A digital display unit (DDU), which may be integrated into an enterprise-wide networked system for managing and displaying price and product-related information, is adapted to wirelessly receive price and product data from a local computer system and clearly display information based thereon. Updating price information in a local POS product price database causes a DDU control computer to communicate the price information to the DDU. A synthetic barcode module detects the presence of a barcode scanner and produces light output that emulates reflected light corresponding to a scanned barcode. A DDU may receive, store and display information for a plurality of products.

Retailers typically display pricing information on printed tags attached to store shelves adjacent to corresponding products. In addition to price, such tags often include information such as size, weight, unit price and other identifying information. While tags are sufficient for informing consumers of product prices, they do not facilitate the process of updating displayed prices. This shortcoming is particularly problematic in cases of products with volatile pricing. Prices of such items may fluctuate frequently, such as daily. This means that the printed price tags would have to be replaced daily with corrected tags. In a store with hundreds or thousands of products, this task can be extremely laborious and conducive to error. The problems are compounded in an enterprise with many such stores.
Most modern retail stores implement some form of computer technology in their operations. This typically consists of using point-of-sale (POS) systems for automating checkout procedures. A POS system generally has one or more automated checkout terminals each of which is equipped with a scanner that is capable of sensing and interpreting a printed barcode or other indicia that corresponds to a product identifier, such as Universal Product Code (UPC) or Stock Keeping Unit (SKU). Checkout terminals communicate with a POS database that associates various items of information with each UPC/SKU, including price and inventory information. When a customer is ready to make a purchase, the store clerk uses a scanner to sense the barcode markings on each of the customer's items. The checkout terminal determines the UPC/SKU, obtains the price for each item, and keeps a running total of the purchase.
Changing prices with such systems can be tedious and conducive to error. Two things must occur to effect a change. First, the POS database must be modified to reflect the price change. When this happens, the new price will apply to customer purchases at the checkout terminal. Second, the price tag (i.e., displayed price) for each of the affected items must be changed. If a tag is not replaced or displays an erroneous price, the charged price will not equal the displayed price.
Displaying a correct price is important. Both customer satisfaction and legal compliance necessitate that a displayed price match the price in the POS database. A growing number of states have item-pricing laws that require retailers to display an accurate price on or adjacent to each product. In these states, retailers are subject to governmental inspections and penalties for non-compliance. Legal compliance demands conformance of displayed prices with prices charged at checkout. Customer satisfaction requires accurate pricing clearly displayed on the store shelves.
For an enterprise with a plurality of stores, it is also important to synchronize each store's local POS database with the enterprise's central POS database, so that an applicable pricing change in the central database triggers the same change in each local database. Illustratively, each store in a retail chain may have a local computer system with a local POS database that is communicatively coupled via one or more networks to a remote enterprise server. This allows the database of each store to be modified by changing only the database of the enterprise server.
While electronic price display label (EPL) systems are known in the art, they are quite limited in their adaptability. Such systems are not designed to interface with conventional POS systems. Instead, they require proprietary closed software to enable electronic price display at store shelves. It is desirable to provide an electronic price display module that can readily be interfaced with conventional POS systems.
Another deficiency of known EPL systems is that they are designed for very limited communication and display, to minimize cost and battery consumption. Their displays are often difficult to read and accommodate very limited information. Their batteries require frequent replacement. It is desirable to provide a more robust pricing display unit that optionally provides a rechargeable power supply and/or a convenient external DC power source and is capable of vivid display of operator-selected information, such as advertising messages in continuously scrolling text.
Yet another deficiency with such EPL systems is that they do not communicate with barcode scanners. Inventory tracking typically entails scanning a barcode label at a shelf and entering the number of corresponding items on the shelf into an inventory tracking program. Unfortunately, conventional EPL systems do not display barcodes corresponding to UPC/SKUs. This shortcoming may be due in part to low power displays of EPLs that provide less contrast between a white stripe displayed adjacent to a black stripe than is available for a barcode printed on a black and white label. Low contrast between the elements of a displayed barcode can substantially reduce reliability of the scanning process. Thus, typical EPL systems do not render printed barcode labels unnecessary.
The invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.

Enterprise-wide networked system and method for managing and displaying price and product information


A percussion cymbal instrument is muted by using a dampening layer to reduce the sound and acoustic vibrations when struck. In a preferred embodiment, the muting system is comprised of a layer of flexible plastic adhered to a cymbal surface. When the cymbal is struck, the muting system dissipates the normal vibrations of the cymbal without hampering the natural look, feel, playability, or natural swinging motion of the cymbal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to percussion instruments, and more particularly to a novel method for muting the sound of a metal acoustic cymbal.
2. Background Information
Percussion cymbal instruments are a class of musical percussion instruments having a playing (usually upper) surface and a second (usually lower) surface, that are played by striking the playing surface with a stick or other implement, to produce a spectrum of sound caused by the vibrations of the cymbal.
The playing surface could be made from almost any material, although most percussion cymbal manufacturers use some type of metal alloy which is molded or die cut into various shapes and sizes, typically formed as a round disc with a mounting hole in the center. The mounting hole in the center permits the cymbal to be mounted centrally on a stand, allowing the cymbal to remain balanced. When struck, the cymbal will vibrate and swing on the stand in order to create its unique sound.
The purposes of muting the vibrations from a percussion cymbal instrument include A) reducing the sound level to allow playing or practicing without generating the full sound level and B) reducing direct acoustical sound when the cymbal is used as an electronic cymbal trigger, used to convert vibrations into electronic signals, so as to avoid interference with the electronically generated sound.
I provide here, a system for reducing the vibrations and muting the natural sounds of a percussion cymbal instrument.
The ideal design for a cymbal muting system would permit the cymbal to retain its normal characteristics (natural look, feel, playability, and natural swinging motion) while reducing the audible sound vibrations which occur when struck.
Current systems may cause the cymbal to become unbalanced and cumbersome to operate. Muting devices mounted on the playing surface of the cymbal change look, feel, and stick response of the instrument. Unbalanced striking surfaces require additional mechanisms to prevent the striking surface from unintentionally rotating and tipping over. The natural swinging motion of the cymbal may be reduced or eliminated Some devices result in the cymbals no longer looking like real cymbals. For examples of problems in the prior art, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,959,227 and 6,686,528 (which require cumbersome additional hardware), U.S. Pat. No. 5,959,227 (which requires the use of unbalanced devices mounted on the top playing surface of the cymbal), U.S. Pat. No. 6,686,528 (which reduces the natural swinging motion), and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,037,509 and 5,561,254 (which change the color and appearance of the cymbal).


A flattened folding umbrella, having two sets of terminal rib devices and four sets of side rib devices, each rib device comprising of inside main rib, middle main rib, outside main rib, branch rib, inside connecting rib, middle connecting rib, middle joint, and outside joint that are mutually joined together, wherein each set of terminal rib device is formed by compressing an appropriate location of the originally U-shaped groove of the branch rib to form a stop of narrow-opening groove to prevent the inside connecting rib that is joined to said branch rib from being accommodated in said branch rib, so that when the umbrella is folded, relatively the outside terminal of said inside connecting rib and its connected middle joint are inclining slightly outwardly; besides, the outside terminal of said inside connecting rib is also designed to have a larger outward inclining obtuse angle, or an appropriate location of the U-shaped groove of the middle main rib is compressed to form a stop of narrow-opening groove, so that when the umbrella is folded, it will prevent the inside main rib from being accommodated into said middle main rib, and that relatively, the outside terminal of said middle main rib and its connected outside joint are inclining slightly outwardly; therefore, it reduces the installation thickness of the terminal joining component; and that when the umbrella is folded, it naturally forms the configuration that the outside joint of each side rib device is located on the inside, and the outside joint of each terminal rib device is naturally located at the outside, to become a more narrowed and flattened shape.

The present invention relates to a flattened folding umbrella configuration, with improvement on the rib configuration, so that when the umbrella is folded, the whole body is naturally narrowed to become a flattened folding umbrella.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,697 provides a type of "POCKETABLE FOLDING UMBRELLA WITH FOLDABLE SANDWICHED RIBS", comprising mainly of: on top of the center rod (1) is fixed with a flat upper ferrule (3) which has a flat plate (31); said flat plate serves to define a long axis (X) on two extremities (E), and define a short axis (Y) between two sides (S); on the bottom of the flat plate (31) of said upper ferrule (3) on the two extremities (E) are each fitted with a terminal joining component (32) extending outward crosswise along the long axis (X), to join the inside of the inside main rib (21) of each terminal rib device (2); on the bottom of the flat plate (31) of said upper ferrule (3) near the sides (S) are each fitted with a side inclining wall (33); between each side inclining wall (33) and each terminal joining component (32) is joined to each side rib device (2a), with an upper tying thread (35) pulling through the inside of the inside main rib (21a) of each side rib device (2a), and through the inside of each terminal joining component (32); so that after the umbrella is folded, the outside joint (28a) of each side rib device (2a) can be located at the two sides of the terminal joining component (32); while the outside joint (22) of the terminal rib device (2) is located at the outward crosswise position of the terminal joining component (32), to avoid mutual overlapping of the outside joints of respective rib devices, to narrow it to become a flattened form.
However, the above prior art of flat folding umbrella, when it is folded, has the following occurrence that it could not achieve a properly flattened form. Referring to FIG. 1, the outside joint (28a) of each side rib device (2a) is joined by a bolt (284a) to the outside of the middle connecting rib (26a), while each terminal joining component (32) is joined by a bolt (321) to the inside of the inside main rib (21) of each terminal rib device (2); therefore, the joint of each bolt is especially enlarged; however, after said prior art is folded, the outside joint (28a) of each side rib device (2a) must be close to the upper ferrule (3) direction, but because said outside terminal and the upper ferrule (3) cannot be completely near, since there must be room to accommodate the fabric (5) after the umbrella is folded, therefore, the outside joint (28a) of each side rib device (2a), including its joining bolt (284a) is overlapped with the bolt (321) of each terminal joining component (32), resulting in especially enlarged width (W') of the overlapped portion; so it is impossible to achieve narrowing function and flattened form after it is folded.
Furthermore, referring to FIG. 2, in said prior art, each terminal rib device (2) is installed on the outside of the terminal joining component (32) protruding crosswise on the upper ferrule (3), while each side rib device (2a) is directly installed on the upper ferrule (3); suppose the crosswise length of the terminal joining component (32) is L1, and the length of each rib device is L, then, after the fold is opened, the horizontal extension length at the position of each rib device (2a) is L, and the horizontal extension length at the position of each terminal rib device (2) is L+L=L', therefore, in said prior art, after the umbrella is opened, the horizontal extension length of each terminal side device (2) and each side rib device (2a) is not consistent; and relatively, the fabric (5) tied to each rib device becomes non-equilateral polygons, thus resulting in uneven appearance of the umbrella; and the tensile strength of the fabric at each rib position is inconsistent, so the tightness on the fabric surface is uneven.


There is provided an imaging apparatus and an imaging method, and an image processing apparatus and an image processing method each capable of capturing a high resolution image by effectively using respective pixel signals of a plurality of pixels defined by pupil division immediately below a microlens. A disparity is detected in units of pupil on the basis of respective pixel values of a plurality of divided pixels defined by pupil division. The pixel values of the plurality of divided pixels are added in units of pupil to obtain an added pixel value. The pixel value of the divided pixel and the added pixel value are blended in units of divided pixel in accordance with the disparity. The present disclosure is applicable to an imaging apparatus.

There has been proposed an imaging apparatus which defines a pair of left and right pixels immediately below one microlens by pupil division, and acquires disparity images using pixel values of the left and right pixels to measure a distance on the basis of the disparity images (see PTL 1).
According to the imaging apparatus described in PTL 1 identified above, a pixel signal corresponding to an average of pixel values of a plurality of pixels divided immediately below the microlens is used as a signal indicating a pixel value of one pixel constituting an image to be captured to generate the image to be captured.

Imaging apparatus and imaging method, and image processing apparatus and image processing method


Articles are prepared to have a substrate and a silver-containing composition on either or both supporting sides of the substrate. The silver-containing composition can comprise either reducible silver ions or silver nanoparticles, complexed with a reactive polymer. The reactive polymer comprises: (a) greater than 1 mol % of recurring units comprising sulfonic acid or sulfonate groups, (b) at least 5 mol % of recurring units comprising a pendant group capable of crosslinking via [2+2] photocycloaddition, and optionally (c) at least 1 mol % of recurring units comprising a pendant amide, hydroxyl, lactam, phosphonic acid, or carboxylic acid group. Some other articles have a water-insoluble complex of reacted (crosslinked) polymer with reducible silver ions or silver nanoparticles on either or both supportive sides of the substrate. Such reacted polymer is derived from the noted reactive polymer.

Both silver ions and silver metal have a long history of chemical and biological activity. In particular, some of the silver salts are photoactive and can form catalytic silver nanoparticles on exposure to suitable radiation. Many chemical reactions are known to be catalyzed by both silver metal and various silver salts or silver ion complexes. Electrophilic substitutions where silver serves as a Lewis acid catalyst are also known as well as organosilver compounds with chemical reactivity.
Silver has been known for biocidal (antimicrobial) activity for over a century and renewed interest in its biocidal properties has arisen due to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of pathogenic bacteria such as MERSA [see for example, Rai et al., Biotechnology Advances 27 (2009) 76-83]. There is growing evidence that silver is an effective biocide because it can attack an organism through multiple pathways and thereby disrupt multiple critical systems such as cell wall integrity and transport, protein synthesis, and DNA and RNA replication. In spite of the very aggressive attack by silver at the microbial level, it has a long history of low toxicity to humans and other complex organisms.
Silver nanoparticles can be made without polymeric stabilizers by reducing the silver ammonium complex with sugars such as glucose or maltose. Another frequently used method utilizes citrate to both complex the silver ions and to act as a reducing agent. Often an additional reducing agent such as sodium borohydride, or ascorbic acid can be used with the citrate. Often a surfactant or polymeric stabilizer such as poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) or poly(ethylene glycol (PEG) is added after silver nanoparticles are prepared without a polymeric stabilizer.
Polymer composites with silver metal are known (Review by Dallas et al., Advances in Colloid and Interface Science 166 (2011) 119-135); in commercial products such as antimicrobial coatings on medical devices such as catheters, neurological shunts (Chaloupka et al., Trends in Biotechnology, Vol. 28, No. 11, November 2010); or as coatings for contact lens storage cases (Dantam et al., Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Vol. 52, No. 1, January 2011). The silver nanoparticles can be formed by reducing silver ions usually provided as silver nitrate in the presence of a polymer than can peptize or stabilize the resulting silver nanoparticles to maintain a uniform distribution and to prevent particle agglomeration or growth through Ostwald ripening effects. A variety of polymers have been reported to serve this purpose, including poly(vinyl alcohol) or PVA copolymers, poly(vinyl pyrrolidone), and poly(ethylene glycol). A polymeric catalyst prepared by forming silver nanoparticles in modified polyethyleneimine has been reported (Signori et al., Langmuir 2010, 26(22), 17772-17779).
Efforts to use naturally occurring, biodegradable, or "green" polymers in polymer-silver composites have included starch and polysaccharides that serve as both a stabilizing agent and a reducing agent. Silver nanoparticles showing antimicrobial behavior have been formed in the presence of biodegradable and non-toxic chitosan derived from crab shells.
A large body of research has been focused on forming silver nanoparticles inside a network of water-soluble polymers that can be crosslinked to form a water-, ion-, and silver nanoparticle-permeable gel or hydrogel, for example using poly(acrylamide) (Uygun et al., Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics 2009 210, 1867-1875) or copolymers derived from an acrylamide and acrylic acid [Thomas et al., Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 315 (2007) 389-395, Mohan et al., Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 342 (2010) 73-82]. Often an additional water-soluble polymer is present during the polymerization and crosslinking of acrylamide to form an interpenetrating network (or IPN). For example, the formation of silver nanoparticles in poly(acrylamide)-based IPN's is demonstrated for poly(ethylene glycol) and poly(vinyl sulfonic acid) by Mohan et al., Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 342 (2010) 73-82, and in an acrylamide-based IPN with poly(vinylpyrrolidone) by Murthy et al., Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 318 (2008) 217-224. An acrylamide-starch IPN has been used to form silver nanoparticles for antimicrobial purposes. A hydrogel formed from vinyl caprolactam and glycidyl methacrylate has also been used to form antimicrobial gel containing silver nanoparticles. Hydrogel networks based on N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) copolymerized with acrylic acid and other monomers have also shown the ability to form silver nanoparticles with antimicrobial activity while retaining the temperature responsive swelling behavior well known for such polymers.
The formation of silver nanoparticles in an ionic polymer or polyelectrolyte is also known from Girard et al, Comptes Rendus Chimie 16(6) 550-556, 2013 where silver nanoparticles were formed in an aqueous solution of poly(styrene sulfonate). Silver nanoparticles formed in poly(vinyl sulfonate) are reported in Vasilev et al., Nanotechnology 21 (2010) 215102. Hydrogels prepared using copolymers derived from 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonate and vinyl pyrrolidone or acrylamide were loaded with preformed silver nanoparticles to evaluate the antimicrobial properties (see Valle et al., Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 2013, DOI: 10.1002/APP.38655). This art suggests that sulfonate-bearing polymers may be useful for stabilizing silver nanoparticles.
The formation of silver nanoparticles in the presence of a polymer containing both sulfonate and carboxylate groups is described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,828,275B2 (Wang et al.) where very highly concentrated dispersions are prepared for the purpose of forming a conductive silver ink. U.S. Pat. No. 8,361,553B2 (Karandikar et al.) describes polymeric silver nanoparticle dispersions formed by reducing silver ion in the presence of saccharinate derivatives and a variety of water-soluble polymers derived from both carboxylate and sulfonate bearing monomers. These dispersions are used to form antimicrobial surfaces on various substrates. Silver nanoparticle dispersions are also described in U.S. Patent Application Publication 2009/0263496A1 (Kijlstra et al.) by first forming silver oxide in the presence of various dispersing polymers such as poly(vinyl pyrrolidone), poly(aspartic acid), or poly(naphthalene sulfonic acid) and reducing the silver oxide to silver with a reducing agent such as formaldehyde.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,348,365B2 (Lee et al.) described the use of gamma radiation to reduce silver ion to silver nanoparticles in the presence of copolymers derived from vinyl pyrrolidone, acrylic acid, and acrylamide to form antimicrobial coatings. Various particles of silver salts, some specified to be less than 200 nm, are formed in the presence of water soluble polymers such as poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) and poly(acrylic acid) to form antimicrobial coatings or devices in U.S. Patent Application Publication 2008/0102122A1 (Mahadevan et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,949,598B2 (Terry).
While there are numerous polymer-silver complexes described in the art, there remains a need for polymer-silver complexes that are water-soluble and water-coatable, but which can be crosslinked with UV light to become water-insoluble and highly durable after coating. There is a need for such polymer-silver complexes that can be readily used in antimicrobial compositions or articles, or that can be used to form high resolution electrically-conductive patterns without the need for added crosslinking agents or photoinitiators.
There is the further need to provide water-soluble polymeric complexes that contain reducible silver ions that are readily reduced in the polymeric complexes, before or after the polymers are crosslinked. It would be desirable to form silver nanoparticles in the size range of 1 to 500 nm using such materials.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Articles with silver-containing polymeric complexes


An assembly for a dual-walled component of a gas turbine engine and methods of forming and repairing a dual-walled component. The assembly includes a cold section part having an outer surface that defines a plurality of impingement apertures, a hot section part including a pre-sintered preform, the hot section part positioned over the outer surface of the cold section part, and a plurality of support structures including the pre-sintered preform, the plurality of support structures positioned between the hot section part and the cold section part, the plurality of support structures separating the hot section part from the cold section part to define at least one cooling channel therebetween.

Hot section components of a gas turbine engine may be operated in high temperature environments that may approach or exceed the softening or melting points of the materials of the components. Such components may include air foils including, for example turbine blades or foils which may have one or more surfaces exposed to high temperature combustion or exhaust gases flowing across the surface of the competent. Different techniques have been developed to assist with cooling of such components including for example, application of a thermal barrier coating to the component, constructing the component as a single or dual-walled structure, and passing a cooling fluid, such as air, across or through a portion of the component to aid in cooling of the component.

Dual-walled components for a gas turbine engine


An electric bicycle and a method of controlling the same are disclosed. The electric bicycle according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a weight sensing unit for sensing a rider's weight; a motor output controlling unit for controlling a motor driving output; and an electronic control unit for varying the motor output through the motor output controlling unit according to the weight sensed by the weight sensing unit, and the weight sensing unit classifies the rider's weight into a standard weight mode, an underweight mode, and an overweight mode according to the sensed weight, and if the weight is in the underweight mode, the weight sensing unit reduces the motor output to a value below the motor output for the standard weight mode and if the weight is in the overweight mode, the weight sensing unit increases the motor output to a value above the motor output for the standard weight mode.

1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to an electric bicycle and a method of controlling the same, and more particularly, to an electric bicycle which varies an output of a driving motor according to a weight to enhance a rider's riding sensibility, and a method of controlling the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an electric bicycle includes a motor to rotate wheels and a battery to supply electric power to the motor. In other words, the electric bicycle to which a generator is mounted or the series hybrid type electric bicycle is travelled by a method in which a motor which is electrically connected to a battery rotates wheels, and the battery is charged by the generator which is connected to a pedal and is operated by a rotation of the pedal.
Basically, a rider presses down pedals to move a bicycle, and a chain transmits a force of the rider pressing down the pedals to wheels. Since a plurality of chain pins meshed with a sprocket are connected to each other, the chain has a complicated structure. And, a space occupied by the chain is large in the bicycle and the chain is deviated from the wheel or a rider's cloth gets caught in the chain so that the cloth is getting dirty.
Recently, an electric bicycle which is not provided with a chain has been developed and used in the light of the above problem. If a rider manipulates a button provided on a handle or presses down pedals, a motor is operated and the chainless electric bicycle is moved forward.
In the chainless electric bicycle, a pedal load is adjusted so that the rider can feel a pedal feeling which can be felt due to actual pedals when the rider presses down the pedals. Therefore, a pedal effort is generated when the rider presses down the pedals to enable the rider to feel the pedal feeling.
In addition, the chainless electric bicycle is set to allow the motor to generate a force required for rotating a wheel, i.e., a motor output, and this motor output is basically determined on the basis of a standard weight to optimize a riding feeling.
In general, one motor output which is initially predetermined according to a standard weight is set in the electric bicycle. Therefore, although a standard weight rider feels a comfortable riding feeling according to a pedaling when riding the electric bicycle, if a rider having a weight, which is below the standard weight, rides the electric bicycle, a quick start and a rapid acceleration may be occurred, and if a rider having a weight, which is above the standard weight, rides the electric bicycle, a delayed start or a delayed acceleration is occurred or it is sometime difficult for the electric bicycle to climb the hill in a severe case.

Electric bicycle and control method thereof


A process for reducing the level of perfluoroalkanoic acids, perfluoroalkanoic esters, and perfluoroalkyliodides in fluorinated alcohols comprising heating a fluorinated alcohol, or mixtures thereof, containing said acids, esters, or iodides to a temperature of at least 175° C. in the presence of water and a base additive is disclosed.

Trace levels of perfluoroalkanoic acid impurities may occur in intermediates used in the manufacture of fluorinated alcohols. It is desirable to limit formation of these impurities in fluorinated intermediates and also during the manufacture of various polymer products using such intermediates. Furthermore, it is also desirable to eliminate or significantly reduce the occurrence in fluorinated intermediates and polymer products of potential perfluoroalkanoic acid precursors, such as their esters with 2-perfluoroalkylethyl alcohols, and perfluoroalkyliodides. Both these classes of compounds can be readily degraded by hydrolysis and/or oxidation to form perfluoroalkanoic acids.
Fluorinated alcohols are widely used as intermediates to prepare water and oil repellents, as well as soil and stain release compositions for both hard- and soft-surfaced substrates. Such substrates include building materials, such as architectural stone and tile; textiles and fabrics from natural and synthetic fibers used in apparel and carpet; as well as other surfaces. Fluorotelomer alcohols are a particular class of fluorinated alcohols used in these applications. Fluorotelomer alcohols can be prepared industrially by multiple processes that include: telomerization of pentafluoroethyliodide with tetrafluoroethylene to yield perfluoralkyliodides F(CF2CF2)nI; reaction of these perfluoroalkyliodides with ethylene to provide 1-iodo-1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluoroalkanes having the structure F(CF2CF2)nCH2CH2I; followed by hydrolysis to yield 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluoroalkan-1-ols, F(CF2CF2)nCH2CH2OH.
In U.S. patent application 2003/125421 Bladel et al. disclose a process for the recovery of highly fluorinated carboxylic acids useful as emulsifiers from fluoropolymer dispersions. Processes for the recovery of fluorinated acids from product streams do not destroy the fluorinated acids, and may leave a significant residue of the acid in the extracted liquid product.
Japan patent application 2003/267900 describes a process for the decomposition and removal of water-soluble fluorine-containing carboxylic acids, having the fluorocarbon chain interrupted by oxygen or nitrogen, when dissolved in water at temperatures of 200° C. or less in 24 hr. Perfluoroalkanoic acids (especially their more thermally stable linear isomers) and their esters are substantially more stable under these reaction conditions and are relatively insoluble in water. This process would not selectively remove perfluoroalkanoic acids, their esters and perfluoroalkyliodide impurities from fluorinated alcohols.
It is therefore desirable to develop processes that remove perfluoroalkanoic acids, their esters, and perfluoroalkyliodides from fluorinated alcohols. The present invention provides such a process.


A halftone raster image, suitable for rendering a continuous-tone image, which comprises a plurality of dots, arranged according a screen ruling and screen angle. Said dots comprise (i) image pixels arranged as a first arc or as a plurality of arcs which together represent a first spiral, and (ii) non-image pixels arranged as a second arc or as a plurality of arcs which together represent a second spiral. Small displacements of the feed point of said dots away from the theoretical centre of a halftone dot, defined by said screen ruling and screen angle, enable a higher image quality and less patterns in said halftone raster image.

Printing presses and digital printers cannot vary the amount of ink or toner that is applied to particular image areas except through digital halftoning, also called dithering or screening. Digital halftoning is the process of rendering the illusion of a continuous-tone image with a number of dots, also called halftone dots. The digital image produced by digital halftoning is called a halftone raster image or screen. Both multilevel and binary halftoning methods are known. The halftone dots produced by binary methods consist of pixels which represent image data and pixels which represent non-image data.
Binary digital halftoning is a well-known technique, which is explained in detail by Robert Ulichney in his book "Digital Halftoning", MIT Press, 1987, ISBN 0-262-21009-6, wherein chapter 5 about 'clustered-dot ordered dither' is background art for the present invention including the use of threshold tiles for rendering continuous-tone images.
Another overview of digital halftoning methods is disclosed in an article "Recent trends in digital halftoning", Proc. SPIE 2949, Imaging Sciences and Display Technologies, (7 Feb. 1997); doi: 10.1117/12.266335 wherein also multilevel digital halftoning is explained.
AM (amplitude modulated) screening is a widely used clustered-dot-ordered dithering technique wherein the size of the halftone dots is modulated in order to represent different densities of an image. When printing an AM image, each halftone dot corresponds to a certain amount of ink, called further a blob, which has to be pressed or jetted onto the substrate to be printed, dried and cured in a (very) short time, which may especially produce problems when printing with multiple inks on top of each other, whether wet-on-wet or wet-on-(semi)dry. The spreading of the ink on the substrate or previous lay down ink layers, which is determined by the thickness of the blob, and the local (de)wetting and/or absorption of the ink on the substrate, renders the printed blob locally uncontrollable, thereby producing noise in the printed image and substrate depended print quality.
Such problems can be addressed by other screening technologies such as FM (frequency modulated) screening or techniques involving error diffusion. In both these techniques, the image density of the halftone dots is modulated by the frequency of the dots instead of the dot size. However also these techniques are characterized by other issues like print stability, poor smoothness of flat tones, higher dot gain and higher wear of printing plates in long print runs.
Hybrid screening techniques are available which combine AM and FM methods so as to obtain the advantages of both. Said screening techniques however involve the use of multiple threshold tiles for rendering a continuous-tone image, which requires more memory space to store these multiple threshold tiles, for example a threshold tile with FM method in the highlights, a threshold tile with AM method in the midtones and another threshold tile with FM method in the shadows. In addition, the transitions from one threshold tile to another may produce density jumps in the printed image whereby calibration of said screening techniques also takes more service time than AM and FM.
US2007/0002384 discloses a method of controlling thickness of an ink blob in an AM halftone region of a printing plate or an intermediate image carrier on a digital press. The method generates a raster image with regularly tiled halftone dots, which comprise one or more ink-receptive rings enclosing a non-receptive portion. In other words, the ink-receptive rings form a closed loop, which completely encloses the portion that does not accept ink; as a result, the extent at which the ink can spread within the dot remains limited because no further spreading of the ink within the dot is possible as soon as the enclosed portion is filled.

Digital halftoning with dots representing a spiral


A method for managing hardware within a computing system. The method includes at least one computer processors identifying a plurality of field-replaceable units (FRUs) within a computing system that respectively include a non-volatile memory device. The method further includes determining a status corresponding to a FRU of the identified plurality of FRUs. The method further includes responding to determining a non-functional status of the FRU of the identified plurality of FRUs, by determining a response related to the non-functional FRU. The method further includes initiating an action on the computing system based on the determined response related to the non-functional FRU.

The present invention relates to the field of electronic devices that incorporate field-replaceable units (FRUs) that include non-volatile memory, and more particularly identifying a failing FRU based on inspecting the non-volatile memory.
In early computer systems and electronic devices, it was often difficult or even impossible to replace certain hardware components, e.g., the power supply, memory, and I/O controllers, after the computer or electronic device had been manufactured. Electronic hardware components in computer systems and electronic devices sometimes fail after the systems have been put into service. When hardware failures occur, the faulty device must be identified and replaced to minimize downtime. Modern computer systems and electronic devices incorporate field-replaceable units (FRUs), which are components, such as a power supply, memory, and I/O controllers that can be replaced in the field (i.e., at user locations) to minimize downtime.
Most computing environments today include several types of memory for storing and manipulating data. The most common are read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), and erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory). FRUs can include one or more types of memory to store: firmware, vital product data (VPD), monitoring data, and/or fault data. Some FRUs may include non-volatile memory that is a discrete component, such as a serial electrically EPROM (SEEPROM) and/or memory that is part of another device, such as flash memory of a microcontroller.

Identifying defective field-replaceable units that include multi-page, non-volatile memory devices

International Business machines Corporation


A battery ejection mechanism for ejecting a battery housing removably attached to an electrical device housing. The mechanism includes at least one ejection member having a button and an arm. The arm is adapted to transfer a force applied on the button to the electrical device housing to assist in the removal of the battery pack from the electrical device housing. Button motion may also be used to cause retraction of latches mounted on the battery housing.

The present invention relates generally to battery packs, battery operated devices, battery chargers, and methods for their use. The invention may find particular use in slide type battery packs having a plurality of cells. In particular, the present invention relates to mechanisms for ejecting detachable battery packs from battery operated devices as well as from the chargers used to re-charge the batteries.
Electrical power tools, such as drills, screwdrivers, saws, etc., are in widespread use. While these tools can be powered by an AC power source using an electrical cord, battery operated tools offer operators greater mobility. Battery operated tools also eliminate the need for extension cords, which can be quite cumbersome. Battery operated devices, however, have limitations. The batteries can hold a limited amount of electrical power before they need to be recharged. To alleviate this problem, power tool manufacturers developed more powerful packs. As a result, battery packs have become large and heavy. This increase in weight has led manufacturers of battery operated power tools to develop locking mechanisms that secure these large, heavy battery packs in electrical contact with the power tool. Unfortunately, the larger and heavier the battery pack, the stronger the locking mechanism. To change the battery pack for recharging, the operator must first disable the locking mechanism and then separate the battery pack from the power tool. Because the pack is large and heavy, there is a need to assist a power tool user in separating the battery pack from the power tool. Similarly, when the battery is placed onto a battery charger, there is a need to assist the power tool user in separating and removing the battery pack from the charger.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,412,572 shows a battery ejection mechanism where a spring is used to apply a force to the battery pack to assist a user separating the two. This approach has limitations. First, the user must compress the spring when connecting the battery. The user must apply a sufficient force to compress the spring enough for the spring to apply a large enough force to provide real assistance in the removal of these large, heavy battery packs. Thus, the effort saved by providing assistance with the removal of the battery is negated by the effort required to compress the spring when attaching the battery to the tool. Further, the spring applies a force against the battery as the operator attempts to attach the battery. This force acts to directly oppose the efforts of the operator. The battery ejection mechanism of the present invention addresses these and other problems of the art.


A sulfur-crosslinkable rubberizing mixture for strengthening elements in motor vehicle pneumatic tires comprises 70 to 100 phr (parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of total rubbers in the mixture) of natural rubber, up to 30 phr of at least one polybutadiene, up to 15 phr of at least one carbon black, 20 to 100 phr of at least one high-dispersibility silica, at least one silane coupling agent and a bonding system. The invention further relates to motor vehicle pneumatic tires comprising the sulfur-crosslinked rubberizing mixture. For improved resistance to cracking and growth of cracks with good adhesion and good mechanical and dynamic properties, the high-dispersibility silica has a CTAB number to ASTM D 3765 of more than 130 m2/g.

The phr (parts per hundred parts of rubber by weight) data used in this specification are the conventional quantitative data used in the rubber industry for mixture formulations. The amount added in parts by weight of the individual components here is always based on 100 parts by weight of the entire composition of all of the rubbers present in the mixture.
Pneumatic tires are strengthened by textile or metallic reinforcement, e.g., brass-coated steel cord, in order to withstand high mechanical stresses. Pneumatic tires comprise by way of example brass-coated steel cord in the belt, in the bead core, and optionally in the carcass. In order to ensure that the rubber-reinforcement composite is durable, the embedding rubber mixture (rubberizing mixture) is intended to exhibit good adhesion to the reinforcement, and this adhesion should not be impaired by aging and by storage in moist conditions. The vulcanizates should moreover exhibit high dynamic and mechanical strength and low susceptibility to cracking and to crack propagation.
The adhesion of rubber to textile reinforcement is achieved by way of impregnation (e.g. with resorcinol-formaldehyde resins in combination with rubber latices (RFL dip)) by the direct method using adhesive mixtures or by way of adhesive solutions of unvulcanized rubber using polyisocyanates.
The rubber-metal adhesion can be advantageously influenced by use of what are known as reinforcing resins in the rubberizing mixture. Examples of known reinforcing resins are lignin, polymer resins, and phenol-formaldehyde resins with hardener. A method that has long been known for improving the rubber-metal adhesion is to use cobalt salts and/or a resorcinol-formaldehyde-silica system, or a resorcinol-formaldehyde system as additions for the rubberizing mixtures. Rubberizing mixtures with cobalt salts and with a resorcinol-formaldehyde-silica system are known by way of example from KGK Kautschuk Gummi Kunststoffe No. 5/99, pp. 322 to 328, from GAK 8/1995, p. 536, and from U.S. Pat. No. 7,307,116.
Fillers used in known rubberizing mixtures are carbon black and/or silica in the following carbon-black-to-silica ratios: from 100:0 to 80:20, or else from 20:80 to 0:100.
Sulfur-crosslinkable rubberizing mixtures are known from U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,871,597 and 6,169,137. In those documents they are used by way of example as rubberizing mixtures for the belt. The intention there is to reduce the rolling resistance of the tire without impairing the other properties such as adhesion, wear resistance, and durability, in particular of the belt, and without impairing the production of the tire. The expression high-dispersibility silica here means a silica which can break up or deagglomerate and which therefore can be dispersed (distributed) particularly well and uniformly in an elastomer matrix. The particularly good distribution can be demonstrated via electron micrographs or optical micrographs of thin layers. The silicas Ultrasil® VN2 and Ultrasil® VN3 marketed by Evonik Industries are not high-dispersibility silicas. The use of high-dispersibility silica is intended to reduce materials fatigue to a minimum in the vulcanized mixture and thus reduce the risk of separation of the mixture from reinforcement. The CTAB index of the high-dispersibility silicas used in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,871,597 and 6,169,137 is ≦125 m2/g.


A molded plastic pail and a snap-on closure having a flared skirt the bottom of which is manually engaged for removal purposes. A peripheral ring structure integral with the pail sidewall immediately underlies the skirt of the closure when in the sealing relationship with the pail thereby to block access to the skirt. However, a section of the rib structure essentially midway between the bail ears includes a break away panel connected to the rib structure by frangible webs and a living hinge so that it may be pivoted outwardly and downwardly away from the pail wall to afford access to a sufficient portion of the closure skirt to permit removal. The break away section thereafter serves as an integral handle to facilitate pouring from the container.

It is now common to provide pails, bottles and other containers for various goods with structure which inhibits access to the interior of the container so as to provide physical evidence of tampering or entry prior to that of the end user. One approach is to provide a frangible skirt structure on the closure which, when broken in several places, reduces the hoop strength of the closure skirt sufficiently to permit the closure to be lifted and removed from the container. This approach tends to reduce the effectiveness of the closure in subsequent use.
Another approach which does not significantly affect the post-opening operability of the closure is to provide a tear strip on the pail or the closure which is located so as to prevent or inhibit removal of the closure until such time as the tear strip is removed. This poses the disadvantage of (a) adding significant structure to the pail which has no function at all after its initial operation and (b) generating refuse elements which, because they become totally separated from the container package, pose a risk of making their way into the container before the contents are removed.


In an automatic turn-off sprinkler, water enters an inlet and passes through a hollow interior region to the outlet. A reciprocating spool in the hollow region normally blocks the outlet enabling incoming water to fill a chamber above the spool. The gap between the ID of the bore and the OD of the spool permits sliding movement of the spool while providing a watertight seal preventing liquid entering the small opening communication with a chamber above the top of the spool from passing to the outlet opening. A heat sensor detects an emergency condition, unsealing a normally sealed opening allowing liquid pressing upon the spool to escape through the unsealed opening dropping the pressure on the top of the spool, whereby water pressure upon the bottom of the spool lifts the spool above the outlet. When the heat sensor seals the control opening, liquid pressure upon the top surface builds. Although pressure on the bottom and top surfaces is substantially equal, gravity urges the spool to the closed position which is maintained during normal conditions. The watertight seal is retained by controlling gap size, eliminating the need for O-ring seals which create undesirable frictional forces. The spool may be spherical or cylindrical. A light closing spring may be provided to normally urge the spool to the closed position. A plurality of on-off sprinkler devices may be controlled by a common heat sensor, if desired.

Sprinkler devices are well known and well accepted devices for protection of homes, offices, factories, and the like, against fire.
Conventional sprinkler devices typically utilize a heat-sensitive element which may, for example, melt at a predetermined temperature enabling a spring-loaded valve to open and spray water upon a predetermined area protected by the sprinkler device. Such devices have the disadvantage of remaining open and being incapable of reclosing due to destruction of the meltable element.
The need as well as the desire to provide sprinkler devices with an on-off capability have led to the development of sprinkler devices which have the capability of opening responsive to an emergency condition and reclosing when the emergency condition terminates. Note, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,757,866 which has a pilot valve actuated by a bimetal disk which normally biases the pilot valve to a closed condition, sealing a control opening communicating between a chamber in which a piston is reciprocatingly mounted and an outlet opening. Water enters through an inlet opening and passes through a restricted opening in the center of the piston to fill the aforementioned closed chamber whereby equal water pressure is applied on opposite surfaces of the piston but with the larger surface area of the piston confronting the closed chamber, the piston is urged to the closed position, sealing a second opening communicating between said inlet and said outlet.
The bimetal opens the valve to unseal the control opening when ambient temperature reaches a predetermined level such as 185.degree. F. allowing water in the previously closed chamber to pass through the outlet opening abruptly dropping the pressure applied to the bottom surface of the piston enabling the piston to be moved to a position unsealing the opening between the inlet and outlet.
The valve reseals the control opening between the chamber and the outlet opening responsive to a reduced ambient temperature, typically of the order of 100.degree. F., whereupon the chamber is refilled causing the liquid pressure build-up within the chamber to move the piston back to the position resealing the opening communicating the inlet with the outlet.
The above system, which is described in detail, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,757,866, has a disadvantage of requiring O-ring sealing devices to prevent liquid filling the chamber from reaching the outlet opening, thus increasing the forces required to move the piston to both the sealed and the unsealed positions. The O-rings increase the force needed to move the piston. In addition, the useful operating life of the O-rings is limited, necessitating frequent maintenance and repair. For example, the average shelf life of an O-ring is of the order of fifteen years whereas the average life of a sprinkler device is of the order of fifty years. In addition, the shape of the piston necessitates the provision of two sliding chambers of different diameter for slidably mounting the piston.
Other sprinkler devices having on-off capabilities similar in design to the above-mentioned patent include: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,698,483; 3,791,450; 3,802,510; 3,848,676; 4,553,602; 4,706,758; 4,830,117 and 4,830,118. The devices of all the above-mentioned patents have the disadvantage of requiring O-ring seals, as well as independent biasing members.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,359,098, in addition to requiring O-ring seals and biasing members, further requires a flexible diaphragm which is subject to wearing and deterioration at a rate equal to or greater than that experienced by the O-rings.


Embodiments relate to a flash memory device and a method of manufacturing a flash memory device that may improve a reliability of process by obtaining a Depth of Focus (DOF) in an exposure process. In embodiments, a method may include sequentially stacking an oxide film, a floating gate poly film, an ONO film, a control gate poly film, and a BARC (Bottom AntiReflect Coating) on a semiconductor substrate, forming a photoresist pattern for a stack gate on the BARC, and etching the BARC, the control gate poly film, the ONO film and the floating gate poly film at once by using the photoresist pattern until the oxide film is exposed.

A gate-coupling coefficient may be an important element in determining an efficiency of a memory cell in a flash memory device. The gate-coupling coefficient may have a substantial effect on an electric potential of a floating gate. In a flash memory device having a higher gate-coupling coefficient, the electric potential of the floating gate may be adjacent to a given electric potential of a control gate in the memory cell. Accordingly, performance of a flash memory cell may be improved, including programming and erasing efficiency and rapid reading speed.
The high gate-coupling rate may enable a simplification of chip design, and may lower an operation voltage of a flash memory cell to a lower power-source voltage. That is, an important element to determine the gate-coupling coefficient may be a capacitance between each polysilicon to a tunnel oxide capacitance, that is, a capacitance between a floating gate poly and a control gate poly. As the capacitance between each polysilicon increases and the tunnel oxide capacitance decreases, the gate coupling-coefficient may increase.
FIGS. 1A to 1C are cross section diagrams illustrating a related art method of manufacturing a flash memory device having a stack gate structure. The related art flash memory device may include semiconductor substrate 10, oxide film 11, floating gate poly film 12, ONO film 13, control gate poly film 14, Bottom AntiReflect Coating (BARC) 15, and photoresist pattern 16.
In the related art etching method, BARC 15 may be first etched using photoresist pattern 16 (as shown in FIG. 1B). Floating gate poly film 12, ONO film 13, and control gate poly film 14 may be subsequently etched (as shown in FIG. 1C).
In relation with the thickness of the stack gate of the related art flash memory device having a stack gate structure, control gate poly film 14, which may serve as a mask for ion implantation, may not be decreased in thickness if an ion-implantation condition is not changed on a decreased design rule. Thus, since a thickness of the film to be etched may not be decreased, it may be impossible to decrease the thickness of photoresist pattern 16 used as a mask in an etching process.
In this case, it may be necessary for the photoresist to maintain a thickness of 6000 Å at minimum. However, according to the decreased design rule, a pitch to form the stack gate, that is, a total value of line and critical dimension (CD) of space may also be decreased. Accordingly, it may be difficult to obtain a Depth of Focus (DOF) margin in an exposure process for the same thickness of the photoresist.
When patterning the photoresist of the stack gate, photoresist pattern 16 may be fallen or deformed. Also, even thought the photoresist pattern may be formed, its realization may be lowered and an efficiency of a flash memory device may deteriorate.


An ultrasonic wave medical treatment apparatus capable of preventing the displacement of the focal point of the ultrasonic waves from the treatment target portion within the patient, eliminating a need for re-positioning of the ultrasonic wave applicator with respect to the patient, and taking MR images to be utilized during the treatment at a high resolution. In this apparatus, the ultrasonic wave applicator can be integrally incorporated within a treatment table for carrying the patient into the MRI gantry for taking the MR images. The surface coil for taking the MR images can be provided on a surface film of a water bag in the ultrasonic wave applicator, or on a body cavity probe on which the ultrasonic transducer is also provided. The mixing rate of the coupling fluid can be adjusted, and the impedance matching between the ultrasonic transducer and the driving circuit can be maintained by minimizing the reflected electric power from the ultrasonic transducer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic wave medical treatment apparatus for treating treatment targets such as tumors, calculi, etc. inside a living body by applying intense ultrasonic waves from an outside of the living body or a body cavity of the living body, under the guidance of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
2. Description of the Background Art
In recent years, for a treatment of the calculosis, much attention has been attracted to a lithotriptor for destroying calculi inside a living body non-invasively by externally applying intense ultrasonic waves focused on the calculi.
Also, for a treatment of the tumors, much attention has been attracted to a hyperthermia for heating the tumor tissues at the temperature over 42.5.degree. C., and a thermal treatment for causing a thermal degeneration by heating at the high temperature over 60.degree. C.
In order to carry out these treatments, there are many propositions for an apparatus for focusing the intense ultrasonic waves generated outside of the living body onto a treatment target portion within the living body, and thermally treating a cancer by the heat generation of the cancer tissue due to the absorption of the ultrasonic energy, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,620,546, and Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 5-137733 (1993). This latter reference proposes a unified configuration of the lithotritor and a thermal treatment apparatus, noting that these tow apparatuses have similar structures.
On the other hand, the researches are also carried out for a treatment method to kill the cancer tissue by the mechanical force of the pulse shaped shock waves having sufficient intensity to destroy the calculi which are irradiated onto the cancer, as disclosed in Hoshi, S. et al.: "High Energy Underwater Shock Wave Treatment on Implanted Urinary Bladder Cancer in Rabbits", Journal of Urology, Vol. 146, pp. 439-443, August, 1991.
Now, in positioning the focus in such a cancer treatment apparatus, the two dimensional ultrasound tomographic images are usually utilized, but this use of the two dimensional tomographic images makes it very difficult to carry out a thorough treatment of the entire tumor as the actual tumor often has a complicated three dimensional shape. For this reason, there has been a proposition to employ the three dimensional ultrasound images instead of the ultrasound tomographic images as disclosed in European Patent No. 0 194 897.
However, in the ultrasound images, the region behind the pneumatic organs such as the bones and the lung becomes invisible, so that the accurate three-dimensional information cannot be obtained even when the three dimensional ultrasound images are utilized.
Furthermore, in the conventional ultrasonic wave medical treatment apparatus, only the relative position of the focal point and the treatment target portion can be ascertained at best, and there has been no means for judging the effect of the treatment, so that the decision for the continuation or termination of the treatment cannot be made until several weeks to several months after the treatment. For these reasons, there has been a proposition for an ultrasonic wave medical treatment apparatus incorporating the MRI or the X-ray CT (computed tomography) as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 5-300910 (1993).
In this regard, it is known that the tissue degeneration due to the heat can be confirmed by taking the T2 weighted images using the MRI, as reported in Jolesz, F. A. et al.: "Laser Surgery Benefits from Guidance by MR", Diagnostic Imaging, pp. 103-108, September 1990. Consequently, by observing the difference between the T2 weighted images taken before and after the treatment, it becomes possible to judge the effect of the treatment, so that the treatment can be carried out while checking the untreated portion and the sufficient treatment effect can be secured by a minimum amount of the shock wave irradiation.
It is also possible to set up a treatment plan concerning the scanning method and range for the shock wave focal point, and the intensity, period, and interval for the shock wave irradiation, according to the frozen image obtained by the MRI. Here, however, even when such a treatment plan is prepared, the accurate treatment cannot be expected unless the accurate positioning of the shock wave focal point is guaranteed.
In the conventional ultrasonic wave medical treatment apparatus, it has been necessary to remove the ultrasonic wave applicator from the patient at a time of moving the patient in and out of the MRI gantry, due to the mechanism for moving the ultrasonic wave applicator and the structural properties of the treatment bed and the MRI gantry.
For example, at the beginning of the treatment, after the MR images is taken before the treatment in order to set up the treatment plan, the patient is moved out of the MRI gantry once in order to attach the ultrasonic wave applicator, and then after the positioning of the intense ultrasonic wave focal point with respect to the treatment target portion is made by using the MR images and the ultrasound images, the actual treatment is started. In addition, in a case of carrying out the treatment while judging the treatment effect and checking the untreated portion by the MR images, it is necessary to repeat the operation in which the ultrasonic wave applicator is removed from the patient once and the patient is moved into the MRI gantry in order to take the MR images, and after the treatment effect is judged, the patient is moved out of the MRI gantry again in order to attach the ultrasonic wave applicator, and then after the positioning of the ultrasonic wave focal point is re-established, the treatment is resumed.
In re-establishing the positioning of the ultrasonic wave focal point, even when the relative position of the ultrasonic transducer and the treatment target portion is memorized accurately at a time of the initial positioning, the focal point position can be displaced by a slight movement of the patient. In particular, when it is necessary to repeat the attaching and removing of the ultrasonic wave applicator for a number of times, the probability for the focal point position to be displaced from a desired position becomes large.
Moreover, when the ultrasonic wave applicator is simply pressed against the body surface of the patient, there is a danger for the body surface to move with respect to the ultrasonic wave applicator due to the respiration movement.
Now, there is a recent proposition for mounting the ultrasonic transducer on a catheter, and inserting this catheter into the patient's body under the guidance of the MRI to establish the positioning of the ultrasonic transducer and the treatment target portion, so as to treat the treatment target portion by irradiating intense ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic transducer mounted on the catheter, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 4-53533 (1993).
In this proposition, when the receiving system of the MRI is for the entire body, the S/N ratio becomes insufficient for the treatment plan set up, the accurate treatment effect judgement, and the real time treatment monitoring, so that it is necessary to use a surface coil to be placed on the body surface in order to obtain the MR images at a sufficiently high S/N ratio. However, because of the presence of the ultrasonic wave applicator on the body surface near the treatment target portion, it is impossible to place this surface coil on the body surface near the treatment target portion during the ultrasonic wave medical treatment. Also, when a surface coil is used for the receiving system of the MRI, the positioning of the receiving system to image the desired treatment target portion at a high S/N ratio becomes difficult as the surface coil has a relatively large sensitivity fluctuation. Moreover, when the ultrasonic transducer is mounted on the catheter and the ultrasonic waves are irradiated from a body cavity, the surface coil cannot be position near the treatment target portion, so that the sufficient MR images of the treatment target portion cannot be obtained.
On the other hand, in the conventional piezoelectric type ultrasonic wave medical treatment apparatus, the focal point is extremely small, so that in the treatment method such as that for causing the thermal degeneration on the tissues by heating the localized region at a high temperature over 80.degree. C. or that for destroying the tissues mechanically by the shock waves, the displacement of the focal point position can lead to the destroying of the normal tissues, unlike the treatment method such as the hyperthermia which carries out the treatment by utilizing the difference in the thermal sensitivity of the tissues. For this reason, it has been necessary to make a highly accurate positioning in the conventional piezoelectric type ultrasonic wave medical treatment apparatus, but there has been a danger that the treatment target portion can be moved due to the respiration or the body movement of the patient, or that the focal point position can be shifted due to the reflection of the ultrasonic waves at the body surface.
In addition, as the focal point is de-focused by the reflection of the ultrasonic waves, there has been a possibility that the temperature at the focal point does not reach to an expected level or that the treatment becomes insufficient as the intensity of the shock waves becomes insufficient. As a consequence, the burden on the patient as well as the physician can be increased by the re-treatment required by the recurrence of the cancer due to the insufficient treatment. Furthermore, there is a danger than the treatment in an accurate range cannot be made as the focal point size becomes larger due to the de-focusing of the focal point.
There is also a need to take an impedance matching between the driving circuit and the ultrasonic transducer in the ultrasonic wave medical treatment apparatus. However, because the piezoelectric element used as the ultrasonic transducer has a high Q at the mechanical resonance point, the impedance matching between the piezoelectric element and the amplifier can be displaced during the treatment due to the change of the characteristic caused by the heat generation of the piezoelectric element, such that there is a danger for failing to obtain the expected acoustic output.
Also, due to the displacement of the impedance matching, the reflected electric power of the ultrasonic transducer can be increased such that there is a possibility for the electro-acoustic conversion efficiency to be deteriorated.
Moreover, in a treatment method in which the malignant tumor tissue located at the focal point is killed by heat, the negative pressure at the focal point becomes large as the focal point input power is large, such that the stable cavitations can be generated and grown as the intense ultrasonic waves are applied continuously, and there is a possibility that the sufficient power cannot reach to the intended focal point due to the scattering of the ultrasonic waves by the cavitations. In addition, there has been a possibility for the appearance of a hot spot at an unexpected location due to the heat generation by the scattered ultrasonic waves.

Ultrasonic wave medical treatment apparatus suitable for use under guidance of magnetic resonance imaging


A system and method are provided for correcting an image captured by a digital image capturing device. The method includes calculating a log of a desired correction value based on sample point and a target value for that point and calculating an approximation to the log of illumination based on an input pixel intensity. The method additionally includes calculating any target pixel intensity value based on the log of the correction value and the approximation to the log of illumination. Image correction tools correct the image to correspond to the target pixel intensity value. The technique may be used to correct the gain of any image and for example, may correct exposure or color balance deficiencies. The technique provides excellent results regardless of the image capturing device.

Many instances exist in which light levels in images require adjustment, such as when exposure or color balance needs to be corrected. With conventional photography development techniques, correction is accomplished in a darkroom by adjusting filter amounts on an enlarger or by increasing or decreasing the exposure time. Both of these techniques perform linear light adjustments. Each time light or time is doubled, the exposure of all the points of the image doubles regardless of the density at each point.
The response of a print or film to the above correction techniques is not linear. Instead, the response has a rather complex 'S' shaped characteristic curve. In an image area with the most detail or the central part of the total density range, the response is proportional to the logarithm of the image intensity. For every doubling of exposure, a constant step-wise increment in density occurs. Hence, with a step chart in which each gray patch represents a doubling of the density of its neighbor, each step change appears to be a uniform density increment relative to its neighbor.
Correction characteristics for digital cameras also have a non-linear response. However, digital cameras typically have physical limitations in the sensor dynamic range that makes the characteristic curve typically different than the 'S'-shaped (log-linear) curve of the conventional film. This nonlinear response is encoded in the final images that digital cameras produce in image files (e.g. jpeg or tiff) or from raw image processors as output. Although the raw data reflect the direct output from the sensor and therefore are inherently linear, typical cameras or raw processing software modify this output to produce a non-linear response in the color-space used in viewers and editors. Unfortunately, the tools provided in the editors and viewers do not account for the non-linear response, thus resulting in poor color and exposure adjustments in most situations. Simple 'gamma' models of the response curve non-linearity result in poor approximations and are poorly suited for making accurate and visually acceptable adjustments to color or exposure.
Furthermore, current image correction techniques for digital cameras such as those used in the Adobe Photoshop software, from Adobe Systems Incorporated are based on specific camera characteristics and accordingly cannot be used universally for all digital cameras. A technique is therefore needed that is capable of image correction for images produced by any digital camera.
With regard to exposure, FIG. 8 illustrates a test chart for an under-exposed image. The test chart of FIG. 8 represents an image under-exposed by one or two f-stops. The f-stop number indicates the relative size of the opening of the lens or aperture. The number is obtained by dividing the focal length f of a lens by its effective aperture. In the conventional series, each number represents an aperture that admits half as much light as the preceding one. The test chart shown in FIG. 8 may have, for example, been two f-stops underexposed at f/5.6. The test chart of FIG. 9 showing a properly exposed image at an exposure of f/2.8. The change of the intensities of the grey patches from FIG. 8 to FIG. 9 can be seen in a comparison of the two test charts.
If the relative pixel intensities of the grey scale patches are plotted using a tool such as an Adobe Photoshop Curves tool, the relationship is illustrated as non-linear as shown in a screen shot 600 illustrated in FIG. 6. The plotting process requires measurement of each of the plotted points. The screen shot 600 illustrates a non-linear plot 604 that shows underexposed values on the x-axis 608 and properly exposed values on the y-axis 606. The illustrated curve is a lookup table and may be created for each RGB channel so that an entire image can be transformed to the correct lookup values. The Photoshop Curves tool shows the response correction for a 4× (2 stop) under-exposure. The grey-values of the under-exposed image in FIG. 8 will map to the correctly exposed values shown in FIG. 9. As set forth above, using currently existing tools, the relationship shown in FIG. 6 can only be achieved through detailed and laborious measurements.
One existing approach for the correction of under-exposure in Adobe Photoshop and other editors is end-point white level correction. FIG. 10 illustrates a test chart produced by this technique. This process results in a much different mapping than the values measured between actual exposure changes in FIG. 6. Instead, the relationship is largely linear as shown in FIG. 7. A screen shot 700 of FIG. 7 shows a plot 704 that includes underexposed values along the x-axis 708 and the corrected values on the y-axis 706. As illustrated in FIG. 10, the artifacts of end-point white level correction include the production of harshly saturated and high contrast as side effects to the attempted correction.
In addition to exposure correction, another area in which image correction is often implemented is color balance. A frequently used technique for achieving an optimal color balance in digital cameras is a white balance technique. Using white balancing, a neutral patch, or some approximation of a neutral patch such as a cloud or white shirt, is selected in the image. The individual channel color exposures (channel gain in RGB or CMY) are then adjusted in order to cause the neutral color to appear neutral.
This technique suffers from several deficiencies. For example, a single white point will not provide an optimal correction for all of the intermediate colors. FIG. 11 illustrates an incorrect white balance achieved using tungsten light with a daylight setting. FIG. 12 illustrates the result of adjusting the gain for each color channel in the image to correct for the colorcast by getting one grey point correct (third from left on the bottom row). The highlights have a blue cast (see the lower-left white patch) while the darker areas are shifted to red.
By using individual channel exposure curves obtained through measured camera characteristics, a curve similar to the curve from FIG. 6, and thus better results, can be obtained as shown in FIG. 13. However, as explained above, this process is laborious and requires multiple individual measurements.
The corrected images shown in FIGS. 9 and 13 above were hand-corrected using the Adobe Photoshop editing program. This technique is successful when many known grey-values exist. However, even though the technique is successful, it is labor intensive and often impossible due to the lack of neutral patches available for reference.
One way to solve this problem is to work with data that is in linear space where double the light means double the intensity, or a logarithmic space where each doubling of light intensity results in a constant increment of pixel value. Raw file programs like Adobe RAW, Phase One Raw products, and independent hardware vendor (IHV) proprietary raw editors such as Nikon Capture will allow adjustments in the linear space to facilitate simple gains. However, since digital cameras have typically already mapped the images to a non-linear color space by the time most photo-editors can open them, this technique is simply not feasible once the image has been converted into a viewable color space such as sRGB by the camera.
In practice, a technique is needed for obtaining a mapping similar to that shown in FIG. 6 based on a model of the camera non-linearity. Furthermore, a solution is needed that applies to all digital cameras and is accurate across the dynamic range of the camera.

System and method for automated correction of digital images


In accordance with the registration contents of the divided mail table, the control unit determines whether to handle each mail section as one electronic mail or to handle all the interrelated mail sections as one compiled electronic mail and executes a processing in accordance with the determination, when the mail sections are deleted, returned or transferred, after the mail sections are received by a portable phone and stored in the mail memory.

The number of characters in one electronic mail transmission is limited, due to handling limitations of a radio transmission or handling limitations of a portable phone display and so forth. Without any change, this causes great inconvenience to a portable phone user who cannot receive and transmit an electronic mail beyond a certain limitation, e.g., 250 characters.
Solutions to this problem are available. The technique of Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 9-51353 can be exemplified. According to this Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 9-51353, a mail server receives an electronic mail addressed to a certain portable phone as a first step and automatically divides the electronic mail into electronic mail sections with a certain length, if the character number exceeds handling limitations. The electronic mail section(s) divided in this way will be called "mail section(s)" hereinafter. Then the mail server puts a section number (i/m) on each section and transmits the mail sections to an addressee's portable phone. Here "m" is the total number of the mail sections and "i" is a certain section number assigned to each section of the mail sections. Upon receipt of these sections the addressee's portable phone sorts the mail sections by referring to the section number. Then the portable phone displays the mail sections one by one in numerical order in accordance with user's page turnover operation. Through this operation the mail sections are displayed as if they were a single non-divided electronic mail.
There are, however, different processing types other than the display processing by user's page turnover operation for mail sections received through a portable phone. For example, received mail sections can be deleted from portable phone's memory, returned to the sender, or transferred to another user's portable phones.
However, operations such as deletion, return and transfer of the above-mentioned mail sections are inconvenient for users. The problem originates from the difficulty of memorizing one electronic mail as plural mail sections.

Method and apparatus for processing plural divided e-mails


A semiconductor device includes a substrate; a gate electrode provided on the substrate; a first insulating layer formed on the gate electrode; an island-shaped oxide semiconductor layer formed on the first insulating layer; a source electrode electrically connected to the oxide semiconductor layer; and a drain electrode electrically connected to the oxide semiconductor layer, wherein the first insulating layer has a recess in the surface, wherein the oxide semiconductor layer is formed on a bottom surface and side walls of said recess and on an upper face of the first insulating layer, and wherein at least one of the source electrode and the drain electrode is disposed on a portion of the oxide semiconductor layer over the side walls of said recess, and is not formed on a portion of the oxide semiconductor layer over the upper face of the first insulating layer.

An active matrix substrate used in liquid crystal display devices and the like has a switching element such as a thin-film transistor (hereinafter, "TFT") in each pixel. Conventionally, a TFT having an amorphous silicon layer or a polycrystalline silicon layer as an active layer has been widely used as such a switching element.
There have been recent attempts to achieve a higher performing TFT while suppressing the number of manufacturing steps and cost by using an oxide semiconductor such as zinc oxide as a material for a TFT active layer (Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, for example). A TFT that uses an oxide semiconductor is referred to as an "oxide semiconductor TFT." Oxide semiconductors have a higher mobility than amorphous silicon. Therefore, the oxide semiconductor TFT can operate at a faster speed than the amorphous silicon TFT. Furthermore, the oxide semiconductor film is formed with a process that is simpler than for the polycrystalline silicon film, and thus, the oxide semiconductor film can be applied to devices requiring a large area.
However, with an oxide semiconductor film, there is a risk that oxygen defects will create electron carriers in the TFT manufacturing process, such as in a heat treatment step and the like, causing a reduced resistance. Furthermore, in bottom-gate TFTs, the oxide semiconductor film at the bottom thereof is susceptible to damage during the step of etching the source and drain electrodes and the step of forming the interlayer insulating film. Thus, there have been problems such as the hysteresis of the TFT characteristics increasing, and stable TFT characteristics being difficult to achieve when using an oxide semiconductor film as an active layer of the TFT.
As a countermeasure, in Patent Document 1, for example, forming an insulating film (channel protective film) that functions as an etching stopper on the channel region of an active layer made of an oxide semiconductor has been proposed.
FIG. 14A is a plan view for describing a conventional oxide semiconductor TFT that has a channel protective film. FIG. 14B is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 14A along the line A-A′.
The oxide semiconductor TFT includes: a substrate 1, a gate 3 provided on the substrate 1, a gate insulating layer 5 covering the gate 3, an oxide semiconductor layer 7 formed on the gate insulating layer 5, a channel protective layer (hereinafter, simply "protective layer") 9 formed on the oxide semiconductor layer 7, and a source electrode 11 and a drain electrode 13 that are provided on the oxide semiconductor layer 7. The source electrode 11 and the drain electrode 13 are respectively electrically connected to the oxide semiconductor layer 7. Patent Document 1 discloses the usage of an amorphous oxide insulator as a protective layer 9.
In the process of manufacturing an oxide semiconductor TFT in Patent Document 1, when patterning is performed for the source electrode 11 and the drain electrode 13, the channel region of the oxide semiconductor layer 7 is protected by the protective layer 9. Thus, damage to the channel region of the oxide semiconductor layer 7 can be suppressed.
Furthermore, a process to continuously form an oxide semiconductor layer and a protective layer without exposing them to air is disclosed in Patent Document 2. For example, in FIG. 5 of Patent Document 2, a method of etching an oxide semiconductor layer and protective layer using the same mask has been proposed. A TFT with the same configuration as FIG. 5 of Patent Document 2 is shown in FIG. 15. In FIG. 15, the same reference characters as FIG. 14 are used for the same constituting elements.

Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing same


According to one implementation a user customizable, magnetic advertisement includes a first magnetic layer having a first surface and a second surface, the first surface including: a first portion and a second portion including printed material. An adhesive may be affixed to the first portion and configured to receive a medium including business information. A protective layer may be affixed to the adhesive and removed to receive the business information medium. The advertisement is customizable by removing the protective layer and affixing the business information medium. In one example, the medium may be a business card and the printed material provided information associated with a business. Additionally the second portion may be a coupon, a frequent purchase coupon, a service reminder, an appointment reminder, or a tag line including information about a business. The second portion also may be configured to receive written indications.

Advertising is a very important component of most successful businesses. Through advertising a business may reach new and old customers, and retain current customers. One popular method of advertising is the distribution of magnetic advertising that may be placed in conspicuous and convenient locations, such as doors, desks, whiteboards, and appliances. The magnetic advertising helps a business to distinguish itself from competitors by providing important information to a customer about the business in a way that is highly visible and easily accessible. In addition, the magnets provide a utility, such as allowing users to affix papers or pictures to a magnetic receptive surface.
However, one important item associated with any advertising is cost. For some businesses it is important to efficiently manage the cost of advertising. For example, many small businesses or individuals have limited means to expend on advertising. For these businesses, minimizing the cost associated with advertising may be a significant consideration.
Although tradition magnetic advertisements (i.e., ad specialty magnets) are a relatively inexpensive when compared to other forms of advertising, a business must order and wait for production of the ad specialty magnetic with business specific information. In addition, if any information changes once the ad specialty magnets are produced, the advertisements may be rendered obsolete. As a result, the traditional user may order a smaller number of advertisements, and reorder magnets as necessary.
Although this approach may reduce the costs associated with replacing the ad specialty magnets, it does not eliminate the possibility of advertisements with obsolete information and it may result in shortages of magnets (e.g., due to unexpected increases in business activity). Moreover, the cost per unit magnet increases with smaller order sizes since traditional magnetic advertisements require significant setup costs related to printing customized information on the magnets by the ad specialty magnet supplier. These costs are primarily fixed.
Therefore, for the above and other reasons, new methods and forms of magnetic advertisements are needed to supplement traditional magnetic advertisements.


There is provided a developing apparatus which, when using a conveying member having a resin-made rotation shaft member, is capable of preventing fusion and adhesion of a toner in a vicinity of a bearing resulting from friction between the rotation shaft member and the bearing. A developing apparatus includes a developing tank; a first developer conveying section and a second developer conveying section; a first bearing and a second bearing; a first temperature rise suppression section and a second temperature rise suppression section which a have higher thermal conductivity than those of a first rotation shaft member and a second rotation shaft member as well as those of the first bearing and the second bearing; and a deflection suppression belt which is stretched out by the first temperature rise suppression section and the second temperature rise suppression section.

Conventionally, a developing apparatus which uses a two-component developer composed of a toner and a carrier and an image forming apparatus which forms an image by using the developing apparatus have been widely known. By stirring the two-component developer inside a developing tank, the developing apparatus generates friction between the toner and the carrier to thereby charge the toner. The charged toner is supplied to a surface of a developing roller and moved from the developing roller to an electrostatic latent image formed on a surface of a photoreceptor drum by electrostatic attraction force. Thereby, a toner image based on the electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoreceptor drum. This toner image is transferred and fixed onto a recording medium, so that an image is formed on the recording medium.
In recent years, speeding-up and miniaturization of the image forming apparatus are required, and accordingly it is necessary to perform charging of developer promptly and sufficiently as well as to perform conveyance of the developer promptly. As a technology therefor, in Patent Literature 1, proposed is a circulation type developing apparatus in which a partition wall is provided inside a developing tank, the developing tank is divided by this partition wall into a first developer conveying path and a second developer conveying path which extend along a longitudinal direction of the partition wall and are opposed to each other with the partition wall interposed therebetween and a first communication path and a second communication path with which the first developer conveying path and the second developer conveying path are communicated in both sides of the longitudinal direction of the partition wall, and a first auger screw and a second auger screw which are conveying members for conveying the developer are disposed in the first developer conveying path and in the second developer conveying path.

Developing apparatus and image forming apparatus


A ship designed for use at high speed and heavy seas having a single long and slender hull with a narrow beam and a more or less vertical bow, whereby the front half of the hull has more or less vertical sides, minimal flare in the bow sections and towards the bow an increase in draught at its center line combined with a more or less similar increase of freeboard and whereby the aft end of the hull has a flat or slightly V-shaped bottom with one or more propellers and/or waterjets as propulsion means. In accordance with the invention the bow has a fillet radius of at least 1% of the beam.

Such a ship is known from the publication Keuning, J. A.; Toxopeus, S.; Pinkster, J.; The effect of bow-shape on the seakeeping performance of a fast monohull; Proceedings of FAST 2001 conference, September 2001; page 197-206; ISBN 0 903055 70 8, publisher The Royal Institute of Naval Architects. In this publication the ship according to the invention is described as the AXE BOW design. The customary design of the vertical bow of the AXE BOW design which is specific for high speeds is with a sharp bow, which means the sides more or less intersect to a sharp nose that cuts in the water. The disadvantage of this customary design is that with small yaw angles this leads to vortex shedding near the bow and this has a disadvantageous effect on the course stability of the ship.