Methods of dehydrogenating hydrocarbons to yield unsaturated compounds are described. Reactor configurations useful for dehydrogenation are also described. Hydrocarbons can dehydrogenationed, for relatively long periods of time-on-stream, in a reaction chamber having a dimension of 2 mm or less to produce H2 and an olefin. Techniques have been developed that reduce coke and allow stable, relatively long-term operation in small reactors.

There are two leading processes developed for dehydrogenation (DH) of propane to propylene (for polypropylene) and (iso)butane to isobutene. They are both operated on a large scale. There are no commercial catalytic processes for ethane to ethylene due to the high temperatures required and coke formation.
A continuous process (UOP Oleflex) first commercialized in 1990, uses a Pt/Sn/Al2O3 catalyst in 3 adiabatic (but close to isothermal) radial flow moving bed reactors with feed pre-heat, inter-stage heating and continuous catalyst regeneration (CCR). The process gets close to thermodynamic equilibrium. Fresh feed is mixed with recycled hydrogen (to reduce coking) and unconverted feed at slightly positive pressure.
Another commercialized process (ABB Lummus Catofin), is a cyclic process that uses a Cr2O3/Al2O3 catalyst (activated alumina impregnated with 18-20 wt % chromium) in 3 fixed bed reactors operating under slight vacuum. While one reactor is processing feed, one has its catalyst regenerated in situ with air and the third is purged to give continuous plant throughput. Fresh and recycle feed are preheated to 550-650° C. (isobutane), or 550-750° C. for propane, and fed to the reactor at 0.35-0.7 bar pressure. During reaction, coke deposits on the catalyst and combustion of the coke during regeneration re-heats the catalyst bed.
The Steam Active Reforming process uses a Pt/Sn/Zn/Al2O3 (aluminate spinel) catalyst with steam diluent to maintain a positive pressure in the reactor and reduce partial pressure of hydrocarbons and hydrogen, favoring equilibrium. Steam also reduces coke formation and supplies heat to the reaction. Reactors are multi-tubular fixed beds in a furnace firebox to supply heat and operate isothermally to boost single pass equilibrium yields. Reactor operation is cyclic with 7 hours on line followed by 1 hour regeneration with air.
Typical parameters of these 3 processes are given in Table 1 for isobutane feeds.
TABLE 1Characteristics of Some Prior Dehydrogenation ProcessesProcessOleflexSTARCatofinLicensorUOPKrupp UhdeABB LummusTemp (C.)550480-630540-650Pressure (bar)>12.5-3.50.35-0.75H2/HC feed ratio30-20Steam/HC ratio04(2-10)0LHSV (h-1)440.4-2  Conversion (%)~3540-5565Selectivity (%)91-9388-9290Heat inputInter-stage heatingFurnaceCatalystregerationRegenerationMoving bedCyclicCyclicCycle time2-7 days7-8 hours5-15 minutesCatalystPt/Sn/Al2O3Pt/Sn/Zn/Al2O3Cr2O3/Al2O3Catalyst life1-2 years1-2 years1.5-3 years
Venkataraman et al., in "Millisecond catalytic wall reactor: dehydrogenation of ethane," Chem. Eng. Sci., 57, 2335-2343 (2002), studied the dehydrogenation of ethane in a stream of steam and ethane run in a 4 mm inner diameter tube without a catalyst. Heat was added from combustion in a 1 mm gap between the outside of the inner tube and the inner surface of an outer tube. The authors concluded that this reactor, as compared with a conventional steam cracker, gave superior performance in terms of residence time and ethylene yield.
Ethane cracks cleanly at high temperatures; however, for propane and higher hydrocarbons, cracking is known to be less selective and prone to coking.
Wolfrath et al., in "Novel Membrane Reactor with Filamentous Catalytic Bed for Propane Dehydrogenation," Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 40, 5234-5239 (2001), studied propane dehydrogenation through a reactor filled with catalytic filaments. Flow through the reactor is illustrated as flowing between the catalyst filaments. In this study, a H2-permeable membrane separates 2 adjacent, filament-filled catalytic beds. During operation, propane was dehydrogenated in one bed while catalyst is regenerated in the adjacent bed. Coking caused significant loss of catalytic activity. Without the membrane, an initial conversion of Xeq=0.24 decreased to 0.14 during the first 100 min on stream and 0.12 after 250 minutes. In the membrane reactor, "propane conversion decreased from 0.34 initially to about 0.2" within the first 50 minutes. The faster rate of deterioration in the membrane reactor was due to faster coke formation as a result of the lower H2 concentration.
Besser et al., in "Hydrocarbon Hydrogenation and Dehydrogenation Reactions in Microfabricated Catalytic Reactors," which appeared on the internet at attila.stevens-tech.edu/˜xouyang/research.htm, reported on hydrogenation and dehydrogenation of cyclohexane through 0.1 mm×0.1 mm microchannels containing a 20 nm thick Pt layer. The authors observed that the dehydrogenation would not proceed unless some H2 was present initially. The authors also reported that higher temperatures favored dehydrogenation and that above 120° C., a transformation in catalyst conditions occurs which leads to a decline in activity. The authors observed a strong effect of residence time on benzene yield, with increased production at higher residence times. Other than the above-mentioned decrease in catalytic activity above 120° C., this paper does not provide data on coking or the stability of the catalytic system; however, since the experiments were conducted with fresh reactors and data was acquired "as rapidly as possible" to minimize time dependent effects, it appears that the reactors degraded quickly.
Jones et al., briefly reported on the dehydrogenation of pure cyclohexane in a microreactor in which the feed pressure was 150 kPa while the exit pressure was 1 Pa, with a residence time of 1.125 seconds. Conversions were either 7-9% or 2-3%.

Dehydrogenation reactions in narrow reaction chambers and integrated reactors


The present invention provides an optical pickup actuator, in which a pair of lenses, e.g., BD lens and DVD lens, are loaded on one pickup to record/reproduce information on/from optical discs having various write capacities such as BD (Blu-ray disc), CD, DVD and the like, by which drive and system configurations can be simplified, and by which the facilitation of the system configuration and high sensitivity of the actuator are provided since there exist no sensitivity deviations of tracking and focusing between BD and CD or DVD actuators.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical pickup actuator, in which a pair of lenses, e.g., BD lens and DVD lens, are loaded on one pickup to record/reproduce information on/from optical discs having various write capacities such as BD (Blu-ray disc), CD, DVD and the like, by which drive and system configurations can be simplified, and by which the facilitation of the system configuration and high sensitivity of the actuator are provided since there exist no sensitivity deviations of tracking and focusing between BD and CD/DVD actuators.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Currently, DVD (digital versatile disc) having a single-side recording capacity of 4.7 GB and 0.74 μm track pitch is on the market as an optical information storage disc of a large capacity. Yet, in case of writing about 135-minute HD (high definition) moving picture information on DVD, at least 23 GB recording capacity is needed.
In order to write such a large volume of data, a blue purple light source having a wavelength shorter than that of a previous red light source has been provided to develop the Blu-ray disc (hereinafter abbreviated BD) on which information can be recorded and reproduced using the blue purple light source.
Meanwhile, in order to raise a numerical aperture (NA) of an objective lens, a high-NA lens should be used.
Since BD uses a high-NA lens designed to have a focus fitted on a recording surface of 0.1 mm thickness, there exists compatibility problem in using the BD lens for another optical disc such as CD, DVD, or the like, which has a recording surface thickness different from that of BD.
Namely, spherical aberration (SA) generated from a distance variation between recording surfaces, coma aberration (CA) generated from a tilt of an optical disc (e.g., surface vibration, etc.), astigmatism (AS) by defocus, and the like bring about degradation of optical characteristics.
Moreover, the lens for CD or DVD is also needed in addition to the lens for BD for securing compatibility with various kinds of optical discs due to such a problem as the difference of optical power (write power) and the like.
For such reasons, a pair of optical pickups are loaded on one drive in a manner of configuring separately the DVD or CD optical pickup and the BD optical pickup.
However, the above-configured drive fails to avoid the increase of its overall configuration size as well as product cost.


A method of producing an aggregate of hollow or solid carbon fibers is provided, which comprises the step of (i) heating a solution comprising carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and sulfur as components; or (ii) heating a vapor of a solution comprising carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and sulfur as components in an atmosphere of a saturated vapor of the solution.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of producing a hollow or solid carbon fiber with an active surface in a solution or in an atmosphere of a saturated vapor of a solution.
2. Related Background Art
A number of hollow or solid fibers, such as a carbon nanotube (CNT), a carbon nanofiber (CNF) or a carbon fiber (CF), are known. In order to produce these fibers, it is necessary to expose a depressurized gas to a high temperature of 500° C. or more (for instance, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. H5-125619; H5-229809; H6-157016; H8-13254; H8-134724; H9-241929; 2000-95509; 2001-19413; and 2001-80913). Further, a high temperature of 900° C. or more may be necessary for producing the fibers (for instance, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-12312). Such materials have been considered to be capable of greatly improving their mechanical characteristics, electrical characteristics and the like by being combined with plastic, ceramic, rubber, metal material, or the like. Various researches have been conducted to explore this issue.
Carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, carbon fibers or the like, which can be produced by these methods, have very few active sites on the fiber surfaces, resulting in gaps between the fibers and plastic, ceramic, rubber, metal, or the like. Thus, the combinations have not been able to fully achieve the original purpose. In order to overcome these deficiencies, several methods, such as an oxidization treatment and a mechanical treatment, have been proposed as surface-activating methods (for instance, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. H5-9812; H5-179514; and H6-212517).
However, because these methods involve a heat treatment at a high temperature of 500° C. or more, they have difficulties in stably producing surface-activated carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers or carbon fibers.

Method of producing carbon fiber aggregate


An infrared decoy flare composition for generating infrared radiation, including a fuel, an oxidizing agent and a binder, wherein the decoy flare composition contains no metals or metal-containing compounds and no halogens or halogen-containing compounds. Such an infrared decoy flare composition can be particularly advantageously used in aerial infrared decoy flares for civil aircraft.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an infrared decoy flare composition material for generating infrared radiation, which can advantageously be applied in an aerial infrared decoy flare.
In the military sector, missiles, such as air-to-air and surface-to-air guided missiles, which head for and pursue infrared (IR) radiation emitted by the target, chiefly in the range between 0.8 and 5 μm, with the aid of a seeker head sensitive to IR radiation, are used for combating air targets, such as, for example, jet aircraft, helicopters and transport machines. For defence against these missiles, flares which imitate the IR signature of the target are therefore used in order to deflect approaching guided missiles. Such flares can also be used in the pre-emptive release mode in order to complicate or even prevent the detection of targets by reducing the contrast of the scene.
Pyrotechnical infrared (IR) flares are typically used in military scenarios. Recently, however, civil aircraft, too, are being threatened by IR-guided missiles. Civil aircraft are at risk in particular from so-called MANPADS (Man Portable Air Defence Systems). Typical MANPADS constituting an asymmetrical threat to civil aircraft are, for example, the SA-7, SA-14, SA-16, SA-18 and the STINGER models Basic, POST and RMP.
In contrast to military aircraft, it is believed that civil aircraft are threatened only during takeoff and landing. A threat at flying altitude (>10 000 m) would also be conceivable, but this would require weapons systems which are not directly available to terrorists, at least in peaceful regions and furthermore cannot be used with the necessary camouflage, as is the case with MANPADS. The threat to civil aircraft during takeoff and landing is particularly precarious because, in contrast to more agile small military platforms, a passenger aircraft is not capable of making tactical manoeuvres during flight in order to escape a recognized threat. In addition, an aircraft taking off has a particularly intense IR signature, which facilitates lock-on of a seeker head.
Since the time window available for the protection of civil aircraft is therefore very limited, pyrotechnical IR flares are the preferred countermeasures in the combating of IR-controlled missiles.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Conventional IR flares for military applications are, however, characterized by certain features which complicate use for the scenario described above.
Thus, the pyrotechnical compositions of conventional IR flares burn with strong commission of both visible light and smoke. Since the ejection of flares and the visibility of this measure can lead to panic among the passengers on the ground and in the air, the visual signature of such flares should be as small as possible during the day and during the night. Furthermore, it is to be feared that ejected flares may fall to the ground while burning and may cause fires there. Typical charges have a combustion time of more than 3.5 seconds, so that flares ejected close to the ground can easily fall onto the runway or in the environment of the airport while still burning.
The disadvantages of known spectrally adapted active compositions for IR flares for use for detecting civil aircraft are therefore high luminous intensity in the visual range when metals are used as performance-enhancing additives, visible traces of smoke due to the formation of condensed products, and danger of fire on the ground due to a long duration of combustion of the pyrotechnic payload.


In an image intensifier comprising an entrance faceplate, made of a material transparent to light, having a photoelectric surface, formed on a surface opposite to a light entrance surface, for photoelectrically converting incident light into an electron; and an optical fiber block, constituted by a plurality of optical fibers bundled together, having a phosphor face at an end face of each optical fiber on the light entrance side, for emitting light in response to the electron incident thereon; the photoelectric surface of the entrance faceplate and the phosphor face of the optical fiber block opposing each other, while a vacuum atmosphere being formed therebetween; the optical fiber block is provided with a pit in which an end face of a core portion of each optical fiber is recessed from an end face of a cladding portion thereof, the bottom of the pit is filled with a phosphor, the surface of this phosphor is provided with a metal back layer, the cladding portion projects from the surface of the phosphor toward the entrance surface by a predetermined height, and the projecting surface of the cladding portion is provided with a metal film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image intensifier.
2. Related Background Art
FIG. 2 is a configurational view showing a typical proximity-type image intensifier.
The image intensifier shown in FIG. 2 is constituted, successively in a row from its light entrance surface side, by a photoelectric plate 1, an microchannel plate (MCP) 2, and an optical fiber block 4. An output phosphor face 3 is formed on the surface of the optical fiber block 4 on the entrance surface side. When light is incident on the entrance surface of the photoelectric plate 1, due to photoelectric conversion, an electron is emitted from the surface of the photoelectric plate 1 opposite to the entrance surface. This electron is accelerated and amplified by the MCP 2, and then impinges on the phosphor face 3, thus emitting fluorescent light. The emitted light is guided through the optical fiber block 4 to the output side, whereby the incident light is amplified so as to yield output light. In the proximity-type image intensifier, the phosphor face 3 and the MCP 2 are disposed close to each other, thereby enhancing image reproducibility while attaining a compact configuration.
In order to improve the output resolution of the image intensifier, various proposals have been made concerning the improvement of the output phosphor face. For example, one such proposal is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-252043. According to the technique disclosed therein, as shown in FIG. 3, a core portion 42 on the entrance surface side of the optical fiber block 4 is formed with a pit 44 with respect to a cladding portion 43, and after the pit 44 is filled with a phosphor 45, a metal back layer 46 is formed on the surface on the entrance side.
In contrast to the case where a phosphor layer is uniformly applied to the whole surface of the optical fiber block on the entrance surface side, a higher ratio of light generated in the phosphor 45 is made incident on the core portion 42, and the loss caused by the light leaked into and absorbed by the cladding portion 43 can be reduced. This enhances transmission efficiency, while light from leaking into the adjacent core, thereby improving the resolution as well.
Nevertheless, the following problems may occur due to the fact that the electron is reflected on the output phosphor face. A part of the electrons accelerated from the MCP 2 are diffusely reflected by the surface of the metal back layer 46 of the phosphor face 3 when impinging thereon. FIG. 4 shows a state of this diffuse reflection. Between the MCP 2 and the phosphor face 3, an electric field is generated by virtue of a voltage applied thereto. As shown in FIG. 4, the path of the diffusely reflected electron is deflected use to this electric field. As such the electron may re-impinge on a wide area of the phosphor face 3.
Consequently, when a strong spot light enters the image intensifier, it allows a large amount of electrons to be incident on a narrow area of the phosphor face 3 from the MCP 2, and the electron, diffusely reflected on the phosphor face 3, may re-impinge on the phosphor face 3 over a much wider area than the initial incident area. As a result, a fluorescence effect may be generated in and outputted from an area wider than the incident area of the original spot light, thus deteriorating output resolution. This deterioration is commonly known as the halo phenomenon of output light.
This halo phenomenon can be reduced when the distance between the MCP 2 and the phosphor face 3 is decreased. Nevertheless, because there is a limit to the minimal distance therebetween, due to pressure resistance, it has conventionally been difficult to suppress the halo phenomenon. As such, output resolution with respect to strong spot light has been hard to improve.


A lawn mower cover device for storing and securing a lawn mower for storage or transport includes a container receiving the lawn mower to protect the lawn mower. The container has an open rear end to permit the lawn mower to be inserted into the container. A handle is coupled to the container. The handle is graspable to facilitate relocation of the container. A door is hingedly coupled to the handle. The door is selectively pivoted over the open rear end of the container to close the open rear end. A plurality of wheels is rotatably coupled to the container. The wheels roll along a support surface to facilitate relocation of the container.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to yard equipment storage devices and more particularly pertains to a new yard equipment storage device for storing and securing a lawn mower for storage or transport.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of yard equipment storage devices is known in the prior art. While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the need remains for a device that has certain improved features that allow the device to be easily transported to different location with a lawn mower positioned in the device. Additionally, the device should include a plurality of clips to allow yard care implements to be attached to device.


An electron source forming substrate comprises an insulating material film provided on a substrate surface, where an electron-emitting device is arranged. The insulating material film contains a metallic oxide and has a vacancy, so that the vacancy suppresses diffusion of Na from a substrate thereunder, thereby electron-emitting characteristic is maintained stable without adverse effect due to Na even after long time operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electron source forming substrate used in forming an electron source and to the electron source and an image forming apparatus using the substrate.
2. Related Background Art
Heretofore in the past, there have been known electron-emitting devices, which are broadly classified into two types using thermionic electron-emitting devices and cold cathode electron-emitting devices. For the cold cathode electron-emitting devices, there are available field emission type (hereinafter referred to as "FE type"), metal/insulating layer/metal type (hereinafter referred to as "MIM type"), surface conduction type electron-emitting device and the like.
As an example of the FE type, there are known those devices as disclosed in W. P. Dyke & W. W. Dolan, "Field emission", Advance in Electron Physics, 8.89 (1956) or C. A. Spindt. "Physical properties of Thin-Film Field Emission Cathodes with Molybdenium Cones", J. Appl. Phys., 47,5248 (1976) and the like.
As an example of the surface conduction type electron-emitting device type, there are known those as disclosed in M. I. Elinson, Recio Eng. Electron Phys., 10,1290 (1965) and the like.
The surface conduction type electron-emitting device utilizes a phenomenon where electron emission occurs by letting current flow in parallel with a film surface on a thin film of a small area formed on a substrate. For the surface conduction type electron-emitting device, there are reported those which use SnO2 thin film by the above described Elinson and the like, Au thin film "G. Dittmer: "Thin solid Films", 9, 317 (1972)", In2O3/SnO2 thin film "M. Hartwell and C. G. Fonstad: "IEEE Trans. ED Conf." 519 (1975)", carbon thin film "Hisashi Araki et. al: SHINNKUU Vol. 26, No. 1, 22 pages (1983)" and the like.
To utilize the above described electron-emitting device by holding an electron source arranged and constructed on a substrate inside an envelope which is kept vacuum inside, it is necessary to connect the electron source to the envelope and other members. This connection is usually performed by heating and fusion by using frit glass. The heating temperature at this time is typically approximately 400° C. to 500° C. and the time thereof is typically approximately ten minutes to one hour, which differs depending on the size of the envelope.
For the material of the envelope, in view of simplicity and reliability of the connection by frit glass and relatively inexpensive cost, soda lime glass is preferably used. Also, because a high strain point glass where a strain point is raised by replacing a part of Na by K is easy for frit connection, it can be preferably used as well. Also, with regard to the material of the substrate of the above described electron source, in view of reliability of the connection to the envelope, similarly the soda lime glass or the above described high strain point glass is preferably used.
The above described soda lime glass contains alkali element metal as its component and particularly contains the large volume of Na as Na2O. Na element is easy to diffuse by heat and, therefore, when exposed to high temperatures during a processing, Na is sometimes diffused into each type of members formed on the soda lime glass, particularly into the member constituting the electron-emitting device, thereby deteriorating its characteristics.
It was reveled that the above described influence by Na sometimes occurs, but to a lessened degree, by that much if Na content is small when the above described high strain point glass is used as the substrate of the electron source.
As means for reducing the above described influence of Na, for example, there are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-241550, EP-A-850892 an electron source forming substrate where the concentration of Na of the surface area of the side where the electron-emitting device of the substrate containing Na is at least arranged is smaller than that of other area and also an electron source forming substrate having a phosphorus containing layer.
On the other hand, however, since the substrate where the electron source is formed usually comprises the insulating material, when it is driven in a state applied with a high voltage which is used for discharging electron, a charge-up phenomenon occurs in the part where the substrate is exposed, and when there is no measure taken for this charge-up, a steady and long duration drive becomes difficult. Besides the locus of electron discharged from the electron source is disturbed and there are some cases where the elapsed time changes occur in the electron emitting characteristics.
As means for reducing the influence attributable to the charge-up described as above, for example, there are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,744 or Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-180801 that the substrate surface or the electron-emitting device surface is covered by an antistatic film having a sheet resistance of 108–1010 Ω/▭.

Electron source forming substrate, and electron source and image display apparatus using the same


A communication apparatus includes a plurality of transmitter-receivers operatively coupled together so that they are simultaneously communicatable over-the-air with one another by way of an interexchange repeater module, wherein one of such transmitter-receivers comes with a display device for providing information to the user, and a telephone connector for connecting the transmitter-receiver to the public telephone communication network. A sound-shielded headset is employed in the transmitter-receiver. This headset includes an audio input/output section with a microphone, speakers and the like, and a transmitter/receiver function section for executing signal processing tasks required for communications. Upon reception of a telephone signal, the transmitter-receiver is connected to the telephone connector by means of a cable-wiring, optical coupling or radio-wave coupling scheme providing voice communications with the outside parties. In case where the telephone connector is equipped with a known telephone set, voice communications will be available by entry of phone numbers over either external public lines or extension lines.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to telecommunication apparatus adaptable for use in noisy environments including furnace factories, sheet-metal or web production workplaces such as press-working, airplane setup/maintenance works in the airport, print/press factories, and the like, and, more particularly to voice communications apparatus capable of attaining successful transmission of voice messages and phone-calls under high noisy conditions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, portable radiotelephones using a sound-shielded headset (sound-insulated transmitter-receiver) are employed as the communication means between workers under noisy conditions full of ambient noises. One exemplary apparatus for such sound-insulated transmitter-receiver is shown in FIG. 11. In this apparatus a plurality of transmitter-receiver 2 (21, 22, . . . , 2n) are operatively coupled over-the-air to one another using radio waves by way of a repeater 1. Any audio messages sent form the repeater 1 may be heard at all of the transmitter-receivers 2 providing simultaneous multidirectional communications. A battery-charge station 3 charges the batteries of respective transmitter-receivers.
Each transmitter-receiver 2 is provided with a headset of excellent sound insulation, which consists of a pad section, a support member and others. This headset is of the headphone type containing therein a microphone, a speaker(s), and a transmitter/receiver function section. Factory workers use such headphones by putting them on their heads to enable simultaneous multidirectional conversations to be carried out attaining required voice communications among them. The microphone detects ear-bone vibrations upon occurrence of a voice message and convert it into a corresponding electrical signal.
In the case where a telephone call is made in noisy environments of relatively higher noise level, it will possibly happen that the microphone also picks up the ambient sounds making it difficult for a worker to hear his or her aimed voice messages due to masking effects of background noises. Under such conditions, it is no longer easy for a worker to accurately transfer his or her voice messages; this necessitates a called party to answer back the caller for confirmation, wasting time and effort with the result in an increase in conversation time while reducing efficiency. One prior known approach for avoiding the problems is to install telephone booths of a sealed environment; another approach is to put each telephone set at a location of relatively low noise levels. Unfortunately, such approaches cannot always offer intended advantages on occasions where there are no such spaces wide enough to permit location of the telephone booth, or on occasions where such ideally low-noise places are not available within the factory. If this is the case, it is a must to put the telephones at noisy locations, which lacks the ability to provide any satisfiable conditions for workers to telecommunicate with each other.
Incidentally, there has been long desired a specific type of telephone handset suitably adaptable for use in voice communications in noisy environments namely, the one that can be directly installed under high noisy conditions and also attain clear conversations without having to be interfered with mixture of background noises with no interruptions in intended telecommunications. On the other hand, in the so-called "sound-insulated" transmitter-receivers for use in working under noisy conditions, successful results are only be achieved by employing workers' case-by-case procedures, which expect a worker who received a telephone call to i) use a selected telephone line being exclusively connected to the repeater, ii) catch the call using a transmitter-receiver that is presently in the out-of-busy state, or iii) ask his or her associate to separately connect with the calle. It will also occur that the called party must put his/her upper body or head into a sound-shielded box within the factory in order to hook up the telephone handset; it may alternatively occur that s/he has to go out of the factory to use one of remotely located telephones in calm areas outside the factory. The prior art sound-insulated transmitter-receivers are unable to insure direct telecommunications with external telephones as linked by way of the public telecommunication networks; accordingly, it will be inevitable for workers to interrupt their own works until completion of the present conversation between the caller and the called party over telephone, or to temporarily change the work to a different kind of one that may be done without the need of attendance of the calling or called worker. In any way, this should result in a decrease in efficiency of workability.
Under high noisy circumstances it is required that, upon occurrence of failures in working machines, such information be rapidly informed to workers so that necessary recovery/repairing procedures can be applied at the earliest convenience. One example is that when a paper quality inspection device (PQD) for inspection of printing machines or a spray dampener (SD) experiences failures accidentally, the resulting printing matter will be expressly lowered in quality causing the productivity to decrease significantly. To eliminate such reduction in productivity, rapid handling for recovery is strictly required at any events.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a communications apparatus capable of retaining reliable communicationability with outside parties in situ under noisy circumstances by letting a repeater have a function of transferring information identical to any external signal inputs toward all of the transmitter-receivers operatively coupled therewith in the apparatus.
It is another object of the invention to provide a voice communications apparatus capable of allowing workers to call over telecommunication channels under noisy in-situ conditions by providing an extra function for enabling interconnectivity between sound-insulated transmitter/receivers and telephone connector devices.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a voice communications apparatus capable of attaining conversations over public or extension telecommunication lines by entering telephone numbers on part of a telephone operation panel of a telephone connector device to ensure that workers can call a target party under noisy in-situ conditions without having to move far from their original working places during operations.
It is a still another object of the invention to provide voice communications apparatus capable of immediate start of conversations in situ over telephone upon reception of a telephone call while providing as needed the possibility of simultaneous multidirectional transmission/reception of oral messages among a plurality of transmitter-receiver users concerned, to thereby suppress or eliminate degradation of efficiency otherwise occurring when a worker must move far from his or her working place for telephone calls.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a telecommunications apparatus capable of retaining security for covert conversations while preventing leakage of information content to other transmitter-receivers by forcing upon receipt of a telephone call a communication function to be interrupted between the transmitter-receiver of a called party and other transmitter-receivers, and also capable of maintaining mutual communication functions among the other transmitter-receivers to allow these transmitter-receivers to continuously remain active in telecommunications among them thus eliminating any possible interruptions in execution of works required.
It is a yet further object of the invention to provide a telecommunications apparatus capable of allowing telephone responses and call-up of a target party to be smoothly carried out by use of a specific kind of sound and/or visual indication scheme to inform the target person of the presence of a telephone call.

Simultaneous multidirectional communication apparatus


A toner container is detachably mountable on an image forming apparatus and includes a container body that contains toner therein. An agitating member is disposed within the container body and agitates the toner within the container body. First and second rotating portions rotate together with a rotary shaft of the agitating member at both end sides of the rotary shaft. The first and second rotating portions are exposed to the exterior of the container body, wherein the container body includes a first mark at a position corresponding to a predetermined position of the first rotating portion and a second mark at a position corresponding to a predetermined position of the second rotating portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toner container that is detachably mountable onto an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer or a facsimile machine, and a method of determining the abnormalities of the toner container.
2. Description of the Related Art
Up to now, fine powder toner has been used as a developer in an image forming apparatus such as an electrostatic copying machine or a printer. In the case where the toner in the image forming apparatus main body has been completely consumed, the toner is supplied to the image forming apparatus main body with the use of a toner supplying container detachably mountable on the image forming apparatus main body.
When toner is supplied to a main body of the image forming apparatus, an agitating and feeding member within a toner supplying container is rotated by a driving force from the image forming apparatus main body to feed the toner, and the toner is discharged from an opening portion bit-by-bit and then supplied to the image forming apparatus main body.
The toner supplying container main body, the agitating and feeding member disposed within the toner supply container main body, and parts such as a gear which transmits a driving force to the toner supplying container main body an the agitating and feeding member have long lifetimes and are useable even if the toner within the container has been completely consumed. In recent years, the container from which the toner has been supplied and completely consumed is increasingly collected and recycled.
However, the conventional toner container suffers from the following drawbacks.
In the case where the toner supplying container is stored for a long period of time or vibrated during transportation, whereby air around the toner within the container escapes and the toner has a high density, the rotation torque of the agitating and feeding member goes up. In the worst case, the member may be deformed and damaged.
When recycling the above-described container, there is a fear that force exerted on the toner due to a sliding friction between the agitating member and the inner wall of the container will result in the toner being fused and bonded together into coarse-grained particles (coarse particles). Also, in the case of a toner supplying container that uses a flexible elastic member for the agitating and feeding member that feeds and discharges the toner, the sliding frictional force between the elastic member and the inner wall of the container is weakened and the remaining amount of toner increases.
Also, because the toner supplying container is tightly closed due to heat or ultrasonic welding after the parts have been assembled in the interior of the container and because it is difficult to separate the parts of the toner supplying container, particularly in the small toner supplying opening or the toner filling inlet of the toner supplying container, there arises a problem where it is very difficult to recognize the abnormalities of the interior of the container from which the toner has been supplied. This is a large factor that prevents the recycling of the container. For that reason, up to now, the container has been destroyed, the parts have been extracted from the container, and the dimensions, the configurations and the like have been recognized. Even then only the parts have been recycled. Thus, the recycling is not efficient.
The present invention has been made under the above-described circumstances, and therefore an object of the present invention is to provide a toner container which is capable of readily determining abnormalities of the agitating member, such as deformation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a determining method which is capable of readily determining an abnormality of the agitating member, such as deformation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a determining method which is capable of readily determining the abnormality of the agitating member such as deformation.
Still another object of the present invention will become apparent by reading the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon consideration of the following description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Toner container and method of determining abnormality of toner container


A data processing system includes a grouping tool coupled to a processor. The grouping tool groups the stream of instructions such that each group of instructions has a dimensionless signature annotated thereto. An instruction prefetch unit of the processor fetches the stream of grouped instructions from a memory in the processor and an instruction issue logic unit of the processor identifies boundaries between the groups of instructions by executing a signature detection algorithm. In one embodiment, the data processing system includes a pipelined superscalar processor core and is capable of concurrently executing multiple instructions in the same or different pipeline stages.

A typical processor fetches or otherwise receives instructions from an external memory for subsequent execution or otherwise processing thereof. In general, instruction execution involves an address operation and/or a data operation, wherein the address operation produces an address value, typically, an address for a location in a memory, and the data operation produces a data value. Most instructions specify operations to be performed using one or more operands. An operand may be specified using one of several different types of addressing modes and may be included in the instructions themselves, or reside in either a register in the processor or in an external memory coupled to the processor.
Many modern processors employ a technique called pipelining to execute more software program instructions (instructions) per unit of time. In general, processor execution of an instruction involves fetching the instruction (e.g., from a memory system), decoding the instruction, obtaining needed operands, using the operands to perform an operation specified by the instruction, and saving a result. In a pipelined processor, the various steps of instruction execution are performed by independent units of the processor commonly referred to as pipeline stages. In the pipeline stages, corresponding steps of instruction execution are performed on different instructions independently, and intermediate results are passed to successive pipeline stages. By permitting the processor to overlap the executions of multiple instructions, pipelining allows the processor to execute more instructions per unit of time.
In general, a "scalar" processor issues instructions for execution one at a time while a "superscalar" processor is capable of issuing multiple instructions for execution at the same time. A pipelined scalar processor concurrently executes multiple instructions in different pipeline stages; the executions of the multiple instructions being overlapped in the manner described above. A pipelined superscalar processor, on the other hand, concurrently executes multiple instructions in different pipeline stages, and is also capable of concurrently executing multiple instructions in the same pipeline stage. Examples of pipelined superscalar processors include the popular Intel® Pentium® processors (Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, Calif.) and IBM® PowerPC® processors (IBM Corporation, White Plains, N.Y.).
A superscalar processor requires the grouping of multiple instructions to determine which instructions can be issued concurrently for execution at the same time. This grouping of multiple instructions increases the complexity of the grouping hardware required in the above-described processor. In a superscalar processor, the grouping of multiple instructions may be implemented by annotating grouping information into the instruction stream. Currently there are two techniques for annotating grouping information, the first known as a "grouping-bit annotation" technique and the second being known as an "end-of-group annotation" technique. The grouping-bit annotation technique reserves a bit in every instruction to mark that instruction as the end of the group. Because it reserves a bit in every instruction to denote whether or not that instruction is the end of a group, the grouping bit annotation technique makes instruction encodings less efficient. Conversely, the shortcoming of the end of group annotation technique is that the technique adds an extra instruction to each group of instructions to denote the end of that group. It would therefore be beneficial to provide an alternative way to annotate the grouping of multiple instructions in a superscalar processor without either reserving a bit within each instruction or adding additional instructions to the instruction stream.

Software-implemented grouping techniques for use in a superscalar data processing system


A terminal equipment is connected in a first optical network and connected, via a conductive path, to a predetermined one of a plurality of communication devices connected in a second optical network. The above terminal equipment includes an optical transmitter/receiver unit, a controller for controlling the above predetermined one of the communication devices in order to monitor the communication devices connected in the second optical network, and a selector unit. This selector unit transfers, via a control path coupled to the predetermined one of the communication devices, a poling signal from the first optical network to a specified one of the communication devices addressed by the poling signal, and sends back, to the first optical network, control data which shows a status of the specified one of the communication devices connected in the second optical network and which is received, via the control path, from the specified one of the communication devices.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to terminal equipment used in an optical communication system, and more particularly to an improvement in a data link process of transferring a variety of information between terminal equipments, between the terminal equipment and a repeater, or between the repeaters.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 shows a system using a conventional data link system. The system shown in FIG. 1 includes two terminal equipments 1 and 3, and a regenerative repeater 2. The terminal equipment 1 and the repeater 2 are connected to each other via an optical transmission path, and the terminal equipment 3 and the repeater 2 are coupled to each other via an optical transmission path. The terminal equipments 1 and 3 are installed in stations A and C, respectively, and the repeater 2 is installed in a station B. The system thus configured is a so-called point-to-point type optical communication system. The terminal equipments 1 and 3 have controllers 5-1 and 5-3, respectively, and the repeater has a controller 5-2. The controllers 5-1 and 5-2 are connected to each other via a control line, and the controller 5-1 and 5-3 are connected to each other via a control line. Information is transferred between the terminal equipments 1 and 3 and the repeater 2 via the optical transmission paths. Control information used for monitoring operations of the terminal equipments 1 and 3 and the repeater 2 is transferred between the controllers 5-1 and 5-2 and between the controllers 5-1 and 5-3. For example, the controller 5-1 of the terminal equipment 1 collects control data about the repeater 2 and the terminal equipment 3 output by the respective controllers 5-2 and 5-3.
The data link system shown in FIG. 1 cannot be applied to a system based on a back-to-back structure as shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, a terminal equipment 4 having a controller 5-4 is installed in the station C, and a terminal equipment 5 connected to the terminal equipment 4 via an optical transmission path is installed in a station D. The terminal equipment 5 has a controller 5-5. It should be noted that electric signals carrying information are transferred between the terminal equipments 3 and 4. It may be considered that a new optical communication system composed of the terminal equipments 4 and 5 is added to the previously used optical communication system shown in FIG. 1. The above back-to-back system is used when the terminal equipment 3 does not have an afford for accommodating another optical transmission path.
The data link system of the system shown in FIG. 2 is configured as follows. Supervisory devices 6-1-6-5 are connected to the controllers 5-1-5-5, respectively. The supervisory devices 6-1-6-5 monitor the operations of the devices 1-5, respectively. Control information collected at the supervisory devices 6-1-6-5 is transmitted, via respective modems 7-1-7-5, to a modem 8 of a centralized supervisory station. It should be noted that lines connecting between the modems 7-1-7-5 and the modem 8 are provided separately from the optical transmission lines. The control data received via the modem 8 is sent to a master supervisory device 9, which executes a remote control operation on the devices 1-5 on the basis of the collected control data.
However, the system shown in FIG. 2 has a disadvantage in that the master supervisory device 9 is provided outside of the devices 1-5 and needs an additional area for installation.

Terminal equipment and optical communication system using the same


Circuitry and complementary logic are provided to a bus controller, a number of 1:n bus signal distributors, and a number of bus interfaces of an hierarchical bus assembly for conducting data communication transactions between bus agents interconnected to the hierarchical bus assembly. The hierarchical serial bus assembly is used to serially interface a number of isochronous and asynchronous peripherals to the system unit of a computer system. These circuitry and complementary logic of the serial bus elements implement a number of elemental packets and a number of transaction protocols, employing a master/slave model of transaction flow control. Data communication transactions are conducted using the elemental packets and in accordance to the transaction protocols. In some embodiments, these circuitry and complementary logic of the serial bus elements are also used to conduct connection management transactions between the serial bus elements. The connection management transactions are conducted in like manner as the data communication transactions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of computer systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to serial buses for connecting peripherals to the system units of computer systems, including the associated controllers and interfaces.
2. Background Information
A number of interrelated considerations is making it desirable to have a single, relatively fast, bi-directional, isochronous, low-cost, and dynamically configurable serial bus for simultaneously connecting isochronous as well as asynchronous peripherals to the system unit of a desktop computer system. Isochronous peripherals are peripherals that generate real time natural data such as voice, motion video, and the like. These interrelated considerations include:
Connection of the Telephone to the Desktop Computer
It is expected that the merging of computing and communication will be the basis of the next generation of productivity applications on desktop computers. The movement of machine oriented and human oriented data types from one location or environment to another depends on ubiquitous and cheap connectivity. Unfortunately, the computing and communication industries have evolved independently. As a result, a wide range of desktop computer and telephone interconnects have to be supported.
Ease of Use
The lack of flexibility in reconfiguring desktop computers has been acknowledged as its Achilles heel to it's further development The combination of user friendly graphical interfaces and the hardware and software mechanisms associated with the new generation of system bus architectures have made desktop computers less confrontational and easier to reconfigure. However, from the enduser point of view, the desktop computer's I/O interfaces such as serial/parallel ports, keyboard/mouse/joystick interfaces, still lack the attributes of plug and play or too limiting in terms of the type of I/O devices that can be live attached/detached.
Port Expansion
The addition of external peripherals to desktop computers continues to be constrained by port availability. The lack of a bidirectional, low-cost, low to mid speed peripheral bus has held back the proliferation of peripherals like telephone/fax/modem adapters, answering-machines, scanners, personal digital assistants (PDA), keyboards, mouses, etc. Existing interconnects are optimized for one or two point products. As each new function or capability is added to the desktop computer, typically a new interface has been defined to address this need.
In other words, this desired serial bus is expected to provide low cost simultaneous connectivity for the relatively low speed 10-100 kbps interactive devices such as keyboard, mouse, stylus, game peripherals, virtual reality peripherals, and monitors, as well as the moderate speed 500-5000 kbps isochronous devices such as ISDN, PBX, POTS, and other audio devices. A multiplicity of both types of devices are expected to be connected and active at the same time, and yet the latter type of devices are provided with guaranteed latencies and bandwidths. Furthermore, the devices are expected to be hot attached and detached, with the serial interface being able to dynamically reconfigure itself without interrupting operation of the desktop computer system.
There are several technologies that are commonly considered to be serial buses for connecting peripherals to system units of computer systems. Each of these buses is designed to handle a specific range of communications between system units and peripherals. Particular examples of these buses include:
Apple.RTM. Desktop Bus (ADB): ADB is a proprietary bus of Apple Computer Inc. It is a minimalist serial bus that provides a simple read/write protocol to up to 16 devices. Only basic functions are required of the controller and interface hardware. Thus, the implementation cost is expected to be low. However, ADB supports data rates only up to 90 kbps, just enough to communicate with asynchronous desktop devices such as keyboards and mouses. It is not capable of simultaneously supporting the moderate speed isochronous devices discussed earlier.
Access.bus (A.b): A.b is developed by the Access.bus Industry Group. It is based on the I.sup.2 C technology of Philips Corporation and a software model of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). A.b is also designed primarily for asynchronous devices such as keyboards and mouses. However A.b is generally considered to be more versatile than ADB. A.b's protocol has well defined specifications for dynamic attach, arbitration, data packets, configuration and software interface. Moderate amount of functions are required of the controller and interface hardware. Thus, the implementation cost is only marginally competitive for the desired desktop application. While addressing is provided for up to 127 devices, the practical loading is limited by cable lengths and power distribution considerations. Revision 2.2 specifies the bus for 100 kbps operation, but the technology has headroom to go up to 400 kbps using the same separate clock and data wires. However, at 400 kbps, A.b still falls short in meeting the requirements of the moderate speed isochronous devices.
IEEE's P1394 Serial Bus Specification (aka FireWire): FireWire is a high performance serial bus. It is designed primarily for hard disk and video peripherals, which may require bus bandwidth in excess of 100 Mbps. It's protocol supports both isochronous and asynchronous transfers over the same set of 4 signal wires, broken up as differential pairs of clock and data signals. Thus, it is capable of simultaneously meeting the requirements of low speed interactive as well as moderate speed isochronous devices. However, elaborate functions are required of the controller and interface hardware, rendering FireWire to be non-price competitive for the desired desktop application. Moreover, the first generation of devices, based on FireWire's specification, are only just becoming available in the market.
The Concentration Highway Interface (CHI): CHI is developed by American Telephone & Telegraph Corporation (AT&T) for terminals and digital switches. It is a full duplex time division multiplexed serial interface for digitized voice transfer in a communication system. The protocol consists of a number of fixed time slots that can carry voice data and control information. The current specification supports data transfer rates up to 4,096 Mbps. The CHI bus has 4 signal wires: Clock, Framing, Receive Data, and Transmit Data. Both, the Framing and the Clock signals are generated centrally (i.e. PBX switch). Thus, it is also capable of simultaneously meeting the requirements of low speed interactive as well as the moderate speed isochronous devices. Similar to FireWire, elaborate functions are also required of the controller and interface hardware. As a result, CHI is also non-price competitive for the desired desktop application.
As will be disclosed in more detail below, the present invention provides the desired serial bus assembly, including its associated controller, bridging connectors and interfaces, that advantageously overcomes the limitations of the prior art serial buses in a novel manner.

M&A for exchanging date, status and commands over an hierarchical serial bus assembly using communication packets


A device having an adjustable handle and head is provided, and the device comprises: a pair of handles having opposing top and bottom ends, the top end of each of the handles having a U-shaped component; a head comprising a first and second component, each of the components having opposing top and bottom ends, the top end of each of the components having at least one contact surface, the bottom end of each of the components comprising a protrusion, and the protrusion has a plurality of external slots; the U-shaped component of the handles are designed to interact with the protrusion of the bottom end of each of the first and second components of the head, and the first and second components are connected at a pivot point; and a device for engaging the slots of the protrusion to thereby allow movement of the head and lock the head to a desired position, and the handles are designed to be squeezed together to thereby allow the contact surfaces of the first and the second top ends of the first and second components to move towards one another.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a clamping, cutting and/or clipping apparatus and more particularly, pliers and snips with adjustable head, adjustable head angles, adjustable handles and locking devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are various patents covering pliers type device with adjustable head angles. These pliers have a head and a pair of handles wherein the head is pivotally attached to the handles to allow movement of the heads in different angles. U.S. Pat. No. 6,370,992 to Shih-Kuei relates to pliers with moveable heads and heads have a lug attached to projections of handles and are pivotally attached to one another. U.S. Pat. No. 6,941,846 to Hsien relates to pliers having a head with u-shaped ends pivotally attached to protrusions of handles to allow for movement of the head and the handles have arcuate concave resting portions.
There are also various patents that cover ratchets and ratchet wrenches with adjustable angles. These ratchet devices have a handle and a head wherein the head is pivotably attached to the handle to allow for movement of the head in different angles. U.S. Pat. No. 3,779,107 to Avery relates to a ratchet wrench with a fork-shaped handle and a moveable head. U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,608 to Shieh provides for a ratchet wrench with an adjustable head angle. Shieh uses a Y-shaped handle attached to a head with two gears engaging one another to allow for the adjustable head angle. U.S. Pat. No. 6,895,839 to Hsien relates to a control mechanism for adjusting the head of a ratchet wrench and the control mechanism uses a polygonal shaped hole and corresponding portion on a pin. U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,125 to Lan relate to angle adjustable ratchet wrenches.
Unlike the prior art, the present invention provides for pliers and clippers as well as clamping and cutting devices with adjustable heads and handles as well as different control mechanism for movement and locking of the head.

Clamping and cutting apparatus with adjustable head


Biocontainers, as well as methods and platforms for rocking the biocontainers, are disclosed.

Cell culturing is used for a variety of applications, e.g., in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry to produce, for example, antibodies, proteins, vaccines, and gene therapy products. Typically, for processing fluids with volumes of more than 1 or 2 liters, e.g., for processing fluids with volumes of about 10 liters or more, for example, about 20 to about 500 liters, or more, bioreactors are used.
However, there is a need in the art for bioreactors and systems that provide improved mixing (e.g., of oxygen, pH, and/or the substrate) while minimizing damage to the cells. These and other advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the description as set forth below.


A pharmaceutical composition for treating acne includes eicosapentaenoic acid and .alpha.-linolenic acid, in a weight ratio of 1:0.1 to 20.0 of eicosapentaenoic acid to .alpha.-linolenic acid, respectively, and, optionally, vitamin E as an antioxidant. Eicosapentaenoic acid and .alpha.-linolenic acid, which are effective components of the composition of the present invention, may be extracted from natural substances such as fish oil and perilla oil, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition for treating acne. More particularly, the present invention relates to a therapeutic composition for treating acne, which includes eicosapentaenoic acid and .alpha.-linolenic acid.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Pharmaceutical compositions for treating acne generally include ointments containing synthetic chemicals, especially hormones, as an active ingredient, and are well known in the art. However, such prior art compositions suffer from a number of disadvantages such as, for example, (a) the application thereof results in greatly different skin reactions for every patient and, therefore, each composition must be carefully selected, (b) the compositions may cause severe allergic reactions and thus complicate the skin problems rather than treat the acne, and (c) when the treatment is discontinued, acne readily reoccurs.
The specific cause of acne is not yet clearly identified. It is only well known that the cause of inflammatory skin conditions such as acne, etc., is leukotrienes B.sub.4, C.sub.4, D.sub.4, E.sub.4 and the like, produced by the degradation of arachidonic acid, which is a constituent of phospholipids present in the skin endothelium. This is caused by the action of several enzymes such as, for example, 5-lipoxygenase, glutathione peroxidase, hydrolase, glutamyl transferase, glutamyl transpeptidase, dipeptidase, etc. In addition, it has been disclosed that the other cyclooxygenase enzymatic degradation products, i.e., prostaglandin E.sub.2 and thromboxane B.sub.2, may cause skin inflammation.
Furthermore, patients may produce skin-sensitive degradation products because of their health condition. Such degradation products may also act as one of the causes of skin acne or of the worsening of the acne condition. Among the above-mentioned causes, it is commonly and clearly recognized that arachidonic acid, as the primary degradation product of skin phospholipids, is decomposed to produce several degradation products which act as causes of acne.
Phospholipids present in the cell membrane of the facial skin tissue contain a great quantity of arachidonic acid. Arachidonic acid is converted into free arachidonic acid by the action of phospholipase A.sub.2 and then is metabolized by cyclooxygenase to produce 2-series prostaglandins, and then by lipoxygenase to produce 4-series leukotrienes. Among these metabolites, particularly prostaglandin E.sub.2, thromboxane B.sub.2, leukotrienes B.sub.4, C.sub.4, D.sub.4, E.sub.4 and the analogs thereof, may act as the cause of numerous inflammatory conditions in human body.
For example, Simmons et al (Biochemistry and Pharmacology, 1983) and Haworth et al (Inflammatory Mediators, 1985) have demonstrated that leukotriene B.sub.4 is present in large quantity in acute inflammatory tissue. In addition, Robinson et al (Prostaglandins, 1975) have reported that prostaglandin E.sub.2 is the cause of inflammatory conditions. Accordingly, extensive studies have been conducted to find a method for preventing the binding of arachidonic acid to cell membrane phospholipids and inhibiting the production of eicosanoids from arachidonic acid.
Thus, Yoe et al (Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 1989a), who are also the inventors of the present invention, showed that a drastic reduction in the amount of arachidonic acid in cell membranes could be achieved by replacing arachidonic acid (an n-6 fatty acid) with eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), which is an n-3 fatty acid. Also, Yeo et al have demonstrated the substitution effect of eicosapentaenoic acid for arachidonic acid by confirming that the biosynthesis of arachidonic acid significantly decreases while the biosynthesis of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid greatly increases from the examination of the synthesis of various fatty acids in experimental animals (Sprague-Dawley rats) to which eicosapentaenoic acid is administered and then (.sup.3 H) glycerol is injected.

Pharmaceutical composition for treating acne


The present disclosure provides an embodiment of a reflective mask that includes a substrate; a reflective multilayer disposed on the substrate; an anti-oxidation barrier layer disposed on the reflective multilayer and the anti-oxidation barrier layer is in amorphous structure with an average interatomic distance less than an oxygen diameter; and an absorber layer disposed on the anti-oxidation barrier layer and patterned according to an integrated circuit layout.

The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has experienced exponential growth. Technological advances in IC materials and design have produced generations of ICs where each generation has smaller and more complex circuits than the previous generation. In the course of IC evolution, functional density (i.e., the number of interconnected devices per chip area) has generally increased while geometry size (i.e., the smallest component or line that can be created using a fabrication process) has decreased. This scaling down process generally provides benefits by increasing production efficiency and lowering associated costs. Such scaling down has also increased the complexity of processing and manufacturing ICs and, for these advances to be realized, similar developments in IC processing and manufacturing are needed. In one example associated with lithography patterning, a photomask to be used in a lithography process has a circuit pattern defined thereon and is to be transferred to wafers. A reflective mask is used during extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography process to form an integrated circuit having smaller feature size. However, the existing reflective mask is vulnerable to manufacturing fabrication, such as oxidation, and is easily damaged.
Therefore, what are needed are the reflective mask and the method making the same to address the above issues.

High durability extreme ultraviolet photomask

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.


A phase-locked loop circuit for providing external clock signals to a processor is disclosed. The phase-locked loop circuit includes a phase/frequency detector, a voltage-control oscillator, and two charge pumps. The phase/frequency detector receives an input reference signal and provides a first differential output and a second differential output. The voltage-controlled oscillator has a feed-forward current input and is utilized to generate an output clock signal, wherein the output clock signal is also utilized as a feedback signal for the phase/frequency detector. The first charge-pump, coupled between the phase/frequency detector and the voltage-controlled oscillator, receives the first and second differential outputs from the phase/frequency detector and provides a differential voltage control signal for the voltage-controlled oscillator. The second charge pump is utilized to produce a stable system response by increasing the loop dumping.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to electronic circuits in general, and in particular to an electronic circuit for providing clock signals. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a phase-locked loop circuit for providing external clock signals to a processor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electronic circuits for providing clock signals are utilized in a wide assortment of digital devices and components. For example, within a computer system, processor(s) and other components such as random access memories, utilize clock signals to synchronize various operations. As the operating frequency of processors becomes higher and higher, approaching 1 GHz and beyond, it becomes increasingly difficult to provide an external clock signal having the same frequency as the processor clock. The recent trend is to alleviate this problem by utilizing a phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit to supply an external clock signal.
In the prior art, a PLL circuit typically includes a phase/frequency detector, a low-pass filter, and a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO). The phase/frequency detector compares two input signals, namely, a reference signal (from an external system clock) and a feedback signal, to generate a phase error signal that is a measure of their phase difference. The phase error signal from the phase/frequency detector is filtered by the low-pass filter and fed into the control input of the VCO. The VCO then generates a periodic signal with a frequency controlled by the filtered phase error signal. The VCO output is coupled to the feedback input of the phase/frequency detector, thereby forming a feedback loop. If the frequency of the feedback signal is not equal to the frequency of the reference signal, the filtered phase error signal causes the VCO frequency to shift toward the frequency of the reference signal, until the VCO finally locks onto the frequency of the reference signal. Phase acquisition follows in a similar manner. The output of the VCO is then utilized as a clock signal for a processor.
Although a PLL circuit allows an external clock source of a relatively low frequency to be utilized for clock signal synthesis, jitter is also added to the synthesized clock signals during the process. In fact, it is very difficult to control these high frequency PLL jitters due to the high intrinsic sensitivity of the VCO to process, environment, and noise, along with the proportionally smaller timing budget allowance. Consequently, it is desirable to provide an improved PLL design that reduces high frequency PLL jitter.

High frequency phase-locked loop circuit having reduced jitter

International Business Machines Corporation


A pair of connected joints in a master-slave robotic system each operated by a plurality of force imparting means. Such force imparting means for the second joint imparts force thereto at an acute angle. A third joint is used with a flexible drive tape partly internal thereto. A gripping system having an orthogonally rotatable base effector is supported by this joint using a pair of linear actuators to position the base effector as desired. A counterpart system having an orthogonally rotatable base follower orthogonally rotatable on a pair of linear actuators uses the actuators to null out forces occurring thereon.

The present invention relates to controlled motion mechanical members used as a mechanical manipulator and, more particularly, to a motion controllable, anthropomorphic mechanical manipulator providing some of the capabilities of an upper human torso.
A need for increased automation in the workplace, especially in those workplace environments unsuitable for humans, and a desire to increase the use of animated figures depicting humans or other characters often in entertainment situations, has led to substantial efforts in the development of robotics. As a result, substantial advances have occurred in many aspects of robotics.
An important aspect in robotics is the controlling of mechanical manipulators, the portion of a robot used to change the position or orientation of selected objects. In may instances, such manipulators are desired to have motion capabilities similar to those of a human chest, shoulder, arm, wrist and hand, or portions thereof.
Providing a mechanical manipulator simulating such portions of the human torso presents a difficult design problem. The chest and back portions of a human supporting a shoulder blade can be considered to have two degrees-of-freedom in motion possibilities available to it, and the shoulder ball and socket joint supporting the arm can be considered to have three degrees-of-freedom in motion possibilities available to it. In addition, the elbow can be considered to have a single degree-of-freedom in its possible motion and the wrist can be considered to have three degrees-of-freedom in motion possibilities available for it. Finally, the human palm can be considered to have a degree-of-freedom in its relative motion possibilities while the fingers and thumb thereon can be considered to have four degrees-of-freedom in the motion possibilities thereof.
A number of mechanical joints or mechanical manipulators have been proposed which attempt to exhibit the motion possibilities of the corresponding human joints, and some of these proposals have actually achieved corresponding capabilities to a significant degree. These joints typically have a base on which one side of the joint is fastened, and from which a force imparting arrangement is provided to operate movable members in this fastened portion of the joint. Mechanical transmission arrangements then couple this motion on this fastened side of the joint to the controlled side of the joint to cause that portion to correspondingly move.
However, such joints have often been constructed using a substantial number of parts causing significant expense, and with the result that they are often difficult to assemble. Further, such joints often fail to have the controlled portion thereof exhibit the desired dexterity and range of motion. In addition, the construction have often exhibited bulky geometries which do not appear much like those of the human counterparts. Also, control of the controlled side of the joint has often been insufficient in the operator not having convenient controlling arrangements available. Thus, there is desire to joint arrangements overcoming such deficiencies so that a human look-alike upper torso and arm mechanical manipulator can be provided with motion possibilities substantially equivalent to that of the upper human torso and arm.


Disclosed is a system for automatically accessing an account and routing speech to text converted communication to a predetermined text capable device based on user identification. A user placing a call into a communications server is automatically identified based on Caller ID. The user has an account with information unique to that user that includes text capable destinations. The user transmits a voice message to the communications server which is converted to text and automatically routed to a predetermined text capable destination, such as fax machines or email addresses, for example, based on user identification.

Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) technology has evolved continuously over the past several decades. However, error rates in a ideal system that performs conversion of human speech to digital text, or that performs recognition of discrete human speech utterances, remain fundamentally dependent upon a number of performance factors including, the desired degree of speaker independence, the desired size of the vocabulary of words or phases to be recognized, and the allowable time separation between spoken words.
In a non-ideal, physically realizable speech recognition system, further errors are introduced by equipment and processes used to capture, transmit, and process human speech include audio noise, distortion, frequency and phase response, sampling, quantization, and digital signal processing errors, transmission errors and latency introduced by a communication system used to convey speech information from the speaker to the conversion system.
The cost of speech recognition in realizable systems increases dramatically with desired performance, particularly when performance goals are high across multiple performance factors. Moreover, interactive applications requiring rapid speech recognition are more costly to implement than non-interactive applications. Realization costs are mitigated when processing time can be extended, as in non-interactive applications.
Single-speaker-dependent systems, in which training time is allowed for both phonetic recognition and for establishing personal vocabularies and word use patterns, i.e. grammar rules, can greatly reduce errors. Such system are not, however, inherently lower in cost. To the contrary, personalization of the conversion process usually entails additional hardware and software requirements.
Traditional speech recognition applications have not been broadly accepted. Directory services and customer care call centers have implemented automated speech recognition (ASR) systems using limited, pre-defined vocabularies to automate information retrieval or perform context-sensitive interactive dialog with callers over the telephone. These systems seek to perform speech recognition for any caller over a telephony connection, and do not generally perform well due to the large variations between speech patterns. Errors induced by telephony equipment and networks also contribution to the poor performance of these systems. Telephony applications of ASR are particularly challenging due to the limited sample rate and digitizing resolution of telephony CODECs (coder/decoders), and the high potential for transmission errors. Mobile telephony further introduces higher ambient noise from the use of mobile handsets.
Speaker-dependent speech recognition software is currently commercially available for free-standing computers such as desktop PCs, but such software has received only limited acceptance, mainly by handicapped individuals, specialized hands-free industrial automation and customer service applications. For the vast majority of desktop computer users, simply typing narrative information as text using a standard keyboard is far superior to ASR. Graphical user interfaces and pointing devices make the navigation and selection of context-sensitive interactive applications straight-forward as well, minimizing the need for speech recognition for selecting command options.
A rather successful, single-speaker-dependent, limited vocabulary, high word separation ASR application is available in current generation mobile telephones. Speech commands can be recognized by mobile phones that compare a prior audible entry with a current spoken entry to retrieve a specific phone number. This application has the advantages of being single speaker-dependent, using a small vocabulary and may require a relatively unnatural time separations between spoken words.
Extending the application described in current generation mobile telephones to the more general application of converting narrative natural speech to text, or reliably detecting a wide variety of context-sensitive or insensitive commands, remains very difficult to accomplish, particularly within a handheld or portable device. Conversion of natural narrative speech having very large and usually very specialized vocabularies, with short and sometimes indiscernible spoken word intervals, remains a technical challenge for even the most advanced and powerful speech recognition systems. Today, and for the foreseeable future, such natural and flexible narrative speech conversion will require, even for a single speaker-dependent system, powerful computing systems running complex software.
The pervasive availability of public wireless telephony and wireless information networks has increased the demand for, and the utility of, speech recognition functionality in handheld computing and mobile phones. Such devices are designed for real time voice communication, and for viewing digital text and graphical information such as email and web pages. However, these devices remain particularly difficult to use for the entry of text information due to the small physical size, and the context of use, which is usually in a mobile scenario, such as use while walking, driving, or traveling.
Text entry is extremely difficult in these situations. Numeric keys (0 thru 9) are tedious to use for alpha character entry. So-called qwerty keyboards, which are available in these units, are relatively small and are suitable only for limited entry of text. Handwriting recognition software using touch-screen displays has received only modest acceptance due to its poor error rate and the unnatural means required for drawing recognizable characters. Reliable speech recognition would be of great benefit to these devices. However, today, and perhaps for the foreseeable future, such devices lack the computing power to implement narrative natural speech to text conversion.


The arrangement relates to bit lines which are widened to form contact surfaces (11, 21, 31, 41, 51) at the contacts (10, 20, 30, 40, 50) to underlying cells, the contacts being arranged in an at least a three-fold stagger. A minimum space requirement is achieved in conjunction with increased reliability when the distance b.sub.Sp between edges of adjacent bit lines has the same value everywhere, and the contact surfaces can thereby be enlarged.

The present invention relates to a bit line arrangement for integrated circuits.
In integrated circuits, in particular DRAM semiconductor memories, the (memory) cells are contacted by means of bit lines, one bit line enabling access to a row of cells. The prescribed arrangement of the cells therefore determines the arrangement of these contacts. In this case, either each cell has its own contact to the overlying bit line, or two adjacent cells are connected to the bit line via one contact. Correspondingly, the distance between two successive contacts of the same bit line is one or two cell lengths. Both for production engineering reasons and for electrical reasons, it is generally necessary to widen the bit line to form a contact surface in the environment of the contacts, while at the same time trying to achieve a minimum space requirement.
FIG. 1 diagrammatically depicts a bit line arrangement corresponding to the prior art. The bit lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 extend in a first direction, which is defined by the rectilinear connection between contacts of the same bit line, over (represented only for the bit line 5) cells 52, and have contacts 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 via which they are each connected to one or two of the cells. The bit lines are widened to form contact surfaces 11, 21, 31, 41, 51 in an area of the contacts, in order to ensure adequate electrical contact even in the case of misadjustment of the bit lines with respect to the contacts (which are generally realized by contact holes in an underlying insulating layer). For process engineering reasons, in particular, (resolution in the phototechnical patterning of the bit lines), the distances between adjacent bit lines or their edges cannot be less than a specific minimum value b.sub.sp. The minimum distance is between a contact surface and the adjacent bit line edge (see FIG. 1; the contacts are arranged in this case in a 4-fold stagger that is the contacts of adjacent bit lines are shifted by 1/4 pitch. In a 3-fold stagger the contacts of adjacent bit lines are shifted by 1/3 pitch). In such a conventional arrangement, it is not possible, given a prescribed minimum distance b.sub.sp, to further reduce the space requirement without reducing the contact surface or the width b.sub.B of the bit line outside the contact surface which results in lower reliability.

Bit line arrangement for integrated circuits


An improved exercise walking stick for hand-held or strap-on use by a walker which simultaneously provides a walker or jogger with an enhanced adjustable muscular and aerobic workout, a means for enhancing the walker's visibility, and a means of protecting the walker against unwanted aggressors such as thieves or animals.

The benefits of low-impact aerobic exercises have become well known to exercise enthusiasts over the past several years. Sports such as walking, swimming, and bicycling offer many of the same benefits as high impact forms of exercise, but do not place as much strain on the participant's body. Walking has always been advocated as a beneficial health measure, and is currently the most popular form of exercise. In fact, recent polls show that some 100 million people walk for exercise. Low impact walking exercises provide a means of exercise for nearly everyone, regardless of age or cardiovascular condition. Walking exercises serve to strengthen the heart and lungs, making them work more efficiently. Studies have shown that this easy to perform, natural activity can provide powerful health benefits including reduced anxiety, weight loss, reduced cholesterol levels, controlled hypertension, improved cardiovascular health, and slowed aging. Walking exercises also improve muscle and skeletal strength, particularly in the walker's arms and legs. Walking exercises much of the walker's body to at least some extent, though walkers have found it advantageous to enhance the workout to the walker's upper body and to increase the muscular workout available to the walker's lower body. The recent increase in interest and participation in walking exercises has led to the development of exercising accessories to be used in conjunction with a walker's or light jogger's workout. More particularly, walkers have desired to incorporate into their walking routine some form of enhanced muscular exercise, allowing them to build muscle mass to a greater extent than if they were walking unassisted. To this end, walkers have in the past carried free weights while they walk in order to provide some upper body muscular workout during their walking routine.
One drawback to walking exercises is the fact that it is usually practiced outdoors. Thus, the walker's security is entirely dependent on the security of the walker's neighborhood. Even those who exercise in a health club or gym can place themselves at risk when they walk from the gym to their car or to a bus stop after dark. Likewise, if the walker is walking outdoors after sundown, they always run the risk of a dangerous confrontation with traffic if they are not properly illuminated. To alleviate these problems, walkers will at times carry a simple walking stick which can serve to provide some means of defense against would be attackers, and a flashlight to indicate their presence to traffic.


A post-processing apparatus which has a trimming apparatus for trimming an edge of sheets to make booklets, wherein the trimming apparatus has an inserting means for insertion of sheets into trimming process section of the trimming apparatus, an edge sustaining member and an edge holding member for pinching the vicinity of the edge of the sheet during the trimming process and a shifting means to make the opening size variable for receiving sheets by changing the relative position between the edge holding member and the edge sustaining member and a controller for controlling the shifting means to change the opening size between the edge holding member and the edge sustaining member according to the number of the sheets to be trimmed.

The present invention relates to a post-processing apparatus which makes booklets by trimming an edge of sheets, and an image-forming apparatus equipped with the post-processing apparatus.
There has been used in the printing industry, a post-processing apparatus equipped with a trimming apparatus for aligning an edge by trimming the edge of sheets of paper after some processes such as a center-folding process and a saddle-stitching process of the sheets.
Lately, there has been provided a post-processing apparatus equipped with a trimming apparatus for aligning an edge by trimming the edge of sheets of paper, to which processes such as a center-folding process and a saddle-stitching process of the sheets have been carried out after receiving sheets on which images were formed by image-forming apparatuses such as a copying machine and a printer.
Apparatuses described below are known as a trimming apparatus mentioned above.
FIG. 11 shows a cross-sectional view of the main parts of trimming apparatus 900 which trims an edge of sheets S to which a center-folding and a saddle-stitching have been carried out.
The numeral 901 represents an upper blade which moves vertically and trims uneven edges of sheets S in cooperation with a lower blade 902 which is fixed to the body.
The numeral 903 represents an edge holding member which holds a portion of the sheets S near the edge, and is urged by spring 904 in conjunction with a lowering motion of the upper blade 901 so as to hold the portion of the sheets S to prevent the sheets S from sliding.
The numeral 905 represents a fold-holding means to eliminate a swell of the sheets around the fold.
The numeral 906 represents a stopper to stop sheets S fed to the trimming position by inserting means 907 and 908 at the prescribed position.
By means of the above-mentioned structure, the sheets S are inserted into the trimming position by inserting means 907 and 908, and fold-holding means 905 lowers to eliminate a swell of the sheets around the fold when the sheets contact the stopper 906 and stop there.
Subsequently, upper blade 901 trims uneven edges of the sheets S in cooperation with lower blade 902, after the upper blade 901 lowers and a portion of sheets near the edge is held by edge holding member 903.
Post-processing apparatuses equipped with trimming apparatuses of this kind have been disclosed (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).
[Patent Document 1] TOKKAI 2000-198613
The number of sheets on which an edge trimming is carried out is extensive from a small number (for example, about five before being folded) to a large number (for example, about fifty before being folded) and a large force is necessary for pressing edge holding member 903 to prevent the sheets from sliding during the trimming because a large force is necessary to cut sheets when a large number of sheets are trimmed.
However, according to the structure described in Patent Document 1, there are cases, in which the trimmed face is not even, caused by sliding of sheets when a large number of sheets are treated, because a portion of sheets near the edge is held by force of spring 904.
For preventing this problem, there is an idea to move edge holding member 903 by a driving means independent from one for upper blade 901.
In this case, although increase of power of the driving motor used for driving means can be considered to increase pressing force of edge holding member 903, it is not expedient because of an increase of electricity consumption, upsizing of the body and a raise in cost increase.
Accordingly, it is preferable to use a motor as small as possible and to obtain demanded pressing force for edge holding member 903, through gear reduction.
When the ratio of the gear reduction is large, the traveling speed of the edge holding member 903 is lowered and it causes a problem that it takes long to hold the sheets S, and therefore, the traveling time of edge holding member 903 may become longer than the process time of the upstream side of the post-processing apparatus or the process time of the image-forming apparatus, leading to the decline of productivity when the number of the sheets is small.

Post-processing trimming apparatus and image-forming apparatus

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.