Simplicity, sensitivity and versatility of optical sensors based on competitive immunoassays using antibody-antigen reactions are achieved by solid-state, single-step reactions which permit accurate sensitive qualitative and quantitative information to be obtained without human participation. All of the chemistry-biochemistry is an inherent part of the sensor. A direct reaction occurs when the sample (antigen) is brought in contact with the sensor. The sensitivity of the competitive immunoassay optical sensor is controlled and increased by selecting a tag for the antigen or altering the attachment of a tag to an antigen so that the binding of tagged antigen to an antibody is decreased relative to the binding of untagged antigen to the antibody. The user can vary size, molecular weight and geometric configuration of the tagged antigen. This can be accomplished by selecting the proper tag or by attaching the indicator material to the antigen through a spacer or by attaching the tag directly to the antigen and attaching a compound of proper molecular weight and size elsewhere. Pretreatment of the substrate to which the antibody-bound tagged antigen is immobilized to block the surface from unwanted interferences and the use of optical isolation increases sensitivity. If the tag cannot be attached to the antigen, it is attached to the antibody. Attaching the controlled size, molecular weight tag to either the antigen or antibody permits the analysis of species not normally measureable by competitive immunoassay, thus increasing the versatility of the method.

The invention relates generally to optical chemical and biochemical sensors and more particularly to solid-state sensors using single-step competitive immunoassays with antibodies. For the purposes of this invention the term sensor is used to include all solid state systems capable of doing a single-step competitive immunological analysis where the optical output provides qualitative and quantitative information about the target molecule(s), i.e., sample.
In a single-step competitive immunoassay optical sensor, an antibody is immobilized on the sensor substrate, and a tagged antigen is bound to the antibody. The tag is typically a fluorophore or chromophore. The target (untagged) antigen competitively binds to the antibody and displaces the tagged antigen, causing a change in sensor optical properties, e.g. fluorescence or color intensity. The antibody-antigen reaction is used to identify the measured species and the change in optical properties can be directly related to the concentration of that species. U.S. Pat. No. 4,321,057 issued Mar. 23, 1983 to Buckles describes a fiber optic sensor based on competitive immunoassay between tagged and untagged antigen. It is also possible to adapt the solid-state, single-step immunoassay system so that it can be used with a radio-chemical tag.
Immunoassays have become a well accepted method of analysis in medicine because of their unquestionable specificity to the target compound of interest. If a monoclonal antibody is used, then its reaction is specific to a particular antigen (compound of interest). If, on the other hand, a polyclonal antibody is used, then its reaction is specific to a particular chemical structure rather than a precise chemical compound. A comparison of the types of antibodies suitable for the single-step, solid state competitive immunoassay are listed in FIG. 1A.
The use of immunoassays can be extended beyond basic medical applications to a variety of other analytical needs including environmental monitoring, process control, dosimetry/personal protection and military applications. The solid-state, single step technology described herein is not only applicable to all of these, but extends the number and types of medical applications while simplifying the process.
The preferred existing immunoassay techniques are enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and enzyme-linked immuno-fluorescent assay (ELIFA), both of which are liquid systems based on the competition between sample analyte and analyte-enzyme conjugates for a limited number of antibody sites. These are multiple step chemical reactions which must be executed with precise timing for meaningful semi-quantitative measurements.
FIG. 1B shows the typical ELISA procedures used in field kits. They involve numerous solution changes, washings, timed reactions, and a series of critical steps that can be a source of operator error, especially under non-optimal field conditions. In this order of events, the following takes place:
1) A filtered liquid sample or a filtered extracted solid sample is added to a tube containing an immobilized antibody specific to the analyte of interest. PA1 2) This is allowed to react for a specific time, the contents of the tube are removed, and the tube is washed. PA1 3) An enzyme-bound solution of pure analyte is added to the tube and allowed to compete for a fixed time, the contents of the tube are removed and the tube is washed. There is now a mixture of analyte (sample) and enzyme-bound analyte attached to the tube in proportion to their concentrations. PA1 4) A chromophore, which reacts with the enzyme, is added to the tube and the color is allowed to develop. PA1 5) After a specific time, a retardant is added to stop color formation. PA1 6) The color intensity is then measured in a field spectrometer (the measurement is made across the tube and background contributions are included in the results).
In actuality three (3) similar reactions are run simultaneously--low analyte, high analyte and blank (reference) and their colors compared to get a semi-quantitative measurement of sample concentration.
The immunosensor technique described herein is also based on a competitive assay. It uses a new, unique single step biochemical approach which not only is much simpler than ELISA or ELIFA, but can be done in the solid state, i.e., no wet chemistry-biochemistry.
This invention primarily addresses comprehensive new approaches to competitive binding fluoro- and chromoimmunoassays. In particular it focuses on simplifying the analyses, optimizing the physical state of the sensor, improving sensitivity, making the sensor quantitative and adapting the sensor for the analysis of small molecules.
The competitive immunoassay of this invention reduces the number of individual analytical steps from an average of six (6) to ten (10) using ELISA or ELIFA to one (1) using this invention. A mechanism has been devised whereby all of the chemistry-biochemistry necessary to perform the detection, identification and quantification functions are inherently a part of the analytical strategy and all of the requisite data are easily accessed. A comparison of typical competitive immunoassay techniques appears in FIG. 1C, where the last column, FCIE, is the present invention. The chemistry-biochemistry of the present invention is innovative with respect to prior art in competitive immunoassays in that it is solid state, i.e., the need for, and use, of a liquid system has been obviated. The chemistry-biochemistry is immobilized directly on a substrate. This substrate can be of any configuration which permits an optical measurement to be made. Substrates include, but are not limited to, test tubes, cuvettes, fiber optics, optical waveguides, optical chips and optical waveguides on semiconductor chips.
Sensitivity is enhanced in the present invention by reducing background contributions. The techniques of background reduction can only be used in the solid-state configuration where all of the components are affixed in a predetermined position and the number of uncontrolled parameters are minimized or completely eliminated. Background reduction is primarily accomplished by designing the chemical-biochemical system so that the fluorescent or chromophoric tag which is ejected during the competitive step in the analysis cannot be and is not in the field-of view of the optical (spectral) measurement. Other methods of minimizing background include blocking the surface of the substrate so that nothing but the antibody can attach to it, assuring that the tag is covalently bonded to the chemistry-biochemistry so that its motion is restricted and using an optical isolation compound to diminish reflections from the sensor's surface.
The use of competitive antibody-antigen reactions has been primarily limited because of: (1) The use of liquid chemical-biochemical systems which inherently include all of the drawbacks and potential human errors associated with wet chemistry-biochemistry; (2) The use of multiple-step analysis--six (6) to ten (10) precise chemical-biochemical steps in a predescribed timed sequence; (3) Lack of sensitivity--high background noise, inadequate antibody loading on the substrate and inefficacious exchange between antibody bound to tagged antigen and untagged antigen and (4) The inability to measure small molecules--a requisite for many environmental, process control, and dosimeter applications.
For the molecules which can be measured using existing techniques such as ELISA, ELIFA or mass spectrometry, the minimum detection limits (MDL) are nominally between 35 and 50 parts-per-billion (ppb), and in some cases as high as the low parts-per-million (ppm) range. The limit of quantification (LOQ) is a factor of 3.3 higher. These restrictions limit or exclude their use in such important areas as: (1) Environmental monitoring, especially measuring pollutants to assure that drinking water, occupational health and safety, and Underwriter Laboratory (UL) standards are met; (2) Measuring contamination in chemical processes; (3) Examining personnel for alcohol, drug or other substances abuse; (4) Determining exposure to and presence of toxic substances and infectious diseases; and (5) Diagnosing and evaluating maladies such as cancer, heart infarctions, arthritis, gastrointestinal ailments, abnormal blood panels and urological problems. Typically, 5 ppb is the LOQ required for many of these applications which means that a MDL of 1.5 ppb is a requisite. The solid-state, single-step competitive immunoassay described herein can have a MDL of less than 0.4 ppb (<400 pptr, parts-per-trillion).
The production of solid-state, single-step, high sensitivity competitive immunoassays for an extended list of antigens is the primary focus of this invention. This provides the ability to measure and quantify numerous antigens in the low ppb to parts per trillion (pptr) range irrespective of their molecular size. Thus the analysis of small molecules is also part of this invention.
As a result of the solid-state, single-step, high-sensitivity chemical-biochemical systems developed according to the present invention, the drawbacks that existing, prior art, immunoassays must be done by trained personnel and are subject to human error, is overcome. Specifically, the up-to-date prior art assays require mixing of chemicals, such as the addition of enzymes and dyes, in exact quantities and sequence, and at designated time intervals. The results, therefore, are only as accurate as the technician and are subject to the sum of all errors. The use of immunological systems, where there is no human participation in the chemistry-biochemistry, is an important part of this invention.
Optical waveguide chemical sensors (OWCS), optical waveguide biochemical sensors (OWBS), fiber optic chemical sensors (FOCS), fiber optic biochemical sensors (FOBS), optical chip chemical sensors (OCCS) and optical chip biochemical sensors (OCBS) as well as simple containers such as cuvettes, test tubes and bottles which can transmit an optical signal are all transducers in an information acquisition strategy which obtains real-time data about the presence and concentration of specific species, or chemical groups of compounds, in chemical and biochemical systems. Optical waveguides include flat channeled and non-channeled waveguides as well as chips with waveguides on them. Waveguide sensors can have a wide variety of general configurations, for example, similar in physical layout to those illustrated in FIGS. 18A-D. A typical waveguide system has a sensor chemistry attached to a portion of the waveguide. More than one sensing chemistry can be placed on a single waveguide. The sensor can be a miniaturized waveguide which is totally covered with sensing chemistry. In order to have an internal reference, the waveguide may be half coated and the uncoated section is used to obtain a reference signal.
Preferably, the waveguide is half coated with the complete immobilization agent, sensing biochemistry and optional overcoatings, and the other half of the waveguide is coated with all but the sensing chemistry and is used to obtain a reference. In this configuration, in order for this to work, the inactive portion of the waveguide must face the illumination source and the reference signal must be taken before that of the coated section. A more practical arrangement is to use two (2) waveguides, sense and reference, illuminated by a single light source and the resultant signal detected by two (2) matched detectors. It is possible to use waveguide sensors with many configurations in combination with a separate reference. In either arrangement the difference or ratio of the sense and reference signal contains the unadulterated concentration information. In the case of container-based sensors the sensing chemistry is attached to the inner wall and the sample to be measured placed in the vessel. As with the waveguide sensors, sense and reference sensors can be employed either by using two vessels, sense and reference, or by attaching both the sense and reference chemistries in the same container in a geometric arrangement that allows each chemistry to be interrogated individually.
Optical chemical and biochemical sensors are devices with indicators for preselected chemical and/or physical properties attached to their surfaces, so that sensitive, specific, real-time analyses can be made. These can be based on fluorescence, absorption, Raman, polarization, refraction, reflection or radiochemical measurements. The species or group-specific chemistry can be selected from organics, inorganics, metals, enzymes, monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies, biochemicals and polymers or combinations thereof. Interaction of an analyte with the sensing reagent (in this case a tagged antigen or tagged antibody) produces a change in one of the above mentioned spectroscopic parameters. For sensitive measurements using antibody-antigen reactions fluorescence, color, or polarization are the preferred measured properties depending on the molecular size of the target molecule. A readout device electronically converts light flux into voltage. Modulation in the voltage reading directly correlates with the analyte concentration.
The basic reactions in a competitive immunoassay are generally similar to the reactions shown in FIGS. 2A,B. In this Figure Y represents an antibody, *.gradient. (or .gradient.*) is the tagged antigen and .gradient. is the untagged antigen, i.e., the target compound of interest. The greater the exchange rate between .gradient. and *.gradient. the more sensitive the reaction. Ideally, most of the *.gradient. will be lost at the actual (or integrated) concentration of the compound to be measured. This is not the case under normal circumstances; however, the present invention provides a method of making this happen.
An antibody (Y) can be attached to a glass or waveguide substrate and saturated with a tagged antigen (*.gradient.), similar to that shown in FIG. 3A. The same arrangement can be produced on a membrane substrate, similar to that shown in FIG. 4A.

Single-step, solid-state competitive immunoassay


A target treatment volume for exhaust gas to be treated is specified based on the product of an actual flow rate of exhaust gas discharged toward a CO2 recovery device, and an exhaust gas treatment rate RG1, and a target recovery volume for CO2 to be recovered by the recovery device is specified based on the product of an actual volume of CO2 contained in the exhaust gas discharged from the generation source of the exhaust gas, the exhaust gas treatment rate RG1, and a CO2 recovery rate RCO2.RG1=TCO2/VG1                 VG1: Flow rate of exhaust gas discharged from generation source of exhaust gas        TCO2: Volume of exhaust gas to be treated by recovery deviceRCO2=CCO2/VCO2         VCO2: Volume of CO2 contained in exhaust gas to be treated by recovery device        CCO2: Volume of CO2 to be recovered by recovery device.

In recent years, carbon dioxide (hereinafter referred to as CO2) is pointed out as one of causes of the global warming phenomenon. Therefore, a method of bringing a combustion gas of a boiler into contact with an absorbent and eliminating and recovering CO2 in the combustion gas, and a method of storing the recovered CO2 without discharging the CO2 to the atmospheric have been extensively studied for, for example, power generation facilities, such as a thermoelectric power plant that uses a large quantity of fossil fuels.
CO2 recovery devices include, as basic constituent elements, an absorption tower that causes CO2 in gas to be absorbed into an absorbent, and a regeneration tower that separates CO2 from the absorbent. In order to properly operate the CO2 recovery devices, several proposals as shown below have been made up to now.
The volume of exhaust gas required for attaining an objective is determined from a target CO2 recovery volume and CO2 concentration in the exhaust gas, and the exhaust gas is supplied to a CO2 recovery device (for example, PTL 1).
The volume of exhaust gas from an exhaust gas source (a boiler or a gas turbine installed upstream of a CO2 recovery device) and CO2 concentration in the exhaust gas are measured, and operation parameters required for achieving a target CO2 recovery rate are determined (for example, PTL 2).
The flow rate of the gas discharged to the atmosphere through a chimney without being treated by a CO2 recovery device, and the composition of this gas are measured using the gas from an exhaust gas source, and the volume of exhaust gas to be supplied to the CO2 recovery device is determined so as not to produce a stream that flows into the chimney from the atmosphere (for example, PTL 3).


Systems and methods, including methods performed by a processing device, are disclosed herein for filling the unused or blank spaces of a display screen. In one exemplary system, among others, the system comprises a display screen configured to display video images and a display screen controller configured to control the display screen. The display screen controller comprising a device for sampling a plurality of pixels from a stream of video images and a device for calculating an average color of the plurality of sampled pixels. Also, the display screen controller includes a device for adding color bands in unused portions of the display screen, the color bands comprising a color corresponding to the calculated average color. With the present system, the difference between the burn-in pattern of a video image and the unused portions of the display screen is reduced, thereby preserving the integrity of the display screen.

Reference is first made to FIGS. 1-4. In FIG. 1, a standard definition (SD) television set 10 is illustrated having a format for displaying video images with an aspect ratio of 4:3. The "aspect ratio" is the proportion of the width of a video image with respect to its height. SD broadcast signals conform to the 4:3 format and can be displayed over the entire screen of the traditional SD television set 10. FIG. 2 illustrates a high-definition television (HDTV) set 20, which has an aspect ratio of 16:9 for displaying high-definition (HD) signals also having a 16:9 aspect ratio. With respect to cinematography, aspect ratios of 2.39:1 and 1.85:1 are common, but do not match the format of the SD television set 10.
Because of the difference in aspect ratios, the SD television set 10 is normally unable to display cinematic movies over the entire screen thereof. Also, the HDTV set 20 is normally unable to display SD video images over the entire screen of the HDTV set 20. When the aspect ratio of a display screen, such as the SD television set 10 or HDTV set 20, is different from the video image being displayed, certain adjustments are made so that the video images can be easily viewed. For example, a control device (not shown), which controls the video images to be displayed on the display screen, may crop a portion of video image so that the image covers the entire screen. Alternatively, the control device may fit the video image such that there will remain unused or blank spaces on the screen, which is the typical solution to accommodate differences in aspect ratios. In this typical solution, black bands are typically added in the unused spaces. In FIG. 3, the SD television set 10 of FIG. 1 displays a "wide-screen" video image 12, such as a cinematic movie, the width of which is bounded by the left and right sides of the screen of the SD television set 10. Blank spaces 14 and 16 are positioned above and below the video image 12 in a "letterbox" configuration. In FIG. 4, an SD video image 22 is displayed on the HDTV set 20 of FIG. 2. The height of the SD video image 22 is bounded by the top and bottom of the screen of the HDTV set 20 and blank spaces 24 and 26 are positioned to the left and right of the SD video image 22 in a "pillarbox" configuration.
Typically, these blank spaces 14, 16, 24, and 26 are simply configured as black bands filling the empty portions of the screen. However, there is a problem that can arise when the unused spaces are filled with black bands. Over extended periods of time, the portion of the display screen that includes the images 12 and 22 will experience a burn-in effect that is more severe than the unused black portions of the screen. The images 12 and 22 may imprint a burn pattern on the luminophor or phosphor material of the display screen 10 and 20. Since the black bars 14, 16, 24, and 26 create little or no burn-in effect on the unused portions of the screen, these portions will not be burned to such an extent, thereby resulting in an uneven burn pattern. With an uneven burn pattern, unnatural lines or bars might be created on the display screen that may be visible when later images are shown. Also, these unequal burn patterns can be permanently imprinted on a display screen and are undesirably distracting to viewers.
One solution to the problem of unequal burning on a display screen has been to color the unused spaces gray. In theory, by exposing the unused portions of the screen to a neutral color between the extremes of white or black, the gray blocks are intended to burn the unused portions of the screen to a similar extent as the burning where the actual video image is displayed. However, the gray color may appear unnatural compared to colorful images and may be distracting to a viewer. Also, the illumination of gray may not necessarily burn the unused portions equally with the regular image, thereby still creating the undesirable burn lines or bars. Thus, a need exists in the field of television to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies of the conventional systems for filling the unused spaces of a display screen.

Filling blank spaces of a display screen


Soft point bonded nonwoven webs, and methods of making the same, are described that utilize a pattern of small, discrete bond points in a sequent pattern that together form macro-elements. The macro-elements are themselves positioned and aligned within a pattern such that mechanical stretching operations on the point bonded nonwoven webs yields soft and bulky fabrics but with reduced incidence of tearing or rupturing of the individual bond points.

Nonwoven fabrics are commonly used in a variety of disposable products such as diapers, panty-liners, baby wipes and other personal hygiene products. Due to their low cost and strength, nonwoven materials are utilized in a wide variety of different components in such products. In one aspect, many of the functional materials used in personal care products, e.g. elastic materials and barrier films, lack the desired softness attributes and have an unpleasant hand-feel. Thus, it is common to use nonwoven materials as a facing layer together with other functional layers to improve the overall hand-feel and softness of the laminate. For example, liquid impermeable outer covers used in absorbent personal care articles often comprise a laminate including a barrier film, such as a microporous film, bonded to a polypropylene spunbond fiber nonwoven web. However, while nonwovens generally have a hand-feel that is better than various functional materials, many nonwoven webs still can be relatively rigid in nature and/or lack the level of softness consumer's desire. For these reasons, various attempts have been made to improve the softness of nonwoven webs through the addition of additives as well as through mechanical treatments. For example, one technique that has been employed is stretching of the nonwoven fabrics via inter-meshing grooved rolls, commonly referred to as ring-rolling or incremental stretching. Such treatments have provided some improvement with regard to the overall hand feel of the nonwoven. However, such treatments can lead to increased fuzzing or linting as well as the formation of tears within the nonwoven. Often such linting or tearing may be on a limited scale or size, nevertheless the formation of such irregularities detracts from the overall perception of quality and can erode a consumer's confidence in the ability of the product to perform its intended function. For example, where a nonwoven web is used as an outer facing material of a liquid impermeable outer cover for a diaper, even though small tears may not materially impact the barrier function of the film/nonwoven laminate, such tears can cause the consumer to question the ability of the product to properly perform.
Therefore, in order to address the continued desire for nonwoven webs with still greater levels of softness and/or hand-feel, the present invention provides nonwoven fabrics having a unique and improved combination of properties, namely pleasing hand and softness together with high strength and greatly reduced incident of visual defects. In this regard, the patterns and processes of the present invention are significantly better able to withstand the forces and stresses commonly associated with post-formation mechanical softening treatments.


A driving circuit includes a generation unit configured to generate a driving signal for turning on and off a power switching device, the driving signal having plural levels of voltage at which the power switching device is turned on. The driving circuit also includes a switching control unit configured to switch between the plural levels of voltage at which the power switching device is turned on, depending on a status of the power switching device.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driving circuit which outputs a driving signal to a power switching device in a switching power supply apparatus.
(2) Description of the Related Art
In recent years, from the point of view of anti-global warming measures, standby power reduction in home electric appliances has drawn attention, and switching power supply apparatuses which consume less power on standby has been in strong demand.
FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a switching power supply apparatus 200. The switching power supply apparatus 200 controls on and off of a voltage control type switching device 25 to output a stable direct current voltage. Specifically, the switching power supply apparatus 200 includes a primary side rectifying and smoothing circuit 101, a switching circuit 102, a transformer 103, a secondary side rectifying and smoothing circuit 104, and a feedback circuit 119.
The primary side rectifying and smoothing circuit 101 includes a diode bridge 109 and an input capacitor 110. In the primary side rectifying and smoothing circuit 101, the diode bridge 109 full-wave rectifies a voltage and the input capacitor 110 smoothes the full-wave rectified voltage.
The switching circuit 102 causes the voltage control type switching device 25 to switch at high speed, and outputs an alternating current having a high frequency to the transformer 103. Specifically, the switching circuit 102 includes a driving circuit 108, an external resistor 121 of the driving circuit 108, a resonant capacitor 122, and the voltage control type switching device 25. The voltage control type switching device 25 is a power switching device such as a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET).
A primary winding 111 is provided in the transformer 103. The primary winding 111 and the voltage control type switching device 25 are connected in series, and an input direct current voltage is supplied to the series circuit.
A gate terminal of the voltage control type switching device 25 is connected to the driving circuit 108, and conduction and cutoff of the voltage control type switching device 25 are controlled by a driving signal provided by the driving circuit 108.
Furthermore, a secondary winding 112 magnetically coupled with the primary winding 111 and an auxiliary winding 120 magnetically coupled with the primary and secondary windings 111 and 112 are provided in the transformer 103. When a switching operation of the voltage control type switching device 25 causes a current to flow intermittently through the primary winding 111, a voltage is induced in the secondary winding 112 and the auxiliary winding 120.
The secondary side rectifying and smoothing circuit 104 rectifies and smoothes the voltage induced in the secondary winding 112 to generate an output direct current voltage, and outputs the voltage from output terminals 117 and 118. Here, the secondary side rectifying and smoothing circuit 104 includes a rectifying diode 113, a choke coil 114, a first output capacitor 115, and a second output capacitor 116. The choke coil 114, the first output capacitor 115, and the second output capacitor 116 are connected in π-type. The voltage induced in the secondary winding 112 is half-wave rectified by the rectifying diode 113, and the half-wave rectified voltage is smoothed by the choke coil 114 and the first and second capacitors 115 and 116.
The voltage induced at both ends of the auxiliary winding 120 is inputted to a control terminal of the voltage control type switching device 25 via the driving circuit 108. The switching power supply apparatus 200 employs a Ringing Choke Converter (RCC) method. The voltage control type switching device 25 self-excites with the voltage induced in the auxiliary winding 120 to perform the switching operation.
The driving circuit 108 uses the voltage induced in the auxiliary winding 120 to generate an auxiliary direct current voltage inside. The driving circuit 108, except when first starting up, operates on the auxiliary direct current voltage.
It is to be noted that when first starting up, that is, when an alternating current voltage is supplied between input terminals 105 and 106, because the voltage control type switching device 25 does not perform the switching operation, no voltage is induced in the auxiliary winding 120 and the driving circuit 108 has no power supply. Accordingly, in order to cause the voltage control type switching device 25 to start the switching operation, the primary side rectifying and smoothing circuit 101 supplies, via the external resistor 121 (high voltage, high power) of the driving circuit 108, a low voltage sufficient to activate the driving circuit 108.
Moreover, a voltage value or a current value between the output terminals 117 and 118 is fed back to the driving circuit 108 via the feedback circuit 119. For instance, in the case where the voltage between the output terminals 117 and 118 decreases, the driving circuit 108 forcibly extends a conduction period of the voltage control type switching device 25. Conversely, in the case where the voltage between the output terminals 117 and 118 rises, the driving circuit 108 forcibly shortens a conduction period of the voltage control type switching device 25 and performs control so that the voltage between the output terminals 117 and 118 is maintained at a certain value.
Here, in the case where a load connected between the output terminals 117 and 118 is heavy, in the above-mentioned switching power supply apparatus 200 employing the RCC method, the conduction period of the voltage control type switching device 25 is extended, and a large current flowing through the primary winding 111 causes the voltage between the output terminals 117 and 118 to be maintained at the certain value. Conversely, in case of a light load such as a standby state, the conduction period of the voltage control type switching device 25 is shortened, and a decrease in a current flowing through the primary winding 111 causes the voltage between the output terminals 117 and 118 to be maintained at the certain value. It is to be noted that in the RCC method, a switching frequency increases with the shortening of the conduction period of the voltage control type switching device 25.
FIG. 20 is a timing diagram illustrating, in different load states, a power supply output current Io and a power supply output voltage Vo of the conventional switching power supply apparatus 200, and a drain current Ids and a gate voltage Vgs of the voltage control type switching device 25. As stated above, the drain current Ids of the voltage control type switching device 25 varies depending on the load connected between the output terminals 117 and 118. Hereafter, in the present Specification, the drain current Ids flowing through the voltage control type switching device 25 is defined as a load current.
A rated load state is, for example, a state in which a television is on, and a state in which the largest amount of current flows within a normal operational range. Furthermore, a standby state is, for instance, a state of light load in which the television is off and a remote control operation is on standby, and a state in which a load is light. A load change state is a state in a transition period from the rated load state to the standby state.
In the rated load state, because a large amount of the power supply output current Io, which is the current outputted by the switching power supply apparatus 200, flows, the power supply output voltage Vo, which is the voltage between the output terminals 117 and 118, is low. When the power supply output voltage Vo is low, the driving circuit 108 widens a pulse width of the gate voltage Vgs of the voltage control type switching device 25 to increase the drain current Ids flowing through the voltage control type switching device 25.
Next, in the load change state, because the load is gradually reduced, the power supply output current Io decreases, and accordingly the power supply output voltage Vo increases. When the power supply output voltage Vo increases, the driving circuit 108 gradually narrows the pulse width of the gate voltage Vgs to suppress the drain current Ids.
In the standby state, the power supply output current Io further decreases, and the power supply output voltage Vo increases. When the power supply output voltage Vo is high, the pulse width of the gate voltage Vgs is further narrowed, and the drain current Ids is further suppressed.
In the above-mentioned switching power supply apparatus 200, a power loss occurs mainly in the voltage control type switching device 25. The MOSFET is usually used for the voltage control type switching device 25. Generally, although a bipolar transistor causes a large switching loss when switching from a conduction state to a cutoff state, the MOSFET having a fast switching speed causes a small switching loss. On the other hand, unlike the bipolar transistor, the MOSFET having large conduction resistance causes a considerable conduction loss. Thus, when a large current flows, the conduction loss increases. Accordingly, a gate voltage of the MOSFET is set high to lower the conduction resistance, so that the conduction loss is reduced.
Moreover, a device which has been proposed in recent years switches between the following two operation modes. In one operation mode, the device operates as a MOSFET favorable to a high frequency and a low current in case of a light load such as a standby mode; and, in the other operation mode, the device operates as an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) favorable to a low frequency and a large current in case of a heavy load (for 10 example, see Patent Reference 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-115871). Because, when the large current flows, the device operates as the IGBT to further lower the conduction resistance, it is possible to comprehensively reduce both the switching and conduction losses caused in a case ranging from the light load to the heavy load.

Driving circuit for power switching device, driving method thereof, and switching power supply apparatus


An object-detection system for, e.g., a vehicle collision avoidance system, utilizes a metamaterial-based phase shifting element array to generate a scan beam by varying the effective capacitance of each metamaterial structure forming the array in order to control the phases of their radio frequency output signals such that the combined electromagnetic wave generated by the output signals is reinforced in the desired direction and suppressed in undesired directions to produce the scan beam. The metamaterial structures are configured to resonate at the same radio wave frequency as an incident input signal (radiation), whereby each metamaterial structure emits an associated output signal by way of controlled scattering the input signal. A variable capacitance is applied on each metamaterial structure, e.g., using varicaps that are adjusted by way of phase control voltages, to produce the desired output phase patterns. The metamaterial structures are constructed using inexpensive metal film or PCB fabrication technology.

Phase shifters are two-port network devices that provide a controllable phase shift (i.e., a change the transmission phase angle) of a radio frequency (RF) signal in response to control signal (e.g., a DC bias voltage). Conventional phase shifters can be generally classified as ferrite (ferroelectric) phase shifters, integrated circuit (IC) phase shifters, and microelectromechanical system (MEMS) phase shifters. Ferrite phase shifters are known for low insertion loss and their ability to handle significantly higher powers than IC and MEMS phase shifters, but are complex in nature and have a high fabrication cost. IC phase shifters (aka, microwave integrated circuit MMIC) phase shifters) use PIN diodes or FET devices, and are less expensive and smaller in size than ferrite phase shifters, but their uses are limited because of high insertion loss. MEMS phase shifters use MEMS bridges and thin-film ferroelectric materials to overcome the limitations of ferrite and IC phase shifters, but still remain relatively bulky, expensive and power hungry.
While the applications of phase shifters are numerous, perhaps the most important application is within a phased array antenna system (a.k.a., phased array or electrically steerable array), in which the phase of a large number of radiating elements are controlled such that the combined electromagnetic wave is reinforced in a desired direction and suppressed in undesired directions, thereby generating a "beam" of RF energy that is emitted at the desired angle from the array. By varying the relative phases of the respective signals feeding the antennas, the emitted beam can be caused to scan or "sweep" an area or region into which the beam is directed. Such scan beams are utilized, for example, in phased array radar systems and other object-detection systems to sweep areas of interest (target fields), where beam energy portions that are reflected (scattered) from an object located in the target field are detected and analyzed to determine the object's position.
Because a large number of phase shifters are typically needed to implement a phased array-based system (e.g., an object-detection system such as radar), the use of conventional phase shifters presents several problems in such phased array-based systems. First, the high cost of conventional phase shifters makes phased array-based systems impractical (i.e., too expensive) for many applications that might otherwise find a phased array useful—it has been estimated that almost half of the cost of a phased array is due to the cost of phase shifters. Second, high power consumption of conventional phase shifters precludes mounting phased arrays on many portable devices and small vehicles that rely on battery power or have otherwise limited power sources, thus limiting the types of devices and vehicles that could power a phased array for a practical amount of time. Third, phased arrays that implement conventional phase shifters are typically highly complex due to the complex integration of many expensive solid-state, MEMS or ferrite-based phase shifters, control lines, together with power distribution networks, as well as the complexity of the phase shifters. Moreover, phased array systems implementing conventional phase shifters are typically very heavy, which is due in large part to the combined weight of the conventional phase shifters), which limits the types of applications in which phased arrays may be used. For example, although commercial airliners and medium sized aircraft have sufficient power to lift a heavy radar system, smaller aircraft, automobiles and drones typically do not.
What is needed is an object-detection system that avoids the weight (bulk), expense, complexity and power consumption of conventional phased array-based object-detection systems. What are also needed are guidance and collision avoidance systems utilizing such object-detection systems.


A display and a driving method of a display panel capable of improving a dark contrast. In driving the display panel having light-emission areas formed at each intersection of a plurality of pairs of row electrodes and a plurality of column electrodes, each of the light-emission areas having a first discharge cell including a portion where the respective row electrodes in pair are opposed to each other with a predetermined discharge gap within a discharge space and a second discharge cell including a portion where a light absorptive layer is provided and one row electrode of the row electrode pair and the other row electrode of the row electrode pair adjacent to this row electrode pair are opposed to each other with a predetermined discharge gap, an address discharge is produced within the second discharge cell, to set the second discharge cell at a light-on state or a light-off state, by applying a pixel data pulse based on an input image signal, to respective column electrodes, while applying a scanning pulse to a row electrode having the longer distance to the first discharge cell, of the respective row electrodes within the second discharge cell. This structure causes the address discharge within the second discharge cell relatively distant from the first discharge cell, so that the amount of a ultraviolet ray by the address discharge flowing into the first discharge cell is reduced, to suppress the deterioration of the dark contrast.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display having a display panel mounted there and a driving method of the display panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a plasma display panel (hereafter, referred to as PDP) with a plurality of discharge cells arranged in matrix gains attention as a two-dimensional image display panel. The PDP is directly driven by a digital image signal and the number of the displayable brightness gradation is determined by the number of the bits of the pixel data for every pixel based on the digital image signal.
Subfield method is known as a gradation display method of the PDP. The subfield method features division of a display period into a plurality of sub-periods to drive each cell. In the subfield method, the display period of one field is divided into a plurality of subfields so to perform the light-emission drive on the PDP in every subfield. Each subfield includes an address period of setting a light-on mode or a light-off mode of each pixel depending on the pixel data and a light emission sustaining period for lighting on (emitting light) only the pixel in the light-on mode, for the period corresponding to the weight of the subfield. Namely, whether the discharge cell should emit light or not in each subfield is set in every subfield (address period), and only the discharge cell set at the light-on mode is made to emit light for only the period assigned to the subfield (light emission sustaining period). Thus, there occurs the case where a subfield in a light emitting state and a subfield in a light-off (non-light emitting) state exist in a mixed way, hence to visualize the intermediate gradation depending on the total sum of the light-emission periods of the respective subfields within one field.
FIG. 1 schematically shows an example of a light emission drive format of the PDP. For example, refer to FIG. 6 to FIG. 8 of Japanese Patent Kokai No. 2001-154630 (patent document 1).
Namely, one field in an image signal is divided into twelve subfields of SF1 to SF12 and the drive of the PDP is performed in each subfield. In this process, each subfield is formed by an address stage Wc for setting each discharge cell of the PDP at "light-on state" (namely, operative mode) according to an input image signal and "light-off state" (namely, non-operative mode) and a sustain stage Ic for making only the discharge cell in the "light-on state" emit light only for the period (the number of times) corresponding to the weight of each subfield. Here, a simultaneous reset stage Rc for initializing all the discharge cells of the PDP into the "light-on state" is executed only in the head subfield SF1, and an erase stage E is executed only in the last subfield SF12.
FIG. 2 shows pixel drive data GD obtained by performing the following conversion processing on the pixel data and its corresponding gradation and light-emission drive pattern of a discharge cell (for example, refer to the patent document 1).
By sampling an image signal, for example, the pixel data for 8 bits can be obtained. The obtained pixel data is subjected to the multiple gradation processing and while keeping the current number of gradation levels, the number of the bits is reduced to 4 bits hence to generate the multiple gradation-processed pixel data PDs. The multiple gradation-processed pixel data PDs is converted into the pixel drive data GD consisting of first to twelfth bits, according to a conversion table, as shown in FIG. 2. Each of these first and twelfth bits corresponds to each of the above-mentioned subfields SF1 to SF12.
FIG. 3 is a view showing the applying timings of various drive pulse to be applied to the row electrodes and the column electrodes of the PDP, according to the light-emission drive format shown in FIG. 2 (for example, refer to the patent document 1). FIG. 3 shows the case of the driving according to a selective-erasing method (one-reset one-select-erase address method).
In the simultaneous reset stage Rc of the subfield SF1, at first, the reset pulse RPx of negative polarity is applied to the row electrodes X1 to Xn. Simultaneously with the application of the reset pulse RPx, the reset pulse RPY of positive polarity is applied to the row electrodes Y1 to Y2. According to the application of the reset pulses RPx and RPy, all the discharge cells are discharged and reset, and each wall charge of the same predetermined amount is formed within each discharge cell. Thus, all the discharge cells are initialized into the "light-on state".
In the address stage Wc of each subfield, pixel data pulses DP each having a voltage corresponding to a logical level of the pixel drive data bits DB1 to DB12. The pixel drive data bits DB1 to DB12 correspond to the first to the twelfth bits of the pixel drive data GD. For example, in the address stage Wc of the subfield SF1, at first, the pixel drive data bit DB1 is converted into a pixel data pulse having a voltage corresponding to its logical level. The number m of the pixel data pulses corresponding to the first line is defined as the pixel data pulse group DP11, the number m of the pixel data pulses corresponding to the second line is defined as the pixel data pulse group DP12, the number m of the pixel data pulses corresponding to the n-th line is defined as the pixel data pulse group DP1n, and each of the pixel data pulse groups DP11 to DP1n is sequentially applied to the column electrodes D1 to Dm.
Further, in the address stage Wc, at the same timing as each applying timing of the pixel data pulse group DP as mentioned above, a scanning pulse SP of negative polarity is sequentially applied to the column electrodes Y1 to Yn. In this process, only the discharge cell at an intersection of the row electrode having the scanning pulse SP applied and the column electrode having the pixel data pulse of high pressure applied, is discharged (selective-erase discharge) and the wall charge left within the discharge cell is selectively erased.
According to the selective-erase discharge, the discharge cell initialized into the "light-on state" in the simultaneous reset stage Rc is turned to the "light-off state". While, the discharge cell where the selective-erase discharge does not occur is maintained in the initialized state, namely in the "light-on state" in the simultaneous reset stage Rc.
In the sustain stage IC of the respective subfields, as illustrated in FIG. 3, respective sustain pulses IPX and IPY of positive polarity are alternatively applied to the respective row electrodes X1 to Xn and Y1 to Yn. Here, in the sustain stage IC, the sustain pulse IP is applied in such a manner that the number of the sustain pulses IP may become a predetermined ratio in the respective subfields SF1 to SF12. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the ratio of the number of the sustain pulses in the respective subfields becomes    SF1:SF2:SF3:SF4:SF5:SF6:SF7:SF8:SF9:SF10:SF11:SF12=1:2:4:7:11:14:20:25:33:40:48:50.
In this case, only the discharge cell where the wall discharge is still left, namely the discharge cell set at the "light-on state" in the above address stage Wc, is sustained every time the sustain pulses IPX and IPY are applied there. Accordingly, the discharge cell set at the "light-on state" sustains the light emission state accompanying the sustain discharge, for the number of the times assigned to each subfield as mentioned above.
The erase stage E is executed only in the last subfield SF12. In this erase stage E, an erase pulse AP of positive polarity is generated and applied to the respective column electrodes D1 to Dm. Further, simultaneously with the applying timing of the erase pulse AP, the erase pulse EP of negative polarity is generated and applied to the respective row electrodes Y1 to Yn. The simultaneous application of these erase pulses AP and EP causes the erase discharge in all the discharge cells in the PDP and extinguishes the wall charges left within all the discharge cells. According to the erase discharge, all the discharge cells in the PDP are turned to the "light-off state".
In the drive method as mentioned above, only in one of the subfields, only the discharge cell in a light emission state in the proximate subfield is selectively erased in the address stage. Thus, starting from the head subfield, the number N (for example, 12) of the subfields are sequentially lit on, hence to display the N+1-level gradation (for example, 13-level gradation), and then, the gradation display depending on the brightness represented by an input image signal is realized according to the total sum of the sustain discharges in the respective subfields.
In the driving of the PDP, however, the reset discharge and the address discharge accompanied by the light emission not related to the display image should be generated, in addition to the sustain discharge serving for a display image. Accordingly, it has the defect of deteriorating the contrast of an image, especially, the dark contrast at a display time of an image indicating a dark scene.
In order to solve the above problem, an object of the present invention is to provide a display and a driving method of a display panel capable of improving the dark contrast.

Display and display panel driving method


To provide a communication device capable of further improving the quality between wireless links in a communication system in which a base station device and a communication device communicate with each other.

Wireless access schemes and wireless networks for cellular mobile communication (hereinafter also referred to as "long term evolution (LTE)", "LTE-advanced (LTE-A)", "LTE-advanced pro (LTE-A Pro)", "new radio (NR)", "new radio access technology (NRAT)", "evolved universal terrestrial radio access (EUTRA)", or "further EUTRA (FEUTRA)") are under study in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). Note that LTE includes LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, and EUTRA, and NR includes NRAT and FEUTRA in the following description. In LTE, a base station device (base station) is also referred to as an evolved Node B (eNodeB); in NR, a base station device (base station) is also referred to as gNodeB; and in LTE and NR, a terminal device (mobile station, mobile station device, or terminal) is also referred to as user equipment (UE). LTE and NR are cellular communication systems in which a plurality of areas covered by a base station device is arranged in cells. A single base station device may manage a plurality of cells.
Studies on cellular communication in LTE and NR for aerial vehicles such as drones have been started, aiming at providing services from a terrestrial cellular network to aerial vehicles. It is known that communication for aerial vehicles has problems about inter-cell interference and mobility because propagation environments in the sky are different from propagation environments on the ground. Details of cellular communication for aerial vehicles in LTE and NR are disclosed in Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2.

Communication device, method, and program

Abstract: Provided is a communication device configured to be capable of floating in the air, the communication device including a control unit that receives information regarding interference with a first communication device from a second communication device, the first communication device being not a communication partner, the second communication device being the communication partner, and controls transmission on the basis of the information regarding the interference and of an altitude of the communication device.


An example design information disclosure system includes a design information managing system for storing design information produced on the basis of a given format, a terminal system, connected to a communication network, having a terminal with an electronic mail function, and a design information disclosing system connected to the communication network. The disclosing system has a format converter and a storage to establish a TIFF file. The format converter receives design information at a predetermined timing when the design information is made to be stored into the design information storing system and converts the received design information into a format displayable on the terminal. The TIFF file is used to store the format-converted design information as terminal-use design information. The terminal system is configured to display on the terminal the terminal-use design information through the electronic mail function.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a system and a method for disclosing design information, such as design drawings and parts lists, as mail information via a communication network, and a recording medium in which a program that allows both the system and the method to disclose the design information is stored.
2. Related Art
A conventional document management system employs various management ways involving manual labor. For instance, documents on which seals have manually been put are subject by hand to optical reading with an image scanner. Alternatively, documents are electronic-processed and preserved in a document management system, from which a desired electronic-processed document is outputted for its transfer in response to a manual command.
However, as described above, many steps to perform both work and management are necessary in the conventional document management system that requires manual labor for electronic-processing of documents. In addition, such an intervening manual operation tends to cause some mistakes in the management, such as a forgotten transfer operation. Further, because documents are disclosed by hand from the document management system, a different document may disclosed by mistake or the disclosure of documents are unstable in disclosure timing.

System and method for disclosing design information


A faucet design includes a pair of handles that may be turned relative to a spout body to control the flow of hot and cold water delivered to a spout outlet. The spout body is positioned vertically above the handles. Water is delivered into the spout body through the unique flow of water along a shaft of the handles. The unique water flow within the handles provides the freedom to position the spout body vertically above the handles.

This invention relates to a two-handle faucet design wherein a single manifold receives the combined fluid from a hot and a cold water supply line, and wherein the faucet handles are mounted vertically below the manifold.
In modern faucet designs, there are a variety of operational positions for the faucet handles, and the faucet spout. In most modern faucets, flow tubes extend through a hollow spout body to an outlet spout. The handles for controlling the flow of hot and cold water are positioned vertically above this hollow spout housing. By turning the handles, one can control the mixture of hot and cold water delivered to the spout outlet.
These designs typically require brazing at each of several fluid connections between the tubes, and the various fluid flow passages. It would be desirable to eliminate the requirement for brazing.
Further, it is a goal of modern faucet design to be able to have as many available operational positions for the handle and spout body as is possible. Thus, the restriction that to date has required the spout body to be vertically below the handle is somewhat undesirable.

Two-handle faucet design with manifold about faucet handles


A method is provided for manufacturing a polysilicon with a relatively small line width. The method includes steps of: a) forming a first layer of photoresist with a line pattern having a first line interval and a first line width over the polysilicon; b) etching a portion of the polysilicon for forming the polysilicon with a second line interval x and a second line width y respectively equal to the first line interval and the first line width; c) forming a second layer of photoresist with a third line interval and a third line width over the polysilicon; d) etching another portion of the polysilicon for forming the polysilicon with a fourth line interval x`, equal to the third line interval, and a fourth line width y`; e) depositing a polysilicon film over the polysilicon with the relatively small line width; and f) etching a portion of the polysilicon film to form sidewalls of the polysilicon with the relatively small line width for adjusting the relatively small line width of the polysilicon.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the conventional method for manufacturing a polysilicon with a small line width includes steps of: 1) forming an insulator 11 on a substrate 10; 2) depositing a polysilicon 12 on the insulator 11 by chemical vapor deposition (CVD); 3) coating a layer of photoresist 13 on the polysilicon 12 and then forming the photoresist with a pattern having an interval x and a width y after exposure and development of photolithography; 4) removing a portion of the polysilicon 12 that is not covered by the photoresist 13 by etching technique to form the polysilicon 12 with the same pattern. However, the minimum interval x and line width y of the polysilicon depends on the smallest pattern which can be developed by photolithography and etched by etching technique. In order to fabricate the polysilicon with relatively small interval x and line width y, it requires a preferable photolithography technology. Up to the present day, the photolithographis process for manufacturing the polysilicon with small line width includes: a) using I-line (365 nm) matched with the photoresist with high resolution; b) using the phase-shifting mask; and c)using deep UV (248 nm). Nevertheless, although the photolithography using short wavelength and phase-shifting mask can be used for manufacturing a polysilicon with small line width, there are some demerits described as follows:
1. The costs for the instrument of photolithography with short wavelength and the phase-shifting mask are very expensive. PA1 2. The phase-shifting mask is not easily fabricated.

Method for manufacturing polysilicon with relatively small line width


An array of electrostatic discharge (ESD) devices conforms to the pitch defined by balanced signal lines on a printed wiring board (PWB) so that the array does not unduly affect the design impedance of the balanced lines.

Printed circuit boards, referred to herein as printed wiring boards (PWB), can contain so-called high speed balanced differential lines, over which "balanced" signals are carried. In such a system, the two lines of a pair of balanced lines must be oriented, sized, and spaced apart from each other such that the characteristic impedance of the total system is at a design impedance. Any deviations from the ideal configuration can deleteriously affect the characteristic impedance of the transmission lines, reducing system performance. Such PWBs may be used in a wide range of applications, including televisions.
Balanced line PWBs, like other PWBs, may require protection from electrostatic surges as might occur when a person touches a TV. Advantageously such PWBs can be provided with electrostatic discharge (ESD) devices. ESD devices typically are electrically connected between individual PWB lines and ground using so-called "traces", to shunt the energy of an electrical surge to ground. As critically recognized herein, in the case of a PWB that does not have pairs of balanced lines, each line is independent of other lines, and as a consequence it is relatively easy to place an ESD protection device between a line and ground.
In contrast, as recognized by the present invention, in the case of a PWB employing balanced differential line pairs, it can be difficult at best to connect an ESD device between each balanced line and ground without undesirably crossing the traces or without requiring the use of so-called "vias" (through holes to other layers of the PWB). Likewise, on the other (ground) side of the ESD device, electrical connection to ground can be complicated and may also require vias. Furthermore, traces can be seen electrically as a "stub" on the balanced transmission line, which could undesirably affect the impedance of the balanced line, and so the length of any such traces between a line and an ESD device should be kept as short as possible. Thus, the challenge addressed herein is to provide ESD devices in a PWB that has balanced line pairs within the layout constraints of a balanced line PWB.

Method and system for ESD protection of balanced circuit board lines


A user who offered the purchase of a commodity or performed down-loading through a network is charged by a safe method.. This charge is executed by sending a plurality of passwords, which can be used only once, to the commodity supplier from the user and by confirming all the passwords by both the supplier and the password maker.

The present invention relates to a charge system having a function to charge a user when the purchase of the commodity is offered or down-loading is performed through a network and, more particularly, to a network charge method and system having an object to prevent the charge content from being tapped, altered and forged when the charge information is to be sent/received over the network.
As the charge system having the function to charge a user when the purchase of the commodity is offered or down-loading is performed through the network, there is the following system in the prior art.
1) The card number of a credit card, which the user has already registered as a member, is sent from the user to the commodity supplier through the network so that the supplier executes the charge by using the card number. PA0 2) The public key cryptosystem is utilized for encrypting the credit card number and making an electronic sign for the charge. PA0 1) to prevent a user from being illegally charged by a third party by tapping the content of the communications between the user and the commodity supplier; PA0 2) to prevent the supplier from accessing the sum of the past charges on the user; PA0 3) to prevent the supplier from illegally forging (or increasing) the sum of the prices to be charged on the user; PA0 4) to prevent the user from illegally forging (or decreasing) the charged sum; and PA0 5) to make it easy to store the data corresponding to the secret key of the user.
In the system 1), however, when the card number of the credit card is to be sent, a third party might copy it for an illegal use, and the commodity supplier could forge (or illegal increase) the price.
These problems can be solved by encrypting the credit card number or making the electronic sign for the charge to prevent the card number or the price from being tapped or altered.
In the electronic sign system, however, the public key cryptosystem has to be used by all the users and the commodity suppliers, and elaborate designs have to be made for a method of distributing the public key data at the time of updating the keys of the users or a method for preventing the public key data of the users from being altered.
These designs are exemplified by the electronic signing of the public key data of the users, by using the key of a reliable organization. However, the information to be processed or exchanged as a whole is so complex that the actual running is frequently troubled.
Moreover, the secret keys of the users always have to be retained so that severe care has to be taken of the storage of the secret keys.


A combination tissue dissector and long term expander is disclosed for use in plastic surgery applications and other applications where it is desirable to dissect a tissue pocket and serially expand the dissected pocket through long term tissue expansion. The combination device performs the separate functions of dissection and long term expansion in a single balloon package. In an exemplary embodiment, three sheets of substantially inelastic material are bonded together at their outer margins to form two discrete inflatable chambers. The lower inflatable chamber defined by the middle and lower balloon sheets is further welded together at various points over the sheet's surface area to create a semi-rigid base portion which provides a flat well-defined footprint for the balloon. The semi-rigid base prevents further enlargement of the tissue pocket at the margins when the device is utilized as a tissue expander. In a preferred method of use for the combination device, the combination device is tunneled bluntly to a desired location within the body. The device is then inflated to dissect tissue layers along natural tissue planes and create a tissue pocket. After dissection, the combination device may be left within the body as a temporary implant to further expand the tissue pocket through long term expansion until the desired tissue pocket volume is achieved.

In the past, inflatable devices have been utilized to dissect tissue layers to create an anatomic working space to facilitate the performance of laparoscopic or other minimally invasive surgical procedures. For example, in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,153 to Peter M. Bonutti, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, various inflatable devices are disclosed which can be utilized to dissect tissue to create an anatomic working space. A surgical balloon dissector and its methods of use are also disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,345, to Kieturakis et al., the disclosure of which is also hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. It has been found that a tissue pocket formed by balloon dissection is generally more regular and precise than the pocket typically obtained with manual dissection. In contrast to traditional blunt dissection techniques, the dissecting balloon creates a tissue pocket while respecting natural tissue planes or boundaries in the anatomy.
A second class of inflatable devices known as tissue expanders are fluid operated devices which, when inflated, stretch and place pressure on overlying tissues to create tissue growth in a localized area of the body. Tissue expanders have generally been used in plastic or reconstructive surgery as temporary implants to gradually expand a previously dissected pocket over time as the overlying skin and tissue gradually alters (through new cell formation) and expands in response to the force applied by the inflatable tissue expander. Often, the "created" tissue is stretched over an adjacent area where a tissue defect has been removed or where additional tissue is required. Tissue expanders traditionally incorporate inflation ports which are connected by an inflation tube to the expander and are implanted somewhat remote from the expansion site. The inflation ports are small reservoirs which incorporate a self-sealing membrane through which fluid may be introduced by hypodermic needle. The port is placed under the skin such that there is easy needle access to the membrane.
In the conventional use of tissue expanders, it has been customary to make an incision immediately adjacent to or over the region into which the expander is to be subsequently placed, and then to utilize a blunt instrument or the finger to dissect exposed tissue layers to create a pocket. Generally, it is desirable to dissect the pocket adequately such that the dissected footprint easily accommodates the expander without curling the edges of the expander at the dissection margins. Once the expander is placed into the dissected space, the incision through which the dissection and expander placement was accomplished is closed and allowed to heal before the expansion process begins. This step is necessary because the tissue strength at the incision must be reestablished in order to withstand the stresses caused by long term tissue expansion. Otherwise, there is chance that the expander will extrude out of the incision preferentially to expanding the tissue over the dissected footprint, as desired. This healing step may require considerable time (on the order of weeks) before tissue expansion can begin.
Recently and commensurate with the trend toward minimally invasive surgery, practitioners have begun inserting tissue expanders into previously dissected pockets in the body through incisions remote from the expansion site such that the lengthy incision healing step can be eliminated. This advantageously allows expansion to be commenced immediately after placement of the tissue expander. Use of a remote insertion site also requires dissection to be accomplished through the remote incision and that the expanders are capable of being rolled or otherwise compacted to allow for proper placement at the remote site through the incision.
In the tissue expander art, it is also known that excessive inflation pressures in the tissue expander can cause tissue necrosis. Hence, the inflation pressure of the tissue expander must be moderated to avoid necrosis. Because the pressure must be held beneath the necrosis level, tissue expanders are left in place over a prolonged period of time to allow the subcutaneous tissues to gradually alter and expand. This requires monitoring and periodical adjustment of the fluid volume in the expander as the tissue gradually stretches over time.
In certain surgical procedures, especially in plastic surgery procedures, it is necessary to dissect a tissue pocket for the later implantation of a prosthetic device. For example, breast augmentation and reconstruction procedures involve dissecting a space or pocket in the breast and, if necessary, following the dissection step with long term tissue expansion to enlarge the pocket to receive the desired implant. Previously, two or more different devices have been required to perform the dissection and expansion steps.
Johnson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,258,026, discloses a surgical procedure for breast augmentation. In Johnson, an incision is made in the umbilicus and an elongate hollow tube carrying an inflatable prothesis is tunneled above the chest wall to a position behind the breast. The prothesis itself is then utilized as a tissue dissector by overinflating the prosthesis to 150% of its anticipated ultimate fill volume to create the breast pocket. The prothesis is then reduced in volume to its intended final volume and left in place. The umbilical incision is then closed and the surgery completed. While Johnson discloses the use of an inflatable member to create a tissue pocket in the breast for the purpose of augmentation, Johnson uses the implant itself to dissect and does not provide a device or method for further expanding the tissue pocket through long term expansion should the size of the initially dissected space be insufficient.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved device and associated methods of use which incorporate the features of a tissue dissector and long term tissue expander in a single device to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages in the prior art.


A tunable wideband bandpass filter that can digitally vary the center frequency and bandwidth of a signal to be filtered, and includes a plurality of switched-capacitor banks for varying capacitance and converting the center frequency and bandwidth into a digital signal, and a plurality of inductors provided for inductance to generate the center frequency, the plurality of switched-capacitor banks that may be integrated into a signal chip.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a frequency-tunable filter, and more particularly to digitally-controlled, small-sized, low power-consuming tunable wideband filter and tunable multi-band wideband filter using switched capacitors and inductors in use of the same, which are suitable for wideband communication systems and multi-mode communication systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, frequency-tunable bandpass filters with freely variable center frequencies are required in wideband communication systems, such as television ("TV"), ultra highband ("UWB"), and multi-mode communication systems, such as cellular phones, personal communication service ("PCS"), and wideband code-division multiple access ("WCDMA").
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a communication system of a conventional RF receiver. In FIG. 1, an RF band signal received through an antenna is input to an RF bandpass filter 10. The RF bandpass filter 10 filters the signal of the antenna to a wireless frequency band, and outputs the filtered signal to a low-noise amplifier (LNA) 20. The low-noise amplifier 20 receives a signal output from the RF bandpass filter 10, low-noise-amplifies the signal by a predetermined gain, and outputs the amplified signal to a mixer 30. The mixer 30 mixes the signal of the low-noise amplifier 20 with a sinusoidal signal generated from a local oscillator, and outputs a signal having a center frequency fIF shifted in a center frequency band. The signal of the mixer 30 is input to the base band modem 60 through an intermediate frequency filter 40 and an intermediate frequency/automatic gain control amplifier 50.
As such, the conventional RF receiver has the RF bandpass filter 10 with fixed frequency characteristics.
FIG. 2 illustrates a general multi-band and multi-mode receiver that switches receivers fit to a band and mode. Thus, the multi-band and multi-mode receiver requires additional receivers and space.
The development of integration circuit ("IC") technology is facilitating the implementation of wideband low noise amplifiers ("LNAs") and local oscillators. As shown in FIG. 3, a frequency-tunable radio frequency ("RF") bandpass filter enables a single receiver to serve as a multi-band and multi-mode receiver.
The frequency-tunable RF bandpass filter enables a user to select a desired RF band channel. The frequency-tunable RF bandpass filter removes interference signals outside of the desired band and interference signals caused by neighboring channels which alleviates the linear characteristics required for an RF circuit and the phase-noise requirements of a local oscillator so that power consumption is reduced.
As previously discussed, the conventional frequency-tunable bandpass filter is constructed in the hybrid form using a varactor diode controlled by an analog tuning signal or a pin diode switch. However, the conventional frequency-tunable bandpass filter described above has severe non-linear characteristics, a large size, increased power consumption, and is costly.
On the other hand, a frequency-tunable RF bandpass filter using only active elements is easily controlled; however, it consumes a lot of power, has a low yield, and performs worse than the passive filter in terms of linearity or noise factor. As such, the frequency-tunable bandpass filter using only active elements is difficult to apply to the wideband communication systems or multi-mode communication systems.

Tunable wideband bandpass filter, tunable multi-band bandpass filter using the same, and methods therefore


A knife holder has a base and a knife support portion extending from the base. The knife support portion includes a distal edge and a knife support surface for supporting a knife. The knife support surface includes a shaped portion and a relieved surface. The shaped portion has a wavy shape and is located adjacent the distal edge. The relieved surface does not have a wavy shape and is located on the knife support surface so that at least part of the shaped portion is between the relieved surface and the distal edge. An abutment surface is between the base and the relieved surface and is defined by the relieved surface.

The present invention generally relates to machines for cutting products, including but not limited to slicing machines adapted for slicing food products. The invention particularly relates to knife holders for use with centrifugal-type slicing machines.
Various types of equipment are known for slicing, shredding and granulating food products, as nonlimiting examples, vegetables, fruits, dairy products, and meat products. Widely used machines for this purpose are commercially available from Urschel Laboratories, Inc., and include machines under the name Model CC®. The Model CC® machines are centrifugal-type slicers capable of slicing a wide variety of products at high production capacities. The Model CC® line of machines is particularly adapted to produce uniform slices, strip cuts, shreds, and granulations. Certain configurations and aspects of Model CC® machines are represented in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,139,128, 3,139,129, 5,694,824, 6,968,765, 7,658,133, 8,161,856, 9,193,086, 10,456,943, 10,562,203, 10,632,639, and 10,933,552 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0210239, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
FIG. 1 schematically represents a cross-sectional view of a machine 10 that is representative of a Model CC® machine. The machine 10 includes a generally annular-shaped cutting head 12 and an impeller 14 coaxially mounted within the cutting head 12. The impeller 14 has an axis 17 of rotation that coincides with the center axis of the cutting head 12, and is rotationally driven about its axis 17 through a shaft (not shown) that is enclosed within a housing 18 and coupled to a gear box 16. The cutting head 12 is mounted on a support ring 15 above the gear box 16 and remains stationary as the impeller 14 rotates. Products are delivered to the cutting head 12 and impeller 14 through a feed hopper 11 located above the impeller 14. In operation, as the hopper 11 delivers products to the impeller 14, centrifugal forces cause the products to move outward into engagement with cutting knives (not shown) that are mounted along the circumference of the cutting head 12. The impeller 14 comprises generally radially-oriented paddles 13, each having a face that engages and directs the products radially outward toward and against the knives of the cutting head 12 as the impeller 14 rotates. Other aspects pertaining to the construction and operation of Model CC® machines, including various embodiments thereof, can be appreciated from the aforementioned prior patent documents incorporated herein by reference.
FIG. 2 is an isolated view of a particular but nonlimiting example of a cutting head 12 that has been used with Model CC® slicing machines, including the machine 10 schematically represented in FIG. 1. The cutting head 12 represented in FIG. 2 will be described hereinafter in reference to the machine 10 of FIG. 1 equipped with an impeller 14 as described in reference to FIG. 1. On the basis of the coaxial arrangement of the cutting head 12 and the impeller 14, relative terms including but not limited to "axial," "circumferential," "radial," etc., and related forms thereof may be used below to describe the cutting head 12 represented in FIG. 2.
The cutting head 12 can be seen as generally annular-shaped with cutting knives 20 mounted and circumferentially spaced apart along its perimeter. Each knife 20 projects radially inward in a direction generally opposite the direction of rotation of the impeller 14 within the cutting head 12, and the leading edge of each knife 20 defines a cutting edge at the innermost radial extremity of the knife 20. The cutting head 12 further comprises lower and upper support members, represented in FIG. 2 as rings 22 and 24, respectively, to and between which circumferentially-spaced support segments, referred to herein as shoes 26, are secured with fasteners 34.
A knife 20 can be associated with each shoe 26, in which case the shoes 26 may be referred to as cutting stations of the cutting head 12. The knives 20 of the cutting head 12 are represented in FIG. 2 as being individually secured with clamping assemblies 28 to their respective shoes 26. Each clamping assembly 28 includes a knife holder 30 mounted to a shoe 26 and between the support rings 22 and 24, and a clamp 32 positioned on the radially outward-facing side of the holder 30 to secure a knife 20 thereto. Each knife 20 is supported by a radially outer surface of one of the knife holders 30, and the corresponding clamp 32 overlies the holder 30 so that the knife 20 is between the outer surface of the holder 30 and a radially inward surface of the clamp 32 that faces the holder 30. By forcing the clamp 32 toward the holder 30, for example, with bolts 38, the clamp 32 applies a clamping force to the knife 20 adjacent its cutting edge. As an alternative to the use of bolts, an eccentric cam rod can be used as a quick-clamping feature to apply the clamping force to the clamp 32, nonlimiting examples of which include U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,658,133, 10,562,203, 10,780,602, 10,786,922, 10,807,268, and 10,933,552, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
FIG. 2 further shows a gate 36 secured to each shoe 26. A food product crosses the gate 36 prior to encountering the knife 20 mounted to the succeeding shoe 26, and together the cutting edge of a knife 20 and a trailing edge of the preceding gate 36 define a gate opening that determines the thickness of a slice produced by the knife 20.
FIG. 2 shows the knives 20 as having straight cutting edges for producing flat slices, and as such may be referred to herein as "flat" knives, though the cutting head 12 can use knives of other shapes. As a nonlimiting example, the cutting head 12 may be configured to use "shaped" knives, including but not limited to knives characterized by a periodic pattern of alternating peaks and valleys when viewed edgewise, including but not limited to corrugated, sinusoidal, and other "wavy" shapes, to produce wavy, strip-cut, shredded, and granulated products.
While centrifugal-type slicers of the type represented by the Model CC® have performed extremely well for their intended purpose, further improvements are continuously desired and sought, including improvements relating to the maintenance of the machines. A nonlimiting example is the configuration of the knife holders 30. FIGS. 3 through 10 represent two nonlimiting examples of knife holders that have been utilized in Model CC® machines.
In FIGS. 3 through 6, a machined knife holder 40A is shown. The holder 40A includes a base 42A from which a knife support portion 44A extends. The knife support portion 44A defines a knife support surface 46A located on the radially outward facing side of the holder 40A and on which a knife 20 is supported (FIGS. 5 and 6) so that the cutting edge of the knife 20 extends beyond the distal (leading) edge of the knife support portion 44A. The knife 20 is represented as a shaped knife for producing wavy, strip-cut, shredded, or granulated products, and the knife support surface 46A is represented as having a shape that is complementary to the shaped knife 20. The knife holder 40A includes pins 48A that are received in complementary holes in the knife 20 to assist in securing and accurately positioning the knife 20 on the holder 40A, for example, in combination with a clamp (not shown). A portion of a backside 50A (radially inward facing side) of the holder 40A that may contact product during slicing is intentionally functional in that it is shaped to have a wavy shape similar to the knife 20 to inhibit product shifting during the cutting operation. Other benefits of this configuration include the ability to accurately define the knife support portion 44A and its surface 46A to accurately and fully support the knife 20 over its entire length and width and form the knife support portion 44A to be rigid to minimize deflection.
A formed (e.g., forged) knife holder 40B is shown in FIGS. 7 through 10. The holder 40B includes a base 42B from which a knife support portion 44B extends. The knife support portion 44B defines a knife support surface 46B located on the radially outward facing side of the holder 40B and on which a knife 20 (FIGS. 9 and 10) is supported so that the cutting edge of the knife 20 extends beyond the distal (leading) edge of the knife support portion 44B. The knife holder 40B lacks the pins 48A of FIGS. 3 through 6, and instead the holder 40B is formed to have an abutment wall 48B against which the back edge of the knife 20 (opposite its cutting edge) abuts to assist in securing and accurately positioning the knife 20 on the holder 40B, for example, in combination with a clamp (not shown). Only the backside 50B (radially inward facing side) of the knife support portion 44B is shaped to have a wavy shape similar to the knife 20. Benefits of this configuration include the elimination of the pins 48A of FIGS. 3 through 6 and the ability to fully and positively support the back edge of the knife 20 with the abutment wall 48B. However, the formed shape of the support portion 44B is less accurate than the machined shaped of the support portion 44A of the machined knife holder 40A of FIGS. 3 through 6.
Additionally, the support portion 44B is represented in FIGS. 7 through 10 as thinner and therefore less rigid than the support portion 44A of the machined knife holder 40A.

Knife holders, cutting heads and slicing machines equipped therewith, and processes of manufacture