Apparatuses are provided which basically comprise a socket which has at least two contiguous passages formed therein which are adapted to receive exposed wire and/or insulated wire. Bonding materials and crimp joints, alone or in combination, are provided to further secure the assemblies. In one embodiment, electrical connection assemblies are provided, which comprise an electrically conductive wire encapsulated by a sheath of insulating material, the insulating sheath having a first end, a first portion of the wire extending beyond the first end of the insulated sheath; and a socket having first and second contiguous passages formed therein, the first passage being of larger diameter than the second passage, the first portion of the wire being disposed in the second passage, the first end of the insulating sheath being disposed in the first passage. In other embodiments, the assemblies further comprise electrically conductive bonding material disposed in the first and second passages. Electrically conductive bonding material can bond the first portion of the wire to the second passage the first end of the insulating sheath to the second passage. Yet other embodiments have at least one crimp joint formed between the socket and either the exposed wire or the insulated wire. For example, a crimp joint can be formed between the first passage and first end of the insulating sheath. Another desirable crimp joint can be formed, alone or in combination with the crimp joint associated with the insulated sheath, between the second passage and the first portion of the wire. Further, in conjunction with one or more crimp joints, conductive bonding materials can also be used with the assemblies as described above. Methods of electrical communications utilizing such devices are also provided.

Electrical connections that can withstand harsh conditions, for example high pressures and exposure to high flow, are utilized in various applications. For example, in drilling applications, such as gas, oil or geothermal drilling, down hole environments can be exposed to pressures of 1,000 to 20,000 psi and flows containing muddy and/or rocky materials. It is often desirable to employ electronic sensing equipment in down hole environments to provide information about the conditions to a drill operator. Reliable electrical connections are important to ensure that information is reliably transmitted.
Some methods have been developed to create connections between an insulated wire and a socket, suitable for harsh applications, but the methods require, for example, creating a solder joint or crimping the socket to an exposed portion of the wire to make the electrical connection. These types of connection methods create assemblies that contain wire disposed between very rigid areas, such as insulation and the socket. A wire so disposed can be susceptible to failure from bending or tensile loads.
Hence, there exists a need to provide electrical connections which exhibit excellent strength characteristics. There also exists a need to create assemblies of a wire and a socket that are strong enough to absorb bending forces while ensuring excellent electrical conductivity. Finally, there is an on-going demand for providing electrical connections which remain functional for long periods of time under harsh conditions.

Electrical connections for harsh conditions


A motorcycle fairing support member and assembly and method of supporting a motorcycle fairing are disclosed. The fairing support member includes a central portion extending laterally when mounted on a motorcycle and having a first end, a second end, and a central coupling portion configured to couple the fairing support member to a fairing bracket of the motorcycle. A first support portion is disposed at the first end of the central portion and extends to support a motorcycle fairing. A second support portion is disposed at the second end of the central portion and extends to support the motorcycle fairing. The central portion, first support portion, and second support portion are configured to be concealed by the motorcycle fairing when the motorcycle fairing support member is mounted on the motorcycle.

Some motorcycles include a front fairing assembly located near a top portion of the fork assembly. When rigidly coupled to the motorcycle frame, the front fairing assembly may also have support on left and right side portions of the front fairing assembly. The left and right side portions of the front fairing assembly are conventionally supported by individual mounting brackets extending upward to the front fairing assembly from a lower frame portion or an engine guard. Such mounting brackets may add weight to the motorcycle, increase aerodynamic drag of the motorcycle, and adversely affect the aesthetic appearance of the motorcycle.
Therefore, there exists a need for a motorcycle fairing support member, a motorcycle fairing support assembly, and a method of supporting a motorcycle fairing that reduces the weight of the motorcycle, reduces aerodynamic drag, and improves the aesthetic appearance of the motorcycle.

Motorcycle fairing support member and assembly and method of supporting a motorcycle fairing


A portable drawing board device adapted for helping art students to draw perspective drawings, includes:

1. Technical Field
The present device is a portable drawing board adapted for use by art students of all ages for drawing perspective drawings.
2. Background Information
Artists use various types of mediums, tools, and techniques to achieve desired effects. Artists who wish to create a sense of depth in their images most often use a technique called linear perspective. Linear perspective is based on the concept that an object in front of you would appear larger than an identical object located farther away. With linear perspective, lines that illustrate depth always converge to a vanishing point. For example, from the standpoint of the center of a highway extending straight ahead into the distance, the highway appears to have edges which converge at a central point. This central point is called the vanishing point.
Soon after they begin a drawing course, art students are taught the concept of linear perspective and the vanishing point. A vanishing point may be within the frame of the picture, such as in a landscape, or it may be outside the frame of the picture, as is often the case for a close-up of an object. Once they learn one-point perspective drawing, they are taught drawing from the two-point perspective. Many students have difficulty applying these concepts and achieving presentable perspective drawings. Artists and students use straight edges, such as rulers or triangles, to make their lines clean and precise. They may also use a drawing board for holding paper or the like while they draw. Even with these tools, though, it is difficult for many students to grasp these concepts and produce presentable drawings. Many art students, especially teenagers, dislike practicing and give up before they master the required techniques.
Although drawing boards are known, portable drawing boards that are adapted for helping art students to quickly and easily learn to draw perspective pictures are not. The drawing board of the present invention accomplishes this task, and enhances the quality and quantity of linear perspective drawings. The present drawing boards helps the student to learn one and two point perspective drawings, and can be used long after the student has moved on to more complex projects. It is also suitable for use by amateur and professional artists.
The present invention is a portable drawing board device adapted for helping art students to draw perspective drawings, comprising:
(a) a generally rectangular-shaped, flat drawing surface on an upper surface of the drawing board, the drawing surface being adapted for supporting a flat drawing substrate;
(b) a pair of parallel side grooves in an upper surface of the drawing board, each being parallel and adjacent to one of two opposite sides of the drawing surface, and extending the length of the drawing surface;
(c) a pair of first slide adjusters adapted for sliding up and down along the side grooves; and
(d) a pair of movable pivot arms, each movably attached at one end to a slide adjuster;
wherein, when the first slide adjuster is in the side groove, the pivot arm extends over a portion of the drawing surface, and is adapted for assisting a user in drawing horizontal and diagonal lines on the drawing substrate. Variations of the sliding adjuster are also included herein, including an adjuster with a tack at the bottom for fixing along a side groove, and an adjuster with a hollow bottom which fits over pegs on the side groove.


The present invention provides a new diamino compound represented by the following general formula [I]. ##STR1## The present invention provides also a photosensitive member and an electroluminescence device both of which comprise the diamino compound of the general formula [I] as a charge transporting material.

The present invention relates to a new compound with a diamino structure. The amino compound is used as a photosensitive material. In particular, the diamino compound can be applied to a photosensitive member or an electroluminescence device as a charge transporting material.
Many organic compounds such as anthracenes, anthraquinones, imidazoles, carbazoles and styryl derivatives, which can be used as a photosensitive material or a charge transporting material, have been known.
However, when the materials described above are applied, for example, to a photosensitive member, compatibility with other members, durability and weathering resistance are required basically as well as good photosensitivity and good charge transportability. The fact is that there are few materials meeting such characteristics as above mentioned.

Photosensitive member comprising a diamino compound


An output driver having electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection is disclosed. The output driver includes a first gain transistor, a second gain transistor, a capacitor and a resistor. The first gain transistor provides a first stage gain, and the second gain transistor provides a second stage gain. The capacitor, which is connected to the first and second gain transistors, provides a compensation function between the first and second gain transistors during normal operations. In response to an occurrence of an ESD event at the output of the output driver, the capacitor turns on the second gain transistor The resistor, which is also connected to the first and second gain transistors, returns the second gain transistor to normal operations after the occurrence of an ESD event.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to output drivers in general, and, in particular, to an output driver having electrostatic discharge protection.
2. Description of Related Art
An electrostatic discharge (ESD) event is defined as a transfer of charges between bodies of different electrostatic potentials in proximity or via direct contact. ESD poses a reliability concern for integrated circuit devices. Different ESD models, such as human body model (HBM), machine model (MM) and charged device model (CDM), have been used for testing integrated circuit devices to make sure they are adequately protected against an ESD event. The difference among various ESD models mainly lies upon the amount of current delivered to an integrated circuit device to emulate an ESD event encountered by the integrated circuit device.
From a circuit design standpoint, ESD clamps are typically utilized to protect an integrated circuit device against an ESD event. An ESD clamp is effectively a large switch that is normally turned off except in the presence of an ESD event. During an ESD event, the switch is turned on to produce a conductive path for charges to be drained into a grounded network within the integrated circuit device.
Output drivers of an integrated circuit device are generally susceptible to ESD events because they are commonly connected to external pins that can be contacted by either human beings or machines. Thus, an ESD clamp is typically employed within an output driver to provide ESD protection. On the one hand, it is imperative to have an ESD clamp that is large enough to provide the maximum ESD protection. But on the other hand, the ESD clamp cannot be too large because it is costly and may affect the performance of the output driver.
The present disclosure targets the problem of placing an ESD clamp in an output driver such that the output driver meets the performance requirements as specified by technology developers while without compromising ESD protection.

Output driver having electrostatic discharge protection


A learning device is provided with an information processing unit, a keyboard for inputting characters, an information storage medium for storing a variety of data, a CRT display for displaying characters and/or figures, and a mouse for designating a specific location on the CRT display. The information storage medium stores a plurality of learning materials of which respective learning items has a tree structure. The information storage medium also stores the tree structure of the learning items, the name of each learning item, the names of learning items positioned at next upper and next lower levels in the tree structure, and the name of a learning material corresponding to each learning item. A learner can instruct the CRT display to display a portion or all the tree structure using either the keyboard or the mouse. Also, the learner can alter the display range according to his intention. When one of the learning items displayed on the CRT display is designated by the mouse, the name of the corresponding learning material is initially read and a learning material having the read name is then called.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an education or learning device utilizing a computer, the device being generally referred to as CAI (Computer Aided Instruction).
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, with a rapid growth of computer and related technologies, there has been put into practice an education or learning device utilizing a computer referred to as CAI. Above all, the most popular one is the system referred to as normal-frame type CAI utilizing a personal computer or the like.
The following describes an exemplified frame type CAI device utilizing a conventional personal computer with reference to the attached drawings.
FIG. 1 schematically shows a frame type CAI device utilizing a conventional personal computer. The device shown in FIG. 1 comprises a personal computer unit 301, an input unit 302 such as a keyboard or a mouse, a display unit 303 such as a CRT display, and a data storage unit 304 such as a floppy disk or a hard disk. A learning material 305 is stored as data in the data storage unit 304 and generally includes a plurality of learning means. The learning material 305 has a frame 306 generally comprising a presentation means for presenting an explanation screen, a question presentation/answer evaluation means and the like, and a lesson structure 307 for defining procedures required for presenting the frame 306 to a learner (e.g., refer to pages 143 through 177 of "CAI handbook").
The frame type CAI device having the above-mentioned construction operates as follows.
When a learner gives an instruction to the personal computer unit 301 by means of the input unit 302, the leaning material 305 stored in the data storage unit 304 is called to display an explanation screen and a question on the display unit 303. The learner reads and learns the explanation screen and answers each question by means of the input unit 302. Procedures of presenting the frame is predetermined in the lesson structure 307 as shown in FIG. 2 by the producer of the learning material to allow the learner to advance learning.
In the above-mentioned construction, however, the learner has to obey in any case the learning items and procedures predetermined by the producer of the leaning material. Such a device is disadvantageous in that each learner cannot change the learning contents and procedures in compliance with his own purpose, knowledge, and circumstances.


A system for injecting an air/fuel mixture into a turbomachine combustion chamber, including a hollow tubular structure for the flow of the air/fuel mixture into the combustion chamber; a fuel injection device placed at an upstream end of the hollow tubular structure, and an air injection device placed downstream of the fuel injection device. The system also includes a cold plasma generator placed downstream of the air injection device so as to generate active species in the flow of the air/fuel mixture and to cause prefragmentation of the molecules of the air/fuel mixture. The system further includes a device for controlling the cold plasma generator depending on the speed of operation of the turbomachine.

The present invention relates to the general field of systems for injecting an air/fuel mixture into a turbomachine combustion chamber. It relates more particularly to an injection system provided with a cold plasma generator capable of controlling the reactivity of the air/fuel mixture during its injection into the combustion chamber.
The main objective of the conventional process of designing and optimizing a turbomachine combustion chamber is to reconcile the operational performance characteristics of the chamber (combustion efficiency, stability range, ignition and relight range, lifetime of the combustion region, etc.) according to the envisaged mission of the aircraft on which the turbomachine has been mounted, while minimizing the polluting emissions (nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, unburnt hydrocarbons, etc.). To do this, it is possible to vary in particular the nature and the performance characteristics of the system for injecting the air/fuel mixture into the combustion chamber, the distribution of the dilution air in the chamber and the dynamics of the air/fuel mixture in the chamber.
The combustion chamber of a turbomachine is typically composed of several systems, namely a system for injecting an air/fuel mixture into a flame tube, a cooling system and a dilution system. The combustion mainly takes place within a first part of the flame tube (primary zone) in which the flame is stabilized by means of air/fuel mixture recirculation zones induced by the air flow coming from the injection system. In this primary zone of the mixing tube, various physical phenomena occur, namely injection and atomization into fine droplets of the fuel, evaporation of the droplets, mixing of the fuel vapours with the air and chemical oxidation reactions in which the fuel is oxidized by the oxygen of the air. In the second part of the mixing tube (dilution zone), the chemical activity occurring is weaker and the flow is diluted by means of dilution holes.
To reduce the polluting emissions, especially nitrogen oxide emissions (of the NOx type), it is known to try to eliminate those zones of the flame tube where the temperature is above about 1800 K. To do this, it is necessary for the combustion flame to be in the presence of a rich or lean air/fuel mixture. For example, the air/fuel mixture of that zone of the flame tube where the chemical reactions take place may be made lean by increasing the flow rate of air assigned to the combustion. In this case, it thus helps in evaporating and mixing more and more fuel with the air before feeding the flame located in the combustion zone. The combustion flame therefore experiences a reduction in its richness.
However, increasing the air flow rate is not sufficient to completely eliminate the zones of stoichiometric mixing within the combustion region. In general, making the combustion leaner results in an increase in the vulnerability of the combustion region to extinction, so that the idling phases of the engine can no longer be obtained.
To solve this problem, engine designers have developed the concept called "staged combustion" which may take two forms, namely what are called "double-staged" combustion chambers and "multipoint" injection systems.
Double-staged combustion chambers are chambers in which the fuel injectors are distributed around what is called a "pilot" head and around what is called a "take-off" head. The pilot head operates permanently and thus prevents the combustion region from being extinguished, whereas the take-off head is designed to reduce NOx-type emissions. Also this solution appears satisfactory, a double-staged chamber is still difficult to control and is expensive owing to the doubling of the number of fuel injectors as compared with a conventional single-head combustion chamber.
"Multipoint" injection systems for injecting the air/fuel mixture are systems in which the injection of air and fuel takes place via several independent ducts and is regulated according to the operating speed of the turbomachine. The main drawback of such multipoint injection systems lies in the complexity of the various fuel circuits and of the regulating system.
Patent U.S. Pat. No. 6,453,660 teaches a multipoint injection system provided with a hot plasma generator. In that document, provision is made to equip the end of the main fuel injector with a hot plasma generating device. A high-energy discharge occurs in the fuel flow, thus allowing the fuel molecules to be ionized and partly dissociated. However, such an injection system is not completely satisfactory. Firstly, the multipoint architecture remains complex and difficult to control. Secondly, the high-energy discharge takes place only in the main fuel flow, which limits the effectiveness of such an injection system in combating the risk of extinction of the combustion region.

Air/fuel injection system having cold plasma generating means


This sensor chip (11) comprises a substrate (15) in the form of a flat board, a sample inlet (20) that is provided in the thickness direction of the substrate (15) and into which flows the blood (3) used for measurement, a supply path (21) that communicates with this sample inlet (20), and detection electrodes (17, 18, 19) provided to this supply path (21), wherein the substrate (15) is provided with a surplus blood reservoir (25) that draws in surplus blood (3a) and holds this drawn surplus blood (3a).

A conventional sensor chip, as well as a blood test method in which this sensor chip is used, will now be described.
Diabetes patients must periodically measure their blood glucose, inject insulin based on this blood glucose value, and thereby keep their blood glucose at the proper level at all times. To this end, a patient collects a small amount of blood from a fingertip or the like, and measures the blood glucose from this collected blood. A sensor chip 1 (see FIG. 43) is required to measure the blood glucose.
The sensor chip 1 has a base unit 2, a sample inlet 4, a supply path (not shown), a detection electrode 4b provided to this supply path, and an air hole 4c provided at the very end of the supply path. The base unit 2 is in the form of a flat board having a substantially rectangular shape. The sample inlet 4 is provided to one of the short sides of this base unit 2, and this is where blood 3 flows in for measurement. The supply path communicates with this sample inlet 4. The detection electrode 4b is provided to this supply path. The air hole 4c is provided at the very end of the supply path.
In a blood test method in which this sensor chip 1 is used, first a puncture device 5 is brought into contact with the skin 6 of a finger 6a or the like, as shown in FIG. 44. In this state, a puncture button 5a of the puncture device 5 is depressed. Depressing the puncture button 5a punctures the finger 6a (the skin 6). After this, as shown in FIG. 45, pressure is applied around the punctured finger 6a (skin 6) to squeeze out the blood 3.
Then, as shown in FIG. 46, a measurement device 7 to which this sensor chip 1 is mounted is used to measure the blood glucose. Specifically, the sample inlet 4 of the sensor chip 1 is brought into contact with the blood 3 that was squeezed out. The blood 3 is introduced through the supply path to the detection electrode 4b. The glucose value of the blood 3 introduced to the detection electrode 4b is measured, and this result is displayed on a display component 7a. Insulin is then injected in an amount determined on the basis of this blood glucose value.
In the measurement of blood glucose, a little extra blood 3 is usually squeezed out in order to prevent measurement failure or the like that would otherwise be caused by an inadequate amount of the blood 3. As a result, surplus blood 3a is not used in measurement, and is left on the skin. The remaining surplus blood 3a should not be left that way for both hygienic and safety reasons. Thus, a tissue 8a, cotton ball (not shown), or the like must be separately readied as shown in FIG. 47, and this tissue 8a or cotton ball 8b used to wipe away the surplus blood 3a.
Patent Literature 1, for example, is known as prior art publication information related to the invention in this application.

Sensor chip, and measurement device and blood test device in which this sensor chip is used


In one embodiment, the integrated circuit includes a clock generator configured to selectively generate a first clock; a processor configured to perform operations; and a clock management circuit. The clock management circuit is configured to receive clock management information from the processor and selectively generate a second clock based on the clock management information and the first clock. The processor is configured to perform some operations based on the second clock.

The inventive concepts relates to a processor and/or an operating method thereof, and more particularly, to a clock management unit, an integrated circuit including the clock management unit, a system on chip, and/or a method of operating the system on chip.
When software is implemented via a processor, cases when the processor waits while no operation is performed (NOP) during a relatively short time period may occur. A software delay function, such as NOP function, is used when a processor waits for completion of a hardware operation, such as interrupt processing, or when it is hard to call another function because an expected completion time of a hardware operation currently performed is short. However, even when the software delay function is executed, the processor unnecessarily consumes power due to a toggling of a clock.

Clock management unit, integrated circuit including the clock management unit, system on chip, and method of operating the system on chip


Systems and methods for tuning a charged particle accelerator (40) are described. An accelerator tuning system (44) includes a graphical user interface (110) that guides a tuning technician (42) through an accelerator tuning process and interfaces with a measurement instrument (46) configured to measure characteristic parameters of the accelerator (40). The graphical user interface (110) enables the technician (42) to make parameter measurements and interpret the results of those measurements more quickly and easily. A computer (50) may be programmed to generate the graphical user interface (110), and instructions (51) for generating the graphical user interface (110) may be carried on a computer-readable medium. An accelerator tuning method includes the steps of guiding a user through an accelerator tuning process and interfacing with a measurement instrument (46) configured to measure characteristic parameters of the accelerator (40).

This invention relates to systems and methods for tuning charged particle accelerators.
Charged particle accelerators may be used in a variety of applications. For example, a charged particle accelerator may be used to generate a high-energy electron beam in a radiation therapy device. The electron beam may be applied directly to one or more therapy sites on a patient, or it may be used to generate photon (e.g., X-ray) beams for treating a patient. As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional charged particle accelerator 10 for use in a medical radiotherapy device includes a series of accelerating cavities 12, 14, 16 that are aligned along a beam axis 18. A particle source 20 (e.g., an electron gun) directs charged particles into accelerating cavity 12. As the charged particles travel through the succession of accelerating cavities 12-16, the particles are focused and accelerated by an applied electromagnetic field (xe2x80x9cdriving signalxe2x80x9d) that is applied by an external source 22. Typically, the resulting accelerated particle beam 24 is directed to a magnetic energy filter 26 that bends beam 24 by approximately 270xc2x0. A filtered output beam 28 is directed through a window 30 to a target 32 that generates a photon beam 34. Other kinds of charged particle accelerators are well known in the art.
The operating efficiency of a charged particle accelerator is optimized when the resonant frequency of the accelerator matches the frequency of the applied driving signal. Although the physical characteristics of the accelerator needed to achieve the desired resonant frequency may be determined precisely, imperfections in the accelerator cavity structure may result from variations in the accelerator manufacturing process. These imperfections tend to detune the accelerator cavity structure. As a result, accelerators generally must be tuned before they can be used in an operable device.
Accelerators may be tuned manually by a tuning technician who physically deforms the structure of each accelerator cavity until the desired resonant frequency is achieved. The accelerator tuning process, however, involves a number of complex steps. For example, for each cavity of the accelerator (including each accelerating cavity and any off-axis coupling cavities), a tuning technician must prepare the accelerator for a measurement (e.g., configure the accelerator so that the cavity to be measured is isolated from the other cavities), measure one or more tuning parameters with a measurement instrument, and modify (e.g., deform) the physical structure of the cavity until a desired resonant frequency is achieved. In sum, in order to successfully and efficiently tune an accelerator, the tuning technician must prepare the accelerator for a plurality of different measurements, and must interpret and respond to the resulting plurality of measurement values.
The invention features a graphical user interface that guides a tuning technician through an accelerator tuning process and interfaces with a measurement instrument configured to measure characteristic parameters of the accelerator (e.g., a microwave or RF instrument, such as a network analyzer, a spectrum analyzer or a frequency counter) to enable the technician to make parameter measurements and interpret the results of those measurements more quickly and easily. In one aspect of the invention, a computer is programmed to generate the graphical user interface. In another aspect of the invention, a computer-readable medium carries instructions for generating the graphical user interface.
As used herein the term xe2x80x9ccomputerxe2x80x9d is intended to broadly refer to any programmable device that can respond to and execute a specific set of instructions (e.g., a program) in a well-defined manner. The term xe2x80x9cinterfacingxe2x80x9d is intended to broadly refer to the ability of two devices to communicate with each other.
In one embodiment, the graphical user interface is configured to display instructions for preparing the accelerator for a tuning parameter measurement by a measurement instrument. The graphical user interface may be configured to display the measurement preparation instructions pictorially or textually, or both. The graphical user interface preferably is configured to display tuning parameter values corresponding to measurements made before and after the accelerator has been tuned.
The graphical user interface may be configured to receive a user input and to generate a measurement command signal in response to the received user input. The graphical user interface also may be configured to display a tuning status indicator. The tuning status indicator may include a list of checkpoints in the accelerator tuning process.
The computer may be programmed to generate a second graphical user interface for displaying dynamic feedback information related to a measured tuning parameter (e.g., the resonant frequency of a cavity). The displayed dynamic feedback information preferably includes a representation of the difference between a measured tuning parameter value and a preselected tuning parameter value. The parameter value difference may be represented pictorially or numerically.
In one embodiment, the graphical user interface is configured to guide the user through a process of measuring one or more quality assurance parameter values, and the computer is programmed to store in memory the measured quality assurance parameter values and an associated accelerator identifier.
The invention also features an accelerator tuning method that includes the steps of guiding a user through an accelerator tuning process and interfacing with a measurement instrument configured to measure characteristic parameters of the accelerator.
Among the advantages of the invention are the following. The invention enables tuning technicians to tune accelerators in less time and with a greater accuracy than prior accelerator tuning approaches. In addition, the invention enables technicians to tune accelerators with significantly less training than prior approaches, reducing the considerable cost of developing and implementing elaborate accelerator tuning training programs.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, including the drawings and the claims.

Computer-aided tuning of charged particle accelerators


A pixel circuit, a display panel and a display apparatus are used to improve the lifetime of the light emitting devices in the display apparatus. The pixel circuit comprises: a charging sub-circuit (1), a first driving sub-circuit (2), a second driving sub-circuit (3), a first capacitor (C1) and a second capacitor (C2). A first terminal (A) of the first capacitor (C1) is connected to a first terminal of the first driving sub-circuit (2) and a first terminal of the second driving sub-circuit (3), and a second terminal (B) of the first capacitor (C1) is connected to the charging sub-circuit (1) and a first terminal (C) of the second capacitor; a second terminal of the first driving sub-circuit (2) is connected to a first light emitting device (D1), a second terminal of the second driving sub-circuit (3) is connected to a second light emitting device (D2), wherein the driving current flowing from the first driving sub-circuit (2) to the first light emitting device (D1) is in an opposite direction to the driving current flowing from the second driving sub-circuit (3) to the second light emitting device (D2).

Organic light emitting display devices draw lots of attention due to their advantages such as low power consumption, high brightness, low cost, wide angle of view, fast response, and so on, and have been widely used in the technical field of organic light emitting.
The Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) is a kind of light emitting device that is currently used a lot in the field of organic light emitting. Currently, OLEDs can be classified into two categories which are passive driving OLEDs and active driving OLEDs, i.e. direct addressing OLEDs and Thin Film Transistor (TFT) matrix addressing OLEDs. The active driving OLED is also referred to an Active Matrix OLED (AMOLED). The light emitting device in each sub-pixel unit is driven by a pixel circuit and a power line applying a direct current (DC) power voltage signal (VDD or VSS) to emit light.
Refer to FIG. 1 which is a schematic structural diagram of a pixel circuit for driving the light emitting device to emit light in the prior art, taking n type driving transistors as an example, the pixel circuit comprises a driving transistor T1, a capacitor C1 and a switch transistor T2.
A first terminal of the capacitor C1 is connected to the gate of the driving transistor T1, and a second terminal of the capacitor C1 is connected to a low level reference voltage source VSS. The drain of the switch transistor T2 is connected to the gate of the driving transistor T1, the gate of the switch transistor T2 is connected to a gate signal source VScan, and the source of the switch transistor T2 is connected to a data signal source VData. The source of the driving transistor T1 is connected to a high level reference voltage source VDD, the drain of the driving transistor T1 is connected to the anode of a light emitting device D1, and the cathode of the light emitting device D1 is connected to the low level reference voltage source VSS.
At the stage of displaying one frame of picture, before the light emitting device D1 is driven to emit light, the gate signal source outputs a voltage signal VScan to turn on the switch transistor T2, the data signal source is connected to the branch where the capacitor C1 is located, and the data signal source outputs a data signal VData to be applied to the second terminal of the capacitor C1 to charge the capacitor C1. At the stage of driving the light emitting device D1 to emit light, the capacitor C1 discharges to drive the light emitting device D1 to emit light.
The pixel circuit shown in FIG. 1 can only drive one light emitting device to emit light, and each light emitting device is corresponding to the light emitting area of one pixel unit. When scanning each frame of picture, signals all need to be written into the pixel circuit. When scanning each frame of picture, the light emitting areas corresponding to the pixel units all need to emit light for displaying. The driving mode in which the AMOLED display drives the OLED to emit light is DC driving. The electric field corresponding to a long time DC driving voltage would polarize the ions inside the OLED to make the OLED form a built-in electric field, such as to increase the threshold voltage of the OLED, decrease the light-emitting efficiency of the OLED dramatically, and shorten the lifetime of the OLED. The lifetime is an important factor limiting the wide application of the organic light-emitting display, in particular, the large size and high brightness organic light emitting display apparatus.

Pixel circuit, display panel and display apparatus

CHENGDU BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


Protecting privacy when communicating with a web server via a communication network, includes receiving by a first privacy agent a request from an application program of a client system for a connection to a web server having a target web server address, sending the request together with a first identification from the first privacy agent to the second privacy agent, forwarding the request together with a second identification from the second privacy agent to the third privacy agent. Further processing is performed responsive to determining that the target web server address matches a defined web server address which is accessible by the third privacy agent.

The Internet is a well-known collection of networks (e.g., public and private data communication and multimedia networks) that work together (cooperate) using common protocols to form a worldwide network of networks.
The usage of the Internet has continuously grown since its early days. It has become an integral part of enterprises offering information and services to potential customers. Typically, such enterprises may set up a homepage on the worldwide web (a "web site"). The worldwide web may be understood as a logical overlay of the Internet. Each web site constitutes an electronically-addressable location. On the user side, client devices may be typically equipped with web-browsers to access the information offered on those web sites. The client devices may be anything being able to connect to the Internet, e.g., personal computers, netbook computers, notebook computers, smartphones, tablet computers, game consoles and many other devices including household devices and in-car computers as well as server computers.
An increasing number of web sites offer personalized services that may include "personalized web pages" customized to a user's interest. In order to track users' behavior or preferences that may go forth and back to/from a specific web site, session IDs, cookies and/or client computer identifiers, and/or browser identifiers may be stored by the server driving a specific web site.
Due to its predominance, the Internet or worldwide web has become a part of everyday life and there is nearly nothing a user cannot find when searching the web. However, this behavior may compromise user privacy. In particular, web sites, Internet service providers and many other parties may continuously collect data that even if the user is not fully identified, may violate a user's privacy. In particular, during the navigation of a web sites often times, data is being collected to create anonymous profiles of users. The data collected may be used for marketing purposes or to predict users' behaviors.
Several technologies have been developed in order to protect users' privacy when surfing the Internet. However, known systems for increasing privacy, when surfing the worldwide web or communicating with a web server, rely on central systems which typically function as proxy servers.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACIHNES CORPORATION


Methods for carrying out lithography with a carbon dioxide development system are described. In some embodiments the methods involve preferential removal of a darkfield region; in other embodiments the methds involve preferential removal of a light field region. The carbon dioxide development systems include a quaternary ammonium salt, preferably a quaternary ammonium hydroxide, halide, or carbonate. Compositions for carrying out the methods are also described. The quaternary ammonium salts preferably contain at least one CO2-philic group, such as a siloxane-containing group or a fluorine-containing group.

In photolithography using chemically amplified resists, the area of photoresist film exposed to incident radiation undergoes a chemical transformation. For most resists systems designed for traditional aqueous base development, this transformation results in a significant increase in polarity. For these systems, traditionally termed positive tone resist systems, the exposed region is removed during development in aqueous base. Alternatively, for negative tone resists systems the exposed region becomes less polar, and/or increases in molecular weight through cross-linking reactions upon exposure to radiation making this region less soluble in the developer solution. For negative tone systems the non-exposed region is preferentially removed in the developer solution.
Aqueous solutions of tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide TMAH are typically used as the photoresist developer. In order for development in aqueous base to be effective, the base must deprotonate a certain number of Bronsted acid groups to allow the resist to become soluble. The amount of deprotonation required for photoresist solubility is known as the critical ionization level, and has been well described in the literature (see G. Willson, et al. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 20(2) March/April 2002, 537-543.)
Feature sizes on microelectronic devices continue to shrink as these devices become smaller, faster and more powerful. The lithographic development of these smaller feature sizes in aqueous base can become problematic due to image collapse caused by the capillary forces and surface tension of water. Current approaches to solving this problem include IPA vapor drying and bilayer resist technology The prevention of image collapse in supercritical CO2 dryers for MEMs and other applications is based on the absence of surface tension in supercritical CO2 to avoid surface tension and capillary forces. The low or non-existent surface tension and tunable physical properties of densified CO2 in the liquid or supercritical state makes it an attractive solvent replacement for microelectronic device processing. Each of these potential solutions for image collapse requires additional steps in the lithographic process leading to higher cost of ownership and decreased device yield.
Commercially available photoresists used for 248-nm lithography, 193-nm lithography, e-beam lithography, and those being developed for EUV-based lithography are not soluble in liquid or supercritical carbon dioxide in the exposed or unexposed state making CO2-based development extremely challenging. Furthermore, Bronsted bases such as TMAH are neutralized in supercritical carbon dioxide which acts as a weak acid. As such, a pH above 7 is not readily accessible in CO2 based systems. Under these conditions, the minimum level of ionization needed to dissolve exposed positive tone photoresist is not achievable.
In carbon dioxide solvent systems, low-polarity polymer species, specifically fluorinated polymers and siloxane-containing polymers are more soluble than polar polymers. This provides an obvious pathway for negative tone image development, as seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,665,527 to Allen and U.S. Pat. No. 6,379,874 to Ober. However, for Allen and Ober, image transfer in the negative tone using dense CO2 utilizes non-commercial and in some cases impractical fluorinated or siloxane-containing polymers that are not proven resist systems and are unlikely to be adopted by the microelectronics industry.
It would be extremely desirable to have a means to realize the benefits of a zero-surface tension fluid like supercritical carbon dioxide in a CO2-based development system that is compatible with tradition 248-nm, 193-nm, e-beam, and EUV-based resists.

Compositions and methods for image development of conventional chemically amplified photoresists


A hole opener for enlarging the diameter of bore holes, having a plurality of cantilevered spindles (6) for supporting rotatably attached cutter shells (9) having hardened surfaces for cutting and crushing to widen the bore hole. The cutter shells are supported on an inner threaded journal (13) which permits a plurality of load bearing rollers or bearings (26) to facilitate rotational movement of the cutter. The hole opener is provided on a tubular body which is connected in a drill string and which provides jetting nozzles (4) to remove the cutting debris and return it to the earth's surface. The cantilevered support spindle (6), journal (13) and cutter shell (9) assembly permit flexible interchange of cutter faces and sizes to be available for use with the same hole opener body and different directions of travel of the body.

This invention relates to hole openers, specifically to openers which are designed to enlarge the diameter of drilled holes.
Drillers commonly have drilled holes and thereafter enlarged the hole for the intended purposes with hole openers and reamers which are designed to enlarge the diameter of the pilot hole or original bore diameter. Most openers or reamers known to applicant are devices having the cutting surfaces mounted on support arms which are mounted on the opener body and having their radial axis directed inward to support the rotating cutter head. The abrasion and load experienced by such bodies wears the outer surfaces of the support arms as the opener moves through the formation to be opened and ultimately may cause the support arms to fail.
The normal operating problems of conventional hole openers or reamers is exacerbated when drilling horizontal or near horizontal applications. In such situations, the load and wear characteristics on the support arms may cause early and catastrophic failure of the arm structure and often results in loss of cutters in the borehole itself. Additionally, in horizontal or near horizontal applications, the support arms of conventional openers create additional torque on the tubular string which carries the hole opener body. These problems may cause failure of both the support arms and loss of cutters in the hole requiring expensive retrieval operations and delay the completion of the operation.
Other economical considerations warrant consideration. In conventional hole openers, the hole opener body is limited by its design to essentially one-size of diameter. The design of the conventional hole opener does not permit alternative sizes of holes to be made with the same body because the span of the support arms fits only one size of cutter. If alternative diameter holes are required, a whole new body must be acquired to open the hole. This requires additional trips into and out of the hole to change the opener and cutter body. Additionally, conventional hole openers are designed to operate in pilot holes which must be provided to accommodate the large profile of the support arm and the cutter. The larger pilot hole requires a larger size bit in the initial drilling operation which is more costly to drill than one using a smaller bit. Finally, changing the cutters on conventional hole openers is time consuming, if it can be accomplished at all, and often requires repair to the opener body and support arms due to damage caused by the pins and locking devices used to secure the cutters to the conventional opener body. Conventional openers typically have welded support arms carrying the cutter and removal of the cutter would entail removing the support arms and re-welding the new support arms after replacing the cutter itself. This extraordinary amount of work generally causes the used or damaged conventional hole opener to be scrapped rather than repaired.


A treatment liquid application device for use in an inkjet printer includes an application roller to apply a treatment liquid to a recording medium before an image is formed on the recording medium, a squeeze roller disposed below the application roller and to make a pressure-contact with the application roller, a treatment liquid supply unit to supply the treatment liquid to a nip part between the application roller and the squeeze roller, and a pressure roller disposed above the application roller and to cause the recording medium to make a pressure-contact with the application roller. When the application roller applies the treatment liquid to the recording medium, a position of the application roller is not restricted in approximate load directions of the squeeze roller and the pressure roller but is restricted in directions other than the approximate load directions.

1. Field of the Invention
The embodiments discussed herein relate to a treatment liquid application device, and an image forming system including the treatment liquid application device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Inkjet image formation has rapidly become popular owing to its advantages of easy colorization as well as low noise, and low running cost. There are two types of inkjet printers employing such an inkjet system, namely, a serial printer and a line printer. The serial printer is configured to print images by combining an operation to eject ink droplets while moving a recording head in a main-scanning direction (i.e., a recording medium width direction) and an operation to move a target recording medium in a sub-scanning direction. The line printer including a line head having a printing width that equates with a width of the target recording medium, and is configured to print images by relatively moving the line head and the target recording medium.
FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating a flow of an inkjet image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 12, a treatment liquid application device 220 is configured to apply a treatment liquid having a function to flocculate ink to a recording medium W before ink droplets drip onto the web (i.e., recording medium) W in order to prevent an image formed on the recording medium W from bleeding, exhibiting degraded density or degraded color tone, or exhibiting strike-through. The treatment liquid application device 220 is configured to apply the treatment liquid on a surface and/or a rear surface of the recording medium W. The treatment liquid application device 220 is employed by the system illustrated in FIG. 12.
A print system 200 includes a sheet feeding device 210, the treatment liquid application device 220, a first inkjet printer 230, an inverting device 240, a second inkjet printer 250, a post-drier device 260, and a rewinder 270. The sheet feeding device 210 is configured to feed the roll sheet recording medium W formed of a long continuous paper or the like to the treatment liquid application device 220 disposed downstream in a recording medium W transfer path.
The treatment liquid application device 220 is configured to apply the treatment liquid to the recording medium W for prevent ink bleeding or ink strike-through appearing on the recording medium W, and to dry the recording medium W to which the treatment liquid has been applied.
FIG. 14 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a related art treatment liquid application device previously considered by the inventors of the present invention viewed from a front side, and FIG. 15 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating the related art treatment liquid application device viewed from a lateral side.
The related art treatment liquid application device includes, as illustrated in FIG. 14, an application roller 1 having a periphery covered with an elastic member such as rubber, a squeeze roller 2 disposed below the application roller 1, and a pressure roller 3 disposed above the application roller 1. The application roller 1, the squeeze roller 2, and the pressure roller 3 are, as illustrated in FIG. 15, disposed in approximately a vertical direction.
The application roller 1 and the squeeze roller 2 are each rotationally driven independently by a not-illustrated driving source such as a motor. As illustrated in FIG. 14, two ends of the application roller 1 are rotationally supported (fixed) on a frame 32 via respective bearings 16.
Further, as illustrated in FIG. 14, squeeze retaining rollers 4 are disposed underneath the squeeze roller 2 along a longitudinal direction of the squeeze roller 2 at approximately regular intervals. The squeeze retaining rollers 4 are rotationally supported inside respective retaining roller holders 8. Respective stick-like holder supporting members 30 are connected to lower parts of the retaining roller holders 8, and washers 31 are disposed one on each middle position and each lower end of a corresponding one of the holder supporting members 30. A slightly compressed coil-like pushup spring 5 is disposed between the washer 31 disposed on the middle position and the washer 31 disposed on the lower end of the holder supporting member 30.
Lower parts of the pushup springs 5 are supported by respective arms 7. A point A of each of the arms 7 serves as a swing center. Each of the arms 7 includes a free end on a side opposite to the point A of the arm 7, and respective squeeze cams 6 are disposed on the free ends of the arms 7. Hence, the free ends of the arms 7 are constantly in contact with the respective squeeze cams 6 by elasticity of the pushup springs 5.
Each arm 7 swings based on the point A serving as a fulcrum point by rotations of the squeeze cam 6, and the swing of the arm 7 compresses the pushup spring 5. The spring load of the pushup spring 5 is transmitted to the corresponding squeeze roller 2 via the holder supporting member 30, the retaining roller holder 8, and the squeeze retaining roller 4. The spring load transmitted to the squeeze roller 2 pushes up the squeeze roller 2 in the application roller 1 direction to finally form a nip part between the squeeze roller 2 and the application roller 1. Note that the rotational angle of the squeeze cam 6 is controlled based on detected signals of a not illustrated rotating position detector such as an encoder.
As illustrated in FIG. 14, the application roller 1 and the squeeze roller 2 are housed inside a supply pan 9. A treatment liquid L is supplied from a tank 10 into the supply pan 9 by a pump 11, such that a part of the squeeze roller 2 is soaked in the treatment liquid L. A liquid level of the treatment liquid L inside the supply pan 9 is monitored by a liquid level detecting sensor 12, and the liquid level inside the tank 10 is retained at a predetermined level by controlling the drive of the pump 11 based on detected signals from the liquid level detecting sensor 12.
The two ends of the pressure roller 3 is rotationally supported on a free end side of the arm 22 that swings based on a D point as the center (see FIG. 15), and the arm 22 is pulled by an extension spring 23 in a counterclockwise direction based on the D point as the center. Further, a cam 25 is disposed on the extension spring 23 side of the arm 22, and the cam 25 is attached to a shaft 24 (see FIG. 14).
Not-illustrated driving source and rotation angle detector are connected to the shaft 24. Hence, a swing angle of the arm 22 is determined by the rotation angle of the shaft 24 (the cam 25), such that the position of the pressure roller 3 with respect to the application roller 1 may be changeable as a result. A web W is inserted between the application roller 1 and the pressure roller 3. When the web W starts being transported by a not-illustrated web transporting mechanism and the speed of the transporting operation reaches a predetermined speed, the pressure roller 3 makes a pressure-contact with the application roller 1 by the arm 22 and the cam 25.
Note that FIGS. 14 and 15 illustrate a standby state before the treatment liquid application device applies a treatment liquid L to the web W. In this state, the application roller 1 and the squeeze roller 2 are not rotated, and the web W is not transported.
The treatment liquid application device is configured to measure the amount of the treatment liquid L when the treatment liquid L is supplied to the nip part between the squeeze roller 2 and the application roller 1. The treatment liquid L passes through the nip part to form a thin treatment liquid layer on a surface of the application roller 1. The thickness (amount) of the treatment liquid layer may be adjusted by load applied by the pushup spring 5. The treatment liquid L is transferred onto the web W by causing the pressure roller 3 to press the web W against the application roller 1, on the surface of which the thin treatment liquid layer is formed.
Note that Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2010-158602 (Patent Document 1) and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2008-260307 (Patent Document 2) may be given as related art technologies associated with the treatment liquid application device.

Treatment liquid application device and image forming system


A packet loss concealment system includes first and second buffers that stores audio samples prior to and subsequent to a missing section of audio samples. A forward propagation module generates a forward propagated waveform by propagating a first waveform period that is based on the first buffer. The forward propagation module increases periodicity of the first waveform period nonlinearly when propagating the first waveform period. A backward propagation module generates a backward propagated waveform by propagating a second waveform period that is based on the second buffer. A ratio control module selectively determines a ratio between a first periodicity of the audio samples in the second buffer and a second periodicity of the audio samples in the first buffer. The forward propagation module selectively propagates the first waveform period using the ratio, and the backward propagation module selectively propagates the second waveform period using an inverse of the ratio.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Referring now to FIG. 1, a functional block diagram of a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone 100 is presented. The VoIP phone 100 includes a network interface 102, which may be wireless and/or wired. Packets received by the network interface 102 are passed to a buffer 104. Because the packets are arriving over a dynamic network, the packets may arrive out of order. The buffer 104 buffers packets and reorders them.
The delay in receiving each packet may also vary. The buffer 104 may store a number of packets so that packets can continue to be extracted from the buffer 104 while waiting for delayed packets from the network interface 102. This creates a buffering delay, which may be distracting to a user of the VoIP phone 100.
In order to prevent the buffer 104 from running out of packets, the delay built into the buffer 104 is created to be as long as the greatest expected difference in transmission times between two packets. For example, if all packets arriving over the network are received at least 100 ms after they are transmitted, there is a network delay of 100 ms. If some packets take as much as 300 ms to arrive, an additional 200 ms of delay may be built into the buffer 104. In this way, the buffer 104 will not empty even if a packet is received 300 ms after it is transmitted. The difference between packet delay times is referred to as jitter. A larger amount of jitter is addressed by a longer delay in the buffer 104.
Some packets may never be received by the network interface 102. These lost packets may result in degradation of the sound quality of the received data. Further, some packets may arrive after the longest expected delay. These packets may arrive so late that subsequent packets have already arrived and have been processed. Late arriving packets may therefore present the same quality problems as packets that are lost completely. A decoder 106 may implement Packet Loss Concealment (PLC) to help mask the effects of lost packets.
Packets are output from the buffer 104 to the decoder 106. The decoder 106 may be a speech decoder, and may include an implementation of a standard such as International Telecommunications Union Telecommunications Standardization Sector (ITU-T) G.711 and/or ITU-T G.729. Decoded audio is output from the decoder 106 to an acoustic echo control module 108.
The acoustic echo control module 108 may remove acoustic echo and/or add a sidetone from a microphone 110 onto the decoded audio. The acoustic echo control module 108 then outputs audio data to a speaker 112. The acoustic echo control module 108 receives audio data from the microphone 110. The acoustic echo control module 108 may reduce echo between the speaker 112 and the microphone 110, and outputs audio data to a noise suppression module 114.
The noise suppression module 114 suppresses noise and outputs the resulting audio data to an encoder 116. The encoder 116 encodes the data and outputs encoded data to the network interface 102. The encoded speech may be transmitted and received over the network using a transport protocol, such as the Real Time Transport Protocol (RTP).

Adaptive jitter buffer-packet loss concealment


Flue gas of boiler is introduced through gas inlet part of flue-gas desulfurization apparatus, and absorbent liquid sprayed from spray nozzle is trapped in recirculation tank. There, agitation is performed by oxidation agitator to thereby oxidize SO2 absorbed from the flue gas into gypsum. In the tank, oxidation air is fed from posterior air pipe and anterior air pipe behind and ahead of liquid propulsion by the propeller. Thus, even when the amount of oxidation air must be increased in accordance with an increase of boiler load, the oxidation efficiency can be enhanced without increasing the number of agitators. Then the apparatus with which even when the amount of oxidation air fed to the liquid trapping section is increased, highly efficient oxidation can be performed without increasing the number of agitators installed and the operating cost.

In recent years, the natural environment surrounding the earth has significantly deteriorated. Above all, in thermal power plants and the like located around the world, SO2 and soot and dust in flue gases generated as a result of combustion of fossil fuels are one of the main causes of environmental problems such as air pollution, and it has become mainstream to install a wet flue-gas desulfurization system for treatment of the flue gases.
Particularly recently, reductions in the concentration of emission values of SO2 and soot and dust in flue gases have been demanded, while the inlet SO2 concentration has increased due to diversification of boiler fuels and the like, and thus there is a pressing need to develop a high-performance flue-gas desulfurization system.
An example of a flue-gas desulfurization system of a conventional art is shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5. The flue-gas desulfurization system is constructed mainly with an absorber shell 1, a gas inlet port 2, a gas outlet port 3, an absorbent liquid spray section 4, a spray nozzle 5, a recirculation pump 6, a recirculation tank section 7, an oxidation agitator 8, a posterior air pipe 10, a propeller 11, a gypsum slurry bleed pipe 20, a gypsum dewatering system 21, and a mist eliminator section 30.
A flue gas G from a boiler is introduced through the gas inlet port 2 and makes gas-liquid contact with an absorbent liquid sprayed from the spray nozzle 5 of the absorbent liquid spray section 4 to thereby become a clean gas, and is emitted through the gas outlet port 3 after accompanying mist is removed therefrom by the mist eliminator section 30.
Moreover, the absorbent liquid brought in gas-liquid contact falls in the absorber shell 1 and is stored into the recirculation tank section 7. In the recirculation tank section 7, air 9 to be fed is atomized into a large amount of fine bubbles by the propeller 11 that rotates in conjunction with the oxidation agitator 8, and oxygen in the air dissolves in the absorbent liquid. In the recirculation tank section 7, calcium sulfite is produced by a neutralization reaction between absorbed SO2 and calcium carbonate that is fed to the recirculation tank section 7 by an unillustrated calcium carbonate feeding system, and the calcium sulfite is oxidized by oxygen dissolved in the absorbent liquid to produce gypsum. The absorbent liquid in the recirculation tank section 7 where gypsum exists as slurry is sent again to the spray nozzle 5 by the recirculation pump 6, is partly sent to the gypsum dewatering system 21 through the gypsum slurry bleed pipe 20, and is therein separated into solid gypsum and water.
In the abovementioned conventional art, the oxidation air 9 is fed from the posterior air pipe 10 with a feed port, which is at the rear of the propeller 11 of the agitator 8, to the recirculation tank section 7 as shown in FIG. 5. This is a mode of increasing the air utilization rate by atomizing, by a shearing force generated by a rotation of the propeller 11, the oxidation air 9 fed to the recirculation tank section 7 into a large amount of fine bubbles to thereby increase a gas-liquid contact area with the absorbent liquid (Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2001-120946).
Moreover, there is a method for feeding air to the front of the agitator propeller 11 (Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. H08-949, Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2000-317259). In this method, employed is a mode of making air accompany a discharge flow of the absorbent liquid resulting from a rotation of the propeller 11 to thereby uniformly disperse air bubbles in the recirculation tank section while atomizing the same to fine bubbles.

Wet flue-gas desulfurization apparatus and method of wet flue-gas desulfurization


In the presence of an assignment of the downlink resource block to the UE2-1, the eNB1-1 requests the UE2-1 to transmit SRS in the frequency band corresponding to the comb 0, and in the absence of the assignment of the downlink resource block to the UE2-1, the eNB1-1 requests the UE2-1 to transmit SRS in the frequency band corresponding to the comb 1. The UE2-1 transmits the SRS of the frequency band corresponding to the request.

In 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project), in a radio communication system corresponding to LTE (Long Term Evolution) for which standards are currently being set up, a radio base station eNB assigns a resource block in radio communication between the radio base station (eNB) and a radio terminal (UE) (for example, refer to NPL 1).
Furthermore, in the radio communication system corresponding to LTE, one of FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) and TDD (Time Division Duplex) is employed in the radio communication between the eNB and the UE.

Radio communication system, radio base station, and communication control method


A technique for improving a strength, especially a fatigue strength of a power transmission shaft provided with a serrated portion for torque transmission such as a spline shaft. A power transmission shaft is serration-fitted to an inner joint member of respective constant velocity joints. A driveshaft is provided with a serrated portion as well as a smooth portion having a cylindrical outer circumferential surface. A cut-up portion is formed at the end portion of the serrated portion. When applying an induction hardening to the smooth portion and the serrated portion, a hardening ratio of the smooth portion is set at a different value from that of the serrated portion, and such that a fatigue strength of the smooth portion becomes equal to or greater than that of the serrated portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power transmission shaft coupled to a constant velocity joint for torque transmission.
2. Description of the Related Art
A power transmission shaft combined with a constant velocity joint is employed in various mechanical parts of an automobile, an industrial machine and so on. Such kind of power transmission shaft is usually coupled with a mating member (boss) fitted around an outer circumference thereof via a serration or a spline, for transmitting a torque to the mating member. The serrated shaft or the spline shaft is made of a medium carbon steel or a low-alloy steel, subjected to a heat treatment such as a surface hardening treatment or a thermal refining, more specifically a induction hardening, carburized quenching, nitriding, etc. for increasing a shaft strength, taking into consideration the plastic workability, mechanical workability and cost. The Japanese patent publication No. 3194093 discloses a technique for improving a shaft strength by a heat treatment, wherein a induction hardening and a carburized quenching is applied to a shaft-shaped mechanical part, so that a ratio of an effective depth of hardening against the part diameter is set in a range of 0.4 to 0.8.
According to the cited publication, the heat treatment is applied to the part without particular distinction of a serrated portion for torque transmission such as a spline and a smooth portion on a cylindrical surface where such serration is not formed. This can be construed as a result of performing the heat treatment simultaneously and under a same condition, on both of the serrated portion for torque transmission and the smooth portion, in which case a depth of hardening becomes substantially the same in the serrated portion for torque transmission and the smooth portion.
In recent years, along with the increasing social concern for the global environment, in the field of the automobile industry for example, more stringent emission control and improvement of fuel efficiency have come to be more severely demanded. In order to cope with such trend, there has been arising a strong demand for a lighter in weight yet stronger power transmission shaft, such as a propeller shaft or a driveshaft. Under such severe industrial circumstances, the invention according to the above-cited publication may not be able to fully meet the requirements.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a technique for improving a strength, especially a fatigue strength of a power transmission shaft provided with a serrated portion for torque transmission such as a spline shaft or a serrated shaft.


Provided herein is technology for colorectal neoplasia screening and particularly, but not exclusively, to methods, compositions, and related uses for detecting the presence of colorectal neoplasia in 1) individuals at, older or younger than 50 years of age, or 2) individuals having Lynch Syndrome.

Colorectal cancer (CRC), also referred to as colon cancer or large bowel cancer, is a malignant neoplastic disease associated with tumors in the colon, rectum and appendix. With 655,000 deaths worldwide per year, it is the third most common form of cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the Western world.
Colorectal cancers originate in the colorectal epithelium and are typically not extensively vascularized (and therefore not invasive) during the early stages of development. The transition to a highly vascularized, invasive and ultimately metastatic cancer, which spreads throughout the body, commonly takes ten years or longer. If the cancer is detected prior to invasion, surgical removal of the cancerous tissue is an effective cure. However, colorectal cancer is often detected only upon manifestation of clinical symptoms, such as pain and black tarry stool. Generally, such symptoms are present only when the disease is well established, often after metastasis has occurred, and the prognosis for the patient is poor, even after surgical resection of the cancerous tissue. For example, patients diagnosed with early colon cancer generally have a much greater five-year survival rate as compared to the survival rate for patients diagnosed with distant metastasized colon cancer.
Accordingly, early detection of colorectal cancer is of critical importance for reducing its morbidity.

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research


There is provided an apparatus and method, the apparatus comprising a power input and a switch isolation circuit to provide isolation between the power input and a protected switch responsive to a timing signal. The switch isolation circuit comprises a switch isolation charge store, and a buffer circuit to receive power from the switch isolation charge store and coupled between the timing signal and the protected switch. The switch isolation circuit is configured to, in response to the timing signal having the first value, operate in a powered mode in which the switch isolation charge store receives power from the power input; and, in response to the timing signal having the second value, operate in an isolation mode in which the switch isolation charge store is isolated from the power input.

Apparatuses for power isolation provide a power output that is electrically isolated from a power input. This can be achieved, for example, using an isolation circuit comprising a charge store that is charged from a power input whilst isolating a power output and that outputs power to the power output whilst isolating the power input. Such techniques provide power isolation by filtering signals from the power output side such that they are more difficult to detect at the power input.

Apparatus and method for providing power isolation between a power input and a protected switch


A cleaning blade for removing residual toner left on the surface of an intermediate transfer belt after the second transfer is supported integrally with movement of a tension roller. In the case where the tension roller moves to make a tension of the intermediate transfer belt constant, then, following this, the cleaning blade moves. Thus, the contact state of the cleaning blade with respect to the surface of the intermediate transfer belt is kept constant, and thus cleaning of the intermediate transfer belt can be performed stably.

The present application claims priority upon Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-355202 filed on Oct. 15, 2003 under 35 USC 119(a), which is herein incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to an intermediate transfer system provided in an image forming apparatus using an intermediate transfer technique and a method for cleaning an intermediate transfer belt that is a component member of the intermediate transfer system. In particular, the present invention relates to an improvement to stabilize the cleaning of the intermediate transfer belt.
Conventionally, a color image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic technique such as a color copier or a color printer is provided with a plurality of developing devices, where visible images (toner images) having a different color from developing device to developing device are formed, and eventually these toner images are superimposed and transferred on one and the same recording sheet.
A technique using an intermediate transfer belt (in general, referred to as "intermediate transfer technique") is known as one embodiment of the color image forming apparatus of this type. In the intermediate transfer technique, a developing apparatus for each color is provided, and an optical image obtained by splitting an image into different color components is formed on a photosensitive drum as an electrostatic latent image for each color. Then, the electrostatic latent image is developed to provide a toner image for each color. Then, the respective toner images are superimposed on the same area of an intermediate transfer belt for first transfer, so that a synthesized image of full color is obtained on the intermediate transfer belt, and then the synthesized image is transferred on a recording sheet at one time for the second transfer. Furthermore, when forming monochrome images, a black toner image is first transferred on the intermediate transfer belt using only the developing device corresponding to black images, and the black toner image is secondly transferred on a recording sheet. For example, JP2000-338744A, JP2001-324905A, JP2002-14542A, and JP2002-304104A are known to disclose the image forming apparatus of this type.
A conventional intermediate transfer system provided in an image forming apparatus using such an intermediate transfer technique will be described below.
In a conventional intermediate transfer system as shown in FIG. 9, an intermediate transfer belt c is suspended over a driving roller a and a driven roller b, and a tension roller d for applying a constant tension to the intermediate transfer belt c is pressed onto the inner face of the intermediate transfer belt c. This tension roller d is provided movably, and the tension of the intermediate transfer belt c can be kept constant by the movement thereof even if the state in which the belt is suspended over each roller is changed. Furthermore, this intermediate transfer system is provided with a cleaning blade e for collecting residual toner that is left on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt c after the second transfer onto a recording sheet, and an opposing roller f is provided on the inner face of the intermediate transfer belt c that is opposed to the cleaning blade e. In other words, the intermediate transfer belt c is sandwiched between the cleaning blade e and the opposing roller f, and a frictional force is applied between the outer surface of the intermediate transfer belt c and the cleaning blade e so that the residual toner can be collected. Furthermore, a screw g for conveying toner is provided in the vicinity of the cleaning blade e, and the residual toner collected by the cleaning blade e is conveyed and discharged by the screw g.
Photoreceptors h, h, . . . are provided for respective colors, opposed to the outer surface of the intermediate transfer belt c, and rollers for the first transfer i, i, . . . are provided on the inter face of the intermediate transfer belt c, opposed to the corresponding photoreceptors h, h, . . . . Each roller for the first transfer i is movable in the direction in which the roller for the first transfer i can be in contact with or apart from the photoreceptor h. In a standby time, as shown in FIG. 9A, the roller for the first transfer i have receded from the photoreceptors h. Thus, the outer face of the intermediate transfer belt c is away from the photoreceptors h, h, . . . When forming color images, as shown in FIG. 9B, each of the rollers for the first transfer i, i, advances toward the photoreceptor h, h, . . . Thus, the outer face of the intermediate transfer belt c is brought in contact with each of the photoreceptors h, h, . . . so as to be ready for the first transfer. At the time of forming monochrome images, only the roller for the first transfer i of the developing device that corresponds to black images advances toward the photoreceptor (photoreceptor for black images) h, and thus the outer face of the intermediate transfer belt c is brought in contact with the photoreceptor h for black images so as to be ready for that first transfer (transfer of monochrome images). Furthermore, the suspension state of the intermediate transfer belt c is changed with such movement of the rollers for the first transfer i, i, . . . , so that the belt tension is changed. However, the tension roller d is moved (in the horizontal direction) in FIG. 9, so that a constant tension is applied to the intermediate transfer belt c.
In the structure as described above in which the tension roller d is moved to provide a constant tension to the intermediate transfer belt c, the inclination angle of the span of the intermediate transfer belt c between the tension roller d and the cleaning blade e is varied with the position to which the tension roller d is moved (in the state of FIG. 9A, the inclination angle is large, and in the state of FIG. 9B, the inclination angle is small. As a result, the angle at which the surface of the intermediate transfer belt c is in contact with the cleaning blade e is changed, or the force with which the cleaning blade e is pressed onto the surface of the intermediate transfer belt c is changed, and therefore stable cleaning performance may not be obtained. Consequently, residual toner is left continuously on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt c and this residual toner may be attached to the recording sheet so that the image quality may be affected adversely, or the residual toner may drop from the intermediate transfer belt c to soil the internal portion of the apparatus.
The present invention is carried out in view of these aspects, and the object thereof is to provide an intermediate transfer system that can avoid the state in which residual toner is left continuously on the surface of an intermediate transfer belt by cleaning the intermediate transfer belt stably and a method for cleaning an intermediate transfer belt.

Intermediate transfer system and method for cleaning intermediate transfer belt


A system and machine-implemented method for real-time facial recognition at an image capture device is provided. The method includes capturing an image at an image capture device, the image containing at least a first person, analyzing the image to identify one or more data points corresponding to the first person, determining if mapping information corresponding to the one or more data points is locally available at the image capture device, sending a request to a remote device for mapping information when it is determined that mapping information corresponding to the one or more data points is not locally available at the image capture device, receiving mapping information corresponding to the one or more data points in response to the request and locally storing the mapping information at the image capture device.

Image capture devices, such as glasses or other devices with image capture capability, are becoming more prevalent. These image capture devices are able to capture images of their surrounding and allow the user to interact with the surrounding more intelligently based on the captured images. In some instances, the image capture devices are able to capture images of nearby users (e.g., in the field of view of the image capture device). A user operating the image capture device is typically associated with various services (e.g., social networking services) that maintain information regarding contacts of the user. The information can be used to assist the user operating the image capture device in interacting with nearby users.


A method for jetting color ink includes determining an initial voltage value of a nozzle, wherein the initial voltage value corresponds to a predetermined jetting volume of the nozzle; determining a maximum adjusting voltage value of the nozzle, wherein the maximum adjusting voltage value may correspond to an allowable error value of the predetermined jetting volume; combining the initial voltage value with an adjusting voltage value to obtain a jetting voltage, wherein the adjusting voltage value may be randomly selected between zero to the maximum adjusting voltage value; and jetting the color ink from the nozzle according to the jetting voltage onto a sub-pixel in a pixel.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a fabricating method for a color filter, particularly, to a method for jetting color ink applied to color filters.
2. Description of Related Art
Liquid crystal displays have many advantages, such as high definition, small volume, lightweight, low voltage drive, low consumption of power, a broad range of applications, etc. Therefore, liquid crystal displays are already broadly used in consumer electronic devices or computer products, such as portable televisions, cellular phones, camcorders, laptop computers, desktop displays, projection televisions, etc., thereby becoming the main stream for displays.
Color filters are a substantially important component in liquid crystal displays. The basic structure of a color filter includes a glass substrate, a black matrix, a color layer, an over coat, and an ITO conductor film. Ink jetting, often used to manufacture color layers in the conventional art, uses a voltage parameter that mostly remains constant when nozzles jet ink. It is substantially difficult to remain the droplet sizes and landing points of droplets of the nozzles constant. If the constant droplets jetted from one nozzle is smaller, or the placement is not straight, differences appear in the constant color of sub-pixels, thereby affecting the quality of a color filter and the displaying quality of a panel.
Refer to FIG. 1 illustrating a schematic diagram of a defective color filter. The color filter 100 includes a plurality of pixels 110, and each pixel 110 also includes multiple sub-pixels 112, 114, 116. The sub-pixels 112, 114, 116 may respectively represent the three colors of red (R), green (G) and blue (B), and ink jetting may be used to fill the sub-pixels 112, 114, 116 with ink corresponding to color resists.
The droplets jetted by the nozzle 150c may be smaller than other's, thus the amount of color ink is smaller than other sub-pixels, thereby causing the same lighter footprint to appear in one constant column or multiple columns as shown as sub-pixel 112c, and affecting the quality of a color filter as well as the displaying quality of a panel.


Improved systems and methods for navigating media via a user interface, such as a user interface provided on a handheld or portable computing device, are provided. The methods for navigating media of the invention extend the navigation experience by allowing bi-axial context shifts, e.g., with respect to substantially orthogonal directions, allowing a user to conceptually preserve context associated with the navigation experience, context that is lost in one-dimensional hierarchical navigation experiences. In one embodiment, the bi-axial navigation mechanism of the invention includes a drill down twist, i.e., the transformation of a parent list of a parent screen from a vertical list to a horizontal band when moving from the parent screen to the child screen and a horizontal browsing mechanism allowing a user to browse multiple lists using a continuous band of headers.

Along with increased availability of digital media of all types and varieties, devices for rendering the media have proliferated as well. And yet, for all of such proliferation, the hierarchical model applied to the user interface for navigating the media has remained largely the same. This is of particular disadvantage to those users with a great quantity of media through which it is desirable to navigate. Under the traditional hierarchical model for navigating media, a user first selects a top level category, such as "Albums," or "Artists," or "All Songs." A list is associated with the top level category, and the user selects an element from the list. Then, there may be one or more sub-categories associated with the element selected, all of equal hierarchical weight. For instance, in the case of the selection of a particular Album from a list of Albums, a list of songs associated with the selected Album appears for the user's further selection. Since generally, a "song" is the atomic element of music navigation, there is no further sub-navigation, and selection of the song results in its being rendered, or otherwise selected for some operation. This type of navigation is not that much different than the navigation of a traditional hierarchical file management system, wherein a folder is selected, and then sub-folders of equal hierarchical weight appear, and sub-folders can be selected with similar drilling down until atomic elements, such as files, that can not be subdivided further are reached.
For a particular example of a traditional music hierarchy navigation of a user interface, FIG. 1A illustrates a navigation starting with the "Artist," users navigate on a screen by screen basis from FIG. 1A to FIG. 1D. The bolded element of the media user interface MUI1 represents a selected element, or an element which is to be selected to produce the next screen. Thus, in the traditional case, after a user selected "Artist" in the top-level screen, a list of Artists appears in FIG. 1B, reflecting the user's choice. After the user selects Artist1 from the list of Artists, a list of Albums associated with Artist1 appears in FIG. 1C. From that list of Albums, a user may select an Album of choice, in this case Album1, and as a result, finally, in FIG. 1D, a list of songs associated with the Album is displayed. A selection from the list of FIG. 1D typically results in the playing of the song.
With a hierarchical menu such as this, a user moves forward through and backs out of the various levels of hierarchy in order to reach a particular song or set of songs. Essentially, navigation is unidirectional, i.e., navigation is either moving towards the more specific, or the more general. While this model works alright when a user is navigating a manageable number of songs, this model is too rigid, static and inflexible when navigating thousands and thousands of songs. Finding any particular atomic element, e.g., a song, may prove too cumbersome and frustrate a user. This is particularly true when the device is a handheld device with limited screen real estate for the user to see at one time. Representing such deep hierarchies on a mobile device screen or even on a Television from 10 feet away can post a challenge due to the number of steps involved, and the unavailability of the previous step for reference. When only a handful of songs can be displayed to a user at a time due to the size of the device, one can appreciate the need for a top notch user interface experience.
Another technique for finding a particular media element amidst a vast quantity of media is to simply search upon a name associated with the desired media element. For instance, the user may not know the name of a desired song, but the user may know the artist or the album. By text searching on the media store, a set of candidates can be displayed to the user. Regretfully, this is an error prone process, and requires the user to know something about the targeted media. This is also not prone to easily displaying a related set of songs desired by the user. Additionally, on a small device, such as an Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) Audio Layer 3 (MP3) player or a handheld Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) player, the means for inputting into the device may itself be limited, i.e., the device may not have a keyboard, and if it does, the keyboard keys tend to be small, and thus prone to slow, error prone entry. Accordingly, it is clear that text searching is not an adequate method of searching for and playing media via a user interface.
As a consequence, there is a need for a rich user experience when navigating media on a user interface of a computing device. More particularly, there is need for an improved user interface experience for media on a handheld device with limited input and output representational capacities, e.g., due to a limited screen resolution or size, or due to limited input device capabilities.

Systems and methods for co-axial navigation of a user interface