A semiconductor light emitting device including a p-type electrode structure and having a low contact resistance and high reflectance is provided. The semiconductor light emitting device includes a transparent substrate, an electron injection layer having first and second regions on the transparent substrate, an active region formed on the first region, a hole injection layer on the active layer, a first electrode structure on the second region, and a second electrode structure on the hole injection layer, and includes a first layer including nitrogen and a second layer including Pd. The low contact resistance and high reflectance can be obtained by forming a trivalent compound layer composed of Pd—Ga—N at an interface between the hole injection layer, which is composed of p-GaN, and the metal layer of the p-type electrode.

This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 2003-77791 filed on Nov. 4, 2003, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor light emitting device using a nitride compound semiconductor, and more particularly, to a high reflectance film electrode structure that has low contact resistance and high reflectance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, nitride compound semiconductors are widely used for visible light emitting devices, and are currently developed to a light emitting device for producing light in the ultra violet region since a light emitting device for producing light in the blue and green light regions has been developed. Also, the nitride compound semiconductors can be used for light sources used in light emitting devices emitting light in a blue, green and ultraviolet region, and in high density light recording devices.
As information recording density increases, a group III-V nitride semiconductor becomes more useful because the such a nitride semiconductor is capable of emitting a visible light laser and has high emission efficiency since a transition in the nitride compound semiconductor producing the light is a direct transition, and moreover, the nitride semiconductor is capable of emitting a blue light that is one of the three primary lights.
It is advantageous that a light emitting device has a low operating voltage. A method widely used for reducing an operating voltage of a light emitting device includes reducing the resistance of a material layer formed between an electrode layer and an active layer. Particularly, to reduce the operating voltage in the nitride compound semiconductor light emitting device, it is desirable to form a low ohmic resistance between a hole injecting layer and a p-type electrode since the hole injecting layer and the p-type electrode are in ohmic contact.
That is, a draw back of the ohmic contact to the p-type electrode is that there is no metal having a larger work function than the p-type GaN. Therefore, an ohmic contact to a p-type GaN is difficult. In order to manufacture a laser diode or a light emitting device having high quality using GaN, an ohmic contact having high thermal stability and low contact resistance must be formed on the p-type GaN.
A cross-sectional view of an electrode structure applied to a conventional nitride semiconductor light emitting device, disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open publication 10-303504 is depicted in FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 1, an electrode structure 10 at an interface of a p-type GaN used for a conventional nitride semiconductor light emitting device comprises a sapphire substrate 12, a p-type GaN layer 14, a compound layer 16, and a metal layer 18 stacked sequentially.
In the conventional electrode structure 10, the compound layer 16 is formed by following process. First, the p-type GaN layer 14 is formed on the sapphire substrate 12 using a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) method, and a surface of the p-type GaN layer 14 is cleaned using ultrasonic waves in acetone or alcohol.
Next, the wafer is heated to 200° C. to increase a bonding strength of the layers to be deposited in vacuum state, a metal layer 18 for electrode is formed using a sputtering method with argon plasma, and the metal layer is annealed for 5 minutes at a temperature of 600° C. in a nitrogen atmosphere. As a result, a compound reaction occurs at the interface between the p-type GaN layer 14 and the metal layer 18, and a compound layer 16 composed of PdGa, Pd2Ga3 or Pd3Ga2 is formed.
The conventional electrode structure described above can be a low resistance p-type electrode structure composed of an Au/Pd/Pd—Ga compound suitable for a group III nitride semiconductor device. However, when manufacturing a group III nitride semiconductor device using the p-type electrode structure, there is a drawback in that a surface of the electrode can become very rough.
Therefore, a contact resistance in the electrode surface is not uniform, increases in some regions resulting in an increase of the overall contact resistance, thereby causing an increase of the operating voltage of the device.
Also, the rough surface of the electrode can be a cause of reducing the bonding strength for stacking and assembling bonding metals in a subsequent process, thereby reducing overall yield.

Electrode structure, semiconductor light-emitting device having the same and method of manufacturing the same


The invention relates to compounds of formula (I) wherein R represents aryl or heteroaryl, X is oxygen, a carbonyl group, an oxime derivative of a carbonyl group or an α,β-unsaturated carbonyl group, and the substituents R1 to R6 have the meanings given in the specification, for use as medicaments, to novel compounds of formula (I), to methods of synthesis of such compounds, to pharmaceutical compositions containing compounds of formula (I), to the use of a compounds of formula (I) for the preparation of a pharmaceutical composition for the treatment of neoplastic and autoimmune diseases, and to methods of treatment of neoplastic and autoimmune diseases using such compounds of formula (I) or of pharmaceutical compositions containing same

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in humans. Although a variety of drugs against neoplastic diseases have been developed and techniques are available such as surgery and radiation therapy, there is still a need for alternative and improved methods of treatment of neoplastic diseases.
Autoimmune diseases are associated with abnormal lymphoproliferation as a result of defects in the termination of lymphocyte activation and growth. Often, such diseases are associated with inflammation like rheumatoid arthritis, insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus and the like. The treatment of such diseases is focused on anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive drugs which in numerous cases show severe side effects. Hence, there is a need for alternative drugs with a new mode of action showing less side effects.
Apoptosis is a term used to describe a series of cellular events which occur to bring about programmed cell death. There are various apoptotic pathways, some of which have been characterized, whereas others remain to be elucidated. If the balance between cell division and apoptosis is disturbed, life-threatening diseases including cancer, autoimmune disorders, neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases may occur.
In recent years it has become evident that programmed cell death (apoptosis) is as important to the health of a multicellular organism as cell division. By repeated cell division and differentiation throughout development or tissue repair, surplus or even harmful cells are generated. In order to maintain tissue homeostasis these cells have to be removed or killed. The delicate interplay between cell growth and apoptosis in an organism is mirrored in the complex molecular balance that determines whether an individual cell undergoes division, arrests in the cell cycle or commits to programmed cell death.
Dysregulation of cell proliferation, or lack of appropriate cell death, has wide ranging clinical implications. A number of diseases associated with such dysregulation involve hyperproliferation, inflammation, tissue remodeling and repair. Familiar indications in this category include cancers, restenosis, neointimal hyperplasia, angiogenesis, endometriosis, lymphoproliferative disorders, transplantation related pathologies (graft rejection), polyposis, loss of neural function in the case of tissue remodeling and the like. Such cells may lose the normal regulatory control of cell division, and may also fail to undergo appropriate cell death.
As apoptosis is inhibited or delayed in most types of proliferative, neoplastic diseases, induction of apoptosis is an option for treatment of cancer, especially in cancer types which show resistance to classic chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy (Apoptosis and Cancer Chemotherapy, Hickman and Dive, eds., Blackwell Publishing, 1999). Also in autoimmune and transplantation related diseases and pathologies compounds inducing apoptosis may be used to restore normal cell death processes and therefore can eradicate the symptoms and might cure the diseases. Further applications of compounds inducing apoptosis may be in restenosis, i.e. accumulation of vascular smooth muscle cells in the walls of arteries, and in persistent infections caused by a failure to eradicate bacteria- and virus-infected cells. Furthermore, apoptosis can be induced or re-established in epithelial cells, in endothelial cells, in muscle cells, and in others which have lost contact with extracellular matrix. These cells are potentially able to colonize other organs and therefore can develop into pathologies like neoplasias, endometriosis and the like.
Recently, a patent application was published disclosing a number of structurally related compounds (WO 03/066629). These compounds are described as being inhibitors of GSK-3 and LCK kinase, but have no relevance in apoptosis and medical conditions connected therewith.


White noise is applied to a servocontrol system of a servomotor in order to measure a frequency characteristic of a mechanical component in an electric injection molding machine, and a signal from an encoder is applied to a fast Fourier converter. Data from the fast Fourier converter is applied to a memory unit, and the content of the memory unit is displayed on a display unit in the form of a board diagram. Repair announcement is issued when a deviation of the resonant frequency of each mechanical component with respect to data at an initial setting time exceeds a predetermined value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for issuing repair alerts for various mechanical components assembled in an electric injection molding machine, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for issuing repair alerts which automatically execute diagnostic processing to determine the need for repair without requiring action by a worker in charge of operation of the electric injection molding machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Common electric injection molding machines can use servomotors, for example, AC servomotors instead of hydraulic drives. Generally, a rotary drive of the servomotor is applied to a rotation direct-transmission mechanism, in which a nut and a ball screw are combined, through a pulley and a timing belt, thereby shortening the entire length of the injection molding machine to achieve space saving for installation.
The operating condition of such an electric injection molding machine varies depending on an individual user. For an electric injection molding machine having a high operation rate, the period between inspections needs to be short, that is, the frequency of inspection needs to be high. Under such circumstances, a worker spends much time taking direct measurements during inspections, and even more time processing the measured data to predict when a repair may be needed.
Particularly, with regard to inspection of timing belts, which are arranged dispersedly, the worker needs to compare tension measured using a tension meter and that of the initial state from values or visually from graphical values, listening to noise generated by the machine and inferring from experience, or the like for each timing belt.
Recently, a portable sound wave type belt tension meter capable of measuring the tension of a timing belt with sound waves has been provided to facilitate the measurement of the tension to some extent (refer to, for example, pamphlet of sound wave type belt tension U-507, 5000 sheets issued by Gates Unitta Asia on Apr. 13, 2004).
In the above-described conventional method, which captures change over time of components in the drive force transmitting mechanism of the servomotor, the issuance of repair alerts is not executed automatically. This is because a worker is always needed. Only a skilled person can determine such a change since a portion of the inspection depends on visual check or acoustic sense. It takes more time to perform such a procedure. Furthermore, there may be a difference in the outcome of the inspection as it depends on the individual person performing the inspection and evaluating the outcome.
In another conventional method, vibration is applied to a structure body of a machine with a vibration exciter and its vibration waveform is detected at other portions of the structure with a sensor so as to analyze the characteristic of the vibration by waveform analysis. Such a method exaggerates the measurement work itself including setting the vibration exciter and arranging a sensor. Furthermore, analysis of cause-and-effect relationship in the vibration is not easy.
Recently, a fast Fourier-converting method has been proposed. In the method, a signal from an encoder is converted by fast Fourier transform by applying white noise for gain adjustment of the servosystem in a numerical control machine tool (refer to, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-175303).
The white noise principally contains all the frequency components. Each frequency component has substantially the same amplitude. Any conventional white noise generator can be used.
As described above, the method, which captures change overtime of components in the drive force transmitting mechanism of the servomotor, does not allow the repair alert to be issued easily. This is because a worker is always needed. In addition, only a skilled person can determine such a change since a portion of the inspection depends on visual check or acoustic sense. Such inspection procedure takes time, and there may be a difference in the outcome of the inspection depending on the individual person evaluating the outcome.

Method and apparatus for issuing repair alerts in a transmission mechanism


Novel acids, esters, and salts of phenyl, naphthyl, quinoxalinyl, and biphenyl bisphosphonic acids and 1,2-oxaphosphepins are described. These compounds are useful as antiinflammatory and anti-arthritic agents. Also described are known compounds of the phenyl, naphthyl, quinoxalinyl, and biphenyl bisphosphonate classes which are also useful as antiinflammatory and anti-arthritic agents. Representative compounds include [1,2-phenyldiyl]bis (methylene)bisphosphonic acid tetramethyl ester, [2,3-quinoxalindiyl]bis(methylene)bisphosphonic acid tetramethyl ester, [[3-(propyl)-4-(methoxy)-1,8-naphthalenediyl]bis(methylene)]bisphosphonic acid tetramethyl ester, [2,6-naphthalenediylbis(methylene) bisphosphonic acid tetraethyl ester, and [2,2'-biphenylenebis(methyl)]bisphosphonic acid tetramethyl ester. Representative oxaphosphepins include the preferred 3,4-dihydro-3-methoxy -7-(phenylmethoxy)-1H-naphth[1,8de][1,2]oxaphosphepin-3-oxide.

Among the various phosphonate derivatives known in the art are the bisphosphonates (previously known as diphosphonates) which are structurally characterized by two C--P bonds. The simplest bisphosphonate, 1,1-(methylene)-bisphosphonate or geminal bisphosphonate (gem-bisphosphonate), is a carbon surrogate of pyrophosphate. In general, it is believed that the mode of action of the bisphosphonates in vivo is analogous to the complexing ability of pyrophosphate. However, the correspondence between complexing ability and spatial relationships of the phosphonic acids has received less attention. In general, the complexing capabilities, the inhibition of crystal growth in vitro, and tissue calcification effects in vivo are considered to decline with increasing, separation of the phosphonate groups. See H. Fleisch, Bone 8, (1987) Suppl. 1, S 23; X. Lu et al., Synthesis, (1989) 848, and G. Sturtz et al., J. Chem. Res. (S), (1978) 89.
The 1,1 class of bisphosphonates have demonstrated considerable utility in the regulation of calcification in both industrial and domestic water installations as well as in certain human diseases. Various 1,1-bisphosphonic acids nave been demonstrated to inhibit the inflammation/arthritic process in the rat adjuvant arthritis model. These include hydroxyethylidine diphosphonate, dichloromethylene diphosphonate, aminopropylidine diphosphonate, 4-chlorophenylthiomethylene bisphosphonic acid (also known as SR 41319) and 2-(3-pyridinyl) ethylidinehydroxy diphosphonic acid (also known as NE 58095). A. Barbier et al., IUPHAR, 9th Int. Cong. of Pharmacology, London, (1984) Abstract 131, have shown that SR 41319 inhibits hydroxyapatite crystal deposition in arthritic rats. However, R. Roneucci et al., Proc. Third Int. Cong. Inflam., Paris (1984) and X. Edmonds-Alt et al., Biochem. Pharmcol., (1985) 34, 4043, report that a singular mechanism for its anti-arthritic action is unlikely as cellular and immunological events are also inhibited by the drug. The foregoing studies involve the 1,1-bisphosphonic acids or their salts as do cellular studies and most biochemical studies. A selective utility of 1,1-bisphosphonate esters has been reported by L.M. Nguyen et al., J. Med. Chem., (1987) 30, 1426 with the induction of high density lipoproteins and HDL cholesterol in vivo by geminal bisphosphonate esters but not by the corresponding hemiesters or acids. An antiarthritic utility of 1,1-bisphosphonic acids and esters has been disclosed in PCT/US90/01106, filed Mar. 8, 1990, publication No. W090/12017, October 28, 1990.
In contrast, few studies describe either chemical, biochemical, or pharmacological activities of other bisphosphonic acid derivatives. Certain 1,2-bisphosphonates have been synthesized and characterized by P. Tavs et al., Tetrahedron, (1970) 26, 5529, R.R. Irani et al. J. Phys. Chem., (1962) 66, 1349 and H. Fleisch, Bone, (1987) 8, Suppl. 1, S23 and these authors report that the complexing capabilities (Irani) as well as inhibition of crystal growth in vitro and tissue calcification (Fleisch) decline with increasing separation of the phosphonate groups. No other utilities for the 1,2-bisphosphonates have been reported.
The chemistry of the 1,3-bisphosphonates has also been reported by X. Lu et al., Synthesis, (1989) 848 and G. Sturtz et al., J. Chem. Res. (S), (1978) 89. One compound, SR 7037, a tetrabutyl ester, has been reported to have specific calcium channel inhibition properties. See, J.R. Rossier et al., J. Biol. Chem., (1989) 264, 16598.
A number of other phenyl, naphthyl, and quinoxalinyl bisphosphonic acids, and short-chain alkyl esters thereof, have also been described. The compounds are useful for spectroscopic characterization, as photo conductive compounds, as intermediates or starting materials in the synthesis of distyryl, divinyl, and diaryl benzenes, dibenzophosphepins, and isophosphindoles. Finally, certain mono- and di-N-oxides of 2,3-quinoxaline-bis(methylene)bisphosphonic acid and certain esters (--CH.sub.3, --CH.sub.2 CH.sub.3, --CH.dbd.(CH.sub.3).sub.2, --CH.dbd.CHCH.sub.2) of these acids have been reported as being investigated for bactericidal activity.
We have discovered a series of bisphosphonates and oxaphosphepins which are useful as antiinflammatory and antiarthritic agents. The bisphosphonate series of compounds include phenyl, naphthyl, quinoxalinyl, and biphenyl bisphosphonic acids, esters, and salts thereof. Also disclosed is a series of novel oxaphosphepin compounds.

Phosphonic acid derivatives useful as anti-inflammatory agents


The invention features methods, systems and computer program product for the provision of entertainment content and storytelling of a customized story based on trigger points in a GPS system. The trigger points can be pre-determined or conditional. The invention provides an interactive entertainment method that features an ongoing story that will be told based on the trigger points. Stories are tailored and customized to incorporate points of interest along a travel route.

Global Positioning System (GPS) devices are devices which can track the location of a given vehicle and provide correct directions to a given destination. The GPS provides step by step directions on how to get to the given destination. Many GPS systems are built into vehicles or a GPS system can be downloaded onto a portable electronic device such as a phone or computer, for example. Whether a traveler is traveling near or far, a GPS is often used and they are extremely useful.
Long road trips can be a trying experience for travelers. Passengers are typically entertained by the scenery. They also read books and magazines to pass time. Electronic devices such as phones, CD players, DVD players also entertain travelers on road trips. These forms of entertainment do not afford the travelers the ability to interact and bond with each other while learning about their surroundings.


A method for producing a semiconductor film comprising steps of: preparing a first substrate and a second substrate; superposing the first substrate on the second substrate to form an assembly of combined substrates; applying energy to the assembly of combined substrates to melt a portion within the assembly to form a molten portion therein; cooling the molten portion to crystallize the portion to form a single crystal structure therein; and separating the first substrate from the second substrate. The method makes it possible to control the crystal axis orientation of the recrystallized single crystal structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing a single crystalline semiconductor film formed on an insulation base member for fabricating an electronic circuit thereon, which film is constituted from so called SOI (Silicon on Insulator) structure made from a single crystalline silicon film. More particularly, the invention relates to a semiconductor film producing method which is so called a recrystallization method in general.
The single crystalline silicon film produced in accordance with the present invention can be applied to various electronic devices, such as an active matrix liquid crystal display device, a high density LSI, a high dielectric breakdown device, a radiation proof device, and a three-dimensional integrated circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
The SOI structure can be made by various methods such as a recrystallization method, an epitaxial growth method, an insulation layer embedding method, and a laminating method. Such SOI structure forming techniques in general are disclosed in detail in "SOI Structure Forming Technique" issued from Sangyo Tosho Co., Ltd., 1987.
As one of the recrystallization methods, a laser beam recrystallization method has been used, wherein a polycrystalline or amorphous silicon film formed on an insulation base plate is molten by using laser beam energy and wherein crystal is grown in the molten portion while moving the portion.
There have been made various attempts to improve the temperature distribution in the film to be irradiated by the laser beam to form a single crystalline film as follows.
One of the attempts is such that a plurality of laser sources are arranged to improve the temperature distribution in the laser spot.
Another attempt is such that an antireflection film or an optical absorption film is formed on the film sample surface to change the absorption ratio of the laser beam so as to improve the temperature distribution in the film.
A further attempt is such that the structure of the sample is constructed so that the heat radiation therefrom is changed spatially so as to improve the temperature distribution in the film.
In accordance with the laminating method, the film of SOI structure is formed in such a way that a pair of single crystal silicon substrates each having an oxide film formed thereon are faced together with the oxide films thereof being sandwiched and in contact with each other between the substrates, and that the substrates are heated to about 700.degree. C. in an oxidation atmosphere so as to bond the substrates together, and after that one of the substrates is etched to a predetermined thickness by an etching back method.
In the event that a silicon film is formed on a glass plate or an insulation film and that the silicon film is molten and recrystallized to form a single crystal film thereon, due to that there are no seed portions for the single crystal in the film, the crystal axes of the single crystal film are uncontrollably rotated so that it becomes difficult to obtain a single crystal film having a desired crystal axis orientation.
With regard to the laminating method, when the dry etching process is adopted to etch the silicon substrate, the etching time is elongated, resulting in the reduction of through-put and the element forming surface is damaged. On the other hand, when the wet etchin process is adopted to etch the silicon substrate, evenness of the film thickness is impaired and it becomes necessary to arrange a mask on the other silicon substrate not to be etched.


The present invention relates to an apparatus for mixing of a chemical medium in gaseous or liquid state with a pulp suspension. The apparatus comprises a housing having a wall (2) that defines a mixing chamber (4), a first feeder (6) for feeding the pulp suspension to the mixing chamber, a rotor shaft (8, 104, 204, 300, 406, 502), that extends in the mixing chamber, a drive device for rotation of the rotor shaft, a rotor body (10, 200, 407, 504), that is connected to the rotor shaft and arranged to supply kinetic energy to the pulp suspension flow, during rotation of the rotor shaft by the rotation of the drive device, such that turbulence is produced in a turbulent flow zone (12) in the mixing chamber, a second feeder (13) for feeding of the chemical medium to the mixing chamber, and an outlet for discharging the mixture of chemical medium and pulp suspension from the mixing chamber.

In the treatment of pulp suspensions there is a need for intermixture of different media for treatment, for example, for heating or bleaching purposes. Therefore, it is desirable to disperse the medium in the pulp suspension during simultaneous conveyance of the pulp suspension through a pipe. European Patent No. 664,150 discloses apparatus for this function. For heating of pulp suspensions, steam is added which condenses and thus gives off its energy content to the pulp suspension. A bleaching agent is added during bleaching that reacts with the pulp suspension. In connection with the treatment of recovered fiber pulp printing ink is separated by floatation, which means that air must previously be disintegrated in the pulp suspension such that the hydrophobic ink, or the printing ink, may attach to the rising air bubbles. In this connection it is desirable that the medium for treatment, e.g. air, is evenly and homogeneously distributed in the pulp suspension, preferably with tiny bubbles to achieve a large surface against the pulp suspension.
In all cases it is difficult, with proportionately low addition of energy, to achieve an even intermixture of the medium in the flow of material. When heating pulp suspensions by the supply of steam to a pulp pipe, problems often arise with large steam bubbles that are formed on the inside of the pipe, and this as a consequence of a non-disintegrated gas with a small condensation surface. When these large steam bubbles rapidly implode, condensation forces arise that cause vibrations in the pipe, and in the following equipment. This phenomenon limits the amount of steam that can be added to the system and thus the desired increase in temperature. It is hard to achieve a totally even temperature profile in the pulp suspension when large steam bubbles exist. In order to remedy these problems, a large amount of energy can be supplied to carefully admix the steam in the pulp suspension. Another variant is to disintegrate the steam already supplied with the pulp suspension. In the intermixing of bleaching agents in a pulp suspension, relatively large amounts of energy are used in order to provide that the bleaching agent is evenly distributed and conveyed to all the fibers in the pulp suspension. The energy requirements are controlled by which bleaching agent is to be supplied (rate of diffusion and reaction velocity) and also by the phase of the bleaching medium (liquid or gas). The geometry during supply of the bleaching agent in the vapor phase is important in order to avoid unwanted separation immediately after the intermixture.
One object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for supplying and intermixing of a chemical medium in a pulp suspension in an effective way and that at least partly eliminates the above mentioned problem.

Apparatus for mixing a chemical medium with a pulp suspension


A electrically interconnected assembly includes an electronic component, such as an integrated circuit chip, having a first pattern of contact sites and includes a substrate having a second pattern of contact sites corresponding to the first pattern. The electronic component is demountably connected to the substrate by a bump-and-socket arrangement at each pair of contact sites. One of the contact sites has a raised bump that is received within a depressed area of the other contact site. The raised bumps are pressed into the depressed areas, forming a ring of contact to electrically and mechanically connect the electronic component to the substrate. Preferably, the depressed areas are formed in a compliant material that allows some deformation but not so much as to allow the raised bumps to bottom out against the depressed areas. The assembly may be used in forming multi-chip modules having demountable integrated circuit chips.

Multi-chip modules which include a number of integrated circuit chips in a single package play an increasingly important role in the electronics industry. The chips within a module may be functionally equivalent, such as an array of memory chips to provide a capability of forty megabytes. Alternatively, the chips may be functionally related, such as a chip set comprising a read only memory chip, a random access memory chip, a microprocessor and an interface chip.
An important concern in the fabrication of a multi-chip module is the method of electrically connecting the integrated circuit chips to the module. This concern is equally important in connecting chips to other substrates as well. Three well known techniques are commonly referred to as wire bonding, tape automated bonding and surface mounting. The wire bonding method is one in which miniature wires are connected at first ends to input/output pads of an integrated circuit chip. The opposite ends of the bond wires are welded to a substrate, such as a multi-chip module. Wire bonding can be performed with gold wire by thermal compression, ultrasonic or thermal sonic techniques, or with aluminum wire by the ultrasonic technique.
Tape automated bonding involves the formation of a spider-like metal pattern of conductive fingers which radiate outwardly from the integrated circuit chip for attachment to contact sites of a substrate.
Integrated circuit chips may also be fixed to a substrate using a surface mounting method in which solder bumps are formed at the input/output pads of the chip. The chip is placed face down onto the substrate, whereafter the temperature is increased to cause the solder bumps to reflow for direct bonding of the input/output pads of the chip to contact sites on the substrate. This method is sometimes referred to as flip-chip mounting, since the chip is faced downwardly onto the substrate.
Less conventional chip interconnection methods are also known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,280 to Karnezos et al. describes a module in which chip interconnect frames are brought into contact with a multi-layer flexible printed circuit board which connects to a motherboard.
While each of the interconnection methods has a number of desirable aspects, as the density of input/output pads of integrated circuit chips increases, precision chip alignment during mounting onto a substrate becomes more critical. The pitch of input/output pads requires a precise alignment to contact sites on a substrate such as a multi-chip module. Even with the use of tape automated bonding frames which have leads that "fanout," the pitch at the outer lead ends may be 4 mil or less.
Moreover, conventional interconnection methods in which input/output pads or leads are permanently attached to contact sites on the substrate render it difficult to repair or replace defective chips. Typically, a single defective chip in a multi-chip module will require the entire module to be discarded.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical assembly in which assembly components can be repeatedly attached and detached without requiring complicated or cost-ineffective techniques.

Compressive bump-and-socket interconnection scheme for integrated circuits


The invention represents a novel system for controlling the yield of an explosive charge that enables the explosive yield to be selected or decreased from full-yield detonation incrementally down to low-yield detonation using a continuous linear shaped charge jet spiraled around the main charge explosive and deflagrating a selected portion of the main charge explosive. The spiral linear shaped charge jet initiation system activates and projects a liner in a radial direction across a diameter of the main charge explosive in a spiral around its axis at a preselected deflagration velocity toward a main-charge detonation shock front reducing the main charge explosive.

The invention relates to selectable-yield munitions and more specifically to spiral linear shaped charge jets.
Explosive ordnance is defined as any component or assembly that contains or is operated by explosive materials. The ability to rapidly release directed energy to perform multiple operations nearly simultaneously is the major attribute of explosive ordnance. To be useful in the aerospace industries and other industries, explosive components' output must be controlled. Selectable-yield munitions have been identified by United States Department of Defense planners as a means to reduce collateral damage while optimizing lethality against a broad target set. Explosively actuated devices are generally lighter and smaller than equivalent mechanical or electromechanical devices, which makes them attractive for space applications. Typical tasks include launch vehicle hold-down release, engine ignition, stage separation, fairing separation, and appendage deployment. In the military sector, multiple inventory weapons—ranging from concrete-filled bombs to 250-lb, 500-lb, 1000-lb, and 2000-lb general purpose bombs—could be replaced by a single selectable-yield munition.
One method of controlling, or selecting, the yield of munitions that has received a great deal of attention is the use of shaped charge jets (SCJ's) to deflagrate (burn) a portion of the main charge explosive to reduce the overall yield prior to a the main charge being detonated. This is accomplished by detonating the explosive within the shaped charge jet, which causes the shaped charge jet liner to form a high velocity jet. The jet formed from the liner penetrates the main charge explosive. The high pressure, temperature, and friction induced on the main charge from the jet causes the main charge explosive to burn. The reaction induced by the shaped charge jet must be kept below the minimum pressure and temperature reaction threshold, specific to the explosive being used in the main charge, which would lead to detonation of the main charge through a shock to detonation or deflagration to detonation reaction. Current state-of-the-art shaped charge jet fabrication techniques and knowledge of explosive initiation properties has enabled shaped charge jets to be optimized to great extent for deflagrating explosives without causing a transition to detonation.
The rate at which the mass of the explosive is reduced by the deflagration reaction is highly dependent on the initial surface area affected by the jet. For a conical shaped charge jet, the initial reacted area is mostly limited to the single axis path of the jet, i.e., similar to path of a bullet through the charge. For linear shaped charge jet, the initial reacted area is limited to the cross-sectional plane of which the jet cuts through the explosive, i.e., similar to a knife blade cutting through the charge. In both cases the volume affected by a single shaped charge jet is very limited, and the reaction time is unsuitable for most military applications where a dial-a-yield capability would be useful. For example, a free fall general purpose bomb traveling at 1000 feet per second will move 1 foot per millisecond. Therefore, control of the yield would need to be within a few milliseconds to effectively attack a target once the target detection device trigger threshold is met for weapon initiation. This is well beyond the deflagration rate attainable with a single conical or linear shaped charge jet. Therefore, a large number of conical or linear shaped charge jets using current state-of-the-art design techniques would be required to precisely control the yield of a large explosive volume, i.e., net explosive weight, weapon over the potential range of outputs from high-order detonation to full low-yield deflagration on a time scale that is suitable for many military target engagements.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force


A fused refractory product having the following average chemical composition, in % by weight on the basis of oxides and for a total of 100%: ZrO2: 30-50%; SiO2: 8-16%; Al2O3: balance to 100%; Y2O3≧50/ZrO2 and Y2O3≦5%; Na2O+K2O+B2O3≧0.2% and SiO2/(Na2O+K2O+B2O3)≧5×Y2O3; CaO: ≦0.5%; and other oxide species: ≦1.5%.

Among refractory products, a distinction is made between fused products, which are well known for the construction of glass furnaces, and sintered products.
Unlike sintered products, fused products usually comprise an intergranular vitreous phase binding the crystallised grains. The problems raised by sintered products and by fused products, and the technical solutions adopted to solve them, are therefore generally different. A composition developed to manufacture a sintered product is therefore not basically usable as such to manufacture a fused product, and vice versa.
Fused products, often called "electrofused" products, are obtained by melting a mixture of suitable batch materials in an electric arc furnace or by any other technique suitable for these products. The bath of molten material is then cast in a mould and the product obtained undergoes a controlled cooling cycle.
Among fused products, AZS electrofused products, that is mainly comprising alumina (Al2O3), zirconia (ZrO2) and silica (SiO2), have been known for decades. U.S. Pat. No. 2,438,552 describes one of the first improvements made to this type of product. The authors recommend adding Na2O (1-2.2%) and MgO/CaO (0.2-0.8%) to solve problems of feasibility concerning products comprising less than 70% Al2O3, from 14 to 40% ZrO2 and from 9 to 12% SiO2.
EP 0 939 065 B1 proposes to reduce the degree of exudation of AZS products containing 20 to 59% zirconia by adding B2O3, P2O5 and at least one of the oxides of the group SnO2, ZnO, CuO and MnO2. Adding the said oxides, which are not present as impurities in conventional starting materials, leads to production overcosts and possibly to problems with staining.
FR 2 875 497 proposes to reduce the degree of exudation of AZS products by selecting a chemical analysis such that ZrO2: 15.5 to 22%, SiO2: 10.5 to 15% and Na2O+K2O+Li2O: 1.0 to 2.5%, in particular if the Al2O3/ZrO2 weight ratio is equal to or higher than 2.9, and if the SiO2/(Na2O+K2O+Li2O) weight ratio is higher than 7 and/or lower than 9.
French application FR 08 58914 or application WO 2010/073195 proposes to improve the corrosion resistance of AZS products by adding Y2O3 for a chemical analysis such that ZrO2: 30 to 46%, SiO2: 10 to 16% and Na2O+K2O: 0.5 to 5%.
In all the examples according to the invention of these applications (Examples 4 to 10), SiO2/(Na2O+K2O+B2O3)<5×Y2O3. In contrast, none of the examples which meet the criteria SiO2/(Na2O+K2O+B2O3)≧5×Y2O3, except for Example 11, conforms to the invention of the said applications.
AZS products which are sold today by Saint-Gobain SEFPRO, such as ER-1681, ER-1685, and ER-1711, contain 45 to 50% Al2O3, 32 to 41% ZrO2, 12 to 16% SiO2 and about 1% Na2O. ER-2001 SLX contains about 68% Al2O3, 17% ZrO2, 13% SiO2 and 1.7% Na2O.
These products are suitable for manufacturing glass furnaces. More particularly, current commercially available AZS products are mainly used for the zones in contact with the glass melt and for the superstructure of glass furnaces.
These products are efficient but a permanent need exists to improve the conditions for controlling the glass furnaces and the quality of the glass.
In particular, for blocks of AZS fused product constituting the vessels of glass furnaces, it is important to limit the problems of exudation at the operating temperatures.
A need therefore exists for an AZS fused product having good resistance to corrosion by the glass melt and not having any problem of exudation at the operating temperatures of the vessels of glass furnaces.
It is the object of the present invention to satisfy this need.

SAINT-GOBAIN CENTRE DE RECHERCHES ET D'ETUDES EUROPEEN


A positioning conveyor is incorporated in a conveyor system for adjusting the position of a sheet on the conveyor system. The positioning conveyor has two belt type conveyor sections that are independently movable transverse to the feed path and are utilized to adjust the position of the sheet. The sheet is scanned by a scanner and the data is input to a computer. A vacuum zone on each section provides spaced apart gripping points to establish a pivot axis to correct for skew. The computer controls the coordinated movement of the sections to pivot and side shift the sheet to a desired position.

Veneer sheets are used to produce laminated veneer lumber such as plywood. A thin layer of wood veneer is peeled from a log, cut into sheets, arranged in stacks of, e.g., three or more sheets, and glued together to produce continuous laminations varying in length and thickness depending on the thickness of the sheets and the number of sheets in the construction.
Stacking and gluing of the veneer sheets to produce laminated veneer lumber is largely accomplished by automated pressing machinery. As contemplated herein obtaining ideal efficiency of the automated pressing machinery depends on continuous feeding of the sheets and that such sheets be fed (conveyed) to the machinery in a precise or near precise skew and side position orientation.
The present invention is directed to achieving a final skew adjustment and positioning of sheets to place them in the desired orientation for automatic stacking by the pressing machinery but without interrupting the feed rate of the sheets.


A gas compressing system includes a compressor that provides a flow of compressed gas, a first desiccant tower, and a second desiccant tower separate from the first tower. The system also includes a first separator, a second separator separate from the first separator, an outlet, a first set and second set of no more than three valves each movable between an open position and a closed position. The flow flows along a flow path from the compressor to the first tower, to the first separator, to the second tower and out the outlet when the first set of valves is open and the second set of valves is closed. The flow of compressed gas flows from the compressor to the second tower, to the second separator, to the first tower and out the outlet when the first set of valves is closed and the second set of valves is opened.

The present invention relates to a compressed gas dryer that uses the heat of compression to dry the compressed gas, and more particularly to a compressed air dryer that includes redundant dryer towers that use the heat of compression to dry the air.
Heat of compression dryer systems employ a drying compound that interacts with the gas being dried to remove moisture from the flow. Periodically, the system must be taken off line and recharged.


A flexible electrostatographic imaging belt having two parallel sides and a non imaging seam region extending substantially from one of the sides to the other side, the non-imaging seam region having a leading edge, a trailing edge and a seam within the non imaging seam region, the leading and trailing edges being perpendicular to the two parallel sides of the imaging belt, the belt comprising a substrate layer, a reflective electrically conductive layer, at least one imaging layer, an imaging region extending around the belt from adjacent the leading edge of the seam region to adjacent the trailing edge, the imaging region adapted to reflect monochromatic infrared radiation and a permanent localized solid attribute at a predetermined location in the non imaging seam region, the attribute adapted to reduce by at least about 50 percent direct reflection by the seam itself of a beam of monochromatic infrared radiation originally directed at the attribute. This belt is used in imaging apparatus and imaging processes.

This invention relates in general to electrostatographic imaging members and more specifically, to seamed electrostatographic imaging members having a permanent localized solid attribute to enable avoidance of imaging on the seam and processes and apparatus for using these imaging members.
Flexible electrostatographic belt imaging members are well known in the art. Typical electrostatographic flexible belt imaging members include, for example, photoreceptors for electrophotographic imaging systems and electroceptors such as ionographic imaging members for electrographic imaging systems. Generally, these belts comprise at least a supporting substrate layer and at least one imaging layer comprising thermoplastic polymeric matrix material. The "imaging layer" as employed herein is defined as the dielectric imaging layer of an electroceptor belt and the photoconductive imaging layer of an electrophotographic belt. The photoconductive imaging layer may comprise a single photoconductive layer or a plurality of layers such as a combination of a charge generating layer and a charge transport layer.
Flexible electrophotographic imaging member belts are usually multilayered photoreceptors that comprise a substrate, an electrically conductive layer, an optional hole blocking layer, an optional adhesive layer, a charge generating layer, and a charge transport layer and, in some embodiments, an anti-curl backing layer. A typical layered photoreceptor having separate charge generating (photogenerating) and charge transport layers is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,990, the entire disclosure thereof being incorporated herein by reference. The charge generating layer is capable of photogenerating holes and injecting the photogenerated holes into the charge transport layer.
The flexible electrostatographic imaging member belt is fabricated from a sheet cut from a web containing thermoplastic polymeric material. The sheets are usually rectangular in shape. All edges may be of the same length or one pair of parallel edges may be longer than the other pair of parallel edges. The sheets are formed into a belt by joining overlapping opposite marginal end regions of the sheet. A seam is typically produced in the overlapping marginal end regions at the point of joining. Joining may be effected by any suitable technique. Typical joining techniques include welding (e.g., ultrasonic), gluing, taping, pressure heat fusing, and the like. Ultrasonic welding is generally the preferred method of joining because it is rapid, clean (no solvents or other fumes) and produces a thin and narrow seam. In addition, ultrasonic welding is favored because it causes generation of heat, only at the contiguous overlapping end marginal regions of the sheet, to maximize melting of one or more layers therein.
In a typical electrophotographic imaging process, a photoreceptor surface is charged to a substantially uniform potential so as to sensitize the surface thereof. The charged portion of the photoreceptor surface is exposed to a light pattern. Exposure of the charged photoreceptor surface selectively dissipates the charges thereon in the irradiated areas. This process forms an electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor surface. After the electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoreceptor surface, the latent image is developed by bringing a developer material into contact therewith. Generally, the developer material comprises toner particles. The toner particles are attracted to the latent image to form a toner image on the photoreceptor surface. The toner image is then transferred from the photoreceptor surface to a receiving sheet. The toner particles are heated to permanently affix the image to the receiving sheet. After each transfer process, any toner residue remaining on the photoreceptor surface may be cleaned by a suitable cleaning device.
In a system of the foregoing type, a seamed flexible multilayered photoreceptor belt is often used. The seam of the belt is not a desirable location for forming images thereon due to the presence of surface discontinuities along the seam which cause the seam itself to be printed out on the receiving sheet. To prevent printing on the seam of seamed photoreceptor belts, a timing hole is punched through the ground strip which runs along one edge of the belt. The hole is located in the ground strip at a predetermined distance from the seam and from nearest outer edge of the belt. This hole is detected by a dedicated detector as the hole passes a predetermined position along the imaging path of the photoreceptor so that the seam can be tracked to prevent formation of electrostatic latent images on the seam. Unfortunately, the hole in the seam allows debris to pass through it to form undesirable deposits on critical machine components. Moreover, the hole punching operation requires sophisticated equipment for aligning the seam and punching the hole in the belt. Further, the dedicated detector comprises a light source on one side of the belt and a light detector on the other side of the belt as well as a power source and appropriate electrical connections, which adds to the imaging machine manufacturing cost. Thus, there is a need for an improved system to locate the position of the seam without using a dedicated detecting sensor in combination with a hole through the ground strip of the belt.
In copying or printing systems, such as a xerographic copier, laser printer, or ink-jet printer, a common technique for monitoring the quality of prints is to artificially create a "test patch" of a predetermined desired density. The actual density of the printing material (toner or ink) in the test patch can then be optically measured to determine the effectiveness of the printing process in placing this printing material on the print sheet.
In the case of xerographic devices, such as a laser printer, the surface that is typically of most interest in determining the density of printing material thereon is the charge-retentive surface or photoreceptor, on which the electrostatic latent image is formed and subsequently, developed by causing toner particles to adhere to areas thereof that are charged in a particular way. In such a case, the optical device for determining the density of toner on the test patch, which is often referred to as a toner area coverage sensor or "densitometer", is disposed along the path of the photoreceptor, directly downstream of the development of the development unit. There is typically a routine within the operating system of the printer to periodically create test patches of a desired density at predetermined locations on the photoreceptor by deliberately causing the exposure system thereof to charge or discharge as necessary the surface at the location to a predetermined extent.
The test patch is then moved past the developer unit and the toner particles within the developer unit are caused to adhere to the test patch electrostatically. The denser the toner on the test patch, the darker the test patch will appear in optical testing. The developed test patch is moved past a densitometer disposed along the path of the photoreceptor, and the light absorption of the test patch is tested; the more light that is absorbed by the test patch, the denser the toner on the test patch. Xerographic test patches are traditionally printed in the interdocument zones on the photoreceptor. Generally each patch is about an inch square that is printed as a uniform solid half tone or background area. Thus, the traditional method of process controls involves scheduling solid area, uniform halftones or background in a test patch. Some of the high quality printers contain many test patches.

Seamed flexible electrostatographic imaging belt having a permanent localized solid attribute


A carrier frequency offset (CFO) calibration method for calibrating a CFO of a receiver is proposed. The CFO calibration method includes: receiving at least one CFO estimation value generated by digital CFO estimation; generating a CFO adjustment value according to the at least one CFO estimation value; and adjusting an oscillation frequency of an oscillator of the receiver according to the CFO adjustment value.

1. Field of the Invention
The disclosed embodiments of the present invention relate to a carrier frequency offset (CFO) calibration method, and more particularly, to a CFO calibration method applied to an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) receiver.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication system such as an OFDM communication system 100 shown in FIG. 1, since there is a frequency difference between oscillators (not shown) in a transmission terminal 102 and a receiving terminal 104, causing to the carrier frequency offset (CFO) problem in frequency domain and sample clock offset (SCO) problem in time domain in receiving terminal 104.
The CFO and the SCO are main reasons of damaging the system carrier orthogonality. Under conditions of no calibration or lack of calibration, it will cause a severe Inter Carrier Interference (ICI). Thus, it is important about how to perform the CFO calibration in the OFDM receiver. A conventional method of solving the above problem is using a phase lock loop (PLL) to perform the CFO calibration. As shown in FIG. 2, a PLL 200 uses a phase detector (PD) 202 to find out a phase difference between an input signal and a local clock first, and then calculates a frequency difference by a math calculation. After passing through a loop filter 204, an output clock of a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) 206 will be adjusted according to the frequency difference in order to change the frequency of the local oscillator, to perform the CFO calibration or tracking. However, the PLL is usually realized in an analog way, and it is not only difficult in design, but also easy to be affected by process floating, and it requires more chip area.
In addition, there is another conventional method which can be realized by digital signal processing only. Specifically, this conventional method does not use the analog circuit or radio frequency (RF) circuit for the calibration, but simply performs the CFO estimation by a base band (BB) digital circuit, and performs a CFO compensation by signal processing to eliminate influences of the carrier interference. In general, besides the estimation and the compensation, it is practical to perform CFO tracking & SCO tracking based on a pilot signal in the signals, so as to reduce the influence caused by problems of inaccurate estimations and compensations. However, although it is easier to use the BB digital circuit to perform the CFO calibration, but the following problems might occur. First, a DC notch filter might be affected by the CFO and signals near DC are filtered and can not be restored. Second, when the CFO effect is serious, the CFO estimation capability of the digital circuit might reduce greatly due to preamble symbol detection errors or decode errors.
Thus, there is immediate requirement of an innovative CFO calibration method to reduce cost and error rate.

Carrier frequency offset calibration method


Embodiments of a cable connector are provided that include an inner connector assembly and an outer connector housing. In use, the cable connector securely fastens or splices together at least two cables or cable sections and in electrical communication while also providing fluid communication therebetween. The cable connector further protects, and preferably seals off, the connection interface between the cables or cable sections and from the environment.

Typical underground electrical cables include a number of copper or aluminum strands surrounded by a semiconducting or insulating strand shield, a layer of insulation, and an insulation shield. This design of underground cables is known for having a useful life of 25-40 years. In some instances, the life span of an underground cable is shortened when water enters the cable and forms micro-voids in the insulation layer. These micro-voids spread throughout the insulation layer in a tree like shape, collections of which are sometimes referred to as water trees.
Water trees are known to form in the insulation layer of electrical cables when medium to high voltage alternating current is applied to a polymeric dielectric (insulator) in the presence of water and ions. As water trees grow, they compromise the dielectric properties of the polymer until the insulation layer fails. Many large water trees initiate at the site of an imperfection or a contaminant, but contamination is not a necessary condition for water trees to propagate.
Water tree growth can be eliminated or retarded by removing or minimizing the water or ions, or by reducing the voltage stress. Another approach requires the injection of dielectric enhancement fluid into interstices located between the strands of the cables. Please see U.S. Pat. No. 5,907,128 for a more detailed description of such an approach. The fluid reacts with water inside the cable and oligomerizes to slow diffusion and provide long lasting dielectric enhancing fluid. The oligomerized fluid functions as a water tree retardant and provides other beneficial properties.


A log saw machine includes a first arm, a second arm parallel to the first arm, a shaft having a first end and an opposite second end, and a circular knife fixed on the shaft. The first end of the shaft is rotatably installed on the first arm. The second end of the shaft is rotatably installed on the second arm. The circular knife is positioned between the first and second arms, and the plane of the circular knife is parallel to the extending direction of the first and second arms.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to a log saw machine for cutting web material wound on tubular winding cores (which is called a "log"), and particularly to a log saw machine for cutting JRT (Jumbo Roll Tissue). The cutting is performed by a rotating circular knife.
2. Description of the Related Art
In typical applications, a log such as a wound tissue log is cut into rolls of smaller size by a rotating knife of a log saw machine. The knife rotates around a shaft, and moves toward the log normal to the axis of the log to cut the log.
In conventional systems, the rotational movement of the knife is generally driven by one belt and the knife is mounted on the shaft in a cantilever position. This cantilever position, especially when cutting high density logs, causes a deflection of the shaft which can affect the angle of the knife as it cuts. In other words, the forces on the knife can cause the rotating knife to deflect so it is not perfectly aligned at a right angle to the axis of the log but has some angle of deviation from the right-angle orientation relative to the axis of the log that is needed for best operation.
Therefore, what is needed is a log saw machine which can mitigate the described limitations.


A system and method for dispensing bulk closures from a removable and transportable bin. The system has a pivotable frame for receiving and tilting the bin and a movable gate including a closed position in which the gate covers the bin opening and an open position in which the gate is spaced apart from the opening to enable closures to flow therethrough. The gate is moveable from the open position to the closed position while closures are within the bin, thereby enabling dispensing of less than all of the closures from the bin. The system may include an access cover, hopper, slide gates, and access shield. The method may include employing the system and unloading only a portion of a particular bin.

This invention relates to handling bulk materials, and more particularly, to apparatus and methods for handling and dispensing closures from bulk containers.
Tens of billions of closures for containers are sold in the U.S. per year, including those for carbonated beverages, hot-filled food and drink, sauces, jellies, and the like, and those for non-food or drink products. The number of such containers and closures is expected to increase as plastic containers replace those formed of other materials. Handling such vast quantities of containers and closures facilitate material handling innovation.
Typically, bins containing closures are shipped from the closure manufacturer to a user, such as a bottler or like filler. The process for installing the closures on the particular containers, often referred to as capping, conventionally is a high-speed, automated process. Prior art methods and apparatus lack the capability to unload partial quantities of bins and often require complete emptying of the bin before another bin can be unloaded, among other drawbacks.

Crown Cork & Seal Technologies Corporation


An assembly for distributing particulate material comprising a blower assembly preferably removably mounted on a mobile platform and structured to generate a forced flow of air along a flow path and through a manifold assembly connected to a supply of material being distributed. The manifold assembly includes a receiving segment incorporating a Venturi section facilitating the introduction of the particulate material into the forced air flow passing through a discharge conduit. The discharge conduit preferably has an extended length to facilitate distribution of the material to a plurality of locations in a variety of different environments. An applicator is selectively attached to the discharge conduit so as to facilitate distribution of the particulate material to a substantially confined space, such as a potted plant.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an assembly for distributing fertilizer, as well as a large variety of other particulate materials, which is adaptable to be mounted on different types of ground or water traveling vehicles. The distribution assembly is structured to regulate the introduction of the particulate material into an air flow thereby facilitating the distribution of the material throughout large and/or hard to reach areas as well as smaller, substantially confined areas.
2. Description of the Related Art
Air blower assemblies are well known and have been used for a variety of applications for many years. Typically, such devices are of relatively light weight construction and as such are portable, being typically hand held or otherwise supported on a user's body. In operation, such devices include the provision of an impeller which draws air into a housing and out through a housing outlet commonly associated with an elongated nozzle or like flow directing structure. The air is expelled at a significantly high flow rate in order to create an air stream having sufficient force to remove leaves, dirt and a variety of other types of debris from driveways, walkways and other surface areas.
The extensive use of known blower assemblies has led to their adaptation for numerous applications, other than that described above. More specifically, attempts have been made to structurally modify conventional blower assemblies for use either in a vacuum mode or in a forced air discharge mode, respectively intended to either collect or disperse debris and like materials. In addition to the above, blower devices have been found to be particularly useful, when structurally modified in the proper manner, to aid in the dispersement of various types of materials. Appropriately modified blowers intended for this use serve to supplement manual seed and/or fertilizer spreaders commonly employed to plant and maintain lawns, grass turf or the like. Therefore, it is generally recognized that the high velocity air stream generated by the typical blower assembly provides a versatile and efficient means of distributing materials throughout a wide variety of areas, not capable of being efficiently serviced by more conventional spreaders.
While such prior art attempts may be considered to be at least minimally operative in accomplishing their intended purpose, devices of this type lack versatility and have been found to be less than efficient. Other disadvantages associated with spreaders incorporating a forced air flow is an inability to adequately regulate delivery of the intended material due at least in part to an inconsistent feeding control of material to the generated air stream. This type of ineffective performance results in an uneven distribution of materials throughout the area being treated.
In addition, it has been found that attempted modifications to incorporate a blower commonly require the use of relatively short discharge nozzles, which limit the range or area throughout which the particulate material may be effectively spread. As a result, areas which are more difficult to reach must be serviced by hand and/or by personnel manually carrying a blower/spreader. However, when using high powered blowers, the high rate of material discharge results in a large quantity of material being discharged in a short period of time. Therefore unless an operator can carry a significantly large quantity of the material to be dispersed, the operator must repeatedly return to a supply area for replenishment of the material in order to properly service terrain which is not easily accessible. Accordingly it is obvious that such body supported assemblies, while being capable of reaching isolated areas, are not consistently operative for a long period of time and are therefore not practical.
Another problematic area associated with the distribution of fertilizer or other particulate material includes the fertilization or other treatment of potted plants. As set forth above, a distribution assembly for particulate material which incorporates a blower, typically relies on a high-velocity forced flow of air or airstream in which the particulate material is introduced. The high-velocity of the airstream is advantageous when directing the particulate material throughout a relatively large area or to areas located a significant distance from the material supply. However, the delivery of particulate material to a predetermined area of reduced size or space such as, but not limited to, a potted plant presents problems which are not easily overcome by conventional particulate material distribution assemblies.
Therefore, a preferred and improved distribution assembly should have sufficient versatility to include an adaptor assembly which is structured to facilitate the efficient delivery of particulate material to a confined space or area such as that defined by the potted plant. Such structural adaptation is of particular importance and benefit in the fertilization or other treatment of nurseries or farms having a large number of such potted plants.
In addition, there is a significant need for an assembly capable of effectively distributing particulate material having a wide range of particulate sizes. Such an improved distribution assembly should be capable of efficiently maintaining control of the supply of particulate material to a generated air stream, thereby distributing the particulate material substantially evenly throughout an area targeted for treatment. Further, such a preferred or improved distribution assembly should include operative and structural components which allow the delivery of material to areas of different sizes, locations and categories. More specifically, an improved distribution assembly of the type set forth herein, should have the structural and operational versatility to be used for the delivery of particulate materials to large and/or hard to reach areas as well as significantly smaller areas. In the latter category, an improved distribution assembly should be capable of material delivery to th predetermined area of reduced sizes, such as individual potted plants, as set forth above. In each of these various applications a variety of different vehicles may be used as a mobile support platform for the distribution assembly.
Further, such an improved distribution assembly should be easily converted, without structural modification, for use as a blower, in the conventional fashion, or as a spreader as described above. Finally, when utilized with a mobile platform, an improved distribution assembly should be easily mounted on and removed from the platform in order that the mobile platform can be used in the performance of other applications for which it may have been originally intended.

Distribution assembly for particulate material


The ACP1 *A allele provides a means for diagnosing susceptibility of a human subject to hyperlipidemia, especially hyperlipidemia associated with metabolic syndrome, a means for treating, or preventing the onset of, hyperlipidemia and metabolic syndrome, and a means for screening and identifying drugs suitable for use in treating or preventing hyperlipidemia, especially hyperlipidemia associated with metabolic syndrome. Diagnostic kits are also provided.

Increased incidence of obesity, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, non-insulin dependent diabetes and coronary artery disease often cluster in the same individuals, and it has been frequently asserted that a common mechanism may be responsible for the comorbidity of these conditions in a subset of the population. The risk factor constellation for this group is often referred to as the "metabolic syndrome", "insulin resistance syndrome" or "syndrome X". The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome is roughly 2.5% in individuals under 40 years of age, rising to 5 to 10% in middle aged and older persons (1). The reasons for this increase in risk is largely due to the corollary age-related increase in obesity, and in particular abdominal obesity in the U.S. population. Obesity is now estimated to be the second leading preventable cause of death after cigarette smoking in the U.S. (2). Thirty-nine million Americans are estimated to be obese (having a body-mass-index (BMI) of ≧30) and an additional 57 million are estimated to be overweight (BMI between 25 and 29). Abdominal obesity, which increases with age among men and postmenopausal women, is responsible for most of the association of obesity with the metabolic syndrome and associated diseases (3). In addition to insulin resistance and hypertension, the principal abnormalities associated with the metabolic syndrome in obese individuals include elevated triglyceride levels and elevated cholesterol/HDL ratio. Increases both in triglyceride and cholesterol/HDL ratio are now recognized as independent risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD) as well as overall 5-year mortality (4). However, it has remained unclear what distinguishes those individuals whose weight gain leads to the development of the metabolic syndrome from those more fortunate persons who appear capable of considerable weight gain without experiencing the dyslipidemia and insulin resistance that trigger increased risk of developing CAD and non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitis (NIDDM).
The acid phosphatase locus 1 (ACP1) encodes a low molecular weight protein tyrosine phosphatase (LMPTP) involved in the negative modulation of insulin signal transduction (5). The ACP1 gene product is present ubiquitously in human tissues in two isoforms, called LMPTP-A and -B (6). The same locus also encodes the adipocyte LMPTP, which also is indicated as adipocyte acid phosphatase (HAAP), and is able to dephosphorylate in vitro the tyrosine phosphorylated adipocyte lipid binding protein (ALBP) (7).
ACP1 shows genetic polymorphism corresponding to strong variations in total enzymatic activity and in the ratio between the activity of the two isoforms associated with the different genotypes (8). A positive association between those ACP1 genotypes associated with a low total enzymatic activity and extreme values of BMI in obese children and adult subjects (9, 10, 11) and in non-dyslipidemic NIDDM subjects (12) has been reported in the Italian population. In 11 Italian studies the ACP1 polymorphism has been found to be associated with clinical variability of obesity, but not with the disease itself. The ACP1 *A allele is a variation of the A allele, distinguished by a Gln to Arg substitution at position 105 of the encoded protein, and lower enzymatic activity. In a recent study by Lucarini et al., a highly significant positive association between the ACP1 *A allele (associated with a reduced total enzymatic activity) and BMI has been described, but only in those cases with blood lipid levels (BLL) in the normal range (12).

Methods and compositions for acid phosphatase-1 gene inhibition


Disclosed is a rear warning system employing an outside mirror of a vehicle. When a driver moves a vehicle backward and parks the vehicle, the rear warning system warns a driver that the vehicle approaches a person or an obstacle existing behind the vehicle and provides the driver with a visual indication of the distance between the rear end of the vehicle and the person or the obstacle, so that a vehicular collision can be prevented and the vehicle can be stopped or parked at an exact distance, thereby enhancing the convenience in driving the vehicle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rear warning system employing an outside mirror in a vehicle, and in particular to a rear warning system employing an outside mirror in a vehicle which can inform a driver of the vehicle of the distance between the rear end of the vehicle and a person or an obstacle while the driver moves the vehicle backward and parks the vehicle, so that the vehicle can be prevented from colliding against the person or the obstacle and the vehicle can be parked or stopped at an exact distance.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to prevent a traffic accident involving people or an accident caused by a vehicular collision against an obstacle when a driver moves a vehicle backward, a rear warning system for measuring the distance between the rear end of the vehicle and a person or an obstacle, and informing the driver of the distance is typically used.
In particular, the above-mentioned rear warning system is very conveniently adopted for a female driver or a novice driver because it notifies the distance of the vehicle from a person or an obstacle existing behind the rear side of the vehicle when the vehicle is moved backward or parked.
The above-mentioned rear warning system for a vehicle may employ an acoustic notification method as shown in FIG. 1, in which a rear sensor of an electromagnetic wave radar type is installed in a space between a trunk door or tail lamps and the rear bumper, and warns the driver by tuning the stress or cycle of beep sound when an obstacle is found, or a visual notification method as shown in FIG. 2, in which a monitor, which is installed at a position to be conveniently identified by a driver within the vehicle, displays the distance of the rear end of the vehicle from an obstacle using digits or bars in multiple steps.
A combined warning method is also used in which the acoustic notification method and the visual notification method are combined to warn a driver using a warning sound and distance indicating bars.
However, it cannot be considered that the above-mentioned rear warning systems perform the rear warning function well.
In order to exhibit a sufficient warning function with a full effect, habits of individual drivers while moving a vehicle backward or parking the vehicle should be grasped.
When moving back and parking a vehicle, some drivers view outside mirrors of the vehicle and the others turn their upper bodies to see the rear side of the vehicle. Under these circumstances, it is considered that an instrument cluster or a rearview mirror of a vehicle and a display mounted in front of the driver are not so effective. Rather, there is a problem in that the cluster, the room mirror and the display have a contrary effect of distracting the driver's attention or deceiving the driver.
Therefore, what is needed is to provide a novel rear warning system which employs a warning method different from those employed in the conventional rear warning system.

Rear warning system employing outside mirror in vehicle


A guided-wave circuit module includes a guided-wave circuit chip having an input waveguide part and an output waveguide part at the ends thereof, a guided-wave circuit part having a predetermined function and positioned between the input waveguide part and the output waveguide part; and a holder for supporting the guided-wave circuit chip, wherein the guided-wave circuit part of the guided-wave circuit chip does not come in contact with the chip holder; at least part of the input and output waveguide parts of the guided-wave circuit chip is fixed to the holder with a fixing agent; and the packaged chip does not have a warp which leads to deterioration of characteristics. A fixing agent having a high hardness is applied to the periphery of the endfaces of the input and output waveguide parts of the guided-wave circuit module and to the periphery of the fiber endfaces of the optical fiber array connected to the module. Therefore, these endfaces can accurately be polished and the waveguide can be connected to the optical fibers at a sufficiently low fiber connection loss and a high return loss.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invent ion relates to a guided-wave circuit module and a wave-guiding optical component obtained by connecting optical fibers to the guided-wave circuit module which are used in the field of the optical communication and more specifically to a guided-wave circuit module and wave-guiding optical component designed such that a guided-wave circuit on a guided-wave circuit chip incorporated into a holder can exhibit the characteristic properties thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Development of a variety of high-quality guided-wave circuits such as light-splitters, optical wavelength multi-demultiplexers and optical switches in addition to the conventional light sources, optical fibers and photo-detectors has been desired as optical communication technique has been advanced. Moreover, these guided-wave circuits are required to have a large scale and high functionality, in addition to reduction of insertion loss and reflection at the connected interface between a waveguide and an optical fiber, and improvement in the heat stability. For these reasons, a guided-wave circuit has a size extending over the entire surface of a substrate having a diameter of 3 to 5 inches, and must accurately control the phase of propagating light rays.
In order to satisfy these requirements, it is important not only to improve characteristic properties of a guided-wave circuit chip per se, but also to optimize the structure of a guided-wave circuit module which supports the chip and to which an optical fiber is connected and, hence, providing the structure of a wave-guiding optical component obtained by connecting the guided-wave circuit module to an optical fiber. More specifically, there has been a requirement for the development of a guided-wave circuit module and a wave-guiding optical component which satisfies the following four requirements, i.e. , (1) accurate alignment of a waveguide with respect to a fiber; (2) accurate polishing of the endfaces of waveguides and fibers; (3) fitting of a guided-wave circuit chip to a holder without applying any stress to the chip; and (4) high mechanical strength. In particular, in the case of the foregoing guided-wave circuit module comprising a large scale substrate, the substrate inevitably warps. Thus, it is very important to support the substrate with a holder so that any stress is not applied thereto irrespective of the presence of any warp.
Further, in case of guided-wave circuits having active functions such as guided-wave circuits which make use of refractive index change of the guided-wave circuits due to a temperature change, i.e. , the thermo-optics effect and hybrid guided-wave circuits in which semiconductor devices are mounted on the substrate thereof, the guided-wave circuit chip must have good heat radiation capacity in addition to the foregoing four requirements.
An example of the structure of a conventional guided-wave circuit module will be given below and problems associated therewith will also be discussed in detail below.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a typical conventional guided-wave circuit module (See E. J. Murphy et al. , "Permanent attachment of single-mode fiber arrays to waveguides", IEEE, J. Lightwave Tech., LT-3, PP. 795-799, 1985). This module has a structure in which presser plates 3 are positioned on both upper edges of a guided-wave circuit chip 1 to connect optical fibers 2 and optical fiber arrays 4 are connected on both endfaces thereof to fix the optical fibers.
This structure for connecting optical fibers has a simple structure and, therefore, there has been widely used. According to this structure, it is possible to precisely align optical fibers 2 with respect to guided-wave circuits (guided-wave circuit part) 5. Moreover, the structure can easily be incorporated into the guided-wave circuit chip without applying any stress to the chip by using a small-sized guided-wave circuit whose warp can be neglected.
However, this structure has a low mechanical strength since guided-wave circuit chip 1 is exposed. In particular, in case of guided-wave circuit which is formed on a silicon (Si) substrate, the guided-wave circuit chip would easily be damaged and, thus, the reliability of the guided-wave circuit module is impaired. On the other hand, a large scale guided-wave circuit chip inevitably warps in not only the longitudinal direction but also the lateral direction. If this structure is applied to such a large scale chip, the warp in the lateral direction must be eliminated in order to fit presser plates 3 to the chip. For this reason, a great stress is applied to guided-wave circuit part 5 after the packaging thereof and accordingly the characteristic properties of the resulting guided-wave circuit are impaired.
On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laying-open No. 73208/1987 discloses a guided-wave circuit module having a structure in which a guided-wave circuit chip is not exposed. This module has a structure in which a guided-wave circuit chip 1 is sandwiched between two sheets of planar mounting substrates 6 and 7 and fixed thereto with an adhesive 8 to provide a guided-wave circuit chip unit 9 having unexposed surfaces of the chip as shown in FIG. 2 and in which two optical fiber arrays 4 for fixing optical fibers 2 are connected to both ends of unit 9 as shown in FIG. 3. If a guided-wave circuit module is designed to have such a structure, guided-wave circuit chip 1 is not exposed. Thus, the possibility of breakage of the guided-wave circuit chip associated with the module as shown in FIG. 1 would be substantially reduced.
However, when producing this structure, adhesive 8 must be applied to the whole surface of guided-wave circuit chip 1 to fix the chip to planar mounting substrates 6 and 7, stress caused by shrinkage of the adhesive during hardening is applied to the guided-wave circuit and, as a result, the characteristic properties of the guided-wave circuit vary after the chip is packaged. In particular, when guided-wave circuit chip 1 has a warp of a finite radius of curvature, the warp of the chip must be removed to sandwich guided-wave circuit chip 1 between planar mounting substrates 6 and 7. This results in the application of a large stress to guided-wave circuit chip 1. Moreover, if there is a difference in the linear expansion coefficient between planar mounting substrates 6, 7 and guided-wave circuit chip 1, stress is applied to guided-wave circuit chip 1 upon changes in the environmental temperature and, accordingly, characteristic properties of the chip are sufficiently affected by the environmental temperature change.
Structures similar to that of the module shown in FIG. 2 are disclosed in Herman M. Presby, Christopher A Edwards, "Packaging of glass waveguide silicon devices", Optical Engineering, 31 (1) , pp. 141-143 (January, 1992) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,654 entitled "Packaging of Silicon Optical components", Herman M. Presby, filed on Oct. 29, 1990. The article and the patent disclose packaged structures in which a UV-curable adhesive is applied onto the entire surface of a guided-wave circuit chip and a quartz cover is adhered to the upper surface of the chip through the adhesive layer. This structure suffers from the same problem discussed above in connection with the module shown in FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 shows an example of a module structure which allows self-aligning fiber connection between optical fibers 2 and guided-wave circuit chip 1 (see Japanese Patent Application Laying-open No. 234806/1988). To produce this module, level differences 1a for fiber alignment are first formed at both sides of guided-wave circuit chip 1 and a guided-wave circuit 5 is formed on the convex portion 1b existing between these level differences 1a (the central portion). On the other hand, a concave portion 10b, having a size corresponding to that of convex portion 1b, is formed on the side of mounting substrate 10 and the foregoing convex portion 1b is fitted in concave portion 10b. In this module, optical fibers 2 are connected to guided-wave circuit 5 of guided-wave circuit chip 1 through the self-aligning fiber connection. According to this module structure, guided-wave circuit chip 1 is fixed to mounting substrate 10 through the contact between level difference 1a on which any guided-wave circuit is not formed and mounting substrate 10. Accordingly, the shrinkage stress due to the hardening of a fixing agent, such as an adhesive or a solder, is not directly applied onto guided-wave circuit 5.
This packaging structure certainly makes it possible to save time required for aligning optical fibers 2 and guided-wave circuit chip 1, but the accuracy of fiber alignment is determined by the processing accuracy of level difference 1a of chip 1, or that of convex portion 1b of chip 1 and that of concave portion 10b on mounting substrate 10. The accuracy of fiber alignment thus achieved is in the order of 3 to 5 .mu.m while taking into consideration the production yield and the fiber connection loss is as much as 0.5 to 1 dB. Further, when packaging a guided-wave circuit chip having a warp of a finite radius of curvature, the chip must be fixed to a frame after eliminating the warp thereof. This is because, if the chip is mounted on the frame while remaining the warp of the chip, correct alignment between the fibers and the guided-wave circuit is not ensured at the edges of the guided-wave circuit. In other words, shrinkage stress caused by the hardening of a fixing agent is not directly applied to the guided-wave circuit, but a large stress generated by eliminating the warp of the chip is applied to guided-wave circuit chip 1. This leads to a significant variation in characteristic properties of guided-wave circuit 5.
As has been described above, it is difficult to package conventional structures of guided-wave circuit modules without applying stress to the guided-wave circuit chip, in particular to a large scale chip whose warp cannot be neglected. Thus, conventional techniques cannot provide a guided-wave circuit module structure which can satisfy all of the following requirements: accurate alignment between fibers and waveguides; support of a chip without applying any stress; and achievement of high mechanical strength.
Moreover, conventional techniques suffer from a common problem of accurate polishing of endfaces. More specifically, glass, silicon and metals, which are principal materials for forming guided-wave circuit modules and optical fiber arrays, have Young's moduluses of the order of 10.sup.3 to 10.sup.6 kg/mm.sup.2 which is 1 to 5 orders of magnitude higher than those of adhesives, such as typical fixing agents, which are used for fixing a guided-wave circuit to a mounting substrate. The guided-wave circuit module is constructed from a plurality of materials having different Young's moduli. When polishing the endfaces of a guided-wave circuit module and an optical fiber array in which a conventional typical fixing agent (adhesive) is used, the layer of the fixing agent having a low Young's modulus is first selectively ground and removed. Accordingly, the guided-wave circuit chip having a high Young's modulus, the optical fibers and terminal holders are exposed. If the polishing operation is further continued, the endfaces of the guided-wave circuit and the optical fibers are often damaged caused by abrasive particles which stay in recesses remaining after removal of the fixing agent. As has been discussed above, the polishing of the endfaces of guided-wave circuits having conventional structures and optical fibers leads to breakage of the guided-wave circuit chip and formation of defects on the polished endfaces. Therefore, good connection of endfaces cannot be ensured and, correspondingly, the fiber connection loss increases and the return loss deteriorates.
The conventional techniques also suffer from another common problem, that is, they do not provide any way for radiating heat from the guided-wave circuit chip. Therefore, it is difficult to apply the conventional technique to components which makes use of therm-optics effect and hybrid guided-wave circuits.

Guided-wave circuit module and wave-guiding optical component equipped with the module

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation


A data processing apparatus secures data from third parties in event of power loss by utilizing a backup power supply to provide power while data is erased from memory. The data is stored in a nonvolatile memory. A first voltage supply unit supplies voltage to the memory, and a second voltage unit supplies voltage to the memory when the first voltage supply unit is incapable of supplying voltage to the memory. When the first voltage supply unit becomes incapable of supplying voltage to the memory, the memory is controlled to erase the data stored therein using a selected one of a plurality of erasing processes depending on the status of processing of the data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data processing apparatus, a data erasing method therefore, and a program for implementing the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional image forming apparatuses (data processing apparatuses) are configured such that copying or printing stops when shutdown of commercial power supply such as a power failure or an instantaneous interruption over a relatively long period of time occurs in the image forming apparatus. Then, irrespective of the type of a job being processed at a time point the power shutdown occurred, print data generated by the job remains as incomplete data in a storage medium such as a hard disk. As a result, when power supply to the image forming apparatus is turned on next time, the incomplete data remaining in the storage medium is regarded as improper data. Then, the image forming apparatus erases related table data such as FAT (File Allocation Table) to cut off the relationship with the print data.
Also, when a power shutdown occurs while print data is being stored in a HD (hard disk) in the image forming apparatus, a sector or sectors in the HD become bad during writing. Then, when power supply to the image forming apparatus is turned next time, there is the possibility that the sector/sectors is/are unusable as bad sector(s). To cope with this, it can be envisaged that the voltage supply is switched from a normally used DC power supply to a backup power supply when a power shutdown occurs.
On the other hand, there has been known an image forming apparatus that is capable of executing a print job with a password for improvement of security (hereinafter referred to as "the secure job") as well as a normal print job (hereinafter referred to as "the normal job"). The secure job comprised of transmitting print data to which a password that can be set with respect to each user is added from an external apparatus such as a personal computer to the image forming apparatus, so that the secure job is not printed out insofar as a user directly enters the password from the image forming apparatus.
Further, there has been proposed a technique that can properly cope with a request to immediately shut down power supply without causing any serious problems even in the case where a power switch is unexpectedly turned off by a user. According to this technique, when an operation detecting section detects power shutdown, the power supply is switched to a backup power supply, so that data on a RAM is transmitted to an external apparatus via a network or data is saved from a volatile storage device in a nonvolatile storage device, and then the power shutdown is notified (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2004-072711, for example).
In the above conventional image forming apparatus, however, irrespective of whether a job to be executed by the image forming apparatus is the secure job or the normal job, the same process is carried out upon abnormal power shutdown in which power supply to the image forming apparatus is abnormally shut down. That is, when an abnormal power shutdown occurs, the image forming apparatus determines that print data being processed is improper data in the same manner as mentioned above. When the supply of voltage to the image forming apparatus is resumed, the image forming apparatus erases related table data such as FAT.
Once an abnormal power shutdown occurs in the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus cannot be caused to execute the secure job even if a user who has input the secure job from an external apparatus such as a personal computer (PC) attempts to enter a password to the image forming apparatus, because the image forming apparatus pauses due to the cutoff of power supply thereto. The user is very concerned about the location of the print data that has been completely transmitted from the PC to the image forming apparatus, which raises a problem in terms of security.
There are the following job processing statuses in the image forming apparatus when an abnormal power shutdown occurs.
(1) The status as to whether or not a print data job input from a PC is being processed
(2) The status as to progress of job processing in the case where the job is being processed
(2-1) The status as to storage of PDL data in a receiving buffer in the image forming apparatus
(2-2) The status as to creation of various bitmap data by generating a drawing command list from the PDL data
(2-3) The status as to spooling of the bitmap data that has been completely drawn
In the above conventional image forming apparatus, however, the method of handling print job data being processed when an abnormal power shutdown occurs is not variable at any of the job processing stages mentioned above. Thus, there is the disadvantage that if bitmap data that has been completely drawn remains in the HD of the image forming apparatus as it is or in a compressed form, a third party can maliciously steal a look at and parse the data.
Also, even the image forming apparatus that employs the switching method in which the power supply is switched from a DC power supply to a backup power supply when an abnormal power shutdown occurs, it is a matter of course that the residual power supply capacity of the backup power supply decreases as the operating time of the backup power supply increase. However, since the system terminating process to be carried out in response to abnormal power shutdown is not variable so as to cope with changes in the power supply capacity of the backup power supply, the residual power supply capacity of the backup power supply cannot be effectively used because it is limited by the system terminating process to be carried out.

Data processing apparatus including data erasure in response to power loss and data erasing method therefor