A volume provider unit in a computer system that detects a logical block address of a read or write I/O accessing a logical volume of a storage device from a host. According to the logical block address fetched, a storage domain of the logical volume is dynamically expanded. Moreover, the storage domain of the logical volume is reduced or expanded according to an instruction of logical volume capacity reduction or expansion from a host commander part to a volume server.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for successive capacity expansion during on-line operation in a storage device system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, storage domains of a plurality of host computers are often stored in a single storage device. This tendency is promoted by, for example, a disk array. The disk array provides redundancy of the storage domains by a plurality of magnetic disk devices in a system, thereby increasing reliability and providing a necessary storage domain as a logical volume to a plurality of hosts. One of the merits of using this disk array is capacity expansion of the logical volume.
For example, when a computer has used up a logical volume provided by a disk array, a free space in the disk array is cut out with an arbitrary length to be allocated as a logical volume, so that the computer can connect this logical volume to a logical volume in use, thereby expanding the storage domain. This function of volume expansion can also be performed during on-line and is called on-line volume expansion. The on-line volume expansion enables to expand a range of the logical volume storage domain corresponding to data increasing as time passes, without stopping the application and accordingly, enables to expand the application operation time. Moreover, upon volume capacity transfer, there is no need of data transfer between volumes, which significantly reduces the storage management cost.
Conventionally, a logical volume user should report to a logical volume provider when expanding the on-line volume. In a small-size site such as within a single enterprise, there is no sudden data increase and it is not necessary to perform on-line volume expansion all the time. However, in a large-size site such as a data center where a plurality of enterprises utilize data, there is a possibility of a sudden data increase from computers of the plurality of enterprises and it is necessary to perform the on-line volume expansion at all time. Moreover, in order to enhance the utilization effect of a storage domain of a disk array or the like, it is necessary to provide a volume to a plurality of users in a single storage device without waste.
In order to effectively use a storage domain in a storage device, it is necessary to manage the storage area in unit of a logical volume of a small capacity and to expand the logical volume with the small-capacity logical volume when required. When using the on-line volume expansion in this condition, there is a case that a request for the on-line volume expansion is simultaneously caused by a plurality of users due to the data increasing as time passes and the logical volume provider may not be able to satisfy the requests. In the worst case, the on-line volume expansion cannot be performed and the computer operation is stopped.
A logical volume user make a request for an unlimited storage capacity without managing the storage domain. On the other hand, the logical volume provider should effectively manage the storage domain so as to provide a logical volume to the user as rapidly as possible without considering how the storage domain is used by the logical volume user.

Automated on-line capacity expansion method for storage device


A transistor-type pressure sensor is provided, having an upper and a lower substrates, a source/drain formed on the lower substrate and separated from each other, a channel layer formed between and on the source/drain, a dielectric layer and a gate. The gate is substantially formed between the source and the drain. The surface of the gate, being in contact with the dielectric layer, has a stepped surface profile, so that the channel length/width ratio can be changed due to the pressure sensed by the pressure sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transistor-type pressure sensor structure. More particularly, the present invention relates to a transistor-type pressure sensor structure having a soft and flexible electrode with a stepped surface profile, and a fabrication method thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Pressure measurements, such as atmospheric pressure or hydraulic pressure measurement, are an important part for industrial control. Generally, principles and methods of the pressure measurement are diversified, and different design methods can be applied to different fields or requirements. The current design methods for a pressure sensor include resistor type, voltage type, capacitor type, potentiometer type, inductance bridge type, strain gauge type and semiconductor pressure sensor etc.
Due to great reduction of sizes of the pressure sensors, and restrictions of fabrication processes, assembling and operations thereof, a new micro-processing technology referred to as a micro electro-mechanical system (MEMS) is developed. The MEMS has advantages of miniaturization, batch production, etc, and therefore it has been applied to other types of the pressure sensors. However, as to most of the conventional pressure sensor structures, an additional transistor is still required for receiving an output signal of the pressure sensor.
In the conventional pressure sensors, U.S. Pat. No. 6,880,406 discloses a semiconductor pressure sensor, in which a capacitor-type pressure sensor is fabricated based on a MEMS fabrication process to coordination with a control circuit (such as a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) control circuit) for receiving and processing an output signal of a plate capacitor. However, according to this patent, a pressure-sensing function is not directly integrated with a field effect transistor.
Moreover, U.S Application no. 20060205013 discloses a biosensor using the field effect transistor, in which a ligand is combined to a surface of the gate of the field effect transistor, and the ligand can be connected to an end of a nucleic acid for increasing a Debye length. The ligand is selectively combined to a side of the nucleic acid for attaching the nucleic acid on the gate surface. Under such circumstances, the nucleic acid is parallelly attached to the gate surface, and is not perpendicular to the gate surface, so as to generate an effective depletion region.

Transistor-type pressure sensor and method for fabricating the same

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A masonry form system including a plurality of masonry form members, wherein the plurality of masonry form members may include opposing vertical side walls; and a connector mechanism on at least one end of each of the plurality of masonry form members; and wherein, the plurality of masonry form members may be configured to be connected together via the connector mechanisms. A method of using a masonry form system including providing a masonry form system, selecting and positioning the selected plurality of masonry form members based on a pre-determined plan to form a desired masonry form; and connecting the selected and positioned plurality of masonry form members together.

In building projects, such as residential homes and commercial buildings, concrete can be used for various structural elements, such as footings, foundations, steps, driveways, posts, pillars, columns, and the like. Generally, a wooden form is constructed for a given element and then concrete is poured into the form. Once the concrete is sufficiently set, the form is removed. In this process, the wooden form may be custom built on site, then the concrete is poured into the form, and then once the concrete is set the wooden form is often removed in a destructive manner and is therefore not reusable. Further, steel forms are also in use today. However, steel forms are heavy and difficult to handle, store, and transport. Accordingly, more efficient and cost-effect approaches are needed with respect to constructing and deconstructing masonry forms.

Masonry form system and method of using same


Described herein are devices, systems, and methods for determining the composition of fluids, and particularly for describing the identity and concentration of one or more components of a medical fluid such as intravenous fluid. These devices, systems and methods take multiple complex admittance measurements from a fluid sample in order to identify the identity and the concentration of components of the fluid. The identity and concentration of all of the components of the solution may be simultaneously and rapidly determined. In some variations, additional measurement or sensing modalities may be used in addition to admittance spectroscopy, including optical, thermal, chemical, etc.

Errors in medication provided to a patient are recognized as a serious, and potentially avoidable, problem associated with the delivery of health care.
Medication errors are estimated to account for 7,000 deaths annually, and adverse drug events cause more than 770,000 injuries and deaths each year. Patients who suffer from unintended drug events remain in the hospital an average of 8 to 12 days longer than patients who did not experience such mistakes. Two recent studies, one conducted in Colorado and Utah and the other in New York, found that adverse events occurred in 2.9 and 3.7 percent of hospitalizations, respectively.
Infusion devices are believed to account for up to 35% of all medication errors that result in significant harm (Class 4 and 5). Mistakes typically arise from manually programming incorrect infusion parameters, and the failure to ensure the right patient receives the right medication. The most common error is manually programming infusion parameters such as delivery rate, drug, and drug dose, into the device.
Unfortunately, there is currently no commercially available device capable of reliably determining both the identity and concentration (and thus dosage) of a wide variety of unknown intravenous fluids as they are being delivered to a patient.
Although systems for verifying the presence of a drug or its concentration have been proposed, the majority of these systems rely solely on optical methods (such as optical spectroscopy). For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,847,899 to Allgeyer et al. describes a spectroscopic analysis device for identifying medications in an IV solution. Similar systems are described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,154,102 to Poteet et al. (florescence spectroscopy), PCT/US2007/087062 and PCT/US2006/036612 by Potuluri et al. (verification of solid drug identity by optical spectroscopy) and U.S. Pat. No. 7,317,525 to Rzasa et al.
Because these systems rely on spectroscopic analysis, they typically suffer from the limitations inherent in optical systems. These limitations may include a limited ability to distinguish between compounds, and particularly mixtures of compounds having multiple components, as well as difficulty in reliably distinguishing concentrations of different compounds.
Described herein are admittance spectroscopy devices and methods that use multiple electrical admittance measurements to determine both the identity and concentration of one or more components of a medical solution such as an intravenous solution. The inventors believe that this is the first successful application of admittance spectroscopy to determine the identity and concentration of a medical fluid. Although admittance spectroscopy has been previously described in other contexts, primarily for scientific research on material characterization and particularly solid-state materials, including the characterization of dielectrics, semiconductors, electrolytes and their interfaces with metals and each other. Sensors based on admittance spectroscopy include chromatography detectors and pH sensors, enzyme-based sensors, blood-glucose sensors and urease-based sensors. However, none of these sensors are capable of determining the identity and concentration of unknown components in an aqueous solution.
The devices, systems and methods described herein may address some or all of the problems described above, and may provide systems, devices and methods for the accurate and reliable determination of one or more compounds in a solution.

Systems and methods for the identification of compounds in medical fluids using admittance spectroscopy


Selecting a corresponding procedure of dithering according to a general pattern of gray levels of sub-pixels of each color of an input image. This will enable the input image to be displayed on a display with a lower bit depth.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a method and a processor for image processing, and more particularly, to a method and an image processor for image dithering.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The bit numbers employed to express the respective pixels of an image, also known as the bit depth, determine the color depth of the image. In general, the visual quality of the image increases with the color depth.
The bit depth of the conventional display is limited, such as the computer monitor, the PDA display panel, and so forth. Conventionally, if the bit depth of the display is less than the color depth of the image to be displayed, then a technique is to be employed to display the image having more color depth on the display having less color depth. This technique, when applied to a display, is called dithering. For example, when a 6-bit display is utilized to display an 8-bit image, the dithering technique is employed to display the image having more color depth on the display with lower bit depth.
Before the display leaves the factory, the procedure of dithering of the display is determined and unchangeable. This means that the display processes all of the images according to the determined procedure of dithering. However, there is no procedure of dithering that is suitable for optimizing all kinds of images.

Image processor and method for selecting a procedure of dithering thereof


An oil-based ink composition for ink jet recording of the present invention contains a colorant and at least 50% by weight of a mixed solvent made by mixing from 0.02 to 4 parts by weight of a lactone-type solvent with 1 part by weight of polyoxyethylene glycol dialkyl ether represented by the following general formula (1):R11—(OC2H4)n—OR12  General Formula (1)(wherein R11, R12 represent alkyl groups having from 1 to 3 carbon atoms and can be the same or different, and n is an integer from 2 to 4). The oil-based ink composition can be suitably used for printing on a polyvinyl chloride substrate and is excellent in all of print quality, printing stability, dry characteristics of printed matter, and storage stability of ink.

As ink jet recording system, there are known various ink jet recording systems such as a system (electric field controlling system) in which ink is discharged using electrostatic attraction, a system (drop-on-demand system or pressure pulse system) in which ink is discharged using the oscillation pressure of a piezoelectric element, and a system (bubble or thermal system) in which ink is discharged using pressure developed by forming bubbles and allowing them to grow with heat. By any one of these systems, highly detailed images can be obtained.
In these ink jet recording systems, aqueous ink using water as a main solvent, and oil-based ink using an organic solvent as a main solvent are generally used. Matters printed with aqueous ink are generally poor in water resistance and printing with the aqueous ink on recording media having water-proof surface is difficult. On the other hand, oil-based ink has advantages that it can provide printed matters which are excellent in water resistance and that it can facilitate the printing on recording media having water-proof surface or wood free papers. Further, oil-based ink using pigment as colorant is excellent in light stability.
In conventional oil-based ink, however, an aromatic hydrocarbon such as toluene or xylene, an aliphatic hydrocarbon such as hexane or kerosene, a ketone group such as methyl-ethyl ketone, an ester group such as ethyl acetate, or propylene glycol mono-methyl ether acetate is generally used as organic solvent. However, the oil-based ink has the following problems. When printing is conducted on a polyvinyl chloride substrate as a recording medium with such an ink using organic solvent as mentioned above, nozzles are easily clogged because such an organic solvent has low boiling point and low flash point so as to easily dry. In addition, it is expensive to satisfy the printer specification because of the dissolving and swelling properties of such an organic solvent relative to plastics (for example, polystyrene resin and ABS resin) used in ink storage containers, apparatuses such as a printer, and parts thereof. Further, when printing is conducted on a polyvinyl chloride substrate, such oil-based ink cannot provide satisfactory print quality nor provide satisfactory dry characteristics of printed matter.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an oil-based ink composition for ink jet recording which can be suitably used for printing on a polyvinyl chloride substrate and is excellent in all of print quality, printing stability, dry characteristics of printed matter, and storage stability of ink.

Oil-based ink composition for ink-jet recording


Dye-donor element for use according to thermal dye sublimation transfer comprising a support having on one side thereof a dye layer and containing a substituted di(hetero)aryl carbonate as thermal solvent.

Thermal dye sublimation transfer also called thermal dye diffusion transfer is a recording method in which a dye-donor element provided with a dye layer containing sublimable dyes having heat transferability is brought into contact with a receiver sheet and selectively, in accordance with a pattern information signal, heated with a thermal printing head provided with a plurality of juxtaposed heat-generating resistors, whereby dye from the selectively heated regions of the dye-donor element is transferred to the receiver sheet and forms a pattern thereon, the shape and density of which is in accordance with the pattern and intensity of heat applied to the dye-donor element.
A dye-donor element for use according to thermal dye sublimation transfer usually comprises a very thin support e.g. a polyester support, one side of which is covered with a dye layer, which contains the printing dyes. Usually an adhesive or subbing layer is provided between the support and the dye layer. Normally the opposite side is covered with a slipping layer that provides a lubricated surface against which the thermal printing head can pass without suffering abrasion. An adhesive layer may be provided between the support and the slipping layer.
The dye layer can be a monochrome dye layer or it may comprise sequential repeating areas of different colored dyes like e.g. of cyan, magenta, yellow and optionally black hue. When a dye-donor element containing three or more primary color dyes is used, a multicolor image can be obtained by sequentially performing the dye transfer process steps for each color.
It is always desirable to transfer as much dye as possible with the lowest thermal energy in said thermal dye sublimation transfer systems. The amount of dye which can be transferred from a dye-donor element to a receiving element by thermal dye transfer depends upon the dye transfer efficiency. It is known to add so-called thermal solvents to the dye-donor element in order to increase the dye transfer efficiency and thus to obtain enhanced dye transfer densities. Thermal solvents are non-hydrolyzable organic compounds that are solid at ambient temperature but molten at elevated temperatures. They have a melting point between 40.degree. C. and 300.degree. C., preferably between 40.degree. C. and 150.degree. C. In molten state they act as a solvent within the element in which they are contained. These compounds are known under such different names like thermal solvents, melt-formers, melt-modifiers, eutectic formers, plasticizers, softeners, and thermal development and diffusion-promoting agents.
Various classes of thermal solvents have been described for use in thermal dye transfer donor elements, for example, in EP 318944, EP 318945, EP 390044, JP 56/89985, JP 59/222391, JP 60/44392, JP 60/56590, JP 61/286199, JP 62/108086, JP 62/283176, JP 02/3384, JP 02/25387, JP 02/151485 and JP 03/10891.
Diphenyl compounds with various linking groups between the two phenyl nuclei have also been described as thermal solvents in dye-donor elements. Examples of linking groups described are esters (see EP 318945 and JP 61/286199), ketones (see EP 318944), (sulfon)amides (see EP 318944) and ethers (see JP 02/3384 and JP 02/25387).
In EP 318945 non-substituted diphenyl carbonates are used as thermal solvent in the dye-donor element. Although these compounds have a beneficial effect on dye transfer they adversely affect the stability of the donor element. When dye-donor elements having such dye layers containing non-substituted diphenyl carbonates as thermal solvents have been rolled up and stored for any length of time such that the backcoat of one portion of the donor element is held against the dyecoat of another portion, sticking of the backcoat to the dyecoat occurs and migration of the dye takes place leading to a loss of density of any prints eventually made using that donor element. Further said thermal solvents cause crystallization of the dye.


Systems and methodologies are disclosed for generating setup information for use measuring process parameters associated with semiconductor devices. A system comprises an off-line measurement instrument to measure an unpatterned wafer and a setup information generator to generate setup information according to the unpatterned wafer measurement. The system then provides the setup information to a process measurement system for use in measuring production wafers in a semiconductor manufacturing process.

In the semiconductor industry there is a continuing trend toward higher device densities. To achieve these high densities there have been, and continue to be, efforts toward scaling down the device dimensions on semiconductor wafers. In order to accomplish such a high device packing density, smaller feature sizes are required. These may include the width and spacing of interconnecting lines and the surface geometry such as the corners and edges of various features. The requirement of small features with close spacing between adjacent features requires high-resolution photo-lithographic processes as well as high resolution metrology and inspection instruments and systems.
Lithography refers generally to processes for pattern transfer between various media. It is a technique used for integrated circuit fabrication in which, for example, a silicon wafer is coated uniformly with a radiation-sensitive film (e.g., a photoresist), and an exposing source (such as ultraviolet light, x-rays, or an electron beam) illuminates selected areas of the film surface through an intervening master template (e.g., a mask or reticle) to generate a particular pattern. The exposed pattern on the photoresist film is then developed with a solvent called a developer which dissolves either the exposed pattern or the complimentary unexposed pattern, depending on the type of photoresist (i.e., positive or negative resist). After developing, the wafer has a photoresist mask corresponding to the desired pattern on the silicon wafer for further processing.
In addition to lithographic processes, other process steps in the fabrication of semiconductor wafers require higher resolution processing and measurement equipment in order to accommodate ever shrinking feature sizes and spacing. Measurement instruments and systems are used to inspect semiconductor devices in association with manufacturing production line quality control applications as well as with product research and development. The ability to measure and/or view particular features in a semiconductor workpiece allows for adjustment of manufacturing processes and design modifications in order to produce better products, reduce defects, etc. For instance, device measurements of film thicknesses, critical dimensions (CDs), profiles, and overlay registration may be used to make adjustments in one or more such process steps in order to achieve the desired product quality. Accordingly, various metrology and inspection tools and instruments have been developed to map and record semiconductor device features, such as scanning electron microscopes (SEMs), atomic force microscopes (AFMs), scatterometers, spectroscopic ellipsometers (SEs), and the like.
One particular type of measurement system is a scatterometer, which is different from conventional film measurements. Scatterometry is a technique for extracting information about a structure or stacked structures upon which an incident light has been directed. In particular, scatterometry involves extracting information from gratings over other gratings or from gratings over a film stack As indicated by its name, scatterometry is primarily concerned with the shapes of two and three dimensional structures in order to ascertain and determine the roughness of the layers or the non-planarity or non-parallelism of the planes. The structures of interest scatter light in ways that flat, one-dimensional layers do not. Process information concerning properties such as profile and critical dimensions of features present on and within the stacked structure can be extracted by employing a scatterometer. Using scatterometry, this information can be obtained by comparing measured and calculated signatures relating to the stacked structure. A signature may be defined as the phase and/or intensity of the light directed onto the surface of a wafer with phase and/or intensity signals of a complex reflected and/or diffracted light resulting from the incident light reflecting from and/or diffracting through the surface upon which the incident light was directed.
Conventional film metrology involves treating volumes which are essentially one-dimensional, that is composed of layers such as sub-volumes separated by parallel planes. In scatterometry, the intensity and/or the phase of the reflected and/or diffracted light change according to properties of the stacked structure. Examples of such properties include the roughness of the layers and the non-planarity or non-parallelism of the subject plane(s) upon which the light is directed.
Different combinations of such properties will have different effects on the phase and/or intensity of the incident light resulting in substantially unique signatures in the complex reflected and/or diffracted light. Thus, by examining a database of calculated signatures or model of calculated signatures, a determination can be made concerning the properties of the stacked structure. For instance, a measured signature may be matched to a calculated signature, thereby yielding a measured profile of the stacked structure or a portion thereof. Such substantially unique signatures are produced by light reflected from and/or refracted by different surfaces due, at least in part, to the complex index of refraction of the surface onto which the light is directed.
The complex index of refraction (N) can be computed by examining the index of refraction (n) of the surface and an extinction coefficient (k). One such computation of the complex index of refraction can be described by the equation N=n−jk, where j is an imaginary number.
Generally, the n and k values for a given surface layer may be measured using a spectroscopic ellipsometer (SE), which may be used, in part, to generate such signature models in a semiconductor manufacturing endeavor. "Unpatterned wafer" means "an unpatterned portion of a wafer". Optical instruments, e.g., an SE or a scatterometer, have a "spot size" of some size which defines the region where the instrument is sensitive. If a wafer has regions which are essentially uniform ("unpatterned") as large as the spot size, those portions can be measured as "unpatterned" even though the wafer elsewhere has patterns, if the "spot" is placed on unpatterned on uniform regions. When exposed to a first incident light of known intensity, wavelength and phase, a first layer with a first chemical composition on a wafer can generate a first phase/intensity signature. Similarly, when exposed to the first incident light of known intensity, wavelength and phase, a second chemical composition on a wafer can generate a second phase/intensity signature. For example, a nitrided gate oxide layer with a first nitrogen concentration may generate a first signature while a nitrided gate oxide layer with a second nitrogen concentration may generate a second signature.
Observed signatures can be combined with simulated and modeled signatures to form the signal (signature) library. Simulation and modeling can be employed to produce signatures against which measured signatures can be matched, for instance, using a profile matching server or system. When phase/intensity signals are received from scatterometry detecting components, the phase/intensity signals can be pattern matched, for example, to the library models of signals, in order to determine whether the signals correspond to a stored signature.
Scatterometry may thus be advantageously employed in a semiconductor device manufacturing or fabrication process, in order to measure certain process parameters associated with individual processing steps therein. For example, a lithography process step may involve patterning wafers in order to create features thereon having certain critical dimensions (CDs), profiles, spacings, etc., wherein the overall quality of the resulting semiconductor device may depend on the accuracy of the lithography step. Scatterometry may be employed in order to verify such dimensional process parameters, as well as other process conditions, such as overlay registration, and the like. Today, such model generation is typically done remotely from the process and scatterometer with which the models are ultimately to be employed. In order to setup a scatterometer for use with a new or changed process step, such models must be obtained, along with recipes for performing one or more required measurements on processed wafers.
Obtaining models from such remote model generation sites sometimes takes days, during which time wafers processed according to the new process step cannot be measured using the scatterometer. In addition, the scatterometry measurement system may need to be trained in order to program new measurement recipes, during which time the scatterometer cannot be used to measure production wafers. Thus, the generation and/or creation of setup information such as models and recipes for use in measurement systems has heretofore resulted in significant process down-time. Accordingly, there is a need for improved methods and systems by which such setup down-time may be reduced or mitigated.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Systems and methods for metrology recipe and model generation


A filter assembly for filtering water in an aquatic structure having a housing with a flow inlet and a flow outlet and filter media between the flow inlet and the flow outlet. A vortex distributor is supported in the housing to distribute fluid evenly over the filter media and partially separate debris from the fluid. The vortex distributor has a conically shaped body portion with an upper side, a lower side and a vortex opening. The vortex opening is substantially centered in the body portion and a plurality of vanes are supported on the upper side of the body portion around the vortex opening, the vanes curving away from the vortex opening to form a substantially planar upper surface.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to the field of maintaining aquatic structures, and more particularly but not by way of limitation, to an improved filter assembly having a vortex fluid distributor.
2. Discussion
Ornamental garden pools, ponds, fountains and the like have long been popular landscaping features. Additionally, water systems serving purely utilitarian purposes, such as drainage ponds, are also common landscaping features. Collectively referred to as aquatic structures herein, the aesthetic and utility of such aquatic structures can enhance and improve the environments of both private and community structures, including residential, commercial and civic sites. Also, aquatic structures are used to create habitats for birds and other wildlife.
Because many aquatic structures of the type described are closed systems, there must be means provided to properly maintain water quality. It is especially important that such means prevent the aquatic structures from becoming fouled and stagnant.
One means usually provided for aquatic structures is a skimmer that is disposed to remove floating debris from surface waters. Also, various forms of filtering devices can be provided to remove debris from the skimmed water before the same water is returned to the aquatic structure, sent to drainage, or passed to a downstream filter. A skimmer's filter typically takes the form of a coarse net or basket to catch larger contaminants, such as leaves, twigs, and the like, and in many instances a skimmer incorporates a submersible pump to draw inlet water.
Filtering systems often take the form of a tank containing a filter medium through which water flows and which entraps debris and particulates. Kinds of filter media commonly used are diatomaceous earth, sand, gravel, pellets and the like. The filter media removes contaminants from the water by trapping the contaminants on or in the filter medium.
Depending on the kind of contaminants to be removed, the selection of an appropriate filter media, or layers of filter media, is an art that has been highly developed. The means of cleaning the filter media of accumulated contaminants varies with the type of media utilized, and may simply involve backwashing the media by reverse flowing contaminant free water through the filter.
Maintenance of aquatic structures has largely relied upon commonly found mechanical filtration devices. However, in addition to such mechanical filtration devices, it is often necessary to provide chemical and/or biological filtration devices. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,519 issued to Sagami, teaches a bacteria bed in an aeration tank for fish ponds. U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,385 issued to Hater et al. teaches a porous material that houses a bacterial culture for degrading waste and other compounds in a collection system. Indeed, there are many commercially available filtration assemblies that combine mechanical, chemical and/or biological media for maintaining water quality in an aquatic structure.
In such filtration assemblies, there is a tendency for the water being filtered to take the least resistive course through the media bed, and as the filter accumulates contaminants, there can be a significant decrease in the operational efficiency of the unit. It is important, therefore, that the flow-through water be distributed evenly across the media bed throughout the filtering cycle.
There is a need for a filtering assembly that maintains filtering efficiency throughout its cycle, and thus there is a need for a filter assembly having the capability to disperse the water uniformly over the filter media throughout its filtering cycle.

Filter assembly with vortex fluid distributor


The apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display apparatus is equipped with the XYZθ-movement mechanism can move at least one of the first and second attraction stages in a vertical direction so as to adhere the first and second substrates to each other via the sealing agent, and then move the first and second attraction stages relatively to each other in a horizontal direction on the basis of an ordered movement amount, so as to align the first and second substrates with each other, and a control device that can move the first and second substrates relatively to each other by a predetermined amount more than the ordered movement amount while aligning the first and second substrates with each other by the XYZθ-movement mechanism, so as to set the first and second substrates at target positions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display apparatus used in a color television set or various types of office automation (OA) apparatus, and a manufacturing device for practicing such a method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquid crystal display apparatus used in a color television set or an OA apparatus have a structure in which the first polarizing plate made of a glass plate-like material, a color filter plate (the first substrate), a liquid crystal drive plate (the second substrate), the second polarizing plate and a flat-plate backlight are combined and laid one on another in this order from the display surface side.
A liquid crystal cell is manufactured by bonding the above-mentioned color filter plate and liquid crystal driving plate one on another while interposing liquid crystal and spacer between them. When the color filter plate and liquid crystal driving plate are bonded together, a thermosetting sealing agent is applied between the circumferential portions of these plates, and they are bonded with use of a bonding device.
Here, when bonding them together, it is required that the positions of the color filter plate and liquid crystal driving plate with relative to each other should be aligned at a high accuracy.
In the meantime, to meet the demand of increasing the size of the liquid crystal display screen and improving the production efficiency, such a procedure is employed that a plurality of liquid crystal cells (for example, 4 crystal cells of a size of 12 inches) are cut out of a large-scale glass substrate (400 nm×500 nm).
The bonding device has a stand and an XYZθ driving mechanism is provided on the stand. The XYZθ driving mechanism includes a first attraction stage configured to attract an opposing substrate to the stage and hole it in a horizontal state. The opposing substrate contains a plurality of sheets of effective regions that constitute the above-mentioned color filter plate.
On the other hand, a second attraction stage is provided underneath the first attraction stage, and an array substrate is attracted to the second attraction stage and held on it in a horizontal state. The array substrate contains a plurality of sheets of effective regions that constitute the above-mentioned liquid crystal driving plate, and this substrate is set to face the opposing substrate.
Underneath the second attraction stage, there are provided recognition cameras for recognizing alignment marks provided on, for example, four corners of the opposing substrate and the array substrate, and an ultraviolet ray irradiating means for hardening a UV-hardening sealing agent used for preliminary fixation, which will be explained later.
Now, the step of bonding the opposing substrate and the array substrate together will now be described.
First, the thermosetting sealing agent for sealing liquid crystal is applied onto the array substrate in an amount for four liquid crystal cells, and the UV-hardening sealing agent for preliminary fixation is applied onto a vicinity of the alignment mark at each of the four corners of the substrate. Then, the array substrate is attracted and fixed on the first attraction stage. After that, the opposing substrate is attracted to the second attraction stage and held on it to be in parallel to the array substrate. After that, the opposing substrate is moved down so as to bring it into contact with the thermosetting sealing agent and the UV-hardening sealing agent for preliminary fixation, that are provided on the array substrate. Subsequently, the position alignment marks made at the circumferential portions of the opposing substrate and array substrate are aligned with each other while monitoring them with the recognition cameras. At the same time, the opposing substrate is moved down such that the gap between the opposing substrate and array substrate becomes a predetermined distance.
Next, an ultraviolet ray is irradiated onto the preliminary-fixation UV-hardening sealing agent applied on the vicinities of the alignment marks, and thus the opposing substrate and array substrate are preliminary fixed together. The opposing substrate and array substrate that are preliminary fixed together as above are heated in the subsequent step. Thus, the thermosetting sealing agent is hardened and they are adhered together permanently.
However, in the conventional techniques, the opposing substrate and array substrate are aligned with each other while they are brought into contact with each other via the thermosetting sealing agent and UV-hardening sealing agent. In this state, the viscoelastic resistance of each sealing agent is applied to the XYZθ driving mechanism and the second attraction stage, resulting in that some distortion is created in the entire bonding device.
Here, the distortion is proportional to the amount of movement of the opposing substrate, and therefore even if correction is performed on the basis of a correction amount calculated after detection of the displacement amount with use of the recognition cameras, some distortion is still inevitable. For this reason, it is not possible to carry the opposing substrate to the desired position by one movement, but the correction must be repeated many times until the displacement error falls within a generally-accepted allowable range of ±1 μm.
Such operations cause an increase in tact time in the sell assembly step or eventually a decrease in the production efficiency.

Method of manufacturing liquid crystal display apparatus and manufacturing device therefor


A radial pneumatic tire having excellent run-flat durability. The tire is equipped with a belt (4), which includes a plurality of metal cord layers, and a tread (5) successively placed at a periphery of a crown portion (3) of a toroidal radial carcass (2), and is equipped with, at an inner peripheral surface of the side portion (6) of the carcass, a rubber reinforcing layer (7) having a crescent moon shaped cross-section and bearing and supporting load. The tire has an auxiliary belt (8) disposed between the carcass and the belt and including organic fiber cords which are oriented substantially cross to the cords of the carcass and the cords of the belt with respect to a central equatorial plane, the cords of the auxiliary belt substantially crossing the central equatorial plane.

Conventionally, various measures have been devised for safely continuing running, without damaging the tire further and without disadvantages such as poor steering. This occurs over a distance from the place where the tire was punctured to a place desired by the driver, e.g., a service station where the tire can be changed, at the time when the internal pressure decreases or becomes zero (hereinafter, "punctured") for some reason, and in many cases, due to a foreign object such as a nail or a metal piece piercing the tire, during traveling of the pneumatic tire installed on a vehicle.
Among these measures, as a simple and effective measure for radial tires for passenger vehicles in particular, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 52-41521 discloses art relating to a so-called side reinforced run-flat tire in which a rubber reinforcing layer having a crescent moon shaped crosssection is made to line the carcass inner peripheral surface of the sidewall, which is the region in the tire having the lowest rigidity, so that the entire sidewall has approximately the same thickness and so as to provide rigidity.
In this side reinforced run-flat tire, in an ordinary state, the load is mainly supported by internal pressure. When the tire is punctured, the supporting of the load is taken over by the rigidity inherent in the reinforced sidewall.
However, in this side reinforced run-flat tire, as illustrated in FIG. 2, when the tire is punctured, buckling of a sidewall S is avoided, but a crown portion 21 exhibits the phenomenon known as buckling, and a tread 22 is thereby lifted up from a road surface R. As a result, a portion 23 of the sidewall separated from the tread 22 contacts the ground.
In this ground-contacting state, obviously, stress concentrates and defects arise at an early stage at portions at which there is much bending deformation. As a result, in order to increase the durability of the run-flat tire, buckling of the crown portion 21 must be suppressed, and tire deformation must, as much as possible, be maintained the same as before the puncture.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-191243 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-191244 disclose techniques in which at least one organic fiber cord layer, which is effective for weight reduction, is disposed at the outer periphery of the belt layer, so as to increase the rigidity of the tread base portion.
However, these disclosed techniques do not exhibit sufficient effects for suppressing buckling, and the current situation is that, even if the rigidity of the tread base portion is increased even more, by winding a plurality of layers, the effects are small in proportion to the increase in cost and in weight.

Pneumatic radial tire with load bearing rubber reinforcing layer


A drawing device is provided that applies drawing liquid containing a drawing material dissolved or dispersed in a solvent onto a substrate. The drawing device includes a liquid drop emitter having a liquid drop ejection head that ejects the drawing liquid onto the surface of the substrate, a substrate stage having the substrate mounted thereon, moving means for relatively moving the liquid drop ejection head or the substrate stage, and control means for controlling at least one of the liquid drop ejection head and the substrate stage. A wall is disposed on at least one of the liquid drop ejection head and the substrate stage to prevent the solvent from flowing out.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drawing device, and in particular, a drawing device providing stable ink droplet ejection, an electro-optical unit and an electronic apparatus manufactured by using the drawing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A liquid drop emitter for ejecting droplets of writing liquid, such as ink, to a color filter used for a liquid crystal display device or the like includes, for example, an inkjet head for ejecting ink. Such an inkjet head has an ink nozzle for ejecting ink. Ink ejected from the ink nozzle is applied to the color filter. In particular, the inkjet head has a piezo-electric element, which deforms in accordance with an applied voltage to eject the ink from the ink nozzle. Thus, an inkjet head that can easily control the ejection of the ink is achieved. A method ejecting ink in this manner is referred to as an inkjet method.
With reference to FIG. 12, an inkjet head 12 for the inkjet method has a plurality of ink nozzles 37, for example, 180 nozzles per line, on its bottom surface. Liquid ink is intermittently ejected from the ink nozzles and the ink is disadvantageously deposited on the tops of the ink nozzles or on the inner surfaces of the nozzles due to an inevitable increase in viscosity of the ink after long-term use.
Using the ink nozzles with the deposited ink results in misdirected ink ejected from the ink nozzles or clogged ink nozzles due to the deposited ink, which, in turn, results in faulty ejection of the ink nozzles.
Therefore, with reference to FIG. 13 illustrating a known technology, a substrate 1, to which the ink is ejected, is mounted on a stage 16. The stage 16 has ink trays 9 for receiving the ink from the inkjet head 12 in a standby mode. In particular, the ink trays 9 are disposed in an area where the inkjet head moves away from the ink-application area of the substrate.
The inkjet head 12 moves to the locations of the ink trays 9 and ejects ink thereto unless the inkjet head 12 ejects ink onto the substrate, such as a color filter. This action is known as "flushing". Such flushing of the ink prevents the ink nozzles from becoming clogged with the ink sticking to the inner surface of the nozzles due to ink thickening.
Unfortunately, in the known inkjet method described above, the flushing operation causes the following problems:
the flushing wastes ink;
the flushing is time-consuming and thereby increases the total drawing time; and
the flushing requires various means and thereby increases the cost of the drawing device.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a drawing device that ejects droplets stably without the flushing required in the known technology, and to provide an electro-optical unit and an electronic apparatus manufactured by using the drawing device.

Drawing device, electro-optical unit, and electronic apparatus


The invention refers to a fuel vapor storage and recovery apparatus comprising a housing (2) defining at least first and second compartments, at least one compartment being filled with an adsorbent material, at least one tank port (5) connectable to a fuel tank vent line, at least one atmospheric vent port (7), an outer housing member (8) defining a first outer compartment (3), an inner housing member defining a second inner compartment (4), the first outer compartment (3) encompassing the second inner compartment (4), wherein the inner housing member (9) is fitted into the outer housing member (8) at one end of the housing (2), such that a wall (13) of the inner housing member (9) engages an inner wall of the outer housing member (8) and wherein the inner housing member (9) and the outer housing member (8) are sealed against each other by means of a closure cap (14).

A fuel vapor storage and recovery apparatus of the above-referred kind is for instance disclosed in WO 2010/032065 A1. This fuel vapor storage and recovery apparatus which is referred to as an adsorbent canister for control of emission for an automobile fuel tank comprises primary and secondary adsorbent beds and a flow passage configured to connect the adsorbent beds in series. The primary adsorbent bed encompasses/surrounds the secondary adsorbent bed. The primary adsorbent bed including a packed granular carbon is configured for flow end to end and has a polygonal, overall cylindrical sidewall, the secondary adsorbent bed being arranged in an internal passage of the canister extending from one end to another of the primary adsorbent bed, the secondary adsorbent bed being located in this internal flow passage. Between the primary and secondary adsorbent bed an airspace is defined which forms a kind of diffusion barrier between the primary and secondary adsorbent bed. The internal passage within the primary adsorbent bed is defined by a tube-like housing member which is sealed against a two-part cover fitted onto the top wall of the outer housing. This two-part cover includes a tank port, an atmospheric vent port and a purge port. The bottom of the carbon canister housing is sealed by an end cap including partitions which define a gas flow connection between the open ends of the primary and secondary adsorbent beds.
This design is rather compact and effective.
However, sealing of the inner tube defining the internal passage through the main carbon bed against the top wall of the carbon canister housing has to be achieved by a rubber seal or a similar sealing means. Moreover, mechanical interlocking between the inner tube and the outer housing has to be achieved somehow, for instance by a bajonet or locking nut.
To ensure leak tightness of the assembly during operation, there must, however, be conducted a quality insurance leak test to ensure the seal is not missing during preassembly or the seal is not damaged. Because the seal is quite small in cross-sectional area and rather large in diameter, assembly is quite difficult. Moreover, the seal takes valuable space in an area of the canister, where the canister design is critical.

Fuel vapor storage and recovery apparatus


A magnetically latching solenoid apparatus is characterized by a non-magnetic armature carrying a permanent magnet having poles aligned with the throw axis of the device. The poles of the magnet are substantially aligned with corresponding pole pieces and define respective variable air gaps therebetween. The apparatus assumes one of two bistable magnetically latched states according to the one of the air gaps across which the magnetic attractive force exceeds the magnetic attractive force across the other of the air gaps. Single or dual winding coils temporally excitable unidirectionally or bidirectionally and, in the case of dual winding coils mutually exclusively or contemporaneously, to cause the latch state to change.

A variety of devices rely upon solenoid controlled apparatus. In automobiles, for example, various valves and electrical switches make use of solenoid controls which translate the motion or position of the solenoid armature to control position or state of valves or switches. Such devices are commonly referred to as solenoid controlled valves and relays, respectively. Many such devices assume a deenergized condition when current is removed from the solenoid and an energized condition when current is applied to the solenoid. The deenergized condition is characterized by a first armature position established by a bias spring acting upon the armature. The energized condition is characterized by a second armature position established by electromagnetic attraction of the armature to the solenoid core. In order that the second armature position is maintained, a holding current must continually be supplied to the solenoid lest the bias spring return the armature to the first armature position. Holding current is generally undesirable in automotive applications as such represents a source of electrical energy being dissipated out of an electrical system having severely limited electrical generation and storage capabilities. Additionally, integration of such devices embodied in relays onto printed circuit boards within various automotive or nonautomotive controllers has the additional shortfall of substantial heat generation resulting from ohmic losses of the solenoid which may preclude or limit such use or require special thermal management consideration.
Various mechanisms are known by which the necessity for holding current may be eliminated. Such mechanisms are generally referred to as latching mechanisms for their ability to retain an established position of state of a device. Magnetically latching solenoid devices are known which utilize permanent magnet force to latch an armature in one of two bistable conditions, the other bistable condition being latched mechanically by spring force. It has also been suggested to utilize permanent magnet force to selectively latch an armature in either of two bistable conditions. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,737,750 and 5,272,458 for example show solenoid controlled apparatus including a permanent magnet coupled to an armature assembly and a single pole piece structure interacting with one pole of the permanent magnet. The pole piece is established at one of an aiding or opposing polarity with respect to the permanent magnet by way of opposite polarity flux established by an energized coil. Opposite polarity flux is established by bidirectional current delivery through a single coil or independent current delivery through a pair of oppositely wound coils. Bidirectional current delivery may require undesirably complex and costly driver circuitry while independent current delivery may require undesirably high coil mass, volume, and cost.
Additionally, as noted above in exposition of features of certain latching solenoid apparatus, a single pole piece interacts with the permanent magnet to effectuate state changes. The energy requirements between the two state changes may be very different owing to the different air gaps between the pole piece and magnet associated with each state. This changes the overall permeance of the magnetic circuit and may require substantially more flux to establish an attractive polarity than to establish an opposing polarity. This call for flux control may undesirably require various combinations of current delivery control such as by pulse width modulation depending upon the polarity desired, winding ratio other than unity between oppositely wound coils, and/or various performance and response trade-offs in toggling between states.
Inclusion of bias springs in the latching mechanism may also require substantial coil generated flux to counteract the spring force particularly in light of substantial air gaps and low permeance of the magnetic circuit in spring latched conditions. Additionally, inclusion of bias springs in the latching mechanism may also require substantial permanent magnet flux to counteract the spring force in magnetically latched conditions. Each of these shortfalls alone may undesirably add to mass, size and cost as attributable to larger coil(s), larger magnet, and /or high density permanent magnets.
Specifically with respect to relay applications, movable relay contacts pads are conventionally disposed at a distal end of a resilient conductor arm fixably coupled to the armature. As the armature is pulled toward the energized position against the solenoid coil a movable contact couples to a stationary contact and the resilient conductor yields under the attractive force between the armature and solenoid core until the armature motion is stopped by its contacting the core. Over time and cycles, the resiliency characteristics of the resilient conductor arm degrades and the contact pads wear, corrode and/or are consumed by arcing resulting in reduced contact force throughout the life of the relay. At the same time, arc erosion products formed on the surfaces of the contact pads are more resistive and require increased contact force to maintain low resistance across the contacts. Therefore, contact force reductions are undesirable since ohmic performance is positively correlated to contact force.

Magnetically latching solenoid apparatus


A node, in a first network, includes circuitry configured to add a label stack to a packet associated with one of a Layer 2 Virtual Private Network (L2VPN) and a Layer 3 Virtual Private Network (L3VPN), wherein the packet is destined for a second network having at least a pair of Border Gateway Protocol-Label Unicast (BGP-LU) Route Reflector (RR) nodes interconnecting the first network, and wherein the label stack includes an anycast Segment Identifier (SID) for the RR nodes, in Segment Routing, and transmit the packet to the second network. The label stack also includes a BGP-LU label for a destination in the second network. Responsive to isolation of one of the RR nodes, a Point of Local Repair (PLR) node in the first network is configured to implement Topology-Independent Loop-Free Alternate (TI-LFA) for the anycast SID.

BGP LU Prefix Independent Convergence (PIC) is a solution which can be used for BGP LU redundancy. This is used along with Multi Hop (MHOP) Internet Protocol (IP) Bi-directional Fault Detection (BFD) between BGP Peers. Disadvantageously, the BGP LU PIC solution requires specialized hierarchical implementation in hardware. In fact, many of chipsets (hardware) do not have such flexibility and support to achieve proper BGP LU PIC functionality. Also, the implementation of BGP LU PIC reduces overall scale in hardware for supporting Label Switched Paths (LSPs). The BGP LU PIC protection works along with MHOP IP BFD and is triggered after MHOP IP BFD detects failure, which is around ˜300 ms or more. Without using MHOP IP BFD, the BGP LU PIC protection depends on BGP timers and takes seconds to achieve protection of traffic.

Bgp Lu resiliency using an anycast SID and BGP driven anycast path selection


A camera system includes a camera device and a flash device. The camera device has a first mode where a control aperture value and a control shutter speed are automatically determined; and a second mode where the operator is allowed to determine either a control aperture value or a control shutter speed. The flash device is capable of emitting an instantaneous flash light and a prolonged flash light. The camera device includes a distance calculator operable to calculate a distance to an object and a light intensity calculator operable to calculate an intensity of a prolonged flash light for flash photography based on the calculated distance, a focal plane shutter having a front blind and a rear blind, and a controller operable to render the flash device emit a prolonged flash light at the calculated intensity from the start of travel of the front blind to the finish of travel of the rear blind.

This invention relates to a camera system capable of performing a high speed synchronized photography.
When taking a photograph in a dark place, it has been a common practice to use the auxiliary light emitted from a flash device in combination with the ambient light. However, in the case where a flash photography is executed by a camera having a focal plane shutter, there has been the likelihood that an object is not sufficiently illuminated by the flash light while the gap defined by front and rear blinds of the focal plane shutter travels across a film plane at a shutter speed greater than a flash synchronized shutter speed. In this case, the film plane is exposed partially by the flash light regardless of at which moment the flash device is fired, with the result that a uniformly exposed picture cannot be obtained.
In order to overcome this problem, U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,743 discloses a camera system which causes a flash device to selectively emit a first type of light which flashes instantaneously and a second type of light which flatly flashes for a prolonged period of time. The instantaneous flash light is emitted when a control shutter speed is smaller than the flash synchronized shutter speed. The flat flash light is emitted when a control shutter speed is greater than the flash synchronized shutter speed. Also, the instantaneous and flat flash lights are selectively changed in accordance with the intensity of the ambient light. The intensity and time of the flat flash light are changed in accordance with the control shutter speed.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 61-98334 discloses a flash device including a semiconductor switching device which is connected in series with a flash light discharge tube and which is turned on and off at intervals of a minute time to emit flat flash light. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 64-17033 discloses a flash device which uses IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) to emit a flat flash light. Similarly to U.S. Pat. No. 4.422,743, these flash devices emit flat flash light when a control shutter speed is greater than the flash synchronized shutter speed.
Further, there have been proposed a camera system which emits flat flash light when an object is closer to the camera than a predetermined distance (U.S. Pat. No. 4,354,751); a camera system which cannot emit flat flash light but can determine an optimal flash light intensity based on the shake limiting shutter speed and the flash synchronized shutter speed (U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,769, U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,359): and a camera system which cannot emit flat flash light but executes a preliminary light emission to calculate an optimal flash light intensity (U.S. Pat. No. 5,268.730).
In the aforementioned conventional camera systems, the flash photography mode is changed between the flat flash photography and the instantaneous flash photography by a manual operation in accordance with the discrimination result of whether or not a control shutter speed is greater than the flash synchronized shutter speed, or in accordance with the discrimination result of whether the photography mode is a macro photography mode or a normal photography mode. In such conventional manners, it has been very difficult to carry out photography which is optimal to reflect an operator's intention and a state of an object.
Further, flash devices used in the conventional camera systems do not calculate an amount of flash light in accordance with an automatic exposure calculation result, a distance to an object and the like. Accordingly, the conventional camera systems have required a skill of a certain level to obtain a picture free from an exposure error. Thus, it has been difficult for a novice to properly use these flash devices.

Camera system having a flash device capable of performing a high speed synchronized photography


This invention relates to a method and apparatus for the generation of isotopes, and in particular radioisotopes, from a target material which is not normally a solid and which, when bombarded by selected high energy particles, produces the selected isotope. A surface is provided which is preferably of a thermally-conductive material, which surface is cooled to a temperature below the freezing temperature of the target material. A thin layer of target material is then frozen on the surface and the target material is bombarded with the high energy particles. The beam of high energy particles is preferably at an angle to the surface such that the particles pass through a thickness of the target material greater than the thickness of the layer before reaching the surface. When the desired quantity of isotope has been produced from the target material, the target material, which has now been altered nuclearly to contain the selected isotope, is removed from the surface. The target material may be melted or sublimated to facilitate extraction or extraction may be accomplished in some other way. For the preferred embodiment, the target surface is the interior surface of a cone.

A number of radioisotopes are currently being utilized as markers and for other purposes in various medical, scientific, industrial and other applications. Since such radioisotopes frequently have a relatively short half-life, from a few hours on down to a few minutes, it is generally desirable that such radioisotopes be either produced at the site where they are going to be utilized, or at a site relatively close thereto.
However, the equipment for generating radioisotopes is currently relatively large and expensive, normally involving the use of a cyclotron, and the equipment for some radioisotopes, including .sup.18 F, also suffer from a lack of uniform results and an inability to achieve high yields. The lack of high yields, coupled with the short half life of the radioisotopes, limits the procedures in which such radioisotopes can be used to procedures requiring small radioisotope quantities, and also limits the number of procedures which can be performed. The cost and bulk of the equipment also makes it impractical to have such equipment at anything other than major hospital centers or research facilities, and thus limits the locations where procedures such as positron emission tomography (PET), or other procedures requiring such radioisotopes, can be performed to such facilities or ones situated in close proximity thereto. However, the usefulness of procedures utilizing radioisotopes in medical diagnosis and other applications render the wider availability of such radioisotopes desirable. In particular, Fluorine-18 (.sup.18 F), primarily because of its relatively long half-life (110 minutes), has emerged as the most widely used radioisotope in PET procedures, and a need exists for a procedure to permit on site generation of the radioisotope.
Current radioisotope generators normally operate by bombarding a selected target material with a high energy particle beam from a cyclotron or other particle accelerator. This results in a nuclear reaction leaving the desired radioisotope at the target.
One of the reasons for the relatively low yield obtained with such radioisotope generators for radioisotopes such as .sup.18 F which are generated from a water based target is that there is a lack of proportionality between increases in the current of the high energy beam and the radioisotope yield. This lack of proportionality is particularly true for high beam currents (i.e. currents in excess in 15 microamps). This loss of yield stems from a number of sources, including bubbles formed from vapor produced in the target by local boiling, and radiolysis which reduces the effective thickness of the target layer. Radiolysis is the breaking of the chemical bonds of the target substance. For example, with a water target, various forms of water often being used as targets, radiolysis would result in the water breaking into hydrogen and oxygen gas which would be dissipated. Thus, radiolysis can result in a reduction in the effective thickness of the target layer which in extreme cases can result in a substantial percentage of the target material being lost.
Since factors such as vapor production and radiolysis appear not to occur uniformly for a given beam current, yields of certain radioisotopes may vary substantially from batch to batch. In some situations, a substantial percentage, approaching 30%, of batches produce as little as 50% of the average yield. Since the time required to generate a batch of radioisotopes may be as long or longer than the half life of the radioisotope, unreliability in yield is a substantial limitation in utilizing such radioisotopes in a clinical setting since the yield from a given batch may not be adequate to meet a scheduled patient need. The inability to increase yield by increasing currents for the reasons indicated above also limits the usefulness of such procedures because of limited isotope availability. Still another problem with existing technology is the high cost of target materials such as enriched .sup.18 O water (i.e., $100/ml). Targets have, therefore, been designed with small volumes to reduce the cost of producing the radioisotopes. This has also held down the yields available, and means that the loss of target material due to vapor, radiolysis and the like discussed above can substantially add to radioisotope production costs.
Radiolysis also results in an increase in pressure at the target. Since the high energy beam must be generated in a vacuum, if vacuum cannot be maintained at the target, then a window transparent to the high energy particles must be provided between the high energy particle source and the chamber containing the target. Such windows, which are generally in the form of a thin foil, absorb energy from the beam passing therethrough and, particularly for high energy beams, must be cooled in order to avoid their burning out. The pressure differential across such windows, with vacuum on one side and target pressure on the other, which pressure differential can at times be substantial, particularly for fluid or gaseous targets (fluid or gaseous being sometimes collectively referred to hereinafter as "liquid") also results in stresses on the window which lead to window failure. Therefore, the existence of such windows in a radioisotope generating system presents a severe maintenance problem which reduces the time which the equipment can be used for generating radioisotopes, and thus reduces the yield of radioisotope available from a given machine. The overhead required for cooling the window also adds to the complexity in the design and use of the equipment. The ability to either eliminate the need for a window, or as a minimum to reduce the stresses on the window is, therefore, another important factor in reducing cost for generating radioisotopes and in increasing the yield available from a given radioisotope generating device.
While the problems discussed above are more common for radioisotopes, some of the problems, such as those caused by the need for a window to isolate target pressure, may also be present where stable isotopes, such as .sup.15 N or .sup.5 Li, are being generated.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide an improved method and apparatus for generating isotopes in general, and radioisotopes in particular, which can be smaller and less expensive than prior art generators so as to be usable at a greater number of facilities. It is also desirable to reduce the losses of target material due to radiolysis and the like and to thus increase the yields available from a given quantity of target material. The improved method and apparatus should also permit vacuum or near vacuum pressure to be maintained in the chamber containing the target so that windowless operation may be achieved, or as a minimum, that pressure differentials across the window be minimized. The above would permit higher yields of radioisotopes to be obtained at lower cost.

Method and apparatus for generating isotopes


A power conversion apparatus includes a high-power-factor converter section converting an AC voltage to a DC voltage, a smoothing capacitor, a DC/DC converter section, and a control circuit. The control circuit controls the high-power-factor converter section such that the power factor of AC is controlled and a DC voltage follows a target value, and performs duty control for semiconductor switching devices such that a DC voltage from the DC/DC converter section to a load follows an instruction value. In accordance with the DC voltage, the control circuit adjusts the DC voltage target value of the high-power-factor converter section such that the duty ratio of the semiconductor switching devices approaches a set value, thereby optimizing the duty ratio of the semiconductor switching devices and reducing power loss.

A conventional power conversion apparatus includes: a high-power-factor converter section which performs high-power-factor control for a commercial AC power supply and performs AC/DC conversion; and a DC/DC converter section, provided at the subsequent stage of the high-power-factor converter section, in which the primary side and the secondary side are insulated by a transformer, whereby those sections respectively charge a main battery and a subsidiary battery insulated from each other. When the main battery is preferentially charged, the duty ratio of a switching circuit on the primary side of the transformer is controlled to be constant, and the duty ratio of a switching circuit on the secondary side of the transformer is controlled to be variable. When the subsidiary battery is preferentially charged, the duty ratios of the switching circuits on the primary side and the secondary side of the transformer are controlled to be variable (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Power conversion apparatus having an AC/DC converter which outputs to a DC/DC converter which is controlled by a controller


There is disclosed a method of controlling an electron gun without causing decreases in brightness of the electron beam if a current-limiting aperture cannot be used. The electron gun (10) has a cathode (11), a Wehnelt electrode (12), a control electrode (13), an anode (14), and a controller (22). The Wehnelt electrode (12) has a first opening (12c) in which the tip of the cathode is inserted, and focuses thermal electrons emitted from the tip of the cathode (11). The thermal electrons emitted from the tip of the cathode (11) are caused to pass into a second opening (13c) by the control electrode (13). The anode (14) accelerates the thermal electrons emitted from the cathode (11) such that the thermal electrons passed through the second opening (13c) pass through a third opening (14b) and impinge as an electron beam (B1) on a powdered sample (8). The controller (22) sets the bias voltage and the control voltage based on combination conditions of the bias voltage and control voltage to maintain the brightness of the beam constant.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electron gun used when a three-dimensional (3D) object is fabricated by stacking thin layers of a powdered sample on top of each other on a support stage. The invention also relates to a method of controlling this electron gun. Furthermore, the invention relates to an electron beam additive manufacturing machine.
2. Description of Related Art
There is a widely known additive manufacturing machine that builds a three-dimensional object by spreading resinous powder tightly over the whole support stage to form a powder layer, irradiating the powder layer with laser light to melt the resinous powder, allowing the molten powder to solidify, and stacking layers of such solidified resinous powder on top of each other. In recent years, additive manufacturing machines using an additive layer manufacturing method for fabricating a three-dimensional object by spreading a powder sample tightly over the whole support stage to form a powder layer, irradiating the powder layer with electron beam as used in an electron microscope to melt the powder sample, allowing the molten powder to solidify, and stacking layers of such solidified powder on top of each other have begun to be used. When powdered sample is irradiated with electron beam in this way, electrical current flows through the electron beam. In the following description, this electrical current is referred to as the "beam current".
In an electron microscope that is one example of instrument using an electron beam, a beam current from on the order of pA to on the order of microamperes is used to observe a tiny sample. The accelerating voltage of an electron gun used in an electron microscope is tens of kV or higher, less than or comparable to hundreds of kV. However, the amount of current is as low as tens of microamperes at most and so the electron beam power is not so large. This permits a beam blocking member to be installed inside the optical system. In an electron microscope, a current-limiting aperture is placed inside the optical system, and a required value of beam current is obtained by controlling the amount of the electron beam passing through the aperture by means of an electromagnetic lens. The advantage of this method of beam current control is that the beam current can be modified while maintaining the electron gun conditions unchanged. That is, the electron gun can continue to be used always under optimum conditions irrespective of beam current conditions.
On the other hand, an electron beam additive manufacturing machine uses a large-output electron beam generally having a large current of tens of mA in order to melt a powdered sample. The beam is accelerated by 10 kV or higher. If such a large-power electron beam irradiates the current-limiting aperture, the aperture may be damaged. This makes it impossible to control the beam current using the current-limiting aperture. If a current-limiting aperture is not used, all of the electron beam emitted from the cathode will reach a powdered sample. As a result, the beam cannot enough be focused. Consequently, it is difficult to fabricate an object accurately. For this reason, in the electron beam additive manufacturing machine, the electron beam emitted from the electron gun is controlled using a bias voltage to vary the beam current. When the bias voltage of the electron gun is varied, what vary concomitantly are not restricted to the beam current. All electron gun characteristics including the brightness and the diameter of the light source vary.
JP-A-1-274349 discloses an electron gun that has a filament emitting thermal electrons, an extractor electrode for extracting thermal electrons from the filament, a Wehnelt electrode for focusing the thermal electrodes extracted from the filament, and an anode for accelerating the focused thermal electrons.
Generally, a process for melting a powdered sample used in an additive manufacturing process starts with preheating the powdered sample. Then, the sample is molten to form fringes of the object to be fabricated. Then, the sample is molten to form the interior of the object. The required value of the beam current of the electron beam irradiated at the powdered sample from the electron gun and the required value of the diameter of the beam when the beam is focused on a Z-axis stage are different for different melting processes. Therefore, it is necessary to control these parameters by varying the operative conditions of the electron gun and of the lens varying the beam diameter. For example, while one powdered layer is being molten, the beam current must be varied from several milliamperes to tens of milliamperes. If the beam current is varied, the brightness of the electron beam changes. This may result in the sample being molten nonuniformly.

Electron gun, method of controlling same, and electron beam additive manufacturing machine


A device for pivotable and slidable suspension of sheets, such as window-panes for glazed verandas or balconies. The device has an upper and a lower rail, which are arranged in parallel with each other. The rails have transversely of their longitudinal direction a hollow section with a longitudinal slot on the side facing the other rail. On each of the sheets, an upper and a lower fixing element are arranged, which via the slots engage the rails. The lower fixing element has in its lowermost portion a spherical part which rests against a sliding surface in the lower rail section to enable both a sliding and a pivoting motion. Both the upper and the lower fixing element are cylindrical in the portion which extends through the slot in each rail.

The present invention relates to a device for pivotable and slidable suspension of sheets, such as a window-panes for glazed verandas or balconies.
A device of the type stated by way of introduction is known from Patent Specification WO 94/09238, in which a sliding element system with guide wheels at the upper rail and a supporting wheel at the lower rail is disclosed. For the lower wheel to follow the correct path, a groove is formed in the lower rail. The forming of the lower wheel with a rounded running tread which abuts against the edges of the groove results in the wheel turning relative to the groove when pivoting the sliding element, which causes the wheel to rise. This motion is used to let a pin adjacent to the upper wheel enter a hole in the upper rail. When the pin is positioned in the hole and the lower wheel is positioned transversely in the rail, these two elements are locked in relation to the longitudinal direction of the rails and, thus, the sliding element cannot tilt when in the open position. Since the wheel should be oriented in the direction of motion when the sliding element is to be moved, this construction does not allow the sliding element to be passed round a corner. Should its direction of motion be changed, it is necessary for the rail to be bent with a large radius. The above publication discloses that the sliding elements can be passed round a corner, but in that case the lower wheels are not fixed in their position relative to the sliding element, which results in the above-mentioned locking function being lost. In order to realise this constructional idea, a large number of components are necessary and this makes the solution expensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,806 discloses a further variant of how it would be possible to suspend window-panes or sliding elements. In this construction there is only an upper rail, in which carrying elements holding the sliding element can move. There are two carrying elements for each sliding element, one in each of the two upper corners. Each carrying element has two wheels which have vertical axes of rotation and are mounted in a vertically spaced-apart relationship and run in two grooves in the rail to prevent the sliding element from tilting about the longitudinal direction of the rail. To hold the weight of the sliding element, there is a horizontal running surface in the rail section, on which at least one ball castor included in the carrying elements moves. Sliding elements suspended in this manner cannot be opened by a turning motion about one of the carrying elements and can only be pushed along the rail.
There are a number of variants of these two systems, but the differences reside in how many wheels are positioned in the various fixing elements and how the various wheels are positioned relative to each other (see WO 92/17673 and WO 93/08355). These variants comprise a large number of components. They also require narrow tolerances in connection with the mounting of the rails to function in a satisfactory manner.
An object of the invention is to provide a suspension device which is designed in a simple and robust fashion. It should also be possible for the suspended sheets to be passed round a corner having an arbitrary angle. Combining flexibility and tolerance towards incorrect mounting with stability is also a problem that should be solved.
With a device according to the present invention, a number of advantages over the current technique are achieved.
A spherical bearing which carries the weight of the sheet results in possible directions of sliding not being limited in any way. The cylindrical portions included in the fixing elements and extending through the slots in each rail have the same Possibility of sliding motions as the spherical bearing. By adapting the diameters of the cylindrical portions to the width of the slots, it is possible to adjust the flexibility in the fixing elements. Since the cylindrical portions extend in the vertical direction, a relative vertical motion between rail and fixing element is allowed. With a thin wall of the section of the rail on that side where the slot is cut, the cylindrical portions can be inclined to a considerable extent although there is a small difference in diameter and width (and, thus, good stability).
By arranging a ball castor at the very bottom, the sheet can be passed round corners having an arbitrary angle and it can also be moved more easily along the rails. Such an arrangement also causes less wear on fixing element as well as rail.
If the fixing elements are formed to have an elongate cross-section over part of their length, which part is adapted to follow a groove in the rails, an automatic locking function is achieved if holes are formed along the centre line of the groove which have a diameter exceeding the width of the groove since the elongate cross-sectional portion is then turned tQ be locked in these holes when making the sheets pivot.
If the distances between the fixing elements of the different sheets are the same, all sheets will have the same pattern of motion when being passed round a corner. It is then possible to adjust the distances in such manner that, for instance, they go clear of, for example, a balcony rail which is mounted just outside the lower rail. Since all the fixing elements are positioned in the same way on the sheets, a larger opening must usually be made in the rails, which for many of the existing constructions constitutes an insurmountable obstacle. In the inventive suspension device, however, this can be done since the ball castor is guided by a protruding edge of the section on the side of the centre line of the rail where the opening is positioned. Special smaller recesses can be made in the protruding edge to facilitate the insertion and removal of the castor.
Further scope of the applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

Arrangement for pivotable and slidable suspension of sheets


An optical laminated body includes a phase difference layer that has two or more kinds of phase difference regions having different directions of a slow axis from each other, a polarization plate contacted with a bottom face of the phase difference layer with a bonding layer or an adhesive layer in between, a base material contacted with a top face of the phase difference layer with a bonding layer or an adhesive layer in between, and an antireflection layer or an anti-glare layer directly contacted with a face not contacted with the phase difference layer of the base material.

The present disclosure relates to an optical laminated body including a phase difference layer that changes a light polarization state and a method of manufacturing the same. The present disclosure further relates to a display unit including the foregoing optical laminated body.
In the past, as a stereoscopic video display unit using polarizing glasses, there has been a display unit in which a polarization state of outputted light of a left-eye pixel is different from a polarization state of outputted light of a right-eye pixel. In such a display unit, in a state that a viewer wears the polarizing glasses, outputted light from the left-eye pixel enters only the left eye, and outputted light from the right-eye pixel enters only the right eye, and thereby a stereoscopic video is able to be observed.
For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,975 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,285, for the purpose of realizing a state in which the polarization state of the outputted light of the left-eye pixel is different from the polarization state of the outputted light of the right-eye pixel, providing a phase difference device in which a liquid crystal cell is partially formed or a phase difference device in which multiple kinds of phase difference materials having different slow axes from each other are arranged is proposed. Further, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,881,706, providing a phase difference device formed by coating a patterned photo-alignment film with liquid crystal and polymerizing the same is proposed.

Optical laminated body, method of manufacturing the same, and display unit


A digital video broadcast receiver including a frequency synthesizer, a plurality of frequency dividing-phase shifting circuits, an antenna and a plurality of signal processing modules is provided. The frequency synthesizer synthesizes a first frequency signal. The frequency dividing-phase shifting circuits individually perform a frequency dividing-phase shifting operation on the first frequency signal to generate a plurality of first signals having different frequencies and a plurality of second signals corresponding to the first signals, where each of the first signals is orthogonal to the corresponding second signal. The antenna receives a radio frequency signal. The signal processing modules respectively obtain a plurality of signal components belonging to different sub-bands from the radio frequency signal according to the first signals and the second signals.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a receiver. Particularly, the invention relates to a digital video broadcast (DVB) receiver.
2. Related Art
Along with development of technology, more and more users start to receive and watch a variety of programs through a digital video broadcast (DVB) approach. Generally, various DVB signals are received through a DVB receiver connected to a player device such as a television.
Generally, the conventional DVB receiver individually obtains signal components belonging to different sub-bands from a received radio frequency (RF) signal by using a plurality of frequency synthesizers. However, since the frequency synthesizers respectively have components such as a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) (which is used for producing a local oscillation signal), the conventional DVB receiver could have an adverse pulling effect due to too close distance between the frequency synthesizers.
Moreover, according to a so-called full band capture technique, an ultrahigh speed analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is configured in the DVB receiver to sample all of the considered sub-bands. However, such method requires an ADC of a high specification (for example, with an extremely high sampling frequency), so that the cost of the DVB receiver is rather high.


According to some embodiments, an arrangement is provided for cooling a heat-generating device, including a memory module (e.g., a small outline dual inline memory module), in a system such as a laptop computer. The arrangement includes a heat spreader having a first section including at least one thermally conductive coupling member to thermally engage surfaces of electronic components on the heat-generating device and a second section including at least one spring member to cause pressurized engagement between the first section and the surfaces of the electronic components. The heat spreader may further be thermally coupled to a heat exchanger or a keyboard from which the heat is dissipated. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.

1. Field
This disclosure relates generally to cooling systems for integrated circuits and, more specifically, to a heat spreader for a small outline dual in-line memory module (SO-DIMM).
2. Description
As integrated circuits (e.g., central processing units (CPUs) in a computer system) become denser, components inside an integrated circuit chip are drawing more power and thus generating more heat. Various cooling systems have been used to dissipate heat generated by integrated circuit chips, for example within personal computers, mobile computers, or similar electrical devices.
Heat pipes/spreaders are commonly used in a cooling system to dissipate heat generated by integrated circuits (e.g., CPUs and chipsets) inside a computing system. Due to space limitations in today's compact computing systems, a traditional heat pipe/spreader may not work for every circuit inside a computer system, especially inside a laptop computer. For example, SO-DIMMs are often used in a laptop computer and space surrounding a SO-DIMM is so limited that a traditional heat pipe/spreader cannot fit. Thus, almost all laptop computers only rely on convective cooling for SO-DIMMs. However, as the capacity of a SO-DIMMM increases, circuits in a SO-DIMM become denser and as a result, more heat is generated. Convective cooling cannot remain effective in dissipating heat generated by a SO-DIMM as its capacity increases, especially by circuits on the motherboard side of the SO-DIMM, because these circuits typically receive even less convective cooling than circuits on the other side of the SO-DIMM.


A storage device includes a substrate, first wirings arranged in a first direction and extending in a second direction, second wirings arranged in the second direction and extending in the first direction, resistance portions between the first and second wirings, third wirings between the second wirings and the substrate, arranged in the second direction and extending in a third direction, semiconductor portions each connected to second and third wirings, a fourth wiring extending in the second direction and facing the semiconductor portions, insulating portions between the semiconductor portions and the fourth wiring, and a contact connected to each first wiring. The semiconductor portions include a first portion and a second portion closer to the contact, and a length in the second direction of an insulating portion between the first portion and the fourth wiring is greater than that of another insulating portion between the second portion and the fourth wiring.

With the high integration of semiconductor storage devices, semiconductor storage devices in which memory cells are arranged three-dimensionally are being developed. Such semiconductor storage devices use, as a memory cell, a resistive random access memory (ReRAM) using a variable-resistance element, or a flash memory using a field effect transistor capable of storing electric charge in a gate insulating layer.