A film-forming method is provided for forming a planar periodic structure having a predetermined periodicity by depositing liquid material on an object. A liquid drop supplying means is used which supplies a liquid drop at a predetermined driving period to deposit the liquid material on the object; the presence or absence of the supply of the liquid drop is controlled at each driving period in accordance with the periodicity of the planar periodic structure to be formed; and the liquid drop is supplied by controlling the liquid drop supplying means while the liquid drop supplying means is scanned at a predetermined scanning speed in a predetermined scanning direction relative to the object. A natural number times a value obtained by multiplying the driving period and the scanning speed is set to be the structural period of the planar periodic structure in the scanning direction.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a film-forming method, a film-forming apparatus, an apparatus and a method for manufacturing a color filter substrate, an apparatus and a method for manufacturing a substrate for an electroluminescent device, a method for manufacturing a display device, a display device, and an electronic apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to a manufacturing technique for forming a film by supplying liquid material in a liquid drop state.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, there are known a variety of display devices using as a display means an electro-optical apparatus such as a liquid crystal display device or an electroluminescent device (hereinafter, referred to as EL device), or an electronic apparatus, such as a cellular phone and a portable information terminal, in which such display device is built. As the color display has been in general use, such a display device commonly utilizes color filters formed in a predetermined arrangement patterns such as a stripe pattern, delta pattern, or mosaic pattern that consists of filter elements on red (R), green (G) and blue (B) dots on the surface of a substrate made of glass, plastic or the like.
Besides, in the EL device allowing color display, the red (R), green (G), and blue (B) dots of an EL light-emitting layer are arranged on the surface of a substrate made of glass, plastic or the like in a predetermined arrangement pattern such as stripe pattern, delta pattern or mosaic pattern, and such EL light-emitting layer is disposed between a pair of electrodes to thereby form a display dot. Then, a voltage applied to these electrodes is controlled for each display dot, so that each display dot emits light in a predetermined color and grayscale.
When manufacturing a variety of display devices as described above, photolithography is generally used for patterning respective colors of filter filaments of the color filter or respective colors of light-emitting layers of the EL device. However, the patterning process using photolithography requires several complicated, time-consuming processes such as coating, exposure and development of materials, and a large quantity of respective color materials or resists are consumed which leads to a problem of high costs.
In order to solve the aforementioned problem, a method for forming filter filaments or light-emitting layers arranged in a dot shape by adding solvent to filter element materials or EL light emitting materials to make a liquid material and discharging the liquid material as a liquid drop to be deposited to the surface of a substrate using an ink jet method, has been suggested. Here, according to the ink jet method, a case for forming filter elements 303 arranged in a dot shape, as shown in FIG. 29(b), inside a plurality of unit regions 302 set at the surface of a mother substrate 301, i.e., a large area of a substrate made of glass or plastic, as shown in FIG. 29(a), will be described.
In that case, for example, a liquid supplying head 306 having a nozzle row 305 of a plurality of nozzles 304, as shown in FIG. 29(c), is scanned along a straight line several times (twice in FIG. 29(b)) relative to a single unit region 302, as indicated by arrows A1 and A2 in FIG. 29(b). During each scanning period of time, ink or filter material is selectively discharged from a plurality of nozzles 304, thereby forming a filter element 303 at a desired position.
As described above, the filter elements 303 are arranged in a stripe pattern, delta pattern or mosaic pattern of respective colors, red (R), green (G), and blue (B). Therefore, in general, colors of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) are respectively prepared and respective liquid drop supplying heads 306 are utilized in sequence, thereby forming a color filter having a predetermined color arrangement on a mother substrate 301.
On the other hand, with regard to the liquid drop supplying heads 306, since there is a difference in the amount of ink depending upon a plurality of nozzles 304 consisting of a nozzle row 305, there may be a stripe pattern irregularity due to the difference of ink at respective filter elements 303 when the filter elements 303 are formed by the liquid drop supplying head 306 as shown in FIG. 29(b). As a result, there is a problem that the light transmissivity to a plane of a color filter is not uniform. Accordingly, there has been a method (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-221616) in which respective filter elements are formed by discharging a plurality of liquid drops and the liquid drops are scanned in sequence as the position of the liquid drop supplying head 306 is moved little by little in the direction of sending liquid drops (the left and right directions in FIG. 29).
However, if a scanning process is performed in the aforementioned way, the number of scanning processes is rapidly increasing which makes the manufacturing time longer, thereby resulting in a problem of lowering production efficiency. Thus, in order to solve the aforementioned problem, an apparatus is suggested with a plurality of heads capable of adjusting of their positions mounted to a common carriage to widen its one-time scanning scope for an efficient manufacturing process (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-273868).
However, the inventor found that it is impossible to eliminate a stripe pattern color irregularity in spite of the minimization of a difference in the amount of ink among respective filter elements in the aforementioned method if the color filter is manufactured in the conventional apparatus. As a result of continuous experiments, it has been found that the stripe pattern color irregularity is caused not by a difference in the amount of ink, but by a charge status of ink in respective filter elements. In other words, the deviated state of ink charged in the respective filter elements results in a difference in the amount of transmissive light depending upon places, which makes a stripe pattern of color irregularity noticeable.
FIG. 34 illustrates optical characteristics of a color filter manufactured in the conventional method. At this time, in FIG. 34(A), the vertical axis indicates Y value of transmissive light of the color filter (CIE1931XYZ color coordinate system, or brightness Y in the YUV color base), and the horizontal axis indicates periodic deviation characteristics of brightness Y seen in the scanning direction when the pixel array of the scanning direction (vertical direction as illustrated therein) illustrated in FIG. 29(b). Besides, as described above, FIG. 34(B) indicates periodic deviation characteristics as seen from the sending direction (horizontal direction as illustrated therein) illustrated in FIG. 29(b). Such deviation characteristics of brightness Y are not caused by a difference in the amount of ink due to the discharge characteristics of the head, but occurs even when a color filter is formed using a single nozzle.
Therefore, in the present invention, in order to solve the aforementioned problems, there is provided a technique to minimize the problem of irregularity in film formation which has not been solved by equalizing the amount of the liquid material to be supplied when a film-forming method is performed by depositing the liquid material on an object with a liquid drop supply means such as a liquid drop supply head.

Film forming method for manufacturing planar periodic structure having predetermined periodicity


A Cardan-type universal joint has a pair of joint bodies (11) each having a cylindrical hub (12) for securing thereto a rotary shaft (10), and a cross-shaped member (15) for connecting the pair of joint bodies together. Each of the hubs has at least one first slit, or escape slit, (20) formed therein radially inwardly from the circumference thereof having a sector shape with a sectoral angle of not less than 180 degrees and being disposed on a plane intersecting the axis of the shaft at an angle, thereby enabling the joint body to elastically deform in a spring-like manner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in a Cardan-type universal joint.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A prior Cardan-type non-constant angular velocity universal joint is publicly known through such information as disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. (JP-A) HEI-3-74632.
The universal joint publicly known as above has a pair of joint bodies each comprising a cylindrical hub to be secured to a rotary shaft, and two yokes protruding in the axial direction from one end of the hub at two circumferential positions mutually oppositely disposed in a radial direction of the hub toward the other joint body. The hub and the yokes of each of the joint bodies are formed together into a single component part.
The universal joint publicly known as above also has a cross-shaped member comprising four pins protruding radially therefrom in a cross-shaped manner such that the pair of joint bodies are connected with each other at a phase difference angle of 90 degrees by having each of the pins supported with bearing means at a corresponding one of the yokes of the pair of joint bodies. The bearing means has a bearing hole disposed radially at and through the front end portion of each of the yokes, the bearing hole having an oilless-metal sleeve pressure-fitted and secured therein. The cross-shaped member further comprises a short column-shaped center piece having four circumferentially spaced pin holes formed radially therein, the center piece having the pins respectively slidably and rotatably inserted through the sleeves of the yokes and pressure-fitted in the pin holes such that the pair of joint bodies are coupled together through the cross-shaped member so as to constitute the universal joint.
Although the prior Cardan-type universal joint publicly known as above is capable of absorbing angular deflection and eccentricity between two rotary shafts secured to the joint, the prior joint has a disadvantage in that it is not suitable for coupling rotary shafts that are displaced axially by axial load since the prior joint does not have escape means between the hub and the rotary shaft against such axial displacement. The present invention is made to solve such a problem.


A field programmable gate array (“FPGA”) is provided having integrated application specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”) fabric. The ASIC fabric may be used to implement one or more custom or semi-custom hard blocks within the FPGA. The ASIC fabric can be made up of a “custom region” and an “interface region.” The custom region can implement the custom or semi-custom ASIC design and the interface region can integrate and connect the custom region to the rest of the FPGA circuitry. The custom region may be based on a structured ASIC design. The interface region may allow the ASIC fabric to be incorporated within the hierarchical organization of the FPGA, allowing the custom region to connect to the FPGA circuitry in a seamless manner.

This invention relates to field programmable gate arrays ("FPGAs"), and more particularly to FPGAs having integrated application specific integrated circuit ("ASIC") fabric.
A FPGA may include a large number of relatively small modules of programmable logic. For example, each such logic module ("LM") or logic element ("LE") may include a four-input look-up table ("LUT"), a register (e.g., for selectively registering an output signal of the LUT), and a small amount of other circuitry (e.g., for determining whether and how the register is used, for selecting control signals for the register, etc.). The LUT may be programmable to produce an output signal that is any logical combination or function of the four inputs to the LUT. The LE may be programmable with respect to whether and how the register is used, and what control signals (e.g., clock, clock enable, clear, etc.) are selected for application to the register.
In addition to the LEs, a FPGA typically includes programmable interconnection circuitry for conveying signals to, from, and/or between the LEs in any of many different ways. This allows the relatively simple logic capabilities of individual LEs to be concatenated to perform logic tasks of considerable complexity.
It has been found helpful and economical to give the resources in FPGAs—especially large FPGAs—a hierarchical organization. For example, the LEs in a FPGA may be clustered in groups that may be called logic array blocks or LABs. The LEs in a LAB share certain resources associated with the LAB. These shared resources may include such things as LAB input multiplexers ("LIMs"), and LE input multiplexers ("LEIMs") circuitry, which are programmable to select signals from nearby interconnection conductors so that those signals will be available as inputs to the LABs and LEs.
It has become increasingly standard in FPGA architectures to add dedicated or "hard" blocks amongst to programmable logic to add common functionality to the FPGA. The first hard blocks added to FPGAs were embedded memory. Later microprocessors and hard multipliers or digital signal processing ("DSP") blocks were added. Other hard blocks have been considered such as crossbars or barrel shifters, and floating-point units ("FPU"), but have been rejected based on cost-benefit analyses. In general these blocks can be either full custom, standard cell, or semi-custom implementations. These hard blocks can be added to a FPGA either to make a dramatic shrink in the size of a function or to improve performance of a speed-critical block. DSP blocks, for example, achieve both. A further attraction of hard blocks is that the fixed implementation provides the benefit of a consistent implementation, reducing the effort of timing closure.
One of the main properties of hard blocks is that they tend to get dramatic benefits when used. However, it is rare that all the hard blocks are used and often these hard blocks are not used at all. This has also lead to the creation of entire families of FPGAs having, for example, "IO-rich," "LE-rich," "memory-rich," and "DSP-rich" parts in order to satisfy diverse customer needs. For example, an "LE-rich" device may have one DSP column for every 10 LAB columns, while a DSP-rich device may have one DSP column every 6 LAB columns.
Some of the major hurdles in adding hard blocks to FPGAs are that: hard blocks that are a great advantage for some is just an area waste for others, it is not cost-efficient to make a family of FPGAs with too many different members and variations, and often it is not known until long after the device is defined which hard blocks should be included in a design.

Field programmable gate array with integrated application specific integrated circuit fabric


A method of preparing biodegradable, water-resistant, moldable paper board or molded paper utensil which includes the steps of: (a) preparing a pulp aqueous slurry at a consistency of about 4%; (b) adding surfactant selected from the group consisting of rosin soap, sodium oleate, sodium stearate, and sodium palmitate to the pulp aqueous slurry; (c) adding between 25-75% weight of a biodegradable and water-resistant agent selected from the group consisting of calcium stearate, cellulose stearate, calcium palmitate and cellulose palmitate to the pulp aqueous slurry to form a slurry mixture; (d) refining the slurry mixture at a consistency of about 4% to a desired drainage; (e) diluting the refined slurry mixture and adding thereto an aggregating agent as alum to form a furnish; (f) forming the furnish to obtain a dry moldable soft paper board; (g) preheating the moldable paper board obtained in step (f) at a temperature from 110.degree. to 170.degree. C.; and (h) hot-pressing the preheated moldable paper board obtained in step (g) in a mold at a temperature from 115.degree. to 170.degree. C. for 2 to 40 seconds to obtain a molded paper utensil.

The present invention is an improvement over the prior art for the following reasons. First, the prior art discloses a paper added with 0.5 to 1.5 wt % of water-resistant agent, such as calcium stearate or calcium palmitate, to adjust the printability of the paper. The dosage of the water-resistant agent cannot be greater, otherwise, the paper will contain too much oily material and cannot be written or printed on. However, the water-resistant agent, such as calcium stearate or calcium palmitate, used in this invention provides adhesive, molding and water-resistant effects after heating at a temperature of 115 to 170.degree. C. Therefore, at least 8 wt % of the water-resistant agent should be used to achieve the above-mentioned unexpected results.
Furthermore, the present process for manufacturing the present moldable paper board utensil is characterized by the step of mixing the pulp, surfactant, like rosin soap and water-resistant agent orderly before the refining step. With this step, the water-resistant agent can be homogeneously dispersed on the surface of the pulp, and its retention rate is also significantly increased. Before the final product is obtained, the product should be hot pressed. Thereby, the water-resistant agent will melt to provide the water-resistant effect. In other words, the subject biodegradable paper utensil and the prior art water-proof paper are quite different in process, usage and purpose.
Recently, to overcome the environmental pollution problem caused by such non-degradable disposable utensils, effort and labor have been devoted to the development of naturally degradable materials, such as degradable polymers, for manufacturing degradable food containing utensils. However, such biodegradable plastic materials are either in experimental stages or are too expensive to commercialize. Therefore, some paper utensils have been used in order to prevent the contamination of the environment. However, utensils, such as paper lunch boxes, cups, and trays, were made with milk carton paper board, a paper sheet with polyethylene layer laminated on both sides thereof. However, the polyethylene is not naturally degradable and thus causes the environmental problem.
It is therefore desirable to provide biodegradable water-resistant, moldable paper boards and molded paper utensils thereof to overcome the above-mentioned problems.

Method of preparing biodegradable, water-resistant, and molded paper board


A processor-based system utilized by a consumer may be controlled and managed by a service provider for the benefit of a retail vendor. The service provider may control the content that is displayed on the client system. For example, the service provider may control the initial sets of graphical user interfaces that are provided to enable the consumer to make service selections. In addition, the consumer may be asked for information that enables the system to customize subsequent information provided to the consumer. As a result, the consumer's processor-based system may be remotely managed and controlled to facilitate communications between a particular retail vendor and a consumer.

This invention relates generally to consumer appliances in the form of processor-based systems.
Consumers may prefer an appliance-like functionality when using conventional processor-based systems such as computer systems. For example, conventional processor-based systems such as desktop computer systems initially undergo a boot up process. In contrast, appliances are immediately available and immediately responsive. Thus, there is a demand for processor-based systems, particularly for home users, that implement a wide variety of computer functions in an appliance-like fashion. For example, telephone, Internet and e-mail access may all be implemented in an appliance-like processor-based system.
The increasing prevalence of processor-based systems in the home opens the opportunity for targeted home-based marketing. That is, vendors may attempt to directly contact consumers in their homes with targeted advertisements. For example, some entities now steer particular information to consumers based on databases containing information about those consumers. These databases contain information about what types of products the consumer is interested in based on the consumer's on-line activities. In this way, based on the consumer's indicated interest, advertising may be targeted to receptive consumers.
However, there is a continuing need for better ways to utilize home processor-based systems to increase marketing effectiveness.

Remotely managing and controlling a consumer appliance


A self-service terminal (SST) 10 has a user interface (12,14), a bank note receiver (16) where a user may input bank notes, and a bank note validator (18) for checking the bank notes received from the user (the user""s bank notes). The terminal (10) also has a cassette receiver (36) for holding a cassette (34) which is to be replenished with the user""s bank notes. A loading mechanism (32) is used to replenish the cassette (34) with the validated user""s bank notes. The loading mechanism (32) has a pivoting linkage arrangement so that as the bank notes are stacked in the cassette (34), part of the linkage remains parallel to the stack of bank notes. The SST (10) also has a cassette emptying mechanism (38) for emptying and reconciling partially-filled cassettes (39). A method of replenishing a cassette with bank notes and an SST system are also described.

The invention relates to a self-service terminal (SST), and particularly to an SST for replenishing and/or reconciling currency cassettes.
Currency cassettes are used as the currency source in Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). The resources required to replenish (refill with currency) and reconcile (check that the number of bank notes dispensed equals the number of bank notes which were originally in the cassette) these cassettes are a major cost to the owners of ATMs. Conventionally, currency cassettes are replenished at central points which serve an ATM network (which may include up to several hundred ATMs).
A currency cassette requires reconciling and replenishing when its supply of currency falls below a predetermined value. When this occurs, the partially filled (below the predetermined value) cassette is removed from an ATM and replaced with a full cassette; the partially filled cassette is then transported by a secure carrier to the central point for replenishing.
High costs are incurred because of the need for high security in transporting currency both to and from an ATM. A financial center may have a large amount of currency which has to be transported to the central point for replenishing an ATM, but that financial center may house the ATM which is to be replenished. Thus, in some cases, a cassette from an ATM and currency from a financial center in which the ATM is located are both transported under high security to a remote center which loads the transported currency into the transported cassette to provide a replenished cassette, and the replenished cassette is then transported back to the financial center under high security.
It is an object of the invention to obviate or mitigate one or more of the above disadvantages.
According to the invention a self-service terminal comprises: a user interface; a media receiver for receiving valuable media items; a validator for checking the valuable media items received by the media receiver; characterized in that the terminal further comprises a cassette receiver for holding a cassette to be replenished; and a loading mechanism for replenishing the cassette with the validated valuable media items.
It will be appreciated that a cassette is replenished when it is filled with authentic media items, and is ready for loading into an SST without requiring any intermediate processing steps such as sorting the media items stored in the cassette.
By virtue of the invention a terminal is provided which may have similar dimensions to a conventional ATM, or which may be desktop in size. The terminal facilitates replenishing of a currency cassette by a user so that financial centers such as retail outlets and banks may use this type of terminal to replenish cassettes used in local ATMs and thereby minimize the transportation of currency.
The terminal may have a plurality of cassette receivers so that different types of media items can be stored. For example, one cassette may store one denomination of currency, and a second cassette may store a different denomination of currency.
Preferably, the validator checks the valuable media items by implementing one or more predetermined acceptance criterion.
Preferably, the validator includes media identification apparatus which may include measuring apparatus for measuring the dimensions of each media item to discriminate between different types of media items (for example different denominations of currency) and/or to verify that the media item is authentic (for example by comparing the measured dimensions of the media item with pre-stored dimensions for that media item).
Preferably, the validator includes counterfeit detection apparatus. Various types of counterfeit detection apparatus may be used depending on the type of media item to be dispensed and the security features used in that media item.
Preferably, the terminal further comprises a condition sorter for checking characteristics of each media item received. If a received media item does not fulfill a predetermined condition acceptance criterion then the media item may be rejected. The characteristics that may be checked include the porosity of the media item, and whether the media item is free from tears, cuts, folds, creases, or other such defects.
The terminal may further comprise a cassette reader mechanism for use with cassettes having an identifier which records, for example, the type of media item stored, the number of media items stored in a full cassette, and the number of media items stored in the cassette when it is removed from a terminal (if it is removed when it is partially full). The terminal may have a programmer for writing information to a cassette identifier. The terminal may be in communication with a network of SSTs, thereby enabling the terminal to communicate with another SST to determine the type of media items and the number of media items to be stored in the cassette.
Preferably, the cassette receiver is arranged to hold a cassette in an inclined position to facilitate loading of valuable media items into the cassette.
Preferably, the cassette receiver is operable to detect the presence of a cassette which has been loaded into it and to bring the loaded cassette to an inclined position to facilitate loading of media items into the cassette. The cassette receiver may also automatically remove the lid of the cassette.
Preferably, the loading mechanism has a media conveyor for delivering media items to a cassette, and a conveyor deflector configured so that when a media item is present the media item co-operates with the conveyor deflector to displace at least part of the conveyor from a first (non-deflected) position to a second (deflected) position in which stacking of the media item in the cassette is facilitated by allowing the media item to be stacked to pass between the top of the media items stack and the raised part of the conveyor.
Preferably, the media conveyor has a pivoting linkage arrangement whereby a pivoting portion of the linkage may move in an arcuate path between the top and the bottom of the cassette; whereas, a parallel portion of the linkage maintains an orientation parallel to the orientation in which a media item is to be stacked.
The parallel portion of the linkage is located in the cassette and is aligned so that, in use, the orientation is parallel to and resting on the stack of media items in the cassette.
Preferably, the media conveyor has an arrangement of stretchable, endless conveyor belts, at least one (upper) belt extending from the pivoting portion of the linkage to the parallel portion of the linkage and being in contact with a surface onto which a media item is to be stacked. The surface onto which a media item is to be stacked will initially be a pusher plate in the cassette, but when one item of media is stacked on the pusher plate the surface will be the last media item stacked.
Preferably, the media conveyor is counterbalanced to provide only a small net downward force on the last media item stacked.
Preferably, the media deflector comprises a low-friction plate having at least one slot in a surface inclined with respect to the at least one upper conveyor belt, the plate being located below the at least one upper conveyor belt such that the at least one upper conveyor belt passes through the at least one slot.
The upper conveyor belt rests on the media stack and transports media items beneath it, therefore the loading mechanism automatically rises as a media item is stacked. As the upper conveyor is driven it acts to urge the media items stack against a back wall of the cassette because the belt rests on the media items stack.
Preferably, the terminal further comprises a cassette tray for receiving a cassette to be emptied, and an emptying mechanism for removing media items from a cassette inserted into the cassette tray. The emptying mechanism may be a conventional pick mechanism.
Preferably, the terminal is operable to count the number of media items removed from a cassette to be emptied whereby the contents of the cassette to be emptied can be reconciled.
Also according to the invention a method of replenishing a cassette with valuable media items in an SST is characterized by the steps of: retaining the cassette in a position for receiving media items; receiving media items to be used in replenishing the cassette; validating the received media items; and loading the validated media items into the cassette to replenish the cassette.
The step of validating the received media items includes checking characteristics of the received media items, so that the media items are rejected if they do not fulfill one or more predetermined acceptance criterion.
Further according to the invention a self-service terminal system comprises: a user interface; a media receiver for receiving valuable media items; and a validator for checking the valuable media items received by the media receiver; characterized in that the terminal retains a cassette in a position for being replenished with valuable media items; and replenishes the cassette with validated valuable media items using a loading mechanism which moves between a top and bottom of the cassette.

Self-service terminal having a cassette and method of replenishing the cassette with sheet currency


A disposable diaper that includes an outer sheet having thigh-surrounding peripheral side regions curving inwardly in a transverse direction and an inner pad disposed to the inner side of the outer sheet. The outer sheet is provide in thigh-surrounding peripheral side regions with first elastic members. The inner pad is provided in its side flaps with second elastic members. The first and second members cross one another in front and rear regions of the thigh-surrounding peripheral side regions and free regions of the side flaps are bonded at the cross regions of the first and second elastic members to the thigh-surrounding side regions, so that the first and second members are substantially connected to one another.

This invention relates to a disposable diaper for absorption and containment of bodily discharges.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 1997-75390A discloses a pants-type disposable diaper having a waist-hole and a pair of leg-holes, comprising an outer sheet having front and rear waist regions opposed to each other and a crotch region extending between these waist regions and an inner pad disposed to the inner side of the outer sheet so as to extend over a full length of the crotch region and further into the front and rear waist regions.
The outer sheet has waist-surrounding peripheral side regions extending across the front and rear waist regions, respectively, in a transverse direction, respective transversely opposite side regions of the front and rear waist regions extending in a longitudinal direction and transversely opposite thigh-surrounding peripheral side regions of the crotch region extending over full length of the crotch region in the longitudinal direction. These thigh-surrounding peripheral side regions curve inwardly in the transverse direction of the outer sheet. The front and rear waist regions are overlaid along the respective side regions thereof and joined together in the vicinity of outermost edges of these side regions by means of a plurality of heat-sealing lines arranged intermittently in the longitudinal direction along these side regions thereof. The front and rear waist regions are provided with suspenders extending downward from the respective waist-surrounding peripheral side regions toward the crotch region and a plurality of elastic members extending in the transverse direction, secured thereto in a stretched state.
The inner pad comprises a liquid-pervious topsheet facing a wearer's skin, a liquid-impervious backsheet facing away from a wearer's skin and a liquid-absorbent core interposed between these top- and backsheets. The inner pad has a rectangular shape being relatively long in the longitudinal direction and has a pair of side flaps generally rectilinearly extending along transverse opposite side edges of the core in the longitudinal direction. The side flaps are further provided respectively with stretchable elastic members generally rectilinearly extending in the longitudinal direction and secured thereto in a stretched state. The inner pad has its longitudinally opposite ends adapted to be detachably attached to the respective suspenders provided on the outer sheet.
In the case of the diaper disclosed in the above-cited Publication, both the side flaps of the inner pad and the elastic members secured thereto generally rectilinearly extend in the longitudinal direction of the diaper. With such an arrangement, both the side flaps and the elastic members never extend around wearer s thighs in a circumferential direction thereof when the diaper is worn. It is impossible therefore to put the side flaps of the inner pad closely around wearer's thighs utilizing a contractile force of the elastic members and it is likely that undesirable gaps might be formed between the side flaps and a wearer's skin and excretion discharged on the inner pad might leak out beyond the side flaps.

Diaper with thigh elastics positioned beneath inner pad and overlapping second elastics positioned above backsheet


Configuring a set of guided documents for operation of a business activity based on a workflow for the activity, industry expertise, and a plurality of models of source data that is relevant to the business activity, wherein points of entry to access the guided documents are organized around one or more industry-specific data dimensions.

1. Field
The present invention is related to tablet-based business intelligence methods and systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Business intelligence systems require custom programming and maintenance by professional systems analysts, leaving the executive or employee with little direct control over the means of data discovery. Dynamic linking of data is on-line business intelligence systems tends to be limited to diving vertically within a data domain, thereby preventing a user for readily viewing related data in other data domains without a cumbersome regeneration process. Also tablet-based business intelligence systems are in high demand and no business intelligence solutions exist to effectively utilize a tablet-based device.


An umbrella having a sprinkler device comprises an umbrella body and a sprinkler device. The umbrella body comprises a plurality of upper spokes and lower spokes, an upper spoke holder, a lower spoke holder and a shaft portion. One end of each upper spoke and lower spoke are respectively engaged with the upper and lower spoke holder such that the upper and lower spokes are radially disposed respectively. The other end of each lower spoke supports the corresponding upper spoke. The sprinkler device comprises a multi-link nozzle, a main hose, a plurality of tubes and spouts. One end of the main hose connects with the primary nozzle of the multi-link nozzle. One end of each tube connects with its corresponding secondary nozzle of the multi-link nozzle, and the other end thereof connected with a spout. Water is channeled through the multi-link nozzle to each tube and sprayed by each spout.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an umbrella having a sprinkler device, more particularly, an umbrella used outdoors capable of spraying misty water to achieve cooling effect as well as blocking the sun.
2. Description of the Related Art
An umbrella not only prevents raindrops from falling on human bodies, but it also blocks the sun so as to prevent human skin from being hurt by UV rays. General umbrellas for personal use has already been improved from manual open and close umbrellas to automatic open and close umbrellas, even two-section or three-section umbrella shaft portions are provided for decreasing volumes and increasing convenience for carrying such. Such innovation from manual to automatic can also be seen on large parasol used outdoors such as backyards or beaches, with extra function of adjusting the canopy of such large parasol according to the sunlit angle, so as to achieve the function of total block of the sun. Please refer to TW Patent No. 89200617, 89219612 and 90200881.
Parasols are large umbrellas not able to be carried at will, and can only be fixated at a base and used on beaches or backyards. Since parasols are for blocking the sun only, they are incapable of further providing the cooling function.


A boost DC-DC converter with a synchronous composite rectifier is presented. The boost DC-DC converter limits inductive in-rush current, includes a shutdown mode, operates also in step-down mode, and can be fabricated using conventional bipolar processes. The composite rectifier includes a power NPN transistor and a lateral PNP transistor. During converter start-up and in step-down mode (when the output voltage is less than the input voltage), the lateral PNP transistor drives the power NPN transistor. The lateral PNP transistor is biased such that inductive volt-second balance can be maintained, limiting in-rush current. In boost mode (when the output voltage is higher than the input voltage), the lateral PNP transistor is disabled and the power transistor is driven into saturation. Again, inductive volt-second balance can be maintained.

This invention relates to rectifier for boost DC-DC converters. More particularly, this invention relates to synchronous rectifiers for boost DC-DC converters that can be fabricated in conventional bipolar processes.
A boost DC-DC converter generates a output voltage higher than its input voltage. Convertional boost DC-DC converters (also known as regulators) typically employ an inductive energy storage lement (e.g., an inductor) coupled in series with a "free-wheeling" diode rectifier. The diode rectifier conducts current only in the direction of the load, and is considered free-wheeling because its operation cannot be controlled independent of the voltages at its anode and cathode (i.e., conduction occurs when voltage at the anode exceeds voltage at the cathode by the turn-on voltage, which is typically 0.3 to 0.7 volts).
Boost DC-DC converters typically include a switch that provides a current path to ground from a node formed between the inductive energy storage element and the diode rectifier. Control circuitry regulates the duty cycle of the switch (i.e., the percentage of time the switch is ON during a cycle of operation). The duty cycle controls the amount of energy delivered to the load.
FIG. 1 shows a known conventional boost DC-DC converter, which can be fabricated in a conventional bipolar process. Such a process produces high performance NPN transistors that have high current gain and good current-carrying capabilities. Furt lermore, lateral and substrate PNP transistors can also be fabricated without additional processing steps (although they are generally slower than NPN transistors and have limited current-carrying capabilities). In contrast, other known boost converters (three of which are described belo ) are fabricated in BICMOS or complementary bipolar processes. These processes require additional processing steps, and are thus more complex and typically more costly than conventional bipolar processes.
Converter 100 includes inductor 102, power NPN transistor switch 104, and diode rectifier 10. The duty cycle of switch 104 is controlled by switch control circuitry 108. During switch 104 ON-time (i.e., when switch 104 is conducting), current flows from input voltage source VIN through inductor 102 and switch 104 to ground. The voltage across inductor 102 is positive (V.sub.L .apprxeq.V.sub.IN >0). This positive voltage causes magnetic flux in inductor 102 to increase. Because magnetic flux is proportional to inductor current, inductor current increases when magnetic flux increases.
During switch 104 OFF-time (i.e., when switch 104 is non-conducting), current flows from V.sub.IN through inductor 102 and diode 106 to output 120. At steady-state (i.e., during normal boost operation, also known as step-up mode), output voltage VOUT is higher than V.sub.IN. The voltage across inductor 102 is therefore negative (V.sub.L =V.sub.IN -V.sub.DIODE -V.sub.OUT <0, where V.sub.DIODE is the voltage drop across diode 106). This negative voltage causes magnetic flux in inductor 102 to decrease. Accordingly, inductor current decreases. Preferably, the duty cycle of switch 104 is set such that flux increases during ON-time equal flux decreases during OFF-time. The net DC flux in inductor 102 is therefore zero, permitting inductor 102 to establish volt-second balance (i.e., equilibrium).
A disadvantage of converter 100 occurs during converter start-up when the output voltage rises from zero to its steady-state value. During switch 104 ON-time, inductor voltage is positive and magnetic flux increases as in steady-state. But, during switch 104 OFF-time, inductor voltage remains positive (V.sub.L =V.sub.IN -V.sub.DIODE -V.sub.OUT >0) while V.sub.OUT is less than V.sub.IN by at least V.sub.DIODE. Inductor flux therefore continues to increase. Moreover, because the output bypass capacitance (represented by capacitor 106) is typically high (e.g., 100-200 .mu.F), the rising output voltage transient is slow. Inductor current therefore continues to increase until capacitor 160 is charged to V.sub.IN -V.sub.DIODE. This results in high "in-rush" current from inductor 102.
High in-rush current causes excessive power dissipation in switch 104 and diode 106, and can damage some types of batteries commonly used as V.sub.IN by exceeding their maximum current rating. Furthermore, high in-rush current cannot be prevented by modifying the duty cycle of switch 104, because inductor voltage is positive during both switch 104 ON-time and OFF-time, rendering ineffective any duty cycle modifications.
Another disadvantage of converter 100 is that the output cannot be electrically isolated from the input (i.e., converter 100 does not have a shutdown mode). Current can always flow from input 124 through inductor 102 and diode 106 to output 120. Converter 100 would need an extra switch coupled in series with inductor 102 and diode 106 to effectively disconnect the output from the input. A shutdown mode isolates the load during converter shutdown to prevent unnecessary power dissipation.
FIG. 2 shows a known boost DC-DC converter with a PMOS synchronous rectifier. A synchronous rectifier is a controllable switch that replaces the rectifying diode. The synchronous rectifier turns ON substantially immediately after the switch turns OFF. Converter 200 includes inductor 202, power NMOS transistor switch 204, which is driven by switch control circuitry 208, PMOS transistor synchronous rectifier 206, which is driven by rectifier control circuitry 218, and PMOS shutdown transistor 214, which is driven by shutdown control circuitry 216. Diodes 210 and 212 represent parasitic body diodes of PMOS rectifier 20. Converter 200 may be, for example, the ML4875 of Micro Linear Corporation, of San Jose, Calif.
Unlike converter 100, converter 200 includes a shutdown mode. When converter 200 receives a shutdown signal, shutdown control circuitry 216 causes switch control circuitry 208 and rectifier control circuitry 218 to respectively turn OFF switch 204 and rectifier 206 (inputs to switch control circuitry 208 and rectifier control circuitry 218 are not shown in FIG. 2 for clarity). Shutdown control circuitry 216 also turns OFF transistor 214, which is ON during normal boost operation. With rectifier 206 and transistor 214 both OFF, a current path from inductor 202 to output 220 no longer exists. Output 220 is thus effectively disconnected from input 224. Output voltage V.sub.OUT then decreases as output capacitor 260 discharges through a load (not shown) coupled to output 220.
Because of efficiency concerns, switch 204 and rectifier 206 are preferably not ON simultaneously. During the interval between switch 204 turning OFF and rectifier 206 turning ON, inductor current is carried by free-wheeling diode 210 and transistor 214 (which shorts diode 212). Transistor 214 therefore carries as much current as switch 204 and rectifier 206, and is accordingly as large. Thus, by implementing a shutdown mode with a separate shutdown transistor, additional circuit die space is required to implement converter 200.
In normal boost mode, converter 200 operates similarly to converter 100. During switch 204 ON-time, rectifier 206 is OFF and voltage across inductor 202 is positive. During switch 204 OFF-time, rectifier 206 is ON, delivering inductor current to output 220, and voltage across inductor 202 is negative. Inductor 202 can therefore establish volt-second balance.
However, during converter start-up, converter 200 has the same disadvantage as converter 100--converter 200 cannot prevent the development of high in-rush current. While V.sub.OUT is less than V.sub.IN by at least the voltage drop across diode 210, inductor voltage remains positive during switch 204 OFF-time regardless of the bias on the gate of PMOS rectifier 206, because diode 210 and transistor 214 provide a parallel current path to output 220. Inductor 202 therefore cannot establish volt-second balance, which can result in high in-rush current.
Another disadvantage of converter 200 is that it is typically fabricated in a BICMOS process in which PMOS transistors are fabricated in an N-epitaxial layer and NMOS transistors are fabricated in P-wells tied to the P-substrate. Such BICMOS processes are more complex and typically more costly than conventional bipolar or conventional CMOS processes. In particular, for example, converter 200 requires an N-buried layer under PMOS transistor 214 to limit substrate current through diode 210. Conventional CMOS processes typically do not have buried layers. In the absence of an N-buried layer, conduction by diode 210, which occurs during the interval after switch 204 turns OFF and before PMOS rectifier 206 turns ON, results in current flow into the substrate. If diode 210 current is high, substrate current will be substantial. This can result in the unintentional forward biasing of P-substrate and N-epitaxial layer junctions, which will adversely affect the operation of converter 200. Thus, converter 200 cannot likely be fabricated in a conventional process.
FIG. 3 shows a known boost/step-down DC-DC converter with a power PNP synchronous rectifier. Converter 300 controls in-rush current, includes a shutdown mode, and also operates in step-down mode (i.e., the steady-state output voltage is less than the input voltage). Converter 300 includes inductor 302, NPN transistor switch 304, and PNP transistor synchronous rectifier 306. Switch control circuitry 308 drives switch 304 and rectifier control circuitry 318 drives rectifier 306. Such a converter may be, for example, a MAX877L/878L/879L boost/step-down regulator of Maxim Integrated Products, of Sunnyvale, Calif.
Converter 300 limits the development of high in-rush current. During switch 304 ON-time, voltage across inductor 302 is positive (V.sub.L =V.sub.IN >0). During switch 304 OFF-time, the base of PNP rectifier 306 is driven by rectifier control circuitry 318 such that the voltage at node 322 (V.sub.322 V.sub.EB306 +V.sub.BASE306) is higher than V.sub.IN, regardless of the output voltage. The voltage across inductor 302 is therefore negative while PNP rectifier 306 delivers inductor current to output 320, which is coupled to a load (not shown). Inductor 302 can thus establish volt-second balance, limiting the development of high in-rush current.
In shutdown mode, rectifier control circuitry 318 turns PNP transistor 306 OFF, effectively disconnecting output 320 from input 324. Output voltage V.sub.OUT then decreases as output capacitor 360 discharges through the load.
Converter 300 however is typically fabricated in a complementary bipolar process. Although such processes produce vertical PNP transistors that have performance and current-carrying capabilities comparable to those of NPN transistors, complementary bipolar processes are more complex and typically more costly than conventional bipolar processes. Moreover, converter 300 cannot easily be fabricated in a conventional bipolar process. For example, PNP transistor 306, which carries a substantial amount of inductor current, would have to be fabricated as an excessively large lateral PNP transistor to carry the same amount of inductor current. Such a large PNP transistor would require additional circuit die space, which is typically limited and costly in most converter designs.
FIG. 4 shows a known boost DC-DC converter with an NMOS synchronous rectifier. Converter 400 includes a shutdown mode and an auxiliary boost output, and is typically fabricated in a BICMOS process. Converter 400 includes inductor 402, NMOS transistor synchronous rectifier 406, NMOS transistor switch 404 auxiliary boost output VGD, and variable frequency control circuitry 418. Diodes 410 and 412 represent the parasitic body diodes of rectifier 406. Converter 400 may be, for example, a UCC3941 boost converter of Unitrode Corporation, of Merrimack, N.H.
Converter 400 operates efficiently when the gate drive voltage of NMOS rectifier 406 is higher than V.sub.OUT by about 1-2 volts. The gate drive voltage is supplied by auxiliary boost output V.sub.GD, which typically has a maximum voltage of about 8 volts. The power transfer from input 424 is multiplexed between V.sub.OUT and V.sub.GD. Before V.sub.GD reaches 7.5 volts, rectifier 406 remains OFF and converter 400 supplies V.sub.GD. Once V.sub.GD increases above 7.5 volts, V.sub.OUT has priority in the multiplexing scheme. In shutdown mode, rectifier 406 is turned OFF and body diode 410 blocks current flow from input 424 to output 420, effectively disconnecting input 424 from output 420.
A disadvantage of converter 400 is that the gate threshold voltage of rectifier 406 increases as its source voltage increases. This is known as the body effect. It results from the reverse-bias between the source of rectifier 406 (which is coupled to output 420) and its body at node 411. If node 411 could be tied to output 420, the body effect can be eliminated. Such a connection however is not likely in this BICMOS process. Therefore, because the source of rectifier 406 is coupled to output 420, the gate threshold voltage of rectifier 406 increases when V.sub.OUT increases. Thus, if V.sub.OUT causes the gate threshold voltage to increase to a level where V.sub.GD can no longer supply a gate drive voltage of about 1-2 volts above V.sub.OUT, the efficiency of converter 400 decreases.
Another disadvantage of converter 400 occurs during converter start-up if rectifier 406 is driven into the triode region (also known as the ohmic or nonsaturation region), where V.sub.DS is low. Low V.sub.DS results in positive inductor voltage while V.sub.OUT is less than V.sub.IN, preventing inductor 402 from establishing volt-second balance. This can result in high in-rush current.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to be able to provide a boost DC-DC converter that limits inductive in-rush current.
It would also be desirable to be able to provide a boost DC-DC converter that includes a shutdown mode.
It would further be desirable to be able to provide a boost DC-DC converter that also operates in step-down mode.
It would still further be desirable to be able to provide a boost DC-DC converter that can be fabricated in a conventional bipolar process.

Synchronous rectifier for boost converters


The present invention provides a blade clamp for an electrically powered reciprocating saw. The clamp is arranged to eliminate, or at least reduce, misalignment of a blade during use with the cut direction and the longitudinal axis of a jigsaw. Thus, so-called “crabbing” of the jigsaw can be reduced, thereby increasing the accuracy with which an operator can use the jigsaw. This is achieved by modifying the blade retaining pin such that it comprises a radial protrusion which engages with or locates in a cooperating groove disposed on the clamp body. Arranging the groove and protrusion to have an engagement surface (as opposed to a point of contact) further improves on lateral stability of the pin with respect to a reciprocating shaft of the saw.

Blade clamp devices for reciprocating saws are well known in the art. The clamp is used to fix the saw blade to a reciprocating shaft of the saw. The shaft is driven by an electric motor through a gearbox which converts rotary motion of the motor rotor into linear motion. Typically these types of saws comprise a body housing the motor thereby providing means by which the saw can be hand-held. The body of the jigsaw has a longitudinal axis which is generally in-line with the cut direction of the saw blade disposed in the clamp. The motor is generally powered by mains supplied electricity or rechargeable battery.
There are many types of clamping devices available for use on jigsaws. Typically the clamps fall into two categories, namely tool-operated clamps where a tool is required to fix and release the blade to or from the clamp, and tool-free clamps which can be operated by hand. Tool-free clamp devices are generally considered advantageous for jigsaws because the blade can be removed and replaced with relative ease and without the user having to put the tool down and/or find a clamp-release tool.
EP719610A1 and EP792713A2 (which are hereby incorporated in full by reference) both describe tool-free blade clamping devices. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a saw blade clamp comprises a body 3 and a releasable clamping device. The saw blade clamp is shown mounted to a reciprocating shaft 9 of a jigsaw (not shown). The saw blade 11 used for cutting workpieces is held in the clamp 1 by means of the releasable clamping device.
The body 3 has a substantially T-shaped cross section, as shown in FIG. 2. Three sides of a channel 13 are defined in the top of the T, the fourth side of the channel 13 being closed by the reciprocating shaft 9. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the reciprocating shaft 9 includes a V-shaped longitudinal groove 15 which receives an edge of the saw blade 11 to assist in correctly aligning the saw blade 11 for cutting.
The side of the channel 13 opposite to the V-shaped groove 15 is partially open to allow access to the saw blade 11 within the channel 13. Hence, a roller or pin 17 forming part of the releasable clamping device 5 can contact an edge of the saw blade 11. The pin 17 is carried by two torsion springs 19 which are mounted on either side of the channel 13. Each of the torsion springs 19 includes (i) a hooked end 21 engaging a seat 23 forming part of the body 3, (ii) a first helical portion 25 in torsion and (iii) a second helical portion 27 surrounding an end of the pin 17.
The releasable clamping device 5 also includes a substantially U-shaped cross section release device 30. The release device is pivotably connected adjacent ends of the U to opposite surfaces of the body 3, one of which pivots is shown at 32. Each projection on the U comprises an elongate aperture 34 which slidably receives an end of the pin 17. The release device is provided with a colour which is easily distinguishable from the body of the clamping device, so that the device can be readily identified by a user of the jigsaw.
As can be seen in FIG. 1, the pin 17 is arranged to travel in a track 36 formed in the leg of the T-shaped body 3. Hence, if the release device 30, which forms a lever, is pivoted upwards about the pivot 32, the pin 17 is moved away from the saw blade 11, thereby releasing the saw blade 11. Withdrawal of the saw blade 11 can then be affected. Conversely, when the release device is released, the torsion springs 19 urge the pin 17 downwards towards the channel 13 and into contact with the saw blade 11. Clamping or gripping of the saw blade 11 between the pin 17 and the reciprocating shaft 9 is thereby achieved to prevent removal of the saw blade 11 during use of the jigsaw.
As can be seen in FIG. 2, the pin 17 is provided with a circumferential groove 33 which receives the saw blade 11 to assist in aligning the saw blade 11 for cutting. Further, as a result of being cylindrical, the pin can roll along the edge of the saw blade 11 during clamping or release of the saw blade.
However, this type of blade clamp has problems associated therewith; for instance, the pin can move laterally with respect to the reciprocating shaft during use. This lateral movement causes the blade to be misaligned to the longitudinal axis of the jigsaw body, which in turn causes the jigsaw to "crab".
So-called crabbing occurs when the user has to off-set the alignment of the jigsaw's longitudinal axis with respect to the direction of cut of the blade in order to maintain a straight cut along the intended cut-line. In other words, if the user does not make a compensatory adjustment but maintains the jigsaw's longitudinal axis in alignment with the intended direction of cut, then a misaligned blade (and hence the executed cut in a work piece) wonders from the cut-line. Crabbing is undesirable because the user's perception of the direction in which the jigsaw is cutting can become confused. As a result, the user might have to concentrate on the job in hand, making constant adjustment to the alignment of the jigsaw's body in order to maintain a straight and accurate cut; the cutting action of a crabbing jigsaw can feel unnatural to the user.
FIG. 3 illustrates how misalignment of the blade axis to the blade clamp's body 3, and hence the reciprocating shaft 9, can cause crabbing. FIG. 3 shows only those components of the blade clamp which are relevant for the illustration of crabbing and various components have been omitted for clarity reasons. The pin 17 is held in position by a washer 40, 40′ and circlip 42, 42′. A degree of tolerance is required between the spacing of the circlips and the width of the clamp body in order to maintain fitment of the pin into the clamp track. As a result, the pin does not exactly fit the clamp body and lateral movement of the pin, as indicated by arrow A is possible.
FIG. 3 shows a situation where the pin is clamping a blade 11. The pin has moved to an extreme position within the confines on the circlip and washer arrangement such that the washer 40′on the left hand side is on engagement with the clamp body 3. As a result, the cut direction X of the blade 11 is not longer aligned to the axis Z of the clamp body (and hence the reciprocating shaft) by angle α. Thus, the jigsaw blade will wonder from the cut-line. In order to compensate for this wondering, the operator has to angle the jigsaw body thereby realigning the cut direction with the cut-line.


A method of characterizing the pathological response of tissue to a treatment plan, including: obtaining a set of sequential morphology renderings of the tissue, wherein each rendering corresponds to a particular point in time during the treatment plan; generating a set of representative values of a biomechanical property of the tissue for the set of renderings, wherein each representative value is based on a corresponding rendering; determining a trend of the biomechanical property based on the set of representative values; and predicting response of the tissue to the treatment plan based on the trend of the biomechanical property.

Common treatments for cancer include removal of cancerous tumor tissue from the patient, radiation treatment, chemotherapy, or ablation interventions, but the most effective treatment or combinations of treatments typically varies from patient to patient. For example, not all cancer patients respond to certain treatments like chemotherapy and radiation treatment, and furthermore not all responsive cancer patients have equal success with these treatments. The success of a treatment for a patient is often not known until the end of the treatment or after a follow-up period after the treatment. However, it is advantageous to be able to accurately predict whether a patient will respond well to a treatment, particularly earlier in the treatment plan, to guide implementation of alternative regimens and/or to abort an unsuccessful treatment plan. Accurate and frequent evaluation of a tumor's response to treatment allows a physician to optimize the treatment plan for the patient, and potentially spare an unresponsive patient from unnecessary side effects from the treatment, such as the physical and emotional toll of chemotherapy-induced side effects. Monitoring the state of tumor tissue in a patient could theoretically be performed with repeated use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or positron emission tomography (PET). However, these technologies are costly and may not be accessible in a community for repeated use, making them ill-suited for frequent evaluation of tumor tissue. Other technologies, such as X-rays, utilize ionizing radiation that precludes frequent use. Thus, there is a need in the medical field to create an improved method of characterizing the pathological response of tissue to a treatment plan. This invention provides such an improved method.

Method of characterizing the pathological response of tissue to a treatment plan


Antenna assembly for a portable device. The antenna assembly includes a nonconductive base, a conductive bushing held within a lower end of the base, and a flex antenna wrapped around the base. The flex antenna includes a trace having substantially all of its length disposed around an upper end of the base axially away from the conductive bushing and terminating in a flexible end contact that extends over the bushing. A conductive mechanism engages the conductive bushing and presses the flexible end contact against the bushing. The conductive mechanism includes an exposed elongated contact. A whip antenna extends through the nonconductive base, and includes a nonconductive extension extending from a top end thereof and a lower contact for electrically contacting the bushing when the whip antenna is extended relative to the base.

It is desirable to enable reception of various radio-frequency bands in a single portable device such as, but not limited to, a wireless communication device or a portable computing device. One potential method of doing so is by using different antennas, each connected to circuitry of the device, respectively receiving one or more different frequency bands. For example, a flex antenna (that is, conductive traces in or on a flexible substrate) and elongated (e.g., whip) antenna may separately be integrated into a single device to allow reception of different frequencies.
However, it may be difficult to provide steady, reliable electrical contact between different antennas and the circuitry of a particular device. Further, it may be difficult to mechanically integrate multiple antennas into a device. Additionally, it may be a challenge to provide such integration while adhering to sometimes rigid volume and area considerations for an antenna assembly, as may be required by certain consumer or manufacturing demands, for example. Still further, such an antenna assembly should be suitable for repeatable or mass production with or separately from the device, while substantially maintaining quality of the antenna assembly.

Clipped contact whip and flex antenna assembly for a device


The present invention relates to isolated nucleic acid molecules and their corresponding encoded polypeptides able confer the trait of modulated plant size, vegetative growth, organ number, plant architecture and/or biomass in plants. The present invention further relates to the use of these nucleic acid molecules and polypeptides in making transgenic plants, plant cells, plant materials or seeds of a plant having plant size, vegetative growth, organ number, plant architecture and/or biomass that are altered with respect to wild type plants grown under similar conditions.

Plants specifically improved for agriculture, horticulture, biomass conversion, and other industries (e.g. paper industry, plants as production factories for proteins or other compounds) can be obtained using molecular technologies. As an example, great agronomic value can result from modulating the size of a plant as a whole or of any of its organs or the number of any of its organs.
Similarly, modulation of the size and stature of an entire plant, or a particular portion of a plant, allows production of plants better suited for a particular industry. For example, reductions in the height of specific crops and tree species can be beneficial by allowing easier harvesting. Alternatively, increasing height, thickness or organ number may be beneficial by providing more biomass useful for processing into food, feed, fuels and/or chemicals (http://www.eere.energy.gov/biomass/publications.html). Other examples of commercially desirable traits include increasing the length of the floral stems of cut flowers, increasing or altering leaf size and shape or enhancing the size of seeds and/or fruits. Changes in organ size, organ number and biomass also result in changes in the mass of constituent molecules such as secondary products and convert the plants into factories for these compounds.
Availability and maintenance of a reproducible stream of food and feed to feed people has been a high priority throughout the history of human civilization and lies at the origin of agriculture. Specialists and researchers in the fields of agronomy science, agriculture, crop science, horticulture, and forest science are even today constantly striving to find and produce plants with an increased growth potential to feed an increasing world population and to guarantee a supply of reproducible raw materials. The robust level of research in these fields of science indicates the level of importance leaders in every geographic environment and climate around the world place on providing sustainable sources of food, feed and energy for the population.
Manipulation of crop performance has been accomplished conventionally for centuries through plant breeding. The breeding process is, however, both time-consuming and labor-intensive. Furthermore, appropriate breeding programs must be specially designed for each relevant plant species.
On the other hand, great progress has been made in using molecular genetics approaches to manipulate plants to provide better crops. Through introduction and expression of recombinant nucleic acid molecules in plants, researchers are now poised to provide the community with plant species tailored to grow more efficiently and produce more product despite unique geographic and/or climatic environments. These new approaches have the additional advantage of not being limited to one plant species, but instead being applicable to multiple different plant species (1).
Despite this progress, today there continues to be a great need for generally applicable processes that improve forest or agricultural plant growth to suit particular needs depending on specific environmental conditions. To this end, the present invention is directed to advantageously manipulating plant size, organ number, plant architecture and/or biomass to maximize the benefits of various crops depending on the benefit sought and the particular environment in which the crop must grow, characterized by expression of recombinant DNA molecules in plants. These molecules may be from the plant itself, and simply expressed at a higher or lower level, or the molecules may be from different plant species.

Nucleotide sequences and corresponding polypeptides conferring modulated plant size and biomass in plants


A system and method for enforcing policy in a computing environment with a plurality of hosts that includes establishing a policy update specified through a namespaced addressing syntax; publishing the policy update to a set of components associated with a referenced component namespace; at a host of the set of components, authenticating the policy update; at the host, locally verifying policy compliance of an operation request by the host directed towards at least a second component; applying results of verifying the policy compliance of the operation request within a communication channel flow, which comprises routing the operational request through the communication channel to the second component if the operational request is permitted and preventing the operational request if the operational request is not permitted.

Within enterprise application platforms, various entities must cooperate in the development, validation, deployment, and management of an application. Such entities have various responsibilities, and there must be considerable cooperation in deployment and the full lifecycle management of the application. As an example, various policies may be in place to regulate types and versions of resources that can be used. Additionally, rules, permissions, and additionally inputs may play a role in actions one component can take on a second component. Such interdependencies can drastically slow down and complicate the application development process. For any one change, various teams may have to update an application, a client library, and an app server, which may take a considerable amount of effort, coordination, and time. Furthermore, such interdependency removes flexibility of using tools. Even automating such coordination can fail to enforce compliance throughout the system. Thus, there is a need in the platform as a service field to create a new and useful system and method for transparently injecting policy in a platform as a service infrastructure. This invention provides such a new and useful system and method.

System and method for transparently injecting policy in a platform as a service infrastructure


A torsional vibration damping arrangement, comprises at least one deflection mass pendulum unit with a rotatable carrier, a deflection mass, a deformable restoring element, a supporting element which provides the carrier supporting region, wherein a distance between the carrier supporting region and the deflection mass supporting region can be varied through movement of the supporting element at the carrier, and the supporting element is preloaded in direction of a radially inner base position and is displaceable radially outward against the preloading under centrifugal force action wherein that a radial distance of the supporting element from the base position increases degressively with increasing centrifugal force action at least in one rotational speed range and/or in that a spring stiffness of the restoring element increases progressively at least in one rotational speed range through centrifugal force-induced displacement of the supporting element.

The present invention is directed to a torsional vibration damping arrangement, preferably for the drivetrain of a vehicle, comprising at least one deflection mass pendulum unit with a carrier which is rotatable around an axis of rotation, a deflection mass which can be deflected around the axis of rotation in circumferential direction with respect to the carrier, a deformable restoring element which is supported or supportable in a carrier supporting region with respect to the carrier and in a deflection mass supporting region with respect to the deflection mass, wherein a deflection of the deflection mass in at least one direction from a basic relative position with respect to the carrier causes a deformation of the restoring element, a supporting element which is radially movably supported at the carrier and provides the carrier supporting region, wherein a distance between the carrier supporting region and the deflection mass supporting region can be varied through movement of the supporting element at the carrier, and the supporting element is preloaded in direction of a radially inner base position and is displaceable radially outward proceeding from the base position against the preloading under centrifugal force action during rotation of the carrier around the axis of rotation.
DE 10 2010 053 542 A1 discloses a torsional vibration damping arrangement in which deflection mass pendulum units comprise a deflection mass which is arranged annularly around the carrier and is supported in circumferential direction with respect to the carrier by means of a plurality of elastically deformable restoring elements which are secured thereto and extend radially inward. Provided in the carrier are radially displaceable supporting elements at which the radially inwardly extending restoring elements can be supported in circumferential direction at respective carrier supporting regions. The supporting elements are preloaded radially inward into a base position by preloading springs which are associated with these supporting elements and supported at the deflection mass. When there is little or no centrifugal force load, the supporting elements are held in the base position under preloading action. As the rotational speed increases, the supporting elements shift radially outward as a result of centrifugal force accompanied by increasing compression of the preloading springs so that the carrier supporting regions at which the restoring elements extending radially inward from the deflection mass can be supported are displaced radially outward. This alters the free length of the restoring elements that is available for deflection between the connection thereof to the deflection mass and the respective carrier supporting regions in which they are supported via the supporting elements in circumferential direction with respect to the carrier. Accordingly, this variation of the free length also influences the effective pendulum length, shortening of which results in an increase in the natural frequency of the deflection mass pendulum units. As a result, the stiffness and therefore also the natural frequency of the deflection mass pendulum units is variable in a speed-dependent manner such that as the rotational speed increases the stiffness and therefore also the natural frequency increases. This is an attempt to achieve a rotational speed adaptation of the deflection mass pendulum units to a vibration excitation order.


The present disclosure provides an optimizer for a photovoltaic system, a control method for an optimizer, and an optimizer parallel arrangement thereof. In the method, a DC bus voltage output by the optimizer is acquired; and the optimizer is controlled to switch among an MPPT mode, a limited power mode and a fast shutdown mode based on the DC bus voltage.

The photovoltaic power generation technology has been widely used all around the world. A photovoltaic power generation system includes a photovoltaic panel, a junction box, and an inverter. The photovoltaic panel converts solar energy into direct current (DC) electric power, and the inverter converts the DC electric power into required alternating current (AC) electric power, which is fed into the power grid or directly supplied to the user. Photovoltaic panels connected in series and in parallel output electric power to the inverter which outputs required AC electric power.
Conventionally, photovoltaic panels are connected in series or parallel and Maximum Power Point Tracking are performed to obtain a maximum power point as the input of the inverter. However, when some panels are covered, there will be consequences such as panel overheating, inaccurate tracking points, and etc. Moreover, when a high-voltage and high-power panel is disconnected, a threat to personal safety may occur. In addition, panels of the same specification have different maximum power points, and Maximum Power Point Tracking on the panels in series or in parallel may reduce the efficiency of the system. Also, conventional connection manner of photovoltaic panels has certain requirements for the installation position, and has the disadvantages of inflexible installation and inconvenient maintenance. An optimizer may be employed to flexibly install photovoltaic panels and perform Maximum Power Point Tracking on a single panel to improve conversion efficiency.
However, the optimizers are connected in series to achieve the connection between the high-voltage side of the DC bus and the input terminal of the inverter. In order to obtain sufficient high voltage for the DC bus to ensure the inverter work normally, the number of optimizers has to meet certain requirements. Moreover, communication with the inverter is essential for controlling the optimizer. In addition, conventionally, operational modes of the optimizers in series are switched based on detection of the output voltage of the optimizers. In such a case, if a panel to which an optimizer is connected is covered, the output voltage of the optimizer may be too low, which causes other optimizers to have an excessively high output voltage in order to share the load. Excessive output voltage may trigger over-voltage or under-voltage protection. And, due to the series arrangement, the shut-down optimizer may still have voltages in the internal or external components of the optimizer, which may be dangerous.
Therefore, there is a need to improve the optimizer of the conventional photovoltaic systems.

Optimizer, control method and parallel arrangement for photovoltaic system


A display system includes a rendering engine, a display driver, an image source, and display optics. The rendering engine receives a non-uniform resolution distribution pattern and generates one or more rendered pixels. The display driver receives the one or more rendered pixels and generates one or more display driver pixels. The image source device receives the one or more display driver pixels and generates an image. And the display optics receives the image and provides a display optics image having a space-variant resolution that follows the non-uniform resolution distribution pattern.

Headworn displays can present visual information to the wearer in a mobile format that moves with the user. The information is private, viewable only by the user, and can range from simple, small field-of-view (FOV) textual or graphical information, to complete immersion of the viewer in a virtual environment. Virtual Reality (VR) uses a wide FOV occluded display along with motion sensors and realistic audio to create the virtual world experience. Augmented Reality (AR) or Mixed Reality (MR) overlays the computer-generated video on top of the world view that the user sees with his/her normal vision, either to provide information about what the user is seeing in the world view, or to create virtual or "holographic" objects and place them into the user's world view in such a way that, to the person wearing the AR headworn display, they appear to be part of the real world. The key to creating the illusion, whether a synthetic virtual world or an augmented extended reality, is that the display must have all the properties of the normal visual field. That is, the display must have a large FOV, with a frame rate sufficient to provide smooth motion with no perceptible flicker, and a full color gamut covering the range of colors and range of brightness visible to humans.
20/20 vision corresponds to the ability to resolve visual details down to one arc-minute in angular size. Current digital video standards of 1080P and 720P present full color frames at 60 Hz (in the USA). High quality digital video encodes each full color pixel using 16-24 bits. These standards are used for high quality computer displays and home theater displays. Typically, the FOV for these displays ranges from 15 to 40 degrees. An emerging rule-of-thumb for virtual reality is that the immersive experience requires a field-of-view of approximately 100°. If we want to maintain all of these qualities for an immersive headworn display, the data rate requirements are enormous. For example, a 100° diagonal FOV, 16:9 aspect ratio display with one arcmin pixels using 24 bits per pixel at a frame rate of 60 Hz equates to a data rate of 22.15 Gbps (Giga bits per second). This is on the order of the data rates seen in state-of-the-art rendering farms used by Hollywood. For a headworn display, this data rate would need to be maintained by the video rendering engine, the data transmission link with the display, and the display driver, something that is impractical and impossible with today's technology for consumer level, portable, display electronics.
Another problem emerges when we look at the display technology needed to support a display of this size. Using the same example as above, a 100° diagonal FOV, 16:9 aspect ratio display with one arcmin pixels calculates to about 5250×2950 pixels. Microdisplay panels with 1080P resolution (1920×1080 pixels) have only recently become available. So-called 4K microdisplay panels (4096×2160 pixels) have been demonstrated in laboratories and may emerge commercially in years to come, but they would still fall short of delivering 1 arcmin pixels over a 100° FOV.
For these and other reasons there is a need for the teachings of the present disclosure.

Non-uniform resolution, large field-of-view headworn display


The disclosure includes a system, device, apparatus and programmed medium of measuring thickness of an optical disc by using an interference effect of the optical disc layer. Such a system can include: a spectroscope to separate light, reflected from a surface of an optical disc, into constituent frequencies thereof; an optical intensity measuring unit to measure intensities of the constituent frequencies, respectively, as a first spectrum of data; and a processor to do at least the following, convert the first spectrum data into a second spectrum of values that exhibits variation as a function wavelength and refractive index, transform the second spectrum using a Fast Fourier Transform, and detect a thickness of one or more of the spacer layer and the cover layer, respectively, based upon the transformed spectrum. The disclosed technologies have advantages for high precisely measuring thickness of an optical disc.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to technologies for measuring thickness of an optical disc.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various recording media exist, such as a magnetic recording tape, a Laser Disc (LD) and a Compact Disc (CD) as optical discs, and a Digital Video Disc (hereinafter referred to as DVD) that have the capacity to record vast amounts of information. Since the optical disc, as compared with other recording media, utilizes a different digital recording system, is light weight, and is convenient to keep and carry, many users prefer the optical disc over other recording media.
Moreover, recording media are under development with higher density and higher integration. For example, a Blu-ray Disc (BD) as a High Density DVD (HD-DVD) has a higher integration than current DVDs.
As new optical discs are developed, methods for manufacturing these products are also being developed and improved. Production of a reliable and high quality optical disc presents unique challenges since minute signal characteristics associated with inferior quality may originate from errors in thickness of a disc, scratches, deformities, fingerprints, and attachment of foreign material to the optical disc during manufacturing of the product.
In particular, thickness variations of a disc are a major factor affecting product quality and reliability. Thus, it is necessary to measure the thickness in real time for processing control during manufacturing.
An optical disc may be treated in a manner similar to a thin film. If the thickness of the thin film is under several μm, the measurement of the thickness depends on a quantitative measurement such as a thin film analysis by ellipsometry and measurement of a reflection factor. If the thickness of a relatively thick thin film equal to or greater than several μm is analyzed, the thickness may be measured by a vibration period appearing in a reflective or transparent spectrum due to an interference effect.
The thickness of a thin film may be measured by obtaining a vibration period (or frequency) of the spectrum by the interference and determining the thickness of the thin film from the obtained vibration period. However, as thin films become thick, the time necessary to estimate the thickness of the thin film increases. In order to rapidly measure the thickness of thick thin films, a conventional Fast Fourier Transform (hereinafter referred to as "FFT") is utilized as a rapid measurement of the vibration period of the spectrum.
FIG. 1 is a schematic of a conventional apparatus for measuring the thickness of a thin film.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the apparatus measures the thickness of a thin film by measuring a reflectivity spectrum. Light from a halogen lamp 12 is projected on a substrate 30 with a thin film 32 through an optical fiber 22 and a lens 26, which is assigned in a perpendicular direction with respect to the recording surface of the optical disc. Light reflected from the substrate 20 is transmitted to a spectrograph 42 through the lens 26 and the optical fiber 24. The spectrograph 42 splits the light reflected from a surface of a sample on the substrate 30 according to the intensity of each wavelength. The split light is then directed to an optical measuring element arrangement 44 that supplies the luminance intensity at each wavelength to a computer 46. The computer 46 determines the thickness of the thin film using luminance intensity information at each wavelength as spectrum data.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are views illustrating how a refractive index may be used to determine the thickness of an optical disc measured by a conventional method. FIG. 2A is a graph showing a luminous intensity data spectrum at each wavelength according to the conventional method. FIG. 2B is a graph of a Fast Fourier Transform of the reflectivity spectrum based on the data of FIG. 2A.
As illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B, since Δλ can be selected, where Δλ is m times with respect to a specific wavelength λ and m−1 times with respect to near wavelength λ+Δλ, the thickness d of a specific layer in the spectrum data according to the refractive index may be represented by the following equation 1.At the condition Δλ<<λ,2nd=mλ=(m−1)(λ+Δλ), and if expanded,mλ=(m−1)(λ+Δλ)=mλ+mΔλ−(λ+Δλ)mΔλ=λ+Δλtherefore, becomes m=(λ+Δλ)/Δλ,where, 2nd=mλ=λ(λ+Δλ)/Δλ≈λ2/Δλ=1/Δ(1/λ)  [Equation 1]
Since multiplication of 2nd and Δ(1/λ) is 1 (one), if, in the experiment, a relationship function between the reflectivity intensity and Δ(1/λ) can be obtained, an FFT function with respect the 2nd corresponding to transform factor of Δ(1/λ) by taking the FFT wholly.
Thus, a d value, where a peak appears, is the thickness to be determined.
For reference, the description for the FFT is represented to a generalized equation as follows.
A relationship equation between the intensity I and the wavelength λ becomes I=f(λ)=g(Δ(1/λ)).
If applying the FFT to both sides, then the equation can be expressed as following equation 2.
                                                                        FFT                                                  {                  I                  }                                            =                              FFT                                                  {                                      g                                                              (                                              Δ                                                                          (                                                      1                            λ                                                    )                                                                    )                                                        }                                                                                =                                                ∫                                      g                                                              (                                              Δ                                                                          (                                                      1                            λ                                                    )                                                                    )                                                                                ⅇ                                                                        -                          2                                                                        π                                                                                ⅈ                                                                                (                                                          Δ                                                                                (                                                                  1                                  λ                                                                )                                                                                )                                                                                2                                                nd                                                                                ⅆ                                              (                                                  2                                                    nd                                                )                                                                                =                                                      h                                                              (                                              2                                                nd                                            )                                                        .                                                                                [                  Equation                                                              21
However, since the conventional method does not consider the refractive index dispersion of thin film material, the gap between peaks decreases gradually. More especially, according to the conventional art, there are disadvantages since the refractive index is varied depending upon the wavelength, thickness values obtained according to the refractive index for dividing a Fourier peak position are varied and reduction of size and increment of a width of the peak are caused.
Thus, since the materials of an actual thin film have a wavelength dependant on the refractive index, that is, since there is a refractive index dispersion of the thin film, the energy difference caused by the interference between two lights at a frequency period is not uniform. For this reason, the width of the peak that is obtained using the Fast Fourier Transform from the reflective spectrum is wider according to the degree of the refractive index dispersion. Furthermore, the error in ascertaining the thickness of the thin film because of the imprecise position of the peak increases. Therefore, in order to precisely measure the thickness of the thin film, the refractive index dispersion should be considered.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Technologies for measuring thickness of an optical disc


After a p-seat electrode-forming layer is laminated onto a light-transmissive electrode-forming layer, a first heating step and a second heating step are carried out for alloying the two layers. In the first heating step, heat treatment is performed at a relatively low temperature in an atmosphere containing oxygen. In the second heating step, heat treatment is performed at a relatively high temperature in an atmosphere not containing oxygen.

In a Group III nitride compound semiconductor light-emitting device such as a blue light-emitting diode etc., various proposals have been made to obtain uniform light emission from the whole surface of the device.
For example, a light-transmissive electrode is stuck to a p-type layer so that an electric current can be injected into a wide range of a surface of the p-type layer. On this occasion, the light-transmissive electrode is formed as follows. A second electrode layer (e.g., Au) is laminated on a first electrode layer (e.g., Co) to form a light-transmissive electrode-forming layer. The light-transmissive electrode-forming layer is heat-treated in an oxygen-containing gas at a temperature of 500° C. to 600° C. As a result, the light-transmissive electrode-forming layer and the p-type layer are alloyed so that ohmic contact is ensured between the two layers. Incidentally, the distribution of constituent elements of the first electrode layer changes on this occasion.
According to the present inventors' examination, when heat treatment is performed in an oxygen-containing atmosphere at a high temperature of not lower than 500° C., a surface state of a p-seat electrode changes so that reliability of adhesive force to an electrically conductive wire is lowered.
Like the light-transmissive electrode, the p-seat electrode is formed by lamination of a plurality of electrode layers (e.g., successive lamination of Cr and Au viewed from the lower side). When heat treatment is carried out in an oxygen-containing atmosphere at a high temperature, the case where part of the lower metal layer moves to a surface and is segregated there may occur. In this case, there is the possibility that error may occur in image processing (for recognizing the p-seat electrode) at the time of wire-bonding in addition to lowering of adhesive force to the electrically conductive wire.

Method for manufacturing Group-III nitride compound semiconductor device


A method for providing an interactive user interface on a mobile terminal having a touch screen, including: displaying a content layer and a background layer corresponding to the content layer; detecting a contact event occurring on the screen of the mobile terminal and obtaining an operation command corresponding to the contact event; and executing an operation according to the obtained operation command; wherein the background layer is located below the content layer and is configured to display a scene as a background; and the content layer is configured to arrange at least a component for user interaction, a preset point of an icon corresponding to the component being set to correspond to a preset position of the content layer, and the preset position of the content layer being set to correspond to a preset position of the scene displayed by the background layer.

In the mobile internet era, mobile terminals are extensively used. To provide users with more and more convenient services, interaction interfaces on the mobile terminals become more and more humanized.
For example, a desktop is a main screen area after a mobile terminal is started and is used to provide an interface with a user. The desktop normally includes a wallpaper set by the user, and components for interaction with the user, such as shortcuts, are arranged on the wallpaper. These shortcuts may include those corresponding to system configuration and applications, as well as those defined by the user.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional desktop 100 displayed on a mobile terminal 11. Referring to FIG. 1, in the desktop 100, shortcuts are usually arranged in the form of multiple grids, such as 9 grids, 12 grids, and 16 grids. Positions and sizes of the grids are usually fixed, and the shortcuts can only be arranged inside the grids. This generally requires that interface designers only design shortcut icons with fixed sizes and only arrange them at positions aligned with the grids. The arrangement of such shortcuts by the user is also limited within the grids. This provides low design authority to interface designers. The conventional desktop 100 is inflexible and simplex, and short of user experience.

Method and apparatus for providing an interactive user interface