A method for providing a maintenance environment for computer program code is disclosed. According to the method, portions of the computer program code are selectively stored and one or more lists of the stored portions are created. Links are created between the lists and the stored portions of the computer program code for navigational purposes. A system for providing a maintenance environment for computer program code and a computer program product for the same purpose are also disclosed.

Cross System Product (CSP) is a form of procedural programing language, designed as a strategic application generator, by IBM, to provide consistent development and execution environments across multiple hardware platforms and operating systems. The CSP environment is very user friendly for application development and saves coding time by about 70%. However, maintenance of applications developed in CSP is not as easy as the development process in that environment. This is mainly because of the manner in which CSP is structured. CSP is a form of procedural programing language.
A CSP application program consists of various objects such as records, statement groups, processes, tables etc. The program code is written as a sequence of processes and statement groups. A typical application program has one or more main processes that call other processes or statement groups. These may, in turn, call other processes and/or statement groups.
An extract of a typical CSP program is shown in FIG. 1. The process at level 001 is the main process (ie. JFBB44P-MAIN), the contents of which can be viewed by insertion of the letter 'S' in the appropriate position in the SEL column, as shown in FIG. 1, followed by a carriage return (i.e. pressing the "Enter" key).
The content of the main process, which contains calls to other processes and statement groups, is shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. To view and/or edit any particular process or statement group, a user is required to first return to the higher level structure list screen of FIG. 1 and then manually input the name of the particular process or statement group to be viewed and/or edited. A return to the higher level structure list screen of FIG. 1 is performed by pressing "PF3", a pre-defined computer keyboard function key. Selection of the process JFBB44P-EYE-INIT for viewing and/or editing is, as described above, shown at the top of FIG. 2A.
The above process will have to be repeated while navigating through the CSP program. If the program is large, with numerous sub-levels, navigation becomes even more difficult.
Viewing and/or editing any other objects like records or tables, necessitates returning to the list processor screen (this screen comes before the structure list screen shown in FIG. 1) for inputting of the name of the particular object.
These inherent difficulties make analysis and maintenance of program code developed in CSP a laborious task.
Consequently, a need clearly exists for an improved method and/or apparatus for analysis and maintenance of code written in CSP and other procedural languages that substantially overcomes or at least ameliorates one or more deficiencies of existing arrangements.

Navigation in computer software applications developed in a procedural language

International Business Machines Corporation


A wildfowl decoy has an improved anchor storage system including a cavity within the body of the waterfowl decoy for receiving and storing an anchor. Vertical walls and a recessed area within the cavity prevent horizontal dislodgment of the anchor. A retaining mechanism engages the anchor to prevent vertical movement of the anchor thus preventing an accidental removal. The anchor may be easily removed when intentional removal is desired.

This invention generally relates to devices adapted to be anchored and more specifically to wildfowl decoys having improved anchor weight storage.
Wildfowl decoys have by tradition, utilized various methods to store an anchor weight when not in use. Most of these systems rely on wrapping an anchor line around the decoy body or around the keel of the decoy, to store the line. An attempt is then made to secure the anchor in some manner. One method wraps the anchor line around the body or keel of the decoy, then wraps the last portion of the line around the neck of the decoy leaving the anchor free to swing or bang against the decoy body. Another system utilizes a rectangular shaped strip of lead which is bent into a "C" shape and wrapped around the neck of the decoy after the line is wrapped around the body or keel. A third method depends upon an oval shaped anchor weight of such size that it may be slipped over the head of the decoy and left to swing upon the neck after the line is wrapped around the body or keel. A fourth and somewhat similar method utilizes a saucer-shaped weight to which a loop shaped wire is attached that may be slipped over the head of the decoy. It is similarly left to swing or hang on the neck of the decoy after the line is wrapped around the body or keel.
All these systems share several common faults. They allow the paint on the decoy to be damaged by the anchor banging against the decoy because the anchor has not been stored in a secure manner. In addition, the decoy surface itself may be damaged, and will require repair. These systems allow for the decoy lines to become tangled with each other when the anchors become dislodged. Untangling decoy lines is frustrating and time consuming. When anchors are dislodged in freezing weather the decoy lines can freeze together making it difficult to untangle them, especially while wearing bulky gloves. Frozen lines are subject to fraying and breakage which may result in lost decoys, and lost hunting time while attempting to retrieve the errant decoys. It is obviously desirable to contain the decoy anchor in order to prevent damage to the decoys and anchor lines.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,923,442, does describe one viable solution to the anchor containment problem. The anchor is contained within the decoy for storage and requires several steps to ready the decoy for use. The decoy comes apart during completion of these steps complicating its assembly. It thus lacks functionality and has not been utilized in production decoys.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,951,429 describes an anchor line storage, reel mechanism. The anchor is pulled into the rear portion of the decoy for storage. The problem is the decoy must float backwards since no anchor line attachment is provided on the front of the decoy.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,268,963 describes a decoy stabilizer which can hold a decoy anchor. The anchor is externally stored and is subject to dislodgment if the decoy is thrown or dropped. The design of the anchor requires it to be light in construction to store properly. This will cause problems of maintaining the decoy in one position in windy or rough weather.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,709,866 describes an anchor retaining system utilizing a metal frame which again retains the anchor externally. The device is an add on and not an integral part of the decoy, thereby restricting its use to decoys capable of retaining screws. It is unclear whether a retaining mechanism holds the anchor in position or whether the anchor line does so. If the anchor line retains the anchor it is a disadvantage that requires all the line to be released before the anchor comes free. No obvious method is described to adjust or shorten the anchor line when desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,622,360 describes a totally different approach. It uses lugs depending from a flat bottomed decoy containing pin like extensions and retaining rings to hold the plate like weight to the lugs. Depending the anchor from the exterior of the decoy with pins and extensions allows for damage to adjacent decoys. The anchor is also exposed to dislodgment when dropped or banged about if the retaining mechanism fails or is lost.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,149,433 describes an anchor lashed to a decoy by the anchor line which forms a cinch strap. The anchor is retained externally on the back of the decoy. A long pin, retained vertically in the anchor, allows the anchor line to be wrapped around the decoy. The pin and the anchor can both scratch the surface of adjacent decoys. The anchor can scratch or abrade the back of the decoy in the area where it is lashed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,054 also utilizes exterior retention by retaining the resilient appendage to an elongated and bulbous keel. This system has the same failings as that of the system of U.S. Pat. No. 2,622,360.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,930,328, describes a way of adjusting the length of the decoy anchor line which places tension on the anchor line while retaining the decoy anchor. However the anchor is retained on the back of the decoy in such position that it allows damage to both the retaining decoy and adjacent decoys. The retaining loop placed over the tail of the decoy provides minimal retention and may allow for dislodgment of the cord and decoy weight. The required shape of the decoy anchor is very poor when examined from an anchoring or retention standpoint. This system is limited to rigid decoys, eliminating soft or flexible decoys because of the tension placed on the decoy.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,630 describes a system which incorporates a removable anchoring system utilizing a reel mechanism for storing the anchor chord and anchor. This is very awkward and cumbersome. As with all mechanical devices its reliability diminishes in freezing weather and it is exposed to rust and corrosion from fresh and sea water. An additional separate container is required to transport these removable storage mechanisms to and from the field. They are heavy and require additional time and energy to assemble afield.
As can be seen from the foregoing, there has not been a simple, efficient, functional decoy anchor storage system developed, as evidenced by the lack of such in either the custom or the production decoys available to consumers today. The present invention provides a solution to this.


Apparatus and method for limiting movement of gripping members of an elevator are provided. The apparatus includes a locking arm coupled to one or more of the gripping members and configured to move in a first direction when the gripping members move toward engagement with a tubular and to move in a second direction when the gripping members move away from engagement with the tubular. The apparatus also includes a first engagement member configured to move between a disengaged position, in which the first engagement member and the locking arm are relatively moveable, and an engaged position, in which the first engagement member allows the locking arm to move in the first direction but restrains the locking bar from moving in the second direction by more than a selected distance.

Elevators are generally employed in casing, drilling, and other wellbore operations to hoist and lower tubulars (e.g., casing or drill pipe) into the wellbore. The elevators may be coupled to a travelling block of the rig, and maneuvered to engage and hoist a tubular. The tubular is then brought into position and attached ("made up") to a lower tubular, which is already positioned in the wellbore, and then lowered. One common type of elevator employs slips that support the tubular by biting into or otherwise engaging the outer diameter of the tubular. Slip-type elevators generally include a "bowl" and several slips, which can be circumferentially spaced apart. When the elevator is disposed around a tubular, the slips can be lowered into the bowl, thereby adjusting the slips to move radially inward into engagement with the tubular. Downward force on the slips from the weight of tubular/tube string provides the gripping force for the slips.
This arrangement has proven effective in a variety of different applications. However, during running operations, it is not uncommon for the tube string to catch on a wellbore impediment. The rig operators may be unaware of the instant such catching occurs, and thus the elevator may continue to be lowered as the tube string is temporarily supported on such an impediment. Accordingly, the elevator may be relieved of the weight of the tube string, which, as noted, the elevator uses to provide the gripping force. This situation can lead to a drop of the tube string, which can be costly, or even catastrophic, to wellbore operations
Attempts to address this potential have met with challenges. For example, existing devices useable to lock elevator slips into place generally require one or more manual adjustments and/or calibrations prior to use, to accommodate the diameter of the elevator and/or the tubular to be gripped. This introduces an additional potential for human error, takes valuable time in the running process, and generally does not permit lowering of the slips to engage a tubular while the locking devices themselves are operatively engaged.
What is needed, therefore, is an improved apparatus and method for limiting slip movement in an elevator.

Apparatus and methods for limiting movement of gripping members


A high-silica glass sheet has an average thickness of less than 150 microns and an average surface roughness over one or both of its two major surfaces of less than 1 nm. The glass sheet is formed using a roll-to-roll glass soot deposition and sintering process. The glass sheet may comprise a plurality of substantially parallel surface protrusions, which are visible only when a major surface of the glass sheet is viewed at an angle sufficiently removed from normal incidence.

The present invention relates generally to glass sheets and more specifically to sintered glass sheets such as silica glass sheets made using a glass soot deposition and sintering process.
Glass sheet materials can be formed using a variety of different methods. In a float glass process, for example, a sheet of solid glass is made by floating molten glass on a bed of molten metal. This process can be used to form glass sheets having uniform thickness and very flat surfaces. However, float glass processes necessarily involve direct contact between the glass melt and the molten metal, which can lead to undesired contamination at the interface and less than pristine surface quality. In order to produce high quality float glass sheets with pristine surface properties on both major surfaces, float glass is typically subjected to surface polishing steps, which add additional expense. Moreover, it is believed that the float process has not been used to make ultra-thin, rollable glass sheets.
An additional method for forming glass sheet materials is the fusion draw process. In this process, molten glass is fed into a trough called an "isopipe," which is overfilled until the molten glass flows evenly over both sides. The molten glass then rejoins, or fuses, at the bottom of the trough where it is drawn to form a continuous sheet of flat glass. Because both major surfaces of the glass sheet do not directly contact any support material during the forming process, high surface quality in both major surfaces can be achieved.
Due to the dynamic nature of the fusion draw process, the number of glass compositions suitable for fusion draw processing is limited to those that possess the requisite properties in the molten phase (e.g., liquidus viscosity, strain point, etc.). Further, although relatively thin glass sheets can be made via fusion draw, the process cannot be used to form ultra-thin, rollable high-silica glass sheets. Finally, the apparatus used in the fusion draw process can be expensive.
In addition to their limitations with respect to ultra-thin glass sheet materials, both float and fusion draw processes are largely impractical sheet-forming methods for high-silica glass sheets due to the high softening point (˜1600° C.) of silica. Rather, silica glass substrates are typically produced by cutting, grinding and polishing silica ingots produced in batch flame-hydrolysis furnaces. Such a batch approach is extremely expensive and wasteful. Indeed, the requisite slicing and polishing that would be needed to produce uniform, thin, flexible silica glass sheets via flame-hydrolysis render the process prohibitively expensive. Using known methods, Applicants believe that it is not currently feasible to form and polish both sides of a high-silica glass sheet having a thickness of less than 150 microns.
In view of the foregoing, economical, uniform, ultra-thin, flexible, rollable high-silica glass sheets having a high surface quality are highly desirable. The high-silica glass sheets can comprise one or more layers, components, or phases. Such glass sheets can be used, for example, as photo mask substrates, LCD image mask substrates, and the like.
A high-silica glass sheet has two major opposing surfaces having an average thickness of 150 microns or less and an average surface roughness over at least one of the two major surfaces of 1 nm or less. In an embodiment, an average surface roughness over both of the two major surfaces is 1 nm or less. Example high-silica glass sheets measure at least 2.5×2.5 cm2. For example, a width of the glass sheet can range from about 2.5 cm to 2 m and a length of the glass sheet can range from about 2.5 cm to 10 m or more. Indeed, the length of the glass sheet is limited in principle only by the deposition time, and can extend beyond 10 m to 10 km or more. The glass sheet is formed using a roll-to-roll glass soot deposition and sintering process. In a further embodiment, the glass sheet comprises a plurality of pseudo-visible striations. The striations are caused by local thickness variations and are visible only when a major surface of the glass sheet is viewed at an angle sufficiently removed from normal incidence (e.g., greater than 5 degrees).
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the detailed description which follows, and in part will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from that description or recognized by practicing the invention as described herein, including the detailed description which follows, the claims, as well as the appended drawings.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description present embodiments of the invention, and are intended to provide an overview or framework for understanding the nature and character of the invention as it is claimed. The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate various embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles and operations of the invention.

Roll-to-roll glass material attributes and fingerprint


An apparatus for an enclosure of a linear inspection system for the inspection of products that uses at least one camera and at least one laser. The enclosure is placed in a production line environment as to allow the passage of the products to pass through an aperture of the enclosure. More specifically, the enclosure allows to shelter cameras and lasers that are oriented towards an inspection zone through a translucent surface of the enclosure. Furthermore, in another aspect of the invention, the cameras and lasers are fixed to mounting stations in the enclosure. The mounting stations are positioned as to orient the cameras and lasers towards an inspection zone through the translucent surface of the enclosure.

For many centuries, wood has been a material that has been primarily used in the areas of construction and carpentry. Although not as prevalent as in the past, lumber is still today considered as a very important and useful material for construction, carpentry, cabinet making, etc. Lumber is a natural product that comes from trees and as many natural products, every piece of lumber is different and may have flaws, such as knots, rot, bark, etc. that may or may not be important depending on intended use. For example, the presence of knots in a piece of lumber might be immaterial in carpentry, but undesirable for other types of use, such as for cabinet making.
In order to classify lumber according to intended use or to specific requirements from clients, the lumber industry inspects its lumbers using linear inspection systems. Linear inspection systems use different technology, such as a combination of cameras and lasers, to classify lumber. Typically, the linear inspection system is made of four stations of cameras and lasers placed on top, bottom, right and left of the lumber production line so as to inspect each side of a piece of lumber flowing through the production line. These devices operate in a very demanding environment, filled with dust, debris falling from lumber and the occasional debris flying at high speed. Hence, these delicate electronic instrumentations need to be protected accordingly. Unfortunately, existing linear inspection systems do not always effectively protect the cameras and laser stations. Moreover, the bottom station is often subject to debris accumulation.
There is therefore a need for an improved linear inspection system.

Enclosure for a linear inspection system


Provided is a ship maneuvering device that can increase operation sensitivity and enables smooth operation when simultaneously operating the rotation component determination unit and the oblique sailing component determination unit of an operation means. In the ship maneuvering device 1, a control device 31 computes a rotation component propulsion vector Trot for rotation and an oblique sailing component propulsion vector Ttrans for oblique sailing for left and right out-drive units 10A, 10B from the amount of operation of a joystick 21, calculates the combined torque T by combining the rotation component propulsion vector Trot and the oblique sailing component propulsion vector Ttrans for each of the left and right out-drive units 10A, 10B, and computes the propulsion and orientation for each of the left and right out-drive units 10A, 10B.

Conventionally, a ship is known having an inboard motor (inboard engine, outboard drive) in which a pair of left and right engines are arranged inside a hull and power is transmitted to a pair of left and right outdrive devices arranged outside the hull. The outdrive devices are propulsion devices rotating screw propellers so as to propel the hull, and are rudder devices rotated concerning a traveling direction of the hull so as to make the hull turn.
Such outdrive devices are rotated with hydraulic steering actuators provided in the outdrive devices (for example, see the Patent Literature 1). Then, a rotation angle of each of the outdrive devices, that is, a steering angle is grasped based on detection results of an angle detection sensor and the like provided in a linkage mechanism constituting the outdrive device.
The ship has an operation means setting a traveling direction of the ship. The ship is controlled with a control device so as to travel to the direction set with the operation means.


In many circuits in which a current is switched off, a high voltage appears at the drain electrode of a transistor, in particular in the case of an inductive load. When a lateral high-voltage DMOST is used, such a high voltage may lead to instability in the transistor characteristics or may even damage the transistor. To avoid this problem, the drain of a high-voltage LDMOST is locally provided with a strongly doped n-type zone 18, 21 (in the case of an n-channel transistor) which extends, seen from the surface, down into the semiconductor body to a greater depth than does the source zone 8, so that a pn-junction is formed at a comparatively great depth in the semiconductor body having a breakdown voltage that is lower than the BV.sub.ds of the transistor without this zone. The energy stored in the inductance may thus be drained off through breakdown of the pn-junction. This breakdown is separated from the normal current path of the transistor owing to the comparatively great depth of the pn-junction, so that the robustness of the transistor is improved. This deep zone in the drain may be formed, for example, by a buried layer at the boundary between an epitaxial layer and the substrate.

The invention relates to a semiconductor device with a high-voltage lateral MOS transistor (HV-LDMOST), comprising a semiconductor body with a comparatively weakly doped silicon substrate of a first conductivity type and provided thereon a comparatively weakly doped epitaxial layer adjoining a surface of the semiconductor body, while the transistor comprises a comparatively strongly doped drain zone situated at the surface and of a second conductivity type opposed to the first conductivity type, a comparatively weakly doped drift region of the second conductivity type, a comparatively strongly doped source zone of the second conductivity type which adjoins the surface and is provided in a base region of the first conductivity type also adjoining the surface, and a control electrode provided above the surface and electrically insulated therefrom.
Such a device is known, for example, from the published Patent Application EP-A 0 514 060 A2. The epitaxial layer in this known device is of the same conductivity type as the substrate, so the p-type in usual embodiments. The drift region is formed by a comparatively weakly doped n-type surface layer provided in the epitaxial layer. The base region or "body region" of the transistor is formed by a p-type surface zone which is provided in the epitaxial layer and which is usually short-circuited with the strongly doped n-type source zone formed in this zone. Below the base region and conductively connected thereto, a strongly doped p-type buried layer is provided at the boundary between the high-ohmic p-type substrate and the also high-ohmic epitaxial layer. Peaks in the electric field distribution at the edge of the control electrode above the drift region are smoothed out by this buried zone, so that the breakdown voltage can be increased. Depending on various parameters such as the doping concentrations and thicknesses of various regions, a breakdown voltage of a few hundreds of volts up to more than 1,000 volts may be obtained. The RESURF principle known from the literature may advantageously be used for increasing the breakdown voltage, while the doping and thickness of the drift region are so chosen that this region is depleted throughout its thickness at least locally in a direction transverse to the surface, for example from the pn-junction opposite the surface, possibly in conjunction with field plates at the surface, before breakdown has occurred. This depletion leads to a reduction in the electric field and thus an increase in the breakdown voltage.
In many applications in which strong currents are switched on and off, high voltage peaks occur at the drain of the switching transistor upon switching-off, in particular as a result of inductive loads. In a vertical DMOST, breakdown across the pn-junction between the back gate and the drain may be use the inductance. This breakdown may be brought to a desired value by means of an extra doping in the back gate outside the channel region. Such a provision, however, is not known in the present art of a lateral high-voltage DMOST.
In versions of a lateral high-voltage DMOST in which the length of the drift region is sufficiently great, breakdown across the pn-junction of the drain zone opposite the surface will in the end still take place with an increasing voltage at the drain, so that the inductively stored power can be drained off through the source contact. This solution, however, is not feasible in most cases because usually a smaller distance between the source and drain zones is chosen with the object of keeping the on-resistance (R.sub.on) of the transistor low. As a result, the breakdown voltage of the pn-junction between the drain zone and the semiconductor body lies at a much higher level than the BV.sub.ds (source-drain breakdown voltage) of the transistor. This latter form of breakdown often has the result that certain properties of the transistor such as, for example, the threshold voltage change, sometimes even leads to destruction of the transistor, and is accordingly not useful for dealing with said voltage peaks at the drain.

Lateral high-voltage DMOS transistor with drain zone charge draining


A banknote processing device is mounted on a mounting table. The banknote processing device includes a stacking unit having an opening for removing banknotes. A dust collection vent is arranged in front of the opening of the stacking unit on the mounting table. A suction fan sucks dust dispersing from the opening of the stacking unit into a dust collection vent. A filter captures the dust from air that is sucked in. A duct expels a dust-free air from an exhaust vent provided in an exhaust passage formed around the suction fan. In another configuration, the dust collection vent is provided inside the stacking unit, and the dust generated inside the stacking unit is sucked in by the suction fan.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a banknote processing device and a mounting table therefor capable of sucking up paper dust and dirt generated in the course of banknote processing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Techniques for preventing dispersion of paper dust, dust, etc. (hereinafter "dust") generated in the course of processing large quantities of banknotes by using banknote processing devices are known in the art. Dust comes off the banknotes when the banknotes are transported and stacked at a high speed, and this dust gets dispersed around due to an air flow brought about by the transportation and stacking of the banknotes.
A banknote processing device having a stacking unit that has an opening is particularly disadvantageous in that a large amount of dust coming off the banknotes is directed at a user. The banknote processing device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 2600100 provides a solution to this problem by way of arranging a suction device on a lateral side of the device main unit.
Meanwhile, the banknote processing device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. H4-77 includes a suction device below a banknote transport path for sucking in the dust. The banknote processing device further includes a blocking shield above an open stacking unit to prevent dispersion of the dust.
However, in the conventional technologies described above where the suction device is provided on the lateral side of the stacking unit or below the transport path, there is a disadvantage that not all the dust dispersing from the stacking unit gets sucked in. If a larger suction device is used to get a better suction effect, there will be an undesirable increase in the overall size and weight of the banknote processing device. A large suction device is particularly unsuitable for a small-sized banknote processing device meant for mounting on a table or a counter. Furthermore, even if the blocking shield is provided between the stacking unit and the user, the dust that is floating around in the air cannot be fully blocked. This results in the dust that has dispersed in the air settling eventually on an underside of the stacking unit and on the mounting table, which is undesirable.

Banknote processing device and mounting table therefor


Methods, apparatuses and computer program products are provided for updating a content item. In this regard, a current context associated with a content item can be determined based on criteria such as, a user's tendencies, user preferences, battery level, time of day, etc. The current context of the content item can be active or inactive. If a content item is in an active current context and an associated triggering event occurs, the content item can be updated. If the content item is in an inactive current context, the content item need not be updated. Content items may be updated in various manners, including generating a preview of the content item. A preview of a content item may be generated by retrieving the content item via an interface, where the interface is determined from data associated with the content item. Upon retrieval of a content item via the interface, a preview of the content item can be generated, such as by generating an image file having associated metadata. The metadata maybe used for linking the preview to additional, related content items.

The modern communications era has brought about a tremendous expansion of wireline and wireless networks. Computer networks, television networks, and telephony networks are experiencing an unprecedented technological expansion, fueled by consumer demand. Wireless and mobile networking technologies have addressed related consumer demands, while providing more flexibility and immediacy of information transfer.
This explosive growth of mobile communications networks has followed the evolution of mobile devices, such as cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and other portable electronic devices from luxury items to ubiquitous devices integrated into the everyday lives of individuals from all walks of life. The widespread adoption of mobile devices, and the expanding capabilities of the wireless networks over which they communicate, has allowed for a tremendous expansion in the applications which mobile devices are capable of executing. In addition to providing for phone service, many mobile devices now execute applications such as email retrieval, web browsing, web feed services, navigation services through the use of GPS, camera and video capturing, digital music and video playback. In some instances, users may be unaware applications are running processes in the background to provide services to the user. These and other applications may also interface with networks to transmit and receive data for a user.
While this expansion in the applications of mobile devices has been revolutionary, the added applications do have drawbacks. For example, each additional application executed by a mobile can also have corresponding power consumption. Additionally, users may not appreciate the power consumption and processing consumption associated with these applications, since many applications may include processes running in the background. As such, overall power consumption of mobile terminals is becoming increasingly problematic for users because batteries are draining at increasing rates. Further, while power utilization is rapidly increasing on mobile terminals, the power storage capacity of mobile devices, i.e., the power storage capacity of batteries, is remaining constant or increasing at a relatively slower pace. Applications that make continuous attempts to retrieve data such as email, web feeds, or other web content can cause substantial reductions in battery levels when considered in the aggregate. The increased and variable power consumption associated with these applications can present problems to users in that batteries can drain at increasingly rapid rates.
Additionally, the increasing number of applications being utilized by mobile terminals is also impacting network resources. For example, an email client may download email to a mobile terminal at some regular interval consuming network during each download. Further, other applications, such as web feeds and various widgets, may also be downloading and/or uploading data across the network consuming resources. Each of these applications also consumes a corresponding portion of the network's resources. In the aggregate, these applications can have significant impacts. As a result latency and quality of service can be detrimentally affected.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide methods, apparatuses, and computer program products that limit power consumption and impact to the network, but also provide for the needs and wants of users. In particular, in would be advantageous to provide applications for electronic devices that are power and network resource conscious, but continue to provide a user with a level of service that is acceptable to the user.

Methods, apparatuses and computer program products for updating a content item


An intake device for an engine includes a fuel supply system for supplying fuel to an intake passage and a plurality of plates. The plurality of plates are positioned on an upstream side and a downstream side along a direction of a flow of intake air and arranged at different mounting angles from each other in the intake passage on a downstream side of the fuel supply system. The plurality of plates have a plurality of holes in different sizes.

Conventionally, there is a two-cycle engine or a four-cycle engine as an engine mounted on a vehicle such as a two-wheeled motorcycle and each of these engines is provided with an intake device. Some intake devices include fuel supply systems for supplying fuel to intake passages.
A mixture of air and fuel is supplied to such an intake device. Some intake devices include straightening plates disposed in intake passages in order to improve filling efficiency of the air-fuel mixture. However, straightening of the air-fuel mixture by using the straightening plate is not sufficient to atomize the air-fuel mixture and reduce harmful components in exhaust gas to ideal degrees.


The invention includes capacitor constructions which have a layer of aluminum oxide between a high-k dielectric material and a layer containing titanium and nitrogen. The layer containing titanium and nitrogen can be, for example, titanium nitride and/or boron-doped titanium nitride. The capacitor constructions can be incorporated into DRAM cells, which in turn can be incorporated into electronic systems. The invention also includes methods of forming capacitor constructions.

Capacitor constructions are common circuit devices. Capacitor constructions are utilized in, for example, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) cells of integrated circuits. The DRAM cells typically comprise a charge storage capacitor coupled to an access device, with the typical access device being a metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET).
A continuing goal in integrated circuit device fabrication is to increase performance of circuit devices without increasing the amount of real estate consumed by the devices. For capacitor devices, such goal can manifest as a desire to increase the total charge capacity of a capacitor device without significantly affecting the cell area consumed by the device. New capacitor dielectric materials with high dielectric constants (so-called high-k materials) have been introduced to replace conventional dielectric materials, such as, for example, silicon nitride and silicon dioxide. Thin films of the high-k materials can be utilized in capacitor devices to obtain high capacitance while maintaining, or even reducing, the footprint of the devices relative to previous devices that utilized lower k dielectric materials.
High-k dielectric materials are typically understood to be materials having a dielectric constant greater than that of silicon dioxide, with exemplary high-k materials being Al2O3 (aluminum oxide), Ta2O5 (tantalum pentoxide), barium titanate (BT), strontium titanate (ST), lead zirconate titanate (PZT), bismuth strontium titanate (BST), HfOx (hafnium oxide) and ZrOy (zirconium oxide). The x in HfOx and the y in ZrOy are numbers greater than zero, and typically less than or equal to 2.
Although the high-k dielectric materials described above can provide numerous advantages when utilized in capacitor constructions, there are difficulties associated with the materials which can offset the benefits gained by utilizing the materials. One problem encountered when incorporating high-k materials into current DRAM cell designs is that chemical reactivity between the high-k materials and other materials of a DRAM cell can impede performance of the cell, and even destroy operability of the cell. For instance, numerous of the high-k materials are formed under strongly oxidizing conditions, and such conditions can oxidize electrode components which are intended to be incorporated into capacitor constructions with the high-k materials. The oxidized electrode components can have reduced electrical conductivity relative to non-oxidized components, which can impair operability of the resulting capacitor cell, and in some cases can lower the total capacitance of resulting capacitor below acceptable tolerances.
It would be desirable to develop new methods for incorporating high-k dielectric materials into capacitor constructions.


A selective access device for a picking/depositing station in warehouse defines an access area engaged by a first cover that is defined by a pair of movable plane surfaces parallel or coplanar to one another; these plane surfaces are slidable along a first rectilinear axis under the action of a movement system so as to open/close a first opening; in the access area, there is provided a second cover above the first cover, to define a second opening aligned with the first opening; the second cover consists of a plurality of doors, each rotating about a relative rotation axis in respect to the first cover; the doors are arranged side-by-side along a second rectilinear axis, orthogonal to the first axis and are closed by respective locks, while the rotation axes are parallel to this second axis.

Normally, automated warehouses are provided with storage areas having a plurality of locations that house respective containers or trays, normally rectangular shaped, in plan view, and generally provided with compartments for containing stored objects. These warehouses also have a picking/depositing bay or station, which users can access to deposit and/or pick up the objects. By means of motor driven automated mechanisms, the trays are transferred from their locations in a housing of the picking/depositing bay and are positioned so that one side element thereof, corresponding to one of the long sides of their rectangular shape, is arranged in front of the user.
In some warehouses, the picking/depositing bay is also provided with a selective access device, which is arranged above the aforesaid housing so as to prevent access thereto, for safety reasons, and is configured so as to open only at below compartments that must be accessed by the user.
In some known solutions, for example such as in EP1404595B1 and in EP2203365B1, the selective access device is of the type provided with doors. In other solutions, such as in the patent application ITT02014A000385 by the same applicant, the selective access device is of the type provided with roller shutters or shutters to increase the flexibility in opening areas of larger or smaller width above the tray.
In this solution, a first and a second pair of shutters are provided: the shutters of the first pair are guided so as to slide at a first level along a horizontal direction parallel to the long sides of the tray below, while the shutters of the second pair are guided so as to slide at a second level, lower than the first, along a horizontal direction parallel to the short sides of the tray.
Operation of the four shutters allows an opening to be defined, with dimensions adjustable at will, to selectively access one or more compartments of the tray below. Although the prior art solutions described above are very flexible, other aspects are not very satisfactory, in particular as regards safety against tampering.
In fact, as they are formed by a series of slats and/or by flexible material, the shutters are relatively flimsy and therefore per se subject to greater risk of forcing.
Moreover, the opening and closing times of the two shutters that slide parallel to the long side of the tray can be relatively high, in view of the extension in length of the tray on which they slide.
Moreover, in ITT02014A000385, the two shutters that slide parallel to the long side of the tray are deviated upwards along the side elements of the picking/depositing bay. If picking/depositing operations on two trays in the warehouse are required to be carried out simultaneously, for example to satisfy high material flows, two picking/depositing bays are installed; these must be separate and spaced at a distance from one another, to allow deviation and sliding of the shutters in the side elements of the bays, resulting in complexity and excessive overall dimensions of this solution.
Moreover, in general, the solutions with shutters have a relatively large number of components, for guiding and operating them and require additional electronic or physical barriers to guarantee a high level of safety for users. In particular, these additional barriers are provided to prevent manual access during movement of the shutters. Generally, a large number of components translates into high costs and more probability of encountering faults or malfunctions.
Furthermore, the presence of additional barriers tends to slow the picking/depositing operations due to an increase in the waiting times of users.
Finally, presence sensors (so-called photoelectric barriers) must be used to prevent any objects from extending above the compartments of the tray during closing of the shutters.
The document US2002130135 corresponds to the preamble of claim 1 and describes a casing having a plurality of compartments, which are arranged along rows and columns and each accommodate a relative product, which can be picked up through a closing device.
The latter has a plurality of horizontal rectangular openings aligned respectively with the rows of compartments and closed by respective rotatable doors. The closing device is also provided with a shutter, which has a vertical slot and is movable horizontally so as to align this slot with any one of the columns of the compartments.

Selective access device for a picking/depositing station in a warehouse, and picking/depositing station provided with such selective access device


A data strobe signal generating circuit includes a pre-driver control unit for selectively transferring a ground voltage and a supply voltage, as a first control signal and a second control signal, in response to first and second clock pulse signals, wherein the second control signal is driven in response to a preamble signal, a pre-driver for generating a driving signal in response to the first and second control signals and the preamble signal, and an output buffer for driving an output pad in response to the driving signal.

With increase of integration in semiconductor memory devices, a working speed thereof has also been improved. Synchronous memory devices, which operate in synchronization with an external clock signal from an external circuit, have been developed in order to improve the operating speed.
SDR (single data rate) synchronous memory devices, in which data are output through data pads in synchronization with a rising edge of a clock signal, were first proposed.
However, SDR synchronous memory devices are not sufficient to satisfy the required performance in the high-speed system. Accordingly, DDR (double data rate) synchronous memory devices have been proposed. In DDR synchronous memory devices, data are output through data pads in synchronization with rising and falling edges of a clock signal.
Since two data are sequentially output through data pads in synchronization with both a rising edge and a falling edge of a clock signal from an external circuit in DDR (double data rate) synchronous memory devices, band width of data in DDR synchronous memory devices can be as wide as twice that of SDR synchronous memory devices so that the DDR synchronous memory devices make it possible to implement a high-speed operation.
However, since DDR synchronous memory devices receive and output two data within one period of a clock signal, an access method which has been used in SDR synchronous memory devices cannot be applied effectively to DDR synchronous memory devices.
When the period of a clock signal is approximately 10 nsec, the two data have to be processed below 6 nsec, when the rising and falling time (about 0.5×4=2) and other requirements prescribed in the specification are considered. This processing is not sufficiently carried out in the memory devices. Accordingly, the memory devices receive and output the data in synchronization with the rising and falling edges of the clock signal when the data are input and output from and to an external circuit; however, the data are actually processed in synchronization with only one of the rising and falling edges of the clock signal within the memory device.
Accordingly, a new data I/O (input/output) method is required when the memory device transfers the received data to an inner core region or the memory device transfers the data from the inner core region to an external circuit.
To achieve this I/O method, a data input buffer of the DDR memory device prefetches and aligns two- or four-bit data which are in synchronization with the rising and falling edges of the clock signal and then transfers odd or even data to the inner core region in synchronization with a rising edge of a main clock signal.
Meanwhile, in order to inform a CUP (control unit and processor) or a memory controller of the exact timing of the output data, the memory chip outputs a data strobe signal DQS and an inverted data strobe signal /DQS together with the data signal DQ.
Since the data strobe signal DQS and the inverted data strobe signal /DQS lead the data signal DQ by one clock cycle in the DDR memory device, they are output in synchronization with the clock signal, which is used as the synchronization signal of the data signal DQ, after the data signal DQ is output and a preamble time (tRPRE, Read DQS Preamble time) is ensured.
In the preamble time (or section), the data signal DQ is in a Hi-z state (a half level (½) of a supply voltage), the data strobe signal DQS is at a low level, and the inverted data strobe signal /DQS is at a high level.
The data signal DQ, which is in a Hi-z state, obtains a valid data window faster than the data strobe signal DQS and the inverted data strobe signal /DQS after the termination of the preamble time. The first valid data window of the data signal DQ, which is output after the termination of the preamble time, is wider than that of the data strobe signal DQS and the inverted data strobe signal /DQS. Since the second valid data window is wider than the first valid data window in the data strobe signal DQS and the inverted data strobe signal /DQS, the data eye of the data strobe signal DQS and the inverted data strobe signal /DQS cannot be formed evenly. Particularly, this is conspicuous at a high frequency operation so that the reliability of the semiconductor memory device deteriorates at the high frequency operation.

Data strobe signal generating circuit capable of easily obtaining valid data window


A device and method for determining the web tension or the web tensile force in a printing substrate web is disclosed. A device is arranged at a first position along a transport path of the printing substrate web, which device supplies a signal to deduce the web tension in effect at the first position or the web tensile force in effect at the first position. A device arithmetically determines the web tension in effect or the web tensile force in effect at the second position from the web tension in effect at the first position or from the web tensile force in effect at the first position as well as from forces, which at least one driven roller and/or at least one trailing roller, which is/are arranged along the transport path of the printing substrate web between the first position and the second position, introduce to the printing substrate web.

The invention relates to a method for determining the web tension or the web tensile force in a printing substrate web. In addition, the invention relates to a device for determining web tension or the web tensile force in a printing substrate web.
In web-fed rotary printing presses, a to-be-printed printing substrate web is normally drawn off by a printing substrate roller that is held in readiness in the area of a reel changer, transported through printing couples for printing and, after printing, conveyed to a folding unit for further processing. So-called drag rollers as well as so-called web guide rollers are used to transport the printing substrate web through the web-fed rotary printing press. Drag rollers are driven by drives that are assigned to the drag rollers. No drives are assigned to web guide rollers. In fact, web guide rollers are carried along by friction from the printing substrate web.
For proper operation of a web-fed rotary printing press it is necessary to know the web tension in effect in the printing substrate web or the web tensile force in effect in the printing substrate web at defined positions along the transport path of the printing substrate web through the web-fed rotary printing press. The web tensile force is a force, wherein a web tension is determined from the web tensile force when the web tensile force is divided by the width of the printing substrate web being webbed up.
In web-fed rotary printing presses known from practice, each position of the transport path of the printing substrate web, for which the web tension or the web tensile force must be determined, is assigned a device, which supplies a signal that makes it possible to deduce the web tension in effect at the respective position or the web tensile force in effect at the respective position. Consequently, it is necessary to determine the web tension or the web tensile force at a position downstream from a drag roller as well as at a position upstream from a drag roller, as viewed in the transport direction of the printing substrate, and therefore each of these two positions are assigned such a device and thus a measuring point. This is involved and expensive.
Starting herefrom, the present invention is based on the objective of creating a novel method and a novel device for determining the web tension or the web tensile force in a printing substrate web.
According to the invention, the web tension in effect at a second position along the transport path of the printing substrate web or the web tensile force in effect at the second position is determined arithmetically, namely from the web tension in effect at the first position or from the web tensile force in effect at the first position as well as from forces, which at least one driven roller and/or at least one trailing roller, which is/are arranged along the transport path of the printing substrate web between the first position and the second position, introduce to the printing substrate web.
The present invention provides for the first time that the web tension in effect at a position along a transport path of the printing substrate web or the web tensile force in effect at this position be determined arithmetically, and namely on the basis of the web tension in effect at another position along the transport path of the printing substrate web or the web tensile force in effect at the other position as well as on the basis of forces, which at least one driven roller and/or at least one trailing roller, which is/are arranged along the transport path between these two positions, introduce to the printing substrate web. This makes it possible to reduce the hardware-related expense and to determine the web tension and thus the web tensile force at positions along the transport path of the printing substrate web through a web-fed rotary printing press with lower expense and therefore more cost-effectively.
Preferred developments of the invention are yielded from the following description. Without being limited hereto, exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained in greater detail on the basis of the drawings.

Method and device for determining the web tension or the web tensile force in a printing substrate web


The present invention discloses a near infrared lens, comprising four groups of lenses along the optical axis from the object space to the image space, wherein, the first lens is a meniscus-shaped lens with negative focal power, with the convex side facing the object space, and has aspherical surfaces; the second lens is a meniscus-shaped lens with positive or negative focal power, with the convex side facing the image space; the third lens is a convexo-convex, convexo-plane, or meniscus-shaped lens with positive focal power, and the convex side of the lens faces the object space if the lens is a convexo-plane or meniscus-shaped lens; the fourth lens is a lens with positive focal power, and has aspherical surfaces. With the above design, the near infrared lens can achieve high imaging quality and low distortion effects with large aperture and wide viewing angle.

Optical lenses used in existing digital products are usually ordinary optical lens that has a small viewing angle and low imaging quality. Though wide-angle lenses can overcome that drawback, they have a severe problem, i.e., the image of object is distorted under the optical effect of lens. Due to the fact that only spherical lenses was available in the past, to correct the distortional astigmatism (or referred to as barrel distortion, i.e., the closer the imaging is to the edge, the more severely the image tends to expand and curve linearly), severe meniscus-shaped negative lenses or meniscus-shaped positive lenses have to be added in front of the lens to eliminate the astigmatism. An ordinary wide-angle lens requires 8-10 lenses if the viewing angle of lens is 80 degrees and requires 10-12 lenses if the viewing angle is 100 degrees or higher; as a result, the lens will be too long and too heavy. It is apparently that ordinary wide-angle lenses (especially near infrared wide-angle lenses) are complex in structure and usually have a small relative aperture.
As optical plastic materials are improved and aspherical lens manufacturing technique is popularized, a wide variety of small and light lenses appear. Especially, if aspherical lenses are used, only 3-4 lenses are required if the viewing angle of lens is 80 degrees, only 4-5 lenses are required if the viewing angle of lens is 100 degrees, and only 5-6 lenses are required if the viewing angle of lens is 120 degrees or higher. Apparently, optical lenses are evolving towards miniature and light weight.
If the quantity of lenses is not enough in the lens, it is hard to achieve high imaging quality. To ensure imaging quality, a variety of lenses composed of 4 lenses each are provided in many patents, such as Patent No. CN200610138436.2, CN200710111925.3, CN200710201438.6, CN200810305113.7, and CN200910302836.6, etc. All these lenses employ a structure in which the first lens has positive focal power and other lenses may different in design.
However, it is seen that these lenses are still poor in terms of the wide angle effect, and can't overcome the drawback of image distortion. In addition, all these patents haven't taken account of the effect of temperature fluctuations to the lens. Modern optical instruments usually must have stable performance in a wide range of environmental temperature. Therefore, athermalization design is required for the system. The athermalization design of optical system is to keep the imaging quality of the optical system constant within a wide temperature range with appropriate compensation techniques, usually through three approaches: mechanical active approach, mechanical passive approach, and optical passive approach. Lenses that are commonly used in optical instruments are usually treated in the three approaches to achieve athermalization effect. However, these approaches make the lens structure more complex, and may cause increased lens cost and increased lens size, etc., and therefore are not suitable for portable lenses.


A return-to-harbor notifying device is provided, which may include a user interface and processing circuitry. The user interface may receive an information related to a planned time of arrival at a home harbor that is a location to which a ship returns. The processing circuitry may generate a traveling route upon returning to the harbor, calculate a required time for traveling from a current location of the ship to the home harbor based on the traveling route, calculate a return-to-harbor start time of the ship based on the required time and the information related to the planned time of arrival, and notify a content based on the return-to-harbor start time.

Conventionally, technologies for calculating a time required for returning from the current location to a reference location and notifying information based on the calculated required time have been developed.
For example, some of those technologies calculate a travel time as a distance of the course returning to the reference location (i.e., the distance between the current location and the reference location). However, the course from the current location to the reference location may differ from the course from the reference location to the current location. When operating a car on the road, it might not be the case, but when operating a ship, a possibility that the course from the harbor to the current location differs from the course from the current location to the harbor is high. Thus, technologies for issuing a more suitable notification of a return-to-harbor time (i.e., time of arrival at a harbor) are desired.

Device, method, and program for notifying return-to-harbor information


A solid state image pickup device comprising: a semiconductor substrate having a surface layer; charge storage regions disposed in the surface layer; vertical channels disposed in the surface layer adjacent to respective columns of the charge storage regions; vertical transfer electrodes formed above the semiconductor substrate, crossing the vertical channels; a horizontal channel disposed in the surface layer coupled to the vertical channels, having a first portion with transfer stages, each including a barrier region and a well region, and a second portion constituting a gate region with gradually decreasing width, and including an upstream region and a downstream region of different effective impurity concentration, establishing a built-in potential; horizontal transfer electrodes disposed above respective transfer stages of the horizontal channel; an output gate electrode disposed above the gate region; a floating diffusion region disposed in the surface layer coupled to the gate region of the horizontal channel.

A) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solid state image pickup device, and more particularly to a horizontal charge transfer path of the solid state image pickup device.
B) Description of the Related Art
FIG. 9 is a plan view showing the outline of a solid state image pickup device. The solid state image pickup device SI is constituted of: a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements 51 disposed in a matrix shape; a plurality of vertical charge transfer paths 53 each disposed near each column of photoelectric conversion elements; read regions 52 for reading signal charges generated in the photoelectric conversion elements 51 to each associated vertical charge transfer path 53, a line memory 54 formed at one ends of the vertical charge transfer paths 53 in the area outside the light reception area; a horizontal charge transfer path 55 electrically coupled to one ends of the plurality of vertical charge transfer paths 53 via the line memory 54; and an output amplifier 56 formed at one end of the horizontal charge transfer path 55, respectively formed on a semiconductor substrate. The photoelectric conversion element 51 is typically a photodiode, and the vertical and horizontal charge transfer paths 53 and 55 are typically charge coupled devices (CCDs).
Signal charges accumulated in the photoelectric conversion element 51 in correspondence with the amount of incident light are read to the vertical charge transfer path 53 via the read region 52, and thereafter transferred in the vertical charge transfer path 53 in the direction toward the horizontal charge transfer path 55. The vertical charge transfer path 53 has wiring lines V1A to V8 capable of four-phase drive and eight-phase drive, and transfers signal charges in response to transfer voltages (drive signals) applied via wirings 53a. The signal charges transferred to the end of the vertical charge transfer path 53 are stored once in the line memory 54, and then transferred to the horizontal charge transfer path 55. Signal charges of one line are transferred in the horizontal charge transfer path 55 in the horizontal direction and output as image signals from the output amplifier 56. The horizontal charge transfer path 55 transfers signal charges at high speed in response to two-phase drive signals φH1 and φH2 applied via wirings 55a.
FIG. 10A is a schematic plan view showing the structure of a horizontal charge transfer path 55 and an output region 57 of a conventional solid state image pickup device, and FIG. 10B is a cross sectional view taken along line 10B—10B shown in FIG. 10A.
As shown in FIG. 10A, the horizontal charge transfer path 55 is constituted of a horizontal charge transfer register 60 and an output gate 61. The horizontal charge transfer register 60 is constituted of a plurality of charge transfer stages 64, and transfers signal charges at high speed in the horizontal direction (Y-direction shown in FIG. 10A) in response to the transfer voltages (drive signals) φH1 and φH2. The signal charges are transferred in a horizontal charge transfer channel 65. Each transfer stage 64 includes a barrier region 63a on the upstream side and a well region 62a on the downstream side so that even if the signal charges are transferred by the two-phase drive signals, the signal charges can be prevented from being transferred in an opposite direction.
Of an n-type region surrounded by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 10A, a region in the horizontal charge transfer path 55 constitutes the horizontal charge transfer channel 65. On each transfer stage 64, a pair of a charge accumulation electrode 62 and a charge transfer electrode 63 is formed at the positions corresponding to the well region 62a and barrier region 63a respectively. The charge accumulation electrode 62 and charge transfer electrode 63 and the underlying horizontal charge transfer channel 65 constitute a charge coupled device. The horizontal charge transfer channel 65 at the last transfer stage 64 is coupled to a floating diffusion region 66 of the output region 57 via the output gate 61.
The output gate 61 is constituted of an output gate electrode 75 and the underlying horizontal charge transfer channel 65. A voltage VOG is applied to the output gate electrode 75 so that signal charges are transferred from the horizontal charge transfer channel 65 to the floating diffusion region 66. The signal charges transferred to the floating diffusion region 66 are subjected to charge-voltage conversion. The converted voltage signal is amplified by the output amplifier 56 to supply an output signal.
After the charge-voltage conversion of the signal charges transferred to the floating diffusion region 66, the signal charges are drained into a reset drain 69 via a reset gate 68. In order to drain the signal charges, a constant high reset voltage φRG is applied to the reset gate 68 via a reset gate electrode 67. The reset gate 68 is the region under the reset gate electrode 67 is the region surrounded by the two-dot chain line shown in FIG. 10A.
The horizontal charge transfer channel 65 has the structure that its width (length along the X-direction) is gradually narrowed toward the output region 57 in the region of the last transfer stage 64 of the horizontal charge transfer register 60 and the output gate 61. An output voltage of the floating diffusion region 66 is in inverse proportion with the capacitance. In order to obtain a high output voltage, it is desired to reduce the capacitance of the floating diffusion region 66, i.e., to reduce the area as viewed in plan. For example, the channel width (length of the horizontal charge transfer channel 65 in the X-direction) is narrowed from 20 to 40 μm to 1 to 3 μm. In order to transfer the same amount of signal charges in the narrow channel, it is desired to elongate the length of the last stage charge accumulation region 62.
The length (length in the Y-direction) of the electrode of the last transfer stage 64 of the horizontal charge transfer register 60 is, for example, 4.5 μm which is longer than the length (e.g., 3.8 μm) of the electrodes of the other transfer stages 64. For example, the length of the output gate electrode 75 is 3 μm.
As shown in FIG. 10B, in the horizontal charge transfer path 55 of the solid state image pickup device, for example, a p-type well 72 is formed in the surface area of an n-type semiconductor substrate 71, and the n-type horizontal charge transfer channel 65 of a buried channel type is formed in the p-type well 72. In the horizontal charge transfer register 60, an n−-type region is formed in the horizontal charge transfer channel 65 under the region between adjacent charge accumulation electrodes 62, the n−-type region forming a potential barrier for presenting a reverse flow of charges. The charge accumulation electrode 62 and charge transfer electrode 63 are formed on an insulating film 74 on the horizontal charge transfer channel 65, and are interconnected in common at each transfer stage 64. In the output gate 61, an output gate electrode 75 is disposed above the horizontal charge transfer channel 65.
In the output region 57, the floating diffusion region 66 is formed as an n++-type, the reset gate 68 is formed as an n-type, and the reset drain region 69 is formed as an n++-type. The reset gate electrode 67 is formed on an insulating film 74 on the reset gate 68.
The charge accumulation electrode 62, charge transfer electrode 63, output gate electrode 75 and reset gate electrode 67 are made of polysilicon or amorphous silicon.
In this specification and drawings, an n-type channel region having a reduced effective impurity concentration because of p-type impurity doping is denoted by a symbol n−, an n-type channel region having an increased effective impurity concentration because of n-type impurity doping is denoted by a symbol n+, an n-type channel region having an increased effective impurity concentration higher than n+ is denoted by a symbol n++, and a p-type region having an increased impurity concentration because of p-type impurity doping is denoted by a symbol p+.
As described above, the horizontal charge transfer channel 65 has the structure that the width thereof is gradually narrowed toward the output region 57, and the electrode gate length (length in the Y-direction) of the last transfer stage 64 of the horizontal charge transfer register 60 and the length of the output gate electrode 75 are set longer. Accordingly, a forward potential gradient is hard to be formed at the last transfer stage 64 of the horizontal charge transfer register 60, so that the charge transfer speed lowers and the transfer efficiency lowers.
In order to improve the transfer efficiency, it has been proposed that the opposite end portions, in the horizontal charge transfer channel width direction, of the electrode of the output gate 61 and the electrode of the last transfer stage of the horizontal charge transfer register 60, are bent toward the floating diffusion region side (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. HEI-10-335635).


A camera system in which by the mounting of a removably mountable lens, a plurality of electrical contacts between a camera body and the lens are brought into contact with one another and the transmission of information is effected between the camera body and the lens includes a camera body, a lens having no power source, a mechanical switch member provided in the lens, and power source actuating means for switching on the circuit power source of the camera body through the electrical contacts when the switch member is operated in a state in which the circuit power source is OFF.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a camera system in which by the mounting of a removably mountable lens, a plurality of electrical contacts between a camera body and the lens are brought into contact with one another and the transmission of a power source, signals, etc. is effected between the camera body and the lens.
2. Related Background Art
In a camera system according to the prior art, a circuit power source such as a DC--DC converter has been switched on by a switch operatively associated with the operation of an operating member such as a release button provided on the camera body side, whereby the electric circuit of the system has been operated.
In recent years, with an increase in the kinds of functions such as automatic focusing, power focusing and power zoom, various operating members and switches have come to be provided on the lens side as well, but in the system as described above wherein the power source is switched on by the switch on the body side, it is necessary to switch on the power source by the switch on the body side without omission and then operate the switch on the lens side in order to perform the operation of the lens side, and this has led to bad operability.
Also, in a camera system like the camera system disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2-113229 wherein power supply is effected from a camera body to a motor contained in a lens to thereby effect driving, even if the lens side prepares a power supply demand signal for receiving the power supply for the motor, the demand signal cannot be put out because communication is not established in a state in which the electric circuit on the camera side is OFF. Therefore, when motor driving such as for power focusing is to be effected on the lens side, it has been necessary for the photographer to manually operate the switch on the camera body side without omission to thereby switch on the electric circuit and put out the power supply demand signal, and thereafter start power focusing or the like.
Now, U.S. Pat. No. 4,695,148 discloses the technique of switching on a power source on the camera body side from a flash device, and more specifically, there is a power source on the flash device side and an operating member on the flash device side is operated while that power source is switched on, whereby a power source on the camera body side is electrically switched on. Accordingly, when the power source on the flash device side is consumed up, the power source on the camera body side cannot be switched on from the flash device side.


The invention relates to a delivery vehicle for delivering consignments at different locations on a delivery route, having at least one receiving device for receiving the consignment, having at least one sensor device for separately capturing delivery information for the consignments received via the receiving device, having at least one storage device for storing the received consignments during the delivery of other consignments, and having at least one conveying device for conveying the received consignments from the receiving device to storage positions in the storage device and from the storage positions in the storage device to a dispensing device for dispensing the consignments at the particular location for delivery of the consignments.

In order to deliver consignments at different locations along a delivery route, various delivery vehicles are used. The delivery vehicles make different delivery rounds, wherein each delivery round can be based on a different delivery route. The type of delivery vehicle also depends on the type of consignments that are intended to be delivered along the delivery route. The delivery route generally leads over public roads. It is thus preferably not what is referred to as in-house transport, i.e. goods transport within a factory and/or company. For the latter, very specific delivery vehicles are typically used, which are not suitable for transport over longer distances and are regularly also not suitable for very different consignments.
In the present document, consignments are understood as being basically different items which are preferably transported with reasonable effort. In particular the consignments can be in the form of articles or packages. These include items for everyday use, such as consumables or foodstuffs, and also technical items and equipment. In many cases, the consignments are consignments to be delivered by a postal company, which may be referred to as postal consignments. If appropriate, the consignments are letters, parcels and/or printed products. In this case, parcels also include packets, while printed products can also be leaflets, brochures and periodicals. In addition, a letter may also be a postcard. Parcels and other consignments are in many cases packaged goods, wherein the consignment then comprises the packaging and the goods packaged therein. When some of these consignments, in particular consignments of a postal company, parcels, letters and/or printed products, are dropped off at their intended location, for example the destination address or the addressee's premises, this is usually referred to as the delivery of the consignment. Other consignments are said to be handed over or dropped off. This distinction is merely of minor importance in the present case, especially since the boundaries between delivering, handing over or dropping off, if they actually exist, cannot be drawn precisely and the drawing of distinctions or precise boundaries is not important or only of minor importance for the present invention.
If the consignments are not too large, as is the case for example with parcels, the consignments can be stowed in a shelving system in a loading space of the delivery vehicle. Along the delivery route, the consignments are removed from the shelves of the shelving system and delivered. Usually, the shelves are provided on both sides of the delivery vehicle and separated from one another by a central aisle, such that the driver of the delivery vehicle can remove the consignments from the shelves. A delivery vehicle usually makes several different delivery rounds one after another in order to be able to deliver all the consignments. After every journey, or after every delivery round, the delivery vehicle has to travel back to a distribution center or a storage facility for the consignments, for example a warehouse, in order to pick up further consignments there and to stow them in the shelving system. Repeated loading of the delivery vehicle is very time-consuming and accordingly also very expensive. This is because the consignments are typically loaded individually by hand, specifically in an arrangement and/or order related to the delivery route subsequently to be followed, such that the consignments can be unloaded more easily and reliably along the delivery route. Nevertheless, the exact delivery route is in most cases established after all of the consignments have been loaded, specifically on the bases of the consignments loaded in each case and respective delivery locations.
Before the delivery vehicle is loaded, it is thus necessary to presort the consignments. Presorting takes into consideration the delivery route to be followed on the next delivery round, wherein the delivery route to be followed is established on the basis of the delivery information for the consignments. However, the exact sorting and thus also the exact delivery route are only established, if appropriate, when the consignments are loaded into the delivery vehicle. The locations at which the consignments are intended to be delivered or dropped off determine the delivery route to be followed, in order that unnecessary distances are avoided and the time required therefor is saved. Therefore, presorting takes place in accordance with predetermined criteria, for example on the basis of different areas or roads which can expediently be successively traveled through or along, provided that consignments need to be delivered anywhere there. Therefore, presorting requires a degree of experience on the part of the deliverer, and for this reason presorting is also carried out by the deliverer, who subsequently follows the delivery route with the delivery vehicle. This is intended to ensure that the delivery takes place along a delivery route that is short and quick to negotiate, i.e. efficient. Specifically, the deliverer can use their experience to define an expedient delivery route which might be objectively longer but is quicker to negotiate.
Nevertheless, in order to further increase effectiveness, there is a desire to reduce the idle times of the delivery vehicles. This can be achieved in that, for example, presorting is accelerated or already presorted consignments are received by the deliverer, even if the deliverer might have sorted these consignments even more expediently. However, the effectiveness of the delivery of a set of consignments at different locations along delivery routes has not yet been satisfactorily solved.

Delivery vehicle and method for delivering consignments at different locations on a delivery route


A roof ridge ventilator with filtering device to be installed under a cap shingle includes a one piece cover member of an elongated shape including a pair of flaps, each flap having one upper surface over which cap shingles are secured and also having downwardly facing lower surfaces, a pair of vents respectively secured to the lower surface of the cover member flaps, each vent including at least one set of shielded louvers having openings for deflecting air flow while maintaining a minimum free area for air passage such that the air flowing therethrough is substantially reduced in velocity to limit the infiltration of foreign matter. Longitudinally spaced supports extend substantially vertically to permit nailing onto the roof such that the vent does not collapse during installation and such that the net free area remains intact. A band of fibrous material positioned inboard of the vent to further prevent foreign matter for entering the attic.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to roof ventilator in general, and more particularly, to a device and method for filtering foreign matter from external air passing through the roof ventilator.
2. Background
Roof ridge ventilators permit circulation of air through the roof of a building to decrease the temperature within the building and to allow for air circulation under the roof. Such ventilators are also desirable for the removal of moisture build-up within the enclosed cavity of the roof to prevent rotting of wooden and/or composite members. Commonly, ridged roofs will have an opening at the ridge communicating with the cavity. Ideally, the roof ridge ventilators protect the opening from the external environment while allowing air to freely circulate through the cavity.
Some currently available roof ventilators have external baffles used to deflect airflow away from the vents of the roof ventilator. That is, the external baffles do not filter air as it flows through the roof ventilator and, moreover, tend to be unsightly. In addition, other currently available ventilators use adhesives to attach various parts of the ventilator. Using adhesive tends to increase the complexity and cost of fabricating the ventilator. Moreover, adhesives tend to degrade relatively quickly over time due to the temperature cycling experienced by ventilators when installed, thereby decreasing the reliability of the ventilator.
One proposed ventilator to overcome these problems is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,771, issued to Mankowski. Mankowski discloses a ventilator that includes a pair of flap covers hingedly connected by a hinge member integrally formed with each flap cover. Extending at an angle from the lower surface of each flap cover is a set of internal louvers (i.e., the louvers are under the covers when the ventilator is installed on a roof. Each louver includes openings extending there-through to permit the exchange of air. In addition, the louvers serve to filter the air as it flows through the ventilator. Although such a ventilator effectively vents the enclosed cavity of a roof, of course, further improvements are desirable.
One improvement that is desirable stems from recent changes in some state building codes. In response to extremely severe weather conditions, some state building codes have been amended to require that roof ventilators prevent infiltration of foreign matter into the enclosed roof cavity to which the ventilator is attached. A ventilator as disclosed in the aforementioned Mankowski patent meets such requirements for normal and even severe weather conditions. However, in extremely severe weather conditions (e.g., hurricanes), that ventilator may undesirably experience water leakage.
Thus, there exists a need for a roof ventilator that permits the free exchange of air within the roof cavity at a relatively low cost and with a high degree of performance and reliability under extreme weather conditions.
In accordance with the present invention, a roof ventilator is provided. The roof ventilator includes a cover member having a flap with a first surface over which shingles are secured and a second surface. The roof ventilator also includes a first set of louvers for deflecting airflow and reducing airflow velocity while maintaining minimum free area for air passage. Supports and a filter device are coupled to the cover member second surface. The supports extend from the second surface of the cover member flap at a height substantially equal to that of the first set of louvers to minimize interference with the first set of louvers by the supports. The filter device filters external air passing through the first set of louvers.
In accordance with other aspects of this invention, the filter device is a band of fibrous material and has a thickness that is substantially equal to the height of the supports.
In accordance with additional aspects of this invention, the filter device includes slits cut so as to be aligned with the supports when the filter device is attached to the cover member. The filter device is attached over the supports by the supports fitted into slits of the filter device.
In accordance with still yet other aspects of this invention, the roof ventilator further includes a second set of louvers located inboard of the supports. The second set of louvers have openings for further deflecting and reducing air flow velocity while maintaining a minimum free area for air passage.
A roof ventilator formed in accordance with the present invention has several advantages over roof ventilators used in the past. First, the filter device minimizes the passage of rain, insects, and dirt particles from entering the ventilated space while retaining the compact size and low cost of the roof ventilator. Second, the louvers deflect airflow while maintaining a minimum free area for air passage, such that the air flowing through the roof ventilator is substantially reduced in velocity to further limit the infiltration of foreign matter. Finally, because of its integrated design, a roof ventilator formed in accordance with the present invention can easily be manufactured and installed.


A motor control system is presented. The motor control system includes a motor controller and a motor driver. The motor controller and motor driver are coupled by an interface which includes a conductor configured to carry both a motor speed control signal from the motor controller to the motor driver and a motor feedback signal from the motor driver to the motor controller. The motor controller provides a motor speed control signal to the motor driver and the motor driver provides a motor feedback signal to the motor controller.

Circuits to control and drive motors, such as brushless DC (BLDC) motors, are known. Some motor driver circuits control the motor speed by providing a variable motor supply voltage that is generated by a variable motor supply voltage circuit based in part on a motor feedback signal. This speed control scheme has the advantage of not requiring a dedicated motor speed control input to the driver circuit, since the only connections required are the supply voltage, ground, and feedback signal connections. However, the motor speed range and efficiency can suffer with this three-wire scheme.
Alternatively, some motor driver circuits respond to an external speed control signal, such as a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal. While this type of motor driver circuit can provide an extended speed range for the motor, an additional connection is required to accommodate the speed control signal.


A computer-implemented system and method for augmenting search queries using glossaries is provided. At least one search query of one or more search terms is received. A set of tagged documents each associated with a tag and a glossary for the tag is accessed. The glossary includes one or more terms selected from that tagged document, definitions for the terms, and aliases for the terms. The search query is compared to the glossaries in the set. One or more terms in at least one of the glossaries that are related to the search terms of the search query are selected for inclusion in the search query.

The act of "tagging" has greatly increased due to the increase in social networking and use of desktop software. During tagging, a user assigns a tag, such as a word or phrase, to a document, image, or Web page to "mark" the item with an identifying concept. For example, in social networking, users commonly post and tag photographs of themselves and friends using a tag as an identifier for the people in the picture, such as by name, nickname, or user name. The tag provides metadata for the marked item and once assigned, can be used for quickly determining a topic of the document or for identification and retrieval, such as through search queries based on the tag.
However, conventional tags are sparsely defined, coarse, and ambiguous. Currently, conventional tagging systems are unable to effectively and efficiently distinguish between homonyms, which have different meanings for the same tag, or combine synonyms, which include multiple tags for the same concept. For example, a tag with the word "java" can refer to coffee, an island, or programming language. Without further information, a user or tagging system is unable to determine the meaning of the tag.
Further, the assignment of tags is usually subjectively determined by a user, which can result in an assigned tag that may not accurately reflect a topic of a document or that is not understandable by other users. For instance, a user marks a picture of a baby with a tag that provides the name of the baby's mother. The user knows that the tagged person is the mother; however, another user may believe that the tag refers to the baby. In another example, a user assigns a tag "Section IV-Research" to a document regarding sickle cell anemia. The user assigns the particular tag because he is working on a paper about genetic disorders and wants to identify the section of the paper that will cite the document. However, the tag is likely to be misunderstood or confusing to another user. Therefore, conventional tags are limited in use and may only be beneficial for the creator of the tags.
Thus, a system and method for providing context for a tag, such that similar tags can be distinguished, is needed. Preferably, the tags are refined without requiring retagging of documents.

Computer-implemented system and method for augmenting search queries using glossaries