HRTF model, allowing the HRTF processing efficiency issue to be addressed. The SFER model has also been used in the time domain. That is, instead of working on HRTFs that are defined in a frequency domain as transfer functions, the later work applied KLE to head-related impulse responses (HRIRs). HRIRs represent a time domain counterpart of HRTFs. Though, in principal, the later approach is equivalent to the frequency domain SFER model, working with HRIRs has the additional advantage of avoiding complex calculations, which is a very favorable change in DSP code implementation.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Apparatus and method for producing virtual acoustic sound


A method for surface treatment of the interiors of hollow bodies, especially cylinder bores, in preparation for the application of a thermally sprayed layer. The method comprises dry cutting without a lubricant or with a shortage of lubricant using a tool having a defined and/or undefined surface profile. In this method with a portion of the material forming the interior is removed and produces a surface that has a defined structure and/or quality. This eliminates the need for costly degreasing of the surface following machining.

A method according to the species is known from EP 0 716 158 A1. In that patent, a method is described for producing engine blocks with coated cylinder bores in which the engine block is initially cast from a metal and then dirt residue is removed from the walls of the cast cylinder bores so that initially an annular cleaned fresh metal surface is prepared. Then a plasma-sprayed layer is deposited on this pretreated surface and this layer is then finished.
The cylinder bores are usually prepared by machining them with corundum blasting followed by grease removal. The goal is to obtain a grease-free surface with a roughness (R) value of approximately 25 to 65 μm. Roughness (R) is determined by calculating the average peak to valley height of the surface of the machined cylinder bore. The problem is that the cylinder bores must be in precise position following preparation since after casting, the position of the cast cylinder bore can differ significantly from the prescribed value. In the manufacture of engine blocks from hypoeutectic aluminum by die casting, there is the additional problem that as a result of the casting process, inhomogeneities can develop especially in the lower part of the cylinder bores. Bubbles or pores can form in the material, caused by a shrinking process during casting (so-called shrink holes). During surface treatment and roughening, these pores or bubbles are exposed and can be further enlarged. Blasting residue and solvents or lubricant residues can remain in the open bubbles which results in poor adhesion of the applied tribological layer. Since the coating takes place at high temperatures, the solvent that remains in the open bubbles expands so that depressions and chips further worsens the adhesion of the tribological layer to the wall.
A goal of the present invention therefore is to provide a method of the type described above which provides grease-free surfaces of a certain surface quality in a method that is as simple as possible, onto which surface the thermally sprayed layers can be applied in simple fashion and with good adhesion.
The solution includes dry-cutting the interior in a method step without lubricant using a tool having a defined and/or undefined surface profile.
The term "dry cutting" means that no lubrication is used or that at most minimum lubrication with a volume flow of less than 150 ml/h is used in which the chips or the surface are considered to be dry.
Therefore, provision is made according to the invention for machining the bores when they are dry, for example by drilling, brushing, knurling, circular milling, or combinations of one or several of these methods.
The tool can have a defined surface profile so that after machining, a surface with a defined structure (S) results. Subsequent degreasing or cleaning and roughening are eliminated. Following surface treatment, a layer can be applied immediately by thermal spraying.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Method for surface treatment of the interiors of engine cylinder bores, and cylinders made by said method


Provided is an X-ray generating tube with improved withstand voltage property by a simple structure, the X-ray generating tube including a cathode connected to one opening of an insulating tube and an anode connected to the other opening, in which a resistive film having a lower sheet resistance value than that of the insulating tube is disposed on an outer periphery of the insulating tube, and the cathode and the anode are electrically connected to each other via the resistive film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an X-ray generating tube, and an X-ray generating apparatus and an X-ray imaging system including the X-ray generating tube, which can be used for a medical equipment, a nondestructive inspection apparatus, and the like, for example.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an X-ray generating tube accelerates electrons emitted from an electron emitting source with use of a tube voltage in a vacuum and irradiates a target made of a metal such as tungsten with the electron so as to generate X-ray. The tube voltage set in the X-ray generating tube is approximately 100 kV, for example, and the X-ray generating tube is required to have a structure that can withstand the high voltage.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-245806, there is disclosed a technology for stably suppressing breakdown of a valve due to a discharge by applying an electrical resistive film onto an outer surface of the valve as an electrical insulation portion, in which the electrical resistive film is electrically connected to a case main body as an electrical conductive portion of the X-ray tube.
In the X-ray tube disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-245806, the electrical resistive film is not applied onto a portion of the valve adjacent to a voltage application portion so as to maintain insulation of the valve. However, in this structure, in order to prevent a potential gradient in an area that is not covered with the electrical resistive film from being steep in a potential distribution on the outer surface of the valve, a complicated valve shape is required.

X-ray generating tube, X-ray generating apparatus and X-ray imaging system using the same


The present invention proposes a method for cutting semiconductor ingots into sliced wafers by use of wire saws, so that the cut-out surface shape of wafers can be easily controlled by utilizing a wire-saw cutting device.. The workpiece holding plate 21 is disposed in such a way that it can move along the longitudinal axis Y of the semiconductor ingot 3. The semiconductor ingot 3 is moved downward to facilitate the cutting operation by wire saw. Accordingly, the displacement along the longitudinal axis Y is made to change in response to the variation along the location of the semiconductor ingot 3.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for cutting semiconductor ingots into sliced wafers by using wire saws.
2. Description of Prior Art
Conventionally, semiconductor wafers are obtained by cutting them out from semiconductor ingots one by one, by an Internal Diameter saw(I.D.Saw). However, in the above mentioned cutting operation performed by I.D.Saw warps on each cut-out surface are formed because of the resistance incurred between the cut-out surface and the I.D.Saw. And, the size of each warp on every wafer is quite different from the others, and the distribution of the warps is broad.
To solve the above defects, proposals such as those disclosed in unexamined Japanese Publication TOKU KAI HEI 1-1820011 and 5-16943 are offered, in which I.D.Saws are controlled by certain measures to enhance the flatness of the cut-out surfaces of the wafers.
However, for the purpose of performing the cutting operation by using the blades of an I.D.Saw in the above mentioned methods, a detection device for detecting the deflection of the internal peripheral cutter after each cut-out of wafers, and control means for controlling the deflection of the internal peripheral cutter during cutting operation are required. Therefore, the structure and the operation of the device become complicated and the cutting device becomes bulky.

Method of cutting semiconductor ingots and apparatus for cutting thereof


A method and system for remote testing of a plurality of devices is disclosed. The method may include receiving a request from a client system to perform testing on a set of remote devices. The local system and the client system are connected via a first network connection and the plurality of remote devices are connected to the local system via a second network connection. The method may further include receiving an input from the client system with reference to a test-suite to perform a testing action on the set of remote devices, generating a test command corresponding to the input, and transmitting the test command to each of the set of remote devices. The method may further include receiving feedback from each of the set of remote devices and transmitting the feedback to the client system.

Test automation frameworks are available that integrate various test components based on unique device and platform configurations, and provide results powered by internal validation algorithms. For example, devices under test may include mobile phones, personal computers (i.e. laptops, desktops, etc.), smartwatches, etc. Further, by way of an example, the devices may be Android-based or iOS-based. However, in scenarios when direct access to the devices is not available, these available test automation frameworks tend to lose their utility.
Some remote testing solutions are available that are based on remote desktop techniques and provide for remotely running automation test cases on remote devices. However, the remote testing techniques are slow and inefficient. For example, remote testing using these remote desktop-based techniques may take twice or thrice the time as compared to performing testing otherwise.
There is, therefore, a need for efficient and effective remote testing solutions for testing a plurality of devices simultaneously.

Method and system for remote testing of devices


An efficient Chien search method in Reed-Solomon decoding is adapted for use in a processor having a parallel processing instruction set. The method includes the following steps: (a) if an error location polynomial that has been found matches a preset condition, finding at least one error symbol location directly through table lookup; (b) if the error location polynomial does not match the preset condition, executing steps (c) to (e); (c) calculating an error evaluation value; (d) if the error evaluation value is equal to 0, storing an error symbol location in an error location memory; and (e) if the error evaluation value is not equal to 0, the flow returning to step (c).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a Chien search method in Reed-Solomon decoding, more particularly to a Chien search method and system in Reed-Solomon decoding, which can directly find an error symbol location through table lookup so as to enhance efficiency.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, demand for reliable signal transmission with respect to products ranging from consumer electronic products to communications electronic products has increased considerably. Therefore, error detection and correction mechanisms are becoming more and more important. During the process of digital communication, to ensure the accuracy of source data to be transmitted, a transmitting end generally will append redundant data to the source data, so that the receiving end can perform error correction based on the redundant data. The Reed-Solomon code is a widely used correction code. Since the Reed-Solomon code has a good correction capability with respect to errors generated in transmission channels, it has become a very popular channel coding scheme, and is now a widely used error correction code in satellite communication systems, digital television systems, various digital audiovisual recording media, etc.
Even though the Reed-Solomon code has excellent performance in error correction, the amount of computations required for decoding is huge. Consequently, hardware is often used for calculation and processing. If the Reed-Solomon code is executed in a processor in the form of program decoding, the decoding speed will inevitably become extremely slow due to the huge computation amount. Therefore, in some applications of communications devices with software-defined operations (such as software defined radio (SDR)), accelerating the program decoding speed of the Reed-Solomon code has become an important subject of research.
Referring to FIG. 1, an existing Reed-Solomon decoding procedure can be divided into four stages, which are, as shown, a stage 11 of calculating syndromes, a stage 12 of calculating error location polynomials, a stage 13 of executing a Chien search, and a stage 14 of calculating error values. In this Reed-Solomon decoding procedure, about 40% of the computation amount is concentrated on the Chien search at stage 13. If the processing time for executing the Chien search can be effectively reduced, the decoding speed of the Reed-Solomon code can be successfully accelerated.
Referring to FIG. 2, a conventional Chien search method in Reed-Solomon decoding includes the following steps. In step 21, a location index j and a symbol index i are initialized, i.e., j=0, and i=0. In step 22, an error evaluation value Λ(αi) is calculated. In step 23, a decision is performed to determine if the error evaluation value Λ(αi) is equal to 0. If yes, this indicates that an error occurs in a symbol at the ith position, and step 24 is carried out to perform the necessary processing. Otherwise, the flow goes to the processing in step 26. In steps 24 and 25, the current symbol index i is first stored in an error location array, Location[j]=i, followed by incrementing the location index, j=j+1. In steps 26-27, a decision is performed to determine if the Chien search has been completed, i.e., determining if i=n−1. If yes, the Chien search is ended. Otherwise, the symbol index i is incremented, i=i+1, and the aforesaid steps are repeated, in which n represents a total number of symbols of a Reed-Solomon block code that was received. In this conventional method, the finite field multiplication, the finite field addition, and the subsequent comparison and determination processing which are required to calculate the error evaluation value involve very time-consuming computations.
Another conventional Chien search method in Reed-Solomon decoding is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,263,470, in which a finite field multiplication result required for calculating the error evaluation value Λ(αi) is found from a pre-defined finite field multiplication result table so as to reduce the time required for executing the aforesaid step 22. However, this conventional method merely reduces the time for computing the finite field multiplication. It is still required to perform the finite field addition and the subsequent comparison and determination processing. Thus, there is room for improvement.
Accordingly, there is a need to find a solution such that the time for processing the Chien search can be further reduced, thereby increasing the speed of decoding the Reed-Solomon Code.

Efficient Chien search method and system in Reed-Solomon decoding


A molded case circuit breaker movable contact arm electrically connects with the circuit breaker load terminal by means of parallel electric paths provided by a looped braid conductor. The contact arm support includes a single support leg for pivotally retaining the movable contact arm on one side. The opposite side of the contact arm is supported on the operating mechanism crossbar. Contact arms of increasing thickness are used to accommodate the higher transport currents required with circuit breakers of increased ampere ratings.

Complete automation of molded case circuit breaker components by robotic assembly has not heretofore been completely successful. One impediment to complete robotic assembly is the attachment of a flexible conductive braid between the circuit breaker contact and the circuit breaker load terminal lug.
Early attempts to eliminate the electrical contact braid are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,023,292, 3,033,964 and 3,073,936 wherein a pair of contact arms are supported on a contact arm support by means of a pivot pin and a thick spring clip is fastened to the contact arm support and arranged around both the contact arms and the support. Direct electrical connection between the spring clip and the terminal conductor in some industrial-rated circuit breaker designs advantageously improves the electrical conduction between the terminal conductor and the movable contact arm by electromagnetic forces of attraction generated by the current through the spring clip. The increasing electric current increases the electromagnetic force on the juncture between the movable contact arm and the terminal conductor to create an increasing compressive force therebetween.
In lower ampere-rated current-limiting industrial circuit breakers, the forces exerted by the spring clip on the movable contact arm and the terminal conductor must remain relatively constant with increasing current to ensure that the contacts can be electrodynamically repulsed and separated under high current faults such as those occurring with short circuits. The contact arm must rapidly move about its pivot in the early stages of the current wave-form to separate the contacts with minimum let-through current at the instant of separation. This is not easily obtained when the compressive forces on the movable contact arm and the terminal conductor substantially increase at the time the movable contact arm is required to rotate about its pivot.
A more recent design that enables a braidless movable contact arm that is robotically assembled is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,033. This patent discloses the use of a spring having a planar configuration capable of holding the contact arm against its support posts with sufficient force to maintain electrical contact during overcurrent conditions. When this design is used within higher ampere-rated current limiting industrial circuit breakers, a parallel current path should be connected between the movable contact arms and the contact arm support posts to prevent the occurrence of arcing between the contact arm and the support posts under intense short-circuit overcurrent conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,931,603 describes the use of bifurcated shunt plates to reduce the occurrence of arcing between the movable contact arm and the support posts. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 764,287 filed Sep. 23, 1991 describes the addition of a flexible braid conductor of reduced diameter in combination with a U-shaped spring in lieu of the bifurcated shunt plates, as a cost improvement. To use the smaller braid conductor, an offset tab is welded between the end of the braid conductor and the contact arm support plate to prevent the braid from becoming frayed upon long term subjection to flexing under high current conditions.
In a further attempt at cost reducing the movable contact arm assembly, it was discovered that the proposed contact arm assembly could be used over a wide range of ampere ratings without requiring a separate assembly for each increasing ampere rating.
One purpose of the instant invention accordingly is to describe a movable contact arm assembly that includes a parallel current path between a single movable contact arm support leg and a pair of flexible braid conductors attached to the movable contact arm support.

Molded case circuit breaker modular contact arm arrangement


In various embodiments, a recording medium may be provided. The recording medium may include a servo layer. The recording medium may further include a data recording layer. The recording medium may additionally include a crystal-like soft underlayer (SUL). The data recording layer and the servo layer may be on a same side of the crystal-like soft underlayer.

Multi-level magnetic recording has been used to increase areal density and to increase the capacity of hard disk drives (HDDs). In multi-level magnetic recording, servo pattern information as well as other supporting information is being stored in a dedicated servo layer (also called servo layer). The dedicated servo layer is separate from the dedicated data layer (also called data recording layer). The dedicated data layer is configured to store data.
The coercivity and nucleation field of the dedicated servo layer are required to be high enough such that information stored in the dedicated servo layer are not affected or deleted during writing to the dedicated data layer.

Recording medium and method of forming the same


A gas generator that can controllably allow the airbag to inflate and expand slowly at an initial stage of the inflation and thereafter inflate and expand rapidly so that the intended function of the airbag can be fulfilled. In the gas generator, an enclosed space (S) in a housing (1) is partitioned into two combustion chambers (3, 4), in which gas generating agents (6), a filtering member (7) and an igniter (8, 9) are arranged, respectively. The combustion chambers (3, 4) are communicated to each other through the filtering member (7). The igniters are operated with time difference so that the airbag can be inflated and expanded moderately by a small amount of gas generated in one combustion chamber at the initial stage of inflation and then is inflated and expanded rapidly by a large amount of gas generated in the respective combustion chambers, thus achieving multistage control of the expansion of the airbag.

This invention relates to something to inflate and expand an airbag of an automobile and, more particularly, to a gas generator capable of controlling an extensive form of the airbag.
In order to protect riders in an automobile from collision, the gas generator to immediately expand and inflate the airbag is built in an airbag module fitted in a steering wheel and an instrument panel. The gas generator is operated under control of collision detection signals from a collision sensor detecting a collision, to produce a large amount of high temperature gas instantaneously.
One typical example of the gas generator to inflate and expand the airbag is shown in FIG. 16. As illustrated, the gas generator has a housing 100 having an annular. enclosed space formed by the double cylinder structure of inner and outer cylinders of upper and lower lidded containers 101, 102 which are put in abutment with and frictional press-contact with each other. In the enclosed space of the housing 100, gas generating agents 103 and a cylindrical filtering member 104 are contained in order from the inner cylinder toward the radial outside. Arranged in the inner cylinder are an igniter 105 that is ignited under control of collision detection signals from the collision sensor and an inflammation agent 106 that is ignited by ignition of the igniter 105.
In this gas generator, the inflammation agent 106 is ignited by ignition of the igniter 105 under control of the collision detection signals from the collision sensor and, further, flame of the inflammation agent 106 is spurted into the enclosed space through a flame guidable aperture 107 of the inner cylinder, whereby the gas generating agents 103 are ignited and burnt to thereby produce a large amount of high temperature gas instantaneously. The large amount of temperature gas enters the filtering member 104 for slag collection and cooling of the gas thereat and thereafter is discharged from a number of gas discharging holes 101a of the upper container 101 into the airbag, so as to inflate and expand the airbag rapidly.
With the conventional gas generator, regardless of the patterns of automobile collision (low-speed collision, high-speed collision, etc.) and seating position of a rider (a normal seat position, an abnormal seat position, such as a stoop-shouldered position, etc.), the igniter is ignited under control of the collision detection signals from the collision sensor to thereby produce a large amount of gas instantaneously to inflate and expand the airbag rapidly. This sometimes provides the disadvantage that when the rider takes a seat position immediately behind the steering wheel or the instrument panel or when the automobile collides at low speed, the rapidly inflating airbag gives a shock to the rider (punching phenomenon), rather than fulfills its intended function to protect the rider.
It is object of the present invention to provide a gas generator that can controllably allow the airbag to inflate and expand slowly at an initial stage of the inflation and thereafter inflate and expand rapidly so that the intended function of the airbag.can be fulfilled.
In the first invention, an enclosed space of a housing is partitioned into a plurality of combustion chambers, and gas generating agents, a filtering member and an igniter are arranged in the combustion chambers, respectively.
This enables the gas discharged into the airbag to be controlled by operating the igniters with time difference, and as such can achieve a multistage control of expansion of the airbag.
In addition, in the first invention, the combustion chambers are communicated to each other. This can allow the combustion of the gas generating agents in the combustion chambers to be effected with a total volume of the housing (enclosed space). Thus, when the igniters are operated with time difference, the airbag can be inflated and expanded moderately by a small amount of gas that is generated in the single combustion chamber and is suppressed in pressure rise characteristic in the initial stage of expansion and thereafter can be inflated and expanded rapidly by the addition of the gas generated in the respective combustion chambers and controlled to a specified gas pressure. characteristic and maximum pressure.
As a result of this, the rider is prevented from being given the shock by the airbag inflated and expanded rapidly in the initial expansion stage (punching phenomenon) and thus the air can fulfill its intended function to protect the rider.
In the second invention, an enclosed space of a housing is partitioned into two combustion chambers by a partition member, and gas generating agents, a filtering member and an igniter are arranged in the combustion chambers, respectively.
This enables the gas discharged into the airbag to be controlled by operating the two igniters with time difference, and as such can achieve a two-stage control of expansion of the airbag.
In addition, in the second invention, the combustion chambers are communicated to each other. This can allow the amount of gas and pressure rise characteristic of the expansion of the airbag to be controlled, to inflate and expand the airbag, as is the case with the first invention.
In the third invention, a housing is formed into a short, cylindrical shape; an enclosed space in the housing is partitioned into two combustion chambers by a partition member; and gas generating agents and a filtering member are arranged in the combustion chambers, respectively. Also, a long, cylindrical, inner casing and a short, cylindrical, inner casing are extended into the combustion chambers, respectively, and igniters are arranged in the inner casings, respectively.
This enables the gas discharged into the airbag to be controlled by operating the two igniters with time difference, and as such can achieve a two-stage control of expansion of the airbag. Besides, the gas generating agents in the combustion chambers can be burnt with a simple structure that the igniters are arranged in their respective inner casings. In addition, since the housing is formed into a short, cylindrical shape, the gas generator is optimum to inflate and expand the airbag for driver seat.
In addition, in the third invention, the combustion chambers are communicated to each other. This can allow the amount of gas and pressure rise characteristic of the expansion of the airbag to be controlled, to inflate and expand the airbag, as is the case with the first invention.
In the fourth invention, the housing is formed into a short, cylindrical shape; the enclosed space in the housing is partitioned into two combustion chambers by the partition member; and the gas generating agents and the filtering member are arranged in the combustion chambers, respectively. Also, the long, cylindrical, inner casing and the short, cylindrical, inner casing are extended into the combustion chambers, respectively; upper and lower lids of the housing are joined via the long, cylindrical, inner casing; and the igniters are arranged in the inner casings, respectively.
This enables the gas discharged into the airbag to be controlled by operating the two igniters with time difference, and as such can achieve a two-stage control of expansion of the airbag. Besides, the gas generating agents in the combustion chambers can be burnt with a simple structure that the igniters are arranged in their respective inner casings. Since the structure of the lids of the housing being joined via the long, cylindrical casing enables structural strength of the housing to increase, it can suitably be used for a large-sized gas generator to produce a large amount of gases and for non-azide-base generating agents to generate high pressure gas. In addition, since the housing is formed into the short, cylindrical shape, the gas generator is optimum to inflate and expand the airbag for driver seat.
In addition, in the fourth invention, the combustion chambers are communicated to each other. This can allow the amount of gas and pressure rise characteristic of the expansion of the airbag to be controlled, to inflate and expand the airbag, as is the case with the first invention.
In the fifth invention, the housing is formed into a short, cylindrical shape; the combustion space in the housing is partitioned into two combustion chambers by the partition member; and the gas generating agents and the filtering member are arranged in the combustion chambers, respectively. Also, the long, cylindrical, inner casing and the short, cylindrical, inner casing are extended into the combustion chambers, respectively; and the igniters are arranged in the inner casings, respectively.
This enables the gas discharged into the airbag to be controlled by operating the two igniters with time difference, and as such can achieve a two-stage control of expansion of the airbag. Besides, the gas generating agents in the combustion chambers can be burnt with a simple structure that the igniters are arranged in their respective inner casings. In addition, since the housing is formed into the short, cylindrical shape, the gas generator is optimum to inflate and expand the airbag for driver seat.
In addition, in the fifth invention, the enclosed space in the housing is partitioned into the gas passage space and the combustion spaces by an inner cylindrical member, whereby the combustion chambers are communicated to each other via the gas passage space. This enables the combustion chambers to be communicated to each other with a simple structure of simply adding the inner cylindrical member and also can allow the amount of gas and pressure rise characteristic of the expansion of the airbag to be controlled, to inflate and expand the airbag, as is the case with the first invention.
In the sixth invention, a housing is formed into a short, cylindrical shape; an enclosed space in the housing is partitioned into two combustion chambers by a partition member; and gas generating agents and a filtering member are arranged in the combustion chambers, respectively. Also, a long, cylindrical, inner casing and a short, cylindrical, inner casing are extended into the combustion chambers, respectively; upper and lower lids of the housing are joined via the long, cylindrical, inner casing; and igniters are arranged in the inner casings, respectively.
This enables the gas discharged into the airbag to be controlled by operating the two igniters with time difference, and as such can achieve a two-stage control of expansion of the airbag. Besides, the gas generating agents in the combustion chambers can be burnt with a simple structure that the igniters are arranged in their respective inner casings. Since the structure of the lids of the housing being joined via the long, cylindrical casing enables structural strength of the housing to increase, it can suitably be used for a large-sized gas generator to produce a large amount of gases and for non-azide-base generating agents to generate high pressure gas. In addition, since the housing is formed into the short, cylindrical shape, the gas generator is optimum to inflate and expand the airbag for driver seat.
In addition, in the sixth invention, the enclosed space in the housing is partitioned into the gas passage space and the combustion spaces by an inner cylindrical member, whereby the combustion chambers are communicated to each other via the gas passage space. This enables the combustion chambers to be communicated to each other with a simple structure of simply adding the inner cylindrical member and also can allow the amount of gas and pressure rise characteristic of the expansion of the airbag to be controlled, to inflate and expand the airbag, as is the case with the first invention.
In the seventh invention, the housing is formed into a short, cylindrical shape; a combustion space in the housing is partitioned into two combustion chambers by the partition member; and the gas generating agents and the filtering member are arranged in the combustion chambers, respectively. Also, the long, cylindrical, inner casing and the short, cylindrical, inner casing are extended into the combustion chambers, respectively; and the igniters are arranged in the inner casings, respectively.
This enables the gas discharged into the airbag to be controlled by operating the two igniters with time difference, and as such can achieve a two-stage control of expansion of the airbag. Besides, the gas generating agents in the combustion chambers can be burnt with a simple structure that the igniters are arranged in their respective inner casings. In addition, since the housing is formed into the short, cylindrical shape, the gas generator is optimum to inflate and expand the airbag for driver seat.
In addition, in the seventh invention, the enclosed space in the housing is partitioned into the gas passage space and the combustion spaces by an inner cylindrical member and a filtering member, whereby the combustion chambers are communicated to each other via the gas passage space and the filtering member. This enables the combustion chambers to be communicated to each other with a simple structure of simply adding the inner cylindrical member combined with the filtering member and also can allow the amount of gas and pressure rise characteristic of the expansion of the airbag to be controlled, to inflate and expand the airbag, as is the case with the first invention.
In the eighth invention, a housing is formed into a short, cylindrical shape; an enclosed space in the housing is partitioned into two combustion chambers by a partition member; and gas generating agents and a filtering member are arranged in the combustion chambers, respectively. Also, a long, cylindrical, inner casing and a short, cylindrical, inner casing are extended into the combustion chambers, respectively; upper and lower lids of the housing are joined via the long, cylindrical, inner casing; and igniters are arranged in the inner casings, respectively.
This enables the gas discharged into the airbag to be controlled by operating the two igniters with time difference, and as such can achieve a two-stage control of expansion of the airbag. Besides, the gas generating agents in the combustion chambers can be burnt with a simple structure that the igniters are arranged in their respective inner casings. Since the structure of the lids of the housing being joined via the long, cylindrical casing enables structural strength of the housing to increase, it can suitably be used for a large-sized gas generator to produce a large amount of gases and for non-azide-base generating agents to generate high pressure gas. In addition, since the housing is formed into the short, cylindrical shape, the gas generator is optimum to inflate and expand the airbag for driver seat.
In addition, in the eighth invention, the enclosed space in the housing is partitioned into the gas passage space and the combustion spaces by an inner cylindrical member and a filtering member, whereby the combustion chambers are communicated to each other via the gas passage space and the filtering member. This enables the combustion chambers to be communicated to each other with a simple structure of simply adding the inner cylindrical member combined with the filtering member and also can allow the amount of gas and pressure rise characteristic of the expansion of the airbag to be controlled, to inflate and expand the airbag, as is the case with the first invention.
In the tenth invention, a housing is formed into a short, cylindrical shape; an enclosed space in the housing is partitioned into two combustion chambers by a partition member; and gas generating agents and a filtering member are arranged in the combustion chambers, respectively. Also, a long, cylindrical, inner casing and a short, cylindrical, inner casing are extended into the combustion chambers, respectively; and igniters are arranged in the inner casings, respectively.
This enables the gas discharged into the airbag to be controlled by operating the two igniters with time difference, and as such can achieve a two-stage control of expansion of the airbag. Besides, the gas generating agents in the combustion chambers can be burnt with a simple structure that the igniters are arranged in their respective inner casings. In addition, since the housing is formed into the short, cylindrical shape, the gas generator is optimum to inflate and expand the airbag for driver seat.
In addition, in the ninth invention, the combustion chambers are communicated to each other through gas passing holes in the partition member. This enables the combustion chambers to be communicated to each other with a simple structure of simply forming the gas passing holes in the partition member and also can allow the amount of gas and pressure rise characteristic of the expansion of the airbag to be controlled, to inflate and expand the airbag, as is the case with the first invention.
In the tenth invention, the housing is formed into a short, cylindrical shape; the enclosed space in the housing is partitioned into the two combustion chambers by the partition member; and the gas generating agents and the filtering member are arranged in the combustion chambers, respectively. Also, the long, cylindrical, inner casing and the short, cylindrical, inner casing are extended into the combustion chambers, respectively; upper and lower lids of the housing are joined via the long, cylindrical, inner casing; and igniters are arranged in the inner casings, respectively.
This enables the gas discharged into the airbag to be controlled by operating the two igniters with time difference, and as such can achieve a two-stage control of expansion of the airbag. Besides, the gas generating agents in the combustion chambers can be burnt with a simple structure that the igniters are arranged in their respective inner casings. Since the joining structure via the long, cylindrical casing enables structural strength of the housing to increase, it can suitably be used for a large-sized gas generator to produce a large amount of gases and for non-azide-base generating agents to generate high pressure gas. In addition, since the housing is formed into the short, cylindrical shape, the gas generator is optimum to inflate and expand the airbag for driver seat.
In addition, in the tenth invention, the combustion chambers are communicated to each other through the gas passing holes in the partition member. This enables the combustion chambers to be communicated to each other with a simple structure of simply forming the gas passing holes in the partition member and also can allow the amount of gas and pressure rise characteristic of the expansion of the airbag to be controlled, to inflate and expand the airbag, as is the case with the first invention.
In the eleventh invention, the housing is formed into a long, cylindrical shape; the enclosed space in the housing is partitioned into the two combustion chambers; and the gas generating agents and the filtering member are arranged in the combustion chambers, respectively. Also, the igniters are respectively arranged at both ends of the housing.
This enables the gas discharged into the airbag to be controlled by operating the two igniters with time difference, and as such can achieve a two-stage control of expansion of the airbag. Besides, since the housing is formed into the long, cylindrical shape, the gas generator is optimum to inflate and expand the airbag for passenger seat or passenger-side collision.
In addition, in the eleventh invention, the combustion chambers are communicated to each other. This can allow the amount of gas and pressure rise characteristic of the expansion of the airbag to be controlled, to inflate and expand the airbag, as is the case with the first invention.
In addition, the eleventh invention can adopt any of the system that the enclosed space in the housing is partitioned into the two combustion chambers by the partition member, whereby the combustion chambers are communicated to each other through the gas passing holes in the partition member; the system that the enclosed space in the housing is partitioned into the gas passage space and the combustion space by the inner cylindrical member and also the combustion space is partitioned into two combustion chambers.by the partition member, whereby the combustion chambers are communicated to each other through the gas passage space; and the system that the enclosed space in the housing is partitioned into the gas passage space and the combustion space by the inner cylindrical member and the filtering member and also the combustion space is partitioned into two combustion chambers by the partition member, whereby the combustion chambers are communicated to each other through the gas passage space and the filtering member.
In the third through tenth inventions, a convex portion is formed in the partition member, for containing the igniter therein. This enables the igniter to be easily contained in the short, cylindrical, inner casing. Also, the third through tenth inventions adopt the structure that the partition member is positioned in abutment with a step portion of the long, cylindrical, inner casing. This enables the two combustion chambers to be partitioned with a simple structure and also enables the proportion of volume of the two combustion chambers to vary with ease by adjusting the step portion.
Further, in the second through eleventh invention, a cushioning member is arranged in the partition member, for suppressing the transmission of heat of combustion. This enables the transmission of the heat of combustion generated in one of the combustion chambers to be blocked off, which in turn enables the ignition to be surely adjustably controlled by the respective igniters when the gas generating agents in the two combustion chambers are ignited with time difference.
In the fifth through eighth invention and the eleventh invention, the inner cylindrical member is formed of an expanded metal. The expanded metal has a number of gas passage holes that are. projected out toward inside and outside thereof to communicate the inside and the outside to each other, such that the expanded metal layer itself forms the gas passage space. This enables the inner cylindrical member, the outer casing and the filtering member to be disposed in close contact with each other to facilitate the positioning and arrangement of these members.
Further, in the first through eleventh inventions, the filtering member is formed of a metal wire of stocking stitch or a metal wire rod of a crimp mesh. This enables the filtering member to be produced at low costs.


Disclosed is a method and an apparatus for accelerating and shooting a flying body at superhigh speed, consisting of a capacitor in which a high electric charge can be stored; a primary coil connected to the capacitor via a switching means; a conductive cylindrical liner disposed in the primary coil; an opening defined on a cylindrical wall of the cylindrical liner; and a flying body interposed in the opening and assuming electrical continuity with the liner; wherein a high electric charge stored in the capacitor is momentarily applied to the primary coil so as to compress abruptly the cylindrical liner radially inward and to shoot the flying body interposed in the opening toward the axis of the liner.

This invention relates to a method of electromagnetically accelerating flying bodies which can shoot flying bodies at a superhigh speed and which can be implemented at a low running cost without requiring any gigantic equipment.
For example, rockets and artificial satellites which travel outer space are constantly exposed to the danger of bumping against meteorites and dusts flying at very high speeds (e.g. 50 km/sec) through the space. Thus, in order to simulate the bumping of a rocket against such high-speed flying matters on the ground so as to test how the rocket might be damaged, bump tests, in which high-speed flying bodies are allowed to impinge upon an object to be tested, are carried out. Impact tests using high-speed flying bodies are also carried out frequently in developing new materials so as to test their physical properties. Meanwhile, examples of apparatus for accelerating and shooting flying bodies at a high speed against the object to be tested are, for example, a high-pressure gas gun which shoots various types of solid flying bodies from a barrel-like pipe thereof by releasing at once the compressed of a high-pressure gas, a powder gun, as well as, a rail gun and a plasma gun which resort to the principle of electromagnetic acceleration.
However, the speed of the flying body shot by such high-pressure gas gun, which may depend on the degree of compression of the high-pressure gas employed, is far from those of the high-speed flying matters which are possible to bump against vessels such as rockets traveling through outer space (e.g. 50 km/sec) or those of the high-speed flying bodies required for testing the physical properties of new materials (e.g. 10 km/sec). Accordingly, the high-pressure gas gun is not employable for the simulation tests on the ground. As the apparatus which can shoot flying bodies at much higher speeds than by the high-pressure gas gun, the above-described powder gun, rail gun, plasma gun, etc. are known. It is possible to shoot flying bodies at a high speed of about 10 km/sec using these guns based on the principle of electromagnetic acceleration, but such speed is far from reaching the superhigh speed of meteorites, dusts, etc. flying through outer space (e.g. 50 km/sec). Further, the rail gun and plasma gun involve problems in that they require long rails, and thus the scale of the equipment is enlarged, and that the rails are fused by sparks to be unusable each time the guns are used, leading to extremely increased running cost.
This invention is proposed in view of many problems inherent in the prior art means for accelerating high-speed flying bodies and in order to solve them suitably. It is an objective of the invention to provide a method of accelerating flying bodies which enables shooting flying bodies at a speed comparable to the level attainable by the rail gun, and which can be implemented at a low running cost without requiring any gigantic equipment, as well as, an apparatus therefor.

Method and apparatus for accelerating flying bodies

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A backboard pad assembly comprising a body pad and cranial pad with side wrappings and a back coverslip attached to the body pad. The side wrappings and back coverslip may be of one piece are typically of an elastic material and extend around an associated backboard so as to retain the body pad to the backboard. The body pad has a width that is less than the distance between side handholds of an associated backboard such that the handholds are not covered by the body pad and have a length such that any end handholds of the associated backboard are not covered by the body pad. The body pad follows the profile of the associated backboard. The body pad, cranial pad, side wrappings, and back coverslip are made of or are covered with a coating of material that is waterproof and chemically resistant and capable of being medically disinfected.

Presently either wooden or synthetic backboard devices or backboards transport victims or patients of trauma from the scene of injury to a hospital. Often these patients must remain secured to the backboard device for several hours. Multiple studies have demonstrated that these backboard devices are extremely uncomfortable and can cause decubitus ulcer formation in certain high-risk individuals such as those paralyzed as a result of their injuries. Furthermore, placing patients flat on these backboards result in the patient's neck resting in an anatomically hyperextended position. A study from 1993 demonstrated that the addition of padding to these backboards improves patient comfort and may decrease the likelihood of decubitus ulcer formation without compromising spinal immobilization. Other research has shown that additional cranial or head padding to elevate and/or support the head, places the spine in an anatomically neutral position and may therefore decrease the risk of cervical spine injury.
Conventional backboard pads or pads have numerous shortcomings. Many are of excessive width that prevents or hinders the transporter from placing his or her hand inside the handholds on the sides of the underlying backboard. Some backboard pads secure to backboards with straps that cross beneath the backboard, preventing the transporter from sliding the backboard when necessary. Some backboard pads are incorporated into the construction of the underlying backboard. These function well but are prohibitively expensive to many ambulance companies whose patients could benefit from a pad that adapts to the backboards already in use.


A display system of the present invention for a vehicle includes plural speed display areas which are capable of being simultaneously displayed, such as a first speed display area and a second speed display area, and a display controlling section causing predetermined one of speed display areas to display speed and for causing other one or more of speed display areas to display information other than speed according to necessity. This allows decrease in false recognition of the speed. With this, a display system for a vehicle can be provided, the display system being able to improve safety of driving by a user by getting rid of false recognition of speed, which is important information for safe driving.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display system for a vehicle, and to a vehicle provided with the display system. The display system displays, as an additional image, information for supporting driving, such as a state of the vehicle (such as speed of the vehicle, engine speed of an engine), a navigation image, and/or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a known document 1 (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 123848/1997 (published on May 13, 1997)) discloses an onboard display system for an instrument cluster panel of an automobile. This onboard display system displays, as an additional image, information for supporting drive such as a navigation image, in addition to vehicle state information such as speed of the vehicle, engine speed of an engine, and/or the like.
The onboard information display device disclosed in the document 1 displays navigation, a back monitoring image (an image of a posterior image seen from a vehicle; this image is captured by using an onboard camera, and outputted to and displayed on the display device), a television screen, and an operation screen for audio.
However, the onboard information display device weights images for display according to the condition of the vehicle and changes display according to the result of weighting. Therefore a display position of speed display changes frequently according to the condition. As a result, a user must look for speed display every time the driving condition changes. That is, the user may make false recognition of speed that is important information for driving safely.
This brings a problem that the more the amount of information displayed on the same display area of a display device becomes, the higher the ratio of the user making false recognition of speed becomes, and the lower the safety of the user's driving becomes.


Rather than restricting a stream of data to a single channel within a multi-channel link between a source node and a core node, each channel is divided into time slots and the stream of data is distributed among these time slots in several channels. However, to ease the management of switching the stream of data at the core node, simultaneous time slots in each channel may be arranged into “stripes,” such that a particular stripe may only include data segments having a common destination. Switching these stripes of data at the core node requires that the source of such a stripe arrange the frame according to a frame structure provided by the core node. Advantageously, where the frame is striped across an entire link, the present invention provides for a variation on link switching that approaches the topological reach of TDM switching while maintaining relatively straightforward operation at the core node. As the switching scheme requires time-locking between the core node and the source node, methods are provided for initializing, maintaining and recovering this time-locking while offsetting the effect of optical signal dispersion in multi-wavelength fiber links.

A data network comprises a number of source nodes, each source node receiving traffic from numerous traffic sources, and a number of sink nodes, each sink node delivering data to numerous traffic sinks. The source nodes can be connected to the sink nodes directly or through core nodes. Quite often, source nodes and sink nodes are paired so that a source node and its associated sink node are included within an edge node. The capacity of a given data network is determined by the capacities of the edge nodes and the core nodes.
Each link between nodes (source node to core node or core node to sink node) may comprise multiple channels. An optical multi-channel link uses Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM). WDM allows a given optical link to be divided into multiple channels, where a distinct stream of data may be transmitted on each channel and a different wavelength of light is used as a carrier wave to carry each of the multiple channels within the optical link.
A core node that connects source nodes to sink nodes using multi-channel links may be required to switch as much as an entire incoming link to an outgoing link or as little as an incoming channel to an outgoing channel. The latter is called channel switching.
The capacity of a path from any source node, through a core node, to any sink node can be dynamically modified. Network control (modification, or reconfiguration, of path capacity) is preferably exercised primarily at the edge nodes. That is, an edge node determines that a given path should be reconfigured, determines the nature of that reconfiguration and sends a configuration update to a core node in the given path. Accordingly, a simple network core structure is essential for realizing a high-capacity, high-performance network in which the core node connectivity can be adapted according to spatial traffic variation.
In an agile network, time coordination between the edge nodes and the core nodes is required to enable adaptive reconfiguration. That is to say, if an edge node determines that a given path should be reconfigured and indicates the required reconfiguration to a core node, time coordination (a) allows the core node to specify a time at which the reconfiguration will take place and (b) allows the respective edge nodes to react appropriately. Without time coordination, a large guard time, which can be of the order of several milliseconds, would be needed between successive configuration updates. A network having bufferless channel-switching core nodes and using a time-locking (time-coordination) technique is described in the applicant's U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/286,431, filed on Apr. 6, 1999, and titled "Self-Configuring Distributed Switch", the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. The connectivity of each core node is modified in response to traffic-load variations as reported to each core node controller by the edge nodes. To enable frequent reconfiguration without an excessive guard time, each edge node must be time-locked to each core node.
The number of sink nodes that a given source node can reach directly is referred to herein as the topological reach of the source node. Coarse switching, such as link switching or channel switching (described hereinafter), limits the topological reach of a source node and may necessitate tandem switching (described hereinafter) for data streams of low traffic intensity. A data stream is defined as data that is transferred from a source node to a sink node via a particular path (i.e., via a particular core node). A single fiber link may support numerous wavelength channels. Tandem switching may even be required with individual channel switching because the number of channels emanating from a source node would typically be smaller than the number of sink nodes addressable by the source node.
Tandem switching requires that a source node, wishing to send data to a destination sink node that is not reachable directly through a given core node to which the source node is connected, send the data, through the given core node, to an intermediate sink node. From the source node associated with the intermediate sink node, the destination sink node is reachable through the same or another core node.
A time-division-multiplexing-based bufferless-core network is described in the applicant's U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/550,489, filed on Apr. 17, 2000, and titled "High-Capacity WDM-TDM Packet Switch", the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. In a time division multiplexed (TDM) communications system, each channel is divided into time slots and the time slots are arranged in frames of a predetermined number of time slots. Each time slot is associated with a spatial attribute that corresponds to a destination. The use of TDM can significantly increase the topological reach and eliminate the need for tandem switching. The network may be frequently reconfigured by altering the spatial attributes of a subset of the time slots. Implementing TDM requires fast switching core nodes.


An image reading apparatus includes a movable image-capturing printed circuit board including an image device, and a controlling printed circuit board which is fixed to the image reading apparatus and which controls the driving of the image device. Both printed circuit boards include connectors. When electric connection is established between the connectors, signal transmission and reception is performed. The connectors are connected only in a predetermined position. This can eliminate the need for using cable wires. Thus, a simplified structure can reduce emission generated by using cable wires to transmit a driving signal for the image device and a read image signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus that uses an image device to read an original document.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, for image reading by copying machines, scanners, etc., image reading apparatuses using light-emitting devices and image devices have been used. An image reading apparatus of the related art is described below with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14.
FIG. 13 is a perspective view of an image reading apparatus 1 of the related art, and FIG. 14 is a detailed view of the main part of the image reading apparatus 1. The image reading apparatus 1 has, on its top, a contact glass 2 on which an original document is set. The image reading apparatus 1 includes a frame member 3 that slides when the original document is read. The frame member 3 has an image capturing unit 31 on its top. The image capturing unit 31 includes, in its longitudinal direction, an image device 32 made of a contact image sensor (CIS) or a charge-coupled device (CCD), and a light-emitting device 33 which is made of a halogen lamp and which is integrated with the image device 32. The frame member 3 has, on its bottom, an image-capturing printed circuit board 4 for driving the image capturing unit 31. The image capturing unit 31 is electrically connected to the image-capturing printed circuit board 4, and is driven by a signal from the image-capturing printed circuit board 4. The frame member 3 is supported by supporters 9a and 9b so as to slide along the supporters 9a and 9b, and is slid by a motor (not shown). A controlling printed circuit board 5 is fixed to a bottom portion of the image reading apparatus 1, and controls the sliding operation of the frame member 3, and the image reading operation and light-emitting operation of the image capturing unit 31. The image-capturing printed circuit board 4 and the controlling printed circuit board 5 are connected to each other by a cable wire 10. Image signals based on the original document read by the image capturing unit 31, and control signals for the image reading operation and the light emitting operation are transmitted and received via the cable wire 10, as needed.
The image-capturing printed circuit board 4 has a connector 21 at an end thereof, and the controlling printed circuit board 5 has a connector 22 at an end thereof. The ends of the cable wire 10 are connected to the connectors 21 and 22. The cable wire 10 is flexible and can be transformed and moved following the sliding operation of the frame member 3.
In addition to the cable wire 10, a power-supply cable wire 11 is connected to the image-capturing printed circuit board 4. The power-supply cable wire 11 is used to supply power for the sliding operation of the frame member 3 and for the image reading operation and the light emitting operation of the image capturing unit 31. The power-supply cable wire 11 is connected to a power-supply board (not shown). The power-supply cable wire 11 is flexible similarly to the cable wire 10 and can be transformed and moved following the sliding operation of the frame member 3.
Driving signals that drive the light-emitting device 33 and the image capturing unit 31 for image reading require a large amount of current in order to perform photoelectric conversion. Also, to realize high speed reading, a high frequency signal is used. Accordingly, whenever an image is read, transmission and reception of signals having high frequency and large current is repeatedly performed between each of the image device 32 and the light-emitting device 33, and an integrated circuit for driving both. Thus, emission is generated, which is a big problem.
Through the power-supply cable wire 11, signals for driving the image device 32 and the light-emitting device 33 are transmitted as so-called "common mode currents", using a power-supply pattern and a ground pattern on the printed circuit board 4 as paths. This is a similar big problem of emission.
Regarding preventive measures for the emission from the cable wire 10 and the power-supply cable wire 11, methods are conventionally known which prevent the generated emission by incorporating a ferrite core and by accommodating in a shielded box housing the whole cable wire and, if necessary, a printed circuit board.
Nevertheless, in recent years, the amount of emission has been increasing due to the higher frequencies of driving signals and image-information signals which are set for meeting the demand of high speed image processing. Accordingly, a plurality of frequency bands have a large amount of emission, so that it is difficult to prevent the emission by using filter components such as ferrite cores. In addition, the ferrite cores are expensive, and the number of usable ferrite cores is limited.
Also, with an increased number of driving signals and an enlarged circuit size, there are many cases in which the area of a printed circuit board itself must be increased. Accordingly, to use a shielded box to shield the emission, its size is an issue. When the shielded box is further enlarged, there is a possibility that emission caused by cavity resonance depending on the box size may be generated in a frequency range of 30 MHz to 1 GHz in which some measures should be taken. In frequencies generated due to the cavity resonance, currents having corresponding frequency components are repeatedly reflected by a shield conductor and are mutually superimposed, whereby the currents exhibit distributions that are not stationary canceled. As a result, the effect of the shield is damaged, thus causing a high intensity of emission. The frequency generated by the cavity resonance is dependent on the size of a shield. Thus, to suppress the cavity resonance, by forming a partition structure in the box so that the box size is virtually reduced, the generated emission frequency can be excluded from frequencies observed for emission measurement. In this way, it is possible to change the generated emission frequency to a high frequency, but the shield structure is complex and assembly cost increases.
According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-187223, when the disclosure is described by using the above reference numerals, the driving signals are generated by the image-capturing printed circuit board 4 connected to the image capturing unit 31, and by using a trigger signal, the image-capturing printed circuit board 4 and the controlling printed circuit board 5 are synchronized with each other. This makes it possible to limit signals output from the controlling printed circuit board 5 to the image-capturing printed circuit board 4 to only the trigger signal. Thus, the number of signal lines in the cable wire 10 can be reduced and the emission can be suppressed.
Nevertheless, since the cable wire 10 must be provided with a ground wire, a high frequency current is transmitted by the ground line of the cable wire 10, so that a similar problem of emission occurs. Also, since a read image must be set to have a higher resolution in order to realize high-resolution image processing, the number of signal lines constituting the cable wire 10 tends to increase with an increase in the number of image signals. Accordingly, there is a limitation in reducing the number of signal lines in the cable wire 10. For a high frequency current causing the emission, transmission paths increase, and it becomes difficult to take preventive measures for the emission.