A curable fluorosilicone resin composition is disclosed, which composition comprises. (A) 100 parts by weight of a fluorosilicone resin obtained by cohydrolyzing a mixture of PA0 wherein R is a perfluoroalkyl group containing 4 to 15 carbon atoms, X is a hydrolyzable group, Z is an epoxy-containing monovalent organic group, R.sup.1 is hydrogen or a monovalent hydrocabon group containing 1 to 15 carbon atoms, w is 1, 2 or 3 and n is 0, 1, 2 or 3; and PA0 (B) 1 to 50 parts by weight of a crosslinking agent selected from the group consisting of PA0 When cured, the composition provides a film that is both highly water repellent and highly oil repellent.. (a) 50 to 95 mole percent of a perfluoroalkyl-containing organosilane having the formula R--CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 SiX.sub.3, PA1 (b) 5 to 50 mole percent of an epoxy-containing organosilane having the formula Z.sub.w SiX.sub.4-w and, optionally, PA1 (c) up to 50 mole percent of an organosilane having the formula R.sup.1.sub.n SiX.sub.4-n, PA1 (i) an amino group-containing organosilicon compound that contains at least 2 nitrogen-bonded active hydrogens in each molecule and PA1 (ii) a fluorine compound that contains at least 2 carboxyl groups and at least 2 fluorine atoms in each molecule.

A great many organopolysiloxane resin-based compositions that cure to give a water-repellent film are already known. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Number Sho 55-48245 (48,245/1980) introduces a composition consisting of hydroxyl-containing methylpolysiloxane resin, alpha,omega-dihydroxydiorganopolysiloxane, and organosilane which cures to form a water-repellent cured film that has excellent release and anti-stain properties.
In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Number Sho 59-140280 (140,280/1984) introduces a composition that is based on the partial cohydrolysis condensation product of organosilane whose principal constituents are perfluoroalkyl-containing organosilane and amino-containing organosilane. The composition forms a cured film that has both an excellent water repellency and an excellent oil repellency.
However, although these compositions exhibit water repellency or both water repellency and oil repellency, they do not possess a high degree of water repellency and oil repellency with the result that they cannot be employed in applications that require higher degrees of both water repellency and oil repellency. The present inventor achieved the present invention as a result of research directed at solving this problem. That is, the present invention takes as its object the introduction of a fluorosilicone resin composition that cures to produce a cured film that has both an excellent water repellency and an excellent oil repellency.

Curable fluorosilicone resin composition


A modular housing structure for rotatably positioning a cam on a shaft at a predetermined position relative to a limit switch. The modular housing includes upper and lower halves which are snap-fit together by an arrangement of projections and recesses which interconnect the housing halves, and hold a limit switch and a rotating cam in a fixed position relative to one another. Additionally, each limit switch module of the invention may be snap-fit onto the top or bottom of an adjacent limit switch module such that a number of modules may conveniently and easily be aligned along a single shaft. The cam rotatably received in each module is unitarily formed of a single material, and includes an inner spring collar which is deflected slightly when a shaft is inserted through the cam. The spring collar exerts a restoring force on the shaft sufficient to grip the shaft tightly enough to ensure rotation of the cam with the shaft, but loosely enough to allow manual adjustment of the angular position of the cam relative to the shaft. The inside surface of the spring collar is smooth, thus permitting infinite angular adjustment relative to the shaft.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a limit switch which is normally maintained in a closed position so that an electrically rotatable device, such as a valve, is moved in response to an electrical control signal. The limit switch is tripped at a predetermined position of the valve to open the circuit, and to thereby interrupt a supply of power to the movable device.
2. Discussion of the Background
As described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,939,320 to Graulty, it is a conventional practice to use micro or limit switches to control the positioning of a rotatable valve at a selected one of its opened and closed conditions. Typically, two angularly displaced cams are integrally formed or rigidly attached on a shaft which is coupled for rotation with a rotatable stem of a valve. As the shaft rotates in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction with the valve stem, the actuating cams will move either clockwise or counterclockwise along a path which brings one or the other of the cams into contact with one or the other of the limit switches, thereby interrupting a supply of electrical current to a motor driven valve, and stopping movement of the valve at either its open or closed position. The same cams and limit switches can be used to turn on or turn off status signals which represent the open or closed status of the motor driven valve.
However, as also discussed in the patent to Graulty, most of the prior art arrangements require complicated procedures to set up the angular orientation of the cams relative to their mounting shafts to ensure actuation of the limit switches at the desired position of the valve being controlled. Also, the setup must periodically be examined, and readjusted if necessary.
The patent to Graulty discloses an invention including cam members which are frictionally mounted on a rotating shaft. In a first embodiment of the Graulty invention, the cam members are preferably composed of a plastic material while the shaft is made of a metal material. However, in high temperature or low temperature environments, the friction fit of the parts is altered due to their different thermal expansion coefficients. Thus, the Graulty invention is only suited to a narrow range of temperatures. Although Graulty discloses a second embodiment of his invention for use in high temperature environments, a complex arrangement of springs, washers, annular shoulders, and nuts is necessary to supply a frictional force sufficient to cause the cam members to rotate along with the shaft.
Consequently, a need exists for a simplified cam/shaft interface which supplies an appropriate frictional force between the shaft and the cam at a wide range of temperatures.
Additionally, a need exists for an apparatus which can easily be assembled and disassembled without a need for special tools, and which can be calibrated by manual adjustment after complete assembly.

Limit switch module and cam for use in the same


A vehicle disassembly system for disassembling a vehicle by moving the vehicle through a plurality of discrete workstations specifically adapted for select de-pollution and dismantling procedures encountered during the end-of-life vehicle recycling process. A vehicle disassembly system exemplifying the principles of the present invention may comprise a primary de-pollution and disassembly line and an engine disassembly line. The primary de-pollution and disassembly line may include one or more de-pollution stations, one or more intermediate, part removal stations, and a conveyor apparatus for transmitting the end-of-life vehicle from the de-pollution stations to the part removal stations. The engine disassembly line may include an overhead track support frame, a trolley assembly, one or more height adjustable loading tables, one or more height adjustable work tables, and one or more height adjustable un-loading tables. The vehicle disassembly system may also comprise an engine cleaning apparatus positioned proximate to the height adjustable un-loading tables of the engine disassembly line.

End of life vehicles (ELVs) are vehicles that have come to the end of their useful lives. ELVs are typically disassembled and recycled for waste management, environmental, and economic reasons. The ELV recycling process involves de-polluting the vehicle by removing fluids, tires, the battery, and any other hazardous substances, dismantling any reusable vehicle parts, and then shredding the vehicle to recycle ferrous and non-ferrous metals.
The conventional ELV recycling process typically takes place at a scrap yard, with the de-pollution and dismantling processes being undertaken at a single location while the ELV is mounted on a vehicle lift. Once completed, the ELV will be moved to another location at the scrap yard to await shredding. This procedure will be repeated in an iterative fashion, with a different ELV being mounted on the vehicle lift so that the de-pollution and dismantling procedures can be repeated throughout the day.
The use of a vehicle disassembly line has been conceptualized as a tool for increasing the efficiency of the ELV dismantling process. However, such known vehicle disassembly systems have suffered from a variety of issues that have negatively impacted their commercial viability, such as the complexity of the machinery necessary to execute the system. Moreover, such systems have failed to comprehensively address the myriad of logistical, economic, and environmental challenges posed by the ELV recycling process.


A system and method for facilitating player interaction with sets of virtual tiles in a game space are disclosed. A set of virtual tiles may be provided for player interaction such that a player may be enabled to engage the non-player entity (or entities) associated with the individual tiles in the set of virtual tiles using a set of resources granted to the player. The player may be enabled to allocate a subset of the granted resources to engage a given tile in the set. An outcome of the engagement may be determined stochastically or quasi-stochastically. The player may be enabled to interact with the next tile in the set upon defeating the non-player entity (or entities) associated with the previous tile. Upon the player defeating the non-player entity (or entities) associated with the last tile in the set, a prize may be awarded to the player.

Facilitating player versus environment (PvE) combat in an online game is known. Conventional gaming system typically enables a player to control a player character in the online game to fight one or more non-player entities such as monster, boss, and other types of non-player entities in a PvE combat. In those systems, the PvE combat typically results in either the player character or the non-player entity being defeated.
Gating game content using non-player entities in an online game is known. A set of game content can be gated by one or more non-player entities such that access to the set of game content is granted upon the one or more non-player entities being defeated.
Game content key-and-lock mechanisms in an online game are generally known in the art. Such a mechanism typically requires a player to achieve a win status against a first set of game content (key) before a second set of game content (lock) may be made available for player access in the online game.

Facilitating player interactions with tiles in an online game


An object detection apparatus includes a boundary box decision circuit and a processing circuit. The boundary box decision circuit receives lens configuration information of a lens, and refers to the lens configuration information to determine a bounding box distribution of bounding boxes that are assigned to different detection distances with respect to the lens for detection of a target object. The processing circuit receives a captured image that is derived from an output of an image capture device using the lens, and performs object detection upon the captured image according to the bounding box distribution of the bounding boxes.

The present invention relates to object detection, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for performing object detection according to bounding box distribution that is determined by considering lens configuration.
There is a growing trend on fisheye-camera-based applications, including surveillance applications, augmented reality (AR) applications, virtual reality (VR) applications, automotive applications, etc. In general, an image content that is captured by passing incident light onto an image sensor through a fisheye lens is severely distorted, and may be converted into an equi-rectangular projection (ERP) image with un-distorted longitude for further image processing such as objection detection. Object detection is widely used in many fields. For example, in self-driving technology, we need to plan routes by identifying the locations of vehicles, pedestrians, roads, and obstacles in the captured image. For another example, systems in the security field need to detect abnormal targets such as intruders.
In general, objection detection requires more than one million training images. If an objection detection apparatus trained by using normal images generated from a camera with a normal lens is used to perform object detection upon fisheye images generated from a camera with a fisheye lens, the object detection accuracy will drop significantly. One conventional solution is to collect and label one million images for fisheye images and then retrain the object detection apparatus. However, it is unrealistic to collect and label one million images for fisheye images and then retrain the object detection apparatus if the user changes the lens.

Method and apparatus for performing object detection according to bounding box distribution that is determined by considering lens configuration


A firmware update method including receiving a first message from an update server, where the first message includes first data and a signature of the first data, verifying the first message, and obtaining digest data included in the first data after the first message is successfully verified. The digest data includes digest information of a differential installation package between a first installation package and a second installation package and at least one of, digest information of the first installation package, or digest information of the second installation package A second message is received from the update server and includes the differential installation package. The digest data is verified, and firmware of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) is updated based on the differential installation package after the digest data is successfully verified.

An embedded universal integrated circuit card (embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card, eUICC) is a third generation telecommunications smart card. The eUICC can perform remote profile management, or perform local profile management (for example, profile activation, deactivation, or deletion triggered by a user of user equipment). The term eUICC originates from an embedded (embedded) UICC. The eUICC may be embedded in the user equipment in a form of a single chip, or used as a part of another single chip in the user equipment. However, this does not mean that the eUICC must be embedded in the user equipment and cannot be removed. Alternatively, the eUICC may be in a form of a removable card, like a subscriber identity (Subscriber Identification Module, SIM) card, a micro SIM card, or a nano SIM card.
In an architecture of an eUICC remote management/configuration system, a remote server includes a server providing a service for the user equipment or interacting with the user equipment, such as a subscription manager discovery server (Subscription Manager Discovery Service, SM-DS). The SM-DS is also referred to as an event management server, and may be configured to perform event registration based on an event registration request of another remote server, and when the user equipment initiates a query, send a corresponding event record to the user equipment, so that the user equipment establishes a connection to the corresponding remote server by using an address of the remote server in the event record and performs a corresponding operation. The event includes but is not limited to a subscription information set (Profile) download event, a remote profile management (Remote Profile Management, RPM) event, or a firmware update event.
Currently, when firmware of the eUICC is being updated, no security management mechanism is defined in a related standard for the eUICC firmware update. If eligibility and integrity of an update installation package are not checked before the firmware of the eUICC is updated, the update installation package may be tampered by a malicious attacker, bringing a security risk to the user equipment.

Firmware update method and related apparatus


A vehicle brake system, capable of realizing a brake-by-wire construction which can be installed in vehicles in the same manner as conventional brake systems, is provided with a booster device, a master cylinder, wheel brakes, and a hydraulic pressure control device interposed between the master cylinder and the wheel brakes. The system is further provided with a stroke sensor for detecting the moving stroke of a brake pedal, a simulator for applying to the brake pedal a pseudo reaction force corresponding to the moving stroke of the brake pedal, a play or idling component arranged between the booster device and the hydraulic pressure control device for absorbing the moving stroke of the brake pedal by a predetermined amount, and an electronic control device for controlling the hydraulic pressure control device based on an input from the stroke sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle brake system capable of realizing a brake-by-wire in which a braking manipulation section is connected with a braking operation section by means of electric signals.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In a so-called "brake-by-wire" wherein a braking manipulation section comprising a brake pedal and the like and a braking operation section comprising wheel brakes and the like are connected with each other by means of electric signals, the braking manipulation section is mechanically isolated from the braking operation section, and thus, it does not take place that unpleasant vibration is transmitted to the brake pedal when the brake force is varied upon anti-lock braking operation for example. Further, the brake-by-wire is advantageous to electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles which have a regenerative brake device, because the brake force by the wheel brakes can be varied to compensate for the variation in the regenerative brake force without giving the driver any uncomfortable feeling in manipulating the brake pedal even when the regenerative brake force is varied for some reason.
In a complete brake-by-wire, measures are taken to avoid the situation that the brake becomes unable to operate in the event of a failure in the electric system. For example, as described in Japanese unexamined, published patent application No. 2003-011808, there has been proposed a system wherein a master cylinder pressure is generated by a brake pedal and wherein the connection of a master cylinder to wheel brakes is blocked while the electric system is correctly operating. In the proposed system, however, when the electric system falls in failure, the connection of the master cylinder to the wheel brakes is completed, and for reduction in the probability that the electric power supply system breaks down completely, there are employed double electric power supply systems.
Further, United States patent application publication No. US2006/0163941 A1 (equivalent of Japanese international application publication No. 2005-532220) describes a brake-by-wire actuator for vehicle brake systems. In the actuator, a simulator operable by a brake pedal is provided, a signal from an actuation sensor provided in the simulator is transmitted to an electronic control unit for controlling a hydraulic pressure source in dependence on the signal, and the output from the hydraulic pressure source is connected to a brake force distribution device to operate wheel brakes. Further, means is provided for enabling the driver to operate the brakes with the driver's muscle power. In the brake actuator, in order that counterforce generated from the vehicle brake system is mechanically isolated not to be transmitted to a brake pedal in a by-wire mode, an idle space or distance is provided between the brake pedal or a member being in linkage to the same and an operating member which is connected at a downstream in a transmission train for a manipulation input.
Further, although being not classified in the brake-by-wire type, a vehicle brake device which is described in United States patent application publication No. US2005/0269875 A1 (equivalent of Japanese unexamined, published patent application No. 2005-349880) has been known as measures for realizing the cooperation with regenerative brake. The known vehicle brake device is provided with a hydraulic brake device, which is operable to increase the driver's braking manipulation force by a booster device in a predetermined boosting ratio, to generate a base hydraulic pressure depending on the increased braking manipulation force from a master cylinder connected to the booster device, to apply the generated base hydraulic pressure to wheel brakes (wheel cylinders) connected to the master cylinder through passages with hydraulic pressure control valves thereon to generate a base hydraulic brake force on respective wheels, and to supply the wheel brakes with a controlled hydraulic pressure which is built up by driving pumps so that a controlled hydraulic brake force can be applied to the respective wheels.
Further, the device of the last mentioned United States publication is provided with a regenerative brake device, which, by applying an allocated regenerative brake force to some wheels, generates a target brake force corresponding to a braking manipulation force in combination with the base hydraulic brake force, and variation detection, means for detecting the variation of the regenerative brake force being actually generated by the regenerative brake device, from the allocated regenerative brake force. When a substantial variation is detected by the variation detection means, a controlled hydraulic pressure is generated by driving the pumps of the hydraulic brake device and by controlling the hydraulic pressure control valves to generate a controlled hydraulic brake force on the vehicle wheels in dependence on the controlled hydraulic pressure, so that a deficiency of the regenerative force can be compensated for the variation detected by the variation detection means.
However, in the vehicle brake system described in the first mentioned Japanese application, the reliability in avoiding the complete failure of the electrical system is enhanced, but an increase in cost caused by duplicating the power supply system is unavoidable.
In the vehicle brake system described in the second mentioned United States publication, the manipulation of the brake pedal is mechanically transmitted all the time to the wheel brakes without depending on electric signals, and hence, a brake force approximately equal to that in the properly operating state can be secured even in the event of the malfunction of the electric system. On the contrary, however, the brake-by-wire actuator should be mounted at a position where a vacuum booster device and a master cylinder would otherwise be mounted in conventional vehicles and to which a manipulation force from the brake pedal would be applied, and further, there is need a device such as, e.g., ABS or the like which controls the vehicle brakes individually. Therefore, great restraints are imposed on the cost as well as on the design for installation in the vehicle.
In the vehicle brake device described in the last mentioned United States publication, the manipulation of the brake pedal is mechanically transmitted all the time to the wheel brakes, and hence, the reliability against the breakdown of the electric system is enhanced. In the device, on the contrary, the regenerative brake force cannot bear the entirety of the brake force required for the vehicle. Further, where the regenerative brake force varies in the course of a braking operation, the total brake force which depends on the braking manipulation force being exerted on the brake pedal can be maintained invariable by adjusting the controlled hydraulic brake force to compensate for the variation in the regenerative brake force. Adjusting the controlled hydraulic brake force involves adjusting the operation of the pumps which generate a controlled hydraulic pressure for the controlled hydraulic brake force, and this results in consuming the brake fluid from the master cylinder by the pumps, so that the variation in the stroke of the brake pedal is unavoidable. Where the regenerative brake force is increased, the variation in the brake pedal stroke becomes greater, and this may cause the driver to have an unpleasant feeling. These problems arise as a natural consequence from the fact that the brake-by-wire is not realized in the vehicle brake device described in the last mentioned United States publication.


An attachment for two-wheeled vehicles and a wheel for a two-wheeled vehicle having these attachments are provided. The wheel includes a hub, a rim and separate spokes connecting the hub and the rim. Portions of the spoke nipples protruding radially inwardly from the rim are covered by cover caps. The cover cap is configured small in structure and aerodynamic in shape. To this end, the length in the peripheral direction is larger than the width.

The present invention relates to an attachment for use with a two-wheeled vehicle, and to a wheel for a two-wheeled vehicle having such attachments. In particular is the invention related to a bicycle which may be assisted by an electric or another motor. Drive or assistance through other motors is possible as well.
Present-day two-wheeled vehicles in general and bicycles in particular both for recreational and professional uses are expected to satisfy elevated requirement levels. A fundamental aspect is concerned with the most efficient propulsion of a bicycle possible. This is the case in particular on a professional scale since minute advantages may already significantly affect the results of competitions.
For example the weight of the bicycle with all of the attachments, a low rolling resistance, and in particular aerodynamics play the largest role. Specifically in racing even minimal savings in weight or improvements of aerodynamics may lead to significant competitive advantages. These areas are directly interrelated so as to be of specific interest regarding further developments in these fields.
Furthermore, advantages in aerodynamics are currently a major issue among other things in bicycles having an auxiliary motor. These motor-assisted, two-wheeled vehicles are gaining popularity not only with the elderly but in particular with long-distance riders and for use in mountainous regions. Commuting workers also increasingly use these bicycles. In this conjunction enhanced aerodynamics will increase the operational range of two-wheeled vehicles and thus the service life of the battery.
Air turbulences in all kinds of different places play a role in aerodynamics. Bicycle racers use for example special tight-fitting clothes and they assume an aerodynamic riding position on the bicycle, employing special handlebars. In this way they decrease drag to achieve better performance.
Air turbulences at the bicycle itself should also be avoided as much as possible or minimized. One of the problems is associated with the wheels.
A classical bicycle wheel consists of a central hub having mounting points for spokes formed on both sides thereof. The spokes are hooked into holes in these mounting points and fastened on the other side to so-called spoke nipples guided through or into the rim. The spoke side facing the spoke nipple has a thread which is screwed into an internal thread of the spoke nipple. This system allows to vary the spoke tension and thus adjust the wheel optimally.
For adjusting the spoke tension a range of variants has become known. For example it is possible to have the spoke nipple, which is up to 10 or 20 mm in length and approximately 3 mm to 8 mm in diameter, slightly protrude radially inwardly from the rim. The protruding portion has a number of flat faces. This allows great ease of externally adjusting the spoke tension using a dedicated tool. The drawback of this is, however, that the protruding portions of the spoke nipples cause undesirable aerodynamic effects since air turbulences occur at the flat spoke nipple faces. The exposed spoke nipple portions at the top of the wheel will move at approximately double the bicycle speed so as to effectively quadruple the drag, which is a drawback.
From EP 0 808 728 B1, a device having a pair of cover rings has become known. The two specifically configured cover rings cover the entire inner radius of the rim and the spoke nipples of the conventional spoke wheel at their centers. This type of cover involves the drawback, however, that the large shaped parts considerably increase the total weight of the wheel and that they are not suitable for all the rims since they must be specifically manufactured to a given inner rim radius and to the corresponding spoke distances. This does not only make the solution heavy in weight but expensive as well.
Another option for mounting the spokes to the spoke nipples is known specifically for present-day wheels of fiber-reinforced plastic. Again in this case the extremely thin spokes are screwed into spoke nipples and tensioned or released by way of rotating the spoke nipple. However, the spoke nipples in this variant tend to lie entirely inside the hollow rim. An advantage thereof are considerably improved aerodynamics since no undesirable air turbulences can occur at the spoke nipples.
A particular drawback of this type of fastening is the particularly intricate tensioning of the wheel. For readjusting the spoke tension it may be necessary to remove from the rim the jacket, the tube, and the rim tape so as to modify the spoke tension from the inside for example by means of a screwdriver. When wheel adjustment is finished, all the parts must be reassembled. This is complicated and requires much time. Adhesive-bonded tube tires require still more efforts.
DE 8 912 607 describes aerodynamic spoke covers intended to reduce the spoke drag in the radially outwardly region. To this end, streamlined elements are placed onto the spokes. The drawback of this cover type is the large size which has a negative influence on the total weight. These covers are furthermore highly susceptible to side-wind effects and may twist in side winds. A simpler and more reliable method is to use blade spokes.
Furthermore, aerodynamic wheels of fibrous composite materials have become known which are manufactured integrally for example as three-spoke wheels. The drawback of this construction type is, however, that manufacturing these wheels involves manual labor which makes them very expensive. Moreover, three-spoke wheels are highly susceptible to side-winds and due to the integral manufacturing the spoke tension cannot be readjusted.

Aerodynamic cover cap for use in two-wheeled vehicles


A downsized, low-cost, high-density printhead, a printing apparatus and a printing method using the printhead can be achieved. If the number of electrothermal transducers is N, a shift register is capable of storing print information corresponding to N/8 electrothermal transducers. First, print information corresponding to the capacity of the shift register is transferred to the printhead. Then, the shifting function of the shift register is stopped to hold the print information. A 3-bit selection signal is inputted from an input terminal as the print information information. The selection signal is sent to a time-divisional logical circuit, then N/8 electrothermal transducers are selected, and a printing operation based on the input data is performed. This operation is repeated eight times, to complete printing by all the N electrothermal transducers.

Present invention relates to a printhead, a printing apparatus and a printing method using the printhead, more particularly to an ink-jet printhead used in a copying machine, a facsimile machine and a word processor, a printer used as an output terminal of a host computer, or a video printer, a printing apparatus and a printing method using the printhead.
FIGS. 11 and 12 respectively show the construction of a printhead of a conventional ink-jet printing apparatus, where electrothermal transducers and their driving circuits are formed on one circuit board, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 3-194118.
In FIGS. 11 and 12, reference numeral 101 denotes electrothermal transducers (heaters) for generating thermal energy; 102, power transistors for supplying an electric current of a predetermined voltage to the electrothermal transducers 101; 103, a time-divisional logical circuit for time-divisionally controlling power-supply to the power transistors 102 so as to time-divisionally heat the electrothermal transducers 101; 104, latches for holding serially-inputted print information for the electrothermal transducers; 105, a shift register for storing serially inputted data which indicates whether or not supply electric current to the respective electrothermal transducers 101 for discharging ink; 106, a power line for applying a predetermined voltage to the electrothermal transducers 101; and 107, a switch for supplying the print information latched at the latches 104 to the power transistors 102.
Note that the number of data bits as print information stored in the shift register 105 is the same as the number of the electrothermal transducers 101 and that of the power transistors 102. Further, the electrothermal transducers 101 are logically divided into a plurality of groups for the printing operation.
Also in FIGS. 11 and 12, as input terminals of various control signals to be supplied to the printhead, numeral 201 denotes a data input terminal for inputting print information (DATA); 202, a transfer-clock input terminal for inputting a transfer clock (CLK) for the shift register 105; 203, a latch-signal input terminal for supplying a latch timing signal (LATCH) to the latches 104; 204, a heater-enable signal input terminal for inputting a heater-enable signal (H.ENB) to determine timing for supplying the electric current to the respective electrothermal transducers 101; and 205, a selection-signal input terminal for inputting a selection signal (SEL) to select one of the groups of the electrothermal transducers 101.
FIGS. 13A-13C comprise a timing chart showing the various control signals for driving the circuits of the printhead as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12. The operation of the circuits in FIGS. 11 and 12 will be described with reference to FIGS. 13A-13C.
First, the transfer-clock input terminal 202 inputs a transfer clock (CLK). The shift register 105 performs data transfer in synchronization with the rising edge of the transfer clock (CLK). Print information (DATA) to turn on/off the respective electrothermal transducers 101 is supplied from the data input terminal 201. As the number of data bits storable in the shift register 105 is the same as the number of the electrothermal transducers 101 and that of the power transistors 102, the transfer-clock input terminal 202 inputs the transfer clocks (CLK's) of the number of the electrothermal transducers 101, to transfer the print information (DATA) to the shift register 105. Then, the latch-signal input terminal 203 inputs a latch signal (LATCH) to hold the print information corresponding to the respective electrothermal transducers 101 in the latches 104.
Thereafter, in the printhead having the construction as shown in FIG. 11, when the heater-enable signal input terminal 204 of the time-divisional logical circuit 103 receives a heater-enable signal (H.ENB) and the selection-signal input terminal 205 of the time-divisional logical circuit 103 receives a selection signal (SEL) at appropriate timings, the electric current is supplied to the power transistors 102 and then the electrothermal transducers 101 while the signals H.ENB and the SEL are turned on, thus ink droplets are discharged in accordance with the print information.
In the printhead having the construction as shown in FIG. 12, when the switch 107 is closed at appropriate timing, the electric current is supplied to the power transistors 102 and the electrothermal transducers 101 in correspondence with the time where the switch 107 is closed, thus ink droplets are discharged in accordance with the print information.
However, the above conventional constructions have the following problems:
(1) As the number of data bits storable in the shift register and the number of the latches are the same, the shift register and the latches occupy large space on the circuit board, thus preventing downsizing of the circuit board and reduction of production costs. PA1 (2) As a printhead must always be capable of printing at a high-printing density, it is necessary, on the limited space on the circuit board of the printhead, to reduce the number of electric devices per pixel (bit) printing. To meet this requirement, the respective circuits as the-parts of the printhead must be further miniaturized. The electrothermal transducers, the power transistors and the switches are single-tip devices and therefore suitable for microminiaturization. The latches can also be easily miniaturized since these circuits comprise a relatively small number of constituent devices. However, in the shift register for storing information of a predetermined number of data bits, corresponding to the number of the electrothermal transducers, the power transistors, the switches and the latches, a large number of constituent devices per pixel printing are required. Since the number of devices must correspond to the number of electrothermal transducers, downsizing of the shift register is difficult.
To solve this problem, the relation between the number of data bits (A) and the number of latches (B) may be A:B=1:n, and the shift register may be operated n times. Then, the space occupied with the devices necessary for the shift register can be reduced. However, this requires n latch-clock input terminals for operating the latches, and increases the number of wires for electrically connecting the lead frame with external devices. Finally, this increases the number of assembling steps of the printhead, and thus increases the production costs.
Upon realizing a multifunctional printhead in consideration of future technological improvement, a complicated combination of a lot of logical circuits is required for inputting variety of data, and for the data input, the logical circuits must have external input terminals. That is, the multifunctional printhead needs a lot of input terminals, which increases the number of assembling steps and production costs. Accordingly, it is preferable to reduce the number of input terminals to a minimum.

Printhead, printing apparatus and printing method using printhead


Methods including introducing a first treatment fluid comprising a first aqueous base fluid and a chelating etching agent into a low-permeability subterranean formation comprising carbonate material having a first fracture network at a first treatment interval therein, wherein the first fracture network comprises a first main fracture and a first microfracture. The method further comprises placing the chelating etching agent in the first fracture network and reacting it with the carbonate material in the first fracture network. In certain embodiments, the reacting removes the carbonate material, thereby creating at least one conductive channel on a face of the first fracture network. The method further comprises introducing a second treatment fluid comprising a second aqueous base fluid and micro-sized proppant particulates into the low-permeability subterranean formation and placing the micro-sized proppant particulates into the first fracture network to form a partial monolayer in the first microfracture.

The embodiments herein relate generally to subterranean formation operations and, more particularly, to chelating etching agent stimulation and proppant stabilization of low-permeability subterranean formations.
Hydrocarbon producing wells (e.g., oil producing wells, gas producing wells, and the like) are often stimulated by hydraulic fracturing treatments. In traditional hydraulic fracturing treatments, a treatment fluid, sometimes called a carrier fluid in cases where the treatment fluid carries particulates entrained therein, is pumped into a portion of a subterranean formation (which may also be referred to herein simply as a "formation") above a fracture gradient sufficient to break down the formation and create one or more fractures therein. The term "treatment fluid," as used herein, refers generally to any fluid that may be used in a subterranean application in conjunction with a desired function and/or for a desired purpose. The term "treatment fluid" does not imply any particular action by the fluid or any component thereof. As used herein, the term "fracture gradient" refers to a pressure (e.g., flow rate) necessary to create or enhance at least one fracture in a subterranean formation.
Typically, particulate solids, such as graded sand, are suspended in a portion of the treatment fluid and then deposited into the fractures. The particulate solids, known as "proppant particulates" or simply "proppant" serve to prevent the fractures from fully closing once the hydraulic pressure is removed. By keeping the fractures from fully closing, the proppant particulates form a proppant pack having interstitial spaces that act as conductive paths through which fluids produced from the formation may flow. As used herein, the term "proppant pack" refers to a collection of proppant particulates in a fracture. The degree of success of a stimulation operation depends, at least in part, upon the ability of the proppant pack to permit the flow of fluids through the interconnected interstitial spaces between proppant particulates.
The complexity of the fracture network (or "network complexity") may be enhanced by stimulation operations to create new or enhance (e.g., elongate or widen) existing fractures. As used herein, the term "fracture network" refers to the access conduits, man-made or otherwise, within a subterranean formation that are in fluid communication with a wellbore. One such stimulation involves the introduction of an acid alone or in a carrier fluid into a subterranean formation such that the acid contacts the subterranean formation or a desired portion of a subterranean formation (e.g., a fracture or portion of a fracture). The acid reacts with acid soluble materials contained in the subterranean formation, such as carbonate materials, thereby etching channels into the subterranean formation and increasing the permeability thereof. Such acid treatments may be combined with fracturing stimulation operations, termed "fracture-acidizing," which involves fracturing a subterranean formation using an acid alone or in a carrier fluid such that the acid etches channels in the subterranean formation, including the formed or enhanced fractures created during the treatment, thereby creating flow-paths for the production of hydrocarbons.

Chelating etching agent stimulation and proppant stabilization of low-permeability subterranean formations


A plasma reactor for processing a workpiece, including an enclosure defining a vacuum chamber, a workpiece support within the enclosure facing an overlying portion of the enclosure, the enclosure having at least first and second openings therethrough near generally opposite sides of the workpiece support. At least one hollow conduit is connected to the first and second openings. A closed torroidal path is provided through the conduit and extending between the first and second openings across the wafer surface. A process gas supply is coupled to the interior of the chamber for supplying process gas to the torroidal path. A coil antenna is coupled to an RF power source and inductively, coupled to the interior of the hollow conduit and capable of maintaining a plasma in the torroidal path.

1. Technical Field
The invention concerns plasma reactors used in processing workpieces in the manufacturing of items such as microelectronic circuits, flat panel displays and the like, and in particular plasma sources therefor.
2. Background Art
The trend in microelectronic circuits toward ever increasing densities and smaller feature sizes continues to make plasma processing of such devices more difficult. For example, the diameter of contact holes has been reduced while the hole depth has increased. During plasma-enhanced etching of a dielectric film on a silicon wafer, for example, the etch selectivity of the dielectric material (e.g. silicon dioxide) to photoresist must be sufficient to allow the etch process to etch a contact hole whose diameter is ten to fifteen times its depth, without appreciably disturbing the photoresist mask defining the hole. This task is made even more difficult because the recent trend toward shorter wavelength light for finer photolithography requires a thinner photoresist layer, so that the dielectric-to-photoresist etch selectivity must be greater than ever. This requirement is more readily met using processes having relatively low etch rates, such as dielectric etch processes employing a capacitively coupled plasma. The plasma density of a capacitively coupled plasma is relatively less than that of an inductively coupled plasma, and the capacitively coupled plasma etch process exhibits good dielectric-to-photoresist etch selectivity. The problem with the capacitively coupled process is that it is slow and therefore relatively less productive. Another problem that arises in such etch processes is non-uniform plasma distribution.
In order to increase productivity or etch rate, higher density plasmas have been employed. Typically, the high density plasma is an inductively coupled plasma. However, the process precursor gases tend to dissociate more rapidly in such a high density plasma, creating a higher plasma content of free fluorine, a species which reduces the etch selectivity to photoresist. To reduce this tendency, fluoro-carbon process gases such as CF2 are employed which dissociate in a plasma into fluorine-containing etchant species and one or more polymer species which tend to accumulate on non-oxide containing surfaces such as photoresist. This tends to increase etch selectivity. The oxygen in the oxygen-containing dielectric material promotes the pyrolization of the polymer over the dielectric, so that the polymer is removed, allowing the dielectric material to be etched while the non-oxygen containing material (e.g., the photoresist) continues to be covered by the polymer and therefore protected from the etchant. The problem is that the increase in contact opening depth and decrease in photoresist thickness to accommodate more advanced device designs has rendered the high density plasma process more likely to harm the photoresist layer during dielectric etching. As the plasma density is increased to improve etch rate, a more polymer-rich plasma must be used to protect the non-oxygen containing material such as photoresist, so that the rate of polymer removal from the oxygen-containing dielectric surfaces slows appreciably, particularly in small confined regions such as the bottom of a narrow contact opening. The result is that, while the photoresist may be adequately protected, the possibility is increased for the etch process to be blocked by polymer accumulation once a contact opening reaches a certain depth. Typically, the etch stop depth is less than the required depth of the contact opening so that the device fails. The contact opening may provide connection between an upper polysilicon conductor layer and a lower polysilicon conductor layer through an intermediate insulating silicon dioxide layer. Device failure occurs, for example, where the etch stop depth is less than the distance between the upper and lower polysilicon layers. Alternatively, the possibility arises of the process window for achieving a high density plasma without etch stop becoming too narrow for practical or reliable application to the more advanced device designs such as those having contact openings with aspect ratios of 10:1 or 15:1.
What would be desirable at present is a reactor that has the etch rate of an inductively coupled plasma reactor (having a high density plasma) with the selectivity of a capacitively coupled reactor. It has been difficult to realize the advantages of both types of reactors in a single machine led reactor.
One problem with high density inductively coupled plasma reactors, particularly of the type having an overhead coil antenna facing the wafer or workpiece, is that as the power applied to the coil antenna is increased to enhance the etch rate, the wafer-to-ceiling gap must be sufficiently large so that the power is absorbed in the plasma region well above the wafer. This avoids a risk of device damage on the wafer due to strong RF fields. Moreover, for high levels of RF power applied to the overhead coil antenna, the wafer-to-ceiling gap must be relatively large, and therefore the benefits of a small gap cannot be realized.
If the ceiling is a semiconductive window for the RF field of an inductively coupled reactor, or a conductive electrode of a capacitively coupled reactor, then one benefit of a small wafer-to-ceiling gap is an enhanced electric potential or ground reference that the ceiling could provide across the plane of the wafer at a relatively small gap distance (e.g., on the order of 1 or 2 inches).
Therefore, it would be desireable to have a reactor not only having the selectivity of a capacitively coupled reactor with the ion density and etch rate of an inductively coupled reactor, but further having none of the conventional limitations on the wafer-to-ceiling gap length other than a fundamental limit, such as the plasma sheath thickness, for example. It would further be desireable to have a reactor having the selectivity of a capacitively coupled reactor and the etch rate of an inductively coupled reactor in which the ion density and etch rate can be enhanced without necessarily increasing the applied RF plasma source power.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Externally excited torroidal plasma source


A shaped-wave application section inputs a first pulse signal corresponding to transmission data output from a transmission data output section, and applies, to a modulation and amplification section, a signal wave corresponding to a second pulse signal such that the waveform of the first pulse signal is shaped. The pulse signal applied to the base of the transistor of the modulation and amplification section is amplitude-modulated into an amplitude-modulated wave in which the amplitude-modulated portion is strengthened, in accordance with the signal wave corresponding to the second pulse signal applied to the emitter thereof. The amplitude-modulated wave is supplied to an antenna section including a resonance circuit via the collector thereof, and is transmitted as an electromagnetic wave from the antenna section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic circuit, a modulation method, an information processing device, and an information processing method. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electronic circuit in which, when digital data is transmitted based on amplitude modulation via an antenna including a resonance circuit, the frequency of occurrence of communication failures at the receiving side is reduced, to a modulation method therefor, to an information processing device therefor, and to an information processing method therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
An IC (Integrated Circuit) card system to which non-contact communication technology is applied is formed of a portable IC card and a commonly called reader/writer device (hereinafter referred to as an "R/W device") that reads information stored in the IC card in a non-contact manner and that is capable of causing predetermined information to be stored in the IC card in a non-contact manner (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-13312 corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,077).
More specifically, IC card systems are highly convenient systems capable of reading and writing information in a non-contact manner, and, for example, in recent years, have been used as alternative systems for conventional magnetic card systems typified by commuter passes and authentication cards.
Hitherto, the transmission section (the transmission section formed of an antenna and a section for transmitting digital data within a modulator-demodulator) within the R/W device of the IC card system is configured as shown in, for example, FIG. 1. In the following, such a transmission section will be referred to as a "transmission device" by assuming it to be a single device.
More specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, a transmission device 1 is provided with a carrier-wave output section 11 for outputting a carrier wave 21 of a predetermined frequency (for example, 13.56 MHz), a transmission data output section 12 for outputting a signal wave (rectangular wave) 22 of a predetermined frequency (for example, 212 kHz), which corresponds to the digital data to be transmitted (hereinafter referred to as "transmission data"), a modulation and amplification section 13 for generating an amplitude-modulated wave 23 by varying and amplifying the amplitude of the carrier wave 21 in accordance with the signal wave 22 and for outputting the amplitude-modulated wave 23, and an antenna section 14, having a resonance circuit formed of a coil La and a capacitor Ca, for outputting an electromagnetic wave 24 based on the amplitude-modulated wave 23 (for example, transmitting the electromagnetic wave 24 to an IC card (not shown)).
The modulation and amplification section 13 also functions as a drive section (drive) for the antenna section 14 when viewed from the antenna section 14, as will be described later. Accordingly, hereinafter, the modulation and amplification section 13 will also be referred to as an "antenna drive section 13".
More specifically, for example, the transmission device 1 is configured as shown in FIG. 2.
That is, the modulation and amplification section 13 is formed of a transistor TR1 and a transistor TR2 for modulation and amplification, a switch SW, a resistor R1 and a resistor R2, which act as emitter loads of the transistor TR1 and the transistor TR2, a coil L1, a coil L2, a capacitor C1, and the primary side of a transformer Tr.
The carrier-wave output section 11 is connected to the bases of the transistor TR1 and the transistor TR2. However, a reverse phase of the carrier wave 21 input to the base of the transistor TR1 is input to the base of the transistor TR2.
One end of the resistor R1, whose other end is grounded, is connected to the emitters of the transistor TR1 and the transistor TR2, and one end of the resistor R2, whose other end is connected to the switch SW, is also connected thereto. The other end with regard to the end connected to the resistor R2 of the switch SW is grounded. This switch SW performs a switching operation in accordance with a change in a pulse signal 22 input from the transmission data output section 12.
One end of the coil L1, to whose other end a voltage Vcc1 is applied, is connected to the collector of the transistor TR1, and a resonance circuit formed of the capacitor C1 and the primary-side coil of the transformer Tr is also connected to the collector. In a similar manner, one end of the coil L2, to whose other end a voltage Vcc1 is applied, is connected to the collector of the transistor TR2, and a resonance circuit formed of the capacitor C1 and the primary-side coil of the transformer Tr is also connected to the collector.
The antenna section 14 is configured as a closed circuit in which a secondary-side coil La of the transformer Tr, a resistor Ra, and a capacitor Ca are connected in parallel. That is, the antenna section 14 operates in such a manner that the coil La part functions as a loop antenna, and also operates as an LCR resonance circuit formed of the coil La, the resistor Ra, and the capacitor Ca.
Next, the operation of the transmission device 1 of FIG. 2 will be described.
The carrier wave 21 of 13.56 MHz is always supplied from the carrier-wave output section 11 to the bases of the transistor TR1 and the transistor TR2.
In this state, when the pulse signal 22 of 212 KHz, corresponding to the transmission data, is output from the transmission data output section 12, the switch SW performs a switching operation in accordance with the change in the pulse signal 22. That is, when the switch SW is in an on state, since the resistor R2 is connected to the circuit, the emitter loads of the transistor TR1 and the transistor TR2 become the combined resistance value of the resistor R1 and the resistor R2. In contrast, when the switch SW is in an off state, since the resistor R2 is disconnected from the circuit, the emitter loads of the transistor TR1 and the transistor TR2 become the resistance value of the resistor R1.
In this manner, the emitter loads of the transistor TR1 and the transistor TR2 vary in accordance with the pulse signal 22 (transmission data) input from the transmission data output section 12. Then, as a result of the emitter loads of the transistor TR1 and the transistor TR2 being varied, the emitter current varies, and the amplitude of the collector voltage Vc also varies between two levels. That is, the collector voltage Vc corresponds to an amplitude-modulated wave 23.
The amplitude level of an electromagnetic wave 24 output from the coil La of the antenna section 14 also varies in accordance with the change of the amplitude of the collector voltage Vc (the amplitude-modulated wave 23).
In other words, the carrier wave 21 input to the bases of the transistor TR1 and the transistor TR2 is amplitude-modulated and amplified in accordance with the pulse signal 22 having two levels (by the change of the emitter current (signal wave) of the transistor TR1 and the transistor TR2, which corresponds to the change of the pulse signal 22), that is, a low level and a high level, forming the amplitude-modulated wave 23 having amplitudes of two levels, that is, a first level corresponding to the high level of the pulse signal 22 and a second level corresponding to the low level of the pulse signal 22. The amplitude-modulated wave 23 is supplied to the antenna section 14 via the collectors of the transistor TR1 and the transistor TR2. The antenna section 14 outputs the electromagnetic wave 24 based on the supplied amplitude-modulated wave 23, that is, the electromagnetic wave 24 having two amplitude levels corresponding to the first and second levels.
However, when the electromagnetic wave 24 (digital data corresponding to the pulse signal 22 superimposed onto the carrier wave 21) transmitted from the antenna section 14 of the transmission device 1 of FIG. 2 in accordance with the above-described operation is received by an IC card having a limiter for limiting the input and is demodulated, the data demodulated in the operating region of the limiter is distorted, and as a result, a problem arises in that communication failures occur often.

Electronic circuit, modulation method, information processing device, and information processing method


The performance of a neural network (NN) can be limited by the number of operations being performed. Using a line buffer that is directed to shift a memory block by a selected shift stride for cooperating neurons, data that is operatively residing memory and which would require multiple write cycles into a cooperating line buffer can be processed as in a single line buffer write cycle thereby enhancing the performance of a NN/DNN. A controller and/or iterator can generate one or more instructions having the memory block shifting values for communication to the line buffer. The shifting values can be calculated using various characteristics of the input data as well as the NN/DNN inclusive of the data dimensions. The line buffer can read data for processing, shift the data of the memory block and write the data in the line buffer for subsequent processing.

In artificial neural networks (NN), a neuron is the base unit used to model a biological neuron in the brain. The model of an artificial neuron includes the inner product of an input vector with a weight vector added to a bias with a non-linearity applied. For deep neural networks (DNN) (e.g., as expressed by an exemplary DNN module), a neuron can be closely mapped to an artificial neuron. Operatively, a DNN is working to its optimal performance when its neurons are continuously processing data and avoiding instances where a neuron or group of neurons is/are not processing data during a processing cycle.
In processing data across a NN or a DNN, a controller performing exemplary processing operations is required to iterate over large amounts of data in order to apply specific operations. Such requirements can impact overall NN or DNN performance resulting in crucial latency to the detriment of a desired stated processing goal (e.g., identifying an object and/or object characteristic in exemplary input data—image, sound, geographic coordinates, etc.). Typically, some existing NN and DNN expend avoidable processing time (e.g., floating/fixed point operations per second (GFlops/s)) and memory space (e.g., number of bytes transferred per second (GBytes/s)) in performing various operations inclusive of memory reads and writes to various cooperating memory components of the NN/DNN (e.g., line buffer). Specifically, current practices do not identify critical features of input/data and/or provide instructions to the cooperating components of the NN or DNN regarding how best to manage/direct the read/write operations for the input data in the cooperating NN or DNN memory components inclusive of the line buffer to avoid such performance issues. Part in parcel with the performance impact associated with inefficient data processing in NN or DNN is the inefficient processing of data amongst the neural processing components of the NN or DNN. Such inefficient data management and processing requires additional, often avoidable, computations/neural processor operations further impacting overall NN/DNN performance.
A more advantageous NN/DNN would deploy set of instructions that directs the cooperating memory components of the NN/DNN, and specifically, the line buffer, to operatively shift a memory block by a shift stride for each consecutive neuron. Operatively, the shifting of the memory block can allow for the extraction of data for multiple overlapping/consecutive sliding windows from a single memory block in a single processing cycle. As such, a data in memory can be treated as a contiguous memory block for processing resulting in increased overall performance of the NN/DNN.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure made herein is presented.

Processing discontiguous memory as contiguous memory to improve performance of a neural network environment


The present invention relates a light emitting diode (LED) package. The present invention provides an LED package, wherein one cavity for defining a circumference of an LED chip and other cavities necessary for exposing lead frames are separately formed in a supporting member for supporting lead frames, and the cavity defining the circumference of the LED chip is separately filled with a resin, whereby it is possible to prevent an irregular interface between the resin portions, and when a phosphor is contained in the resin portion formed to be confined in the circumference of the LED chip, it is possible to reduce color deviation for each light directional angle and to prevent unnecessary waste of the phosphor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light emitting diode (LED) package, and more particularly, to an LED package including lead frames on which an LED chip is mounted and a supporting member for supporting the lead frames, wherein the structure of the supporting member, and furthermore, the structure of lead frames are improved.
2. Description of the Related Art
An LED is an element in which electrons or holes are combined in a P-N semiconductor junction structure by application of current thereby emitting certain light. The LED is typically formed to have a package structure, in which an LED chip is mounted, and is frequently referred to as an "LED package." Such an LED package is generally mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB) and receives current applied from electrodes formed on the PCB to thereby emit light.
In an LED package, heat generated from an LED chip has a direct influence on the light emitting performance and life span of the LED package. The reason is that when heat generated from the LED chip remains for a long period of time, dislocation and mismatch occur in a crystal structure of the LED chip.
Accordingly, conventional technologies for promoting dissipation of heat generated from an LED chip have been suggested. A representative of these technologies is an LED package, in which an LED chip is not mounted on a lead frame, but a heat sink slug made of a metallic material with superior thermal conductivity is inserted into a package body and an LED chip is then mounted on the heat sink slug.
However, in the conventional LED package, since the heat sink slug has a volume relatively larger than a heat sink area through which the heat sink slug is exposed to the outside, its use is restricted if the heat sink slug is not made of a expensive thermal conductive material. Further, there is a problem in that much cumbersomeness in a process may occur when mounting the heat sink slug. Furthermore, the heat sink slug may become a cause of hindering compactness of the LED package.
A conventional LED package with a double or multiple molding structure, in which a molding member for protecting an LED chip is formed to have a plurality of resin portions, has been known. The conventional LED package has a single large cavity for opening both portions of first and second lead frames, wherein the portion of the first lead frame has the LED chip mounted thereon, and the portion of the second lead frame is connected to the LED chip by a bonding wire. In such an LED package, a first resin portion made of, for example, silicon resin is first formed in the single cavity, and an epoxy- or silicon-based resin with excellent strength is then formed to cover the entire first resin portion, wherein the first resin portion is strong for thermal impact, and furthermore, contains a phosphor.
However, in the conventional LED package, since the first resin portion is formed by injecting a liquid resin broadly in a large-sized cavity without a clear boundary with the second resin portion to be formed on the first resin portion, the interface between the first and second resin portions is nonuniformly defined, which causes lowering of light efficiency and performance degradation of the LED package due to the lowering of light efficiency. Further, although it is effective that a phosphor used in color mixture of light and color conversion of light due to the color mixture of light is concentrated on a circumference of an LED chip, the phosphor is unnecessarily broadly distributed in the broad cavity. Therefore, the color conversion efficiency of light may be lowered, and furthermore, waste of the phosphor may be caused.


A design support method comprising reading a two-dimensional cross-sectional model created by a computer-aided design system, saving information on a locus of travel of the recording medium, recognizing parts in a vicinity of the locus of the recording medium, and creating a simulation model in which parts other than the parts recognized in the recognizing are excluded from objects subject to contact calculation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to design support methods and programs and, in particular, to a design support program and a design support method which can be advantageously used for achieving optimal design of a conveying path for a sheet-like material.
2. Description of the Related Art
In designing a conveying path, it is desirable that the function of a designed object is examined under various conditions before the actual fabrication of a product. Such examination can reduce the number of processes required to manufacture and test a prototype, and can reduce the development period and cost. As a technique for simulating the behavior of a sheet in a conveying path, a finite element method for a recording medium is used.
Specifically, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H11-195052 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H11-116133 disclose design support programs. In these programs, a conveying resistance and a contact angle between a recording medium and guides or rollers for the recording medium are evaluated by expressing the recording medium as finite elements. Then, contact conditions between the recording medium and the guides or rollers in the conveying path are determined by numerically solving a motion equation.
The motion of a recording medium is solved by formulating a motion equation of the recording medium discretely represented by finite elements or mass-spring systems. Then, an analysis target time period is divided into time steps each having a finite length, and the motion of the recording medium is solved by numerical time integration that sequentially calculates unknown accelerations, velocities, and displacements in the respective time steps starting from time 0. This technique is well known as Newmark β method, Wilson θ method, Euler's method, Kutta-merson method, and the like (see, for example, Katsuhito Sudoh, "Modeling a String from Observing the Real Object" Proc. of Int. Conf. on Virtual Systems and Multimedia (VSMM2000), pp. 544-553, (2000)).
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-258774 discloses a technique for performing such a simulation. In this technique, a conveying path is rendered on a two-dimensional plane by line segments including a strait line, an arc, and a spline curve so that the conveying path is designed.
In another technique, shape data created by a CAD (computer-aided design) system is converted into simulation data. In this case, application software which performs preprocessing for creating a simulation model is generally used. Such application software allows a user to create a contact definition and a simulation condition definition including input of physical property values.
Further, with a view to reducing the processing load for a simulation, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-331194 discloses a model creating technique in which holes or fillets unnecessary for simulation are omitted.
In such design support programs described above, a recording medium is divided into a finite number of elements or masses, and a reacting force between the recording medium and conveying guides is generated by performing contact calculation between one element or one mass and one line segment constituting the conveying path. Thus, the program reproduces complicated behaviors of the recording medium in the conveying path.
The contact calculation is performed for each time step of numerical time integration. Thus, the calculation load for the numerical time integration disadvantageously increases with increasing number of elements or mass points of a recording medium and increasing number of line segments forming a conveying path, resulting in prolonged calculation time.
When a two-dimensional model having a principal cross-section projected from a three-dimensional CAD drawing is created, the model includes a number of unnecessary parts that are irrelevant to sheet conveyance. In such a case, the number of line segments exceeds five thousand in the case of a typical copying machine. Such a model requires ten hours or more for behavior calculation and is not able to meet users' needs as a design support tool. Therefore, it is desirable to omit parts which do not come into contact with a recording medium from the calculation model.
However, in order to create a model for a recording medium conveying simulation on the basis of a design drawing based on a three-dimensional CAD, it is necessary for a user to manually determine contact parts between a recording medium and a conveying path and erase parts other than the contact parts. This operation takes the user considerable labor especially when a drawing to be processed is large, and lacks accuracy. To address this, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-337836, for example, discloses a method in which a FEM (finite element method) model based on a shape characteristic is automatically created by a device on the basis of creation processes stored in a database.

Support program and design support method


A television signal receiver for processing an HDTV signal transmitted in a vestigial sideband (VSB) format includes input complex filters shared by a timing recovery network (30) and a carrier recovery network (50). The filter network includes a pair of upper and lower band edge filters (20, 22) mirror imaged around the upper and lower band edges of the VSB signal for producing suppressed subcarrier AM output signals. The timing recovery network includes a phase detector (28, 38, 62) and responds to an AM signal derived from the two filters (via 26) for synchronizing a system clock (CLK). The carrier recovery network (50) also includes a phase detector (54, 60, 62, 64), and responds to outputs from one or both of the filters for producing an output error signal (.DELTA.) representing a phase/frequency offset of the VSB signal. The error signal is used to reduce or eliminate the offset to produce a recovered baseband or near baseband signal. A subsequent equalizer eliminates any residual phase offsets in the recovered signal.

The recovery of data from a VSB or a QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulated) signal at a receiver requires the implementation of three functions: timing recovery for symbol synchronization, carrier recovery (frequency demodulation) and equalization. Timing recovery is the process by which the receiver clock (timebase) is synchronized to the transmitter clock. This permits the received signal to be sampled at the optimum point in time to reduce the chance of a slicing error associated with decision-directed processing of received symbol values. Carrier recovery is the process by which a received RF signal, after being frequency shifted to a lower intermediate frequency passband, is frequency shifted to baseband to permit recovery of the modulating baseband information. Equalization is a process which compensates for the effects of transmission channel disturbances upon the received signal. More specifically, equalization removes baseband intersymbol interference (ISI) caused by transmission channel disturbances including the low pass filtering effect of the channel. ISI causes the value of a given symbol to be distorted by the values of preceding and following symbols.
For QAM signals, timing recovery is usually the first function implemented in a receiver. The timing is recovered from either the intermediate passband signal or from a near-baseband signal, i.e., a baseband signal with a carrier offset that is corrected by a carrier recovery network. In either case, timing can be established prior to baseband demodulation. The carrier recovery demodulation process is usually a two step process. First, the passband signal is demodulated to near-baseband by a frequency shifter which uses a "best guess" as to what the frequency offset is between the incoming passband signal and the desired baseband signal. This frequency shift is usually performed by analog circuits; i.e., prior to analog to digital conversion in the receiver. Next, equalization is performed on this near-baseband signal. Finally, carrier recovery is performed which removes any residual frequency offsets from the near-baseband signal to produce a true baseband output signal. This function is performed by digital receiver circuits. The equalizer is inserted between a first local oscillator which performs the shifting to near-baseband, and the carrier recovery loop network. This is because the carrier recovery process typically is a decision-directed process (as known) that requires at least a partially open "eye" which is provided by the equalizer function.
A QAM signal is represented by a two-dimensional data symbol constellation defined by Real and Imaginary axes. In contrast, a VSB signal is represented by a one-dimensional data symbol constellation wherein only one axis contains quantized data to be recovered at a receiver. Synchronous demodulation of a VSB signal has usually been accomplished with the aid of a pilot signal. The pilot signal facilitates demodulating the VSB signal to baseband in one step, typically without residual phase or frequency errors. Performing the functions of timing recovery, demodulation and equalization in the order they are performed for QAM signals does not work for VSB signals using conventional techniques. For QAM signals, several timing recovery methods are known which are independent of the frequency offset between the near-baseband signal and the baseband signal. However, it is generally accepted that frequency independent timing recovery is not feasible for VSB signals. For this reasons, in VSB systems, absolute demodulation to baseband has historically been implemented first.
In a pilot-assisted VSB system, the pilot component is injected into the baseband signal at the transmitter as a small DC offset. This DC offset generates a carrier "tone" because when the DC offset is multiplied by an alternating signal such as in the form of a high frequency cosine function, a similarly phased carrier tone results. This carrier tone can be used by a phase locked loop (PLL) in the receiver demodulator to translate the modulated VSB signal to baseband. Since the pilot represents the DC component of the VSB signal, and this DC component is in the middle of the vestigial sideband, the tone appears to be situated in the middle of modulation "noise" caused by the data itself. Normally this modulation noise is treated as unwanted signal for the pilot tracking PLL at the receiver.
The pilot can be extracted by means of a very narrow bandpass filter prior to the PLL. However, this requires a filter with such a narrow bandwidth to achieve sufficient data noise rejection that the tracking PLL is not capable of tracking all phase and frequency offsets of the incoming signal, especially when consumer grade tuners are used. Shifting the pilot component to baseband is not done easily in the digital domain. If analog circuits are used, problems of compensation for tolerances and temperature effects, for example, will have to be addressed. The pilot component also wastes power, and it is possible that a transmission channel perturbation such as a channel null will cancel the pilot. For these and other reasons, it is herein recognized as desirable to provide a system capable of demodulating a VSB signal to baseband without relying on a pilot component of the received signal.
One example of a VSB system including a pilot component is the Grand Alliance HDTV transmission system recently proposed for the United States. This system employs a VSB digital transmission format for conveying a packetized datastream, and is being evaluated in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission through its Advisory Committee of Advanced Television Service (ACATS). A description of the Grand Alliance HDTV system as submitted to the ACATS Technical Subgroup on Feb. 22, 1994 (draft document) is found in the 1994 Proceedings of the National Association of Broadcasters, 48th Annual Broadcast Engineering Conference Proceedings, Mar. 20-24, 1994.

Carrier recovery system for a vestigial sideband signal


Disclosed are an admixture composition for a tile cement mortar and a tile cement mortar composition comprising the admixture composition. The disclosed admixture composition for a tile cement mortar comprises a cellulose ether, a polyacrylamide-based polymer coagulant and an inorganic coagulant.

Tiles have long been used as a finishing material for construction of buildings with a beautiful external appearance, convenience for installation, hygienic properties, convenience for cleaning, maintaining, and managing buildings, and the like, and the use of tiles has increased, recently.
Tile adhesives used to adhere tiles to walls or floors are classified into cement mortar-based adhesives, resin-based adhesives, and emulsion-based adhesives according to the type of major binding material. Among theses adhesives, cement mortar-based adhesives, which are typically referred to as tile cement mortar, have been widely used due to their economic efficiency and use convenience.
The tile cement mortar should have excellent sag resistance, long open time, and high adhesive strength. The sag resistance and adhesive strength become more important as large-sized tiles are used as finishing materials for buildings. Particularly, since construction costs are closely related to labor costs rather than material costs, open time plays an important role in construction by reducing a construction period.
In order to increase the open time, an amount of cement may be reduced, aggregates with a large particle size may be used, and/or asbestos may be used. However, when the amount of cement is reduced, adhesive strength decreases. Also, aggregates with a large particle size are not suitable for modern styles of tile installation by which a very thin layer of tile cement mortar is formed. Furthermore, the use of asbestos is prohibited due to toxicity.
In addition, a method of extending open time by adding organic and/or inorganic cement hydration retarders to a cement mortar has been widely used. According to this method, a surplus water in the cement mortar can be preserved for a long period of time by delaying the hydration of the cement, and hardening of the surface of the cement mortar, which is caused by a hydrate of the cement, can be prevented, so that open time is extended. However, although wetting capability of the cement mortar can be improved, adhesive strength thereof with respect to a substrate such as cement concrete deteriorate according to this method.

Admixture composition for a tile cement mortar and a tile cement mortar composition comprising the same


In an embodiment of the invention, an apparatus for generating a maximum change data pattern, includes: a shift stage configured to shift a generated signal to the right by one bit and to generate a shifted signal; a logic stage configured to perform an XOR function on the signal and the shifted signal, and generate an XOR output signal; a complement stage configured to complement the XOR output signal, and to generate a complement stage output signal; and a selector configured to select the XOR output signal if the generated signal is even and to select the complement stage output signal if the generated signal is odd.

In component testing, a common hardware problem is the skewing of a clock signal that indicates when a value is to be captured. A clock that has too much skew will cause a detected fault if the data on the line is changing. If the clock signal latches at a wrong time as a result of the clock skew, then the clock signal may latch where the data signal does not change and, as a result, the clock skew (error) is not detected.
Traditionally, a random data pattern is used to test the communication between two components. With a random data pattern, on average, 50% of the data values in the data lines will toggle (i.e., change in bit value from 1 to 0 or from 0 to 1) between two consecutive values. Therefore, there is a 50% chance of not detecting a clock skew problem.
Another prior solution is to use a sequential data pattern to test the communication between two components. With a sequential data pattern, on average, less than 2 bit lines will toggle. For 64 data lines, a sequential data pattern will cause less than 3.13% ((½^0+½^1+½^2+ . . . +½^63)/64) of the lines to change in value.
Therefore, the current technology is limited in its capabilities and suffers from at least the above constraints and deficiencies.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


The invention comprises three extensions of the IEEE 802.1Q VLAN bridge model. The first extension is the cryptographic separation of VLANs over trunk links. A LAN segment type referred to as an encapsulated LAN segment is introduced. All frames on such a segment are encapsulated according to an encryption and authentication code scheme. The second extension is the division of a trunk port into inbound and outbound ports. The third extension is a protocol that automatically infers for each outbound port in a bridged VLAN, a set of LAN segment types for the port that minimizes the number of transfers between encapsulated and unencapsulated segments required to transport a frame in the bridged VLAN.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to VLANs. More particularly, the invention relates to a bridged cryptographic VLAN.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Basic VLAN Concepts
FIG. 1 shows a simple port-based VLAN 10, comprised of two VLANs, i.e. VLAN A 13 and VLAN B 15. The VLAN to which an untagged frame received at a port belongs is determined by the Port VLAN ID (PVID) assigned to the receiving port, or by the VLAN ID (VID) associated with the link-layer protocol carried in the frame (see IEEE Std 802.1v-2001, Virtual Bridged Local Area Networks—Amendment 2: VLAN Classification by Protocol and Port). There must be a way to convey VLAN information between the bridges 12, 14 because they are connected by a trunk link 16 that can carry frames from more than one VLAN. A VLAN tag is added to every frame for this purpose. Such frames are called VLAN-tagged frames.
Trunk Links
A trunk link is a LAN segment used for VLAN multiplexing between VLAN bridges (see IEEE Std 802.1v-2001, Virtual Bridged Local Area Networks—Amendment 2: VLAN Classification by Protocol and Port). Every device attached to a trunk link must be VLAN-aware. This means that they understand VLAN membership and VLAN frame formats. All frames, including end station frames, on a trunk link are VLAN-tagged, meaning that they carry a non-null VID. There can be no VLAN-unaware end stations on a trunk link.
The trunk link 16 in FIG. 1 is a multiplexed LAN segment shared by two bridges 12, 14. In general, many VLAN-aware bridges may be attached to a trunk link.
The access links 11 are LAN segments that do not multiplex VLANs. Instead, each access link carries untagged frames or VLAN-tagged frames belonging to a single VLAN. If frames are tagged then all frames on the segment carry the same VID and end stations on the LAN segment must be VLAN aware.
Various limitations are encountered with the current state of VLAN art. One problem is that of cryptographic separation of VLANs over trunk links. The introduction of a scheme to solve such problem itself raises the issue of efficient frame transfer between encrypted and unencrypted LAN segments which represent a single VLAN.


The invention is a method of removing soils containing oils and fats from food processing surfaces. The method includes the steps of formulating a wash composition from a two-part concentrate. The concentrate first part includes a source of alkalinity and water. The concentrate second part includes a quaternary ammonium compound. After formulation, the wash composition has a major portion of water, from about 100 ppm to 20,000 ppm of quaternary ammonium compound, and an alkali source present in a concentration to provide a pH of from about 10 to 14. After formulation, the wash composition may be used by applying it to the food processing surface. Optionally, the wash composition may also include a chelating agent and a second nonionic or anionic detersive agent.

Ready-to-eat foods are often cooked by boiling or frying in the presence of fats and oils. These foods may be prepared in larger industrial cooking appliances which cannot be disassembled to clean. Removal of soils from surfaces of industrial cooking appliances can be difficult, especially if the soils originate from an animal or vegetable source, such as charred animal or vegetable fats, fatty derivatives and other organic deposits.
Cleaning these surfaces has been a vexing problem in industries such as the food preparation industry, where essentially complete cleaning of such surfaces is desirable. For example, in industrial production plants, stainless steel cooking surfaces may be found in food fryers which are heated to high temperatures for the cooking of large amounts of food.
Soiling matter deposited on these surfaces may consist of a complex mixture of natural fats, fatty derivatives and other organic deposits from the cooking of food. During heating at high temperatures subsequent to deposition, this soiling matter may be converted into a charred, polymeric mass which is difficult to remove and which can comprise complex hydrocarbon chains containing fatty ester groups and ether linkages.
Removal of these soils from food fryers has customarily been accomplished by a process known in the industry as a "boil-out," which typically involves adding aqueous solution of a cleaner to a fryer, bringing the fryer to an elevated temperature, such as the boiling point of the cleaner, and maintaining the elevated temperature for a given period of time.
In the past, traditional cleaning methods have used high concentrations of caustic soda or caustic pot ash to saponify normal fat-based oils such as triglycerides used in processes such as deep fat frying. These oils are typically cottonseed or soybean oils. The saponification process breaks the triglycerides into their more soluble component fatty acids and glycerin.
Conventional cleaning compositions known previously include Hammerel, U.S. Pat. No. 4,158,644 which discloses a composition of quaternary ammonium salt, betaine, and nonionic surfactant. Hammer et. al. discloses the use of an aqueous composition containing these three surfactants and cleaning various fats and greases such as crankcase oil from hard surfaces.
Wise et. al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,176,080 discloses a detergent composition for oily soil removal from laundered dry goods. The Wise et. al. composition contains a water insoluble solvent with a water and oil emulsifier and a discrete amount of solvent stripping agent.
Flanagan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,264,479 discloses a generic composition of nonionic, amine oxide, and quaternary ammonium compound which may be mixed with certain chelating agents and sodium hydroxide to degrease and clean wax, soap, and other soils from hard surfaces.
However, modern trends towards healthier foods and, in turn, reduced caloric content, have resulted in the use of materials which provide reduced caloric content while maintaining the organoleptic properties of the food but which also create additional problems in cleaning food preparation surfaces.
For example, sucrose polyesters such as those disclosed in Jandeseck et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,797,300, Jandeseck et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,398, Spinner et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,811, Jandeseck, U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,939, Jandeseck, U.S. Pat. No. 4,005,195, Jandeseck et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,005,196, Jandeseck U.S. Pat. No. 4,264,583, and Volpingheim et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,054, all of which are incorporated herein by reference, have added benefits in reducing the caloric content of food while maintaining certain organoleptic properties.
Generally, the sucrose polyester is a sucrose molecule reacted with a fatty acid ester comprising anywhere from 6 to 8 carbons. The resultant molecule is large and stearically hindered. The stearic hindrance greatly slows the saponification making the cleaning process less efficient when traditional methods and compositions are used.
With traditional fryer cleaning solutions, the sucrose polyester generally does not emulsify or suspend in the cleaning solution. Rather, the sucrose polyester has a tendency to form a hard waxy film on the surface which is treated. Further, the removal of triglyceride oils and fats which have been carbonized, gelled, crosslinked or otherwise congealed have also presented a continuing problem in the cleaning of food preparation surfaces.
As a result, there is a need for compositions and methods which clean oily soils comprising sucrose polyesters from food preparation surfaces.

Compositions and method for removal of oils and fats from food preparation surfaces