A system for optical coherence tomography includes a source of optical radiation, an optical fiber, and a graded index fiber attached to a distal end of the optical fiber. The optical fiber and the graded index fiber are together configured to provide a common path for optical radiation reflected from a reference interface at a distal end of the graded index fiber and from a target.

In intravascular surgery, as well as other medical applications, there is frequently a need to extend very thin (few millimeter diameter), long (30-150+ cm), and sterile catheters into thin-walled (e.g., 1-1.5 millimeter wall thickness) biological lumens, including blood vessels such as arteries and veins.
A number of vascular diseases, such as coronary artery disease and peripheral vascular disease, are caused by the build-up of atherosclerotic deposits (plaque) in the arteries, which limit blood flow to the tissues that are supplied by that particular artery. Disorders caused by occluded body vessels, including coronary artery disease (CAD) and peripheral artery disease (PAD) may be debilitating and life-threatening. Chronic Total Occlusion (CTO) can result in limb gangrene, requiring amputation, and may lead to other complications and eventually death. Increasingly, treatment of such blockages may include interventional procedures in which a guidewire is inserted through a catheter into the diseased artery and threaded to the blocked region. There the blockage may be either expanded into a more open position, for example, by pressure from an inflated catheter balloon (e.g., balloon angioplasty), and/or the blocked region may be held open by a stent. Treatment of such blockages can also include using a catheter to surgically remove the plaque from the inside of the artery (e.g., an atherectomy).
There is medical interest in equipping catheters with sensors that can help direct the catheter for atherectomy, occlusion-crossing, and/or other surgical procedures. For example, it would be useful to have sensors that can give the surgeon immediate visual feedback as to whether a particular tissue is diseased and/or how far away the cutting portion of a catheter is from the boundary of a particular blood vessel layer to minimize the risk of accidental damage. Conventional radiological imaging methods and ultrasound imaging systems have been attempted for such surgical procedures. However, neither ultrasound nor radiological imaging methods have enough resolution to help guide the operation of the catheter through small dimensions. Moreover, standard radiological techniques cannot easily discriminate between healthy tissue and diseased tissue unless the tissue has become heavily calcified. Further, the components of an ultrasound system are generally too large to implement on a small scale, such as with a system configured to be used within blood vessels.
Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) has been proposed as one technique that may be particularly helpful for imaging regions of tissue, including within a body lumen such as a blood vessel. At a basic level, OCT relies on the fact that light traveling from a source and scattering from more distant objects takes longer to travel back than light scattering from nearby objects. Due to the wave nature of light, very small timing differences caused by light signals traveling different distances on the micron scale can cause constructive or destructive interference with reference light signals. OCT systems measure the resulting interference to obtain an image of the target. A typical OCT system requires one or more interferometers to distinguish the signal from the applied light. In addition, most known OCT systems, when applied to catheters, include a fiber that is rotated (often at high rates) within the catheter in order to scan the lumen and a second, large reference arm.
Referring to FIG. 1, a typical OCT device includes a target arm and a reference arm to generate a reference signal. In order to provide the interference reference signal, the OCT device will split an illuminating light signal from the source in two equal or unequal parts, send part of the illuminating light to the target of interest through one target optical "target arm" and send the other part of the illuminating light down a separate reference arm. Light from the separate reference arm reflects off of a mirror, and then returns and interferes with the scattered light that is returning from the target optical arm after bouncing off of the target. In a traditional OCT device, the reference arm length is engineered to be exactly the same length as the target arm so that the interference effect is maximized. The resulting interference between the two beams creates interference that can be measured to extract depth information related to the target. Using this depth information, an image of the object can be generated. Referring still to FIG. 1, a typical OCT device can further include a focusing lens in the target arm, such as a graded index (GRIN) lens, configured to focus the light coming out of the optical fiber into the tissue.
These traditional OCT systems, however, are large and cumbersome due to the required reference arm and are therefore generally ineffective for use in a medical catheter, particularly for use with a low cost and disposable catheter. Using a common path OCT system, i.e., a system without a separate reference arm, is one way to eliminate the cost and size of such an imaging catheter. There are several challenges, however, associated with developing a catheter having common path OCT. For example, a common path OCT system requires that the reference reflection be formed within the same optical conduit as the target reflection. This reference reflection must be finely tuned to avoid noise in the system, requiring that the path from the light source to the reflection interface be free of unnecessary components, such as focusing elements, that could interfere with the reference reflection. Further, the common path system must have components that are small enough to fit inside of a single small catheter, making it difficult to include additional components. Finally, for common path OCT, it is desirable to have the reference reflection as close to the tissue as possible to maintain the imaging range within the coherence length of the source and avoid data processing burden, as data processed for the distance between the reference and the start of the imaging is not useful. Accordingly, a common path OCT system that solves some of these problems is desired.

Optical coherence tomography with graded index fiber for biological imaging


The specification describes intergate dielectrics between the floating silicon gate and the control silicon gate in MOS memory devices. The intergate dielectrics are composite structures of SiO.sub.2 --Ta.sub.2 O.sub.5 --SiO.sub.2 with the first SiO.sub.2 layer grown on the floating gate,, and all layers preferably produced in situ in an LPCVD reactor. After formation of the composite SiO.sub.2 --Ta.sub.2 O.sub.5 --SiO.sub.2 dielectric, it is annealed at low pressure to densify the SiO.sub.2 layers. Electrical measurements show that the charge trap density in the intergate dielectric is substantially lower than in layered dielectrics produced by prior techniques.

As the size and speed of silicon devices shrink current leakage and other reliability problems increase. In flash memories, fast program/erase times and operating voltage reductions are the primary issues facing the continued development of improved devices. With a given budget for operating voltages the main option for the device designer is a trade-off between low power and high speed. The operating voltage scales with device dimensions which are relatively fixed for the current generation of technology. Thus the most promising option left for device improvement is to increase the coupling ratio by increasing the floating gate capacitance.
The main options for increasing the floating gate capacitance are to reduce the intergate dielectric thickness or to alter the dielectric properties of the intergate dielectric material. Device and process designers to date have recognized that as the intergate dielectric thickness shrinks, the potential for leakage and other electrical defects increases. Thus the quality of the dielectric material used is important. The highest quality material so far developed in silicon technology for low defects and for low surface state density is SiO.sub.2. An important advantage of SiO.sub.2 is that it can be grown from the underlying poly gate. It is well known that grown oxides tend to have fewer defects, e.g. pinholes, than deposited materials. Thus SiO.sub.2 has persisted as the dielectric material of choice in most silicon device structures.
In spite of the popularity of SiO.sub.2 as a dielectric material, some efforts to increase floating gate capacitance have focused on newly developed dielectric materials. The use of Ta.sub.2 O.sub.5 as a dielectric has been proposed for MOSFETs (see Youichi Momiyama et al, "Ultra-Thin Ta.sub.2 O.sub.5 /SiO.sub.2 Gate Insulator with TiN Gate Technology for 0.1 .mu.m MOSFETs", 1997 Symposium on VLSI Technology Digest of Technical Papers, pp. 135,136. This material has also been proposed for stacked and trench capacitors in DRAM structures (see Tomonori Aoyama et al, "Leakage Current Mechansim of Amorphous and Polycrystalline Ta.sub.2 O.sub.5 Films Grown by Chemical Vapor Deposition", J. Electrochem. Soc., Vol. 143, No. 3, pp. 977-983, March 1996.
Efforts to develop new dielectric materials for flash memories have also been reported. See e.g. W-H Lee et al, "A Novel High K Inter-Poly Dielectric (IPD), Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 for Low Voltage/High Speed Flash Memories: Erasing in msecs at 3.3V", 1997 Symposium on VLSI Technology Digest of Technical Papers, pp. 117,118. The essence of this proposal is to substitute Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 for SiO.sub.2 as the dielectric between the control gate of the flash memory and the floating gate. Alumina has a dielectric constant approximately twice that of the widely used SiO.sub.2 dielectric, thus giving substantial improvement in the capacitance between the polysilicon control gate and the polysilicon floating gate.
While many of these new proposals show promise, a growing issue in these devices is the quality of the dielectric interfaces in multi-layer structures. As the dimensions of storage devices shrinks, and the operating power levels are reduced, the amount of electrical charge that represents a one or zero in a binary bit stream declines as well. With a relatively small number of charges distinguishing between data bit states, a significant loss of charge through recombination at interface defects can reduce the signal to noise ratio of the device to unacceptable margins. Thus while modification of the dielectric composition of interlevel gate dielectrics theoretically achieves new benefits, in practice the processing used to form these new structures is important in realizing the theoretical advantages.

Floating gate avalanche injection MOS transistors with high K dielectric control gates


An electronic apparatus, display control method thereof, graphical user interface, and display control program are provided. The electronic apparatus includes a total-number obtaining unit to obtain information about a total number of items to be provided from a source; a first display unit to display undetermined representation images on a screen if it is determined that some of the representation images displayed on the screen have been changed, the undetermined representation images being generated based on the total number obtained by the total-number obtaining unit so that the respective undetermined representation images correspond to the total number of the items to be provided; a determining unit to determine whether change of the representation images displayed on the screen has stopped; and a second display unit to display the representation images by obtaining, from the source, information to display the representation images to be newly displayed on the screen if the determining unit determines that change of the representation images displayed on the screen has stopped.

The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus, a display control method for the electronic apparatus, a graphical user interface, and a display control program to display many items to be provided, such as content and functions, on a screen so that a user can select one of the items.
Media used to provide image or music content have diversified, and types and amount of provided content have been increasing. Furthermore, mass-storage hard disk devices and semiconductor memories have been used as storage media (content storing units) to store the content, so that various types of and a large amount of content can be provided.
Conventionally, a so-called multimedia playback apparatus capable of playing back content stored in various media has been proposed (e.g., see Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-73428).
Also, the following system has been available. That is, in the system, an electronic apparatus functioning as a content playback apparatus is connected to a personal computer or a server to store video content or music content through a network, such as a LAN (local area network). The electronic apparatus can obtain the content from the personal computer or the server and play back the content.
The above-described electronic apparatus having a content playback function should desirably have a graphical user interface enabling a user to quickly search for content to be played back.
In such a type of graphical user interface, a menu listing representation images to represent respective pieces of content by titles or thumbnails is displayed on a screen as items to be selected by a user, so that the user can select a desired piece of content through the display.
In this case, the representation images are displayed by obtaining accompanying information (meta-information), such as content titles or thumbnails, from a storage medium serving as a content providing source. Thus, if much time takes to obtain the meta-information, it is difficult to quickly provide a user with representation images to select content.
In particular, when representation images of content are displayed by obtaining the meta-information from a storage medium, such as a personal computer or a server, connected to the electronic apparatus through a network, it is difficult in the electronic apparatus to quickly display all of the representation images of the content if network delay occurs.
In a conventionally-adopted method, representation images of content found through a network are sequentially displayed in the electronic apparatus immediately after each of the images are found so that a user can recognize the content stored in an apparatus connected through the network without stress.
In this method, however, if the user wants to select the last piece of the content stored in the apparatus connected through the network, the user can select the last piece of the content only after meta-information about all pieces of the content has been obtained and the representation images thereof have been displayed.
For example, assume that it takes t seconds to obtain meta-information of one piece of content. In that case, it takes n×t seconds to obtain meta-information of n pieces of the content. The user has to wait for this time period before selecting a piece of the content.

Electronic apparatus, display control method for the electronic apparatus, graphical user interface, and display control program


A multi-sided frame assembly for screening has a fastening strip with male and female pads. The male pad has a first face from which spaced stems project in an ordered arrangement. The female pad has a second face formed with at least one receptacle extending into a thickness of the female pad. Each stem is located and sized for insertion into the receptacle. A woven, knit or knotted material of open texture having holes, preferable evenly spaced, such as those of a screen, is secured between the pads of the multi-sided frame by passing the stems through the mesh and into the receptacle. A cover can be removably engaged and selectively fastened to the assembled fastening strip. The cover envelops the pads, including fasteners, if any, used to fasten the male and female pads together or used to attach the multi-sided frame assembly to a supporting structure to hold the assembled frame in place.

Screening increases the enjoyment of the out-of-doors during warm weather. The screening blocks the entry of insects, provides shading and admits air to an otherwise enclosed area, such as a porch, or through a screened door or window. Typically, porches, doors, windows or other openings are screened by using a metal, plastic or wood frame to which the screening material is secured using a cylindrical, resilient spline often received within a sufficiently narrow groove, as shown for example in U.S. Pat. No. 2,897,889.
Periodically, the screening may need to be made taut or replaced because of damage or degradation. Also the screening can become dirty so as to require cleaning which can not be done effectively with the screen in place using the resilient spline, and it is often labor intensive to clean the screen by removing it completely. Also, with current screening units, it is often difficult or impractical to effectively remove the screen for cleaning and then reassemble to put back in place.
In some areas of the country, such as along the sea coast, where screening is especially susceptible to damage, and where relatively frequent replacement of screening is necessary, elaborate framing with removable screened elements is available. This framing is usually made of aluminum and is relatively expensive to install and often lacks flexibility.
A number of other devices exist to attach screening. Some are difficult to install, are obtrusive or lack a finished appearance. Further, if the screen needs to be covered with another material such as clear plastic, nylon or other fabric to provide additional shading or privacy, or to protect against inclement weather or very small insects, a separate fastening method, such as double-sided adhesive, nails and/or tacks are needed to secure the covering material in place over the standard metal, plastic or wood framing structure. Also, it is difficult and often in possible to use the existing spline and groove type assembly to hold thicker screening, plastic and/or fabric in place.
For these and other reasons, there is need for a more universal frame assembly having a fastening strip and cover that incorporates a screen, and like sheet material, between interlocking components, for easily fastening and unfastening. A preferred fastener and method of its use of this invention eliminates these problems. Instead, it involves securing the screen and/or fabric in a frame with a fastening strip comprising two engaging attachment pads for easy and quick assembly. The preferred fastener would also have the ability to secure multiple layers of screens or other mesh materials of various thicknesses, or otherwise penetrable sheet material, such as plastic films, with one fastening device. Also, other thicker, impenetrable plastics may be engaged between the fastening strip and an interlocking cover when desired.


A plurality of pump light sources generate plural variations of pump light having different frequencies. A modulation circuit intensity-modulates the plural variations of pump light in the predetermined periods, respectively. A pump light pair whose frequency difference equals a Raman shift frequency are modulated such that they cannot simultaneously enters an emission state. A wavelength-multiplexer wavelength-multiplexes the plural variations of pump light modulated by the modulation circuit. A optical guide device guides the plural variations of pump light wavelength-multiplexed by the wavelength-multiplexer to an optical fiber.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a Raman amplifier having a large gain bandwidth, and more specifically to a Raman amplifier having a gain bandwidth larger than a bandwidth corresponding to a Raman shift frequency.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a large optical communications system, a repeater including an optical amplifier for amplifying an optical signal is normally provided in a transmission line. In a large-capacity optical communications system, a WDM (wavelength division multiplexing) transmission is often used, and a Raman amplifier receives much attention as an optical amplifier for amplifying WDM light.
FIG. 1 shows a basic configuration of an example of a Raman amplifier (for example, SubOptic '2001 PD5, H. Nakamoto et al. "1.05 Tbit/s WDM Transmission over 8186 Km Using Distributed Raman Amplifier Repeaters"). In Raman amplification, a transmission medium (optical fiber) for transmission of a signal is used as an amplification medium. The Raman amplifier includes a pump light source 1 for generating pump light, and a WDM coupler 2 for guiding the pump light to optical fibers 3 and 4 for use as amplification media. The pump light source 1 is, for example, a laser light source. Also in the Raman amplification, normally, the smaller the core diameter of an optical fiber used as an amplification medium, the larger the Raman gain. Therefore, in the Raman amplifier shown in FIG. 1, a optical fiber (−D) 3 having a small core diameter and negative dispersion is provided.
In the Raman amplifier with the above-mentioned configuration, the signal (WDM light) transmitted through the optical fiber (+D) 4 passes through the optical fiber (−D) 3. At this time, pump light is supplied to the optical fiber (−D) 3. That is, the optical fiber (−D) 3 functions as an amplification medium. Therefore, the signal light is amplified in the optical fiber (−D) 3. The Raman amplifier is less noisy and obtains larger gain band than the most popular optical amplifier in the current market, that is, an erbium doped fiber amplifier (EDFA).
FIG. 2 shows the gain characteristic of the Raman amplification. This example shows the gain characteristic obtained when the pump light having a wavelength of 1 μm is supplied to a quartz optical fiber.
In the Raman amplification, when pump light is supplied to an optical fiber, the optical fiber functions as an amplification medium which amplifies the light of the frequency shifted from the frequency of the pump light by a predetermined frequency.
"Practically, as shown in FIG. 2, the Raman gain in the optical fiber grows substantially linearly with an increasing amount of frequency shift from the pump light frequency, and indicates the peak at the frequency about 13.2 THz lower than the pump light frequency (in the case of quartz fiber)."When the amount of frequency shift from the pump light frequency exceeds 13.2 THz, the Raman gain suddenly decreases. Hereinafter, the difference between the frequency of the given pump light and the frequency indicating the peak of the Raman gain obtained from the pump light is referred to as a Raman shift frequency. That is, the Raman shift frequency is approximately 13.2 THz.
FIG. 3 shows the amplifying operation of the Raman amplifier. In FIG. 3, it is assumed that the backward-pumping system in which pump light is propagated in the opposite direction of the propagation of signal light.
In FIG. 3, the transmission station or the repeater at the preceding stage outputs signal light of predetermined optical power (−8.2 dBm/ch in this example). In this case, the optical power of the signal light gradually attenuates as the propagation distance becomes longer. If there is no Raman gain, the optical power of the signal light which has reached a repeater 5 attenuates down to −18.5 dBm/ch. Therefore, if there is no Raman amplifier, it is necessary to obtain the gain of about 10 dB using an erbium doped fiber amplifier, etc. to set the output power of the repeater 5 at −8.2 dBm/ch. When only an erbium doped fiber amplifier is used, the optical signal power level in the transmission line drops to −18.5 dBm/ch. On the other hand, when the Raman amplifier is used in addition to the erbium doped fiber amplifier, it drops only to −13.7 dBm/ch. Thus, the noise characteristic can be improved by using the Raman amplifier.
FIG. 4 shows an example of the arrangement of wavelengths using the Raman amplifier. In this example, the Raman amplification is performed using plural variations of pump light having different frequencies. That is, the Raman amplifier uses plural variations of pump light having different wavelengths λ1˜λ4. In the Raman amplification, as described above by referring to FIG. 2, the peak of gain appears in the frequency area of about 13.2 THz shifted from the pump light frequency. In the 1,550 nm band, 13.2 THz can be converted into wavelength, which corresponds to approximately 100 nm. Therefore, in the Raman amplifier, the peak gain appears in the frequency area about 100 nm shifted from each pump light wavelength. When the gains by the plural variations of pump light λ1˜λ4 are compounded, a large gain band (about 100 nm in this example) can be obtained.
However, in the Raman amplification, as described above by referring to FIG. 2, a certain gain can be obtained in an area smaller than 13.2 THz in frequency shift from the pump light frequency. That is, in the Raman amplification, a gain can be obtained in an area smaller than 100 nm in wavelength shift from the pump light wavelength. Therefore, there can be a phenomenon in which pump light having a short wavelength amplifies pump light having a long wavelength. Hereinafter, the phenomenon can be referred to as pump-to-pump.
When a pump-to-pump phenomenon occurs, the optical power of pump light having a long wavelength (pump light to be pumped) becomes large, but the optical power of pump light having a short wavelength (pump light for pumping) decreases correspondingly. As a result, the noise characteristic improving effect by the Raman amplification of the signal light having a short wavelength (mainly the signal light amplified by the pump light having a short wavelength) is reduced as described below.
FIGS. 5A and 5B are explanatory views of the influence by a pump-to-pump phenomenon. FIG. 5A shows the state of the signal light power in which no pump-to-pump phenomenon occurs. The Raman amplifying operation in this case is described above by referring to FIG. 3. FIG. 5B shows the state of the signal light power in which a pump-to-pump phenomenon has occurred. If a pump-to-pump phenomenon has occurred, a part of the energy of the pump light having a short wavelength is used to amplify the pump light having a long wavelength. Thus, in the Raman amplifier in which a pump-to-pump phenomenon has occurred, it is necessary to increase the optical power of the pump light so that the signal light can be amplified as in the case in which no pump-to-pump phenomenon has occurred. Therefore, the noise from the ASE (amplified spontaneous emission) increases, thereby reducing the noise characteristic. When a pump-to-pump phenomenon occurs, the optical power level is quickly enhanced around the fiber length of 50 km. Therefore, the lower limit of the optical power level in the fiber drops, thereby reducing the above-mentioned noise characteristic improving effect.
If the optical power of each pump light is changed by the pump-to-pump phenomenon, the gain in the wavelength area for transmission of signal light does not become flat, and there is the problem that it is difficult to maintain uniform optical power of each signal light. Furthermore, since a part of the energy of the pump light having a short wavelength is absorbed by the pump light having a long wavelength, it is also necessary to keep sufficient optical power of the pump light having a short wavelength. Therefore, since it is necessary to wavelength-multiplex plural variations of pump light, the resultant configuration becomes exceedingly complicated.
In this situation, there is a method of suppressing a pump-to-pump phenomenon by appropriately modulating each pump light to solve the above-mentioned problem (for example, the Non-patent application document 1).
FIG. 6 shows a well-known pump light modulation method described in the non-patent application document 1. In FIG. 6, the horizontal axis indicates time while the vertical axis indicates an optical power level. In the Raman amplifier, pump light having a short wavelength (pump light 1 (1,423 nm) and pump light 2 (1,444 nm)), and pump light having a long wavelength (pump light 3 (1,464 nm) and pump light 4 (1,495 nm)) are used. Each pump light is modulated by the duty of 50 percents.
The pump light having a short wavelength and the pump light having a long wavelength are modulated to have opposite phases. That is, when the pump light having a short wavelength is in the emission state, the pump light having a long wavelength is in the extinct state. When the pump light having a short wavelength is in the extinct state, the pump light having a long wavelength is in the emission state. Therefore, if the wavelength dispersion in an optical transmission line is ignored, no pump-to-pump phenomenon occurs between the pump light having a short wavelength and the pump light having a long wavelength. On the other hand, the phases of the pump light belonging to the same group are the same. That is, the phases of the pump light 1 and 2 are the same, and the phases of the pump light 3 and 4 are the same. Therefore, there can be a pump-to-pump phenomenon occurring in the pump light belonging to the same group. However, the wavelength difference between the pump light belonging to the same group is approximately 20˜30 nm, and the transfer of energy in the pump light is small. Therefore, when the pump light modulation as shown in FIG. 6 is performed, a pump-to-pump phenomenon can be suppressed on the whole.
Non-patent Application Document:
OFC 2002, WB4 C. R. S. Fludger et al., "Novel Ultra-broadband High Performance Distributed Raman Amplifier Employing Pump Modulation" (FIG. 1)
Recently, a larger-capacity WDM signal is demanded, and an optical transmission system having a wavelength area larger than 100 nm for arrangement of signal light has been developed. In this system, as shown in FIG. 7, it is necessary to appropriately arrange plural variations of pump light over a wavelength area larger than the wavelength area corresponding to the Raman shift frequency.
However, the non-patent application document 1 is described based on the presumption that the wavelength area for arrangement of signal light is smaller than the wavelength area corresponding to the Raman shift frequency. Therefore, if the method of the non-patent application document 1 is applied to the Raman amplifier having a wavelength area for arrangement of signal light larger than the wavelength area corresponding to the Raman shift frequency, then the pump-to-pump phenomenon cannot be appropriately suppressed, and it is considered that a desired noise characteristic cannot be obtained. That is, when a wavelength area for arrangement of signal light is larger than the wavelength area corresponding to the Raman shift frequency, the well-known technology cannot sufficiently suppress the noise from the pump-to-pump phenomenon.

Raman amplifier utilizing pump modulation for expanding gain band width


In one embodiment, an image sensor module having an auto-aligned lens includes: a substrate on which an image sensor chip is mounted; a housing which has an opening to expose an upper surface of the image sensor chip, and which is attached onto the substrate; a lens holder which extends the opening vertically and upwardly; and a lens unit incorporating spacers which is fixed to an inner sidewall of the lens holder and is aligned automatically. Friction-caused particles are not produced, and focal alignment is readily automated.

This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 2004-28628 filed on Apr. 26, 2004 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image sensor module and a method of fabricating the same, and more particularly, to an image sensor module in which a focal length of a lens can be automatically aligned, and a method of fabricating the same, and a method of automatically controlling a focus of the lens.
2. Description of the Related Art
Due to the recent popularity of various mobile electronic products such as cellular phones, Portable Digital Assistants (PDA), and digital cameras, digital photography has become very important. Specifically, a palm-sized apparatus having a digital camera such as PDA and cellular phone employs a key technique for photographing and transmitting an image. Accordingly, an image sensor module for processing an external image into a digital signal is of importance.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a conventional image sensor module.
Referring to FIG. 1, an image sensor chip 12 is mounted on and electrically connected with the substrate 10 by a bonding wire 14. A digital signal processor (DSP) chip 16 can be mounted onto the other surface of the substrate 10 opposite to the image sensor chip 12. The DSP chip 16 is attached to the substrate 10 and electrically thereto to the substrate 10 through the bonding wire 14. After that, the DSP chip 16 is encapsulated by a mold 18. A housing 20 is attached onto the substrate 10 and has an opening 22 for exposing an upper surface of the image sensor chip 12. A lens holder 24 is provided on the housing 20. The lens holder 24 extends the opening 22 vertically and upwardly and has a lens assembly unit 26 affixed to an inner sidewall thereof. The lens assembly unit 26 has a plurality of lenses and is threaded into the lens holder 24.
The lens assembly unit 26 includes a toothed connection unit on an outer side surface thereof for threaded engagement with the toothed connection unit corresponding to an inner sidewall of the lens holder 24. The lens assembly unit 26 is affixed to manually control a vertical distance (d) between an upper surface of the image sensor chip 12 and the lowermost end of a lens 28. That is, the vertical distance (d) is controlled to be consistent with the focal length provided by the plurality of lenses 28. An infrared screen filter 30 can be provided between the lens 28 and the image sensor chip 12 to screen against infrared radiation.
However, a conventional method of fabricating the image sensor module including the lens assembly unit 26 has several drawbacks. First, because the vertical distance (d) is controlled in a screw manner, impurity particles are generated due to the friction between the screw threads of the lens assembly unit 26 and those of the lens holder 24 formed of a polymer material, for example, polycarbonate and polyphenylsulfide. Further, due to the manual alignment control of the lens 28, a separate process is required for manually controlling the focal length. Furthermore, since a diameter or a width (W1) of the lens holder 24 is determined including the lens assembly unit 26, it is disadvantageous when the image sensor module is to be miniaturized.
To solve the above drawbacks, U.S. Pat. No. 6,483,652 discloses an image sensor module in which a predetermined jaw is provided at an inner sidewall of the lens holder 24 without a lens assembly unit 26 to affix a lens. However, since the U.S. patent has the limitation to single-lens optics, it has a difficulty in the application of optics employing a plurality of lenses. In detail, to affix the plurality of lenses, a plurality of jaws are provided at an inner sidewall of the lens holder. However, the plurality of jaws have each a different radius to affix the plurality of lenses to the lens holder 24. Accordingly, the lenses also need to have different radiuses. Therefore, it has been very difficult to control the focal lengths of the lenses. Further, because the lens needs to be inserted into the lens holder one-by-one, the process of inserting the lens is complicated, thereby increasing the manufacturing costs. Also, it has been difficult to employ injection molding since the lens holder should be made very precisely.

Image sensor module having auto-aligned lens, and method of fabricating the same, and method of automatically controlling focus of lens


A switching circuit for a current source inverter includes a first inverter leg, a second inverter leg, and a controller. The first inverter leg includes a first reverse-voltage-blocking (RB) switch, a second RB switch, and a third RB switch that are connected in series between a first bus line and a second bus line. The second inverter leg includes a fourth RB switch, a fifth RB switch, and a sixth RB switch are connected in series between the first bus line and the second bus line. The controller is configured to control a switch between an on-state and an off-state for each RB switch. When in the on-state, a reverse voltage is blocked by a respective RB switch, and a current with a positive polarity is conducted through the respective RB switch. When in the off-state, a voltage and the current are blocked by the respective RB switch.

Current-source inverters (CSIs) using reverse-voltage-blocking (RB) switches were dominant in the early days of power electronics and are still used in some megawatt (MW)-level motor drive applications. Due to the latching characteristics of thyristors and low switching frequency capability of thyristor-based devices like gate turn-off thyristors, such CSI systems are usually very bulky. CSIs based on non-latching reverse-voltage-blocking (RB) devices can increase the CSI's switching frequency, but the high conduction loss of available silicon (Si)-based RB switches and their limited availability have prevented CSIs using RB switches from competing with voltage-source inverters (VSIs). The non-latching silicon switches developed since the 1980s including metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) and insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) can switch at frequencies in the tens of kilohertz (kHz) and are naturally suitable for voltage-source inverter (VSI) topologies. However, the lack of RB capability in such devices usually requires them to be in series connection with a diode to achieve RB capability, which increases the CSI's conduction loss significantly compared to the VSI which can use the switch without the series diode.
Despite the VSIs' present dominance in commercial products, VSIs in motor drive applications result in a number of undesirable features including low reliability due to use of electrolytic direct current (DC)-link capacitors, detrimental common-mode electromagnetic interference (CM EMI), significant cable overvoltage, increased motor loss, etc. The sinusoidal output voltage and current waveforms and the use of DC-link inductors by CSIs can naturally overcome many of these VSI disadvantages at the same time.
The conventional H6-CSI topology, despite its lower CM EMI as compared to VSI, still requires external filters to suppress the EMI in order to comply with EMI standards.


The present subject matter relates to a method, system and device for connecting conduit to an enclosure. The method, system and device comprise a conduit adapter having a two-piece housing and an insert plate. The insert plate is interchangeable with other insert plates having various sized through holes. A conduit is attached to an insert plate via a suitable connector. The insert plate is selected to have an appropriately sized through hole for the conduit being attached. The selected insert plate having the conduit attached then is enclosed between the two halves of the housing of the conduit adapter. The conduit adapter is then secured in the entry port of the enclosure.

To provide service such as communications, alarm, or utility services to a residence, business, or in general any building or structure, network service providers, such as a telephone operating company or long distance carrier, run various cables to and from a network interface device (NID) or similar enclosure. A NID is a weather-proof, box-like enclosure mounted to the building or structure and used to house network interface units (NIUs) or other service equipment. NIUs are equipment that a network service provider places between their lines and the customer's lines. The NIUs can provide a demarcation point for legal tariff issues.
Depending on the type of service being provided, different types of wires or cable may be used, such as coaxial cable, optical fiber cable, twisted pair cables (CAT-3), copper cable (CAT-5), etc. To protect such wires or cables from the weather or other potential damage, it is desirable to run the cables through a conduit. However, typical NIDs or similar enclosures have no adequate means for attaching or securing such conduit. This shortcoming is compounded by the fact that the differing conduit used often varies in size or diameter.
A simple rubber grommet is commonly used to loosely engage the wire or cable entering the NID. Without conduit however, communication or utility services are less reliable and less secure due to the environmental, criminal and/or accidental hazards. Therefore, conduit is becoming more popular as a cabling transport means to NIDs or enclosures. Conduit protects the cables from environmental, accidental, and criminal hazards. Conduit also provides a more efficient or less cumbersome method for cable installation. Most NIDs or enclosures do not have the mechanism to support conduit installation. Some NIDs or enclosures provide brackets or clamps within the enclosure, but these clamps are typically designed for specific conduit or cable.
Thus, when installing conduit into an enclosure, the enclosure often does not have an interface which will provide a secured and sealed connection to the conduit Enclosures typically have a port cavity where the rubber grommet is used as the interface to the connecting cables. If these enclosures encounter conduit, the conduit is often installed below the enclosure and the internal cabling is then installed into the enclosure.
Various known techniques used to hold conduit to or in proximity with a NID or similar enclosure include non-secure, unsealed connections such as by fastening the conduit or cables with tape, brackets, glue, etc., forcing the conduit through the port cavity, applying globs of sealant at the port cavity, clamping the conduit or cables with a clamp assembly, and/or replacing the existing NID with a new, customized enclosure designed to accept a specific conduit. Often, a bracket is installed below the enclosure to support and hold upright the conduit for entry into the enclosure, and the conduit must be stripped back so that the cables within the conduit can then be connected and/or glued into the enclosure. However, such techniques are generally poor, inefficient, temporary, unsightly, and can be costly and/or time consuming to use.
One recent attempt at a solution to suitably connect a cable to a NID is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2005/0254757 A1 published to Ferretti, III et al. on Nov. 17, 2005, herein incorporated by reference. Disclosed therein is a connector port for use in a fiber optic communications network and adapted for a NID to receive a connectorized optical fiber from inside the NID and a pre-connectorized fiber optic drop cable from outside the NID.
In one embodiment disclosed therein, an exterior connector port mounted within a base is attached to a drop cable opening located within an external/bottom wall of the NID by way of a slotted end portion of the base. A pre-connectorized drop cable may then be optically connected to a connectorized optical fiber routed to the exterior connector port from inside the NID. Once the optical connection is made, a cover is positioned over the base.
In another embodiment disclosed therein, an insert is positioned within a drop cable opening in an external/bottom wall of the NID, along with a connector receptacle located within the interior cavity of the NID. A portion of the connector receptacle is placed through the insert such that one end of the connector receptacle abuts a passageway of the insert. A connectorized optical fiber is routed to the first end of the connector receptacle from inside the NID, and the end portion of a pre-connectorized fiber optic drop cable is routed from outside the NID to the second end of the connector receptacle to permit an optical fiber of the pre-connectorized drop cable to be readily interconnected with the connectorized optical fiber.
As can be seen, the above described connector port for a NID requires different pieces for different applications, and further requires a specific "connectorized" optical cable for attachment to a specific "pre-connectorized" fiber optic cable. Unlike the device and system disclosed herein, the above described connector port is relatively complex and cannot easily and quickly connect a variety of different conduit to a NID.
As discussed above, such prior art devices and methods suffer from numerous disadvantages, drawbacks and/or limitations. Further, these devices and methods tend to be overly complicated and/or expensive to manufacture or implement. Therefore, a need exists for a method, system and device which are directed toward overcoming the above described and other disadvantages of prior art devices and methods. Accordingly, to address the above stated issues, a method, system and device that can quickly and easily attach different sized conduit to a NID or similar enclosure is needed. The exemplary teachings herein fulfill such a need.

Universal adapter for coupling conduit to enclosures


The present disclosure describes a component rack for, e.g., electronic devices. The component rack includes an upper rail; a lower rail, the upper rail and the lower rail extending relative to a first axis; at least one end cap coupled to an end of the upper rail and the lower rail; wherein the at least one end cap comprises a first panel slidably couplable to a second panel and movable along a second axis between a collapsed position and an extended position, the second axis extending transversely to the first axis.

Audio electronics, camera electronics, gaming system electronics, auxiliary media streaming electronics, and the like may be used to enhance a user experience with a television and other display. As these and other electronics may improve a user's entertainment experience, these and other electronic devices each may have power and/or communication wiring which may become tangled and messy (a so-called bird's nest of wiring) which is not aesthetically appealing. Further, electronic devices come in a variety of sizes, e.g., width, that may not match the width of the associated display, which may provide a disordered or unappealing appearance.


A toner prepared by a method comprising granulating while polymerizing a ring-opening polymerizable monomer with a catalyst under the presence of a surfactant and a colorant in a compressible fluid.

Methods of heterogeneously polymerizing a monomer in a supercritical carbon dioxide to prepare a particulate polymer, such as emulsion polymerization, dispersion polymerization and suspension polymerization are well known.
The heterogeneous polymerization in a supercritical carbon dioxide is used for preparing particulate polymers from various monomers because of having the following advantages compared with heterogeneous polymerizations in water or organic solvents:                (1) solvent removal and drying process after polymerization can be simplified;        (2) disposal of waste solvent is unnecessary;        (3) poisonous organic solvents need not be used;        (4) remaining unreacted monomer components and harmful materials can be removed by washing; and        (5) carbon dioxide used can be collected and reused.
The particulate polymers are used for various applications such as developers for electrophotography, inks for printings, coatings for constructions and cosmetics.
Japanese published unexamined application No. 2009-167409 discloses a method of synthesizing a colored particulate polymer from a radical polymerizable monomer under the presence of a surfactant including a perfluoroalkyl group. However, a fluorochemical surfactant used in this method is very expensive and has a problem in terms of safety. Further, particulate polymers having small molecular weight distributions (Mw/Mn=about 2 or less) cannot be obtained.
Japanese published unexamined application No. 2009-132878 discloses a method of obtaining a particulate polymer and synthesizing a polymeric surfactant in one pot at the same time using a polymeric radical polymerization initiator having an organosiloxane skeleton without separately preparing a surfactant in accordance with a monomer. However, particulate polymers having a molecular weight distribution (Mw/Mn) of 2 or less cannot be obtained, either. This does not disclose a ring-opening polymerizable monomer.
Therefore, a method of preparing a particulate polymer having a small molecular weight distribution using a ring-opening polymerizable monomer in a compressible fluid is unknown.
As a binder resin for use in a toner, thermoplastic resins from petroleum such as styrene acrylic resins and polyester resins are used. However, in recent years, in consideration of the environment, methods of using biodegradable resins having less effect thereon when wasted and formed of recyclable resources from biomass as a toner binder resin have commanded attention, and a variety of the methods are disclosed.
As one of the methods, Japanese published unexamined applications Nos. 04-179967 and 2008-262179 disclose a method of using a biodegradable microbial production aliphatic polyester as a binder resin. However, when the polyester is used as a resin for a toner, the toner has a high softening point and a high fixable temperature, and therefore this is unsuitable in terms of saving energy. As a method of lowering the fixable temperature, Japanese Patent No. 2597452 discloses a method of adding a large amount of a plant wax to the biodegradable resin to lower the softening point. The softening point of a toner can be lowered, but the wax agglutinates the toner and productivity of the toner deteriorates, and fluidity thereof also deteriorates, resulting in deterioration of feedability thereof in an image developer.
To obtain low-temperature fixability and fixing stability, Japanese published unexamined applications Nos. 2006-091278 and 2006-285150 disclose a method of using a binder resin including two resins having softening points different from each other and a biodegradable resin. In this method, the resin having a lower softening point plays a part of joining the resin having a higher softening point with the biodegradable resin, and the biodegradable resin is uniformly dispersed in a binder resin. However, when the content of the biodegradable resin is high, it is not well dispersed, resulting in deterioration of developability due to uneven chargeability and deterioration of durability. Therefore, the binder resin includes the biodegradable resin in a very small amount of 20% by weight.
Further, this is not particularly specified, but the biodegradable resin deteriorates a glass transition temperature and a heat distortion temperature because of absorbing moisture. Therefore, it has a defect of agglutination of particles or images when transported or stored in hot and humid conditions, which is unusable.
As mentioned above, the biodegradable resin has too many problems to be a main component of a binder resin of a toner, and needs further improvement in synthesizing and properties to have both heat and humidity resistance, and low-temperature fixability.
Because of these reasons, a need exists for a toner having a small molecular weight distribution, a low-temperature fixability, heat and humidity resistance, and environmental stability.


Heat pump apparatus for heating liquid, such as water, includes a refrigerant circuit and a water circuit, a refrigerant-to-water heat exchanger and an air-to-refrigerant heat exchanger operably disposed in heat exchange relationship with a air fluid stream of a systemically separate primary source of space conditioning. A compressor is provided for circulating the refrigerant between the two heat exchangers and a water pump is provided for circulating the water to be heated through the refrigerant-to-water heat exchanger. A tank is also provided for storing the heated water. The tank has an electrically resistive heating element operably associated therewith. A control circuit is provided for normally enabling operation of the heat pump and disabling the heating element in response to a demand for liquid heating. However, in response to selected conditions, such as a low outdoor air temperature condition, the control circuit disables the heat pump and enables the heating element in response to a demand for water heating.

According to statistics promulgated by the Energy Information Administration in 1990, there were approximately 35,000,000 residential water heaters operated by electricity out of a total of approximately 94,000,000 residential water heaters. The high cost of electricity relative to fuels such as natural gas is well known. On an operating cost basis, the cost per Btu of delivered water heating for electrical resistance water heaters is two to two and one-half times that of natural gas-fired water heaters. The concern for reducing energy consumption and conserving natural resources has given rise to a need for cost-effective substitutes for electrical resistance heating of water. Various substitutes for electrical resistance water heating that operate on electricity are known in the water heating industry. These substitutes include (a) solar-assisted water heating systems; (b) desuperheater water heating systems; (c) heat pump water heaters; and (d) fully integrated space conditioning/water heating heat pumps.
Solar-assisted water heating systems employ a bank of solar collectors to heat water with solar radiation. Well-designed solar systems can reduce the cost of heating water by about 50% as compared to electrical resistance heating. While effective from an energy usage standpoint, solar-assisted water heating has not achieved wide-spread usage because of the relatively high initial cost and maintenance costs, the potential for winter freeze-ups and unsightly appearance.
Desuperheater water heaters recover heat from hot compressor discharge vapor of a space conditioning system (which may be a heat pump). A refrigerant vapor-to-water heat exchanger (desuperheater) is inserted in the compressor discharge line of the space conditioning system. One disadvantage of desuperheaters is that when they are applied to a conventional air conditioning system, water heating is available from the desuperheater only when there is a simultaneous requirement for space cooling. If a desuperheater is applied to a heat pump, water heating availability is extended to times when there is a simultaneous requirement for space heating. Further, because a desuperheater is typically located outdoors adjacent to the space conditioning compressor, the water must be drained from the desuperheater during the winter months to prevent freeze-up. Alternatively, the desuperheater must be located remotely from the compressor in a conditioned space, which requires field installation of a set of hot refrigerant pipes between the desuperheater and the outdoor compressor discharge line. Because of the seasonal limitations, potential for winter freeze-ups, intrusion of the desuperheater into the space conditioning system refrigeration circuit and the high cost of field installation, desuperheaters are practical only in climates with extended space cooling requirements and very mild winters.
Dedicated heat pump water heaters heat water by extracting heat, typically from a conditioned space, and utilize heat pumping principles to transfer the heat to the water. In the typical application, indoor air is passed over an air-to-refrigerant heat exchanger that serves as an evaporator of a refrigeration system. The refrigerant vapor is then raised to a higher pressure by the compressor and then condensed in a refrigerant-to-water heat exchanger. During operation, the heat pump water heater generates a cooling effect on the indoor air passing over the air-to-refrigerant heat exchanger. This cooling effect is desirable when space cooling is required, but the cooling effect must be offset by additional space heating during the winter months. Further, in applications where air is drawn from and returned to the immediate indoor ambient environment, local cool spots may develop inside the structure. If the air-to-refrigerant heat exchanger is located outdoors, it is susceptible to frosting in winter. In addition to the problem of cool spots inside the structure or outdoor coil frosting, the dedicated heat pump water heater has a relatively high initial cost, which has limited its commercial acceptance.
Fully integrated space conditioning/water heating heat pumps provide both space conditioning and water heating. Such integrated systems also typically include a desuperheater, which is used for water heating when there is a simultaneous call for space conditioning and water heating. When there is no space conditioning demand, the system functions as a heat pump water heater. Integrated space conditioning/water heaters have not met with commercial success because of the complex piping and controls required and the relatively high initial cost.
An improved heat pump apparatus for heating liquids, such as water, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,614, assigned to Lennox Industries Inc. The heating apparatus includes two heat exchangers, one being a refrigerant-to-water heat exchanger external to a conventional hot water storage tank and the other being an air-to-refrigerant heat exchanger disposed in the return fluid stream of a systemically separate space conditioning system. Neither the space conditioning system nor the hot water storage tank need to be modified to accommodate the heat pump apparatus. In operation, heat is transferred from the return fluid stream to the refrigerant, which in turn transfers heat to the water, thereby providing "free" cooling of the return fluid stream and reducing the load on the space conditioning system when there is a demand for space cooling. In contrast to dedicated heat pump water heaters discussed hereinabove, the cooling by-product is not dumped into a conditioned space at one location, but rather is distributed throughout an indoor space by the space conditioning system ducting. One disadvantage of this type of heating apparatus is that when there is a demand for water heating, the indoor blower of the space conditioning system is activated to provide the return fluid stream. Because heating the water requires the return fluid stream to be cooled, cooled air is supplied to the indoor space, even when there is no demand for space cooling.
The present invention is directed to an improvement in the heat pump water heater described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,614.


An auxiliary wire, which can be connected to each of a plurality of data signal lines (Sn), is constituted by (i) a first auxiliary wire (17) provided so as to intersect the plurality of data signal lines (Sn) on a side where end parts of the respective plurality of data signal lines (Sn) are connected to a data signal line driving circuit (4) and (ii) a second auxiliary wire (18) provided so as to intersect the plurality of data signal lines (Sn) on a side of the other end parts of the respective plurality of data signal lines (Sn). Between the first auxiliary wire (17) and the second auxiliary wire (17), there are provided (i) a positive-polarity amplifier circuit (6) for receiving a positive data signal from the data signal line driving circuit (4) and (ii) a negative-polarity amplifier circuit (7) for receiving a negative data signal from the data signal line driving circuit (4). An output signal is supplied to the second auxiliary wire (18) from the positive-polarity amplifier circuit (6) or the negative-polarity amplifier circuit (7).

In recent years, in the field of display devices, there is a tendency to increase the length and/or the number of signal lines in accordance with an increase in size and high definition of a display device. There is also a tendency to increasingly thin the signal lines so as to increase an aperture ratio which directly affects the transmittance of a display panel.
Such tendencies have increased the possibility of causing a defect such as electric disconnection of a signal line in the display device.
Conventionally, in a case where a display device causes a defect such as electric disconnection of a signal line, the defect is repaired so that the display device is driven.
FIG. 25 illustrates, as an example of the above case, a liquid crystal display device which includes electric wires and repair circuits which are used to repair defects, such as electric disconnection of data signal lines, in a case where the defects occur so that the liquid crystal display device is driven.
As illustrated in FIG. 25, a liquid crystal display device 109 includes (i) a liquid crystal display panel 100 and (ii) a control substrate 108 that is connected to the liquid crystal display panel 100 via an FPC 107.
The liquid crystal display panel 100 has a display region R1 in which a plurality of pixels (not illustrated) are arranged in a matrix manner. The liquid crystal display panel 100 includes (i) a scan signal line driving circuit (gate driver) 101 for supplying scan signals to a plurality of scan signal lines (not illustrated) and (ii) a data signal line driving circuit (source driver) 102a and a data signal line driving circuit (source driver) 102b each for supplying data signals to a plurality of data signal lines S1, S2, . . . , and S′(2n). The scan signal line driving circuit 101 and the data signal line driving circuits 102a and 102b are provided around the display region R1.
In the display region R1, the plurality of scan signal lines and the plurality of data signal lines S1, S2, . . . , and S′(2n) intersect with each other (not illustrated). In the vicinity of intersections where the plurality of scan signal lines and the plurality of data signal lines S1, S2, . . . , and S′(2n) intersect with each other, there are provided respective switching elements (not illustrated), such as TFTs, which are electrically connected to pixel electrodes of the respective plurality of pixels.
As illustrated in FIG. 25, the data signal line driving circuit 102a includes (i) a source amplifier circuit 103a for supplying data signals to the data signal lines S1, S2, . . . , and S(2n) and (ii) a repair amplifier circuit 104a which is used to repair electric disconnection of the data signal lines S1, S2, . . . , and S(2n) in a case where the electric disconnection occurs so that the liquid crystal display device 109 is driven.
A preliminary wire 105a is provided in a region between the display region R1 and the data signal line driving circuit 102a so as to intersect end parts of the respective data signal lines S1, S2, . . . , and S(2n), which end parts are on a side of the data signal line driving circuit 102a. A preliminary wire 106a is provided so as to (i) extend to a region other than the display region R1 and (ii) intersect the other end parts of the respective data signal lines S1, S2, . . . , and S(2n).
The repair amplifier circuit 104a has (i) an input terminal to which the preliminary wire 105a is electrically connected and (ii) an output terminal to which the preliminary wire 106a is electrically connected.
Similar to the data signal line driving circuit 102a, the data signal line driving circuit 102b includes (i) a source amplifier circuit 103b for supplying data signals to the data signals S′1, S′2, . . . , and S′(2n) and (ii) a repair amplifier circuit 104b which is used to repair electric disconnection of the data signal lines S′1, S′2, . . . , and S′(2n) in a case where the electric disconnection occurs so that the liquid crystal display device 109 is driven.
A preliminary wire 105b is provided in a region between the display region R1 and the data signal line driving circuit 102b so as to intersect end parts of the respective data signal lines S′1, S′2, . . . , and S′(2n), which end parts are on a side of the data signal line driving circuit 102b. A preliminary wire 106b is provided so as to (i) extend to the region other than the display region R1 and (ii) intersect the other end parts of the respective data signal lines S′1, S′2, . . . , and S′(2n).
The repair amplifier circuit 104b has (i) an input terminal to which the preliminary wire 105b is electrically connected and (ii) an output terminal to which the preliminary wire 106b is electrically connected.
The control substrate 108 includes an electric power generating circuit and a timing controller (both of which are not illustrated).
According to the configuration, in a case where an electrically disconnected part (see an "X" in FIG. 25) is found in the data signal line S1 during a process of inspecting the liquid crystal display device 109, it is possible to short-circuit (electrically connect) the data signal line S1 with the preliminary wire 105a and the preliminary wire 106a.
As such, the data signal line driving circuit 102a can (i) supply, as usual, a data signal toward the electrically disconnected part via the end part of the data signal line S1, which end part is on the side of the data signal line driving circuit 102a and (ii) also supply the data signal toward the electrically disconnected part via the preliminary wire 105a, the repair circuit 104a, the preliminary wire 106a, and the other end part of the data signal line S1.
It is therefore possible to supply the data signal to the whole data signal line S1 which has the electrically disconnected part.
Further, in a case where an electrically disconnected part (see an "X" in FIG. 25) is found in the data signal line S′3, it is possible to supply, in the same manner as the above, a data signal to the whole data signal line S′3 which has the electrically disconnected part.
The liquid crystal display device 109 thus includes the repair amplifier circuits 104a and 104b, and the preliminary wires 105a, 105b, 106a and 106b. Therefore, even in a case where a defect, such as electrical disconnection of the data signal lines S1, S2, . . . , and S′(2n), occurs, it is possible to drive the liquid crystal display device 109 by repairing the defect.


A method for testing the functional capability of a catalytic converter of an internal combustion engine uses an exhaust-gas probe having a measuring electrode for measuring the resistance of a metal oxide layer having low catalytic activity. The resistance of the metal oxide layer is dependent on the oxygen partial pressure in the exhaust gas, for a predetermined air factor. The conversion rate of a catalytic converter has an effect on the oxygen partial pressure in the exhaust gas downstream of the catalytic converter, so that the resistance of the metal oxide layer depends on the conversion efficiency of the catalytic converter. It is thus possible to test the functional capability of the catalytic converter with the simply constructed exhaust-gas probe using a simple resistance measurement.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a method for testing the functional capability of a catalytic converter of an internal combustion engine with an oxygen sensor which is disposed in a catalytic converter or in an exhaust pipe downstream of the catalytic converter, the oxygen sensor having a layer which has little or no catalytic effect on the exhaust gas.
Published International Patent Application WO 93/03358, corresponding to U.S. application Ser. No. 07/741,881, filed Aug. 7, 1991, has already disclosed a method for testing a catalytic converter with an oxygen sensor. In that case, a first oxygen sensor having high catalytic activity, and a second oxygen sensor having low catalytic activity, are disposed downstream of the catalytic converter. In order to assess the functional capability of the catalytic converter, shifts in output signals of the first and second oxygen sensors in relation to an exhaust-gas ratio of air to fuel are compared with one another. The oxygen sensors are based on oxygen-conducting zirconium oxide (ZrO.sub.2). The evaluation method which is used is relatively elaborate.

Method for testing the functional capability of a catalytic converter with an oxygen sensor


A hydraulic vehicle braking system comprises a master cylinder having at least one piston displacably accommodated therein, a mechanical actuator that is coupled, or can be coupled, to a brake pedal for actuating the piston, and an electromechanical actuator. The electromechanical actuator is likewise provided for actuating the piston and can be activated, at least for boosting or generating brake force, when the brake pedal is actuated. Furthermore, a valve arrangement is provided, which has a first valve per wheel brake for selectively uncoupling the wheel brake from the master cylinder, and a second valve for selectively reducing the brake pressure at the wheel brake. The valve arrangement can be controlled at least within the framework of an ABS control mode.

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of vehicle braking systems. To be more precise, a hydraulic vehicle braking system equipped with an electromechanical actuator is described.
Electromechanical actuators have already been used for some time in vehicle braking systems or have been proposed for such a use. In the case of hydraulic braking systems, electromechanical actuators are employed, for example, for realising an electrical parking brake function (EPB). In the case of electromechanical braking systems (EMB), they replace the conventional hydraulic cylinders at the wheel brakes.
Owing to technical advances, the efficiency of the electromechanical actuators has continually increased. It was therefore considered to use such actuators also for implementing modern brake control functions. Such brake control functions include an antilock braking system (ABS), a traction control system (TCS) or an electronic stability program (ESP), also referred to as vehicle stability control (VSC). WO 2006/111393 A1 and corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 8,540,324 B2, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in entirety, for instance, teaches a hydraulic braking system having a highly dynamic electromechanical actuator which performs the pressure modulation in the brake control mode. The actuator is provided to actuate a master cylinder of the braking system.
Owing to the high dynamics of the electromechanical actuator, the hydraulic components of the braking system known from WO 2006/111393 A1 can be reduced to a single 2/2-way valve per wheel brake. To realise wheel-individual pressure modulations, the valves are then driven individually or in groups in multiplex operation.
However, the minimising to only one valve per wheel brake also results in problems, such as an undesired pressure equalisation when valves are opened simultaneously, which have to be solved again in a complex manner (cf. WO 2010/091883 A1 and corresponding U.S. Patent Publication No. 2012/0013173 A1, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in entirety). A further disadvantage is that multiplex operation requires an electromechanical actuator whose dynamic range has to be greater by at least a factor of the order or 4 compared with conventional electromechanical actuators.

Hydraulic vehicle braking system with electromechanical actuator, and method for operating such a hydraulic vehicle braking system


A reader obtains image data corresponding to an image of optically encoded information that is received via a lens unit that causes controlled spherical aberration blurring that is precisely known. The reader may perform deconvolution processing on the image data to render it decodable. The deconvolution processing may implement a Weiner filter that uses data corresponding to a near-field point spread function of the lens unit. The depth of field of the reader is greater than that of conventional reader in all lighting conditions.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to the field of imaging, and, more particularly, imaging using controlled spherical aberration blurring.
2. Description of the Related Art
Imaging systems have an inherent limit in the ability to remain focused over long distances. The depth of field (DOF) of a reader is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image. If a reader is used to decode optically encoded information (e.g., a barcode), increasing the DOF of the reader increases the zone in which the reader can reliably decode the encoded information.
Conventional techniques for extending the DOF of readers include physically moving lenses of the readers. Providing readers with movable lenses can increase the costs of manufacturing and maintaining such readers. Accordingly, it may be desirable to increase the DOF of readers in any lighting condition, including daylight, without employing movable lenses.

Method and apparatus for scanning with controlled spherical aberration


Disclosed is a color ink jet recording method including the step of recording a desired color image on a recording medium on the basis of recording data using a black ink and a plurality of color inks each being different from the black ink in permeating characteristics against the recording medium. In this method, the surface tension is 40 dyn/cm or less for each of the inks; and the blotting factor against plain paper is 2.5 or less for the black ink, and it is in the range of from 2.5 to 3.5 for each of the color inks. Alternatively, the surface tension is 40 dyn/cm or less for each of the inks; and the permeating rate against plain paper is one second or more for the black ink, and it is less than one second for each of the color inks.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color ink jet recording method and its apparatus for recording a clear and dense color image by discharging color inks from a recording head. In particular, the present invention concerns a color ink jet recording method and its apparatus using color inks of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), green (G), red (R), blue (B) and the like and a black (Bk) ink.
2. Related Art
The ink jet recording method in which characters, figures and the like are recorded by discharging micro-droplets of ink from discharge ports, has advantages in reducing the generation of noise, in lowering the running cost, in reducing the size of the apparatus, and in achieving the coloring. The method, therefore, has been extensively used for printers, copying machines, facsimile and the like.
In a prior art ink jet recording method, a sheet of special paper (coated paper) having an ink absorbing layer has been necessary to obtain a color image being high in color development with little bleed. Recently, a method has been practically used having a suitability for printing on sheets of commercial available xe2x80x9cplain paperxe2x80x9d such as high-grade/medium-grade paper and common PPC paper used for printers and copying machines in large amounts. However, in the case of color recording on a sheet of plain paper, the sufficient printing quality cannot be obtained yet. In this case, the largest problem lies in that the prevention of bleed of ink between color inks used is incompatible with the insurance of the quality of black recording, particularly, the quality of black character recording.
In recent years, to form a color image with little bleed on plain paper by an ink jet recording method, a quick drying ink having a high permeating rate against plain paper has been developed. In the color ink jet recording method, color recording is performed using inks of three colors, cyan, magenta and yellow, and further, using inks of three colors, cyan, magenta, yellow, and a black ink. In the case of using the above-described inks excellent in permeability for color ink jet recording, the recorded image has a high quality with little bleed between colors but is low in density as a whole, and further in the surroundings of the recording image area of each color, the ink is slightly bled along fibers of paper (feathering), resulting in poor sharpness.
The feathering is relatively inconspicuous in a color image area; however, it is conspicuous in a black image area, thus deteriorating the recording quality. In particular, for a black character, it is poor in sharpness and unclear, resulting in the poor recording quality.
Accordingly, to obtain a high quality black color recording less in feathering and higher in density, a black ink used for forming a black image must be of a type having a relatively low permeating rate against plain paper.
For this reason, there has been proposed an ink jet recording apparatus and its method using color inks each having a high permeating rate against paper and a black ink having a low permeating rate against paper. However, in the case of using the inks each having a high permeating rate and the ink having a low permeating rate, at the adjacent boundary portion between a black recording image area and each color recording image area, irregular blur is generated, thus significantly reducing the image quality.
The prevention of irregular blur between black and each color is incompatible with the reduction in feathering of black, and therefore, as the subject of color recording, it has been required to simultaneously achieve the prevention of bleed and the reduction in feathering of black.
Unexamined Japanese Patent HEI 3-146355 discloses a method, wherein a recording area along the boundary area between black and each color is not recorded; however, this method is disadvantageous in that the recorded data is changed.
Another method of preventing bleed of ink in a boundary area between black and each color has been known, wherein a black area along the boundary area between black and each color is formed by overlapping of color inks. In this specification, the black color thus formed is called Process Color Bk (hereinafter, abbreviated as xe2x80x9cPCBkxe2x80x9d).
In the method of forming the black area of PCBk along the boundary area between black and each chromatic color, it is easiest to replace all black data with PCBk data of Y, M and C. Since the PCBk formed of only inks of Y, M and C, each of which is high in permeability, it is not bled at the boundary portion between black and each color. However, the PCBk is very different from the black color formed of the Bk ink in terms of hue, and thereby it is fringed by the boundary portion. For this reason, to adjust the hue of the PCBk, an attempt has been made to added the Bk ink in the black area formed of PCBk to some extent.
However, when an ink having a low permeability is adjacent to an ink having a high permeability, a blurry white image (in this specification, referred to as xe2x80x9cwhite hazexe2x80x9d) is generated at the adjacent boundary portion, as shown in FIG. 7, which greatly exerts adverse effect on the image quality.
The xe2x80x9cwhite hazexe2x80x9d is considered to be generated by the following mechanism. The mechanism will be described with reference to FIGS. 8(a) to 8(c).
An ink having a low permeability is low in wettability against paper, and is generally high in surface tension. On the contrary, an ink having a high permeability is high in wettability against paper and is low in surface tension, and in general, it is added with a surface-active agent for improving the wettablity against paper. FIG. 8 shows an example wherein black ink has a low permeability and color ink has a high permeability. When an area (color ink area) recorded by the ink added with the surface-active agent for improving wettability is adjacent to an area (black ink area) recorded by the ink with no surface-active agent, as shown in FIG. 8(a), the surface tension of ink with no surface active agent at the adjacent boundary is lowered by the action of the surface-active agent, and further the ink with no surface-active agent is applied with internal cohesive force because of its high surface tension and tends to be moved in such a manner as to be formed in a spherical shape. Consequently, as shown in FIG. 8(b), the surface-active agent is spread even along the area recorded by the ink with no surface-active agent, and accordingly, when being fixed in such a state, an area with less dye is generated as shown in FIG. 8(c) and is recognized as the xe2x80x9cwhite hazexe2x80x9d.
As a result, although the bleed of ink at the boundary area between different colors can be prevented, the image is observed as being poor by the generation of the above-described xe2x80x9cwhite hazexe2x80x9d.
One example of a combination of ink compositions used in the case where the xe2x80x9cwhite hazexe2x80x9d is generated, is shown as follows.
Each color ink (C, M, Y) has a low surface tension of about 30 dyn/cm, and a high blotting factor against plain paper (diameter of a dot formed on a recording paper sheet/diameter of a discharged ink droplet) of nearly from 2.5 to 3.5, and accordingly, it is easier to be spread and slightly lowered in sharpness and to be permeated in paper. On the other hand, the Bk ink has a high surface tension of about 50 dyn/cm, and a low blotting factor against plain paper of nearly from 1.7 to 2.0, and accordingly, it is difficult to be spread and to be permeated in paper.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems, and to provide a color ink jet recording method and an apparatus therefor, wherein even when an image is recorded such that a black ink is adjacent to each color ink using an ink jet recording apparatus having the color inks each having a high permeability and the black ink having a poor permeability, an excellent color image recording with no xe2x80x9cwhile hazexe2x80x9d can be compatible with a black character image recording with less feathering due to prevention of bleed of ink between black and each color.
The above object can be achieved, according to a first aspect of the present invention, by provision of a color ink jet recording method, comprising the step of recording a desired color image on a recording medium on the basis of recording data using a black ink and a plurality of color inks each being different from the black ink in permeating characteristics against the recording medium, wherein the surface tension is 40 dyn/cm or less for each of the black ink and the color inks; and the blotting factor against plain paper is 2.5 or less for the black ink, and it is in the range of from 2.5 to 3.5 for each of the color inks.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a color ink jet recording method, comprising the step of recording a desired color image on a recording medium on the basis of recording data using a black ink and a plurality of color inks each being different from the black ink in permeating characteristics against the recording medium, wherein the surface tension is 40 dyn/cm or less for each of the black ink and the color inks; and the permeating rate against plain paper is one second or more for the black ink, and it is less than one second for each of the color inks.

Color ink jet recording method and apparatus therefor


The present disclosure provides a method and a system for the production and storage of electric energy. The method performed by a central control unit includes providing the power supply to a customer location from an electrical power supply system. The method further includes determining whether power supply is available from a remote power system. The availability of the power supply is determined based on determining whether electric power is being exchanged with an interface electrically connecting a gateway AC battery of the electrical power supply system to the remote power system. The method further includes charging and discharging of the AC batteries using power supply that is being exchanged between the gateway AC battery and the remote power system for providing power supply from the gateway AC battery to the customer location, and from photovoltaic panels equipped with AC/DC converters.

Electricity is one of the most important requirements in today's life as our day to day activities, such as cooking, cleaning, reading, transportation, etc., depend on it. So, maintaining a continuous supply of electricity is an essential necessity as it plays a huge role in our everyday lives. Electricity is supplied to our homes using electricity supply systems that are responsible for the transmission and distribution of electricity from electricity generation power plants.
Currently, alternating current (AC) electricity supply systems are used for transmission and distribution of electricity produced either by the electricity generation power plants or by the distributed energy resources (DER). The AC electricity supply systems for off-grid and weak-grid applications include multiple components, such as batteries, inverters, photovoltaic (PV) panels, etc., to meet the electricity requirement of a particular location. Most of the components that are used in the AC electricity supply systems are usually difficult to install and/or ill-equipped to facilitate the expansion of the electricity supply systems. Further, the installation of multiple batteries in the AC electricity supply systems and the operation of the multiple batteries autonomously in a balanced manner often become difficult without a single grid-forming inverter. Typically, a single inverter is used in the AC electricity supply systems for facilitating the autonomous operation of the batteries. However, the use of a single inverter also results in a single point of failure in a power loss or a grid shutdown scenario.
Therefore, there is a need for techniques that can overcome one or more limitations stated above in addition to providing other technical advantages.

Methods and systems for providing electric energy production and storage


The invention relates to an application unit for the direct or indirect application of a liquid or pasty medium (12) onto a moving material web, in particular consisting of paper or board, comprising a dosing gap formed as a free jet nozzle, the dosing gap being formed between a leading lip (4) and a trailing lip (8), and at least one feed channel (14) leading to the dosing gap. The application unit is characterized in that the dosing gap is subdivided in a comb-like manner and has a plurality of defined through-gaps (32) for the liquid or pasty medium (12).

The invention relates to an application unit for directly or indirectly applying a liquid or pasty medium onto a moving material web, in particular consisting of paper or board.
Application units are known in which a dosing gap is formed between two lips as a dosing means operating as a free jet nozzle. This dosing gap is also called a color discharge gap. On account of the formation of a free jet of the liquid or pasty medium passing through the surrounding atmosphere, the designation "Fountain Jet Flow Applicator" (Jet Flow F) is also used for such application units. By means of the free jet, the liquid or pasty medium is directly or indirectly applied onto a moving material web.
In these application units, the liquid or pasty medium is generally supplied by a color distribution pipe arranged within a beam extending across the length of the application unit. The medium passes from the color distribution pipe through through-openings into a compensation space and flows from there via a feed channel to the dosing gap, from which the liquid or pasty medium is subsequently discharged in the form of a free jet. In the direct application of the medium, a material web passes the free jet nozzle and is directly impacted by the free jet of the liquid or pasty medium. In this case, for example, the material web can be guided on the surface of a roll. In indirect application of the medium, the free jet is initially applied onto a carrier surface, for example the surface of an application roll, in order to be transferred in a roll gap, through which the material passes, from the application roll onto the material web. The lip of the two lips forming the dosing gap which lies on the side of the dosing gap at which the application roll in the case of indirect application of the medium or the material web in the case of direct application of the medium moves towards the application unit is called the leading lip. Accordingly, the second lip which lies on the side of the dosing gap at which the application roll or the material web moves away from the application unit is called the trailing lip. The leading lip can have a concave deflecting surface.
Traditionally, in application units of the previously described type, an adjusting device is provided at the trailing lip by means of which the trailing lip can be adjusted in a zonewise manner along the length of the application unit with respect to its distance to the leading lip. As a result of this adjustment of the dosing gap, a certain transverse profile of the liquid or pasty medium applied onto the material web is achieved. Usually, downstream of the free jet applicator, there is a fine dosing device which doctors the applied liquid or pasty medium to the desired applied amount by means of a doctor blade element, for example a blade knife. Further, a collecting trough is arranged between the trailing lip of the application unit and the fine dosing device in order to collect excess liquid or pasty medium which has run off the application unit or the fine dosing device.
An exact adjustment of the dosing gap or the color discharge gap is very work- and time-intensive in conventional application units of the previously described kind and the profiling device for adjusting the gap is very expensive. In particular, when changing the type of liquid or pasty medium, the new adjustment of the dosing gap is very uneconomical. Additionally, on account of the finishing tolerances and possible assembly faults, an exact volumetric dosing across the entire web width can not be reliably guaranteed.

Application unit for the direct or indirect application of a liquid or pasty medium onto a moving material web


A method of substantially uniformly etching oxides from non-homogeneous substrates is provided. The method utilizes a substantially non-aqueous etchant including an organic solvent and a fluorine-containing compound. The fluorine containing compound may include HF, HF:NH4F, (NH4)HF2, or TMAF:HF and mixtures thereof. The etchant may be applied to chemically non-homogeneous layers such as shallow trench isolation fill oxide layers, or to layers having a non-homogeneous composition or density at different depths within the layers, such as spin-on-glass or spin-on-dielectric films.

The present invention relates to the manufacture of semiconductor devices. More particularly, the present invention is directed to methods of substantially uniformly etching oxides that are present on non-homogeneous substrates.
During the manufacture of components for use in semiconductor devices such as capacitors, uniformity of etching can be a problem when performing cleaning operations using an etchant solution. This is especially true where more than one type of material on a substrate is being etched simultaneously, or if the material as deposited or later densified is non-uniform in thickness, density, or composition. For example, when oxide layers are formed by chemical vapor deposition for shallow trench isolation (STI) fill applications, a chemically non-homogeneous film results which may comprise alternating silicon oxide and aluminum oxide layers. When using a conventional oxide etchant solution such as aqueous HF or aqueous NH4F:HF, the exposed aluminum oxide layers tend to etch more slowly than the silicon dioxide layers, resulting in non-uniformities across the substrate surface.
There is also a problem which exists when spin-on-glass (SOG) or spin-on-dielectric (SOD) films are densified. Because the densification process is imperfect, non-uniformities in thickness and/or density often occur in such films as densification tends to be better in open areas than close to walls or other vertical components. Consequently, when conventional oxide etchants are used to clean the film surface, differential etch rates occur which leads to non-uniform etching and results in non-uniformities across the substrate surface.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a method of etching a substrate which provides uniform etching when the substrate surface varies in chemical composition, thickness, and/or density.

Method of substantially uniformly etching non-homogeneous substrates